Closing summary
Joe Biden and the four living ex-presidents, Donald Trump among them, met at the National Cathedral in Washington for Jimmy Carter’s memorial service, the first time such a gathering had occurred since George HW Bush’s funeral in 2018. The president delivered a eulogy for Carter, in which he hailed Carter’s character, which he called his “enduring tribute”. So, too, did Carter family members, and the sons of his vice-president Walter Mondale and Gerald Ford, the Republican president Carter defeated in 1976. Carter’s casket is now on its way to his home town of Plains, Georgia, where he will be buried at his home after a private funeral for family later on Thursday.
Here’s what else has happened today so far:
Trump sat next to Barack Obama, the president who he leveled racist attacks against as he built his political profile. Nonetheless, the two seemed friendly.
Michelle Obama could not attend the memorial because of a scheduling conflict, Politico reported.
Foreign dignitaries including UN secretary general António Guterres, former UK prime minister Gordon Brown and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau attended Carter’s memorial.
The supreme court will on Friday hear arguments over a law that will force TikTok’s Chinese owner to sell its business in the US, or face a ban. Meanwhile, the justices have yet to act on Trump’s request to pause his sentencing in the New York hush money case, which is also scheduled for tomorrow.
Biden canceled a planned trip to Italy and Vatican City so he could direct the federal response to wildfires that have ravaged Los Angeles.
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Supreme court to hear oral arguments on law that could ban TikTok in the US
On Friday, the supreme court will hear oral arguments over a law that requires TikTok to divest its US business by 19 January or face a ban in the country.
Many in Washington, Republicans and Democrats alike, view the popular social media network as a national security threat over concerns it could be used by the Chinese government to harvest the data of American users. Donald Trump, however, has said he wants to keep TikTok available. Here’s more on the hearing:
Speaking of Trump, the president-elect has appealed to the supreme court to block his sentencing scheduled for Friday in New York, where he was last year convicted of 34 felony business charges for covering up a hush-money payment. On Thursday, reports emerged that he spoke with conservative justice Samuel Alito shortly before lodging his appeal. Here’s more on that:
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