President Joe Biden on Thursday painted a grim picture of the state of American democracy, saying that the nation stands at an inflection point as former president Donald Trump weaves a web of “lies” about the January 6 attack on Congress.
Speaking from Statuary Hall, a main location for the US Capitol riots where a pro-Trump mob a year earlier tried to stop the certification of Mr Biden's 2020 election win, the president skewered Mr Trump without ever mentioning him by name.
“For the first time in our history, a president had not just lost an election — he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol,” Mr Biden said.
“We must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie. Here's the truth: a former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. He's done so because he values power over principle.”
Mr Biden contrasted the truth of what happened with the false narratives that have proliferated about the Capitol assault, including the continued refusal by many Republicans to even affirm that Mr Biden won the 2020 election.
“You and I and the whole world saw with our own eyes,” Mr Biden said.
“We saw with our own eyes. Rioters menace these halls, threatening life of the speaker of the house, literally erecting gallows to hang the vice president of the United States of America.”
In an unusually fervent speech, Mr Biden went on to say that “we are in a battle for the soul of America” and called on Congress to pass voting rights bills that would counter a Republican push to restrict access to polls in some states.
Many Republicans skipped town for the day, preferring to stay out of Washington as the events of January 6 were revisited.
Republicans have repeatedly played down the seriousness of January 6, with at least one comparing the rioters to tourists who had come to visit their nation's capital.
“This wasn't a group of tourists. This was an armed insurrection,” Mr Biden said.
The party's senior member in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, led a delegation to a funeral of a recently deceased senator 965 kilometres away in Atlanta, Georgia.
Liz Cheney, chairwoman of the House committee investigating the attack and one of the few Republicans attending the Capitol ceremonies, said that “the threat continues".
Mr Trump, she said, “continues to make the same claims that he knows caused violence on January 6".
“Unfortunately, too many in my own party are embracing the former president, are looking the other way or minimising the danger,” she told NBC.
“That’s how democracies die. We simply cannot let that happen.”
Her father, former vice president Dick Cheney, told reporters that current Republican leaders do not resemble “any of the folks I knew” when he served in Congress.
Mr Trump, who had initially planned an anniversary press conference in Florida, dismissed Mr Biden's speech as “political theatre [that] is all just a distraction for the fact Biden has completely and totally failed".
Mr Biden took office promising to bring old-fashioned decency and calm back to Washington and has mainly ignored Mr Trump, often referring to him as “the former guy".
But he took a far more forceful tone on Thursday, saying Mr Trump “sees his own interest is more important than his country's interest [whose] bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our constitution".
“At this moment, we must decide what kind of nation we are going to be,” Mr Biden said.
“Are we going to be a nation that accepts political violence as a norm? Are we going to be a nation where we allow partisan election officials to overturn the legally expressed will of the people? Are we going to be a nation that lives not by the light of the truth but in the shadow of lies?”
Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke at the event, saying “democracy will not stand” unless America is vigilant.
On Wednesday, the Capitol Police chief, Thomas Manger, said his forces would never be caught unprepared again, as they were last year.
Outside the Capital building on Thursday, there was little evidence of the violence of that day — a solemn, candlelit vigil on the steps of the Capitol a contrast to the bloodshed of a year ago.
Warren, who wished only to be identified by his first name, drove all the way from Grand Rapids, Michigan. The 65 year-old retired fireman, who was in Washington a year ago, looked back fondly on January 6.
“It was a great show of support for my American president and his cause of transparency,” he told The National, referring to Mr Trump.
While Warren said he was not sure if the election was stolen, he remains convinced there were issues with it.
A few blocks away, a lone man with a loud hailer shouted profanities outside an office building housing several media outlets. He berated a television crew for not telling the “truth” about the election.
Far-right Trump loyalists Marjorie Taylor Greene, a conspiracy-theory pushing congresswoman whose personal Twitter account was banned this week, and fellow member of Congress Matt Gaetz, who is under federal investigation, held a press conference in front of the Capitol.
They stood by their refusal to certify Mr Biden’s election win and claimed the Capitol riot had been co-ordinated by federal authorities.
“I'm starting to think this was less of an insurrection and more of a 'fed-surrection',” said Mr Gaetz, referring to a right-wing claim that the riot was a “false flag” operation by federal agents.
Writing in The New York Times, former Democratic president Jimmy Carter said the US “teeters on the brink of a widening abyss”.
“Without immediate action, we are at genuine risk of civil conflict and losing our precious democracy. Americans must set aside differences and work together before it is too late,” Mr Carter wrote.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Wednesday that authorities have so far arrested and charged about 725 people across the country in connection with the attack.
Facing criticism that the Justice Department has moved too slowly to tackle the leaders and address accusations of a deeper plot to overthrow the election, Mr Garland pleaded for patience, suggesting that investigators are moving up the chain.
“We resolve more straightforward cases first because they provide the evidentiary foundation for more complex cases,” he said.
Agencies contributed to this report
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: CVT
Power: 170bhp
Torque: 220Nm
Price: Dh98,900
Schedule
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The five pillars of Islam
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Read more about the coronavirus
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
More on Quran memorisation:
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How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
The five pillars of Islam
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Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
The%20specs
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THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
