US President Joe Biden is weighing action aimed at advancing the Equal Rights Amendment, which would prohibit discrimination based on sex, before he leaves office on Monday, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with discussions.

US President-elect Donald Trump plans to announce Sean Curran as his pick for director of the Secret Service, CNN reported on Thursday, citing multiple sources familiar with the plan.Curran has served as the special agent in charge of Trump's security detail and was with him at the time of an assassination attempt on the Republican during an appearance in Butler, Pennsylvania.The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.Curran has a close personal relationship with Trump, CNN said, and supervises about 85 people in his current role.He would replace Ron Rowe, who has served as served as acting director since July, when Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned after the agency came under harsh scrutiny for its failure to stop a would-be assassin from wounding Trump during a campaign rally.

A car struck a security guard in the West Bank in what the Defense Ministry suspects may have been a terror attack on Thursday evening.The guard was lightly wounded, and the driver was caught and arrested.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer spoke directly to President Joe Biden, urging him to extend by 90 days a deadline for Chinese-owner ByteDance to sell TikTok US assets and prevent a ban, an aide to Schumer said on Thursday."It’s clear that more time is needed to find an American buyer and not disrupt the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans, of so many influencers who have built up a good network of followers," Schumer said. A growing number of Senate Democrats are urging Biden to stop a ban that could take effect on Sunday.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's computer was hacked and unclassified files were accessed as part of a broader breach of the Treasury Department by Chinese state-sponsored hackers, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the matter.The computers of two of Yellen's lieutenants, Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and Acting Under Secretary Brad Smith, were also breached, the report said.The hackers accessed fewer than 50 files on Yellen's machine, Bloomberg said.

China will resume group tours to Taiwan by residents of Shanghai and Fujian province in the near future and preparations are underway for that, Chinese state media said on Friday.China and Taiwan have repeatedly traded accusations since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic about when and how tourism from China to the island could resume.