US Capitol Divided on Anniversary of Jan 6 Attack

Part of a voting session in the US House of Representatives, Thursday (AFP)
Part of a voting session in the US House of Representatives, Thursday (AFP)
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US Capitol Divided on Anniversary of Jan 6 Attack

Part of a voting session in the US House of Representatives, Thursday (AFP)
Part of a voting session in the US House of Representatives, Thursday (AFP)

Americans marked on Friday the second anniversary of the storming of the Capitol amid sharp partisan divisions that loomed over the rooms of the same building that witnessed the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

Instead of visiting the Capitol building, US President Joe Biden chose to stay at the White House.

This year, divisions are rife at the Capitol and Biden is seeking to avoid controversy on a day when he needs to talk about unity instead of the sharp disagreements that overshadowed the events of the storming.

Biden chose to shed light on “those who defended democracy in the face of insurrectionists who sought stopping Congress from approving the results of the 2020 election.”

The White House announced that Biden would award the Presidential Citizens Medal to election workers and local officials, as well as security personnel who helped protect the building on the day of the attack.

At the Capitol, Republicans continue to struggle with divisions that show a large and deep-rooted rift between the party’s traditional and right-wing factions. Hardline Republicans insist on not compromising.

Republicans remain divided on choosing a speaker for the House of Representatives.

These are the same divisions that two years ago led hundreds of skeptics of the US election results to rush into the Capitol, refusing to acknowledge the loss of former President Donald Trump.

Those who questioned the election results back then stand today in the House of Representatives refusing to surrender to the will of the 200 Republicans who support their leader, Kevin McCarthy.

At a point in time, McCarthy rejected both election results and recognizing Biden as president. He also angered moderate Republicans after he decided to visit former President Donald Trump at his residence in Mar-a-Lago a few days after the Capitol stormed.



Russia: Hypersonic Missile Strike on Ukraine Was a Warning to 'Reckless' West

Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
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Russia: Hypersonic Missile Strike on Ukraine Was a Warning to 'Reckless' West

Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS

The Kremlin said on Friday that a strike on Ukraine using a newly developed hypersonic ballistic missile was designed as a message to the West that Moscow will respond to their "reckless" decisions and actions in support of Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was speaking a day after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had fired the new missile - the Oreshnik or Hazel Tree - at a Ukrainian military facility.
"The main message is that the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries that produce missiles, supply them to Ukraine and subsequently participate in strikes on Russian territory cannot remain without a reaction from the Russian side," Peskov told reporters.
"The Russian side has clearly demonstrated its capabilities, and the contours of further retaliatory actions in the event that our concerns are not taken into account have been quite clearly outlined,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
Peskov said Russia had not been obliged to warn the United States about the strike, but had informed the US 30 minutes before the launch anyway.
President Vladimir Putin remained open to dialogue, Peskov said, but he said the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden "prefers to continue down the path of escalation".
Putin said on Thursday that Russia had fired the new missile after Ukraine, with approval from the Biden administration, struck Russia with six US-made ATACMS missiles on Tuesday and with British Storm Shadow cruise missiles and US-made HIMARS on Thursday.
He said this meant that the Ukraine war had now "acquired elements of a global character".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Russia's use of the new missile amounted to "a clear and severe escalation" in the war and called for strong worldwide condemnation.