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Newspaper headlines: 'Anarchy in the USA' and 'the clap's back'

By BBC News
Staff

Published
image captionViolent protests at the Capitol building in Washington, where Congress had been meeting to approve the results of the US Presidential election, dominate Thursday's front pages. "Anarchy in the USA" declares the i newspaper, after thousands of Donald Trump supporters surrounded Congress and breached security barriers. A woman who was shot during the riot has died, according to local police. The i is one of several papers to picture armed police barricading the door to the chamber of the House of Representatives against the protesters.
image captionThe Times reports the protesters stormed the "heart of American democracy". It says they overran police who drew their guns to defend the House, as Democrats and Republicans "pulled on gas masks and sheltered under desks" and staff "hid in offices". The paper adds that shots were fired in Capitol grounds and one woman was left with "critical chest injuries after being hit in the neck". An explosive device was said to have been found, according to the paper.
image captionThe Daily Telegraph says democracy was "under siege" as Trump supporters stormed the building on Wednesday. Some managed to get inside and roam the corridors of Congress, it adds. Earlier that day, Mr Trump addressed a large crowd for more than an hour, urging them to march and repeating his unfounded claims that he had lost the election through voter fraud. The paper also reports that GPs have been told to cease routine care in a bid to ensure the NHS can deliver 14 million Covid jabs by February.
image caption"Chaos as pro-Trump mob storms US Capitol", declares the Guardian. It reports that several police officers were also injured in the violence. The paper describes the unrest as the "most dramatic challenge to the US democratic system since the civil war". It also says a group managed to make their way to the atrium of the Senate rotunda, carrying confederate flags.
image captionThe Financial Times shows Trump supporters confronting police in Washington. It reports that protesters tore down metal barricades and charged past officers in riot gear before gaining access to the hallways of Congress. The paper adds that US stocks and Treasury yields rose at the prospect of a Democratic-led Congress, after Jon Ossoff joined Raphael Warnock in defeating Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler respectively.
image captionCoronavirus also makes the lead of some of Thursday's front pages. The Daily Express focuses on the UK's vaccination programme, saying "the big push starts today". GPs will vaccinate patients with the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab from Thursday. The first doses of the newly-approved vaccine will be given to care home residents, it adds.
image captionThe Daily Mail claims the approval of Covid vaccine batches is to be sped up "drastically". Sources have told the paper that this will be cut from up to 20 days to just four. The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency, which is responsible for the checks, will also increase staffing to accelerate the programme, the Mail adds.
image captionThe Sun carries a warning to PM Boris Johnson to "stop dithering" over the vaccination programme. MPs and medics have said Mr Johnson must vaccinate around the clock in order to hit three million jabs a week.
image captionThe Daily Mirror is urging its readers to help in the fight against coronavirus. The paper, the Labour Party and Trades Union Congress are asking for 50,000 volunteers to work as stewards at NHS vaccine centres. It comes as Wednesday's figures showed another 1,041 coronavirus deaths, with more than 62,300 new cases recorded.
image captionMeanwhile, the Daily Star says "the clap's back" as Clap for Carers returns, under a new name of Clap for Heroes. The weekly applause for front-line NHS staff and other key workers ran for 10 weeks during the UK's first coronavirus lockdown last spring. It will be back from 20:00 GMT on Thursday.

Thursday's papers largely lead with violent protests by Trump supporters in Washington DC.

"US Capitol Under Siege" declares the Times, alongside a dramatic image of police officers drawing guns on protesters who had stormed the building.

It says "what should have been a day of dignified constitutional formality" left news networks wondering "if they were watching a coup unfold in the final moments of the presidency".

"Anarchy in the USA" is the phrase adopted by the i newspaper, Daily Express and Metro - which shows a shooting victim being carried away and a defiant Donald Trump, standing with fist raised after addressing the rally, which pre-empted the assault on the Capitol.

The Guardian describes it as "the most dramatic challenge to the US democratic system since the civil war".

It says that, as "the crowds rushed up the Capitol steps, the mass ranks of National Guard and federal agencies who had driven peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters off the streets around the White House were nowhere to be seen".

For the Daily Telegraph, it was "Democracy under siege".

"The remarkable developments in the nation's capital were not inevitable when the sun rose yesterday morning", it says, "although there was a sense of foreboding" as "thousands of the president's faithful" gathered the night before.

image copyrightGetty Images
image captionCapitol police officers point guns at a protester from inside the Senate chamber
image copyrightReuters

The Financial Times considers the apparent Democrat wins in the run-off Senate votes in Georgia.

It says they pushed up the value of US stocks and Treasury yields, boosted by "the prospect of a Democratic-led Congress that would probably mean bigger fiscal stimulus" for the country.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail says UK regulators are to "drastically" speed up their approval of batches of coronavirus vaccine, to accelerate the mass vaccination programme.

The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency is said to be cutting testing from up to 20 days to four, and increasing staffing.

The Daily Telegraph says GPs have been told to "stand down" routine care and prioritise providing Covid jabs, in the race to immunise 14 million people by next month.

It says charities have expressed concern about the disruption for patients who have experienced months of difficulties in getting to see a doctor.

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"Roll Your Sleeves Up" and "stop dithering" demands the Sun, as it highlights calls from "MPs and medics" for the government to ensure vaccinations are made available round-the-clock.

The Daily Mirror appeals for 50,000 volunteers to work as stewards at vaccine hubs, telling them they will be a "force for good".

The Daily Star hails the return of the Clap for Carers from tonight - albeit under a new name of Clap for Heroes. The applause, it says, is "for all you teachers, carers, refuse collectors, truckers, cleaners, posties and shopworkers".

Everyone in fact, it says, except the government.

The i's editor, Oliver Duff, writes that "friends of US democracy hope that last night's outrages were the dying howls of a defeated movement" - but says "there are now real doubts about a peaceful handover of power" on inauguration day.

The Daily Telegraph covers the case of a decorated two-star general who has been forced to leave the British Army for lying about his relationship with a female reservist captain in his unit.

The Times reports that the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Rebecca Hilsenrath, was ordered by police to leave her second home in Wales, where she had been staying over Christmas in breach of Covid restrictions.

Ms Hilsenrath, who is a lawyer, is said to have apologised and insisted she was unaware of the rules. The EHRC board is reported to be considering whether her actions have brought the organisation into disrepute.

And the Daily Express reveals that 11 people from London were fined for flouting tier four rules to drive to Derbyshire to go hiking. They were caught when one of them crashed their car, which ended up on its roof.