The world will be watching as U.S. President-elect Joe Biden takes the oath of office at noon Wednesday.

The inauguration will take place in a Washington on edge after the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol unleashed a wave of security concerns.

Law enforcement officials are contending not only with the potential for outside threats, but also with rising concerns about an insider attack by troops with a duty to protect him.

Still, the U.S. Secret Service is in charge of the event and says it is prepared.

Biden will take the helm of a deeply divided nation, perhaps the most divided since the civil war, and inherit a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors.

The very inaugural ceremony in which presidential power is transferred will be a jarring reminder of the challenges Biden will face, with the outgoing president Donald Trump not participating.

(C.P)