Kamala Harris made history on Wednesday when she was sworn in as Joe Biden's vice president.
She is the first woman, the first Black American and the first Asian American to hold the second highest U.S. office.
A U.S. senator from California the past four years, Harris has shattered many a glass ceiling. She served as San Francisco's first female district attorney and was California's first woman of color to be elected attorney general.
Harris has resigned her Senate seat, but she still will play a prominent role in the chamber. The U.S. vice president serves as Senate president, casting any tie-breaking votes in the 100-member chamber. With it split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, Harris gives her party control of the Senate.
Her background in criminal justice could help the new Biden administration tackle the issues of racial equality and policing after the country was swept by protests last year. She is expected to be a top adviser on judicial nominations.
Harris is the daughter of immigrants, with her mother coming to the United States from India and her father from Jamaica.
She had her sights set on becoming the first woman U.S. president when she competed against Biden and others for their party's 2020 nomination.
There is no evidence indicating that the two suspects involved in the Bondi Beach attack received any form of military training while in the Philippines, the country's National Security Adviser said on Wednesday.
At least 12 people were killed and three others abducted when gunmen attacked a mining site in Atoso village in Nigeria's restive Plateau state, a local group leader said on Wednesday.
Russia launched a "massive" drone attack on Ukraine's central Cherkasy region, injuring six people and triggering a blackout in part of Cherkasy city, the local governor said on Thursday.
The United Nations and aid groups have warned on Wednesday that humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territories, particularly Gaza, were at risk of collapse if Israel does not lift impediments that include a "vague, arbitrary, and highly politicised" registration process.
Israel has approved a deal that will supply natural gas to Egypt, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, describing it as the country's largest-ever gas deal.
The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) is urging private sector companies in areas most affected by the current weather to implement remote work on Friday, December 19.
Dubai has declared remote working for all government entities on Friday, December 19, due to the unstable weather forecast across the country, with the private sector urged to do the same.