After spending a sizeable portion of his life behind bars, this man got a rude awakening when he wandered around Times Square for the first time.

While taking in the dazzling displays, Otis Johnson seemed to realise just how much he had missed out on while spending 44 years locked up.

He was left wondering whether the smartphone-clutching passersby were secret CIA agents due to the headphone wires draped around their neck, completely unaware of Apple‘s ascension to tech titans.

But considering Johnson was jailed in 1970 and therefore completely bypassed the digital revolution, it’s no wonder really, is it?

Otis Johnson was left mesmerised by the billboards in Times Square (YouTube/Al Jazeera)

This is a guy who has probably never heard of the likes of Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos…whether that’s for better or for worse.

Johnson was imprisoned when he was 25 years old for the attempted murder of a police officer in May 1970 in New York – and by the time he was freed, he was 69.

The former martial arts teacher never confessed to the crime and maintained his innocence, previously telling Dazed: “Why would a man shoot at a police officer and then stand on the corner talking to people with the same clothes on?”

Upon his release from prison in 2014, Johnson claimed he was handed an ID, documents discussing his criminal case history, two bus tickets, and $40 (£32.04).

“Prison affected me a lot,” he told Al Jazeera 12 months after he gained freedom. “My re-entry was a little bit hard at first, because things have changed.”

You can say that again – as when Johnson was first locked up, the first mobile phone hadn’t even been invented yet, and he was a few decades off the invention of the iPhone.

So you can forgive him for being a little taken aback when he saw neon billboards plastered across Times Square, and for suspecting people glued to their gadgets might be government agents.

Taking in the extraordinary sights at the tech-drenched tourist hotspot for the first time, Johnson said of the advertisements: “On the windows?! I ain’t never seen anything like this before! Look! On the windows?

Even the supermarket shelves are a lot different in comparison to the late 1960s (YouTube/Al Jazeera)

“We ain’t seen nothing on no windows but people walking by, not no video,” he laughed, before sharing his thoughts about the people who passed through the thoroughfare.

“I was looking at the atmosphere, the new things that was happening and I seen that the majority of people were talking to themselves,” he continued.

“Then I look closely and they seemed to have things in there ears. I don’t know with those things, the phone things…iPhones they call them or something like that?

“I thought, ‘What, everybody became CIA or agents and stuff like that?’ Because that’s the only thing I can think of if somebody walking around with wires in the ears. That’s what they had when I was out during the 60s and the 70s.”

Johnson said he was also baffled by the fact that people could ‘walk and talk on their phone without even looking where they’re going’.

“That was amazing to me,” he added, before saying of the street performers which stalk Times Square: “I stand out here for a long time watching this crazy stuff.”

The advancements in technology weren’t the only things that had changed while Johnson was inside though, as the cost of making a call on a pay phone had shot up by 75 percent.

“I remember this when I first got out,” he smiled. “I was gonna make a call – then I seen the 1$ thing. It was what, 25 cents when I was out?”

As well as this, the supermarket aisles in the US were adorned with a lot more stuff than they were in the late 1960s, which came as quite a surprise to Johnson.

“I eat different things now because I’m looking at all this crazy stuff they got,” he said. “The funny dinners, different coloured drinks.

“There’s so many things that you can eat, so it’s a hard choice to pick out the food that you want. For instance, the peanut butter – it had jelly in it?

“And I ain’t never seen nothing like that before, it definitely wasn’t in the prison system. Peanut butter and jelly in the same place, in a jar? That that was strange.”

He was extremely relieved to see that Skippy’s peanut butter still had a place on the shelves, a condiment which he fondly remembered from his younger years.

Despite the demise of some of his favourite snacks coming as quite a blow to Johnson, he was still thrilled to have his freedom.

“Being in society is a good feeling, a very good feeling. Being inside the prison, you only can go outside at certain times. So I like being in the sun and also observing people. It’s nice. It’s nice to be free.”

Hearing Johnson’s perspective really might make you think twice about your mammoth amount of screen time, that’s for sure.

A body language expert has made a bold claim about Donald Trump’s awkward interactions with his wife at his historical inauguration today.

The 45th and 47th President of the USA was sworn in today (20 January), and made a speech to lay out his promises as the leader of their nation, leading to an odd gesture by Elon Musk and a viral reaction from former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

But one other moment took the headlines, and it wasn’t the absence of Michelle Obama… nope, it was Trump’s attempt to kiss his wife, Melania, before the ceremony. Take a look here:

The 78-year-old leaned in to give his wife, 54, a kiss on the cheek, before seeming to back out at the last moment.

Though it could have been an air kiss, it looked like Melania’s large black hat stopped her from getting a smooch from the 47th President of the United States.

Trump then went to shake the hand of 46th President Joe Biden, but people were still stunned by the weird exchange with Melania.

Now, a body language expert has weighed in on the situation.

Speaking to Covers.com, Inbaal Honigman said that Trump may have been ‘unsure how to show affection to his wife’ at the inauguration.

The awkward moment was broadcast for millions to see (Sky News)

In fact, the expert claimed that his exchanges with Vice President JD Vance’s wife appeared ‘more personal’.

Trump could be seen resting a ‘congratulating hand’ on Usha, his Vice President’s wife, following the ceremony, which led to Honigman to adopt this train of thought.

She added that this was ‘more personal and kind’ than what he did with his wife of almost 20 years.

Honigman added: “Trump may have wanted to demonstrate marital bliss in greeting his missus with a kiss when he walked in, but their uncertain interaction ended up showing that they don’t respond naturally to another.”

Speaking more about Melania’ body language, she said that it was ‘still and neutral’, explaining: “She sits still in her model pose, her facial expression neutral, not drawing any attention to herself, letting all attention be on her husband.”

The body language expert explained that Trump had a better exchange with JD Vance’s wife (CHRIS KLEPONIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

She said that Melania in 2017, during his first inauguration, ‘flashed smiles’ and displayed ‘a more friendly persona’ to the public.

But as for the kiss, Honigman did attribute some of the awkwardness to Melania’s unusually large hat.

“[Trump] is clearly unsure how to show affection towards his wife in the presence of her impressive hat, but neither of them attempts to solve the situation,” she began.

“Melania could have angled her face to present her cheek to her husband. Donald could have bent a little lower to reach his wife’s cheek. But neither of them did it.”

Donald Trump is America’s 47th President, as of today (MORRY GASH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Everything Trump has pledged to do as 47th US President

Delaying the TikTok ban

After TikTok went dark on January 19 in the US, it was bought back after mere hours with a message reading: “Welcome back! Thank you for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the US!”

Trump will reportedly sign an executive order to delay the ban saying he wants to ‘make a deal to protect our national security’.

Immigration

In a statement during a rally at Madison Square Garden during his presidential race, he said: “On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out.

“I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail, then kick them the hell out of our country as fast as possible.”

Planning over 100 executive orders

It’s been reported by AP that Trump plans on preparing over 100 executive orders on his first day in the White House. Trump’s allies have reportedly spent time preparing documents that Trump can sign quickly, on issues such as deportation, school gender policies and vaccine mandates, without input from congress.

“There will be a substantial number,” said Senator John Hoeven, R-N.D.

Making hidden government files public

Including the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King Jr., Trump promised at his recent rally in Washington D.C that, in a bid to increase government transparency, he will be making these disclosures in ‘the coming days’.

“And in the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”

‘Make Greenland Great Again Act’

In a bid that has not gone down well with Greenlanders, taking to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said: “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.

“Greenland is an incredible place. The people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation. We will protect it, cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”

January 6 pardons

Trump’s loss in the 2020 election led to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in turn resulting in the arrests of a number of Trump supporters.

In an interview with TIME, Trump said that looking into the cases of the rioters’ will take place in ‘the first nine minutes’ of his time in office.

In a post shared on his social media channel, Trump said: “I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can’t say for every single one, because a couple of them, probably they got out of control.”

Getting rid of birthright citizenship

Exactly as it sounds, Trump once declared he wanted to get rid of birthright citizenship, which immediately gives citizenship to anyone born in US. Noting that this may not be possible as it’s written into the constitution, he said he wants to achieve this by executive order – bypassing congress again – ‘if we can’.

Cut federal funding for schools educating on ‘inappropriate’ topics

Speaking early last year, Trump addressed a crowd in Iowa and made plans to ‘save [the] country from destruction’.

“On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity,” he said, per NPR.

Trump also said he would target schools pushing ‘any other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content on our children’.

Making the US the ‘crypto capital’

Back in 2021, Trump called crypto a ‘scam against the dollar.’ But four years on, he’s pulled a u-turn as he vowed to make the US the ‘crypto capital of the planet’.

On social media, Trump claimed crypto would be ‘mined, minted and made in the US’.

Both he and wife Melania released their own memecoins ahead of the inauguration, while experts previously predicted Bitcoin could reach up to $250,000 this year.

Be a ‘dictator’

In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity last year, he referred to himself as a ‘dictator’ when asked if he was promising to ‘never abuse power as retribution against anybody’.

In response, Trump said: “Except for Day 1. I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.”

End Green Deals

Trump has spoken previously about his plan to ‘terminate the Green New Deal’, which he dubbed the ‘Green New Scam’.

The Green New Deal was pitched by Democrats Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey, but it was never signed into law.

Addressing the policies in a speech in September, Trump said: “To further defeat inflation, my plan will terminate the Green New Deal, which I call the Green New Scam. Greatest scam in history, probably.

“We [will] rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act. I’m going to write it out in an executive order. It’s going to end on Day 1.”

Arrange green cards for college graduates

Despite making his stance on migration clear, Trump has advocated for non-US citizens to receive green cards to stay in the country if they graduate from college.

During an episode of the ‘All In’ podcast recorded this year, Trump said: “Anybody graduates from a college, you go in there for two years or four years, if you graduate, or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country […]

“Somebody graduates at the top of the class, they can’t even make a deal with the company because they don’t think they’re going to be able to stay in the country. That is going to end on Day 1.”

Scrap ‘electric vehicle mandates’

Trump plans to scrap Biden administration’s so-called electric vehicle mandate, referring to new pollution standards that incentivize auto manufacturers to increase production of electric and lower-emission vehicles.

Despite vowing to get rid of the policy on his first day, Trump told podcaster Joe Rogan the move could take ‘maybe two days, because it’s a little bit busy’.

Fire the man who indicted him

Trump faced two federal cases in relation to the 2020 election result from special counsel Jack Smith, and the future POTUS has no plans to work with him again.

Speaking on October 24, Trump told the Hugh Hewitt show he would fire Smith ‘within two seconds’: “He’ll be one of the first things addressed.”

Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this week and has already started remodelling the Oval Office to meet his needs.

Have you ever sat and wondered what the average workday of a US President actually looks like?

Yeah there’s press conferences, photo ops and meetings with other world leaders – but what else do they do in order to fill the workday?

We may never know the specifics of what goes on in the Oval Office but it’s reasonable to assume they spends a lot of time in there – which is why each president adds personal touches to the iconic space.

So what changes has President Trump made – and does he really have a Diet Coke button?

Here is everything we know about how Donald Trump has changed the oval office:

Family photos, different portraits and military flags can be seen in Donald Trump’s Oval Office (Jabin Botsford /The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Swapping out Biden era portraits

While Joe Biden was in office, he hung portraits of several key figures in US history, such as placing an image of founding father Benjamin Franklin near his desk and hanging one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt near the mantle.

According to an update shared by the Associated Press, Trump has since swapped the portrait of Franklin out for one of Andrew Jackson – the seventh US President who has a controversial legacy.

Trump has also swapped the Roosevelt image out for one of George Washington.

It’s also been reported that Trump has returned a bust of former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill, which appeared in the Oval Office during his first presidency.

Military flags

Another addition includes returning the five military service flags – with one to represent each branch to surround the desk.

Changes to the Oval Office, including the lighter rug, can be seen in photos (Jabin Botsford /The Washington Post via Getty Images)

A lighter Oval Office rug

Biden had used a dark blue Oval Office rug during his tenure with Trump swapping this one out for the lighter, neutral one seen during his first tenure in the White House.

Personal photographs

Presidents will also bring various photographs of family members and loved ones into the officer to give it a personal touch. Photos of Trump’s Scottish mother Mary Anne MacLeod Trump can be seen in the background of the Oval Office, alongside images which show his children.

The infamous ‘Diet Coke button’

During Trump’s first tenure, there was much fanfare about a rumoured Diet Coke button which the President had installed in the Oval Office.

Rumours stated that Trump was able to press this button and an aide would appear with a can of Diet Coke – the former businessman’s favourite drink – in order to quench his thirst.

The Presidential Call button aka Diet Coke button is on the left side of the desk (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

But it would appear the fabled Diet Coke button was slightly exaggerated as it made its way around the internet.

A Presidential Call button has long existed on the has long existed on the famous Resolute desk, which allows aides to be called into the Oval Office when needed.

However, this feature was primarily used as a signal from Trump that he had a hankering for the fizzy stuff while at work – and the rest is history.

Donald Trump is already making some sweeping changes in his second term as President of the United States.

The inauguration yesterday (20 January) saw the 78-year-old become America’s 47th president after his first term ended in 2021.

The event saw Trump’s wife Melania wear an eye-catching hat (which has resulted in conspiracy theories), and Elon Musk forced to defend claims he gave a ‘Nazi’ salute.

Since being sworn in, Trump has wasted no time in signing a few executive orders – including one on the death penalty.

Since 2021, a moratorium on federal executions has been in place, after just three defendants remain on federal death row when former Democratic President Joe Biden converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison.

In the executive order, which aren’t required to be approved by Congress, Trump has blamed the former president for ‘commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 most vile and sadistic rapists, child molesters, and murderers on Federal death row: remorseless criminals who brutalised young children, strangled and drowned their victims, and hunted strangers for sport’.

Donald Trump has become America’s 47th president (Sky News)

It also claimed that ‘judges who oppose capital punishment have likewise disregarded the law by falsely claiming that capital punishment is unconstitutional, even though the Constitution explicitly acknowledges the legality of capital punishment’.

The order issued by Trump states that ‘capital punishment is an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens’.

When the Trump administration was first in power from 2017 to 2021, it carried out 13 federal executions during – more than under any president in modern history, Associated Press reports.

“Before, during, and after the founding of the United States, our cities, States, and country have continuously relied upon capital punishment as the ultimate deterrent and only proper punishment for the vilest crimes,” the order read.

“Our Founders knew well that only capital punishment can bring justice and restore order in response to such evil. For this and other reasons, capital punishment continues to enjoy broad popular support.

“Yet for too long, politicians and judges who oppose capital punishment have defied and subverted the laws of our country.

“At every turn, they seek to thwart the execution of lawfully imposed capital sentences and choose to enforce their personal beliefs rather than the law.”

Trump is making some big changes in his second term (Sky News)

It added: “The Government’s most solemn responsibility is to protect its citizens from abhorrent acts.

“And my Administration will not tolerate efforts to stymie and eviscerate the laws that authorise capital punishment against those who commit horrible acts of violence against American citizens.”

The order also says the Attorney General ‘shall take all necessary and lawful action to ensure that each state that allows capital punishment has a sufficient supply of drugs needed to carry out lethal injection’.

All the executive orders Donald Trump has signed so far

Policy recognising only ‘two genders’

The president signed an order which will make it an official policy that there are only ‘two genders’.

The policy reads: “Agencies will cease pretending that men can be women and women can be men when enforcing laws that protect against sex discrimination.

“These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”

The order will also bring to an end ‘wasteful’ government programmes which promote diversity and inclusivity, as well as ‘defending women from gender ideology extremism’.

Free speech

The president accused the previous administration of ‘trampling free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech’ and vowed to restore freedom of speech.

The order states it will ‘ensure that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen’ and will ‘end censorship of protected speech’.

Leaving the World Health Organisation

The president accused the organisation of fumbling the COVID-19 pandemic and said the US would no longer be ‘ripped off’ by it.

While signing a document to have the US leave the health agency, Trump said: “World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore.”

TikTok ban

As expected, Trump signed an executive order which hits pause on the US’ ban of the popular app, allowing time for an ‘appropriate course forward’.

“I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok that I didn’t have originally,” he said.

Trump has signed a few executive orders since his inauguration on Monday (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

January 6 pardons

Trump’s loss in the 2020 election led to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in turn resulting in the arrests of a number of Trump supporters.

And as anticipated, the president has wasted no time in issuing pardons for offenders. Trump said he’s pardoned around 1,500 people and issued six commutations.

Immigration

Trump has issued a slew of immigration-related policies during his first day back in the White House as he declared illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border a national emergency.

Trump has already gotten started on reversing several Biden-era immigration orders and has plans to send US troops to help immigration agents and restrict refugees.

The president has also got the wheels in motion to prevent children of immigrants in the US illegally from having citizenship.

Speaking at his inauguration, he said: “All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”

Restoring the death penalty

Calling capital punishment an ‘essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes’, Trump signed an order which will ensure states have enough lethal injection drugs for executions.

“The Attorney General shall pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use,” the order says.

Renaming the Gulf of Mexico

Following through on his promise during a press conference earlier this month, Trump has now ordered the Gulf of Mexico to be called the Gulf of America.

“President Trump is bringing common sense to government and renewing the pillars of American Civilization,” the executive order said.

Despite the order, it won’t change how it is named globally.

Energy policy

Trump has vowed to ‘unleash American energy’, promising to export US energy globally as he signed the order amid what he describes as a ‘national energy emergency’.

“America is blessed with an abundance of energy and natural resources that have historically powered our Nation’s economic prosperity. In recent years, burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations have impeded the development of these resources, limited the generation of reliable and affordable electricity, reduced job creation, and inflicted high energy costs upon our citizens,” the order states.

The order will also reverse Biden’s ban on drilling in Alaska as Trump declared America ‘will be a rich nation again’.

Cost of living

In the order, Trump vowed to issue ’emergency price relief’ to Americans aimed at lowering housing prices and availability and creating ’employment opportunities for American workers’.

Trump will also ‘eliminate harmful, coercive “climate” policies that increase the costs of food and fuel’.

Drug cartels

Trump has said drug cartels will now be classified as terrorist organisations.

“International cartels constitute a national-security threat beyond that posed by traditional organised crime,” the orders says.

Federal workers

Federal employees have now been classified as political hires – a move which in theory would make them easier to fire.

Trump also declared a federal hiring freeze which will reduce the size of federal government.