President Donald Trump has pardoned former chief strategist Steve Bannon as part of a late flurry of clemency action benefiting nearly 150 people, including rap stars and former members of Congress.

China's highest-profile entrepreneur, e-commerce billionaire Jack Ma, appeared on Wednesday in a video posted online, ending a 2 1/2-month disappearance from public view that prompted speculation about his status and his business empire's future.

Joe Biden, in his maiden address to the nation soon after being sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, would deliver a forward-looking speech built around the theme of unity, advisors close to the President-elect said.

Four years after he left the Beltway for his hometown in Delaware, Joe Biden returned to Washington DC a day before his swearing-in as the 46th President of the United States on Wednesday with the message of unity and the enormous task of healing a bitterly divided country.

 A powerful earthquake struck in northwestern Argentina near the border with Chile, shaking people in both countries, but there were no early reports of damage or injuries.

Gunmen fired on a car in northern Kabul on Sunday, killing two women judges who worked for Afghanistan's high court and wounding the driver, a court official said.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invited his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for the G7 summit as he confirmed details on Sunday for the high-level meeting to be presided over by Britain in the coastal region of Cornwall between June 11 and 13.

Less than 100 hours ahead of his historic inauguration, US President-elect Joe Biden has either nominated or named at least 20 Indian Americans, including 13 women, to key positions in his administration, a new record in itself for this small ethnic community that constitutes one per cent of the country's population.