AFP USA

TikTok restored service in the United States Sunday after briefly going dark, as a law banning the wildly popular app on national security grounds came into effect.The video-sharing platform credited President-elect Donald Trump, who retakes power on Monday, for making the reversal possible — though the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden had earlier said that it would not enforce any ban. TikTok had shut down in the United States late Saturday as a deadline loomed for its Chinese owners ByteDance to sell its US subsidiary to non-Chinese buyers.Earlier Sunday, as millions of dismayed users found themselves barred from the app, Trump promised to issue an executive order delaying the ban to allow time to “make a deal.”He also called in a post on his Truth Social platform for the United States to take part ownership in TikTok.Trump said he “would like the United States to have a 50 percent ownership position in a joint venture,” arguing that the app’s value could surge to “hundreds of billions of dollars — maybe trillions.””By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands,” wrote Trump, who had previously backed a TikTok ban and during his first term in office made moves towards one.In a statement posted on X following Trump’s comments, TikTok said it “is in the process of restoring service.””We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans.”Beijing on Monday urged Washington to listen to “rational voices” over the ban.Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning also said China attached “great importance to and protect data privacy and security”.”We have never and will not ask companies or individuals to collect or provide foreign data located in foreign countries in a way that violates local laws,” she said.TikTok, which was back online in the United States by Sunday afternoon, did not address Trump’s call for part American ownership of the app.Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives told AFP the episode “marked a big win for TikTok and a political win for Trump,” likening the episode to “high-stakes poker between the US and China.”- President proof? -At a pre-election rally Sunday evening at a Washington sports arena, Trump hammered home his enthusiasm for saving the app, telling the crowd: “Frankly, we have no choice, we have to save it,” while indicating that there were a “lot of jobs” involved.”We don’t want to give our business to China, we don’t want to give our business to other people,” Trump told his supporters.The law allows for a 90-day delay of the ban if the White House can show progress toward a viable deal, but so far ByteDance has flatly refused any sale.The Biden administration said it would leave enforcement of the law to Trump.From teenage dancers to grandmothers sharing cooking tips, TikTok has been embraced for its ability to transform ordinary users into global celebrities when a video goes viral.But it is also rife with disinformation, and its Chinese ownership has long spurred national security fears, internationally as well as in the United States.Sunday’s blackout came after the US Supreme Court on Friday upheld the legislation banning it pending any sale.Trump, who signed an executive order stepping up pressure on ByteDance to sell in 2020, has since credited the app with connecting him to younger voters.It is unclear what the incoming president can do to lift the ban unless ByteDance ultimately sells, however.”Congress wrote this law to be virtually president-proof,” warned Adam Kovacevich, chief executive of industry trade group Chamber of Progress.Besides removing TikTok from app stores, the law requires Apple and Google to block new downloads, with the companies liable for penalties of up to $5,000 per user if the app is accessed.Oracle, which hosts TikTok’s servers, would also be legally obligated to enforce the ban.- ‘I love TikTok’ -In Europe, TikTok’s suspension drew praise from the foreign minister of Estonia, Margus Tsahkna, who said on X that banning the platform “must be considered in Europe as well.”The ban also became a hot topic at the Australian Open in Melbourne, where American tennis player Coco Gauff scrawled “RIP TikTok USA” on a courtside camera.Meanwhile, in the US state of Wisconsin, a man was accused of setting a fire early Sunday at an unoccupied building where a member of Congress keeps an office “in response to recent talks of a TikTok ban,” police in the city of Fond du Lac said in a statement.A last-minute proposal made Saturday by the highly valued start-up Perplexity AI offered a merger with the US subsidiary of TikTok, a source with knowledge of the deal told AFP.The proposal did not include a price but the source estimated it would cost at least $50 billion.burs-oho/fox

A sweeping deportation program, “drill, baby, drill,” and peace for Ukraine: President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to move big and fast when he returns to the White House on Monday.Here is a look at his sensational but frequently vague promises for a second term — much of them likely to be enacted through executive orders.- Immigration -Trump has promised a hardline stance against an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States.According to The Wall Street Journal, the Republican billionaire will declare a state of emergency on the border with Mexico, which would unlock additional Department of Defense funding and assets.He also vowed on the campaign trail to end birthright citizenship, calling it “ridiculous.”Analysts also expect him to issue executive orders on other aspects of immigration policy, including possibly to terminate an app used by migrants hoping to petition for asylum.However, birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the US Constitution, and any deportation program will face legal challenges as well as potential refusals by some countries to accept deportees.- Trade wars -Trump has vowed to slap a 25 percent tariff on goods imported from Mexico and Canada — top US trading partners — as punishment for what he says is their failure to stem the flow of drugs and undocumented migrants into the United States. But is Trump really ready to unleash a trade war with US neighbors, rupturing a North American free trade agreement? Some see this — and an even more provocative suggestion that Canada should be absorbed into the United States — as pre-negotiation bluster.Beijing should also buckle up.Trump has threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff on Chinese products, adding to existing tariffs that date back to his first term. Trump accuses China of failing to crack down on the production of chemical components used to make fentanyl.- January 6 pardons – The president-elect has suggested he might pardon some or all of the people involved in the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol, when his supporters tried to overthrow the 2020 election in which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.Trump has described them as “hostages” and “political prisoners.”He told a pre-inauguration rally that his supporters would be “very happy” with the decision he plans to make on the matter on his first day in office.More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes in the deadly assault, and more than 1,100 of them have been sentenced.- Wars and diplomacy -Trump warned that “all hell will break out in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release Israeli hostages before his inauguration — and promptly took credit when a ceasefire and hostage release deal negotiated by the Biden Administration was announced Wednesday.Trump also says he intends to quickly end Russia’s war against Ukraine, though it is unclear when or how he plans to do that.After promising over the summer to end the nearly three-year conflict “in 24 hours,” Trump more recently suggested a timeline of several months.- Climate -Climate skeptic Trump has promised to “drill, baby, drill” for oil and gas.He plans to repeal some of Biden’s key climate policies, such as tax credits for electric vehicles, which are meant to encourage a transition to a green economy.Trump also wants to boost offshore drilling, though he might need to secure congressional support to do that. Biden has selected swaths of ocean as protected no-drill areas.- Transgender rights and race -“With the stroke of my pen on day one, we’re going to stop the transgender lunacy,” Trump said in December, vowing to “end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high schools.”He added the US government would recognize only two genders, male and female.Also among his plans is cutting federal funding to schools that have adopted “critical race theory,” an approach that looks at US history through the lens of racism.- TikTok lifeline -Trump has vowed to save the popular video-sharing app TikTok from a law banning it on national security grounds.TikTok briefly shut down in the United States as a deadline loomed for its Chinese owners ByteDance to sell its US subsidiary to non-Chinese buyers.However, it went back online after Trump, who has credited the app with connecting him to younger voters, promised to issue an executive order delaying the ban to allow time to “make a deal.”He said on his Truth Social platform that he “would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture.”

Every four years America’s president is sworn in on Inauguration Day, whether newly elected or returning to office, in a long-established ceremony held amid pageantry shaped by the incoming leader’s personal flourishes.What does that mean for the inauguration of Donald Trump? Cue the Village People and social media titans — and leave the mittens and scarves behind, following a last-minute decision to move the inauguration indoors.Here is a preview of the pomp and circumstance that will unfold Monday when Trump is sworn in as the 47th president.- The oath -The US Constitution mandates that each new president’s term begin at noon on January 20 (or the day after if it falls on a Sunday), and that the president take the oath of office.In recent years, presidents have been sworn in from an enormous temporary platform on the Capitol’s scenic West Lawn. This year, owing to a frigid forecast, it will take place inside in the Capitol Rotunda.The oath is most often administered by the Supreme Court chief justice, and Monday would mark John Roberts’s second time officiating for Trump.The new president also delivers an inaugural address, laying out his plans for the next four years. The Republican rang in his first term in 2017 with a particularly dark speech evoking “American carnage.”Incoming vice president J.D. Vance will also be sworn in.- The guests -In a particularly Trumpian twist, the Republican has invited a number of tech titans to attend the inauguration, joining more traditional guests such as his cabinet nominees.Billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg will attend as will Shou Chew, the head of Chinese social media giant TikTok, according to US media.Trump has courted closer ties with the tech moguls, and his campaign benefited from disinformation spread on social media platforms such as TikTok, Musk’s X and Zuckerberg’s Facebook and Instagram.Outgoing president Joe Biden will attend the ceremony — despite Trump’s refusal to appear at Biden’s swearing-in when he beat Trump in 2020.All living former presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — will attend, as will their wives, except for Michelle Obama.That means Hillary Clinton, whom Trump beat in the 2016 presidential election, in addition to Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he beat in November, will be there.Heads of state are not traditionally invited, but Trump has sent invitations to a handful of foreign leaders, including some who share his right-wing politics. Far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will attend, her office confirmed Saturday.Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Argentine President Javier Milei and China’s Xi Jinping have also been invited, but not all will attend.Xi sent Vice President Han Zheng in his place, who met Sunday with J.D. Vance, the transition office said. – A move indoors -Crowd size is a preoccupation of Trump’s, but the last-minute switch to an indoor event may dent his bragging rights.More than 220,000 tickets were being distributed to the public before Trump announced Friday that frigid temperatures meant the inauguration would shift to the Capitol Rotunda, which can accommodate only about 600 people.Trump said supporters could watch a live feed from Washington’s Capital One sports arena, which holds up to 20,000 — and he promised to drop in later.- The orders -Trump has said he is preparing to sign around 100 executive orders on his first day in office, many of them aimed at undoing Biden administration policies.”Within hours of taking office I will sign dozens of executive orders, close to 100 to be exact, many of which I will be describing in my address tomorrow,” Trump told supporters at an inauguration-eve candlelight dinner on Sunday.Among his many promises, he has pledged to launch a mass deportation program and increase oil drilling. He has also said he might swiftly begin pardoning January 6 rioters — his followers who ransacked the Capitol in 2021.Immediately after the inauguration, a meeting is planned between US officials and foreign ministers from Japan, India and Australia, the so-called “Quad” seen as a counterweight to China. – The music -Trump’s first inauguration in 2017 was marked by a lack of celebrity power, with few A-list musicians willing to be associated with him.Trump inauguration 2.0 is in better shape.Country star Carrie Underwood will sing “America the Beautiful” during the swearing-in ceremony.Also performing will be country singer Lee Greenwood, whose patriotic anthem “God Bless the USA” is standard at Trump rallies.A pre-inauguration rally Sunday included performances by Kid Rock as well as the Village People, with whom Trump danced on stage as they performed their 1970s-era hit “Y.M.C.A.”- The galas -Country musicians including Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts and Gavin DeGraw plus the Village People will perform across Trump’s three official inaugural balls Monday night.Trump is expected to attend all three invite-only affairs. Multiple other unofficial galas are also planned.

Donald Trump pledged a blitz of presidential actions to end “American decline,” telling a fired-up inauguration eve rally on Sunday that he would crack down on woke ideology and immigration.In a raucous campaign-style gathering in Washington, the 78-year-old Republican promised cheering supporters that he would act with “historic speed” from day one of his White House comeback.”Tomorrow at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of American decline, and we begin a brand new day of American strength and prosperity,” Trump told a packed sports arena.”I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country.” Billionaire Trump was joined on stage by Elon Musk — the tech tycoon who will lead a major cost-cutting drive in his administration — and who vowed to make America strong “for centuries.”Then at the end the rally Trump danced alongside the disco band Village People as they performed their 1970s hit “Y.M.C.A.” which became the unofficial anthem of his election campaign.Much of Trump’s hour-long speech focused on immigration, driving home one of the dark messages that helped spur his remarkable victory in November’s presidential election over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.”We’re going to stop the invasion of our borders,” added Trump, who has pledged to launch raids targeting undocumented migrants within days of taking office.- ‘See history unfold’ -But he also promised “lots” of executive orders from his first day back in the Oval Office, including one to ban “transgender insanity” and critical race theory from schools and to keep trans athletes out of women’s sports.Trump also reiterated a promise to release files on the assassinations of former president John F. Kennedy, his brother Bobby Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.Long lines of Trump supporters formed outside the arena despite snowy conditions.”I wanted to see history unfold before my eyes,” Alan McNeely, 21, a student from Connecticut, told AFP.Earlier, the future US commander-in-chief paid a highly symbolic visit to Arlington National Cemetery, the resting place of America’s war dead. Trump laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, followed by Vice President-elect J.D. Vance.The somber ceremony contrasted with Trump’s last trip to the cemetery as a presidential candidate in August, when the US army criticized his staff for pushing a cemetery employee.Later on Sunday Trump is set to attend a “candlelight dinner” for supporters.Trump’s hopes for a huge crowd to see his inauguration at the US Capitol on Monday took a blow, however, when forecasts of below freezing weather prompted organizers to move the ceremony indoors.Instead of being sworn in on the steps of the Capitol, Trump will now take the oath under the massive dome of its Rotunda, last used for the ceremony 40 years ago during the inauguration of Ronald Reagan.- ‘Keep the faith’ -“You’re going to hear President Trump talk about how we are entering a Golden Age of America” in his inaugural speech, his incoming press secretary Karoline Leavitt told “America’s Newsroom” on Fox News.Outgoing President Joe Biden meanwhile traveled to South Carolina on Sunday, his last full day as US president, to mark a national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr.The Democrat pointedly urged Americans to “keep the faith in a better day to come” and promised that he was “not going anywhere,” as he prepares to hand over to the man he has branded a threat to democracy.But Trump has already been heavily drawn into global affairs before he takes office.Widely used video-sharing app TikTok credited his “clarity” for being able to restore service in the United States after briefly going dark due to a ban on national security grounds.”We have to save TikTok,” Trump told the rally.He earlier promised to issue an executive order delaying the ban to allow time to “make a deal” to remove TikTok’s US subsidiary from Chinese ownership. In the Middle East, the first three Israeli hostages were released Sunday under a Gaza truce that Trump’s team had been involved in along with Biden’s administration.

Exhausted Los Angeles firefighters on Sunday braced for the return of yet more dangerously strong gusts, as California’s governor slammed “hurricane-force winds of misinformation” surrounding blazes that have killed 27 people. The two largest fires, which have obliterated almost 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) and razed entire neighborhoods of the second biggest US city, were both now more than half contained, officials announced.But the National Weather Service warned that powerful winds and very low humidity would again bring “dangerous high-end red flag fire weather conditions” from Monday, with potential gusts up to 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour.”This is the last… we hope, of the extreme” wind events, said Governor Gavin Newsom.It will be “the fourth major wind event just in the last three months — we only had two in the prior four years,” he told MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki.”Officials were accused of being unprepared at the outbreak of fires this month. Now, 135 fire engines and their crews are prepositioned to tackle new flames, along with helicopters and bulldozers, said Newsom.Firefighters said the largest conflagration, the Palisades Fire, was 52 percent contained. It has killed at least 10 people.Evacuation orders were lifted this weekend for dozens of neighborhoods in upscale western Los Angeles.”Our focus is on repopulation this week, and we’re moving quickly to finish urban search-and rescue-work so that utilities can safely be restored where possible,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.With reports of looting rife, a man and woman were arrested Saturday while driving “a vehicle that looked like a fire engine, going through a checkpoint,” said Los Angeles County sheriff department commander Minh Dinh.The pair “purchased the vehicle through an auction” and “have been in the area for about a couple of days.” Further east, the Eaton Fire, which killed at least 17 in the Altadena suburbs, was 81 percent contained.Several evacuees reunited with missing pets they had feared were dead.Serena Null told AFP of her joy at finding her cat Domino, after having to leave him behind as flames devoured her family home in Altadena.The pair were reunited at NGO Pasadena Humane, where Domino — suffering singed paws, a burnt nose and a high level of stress — was taken after being rescued.”I just was so relieved and just so happy that he was here,” a tearful Null told AFP.  – No ‘magical spigot’ -As Los Angeles learns the true scale of the devastation, political bickering has intensified.Donald Trump, set to be sworn in as US president on Monday, has sharply criticized California officials.He falsely claimed that Newsom had blocked the diversion of “excess rain and snow melt from the North.” Los Angeles’s water supplies are mainly fed via aqueducts and canals originating from entirely separate river basins further east.”What’s not helpful or beneficial… is these wild-eyed fantasies… that somehow there’s a magical spigot in northern California that just can be turned on, all of a sudden there will be rain or water flowing everywhere,” said Newsom. The governor blamed Elon Musk — the Tesla and SpaceX owner poised to play a key role advising the incoming administration — “and others” for “hurricane-force winds of mis- and dis-information that can divide a country.”Trump told a rally Sunday that he plans to visit the region on Friday. Well into its typical rainy season, Los Angeles has had almost no rain since May.Though rain is not expected imminently, Newsom warned of the need to prepare “for potential flooding in the next week or two,” as rain, when it comes, pours down hillsides denuded by the fires.”I prepositioned 2,500 National Guard. We’re going to start some sandbagging operations,” he said.”We’re dealing with extremes that we have never dealt with in the past” due to changing climate, said the governor.

Joe Biden traveled to South Carolina on Sunday, his last full day as US president, where he urged Americans to “keep the faith in a better day to come” as he marked the national holiday honoring civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.A scant day before turning the White House over to Donald Trump, Biden attended services at Royal Missionary Baptist Church, a historically Black church in North Charleston.Promising that he is “not going anywhere,” Biden told the congregants that America “must stay engaged, we must always keep the faith in a better day to come.”He also spoke about the continued fight to make King’s dream of a color-blind nation “a reality.”Racial progress has never moved in a smooth arc in the United States, and some have described the election of Trump — who in 2015 insisted that Barack Obama was not an American — as a step backward.But Biden told the congregants that “every time I spend time in a Black church I think of one thing: the word ‘hope.'”Monday is a US national holiday honoring King, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who advocated for non-violent resistance in the fight for equal rights for Black Americans. He was assassinated in 1968.- ‘What this country needed’ -South Carolina was pivotal in Biden’s path to securing the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2020 — which paved the way for his defeat that year of then-incumbent Donald Trump — and Biden on Sunday thanked South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn for his key endorsement that year.”I would not be standing — that’s not hyperbole — here at this pulpit were it not for Jim Clyburn,” the president said.Clyburn, who is Black, later choked up when returning the favor. “Joe Biden has been what this country needed,” he said. “People don’t always appreciate it.”Biden won a mostly favorable but slightly mixed reception during his South Carolina visit on Sunday. While crowds waved at his passing motorcade and people held signs saying “Thank You Joe,” one small group chanted “Biden is a war criminal,” blaming him for the high death toll in the fighting in Gaza. He also spoke briefly about the landmark ceasefire agreement for Gaza that took force earlier Sunday, saying, “The road to this deal has not been easy at all.” In brief remarks Sunday about the Mideast, Biden told reporters that the incipient Gaza ceasefire offered hope, but that its continuing success “will depend on the next administration.”He added that Israel’s crushing attacks on militants in southern Lebanon meant that that country now faced “an opportunity for a future free from the grip of Hezbollah.”Charleston is home to the historic Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where a white shooter killed nine Black worshippers in 2015. While Biden, just before Christmas, commuted the death penalties of 37 people in federal prisons, he made two exceptions: those of Djokhar Tsarnaev, involved in the 2013 bombing of the Boston Marathon, and Dylann Roof, the man behind the Emanuel AME shooting.Early Sunday, the White House announced that, in one of his final official acts, Biden had pardoned Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican-born writer and orator seen by some as a prophet who advocated for a return to Africa.Garvey had been convicted of mail fraud and sentenced to prison, but the sentence was commuted in 1927 by President Calvin Coolidge. Biden’s pardon expunges Garvey’s conviction from the record.

US President-elect Donald Trump laid a wreath Sunday in a symbolic trip to the most hallowed place for America’s war dead, before holding a huge victory rally on the eve of his return to power.Already involved in negotiations to restore the TikTok app at home and in peace efforts in the Middle East, Trump finds himself embroiled in world events before his second term has even started. But the billionaire Republican, 78, is still taking time for pre-inauguration ceremonies including his trip to Arlington National Cemetery on the outskirts of Washington.Wearing a black overcoat, red tie and black gloves, Trump stood in silence alongside incoming vice president JD Vance before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.Trump then laid a wreath of white flowers with a red, white and blue ribbon, before saluting while a bugler played “Taps.” His wife Melania and several family members were also present. The somber ceremony contrasted with Trump’s last trip to the cemetery as presidential candidate in August, when the US army criticized his staff for pushing a cemetery employee.Trump has had a troubled relationship with the military, and while often touting his support for the armed forces he privately mocked the war dead while president, according to his former chief of staff.The mood will change to one of festivity later Sunday when Trump hosts a star-studded “Make America Great Again Victory Rally” at a sports arena in Washington.- ‘Golden Age’ -Large lines were already forming for the rally, which will include a performance by the Village People — whose 1970s-era “Y.M.C.A.” became the theme for a much-memed Trump dance during his campaign — in addition to singers Kid Rock and Billy Ray Cyrus.Trump’s hopes for a huge crowd to see his inauguration at the US Capitol on Monday took a blow, however, when forecasts of freezing weather prompted organizers to move the ceremony indoors.Instead of being sworn in on the steps of the Capitol, Trump will now take the oath under the massive dome of its Rotunda, last used for the ceremony 40 years ago during the inauguration of Ronald Reagan.”You’re going to hear President Trump talk about how we are entering a Golden Age of America” in his inaugural speech, his incoming press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.Once back in the Oval Office, Trump has vowed a series of swift actions starting with the deportation of millions of undocumented migrants.The expulsions will “begin very, very quickly,” Trump told NBC on Sunday — though his border czar Tom Homan said the administration was rethinking plans for an initial showcase raid in Chicago after its plans leaked to the media.Trump said he will immediately sign a record number of executive orders, undoing many of the policies advanced during President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration. Biden traveled to South Carolina on Sunday, his last full day as US president, to mark a national holiday honoring civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.- TikTok ‘deal’ -The Trump effect has already been on display, with TikTok crediting his “clarity” for being able to restore service in the United States after briefly going dark due to a ban on national security grounds.Trump promised on Sunday to issue an executive order delaying the ban to allow time to “make a deal” to remove TikTok’s US subsidiary from Chinese ownership. The Trump administration has already forged deep links with the tech world, with X boss Elon Musk set to head a cost-cutting drive in the new government. Musk, Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon boss Jeff Bezos will all be at his side for the inauguration. In the Middle East, the first three Israeli hostages were released Sunday under a Gaza truce that Trump’s team had been involved in along with Biden’s administration.Americans are meanwhile increasingly embracing some of Trump’s policies, a New York Times poll showed Sunday, despite a divisive first term and the fact that he is the first convicted felon to be elected president.Just over half of Americans want him to follow through on mass deportations, even if they oppose his threats to exact retribution on his political enemies, according to the Times poll.

Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” topped the North American box office on a long holiday weekend after ceding the top spot a week earlier, analysts said Sunday.The animated film earned an estimated $15.5 million for the period from Friday to Monday, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said.Two new releases — Sony’s “One of Them Days” and Universal’s “Wolf Man” — took over the second and third spots.Analyst David A. Gross predicted a “very profitable run” for “One of Them Days, which stars Keke Palmer and singer/songwriter SZA as roommates scrambling to pay rent or face eviction after a boyfriend spends their money.The film earned an estimated $14 million over the holiday weekend.”This is an excellent opening for an original Black American comedy,” he said, boosted by “sensational critics reviews and an excellent audience score.”Horror film “Wolf Man,” starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, came in below analysts’ expectations, with $12 million over four days. As the start of a new horror series and as a remake of the 1941 classic starring Bela Lugosi, gross called the box office take “weak.”In fourth spot, down one spot from last weekend, was Paramount’s animated “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” at $10.3 million.And in fifth, hanging strong in its eighth weekend out, was “Moana 2” at $8.4 million.Those numbers propelled the Disney blockbuster past the $1 billion mark globally. It is the studio’s third 2024 release to hit the billion-dollar club after “Deadpool and Wolverine” and “Inside Out 2.”Rounding out the top 10 were:”Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” ($7.8 million)”Nosferatu” ($5.1 million)”A Complete Unknown” ($4.6 million)”Wicked” ($4.56 million)”Babygirl” ($2.5 million)

Donald Trump, who returned to Washington this weekend before his inauguration, is staying at the historic residence Blair House before moving back into the White House on Monday. The austere three-story facade is where select foreign visitors have been sumptuously housed, and where one US president escaped an assassination attempt. Charles de Gaulle, the late queen Elizabeth II and the emperor of Japan are among the guests who have stayed in the venerable brick structure across from the White House, in the heart of the federal capital.Blair House actually comprises four contiguous buildings, forming a complex of 70,000 square feet (6,500 square meters) — larger than the White House itself — including 119 opulently decorated rooms dedicated to welcoming foreign leaders or providing a venue for high-stakes diplomatic talks.In the back, a quiet garden with a fountain, park benches and ivy-covered walls allows visitors a chance to enjoy fresh air far from the tourists who swarm Pennsylvania Avenue.The president’s guest house, as it is often described, has been the scene of marathon negotiating sessions over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and meetings of G7 finance ministers.It also played host to a colorful visit in the 1990s by heavy-drinking Russian president Boris Yeltsin who, according to Bill Clinton, was seen one day in 1995 hailing a taxi out front in his underwear and, a day later, was mistaken for a drunken intruder wandering in the building’s basement.In 1998, British prime minister Tony Blair played on the similarity in names, quipping that he felt “kind of at home” when he stayed at Blair House.- Guns and cigar smoke -In addition to welcoming foreign dignitaries, it is in Blair House where a US president-elect traditionally spends the last few days before his inauguration.That gave rise to a minor kerfuffle in 2009. Democratic president-elect Barack Obama arrived from Chicago with his family and hoped to move into Blair House early while preparing for the mammoth celebration around his historic January 20 inauguration. But the Republican administration of George W. Bush said he could not move in before the 15th, offering the excuse that a former Australian prime minister, in town to receive an award, was still there — an excuse that met with skepticism from some commentators.Despite a lack of extensive security surrounding Blair House at the time, President Harry Truman and his family spent years there while the White House was undergoing a major renovation.That minimal protective layer made it possible on November 1, 1950 for two armed Puerto Rican independence activists to break in in a vain attempt to assassinate Truman. One assailant and a policeman were killed.Inadequate security was also blamed when, in September 2000, an intruder managed to reach the room where the Indian prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, was staying. Vajpayee was not present at the time.Built in 1824, Blair House was soon purchased by Francis Preston Blair, editor in chief of the Washington Globe newspaper and a close advisor of President Andrew Jackson, who used the building as a venue for a sort of salon for the city’s elite.In 1942, the US government purchased Blair House at the urging of president Franklin D. Roosevelt. His patience had been tried by White House visitor Winston Churchill, who would fill the mansion’s hallways with acrid cigar smoke and once tried to rouse FDR at three in the morning for a chat.

Thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of Washington on Saturday in protest at the policies of Donald Trump and his Republican Party, two days before the billionaire reclaims the Oval Office.The “People’s March” has been organized by a collective of civil rights and social justice groups, including the team behind the Women’s March, which drew hundreds of thousands of people to the US capital in the wake of Trump’s first inauguration in 2017.Participants are highlighting a range of issues which they say are under attack from Trump and his party’s leaders, including abortion access, climate change, the need for better protections against gun violence, and immigrant rights.Colorful signs and plenty of pink pussy hats — a throwback to the 2017 event — dotted the crowd in downtown Washington, which gathered at three parks before converging for a march to the Lincoln Memorial for a rally.”These laws endanger our lives. Women are dying,” said demonstrator Aisha Becker-Burrowes, who was barely audible over the crowd’s chants of “My body, my choice.”Susan Duclos, a 60-year-old who came from Florida with her daughter to protest, said she was “scared” and “angry” about Trump’s return to office.”So many people are voting against their own interests. I don’t understand it,” Duclos told AFP.Another protester, Carine — a 40-year-old who came from Arizona and declined to give her last name — said she was afraid of what might happen during Trump’s second term but was committed to remaining engaged.”I’m trying to remain hopeful. It feels very good to be surrounded with so many people. I’ll continue the fight back home,” she told AFP, adding that it was her first time protesting in the US capital.Sarah Kong, a 31-year-old psychiatrist who came from Colorado with her mother to participate, echoed Carine’s nervous optimism.”This is my first time marching. And I want to do this again. I feel motivated, stimulated by all these people. I have faith in the future, even though I’m scared,” Kong said.”These are important times.”Sister marches were planned nationwide, including in New York.The catch-all march was unfolding after Trump’s incoming “border czar” Tom Homan told Fox News that a “big raid” would be carried out across the country shortly after Trump takes the oath of office on Monday. Trump, who defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in November’s presidential election, is returning to the White House for a second term. He has vowed swift action to deport millions of undocumented migrants upon taking office.Trump was due to arrive in Washington later Saturday to begin his inaugural festivities with a private event featuring fireworks at his golf club in the Virginia suburbs.