Biden, Harris take break from inaugural prep to mark MLK day

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Two days from the inauguration, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris pitched in on Martin Luther King Jr. Day service projects as a militarized and jittery Washington prepared for a swearing-in that will play out under extraordinary security. Biden and his...

Police command structure crumbled fast during Capitol riot

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, many of the police officers had to decide on their own how to fight them off. There was no direction. No plan. And no top leadership. One cop ran from one side of the building to another, fighting hand-to-hand against rioters. Another decided to...

FBI vetting Guard troops in DC amid fears of insider attack

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. defense officials say they are worried about an insider attack or other threat from service members involved in securing President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, prompting the FBI to vet all of the 25,000 National Guard troops coming into Washington for the event. The massive...

FBI vetting Guard troops in DC amid fears of insider attack

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. defense officials say they are worried about an insider attack or other threat from service members involved in securing President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, prompting the FBI to vet all of the 25,000 National Guard troops coming into Washington for the event. The massive...

Heavily fortified statehouses around US see small protests

Small groups of right-wing protesters — some of them carrying rifles — gathered outside heavily fortified statehouses around the country Sunday, outnumbered by National Guard troops and police brought in to prevent a repeat of the violence that erupted at the U.S. Capitol. As darkness fell, there...

Defense officials tell AP they fear possible inside attack at inauguration, will have National Guard troops vetted

The Latest: Sunday protests quiet; officials brace for more

The Latest on demonstrating Sunday at statehouses across the country. ___ After a small, peaceful protest at the Ohio Statehouse on Sunday, Gov. Mike DeWine says security levels will remain high in Columbus for Wednesday’s presidential inauguration. DeWine praised demonstrators for exercising their free...

National Guard sleeping in the Capitol an echo of Civil War

To most Americans, the sight of armed National Guard troops sleeping in the Capitol Rotunda this past week was shocking and disturbing. To me, it was an echo of the far-distant past. “Don’t despond,” Maj. Bowman Bigelow Breed wrote to his anxious wife back home in Massachusetts as his...

US military says its troop removal from Somalia is complete

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The U.S. military says its troop withdrawal from Somalia is complete, in one of the last actions of President Donald Trump’s presidency. Some experts have warned that the withdrawal of an estimated 700 U.S. military personnel comes at the worst possible time for Somalia, as the...

Gen. Milley key to military continuity as Biden takes office

WASHINGTON (AP) — In taking charge of a Pentagon battered by leadership churn, the Biden administration will look to one holdover as a source of military continuity: Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. President-elect Joe Biden will inherit Milley as his senior military adviser, and...