US President Donald Trump is facing a lot of flak after Capitol Hill violence but a new video has surfaced that will potentially bring more criticism his way. It is being reported&nbsp;now that Trump and his family were 'partying'&nbsp;just hours before his supporters laid siege to Capitol Building.

The video has been posted by none other than Donald Trump Jr. and has since gone viral as many people are sharing it online.&nbsp;

The video was posted by Trump Jr at 11:04 pm Indian Time on January 6, this means that it was around 12:30 pm in Washington on January 6. Donald Trump addressed his supporters shortly after. The Capitol Hill violence began in earnest at 1:30 pm local time.

Donald Trump Jr has taken down this&nbsp;video from his Facebook page now.

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Trump, Donald Jr, Kimberly Guilfoyle and others watching the crowd getting fired up hours before they stormed the Capitol, and dancing in enjoyment while the song Gloria is playing. Seems premeditated, no? <a href="https://t.co/E6tHufOjiN">pic.twitter.com/E6tHufOjiN</a>
— Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) <a href="https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/1347303958679875589?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The violence at the Capitol Hill and storming of the Capitol Building has left USA's image as a 'beacon of democracy' in tatters. Even US allies are unable to hide their shock and authoritarian regimes across the world have happily taken potshots at America.

Normally, a state-backed gang rampage in legislature for the demand of lost election to be nullified would have had&nbsp;US diplomats marching to their laptops to draft a statement of condemnation. But after the Capitol HIll violence, US has found itself at the receiving end on the world stage.

Capitol Hill violence has also become a PR disaster for Donald Trump. He was criticised for not making an appeal for calm early enough. It was only after President-elect Joe Biden appeared on television did Trump tweet a recorded video message appealing for calm.

But even in that video, Trump said that he loved&nbsp;the protesters and they were special

US President Donald Trump is facing a lot of flak after Capitol Hill violence but a new video has surfaced that will potentially bring more criticism his way. It is being reported now that Trump and his family were 'partying' just hours before his supporters laid siege to Capitol Building.

US President Donald Trump is facing a lot of flak after Capitol Hill violence but a new video has surfaced that will potentially bring more criticism his way. It is being reported now that Trump and his family were 'partying' just hours before his supporters laid siege to Capitol Building. The video has been posted by none other than Donald Trump Jr. and has since gone viral as many people are sharing it online. The video was posted by Trump Jr at 11:04 pm Indian Time on January 6, this means that it was around 12:30 pm in Washington on January 6. Donald Trump addressed his supporters shortly after. The Capitol Hill violence began in earnest at 1:30 pm local time. Donald Trump Jr has taken down this video from his Facebook page now. Trump, Donald Jr, Kimberly Guilfoyle and others watching the crowd getting fired up hours before they stormed the Capitol, and dancing in enjoyment while the song Gloria is playing. Seems premeditated, no? pic.twitter.com/E6tHufOjiN — Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) January 7, 2021 × The violence at the Capitol Hill and storming of the Capitol Building has left USA's image as a 'beacon of democracy' in tatters. Even US allies are unable to hide their shock and authoritarian regimes across the world have happily taken potshots at America. Normally, a state-backed gang rampage in legislature for the demand of lost election to be nullified would have had US diplomats marching to their laptops to draft a statement of condemnation. But after the Capitol HIll violence, US has found itself at the receiving end on the world stage. Capitol Hill violence has also become a PR disaster for Donald Trump. He was criticised for not making an appeal for calm early enough. It was only after President-elect Joe Biden appeared on television did Trump tweet a recorded video message appealing for calm. But even in that video, Trump said that he loved the protesters and they were special

Video: Donald Trump was 'partying' just hours before Capitol Hill violence

UK on Friday approved coronavirus vaccine developed by Moderna for mass inoculation. This is a third vaccine that has got a go-ahead in UK. The government is aiming to incolute 15 million by mid-February. 1.5 million people have been given doses of Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccines since Decemeber.

Go ahead to the Moderna vaccine was given by the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock welcomed the development and said that the approval was another shot in the arm for UK's vaccination programme.

"Moderna's vaccine will allow us to accelerate our vaccination programme even further once doses become available from the spring."

The MHRA was the first regulator in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs, allowing the start of what health chiefs said is Britain's biggest-ever vaccination drive.

Hancock's department said the Moderna jab "meets the regulator's strict standards of safety, efficacy and quality".

Its authorisation follows months of clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people, and extensive analysis of its safety, quality and effectiveness.

England's deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, called the vaccine "highly effective" and said it was "another impressive success for science".

The Department of Health and Social Care said it was 94 percent effective in preventing disease, including in the elderly.

Britain has ordered 17 million doses of the vaccine, which will be delivered in the coming months once Moderna increases production capacity, it added.

Elderly residents and staff at care homes, the over-70s and the clinically extremely vulnerable are first in line for the jabs, and the government has stepped up the programme to meet its February target.

More than 1,000 new vaccination sites, including in community pharmacies and even supermarket car parks, are expected to be open by the end of this week.

Army logistics specialists have been drafted in to help with supply and deliveries.

Britain has secured early access to 367 million doses of seven of the most promising vaccine candidates.

The Moderna announcement comes with much of Britain under a renewed lockdown to try to cut spiralling infection rates and deaths blamed on a fast-spreading variant of the virus.

A total of 1,162 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test were recorded on Thursday -- the highest since the first-wave peak in April last year.

Overall, some 2.9 million people have been infected.

Stay-at-home restrictions, which include school closures, are expected to last until at least mid-February.

"This is further great news and another weapon in our arsenal to tame this awful disease," he said.

"Moderna's vaccine will allow us to accelerate our vaccination programme even further once doses become available from the spring."

The MHRA was the first regulator in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs, allowing the start of what health chiefs said is Britain's biggest-ever vaccination drive.

Hancock's department said the Moderna jab "meets the regulator's strict standards of safety, efficacy and quality".

Its authorisation follows months of clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people, and extensive analysis of its safety, quality and effectiveness.

England's deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, called the vaccine "highly effective" and said it was "another impressive success for science".

The Department of Health and Social Care said it was 94 percent effective in preventing disease, including in the elderly.

Britain has ordered 17 million doses of the vaccine, which will be delivered in the coming months once Moderna increases production capacity, it added.

Elderly residents and staff at care homes, the over-70s and the clinically extremely vulnerable are first in line for the jabs, and the government has stepped up the programme to meet its February target.

More than 1,000 new vaccination sites, including in community pharmacies and even supermarket car parks, are expected to be open by the end of this week.

Army logistics specialists have been drafted in to help with supply and deliveries.

Britain has secured early access to 367 million doses of seven of the most promising vaccine candidates.

The Moderna announcement comes with much of Britain under a renewed lockdown to try to cut spiralling infection rates and deaths blamed on a fast-spreading variant of the virus.

A total of 1,162 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test were recorded on Thursday -- the highest since the first-wave peak in April last year. 
Overall, some 2.9 million people have been infected.

Stay-at-home restrictions, which include school closures, are expected to last until at least mid-February.

(With AFP inputs)

UK on Friday approved coronavirus vaccine developed by Moderna for mass inoculation. This is a third vaccine that has got a go-ahead in UK. The government is aiming to incolute 15 million by mid-February.

UK on Friday approved coronavirus vaccine developed by Moderna for mass inoculation. This is a third vaccine that has got a go-ahead in UK. The government is aiming to incolute 15 million by mid-February. 1.5 million people have been given doses of Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccines since Decemeber. Go ahead to the Moderna vaccine was given by the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock welcomed the development and said that the approval was another shot in the arm for UK's vaccination programme. "Moderna's vaccine will allow us to accelerate our vaccination programme even further once doses become available from the spring." The MHRA was the first regulator in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs, allowing the start of what health chiefs said is Britain's biggest-ever vaccination drive. Hancock's department said the Moderna jab "meets the regulator's strict standards of safety, efficacy and quality". Its authorisation follows months of clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people, and extensive analysis of its safety, quality and effectiveness. England's deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, called the vaccine "highly effective" and said it was "another impressive success for science". The Department of Health and Social Care said it was 94 percent effective in preventing disease, including in the elderly. Britain has ordered 17 million doses of the vaccine, which will be delivered in the coming months once Moderna increases production capacity, it added. Elderly residents and staff at care homes, the over-70s and the clinically extremely vulnerable are first in line for the jabs, and the government has stepped up the programme to meet its February target. More than 1,000 new vaccination sites, including in community pharmacies and even supermarket car parks, are expected to be open by the end of this week. Army logistics specialists have been drafted in to help with supply and deliveries. Britain has secured early access to 367 million doses of seven of the most promising vaccine candidates. The Moderna announcement comes with much of Britain under a renewed lockdown to try to cut spiralling infection rates and deaths blamed on a fast-spreading variant of the virus. A total of 1,162 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test were recorded on Thursday -- the highest since the first-wave peak in April last year. Overall, some 2.9 million people have been infected. Stay-at-home restrictions, which include school closures, are expected to last until at least mid-February. "This is further great news and another weapon in our arsenal to tame this awful disease," he said. "Moderna's vaccine will allow us to accelerate our vaccination programme even further once doses become available from the spring." The MHRA was the first regulator in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs, allowing the start of what health chiefs said is Britain's biggest-ever vaccination drive. Hancock's department said the Moderna jab "meets the regulator's strict standards of safety, efficacy and quality". Its authorisation follows months of clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people, and extensive analysis of its safety, quality and effectiveness. England's deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, called the vaccine "highly effective" and said it was "another impressive success for science". The Department of Health and Social Care said it was 94 percent effective in preventing disease, including in the elderly. Britain has ordered 17 million doses of the vaccine, which will be delivered in the coming months once Moderna increases production capacity, it added. Elderly residents and staff at care homes, the over-70s and the clinically extremely vulnerable are first in line for the jabs, and the government has stepped up the programme to meet its February target. More than 1,000 new vaccination sites, including in community pharmacies and even supermarket car parks, are expected to be open by the end of this week. Army logistics specialists have been drafted in to help with supply and deliveries. Britain has secured early access to 367 million doses of seven of the most promising vaccine candidates. The Moderna announcement comes with much of Britain under a renewed lockdown to try to cut spiralling infection rates and deaths blamed on a fast-spreading variant of the virus. A total of 1,162 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test were recorded on Thursday -- the highest since the first-wave peak in April last year. Overall, some 2.9 million people have been infected. Stay-at-home restrictions, which include school closures, are expected to last until at least mid-February. (With AFP inputs)

Moderna COVID vaccine gets approval in UK

Pics | A peek inside the mansion that'll make you Sylvester Stallone's neighbour

In what was a sign of his continued refusal to admit Joe Biden's election victory, current US President Donald Trump asked his deputy and US Vice President Mike Pence to not certify Biden's victory in US Congress. Due to his combative stance for past two months, many steps which are considered mere formality have been embroiled in contention.

"If Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election," Trump told cheering supporters outside the White House. "He has the absolute right to do it.

"Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us, and if he doesn't, that will be a sad day for our country."

Vice-President Mike Pence will preside over the US Congress session in which the members of the legislature will put their seal on Joe Biden's victory in the election.

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Trump rebuked "weak" Republicans planning to go along with the certification, accusing them of having "turned a blind eye" and threatening them with primary challenges in future elections.&nbsp;

During his speech in front of his supporters, Trump repeated his claims of US Presidential elections being a fraud and as usual, did not offer any substantial proof to support his claim.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-cost-republican-party-the-house-and-now-the-senate-354941">Donald Trump cost Republican Party the House, and now the Senate</a>

"We will never give up, we will never concede," Trump said the rally at the Ellipse park area near the White House, claiming without evidence that "hundreds of thousands" of people were attending the event. "We will stop the steal."

(With agency inputs)

In what was a sign of his continued refusal to admit Joe Biden's election victory, current US President Donald Trump asked his deputy and US Vice President Mike Pence to not certify Biden's victory in US Congress.

In what was a sign of his continued refusal to admit Joe Biden's election victory, current US President Donald Trump asked his deputy and US Vice President Mike Pence to not certify Biden's victory in US Congress. Due to his combative stance for past two months, many steps which are considered mere formality have been embroiled in contention. "If Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election," Trump told cheering supporters outside the White House. "He has the absolute right to do it. "Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us, and if he doesn't, that will be a sad day for our country." Vice-President Mike Pence will preside over the US Congress session in which the members of the legislature will put their seal on Joe Biden's victory in the election. https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-democrats-set-to-control-us-senate-354944 × Trump rebuked "weak" Republicans planning to go along with the certification, accusing them of having "turned a blind eye" and threatening them with primary challenges in future elections. During his speech in front of his supporters, Trump repeated his claims of US Presidential elections being a fraud and as usual, did not offer any substantial proof to support his claim. Also Read | Donald Trump cost Republican Party the House, and now the Senate "We will never give up, we will never concede," Trump said the rally at the Ellipse park area near the White House, claiming without evidence that "hundreds of thousands" of people were attending the event. "We will stop the steal." (With agency inputs)

Donald Trump asks Vice-President Mike Pence to not certify Joe Biden victory in US Congress

Bird Flu has got authorities in various Indian states on alert. The country, still battling with coronavirus pandemic clearly does not want another health crisis. Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has said on Wednesday that avian influenza had been reported from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Kerala at 12 epicentres

Uttar Pradesh

Nine crows were found dead in Uttar Pradesh's Sonbhadra district, amid cases of avian influenza in neighbouring Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, but officials said it seems like the birds died due to cold.

The deaths were reported on Wednesday evening from the Dala area of the district and samples taken from two of the birds have been sent to a lab in Bhopal for testing, Chief Veterinary Officer, Sonbhadra, A K Srivastava said on Thursday.

Expert teams have been formed to inspect poultry farms and wetlands in Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida), District Magistrate Suhas L Y said on Thursday, cautioning people not to fall for social media rumours regarding bird flu. The district magistrate had on Wednesday also held a meeting with senior administration, veterinary, forest and health officials to review the avian influenza situation.

Suhas said he has directed departments concerned to gear up to deal with any situation and follow the guidelines and alerts being issued by the Centre and the state government.

"There is no case (of bird flu) here yet and these measures are being put in place as a precaution," he told reporters.

Karnataka

Amid the scare of bird flu in the country, six crows have died in Karnataka`s Dakshina Kannada district and their samples have been sent for testing. State Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said the government has taken all safety measures and there is no need to panic.&nbsp; 
"Six crows died in Dakshina Kannada district, samples sent for testing. Precautionary measures have been taken in border districts to prevent bird flu," Sudhakar said.

The minister asserted: "We should not spread unnecessary panic as lakhs of students are attending schools. The government has taken all safety measures."

Madhya Pradesh

In view of the bird flu outbreak, the Madhya Pradesh government has banned chicken trade with southern states for next 10 days.&nbsp; 
"We are keeping an eye on bird flu and have issued the guideline for poultry farms. We have banned the supply of chicken from the southern states to Madhya Pradesh for the next 10 days. We are taking precautions," Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told media

Maharashtra

After many states reported cases of bird flu, the Maharashtra government has issued a red alert in the state and asked the district officials to keep a strict vigil, said state`s Animal Husbandry Minister Sunil Kedar on Thursday.Speaking to ANI, Kedar informed that till today no case of bird flu has been reported in Maharashtra."

Gujarat

Four crows were found dead in Gujarat's Mehsana district on Thursday, amid an alert sounded in the state in view of the bird flu cases emerging in some other parts of the country, officials said.

The crows were found dead in the premises of the famous Sun Temple in Modhera village of Mehsana.

The carcasses have been sent to a Bhopal-based laboratory to check if they died due to bird flu or some other reason, Mehsana's animal husbandry officer Dr Bharat Desai told PTI.

 
Kerala

A three-member central team arrived in Kerala on Thursday to assess the situation arising out of outbreak of bird flu in Alappuzha and Kottayam districts, official sources said.

The team comprising Union Health Ministry's public health specialist Dr Ruchi Jain, Pune National Institute of Virology scientist Dr Shailesh Pawar and Delhi RML Hospital physician Dr Anith Jindal held discussions with district authorities at the collectoratehere, they said.

The state governments in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Punjab have said that no case of bird flu has been detected in their respective state so far. However, the governments are taking all precautionary measures to deal with any possible outbreak.

Bird Flu has got authorities in various Indian states on alert. The country, still battling with coronavirus pandemic clearly does not want another health crisis.

Bird Flu has got authorities in various Indian states on alert. The country, still battling with coronavirus pandemic clearly does not want another health crisis. Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has said on Wednesday that avian influenza had been reported from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Kerala at 12 epicentres Uttar Pradesh Nine crows were found dead in Uttar Pradesh's Sonbhadra district, amid cases of avian influenza in neighbouring Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, but officials said it seems like the birds died due to cold. The deaths were reported on Wednesday evening from the Dala area of the district and samples taken from two of the birds have been sent to a lab in Bhopal for testing, Chief Veterinary Officer, Sonbhadra, A K Srivastava said on Thursday. Expert teams have been formed to inspect poultry farms and wetlands in Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida), District Magistrate Suhas L Y said on Thursday, cautioning people not to fall for social media rumours regarding bird flu. The district magistrate had on Wednesday also held a meeting with senior administration, veterinary, forest and health officials to review the avian influenza situation. Suhas said he has directed departments concerned to gear up to deal with any situation and follow the guidelines and alerts being issued by the Centre and the state government. "There is no case (of bird flu) here yet and these measures are being put in place as a precaution," he told reporters. Karnataka Amid the scare of bird flu in the country, six crows have died in Karnataka`s Dakshina Kannada district and their samples have been sent for testing. State Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said the government has taken all safety measures and there is no need to panic. "Six crows died in Dakshina Kannada district, samples sent for testing. Precautionary measures have been taken in border districts to prevent bird flu," Sudhakar said. The minister asserted: "We should not spread unnecessary panic as lakhs of students are attending schools. The government has taken all safety measures." Madhya Pradesh In view of the bird flu outbreak, the Madhya Pradesh government has banned chicken trade with southern states for next 10 days. "We are keeping an eye on bird flu and have issued the guideline for poultry farms. We have banned the supply of chicken from the southern states to Madhya Pradesh for the next 10 days. We are taking precautions," Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told media Maharashtra After many states reported cases of bird flu, the Maharashtra government has issued a red alert in the state and asked the district officials to keep a strict vigil, said state`s Animal Husbandry Minister Sunil Kedar on Thursday.Speaking to ANI, Kedar informed that till today no case of bird flu has been reported in Maharashtra." Gujarat Four crows were found dead in Gujarat's Mehsana district on Thursday, amid an alert sounded in the state in view of the bird flu cases emerging in some other parts of the country, officials said. The crows were found dead in the premises of the famous Sun Temple in Modhera village of Mehsana. The carcasses have been sent to a Bhopal-based laboratory to check if they died due to bird flu or some other reason, Mehsana's animal husbandry officer Dr Bharat Desai told PTI. Kerala A three-member central team arrived in Kerala on Thursday to assess the situation arising out of outbreak of bird flu in Alappuzha and Kottayam districts, official sources said. The team comprising Union Health Ministry's public health specialist Dr Ruchi Jain, Pune National Institute of Virology scientist Dr Shailesh Pawar and Delhi RML Hospital physician Dr Anith Jindal held discussions with district authorities at the collectoratehere, they said. The state governments in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Punjab have said that no case of bird flu has been detected in their respective state so far. However, the governments are taking all precautionary measures to deal with any possible outbreak.

Bird Flu: Indian states on alert, take precautionary measures

World has moulded itself as per&nbsp;the new normal. Masks have become part of our lives courtesy the COVID-19 virus. Though they pose minor inconvenience they are absolutely necessary for public health. There have been many tech innovations in the last year alone to help us cope with life with the pandemic, but this one is sure to raise questions from privacy advocates.

A Japanese company has developed a facial recognition system&nbsp;that is capable of recognising a person even when he/she is wearing a mask! NEC Corp, the system-maker has been mentioned in news reports as saying that main purpose of the software is to help people with allergies to navigate through world that is in increasing need of contactless behaviour.

Wearing a mask has been a common practice in Japan even from before the pandemic.

The system focusses on the uncovered parts of the face and recognises a person from his eyes and cheekbones. For this system to be effective, the person needs to submit his photo in advance.

The company has not disclosed the price of the system but its customers already include Lufthansa and Swiss International Airlines.&nbsp;

NEC Corp claims that its facial recognition system has an accuracy of more than 99.9 per cent.

World has moulded itself as per the new normal. Masks have become part of our lives courtesy the COVID-19 virus. Though they pose minor inconvenience they are absolutely necessary for public health.

World has moulded itself as per the new normal. Masks have become part of our lives courtesy the COVID-19 virus. Though they pose minor inconvenience they are absolutely necessary for public health. There have been many tech innovations in the last year alone to help us cope with life with the pandemic, but this one is sure to raise questions from privacy advocates. A Japanese company has developed a facial recognition system that is capable of recognising a person even when he/she is wearing a mask! NEC Corp, the system-maker has been mentioned in news reports as saying that main purpose of the software is to help people with allergies to navigate through world that is in increasing need of contactless behaviour. Wearing a mask has been a common practice in Japan even from before the pandemic. The system focusses on the uncovered parts of the face and recognises a person from his eyes and cheekbones. For this system to be effective, the person needs to submit his photo in advance. The company has not disclosed the price of the system but its customers already include Lufthansa and Swiss International Airlines. NEC Corp claims that its facial recognition system has an accuracy of more than 99.9 per cent.

Japanese company makes system that recognises people through masks

Democrats on Wednesday completed a sweep of the two U.S. Senate seats up for grabs in runoff elections in the state of Georgia, giving the party control of the chamber and boosting the prospects for President-elect Joe Biden's ambitious legislative agenda.

Raphael Warnock, a Baptist preacher from Martin Luther King Jr.'s former church, beat Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler to become the first Black senator in the deep South state's history while Democrat Jon Ossoff, a documentary filmaker who at 33 would become the Senate's youngest member, beat Republican David Perdue.

The results would give Democrats narrow control of both chambers of Congress, making it easier to appoint liberal-leaning judges and advance legislative priorities from coronavirus relief to climate change when Biden takes office on Jan. 20.

"Georgia's voters delivered a resounding message yesterday: they want action on the crises we face and they want it right now," Biden said in a statement. He said he would work with both parties to confirm key administration officials quickly.

The Georgia result is a final repudiation of outgoing President Donald Trump, who stands to be the first U.S. president since 1932 to lose the White House and both chambers of Congress in a single term.

Trump held rallies for both Republican candidates, but overshadowed the campaign with false accusations that his own loss in the November presidential election in Georgia was tainted by fraud, repeatedly attacking Republican officials in the state. Hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday in an attempt to force Congress to undo Trump's election loss.

With 98% of the vote counted, Warnock led Loeffler by 1.5 percentage points and Ossoff led Perdue by 0.6 percentage points, according to Edison Research. Both are expected to win beyond the margin that would require a recount.

Winning both contests would hand Democrats narrow control of the Senate by creating a 50-50 split and giving Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote from Jan. 20. The party already has a thin majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Republicans would retain control of the Senate if they held on to at least one of the Georgia seats.

The campaign's final days were overshadowed by Trump's attempts to pressure Republican Georgia officials to "find" enough votes to overturn Biden's win in the state, as well as his unfounded fraud accusations. He has yet to admit defeat.

"We will never give up, we will never concede," Trump told thousands of supporters at a rally.

'NOT A GREAT WAY TO TURN OUT YOUR VOTERS'

Some Republicans blamed Trump for the loss.

"It turns out that telling the voters that the election is rigged is not a great way to turn out your voters," Senator Mitt Romney, one of Trump's few Republican critics in Congress, told reporters.

The election signaled a shift in the politics of Georgia and the wider deep South. At least 4.5 million voters participated, smashing earlier turnout figures for runoff races. Democrats have worked hard to increase turnout among Black voters, their most reliable supporters in the region.

More than 129,000 voters in the runoffs did not vote in November, according to state data.

Most of them were Democrats, Gabriel Sterling, a Republican state election official, told a news conference: “While Republicans were busy attacking the governor and my boss, Democrats were knocking on doors and getting out the vote.”

In a video message, Warnock, whose Ebenezer Baptist Church is legendary in Georgia because of its role in the civil rights movement under King, recalled his humble upbringing as one of 12 children of a woman who worked in cotton fields.

"Because this is America, the 82-year-old hands that used to pick somebody else's cotton went to the polls and picked her youngest son to be a United States senator," he said.

Declaring victory, Ossoff said he looked forward "to serving you in the United States Senate with integrity, with humility, with honor".

Both Republican senators, following Trump's lead, vowed to fight on. "We will mobilize every available resource and exhaust every legal recourse to ensure all legally cast ballots are counted," Perdue said in a statement.

During the campaign, Republicans had painted Ossoff and Warnock as radicals who would pursue a hard-left agenda. That message failed to resonate with many white suburbanites who have increasingly abandoned the Republican party under Trump.

Trump pressed Vice President Mike Pence to throw out election results in states he narrowly lost when he presides over the counting of electoral votes to certify Biden's victory. Pence has no authority to do so. The joint session of Congress was disrupted by Trump supporters and it is unclear when it will be completed.

Some Republican lawmakers have said they will try to reject some state tallies, which could drag out the certification process but stands no chance of succeeding.

Democrats on Wednesday completed a sweep of the two U.S. Senate seats up for grabs in runoff elections in the state of Georgia, giving the party control of the chamber and boosting the prospects for President-elect Joe Biden's ambitious legislative agenda.

Democrats on Wednesday completed a sweep of the two U.S. Senate seats up for grabs in runoff elections in the state of Georgia, giving the party control of the chamber and boosting the prospects for President-elect Joe Biden's ambitious legislative agenda. Raphael Warnock, a Baptist preacher from Martin Luther King Jr.'s former church, beat Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler to become the first Black senator in the deep South state's history while Democrat Jon Ossoff, a documentary filmaker who at 33 would become the Senate's youngest member, beat Republican David Perdue. The results would give Democrats narrow control of both chambers of Congress, making it easier to appoint liberal-leaning judges and advance legislative priorities from coronavirus relief to climate change when Biden takes office on Jan. 20. "Georgia's voters delivered a resounding message yesterday: they want action on the crises we face and they want it right now," Biden said in a statement. He said he would work with both parties to confirm key administration officials quickly. The Georgia result is a final repudiation of outgoing President Donald Trump, who stands to be the first U.S. president since 1932 to lose the White House and both chambers of Congress in a single term. Trump held rallies for both Republican candidates, but overshadowed the campaign with false accusations that his own loss in the November presidential election in Georgia was tainted by fraud, repeatedly attacking Republican officials in the state. Hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday in an attempt to force Congress to undo Trump's election loss. With 98% of the vote counted, Warnock led Loeffler by 1.5 percentage points and Ossoff led Perdue by 0.6 percentage points, according to Edison Research. Both are expected to win beyond the margin that would require a recount. Winning both contests would hand Democrats narrow control of the Senate by creating a 50-50 split and giving Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote from Jan. 20. The party already has a thin majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Republicans would retain control of the Senate if they held on to at least one of the Georgia seats. The campaign's final days were overshadowed by Trump's attempts to pressure Republican Georgia officials to "find" enough votes to overturn Biden's win in the state, as well as his unfounded fraud accusations. He has yet to admit defeat. "We will never give up, we will never concede," Trump told thousands of supporters at a rally. 'NOT A GREAT WAY TO TURN OUT YOUR VOTERS' Some Republicans blamed Trump for the loss. "It turns out that telling the voters that the election is rigged is not a great way to turn out your voters," Senator Mitt Romney, one of Trump's few Republican critics in Congress, told reporters. The election signaled a shift in the politics of Georgia and the wider deep South. At least 4.5 million voters participated, smashing earlier turnout figures for runoff races. Democrats have worked hard to increase turnout among Black voters, their most reliable supporters in the region. More than 129,000 voters in the runoffs did not vote in November, according to state data. Most of them were Democrats, Gabriel Sterling, a Republican state election official, told a news conference: “While Republicans were busy attacking the governor and my boss, Democrats were knocking on doors and getting out the vote.” In a video message, Warnock, whose Ebenezer Baptist Church is legendary in Georgia because of its role in the civil rights movement under King, recalled his humble upbringing as one of 12 children of a woman who worked in cotton fields. "Because this is America, the 82-year-old hands that used to pick somebody else's cotton went to the polls and picked her youngest son to be a United States senator," he said. Declaring victory, Ossoff said he looked forward "to serving you in the United States Senate with integrity, with humility, with honor". Both Republican senators, following Trump's lead, vowed to fight on. "We will mobilize every available resource and exhaust every legal recourse to ensure all legally cast ballots are counted," Perdue said in a statement. During the campaign, Republicans had painted Ossoff and Warnock as radicals who would pursue a hard-left agenda. That message failed to resonate with many white suburbanites who have increasingly abandoned the Republican party under Trump. Trump pressed Vice President Mike Pence to throw out election results in states he narrowly lost when he presides over the counting of electoral votes to certify Biden's victory. Pence has no authority to do so. The joint session of Congress was disrupted by Trump supporters and it is unclear when it will be completed. Some Republican lawmakers have said they will try to reject some state tallies, which could drag out the certification process but stands no chance of succeeding.

Democrats take control of US Senate as they win second race in Georgia

Unprecedented scenes were witnessed at Capitol Hill as hundreds of Donald Trump supporters surrounded and stormed the Capitol Building just when US lawmakers were gathered to certify Joe Biden's victory in US Presidential Elections 2020.

As Trump supporters surged through halls of the Congress, both the Houses were forced to halt proceedings. US Congress members were evacuated. Security inside the Congress had to even draw guns to deter the protesters.One protester occupied the Senate dais and yelled, "Trump won that election." Protesters overturned barricades and clashed with police as thousands descended on the Capitol grounds.

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Video showed protesters breaking windows and police deploying teargas inside the building. Local media reported that one person had been shot and video showed a person being wheeled from the building on a stretcher.

Vice President Mike Pence, who had presided over the joint session of Congress, had already been escorted from the Senate.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/democrats-take-control-of-us-senate-as-they-win-second-race-in-georgia-354952">Democrats take control of U.S. Senate as they win second race in Georgia</a> 
 
The chaotic scenes unfolded after Trump, who before the election refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost, addressed thousands of protesters, repeating unfounded claims that the contest was stolen from him due to widespread election fraud and irregularities.&nbsp;

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Lawmakers had been debating a last-ditch effort by pro-Trump lawmakers to challenge the results, an effort that was unlikely to succeed.

After situation at the Capitol Hill areas grew tense and violent, Washington Mayor&nbsp;Muriel Bowser ordered a citywide curfew of 6 pm local time (2300 GMT)

This is an 'insurrection': Joe Biden

US President-elect in a LIVE address to the media denounced the event as an "insurrection". He said that this was not a protest.

"I call on President Trump to go on national television now to... demand an end to this siege," Biden said. "To storm the Capitol, to smash windows, to occupy offices, the floor of the United States Senate... threatening the safety of duly elected officials? It's not a protest, it's insurrection."

He asked President Trump to "step up" to end the violence.

Shortly after his LIVE address Trump tweeted a recorded video and asked his supporters to "go home" but also said that he loved them.

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Police overwhelmed

The security around the Capitol Building was beefed up anyway as the US Congress session was set to take place but sheer number of hundreds of Trump supporters overwhelmed police and other security services.

After the situation worsened, US National Guard was mobilised in Washington and neighboring states.

International condemnation

Developments at Capitol Hill drew international attention.

"Disgraceful scenes in U.S. Congress. The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power," tweeted UK PM Boris Johnson.

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Disgraceful scenes in U.S. Congress. The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson/status/1346926138057220103?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

&nbsp;French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian termed the developments "attack against&nbsp;democracy"

"The violent acts against American institutions are a grave attack against democracy. I condemn them. The American people's will and vote must be respected," he tweeted.

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The violent acts against American institutions are a grave attack against democracy. I condemn them. The American people's will and vote must be respected
— Jean-Yves Le Drian (@JY_LeDrian) <a href="https://twitter.com/JY_LeDrian/status/1346945178561609728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that the situation in US was "shocking"

"Shocking scenes in Washington, D.C. The outcome of this democratic election must be respected," he tweeted.

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Shocking scenes in Washington, D.C. The outcome of this democratic election must be respected.
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/jensstoltenberg/status/1346917585535823872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Election officials of both parties and independent observers have said there was no significant fraud in the Nov. 3 contest, which Biden won by more than 7 million votes in the national popular vote.

(With agency inputs)

Unprecedented scenes were witnessed at Capitol Hill as hundreds of Donald Trump supporters surrounded and stormed the Capitol Building just when US lawmakers were gathered to certify Joe Biden's victory in US Presidential Elections 2020.

Unprecedented scenes were witnessed at Capitol Hill as hundreds of Donald Trump supporters surrounded and stormed the Capitol Building just when US lawmakers were gathered to certify Joe Biden's victory in US Presidential Elections 2020. As Trump supporters surged through halls of the Congress, both the Houses were forced to halt proceedings. US Congress members were evacuated. Security inside the Congress had to even draw guns to deter the protesters.One protester occupied the Senate dais and yelled, "Trump won that election." Protesters overturned barricades and clashed with police as thousands descended on the Capitol grounds. Video showed protesters breaking windows and police deploying teargas inside the building. Local media reported that one person had been shot and video showed a person being wheeled from the building on a stretcher. Vice President Mike Pence, who had presided over the joint session of Congress, had already been escorted from the Senate. Also Read | Democrats take control of U.S. Senate as they win second race in Georgia The chaotic scenes unfolded after Trump, who before the election refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost, addressed thousands of protesters, repeating unfounded claims that the contest was stolen from him due to widespread election fraud and irregularities. Lawmakers had been debating a last-ditch effort by pro-Trump lawmakers to challenge the results, an effort that was unlikely to succeed. After situation at the Capitol Hill areas grew tense and violent, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered a citywide curfew of 6 pm local time (2300 GMT) This is an 'insurrection': Joe Biden US President-elect in a LIVE address to the media denounced the event as an "insurrection". He said that this was not a protest. "I call on President Trump to go on national television now to... demand an end to this siege," Biden said. "To storm the Capitol, to smash windows, to occupy offices, the floor of the United States Senate... threatening the safety of duly elected officials? It's not a protest, it's insurrection." He asked President Trump to "step up" to end the violence. Shortly after his LIVE address Trump tweeted a recorded video and asked his supporters to "go home" but also said that he loved them. pic.twitter.com/Pm2PKV0Fp3 — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021 × Police overwhelmed The security around the Capitol Building was beefed up anyway as the US Congress session was set to take place but sheer number of hundreds of Trump supporters overwhelmed police and other security services. After the situation worsened, US National Guard was mobilised in Washington and neighboring states. International condemnation Developments at Capitol Hill drew international attention. "Disgraceful scenes in U.S. Congress. The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power," tweeted UK PM Boris Johnson. Disgraceful scenes in U.S. Congress. The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power. — Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 6, 2021 × French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian termed the developments "attack against democracy" "The violent acts against American institutions are a grave attack against democracy. I condemn them. The American people's will and vote must be respected," he tweeted. The violent acts against American institutions are a grave attack against democracy. I condemn them. The American people's will and vote must be respected — Jean-Yves Le Drian (@JY_LeDrian) January 6, 2021 × NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that the situation in US was "shocking" "Shocking scenes in Washington, D.C. The outcome of this democratic election must be respected," he tweeted. Shocking scenes in Washington, D.C. The outcome of this democratic election must be respected. — Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) January 6, 2021 × Election officials of both parties and independent observers have said there was no significant fraud in the Nov. 3 contest, which Biden won by more than 7 million votes in the national popular vote. (With agency inputs)

Donald Trump supporters storm US Capitol building during Joe Biden certification

Amid surprise and condemnation of violence at Capitol Hill in early hours of Thursday (Indian time), America is faking a lot of flak for the unprecedented events. Latest in the list are USA's cold war nemesis Russia. On Thursday, a high ranking Russian official said that American democracy was "limping on both feet".

"The losing side has more than enough grounds to accuse the winner of falsifications -- it is clear that American democracy is limping on both feet," Konstantin Kosachyov, the chair of the Russian upper house's foreign affairs committee, said in a post on Facebook.

USA always prides itself for being a 'beacon of democracy' and have advocated democratic setup in countries abroad, the reputation seems to have taken a sound being after the violence at Capitol Hill.

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&nbsp;

"The celebration of democracy has ended. It has, unfortunately, hit rock bottom, and I say this without a hint of gloating," said Kosachyov

"America no longer charts the course and so has lost all right to set it. And, even more so, to impose it on others," he added.

Moscow has long bristled at US criticism of the state of Russian democracy under President Vladimir Putin, accusing Washington of hypocrisy and condescension.

The Kremlin has been accused of fostering those divisions with a campaign of interference and disinformation, including alleged attempts to disrupt the 2016 election in Trump's favour that prompted an FBI investigation.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-finally-concedes-defeat-pledges-orderly-transition-after-congress-affirms-biden-win-355120">Trump finally concedes defeat, pledges 'orderly transition' after Congress affirms Biden win</a>

There was no immediate reaction from Russian foreign ministry following events at Capitol Hill but pro-Kremiln lawmakers jumped at the unrest.

"The United States certainly cannot now impose electoral standards on other countries and claim to be the world's 'beacon of democracy'," the foreign affairs chief in the lower house, Leonid Slutsky, told Russian news agencies.

He said Washington was suffering after having promoted "colour revolutions" around the world, like anti-Moscow uprisings in Ukraine and Georgia and the recent protests in Belarus.

"The boomerang of the colour revolutions is turning back on the United States," Slutsky said. "All this threatens to turn into a crisis in the American system of power."

Others appeared to use the events to justify Moscow's domestic policies.&nbsp;

Anton Gorelkin, a lawmaker on the lower house telecommunications committee, praised Twitter and Facebook for suspending Trump's accounts, saying it showed the need to better control social media.

"Social networks must work under strict rules within a legal framework. Because absolute freedom of information is becoming a weapon in the hands of extremists," he said in a post on his Telegram channel.

(With AFP inputs)

Amid surprise and condemnation of violence at Capitol Hill in early hours of Thursday (Indian time), America is faking a lot of flak for the unprecedented events.

Amid surprise and condemnation of violence at Capitol Hill in early hours of Thursday (Indian time), America is faking a lot of flak for the unprecedented events. Latest in the list are USA's cold war nemesis Russia. On Thursday, a high ranking Russian official said that American democracy was "limping on both feet". "The losing side has more than enough grounds to accuse the winner of falsifications -- it is clear that American democracy is limping on both feet," Konstantin Kosachyov, the chair of the Russian upper house's foreign affairs committee, said in a post on Facebook. USA always prides itself for being a 'beacon of democracy' and have advocated democratic setup in countries abroad, the reputation seems to have taken a sound being after the violence at Capitol Hill. × "The celebration of democracy has ended. It has, unfortunately, hit rock bottom, and I say this without a hint of gloating," said Kosachyov "America no longer charts the course and so has lost all right to set it. And, even more so, to impose it on others," he added. Moscow has long bristled at US criticism of the state of Russian democracy under President Vladimir Putin, accusing Washington of hypocrisy and condescension. The Kremlin has been accused of fostering those divisions with a campaign of interference and disinformation, including alleged attempts to disrupt the 2016 election in Trump's favour that prompted an FBI investigation. Also Read | Trump finally concedes defeat, pledges 'orderly transition' after Congress affirms Biden win There was no immediate reaction from Russian foreign ministry following events at Capitol Hill but pro-Kremiln lawmakers jumped at the unrest. "The United States certainly cannot now impose electoral standards on other countries and claim to be the world's 'beacon of democracy'," the foreign affairs chief in the lower house, Leonid Slutsky, told Russian news agencies. He said Washington was suffering after having promoted "colour revolutions" around the world, like anti-Moscow uprisings in Ukraine and Georgia and the recent protests in Belarus. "The boomerang of the colour revolutions is turning back on the United States," Slutsky said. "All this threatens to turn into a crisis in the American system of power." Others appeared to use the events to justify Moscow's domestic policies. Anton Gorelkin, a lawmaker on the lower house telecommunications committee, praised Twitter and Facebook for suspending Trump's accounts, saying it showed the need to better control social media. "Social networks must work under strict rules within a legal framework. Because absolute freedom of information is becoming a weapon in the hands of extremists," he said in a post on his Telegram channel. (With AFP inputs)

US democracy is 'limping', say the Russians

A visibly distraught but steely US President-elect Joe Biden appeared on US television and asked President Donald Trump to "step-up" and end the violent and unprecedented development at US Capitol Hill involving Trump supporters breaking into Capitol Hill to disrupt certification of Biden. Capitol Hill was a scene of unprecedented and surprsing events as Donald Trump-supporters stormed the area and broke into Capitol Building while US Lawmakers were certifying US Presidential Election 2020.

"This is not protest, this is insurrection," said Biden during his address.

"This has to end now," he added.

"At this hour, our democracy is under unprecedented assault," the veteran Democrat said in Wilmington, after hundreds of Trump supporters protesting his election defeat swarmed the Capitol building and put the nation's lawmakers at risk.

Shortly after Biden's LIVE address to media,&nbsp;Donald Trump tweeted a recorded video message in which he was seen asking his supporters to "go home" but he also said that he loved them.

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Hundreds of Trump supporters gathered near the Capitol Building and broke in during early hours of Thursday, January 7 (Indian time). The situation went so out of hand that security persons inside the building had to&nbsp;draw guns.

Prior to that US Senate and House of Representatives went into an emergency recess.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/democrats-take-control-of-us-senate-as-they-win-second-race-in-georgia-354952">Democrats take control of U.S. Senate as they win second race in Georgia</a>

An AFP photographer described a smoky substance in the air in the large circular space under the Capitol dome as 100 or more protesters gathered.

"Police have asked us to get gas masks out as there has been tear gas used in the rotunda," House Democrat Jim Himes said on Twitter.

A visibly distraught but steely US President-elect Joe Biden appeared on US television and asked President Donald Trump to "step-up" and end the violent and unprecedented development at US Capitol Hill involving Trump supporters breaking into Capitol Hill to disrupt certification of Biden.

A visibly distraught but steely US President-elect Joe Biden appeared on US television and asked President Donald Trump to "step-up" and end the violent and unprecedented development at US Capitol Hill involving Trump supporters breaking into Capitol Hill to disrupt certification of Biden. Capitol Hill was a scene of unprecedented and surprsing events as Donald Trump-supporters stormed the area and broke into Capitol Building while US Lawmakers were certifying US Presidential Election 2020. "This is not protest, this is insurrection," said Biden during his address. "This has to end now," he added. "At this hour, our democracy is under unprecedented assault," the veteran Democrat said in Wilmington, after hundreds of Trump supporters protesting his election defeat swarmed the Capitol building and put the nation's lawmakers at risk. Shortly after Biden's LIVE address to media, Donald Trump tweeted a recorded video message in which he was seen asking his supporters to "go home" but he also said that he loved them. pic.twitter.com/Pm2PKV0Fp3 — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021 × Hundreds of Trump supporters gathered near the Capitol Building and broke in during early hours of Thursday, January 7 (Indian time). The situation went so out of hand that security persons inside the building had to draw guns. Prior to that US Senate and House of Representatives went into an emergency recess. Also Read | Democrats take control of U.S. Senate as they win second race in Georgia An AFP photographer described a smoky substance in the air in the large circular space under the Capitol dome as 100 or more protesters gathered. "Police have asked us to get gas masks out as there has been tear gas used in the rotunda," House Democrat Jim Himes said on Twitter.

Capitol Hill violence: President Trump 'step up' and end this, says Biden

Not being able to see the forest for the trees isn’t just a colloquialism for Mihai Nita — it’s a professional disadvantage.

“When I go into the forest, I can only see 100 meters around me,” said Nita, a forest engineer at Transylvania University of Brasov, in Romania.

Nita’s research interest — the history of Eastern Europe’s forests — depends on a vaster, and more removed, vantage than eyes can provide. “You have to see what happened in the ’50s, or even a century ago,” Nita said. “We needed an eye in the sky.”

To map a landscape’s history, foresters like Nita long depended on maps and traditional tree inventories that could be riddled with inaccuracies. But now they have a bird’s-eye view that is the product of a 20th-century U.S. spy program: the Corona project, which launched classified satellites in the 1960s and ’70s to peer down at the secrets of the Soviet military. In the process, these orbiting observers gathered approximately 850,000 images that were kept classified until the mid-1990s.

Modern ecologists chronicling precious or lost habitats have given second life to the Corona images. Paired with modern computing, the space-based snapshots have helped archaeologists identify ancient sites, demonstrated how craters left by U.S. bombs during the Vietnam War became fish ponds and recounted World War II’s reshaping of Eastern Europe’s tree cover.

Even though they’re static, the panoramic photos contain discernible imprints — penguin colonies in Antarctica, termite mounds in Africa and cattle grazing trails in Central Asia — that reveal the dynamic lives of earthly inhabitants below. “It’s Google Earth in black and white,” said Catalina Munteanu, a biogeographer at Humboldt University of Berlin who has used Corona images to show that marmots returned to the same burrows throughout decades of destructive agricultural practices in Kazakhstan.

Modern systems like the Terra, Aqua, Copernicus and Landsat satellites provide environmental scientists with regularly updated images of the planet’s surface. But those satellites have been around only for a few decades — four, at most — and many offer less-detailed resolution than the photographs recorded by Corona.

More important, with the spy satellites, scientists can extend a landscape’s timeline even earlier into the 20th century. This, paradoxically, helps us predict what comes next.

“When you double or triple the age of that record,” said Chengquan Huang, a geographer at the University of Maryland, “you can substantially improve your modeling ability into the future.”

In 2019, for example, a group of scientists used Corona images, historical maps and modern satellites to retrace the fluctuating boundaries of Nepal’s Phewa Lake over time. Then, the researchers predicted what could come next, estimating that the shrinking lake could lose 80% of its water within the next 110 years. A loss of that magnitude would devastate the lake’s ability to supply water for hydroelectricity generation, irrigation and tourism activities that hundreds of thousands of people in Nepal rely on, they noted.

“We can use imagery in the past to inform the future,” said C. Scott Watson, a geoscientist at the University of Leeds and a co-author of the Phewa Lake study.

A Project That Kept the Cold War Cold

Early in the Cold War, the United States struggled to acquire military intelligence on the Soviet Union — a vast enemy spanning 11 time zones and one-sixth of the planet’s land surface.

Satellite reconnaissance offered a glimpse into the Soviet black box, said James David, a curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. “Photo intelligence tells you where the enemy’s military forces are,” he said. “It can go a long way in telling you what equipment they have and what their state of readiness is.”

One early answer was Corona, approved by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958. But to photograph the enemy from space, U.S. officials first had to accomplish feats of engineering: developing film that could withstand space radiation and air pressure, and then be retrieved, developed and carefully analyzed.

The first dozen attempted launches of Corona satellites flopped, according to the CIA. Some of the vehicles didn’t make it to orbit or back down, and others experienced camera or film mishaps.

Then, in August 1960, the first successful Corona flight made eight daytime passes over the Soviet Union. When the camera had used all 20 pounds of its film, the satellite released its film return capsule from a 100-mile altitude. The package hit the atmosphere, deployed a parachute and was scooped up, midair, by an Air Force plane northwest of Hawaii. It became the first photography ever recovered from orbit.

“They had no idea if these systems would work,” said Compton Tucker, a senior earth scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “It’s really very ingenious.”

Over time, Corona cameras and film improved in quality. With an archive of almost 1 million images, the program detected Soviet missile sites, warships, naval bases and other military targets. “They counted every rocket in the Soviet Union,” said Volker Radeloff, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison whose lab has used the images in its studies. “These images kept the Cold War cold.”

After 145 missions and 120 returned usable film canisters, the multibillion-dollar Corona program was decommissioned in 1972 in favor of satellites that could beam their imagery back to Earth in digital format.

When, in 1995, the spy program’s archival images were declassified, some appeared on the front page of The New York Times.

Government officials were motivated to release the images, in part, because of their anticipated value for environmental scientists. “These kinds of photographs,” Vice President Al Gore said at the time, “are what make today’s event so exciting to those who study the process of change on our Earth.”

Since then, the program has remained relatively unknown to the public. “It’s the best military, taxpayer-funded success that no one knows about,” said Jason Ur, a Harvard University archaeologist who regularly depends on Corona images for his research.

One reason for their relative obscurity is that scientists who wanted to use the images have needed to overcome a variety of obstacles. For example, while the pictures have been declassified, it costs researchers $30 to digitize a single image. Radeloff said there are “gobs and gobs of data,” but that most images are “still rolled in film and have not yet been scanned.”

And it’s taken until recently for software to become sophisticated enough to correct, orient and analyze the often-distorted panoramic satellite images. In 2015, Nita began developing a method for processing Corona images, inspired by software that corrects shaky drone footage. “Computer programming wasn’t sophisticated enough before,” he said.

With this and other technical advances, research using Corona data has picked up.

In the past two years alone, scientists have studied the images to track rock glacier movements in Central Asia, shoreline changes in Saudi Arabia, wadi trees in eastern Egyptian deserts and ice loss in Peru.

‘Like a Time Machine’ for Earth’s Surface

Once wrangled, Corona’s spy photos can uncover a landscape’s history beyond the contemporary era of widespread satellite imaging. Often, Corona’s ’60s-era snapshots captured habitats before humans drastically inundated, paved over, plowed up or developed wild spaces into new cities, hydroelectric dams, farmland or industrial zones. The images even challenged our assumptions about untouched ecosystems — revealing, more than once, that presumed old-growth forests are actually younger than 70 years old.

“In a lot of cases, they lead us to landscapes that are gone, that don’t exist anymore,” Ur said. “Corona is like a time machine for us.”

In 2013, Kevin Leempoel, a biologist, set out to retrace the historical boundaries of mangroves in Zhanjiang Mangrove National Nature Reserve in China’s south. Records were spotty before the 1980s, when global satellites began regularly documenting the planet’s surface from space. “There was this big gap — we didn’t really have any other time point,” said Leempoel, now with Britain’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

By examining black-and-white Corona images and marking the forest’s outline by hand, Leempoel demonstrated in 2013 that human activity had driven mangrove cover down by more than a third from 1967 to 2009. That kind of finding would have been impossible without the historical photos, he said.

“In ecology, we’re all faced with the same issue: We start to have good data in the ’80s or ’90s at best,” Leempoel said. “The difference between today and then is not huge. But compared to a century ago, the difference is gigantic.”

Still, Corona data remains relatively untapped by scientists. Only 5% of the country’s ever-growing backlog of declassified spy satellite photography has been scanned so far, Radeloff said. “It hasn’t been used that much yet. We’re at a cusp,” he said.

With climate change and other global ecosystem transformations, it has never been more important to record and piece together long-term environmental timelines, Muntenau said: “Everything we do leaves a footprint. That impact might only show up decades later.”

Not being able to see the forest for the trees isn’t just a colloquialism for Mihai Nita — it’s a professional disadvantage. “When I go into the forest, I can only see 100 meters around me,” said Nita, a forest engineer at Transylvania University of Brasov, in Romania.

Not being able to see the forest for the trees isn’t just a colloquialism for Mihai Nita — it’s a professional disadvantage. “When I go into the forest, I can only see 100 meters around me,” said Nita, a forest engineer at Transylvania University of Brasov, in Romania. Nita’s research interest — the history of Eastern Europe’s forests — depends on a vaster, and more removed, vantage than eyes can provide. “You have to see what happened in the ’50s, or even a century ago,” Nita said. “We needed an eye in the sky.” To map a landscape’s history, foresters like Nita long depended on maps and traditional tree inventories that could be riddled with inaccuracies. But now they have a bird’s-eye view that is the product of a 20th-century U.S. spy program: the Corona project, which launched classified satellites in the 1960s and ’70s to peer down at the secrets of the Soviet military. In the process, these orbiting observers gathered approximately 850,000 images that were kept classified until the mid-1990s. Modern ecologists chronicling precious or lost habitats have given second life to the Corona images. Paired with modern computing, the space-based snapshots have helped archaeologists identify ancient sites, demonstrated how craters left by U.S. bombs during the Vietnam War became fish ponds and recounted World War II’s reshaping of Eastern Europe’s tree cover. Even though they’re static, the panoramic photos contain discernible imprints — penguin colonies in Antarctica, termite mounds in Africa and cattle grazing trails in Central Asia — that reveal the dynamic lives of earthly inhabitants below. “It’s Google Earth in black and white,” said Catalina Munteanu, a biogeographer at Humboldt University of Berlin who has used Corona images to show that marmots returned to the same burrows throughout decades of destructive agricultural practices in Kazakhstan. Modern systems like the Terra, Aqua, Copernicus and Landsat satellites provide environmental scientists with regularly updated images of the planet’s surface. But those satellites have been around only for a few decades — four, at most — and many offer less-detailed resolution than the photographs recorded by Corona. More important, with the spy satellites, scientists can extend a landscape’s timeline even earlier into the 20th century. This, paradoxically, helps us predict what comes next. “When you double or triple the age of that record,” said Chengquan Huang, a geographer at the University of Maryland, “you can substantially improve your modeling ability into the future.” In 2019, for example, a group of scientists used Corona images, historical maps and modern satellites to retrace the fluctuating boundaries of Nepal’s Phewa Lake over time. Then, the researchers predicted what could come next, estimating that the shrinking lake could lose 80% of its water within the next 110 years. A loss of that magnitude would devastate the lake’s ability to supply water for hydroelectricity generation, irrigation and tourism activities that hundreds of thousands of people in Nepal rely on, they noted. “We can use imagery in the past to inform the future,” said C. Scott Watson, a geoscientist at the University of Leeds and a co-author of the Phewa Lake study. A Project That Kept the Cold War Cold Early in the Cold War, the United States struggled to acquire military intelligence on the Soviet Union — a vast enemy spanning 11 time zones and one-sixth of the planet’s land surface. Satellite reconnaissance offered a glimpse into the Soviet black box, said James David, a curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. “Photo intelligence tells you where the enemy’s military forces are,” he said. “It can go a long way in telling you what equipment they have and what their state of readiness is.” One early answer was Corona, approved by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958. But to photograph the enemy from space, U.S. officials first had to accomplish feats of engineering: developing film that could withstand space radiation and air pressure, and then be retrieved, developed and carefully analyzed. The first dozen attempted launches of Corona satellites flopped, according to the CIA. Some of the vehicles didn’t make it to orbit or back down, and others experienced camera or film mishaps. Then, in August 1960, the first successful Corona flight made eight daytime passes over the Soviet Union. When the camera had used all 20 pounds of its film, the satellite released its film return capsule from a 100-mile altitude. The package hit the atmosphere, deployed a parachute and was scooped up, midair, by an Air Force plane northwest of Hawaii. It became the first photography ever recovered from orbit. “They had no idea if these systems would work,” said Compton Tucker, a senior earth scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “It’s really very ingenious.” Over time, Corona cameras and film improved in quality. With an archive of almost 1 million images, the program detected Soviet missile sites, warships, naval bases and other military targets. “They counted every rocket in the Soviet Union,” said Volker Radeloff, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison whose lab has used the images in its studies. “These images kept the Cold War cold.” After 145 missions and 120 returned usable film canisters, the multibillion-dollar Corona program was decommissioned in 1972 in favor of satellites that could beam their imagery back to Earth in digital format. When, in 1995, the spy program’s archival images were declassified, some appeared on the front page of The New York Times. Government officials were motivated to release the images, in part, because of their anticipated value for environmental scientists. “These kinds of photographs,” Vice President Al Gore said at the time, “are what make today’s event so exciting to those who study the process of change on our Earth.” Since then, the program has remained relatively unknown to the public. “It’s the best military, taxpayer-funded success that no one knows about,” said Jason Ur, a Harvard University archaeologist who regularly depends on Corona images for his research. One reason for their relative obscurity is that scientists who wanted to use the images have needed to overcome a variety of obstacles. For example, while the pictures have been declassified, it costs researchers $30 to digitize a single image. Radeloff said there are “gobs and gobs of data,” but that most images are “still rolled in film and have not yet been scanned.” And it’s taken until recently for software to become sophisticated enough to correct, orient and analyze the often-distorted panoramic satellite images. In 2015, Nita began developing a method for processing Corona images, inspired by software that corrects shaky drone footage. “Computer programming wasn’t sophisticated enough before,” he said. With this and other technical advances, research using Corona data has picked up. In the past two years alone, scientists have studied the images to track rock glacier movements in Central Asia, shoreline changes in Saudi Arabia, wadi trees in eastern Egyptian deserts and ice loss in Peru. ‘Like a Time Machine’ for Earth’s Surface Once wrangled, Corona’s spy photos can uncover a landscape’s history beyond the contemporary era of widespread satellite imaging. Often, Corona’s ’60s-era snapshots captured habitats before humans drastically inundated, paved over, plowed up or developed wild spaces into new cities, hydroelectric dams, farmland or industrial zones. The images even challenged our assumptions about untouched ecosystems — revealing, more than once, that presumed old-growth forests are actually younger than 70 years old. “In a lot of cases, they lead us to landscapes that are gone, that don’t exist anymore,” Ur said. “Corona is like a time machine for us.” In 2013, Kevin Leempoel, a biologist, set out to retrace the historical boundaries of mangroves in Zhanjiang Mangrove National Nature Reserve in China’s south. Records were spotty before the 1980s, when global satellites began regularly documenting the planet’s surface from space. “There was this big gap — we didn’t really have any other time point,” said Leempoel, now with Britain’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. By examining black-and-white Corona images and marking the forest’s outline by hand, Leempoel demonstrated in 2013 that human activity had driven mangrove cover down by more than a third from 1967 to 2009. That kind of finding would have been impossible without the historical photos, he said. “In ecology, we’re all faced with the same issue: We start to have good data in the ’80s or ’90s at best,” Leempoel said. “The difference between today and then is not huge. But compared to a century ago, the difference is gigantic.” Still, Corona data remains relatively untapped by scientists. Only 5% of the country’s ever-growing backlog of declassified spy satellite photography has been scanned so far, Radeloff said. “It hasn’t been used that much yet. We’re at a cusp,” he said. With climate change and other global ecosystem transformations, it has never been more important to record and piece together long-term environmental timelines, Muntenau said: “Everything we do leaves a footprint. That impact might only show up decades later.”

It spied on Soviet atomic bombs. Now it’s solving ecological mysteries

The House and Senate will convene Wednesday afternoon for a remarkable joint session to formalize President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, with President Donald Trump and his allies plotting to transform the counting session into one final, futile attempt to overturn the results.

Bipartisan majorities in both chambers are prepared to meet late into the night to beat back the challenges and confirm Biden as the winner. But by using what is typically a ceremonial proceeding as a forum for trying to subvert a democratic election, Trump and his allies are going where no party has since the Reconstruction era of the 19th century, when Congress bargained over the presidency.

Its implications, for future elections and the Republican Party, could be significant.

At least four Republican senators — Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama — have agreed to join House members to challenge the results of three battleground states Biden won: Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Senators were still weighing whether to join House members to similarly challenge the outcome in Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin.

In each case, their objections will force the House and Senate to debate Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud for up to two hours and then vote whether to accept or reject the results certified by the state. A process that typically consists of less than an hour of glorified paperwork could take anywhere from 9 to 24 hours, starting at 1 p.m. Eastern.

Even before it began, the session was already driving sharp wedges into the Republican Party that threatened to do lasting damage to its cohesion, as lawmakers decided to cast their lot with Trump or the Constitution. Top party leaders in the House and Senate appeared to be headed for a high-profile split. And while only a dozen or so senators were expected to vote to reject the outcome in key states, as many as 70% of House Republicans could join the effort, stoking the dangerous belief of tens of millions of voters that Biden was elected illegitimately.

Presiding over the whole affair will be Vice President Mike Pence, whom statute and tradition dictate must ultimately declare Biden the winner. Trump is pressuring him to go rogue and reject electors in key battleground states he lost, handing them a second term.

The demand ensures Pence, too, must choose between the Constitution and his loyalty to Trump. The answer could shape his own political future.

The House and Senate will convene Wednesday afternoon for a remarkable joint session to formalize President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, with President Donald Trump and his allies plotting to transform the counting session into one final, futile attempt to overturn the results.

The House and Senate will convene Wednesday afternoon for a remarkable joint session to formalize President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, with President Donald Trump and his allies plotting to transform the counting session into one final, futile attempt to overturn the results. Bipartisan majorities in both chambers are prepared to meet late into the night to beat back the challenges and confirm Biden as the winner. But by using what is typically a ceremonial proceeding as a forum for trying to subvert a democratic election, Trump and his allies are going where no party has since the Reconstruction era of the 19th century, when Congress bargained over the presidency. Its implications, for future elections and the Republican Party, could be significant. At least four Republican senators — Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama — have agreed to join House members to challenge the results of three battleground states Biden won: Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Senators were still weighing whether to join House members to similarly challenge the outcome in Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin. In each case, their objections will force the House and Senate to debate Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud for up to two hours and then vote whether to accept or reject the results certified by the state. A process that typically consists of less than an hour of glorified paperwork could take anywhere from 9 to 24 hours, starting at 1 p.m. Eastern. Even before it began, the session was already driving sharp wedges into the Republican Party that threatened to do lasting damage to its cohesion, as lawmakers decided to cast their lot with Trump or the Constitution. Top party leaders in the House and Senate appeared to be headed for a high-profile split. And while only a dozen or so senators were expected to vote to reject the outcome in key states, as many as 70% of House Republicans could join the effort, stoking the dangerous belief of tens of millions of voters that Biden was elected illegitimately. Presiding over the whole affair will be Vice President Mike Pence, whom statute and tradition dictate must ultimately declare Biden the winner. Trump is pressuring him to go rogue and reject electors in key battleground states he lost, handing them a second term. The demand ensures Pence, too, must choose between the Constitution and his loyalty to Trump. The answer could shape his own political future.

Congress is expected to meet into the night as Republicans try to subvert the election

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Zee News Rajasthan

Editor

Manas Joshi

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