Traffic hummed, sidewalks bustled, and citizens packed parks and public transport in Wuhan, underscoring the scale of the recovery in the metropolis of 11 million where the pathogen first emerged before going global.

The Indonesian Islamic extremist leader has been languishing for more than 14 years in the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba, a fact that has elicited criticism from terror experts and rights groups.

Japan's health and welfare ministry said Friday that 20,919 people died by suicide in 2020 according to preliminary data, up 3.7 percent from the previous year. That compares with 3,460 deaths from coronavirus in the same period.

Announcing the nomination on Twitter, Trine Skei Grande, a former leader of Norway's Liberal Party, noted that "we  live in a time when fighting lies is so important that @JoeBiden mentioned it in his speech yesterday".

Southeast Asian nations have welcomed the inauguration of United States President Joe Biden with renewed hope for engagement with the country, following years of a notable absence of US leadership in the region.

The first female, Black and south Asian vice-president in US history was born in California but her mother took her on several trips to India as a child, and her links to the country have set its 1.3 billion people abuzz.

Beijing also said it welcomed news that the US would re-join the World Health Organization and the Paris climate accord, as Biden tried to immediately pivot his office back to a key role in global leadership.

Thulasendrapuram, where Harris's grandfather was born, has been in party mode since November when Joe Biden and Harris won the American presidential election.

Under the 2015 Paris climate deal, countries are required to boost funding to hard-hit governments, evenly split between cash to mitigate global warming and to help them adapt to future climate impacts.

With his twice-impeached predecessor Donald Trump leaving in disgrace after his supporters launched a deadly riot at the US Capitol, Biden faces vast immediate challenges.

Standing on the steps of the  Capitol two weeks after a mob of then-President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the building, Biden called for a return to civic decency in an inaugural address marking the end of Trump's tempestuous four-year term.

The Dow and S&P 500 posted all-time highs, but none gained more than the Nasdaq, which climbed 2.0 percent to a new record thanks in part to Netflix, which saw its share price surge after an excellent quarterly earnings report.

With Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock - who ousted two Republicans in a pair of Jan. 5 run-offs -- being formally seated, the body now stands deadlocked at 50-50.

As running mate to now-President Joe Biden, she helped bring Donald Trump's turbulent rule to an end, assailing him for his chaotic bungling of the COVID-19 pandemic, last year's unrest over racial injustices and his crackdown on immigration.

Senate Democrats and Republicans gave strong support to Haines, voting 84-10 to make her the first woman ever to lead the 18 entities of the US intelligence community.

"This has been an incredible four years," Trump said in brief remarks to staff, supporters and members of his family gathered at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.

Trump, 74, and First Lady Melania Trump walked a short red carpet and boarded Marine One on the White House lawn on a sunny but chilly day in Washington for the short flight to Joint Base Andrews where he will board Air Force One.

In early afternoon deals, Frankfurt rose 0.5 percent and Paris 0.3 percent while London was flat as the pound hit a new 2.5-year peak at $1.3728.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying blamed the declaration of genocide on outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, accusing him of fabricating "sensational false propositions" throughout his term in office.

Indonesia and other nations from Southeast Asia have warranted scarce mention in the United States' grand strategy for the Indo-Pacific region, which was declassified last week at the tail end of the Donald Trump administration.

Outgoing President Donald Trump entered the White House four years ago as a brash billionaire outsider, but he is being ousted by a polar opposite whose devotion to service, deep knowledge of Washington, and personal scars will unquestionably set a different tone.

Seven cases were reported in the city on Wednesday, including six in southern Daxing district.

With the global death toll now well past two million, and new variants of the virus causing deep concern, countries across the world are grappling with how to slow infections until vaccines become widely available.

Trump was not expected to pardon himself, members of his family or lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who was at the forefront of unsuccessful efforts to get the results of the 2020 presidential election overturned.

Former national security adviser Chung Eui-yong will be responsible for Seoul's relations with treaty ally Washington after replacing UN veteran Kang Kyung-wha, who was Seoul's first female foreign minister when she was appointed in mid-2017.

Avril Haines, a former top CIA official nominated to be director of national intelligence (DNI), also said the US espionage community would step up its focus on China as a key threat.

Since at least March 2017, China has committed "crimes against humanity" against Uighurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in the Xinjiang autonomous region in the western part of the country, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

Biden, who has suffered deep personal tragedy and is known for his public displays of emotion, has stressed the need to unite the country after President Donald Trump's chaotic four years in office.

The United States will swear in president-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday at a time of waning global influence. Indonesia, as is likely the case with the rest of the world, is less hopeful about the change, so long as the US looks to continue escalating its rivalry with China.

In a formal, six-minute speech recorded on video, she made only a fleeting reference to her husband as she paid tribute to military families, pandemic health workers and those helping victims of opioid abuse.