More than half of workers say the recession last year made them realize they weren’t financially secure to begin with. In general, American workers report their job security, financial security and stress have gotten worse or stayed the same in the last year. Nearly 70% of workers say the pandemic has intensified their concerns about their financial security. The concern is even higher among workers without access to employee benefits, with more than 7 in 10 workers without benefits worried about their financial security. Be sure to connect with recruiters to stay in the loop about job prospects, experts say.

A KHN analysis of federal and state Occupational Safety and Health Administration data found more than 780 COVID-19-related complaints covering more than 2,000 public and private K-12 schools. KHN also found that practices contradicting safety experts’ advice are codified into the patchwork of COVID-19 rules put out by states and districts. The American Federation of Teachers estimates COVID-19 has killed at least 325 school employees, though it’s unclear whether they caught it at school. Public health experts said making schools safer will require clear, consistent data and guidance – and political will. They said governments also need to give public schools enough resources to keep more than 50 million students and 3.2 million teachers safe.

More:As Trump impeachment trial begins, he lacks star lawyers, full Republican backingMore:Feds track plans to attack members of Congress during Trump impeachmentThat attack triggered the Democratic-led House to impeach Trump on Jan. 13. The potency of Trump's political appeal could be affected by events at his impeachment trial. Some Senate Republicans said they would be vocal in defending Trump and opposing the very idea of trying an ex-office holder. They are pushing the impeachment trial at the same time members are negotiating with Republicans on Biden proposals to fight COVID-19 and stimulate the economy. If Trump wins an acquittal, Luntz said, he can claim vindication and campaign again as the "victim" of political chicanery.

AP Top Stories January 27 AHere's the latest for Wednesday January 27th: Senate votes to hold Trump trial, over Republican objections; Biden says administration is buying more COVID vaccine; Chicago plans to reopen schools delayed; Alabama cleans up tornado damage.

A raise in the federal minimum wage to $15. The Senate filibuster makes those much harder lifts. The filibuster is a long-standing tool used by senators in the minority to block a vote on a bill by endlessly debating the measure. "This body operates every day, every hour, by consent," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor Tuesday defending the filibuster. Even more iffy is Biden's proposal as part of COVID relief to nearly double the federal minimum wage, from $7.25 to $15.

One of President Biden's goals since entering office is getting schools to reopen for in-person learning. Since the beginning of March, schools have been shut down and online learning has taken a toll on many families mentally. The rise of student suicides in Las Vegas, NV particularly has pushed Clark County, the nation's fifth largest school district to move forward with bringing back some of its students for in-person learning. The Coronavirus pandemic has now topped 100 million confirmed cases worldwide. Plus, commentary by FOX News Legal Analyst Gregg Jarrett.

But more important, the share of foreign contracts went down during that period, from 3.3 percent to 3.1 percent. ADADIn fact, the reports showed that the percentage of Defense Department spending on foreign contracts had been steadily decreasing. So even though the raw numbers went up during the Trump administration, the share of foreign contracts continued on a downward trend. A substantial portion of the foreign contracts don’t qualify for inclusion under the Buy America rules because the services were used overseas. The percentage of Defense Department contracts receiving waivers, however, has jumped.

Here's what you need to know as you start your day ...Rand Paul declares Trump impeachment trial ‘dead on arrival’ after 45 GOP senators vote against itU.S. Sen. Rand Paul declared former President Trump’s Senate impeachment trial "dead on arrival" on Tuesday after 45 Senate Republicans voted against holding the proceeding, viewing it as unconstitutional. Rand, a Kentucky Republican, had called for a procedural vote regarding holding a trial, claiming the Senate shouldn’t address the article of impeachment against Trump filed by the House this month because Trump is now out of office. If a trial were to proceed, Trump would become the first former president to face an impeachment trial. The House charged Trump on Jan. 13 with "inciting an insurrection" in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol in Washington. "If you voted that it was unconstitutional, how in the world would you ever vote to convict somebody for this?"

A health expert from Harvard made his case Tuesday that everyone in the U.S. should wear N95 face masks in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. "The brutal truth is, it’s going to take months before we can the majority of Americans vaccinated – months," Biden said. "In the next few months, masks, not vaccines, are the best defense against COVID-19. Experts say that wearing masks from now just until April would save 50,000 lives that otherwise would pass away if we don’t wear these masks." Some asked why the country wasn’t told to wear double masks earlier on in the outbreak, and others asked-- with that logic-- wouldn’t three masks be more effective than two?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fulfilling a campaign promise, President Joe Biden plans to reopen the HealthCare.gov insurance markets for a special sign-up opportunity geared to people needing coverage in the coronavirus pandemic. Biden is expected to sign an executive order Thursday, said two people familiar with the plan, whose details were still being finalized. Coverage is available to people who don’t have job-based health insurance, with the Medicaid expansion geared to those with low incomes. Opening the insurance markets is also likely to result in higher Medicaid enrollment, since people who qualify for that program are automatically referred. “President Biden does not believe, as a principle, it should be difficult ... for people to gain access to health care,” she said.

FILE PHOTO: Israel's Eli Cohen, then Economy Minister, poses for a picture at his office in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File PhotoJERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel and Sudan will finalise a diplomatic deal to normalise relations at a signing ceremony in Washington in the next three months, Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen said on Wednesday. Sudan joined the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco last year in agreeing to move toward normal relations with Israel in U.S.-brokered deals. “The peace agreement’s draft is progressing and a signing ceremony for Israel and Sudan is expected in Washington in the next three months,” Cohen told Israel’s Ynet TV. He told Ynet TV that officials discussed three economic plans as well as border security.

WASHINGTON — When the dust settled from the first round of the Senate battle over the filibuster, one man had clearly won: President Joe Biden. Biden is now in the White House, but his Senate record shows support for a minority's being able to hold up business. Most of the Senate doesn't want this fight — even if that means all of the Republicans and only a handful of Democrats. McConnell lost on a firm commitment to entrench the filibuster, but it won't go anywhere without a major push from Biden. It could be that gridlock entices Biden to flip against the filibuster later.

Biden spoke to Putin on Tuesday for the first time as president and raised concerns about the Kremlin's treatment of Navalny, according to the White House, as well as other issues. "The swift reaction by the State Department was registered here as a sign that the Biden administration will actively interfere in Russian politics," Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, said Monday. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Vice President Joe Biden during their meeting in Moscow in March 2011. The Biden administration will have to come up with more than just statements of condemnation, Galeotti said, or "the Kremlin will rightly regard that as a mark of impotence rather than interest." While the Biden administration is likely to invoke new sanctions against Russia, they won't be enough, he said.

Now that the ban has been reversed, trans service members and civilians are figuring out what comes next. Cisgender service members could get access to hormone therapy for medical reasons if necessary, but transgender service members who came out after the ban couldn't. Overall, however, transgender service members — both those who have been serving openly and those who haven't — reported overwhelmingly positive experiences, despite the Trump administration's claims that the presence of trans service members negatively affected "cohesion" and "readiness." Until then, trans service members and hopeful enlistees say they will keep fighting for their right to serve. I joined to serve my country, and that's what the rest of transgender service members did, as well," she said.

Justice Department Rescinds Trump's 'Zero Tolerance' Immigration PolicyEnlarge this image toggle caption Ross D. Franklin/AP Ross D. Franklin/APThe Justice Department has ended the Trump era "zero tolerance" policy for immigration offenses that allowed the U.S. government to separate thousands of children from their parents. Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson rescinded the policy Tuesday in a memo sent to federal prosecutors. Wilkinson wrote that the policy "was inconsistent with the Department's longstanding principle that we exercise judgment and make individualized assessments in criminal cases. Zero tolerance failureZero tolerance was criticized as a humanitarian failure. The report said, Trump administration officials "significantly underestimated [the policy's] complexities and demonstrated a deficient understanding of the legal requirements related to the care and custody of separated children."

Don't Call It A Comeback: School Districts That Never Opened Are Having Trouble NowEnlarge this image toggle caption Max Herman/NurPhoto via Getty Images Max Herman/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesDiana Muhammad, who teaches PE and dance in Chicago Public Schools, was "unsure," "uncertain" and "reluctant" about her district's plan for in-person classes starting Monday. At a Chicago Teachers Union press conference earlier this month, she said the plan felt "rushed." Noting this disparate impact, and the fact that Chicago Public School students are about 90% nonwhite, Muhammad said, "Now I am seriously concerned about us rushing back without having a well thought-out plan." Many districts opened up school buildings again after closures brought on by holiday-related spikes. In Chicago, the district said it planned to bring about 70,000 elementary school students back, out of about 280,000 total students enrolled.

Why N95 Masks Are Still In Short Supply In The U.S.Enlarge this image toggle caption Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images Mark Felix/AFP via Getty ImagesA year ago, hundreds of desperate consumers were emailing Mike Bowen's Texas medical supply factory every day, looking to buy N95 medical respirator masks that can filter viruses: "Scared Americans and moms and old people and people saying, 'Help me,' " Bowen recalls. Today, most consumers still aren't able to buy N95 masks, because the supply available to retailers remains very limited. But even with those measures, U.S. hospitals remain worried about their supply of these medical masks — more formally called respirators — despite efforts by factories to churn out billions more. The story of N95 production over the last year in many ways reflects shortages seen throughout the U.S. medical supply during the pandemic — from ventilators and exam gloves to syringes and vaccines. Everyone, from nurses, hospitals, manufacturers and distributors, says vetting fake suppliers or identifying copycat N95 masks has been a huge concern.

Jose Luis Gonzalez/ReutersA federal judge in Texas halted the Biden administration's deportation moratorium for 14 days. The 100-day moratorium on deportations for certain immigrants was one of the immigration executive orders President Biden signed on day one of his presidency. The legal challenge in Texas is likely to be the first of many aimed at stopping the Biden administration's immigration reform goals. A federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the Biden administration's 100-day deportation moratorium on Tuesday, stalling the administration's early immigration reform goals. Story continuesTipton's ruling stops the moratorium signed by acting Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske for 14 days.

Fulfilling a campaign promise, President Biden plans to reopen the HealthCare.gov insurance markets for a special sign-up opportunity aimed at people needing coverage in the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden is expected to sign an executive order Thursday, said two people familiar with the plan, whose details were still being finalized. Coverage is available to people who don’t have job-based health insurance, with the Medicaid expansion geared to those with low incomes. AdvertisementOpening the insurance markets is also likely to result in higher Medicaid enrollment, since people who qualify for that program are automatically referred. Biden has promised to build on President Obama’s healthcare law to push the U.S. toward coverage for all.

Boogaloo Bois march around the state Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 18, 2021. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)Several right-wing Telegram channels have nearly tripled their followings since the Capitol riot, said Alexander Reid Ross, a professor at Portland State University who tracks right-wing groups. “They’re disillusioned, they’re frustrated and abandoning a political approach to an ideological problem,” Ross said of Trump supporters. Trump supporters outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. (Associated Press)This week, Republican Trump supporters registered their own MAGA Patriot Party in San Antonio.

MOSCOW (AP) — The lower house of Russian parliament on Wednesday approved the extension of the last remaining nuclear arms control pact days before it’s due to expire. The State Duma voted unanimously to extend the New START treaty for five years. The vote came a day after a phone call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which they voiced satisfaction with the exchange of diplomatic notes about extending the New START treaty. The pact’s extension doesn’t require congressional approval in the U.S., but Russian lawmakers must ratify the move. Top members of the Kremlin-controlled parliament said they would fast-track the issue and complete the necessary steps to extend the treaty this week.

US president Joe Biden’s move to cancel a controversial pipeline project has hit Canada like “like a gut punch”, according to one political leader, and left the country to weigh the future prospects of its ailing oil and gas industry. In that policy context then, yes, there absolutely must be reprisals,” Alberta premier Jason Kenney told CBC News. In March, Alberta announced plans to invest nearly C$1.5bn ($US 1.18bn ) in Keystone XL, promising the project would generate C$30bn over the next two decades. In November, a group of five First Nations announced plans to invest up to C$1bn in the Keystone project. According a poll from the Angus Reid Institute released Tuesday, two thirds of Canadians felt the end of Keystone was “bad” for Alberta.

President Joe Biden’s swearing-in as the 46th president of the US, with 34 million viewers, is the third most-watched in the history of American television. According to TV audience research company, Nielsen, Mr Biden’s popularity is only surpassed by the swearing-in ceremonies of presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama in the past 40 years. Almost 33.8 million people watched Mr Biden’s six-hour-long inauguration ceremony over 17 television networks on 20 January, said Nielsen. While Barack Obama’s first inaugural in 2009 drew 37.8 million viewers, Ronald Reagan’s popularity peaked to 41.8 million in 1981. Nearly 30.6 million people watched Mr Trump take the oath of office in 2017, according to Nielsen.

But signals from both Beijing and Washington are already pointing to a continued fraught relationship. On Saturday, the Chinese military sent a fleet of 13 warplanes, including nuclear-capable bombers, into the southwest corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone. More notably, the Trump administration sent some of the highest-level officials in decades to the island for heavily publicized meetings that came amid the administration’s faltering ties with Beijing. Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers assemble during military training in Kashgar in China’s northwestern China’s Xinjiang region earlier this month. | AFP-JIJIHis comments came after press secretary Psaki said Monday that Xi’s remarks “don’t change anything” in terms of how the Biden administration is approaching its relations with China.

Advertising Read moreSan Francisco (AFP)YouTube has suspended Donald Trump indefinitely from the platform and said it will also prevent the former president's lawyer Rudy Giuliani from being able to monetize his clips, US media reported. It comes a week after the social media giant confirmed it would extend a ban on Trump's channel -- which has just under three million subscribers -- joining other social media platforms in banning his accounts following the deadly January 6 Capitol riot. "In light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, the Donald J Trump channel will remain suspended," a YouTube spokesperson told Politico. The ban on making money off his clips comes as the former New York mayor faces a $1.3 billion lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems after alleging on social media that the firm had engaged in election fraud. According to YouTube, Giuliani will be able to appeal the decision in 30 days -- providing the underlying issues have been fixed.

“The political winds within the Republican Party have blown in the opposite direction,” said Ralph Reed, chair of the Faith and Freedom Coalition and a Trump ally. After Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer backed impeachment, Republican Tom Norton announced a primary challenge. Now that President Trump has been impeached for the second time, all eyes turn to the Senate where Republicans will need to decide whether to vote for conviction. And that his political activism or whatever role he would play going forward would be with the Republican Party, not as a third party,” Cramer said. Just three weeks after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, Trump’s political standing among Republican leaders in Washington remains low.

Also, a record-high 12% cited national discord, up from 5% last month. The 12% of Americans citing national division and lack of unity as the top problem is the highest in Gallup's seven decades of asking this question, dating back to 1939. Democrats also offer general complaints about "political discourse" and the divide between Republicans and Democrats but are more focused on specific criticism of the Republican Party, Trump, "right-wing extremism," "fascism" and threats to democracy. Monthly trend from January 2020 to January 2021 in Americans' mentions of lack of unity as the nation's top problem, by party. Thus, one might also look at these figures as an indication of public resilience and a sign that Americans are weathering the political storms.

Although the former and current president agree on little, both support large scale COVID relief packages irrespective of their implications for federal debt and deficits. Unfortunately, Democrats have migrated far from the fiscal conservatism of the late Paul Tsongas and Bill Clinton William (Bill) Jefferson ClintonShould deficits matter any more? They have embraced a variety of justifications for large deficits, some of which have a factual foundation. Lofty stock valuations have produced the centibillionaires of today such as Elon Musk Elon Reeve MuskShould deficits matter any more? SpaceX, Amazon spar over plans for satellites: report WhatsApp delays controversial privacy update MORE and Jeff Bezos Jeffrey (Jeff) Preston BezosShould deficits matter any more?

But it turns out the first ASL interpreter chosen was not such a change from the previous Administration after all. Heather Mewshaw, who Psaki introduced on Monday as “today’s interpreter, Heather,” also manages a conservative group of ASL interpreters who provide sign language accompaniments to right-wing videos. Heather Mewshaw, an American Sign Language interpreter, in a video of Trump dancing posted by Hands of Liberty, a conservative interpreter group. “Providing appropriately qualified American Sign Language interpreting access requires more than just randomly hiring an interpreter who knows sign language. Regardless of a specific violation, Henner says the incident shows the importance of hiring the right ASL interpreter for the situation.

Israeli military chief of staff’s remarks are rare and a clear warning to the Biden administration on its relations with Iran. Israel’s top general warned attack plans against Iran were being revised and said any US return to the 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran would be “wrong”. “A return to the 2015 nuclear agreement, or even if it is a similar accord with several improvements, is bad and wrong from an operational and strategic point of view,” said Kochavi. Targeting IranAfter Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018, tensions in the Middle East quickly escalated after a series of attacks and military incidents. Netanyahu had threatened possible Israeli strikes against Iran in the run-up to the landmark nuclear accord with world powers.

"It really was painless," the vice president saidVice President Kamala Harris received her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday afternoon at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Harris, 56, is now fully vaccinated along with President Joe Biden, who received his second and final dose of the vaccine earlier this month. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, 56, also received his second dose of the vaccination on Tuesday, the White House said. Biden, 78, and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden had received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, while Harris and Emhoff received the Moderna vaccine. Image zoom Vice President Kamala Harris (sitting)Image zoom Vice President Kamala Harris (sitting)Harris told reporters on Tuesday that the vaccine "will save your life."

In an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the inaugural poet recalled receiving the "biggest, warmest" hug from former First Lady Michelle ObamaAmanda Gorman has dreams of becoming president one day – and Ellen DeGeneres is already endorsing her for 2036! During a virtual appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Tuesday, the talk show host told Gorman, "I want to be one of the first to give you my official endorsement." DeGeneres, 63, then pulled out some presidential campaign merchandise for Gorman that included T-shirts, pins, and mugs. Image zoom Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman speaks at the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden | Credit: Rob Carr/Getty"We're behind you 100 percent," DeGeneres said. I just want a clean slate and do it right this time," she told DeGeneres.

"One of Lady Gaga's rituals is that she wants to make sure she's rehearsing exactly one hour in advance of taking the stage," an inauguration official tells PEOPLE. The celebs were cognizant of their role in the historic moment but also a bit "jittery," given everything, according to the inauguration official. "Image zoom Garth Brooks | Credit: Drew Angerer/GettyImage zoom Credit: Greg Nash/POOL/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockThe occasion wasn't a somber one, though, with the stars on site working together to ensure the event moved seamlessly. "She talked about what a big fan she is and she thanked him," the inauguration official says. Though the inauguration official concurs that Hanks was — as many viewers watching at home wondered — "freezing" during his hosting duties ("We would have been fine with him wearing a wool coat!

Biden said the killing of George Floyd "opened the eyes of millions of Americans and millions of people all over the world" to the need for justicePresident Joe Biden on Tuesday issued a series of executive orders aimed at addressing racial inequity in federal policy. The president referenced the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last summer and the subsequent protests against police brutality that rippled across the world as "a turning point in this country's attitude toward racial justice." Image zoom Credit: Getty"Those 8 minutes and 46 seconds that took George Floyd's life opened the eyes of millions of Americans and millions of people all over the world," Biden said. Biden recalled meeting Floyd's family and speaking with his 6-year-old daughter, Gianna, who he said told him, "Daddy changed the world." "Black and Latino Americans are dying of COVID-19 at rates nearly three times that of white Americans."

As of Tuesday, there have been at least 100,091,831 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the globe, with more than 2.1 million deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins UniversityMore than 100 million people worldwide have been infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). As of Tuesday, there have been at least 100,091,831 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the globe, with more than 2.1 million deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The United States accounts for more than a quarter of global cases reported, with over 25.4 million infections and 424,164 coronavirus-related deaths in the country. According to The New York Times' COVID-19 database, the U.S. reported 155,677 new cases and 1,796 deaths on Monday alone. For now, the CDC continues to recommend social distancing, hand-washing and protective face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

In first call with Putin, Biden pressed Russian president on several issues, White House saysAdded: 27.01.2021 3:14 | 16 views | 0 commentsThe president also signed more executive actions Tuesday, including orders on housing and prisons, as he outlined what the White House is calling his “racial equity agenda.”

Iran commander warns Biden Tehran has power to ’destroy' US ships in terrifying warningAdded: 27.01.2021 2:16 | 10 views | 0 commentsAN IRANIAN commander has declared his country now has the ability to "destroy" US ships in a terrifying warning new US President Joe Biden.

Added: 27.01.2021 2:16 | 10 views | 0 commentsTHE NUCLEAR TREATY between Russia and America has been extended following a conversation between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin. But what is the nuclear treaty?

Added: 27.01.2021 0:34 | 17 views | 0 commentsJOE BIDEN clapped back at a reporter asking about his first phone call with Vladimir Putin in a press conference, after the White House released details of the call ahead of the briefing.

No WAY Putin! Biden warns Russia against US election meddling in first call as PresidentAdded: 27.01.2021 0:30 | 19 views | 0 commentsJOE BIDEN issued a firm warning to President Vladimir Putin about his concerns over Russia during the leaders' first phone call, the White House has confirmed.

Biden’s jab that foreign company contracts went up 30% under TrumpAdded: 27.01.2021 8:00 | 11 views | 0 commentsPresident Biden is using a number that is not easily verified — and conflicts with progress shown on Defense Department contracts.

Biden won the fight over the filibuster without saying a wordAdded: 27.01.2021 9:30 | 1 views | 0 commentsAnalysis: Biden had nothing to gain and everything to lose from fighting a quixotic war over the filibuster just days into his presidency.

Biden shifts on vaccine under pressure from ... the mediaAdded: 27.01.2021 8:12 | 7 views | 0 commentsSource: qz.comThe press is now openly challenging Biden to do a better job of getting these potentially life-saving shots into the arms of more Americans. More in www.foxnews.com »

Manchin of the MomentAdded: 27.01.2021 3:38 | 9 views | 0 commentsSource: saraacarter.comJoe Manchin will be able to decide the fate of legislation. He may even be able to determine the course of the Biden administration More in www.realclearpolitics.com »

Biden's Vaccine ChallengeAdded: 27.01.2021 3:38 | 9 views | 0 commentsSource: www.eastidahonews.comIn confronting the COVID-19 crisis, US President Joe Biden will avoid many of his predecessor's mistakes, not least by heeding the advice of scientific experts. But, unless Biden also enlists adequate management, operations, and logistics expertise, even his best-laid plans may go awry. More in www.realclearpolitics.com » President Tags: ISIS

Added: 27.01.2021 3:38 | 10 views | 0 commentsThere is nothing unifying about telling the majority who backed Biden that they'll get nothing for all their effort

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesPresident Biden’s ambitious plan to reset the domestic agenda by executive order has hit its first legal snag: On Tuesday, a federal judge in Texas issued a temporary restraining order blocking the new administration from enforcing its 100-day ban on most deportations. Tipton’s order is in response to a lawsuit filed by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, who sued two days into the new administration to stop the deportation ban. Contesting the policy, Paxton cited an eleventh-hour state agreement with the Department of Homeland Security designed to frustrate efforts to rescind the former president’s policies. Under Obama, he led challenges against DACA, the Clean Power Plan, and the use of Title IX to enforce transgender rights in public schools. While Judge Tipton’s restraining order blocks the partial deportation ban Biden promised during the campaign, it does not affect other aspects of the president’s immigration policy, including the end to the Trump travel ban and a plan to provide a pathway to citizenship for 11 million immigrants currently in the U.S.

Photo: Denver Post via Getty ImagesThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has weighed in on one of the pandemic’s most heated public-health policy debates. On Monday, CDC researchers published an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association determining that the schools with in-person classes considered in the review showed very little COVID-19 transmission when students and staff wore masks and practiced proper social distancing. Another CDC study published on Tuesday analyzing 17 rural K-12 schools in Wisconsin with high rates of mask wearing found that just seven in 191 COVID-19 cases recorded could be traced back to at-school transmission. And a third CDC report published on Tuesday considered high-school wrestling tournaments in Florida where almost a third of those participating and officiating tested positive for COVID after the events. “The conclusion here is with proper prevention efforts … we can keep transmission in schools and educational settings quite low,” Honein added.

Though the vaccine rollout began in late December, states have complained that the promised numbers of doses did not arrive. It is unclear, however, if the boost in U.S. vaccine numbers will help with Biden’s other priority, returning schools to in-person learning. Data from the United States and abroad reviewed by the CDC team found that schools had nowhere near the transmission rates of sites like nursing homes or high density workplaces. Many European countries originally kept schools open much longer than in the United States, but are now bowing under the pressure of a second wave. With one of the most rapid vaccine rollouts in the West, Britain is hoping to blunt the latest wave of infections.

? The global total of coronavirus cases surpassed 100 million Tuesday, according to the Johns Hopkins University dashboard. ? Today's numbers: The U.S. has more than 25.4 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 425,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 100.2 million cases and 2.15 million deaths. The Oklahoma Health Department on Tuesday sued Bradford and PPE Supplies LLC in Oklahoma County District Court. The Health Department is seeking the rest of its money back — $1.825 million, plus interest.

In all, new cases are averaging about 170,000 a day in the U.S. after peaking at almost 250,000 on Jan. 11. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has fallen to about 110,000 from a high of 132,000 on Jan. 7. The new briefings are meant as an explicit rejection of President Donald Trump's approach to the outbreak. The briefings also are part of Biden's attempt to rebuild public confidence in institutions, particularly the federal government. MLB Hall of Famer Hank Aaron to be buried in AtlantaBaseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, who battled racial prejudice and hatred on his way to breaking the major leagues' career home run record, will be remembered at a private funeral service on Wednesday.

The vaccine rollout is a freakin’ mess, and President Biden owns it now. But as the president continued to proclaim his goal of 100 million shots in his first 100 days, the media weren’t buying it. That was the question that prompted Biden to snap "give me a break" at an AP reporter who asked about it last week. BIDEN NEEDS A QUICK WIN ON COVID, WITH OR WITHOUT REPUBLICANSEveryone knows why Biden set the goal at 100 million. No one would suggest that Biden and his top spokeswoman are being grilled by the press the way that Trump and his press secretaries were.

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe’s share indexes opened lower on Wednesday, while investors focused on the U.S Federal Reserve meeting and U.S. tech giants’ earnings. FILE PHOTO: The London Stock Exchange Group offices are seen in the City of London, Britain, December 29, 2017. The dollar rose against a basket of currencies as European markets opened, and was at 90.275 at 0846 GMT, up 0.1% on the day. Quarterly earnings from U.S. tech giants including Facebook and Apple, due later in the session, were also in focus. To some stock market professionals, the recent moves look symbolic of a stock market that may be overvalued at the end of a year dominated by floods of fiscal and monetary stimulus to ease the coronavirus crisis.

LONDON (Reuters) - Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist Bill Gates says he has been taken aback by the volume of “crazy” and “evil” conspiracy theories about him spreading on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, but said on Wednesday he would like to explore what is behind them. “Nobody would have predicted that I and Dr. Fauci would be so prominent in these really evil theories,” Gates said. Since the pandemic began a year ago, millions of conspiracies have spread over the Internet, fuelling misinformation about the coronavirus, its origins and the motives of those working to fight it. “But do people really believe that stuff?,” Gates asked. During former President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic, Gates said, it had “sometimes felt like they were the only sane people in the U.S. government.”“I’m excited about the team that Biden has picked” to tackle the health crisis, Gates said.

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe’s share indexes opened lower on Wednesday, while investors focused on the U.S Federal Reserve meeting and U.S. tech giants’ earnings. FILE PHOTO: The London Stock Exchange Group offices are seen in the City of London, Britain, December 29, 2017. The dollar rose against a basket of currencies as European markets opened, and was at 90.275 at 0846 GMT, up 0.1% on the day. Quarterly earnings from U.S. tech giants including Facebook and Apple, due later in the session, were also in focus. To some stock market professionals, the recent moves look symbolic of a stock market that may be overvalued at the end of a year dominated by floods of fiscal and monetary stimulus to ease the coronavirus crisis.

French drug maker Sanofi said Wednesday it will help manufacture 125 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by rivals Pfizer and BioNTech, while its own vaccine candidate faces delays. French drug maker Sanofi said Wednesday it will help manufacture 125 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by rivals Pfizer and BioNTech, while its own vaccine candidate faces delays. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)PARIS — French drug maker Sanofi says it will help manufacture 125 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by rivals Pfizer and BioNTech, while its own vaccine candidate faces delays. Germany-based BioNTech will initially produce the vaccines at Sanofi facilities in Frankfurt, starting in the summer, according to a Sanofi statement Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENTSanofi and British partner GlaxoSmithKline will start a new phase-2 trial of their COVID-19 vaccine next month, Sanofi said.

In Phone Call, Biden Presses Putin Over Cyber Breach, NavalnyEnlarge this image toggle caption Alexei Nikolsky/Alexei Nikolsky/TASS Alexei Nikolsky/Alexei Nikolsky/TASSIn his first phone call with Vladimir Putin since taking office, President Biden pressed his Russian counterpart on the detention of a leading Kremlin-critic, the mass arrest of protesters, and Russia's suspected involvement in a massive cyber breach in the United States. Biden and Putin will have their teams work to complete an extension for the deal by Feb. 5. Navalny arrestThe White House said the phone call with Putin included a discussion over the near-fatal poisoning and the arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The White House didn't provide details on what exactly Biden said about Navalny, and the Kremlin's summary of the phone call didn't mention it at all. Navalny has blamed the Kremlin for the poisoning, which Putin has denied.

"When the locals see that, they believe in America," McRaven said of public service, in a podcast. "They don't have to look at a president, they don't have to look at Congress, they don't have to look at a Secretary of Defense — they've got to look at the people that are on the ground, meeting with them everyday. They don't have to look at a president, they don't have to look at Congress, they don't have to look at a Secretary of Defense - they've got to look at the people that are on the ground, meeting with them everyday. Emmitt Hawks/USNavy/Getty ImagesMcRaven's comments come as President Joe Biden prepares to usher in a new era of American foreign policy. In a past New York Times opinion column, titled "Our Republic Is Under Attack From the President," McRaven wrote that Trump's policies endangered the trust from America's allies.

REUTERS / Jonathan ErnstThe DOJ inspector general is investigating if any department officials tried to interfere with the 2020 election results. The New York Times reported earlier that Trump wanted to install a loyalist atop the DOJ to throw out Georgia's election results. The Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has launched an investigation into whether any current or former department officials "engaged in an improper attempt to have DOJ seek to alter the outcome" of the 2020 general election. According to The Times, Trump was incensed after Rosen refused to support his effort to cast doubt on then-President-elect Joe Biden's victory in Georgia. Trump forced out Attorney General William Barr after he publicly confirmed that the DOJ did not uncover evidence of widespread voter or election fraud.

“They just want to work in a safe environment, and as safe as we can rationally make it, and we can do that,” Biden said. First Lady Jill Biden along with Weingarten and National Education Association President Becky Pringle held a virtual event with 11,000 teachers last week. Around 10,000 elementary school teachers and staff were expected to report to work on Monday to prepare for the reopening. Eighty-six percent of all CTU members cast ballots with 71 percent opting to continue to work from home. Union members said they were encouraged to hear Biden’s comments on the situation, according to the Sun-Times.

But just a few weeks later, they're already singing a different tune as the Senate prepares for Trump's impeachment trial. Eight days after McCarthy said Trump "bears responsibility," he told reporters that Trump did not provoke the attack. On January 17, the South Carolina Republican called on President Joe Biden to oppose Trump's impeachment. "If you do not stand up against the impeachment of President Trump after he leaves office, you are an incredibly weak figure in American history. "President Trump has not always chosen the right words," Haley reportedly said.

President Biden’s nominee for secretary of education, Miguel Cardona, inherits a thankless but necessary task: using the power of the federal government to push schools to reopen as quickly as possible. Kids are owed a quality education, even in the face of adversity, and too many American school districts still aren’t providing it. His nomination as secretary of education was praised by national teachers unions and pro education reform groups alike. Cardona provided school districts with safety guidelines to reopen but ultimately let them decide individually when to do so. AdvertisementEven though Connecticut’s teachers unions have pushed back on reopenings, they praised Cardona.

When Pearl Bennett, now 69, came out as a transgender woman at a family dinner when she was 50, she wasn’t warmly embraced. Each video interview details how they fought the conventions of their time, stood up for their rights and paved the path for today’s generation of LGBT+ activists. As Ronnie explains in the video, he came out when he was in his 50s. “I refused to let people intimidate me.”The video details the struggles around gay marriage, which was legalized in the US in 2015, and the fight for gay troops to serve in the military. Bennett, for one, recalls the 1960s being a time when “queer” wasn’t a popular term, neither was being “gay”.

Biden’s China-related appointments represent a Democratic Party dream team of consummate insiders with a Beltway accent, fluent in the business of politics and the politics of business. The new team includes many Obama administration retreads and Hillary Clinton loyalists who know how to play the game -— but what if the game is changing? Most of Biden’s China team, though competent, comprises partisan professionals who work in the orbit of Pentagon-friendly think tanks and lucrative consulting firms. U.S. China policy going forward will be more muscular than that of the timid Obama era, but it will also be miles away from the tantrum-a-day style of Trump’s leadership. Incoming Secretary of State Blinken has set the tone for Biden’s China policy by acknowledging that Trump’s decision to get tough on China was correct.

? Close Related video: Biden orders 200m extra Covid vaccine doses in bid to vaccinate 300m Americans by end of summerJoe Biden has held his first call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, pressing his fellow president on the poisoning and arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin’s apparent involvement in a cyberattack last year that compromised the files of multiple US federal agencies and the Russian military’s alleged bounty scheme against US troops in Afghanistan. The new US president is eager to set a new tone in relations with Russia, its Cold War adversary throughout the second half of the 20th century, after his predecessor, Donald Trump, routinely gave Mr Putin the benefit of the doubt. Republican senators lost a vote in the upper chamber on Tuesday seeking to block Mr Trump’s upcoming impeachment trial as “unconstitutional”, given that he is no longer in office, but the vote appeared to confirm Rand Paul’s contention that the matter is “dead on arrival”, with insufficient GOP support to convict the 45th president for inciting insurrection at the US Capitol earlier this month. Please enter your email address Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington newsletter {{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} The Independent would like to keep you informed about offers, events and updates by email, please tick the box if you would like to be contactedRead our full mailing list consent terms here The Independent would like to keep you informed about offers, events and updates by email, please tick the box if you would like to be contactedRead our full mailing list consent terms here

Tokyo has received yet another commitment from the Biden administration on defending the Japanese-controlled, Chinese-claimed Senkaku Islands as Beijing continues its ramped-up activity near the islets. The move took place as the Japan Coast Guard spotted two Chinese ships near the Senkakus for the 10th straight day on Monday. The remarks appeared to again endorse Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy,” which Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, had also advocated. Motegi had high praise for the speed of Blinken’s call to Japan after his formal swearing-in ceremony. In his remarks Wednesday, he “highlighted the importance of continued U.S.-Japan-Republic of Korea cooperation,” the State Department said.

“Washington has realized the limitations of dealing with North Korea unilaterally, and would want to work together with other countries for future talks.”Noting that the North’s nuclear arsenals are now more advanced and sophisticated than the Obama and Trump era, Cheong stressed that both denuclearizing the North and bringing the regime back to the table would be very difficult without China.“Washington is well aware of this. The North withdrew from the talks in 2009, and though there have been attempts to revive the negotiations since, it has never happened.Many believe the four-party talks that took place in the late 1990s -- involving the two Koreas, the US and China -- is more feasible and preferred by Beijing than getting all six to the table.But such talks, or any other working-level dialogue, would not happen so soon, experts agreed. In the meantime, Washington will likely continue to mete out sanctions and take a hardline stance to gain leverage over Pyongyang.“The US will likely continue to toughen sanctions, as ways to manage the North Korea situation,” said Park Won-gon, professor of international politics at Handong Global University. “If the allies conduct exercises, there’s a high chance the North could retaliate, and that could change the whole scope of Washington’s approach to Pyongyang.”As it could take up to six months for Washington’s North Korea policy review to be completed, Seoul needs to consult closely with Washington to have some input into the new administration policies, others say.“South Korea can take the opportunity of Biden’s ‘alliances first’ approach to shore up Seoul’s relations with both Washington and Tokyo and have early input into the new administration’s policies,” said Easley. “It can seek sanctions exemptions for rebuilding the Mount Kumgang resort for humanitarian and environmental exchanges and suggest North Korea and climate change as areas for US-China cooperation.”At the same time, Seoul needs to mend ties with Tokyo, w

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced anger from some of Canada’s premiers Thursday over U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline project — including heated calls for punishment that could fracture ties between the two allies. “Some premiers want to go to war” with the United States over the cancellation, aides of those who participated in the meeting said. The characterization surprised some of the other premiers on the call, aides said, given the behaviour of Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney blasts President Biden on revoked Keystone XL permitTrudeau told the premiers he will plead the case for the Keystone XL pipeline when he speaks to Biden by phone Friday. White House defends revoking Keystone XL permit, says Biden committed to clean energy jobsBiden’s revoking of the Keystone XL permit, one of several executive orders signed within hours of his inauguration, drew sharp condemnation from the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan, whose energy sectors were depending on the US$8 billion project.

Israeli military chief of staff’s remarks are rare and a clear warning to the Biden administration on its relations with Iran. Israel’s top general warned attack plans against Iran were being revised and said any US return to the 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran would be “wrong”. “A return to the 2015 nuclear agreement, or even if it is a similar accord with several improvements, is bad and wrong from an operational and strategic point of view,” Kohavi said. Targeting IranAfter Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018, tensions in the Middle East quickly escalated after a series of attacks and military incidents. Netanyahu had threatened possible Israeli strikes against Iran in the run-up to the landmark nuclear accord with world powers.

With a 35-year career in foreign service, Thomas-Greenfield would bring a different tone to the international body than her recent predecessors. Diplomacy is back,” Thomas-Greenfield said after Biden introduced her and other members of his foreign policy team in November. Nikki Haley, cut a high profile at the international body in championing Trump's "America First" foreign policy. Lawmakers are likely to grill Thomas-Greenfield on Biden's most contentious foreign policy priorities, including his push to revive the Iran nuclear agreement and his promise to confront an increasingly aggressive China. If confirmed, Thomas-Greenfield may face lingering skepticism and resentment on the job after the Trump administration's abrasive approach to the institution and its treatment of America's allies.

Bill TammeusOpinion contributorThis new year brings more frustration over the prisoners — euphemistically called detainees — still housed at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and more pain for 9/11 families, including mine, as we prepare to mark the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Forty prisoners remain there, among them five men accused of planning and supporting the 9/11 attacks. The rules of the proceedings generally have reflected basic American values about innocence and guilt, but the delays have become enormously frustrating, especially for 9/11 families monitoring all this. Routine grief and special pain of 9/11The whole Gitmo process has been torturous not only for many of the prisoners but also for 9/11 families. It’s thousands, not even counting families shattered by other terrorist attacks and mass murders since 9/11.

A supercut released by “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” exposes the hypocrisy of Fox News’ attacks on rival news organizations’ coverage of Joe Biden’s presidency. The montage shows how personalities at the conservative network heaped praise and fawned over former President Donald Trump throughout his time in office, often to his face. But now Joe Biden is president, the same hosts claim other media is giving him a free pass. Fox host Jeanine Pirro sums up her network’s hypocrisy at the end of the video: “Wow. Double standard much?”Watch the video here:

File Image: Former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, after the inauguration of President Joe Biden on 20 January 2021 in Washington, DC. Mr Pence, who grew up in Columbus, hasn't owned an Indiana home for at least the past eight years, reported Associated Press. In fact, the rioters, some of whom chanted "Where's Mike Pence?" and "Hang Mike Pence", came as close as a 100 feet from him during the Capitol siege. Story continuesRead MoreRioters got just 100ft from Mike Pence during Capitol invasionPence says he’s leaving DC in emotional farewell speechThis is the official home of the Vice President

President Biden’s approval rating in his first days in office is higher than Donald Trump ever achieved during his four years as president, two new polls have found. Trump, by contrast, reached an approval rating high of 52 percent in an April 2020 survey by the same pollster. As a result, their impact on a president’s approval rating can be short-lived. When Trump began his term as president in January 2017, Gallup measured his approval rating at 45 percent. But the week before he left office, his approval had fallen to just 34 percent, and Gallup noted that “his 41% average approval rating throughout his presidency is four points lower than for any of his predecessors.”Gallup has yet to release its first poll tracking Biden’s approval rating.

We fully agree with your take in the Jan. 15 editorial, “One red hot mayoral race is enough.”It’s not often that MassVOTE — a voting rights organization — calls for fewer elections, but in one specific case, we must. If Mayor Walsh resigns his post before March 5 to join the Biden administration, then the city is required to hold a set of special elections to fill his seat, on top of this fall’s regularly scheduled elections. If no action is taken to address this, Boston residents would probably have to vote four times in a matter of months: twice in preliminary elections and twice in generals.

In the middle of the Capitol siege on Jan. 6, I received a text message from a close friend in Colorado who’s been skeptical of my evangelical faith for years. But evangelical Christians are people who are called to live as though the truth is true, no matter the cost. As a religion reporter in the 1980s and ’90s, I tracked the rise of evangelical political engagement, interviewing leaders like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Kenneth Copeland and Ralph Reed. Trump found a power base among many marginalized and frightened evangelicals that most political leaders could only dream of owning. When Trump became president, a rapidly growing faith movement began stirring political uprising in the evangelical church.

BEIJING — The U.S.-Chinese trade war isn’t going away under President Joe Biden. Biden won’t confront Beijing right away, economists say, because he wants to focus on the coronavirus and the economy. But he looks set to renew pressure over trade and technology grievances that prompted President Donald Trump to hike tariffs on Chinese imports in 2017. Negotiators might tone down Trump’s focus on narrowing China’s multibillion-dollar trade surplus with the United States and push harder to open its state-dominated economy, which matters more in the long run, economists say. “I think Biden will focus more on trying to extract structural reforms,” said Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is set to announce a wide-ranging moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on U.S. lands, as his administration moves quickly to reverse Trump administration policies on energy and the environment and address climate change. They asked not to be identified because the plan has not been made been public; some details remain in flux. The move follows a 60-day suspension of new drilling permits for U.S. lands and waters announced last week and follows Biden’s campaign pledge to halt new drilling on federal lands and end the leasing of publicly owned energy reserves as part of his plan to address climate change. The moratorium is intended to allow time for officials to review the impact of oil and gas drilling on the environment and climate. Environmental groups hailed the expected moratorium as the kind of bold, urgent action needed to slow climate change.

Donald Trump may be out of office, but his legacy is likely to throw a spanner in the works for the Biden revolution. The Democrats control the White House, the House of Representatives and, with the aid of Kamala Harris’s casting vote, the Senate. But it took less than a week for a Trump-appointed judge to slam the brakes on a Biden immigration initiative. While Donald Trump was in power, the Democrats repeatedly – and often successfully - went to court to block immigration restrictions. It is hardly surprising that the Republicans will use the courts to delay – and if possible block - the Biden administration where it can.

Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B took to Twitter on Monday for help with acne breaking out on her cheek and chin. S*** really is uncomfortable,' the Bronx-born 28-year-old - who boasts 146.6M social media followers - lamented. Spot of bother: Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B took to Twitter on Monday for help with acne breaking out on her cheek and chinThe Bronx-born 28-year-old - who boasts 146.6M social media followers - lamented: 'It's been happening for like 3 months now. 'Ok @Kehlani recommended me somebody for my face,' Cardi tweeted hours later. Catch more of Cardi's outsized personality in the reality show Cardi Tries ___, which streams Thursdays through February 4 on Facebook Messenger Watch.

The Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich has lashed out against against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling her the 'most destructive Speaker' in history. Ingraham asked Gingrich to explain his position on Pelosi, 'You said Nancy Pelosi is the most destructive speaker ever. Newt Gingrich slammed Nancy Pelosi as 'the most dangerous speaker of the House we've had probably in American history.' Gingrich made similar claims during another interview on Fox at the weekend where he further elaborated his views on Pelosi. Gingrich who was Speaker of the House between 1995 and 1999 described Pelosi as being 'dangerous' for 'using power ruthlessly''She lives in an enclave that is guarded in San Francisco,' Gingrich said.

Two sources told the paper that the president will sign an executive order establishing a White House interagency council on environmental justice. Biden on Wednesday will also announce a block on any new federal oil and gas leasing. Biden's move to emphasize how climate change affects different communities in different ways was praised by academics in the field. 'The executive order will help to lay out a clear path to implementing President Biden's climate and justice commitments,' Kelly said. The top three House Republicans, joined by 17 others, sent a letter to Biden on Tuesday warning him against suspending federal oil and gas auctions.

The administration has drafted an order imposing a moratorium on oil and gas auctions on federal land and water, the Washington Post and other US media reported. The US would also pledge to conserve 30 percent of all federal land and water by 2030, part of an international push to stem biodiversity loss and confront climate change, according to reports. "By permanently protecting our coasts from dirty offshore drilling and advancing clean energy sources like offshore wind, we can simultaneously combat climate change and safeguard our clean coast economy," said Oceana campaign director Diane Hoskins. But Goodman, now a senior fellow at the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program, said she saw opportunities for bipartisanship. "Remember that states like Texas and Wyoming also have huge wind potential," she said, adding that there was increased recognition of the realities of climate change.

It said that the two sides had "agreed in principle" to extend New START by five years. The New START treaty, signed in 2010, caps to 1,550 the number of nuclear warheads that can be deployed by Moscow and Washington, who control the world's largest nuclear arsenals. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday submitted a bill to parliament that would extend by five years a key nuclear pact with the United States that was set to expire next week. The legislation was published after Putin and new U.S. President Joe Biden held their first phone call Tuesday evening. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who brokered the INF treaty with U.S. president Ronald Reagan in 1987, urged both countries to extend New START and work together to agree further cuts to nuclear stockpiles.

Tuesday's vote signaled early, but firm, GOP resistance to pursuing impeachment, though Republicans can still change their minds on the final vote. If they remain unified, Democrats will need to win over 17 Republicans since a two-thirds majority is required to convict in an impeachment trial. Only three presidents, including Trump, have faced an impeachment trial though none was ultimately convicted. Typically, the chief justice of the United States presides over an impeachment trial of a sitting president, but John Roberts, who oversaw Trump's last trial in early 2020, declined to do so again. Trump's first impeachment trial lasted for 21 days, though others have spanned a few months.

A Congressional Republican has introduced a federal bill that would ban transgender girls and women from participating in school sports. Steube introduced the same legislation in the U.S. House early last year, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) introduced a similar bill later in the year. The bill contains no language banning states or schools from using forced genital or DNA exams on girls and women who want to participate in school sports. Transgender equality advocates argue that the entire point of this legislation is to deny that transgender women are women. A woman who is trans is a woman,” wrote ACLU attorney Chase Strangio in a Medium article about the GOP attempts to force transgender girls and women out of school sports.

Much like the Bernie mittens meme, the video and still images of Spencer’s punching were ubiquitous. Spencer, who claims to have coined the term “alt-right,” treated the inauguration as a victory lap for his brand of Third Reich–inspired reactionary politics aimed at creating a white ethno state. Spencer came to represent the larger white nationalist current in American politics that saw itself as ascendant alongside Trump. Today, many of those same people who protested Trump are now sharing memes of Bernie Sanders sitting masked and socially distanced at President Biden’s inauguration. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders is the new chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and, with both houses of Congress in Democratic control and Biden as president, he plans to be “aggressive” in pushing through a progressive agenda.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday will announce new efforts to boost Covid-19 vaccine supply and distribution — addressing what’s likely the biggest challenge his administration faces in its first few weeks. First, the administration will increase vaccine supply to states to at least 10 million a week, up from 8.6 million, starting next week. And the feds will purchase 100 million doses of each of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, boosting the federal government’s total order from 400 million to 600 million — enough for 300 million Americans. As part of his Covid-19 and vaccine plans, Biden has promised to do everything within the federal government’s power to boost vaccine supply and distribution. But they also help states coordinate their efforts: By providing more guidance on how many vaccine doses states can expect to get weeks earlier, state officials can actually plan with those numbers of doses in mind.

He's been turned into a bobblehead by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and his miniature likenesses are record-breaking bestsellers. The Fauci frenzyThe first Fauci bobblehead, which featured a blue tie, had a limited production of 42,020 figurines, Sklar explained. And then somebody from the organization where we're donating to suggested a Fauci bobblehead Christmas ornament, so we did that," Sklar said. Recently the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum released a seventh Fauci bobblehead that features him wearing his lab coat. "Today we've raised over just over $300,000," Sklar said, noting the bulk of the donated money came from Fauci bobbleheads.

He's been turned into a bobblehead by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and his miniature likenesses are record-breaking bestsellers. The Fauci frenzyThe first Fauci bobblehead, which featured a blue tie, had a limited production of 42,020 figurines, Sklar explained. And then somebody from the organization where we're donating to suggested a Fauci bobblehead Christmas ornament, so we did that," Sklar said. Recently the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum released a seventh Fauci bobblehead that features him wearing his lab coat. "Today we've raised over just over $300,000," Sklar said, noting the bulk of the donated money came from Fauci bobbleheads.

He's been turned into a bobblehead by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and his miniature likenesses are record-breaking bestsellers. The Fauci frenzyThe first Fauci bobblehead, which featured a blue tie, had a limited production of 42,020 figurines, Sklar explained. And then somebody from the organization where we're donating to suggested a Fauci bobblehead Christmas ornament, so we did that," Sklar said. Recently the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum released a seventh Fauci bobblehead that features him wearing his lab coat. "Today we've raised over just over US$300,000," Sklar said, noting the bulk of the donated money came from Fauci bobbleheads.

A federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the Biden administration from moving forward with a 100-day pause on many deportations across the US, saying Tuesday that it was not adequately reasoned or explained to the public. The temporary restraining order represents an initial setback for the Biden administration, which has vowed to reform agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by restricting who is arrested and deported. Judge Drew Tipton, who was appointed by former president Donald Trump, ordered the Biden administration to immediately stop enforcing its moratorium on many deportations, which had gone into effect on Friday before Texas sued. On Jan. 20, the Biden administration issued a pause on deportations for many undocumented immigrants who have final orders of removal. Kate Huddleston, an attorney for the ACLU of Texas, slammed the lawsuit on Tuesday, saying Paxton "is attempting to force the Biden administration to follow Trump's xenophobic policies."

In his first week in office, President Joe Biden has reimposed a host of COVID-19 travel restrictions, while also repealing Donald Trump's discriminatory Muslim ban. Starting on Jan. 30, Biden's presidential proclamation bans entry for most non-US citizens who have recently been to South Africa, where a new COVID-19 variant has been identified. Those exempt from the COVID-19 travel ban include lawful permanent residents of the US, noncitizen nationals of the US, and noncitizens who are married to a US citizen or a permanent resident, among others. In the US, the CDC has identified nearly 300 cases of the UK variant in more than 20 states. However, those subject to Biden's COVID-19 travel ban cannot enter the US even if they present a negative test result, the CDC noted.

The president also announced a plan to give states at least 10 million doses of vaccines a week, up from 8.6 million, for the next three weeks. Purchase of the additional doses — 100 million from Pfizer and 100 million from Moderna — will bring total assured purchases of authorized doses to 600 million. If authorized by the FDA in February, its one-dose vaccine would also significantly increase the supply in the US, with the company projecting 100 million doses available by June. "100 million shots in 100 days is not the end point — it’s just the start," Biden said on Tuesday. The way we do that is to get more people vaccinated, which means we have to be ready after we hit the goal of 100 million shots in 100 days."

Biden and his allies say they want to undo the diplomatic harm caused by former president Donald Trump’s unilateral reimposition of sanctions on Iran, which happened over the objections of European partners. Along with rejoining the Paris climate accords, salvaging the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that Trump abrogated would demonstrate the Biden administration’s commitment to multilateral diplomacy with long-standing allies. While Biden is committed to re-engagement with Iran, his aides have yet to indicate clearly when and how, suggesting that the ball is in Iran’s court. ADADAs the Trump administration fired off a final salvo of punitive actions against Tehran, the regime responded by stepping up enrichment of uranium at five times the rate permitted under the nuclear deal. “We have weeks.”This standoff between Biden and Zarif’s boss, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, is made more fraught by domestic pressures within both countries.

TOKYO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Asian equities slipped on Wednesday as investors looked to the Federal Reserve’s guidance on its monetary policy while futures for U.S. tech shares jumped after strong earnings from Microsoft. REUTERS/Aly SongEuropean stocks are expected to slip a tad, with EuroStoxx 50 futures down 0.3% and FTSE futures shedding 0.4%. MSCI’s gauge of Asian ex-Japan shares slipped 0.2%, dragged lower by profit-taking in resource shares as some investors have grown wary of stretched valuations. But the tech sector remained a bright spot after Microsoft’s earnings lifted Nasdaq futures 0.5% while Japan’s Nikkei also rose 0.3%. Oil prices were supported by economic optimism, with U.S. crude futures trading up 0.6% at $52.95 per barrel.

ADVERTISEMENTThe AP this week cited witnesses who fled the Tigray region as saying Eritrean soldiers were looting, going house-to-house killing young men and even acting as local authorities. The Eritreans have been fighting on the side of Ethiopian forces as they pursue the fugitive leaders of the Tigray region, though Ethiopia’s government has denied their presence. “It remains unclear how many Eritrean soldiers are in Tigray, or precisely where,” it says. It was not immediately clear whether the U.S. has addressed its demand directly to Eritrean officials. Witnesses have estimated that the Eritrean soldiers number in the thousands.

Marjorie Taylor Greene indicated support for executing Democrats before her election, report says (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene indicated her support for the execution of leading Democrats in 2018 and 2019 Facebook posts before winning election to Congress, it has been reported. pic.twitter.com/K3JuvqrDGS — Marjorie Taylor Greene ?? (@mtgreenee) January 26, 2021“They are coming after me because, like President Trump, I will always defend our values." Story continuesMs Taylor Greene last week, as a stunt, filed an article of impeachment against Joe Biden the day after his inauguration. Ms Taylor Greene has also been accused of posting false flag conspiracy theories about the Parkland high school shooting. Mr Trump campaigned on her behalf and called her a “future Republican star.”Read MoreMarjorie Taylor Greene files articles of impeachment against Joe BidenMarjorie Taylor Greene faces calls to resign over ‘false flag’ commentMarjorie Taylor Greene suspended from TwitterMarjorie Taylor Greene says she will reject Biden electors

“ ‘It just makes common sense that it likely would be more effective.’ ”Dr. Anthony Fauci says two masks are better than one. It did not advocate wearing face coverings until April 3 last year to help prevent the wearer from spreading coronavirus, but since then health professionals say it also helps prevent the wearer from being infected. Fauci recently said that he expects more people will be able to get vaccines by April to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. “I would expect by the time we get to April, it will be what we call open season on vaccines,” Fauci told NPR. BioNTech and Pfizer said an in vitro study found that their COVID-19 vaccine neutralizes the two new highly infectious variants that have emerged in the U.K. and South Africa.

A former adviser to Mike Pence says she was told to "spy" on Dr Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus taskforce coordinator during the Trump administration. In response to Ms Birx speaking out publically this week, Ms Troye said she saw first hand the "very challenging situations" the administration placed on its health expert. Mr Pottinger was Donald Trump's deputy national security adviser who resigned following the riot at the US Capitol. Ms Birx was also heavily criticized for not publicly speaking out against, or pushing back harder on Mr Trump, during her time on the coronavirus taskforce. And I said, well, you know that there has been an effort to manipulate the data to downplay this virus," Ms Troye said.

“I just said, 'Oh my goodness gracious,’” he recalled in a CNN interview about that day in April, when Mr Trump suggested bleach could act as a therapeutic to the novel virus from behind the White House podium. “I could just see what’s going to happen,” Dr Fauci added. "Sending me an envelope with powder that explodes in my face to scare me and my family, boy that tells you the depth of the divisiveness,” says Dr. Fauci of death threats he received during the Trump administration. Even leading disinfectant companies like Lysol and Clorox released urgent warnings to customers against using their products as potential therapeutics for the novel virus. Read MoreDr Fauci urges Americans to not ‘get complacent’ as cases declineTrump reportedly furious he can't lash out at Dr Fauci on TwitterFauci opens up on what working for Trump was really like

GettyDr. Anthony Fauci said he was worried that people would do "dangerous and foolish things" after former President Donald Trump suggested injecting disinfectants could be a treatment for COVID-19. I could just see what's going to happen," Fauci said when asked during a CNN interview on Monday. Top US infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said he was that people would do "dangerous and foolish things" after former President Donald Trump suggested injecting disinfectant could treat coronavirus infections. In April of last year, the former president made a comment during a press briefing suggesting scientists should research the effects of possibly injecting disinfectant to treat or cure COVID-19. In an interview on Monday with CNN's Erin Burnett, Fauci reflected on his thoughts during that moment, saying he was worried that the remark would make people do "dangerous and stupid things."

Brian Gundersen, a former football player, faces charges in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (Photo: FBI)Brian Gundersen, a former varsity football player for Byram Hills High School in North Castle Township, New York, is facing charges after the FBI received tips about a man seen storming the Capitol while wearing a letterman’s jacket. The jacket included the name of his high school and his former jersey number. Gundersen is reportedly 26 years old and reportedly graduated high school nearly nine years ago, in 2012. Brian Gundersen wore his high school varsity jacket to the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese told CNBC Tuesday that Biden is willing to negotiate the value of the direct relief payments included in the bill, among other things. “When it comes to the checks, we put forward a proposal that ... passed the House with 275 votes — 44 Republicans voted for it,” Deese said. “Certainly, if there are ways to make that provision, and other provisions, more effective, that’s something that we’re open to, that we’ll have conversations about. At the same time, he said he wanted to move quickly, and that he could not be sure that Republicans would support a bill in the end. The resolution would allow lawmakers to write a bill based on Biden’s relief proposal, and for it to pass with a simple majority.

Let's bring in Congressman Tom Malinowski, Democratic Congressman Tom Malinowski from New Jersey. And I think something similar to what President Biden proposed will be put on the floor of the United States Senate. TOM MALINOWSKI: Yeah, It's not either or. TOM MALINOWSKI: Yeah, well, look, I think that there's broad consensus that the Chinese Communist Party poses a threat to democracies around the world. But Congressman Tom Malinowski from the state of New Jersey, appreciate you coming on here to chat with us today.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) says if Republicans don’t get on board with President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, the Senate should use reconciliation— a process that would allow the legislation to pass through Congress without any Republican support. This is not a far-left plan,” said Khanna in an interview with Yahoo Finance Live. ), have raised concerns about stimulus checks going to people who don’t need them. The process allows the Senate to pass certain legislation with only a simple majority. In 2017, Republicans used the process to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesSchumer said Democrats were gearing up to pass a relief package without GOP votes if necessary. But GOP resistance to the plan is intensifying, and many Republicans say the level of spending Biden is seeking isn't necessary to address the crisis. Story continuesSenate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said during a floor speech on Monday that the Biden plan "misses the mark." Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said Democrats should spend a "very limited amount of time" trying to draw Republican votes. That's been a major factor pushing Democrats to immediately set the wheels in motion for passing Biden's rescue package.

Biden spoke by phone on Tuesday with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to convey that Washington intended to work with Nato allies on shared security concerns such as in Afghanistan, Iraq and Russia. Biden said the United States was committed to collective defence under the North Atlantic Treaty and "underscored his commitment to strengthening transatlantic security", the White House said in a statement. During his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused Nato allies, including Germany, of not "paying their fair share", and threatened to withdraw the US from the alliance. More from South China Morning Post:Read the original article on South China Morning Post. For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The United States said all soldiers from Eritrea should leave Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region “immediately.”A State Department spokesperson in an email to The Associated Press cited “credible reports of looting, sexual violence, assaults in refugee camps and other human rights abuses." "There is also evidence of Eritrean soldiers forcibly returning Eritrean refugees from Tigray to Eritrea,” the spokesperson said. The statement reflects new pressure by the Biden administration on the government of Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country and the anchor of the Horn of Africa, and other combatants as the deadly fighting in Tigray nears the three-month mark.

The mainstream media, they say, has been “gushing” over Joe Biden, offering “nauseating” coverage of the new president and “not hiding their excitement”. “You were very strong at the end of that press conference,” Hannity assured Trump during a Fox News interview in July 2018. “Well get ready, it’s gonna be four years of nauseating, gauzy coverage,” thundered Laura Ingraham on Fox News this week. Well, they’re just lapdogs.”Ingraham, host of the Ingraham Angle Fox News show, is something of an expert in this field. “Are you having fun in this job?” Ingraham asked Trump, later asking the president: “Look at the economy.

Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene indicated her support for the execution of leading Democrats in 2018 and 2019 Facebook posts before winning election to Congress, it has been reported. In one, from January 2019, Ms Taylor Greene liked a comment that said “a bullet to the head would be quicker” to remove House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California. Ms Taylor Greene took to Twitter to defend herself. Ms Taylor Greene last week, as a stunt, filed an article of impeachment against Joe Biden the day after his inauguration. Ms Taylor Greene has also been accused of posting false flag conspiracy theories about the Parkland high school shooting.

The second wife of former President Donald Trump, Marla Maples, was seen out and about shopping and eating lunch with a group of friends in Miami on Tuesday. 'I think he's going to set up shop with Palm Beach as the headquarters of his post-presidency Maga movement,' Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Palm Beach county, told The Guardian. Supporters of President Donald Trump cheer for the president in his final moments as POTUS. 'It's just the latest chapter in the ongoing saga between Donald Trump and the town of Palm Beach. Supporters of President Donald Trump cheer for the president in his final moments as POTUS.

AdvertisementDr Anthony Fauci says he's ready to put his rocky relationship with Donald Trump 'behind' him, despite giving several interviews this past week criticizing the former president after he left the White House. Speaking alongside Perino on Tuesday, co-host Bill Hemmer chimed in saying he had noticed an 'aggressiveness towards the Trump administration' in recent interviews with Fauci. Fauci confirmed the president's goal could be feasible once vaccine doses become available to the general population in April, which he referred to as 'open season.' Calling the push a 'wartime effort,' Biden said the administration was working to buy an additional 100 million doses each from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna. Fauci told Perino on Tuesday that people requiring their second dose would also be prioritized when the next batch of vaccines come in.

SPORTSA woman in a face mask walks past a display showing the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games logo in Tokyo on March 24, 2020. When most states shut down their sporting events, the city of Jacksonville hosted the Ultimate Fighting Championship (the UFC) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) setup the ‘bubble’ to hold games in Orlando,” Patronis said.Patronis also posted an article from The Japan Times on his Twitter account, referring to a survey result that 70 percent of Japanese want Tokyo Games to be canceled or delayed.Tokyo, with a population of about 38 million, has seen some 95,000 confirmed cases, according the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s COVID-19 information website. Florida, which has a population of around 21 million, has registered over 1.6 million cases, according to the state government’s tally.White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked Tuesday if the idea of Florida hosting the Olympics this summer would be supported by the Biden administration.“I don’t know the entire process of the Olympics, but I would certainly send you to the US Olympic Committee and the International Olympics Committee first on what their assessment of that offer is and certainly, of course, what their assessment is of Japan’s preparedness for the Olympics,” she said.The IOC has not made an official comment on Florida’s proposal. Instead, the IOC said Tuesday that President Thomas Bach talked with the National Olympic Committees over the phone on Friday “as the Olympic Movement enters the final stretch in the preparations for the postponed Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.”Mentioning that the IOC and its partners have been developing a toolbox of COVID-19 countermeasures, the Olympic body said it is continuing to consult with the World Health Organization to make every effort towards staging safe and secure Games.The Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled to take place during the summer of 2020, was pushed back a year because of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping e

After completing calls with his American and European counterparts, he is expected to call leaders of his Asian allies, including South Korea and Japan, in the coming days.The phone call between Moon and Xi was the first in almost eight months, with the Chinese president’s trip to Seoul that was supposed to be made last year delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Cheong Wa Dae declined to confirm news reports claiming Beijing was the first to reach out.The call fueled speculations that China may be seeking to ramp up pressure on South Korea as the US-China rivalry enters a new chapter with the US presidential transition.At the World Economic Forum on Monday, Xi called for leaders to cooperate more with China in his speech. The Chinese leader added that North Korea seems to have not ruled out diplomacy with the South and the US, citing its statement during a recent party congress.Ahead of celebrating the 30th anniversary of their bilateral ties next year, the two leaders also agreed to establish a future committee consisting of experts from both countries to work together on a blueprint for renewed partnership for the next 30 years.A statement from Beijing on the call also referred to the future committee and its expectations about partnership in trade. But it did not mention Xi’s comments on his Seoul trip or North Korea.When asked about the discrepancies, a Cheong Wa Dae official said, “The two leaders had a friendly conversation. We disclosed all of the details as much as possible.”In the meantime, some analysts predicted China could adjust their pressure against South Korea considering smooth bilateral ties are needed to pave the way for several major events this year, including the annual “two sessions” parliamentary meetings in March, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the China Communist Party and the Beijing Winter Olympics in February next year.By Lee Ji-yoon ( jylee@heraldcorp.comRelated Stories

A phone call between President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping underscored again South Korea’s tough job of striking a delicate balance between the US and China whose relations enter a new phase under the new Biden administration.The South Korean and Chinese presidents held the phone conversation Tuesday night to discuss a slew of topics ranging from Xi’s delayed visit to Seoul to Moon’s role in the frosty US-North Korea diplomacy and coronavirus response.There was nothing unusual in the president’s phone call with the Chinese leader, but the timing drew keen attention as it comes ahead of Moon’s first dialogue with US President Joe Biden.Biden, who took office last week, is holding a series of phone calls with world leaders. After completing calls with his American and European counterparts, he is expected to call leaders of his Asian allies, including South Korea and Japan, in the coming days.The phone call between Moon and Xi was the first in almost eight months, with the Chinese president’s trip to Seoul that was supposed to be made last year delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Cheong Wa Dae declined to confirm news reports claiming Beijing was the first to reach out.The call fueled speculations that China may be seeking to ramp up pressure on South Korea as the US-China rivalry enters a new chapter with the US presidential transition.At the World Economic Forum on Monday, Xi called for leaders to cooperate more with China in his speech. But it did not mention Xi’s comments on his Seoul trip or North Korea.When asked about the discrepancies, a Cheong Wa Dae official said, “The two leaders had a friendly conversation. We disclosed all of the details as much as possible.”In the meantime, some analysts predicted China could adjust their pressure against South Korea considering smooth bilateral ties are needed to pave the way for several major events this year, including the annual “two sessions” parliamentary meetings in March, the 100th ann

In effect, the President is putting a date on a return of a semblance of normal life -- with no guarantee that he can deliver. The White House argues however that its aggressive strategy is a huge improvement on the Trump team's more hands-off approach that left the states to fix issues on their own. "Day Seven: we have found a way to secure vaccine supply adequate to provide a dose for EVERY adult by summer," White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain tweeted on Tuesday. To back up the President's promise to deploy science and not to hide bad news, the CDC and other experts are due to relaunch briefings at the White House on Wednesday. Should numbers of cases continue to fall, governors -- especially those in Republican-run states -- may prematurely reopen businesses at normal levels and trigger new waves of disease before Biden's virus gambit fully delivers.

Rep. Katie Porter said she isn't sure if Sen. Ted Cruz thinks at all. "I struggle to understand how he thinks, if [thinking] is what goes on in his head at all," she told Vanity Fair. I'm not going to put myself in the shoes of people like Ted Cruz," Porter told Vanity Fair of impeachment. "I struggle to understand how he thinks, if [thinking] is what goes on in his head at all." She is even getting an "OVRSITE" vanity plate on her minivan, she told Vanity Fair.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched an investigation to determine whether Illinois has violated federal law by enacting and enforcing the 2019 Reproductive Health Act which, among other things, requires certain health insurance plans to cover abortion services. The coverage mandate does not apply to private, large-group insurance plans that are regulated under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, also known as ERISA. The letter specifically referred to a federal law known as the Weldon Amendment, which has been attached to every HHS appropriations bill since 2005. “The law is the law, regardless of who holds office,” McHale said in a separate email statement to Capitol News Illinois. Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide.

A California man sent threatening text messages to the families of a New York congressman and a journalist on the same day pro-Donald Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, federal authorities said Tuesday. Robert Lemke, 35, was arrested in California on Tuesday on a charge of making threatening interstate communications, according to the Justice Department. To the congressman’s brother, Lemke sent, “Your brother is putting your entire family at risk with his lies and other words. Lemke's texts also included a picture of a home in the same neighborhood as Jeffries’ brother’s house, according to the complaint. That's how we do it.”More than 400 suspects have been identified in relation to the riot that left five people dead.

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain defended teachers' unions who refuse to resume in-person teaching despite studies that have shown a low risk of spreading the coronavirus. "Ron, why do you think that the teachers unions in many cases are overruling what the studies show?" CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP"I don't think that teachers' unions are overruling studies," Klain said. "I think that what you're seeing that schools haven't made the investments to keep the students safe. They just want to know that it's safe and we as a country should make the investments to make it safe," Klain added.

Slideshow ( 2 images )SINGAPORE (Reuters) - COVID-19 vaccination programmes in China and India will stretch until late 2022 due to the sheer size of their population, and more than 85 poor countries will not have widespread access to vaccines before 2023, a study showed on Wednesday. While rapid development of vaccines has raised hopes for an end to the year-long pandemic, concerns over unequal distribution have also mounted due to production problems and large bilateral deals between wealthy countries and drug makers. U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the United States aims to secure an additional 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech and Moderna Inc by summer. In Europe, the European Commission is setting up a proposal to restrict COVID-19 vaccine exports amid frustration over delays in deliveries of AstraZeneca’s vaccine and other supply problems. “Most developing countries will not have widespread access to the shots before 2023 at the earliest,” Agathe Demarais, director of the Economist Intelligence Unit, the research division of the Economist Group, said in its study.

It is intended to complement rising international ambition to make the aggressive emissions cuts scientists say are necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Companies in the agreement represent seven global industries - steel, cement, chemicals, aluminum, shipping, aviation, and trucking – that together account for nearly one-third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. The partnership aims to accelerate global efforts to combat climate change under the Paris climate agreement. We Mean Business is co-organizing the partnership with the Energy Transitions Commission, Rocky Mountain Institute and the World Economic Forum. The organizers say they hope the partnership will create momentum for the next round of international climate talks in Glasgow in November.

The seventh day of the Biden presidency saw the president take executive action on racial equity and order a huge vaccine surge to states nationwide.

The moratorium is intended to allow time for officials to review the impact of oil and gas drilling on the environment and climate. Oil industry groups slammed the move, saying Biden had already eliminated thousands of oil and gas jobs by killing the Keystone XL oil pipeline on his first day in office. The pause in onshore drilling is limited to federal lands and does not affect drilling on private lands, which is largely regulated by states. Oil and gas extracted from public lands and waters account for about a quarter of annual U.S. production. Biden’s choice to lead the Interior Department, which oversees oil and gas leasing on public lands, is New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland.

Biden is dispatching the nation’s top scientists and public health experts to regularly brief the American public about the pandemic. Biden is dispatching the nation’s top scientists and public health experts to regularly brief the American public about the pandemic. Expect a sharp contrast from the last administration’s briefings, when public health officials were repeatedly undermined by a president who shared his unproven ideas without hesitation. ADVERTISEMENT“We’re bringing back the pros to talk about COVID in an unvarnished way,” Biden told reporters Tuesday. Even so, Trump restricted media appearances by his top scientists and public health officials and continued to spread misinformation.

A court-appointed committee has yet to find the parents of 628 children separated at the border early in the Trump administration. A court-appointed committee has yet to find the parents of 628 children separated at the border early in the Trump administration. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. Most families have not been prosecuted under zero tolerance since 2018, when the separations were halted, though separations have continued on a smaller scale. The “zero tolerance” policy was one of several increasingly restrictive policies aimed at discouraging migrants from coming to the Southern border.

He acknowledged that states in recent weeks have been left guessing how much vaccine they will have from one week to the next. “Lives are at stake.”He promised a roughly 16% boost in deliveries to states over the next three weeks. The administration said it plans to buy another 100 million doses each from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna to ensure it has enough vaccine for the long term. ADVERTISEMENTThe setup inherited from the Trump administration has been marked by miscommunication and unexplained bottlenecks, with shortages reported in some places even as vaccine doses remain on the shelf. As of Tuesday afternoon, the CDC reported that just over half of the 44 million doses distributed to states have been put in people’s arms.

Senators voted 78-22 to approve Blinken, a longtime Biden confidant, as the nation’s 71st secretary of state, succeeding Mike Pompeo. Blinken, 58, served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration. Shortly after his confirmation, Blinken took the oath of office at a private ceremony at the State Department. Blinken inherits a deeply demoralized and depleted career workforce at the State Department. Blinken served on the National Security Council during the Clinton administration before becoming staff director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Biden was chair of the panel.

Expect a sharp contrast from the last administration's briefings, when public health officials were repeatedly undermined by a president who shared his unproven ideas without hesitation. “We’re bringing back the pros to talk about COVID in an unvarnished way,” Biden told reporters Tuesday. Those messages found few champions in the former administration, as Trump openly flouted science-based guidance from his own administration. Even so, Trump restricted media appearances by his top scientists and public health officials and continued to spread misinformation. Trump later told journalist Bob Woodward that he had been “playing it down” to avoid creating panic about the virus.

EUROPE* The daily number of new coronavirus infections in France stayed above 20,000 on average for the fourth straight day on Tuesday, while hospitalisations reached an eight-week high of 27,041. ASIA-PACIFIC* China recorded its lowest daily increase in COVID-19 cases in more than two weeks, with the country administering about 22.8 million doses of coronavirus vaccines. * Australia recorded a 10th straight day of no new local COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, allowing its most populous state of New South Wales to relax restrictions. * Mexico's Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said emergency use of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine should be authorized within days. * A volunteer in the local Peruvian trial of a coronavirus vaccine produced by China's Sinopharm Group Co Ltd has died from COVID-19-related pneumonia.

AxiosThe Biden administration today laid out its policies on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and stressed its intention to renew ties with the Palestinian Authority.Why it matters: The Trump administration dramatically changed U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. * Mills said the Biden administration will support a two-state solution, which it sees as "the best way to ensure Israel stays a democratic and Jewish state." * He added that the new administration will base its policies on consultations with both sides — by contrast, the Trump administration hardly spoke to the Palestinians for three years. * He said the Biden administration would renew ties with the Palestinian Authority, which boycotted Trump's administration after he moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. * He added that the Biden administration would oppose one-sided or biased resolutions that single out Israel in international forums.What’s next: Mills said Biden welcomes the normalization agreements between Israel and Arab countries but doesn't see them as a substitute for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Dave KolpackAssociated PressFargo, N.D. – A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a district judge’s order for a full environmental impact review of the Dakota Access pipeline, but declined to shut the line down while the review is completed. Following a complaint by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said in April 2020 that a more extensive review was necessary than the environmental assessment conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile (1,886 kilometer) pipeline crosses beneath the Missouri River, just north of the the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation that straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border. The group said President Joe Biden has the discretion to shut the pipeline down; last week, the leaders of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Oglala Sioux Tribe, and Yankton Sioux Tribe wrote to the president asking him to do so. The Obama administration originally rejected permits for the project, and the Corps prepared to conduct a full environmental review.

Katrina LewisBloomberg NewsElectric vehicle and private prison stocks are among the initial batch of winners and losers in the new Joe Biden administration as the Democratic president rolls out his first policy actions. Workhorse surged as much as 33%, while Nikola Corp. gained 26%, Lordstown Motors Corp. added 20% and Tesla Inc. rose 1.7%. Green-energy stocks similarly advanced last week when Biden signaled his commitment to combating climate change through his executive orders. On Tuesday, FuelCell Energy Inc. was as much as 26% higher and solar company SunPower Corp. rose 10%. Shares of private prison operators dropped on Tuesday following news that Biden will sign an executive order directing the attorney general not to renew contracts with privately operated detention facilities.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fulfilling a campaign promise, President Joe Biden plans to reopen the HealthCare.gov insurance markets for a special sign-up opportunity geared to people needing coverage in the coronavirus pandemic. Biden is expected to sign an executive order Thursday, said two people familiar with the plan, whose details were still being finalized. Failure to repeal and replace “Obamacare” as he repeatedly vowed to do was one of former President Donald Trump's most bitter disappointments. The White House had no comment on Biden's expected order, but the two individuals familiar with the plan said the new enrollment period would not go into effect immediately. Instead, the White House wants to provide time for the Department of Health and Human Services to mount a marketing campaign, and for insurers to get ready for an influx of new customers.

Copyright © 2021 Albuquerque JournalSANTA FE – For years, minor party candidates in New Mexico have been largely relegated to afterthought status, only rarely affecting high-profile state races. But that could change under a legislative proposal to bring back “fusion voting,” which would allow minor parties – there are five such parties in New Mexico – to nominate a major party’s nominee for the general election ballot. Of that amount, 293,151 – or 21.6% of all voters – were independent voters who declined to state a party affiliation. The five minor parties in New Mexico are the Green Party, the Better for America Party, the Constitution Party, the New Mexico Working Families Party and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. The three major parties for the 2020 election cycle were the Republican Party, Democratic Party and Libertarian Party, which was elevated to major party status in 2018.

.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........WASHINGTON — The Justice Department rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. “Consistent with this longstanding principle of making individualized assessments in criminal cases, I am rescinding — effective immediately — the policy directive,” Wilkinson wrote. The “zero tolerance” policy meant that any adult caught crossing the border illegally would be prosecuted for illegal entry. Most families have not been prosecuted under zero tolerance since 2018, when the separations were halted, though separations have continued on a smaller scale. The “zero tolerance” policy was one of several increasingly restrictive policies aimed at discouraging migrants from coming to the Southern border.

Biden, calling the push a “wartime effort,” said Tuesday the administration was working to buy an additional 100 million doses of each of the two approved coronavirus vaccines. He acknowledged that states in recent weeks have been left guessing how much vaccine they will have from one week to the next. The administration said it plans to buy another 100 million doses each from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna to ensure it has enough vaccine for the long term. The setup inherited from the Trump administration has been marked by miscommunication and unexplained bottlenecks, with shortages reported in some places even as vaccine doses remain on the shelf. As of Tuesday afternoon, the CDC reported that just over half of the 44 million doses distributed to states have been put in people’s arms.

The Inauguration of President Joseph Biden last week was an occasion with fewer people but just as much pomp and celebration as anyone could expect from a presidential ceremony. Yet one of the most buzzed-about attendees wasn’t the Vice President or former FLOTUS, but a 22-year-old, vintage-adoring, cow-tattoo-sporting Brooklynite: Ella Emhoff, VP Kamala Harris’s stepdaughter. Emhoff became a social-media sensation thanks to her embellished plaid Miu Miu coat. One Twitter user said, “Excited for Ella Emhoff to become a style icon over the next four years,” while another added that “Ella Emhoff did with one coat what Ivanka couldn't get done in four years. Instant style icon.”

The disconnect seems most pronounced for individual firms, such as Tesla - which represents 13pc of the index’s value but only 7pc of its earnings. Then again, although markets are unquestionably frothy, there is one big difference between 1999 and today. Too often, the Silicon Valley giants are viewed as an amorphous mass where in reality they are a diverse group of companies with different prospects. Makers of electric cars and smartphones like Tesla and Apple, bear remarkably little in common with Facebook or Amazon, for example. If not all tech companies are created equal, it seems plausible that 2021 may be the year when we see a more hard-headed reappraisal of the sector - and a decoupling between the long-term winners and losers.

Senators voted 78-22 to approve Blinken, a longtime Biden confidant, as the nation’s 71st secretary of state, succeeding Mike Pompeo. Blinken, 58, served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security advisor during the Obama administration. He is expected to start work on Wednesday after being sworn in, according to State Department officials. Opposition to Blinken centred on Iran policy and concerns among conservatives that he will abandon Trump’s "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran. Blinken inherits a deeply demoralised and depleted career workforce at the State Department.

The Biden administration is 'actively looking' at expanding mandatory COVID-19 testing to travelers on US domestic flights, a senior Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) official said on Tuesday. On a call with reporters, Dr Marty Cetron, director for the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine at CDC, was asked about whether new domestic travel testing requirements might be employed. Last week, President Joe Biden directed US agencies to make recommendations to 'impose additional public health measures for domestic travel' and to consider new requirements for people crossing land borders. In discussions with airline officials, the CDC has said it is considering requiring domestic testing, too. 'We have concern about the mutation that's in South Africa,' Fauci told 'CBS This Morning.'

Amid speculation that Tokyo may pass on the Summer Olympics due to a recent surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, Florida has proposed relocating the Games from Japan to the Sunshine State.Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday, offering the state as a replacement host.In his letter to the IOC, Patronis cited “recent media reports” about leaders in Japan privately having concluded that they are too concerned about the pandemic for the 2021 Olympics to take place.Patronis added that there is still time to deploy a site selection team to Florida to meet with statewide and local officials on holding the Olympics in the Sunshine State.“The State of Florida has successfully allowed sports to take place during the pandemic. When most states shut down their sporting events, the city of Jacksonville hosted the Ultimate Fighting Championship (the UFC) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) setup the ‘bubble’ to hold games in Orlando,” Patronis said.Patronis also posted an article from The Japan Times on his Twitter account, referring to a survey result that 70 percent of Japanese want Tokyo Games to be canceled or delayed.Tokyo, with a population of about 38 million, has seen some 95,000 confirmed cases, according the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s COVID-19 information website. Florida, which has a population of around 21 million, has registered over 1.6 million cases, according to the state government’s tally.White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked Tuesday if the idea of Florida hosting the Olympics this summer would be supported by the Biden administration.“I don’t know the entire process of the Olympics, but I would certainly send you to the US Olympic Committee and the International Olympics Committee first on what their assessment of that offer is and certainly, of course, what their assessment is of Japan’s preparedness for the Olympics,” she said.The IOC has no

Twenty-three minutes after assuming the presidency, Joe Biden demanded the resignation of Peter Robb, the notoriously anti-union general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board appointed by Donald Trump. Alice Stock, another anti-union Trump appointee, then assumed the role of acting general counsel—and Biden demanded her resignation the next day. Both Robb and Stock, who relentlessly undermined unions’ ability to organize and bargain, are now complaining that Biden fired them without just cause. And Alice Stock, whom Trump installed as deputy general counsel at the NLRB, complained about the “dubious legality” of Biden’s move. No matter: Stock, another management-side lawyer who helped Robb shred unions, served less than one full day as acting general counsel before Biden sacked her.

Expect a sharp contrast from the last administration's briefings, when public health officials were repeatedly undermined by a president who shared his unproven ideas without hesitation. “We’re bringing back the pros to talk about COVID in an unvarnished way,” Biden told reporters Tuesday. Those messages found few champions in the former administration, as Trump openly flouted science-based guidance from his own administration. Even so, Trump restricted media appearances by his top scientists and public health officials and continued to spread misinformation. Trump later told journalist Bob Woodward that he had been “playing it down” to avoid creating panic about the virus.

US President Joe Biden has spoken to Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, pledging US support for stronger transatlantic security. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

The CDC report says data from reopened classrooms show that "the type of rapid spread that was frequently observed in congregate living facilities or high-density worksites has not been reported in education settings in schools." Among the school systems cited in the review were 11 North Carolina districts serving more than 90,000 students and staff. In another study, of 17 schools in rural Wisconsin, mask-wearing helped keep the COVID-19 incidence lower in schools than in the larger community. The CDC authors do single out a few school-based functions that can drive infections, namely indoor sports practices and events. Some states have prioritized inoculating educators and school staff as teachers unions in some communities have resisted a return to school for safety reasons.

The safety and lives of people are being politicized at a time when the country should be coming together to improve our shared future.”Read more:SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Never Miss a Beat. Get our best delivered to your inbox. Human Rights Challenges Remain in Biden Executive Actions on Restoring the Right to Seek Safety in the U.S. (news release, 1/20/21)All families seeking safety should be safe, free and together. People can learn more about Amnesty International USA’s work on the issue here. People can learn about Amnesty International USA’s priorities for the Biden administration here.

"Folks have wondered what Democrats’ first big push will be, and now we know it’s comprehensive climate action. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is doing right by backing a bold agenda that’s rooted in our communities. Now, it’s time for Joe Biden to step into the mantle of the climate president by declaring a climate emergency and aligning his unprecedented $2 trillion investment plan to the principles of THRIVE. "Many of our communities have already been devastated by wildfires, floods, heatwaves, and if we don’t move, this will only get worse. The agenda calls for climate, labor, and racial justice: specifically, 100% clean energy by 2035; the PRO-act for worker justice; and, investing $2 trillion in green jobs and infrastructure with 40% directed to environmental justice communities.

The Raise the Wage Act of 2021 would increase the federal minimum wage to $15 in five steps over the next four years. Beginning in 2026, the federal minimum wage would be indexed to median wage growth. "Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 will be a boost to the economy, and a boost to our sales. “It is a national disgrace that the minimum wage has lost over 30 percent of its purchasing power since 1968. Now is the time to raise the minimum wage to a living wage – at least $15 an hour.

WASHINGTON - On Wednesday, President Biden is expected to sign an executive order to combat climate change domestically and elevate the issue as a national security priority. President Biden has already suspended new oil and gas leasing for 60 days. “The bare minimum is permanently halting new fossil fuel infrastructure on public lands and water that our government owns. To meet this goal, the United States must stop selling off federal land and waters to fossil fuel development. The fossil fuel industry is an existential threat to Florida.

WASHINGTON - The Antibiotics Off The Menu (AOTM) coalition has released a statement calling for the Biden Administration to address the ongoing global threat of antibiotic resistance at the federal level, and for the restaurant industry to continue taking action to limit the use of medically important antibiotics on livestock. Through AOTM, Center for Food Safety works in coalition with other public interest, animal welfare, and environmental groups seeking to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics in treating sick people and sick animals. Jaydee Hanson, policy director at Center for Food Safety, released the following statement:SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Never Miss a Beat. “Bacterial resistance to antibiotic drugs is one of the most serious global health threats in the world today. Before COVID-19, diseases like Tuberculosis were death sentences to millions of people around the world, while medically important antibiotics used to treat them were fed to chicken, pigs, and cows.

Read @Oceana’s latest analysis: https://t.co/4e70v6piJ2 #ProtectOurCoast pic.twitter.com/ZBH65iR8jp — Oceana (@oceana) January 26, 2021SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Never Miss a Beat. "By permanently protecting our coasts from dirty offshore drilling and advancing clean energy sources like offshore wind, we can simultaneously combat climate change and safeguard our clean coast economy." A drilling moratorium would go a long way toward this goal, argues Oceana campaign director Diane Hoskins. "By permanently protecting our coasts from dirty offshore drilling and advancing clean energy sources like offshore wind, we can simultaneously combat climate change and safeguard our clean coast economy," she said. "President Biden has an incredible opportunity to act on climate change and protect our coasts once and for all by closing the chapter on future offshore oil leasing," Hoskins added.

Stinnett also said that nearly 7,000 environmental voters who cast ballots in the Senate runoff did not vote in the presidential election. Regan became the nominee after environmental justice activists resisted the possible appointment of California air regulator Mary Nichols. For too long, the voice of environmental justice has waxed and waned with the political winds. That, to me, has the potential to be transformative.”Transformation would mean that the once lonely voice of environmental justice is no longer in the wilderness. To borrow from Vidaurre, it’s very validating when the environmental justice community need not yell out to the wind.

President Biden: "We've never fully lived up to the founding principles of this nation." It does not apply to other federal agencies that contract with private prisons, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Kudos to @JoeBiden for swiftly ending DOJ contracts with private prisons. Private prisons and private detention centers should NOT exist. https://t.co/3Fsk3E2Twr — Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) January 26, 2021The order on prisons was one of a set of racial equity measures enacted by Biden on Tuesday.

President @JoeBiden has the power to stop fracking on public lands. A temporary pause on drilling and fracking is good news, but we need a permanent ban on federal lands and everywhere! "Make this temporary fracking pause permanent and continue to tackle fossil fuel development and infrastructure everywhere it exists." "The bare minimum is permanently halting new fossil fuel infrastructure on public lands and water that our government owns." The only way President @JoeBiden can truly “build back better” is by listening to the science & banning fracking on public lands.

The virality of these shares has inspired clickbait titles like “Joe Biden Invades Syria with Convoy of U.S. Another inaccurate narrative that’s gone completely viral is the claim that Biden is sending more troops to Iraq. Trump may not have started any “new wars,” but he kept the old ones going and inflamed some of them. Rather than a throwback to “new wars” and the old-school ground invasions of the Bush era, the warmongering we’ll be seeing from the Biden administration is more likely to look like this. It appears clear that this would be the Biden administration’s preferred method of warmongering if given the choice.

BREAKING: Judge Tipton blocks the Biden administration's 100 day deportation moratorium. Big initial loss for the Biden administration as it moves forward with its immigration policies. "The court's order shows the uphill battle President Biden has in trying to reverse the prior administration's immigration restrictions." #FamiliesBelongTogetherhttps://t.co/oKN8Nw3uIb — Human Rights First (@humanrights1st) January 26, 2021"This action is a good start, but doesn't impact already separated families. Biden must reunite separated families in the U.S. and provide them citizenship, resources, and care," tweeted the ACLU, which is working to reunite families.

Remember, as president, Trump had some extra-special-presidential-ways of staving off prosecutions. Led by Democratic Attorney General Letitia James, the office is conducting a civil-fraud probe into Mr. Trump's financial dealings." And others questions you have about presidential immunity, and what will happen after DJT heads to Florida. Presidential immunity is a thing, but it’s not as all-encompassing as it sounds. In the two years she’s been in office, James’ office has filed 76 lawsuits against the Trump administration, of which it has won over 80%.

Biden signs executive action for racial equality. Mc Connell giving Biden a hard time. Susan Rice spoke for criminal justice reform Biden giving help from Fema then says, “Xenophobia is ‘unacceptable’”. Biden will Restore and expand the voting rights act. Biden will use Defense Production Act to expedite vaccine production.

There were record 4k + record deaths after the freaking lull… MORONS!! ”Siegel is board-certified in internal medicine and a coordinator of the NYU Langone Medical Center’s partnership with Sirius-XM Satellite RWNJ Radio . Marc Siegel is a Doctor and a Fox “news” SHILL spreading disinformation. Marc Siegal is the Doc that BLOTUS heard comparing Covid-19 to the flu… cementing RW false consensus bias. Marc Siegel is the Doc who interviewed the moron -in -chief in the ""Person, woman, man camera TV,” interview )parodied by Colbert) nodding agreement letting tRUMP lie and say how difficult his simple cognitive test really was… “I watch you.

“Biden introduced a bold and sweeping immigration bill on day one,” campaign steering committee member America’s Voice said. “The new administration has already rolled out eight major executive actions on immigration policy. Biden’s initial actions on immigration policy are a welcome departure from the racism and xenophobia of the Trump era. Now it will be crucial for the administration to continue to take action to undo the criminalization and punitive nature of the immigration detention system.”The groups introduced the campaign in a moving video. “We are on the cusp of dismantling a dysfunctional, unjust, and inhumane immigration system, and winning laws and policies that respect the dignity and rights of immigrants.

They expect to be able to produce 100 million doses for the US by the end of June. One shot seems to produce good immunity although a second booster shot may be helpful. The Biden administration has announced a new goal of administering 150 million doses of Covid vaccine in the first 100 days. Administration of 150 million doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine will provide full protection for 75 million people. It is not clear if people with mild or asymptomatic Covid all develop good immunity.

As Matt Gertz, writing for Media Matters, notes, its coverage and fealty to the Trump administration provided record viewership for Fox News. The following will hopefully help describe that person, as based on my own observations (with help from highlighted sources):Unsurprisingly, the typical Fox News viewer is white and male. Our Fox News viewer believes that the Black Lives Matter movement is as violent or more violent than the Ku Klux Klan. At the same time he believes Democrats are plotting to outlaw the possession of firearms. Fox viewers are taught over and over to believe they’re under constant assault and must therefore continue tuning in, for the good of themselves and the nation.

Yesterday, Lloyd Austin, today Janet Yellen! Secretary Yellen is a trailblazer, whose deep commitment to working families will be essential as we confront the urgent economic challenges facing the American people. Secretary Yellen was confirmed with an 84-15 vote! x By a vote of 84 to 15, Janet Yellen is now the 78th US Treasury Secretary and the first woman to ever serve in that role. Congrats to Janet Yellen, the first woman to serve as Secretary of the Treasury!

: At the instigation of Donald Trump, insurrectionists assaulted the Capitol and put the survival of U.S. Democracy on a knife’s edge. Wednesday, January 13th: Impeachment : A week after seditious Donald incited insurrection, Trump became the first President to be impeached twice. : A week after seditious Donald incited insurrection, Trump became the first President to be impeached twice. : With a huge security presence to dissuade and deter another Cult 45 assault on the U.S. government, President Biden was sworn in as the 46th President. Notes:+ Okay, striving to stay with “I” is a bit of a stretch for Wednesday’s anticipated climate executive orders.

Black celebrities with huge social media followings need to step-up and speak out to get our folks vaccinated. https://t.co/9JaxqoyeCm via @NBCNewsTHINK — Beyoncé’s adopted daughter (@KJbabi) January 23, 2021Dr. Ala Stanford wrote:I reflected on this complex relationship between racism and mistrust as I considered whether to take the Covid-19 vaccine. At this point, as more and more of us die, we need to get more people who Black folks trust (not talking about politicians) to help change minds, and we need to accelerate our debunk, block and report game. Trump was, as Ta-Nehisi Coates explained in 2017, the first American president to exist purely because of his whiteness. He brought no credentials or qualifications to the position outside of his role as a shamelessly racist retort to the political success of the disciplined and highly qualified first Black president.

In truth, he only graduated from the Army’s Ranger School, which gave him the right to wear the Ranger tab on his uniform. While there is some confusion among non-military types about this, military protocol is pretty clear—if you graduated from Ranger School, you only have the right to call yourself “Ranger qualified,” not a Ranger. He’s rightly proud of his service w/ 101st in Baghdad and w/ The Old Guard and of his Ranger Tab for Ranger School but never confused units or his service. In fact, he went further, pointing out that Cotton claimed to have actually seen combat duty while wearing the Rangers’ coveted tan beret. x The narrative has successfully been shifted to whether people who graduated from Ranger School are Rangers.

It was worse on TV, as news anchors read Trump’s lies with a straight face. Too often, coverage still quoted the ... [Trump]'s lies without explaining that they were wrong. No matter how often Daniel Dale pointed out Trump’s lies, Trump kept on lying. Some thirty years ago, Biden lied about his educational credentials, and he was fact-checked the very next day by journalists like Sam Donaldson. Surely there are older as well as more recent examples of Biden lying.

Greta on Capitol Hill in 2019www.alternet.org/…Alternet reports that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called on President Biden to declare a Climate Emergency. "I think it might be a good idea for President Biden to call a climate emergency," said Schumer [in an interview with Rachel Maddow]. But if ever there was an emergency, climate is one," Schumer [added]. "When we shift the zeitgeist, we shift what's politically possible, and what's politically necessary. Further, “Democrats could pass climate legislation through reconciliation” according to climatologist Michael E Mann, who was citing Schumer.

After four years of Trump who did whatever he could to exacerbate the climate crisis, now both President Joe Biden and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are committed to a green economy. But Biden may need to declare the climate crisis a national emergency to get around Republican obstruction. But declaring the existential climate crisis a national emergency – a tactic Trump abused to divert Defense funding to build his Border Wall - would be another way to get over McConnell’s likely obstruction. Trump demonstrated that the Defense Budget doesn’t really need $740 billion budgeted, so Biden should allocate some of that to address the national security threat the climate crisis poses. Significantly, Biden is issuing a memorandum elevating climate change to a national security priority, but practically, politically, he needs to go further and designate the climate crisis the national emergency that it is.

I have served as a juror on a federal trial and I have watched the selection of jurors. I have seen the disqualification of some. I believe that some of the Senate jurors should be disqualified. I really believe that any Senator who supported and defended Trump in his lies about a stolen election should be disqualified. The impeachment managers should go for the jugular and hold Trump and every Republican Senator who has enable him accountable for what happen on January 6th.

American exceptionalism/exceptionally stupidAmerican exceptionalism is a saying and a term propagated over the decades with pride and bull headedness. However, in the face of it all we have never fulfilled the American dream for blacks, other minorities, women, the poor, and the vanishing middle class, despite our rhetoric to the contrary. We have a dysfunctional and racist judicial system led by a corporatist oriented, vote suppressing right wing Supreme Court. I want to be clear there are exceptional people in America, but to call the country exceptional as a whole is both ignorant of reality, and flies in the face of the facts. As I write this Trump supporters are storming the Capitol.

Luckily, Dr. Ellen Alexander, a young, feminist postdoc geologist at University of Colorado Boulder, immediately saw what was going on and got busy tweeting. x FLOTUS Dr. Jill Biden as Aquamarine (a variety of Beryl) pic.twitter.com/ra8GA5GpKH — Dr. Ellen Alexander (@ellenwalex) January 20, 2021Dr. Jill Biden’s entire ensemble is by Markarian, a label of Alexandra O’Neill that WaPo says is “sustainability-focused”. [Bernie tweet — Doug tweet]x Doug Emhoff as Onyx pic.twitter.com/Wmpv7dU4b9 — Dr. Ellen Alexander (@ellenwalex) January 20, 2021Second gentleman Doug Emhoff wore a coat by Ralph Lauren. You go, Dr. Alexander! First, though, here’s a reminder that, if you missed any part of Inauguration Day, or want to see something again, everything is up on their YouTube page.

President Joe Biden names Rear Admiral Susan Orsega acting surgeon general. President Joe Biden is certainly not sitting on his hands during the devastating coronavirus pandemic. His administration is expected to tap nurse and Rear Admiral Susan Orsega for the role as the nation’s doctor, two anonymous sources told The Washington Post. Orsega is a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service corps, which she thanked in 2019 when she was honored with the HRH Princess Muna Al Hussein Award for her contributions to health care internationally. "It is a mobile, duty-bound group of 6,300 uniformed health officers willing to go anywhere at any time to meet the nation's most urgent public health needs."

The complaint filed by advocates last month alleged a pattern of retaliation against immigrants who dared to speak out Amin’s abuse, including the use of deportation. That moratorium, along with an order rescinding the previous president’s deportation priorities, should’ve been protecting many immigrants who shouldn’t have been a target for ICE in the first place. But the out-of-control agency defied those orders and targeted a young immigrant formerly protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. ICE operates with impunity, and unless we come down hard on it, it’ll continue operating with impunity. This is why we have to remain vigilant when it comes to ensuring the women released from Irwin are able to safely fight for justice.

? Nov. 06—Trump campaign seeks volunteers to engage in election fraud in Pennsylvania by submitting late ballots. ? Nov. 10—William Barr authorizes U.S. attorneys to pursue false claims of election fraud, triggering resignation of DOJ’s Election Crimes Branch, Richard Pilger. Trump calls for MAGA revolt. Brian Kemp reminds Trump that election fraud is illegal after Trump posts series of tweets attempting to get Kemp to overturn election results. ? January 067:30 AM—Lauren Boebert tweets “Today is 1776.”8:17 AM— Trump once again tweets lies about election fraud.

Later, the video shows a crowd at the door of the Capitol building chanting “We want Pence,” over and over again. It’s not a bunch of people calling for Mike Pence to speak—that’s something that’s never happened in America, frankly. Video inside of the Capitol building hallways shows big bearded faketriots screaming at D.C. and Capitol police, telling them that “You’re outnumbered. You can argue that the people who believe the things that Donald Trump says are being conned. You can say all of those things because Donald Trump, the president of the United States, told them exactly that.

Just how much risk districts should take on in the name of reopening is a question school districts throughout the country are grappling with. “What CPS is asking educators to do is like asking someone to jump out of a plane holding a blanket when a parachute is a few rows back,” Thad Goodchild, deputy general counsel for the union, told the Sun-Times. In Los Angeles, the school district's top official is similarly advocating for vaccinations before reopening for kindergarten and older students. “The (President Joe) Biden Administration has set a goal of administering 100 million doses in the next 100 days,” Beutner said. But after receiving multiple complaints from worried educators and activists, administrators pushed back the return date for older children.

Getting everyone vaccinated by summer or early fall means not just coming up with more doses, but increasing the rate of vaccination by two to three times. Biden pledged to meet that challenge. As first steps, he notified states that starting next week the number of doses going out will increase from about 8.5 million to 10 million a week. President Biden mentioned several times his intuition to use the Defense Production Act, not just to secure more vaccine, but to make sure there are adequate supplies. That includes the vials and syringes needed for vaccination, personal protective equipment needed to protect healthcare workers, and swabs and reagents needed for testing.

White residents, even as a minority, often vote as a bloc and drown out the voices of Black and brown voters. “There’s no shot against anybody because they’re a white man or a white woman. Houston Chronicle: Harris County rolls out 'Ready Harris' COVID-19 vaccine portal by Alison MedleyIt can be a confusing, frustrating challenge for many Houstonians trying to register for the COVID-19 vaccine in Harris County. Getting a COVID-19 vaccine shouldn’t be like the Hunger Games. The process will no longer be implemented on a first-come, first-serve basis, a Harris County Health press release stated.

“It has been a week since Joe Biden has been elected, and I am disappointed in the lack of progress”“What’s the point of having a Democratic majority in Congress, and Democrat in the Whitehouse? it feels like nothing is changed!”These are some of the comments I am hearing from some of my son’s high school classmates, neighbors, and even some local Democrats who were actively involved during the election season. At first, I tried to explain how much Biden has already done within his first week. But before talking about Biden’s first week in office, we should be grateful that Trump is not in the office and causing damage to us domestically and internationally. We should also celebrate the fact that we have a team focused on building the nation with competency instead of actively destroying our country with deliberate incompetence like we have seen under DJT.

Trump's White House press office was a hostile work environment for journalists who strived to bring truthful information to the public. As reported by Politico:"White House officials promise a sea change from how the Trump White House interacted with the press. "'We expect reporters covering the White House to operate in good faith and tell their audience the truth, and this White House will do the same. We are moving forward with that mutual understanding,' said T.J. Ducklo, the deputy White House press secretary. If the Biden Press team sticks to those principles, they will have to ban to Fox News from the White House Press Room.

The Washington Post's sources say the action "is intended to reverse Trump-era changes to Medicaid." Whether that means undoing orders that allowed states to do things like impose work requirements or treat Medicaid like a block grant isn't clear at the moment. Biden can also revise the previous administration's hostility to Obamacare by providing all kinds of incentives for states that haven't expanded Medicaid to do it now. These are the immediate, COVID-19 emergency actions Biden is taking, but just the start to the Obamacare expansion he's got in the pipeline, but which will require congressional action. In addition to those orders, Biden is expected to rescind the Mexico City policy, the global gag rule that prohibits any international aid to international groups that provide or facilitate abortions in foreign countries.

Trump and Biden's unfavorable ratings are about the inverse of their favorable ratings. Both receive higher unfavorable than favorable ratings, although the balance of opinion is more negative for Trump. Trump now earns a -16 net-favorable rating (percentage favorable minus percentage unfavorable) while Biden has a -4 net-favorable rating. Melania Trump and Jill Biden are each viewed favorably by just under half of Americans -- 49% for Biden and 47% for Trump. However, one thing that can be said for 2020 is that the candidates' favorability ratings are better on average the candidates' ratings were in 2016.

The most direct approach is an annual wealth tax on the biggest fortunes, proposed by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, among others. THREE OTHER ARTICLES WORTH READINGTOP COMMENTS • RESCUED DIARIES • THE BRIEFTWEET OF THE DAYx Some Republicans in Congress seem confused about what “unity” means. They seem to think that if you don’t give them what they want, you’re not for unity. — Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 27, 2021QUOTATION“The same rule of self-destructive financial calculation governs every walk of life. We destroy the beauty of the countryside because the un-appropriated splendors of nature have no economic value.

Unlike Obama and Clinton, he’s too old to be dreaming of years lived high in the economic oligarchy as the payoff for serving Wall Street while in the White House. Biden will be lucky to outlive his time in the White House and, who knows, might be more prone to care about his legacy to humanity? Second, he’s not super-bright like Clinton and Obama and smarts can be overrated when they are developed within a ruling class world view. Fourth, and this is amateur psychologizing, but Biden seems less plagued by narcissism than Clinton and Obama, both of whom were heavily caught up in that common politico affliction. America is in deeper shit as Biden moves into the White House than it was when Clinton and Obama took up the reins of power.

Private campaign contributions drive electoral outcomes, while neoliberal political economy structures the political process. The pandemic is excluded from the graph to capture the state of the pre-pandemic economy. One answer: Wall Street wants to control both the demand for and supply of credit. The third is the permanent crisis economy that began in 2008, and that now represents an epoch of its own. The implied premise that motivated Barack Obama in 2009 was that restoring Wall Street would restore the economy that preceded the economic collapse.

The political and economic realities have changed a lot since 2009, which is allowing Biden to trade restraint for ambition. "This is an environment where there is very little regard for the consequences of higher federal debt, if any, on both sides," Holtz-Eakin said. Trump, who referred to himself as the King of Debt, saw the national debt soar by more than $7 trillion during his four years in office. "There's just a sense that they want to do bigger things," said Jason Furman, an economic policy professor at Harvard, of the progressives. Furman, who was a deputy director of the National Economic Council in the Obama administration, helped craft the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

A majority of Americans say they feel the country is headed in the wrong direction ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, a new poll shows. The NBC News poll showed that 73% of respondents indicated the country is on the wrong track, while only a mere 21% of Americans approve of the country’s direction. (RELATED: 68% Of Americans Approve Of Biden Transition, Poll Shows)An earlier Suffolk University Poll released on Sunday showed that 65% of Americans disapprove of the direction America is heading in. The NBC poll showed that 55% of Americans believe Biden’s rhetorical style as president will be more presidential than outgoing President Donald Trump’s and that 43% approve of his personal qualities. The poll also indicated 60% of respondents approve of Biden’s transition thus far, compared to 32% who disapprove of the team’s efforts.

The violent takeover of the Capitol Building was designed to stop the election certification. Only after the mob was cleared from the Capitol Building was Congress able to reconvene to do this. (Washington Post, Jan. 14)Why was the mob chanting “Find Mike Pence, Hang Mike Pence” when they marched through the Capitol Building? Given the level of awareness that an attack was coming, it is shocking that Capitol Police and other law enforcement bodies did not prepare more robust defenses around the Capitol Building. How did the attackers have such detailed knowledge of the notoriously difficult to navigate Capitol Building?

astead herndonAnd Joe Biden runs for Senate in 1971 as a new type of Democrat —archived recording (joe biden) I’m Joe Biden, and I’m a candidate for the United States Senate. archived recording (joe biden) Politicians have done such a job on the people that the people don’t believe them anymore. And at the exact same time, that’s when the young Joe Biden makes his way to Capitol Hill. archived recording (joe biden) In a nutshell, the president’s plan doesn’t include enough police officers to catch the violent thugs. archived recording (joe biden) Before I start, I’d like to say something about the debate we had last night.

The following is the Jan. 12, 2021 message to U.S. troops from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. MEMORANDUM FOR THE JOINT FORCESUBJECT: MESSAGE TO THE JOINT FORCEThe American people have trusted the Armed Forces of the United States to protect them and our Constitution for almost 250 years. The violent riot in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 was a direct assault on the U.S. Congress, the Capitol building, and our Constitutional process. We mourn the deaths of the two Capitol policemen and others connected to these unprecedented events. [signed]Mark A. MilleyGeneral, U.S. ArmyChairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffJohn E. HytenGeneral, U.S. Air ForceVice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffJames C. McConvilleGeneral, U.S. ArmyChief of Staff of the ArmyDavid H. BergerGeneral, U.S. Marine CorpsCommandant of the Marine CorpsMichael M. GildayAdmiral, U.S. NavyChief of Naval OperationsCharles Q.

So who is John Sullivan, and what was his connection, if any, to Black Lives Matter and the wider left-wing activist community? Among the pro-Trump activists leading the charge against John Sullivan in Utah is his own brother, James Sullivan. James Sullivan is a Black Republican, inheriting the rigidly conservative political line of the white Mormon parents that adopted him. Like so many other right-wing activists, James Sullivan has been determined to pin the violence on leftist Antifa infiltrators. I learned about the unusual meeting between Cisneros and Sullivan from local BLM activists tracking John Sullivan’s movements in DC.

Waving Trump flags, they easily pushed past the unusually light security, climbed the steps and began throwing chairs through windows. Inside, the Secret Service evacuated the vice president, who Trump had been threatening all week. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021The mayor of Washington and Speaker Nancy Pelosi requested the Pentagon send in the National Guard to protect them. When I wrote my reporting cables back to headquarters, I called these things what they were: an attempt to overthrow the legitimate government—an insurrection—a coup attempt. What will the Pentagon choose?

Both the fascist movement and their representatives were defeated that day—which is extremely important. It was and is extremely important that the Democrats immediately pushed forward the demand for impeachment and won the vote on this. The fascist Republican Party and its media mouthpieces, with way too few exceptions, still not only oppose punishing Trump in any way but act as if they (and he!) A section of the fascist party and fascist apparatus may have thought it wiser to not contest this particular election. As you do that, the place to begin is with the synthesized understanding brought forward by Bob Avakian (BA).

He demanded she “change the course” of the Socialist Party (PSOE)-Podemos government. Leaked WhatsApp messages of some of the former officers discussed shooting “26 million” people and imitating General Francisco Franco’s fascist coup that provoked the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War. Amid mass deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic, millions view the Spanish officers’ threats with outrage and alarm. Trump’s plotting, culminating in the fascist coup to overrun the Capitol in Washington, is only the sharpest expression of a broad disintegration of democratic forms of rule, amid the pandemic and unsustainable levels of social inequality. The cowardly response of the Democratic Party to Trump’s coup attempt will, moreover, only bolster the Spanish fascist officers in their view that they might be able to carry out a far-right putsch.

PoliticsBiden: ‘Do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters?’Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Aug. 31 said he wants a safe America.

After condemning the pro-Trump invasion of the Capitol, the incoming Biden administration invited Carlos Vecchio – a coup leader charged in the 2014 torching of the Venezuelan Attorney General’s office – to its inaugural ceremony. Among those dignitaries is Carlos Vecchio, a former Exxon lawyer who currently serves as US-recognized “Interim President” Juan Guaidó’s envoy in Washington. The Biden team’s decision to invite Vecchio was a disappointing sign to those hoping the new administration would break from Trump’s failed and destructive policy of recognizing Guaidó as Venezuela’s leader. After condemning Trump for inspiring the Capitol riot, Biden sent inaugural invite to @carlosvecchio – Venezuelan coup leader charged with inciting insurrectionist 2014 attack on gov't building. The violent actions of Vecchio and his allies were hardly limited to the events of February 12, 2014.

Even in victory the Democrats are rearing the ugly head of Russiagate to further vanquish the vanquished and protect their power, writes Joe Lauria. And now Russiagate is poised to be used again against Russia, Trump and Trump voters. Russiagate is also too useful to discard because it is a tool for politicians to get out of sticky situations. Beyond that, Russiagate has been a convenient and successful strategy of deflection from one’s own responsibility for America’s social and political crises. Despite this, the Russiagate saga is still believed by millions of Americans, bolstered by Congressional studies that relied on intelligence briefings.

In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with Antony "Tony" Blinken, former deputy Secretary of State and current foreign policy adviser for the Joe Biden for President campaign. RELATIONSHIPS WITH U.S. INTELLIGENCE: "[A] President Biden will not politicize intelligence, will insist that truth always be spoken to power. Antony "Tony" Blinken, former deputy Secretary of State and current foreign policy adviser for the Joe Biden for President campaign. Which also sums up the profound differences between President Trump and Vice President Biden. Last question: You know the Vice President better than anyone else when it comes to foreign policy and national security.

Slideshow ( 2 images )WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s administration will continue to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the South American country’s president, Anthony Blinken, Biden’s nominee for secretary of state, said on Tuesday. The United States, along with dozens of other countries, recognized Guaido - the leader of Venezuela’s opposition-held National Assembly - as the country’s president in January 2019, arguing Maduro’s 2018 re-election was rigged. Guaido’s push to oust Maduro - who has overseen a collapse in the once-prosperous OPEC nation’s economy and stands accused of corruption and human rights violations - has stalled. Maduro calls Guaido a U.S.-puppet seeking to oust him in a coup. His allies have expressed a desire to engage in negotiations with the Biden administration after years of tensions and escalating U.S. sanctions.

“Our industry knows Joe Biden really well, and he knows our industry really well,” said Arnold Punaro, a retired Marine Corps major general and Democratic Senate staffer who works as a defense consultant. Stock prices of major defense contractors increased Wednesday, as Republicans appeared poised to hold on to the Senate, and held steady throughout the week. Major defense contractors benefited from well-funded weapons technology initiatives, including numerous hypersonic-weapons programs and accelerated purchases of new fighter jets. Some major defense contractors saw record sales as a result. Defense analysts have expected for years that the current defense budget would probably not increase further even under a second Trump administration.

Biden’s position on a fracking banBiden would not allow new fracking on federal lands. He would allow existing fracking to continue on federal property and existing and new fracking to continue on private land. ADADMost of these examples the Trump campaign uses conflate Biden’s decades-long vision for a clean-energy economy with his immediate plans now for how to do that. The Trump campaign is taking advantage of the fact that Biden wants to move away from fossil fuels, including fracking, to imply Biden wants to ban fracking now. (It’s no coincidence that Biden restated his position on not wanting to ban fracking Monday while in Pittsburgh.)

Accordingly, to protect the Federal workforce and individuals interacting with the Federal workforce, and to ensure the continuity of Government services and activities, on-duty or on-site Federal employees, on-site Federal contractors, and other individuals in Federal buildings and on Federal lands should all wear masks, maintain physical distance, and adhere to other public health measures, as provided in CDC guidelines. Immediate Action Regarding Federal Employees, Contractors, Buildings, and Lands. (c) Heads of agencies shall promptly consult, as appropriate, with State, local, Tribal, and territorial government officials, Federal employees, Federal employee unions, Federal contractors, and any other interested parties concerning the implementation of this section. There is hereby established the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (Task Force). (a) For purposes of this order:(i) “Federal employees” and “Federal contractors” mean employees (including members of the Armed Forces and members of the National Guard in Federal service) and contractors (including such contractors’ employees) working for the executive branch;(ii) “Federal buildings” means buildings, or office space within buildings, owned, rented, or leased by the executive branch of which a substantial portion of occupants are Federal employees or Federal contractors; and(iii) “Federal lands” means lands under executive branch control.

Donald Trump’s narcissistic personality is as much a political problem as his dismal performance. In our hyper-charged environment, ideologues forget that personality is as much a factor in voting decisions as issues are. But they are just as likely to fault the president for his personal failings and credit his Democratic challenger for having a more positive personality. But Biden’s personality is just as potent as his performance. In the wake of the pandemic, Americans lost their taste for exciting candidates and looked for a presidential hopeful who would bring peace to a restive nation.

Today, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) renewed his support for introducing a War Powers Resolution with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) aimed at stopping the war in Yemen. Rep. Khanna affirmed his commitment to working with Sen. Sanders on the War Powers Resolution, during a global rally of activists, lawmakers, and celebrities calling for an end to the war. "Ending this war and providing the relief that is necessary to civilians and Yemen has to be our highest priority," Rep. Khanna said. I am committed to working with Senator Sanders and the Biden administration to bring this war to an end." Read the text of MP Corbyn's motion calling on the British government to end its support for the war.

My objective is to remind progressives we're going to have to push Biden to do what needs to be done. Dear President Biden, Vice President Harris, DNC, DCCC:Congratulations on your winning both houses and your offices, though with an embarrassingly narrow margin, considering how destructive Trump and his often violent minions have been to our country and democracy. This narrow margin is a result of the Democratic Party - YOU - abandoning the working class. Without the progressive vote for you in this past election, Trump would have been re-elected and you would likely have lost both houses of Congress. Yes, we have no other party, but progressives can stay home or vote third party, which is a big part of why Hillary lost in 2016.

Local National Guard commanders usually have the ability to take responsive actions when lives are at risk or significant property damage is possible in certain scenarios, particularly when it isn’t possible to obtain approval quickly. “All military commanders normally have immediate response authority to protect property, life, and in my case, federal functions — federal property and life. A detailed timeline of the day’s events shows that the Pentagon took about an hour and a half to approve requests for the National Guard to respond to the Capitol breach, according to reporting from The Hill. “We all know that’s true — and it’s unacceptable.”The D.C. National Guard wasn’t the only agency that didn’t prepare enough for the Capitol breach that took place on January 6, which resulted in the death of five individuals. Many believe Trump is to blame for having instigated his loyalists to attack the Capitol.

The American Exceptionalism Of Secretary Of State Antony Blinken“American leadership still matters. The reality is the world simply does not organize itself,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken proclaimed at his confirmation hearing. During President Barack Obama’s second term, Blinken was deputy secretary of state. Asked about the intense humanitarian crisis in Yemen, Blinken drew a false equivalency between the actions of the Houthis and the Saudis. Antony Blinken sworn in as Secretary of State (Photo: State Department)US Return To Iran Nuclear Deal Not Happening SoonIt was the United States under Trump that ditched the Iran nuclear deal, not Iran.

This is the first of a two-part analysis of the Biden climate plan. The second part will detail the international geopolitical implications of Biden’s climate plan. The Biden climate plan, like all such plans put forward by major capitalist governments, is a fraud and a political trap. These examples illustrate the modest ambitions and wishful thinking that underlie the proposed Biden climate plan. The Biden climate plan illustrates the impossibility of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, even in a single country, at the rate required to prevent dangerous levels of warming.

The WSWS had an opportunity to speak earlier this month on the COVID-19 pandemic with Dr. Arthur Caplan, the Drs. One, the pandemic revealed something that insiders already knew that the public does not seem to know, which is we destroyed our public health system. They are in little on what I call basic public health measures. Not public health. You need to have leaders who emphasize that public health requires different responses.

Former President Donald Trump has not been open about what his future may hold, including whether he intends to run for office again or not. However, Trump indicated this week that he will attempt to play a role of some kind in the future of U.S. politics. Trump established “The Office of the Former President” on Monday, which will be located in Palm Beach County, Florida, not far from his current residence at Mar-a-Lago. That number has dwindled down to 42 percent in a more recent poll — still a plurality of support from GOP respondents, but a significant drop nonetheless. Trump has already begun backing people he perceives to be loyal to him for future Republican primary elections.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) called on President Joe Biden to declare the climate crisis a national emergency, echoing calls that other Democratic lawmakers and activists have been making in past months and years. “I think it might be a good idea for President Biden to call a climate emergency,” said Schumer on MSNBC on Monday. But if there ever was an emergency, climate is one.”The emergency declaration would allow Biden to direct funds to clean energy projects and suspend activities like oil drilling and crude oil exports. He also joins over 380 climate groups that, in December, called on Biden to issue an executive order declaring an emergency over the climate crisis. Though, as Grist points out, Biden refers to the climate crisis as an emergency in speeches and documents, he has yet to formally declare one using his presidential powers.

With Democrats preparing for the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned his colleagues that moving forward will only cause more damage to the nation. "I’d like to get this trial over sooner rather than later," Graham told "Hannity" on Tuesday. "To my Democratic colleagues, if you try to call one witness, you’re going to blow up the United States Senate. Graham encouraged the opposition to get the "travesty over with" as soon as possible, especially since Trump has already left office. Graham explained that on day one of the trial, there will be a motion to dismiss which he expects to occur.

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThese tax hikes will happen 'for sure' under Biden administration: Quill IntelligenceCapital gain and corporate taxes are going to be higher; and discussions about higher wealth tax are also appropriate, says Danielle Dimartino Booth of Quill Intelligence.

President Biden "continued taking a wrecking ball to his unity goal" Tuesday by stating "that America, at her core, is racist," Laura Ingraham told viewers. "The Ingraham Angle" host asked rhetorically how Biden's decree that Americanism is at its roots racist and that its founders were men of unjust repute, can square with his own upbringing. His professors, who celebrated, for instance, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as well as the men who sent them?" "The 1776 Commission understood that America is a great nation that nevertheless made some grave errors," Ingraham added. Ingraham later went on to say that Democrats "know all too well that Trump grew his political support among all minorities, especially Latinos and Asians.

TOKYO (Reuters) - The dollar was stuck on the back foot against major peers on Wednesday as markets wait on comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is likely to renew a commitment to ultra-easy policy. FILE PHOTO: U.S. one hundred dollar notes are seen in this picture illustration taken in Seoul February 7, 2011. “The stronger the world economic outlook, the weaker the U.S. dollar,” said Joseph Capurso, currency analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. The dollar index ticked up 0.1% to 90.253 on Wednesday in Asia, following a 0.2% decline the previous session. The euro was mostly flat at $1.2153 after rising around 0.1% in the previous session.

President Joe Biden holds his face mask as he delivers remarks on COVID-19, in the State Dining Room of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)President Joe Biden holds his face mask as he delivers remarks on COVID-19, in the State Dining Room of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON (AP) — Fulfilling a campaign promise, President Joe Biden plans to reopen the HealthCare.gov insurance markets for a special sign-up opportunity geared to people needing coverage in the coronavirus pandemic. Coverage is available to people who don’t have job-based health insurance, with the Medicaid expansion geared to those with low incomes. “President Biden does not believe, as a principle, it should be difficult ... for people to gain access to health care,” she said.

This combination of photos released by NBC shows, from left, Dwayne Johnson, left, and the actors who portray him in the comedy series "Little Rock," Adrian Groulx as Dwayne at 10, Bradley Constant as Dwayne at 15 and Uli Latukefu as Dwayne at 20. (NBC via AP)This combination of photos released by NBC shows, from left, Dwayne Johnson, left, and the actors who portray him in the comedy series "Little Rock," Adrian Groulx as Dwayne at 10, Bradley Constant as Dwayne at 15 and Uli Latukefu as Dwayne at 20. (NBC via AP)LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dwayne Johnson’s new NBC comedy “Young Rock” has him campaigning for president in 2032, but the actor and producer sidestepped the possibility of a real-life run someday. A coming-of-age story inspired by the former pro wrestler’s colorful but challenging childhood and youth, “Young Rock” is framed by the adult Johnson’s reflections on his life as he stumps for office. Using the candidacy as a device to revisit his past was suggested by Nahnatchka Khan, executive producer of “Young Rock,” he told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry arrives for the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)Former Secretary of State John Kerry arrives for the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. Kerry’s diplomatic efforts match the fast pace of domestic climate directives by the week-old Biden administration, which created the job Kerry now holds. The role acknowledges what climate and military experts say will be growing conflicts around the world as climate change increases competition for natural resources. Kerry is expected to have desks at both the White House and the State Department.

Emma Lauren Fasulo decided to make the rainbow rhinestone-studded jacket Kamala Harris wore to Pride in 2019 by hand. Fasulo saw the project as a way to keep her mind occupied during a stressful time. With all of the news buzzing about Kamala, I came across pictures of her wearing the rainbow bedazzled jacket at San Francisco pride in 2019. Recreating Harris’ rainbow rhinestone jacket is the “biggest, most labor intensive project” Fasulo has ever done. But “he would turn to me and say, ‘Em, you're picking things apart that I don't see,’” Fasulo recalls.

The multimillion-dollar #WeAreHome campaign was launched Monday by national groups including United We Dream and the United Farm Workers Foundation. Immigration remains a third rail dividing Republicans and Democrats in the U.S., and opponents of the measure have pledged to fight it. “The movement has matured,” said Lorella Praeli, the Peruvian-born co-president of Community Change, among the national groups leading the campaign. Praeli honed her skills as Latino communities outreach director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign before addressing the 2016 Democratic National Convention. The five groups chairing the campaign are paying for the effort with their own fundraising,“We need an early breakthrough on immigration,” said Praeli.

Lindell, who says he “welcomes” a lawsuit, also personally visited the White House during Trump’s final days in office to sell him on his latest election fraud theory. “People the public recognizes cannot step out of line because you might convince others to do the same. With this particular thing that’s going on now, I’ve been all in trying to find the machine fraud and we found it, we have the evidence,” Lindell exclaimed. They don’t want that!”“No, they don’t,” Carlson muttered in response.“They’re not making conspiracy theories go away by doing that,” he continued, before adding: “You don’t make people calm down and get reasonable and moderate by censoring them, you make them crazier. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, focused on Putin’s response to Biden’s proposal to extend the last remaining U.S.-Russia arms control treaty. Former President Donald Trump’s administration had withdrawn from two arms control treaties with Russia and had been prepared to let New START lapse. Before he spoke to Putin, Biden also called NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg to pledge U.S. commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Biden’s team has already reacted strongly to the crackdown on the protests, in which more than 3,700 people were arrested across Russia, including more than 1,400 in Moscow. Just from the public accounts, Biden’s discussion with Putin appeared diametrically opposed to Trump’s relationship with the Russian president.

(AP Photo/Alan Diaz)The war on private-sector employment is in full gear as President Joe Biden begins his second week in the White House. Last week, Mr. Biden issued a flurry of executive orders, including one that revokes the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. Not to be outdone, congressional Democrats on Tuesday announced that they have an even more ambitious plan to outlaw thousands of private-sector jobs. Sen. Sanders thunders that the current $7.25 hour is a “starvation wage.” Never mind that about 98 percent of minimum wage earners aren’t the sole family breadwinner. “The National Bureau of Economic Research surveyed the existing literature in search of a more concrete understanding” on the effects of minimum wage hikes, Reason’s Billy Binion reported this week.

Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez. (Michael Quine/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Vegas88sI watched every word of President Joe Biden’s inauguration speech and did not see any stumbling speech or incoherence. For Review-Journal editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez to initiate the Biden presidency by mocking this president for past moments of stumbling or missteps just perpetuates the hateful rhetoric that has inflamed the insurrectionists, white supremacists and others. This needs to stop. It is not funny, and it accomplishes to good.

(Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Erik_VerduzcoNot a bad first day’s work for Joe Biden. Canceling the Keystone pipeline will cripple the oil industry, putting millions of lower- and middle-class workers out of jobs and making the United States again dependent on Middle East oil. Then we have the effort to kill the coal and natural gas industries in order to make the United States “carbon neutral” by 2050. Unfortunately, lower- and middle-class citizens cannot just print money like the government — and the way the liberals are spending money, the printing presses must be running 24/7. One more thing: To quote many Hollywood and other liberals from 2017, Mr. Biden is “not my president.”

He held to Union even when military reversals, political reality and common sense all counseled against it. Some ghost of Lincoln haunted President Joe Biden’s inaugural address last week. That deadly event, plus political reality and maybe even common sense, all inveigh heavily against the theme of the new president’s inaugural address. And there is literally no way for decent people to “unite” with racism, anti-Semitism or homophobia. Leonard Pitts Jr. is a columnist for the Miami Herald.

Biden chastised Putin over the 2016 election interference and a reprise of that effort in 2020. Biden also told the Kremlin strongman that the United States was willing to defend itself and take action, which could include further sanctions, to ensure that Moscow does not act with impunity, according to Biden administration officials. On a positive note, Biden and Putin agreed on the need to maintain stability between the world's two biggest nuclear superpowers. Sign up to receive The 1600 Get our inside look at the White House and goings on in the Donald Trump administration. U.S. restores Palestinian relationsThe Biden administration announced Tuesday it was restoring relations with the Palestinians and renewing aid to Palestinian refugees, a reversal of the Trump administration’s cutoff.

The moratorium is intended to allow time for officials to review the impact of oil and gas drilling on the environment and climate. Oil industry groups slammed the move, saying Biden had already eliminated thousands of oil and gas jobs by killing the Keystone XL oil pipeline on his first day in office. The pause in onshore drilling is limited to federal lands and does not affect drilling on private lands, which is largely regulated by states. Oil and gas extracted from public lands and waters account for about a quarter of annual U.S. production. Biden’s choice to lead the Interior Department, which oversees oil and gas leasing on public lands, is New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland.

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi urged Moscow on Tuesday to release Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny and peaceful protestors from detention, joining the United States and the European Union in expressing concerns over the crackdown. We want to request the release of Mr. Navalny and those who have been detained arbitrarily while engaging in peaceful demonstrations,” Motegi told a news conference. Navalny, known as a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was detained by police on Jan. 17 soon after he arrived in Moscow from Germany, where he had been recuperating for five months after a nerve-agent attack he blames on Russian authorities. Thousands of people demonstrating across Russia against the detention of Navalny were detained on Saturday. “Regarding the poisoning incident with Mr. Navalny, Japan calls on Russia to ensure transparency and bring the perpetrators to justice,” Motegi said.

As U.S. President Joe Biden prepares Wednesday to open an ambitious effort to confront climate change, powerful and surprising forces are arrayed at his back. Already, scientists say the irreversible effects of climate change have started to sweep across the globe, from record wildfires in California and Australia to rising sea levels, widespread droughts and stronger storms. “President Biden has called climate change the No. On his first day in office, he rejoined the Paris Agreement on climate change. So will Manchin, who campaigned for his seat with a television advertisement that featured him using a hunting rifle to shoot a climate change bill that Obama had hoped to pass.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell blasted Twitter after he was permanently banned from the platform for continuing to spread misinformation about election fraud, saying that if Twitter can silence him, it can silence anyone. Twitter said Lindell had been banned 'due to repeated violations' of its Civic Integrity Policy. 'This time, about 17 days ago, when someone put up on the Internet actual new machine election fraud, I retweeted it, and they took my Twitter down. SOME OF LINDELL'S CLAIMS ELECTION FRAUD Lindell has repeatedly claimed on Twitter and in interviews that the election was rigged. Even before his Twitter ban, Lindell was among the Republicans raging at 'cancel culture' after companies cut ties with MyPillow.

Female soldiers can let their hair down, and flash a little nail color under new rules being approved by the Army. Starting in February female soldiers will be permitted to style their hair in up to two braids or a single, narrow ponytail. Female soldiers going through Ranger or special operations training get their heads shaved, like male soldiers do. Female soldiers can let their hair down and flash a little nail color under new rules being approved by the Army. But male soldiers will still have to shaveFor men, however, the perennial request to allow beards is still a no-go.

As you said, up until the point where Bernie was no longer a threat, it was made to sound as if the public option would be just as good, if not better, than Medicare for All. Anyway, I think it’s going to be mostly little tweaks, and, if we’re really lucky, we’ll get some kind of public option. But the question that’s existed all along is how they would actually do the public option. But with the public option, there are actually a lot of different ways you can do it. How does the sliding scale for income work?

What exactly is this budget reconciliation thing I keep hearing about? It’s a process that allows the Senate to pass tax and spending legislation with a bare majority vote. Reconciliation bills cannot be filibustered, so Democrats can use it scoot around Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s tendency toward obstructionism. In order to write a reconciliation bill, Congress first has to enact an annual budget resolution. AdvertisementA reconciliation bill is allowed to increase the budget deficit over the years covered by the budget, which typically lasts a decade, but not in the period after it.

Our research finds that identification with QAnon, Christian nationalism, Trump and anti-Semitism are tightly linked. Christian nationalism and support for QAnon together appear to increase with anti-SemitismWe found that Christian nationalism, support for QAnon, and anti-Semitism are linked. On average, the most ardent Christian nationalists subscribed to four of the eight anti-Semitic tropes presented; those most opposed to Christian nationalism subscribed to an average of one. Christian nationalism and QAnon support work together to drive up anti-Semitism. Without QAnon belief, Christian nationalists adopted only somewhat more anti-Semitic beliefs as those who rejected Christian nationalism, as you can see in the figure below if you compare the yellow bars.

WASHINGTON — Among the most urgent tasks a new president faces is assembling a core group of advisers to serve in the cabinet. In doing so, he created a cabinet of mostly wealthy, white men with limited experience in government, mirroring himself. President Biden has taken a different approach, turning to policymakers with government experience for most of his cabinet nominees, many of whom he has worked with for decades. He is on track to assemble the most diverse cabinet in American history. Mr. Biden has nominated far more women and more nonwhite cabinet members than Mr. Trump, and has chosen the first openly gay person to be a cabinet-level secretary.

The star reunited with Matthew McConaughey virtually on Instagram Live Tuesday in celebration of the 20th anniversary of "The Wedding Planner." The duo reminisced about their time making the hit romantic comedy, from their instant connection to a memorable kissing scene. “It still feels like just yesterday we were in the middle of that field with the movie theater,” said Lopez, who played the impeccable wedding planner Mary Fiore in the film. Jennifer Lopez opens up about the fight for her 'Wedding Planner' paydayDespite mediocre reviews from critics, "The Wedding Planner" topped the box office upon its release in January 2001, grossing over $94 million worldwide. McConaughey joked that "The Wedding Planner" was "the last of the rom-coms," but Lopez said she's "trying to keep them alive" by starring in more romantic comedies.

Alongside the return to official skepticism from the top about Russian actions and motives, Biden made an expected offer to Putin to extend a key arms control agreement. “The two presidents agreed to maintain transparent and consistent communication going forward,” the White House statement said. On a number of occasions, the White House did not even acknowledge the calls until after an announcement by Moscow, and some reported by Moscow do not appear in archived public White House records. Asked in an interview with Axios whether he had raised the subject with Putin, Trump said it was “a phone call to discuss other things. They always bring up Russia, Russia, Russia.”

The impeachment managers moved though a room filled with the ghosts of our distant past and the fresh memories of our troubled present. The simple comity of now-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell toward House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was greeted by observers like gladiatorial detente. We can’t simply step over it and put it in the past because the muck is too wide and deep. The impeachment of the former president forces us to wrestle with a past that allowed such poisonous thinking to flourish and to become a rallying cry. ADADA year ago, when Trump was impeached for the first time, the sight of the House managers striding through Statuary Hall had the air of high drama.

During her appearance, she denounced the violent demonstrators, but warned of efforts to combat domestic insurgents through surveillance and other monitoring activities. "We recognize that those who stormed the Capitol on January 6 trying to stop Congress from fulfilling their constitutional responsibilities, they were acting as domestic terrorists undermining our Constitution," Gabbard told host Tucker Carlson. "[However,] those like John Brennan, Adam Schiff and others are also acting as domestic terrorists because they are also undermining our constitution by trying to take away our civil liberties and rights that are guaranteed to us," she added. In the same interview, Brennan likened libertarians to "religious extremists, authoritarians, fascists, bigots, racists, [and] nativists." "If we do not and if they do not," said Gabbard, "then this country that we love and cherish will no longer exist."

California Labor Secretary Julie Su, President Biden’s reported pick to serve as deputy secretary in the US Department of Labor, could face tough scrutiny in the Senate regarding her handling of unemployment claims in the state during the coronavirus pandemic. Biden has pledged to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 and Su is a longtime advocate for workers’ rights, including increased wages. However, reports that a state agency under Su’s jurisdiction mistakenly paid out billions in false unemployment claims could complicate her candidacy. "California has not had sufficient security measures in place to prevent this level of fraud, and criminals took advantage of the situation." Aside from the fraud claims, state officials questioned the Su-led Employment Development Department’s preparedness to handle claims in the event of a crisis that led to an economic recession.

As Europe seeks to reboot transatlantic relations with the United States, one urgent common challenge should — but is not — on the long list of priorities: tackling racism. Moral arguments for addressing racism have always been robust; the political will and sense of urgency too often missing. But when it comes to addressing racism, the new U.S. president is already far better positioned than his European counterparts. The EU, meanwhile, is being held back in its fight against racism by a lack of racial diversity in its own ranks. Europe’s struggle to eliminate years of racism, unconscious bias and discriminatory practices is going to be long.

(Reuters) - Global coronavirus cases surpassed 100 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as countries around the world struggle with new virus variants and vaccine shortfalls. It took the world 11 months to record the first 50 million cases of the pandemic, compared to just three months for cases to double to 100 million. UNITED STATESWith over 25 million cases, the United States has 25% of all reported COVID cases although it accounts for just 4% of the world’s population. Slideshow ( 3 images )The Eastern European region, including countries like Russia, Poland and Ukraine, contribute to nearly 10% of all global COVID-19 cases. According to the Reuters tally, African countries have nearly 3.5 million cases and over 85,000 deaths.

TOKYO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Asian equities slipped on Wednesday as investors looked to the Federal Reserve’s guidance on its monetary policy while futures for U.S. tech shares jumped after strong earnings from Microsoft. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File PhotoMSCI’s gauge of Asian ex-Japan shares slipped 0.3%, dragged lower by profit-taking in resource shares as some investors have grown wary of stretched valuations. Microsoft shares rose 4% in extended trading after its Azure cloud computing services grew more 50%. The results boosted optimism for other U.S. tech giants, including Apple and Facebook, which announce quarterly results later in the day. Oil prices were supported by economic optimism, with U.S. crude futures trading up 0.3% at $52.79 per barrel.

He will not be president,’” Jeffries told Hayes on Tuesday. “Words are putting you and your family at risk,” the message said, according to the complaint. He was charged with making threatening interstate communications, which can carry up to a five-year prison sentence. His Facebook profile and phone records indicated he was a former member of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department, the complaint said. “There is very false information on social media that a Robert Lemke worked for the Alameda County Sheriff,” the department said.

The moratorium is intended to allow time for officials to review the impact of oil and gas drilling on the environment and climate. Oil industry groups slammed the move, saying Biden had already eliminated thousands of oil and gas jobs by killing the Keystone XL oil pipeline on his first day in office. The drilling moratorium is among several climate-related actions Biden will announce Wednesday. The pause in onshore drilling is limited to federal lands and does not affect drilling on private lands, which is largely regulated by states. The Biden administration has pledged to spend billions to assist in the transition away from fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal, and Biden has said creating thousands of clean-energy jobs is a top priority.

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Steve HollandWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday for the first time since taking office and raised concerns about Russian activities including the treatment of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the White House said. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki announced the phone call between the two leaders at her daily briefing. It came as Biden adjusts U.S. policy in a more robust way toward Russia after his predecessor, Donald Trump refused to take on Putin directly. "President Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to collective defense under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty and underscored his commitment to strengthening transatlantic security," a White House statement said. The arms control treaty limits the United States and Russia to deploying no more than 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads each.

Huawei is still the Chinese Communist Party's tech puppet and a serious threat to national security. However, Raimondo repeatedly emphasised to Cruz and other senators questioning her a commitment to safeguarding against possible national security threats posed by the use of Chinese telecommunications equipment. Raimondo, he noted, is a relative newcomer in terms of foreign policy and will need to defer to Blinken and others in the Biden administration. "This is not a position of the Biden administration at this point, so I think we'll have to wait and see. Sullivan said in a CNN interview earlier this month that the Biden administration would recognise China as a serious strategic competitor to the US.

Biden said the additional 200 million doses he plans to buy would be delivered this summer — half from Pfizer and half from Moderna. Your questions answeredToday’s question comes from readers who want to know: What happens if my second dose of vaccine is delayed? “The first dose ‘primes’ the immune system to respond to the second dose with a better response, but that can also occur if the second dose is later,” Griffin said. “The bottom line is that people should try to get the second dose on time, but it is probably never too late to get it,” she said. “Getting a second dose late is better than not getting it at all.”We want to hear from you.

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden on Wednesday plans to make tackling America’s persistent racial and economic disparities a central part of his plan to combat climate change, prioritizing environmental justice for the first time in a generation. AdvertisementBiden will sign an executive order establishing a White House interagency council on environmental justice, create an office of health and climate equity at the Health and Human Services Department and form a separate environmental justice office at the Department of Justice, the individuals said. "The executive order will help to lay out a clear path to implementing President Biden's climate and justice commitments," Kelly said. AdvertisementRobert Bullard, a professor at Texas State University and longtime environmental justice advocate, praised the notion of linking the environment and health by establishing a dedicated office at HHS. And he said creating an environmental justice office at the Justice Department underscores that the problem is both important and pervasive.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is asking the federal government to rescind a 100-day moratorium on most deportations that was announced on President Joe Biden's first day in office. Brnovich said Tuesday's letter was intended to serve as notice to Homeland Security that they had violated the agreement with Arizona for not consulting with the state before announcing the moratorium or giving them the 180-notice. The Department of Homeland Security referred a request for comment to the White House, which did not immediately respond. Advocacy groups who supported the moratorium on deportations criticized Tipton's temporary restraining order that is pausing its implementation for 14 days. Brnovich attached the copy of Arizona's agreement with the letter he sent to DHS on Tuesday.

State officials initially identified 400,000 to 500,000 workers in Phase 1A who would be eligible for the vaccine. Projections by the Oregon Health Authority show the state should receive about 100,000 first and second doses a week through February. On Monday, Deschutes County health officials announced they would start vaccinating people 75 and older. Additional doses should go to “those essential workers serving our most impacted immigrant, refugee, traditional health workers in communities of color” and Medicaid and Medicare providers and home health workers, state and county officials said. Vines said her biggest hope is that more vaccine doses will start rolling in soon.

Before he spoke to Putin, Biden also called NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg to pledge U.S. commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. It also said Putin congratulated Biden on becoming president and “noted that normalization of ties between Russia and the United States would serve the interests of both countries." Among the issues the Kremlin said were discussed were the coronavirus pandemic, the Iran nuclear agreement, Ukraine and issues related to trade and the economy. The call came as Putin considers the aftermath of pro-Navalny protests that took place in more than 100 Russian cities over the weekend. More protests are planned for the coming weekend.

The Democrats’ incumbency and demographic advantages, along with the riots and bitter fight for the Republican Party’s soul, strongly favours them to retain the presidency come 2024. When it comes to the Republicans, the nominee market would be the one to focus on. It appeared fairly simple last time I looked, when I divided the candidates into three categories: a Trump, another Republican, or an outsider, perhaps resident Fox News demagogue Tucker Carlson. A sensible Republican challenger would be good for America, but I don’t think it will get one. South Dakota’s Kristi Noem or even Ron DeSantis in Florida, who are both 33/1 with Paddy Power look like live candidates.

Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said “incompetent government kills people” during an interview Tuesday with MSNBC while discussing government response to the coronavirus. That’s the truth,” Cuomo said. Cuomo’s state of New York currently has the second-highest death rate in the country for the coronavirus, trailing only New Jersey, according to Heritage Foundation tracking as of Jan. 19. That’s the truth.” pic.twitter.com/kSiTDCUSFY — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 26, 2021“That’s why hearing President Biden is such a relief,” Cuomo went on to say. The state has reportedly lost more than 1,000,000 jobs and thousands of small businesses since the pandemic began due to lockdown measures.

"The View" co-host Meghan McCain said Monday that liberals like Katie Couric and others who had called for the "deprogramming" of some Donald Trump supporters could "go to hell." Couric and several others, including McCain's "The View" colleague Sunny Hostin, have referred to Trump backers as "brainwashed" or in need of "deprogramming" in the past two weeks. KATIE COURIC'S 'CONDESCENDING, ELITIST' REMARKS CALLING TO 'DEPROGRAM' GOP RETIRES JOURNO LABEL, CRITICS SAYCornell Law School professor and media critic William A. Jacobson told Fox News that "threats of 'deprogramming' Trump supporters have become "common among liberal journalists," calling Couric part of a "media complex" that deliberately stifled negative news about Biden during his 2020 campaign against Trump. McCain supported Biden, a close friend of her family, in the 2020 election, but the show's token conservative host has expressed sympathy for how Trump supporters are being portrayed by the media. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP"That 74 million Americans are basically irredeemable people ...

By going electric, Biden’s government is making the same choice that hundreds of thousands of Americans have already made. Electric vehicles have cheaper fuel costs, and lower lifetime-maintenance costs, than gas vehicles, according to AAA. The government will spend less over time to run an electric fleet. Only about 1.6 million plug-in electric vehicles have been sold in the U.S. ever; in 2019, for instance, fewer than a quarter million EVs were sold. The federal fleet, although it is truly enormous, pales in comparison with the American private fleet.

They need the help the most.”ADADTheir findings are backed up by other surveys and analyses of how people used their first stimulus payments. ADADMany Republicans in Congress have suggested that another round of stimulus checks is not necessary and would raise the national debt. Netspend, a prepaid debit card company, said it processed more than $850 million stimulus payments in January for about 900,000 customers. She had fallen three months behind on her car payment and was worried about losing it until her stimulus payment arrived on Friday. “Stimulus checks arrived, time for a big food bank donation,” tweeted one woman last week.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday rejected calls for Europe to pick sides between the U.S. and China, in a nod to the plea made by Chinese President Xi Jinping a day earlier. While the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is looking to group together democracies to contain China, Merkel was pointedly wary about the formation of factions. “I would very much wish to avoid the building of blocs,” Merkel told the Davos World Economic Forum. This is not my understanding of how things ought to be.”Referring to Xi’s speech at the same forum, Merkel said: “The Chinese president spoke yesterday, and he and I agree on that. POLITICO Pro is our premium intelligence service for professionals.

US President Joe Biden has instructed federal departments and agencies to ensure they do not contribute to racism when referring to Covid-19. Photo: Getty Images

(Reuters) - Global coronavirus cases surpassed 100 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as countries around the world struggle with new virus variants and vaccine shortfalls. It took the world 11 months to record the first 50 million cases of the pandemic, compared to just three months for cases to double to 100 million. UNITED STATESWith over 25 million cases, the United States has 25% of all reported COVID cases although it accounts for just 4% of the world’s population. Slideshow ( 4 images )The Eastern European region, including countries like Russia, Poland and Ukraine, contribute to nearly 10% of all global COVID-19 cases. According to the Reuters tally, African countries have nearly 3.5 million cases and over 85,000 deaths.

Article contentOne year after the pandemic started, World Health Organization advisor Jamie Metzl wants China to come clean about the origins of the COVID-19 virus. The Kansas City-born, New York-based Metzl, who served as Deputy Staff Director of the Foreign Relations Committee under then Senator Joe Biden (2001-2003) and before that on the National Security Council (1997-99) and the State Department (1999-01) under President Bill Clinton), theorizes it was most likely an accidental lab leak in Wuhan. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or WHO advisor: COVID-19 pandemic likely started via lab leak Back to video“There’s no irrefutable evidence,” said Metzl, who was appointed to the WHO’s expert advisory committee on human genome editing in 2019 and is also the author of Hacking Darwin. “There’s just more evidence and as more evidence arrives, the case for accidental lab leak, in my view, increases.”We caught up with Metzl down the line from San Miguel de Allende:Photo by Files / PostmediaWhat about the original theory that this all started in a wet market in Wuhan?

The 2022 PGA Championship was set to be held at Trump Bedminster, but the PGA of America canceled that arrangement several days after a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol this month. “As an organization we have invested many, many millions of dollars in the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster. In 2017, the year Trump took office, the PGA of America held the Senior PGA Championship at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va., and the USGA staged the U.S. Women’s Open at Bedminster. It was scheduled to host the PGA Championship again in 2030, but that arrangement was moved up eight years. “Many of us were there in 2007 [when Tiger Woods won the PGA Championship].

Biden will sign an executive order establishing a White House interagency council on environmental justice, create an office of health and climate equity at the Health and Human Services Department and form a separate environmental justice office at the Department of Justice, the individuals said. Robert Bullard, a professor at Texas State University and longtime environmental justice advocate, praised the notion of linking the environment and health by establishing a dedicated office at HHS. And he said creating an environmental justice office at the Justice Department underscores that the problem is both important and pervasive. ADThe president also has ordered federal agencies to review scores of climate and environmental policies enacted during the Trump years and, if possible, to quickly reverse them. The oil and gas industry already has begun to assail key Biden policy changes, including his decisions on the Keystone XL pipeline.

The Palestinian foreign minister on Tuesday urged the Biden administration to reverse what it described as the prior administration’s "unlawful and hostile measures" in the region -- as the U.S. pledged to renew relations with the Palestinians. The Biden administration has indicated it wants to strengthen relations with the Palestinians, while keeping close ties to Israel. "In order to advance these objectives, the Biden Administration will restore credible U.S. engagement with Palestinians as well as Israelis," he said. It is likely that, among those steps, the Biden administration will renew funding to the U.N. Palestianian refugee agency (UNRWA) -- from which the Trump administration withdrew funding over concerns it promotes an anti-Israel agenda. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThe Biden administration has indicated it wishes to take a less hostile approach to the body as seen under the Trump administration.

Only eight of those reports came from Amazon Web Services, which was hosting quite a few of them. As a director at Parents Together put it: "Amazon Web Services has vast resources, controls a third of cloud infrastructure services and handles billions of uploads and downloads. There's a lot of garbage floating around on Amazon Web Services and on Twitter, but according to a media class, none of it would justify shutting down Amazon Web Services. You should also know that Amazon Web Services provides Web services for the CIA. This article is adapted from Tucker Carlson's opening commentary on the Jan. 26, 2021 edition of "Tucker Carlson Tonight."

An Argor-Heraeus SA branded two hundred and fifty gram gold bar, center, sits in this arranged photograph at Solar Capital Gold Zrt. Gold prices held steady on Wednesday ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve 's monetary policy decision due later in the day and as investors awaited a stimulus package in the world's largest economy. The Fed will announce the verdict of its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday and it is expected to stand pat on policy. Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, fell 0.1% to 1,172.38 tonnes on Tuesday. Silver was flat at $25.43 an ounce, platinum rose 0.1% to $1,099.68, and palladium gained 0.1% at $2,326.30.

The Chinese Communist Party is looking for the "soft underbelly" of the Biden administration in the hope of achieving a series of endeavors Donald Trump stymied as president, according to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. It's the right thing for the American people, it's how you put America First and something that the Chinese Communist Party will understand the most." We know that the Chinese Communist Party covered that up. These are things the State Department was talking about while I was secretary of state ...""These are important things," he added. They matter for our health, for our safety, for economic prosperity and for our security, and I hope and I'm counting on this next administration to do what the American people demand of them and continue to confront the Chinese Communist Party."

President Biden has taken steps to reverse Trump-era policies in the Middle East by throwing the administration’s support behind finding a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. ISRAEL TEMPORARILY BANS ALL INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS IN RESPONSE TO NEW COVID-19 STRAINSThe Trump administration closed the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, D.C., froze all federal contributions to the U.N. Mills recognized the challenge that lies ahead for the Biden administration as they attempt bridge a divide that has yet to be accomplished since Israel’s inception in 1948. But the acting U.S. ambassador also said that the Biden administration believes "the best way to ensure Israel's future as a democratic and Jewish state," is by securing their relationship with Palestine. Despite the Biden administration’s clear intent to reverse most Trump-era policies in how the U.S. works with Israel, Mills did not say they U.S. would remove the U.S. embassy from Jerusalem.

President Joe Biden announces a plan to buy 200 million more Covid-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer and Moderna to fully vaccinate the American population by the end of summer or early fall of 2021.

“It’s a totally different issue as far as I’m concerned,” Republican Senator Rob Portman told reporters. The senators voted after being sworn in as jurors for the impeachment trial. ‘MATTER OF POLITICAL CONSEQUENCE’Fellow Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who has been critical of Trump, rejected Paul’s move. But no Senate Republicans have said definitively that they plan to vote to convict him. First elected to the chamber in 1974, Leahy is the most senior Democrat in the chamber and holds the title of Senate president pro tempore.

REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File PhotoThe remarks are an apparent signal to U.S. President Joe Biden to tread cautiously in any diplomatic engagement with Iran. Such comments by Israel’s military chief of staff on U.S. policymaking are rare and likely would have been pre-approved by the Israeli government. Since Washington pulled out of the deal, Iran has gradually breached its key limits, building up its stockpile of low enriched uranium, enriching uranium to higher levels of purity, and installing centrifuges in ways barred by the accord. Kohavi said those actions by Iran, which denies it is seeking atomic arms, showed it could ultimately decide to push forward rapidly towards building a nuclear weapon. “In light of this fundamental analysis, I have instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare a number of operational plans, in addition to those already in place,” Kohavi said.

After many controversial incidents with private prisons, President Biden is pulling America out of the private prison business in a significant break with what Trump’s administration had done. MSNBC’s Chief Legal Correspondent Ari Melber is joined by Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson to discuss the significance of this action.

Biden administration officials say the executive orders are but one of several steps the president plans to take to battle racial disparities. It’s why both Biden and racial justice advocates demanding change view the executives orders the same way: as a good first step. Led by former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice, the council will focus its efforts largely on racial equity. When he signed the executive orders, Biden also called for restoration and expansion of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would protect voter access. Organizers with the Movement for Black Lives say the Biden-Harris administration has warmed up to them — to a point.

The international community considers both areas to be occupied territory, and the Palestinians seek them as parts of a future independent state. Story continuesMills said peace can’t be imposed on either side and stressed that progress and an ultimate solution require the participation and agreement of Israelis and Palestinians. “In order to advance these objectives, the Biden administration will restore credible U.S. engagement with Palestinians as well as Israelis,” he said. “This will involve renewing U.S. relations with the Palestinian leadership and Palestinian people,” Mills said. The Trump administration closed the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Washington in September 2018, effectively shutting down the Palestinians’ diplomatic mission to the United States.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, focused on Putin’s response to Biden’s proposal to extend the last remaining U.S.-Russia arms control treaty. Former President Donald Trump's administration had withdrawn from two arms control treaties with Russia and had been prepared to let New START lapse. Before he spoke to Putin, Biden also called NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg to pledge U.S. commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Biden’s team has already reacted strongly to the crackdown on the protests, in which more than 3,700 people were arrested across Russia, including more than 1,400 in Moscow. Just from the public accounts, Biden's discussion with Putin appeared diametrically opposed to Trump's relationship with the Russian president.

Vladimir Putin and Joe BidenUS President Joe Biden has warned Russian leader Vladimir Putin about election meddling in their first call as counterparts, the White House says. Mr Biden later appeared at the White House to sign four executive orders aimed at addressing what he called US systemic racism. I believe the vast majority of Democrats, Republicans and Independents share these values and want us to act as well," said Mr Biden. Mr Biden also directed the Department of Housing and Urban Development to take steps to eradicate racism from housing policy. Mr Biden also signed a directive rejecting coronavirus-related discrimination against the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities.

The usher button, as it is formally known, is not gone, even if it is no longer used to summon Diet Cokes, a White House official tells Politico. The White House official "unfortunately wouldn't say what Biden will use the button for," Politico's Daniel Lippman writes, suggesting Biden might summon Orange Gatorade and not the obvious answer, ice cream — or, let's get real, coffee. In any case, it is not the placement of the button that matters, of course, but how you use it. And Biden will presumably know better than to order ice cream treats during a top-secret national security briefing. More stories from theweek.comSarah Huckabee Sanders' shameless campaign for governorChuck Schumer tried to unseat Susan Collins, and now it's personalDemocrats are getting Chuck Grassleyed

Members of the National Guard resting in the visitor center of the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 13, 2021. Story continues“I felt like I got a lot of support from friends and mentors for protecting democracy,” the guardsman said. “As people of color, we’ve had a long history of servicing the country and protecting this country. Members of the National Guard at the Capitol Building on Jan. 11, 2021. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)“I really felt that I was there to protect democracy,” the guardsman said.

Global coronavirus cases topped 25 million at the end of August, more than eight months after the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China. Experts say that 100 million most likely underestimates the true number of cases, given the lack of adequate testing and contact tracing in many countries, including the United States. The world surpassed a total of 100 million known coronavirus cases on Tuesday, according to a New York Times database, a staggering milestone for a global health crisis that is entering a phase of both hope and deep concern. But the US decrease in cases has contributed to a recent decline in the number of daily new cases reported worldwide. In an increasingly interconnected world, the economic fallout from a flawed vaccine distribution plan could prove difficult to contain, much like the virus itself.

The board of the Trump Plaza condominium voted unanimously last week to change the legal name of the 32-story, twin-tower complex in West Palm Beach, the Palm Beach Post reported. Units at Trump Plaza start around $1 million and top out at over $4 million. “The Trump brand is damaged, so rebranding the complex is a wise move,” said Burt Minkoff, a Palm Beach real estate agent with Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Trump Plaza signs on the roofs were removed in 2017 as part of a renovation, and residents voted last February not to replace them. Trump Plaza signs at street level were removed in June in the wake of protests against police violence following the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.

Biden’s COVID-19 aid package includes money for vaccine distribution, school reopenings and $1,400 direct payments to households and gradually boosts the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour over five years. The bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus of more than 50 House lawmakers met virtually Tuesday with top administration officials on the virus aid and economic recovery package. The bipartisan senators assembled privately again Monday evening. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters earlier Tuesday that Biden is still looking to negotiate on an aid package, while putting a priority on acting swiftly before aid lapses in March. Collins said Tuesday that the White House made good on its commitment to deliver a more detailed accounting of the proposed expenditure.

CLAIM: Troops in Washington turned their backs on President Joe Biden’s motorcade as it passed on its way to his inauguration at the U.S. Capitol. “Many in the military turned their backs to Biden’s motorcade,” claimed one tweet with more than 3,000 likes that shared the footage. More than 26,000 Guard members from around the country were brought in to beef up security for the inauguration in the wake of the violent riots at the Capitol. The AP confirmed with the National Guard Bureau that Guard members had their backs turned to monitor all possible threats, in keeping with safety protocol. Some are facing out to ensure the safety of all,” said Darla Torres, a spokeswoman for the National Guard Bureau.

Forty-five Senate Republicans backed a failed effort on Tuesday to halt former U.S. President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, in a show of party unity that some cited as a clear sign he will not be convicted of inciting insurrection at the Capitol. The vote came after the senators had been sworn in as jurors for the impeachment trial. There is a debate among scholars over whether the Senate can hold a trial for Trump now that he has left office. But no Senate Republicans have said definitively that they plan to vote to convict him. First elected to the chamber in 1974, Leahy, 80, is the most senior Democrat in the chamber and holds the title of Senate president pro tempore.

As an impeachment trial clanks into gear in Washington, the ex-president is making clear to Republican senators that they need to remember he is a major force. “President Trump will always and forever be a champion for the American People,” the statement said. Responding to reports that Trump was considering founding a breakaway right-wing party, adviser Jason Miller told Axios that the ex-president is fully supportive of the Republican Party — for now. “It’s completely up to Republican senators if this is something that becomes more serious,” he was quoted as saying. He is loyally attacking the impeachment trial as a “waste of time” and “vengeance from the radical left.”But is this enough?

NATIONALForeign Minister Kang Kyung-wha (center) attends a National Security Council meeting at Cheong Wa Dae last Thursday. (Yonhap)Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed Wednesday that the North Korean nuclear issue is an urgent matter that the two countries should work closely to resolve.They shared the understanding in their first phone talks that came just hours after Blinken officially took office as the country's top diplomat following the Senate confirmation on his nomination. "The two ministers shared the understanding that the North Korean nuclear issue is a matter that should be dealt urgently with under the Biden administration as well, and agreed to consult closely to resolve the issue," the foreign ministry said in a press release.Blinken said during his Senate hearing that Washington will review its "entire approach and policy" toward North Korea and come up with a strategy through close consultations with Seoul and other allies.In the phone talks, Kang also welcomed the inauguration of Blinken, who has a deep understanding about the bilateral alliance and the Korean Peninsula issues, and held out expectations for further development of the alliance during her time in office, the ministry said.They also vowed to enhance cooperation in tackling global challenges like climate change and the coronavirus pandemic, according to Kang's office.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha (center) attends a National Security Council meeting at Cheong Wa Dae last Thursday. (Yonhap)Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed Wednesday that the North Korean nuclear issue is an urgent matter that the two countries should work closely to resolve. They shared the understanding in their first phone talks that came just hours after Blinken officially took office as the country's top diplomat following the Senate confirmation on his nomination. "The two ministers shared the understanding that the North Korean nuclear issue is a matter that should be dealt urgently with under the Biden administration as well, and agreed to consult closely to resolve the issue," the foreign ministry said in a press release. They also vowed to enhance cooperation in tackling global challenges like climate change and the coronavirus pandemic, according to Kang's office.

(CNN) A federal judge's action Tuesday preventing President Joe Biden's 100-day pause in deportations demonstrated the land mines that await the new administration in the nation's courts. Trump Justice Department lawyers routinely were able to convince the Supreme Court to lift those injunctions, although that sometimes took months. The conservative Supreme Court majority may not be as sympathetic to Biden's ventures as it was to Trump's. Dispute over pause in deportationsThe pause on deportations, announced immediately after Biden's inauguration, reflects the desire to dismantle Trump's anti-immigrant practices. Regarding his imposition of a nationwide order, he wrote that the "100-day pause plainly affects national immigration policy, which demands uniformity."

Ron Klain Ron KlainSkepticism reigns as Biden, McConnell begin new era Sunday shows preview: All eyes on Biden administration to tackle coronavirus Presidential Twitter account follows Chrissy Teigen MORE, President Biden’s chief of staff, said schools should get more federal aid before they reopen amid a debate over starting in-class learning. When asked on CNN what schools would need to reopen safely, Klain simply responded, “Money.”“That’s why the president of the United States sent a plan to Congress even before he took office, to make the investments you need to make the schools safe,” he said. ADVERTISEMENT“President Biden has sent a plan to Congress that would make sure that a majority of our schools can be open within 100 days. Sadly, it costs money.”White House chief of staff Ron Klain says “out of 40 days” the Trump administration had “one day with a million” Covid-19 vaccinations. The remarks come as states across the country explore ways to safely reopen classrooms amid a national spike in coronavirus cases.

"Today, I'm directing federal agencies to combat the resurgence of xenophobia, particularly against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, that we've seen skyrocket during this pandemic. "I've asked the Department of Justice to strengthen its partnership with the Asian American Pacific Islander community to prevent those hate crimes. According to a United Nations report released in October, hate crimes against Asian Americans in the U.S. have reached an "alarming" level. The report cites more than 1,800 racist incidents against Asian Americans from March to May 2020The executive action is one of several signed by the president this week addressing systemic racism. CAA is based in the heart of San Francisco's Chinatown, where there's a large concentration of Asian Americans.

Amanda Gorman — a Harvard grad, National Youth Poet Laureate and the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history — has another title to add to her resume: bestselling author. "I AM ON THE FLOOR MY BOOKS ARE #1 & #2 ON AMAZON AFTER 1 DAY!" Gorman tweeted on Jan. 20, hours after reading her original poem, "The Hill We Climb," on Inauguration Day. As of Tuesday, Gorman's lyrical children's book, "Change Sings: A Children's Anthem," coming out Sept. 21, is at the top of Amazon's bestsellers in books list. "I had no idea that around the same time, I myself would be named the youngest inaugural poet at that time!

ADVirginia’s largest school system — Fairfax County Public Schools, whose 186,000 students are currently learning online-only — began administering vaccine shots to teachers in mid-January. And a handful of governors, citing their desire to reopen schools, are prioritizing teachers beyond what the CDC recommends. Kate Brown (D) is delivering the vaccine to teachers first, before the elderly and people with preexisting health conditions. “As for teachers, as supply increases we’ll eventually get there.”Elsewhere, officials are asking teachers to return to school without vaccinations — and that, too, is spurring protest. In the capital, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) has stressed that the timing of school staff vaccinations will not be linked to reopening.

California state officials have said that at least $11.4 billion in unemployment benefits have been mistakenly paid out to fraudulent cases since March 2020, with some estimates ranging as high as $31 billion. Continue Reading BelowRoughly 10 percent of all unemployment claims paid out in California during the coronavirus pandemic -- which forced statewide shutdowns and unemployment increases -- have involved fraud. Another 17 percent of the total unemployment claims are under investigation, reported the Los Angeles Times. California has paid $114 billion in 19 million unemployment claims, since the onslaught of the pandemic. The state’s unemployment claims system, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program -- which allows for unemployment benefits for those who would not normally qualify, such as independent contractors – has reportedly shown previous indications of fraud, including as recently as last week.

Dr. Ashish Jha told CNBC's "The News with Shepard Smith" Tuesday that U.S. states could start making decisions about opening up businesses and economies earlier than predicted if enough people get vaccinated. Biden said he will have the government by 200 million more doses of the vaccine — half from Pfizer and half from Moderna. Johnson & Johnson is expecting results on its Covid vaccine by early next week. That means the Johnson & Johnson results could reveal important information about how vaccines designed around the original Covid strain work against the emerging ones. Dr. Bruce Becker, adjunct professor of behavioral medicine and social science at Brown University's School of Public Health, told "The News with Shepard Smith" that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one shot and, therefore, immunity is achieved in 14 to 21 days.

FILE PHOTO: Pump jacks operate in front of a drilling rig in an oil field in Midland, Texas U.S. August 22, 2018. Tribal lands, which host significant reserves of oil and gas, were not included in the Interior Department order, and will not be included in Biden’s executive order either, according to the sources. Biden’s other climate-related executive orders on Wednesday will include beefing up the use of climate science in policy decisions and setting up an international summit on climate change for April, according to a memo seen by Reuters last week. Advocates for the pause say the federal leasing system is in need of reforms to address its impact on climate change and ensure that taxpayers get fair returns. Of the 26 million acres of federal lands under lease, about half are currently producing oil and gas, according to Bureau of Land Management data from fiscal year 2019.

“It’s a totally different issue as far as I’m concerned,” Republican Senator Rob Portman told reporters. The senators voted after being sworn in as jurors for the impeachment trial. ‘MATTER OF POLITICAL CONSEQUENCE’Fellow Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who has been critical of Trump, rejected Paul’s move. But no Senate Republicans have said definitively that they plan to vote to convict him. First elected to the chamber in 1974, Leahy is the most senior Democrat in the chamber and holds the title of Senate president pro tempore.

FILE PHOTO: Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador attends a news conference where he announced that he sent his well wishes to President-elect Joe Biden ahead of Biden's inauguration later in the day, at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico January 20, 2021. Mexico's Presidency/Handout via REUTERSMEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell says Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was still experiencing minor symptoms of COVID-19. Lopez Obrador had a headache and fever when he tested positive for the virus on Sunday, Lopez-Gatell said, has had no other symptoms and was “doing well.”

Alex Edelman/Pool via REUTERSWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Joe Biden’s nominee, veteran diplomat Antony Blinken, to serve as secretary of state. Blinken is a longtime Biden confidant who has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate before, most recently to serve as No. 2 at the State Department during former Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration, when Biden was vice president. The 100-member Senate is divided 50-50 but controlled by Biden’s fellow Democrats because Vice President Kamala Harris can break any tie. Blinken was a committee staff director - when Biden, who spent decades in the Senate, was chairman - before he joined the Obama administration.

Biden and other critics accused Trump of pursuing policies built around “white grievance” in a nation where the white population is declining by percentage. Black voters proved essential to Biden first in winning his party’s presidential nomination and then in defeating Trump in the Nov. 3 election. Trump condemned those protests and attempted to use them to stoke fear and unease among voters during the presidential campaign. On the day he took office last week, Biden signed an executive order establishing a government-wide initiative to address racial inequity and systemic racism in federal policies, laws and programs. “Housing is a right in America and home ownership is an essential tool to wealth creation and to be passed down to generations,” Biden said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States aims to acquire an additional 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday, enough to inoculate most Americans by summertime, as he races to curb a pandemic he warned could still get worse. The previous purchase target was 400 million doses. Pfizer is confident it can deliver the extra doses in the time frame specified by Biden, spokeswoman Sharon Castillo said. Biden said he would hike the amount of the vaccine going to local governments to 10 million doses per week for the next three weeks, up from 8.6 million currently. “I urge President Biden to take every imaginable step within his power to ramp up production without delay.”OBSTACLES AHEADConsiderable challenges remain, ranging from faster-spreading virus variants, supply shortages and public fears about taking the vaccine.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)On Monday Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell dropped his fight over the filibuster. But the party can't celebrate quite yet with a political battle over Biden's coronavirus stimulus package on the horizon. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's weeklong fight over the filibuster is over - but another, larger battle over President Joe Biden's legislative agenda looms on the horizon. The New York Democrat said the party is now able to assume proper control of the Senate and get to work on Biden's promises. If Democrats decide to heed McConnell's ultimatums, they must then work with Republicans to deliver economic relief to Americans.

Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay slammed Florida Gov. Alonso said the Palm Beach County Health Department will receive enough vaccine to finish first doses through Feb. 5. DeSantis said that he had met with Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner and other county officials weeks before the rollout of the pilot program with Publix. Palm Beach County commissioners have agreed to write a letter to Gov. "On January 12, Governor DeSantis met with Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner, as well as County Administrator Verdenia Baker and Commissioner Mack Bernard," Beatrice said.

Former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen was sworn in as the 78th U.S. Treasury Secretary on Tuesday, after which she promptly sent a note out to the department’s staff outlining her goals for guiding the U.S. economy out of the “wholesale devastation” wrought by the pandemic. BIDEN'S BIGGEST THREAT TO ECONOMIC RECOVERY IS COMING FROM DEMS, NOT FROM GOPThe newly-minted Treasury Secretary said that the U.S. has been living in a “K-shaped economy,” where wealthy people have accumulated more wealth while other populations fell behind. GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HEREThese objectives will need to be worked on in addition to the Treasury Department’s routine business obligations, Yellen acknowledged. Yellen was chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 through 2018. READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS BY CLICKING HERE

The parent company of Berkshire Bank has hired a top banker from Webster Bank to be its next chief executive. Berkshire Hills Bancorp announced on Monday that it has appointed Nitin Mhatre as its new CEO as of Jan. 29. — JON CHESTOINTERNATIONALAdvertisementIMF projects brisk global growth this yearThe spread of COVID-19 vaccines will power a stronger global economic recovery in 2021, the International Monetary Fund forecast Tuesday. More than 40 companies of various sizes were surveyed in the study conducted by the nonprofit groups Promundo and Paid Leave for the US, which promote gender equity and paid leave policies, respectively. President Joe Biden has introduced a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill featuring temporary paid leave amid signs that support is on the rise on Capitol Hill and in corporate America for paid leave legislation.

There is a new and exhaustive regimen to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the White House complex. AdvertisementAnd in place of a president who relished political combat is one who wants Washington to eliminate the vitriol. During the Trump administration, only a small group of on-site reporters was tested daily — and those tests took place inside the White House. AdvertisementIf the White House seemed quiet, the Biden administration’s effort to restore America’s global image — and erase Trump’s legacy on climate — was already in full swing. “Right now,” he added, “boring is a good thing.”Another novelty in the post-Trump world soon followed: A daily press briefing.

By Aamer Madhani | Associated PressPresident Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered the Department of Justice to end its reliance on private prisons and acknowledge the central role government has played in implementing discriminatory housing policies. Biden directed the Department of Housing and Urban Development in a memorandum to take steps to promote equitable housing policy. The order to end the reliance on privately-run prisons directs the attorney general not to renew Justice Department contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities. The move will effectively revert the Justice Department to the same posture it held at the end of the Obama administration. GEO Group, a private company that operates federal prisons, called the Biden order “a solution in search of a problem.

Biden, who held a conference call with governors on vaccine distribution Tuesday, said he heard that complaint loud and clear. He also pledged to provide three-week forecasts, showing states how much vaccine they can expect to receive, to improve planning. Rules for vaccine distribution have varied from county to county, adding to the confusion. The site is meant to improve what has at times been unreliable data on vaccine distribution. “California labeled these workers essential when the state wanted their service through the pandemic,” SEIU California President Bob Schoonover said in a statement.

That means seeking to understand why someone may have hesitancy about the coronavirus vaccine. Wen: A common myth is that getting the coronavirus vaccine will give you coronavirus. So it’s not possible to get coronavirus from the coronavirus vaccine. The very real and substantial benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the highly uncommon (and treatable) risks of allergic reactions. It may be that coronavirus vaccine becomes something that you have to get every year, like the flu vaccine.

… “What many Americans didn’t see, or had simply refused to see, couldn’t be ignored any longer,” Biden said. Biden, in abolishing the 1776 Commission, called it “offensive” and “counter-factual.”Equity is to be a centerpiece of the Biden administration, with the drive led by Domestic Policy Council chief Susan Rice. The Department of Housing and Urban Development will look at Trump policies “that undermined fair housing policies and laws.”Combat Trump-generated “xenophobia” targeting Asian American and Pacific Islanders pushed by the Trump administration. Biden within the federal government can address systemic racism where it exists — in training, hiring, procurement and policies where congressional action is not needed. The reality when dealing with systemic racism and equality is that the federal government is a limited entity.

The new president has been under pressure from state and local elected officials for more COVID vaccines. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON — Under pressure from state and local elected officials for more COVID vaccines, President Joe Biden said he’s topping his plan to deliver 100 million vaccines to the American public in his first 100 days with an additional 500 million doses by the end of summer. Before Tuesday’s announcement, the Biden administration had planned to deploy 400 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine by the end of the summer in total. But today, the administration added 200 million more doses to that figure, for a total of 600 million. On Monday, Biden said that he would like to surpass his goal of overseeing 1 million vaccine shots per day to 1.5 million per day.

The Biden administration is boosting purchases of coronavirus vaccines to deliver enough to protect 300 million Americans by the end of the summer, as it surges deliveries to states for the next three weeks following shortages.

Updated 4 times AlertMePresident Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered the Department of Justice to end its reliance on private prisons and acknowledge the central role government has played in implementing discriminatory housing policies. In remarks before signing the order, Biden said the U.S. government needs to change “its whole approach” on the issue of racial equity. The order to end the reliance on privately-run prisons directs the attorney general not to renew Justice Department contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities. The move will effectively revert the Justice Department to the same posture it held at the end of the Obama administration. GEO Group, a private company that operates federal prisons, called the Biden order “a solution in search of a problem.

President Joe Biden signalled a tougher US stance on Russia Tuesday in his first phone call with President Vladimir Putin, raising concerns over human rights and "aggression" against Ukraine, but welcoming cooperation on a new nuclear weapons accord. The Kremlin said that in their call Putin and Biden "expressed satisfaction" over talks and the Russian leader later submitted a bill to parliament on the five-year extension. Story continues- Human rights -However, Biden also diverged strongly with Trump on his approach to Russia's human rights record and Ukraine. Biden confronted Putin on both issues. The Kremlin made no mention of these complaints in its readout of the call, saying instead that Putin urged "normalization of relations."

Biden, calling the push a “wartime effort,” said the administration was working to buy an additional 100 million doses of each of the two approved coronavirus vaccines. He acknowledged that states in recent weeks have been left guessing how much vaccine they will have from one week to the next. "Lives are at stake.”He promised a roughly 16% boost in deliveries to states over the next three weeks. The administration said it plans to buy another 100 million doses each from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna to ensure it has enough vaccine for the long term. Even more vaccine could be available if federal scientists approve a single-dose shot from Johnson & Johnson, which is expected to seek emergency authorization in the coming weeks.

Jan. 27—The State Department warned Americans to strongly reconsider travel Tuesday as a new COVID-19 testing requirement went into effect and new variants of the virus were detected in Latin America and the Caribbean. While U.S. embassies overseas can help U.S. citizens with information and possibly a loan to help them return home, Brownlee said they do not have the ability to provide COVID-19 testing for those seeking to return. Cayman was notified of the strain by the Caribbean Public Health Agency, the Trinidad-based public health agency conducting COVID-19 testing for a number of countries and territories in the region. Cetron said the new variants have the ability to spread asymptomatically and pre-symptomatically, characteristics that have been fueling the pandemic. He said another colleague traveling Tuesday told him he saw dozens of U.S. bound passengers denied due to the testing requirement.

Supporters of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny have called for more rallies across the country this weekend to demand his release after he was put in pre-trial detention over parole violations he denies. ??54-?????? ????????? ?????, ??????? ???????? ?? ???????????? ???? ? ????? ? ???? ???????? 23 ?????? ? ?????-??????????, ???????, ??? ?? ???????? ????????, ?? ????? ??? ??????? ? ???????? ?????????? ? ???????????? ???????. pic.twitter.com/ODUWHSkWVN — ????? ?????? (@novaya_gazeta) January 25, 2021In the video, Yudina is seen falling back on the pavement after being kicked, banging her head hard. Although the officer visited her in hospital and apologised, Yudina told Novaya Gazeta newspaper on Tuesday that she wanted justice. She added that one of their goals was to stop president Vladimir Putin’s party, United Russia, in the upcoming parliamentary balloting.

U.S. President Joe Biden and President Vladimir Putin of Russia avoided a renewed arms race Tuesday when they formally agreed to extend the last remaining nuclear arms treaty between their countries. Biden, in contrast, had repeatedly called Putin a “KGB thug” and mocked Trump as “Putin’s puppy.” Putin, for his part, had chastised Biden for his “sharp anti-Russian” language. But there was an immediate need: The New START agreement, which limited the size of the two countries’ strategic nuclear arsenals, expires Feb. 5. U.S. President Joe Biden and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, pictured in 2011, formally agreed to extend the last remaining nuclear arms treaty between their countries on Tuesday. Putin and Biden “voiced their satisfaction” about diplomatic steps taken earlier in the day to exercise the extension, the Kremlin said.

President Joe Biden has phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time in office – and raised a series of sensitive issues that stand between the U.S. and Russia. President Joe Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the White House said. 'He called President Putin this afternoon with the intent of discussing our willingness to extent New START for five years. President Trump made his infamous July 25 call to Ukrainian President Volodym Zelensky seeking an investigation of the Bidens. 'President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

The Biden administration has resumed regular press briefings, and no journalist so far has made more of an impression in the Brady Briefing Room than Fox News’s Peter Doocy. One early indication that a more open dialogue was coming back could be found in Doocy’s exchange with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki over coronavirus travel bans. As Mr Biden was walking away, after signing executive orders aimed at addressing racial inequity, Doocy shouted out, "Mr President, what did you talk to Vladimir Putin about?" Doocy was named White House correspondent for the network earlier this month. He’s the son of Steve Doocy, co-host of Fox News’s Fox and Friends, perhaps President Trump’s favourite show on the network before he eventually disavowed Fox for reporting that Mr Biden was winning the election.

The White House will include an ASL interpreter at all press briefings moving forward. Last August, the National Association of the Deaf sued the Trump Administration for failing to provide an ASL interpreter. White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Monday that the Biden Administration's daily press briefings will include an American Sign Language interpreter as part of the team's accessibility and inclusion efforts. "Their willingness to provide ASL interpreters at all press briefings should now be the standard for accessibility going forward for all presidential administrations." As of Tuesday, the White House had added captioning in addition to the interpreter, according to Rosenblum.

While Russian government officials and Kremlin-controlled state media condemned domestic protests, pro-Trump rioting in the United States was met with their total approval. Russian state media dutifully repeated Trump’s lies about a “stolen election” and disseminated information about the planned “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6th. Inspired by Trump’s false claims and rhetoric, generously amplified by the Russian state media, Russian speakers in the United States took part in the unsuccessful uprising that deeply wounded U.S. democracy—and subsequently delivered an infusion of fresh disinformation right back to Moscow, as “eyewitnesses” and first-hand participants. While domestic protests were widely condemned, events in the United States were viewed and portrayed through an entirely different lens, especially in light of the backchannel between the pro-Trump rioters and the Russian state media. Is it possible for us to expel those U.S. officials who maintain contacts with the organizers of the protests?” Zakharova coyly replied: “I’d rather not answer, we’re only getting started.”

byToday the New York Times rediscovered its previous auto safety news beat that blossomed in the 1960s after my book, Unsafe at Any Speed (1965) caused an uproar in Detroit. Reporter Christopher Jensen told New York Times readers about a new report by a coalition of six automotive safety groups demanding that the new Biden Administration recharge the moribund, industry-dominated National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with strong leadership, adequate budget, and long-overdue, proven vehicle safety standards. The Claybrook report titled, Safer Vehicles and Highways: 4.2 million U.S. New technical talent is needed at NHTSA in this era of electric cars, autonomous safety assists, and the computerization of motor vehicles vulnerable to hacking. Let’s see if he and his team can provide America with a New Day of Public Safety from callous corporatism on the nation’s roadways.

US government to surge vaccine supplies to statesPresident Joe Biden said Tuesday the U.S. is surging COVID-19 vaccine deliveries to hard-pressed states over the next three weeks and expects to provide enough doses to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of the summer or early fall.

ET Covid-19 Live Updates: Biden Administration Nears Deal with Pfizer and Moderna for 200 Million More Doses The deal may not accelerate the current pace of vaccination. Biden said his administration was nearing a deal with Pfizer and Moderna for 200 million more doses by summer’s end. That’s 100 million more doses of Pfizer and 100 million more doses of Moderna — 200 million more doses than the federal government had previously secured. The deal would provide the federal government with 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 100 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, Mr. Biden said. Pfizer had agreed last summer to provide an initial 100 million doses to the United States by the end of March.

“All travelers should have a Plan B,” Mr. Brownlee said. “We urge folks to postpone their trips if they’re able.”Just one week into his administration, Mr. Biden is facing a convergence of crises. The vaccine rollout he inherited from his predecessor has been rocky, leaving Americans angry and frustrated over vaccination appointments canceled for lack of supply. At the same time, new, more infectious variants of the virus are making vaccination all the more urgent. “We’re not in a race with the variants — the variants have already won,” warned Michael T. Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

Clarke was an easy pick for Biden to join the Department of Justice along with attorney-general-nominee Judge Merrick Garland. As president of the Harvard Black Students Association, she invited author Tony Martin to speak on campus, despite his rabid anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. In recent years, we’ve seen that Republican nominees for office haven’t been given a pass for allegations about their youth. But her radical past and belief that anti-Semites who are black women deserve a pass mean she doesn’t deserve the job. More important, if Joe Biden means what he says about opposing hate, there should be no room in his administration for her.

Americans scrambling to get vaccinated have a right to know how sharing doses with poor countries will affect their own ability to get vaccinated. The vaccine-sharing project, with the acronym COVAX, raises money to buy vaccines for poor countries but also asks wealthier countries to donate actual doses. Duke University public-health experts also argue that high-risk groups in poor countries should get the vaccine before the US public. Thursday’s White House statement on vaccine sharing says the United States will comply once there is “sufficient” supply here. In the last two weeks, both the European Union and the United States have been hit with unexpected news about manufacturing setbacks.

President Joe Biden: The First 100 DaysThe latestBiden issuing pandemic plan that aims to expand access to testing and vaccines, reopen schoolsBiden administration to pause deportations, curtail arrestsOn his first day, Biden signs executive orders to reverse Trump’s policiesThe Biden White House: A look inside Biden’s Oval OfficeThe inaugurationJoseph R. Biden Jr. is sworn in as the 46th President of the United States | Read his speechAmerica’s first Youth Poet Laureate: Amanda Gorman reads poem ‘The Hill We Climb’ at inaugurationWorld reaction: The world is watching as Biden assumes office, Trump era endsThe administrationThe Biden Cabinet: Who has been selected and who is in the runningBiden appointees: Who is filling key rolesThe Biden AgendaRead more about his plans on: Immigration | Foreign policy | Health care | Climate change | Social and Criminal Justice | Economic policy | Tech policyShow More

Some Republicans think unity is something they can weaponize against Biden as they willfully misinterpret his meaning. “A radical leftist agenda in a divided country will not help unify our country,” protested Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). That’s a kind of unity the left doesn’t love. “Unity” cropped up early on, remember, in those “Unity Task Forces” convened to bring the left and the somewhat-less-left together as the Democrats wrote their platform. There is less room for an ode to something called unity, which is, when you think about it, just a word after all.

Navalny decided to release the video only after he had come home. The new administration immediately called for Navalny’s release. Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, said Biden discussed Navalny and other issues with Putin in a phone call Tuesday, but she didn’t provide details. In the new video, Navalny interviews Kolesnikov, who confirms on camera the story that he told me 10 years ago. But his words at the end of the video echo across Russia: “The future is in our hands.

ADDon’t get me wrong, there’s nothing really wrong with Biden’s covid-19 plan. But without more ambitious targets and an aggressive implementation schedule, Biden’s plan is still basically replacement-level. The administration began by touting its bold plan to get 100 million doses injected in its first 100 days. Which sounds magnificent, except that this broke down to 1 million shots a day, and America was already basically doing that. And so we have to demand that the Biden administration aim stronger, higher, faster.

The serious risks associated with COVID-19 far exceed the side effects of the "very effective, very safe" vaccine, Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel said Tuesday. Siegel addressed vaccine hesitancy in an appearance on "Special Report," taking aim at those who spread misinformation on a basis of "fear and lack of science." "This is a very effective, very safe vaccine, and Dr. Fauci's right, it's the way out of this pandemic," Siegel said. The vaccine hesitancy, the anti-vaxxers, is an antiscientific movement." WHAT'S DRIVING CORONAVIRUS VACCINE HESITANCY IN THE US?

President Biden called Russia President Vladimir Putin Tuesday, to address a wide range of topics on national security, including the renewal of a nuclear arms treaty, bounties placed on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and interference in the 2020 election. The White House confirmed Tuesday that both the U.S. and Russia will "work urgently" to complete the extension by the Feb. 5 deadline. But Biden hit other tough topics in his first phone call with Putin since entering the White House last week. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPBiden also addressed concerns regarding reports by the intelligence community of a repeat in Russian interference in the 2020 general election. The president’s decision to address election interference with Putin is a direct contrast to Trump’s response of reports of election interference in 2016 -- at one point suggesting he trusted Putin's word over U.S. intelligence officials.

President Biden said Tuesday that masks are "the best defense against COVID-19" in the coming months as his administration acquires a sufficient supply of vaccine to innoculate the majority of Americans. Biden revealed the federal government will purchase an additional 100 million doses of vaccine each from Pfizer and Moderna as part of its effort to ramp up the unprecedented vaccination drive. "The brutal truth is, it’s going to take months before we can the majority of Americans vaccinated – months," Biden said. "In the next few months, masks, not vaccines, are the best defense against COVID-19. Biden issued an executive order on his first day in office requiring masks to be worn on federal land.

Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler responded Tuesday to criticism of his intended coverage of the Biden administration after his paper intensely monitored President Trump's claims. "We welcome all suggestions for fact checks. Now that it's a Democrat president, they are fact checking Senators and saying they have no plans to fact check a President," Miller accused the Post. We base fact checks on actual policy statements, not headlines." He also shared a Washington Post headline that quoted Biden saying, "I will not ban fracking.

Continue Reading Below"I want to invite our friends in the United States to join our initiatives. The European Union unveiled draft legislation last month aimed at reining in big tech by making companies more accountable, enhancing privacy, and encouraging competition. Von der Leyen emphasized Tuesday the "need to contain this immense power of the big digital companies." "[Facebook] is propagating falsehoods they know to be false, and we should be setting standards not unlike the Europeans are doing relative to privacy," Biden told the newspaper's editorial board in January 2020. GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HEREThere does appear to be a growing bipartisan push to crackdown on big tech.

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBiden administration plans to buy 200M more Covid-19 vaccine dosesKayla Tausche reports senior administration officials said they plan to give states a 3-week window into vaccine allotments as they try to map out vaccine dispersement. Some are questioning whether Biden's goal of getting 100 million shots in arms in his first 100 days is too ambitious. She joins Shep Smith to discuss the challenges facing the Biden administration in tackling the Covid-19 crisis.

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBiden to sign executive order addressing climate changeCNBC's Ylan Mui reports on how President Biden intends to address climate change tomorrow.

Former President Donald Trump slammed Section 230 during a speech in Dalton, Georgia on Jan 4. "We have to get rid of Section 230, we have to get rid of Section 230, or you are not going to have a country very long," Trump said. One side includes free speech advocates who believe "that all social media sites and all protections should only apply essentially if there's no content moderation." Then there are those who believe the opposite, that Section 230 "should cover any form of content moderation, regardless of who originated those policies and who are putting those policies in effect." The adtech expert explained that reforming Section 230 will likely be focused on bridging the gap between content moderation and the First Amendment.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United Nations is still hearing concerns that companies are planning to cancel or suspend business with Yemen despite a U.S. decision to allow all transactions with the Houthi movement “given this move does not resolve underlying uncertainties,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday. The United States on Monday approved all transactions involving Yemen’s Houthi movement for the next month as Washington reviews a Trump administration designation of the Iran-aligned group as a foreign terrorist organization. The United Nations describes Yemen as the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, with 80% of its people in need. Another 5 million are just one step behind them,” U.N. aid chief Mark Lowcock told the Security Council earlier this month. U.N. officials are trying to revive peace talks to end the war as Yemen’s suffering is also worsened by an economic collapse and the COVID-19 pandemic.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States aims to acquire an additional 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday, enough to inoculate most Americans by summertime, as he races to curb a pandemic he warned could still get worse. The previous purchase target was 400 million doses. Pfizer is confident it can deliver the extra doses in the time frame specified by Biden, spokeswoman Sharon Castillo said. Biden said he would hike the amount of the vaccine going to local governments to 10 million doses per week for the next three weeks, up from 8.6 million currently. “I urge President Biden to take every imaginable step within his power to ramp up production without delay.”OBSTACLES AHEADConsiderable challenges remain, ranging from faster-spreading virus variants, supply shortages and public fears about taking the vaccine.

Slideshow ( 2 images )Biden’s top domestic policy adviser Susan Rice said there was clear evidence that fixing inequality was essential for the overall U.S. economy to thrive and prosper. “These aren’t feel-good policies,” Rice told reporters at a White House briefing ahead of executive actions planned by Biden to promote racial justice reforms. Rice and Yellen are key players in a Biden economics team here that includes inequality and labor market specialists who say they will prioritize policies aimed at helping women and minorities who have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden’s economic team includes people who have experienced poverty or faced discrimination in housing, employment or economic opportunity, and say they see government policies as a powerful way to redress persistent disparities. Russ Vought, former director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, on Tuesday unveiled a new think tank, the Center for American Restoration, vowing to galvanize conservatives to fight back against the Biden policies.

But several sources close to the White House confirmed that the document — even though clearly a draft — was authentic. But it also shows a White House making a gamble of sorts: that it can apply traditional communication methods to a nontraditional media climate. President Joe Biden signs executives orders related to his racial equity agenda in the State Dining Room of the White House. And that’s precisely what makes this strategy a rather complex one for Biden’s team. In turn, the White House press corps became intoxicated — and, perhaps, overdosed a few times — on his quick-change programming.

Some 81 percent of detained immigrants in ICE’s custody were held in for-profit detention centers as of January 2020, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, according to an ACLU report. Progressive groups have long fought the use of private facilities, arguing that the companies that run them are able to evade accountability and leave immigrants in terrible and deteriorating conditions. “This is great development & important step,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tweeted after Biden signed the executive order on private prisons. We must include ending for-profit immigrant detention & examine the use of for-profit services that squeeze families of the incarcerated in public prisons, too.”The question of phasing out for-profit facilities detaining migrants came up at the end of former President Barack Obama’s administration. The report also found that ICE should look for ways to “reduce reliance on detention in county jails.”

Federal Judge Blocks Biden's 100-Day Deportation MoratoriumEnlarge this image toggle caption Lynne Sladky/AP Lynne Sladky/APTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton requested a temporary restraining order against the Department of Homeland Security last Friday. A federal judge granted the request Tuesday, suspending President Biden's 100-day deportation ban. Judge Drew Tipton agreed with Paxton that there was a chance the state would "suffer imminent and irreparable harm" if a temporary restraining order wasn't granted. It declared a review of policies and practices throughout the department and its components — including a 100-day pause on the removal of certain noncitizens. "The moratorium indicated a very clear understanding of the impact the Trump Administration has had on immigration over the last four years," Loweree said.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s governor praised the federal government’s promise of increased COVID-19 vaccine deliveries as he announced the state’s first confirmed cases of a coronavirus variant Tuesday. The first two cases of the more aggressive virus strain that has been seen in the United Kingdom have been confirmed in Kentucky, Gov. The governor spoke only briefly about the new variant, saying on social media that “we knew we’d see it” in Kentucky. Meanwhile, the Democratic governor welcomed the announcement that Kentucky will receive larger supplies of COVID-19 vaccines along with other states. On Tuesday, the state reported 2,714 new COVID-19 cases, up from a week ago but down from two weeks earlier, the governor said.

FILE - In this June 15, 2020, file photo, South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea. A North Korean diplomat who served as the country's acting ambassador to Kuwait has defected to South Korea, according to South Korean lawmakers who were briefed by Seoul's spy agency on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)FILE - In this June 15, 2020, file photo, South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A North Korean diplomat who served as the country’s acting ambassador to Kuwait has defected to South Korea, according to South Korean lawmakers who were briefed by Seoul’s spy agency. More than 33,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, according to South Korean government records.

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Republicans voted Saturday to censure Cindy McCain and two prominent GOP members who have found themselves crosswise with former President Donald Trump. The censures of Sen. John McCain’s widow, former Sen. Jeff Flake and Gov. From the archives (October 2017): Saying ‘enough,’ Arizona Republican Jeff Flake announces he’s not running for Senate re-electionDucey is being targeted for his restrictions on individuals and businesses to contain the spread of COVID-19. John McCain was censured by the state GOP in 2014 and went on to comfortably win a Republican primary over Ward and a general election. The self-described maverick, known best for his willingness to buck his party, had strained relations with the state party for much of his career but was consistently re-elected by wide margins.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Tuesday rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. While the rescinding of “zero tolerance” is in part symbolic, it undoes the Trump administration’s massively unpopular policy responsible for the separation of more than 5,500 children from their parents at the U.S-Mexico border. Most families have not been prosecuted under zero tolerance since 2018, when the separations were halted, though separations have continued on a smaller scale. Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, along with Trump and other top leaders in his administration, were bent on curbing immigration. The “zero tolerance” policy was one of several increasingly restrictive policies aimed at discouraging migrants from coming to the Southern border.

Rep. Katie Porter said she isn't sure if Sen. Ted Cruz thinks at all. "I struggle to understand how he thinks, if [thinking] is what goes on in his head at all," she told Vanity Fair. I'm not going to put myself in the shoes of people like Ted Cruz," Porter told Vanity Fair of impeachment. "I struggle to understand how he thinks, if [thinking] is what goes on in his head at all." She is even getting an "OVRSITE" vanity plate on her minivan, she told Vanity Fair.

The firings follow the forced resignation of former President Donald Trump’s handpicked choice to lead USAGM only two hours after Joe Biden took office on Wednesday. Trump’s USAGM chief Michael Pack had been accused by Democrats and others of trying to turn VOA and its sister networks into pro-Trump propaganda machines. Pack had appointed all of those who were fired on Thursday and Friday to their posts only in December. Pack had not been required to submit his resignation as his three-year position was created by Congress and not limited by the length of a particular administration. VOA was founded during World War II and its congressional charter requires it to present independent news and information to international audiences.

Republicans have been arguing against having a trial altogether, saying that it’s too late to convict Trump since he is no longer in office. On Monday, members of the House formally delivered articles of impeachment to their fellow lawmakers in the Senate, officially kicking off the Senate’s impeachment process. Though several Senate Republicans have condemned Trump’s actions, it is not clear how many would actually vote to convict him in a trial. On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) gave a rebuttal to his Republican colleagues, noting that ignoring Trump’s impeachment would set a dangerous precedent. The Precedent For Trump's Senate TrialThis article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Biden says Trump impeachment ‘has to happen’ although he admits it could affect his agenda (Samuel Corum/Getty Image)President Joe Biden has reportedly indicated he does not believe Democrats in the US Senate will have enough votes to convict Donald Trump during the former president’s second impeachment trial. “I think it has to happen,” Mr Biden said about the impeachment trial on Monday, suggesting there could be “a worse effect if it didn’t happen” in the weeks ahead. At least 17 Republican senators would have to join the 50 Democrats in the Senate for a conviction against Mr Trump. Mr Biden added: “The Senate has changed since I was there, but it hasn’t changed that much." "We all want to put this awful chapter in our nation’s history behind us,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D—NY) said on Friday while announcing the Senate impeachment trial schedule.

"Forty-five votes means the impeachment trial is dead on arrival." "It's a totally different issue as far as I'm concerned," Republican Senator Rob Portman told reporters. The senators voted after being sworn in as jurors for the impeachment trial. But no Senate Republicans have said definitively that they plan to vote to convict him. First elected to the chamber in 1974, Leahy is the most senior Democrat in the chamber and holds the title of Senate president pro tempore.

Engagement in public life in the U.S. has always carried risk, with public officials of both parties, journalists and even movie stars often the target of death threats and intimidation. Story continuesOver the past few years, scholars and experts have warned that the U.S. is at risk of widespread political violence and democratic instability. By the end of 2020, experts were raising the alarm that the country was spinning toward political violence. The Republican Party – with a few notable exceptions – embraced Donald Trump’s post-election rhetoric and the massive lie about election fraud. Republican Party members defend their actions by claiming they are legitimate efforts to protect democracy.

The Justice Department on Tuesday rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. Most families have not been prosecuted under zero tolerance since 2018, when the separations were halted, though separations have continued on a smaller scale. Gen. Jeff Sessions, along with Trump and other top leaders in his administration, were bent on curbing immigration. A report from the Justice Department’s inspector general, released this month, found that the policy led to a $227-million funding shortfall. The watchdog report also found that Sessions and other top officials knew the children would be separated under the policy and encouraged it.

Gavin Newsom’s announcement Monday that the state would shift vaccine priority to an age-based eligibility structure has sparked concerns from groups representing some essential workers and disabled people who may now have to wait longer to get vaccinated. Before Newsom’s announcement, the state intended to give priority to several new groups after California is done vaccinating people 65 and older, including residents in incarcerated and homeless settings, essential workers and individuals with underlying health conditions. Further details will be released as the state progresses through the current Phase 1B Tier 1, a spokesperson for the California Department of Public Health told The Times. Advertisement“It sounds like it’s more bad news for people with disabilities,” Andy Imparato of Disability Rights California said following Ghaly’s briefing. In the letter, Executive Director Michael Pimentel noted that transit agencies have helped transport other essential workers to and from their jobs as well as low-income and older residents who need to get supplies and go to medical appointments.

AdvertisementThe purchases from drug makers Pfizer and Moderna come as the Biden administration is trying to ramp up vaccine production and the states’ capacities to inject the drugs. AdvertisementBiden’s team pledged to provide states with firm vaccine allocations three weeks ahead of delivery during the first virus-related call with the nation’s governors Tuesday. The CDC team reviewed data from studies in the United States and abroad and found schools differed from nursing homes and high-density work sites where rapid spread has occurred. Many other countries have been requiring negative test results for months, but the United States had been less strict. AdvertisementThe United States will accept results from rapid antigen tests, while other countries have been asking for what are known as polymerase chain reaction tests, or PCR tests.

Biden, calling the push a “wartime effort,” said the administration was working to buy an additional 100 million doses of each of the two approved coronavirus vaccines. He acknowledged that states in recent weeks have been left guessing how much vaccine they will have from one week to the next. The administration said it plans to buy another 100 million doses each from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna to ensure it has enough vaccine for the long term. The setup inherited from the Trump administration has been marked by miscommunication and unexplained bottlenecks, with shortages reported in some places even as vaccine doses remain on the shelf. As of Tuesday afternoon, the CDC reported that just over half of the 44 million doses distributed to states have been put in people’s arms.

Some 3.48 million Arizona households shared $5.92 billion from the first stimulus round. National average of $1,676Overall, the federal government disbursed $271.4 billion in first-round stimulus payments nationally to 161.9 households, averaging about $1,676. Most of the rest were paid with paper checks, with less than 1% of payments disbursed on debit cards. Eligible recipients who didn't receive stimulus payments may apply for them upon preparing their 2020 federal income tax returns. The tally announced by the IRS doesn't include a second stimulus round that began in late December.

Coming so soon in Biden’s administration, the action provides a first test of Republican opposition to the White House priorities as well as to the new president’s promise of a “unity” agenda. They have watched Republicans use similar procedural tools to advance their priorities, most recently the Trump administration’s GOP tax cuts. Biden’s COVID-19 aid package includes money for vaccine distribution, school reopenings and $1,400 direct payments to households and gradually boosts the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour over five years. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters earlier Tuesday that Biden is still looking to negotiate on an aid package, while emphasizing that several components of the existing aid will lapse in March. Collins said Tuesday that the White House made good on its commitment to deliver a more detailed accounting of the proposed expenditure.

Updated 3 times AlertMeHOUSTON — A federal judge on Tuesday barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Joe Biden. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton issued a temporary restraining order sought by Texas, which sued on Friday against a Department of Homeland Security memo that instructed immigration agencies to pause most deportations. While Tipton’s order bars enforcement of a moratorium for 14 days, it does not require deportations to resume at their previous pace. That was a reversal from Trump administration policy that made anyone in the U.S. illegally a priority for deportation. The 100-day moratorium went into effect Friday and applied to almost anyone who entered the U.S. without authorization before November.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff have received a second dose of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine. The vice president urged “everyone to take the vaccine when it is your turn.”“It is really pretty painless, and it will save your life,” she said. A bump to the nation’s supply would increase its stockpile to 600 million doses; both vaccines require two doses, several days apart. (AP)Mr Biden also said weekly allocations of vaccine doses will likely increase by 1.4 million doses beginning next week. Initial vaccine rollout was plagued by inconsistencies and insufficient infrastructure in the final weeks of Mr Trump’s term.

According to Ms Ellis, the Biden administration has already shown its commitment to all Americans in a short space of time. "In their first 48 hours they are the most LGBTQ progressive administration we have ever seen," she said.

The image of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders at Joe Biden's inauguration, looking glum and wearing woollen mittens, has gone viral on social media. They were made by Vermont woman Jen Ellis, who has since received thousands of orders for the same mittens. She told Katy Kay and Christian Fraser about the whirlwind past week, and the special mittens she's making to auction off for charity. Read more:Biden inauguration: Biden inauguration: Katy's anthem, Bernie's mittens and other moments

Oil industry groups, however, slammed the move, saying Biden had already eliminated thousands of oil and gas jobs by killing the Keystone XL oil pipeline on his first day in office. The policy is an abrupt about-face from his predecessor Donald Trump who sought to maximize the country's oil, gas and coal output. The pause in onshore drilling is limited to federal lands and does not affect drilling on private lands, which is largely regulated by states. Oil and gas extracted from public lands and waters account for about a quarter of annual U.S. production. Biden's choice to lead the Interior Department, which oversees oil and gas leasing on public lands, is New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland.

The Justice Department on Tuesday rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a 'zero tolerance' enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. The 'zero tolerance' policy meant that any adult caught crossing the border illegally would be prosecuted for illegal entry. Most families have not been prosecuted under zero tolerance since 2018, when the separations were halted, though separations have continued on a smaller scale. The 'zero tolerance' policy was one of several increasingly restrictive policies aimed at discouraging migrants from coming to the Southern border. The watchdog report also found that Sessions and other top officials knew the children would be separated under the policy and encouraged it.

A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday temporarily blocked a move by President Joe Biden to halt the deportation of certain immigrants for a 100-day period, a swift legal setback for his ambitious immigration agenda. The Biden administration is expected to appeal the ruling, which halts the policy while both parties submit briefs on the matter. Court blow: Joe Biden suffered his first defeat in the federal courts with his 100-day deportation moratorium being struck downTrump appointee: Drew Tipton is the federal judge who blocked deportationThe 100-day moratorium went into effect Friday and applied to almost anyone who entered the U.S. without authorization before November. Paxton also said it went against the terms of an enforcement agreement Texas brokered with the Trump administration less than two weeks before Biden took office. Paxton also said it went against the terms of an enforcement agreement Texas brokered with the Trump administration less than two weeks before Biden took office.

Vermont Democratic Sen. Pat Leahy was hospitalized Tuesday just hours after being sworn in to preside over the second impeachment of President Donald Trump. In this image from video, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, swears in Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the president pro tempore of the Senate, who will preside over the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. A single Republican, Mitt Romney of Utah, voted for an impeachment article during Trump's first impeachment last year. He told reporters afterward the vote meant 'the impeachment trial is dead on arrival.' Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy is presiding instead of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who sat over Trump's first impeachment trial.

President Joe Biden has vowed to replace the U.S. government's fleet of roughly 650,000 vehicles with American-made electric models in a push for the use of 'clean energy'. Still, he didn't give a timeline for the fleet replacement - or, crucially, a price tag. President Biden said that the federal government's fleet of vehicles will be replaced with clean electric vehicles'The federal government owns an enormous fleet of vehicles, which we're going to replace with clean electric vehicles - made right here in America made by American workers,' Biden said. It's a big task: Of U.S.-government vehicles, just 3,215 were electric vehicles as of July 2020, according to government figures. During the campaign, Biden vowed to 'make a major federal commitment to purchase clean vehicles for federal, state, tribal, postal, and local fleets.'

More than 100 million Covid-19 cases have now been recorded worldwide, according to an AFP tally on Tuesday, as newly-inaugurated President Joe Biden pledged to ramp up the United States's struggling vaccine program. The United States, which passed 25 million confirmed cases last weekend, remains the country with the largest outbreak -- and the largest death toll of over 420,000. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was "hard to compute" the loss felt by British families after his country became the first European country to surpass 100,000 Covid-19 deaths. With the global death toll at 2.1 million, the world has looked to vaccines to break the gloom, but bickering over access to doses has intensified. "Europe invested billions to help develop the world's first Covid-19 vaccines," EU chief Ursula von der Leyen told the virtual World Economic Forum (WEF).

Critics accused Trump of pursuing policies built around "white grievance" in a nation where the white population is declining by percentage. Black voters proved critical to Biden first in winning his party's presidential nomination and then in defeating Trump in the Nov. 3 election. On the day he took office last week, Biden signed an executive order establishing a government-wide initiative to address racial inequity and systemic racism in federal policies, laws and programs. "And the simple truth is: our soul will be troubled as long as systemic racism is allowed to persist. "Housing is a right in America and home ownership is an essential tool to wealth creation and to be passed down to generations," Biden said.

NATIONALFormer US President Donald Trump (AP-Yonhap)WASHINGTON -- Former US President Donald Trump's push to revise the Korea-US FTA may have hurt the countries' alliance, a congressional report said Tuesday, noting the issue may need to be addressed by the Biden administration. The renegotiated FTA went into effect at the start of 2019.The report, however, noted Trump's push for a revised Korea-US FTA may have been driven by an ill-informed objective -- to strike a trade balance. "The Trump administration made trade balances a key metric of the success of US FTAs, yet most economists argue other factors largely determine trade balance outcomes," said the report. "Congress has constitutional authority to regulate foreign commerce, implements FTAs through legislation, and sets US trade negotiating objectives, but the Trump Administration negotiated modifications to KORUS without legislative approval by Congress. "How should President Biden address the Trump Administration import restrictions, which affect trade with South Korea?"

NATIONALSouth Korean President Moon Jae-in (L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) (Yonhap)Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed hope for an "early visit" to South Korea, as soon as conditions are created, during his phone talks with President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday night, Cheong Wa Dae said.Moon told Xi that he expects the two countries to continue communication for the Chinese leader's trip here once the COVID-19 situation is stabilized.Xi responded positively, saying he is looking forward to traveling to South Korea and meeting with Moon at an early date as soon as conditions allow, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok.On regional security, Moon requested that China play a constructive role in resolving pending issues via dialogue.Xi said China supports North Korea-US negotiations and inter-Korean talks, Kang said.Xi was quoted as adding that Beijing makes much of Seoul's role for a "political resolution" to the North Korea issue, while describing the Korean Peninsula situation as "stable in general. "He cited North Korea's statement, issued at the latest congress of the Workers' Party, which he regarded as indicating that it has not closed the door for dialogue with the US and South Korea.Xi's message came days after the launch of the Joe Biden administration. Moon is expected to have a phone call with the new US president in the near future.Moon and Xi, meanwhile, declared 2022 as the South Korea-China year of cultural exchange during their first phone conversation in around eight months.The two noted that the neighboring countries will commemorate the 30th anniversary next year of the establishment of their diplomatic ties.And they agreed to come up with a blueprint for the bilateral relationship over the coming three decades via an envisioned joint committee of experts.The leaders pointed out that Seoul and Beijing have maintained close cooperation in the midst of the coronavirus crisis and agreed to boost people-to-people and economic exchang

The Korea-US FTA originally went into effect in 2012, but Seoul agreed to modify the Korea-US FTA in 2018 after Trump threatened to withdraw from the bilateral free trade pact altogether. The report, however, noted Trump's push for a revised Korea-US FTA may have been driven by an ill-informed objective -- to strike a trade balance. "Some analysts worry that trade tensions may influence South Korean views on the alliance and broader bilateral relations," it added. The report noted because such changes primarily required only South Korean regulatory changes, the Trump administration did not require action or approval by Congress. "How should President Biden address the Trump Administration import restrictions, which affect trade with South Korea?"

WORLDUS Secretary of State-designate Antony Blinken is seen speaking at a Senate confirmation hearing in Washington on Jan. 19, 2021, in this AP photo. "Together, we are far better positioned to counter threats posed by Russia, Iran and North Korea and to stand up for democracy and human rights," Blinken said earlier of US allies.He also said the new administration will review the country's "entire approach and policy" toward North Korea and find a way to bring the country back to the negotiating table. "But that starts with consulting closely with our allies and partners, particularly with South Korea and with Japan and others," he has said.North Korea has been staying away from denuclearization talks since leader Kim Jong-un's second meeting with former US President Donald Trump ended without a deal in February 2019. The first Trump-Kim summit was in June 2018.Blinken will likely be sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday. Such ceremonies have so far taken place one day after a nominee is confirmed by the Senate.

NATIONALUS Secretary of State Tony Blinken speaks at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delware on Nov. 24, 2020. (AP-Yonhap)South Korea welcomes the inauguration of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and expects that the alliance with the United States will develop further, the foreign ministry said Wednesday. "Our government welcomes the official inauguration of US Secretary of State Blinken following the Senate approval," ministry spokesperson, Choi Young-sam, said in a commentary. "We expect the South Korea-US alliance to develop further with the inauguration of the new secretary, who has ample experience and excellent leadership with a deep understanding of the bilateral relations and the Korean Peninsula issues," Choi said.Blinken won the Senate confirmation on Tuesday (US time) as the country's new top diplomat in a 78-22 vote, about two months after he was named to lead the State Department.During his Senate hearing, Blinken said the Biden administration will work with traditional allies, such as South Korea, to restore US global leadership.He also said the new administration will review the country's "entire approach and policy" toward North Korea and find a way to bring the country back to the negotiating table in close consultations with Seoul and other allies.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in (L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) (Yonhap)Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed hope for an "early visit" to South Korea, as soon as conditions are created, during his phone talks with President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday night, Cheong Wa Dae said. Moon told Xi that he expects the two countries to continue communication for the Chinese leader's trip here once the COVID-19 situation is stabilized. Xi responded positively, saying he is looking forward to traveling to South Korea and meeting with Moon at an early date as soon as conditions allow, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. In advance of the phone call, Xi sent a congratulatory letter to Moon for his Jan. 24 birthday. Xi was supposed to make an official visit to South Korea in 2020, but it has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

US Secretary of State Tony Blinken speaks at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delware on Nov. 24, 2020. (AP-Yonhap)South Korea welcomes the inauguration of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and expects that the alliance with the United States will develop further, the foreign ministry said Wednesday. "Our government welcomes the official inauguration of US Secretary of State Blinken following the Senate approval," ministry spokesperson, Choi Young-sam, said in a commentary. Blinken won the Senate confirmation on Tuesday (US time) as the country's new top diplomat in a 78-22 vote, about two months after he was named to lead the State Department. During his Senate hearing, Blinken said the Biden administration will work with traditional allies, such as South Korea, to restore US global leadership.

US Secretary of State-designate Antony Blinken is seen speaking at a Senate confirmation hearing in Washington on Jan. 19, 2021, in this AP photo. (AP-Yonhap)WASHINGTON -- Antony Blinken was expected to take office as the new secretary of state on Tuesday after the Senate confirmed his nomination. The Senate voted 78 to 22 to confirm the former deputy secretary of state as the country's new top diplomat. Blinken underwent a Senate confirmation hearing last Tuesday, the day before Joe Biden took office as president. "But that starts with consulting closely with our allies and partners, particularly with South Korea and with Japan and others," he has said.

Joe Biden vowed on Tuesday to ramp up vaccination programs so that most of the US population is inoculated by the end of summer or early fall. “This will be enough vaccine to fully vaccinate 300m Americans by the end of the summer,” the US president said on Tuesday afternoon, later adding “end of summer, beginning of the fall”, in a briefing at the White House. “This will be one of the most difficult operational challenges we’ve ever undertaken,” said Joe Biden on Tuesday, announcing the plans. “When we arrived, the vaccine program was in worse shape than we expected or anticipated,” Biden said. As of Tuesday, 19 million people had received one vaccine shot, and 3.4 million received a second.

Elected officials may not be able to change the hearts and minds of Americans when it comes to racial equity. Racial equality was a key element in Biden's very decision to run in 2020, he has said. The growth of the Black Lives Matter movement after numerous cases of Black people dying in police custody has brought renewed attention to racial discrimination and inequity in criminal justice. But polling shows there are still deep divisions – along both party and racial lines – on matters involving racial justice. Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, called Biden's plan "a great initial start," telling MSNBC that Blacks "are taxpaying citizens.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll, Sponsored by SLANTED from Sharyl Attkisson, for Tuesday shows that 48% of Likely U.S. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -5. If your organization is interested in a weekly or longer sponsorship of Rasmussen Reports' Daily Presidential Tracking Poll, please send e-mail to info@rasmussenreports.com. To get a sense of longer-term job approval trends for the president, Rasmussen Reports compiles our tracking data on a full month-by-month basis. Daily tracking results are collected via telephone surveys of 500 likely voters per night and reported on a three-day rolling average basis.

Axios first reported on Tuesday Kaine and Collins were pitching their colleagues on the idea of a censure resolution. That, like a censure resolution, could pass the Senate with only 60 votes compared to impeachment's two-thirds requirement. That means if every Democrat voted for a censure resolution they would need the support of at least 10 Senate Republicans. A group of House Republicans introduced a censure resolution earlier this month condemning Trump "for trying to unlawfully overturn the 2020 Presidential election and violating his oath of office on January 6, 2021." The House, instead, voted on a bipartisan basis to impeach Trump, making him the first president to be impeached twice.

Biden Administration Restores Aid To Palestinians, Reversing Trump PolicyEnlarge this image toggle caption Debbie Hill/AP Debbie Hill/APJust six days after taking office, the Biden administration took a sharp turn in U.S. policy in the Middle East, announcing it will resume contact with Palestinian leaders and restore U.S. contributions to the U.N. agency which provides aid to Palestinians. Mills also said the new administration is committed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with a secure Israel alongside a "viable Palestinian state." The Trump administration closed the Washington, D.C., office of the Palestine Liberation Organization; halted contributions to the U.N. Palestinians had seen that as a betrayal of Arab pledges to make peace with Israel only after the Palestinians made peace. With Biden in the country, Netanyahu's government announced an increase in settlement construction, which Biden took as a personal insult.

NEW YORK — The Biden administration announced Tuesday it was renewing US relations with the Palestinian leadership, and restoring “credible engagement” with the Palestinians, as it works toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “In order to advance these objectives, the Biden administration will restore credible US engagement with Palestinians as well as Israelis,” he said. In 2019, the Trump administration shuttered the US consulate in Jerusalem, which served as the de-facto embassy to the Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. The Trump peace plan unveiled by the administration in early 2020 envisioned Israel annexing all of its settlements in the West Bank — a non-starter for Ramallah. US assistance benefits millions of ordinary Palestinians and helps to preserve a stable environment that benefits both Palestinians and Israelis,” Mills said.

In addition to directing the phase-out of private prisons, Biden recommitted the government to respecting tribal sovereignty, directed agencies to mitigate racial bias in federal housing policies and to address xenophobia and violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The NAACP had called on Biden to create a policy "czar" position to put one person in charge of addressing racial justice and equity issues. The Racial Equity Anchor Collaborative, a coalition of racial justice and civil rights organizations, pushed Tuesday for Biden to establish a White House Office on Racial Equity and Inclusion to coordinate all actions. But administration officials emphasized what they said is an unprecedented move to embed racial equity throughout all agencies. In 2017, the Trump Justice Department rolled back an Obama administration directive to end the use of private prisons.

Biden announces 'wartime' boost in vaccine supplyThe Biden administration is boosting purchases of coronavirus vaccines to deliver enough to protect 300 million Americans by the end of the summer. It's also surging deliveries to states for the next few weeks and pledging greater transparency.

Biden orders 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to protect Americans by end of summerThe Biden administration is boosting purchases of coronavirus vaccines to deliver enough to protect 300 million Americans by the end of the summer.

Hottest years in hottest decadeThe same kind of fact-based, science-based approach is also needed to tackle climate change, the other crisis threatening humanity. Although climate change is already a here-and-now problem, scientists say it's still possible to slow the rise in global temperatures and mitigate the most catastrophic effects. New oil, gas leasing moratoriumPresident Joe Biden was elected on a platform that included prioritizing the fight against climate change. On Wednesday, he's expected to announce a moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on federal land. Denying that the crisis even exists — as Trump did with the coronavirus, and many still do with human-caused climate change — kills debate and ensures nothing is accomplished until it's too late to avert calamity.

ALBANY – When Sen. Chuck Schumer talks about his new role as Senate majority leader, he weaves in how he will proceed with articles of impeachment against former President Donald Trump with how he hopes to bring more high-tech companies to Utica. He is New York's first Senate majority leader. More:'Buckle up': Sen. Chuck Schumer sees Senate majority leader role within reachMore:Schumer nears becoming first Senate majority leader from NY: 'It feels like a brand new day'Issues big and small for SchumerThen there are all the infrastructure projects that Schumer said he hopes to push through as majority leader. Second, he believes, is Trump should not be able to run for office again, which a Senate impeachment could ensure. And lastly for Schumer, he believes impeachment would actually unify the country, which opponents say would do just the opposite.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., made a motion that the impeachment trial against Trump is unconstitutional in the Senate, arguing that Trump couldn’t be tried as a private citizen. The motion was rejected by a 55-45 vote, which suggests a lack of support for convicting Trump on the charge of inciting insurrection. Essentially, 45 Senators voted that the trial was unconstitutional, signaling they're likely to vote against conviction. Politics live updates: Senate upholds constitutionality of Trump impeachment trial; senators take oathMore:Senate Republicans overwhelmingly back failed challenge to impeachment trial, hinting at Trump acquittalRomney voted to convict Trump last year during his first impeachment, becoming the first senator ever to vote against his own party's president in an impeachment trial. More:Trump impeachment trial to begin week of Feb. 8, Senate leaders announceContributing: Bart Jansen, Christal Hayes, Nicholas Wu

WASHINGTON — As President Biden prepares on Wednesday to open an ambitious effort to confront climate change, powerful and surprising forces are arrayed at his back. But what may well stand in the president’s way is political intransigence from senators from fossil-fuel states in both parties. Without doubt, signals from the planet itself are lending urgency to the cause. Last year was the hottest year on record, capping the hottest decade on record. Already, scientists say the irreversible effects of climate change have started to sweep across the globe, from record wildfires in California and Australia to rising sea levels, widespread droughts and stronger storms.

The order does not end all government contracts with private prisons — administration officials confirmed it would not apply to other agencies, like Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which contracts with private companies to detain thousands of undocumented immigrants. That includes asking the department to review actions under Mr. Trump that sought to weaken some of that enforcement. “This represents a clear change of direction that gets us back on track to fulfill the Fair Housing Act,” said Julián Castro, who served as secretary of housing and urban development under President Barack Obama. “It’s sending a very strong signal that it’s a new day when it comes to fair housing and that HUD is going to be aggressive again. But given that the action came on Day 6 of the new administration, he said, it served as a “clear repudiation of Trump’s fear-mongering” about low-income housing invading white suburbs.

The Issue: The Biden administration’s handling of the pandemic during his first week in office. Last week, President Biden stated that his goal was a million people vaccinated every day for 100 days (“Clueless,” Jan. 26). His new administration didn’t even have a clue as to how many doses of vaccine were available. The most important issue of this pandemic is producing enough vaccine for the people of the United States. Ronald AloisBrooklynLeave it to The Post to call Biden clueless on its front page.

“I think it has to happen” the president said in a brief tv interview about his party’s bid to try Donald Trump. That’s the only possible answer because only Democrats would revolt if Trump were not put in the dock. And if Trump isn’t convicted, he can’t be barred from future public office, which is the ultimate aim of the Trump haters in both parties. With his Tuesday vote, McConnell sealed those floodgates shut. Cuomo chastised President Trump for even considering granting a pardon to the ever corrupt Sheldon Silver.

YouTube’s action doesn’t stop Giuliani from posting new videos or making paid product endorsements in his posts, which he does often. But it prevents him from receiving any money from the ads YouTube sells that run before a video begins to play. ADYouTube spokesperson Jessica Gibby confirmed that Giuliani had been suspended from the company’s ad partner program after multiple violations of YouTube’s rules against posting misleading information about the recent presidential election. It’s unclear how much money Giuliani might have made from YouTube’s revenue sharing program. Giuliani also made money from hawking dietary supplements and online fraud prevention services directly to his audience in the middle of his videos.

The stimulus payments are actually an advance tax credit referred to on the 2020 1040 as a “Recovery Rebate Credit.” The credit was eligible to be paid in two rounds of advance payments during 2020 and early 2021. The IRS has pointed out that the rebate is “a tax credit against your 2020 income tax. It’s possible the Bartons’ stimulus payment is still in the pipeline and may be delivered after all. The agency used the 2019 tax year to issue the second stimulus payments automatically. Scott Heemann is concerned that he and his spouse won’t get the second stimulus payment, either.

At least $11 billion has been looted from California’s coffers in an unemployment fraud scheme run rampant across the state, while another $20 billion in possible losses is still being investigated. "California has not had sufficient security measures in place to prevent this level of fraud, and criminals took advantage of the situation." The California Employment Development Department (EDD) froze the accounts of 1.4 million relying on the assistance earlier this month while it investigated the fraud. Some 19 million claims have been processed by the department. "It should be no surprise that EDD was overwhelmed, just like the rest of the nation’s unemployment agencies," Su said.

Experts say Biden is quickly undoing Former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, and some fear these reversals will have huge impacts on national security. CHAD WOLF: BIDEN IMMIGRATION ACTION 'ABSOLUTELY' GOES AGAINST THE LAWImmigration Attorney Rachel Self said this immigration bill is "pretty ambitious." While Bensman and other experts worry Biden’s immigration policy will have negative effects on national security, Self said the government will ensure people granted immigration benefits are not a security threat. With roughly 7,500 migrants making their way on foot to Mexico and the U.S. just last week, Homan reiterated the importance of border security and the national security threat that could arise from Biden’s immigration policies. In a narrowly divided Congress, it remains to be seen whether or not Biden’s proposed immigration bill will pass.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Tuesday rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a "zero tolerance" enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. "Consistent with this longstanding principle of making individualized assessments in criminal cases, I am rescinding — effective immediately — the policy directive," Wilkinson wrote. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS BIDEN'S 100-DAY MORATORIUM ON DEPORTATIONSThe "zero tolerance" policy meant that any adult caught crossing the border illegally would be prosecuted for illegal entry. Most families have not been prosecuted under zero tolerance since 2018, when the separations were halted, though separations have continued on a smaller scale. The "zero tolerance" policy was one of several increasingly restrictive policies aimed at discouraging migrants from coming to the Southern border.

Slideshow ( 2 images )WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration is “actively looking” at expanding mandatory COVID-19 testing to travelers on U.S. domestic flights, a senior Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said on Tuesday. On a call with reporters, Dr. Marty Cetron, director for the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine at CDC, was asked about whether new domestic travel testing requirements might be employed. Reuters reported Friday that administration officials said that could include requiring negative COVID-19 tests before flying domestically. “We realize that there’s been a dramatic evolution and increase in both testing platforms and testing capacity. In discussions with airline officials, the CDC has said it is considering requiring domestic testing, too.

Dare we call it unity? Presented byWith help from Allie BiceWelcome to POLITICO’s 2021 Transition Playbook, your guide to the first 100 days of the Biden administration. Before the Blinken vote, 10 Republican senators also switched their votes on JANET YELLEN. Where's KamalaOn the East Landing in front of the Treasury Department, where she swore in Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN. Janet Yellen, this year’s valedictorian, was preparing her graduation speech.”“‘I’m the editor of The Pilot,’ I said, ‘and I’ve…’”“‘Just a minute,’ said Janet abruptly, ‘I’m thinking.’”So meta.

It bothers me as a citizen.”In 2016, the hard-right turn of the state GOP was a boon for the party: Trump became the first Republican to win the presidential election in Pennsylvania in nearly 30 years. After clinging to Trump, the GOP nominees for governor and senator in 2018 lost by double digits. Democrats also picked up House seats that year in part thanks to the Philadelphia suburbs, a former GOP stronghold. And in the fall, Biden took back Pennsylvania, again fueled by a Trump backlash in the populous suburbs of the state’s largest city. “It certainly lessened the influence of moderate Republicans.”Christopher Nicholas, a GOP consultant based in Pennsylvania, also pointed to population trends in central Pennsylvania as playing a role.

The Wisconsin hospital pharmacist who was fired and arrested for intentionally trying to destroy hundreds of Covid-19 vaccine doses has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges, authorities said on Tuesday. Anyone who tampers with doses of Covid-19 doses will face justice, U.S. Attorney Matthew D. Krueger said Tuesday. “Distributing the COVID-19 vaccine is critical to overcoming this pandemic, which continues to end lives and upend our economy,” Krueger said. There have been more than 23.5 million doses administered across the country as of Tuesday, according to data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he planned to purchase an additional 200 million doses in an effort to bolster distribution.

Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo calls the Biden administration’s rigorous and realistic approach to covid-19 “a welcome relief,” compared to the actions of the Trump administration

In a message to the department’s 84,000 employees, Yellen said they would play a major role in addressing the country’s biggest economic challenges. Two people with knowledge of Biden’s plans outlined the proposed moratorium, which will be announced Wednesday. Lindell, a Trump supporter, has continued to insist the presidential election was rigged even after U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has begun. But the coffee titan says it’s confident its U.S. business will fully recover by March. Starbucks said its business has fully recovered in China, but its U.S. business is still impacted by lower store traffic.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)NEW YORK (AP) — The first inaugurations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama were the only ones to exceed Joe Biden’s in popularity among television viewers over the past 40 years. Reagan’s festivities in 1981 drew 41.8 million viewers, and Obama’s 2009 inaugural reached 37.8 million, Nielsen said. ADVERTISEMENTCNN was the most popular network for inaugural viewers, Nielsen said. ABC had 3.4 million, Fox had 2.7 million, NBC had 2.5 million, Univision had 1.2 million, while Ion Television and Telemundo each averaged 1.1 million viewers. MSNBC had 2.67 million, Fox News Channel had 2.56 million, TNT had 1.19 million and HGTV had 1.1 million.

'Time For Us To See Action': A Call To Carry Out Biden's Order On Trans TroopsEnlarge this image toggle caption Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images Tasos Katopodis/Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden on Monday reversed a Trump-era ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military on Monday. There is an estimated 15,000 transgender troops serving in the U.S. military, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality. King says it is now up to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was confirmed into the position last Friday, to work with his staff to carry out Biden's reversal. The process to implement Biden's order should take around 60 days, according to a statement from Austin on Monday. You can also hear her on Morning Edition in 2019 when the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to enforce its ban on transgender military personnel.

Recurring payments, in theory, might ease that concern somewhat, by allowing families to plan for better months ahead, advocates say. In addition to Humanity Forward, some Democratic House members are pressing for recurring payments, but in much larger amounts instead of breaking up the $1,400 in the Biden plan. Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California and first vice chair of the liberal Congressional Progressive Caucus, has said he wants recurring payments in the stimulus package, but in a far bigger amount: $2,000 a month. The problem, Holtz-Eakin said, is not that incomes are down on average or that consumption has been constrained by lack of money. In those cases, Holtz-Eakin said, stimulus payments make sense because people spend, which preserves jobs, which keeps people spending.

Similar to those intercepted by investigators before Biden’s inauguration, the threats law enforcement agents are tracking vary in specificity and credibility, said the official, who had been briefed on the matter. Mainly posted online and in chat groups, the messages have included plots to attack members of Congress during travel to and from the Capitol complex during the impeachment trial that begins Feb. 8, according to the official. said Linskey, who referenced the Jan. 6 Capitol assault that left five dead and jeopardized members of Congress. Others were arrested after posting threats against members of Congress. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump impeachment may bring new attacks on Congress, officials fear

President Biden announced Tuesday that his administration would purchase an additional 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine as part of a plan to deliver enough inoculations for 300 million Americans by the end of the summer. With that move, Biden said, the country would increase its vaccine inventory from 400 million doses to 600 million. President Biden speaking at the White House on Tuesday. “I also want to be clear, 100 million shots in 100 days is not the endpoint. The Biden White House has also submitted a lofty $1.9 trillion COVID relief package to Congress.

By David ShepardsonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration is "actively looking" at expanding mandatory COVID-19 testing to travelers on U.S. domestic flights, a senior Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said on Tuesday. On a call with reporters, Dr. Marty Cetron, director for the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine at CDC, was asked about whether new domestic travel testing requirements might be employed. Cetron replied that there were "conversations that are ongoing and looking at what the types and locations of testing might be... We're actively looking at it." Last week, President Joe Biden directed U.S. agencies to make recommendations to "impose additional public health measures for domestic travel" and to consider new requirements for people crossing land borders. In discussions with airline officials, the CDC has said it is considering requiring domestic testing, too.

Vice President Kamala Harris has received the second dose of her COVID-19 vaccine and urged everyone to get vaccinated. KAMALA HARRIS: OK.- How was that? KAMALA HARRIS: OK. KAMALA HARRIS: Thank you Nurse [? KAMALA HARRIS: Thank you very much.

OPINION: Like with our nation’s first Black president, there is some deep-felt anxiety about Kamala Harris’s safety after the Capitol insurrectionKamala Devi Harris has been sworn and is now the first female vice president in U.S. history. Read More: Vice President Kamala Harris salutes little girl after inaugurationVice President-elect Kamala Harris speaks during an event at The Queen theater, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021, in Wilmington, Del. The reality that the safety of our new president and vice president is not certain. So is our new vice president, a woman, and a woman of color, safe in her new role? The post Protecting Madam Vice President Kamala Harris, a national treasure, at all costs appeared first on TheGrio.

The Kremlin readout of a phone call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin said they voiced satisfaction with the move. Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked Mr Biden what he discussed with Mr Putin on a recent call between the leaders. According to the White House, Mr Biden told Mr Putin that the US would defend itself from "malign actions by Russia". Mr Biden reportedly wanted to call other European leaders prior to his call with Mr Putin to gauge their concerns. Mr Putin was one of the last world leaders to congratulate Mr Biden on his electoral victory.

Declines in banks, industrial companies and elsewhere pulled the market lower. Small-company stocks fell more than other areas of the market, while blue chip companies like Johnson & Johnson and General Electric climbed after reporting better-than-expected results. Investors are in the midst of quarterly earnings reporting season for U.S. companies, and this is the busiest week so far. Dozens of large companies are reporting this week, from all parts of the economy, including American Express, J&J, Apple, GE and others. As a whole, analysts expect S&P 500 companies to say their fourth-quarter profit fell 5% from a year earlier.

But government has to change as well.’'In remarks before signing the order, Biden said the US government needs to change “its whole approach” on the issue of racial equity. President Biden on Tuesday ordered the Department of Justice to end its reliance on private prisons and acknowledge the central role government has played in implementing discriminatory housing policies. The order to end the reliance on privately-run prisons directs the attorney general not to renew Justice Department contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities. The move will effectively revert the Justice Department to the same posture it held at the end of the Obama administration. GEO Group, a private company that operates federal prisons, called the Biden order “a solution in search of a problem. "

We are armed and nearby your house,” Lemke allegedly wrote in a text message to the brother of a Congressman on Jan. 11. We are not white supremacists,” Lemke also allegedly wrote to the Congressman’s brother. Don’t risk their safety with your words and lies.”On Jan. 6, Lemke allegedly texted a relative of the journalist a similar threat. We are nearby armed and ready,” he allegedly wrote, according to the complaint. Evidence shows fraud occurred and the Supreme Court cases will be successful,” Lemke allegedly posted.

A White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the virtual conversation with the caucus, said there was agreement on the scope of the challenges facing the country and the need for additional relief. Biden and other members of his team intend to continue making their case to lawmakers about the need to act with urgency.

MADISON - Wisconsin is expected to take in $1.2 billion more over three years than earlier projected, according to a report released Tuesday, giving Gov. The coronavirus pandemic has hurt the global economy but hasn't hit the state's bottom line as hard as officials have feared. By the summer of 2023, Wisconsin will take in $1.2 billion more than was projected two months ago, the report found. As of this summer, the state will have about $1.8 billion in its main account. If Congress passes a new stimulus package, state officials will have an easier time balancing their budget.

Associated PressMADISON, Wis. – A priest who livestreamed exorcisms aimed at rooting out what he, former President Donald Trump and some Trump supporters have claimed was widespread voting fraud in the presidential election has left a Roman Catholic diocese in Wisconsin. The Diocese of Madison said it and the Rev. Zuhlsdorf will relocate from the diocese ”to pursue other opportunities,” the diocese said in a statement earlier this month. Tech:Twitter permanently bans MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell after he continues to claim Trump won the electionZuhlsdorf claimed he had permission from Madison Bishop Donald Hying to conduct the exorcisms. Unity:President Biden and Republicans don't agree what that looks likeNew COVID-19 test requirement for international flights to the US begins:Are travelers (and airlines) ready?

Wide-spread logistical problems hindering the rollout have spurred the Nevada congressional delegation to pressure the Biden administration to streamline the process. The CDC ranked Nevada and South Carolina as the two worst states for administering doses, or “shots in arms,” following distribution. She signed onto a recent letter to the Trump administration urging it to actively engage with states’ vaccine distribution efforts. The coronavirus relief package passed by Congress in December included $9 billion for the CDC and the states for vaccine distribution. Alex Azar, former health and human service secretary under Trump, blamed states for distribution and administration of doses of vaccines.

“Have you gone out publicly and said that there was not widespread voter fraud and that Joe Biden is the legitimate president of the United States? If you said that, then I’m happy to listen to you talk about other things that might inflame anger and divide. But if you haven’t said that, that’s really what’s at the source of the anger right now,” Romney said. “You’ve got to have that get to the rearview mirror before you talk about the next stage” toward unity.

He acknowledged that states in recent weeks have been left guessing how much vaccine they will have from one week to the next. “Lives are at stake.”He promised a roughly 16% boost in deliveries to states over the next three weeks. The administration said it plans to buy another 100 million doses each from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna to ensure it has enough vaccine for the long term. The setup inherited from the Trump administration has been marked by miscommunication and unexplained bottlenecks, with shortages reported in some places even as vaccine doses remain on the shelf. As of Tuesday afternoon, the CDC reported that just over half of the 44 million doses distributed to states have been put in people’s arms.

Flint Hills Resources is considering construction of a massive on-site solar plant to generate electricity and lower energy costs at its Pine Bend refinery in Rosemount. The company said it has requested bids from select solar companies that specialize in building commercial-scale solar farms and integrating them within established operations. The solar development would be located west of the refinery on 200 to 300 acres of farmland owned by Flint Hills. Flint Hills, the fifth largest biofuels producer in the U.S., said a decision on whether to proceed with the project is expected by mid-year. The Pine Bend refinery supplies most of the transportation fuels used in Minnesota and a significant portion of the fuels used throughout the Upper Midwest.

After a disappointing amount of coronavirus vaccine was allocated to Minnesota this week, state officials say President Joe Biden’s administration is promising a modest boost in the coming weeks. Tim Walz said Minnesota was allocated fewer than 70,000 new vaccine doses this week. Yet Walz said the Biden administration is promising a a 16 percent boost in Minnesota’s weekly vaccine allocation for each of the coming three weeks. It’s part of a national increase in vaccine allocations and Minnesota’s share is roughly 11,000 more doses of vaccine each week above the state’s typical weekly allocation. “The fact is, we still need more doses,” Walz said.

“In addition to the pandemic, the country is also facing a climate crisis, a crisis of systemic racism and an economic crisis that has been building for fifty years,” Yellen said in her message. In her message to Treasury employees, Yellen said she would be conducting a virtual listening tour in the next few weeks to meet with employees to get their views on how the department can do a better job of addressing the crises facing the country. Yellen became the third of Biden’s Cabinet nominees to win Senate approval on a vote of 84-15 late Monday. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, told Yellen that Biden’s plan represented a “laundry list of liberal structural economic reforms.”As Treasury secretary, Yellen, 74, will occupy a pivotal role in shaping and directing Biden’s economic policies. Since leaving the Fed, Yellen has been a distinguished fellow in residence at the Brookings Institution, a liberal Washington think tank.

Biden, calling the push a “wartime effort,” said the administration was working to buy an additional 100 million doses of each of the two approved coronavirus vaccines. He acknowledged that states in recent weeks have been left guessing how much vaccine they will have from one week to the next. "Lives are at stake.”He promised a roughly 16% boost in deliveries to states over the next three weeks. The administration said it plans to buy another 100 million doses each from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna to ensure it has enough vaccine for the long term. Even more vaccine could be available if federal scientists approve a single-dose shot from Johnson & Johnson, which is expected to seek emergency authorization in the coming weeks.

He proffers this will curtail if not eliminate these people traipsing across Mexico to get to the U.S. Oh, and he announced illegal entrants would not be deported once they get here. We should not at all be surprised that this Democratic administration mirrors its predecessors in throwing our money at a problem. First, the gift is announced and then accomplices figure out how to explain how it will be effective? Shouldn’t a detailed plan be provided for approval by those of us who are funding the largess before giving away the money? We know from experience that this money from taxpayers will find its way to the pockets of the aforementioned despots and will not accomplish anything other than good press for uninformed voters.

Relief is coming for states struggling to meet rising demand for COVID-19 vaccine with scarce suppliesGov. Andy Beshear said Tuesday evening that officials with the administration of President Joe Biden pledged to increase each state's supply of vaccine by 17%. The news came on a call between governors and members of the president's COVID-19 team, Beshear said. He initially pledged to provide 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office. “I hope we’ll be able to increase as we go along so we’ll get to 1.5 million,'' Biden said.

Today my organization, Girls Who Code, took out a full-page ad in the New York Times urging President Biden to implement a “Marshall Plan for Moms”. If there’s one thing we’ve learned during the pandemic, it’s that moms are the bedrock of society. More than 2 million women had left the workforce, at a rate of four times that of men. Some moms, the lucky ones, are juggling Zoom calls while making cereal and helping our kids log in to online school. That’s why we are calling on the Biden administration to create a task force dedicated to passing a Marshall Plan for Moms.

On Tuesday, by and large, Senate Republicans took it. (The House impeached Mr Trump on 13 January, a week before he was replaced by Joe Biden on 20 January.) Conviction appears increasingly remote since it would require support from at least 12 GOP senators who are now on record as fundamentally opposed to the impeachment trial itself. The Republican leader’s relationship with Mr Trump is reportedly in the gutter. Mr McConnell’s and other GOP senators’ votes to dismiss the impeachment trial does not necessarily spell doom for the House impeachment managers’ prosecution of Mr Trump.

Trump was said to have considered installing Clark as acting attorney general to carry out the scheme. “Throughout the past four years, I worked with Assistant Attorney General Clark on various legislative matters,” Perry said. Still, their assessment did not stop Trump from pressuring the Justice Department to fight harder to find a way to help him. Then-President Donald Trump and former Attorney General William Barr exit Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, in September 2020. William Barr stated publicly early last month that the Justice Department had found no voting fraud on a scale that would affect the election results.

“Secretary Yellen’s confirmation shatters another glass ceiling,” Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said in a statement. The White House had no immediate comment on when Yellen would be sworn in, or by whom. The Treasury on Monday announced more members of Yellen’s team, bringing back some Obama administration veterans who served at the agency. Earnest served as assistant secretary for public affairs at Treasury under former Secretary Jack Lew and in various communications roles under former Secretary Tim Geithner. Mark Mazur, director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and a former Treasury assistant secretary for tax policy, was named as deputy assistant secretary for tax policy in Treasury’s Office of Legislative Affairs.

Vermont Democratic Sen. Pat Leahy was hospitalized Tuesday just hours after being sworn in to preside over the second impeachment of President Donald Trump. He took up his role presiding as other senators were sworn in as the court of impeachment Tuesday. 'This evening, Sen. Leahy was in his Capitol office and was not feeling well. Beyond his mostly ceremonial role at the trial, Leahy, like every other Senate Democrat, helps ensure the party's control of the 50-50 Senate. A single Republican, Mitt Romney of Utah, voted for an impeachment article during Trump's first impeachment last year.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has said 'all violence' will be reviewed as part of the Biden administration's efforts to tackle domestic violent extremism of all political stripes in the wake of the January 6 riot on the US Capitol as well as recent unrest in Portland, Seattle and Denver. 'All violence happening around the country will be reviewed by the national security team,' Psaki said. Psaki condemned the riots in Monday's White House press conference, saying smashing windows and looting is 'totally unacceptable' and not a peaceful protest. The review will be used as a foundation to develop policy, the White House said. Haines was confirmed on inauguration day to the nation’s top intelligence job as the new Director of National Intelligence.

Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany is apparently in talks to sign with Fox News, according to reports. McEnany did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but according to journalist Yashar Ali, the network claims McEnany is not yet employed there. McEnany previously worked at Fox News early in her media career, as a producer for Mike Huckabee’s show and making regular appearances on shows like Red Eye. Following the president’s electoral defeat, she made near-nightly appearances on pro-Trump Fox host Sean Hannity’s primetime program to boost her boss’ baseless election-fraud conspiracy theories. In reality, Biden improved his margin of victory over Clinton in 31 out of 36 urban counties.

), after 44 GOP senators sided with Paul. Sen. Mike Rounds Mike RoundsThe Hill's Morning Report - Biden: Focus on vaccine, virus, travel Senators spar over validity of Trump impeachment trial Sunday shows - Biden agenda, Trump impeachment trial dominate MORE (R-S.D.) said the Tuesday vote was a “pretty good indication” that most Republicans don’t believe the trial is constitutional. Sen. John Thune John Randolph ThuneTrump, allies raise pressure on Senate GOP ahead of impeachment The Hill's Morning Report - Biden's crisis agenda hits headwinds Senate chaos threatens to slow Biden's agenda MORE (R-S.D.) The GOP strategy is a sharp shift from 2020 when Republicans were pledging publicly that they would acquit Trump and defended him publicly throughout the trial.

Photo : Drew Angerer ( Getty Images )In 1993, Joe Biden took to the Senate floor to warn of predators in society that needed to be taken out. “We have predators on our streets that society has in fact, in part because of its neglect, created,” Biden said. We have no choice but to take them out of society.”In 1994, Joe Biden helped craft the federal crime bill, which would lead to the mass incarceration of Black folks. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden is slated to sign a series of executive actions around “equity” that will focus on “policing reform, prison reform and public housing,” according to CNN. From CNN:Another order Biden will sign will reinstate an Obama-era policy barring the transfer of military equipment to local police departments.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov arrives to the Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual news conference in Moscow, Russia December 20, 2018. The Kremlin declared the breakthrough, which was widely anticipated, in a statement announcing that Putin and Biden had spoken for the first time since Biden took office on Jan. 20. “They discussed both countries’ willingness to extend New START for five years, agreeing to have their teams work urgently to complete the extension by Feb. 5,” the White House said. The White House said last week Biden would seek a five-year extension. The White House stressed that it will raise matters where it disagrees with Russia, and said Biden had reaffirmed the United States’ “firm support for Ukraine’s sovereignty”.

Coming so soon in Biden’s administration, the action provides a first test of Republican opposition to the White House priorities as well as to the new president’s promise of a “unity” agenda. Biden’s COVID-19 aid package includes money for vaccine distribution, school reopenings and $1,400 direct payments to households and gradually boosts the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour over five years. The bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus of more than 50 House lawmakers met virtually Tuesday with top administration officials on the virus aid and economic recovery package. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters earlier Tuesday that Biden is still looking to negotiate on an aid package, while emphasizing that several components of the existing aid will lapse in March. Collins said Tuesday that the White House made good on its commitment to deliver a more detailed accounting of the proposed expenditure.

James McCarten, The Canadian PressDISTRICT OF COLUMBIA - If Canada was able to navigate Donald Trump's four years of bilateral bluster, it can surely find safe harbour from the protectionist measures of his Democratic successor, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested Tuesday. Joe Biden's White House has more in common with Canadians than Trump ever did, Trudeau said when asked if he expects stronger headwinds from the latest version of Buy American than the Conservatives fought through a decade ago. “Over the past four years, we faced an American administration that was both unpredictable and extremely protectionist, and we were able every step of the way to stand up for Canadian interests,” Trudeau said. But on Monday, Biden didn't sound like someone who's backing down now that he's in the White House. “If Ontario were a country, we would be the United States' third-largest trading partner,” said Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli.

(CNN) President Joe Biden held his first call Tuesday with his Russian counterpart, according to the White House, confronting President Vladimir Putin over a range of issues from a recent massive cyberattack to the suspected poisoning of the country's leading opposition figure. The call, which occurred midday, amounted to Biden's opening bid at diplomacy with one of his chief adversaries, whom he has met previously but not dealt with as an equal. Biden's press secretary Jen Psaki said he entered the phone call with the intention of discussing the New START nuclear treaty, which the Biden administration hopes to extend; Russian aggression in Ukraine; the Solarwinds cyber hack, the extent of which is still being determined; reports Russia placed bounties on American troops serving in Afghanistan; Moscow's interference in US presidential elections; and the poisoning of Alexei Navalny"His intention was also to make clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of our national interests in response to malign actions by Russia," Psaki said, noting the call had taken place during her briefing and that a more fulsome summary would come later. The lengthy list of topics for Biden's first conversation with Putin illustrates the troubled state of affairs between Washington and Moscow that he inherited from the previous administration. Biden has accused his predecessor, President Donald Trump , of being too weak on Russia, accusing him of being "Putin's puppy" during one of their general election debates.

The United States and Russia "agreed in principle" to extend the New START arms treaty by five years, the Kremlin reported on its website Tuesday following a phone call between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), was signed in 2010 by former US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart at the time, Dmitry Medvedev. The last nuclear arms control agreementBiden had indicated during his presidential campaign that he favored extending the treaty, and Russia has long proposed its extension without any conditions or changes. However, negotiations to extend the treaty were stalled by the administration of former US President Donald Trump, which insisted on tougher inspections for Russia and for China to be included, which Beijing refused. During Trump's term, the US withdrew from a separate nuclear weapons control agreement with Russia, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, making New START the last remaining nuclear weapons control treaty between Russia and the US.

The US and Russia have agreed to extend an arms control treaty limiting their deployed nuclear warheads after Joe Biden’s first phone call as president with Vladimir Putin. Biden challenged Putin on US intelligence reports that Russia had offered bounties to the Taliban and other extremist groups in Afghanistan for the killing of US soldiers. Biden and Putin discussed the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which Trump left but Biden has said he is willing to rejoin, and the conflict in Ukraine between the government there and Russian-backed separatists. The Biden team has said its first foreign policy goal would be to repair relations with allies and global institutions ruptured by Trump. “The United States shares the goals of the ICC in promoting accountability for the worst crimes known to humanity.

REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration supports a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians and will overturn several Trump administration decisions, the acting U.S. envoy to the United Nations assured the Security Council on Tuesday. The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with east Jerusalem as its capital, all territory captured by Israel in 1967. However, under a failed peace proposal by former President Donald Trump, Washington would have recognized Jewish settlements in occupied territory as part of Israel. He said the Biden administration intended to restore Palestinian aid and take steps to re-open the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington. Under Trump, Washington cut some $360 million in annual funding for the U.N. agency supporting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

Estonia’s new prime minister has promised to restore the Baltic nation’s reputation, after two turbulent years in which a far-right party was part of the country’s government. The 43-year-old Kallas becomes the country’s first female prime minister since Estonia regained independence in 1991. In December that year, the Estonian president Kersti Kaljulaid apologised to Finland, after interior minister Mart Helme, the EKRE leader, mocked Finland’s newly elected prime minister Sanna Marin as a “sales girl”. He resigned earlier in January, and a new coalition was formed between the Centre and Reform parties, with seven cabinet posts each and Kallas as prime minister. Kallas, a former lawyer and MEP, is the daughter of Sim Kallas, who founded the Reform Party and was prime minister in 2002-2003.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat set to preside over the upcoming impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, was taken to a Washington hospital for evaluation Tuesday, his spokesman said. "This evening, Senator Leahy was in his Capitol office and was not feeling well," his spokesman David Carle said in a written statement. Leahy, 80, is the president pro tempore of the Senate, which makes him responsible for presiding over that chamber in the absence of Vice President Kamala Harris. The House impeached Trump earlier this month for inciting the riot by his supporters at the Capitol complex on Jan. 6. Five people, including a Capitol police office, died as a result of the riot.

Mitch McConnell on Monday finally backed down from his demand to protect the tactic, allowing an organizing agreement giving Chuck Schumer and his razor-thin majority control of the Senate to go through. Schumer, who had called for his Republican counterpart to agree to the power-sharing rules of the last split Senate, in 2001, claimed victory in the standoff. “I’m glad that two Senate Democrats confirmed today they will not vote to end the legislative filibuster,” the Senate Minority Leader said. We need immediate bold change,” the Senate Majority Leader told Rachel Maddow in an interview that aired Monday night. Speaking to Maddow Monday, Schumer suggested Biden should use his executive powers to deal with climate change.

Sean Spicer’s application to join the White House Correspondents’ Association was rescinded by his own employer, as Newsmax, the right-wing cable network where the former White House press secretary now hosts an evening show, reportedly decided they already have enough people on the job. Spicer’s pending request for credentials was thus “considered an unwanted headache at the WHCA,” Politico reports. Other members of the pro-Trump media are, however, still pursuing access to Joe Biden's White House. Rion kept showing up, however, thanks to Trump officials who had her to the White House as a guest—sway OAN surely won't have with Biden's team. Already, one White House reporter observed Rion “has been MIA since Biden took office,” according to CNN’s Oliver Darcy, who reports that the White House has not revoked access, despite Rion’s curious absence.

What do comedian Amy Schumer, actress Eva Longoria, Planned Parenthood president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson, #MeToo movement founder Tarana Burke, and Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd have in common this morning? The full-page ad was conceived of and organized by Girls Who Code founder and CEO Reshma Saujani, who first proposed the idea in an opinion piece for The Hill on December 7. In September, the rate of women leaving the workforce was four times higher than the rate for men. “There’s a collective sense of exhaustion for women,” Saujani tells Fast Company in an exclusive interview. The labor participation of mothers is what it was in the 1980s.

In the meantime, mask wearing is essential to help prevent people from becoming infected. We couldn’t agree more with the Biden administration’s plea for Americans to wear masks for 100 days and its mandates that people must wear masks on federal property and during interstate travel on airlines, trains, buses, and ships. With few exceptions, all people should wear masks consistently when sharing airspace with others from outside their bubble of family, friends, and coworkers. A few simple ways to improve masks’ fit and filtration for the general public that have been recently studied include putting a high-quality cloth mask on top of a surgical mask or sandwiching a surgical mask (or higher-quality filter) in-between two cloth masks. The N95 respirator is the best-known high-filtration mask in the United States.

David Muhlbaum: Yeah. David Muhlbaum: Yeah. And then for the list of the most tax friendly states, the top seven states all are very low property tax states. David Muhlbaum: Yeah. David Muhlbaum: Yeah.

Mortgage rates keep trending downward this week, as rates dropped from Friday. Today’s Mortgage Rates: 30-Year Fixed Loans, 15-Year Fixed Loans, and MoreThe average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.056% on Monday — down from 3.088% on Friday. Freddie Mac’s benchmark Primary Mortgage Market Survey put mortgage rates at 2.77% with 0.7 points paid for the week ending January 21. You may be able to negotiate a better mortgage rate if you shop around or if you have other accounts with the lender. Bottom line:Qualifying for a Mortgage Is Surprisingly Difficult Right NowA Key Indicator Suggests Mortgage Rates’ Epic Decline May Soon EndAs Prices Soar, 6 Tricks for Finding a House You Can Actually Afford

It's not hyperbole," Biden said during remarks on the COVID-19 pandemic at the White House. Biden outlined the new purchase plans along with an increase in the weekly vaccine allocation to states, tribes and territories from 8.6 million doses to a minimum of 10 million doses over the next three weeks. The additional purchases would raise the U.S. vaccine supply from 400 million doses to 600 million doses, ensuring that the country will eventually have two shots for nearly every American. A second shot should be administered about three or four weeks after the first, depending on which vaccine was given. Larry Hogan offered a more sobering assessment, noting the limited vaccine supply was "only a tiny fraction of what our citizens desperately need."

WASHINGTON – Democrats who now control Congress are proposing to raise the federal minimum hourly wage to $15 by 2025. The $7.25 an hour federal minimum wage is a starvation wage," said Sen Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in announcing the bill Tuesday. The Raise the Wage Act of 2021 would increase the federal minimum wage to $15 in five steps over the next four years. Beginning in 2026, the federal minimum wage then would be indexed to median wage growth under the bill, a similar version of which also is being introduced in the House. In 2019, the House passed legislation gradually raising raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 by 2025 mostly along party lines.

It's Ashley, and I'm ready to talk news (through two masks). Double masking 'just makes common sense,' Fauci saysThey say two heads are better than one, but can the same be said for masks? A study from July found that wearing two masks could increase protection from virus particles by 50% up to 75%. It also makes masks fit more snugly around the face, said study author Dr. Loretta Fernandez. That’s particularly notable given that President Donald Trump's two nominees for secretary of State were confirmed by relatively narrow margins.

One result of these changes is that we have seen a number of people elected to Congress who see their positions as a platform for celebrity more than legislation. That necessarily complicates President Biden’s push for a Congress which will engage in more traditional, less contentious legislative activity. In July 2008, less than half of the current Senate was in either the House or Senate. Scroll backward through time and watch the current members of Congress drop away. Boxes marked with a dot are current members of Senate who, in the selected year, were serving in the House.)

In a new Biden administration executive order that took effect Tuesday, the United States now requires all international entrants — including those returning home to the United States — pass two significant hurdles for entry. The measures aim to prevent new and more-contagious variants of the coronavirus from entering the United States, the administration said. Current CDC travel guidance recommends seven days of self-quarantine following international travel, as well as acquiring a coronavirus test three to five days into the quarantine. If a traveler cannot acquire a coronavirus test, CDC guidance recommends 10 days in quarantine. After 13 air crew broke quarantine, Sydney health officials will now police-monitor working flight attendantsAustralia largely beat the virus.

When Schumer was minority leader, he vigorously used the filibuster to do just that. Under his leadership, Democrats used the filibuster to block funding for construction of Trump’s border wall in 2019. ADADAnd those are just the bills Democrats killed with actual filibuster votes. And Democrats have used the filibuster to force Republicans to reduce the scope of some of their biggest legislative achievements. The filibuster allowed Democrats to constrain Republicans from enacting what the Democrats consider a radical agenda under a populist right-wing president.

The National Guard will remain in Washington, D.C., through the end of March over concerns of potential civil unrest, a spokesman confirmed for Fox News Tuesday. "As we continue to work to meet the final post-inauguration requirements, the National Guard has been requested to continue supporting federal law enforcement agencies with 7,000 members and will draw down to 5,000 through mid-March," National Guard Bureau spokesman Wayne Hall told Fox News. Chief of the National Guard Bureau Army Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, said that the deployment of 25,000 National Guardsmen called into Washington, D.C., from every U.S. state for the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, within a two-week time frame was exceptional. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPRoughly 13,000 guardsmen still remain in D.C. supporting federal agencies with security efforts. "The D.C. National Guard will remain on orders until March 31, 2021," a spokesman confirmed with Fox News Tuesday.

Iran has "no leverage left" over the U.S. that would enable them to pressure the Biden administration to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal, former Deputy National Security Adviser K.T. McFarland told "The Story" Tuesday. "The Arab countries, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, they're as upset about the prospect of Iran getting nuclear weapons as Israel is," she said. Whether the Biden administration approved of what Trump did or not, Trump has given them a golden opportunity. "So if the Biden administration really wants success, I think they should push for a very different deal, if one at all."

CNN contributor Hilary Rosen raised eyebrows on Monday night by asserting that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would "kill the filibuster" if he had the chance. "With this win, we can move forward with a 50-50 power-sharing agreement built on the 2001 precedent," McConnell tweeted. Critics mocked Rosen's accusation against McConnell, who did not kill the filibuster during his six-year tenure as Senate majority leader. Rosen's CNN colleague Scott Jennings similarly expressed. "#McConnell ended the filibuster for one of the most important votes Senators take, namely a Supreme Court nomination.

The Biden administration is purchasing an additional 200 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, a move that could provide enough doses for nearly every American to get fully inoculated by the end of the summer, a senior administration official said Tuesday. The new purchase of 100 million doses from Pfizer and 100 million from Moderna will be made available over the summer and are in addition to the 400 million combined doses the companies had already committed to providing to the U.S., the official said. The agreement will lessen the country's reliance on getting additional vaccines on the market from other manufacturers. The Trump administration had passed up on purchasing more vaccine doses from Pfizer and Moderna and was instead relying on additional vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca coming to market. As of Jan. 26, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 23.5 million doses were administered and more than 3.4 million were people fully vaccinated.

Experts are urging Biden administration officials to better understand the source behind Covid-19 vaccine skepticism across different Latino communities to improve vaccine rollout strategies nationwide. At least 28 percent of all Latinos surveyed by the Latino advocacy nonprofit UnidosUS in October reported that they were unlikely to get vaccinated for Covid-19. Over a third of all Latinas surveyed by UnidosUS stated they will likely not get vaccinated, compared to 22 percent of Latino men. The researchers are calling for officials to commission an in-depth study that identifies the most effective messaging strategies for different Latino subgroups. They also urge an aggressive use of fact-based information to counter the overwhelming amount of bilingual vaccine disinformation Latinos have been exposed to over the past months.

REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz(Reuters) - YouTube temporarily suspended former President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani from its partner program last week, the Alphabet Inc unit said on Tuesday, citing repeated violation of its policy that prevents false claim of widespread fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The partner program gives content creators greater access to the video platform’s resources and enables revenue sharing from ads that are served on their content. The move removes the channel’s ability to monetize and restricts access to features like partner support, YouTube said. Channels removed can appeal the decision or reapply to the program in 30 days, if they address the underlying issues that led to the suspension, according to YouTube. YouTube also said on Tuesday that it would indefinitely block Trump’s YouTube channel from new uploads “in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence.” YouTube first banned him from posting new videos two weeks ago.

“It’s a totally different issue as far as I’m concerned,” Republican Senator Rob Portman told reporters. The vote came after the senators had been sworn in as jurors for the impeachment trial. ‘MATTER OF POLITICAL CONSEQUENCE’Fellow Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who has been critical of Trump, rejected Paul’s move. But no Senate Republicans have said definitively that they plan to vote to convict him. First elected to the chamber in 1974, Leahy, 80, is the most senior Democrat in the chamber and holds the title of Senate president pro tempore.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Tuesday rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. “Consistent with this longstanding principle of making individualized assessments in criminal cases, I am rescinding — effective immediately — the policy directive,” Wilkinson wrote. While the rescinding of “zero tolerance” is in part symbolic, it undoes the Trump administration’s massively unpopular policy responsible for the separation of more than 5,500 children from their parents at the U.S-Mexico border. Most families have not been prosecuted under zero tolerance since 2018, when the separations were halted, though separations have continued on a smaller scale. The “zero tolerance” policy was one of several increasingly restrictive policies aimed at discouraging migrants from coming to the Southern border.

At least five people are believed to have died in connection with the riot. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was injured in the riot, died the following day. The officials insisted that the massive probe is not overwhelming investigators, prosecutors or the courts. And we do complex,” D’Antuono said, while acknowledging that in terms of the sheer number of suspects, the Capitol riot case stands alone. “If a crime was committed, whether it was inside or outside the Capitol, we are charging you,” Sherwin said.

Co-founder of the Lincoln Project Steve Schmidt remarks on the tough hand President Biden has been dealt by the Trump administration and its bungled coronavirus response

On Monday, President Joe Biden upped his Covid-19 vaccination goal to 150 million shots in arms in his first 100 days in office. Then on Tuesday, shortly after this article was first published, Biden backed away from 150 million and restated his 100 million goal. In the days and weeks before entering office, he said his goal was 100 million vaccinations. Note that total vaccinations given — as in first and second shots, both shots counting individually — are what’s being counted. This is not the same as not full vaccinations, which are first and second shots counted as one.

President Biden announces that his administration has ordered 200 million additional doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, increasing the U.S. supply by 50 percent in an effort to vaccinate nearly 300 million Americans by the summer.

The Davos Agenda from Jan. 25 to Jan. 29, 2021 is an online edition due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. The Davos Agenda from Jan. 25 to Jan. 29, 2021 is an online edition due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. “We want the platforms to be transparent about how their algorithms work,” von der Leyen said. Last week, Varga claimed that tech companies “limit the visibility of Christian, conservative, right-wing opinions,” and that “power groups behind global tech giants” were capable of deciding elections. She alleged that she had personally been “shadow banned” by Facebook, a term referring to social media platforms restricting the visibility of users’ profiles or posts without their knowledge.

Biden, calling the push a “wartime effort,” said the administration was working to buy an additional 100 million doses of each of the two approved coronavirus vaccines. He acknowledged that states in recent weeks have been left guessing how much vaccine they will have from one week to the next. “Lives are at stake.”He promised a roughly 16% boost in deliveries to states over the next three weeks. The administration said it plans to buy another 100 million doses each from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna to ensure it has enough vaccine for the long term. The setup inherited from the Trump administration has been marked by miscommunication and unexplained bottlenecks, with shortages reported in some places even as vaccine doses remain on the shelf.

The Biden administration should make manufacturing more COVID-19 vaccines its primary focus as it confronts the coronavirus pandemic, Murphy said in an interview, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. Phil Murphy speaks during a news conference after witnessing the first coronavirus vaccinations at University Hospital's COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, N.J. The Biden administration should make manufacturing more COVID-19 vaccines its primary focus as it confronts the coronavirus pandemic, Murphy said in an interview, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The Biden administration should make manufacturing more COVID-19 vaccines its primary focus as it confronts the coronavirus pandemic, New Jersey Gov. The company’s CEO said Tuesday it will deliver 200 million doses to the U.S. government by the end of May.

The CDC report says data from reopened classrooms show that "the type of rapid spread that was frequently observed in congregate living facilities or high-density worksites has not been reported in education settings in schools." Among the school systems cited in the review were 11 North Carolina districts serving more than 90,000 students and staff. During a 9-week period this fall, researchers found just 32 infections acquired in school — compared to 773 cases of students and staff infected outside of school. The CDC authors do single out a few school-based functions that can drive infections, namely indoor sports practices and events. Some states have prioritized inoculating educators and school staff as teachers unions in some communities have resisted a return to school for safety reasons.

Earnings are always a big deal for Tesla stock. Although more traditional auto makers are launching their own EV models, potentially reducing demand for regulatory credits, bullish investors believe regulations are getting tighter, not more lax. After margins and regulatory credits, free cash flow will be a focus for investors. Wall Street projects $1.01 in adjusted earnings per share, and 73 cents under generally accepted accounting principles. Ives rates Tesla stock Hold but has one of the highest price targets on the Street at $950 a share.

There are no crystal balls when it comes to forecasting stock market performance. Through statistical analysis, she comes up with probable outcomes for the stock market for the following 12 to 18 months. Consider stock market volatility levels as measured by the VIX index, which late last year reached the top 5th percentile. And when spreads are falling and in the narrowest quartile, average returns have been 20% versus 13% in the widest quartile. But to the extent that the recent transition in administrations reduces a sense of uncertainty, that’s a positive indicator for stocks, Chisholm says.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced plans for the U.S. to buy an additional 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, as he boosted efforts to get more Americans vaccinated. The administration is working to buy an additional 100 million doses each of authorized vaccines from Pfizer PFE, +0.08% and Moderna MRNA, +3.35% , Biden said at the White House. On Monday, Biden suggested the U.S. could soon be vaccinating 1.5 million Americans a day on average, up from the current 1 million. See: Coronavirus UpdateThe new president is pressing Congress to approve a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, but is running into resistance from Republicans who balk at the price tag. Biden on Monday said he expects talks on the plan to take a couple of weeks.

Mr Biden also raised concerns about Russian "aggression" against Ukraine, and reaffirmed Washington's "strong support for Ukraine's sovereignty." Mr Biden also raised concerns over Russian cyber hacking, interference in US elections, and treatment of peaceful protesters. Mr Biden made clear he would "act firmly in defence of our national interest in response to malign actions by Russia," the White House said. The Kremlin said Mr Putin told Mr Biden that he supports "normalisation" of relations between their two countries. Mr Navalny returned to Russia last week for the first time since he nearly died from poisoning with the nerve agent Novichok.

In remarks on Tuesday, President Biden said his administration will increase COVID-19 vaccine doses to states from 8.6 million to 10 million every week. He also said that states and territories will get a three-week forecast of vaccine supply. First, after a review of the current vaccine supply and manufacturing plants, I can announce that we will increase overall weekly vaccination distributions to states, tribes and territories from 8.6 million doses to a minimum of 10 million doses starting next week. That's an increase of 1.4 million doses per week. The second thing, we're increasing the transparency with states, cities and tribes and local partners when it comes to the vaccine supply.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration will purchase 200 million more coronavirus vaccines and funnel more to states now, in a bid to deliver on the U.S. president's promise to curb the pandemic, a senior administration official said on Tuesday. The administration will purchase 100 million doses each of the vaccines made by Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc, increasing the overall total doses to 600 million, with delivery expected by summer. Each vaccine requires two doses per person to be fully effective, suggesting the new purchases would cover most of the country's 331 million people. The administration also promised to provide notice to the states three weeks in advance of how much vaccine they would be getting in the future. Biden is expected to speak more about the topic at 4:45 p.m. EST (2145 GMT) from the White House.

The moratorium is intended to allow time for officials to review the impact of oil and gas drilling on the environment and climate. Oil industry groups slammed the move, saying Biden had already eliminated thousands of oil and gas jobs by killing the Keystone XL oil pipeline on his first day in office. The pause in drilling is limited to federal lands and does not affect drilling on private lands, which is largely regulated by states. Oil and gas extracted from public lands and waters account for about a quarter of annual US production. Biden’s choice to lead the Interior Department, which oversees oil and gas leasing on public lands, is New Mexico Represenative Deb Haaland.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, focused on Putin’s response to Biden’s proposal to extend the last remaining US-Russia arms control treaty. Former president Donald Trump’s administration had withdrawn from two arms control treaties with Russia and had been prepared to let New START lapse. Before he spoke to Putin, Biden also called NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg to pledge US commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. It also said Putin congratulated Biden on becoming president and “noted that normalization of ties between Russia and the United States would serve the interests of both countries." Biden’s team has already reacted strongly to the crackdown on the protests, in which more than 3,700 people were arrested across Russia, including more than 1,400 in Moscow.

AdvertisementThe purchases from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna come as the Biden administration is trying to ramp up vaccine production and states’ capacities to inject them into arms. “Until now, we’ve had to guess how much vaccine” each week,” Biden said. The setup inherited from the Trump administration has been marked by miscommunication and unexplained bottlenecks, with shortages reported in some places even as vaccine doses remain on the shelf. As of Tuesday afternoon, the CDC reported that just over half of the 44 million doses distributed to states have been put in people’s arms. The vaccine rollout across the 27-nation European Union has also run into roadblocks and has likewise been criticized as too slow.

Pfizer will be able to supply the United States with 200 million coronavirus vaccine doses by the end of May, two months sooner than previously expected, according to its chief executive, Albert Bourla. AdvertisementBourla added that Pfizer and BioNTech would get more doses to the European Union before the end of the second quarter. The companies’ vaccine regimen requires two doses to provide full protection from symptomatic cases of COVID-19. In the past week, an average of 1.25 million doses a day were administered. Pfizer is working on next-generation versions of its vaccine that would have easier storage requirements.

“Those in sanctuary have suffered enough,” read the letter to Biden led by Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas and Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and signed by 27 other lawmakers. It also asks Biden to lift deportations against all people living in sanctuary within the first 100 days of his presidency, and to sign any legislation on behalf of people living in sanctuary. He had sued over a federal law that requires the Department of Homeland Security to consult with states before making changes to its policies. “The [deportation] moratorium is legally sound, morally necessary, and we are confident that this enormous miscarriage of justice will be rectified,” García said. Read the full letter:Reach Jazmine Ulloa at jazmine.ulloa@globe.com or on Twitter: @jazmineulloa.

In 2020, the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Rhode Island received 1,414 bankruptcy filings – a 31-percent decrease from the 2,038 filings in the previous year and the fewest filings recorded in Rhode Island since at least 1989, according to court records. PROVIDENCE — Amid the pandemic, bankruptcy filings reached a level not seen in Rhode Island in at least three decades. Bankruptcy filings by month in US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Rhode Island US Bankruptcy CourtBankruptcy court tends to be a place of last resort, Thurston said. Thurston said the vast majority of the bankruptcy filings in Rhode Island come from individual consumers rather than corporations. Last year’s bankruptcy filings in Rhode Island peaked at 186 in March, when the pandemic hit.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday spoke in personal terms about a “full circle” moment after receiving the second dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at the same National Institutes of Health building her late mother had frequented for work. Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was a breast cancer researcher who had “two goals in her life,” the vice president said: “To raise her two daughters and end breast cancer. Harris has frequently recalled her mother’s profound influence on her life both in and out of politics. And the importance of the pursuit of the work that happens at NIH is it’s not about profit. I know the work you do and the collaboration that is required.”Harris had also received her first vaccine dose on camera last month.

Silicon Valley Reads, Santa Clara County’s community engagement program, is kicking off its season of events this week — and it’s going to be very different from previous years. To cover all that territory, six different books were selected, plus several companion books for younger readers. And while book clubs and other Silicon Valley Reads fans are used to a couple of months of in-person programs featuring authors, movies, art exhibits and panels, everything this year will be virtual. The panel will feature Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody; Dr. James Doty, founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University; and Usha Srinivasan, president of the arts group Mosaic Silicon Valley. The First 5 Santa Clara County Commission, chaired by Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, will start a search for her replacement this spring.

On Dec. 19, 2016, presidential electors across the nation, including Colorado, cast their ballots in their respective states. The Colorado electors were to vote in the Colorado capitol building. The vote of the Colorado electors was delayed due to the faithless elector controversy. Staff in the capitol building told us we could come inside to warm up if we left our signs outside. We went outside, picked up our signs and went home.

Welcome climate legislationWell, in reality, climate legislation concerns all of us. I ask that you support climate legislation in 2021. S. Valencia, DenverTime to price carbonRe: “Biden presents a novel strategy on climate change,” Jan. 18 commentaryFormer Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. rightly points out in his commentary how addressing climate change demands comprehensive legislation. Judy Denison, GoldenTo send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.

As those examples reflect, Trump’s acts of clemency mixed favors to cronies with relief for genuinely deserving federal prisoners hit with grossly disproportionate penalties. The controversy over his choices highlights longstanding problems with a clemency system that is a woefully inadequate remedy for the injustices routinely inflicted by rigid and draconian federal sentences. Trump’s final batch of 70 commutations brought his total to 94, which included dozens of nonviolent drug offenders, 18 of whom had received life sentences. That amounts to less than 5% of federal prisoners, nearly half of whom are serving time for drug offenses. But the law still helped four times as many prisoners in one year than even Obama managed through commutations in eight.

President Joe Biden announced the surge in deliveries to states Tuesday, along with the news that the federal government is purchasing an additional 100 million doses each of the two approved coronavirus vaccines. “Until now, we’ve had to guess how much vaccine” each week,” Biden said. The setup inherited from the Trump administration has been marked by miscommunication and unexplained bottlenecks, with shortages reported in some places even as vaccine doses remain on the shelf. As of Tuesday afternoon, the CDC reported that just over half of the 44 million doses distributed to states have been put in people’s arms. The vaccine rollout across the 27-nation European Union has also run into roadblocks and has likewise been criticized as too slow.

Ice cream fans, rejoice: it's finally socially acceptable to eat the delicious frozen desert for breakfast. Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams has released a new, limited-time 'everything bagel' flavor. Ice cream and bagel fanatics can now purchase it in-store or online, according to a Twitter post by the Columbus-based company. Try it yourself:A Jew reviews Jeni’s Everything Bagel ice cream"It’s schmear! "Buttery streusel laden with sesame, poppy seeds—and yes, onions and garlic—woven throughout cream cheese ice cream."

Michael Balsamo and Colleen LongAssociated PressWashington — The Justice Department on Tuesday rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. “Consistent with this longstanding principle of making individualized assessments in criminal cases, I am rescinding — effective immediately — the policy directive,” Wilkinson wrote. While the rescinding of “zero tolerance” is in part symbolic, it undoes the Trump administration’s massively unpopular policy responsible for the separation of more than 5,500 children from their parents at the U.S-Mexico border. Most families have not been prosecuted under zero tolerance since 2018, when the separations were halted, though separations have continued on a smaller scale. The “zero tolerance” policy was one of several increasingly restrictive policies aimed at discouraging migrants from coming to the Southern border.

And, with a heavy domestic agenda and looming decisions needed on Iran and China, a direct confrontation with Russia is not likely something he seeks. Biden also raised the SolarWinds cyberhack, which has been attributed to Russia. reports of Russian bounties on American soldiers in Afghanistan, interference in the 2020 U.S. election, the poisoning of Navalny and the weekend crackdown on Navalny's supporters. “President Biden made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies,” the White House said. Biden told Putin in the phone call, first reported by The Associated Press, that the U.S, would defend itself and take action, which could include further sanctions, to ensure that Moscow does not act with impunity, officials said.

The Biden administration is boosting purchases of coronavirus vaccines to deliver enough to protect 300 million Americans by the end of the summer, as it surges deliveries to states for the next three weeks following complaints of shortages and inconsistent supplies. President Joe Biden announced the surge in deliveries to states Tuesday afternoon, along with the news that the federal government is purchasing an additional 100 million doses each of the two approved coronavirus vaccines. With existing purchases, the White House expects to be able to deliver enough of the two-dose regimens to states to vaccinate 300 million people. The purchases from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna come as the Biden administration is trying to ramp up vaccine production and states’ capacities to inject them into arms. Even more vaccine could be available if federal scientists approve a single-dose shot from Johnson & Johnson, which is expected to seek emergency authorization in the coming weeks.

The international community considers both areas to be occupied territory, and the Palestinians seek them as parts of a future independent state. Mills said peace can’t be imposed on either side and stressed that progress and an ultimate solution require the participation and agreement of Israelis and Palestinians. “In order to advance these objectives, the Biden administration will restore credible U.S. engagement with Palestinians as well as Israelis,” he said. “This will involve renewing U.S. relations with the Palestinian leadership and Palestinian people,” Mills said. The Trump administration closed the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Washington in September 2018, effectively shutting down the Palestinians’ diplomatic mission to the United States.

Billionaire restaurateur and casino operator Tilman Fertitta told CNBC on Tuesday he expects strong consumer spending to fuel the U.S. economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. I'm telling you, where we can do business, we are doing business," the Landry's chairman and chief executive said on "Power Lunch." "This is going to be the 'Roaring Twenties.' Fertitta, whose Houston-based restaurant empire includes more than 600 locations worldwide, said he would welcome additional coronavirus stimulus from Washington. For the restaurant industry overall, Fertitta has said businesses that manage to survive will have learned valuable lessons to become more profitable.

In the headlines:?The global total of coronavirus cases surpassed 100 million Tuesday, according to the Johns Hopkins University dashboard. The global totals: More than 100 million cases and 2.15 million deaths. About 44.4 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and 23.5 million have been administered, according to the CDC. Coronavirus deaths and cases per day in the U.S. dropped markedly over the past couple of weeks but remain alarmingly high. Biden has drawn some criticism that his plan for 100 million shots in 100 days was insufficiently ambitious.

The Biden administration will increase vaccine supplies to states, exercise an option to buy a total of 200m more vaccine doses from Pfizer and Moderna and said it would give states more lead time on the amount of vaccine it will deliver. A senior administration official said the new purchase order would allow the government to vaccinate 300 million Americans with a two-dose regimen of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. The official said the White House is working to increase capacity for both, by purchasing more vaccine, raw supplies and setting up federal vaccination sites. The Biden administration is also planning to exercise an option to purchase 200m more vaccine doses, 100m from Pfizer/BioNTech and 100m from Moderna, the two producers with US emergency use authorization so far, through contracts first established by the Trump administration. The senior official said the government expects to deliver states 10m vaccine doses per week for the next three weeks, and will give states at least three weeks notice of upcoming shipments.

The Lincoln Project slammed Missouri Senator Josh Hawley in its latest ad, tweeting that he “knew what he was doing. It opens up on Mr Trump saying: "Josh Hawley will be one of the greatest champions," at a rally. Before they attacked the Capitol, Mr Hawley could be seen raising his fist to the crowd in apparent support. Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, tweeted on 9 January that “many senators now despise" Mr Hawley. from the stage at the ellipse next to the National Mall where Mr Trump spoke before the riot.

The Biden administration has purchased an additional 200 million vaccine doses from Moderna and Pfizer in an effort to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of summer. “This is enough vaccine to fully vaccinate 300 [million] Americans by end of the summer, beginning of the fall,” President Joe Biden said on Tuesday when making the announcement. Already the federal government received a commitment of 400 million doses between Pfizer and Moderna. The additional purchase from the two companies, which the country will receive by the summer, would bring the federal governments total stockpile to 600 million doses. Since each vaccine requires two doses, that means 300 million Americans could potentially access the jab in the summer months.

President Joe Biden has revoked the “zero tolerance” policy of prosecuting immigrants who illegally crossed the US-Mexico border for illegal entry, separating thousands of children from their families, according to the Associated Press. Most families have not been prosecuted under the Donald Trump-era policy since 2018, when the administration halted the policy. But rescinding the policy is likely to prevent the prosecution of individuals who cross the border seeking asylum. Roughly 5,500 children were separated under the Trump administration; many of their parents and families were deported without them. Lawmakers have also urged the president to create a task force to begin reuniting children with their families.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson is once again courting controversy after he likened media criticism of the QAnon movement to government censorship of the mind. After playing a montage of news clips that featured reporters arguing that QAnon is dangerous, Carlson railed against the idea of government censorship of people's minds. Carlson has invited QAnon adherents onto his show in the past. Members of the QAnon conspiracy theory movement participated in the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January. Travis View, the host of Q Anon Anonymous, a podcast that has followed the Q movement since its early days, dismissed Carlson's complaint.

Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked Mr Biden what he discussed with Mr Putin on a recent call between the leaders. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that Mr Biden called Mr Putin on Tuesday. According to the White House, Mr Biden told Mr Putin that the US would defend itself from "malign actions by Russia". The Kremlin had a different account of the call, stating that Mr Putin and Mr Biden discussed "topical issues" like the economy and the coronavirus. Mr Biden reportedly wanted to call other European leaders prior to his call with Mr Putin to gauge their concerns.

The high-profile opposition figure, a vocal critic of the Russian president, was jailed after returning to Moscow from Germany, where he was recovering after being exposed to novichok. His arrest sparked protests across Russia and led to 3,700 arrests, and more demonstrations are planned for the coming weekend. Moscow had contacted the White House to request the call last week, with Mr Biden opting to speak to European allies first - including the UK, Germany and France. Image: Mr Putin's relationship with Mr Biden will likely be a lot different to the one he had with the last US president. File picOn the call, Mr Biden also warned that the US is willing to defend itself - and enforce further sanctions - if Moscow acts with impunity.

The New York Times has a social media policy for its journalism and editorial staff that requires them to remain impartial in their posting online. Scandals that rocked the New York Times in 2020 June 7: New York Times' opinion editor, James Bennet, resigned following a controversial op-ed from Senator Tom Cotton. September: Trump repeatedly criticized the New York Times 1619 Project claiming it seeks to 'change our history'. 'The people I'm mad at are the people who put out the statement,' Wolfe said. And it follows on from the scandal after New York Times' opinion editor, James Bennet, resigned after a controversial op-ed from Senator Tom Cotton in June.

The Biden administration plans to buy 100 million more doses each of Pfizer and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine in order to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of summer. Going forward, Biden said the administration will increase the supply of vaccines to states, tribes and territories from 8.6 million doses to a minimum of 10 million doses. 'Starting next week, that's an increase of 1.4 million doses per week,' Biden said. 'But I also want to be clear, 100 million shots in 100 days is not the end point, it's just the start,' the president said. Biden then relayed the administration's plan to buy 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 100 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, which would be enough to vaccine 100 million more Americans.

FILE PHOTO: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden during their meeting in Moscow March 10, 2011. But White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden also raised a raft of worries about the Russian authorities' treatment of opposition members, including the "poisoning of Alexei Navalny." The Kremlin said that in their call Putin and Biden "expressed satisfaction" over talks and the Russian leader later submitted a bill to parliament on the five-year extension. Biden confronted Putin on both issues. In addition to raising Navalny's case, Biden flagged the "treatment of peaceful protesters by Russian security forces."

The move, though largely symbolic, officially removes the policy from the Justice Department's guidance to federal prosecutors and instructs prosecutors to use discretion when prosecuting misdemeanor border offenses. Though former President Trump ended the practice of separating migrant children when their parents were prosecuted through a June 20, 2018 executive order, the policy of zero tolerance, which directs U.S. Prior to zero tolerance, more serious border offenses, including violent offenses or illegal reentry at the border, were more commonly charged in federal court. "While the zero tolerance memo is a good start, what is really needed is for Congress to repeal provisions authorizing criminal penalties for illegal entry. In the meantime, we hope the Biden administration will not prosecute parents for illegal entry where doing so would mean family separation," Gelernt said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration will “thoroughly review” U.S. sanctions on International Criminal Court officials that the Trump administration applied over investigations into U.S forces in Afghanistan, a State Department spokesman said on Tuesday. “Much as we disagree with the ICC’s actions relating to the Afghanistan and Israeli/Palestinian situations, the sanctions will be thoroughly reviewed as we determine our next steps,” the spokesman said.

Israeli intelligence is closely watching the Iranian nuclear facilities. “This pressure will continue and grow, as a preparation for a direct attack on targets in Iran,” the Israeli source here added. He said Israel could attack Iran’s nuclear program if the United States rejoined the nuclear deal, as US President-elect Joe Biden has indicated he plans to do. Israel will be left alone to act in open and covert actions against the Iranian nuclear program. Iran currently has 4.5% enriched material that, if enriched further, will be sufficient for more than two nuclear explosive devices.

President Joe Biden had his first call with Russian President Vladimir Putin since taking office — and he immediately brought up several major points of contention between the US and Russia that his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, notoriously refused to address. Based on the litany of topics she relayed, it sounds like Biden took Putin to task in what was surely an uncomfortable conversation. If it seems like Biden was trying to stand his ground against Putin, it’s because he was, his staff told reporters. And in multiple meetings with Putin, Trump seemed to accept the Russian president’s denials that the Kremlin had meddled in America’s democratic process. In early 2018, Trump’s aides told him not to congratulate Putin on his reelection as Russia’s president during a call.

A court-appointed committee has yet to find the parents of 628 children separated at the border early in the Trump administration. A court-appointed committee has yet to find the parents of 628 children separated at the border early in the Trump administration. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Tuesday rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. Most families have not been prosecuted under zero tolerance since 2018, when the separations were halted, though separations have continued on a smaller scale. The “zero tolerance” policy was one of several increasingly restrictive policies aimed at discouraging migrants from coming to the Southern border.

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Unveiling a bold new plan to fight the coronavirus, President Biden called on Americans to stay at home next month and watch the impeachment trial. “I recognize that I’m asking everyone to make a tremendous sacrifice,” he said. “That’s why I’m issuing a stay-at-home order only for a time when there’s something really good on TV.”The President denied that asking all Americans to watch the impeachment trial was at odds with his pledge to unify the nation. “People watch the Super Bowl every year, even when there are two teams nobody cares about. The impeachment has two teams everybody cares about.”“There’s nothing more unifying than when everybody is watching the same show,” he added.

According to researchers at Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy, full implementation of the American Family Act would cut the child poverty rate from 14.9 per cent to 9.3 per cent. Because low-income households tend to be disproportionately Black and Latino, members of these groups would gain a great deal from the Biden proposal. Projections like these explain why both progressive and centrist Democrats are enthused by the Biden proposal. “That’s about half the size of the 2017 tax bill, and it would cut child poverty nearly in half. The child tax credit dates back to the 1997 Taxpayer Relief Act, when Congress introduced a tax credit of five hundred dollars per child targeted at middle-income and high-income households.

And on January 19th, the day before Biden was sworn in as President, McConnell shocked political circles by denouncing Trump even more directly. But John Yarmuth, a Democratic representative from Louisville, Kentucky, who has known McConnell since the late sixties, told me he’d long predicted that the alliance between Trump and McConnell would end once the President could no longer help McConnell. But any pretense that McConnell could maintain control over Trump or over the Party’s fate unravelled after the 2020 election. “Trump could have attacked” the two Republican Senate candidates, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, or the National Republican Senate Campaign Committee. He has decided to cut his losses, and do what he can to make sure Trump is no longer a threat to the Republican Party.” McConnell and other Republican leaders, Manley suggested, “have gotten as much out of Trump as they can, and it’s now time to make sure Trump is damaged goods.”But the risks for McConnell and other Senate Republicans are high.

ET Covid-19 Live Updates: Biden Administration Nears Deal with Pfizer and Moderna for 200 Million More Doses The deal may not accelerate the current pace of vaccination. Biden said his administration was nearing a deal with Pfizer and Moderna for 200 million more doses by summer’s end. The deal would provide the federal government with 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 100 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, Mr. Biden said. Pfizer had agreed last summer to provide an initial 100 million doses to the United States by the end of March. The Brazilian variant is similar to one first found in South Africa, public health officials said.

ET Microsoft’s Profits Rise 33%, Driven by Cloud Computing and Xbox: Live UpdatesMicrosoft profits jump 33 percent as pandemic continues shift to cloud computing. Ms. Yellen is the nation’s 78th Treasury secretary and the first woman to head the institution in its 232-year history. Standing outside the White House, Ms. Yellen took the oath of office with her husband, the economist George Akerlof, and her son by her side. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:01 - 0:00 transcript Biden’s Commerce Secretary Nominee Testifies Before Senate Gov. In this time of overlapping crisis, the Commerce Department must be a partner to businesses and workers to help them innovate and grow.” Gov.

ET Covid-19 Live Updates: Biden Administration Nears Deal with Pfizer and Moderna for 200 Million More Doses The deal may not accelerate the current pace of vaccination. Biden said his administration was nearing a deal with Pfizer and Moderna for 200 million more doses by summer’s end. The deal would provide the federal government with 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 100 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, Mr. Biden said. Pfizer had agreed last summer to provide an initial 100 million doses to the United States by the end of March. The Brazilian variant is similar to one first found in South Africa, public health officials said.

But for now, the vote signaled the likelihood that Mr. Trump would for the second time in a year be acquitted by the Senate in an impeachment trial, spared by loyal Republicans who were reluctant to break with him. Immediately after taking office, Mr. Biden began dismantling some of his predecessor’s initiatives that were intended to curb both legal and illegal immigration to the United States. Mr. Blanton was nominated by Mr. Trump in December 2019 and confirmed by the Senate that same month. Mr. Biden also said the federal government’s weekly allocations of coronavirus vaccines would increase by about 1.4 million doses starting next week. In fact, it’s gotten worse.” All are departures from the foreign policies under Mr. Trump.

The new pint is part of Jeni's new Ice Cream for Breakfast collection. Jeni's Debuts Everything Bagel-Flavored Ice Cream — and Yes, it Contains Onions and GarlicThe savory flavors of an everything bagel have been turned into seasoning blends and potato chips (among other things) with great success, but do they really belong in ice cream? The frozen pint features "buttery streusel laden with sesame, poppy seeds—and yes, onions and garlic—woven throughout subtly sweet cream cheese ice cream. The pints are currently available for $12 at Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream shops and on their website for a limited time. Image zoom Credit: Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams

"When you need help, call the pros," Mount Pleasant mayor Will Haynie saidAfter a computer glitch caused a traffic gridlock at a South Carolina COVID-19 vaccination site last week, one South Carolina mayor called upon a Chick-fil-A manager for help. Thinking fast, Haynie contacted Chick-fil-A manager Jerry Walkowiak and asked for help, with the latter happy to abide. Fox 13 reported that Haynie already had the manager's number from a friend, who also worked for the fast-food joint. "I called him [Walkowiak] on my way over and he actually got there before I did," Haynie told FOX Television Stations on Monday. "Chic Fil A [sic] manager Jerry Walkowiak donating his professional drive thru experience to help our vaccination program in Mt.

Last Thursday, seven Democratic lawmakers said that Hawley and Cruz's objection to the votes were grounds for an investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee. He closed his letter by writing that he would "not be intimidated" by attempts to blame him for inciting the riot. The dueling ethics complaints underscore the fallout from the attack, which forced lawmakers into hiding as throngs of Trump's supporters overwhelmed police and breached the Capitol. While both Hawley and Cruz have denounced the violence, they've also pushed back against criticism for their comments leading up to the insurrection. Representatives for Cruz and Hawley did not immediately respond to a request for further comment on Tuesday.

The three senior officials are the first Cabinet-level confirmations in a spate of history-making nominees in Joe Biden's administrationSeveral of President Joe Biden's Cabinet or Cabinet-level choices made history with their confirmations, days into his new administration. Janet Yellen was confirmed as the first female treasury secretary on Monday, days after the Senate confirmations of Avril Haines, the first woman to serve as director of national intelligence, and retired four-star Gen. Lloyd Austin as the first Black secretary of Defense. Monday's 84-to-15 vote marked the sixth time Yellen, 74, has been confirmed by the Senate. Former President Donald Trump also asked Congress to waive that same law for his first nominee for defense secretary: retired Marine Gen. James Mattis. His vice president, Kamala Harris, is the first woman and first Black and Asian person to hold her office.

The agency will reportedly focus on brand endorsements and editorial opportunities for the 22-year-old Harvard gradAmanda Gorman Signs with IMG Models a Week After Reciting Inspiring Poem at the InaugurationNational Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman speaks at the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden. Amanda Gorman is taking the world by storm. Image zoom Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty"Good morning Amanda Gorman, it's Lin-Miranda. At the inauguration last week, Gorman chose a double-breasted Prada coat layered over a white collared shirt. So instead of a coat, Winfrey gave Gorman earrings and "a ring that's shaped like a caged bird" as a tribute to Angelou's ionic poem, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings."

Live updates: In first call with Putin, Biden pressed Russian president on several issues, White House saysAdded: 26.01.2021 19:09 | 10 views | 0 commentsBiden plans to sign the latest batch of executive actions in the opening days of his presidency. He will speak later Tuesday about the containing the coronavirus pandemic.

Deaf Americans welcome sight of ASL interpreters at White House news briefingsAdded: 26.01.2021 18:18 | 15 views | 0 commentsThe Biden White House will be the first administration to make ASL interpreters a regular fixture at news briefings.

Democrats turn to quick action on Biden covid relief bill after power-sharing deal in SenateAdded: 26.01.2021 20:25 | 11 views | 0 commentsIn a bracing floor speech, the longtime Republican leader said the minority would grind the chamber to a halt if the 60-vote supermajority requirement is eliminated.

Added: 29.07.2020 15:10 | 10 views | 0 commentsPresumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden says he's close to choosing a running mate. The former vice president said the decision will come next week. Ed O'Keefe reports from the campaign trail.

College Officials Clamp Down on Student Behavior Over Covid-19 FearsAdded: 20.08.2020 10:27 | 11 views | 0 commentsJoe Biden criticized President Trump’s virus response and outlined a strategy to fight the pandemic. Overburdened health care specialists are finding themselves on the front lines as schools reopen.

Added: 26.01.2021 11:16 | 22 views | 0 commentsJOE BIDEN was recently inaugurated as America's 46th President, but it seems Mr Biden will have to wait before he receives the same honour the Queen awarded to Donald Trump.

China to see expansion plans challenged as Joe Biden to launch charm offensive with AfricaAdded: 26.01.2021 11:56 | 20 views | 0 commentsCHINA's plans for global expansion are set to come up against Joe Biden's new administration with the US President set for a new charm offensive in Africa, according to a US commentator.

Donald Trump What is the Office of the Former President? Where is it? Added: 26.01.2021 17:19 | 16 views | 0 commentsDONALD TRUMP became an ex-President last week, as Joe Biden took his seat in the White House Oval Office and set up a new Office of the President. What is the Office of the Former President, and where is it?

On immigration, Biden seeks a new approach to an old deadlockAdded: 26.01.2021 16:18 | 5 views | 0 commentsPresident Joe Biden's early moves on immigration signal his determination to learn from past efforts to reform the system, but that doesn't mean he won't repeat their legacy of frustration.

Why Eva Longoria, Amy Schumer and other celebs urge Biden to pay momsAdded: 26.01.2021 21:04 | 12 views | 0 comments"Motherhood isn’t a favor and it’s not a luxury. It’s a job," stated a letter signed by the actors and sent to Pres. Biden, urging a stipend for mothers during the Covid pandemic.

McFarland: Iran has 'no leverage left' to pressure US to rejoin 2015 nuclear dealAdded: 26.01.2021 21:58 | 5 views | 0 commentsIran has "no leverage left" over the U.S. that would enable them to pressure the Biden administration to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal, former Deputy National Security Adviser K.T. McFarland told "The Story" Tuesday.

How Biden Can Fix Trump's 1776 DisasterAdded: 26.01.2021 19:18 | 10 views | 0 commentsSource: deadline.comAmericans could use a commission that studies our founding-as long as it's thorough, historian-led and nonpartisan. More in www.realclearpolitics.com »

Why Did Biden Kill Keystone? Added: 26.01.2021 20:04 | 9 views | 0 commentsBiden's call for a 'foreign policy for the middle class' suddenly looks laughable

The original Buy American Act, which codifies these procedures, was created under President Herbert Hoover in 1933--also a time of economic stress. Buy American BacklashOf course, some businesses may lose out in the effort, adds Kerrigan. Former President Donald Trump also boasted Buy American policies through his "America First" agenda. The day before he left office, Trump also issued a final rule increasing the percentage of U.S.-made content that an end product may contain to qualify under "Buy American" rules. It also increased the price preferences for domestic goods under the Buy American Act.

Yet the analogy lacks some key features of how racist behavior, and especially white nationalism, works. Other versions of white nationalism function like parasitic infections (e.g., the disease caused by tapeworms), spreading less quickly, but involve machinery more intimately linked with human biology. By extension, the notion that white nationalism is a “cancer” works well in many respects: The Capitol terrorists are homegrown Americans, not foreign nationals. Even more, white nationalism especially resembles the class of cancers caused by germline mutations, those that are passed down from parents to offspring. This is an important connection, because one might erroneously analogize white nationalism to cancers caused by somatic mutations.

Cultural reset. Cultural reset. Cultural reset. It was a cultural reset but not in the traditional sense; no one is really thinking about memes, or Bernie Sanders, or even mittens differently now because of this. That in the absence of reacting to tweets from President Trump, social media will get to react to something else.

The most critical provision is a promise to create 100 new vaccination sites, backed by the Department of Defense and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. What the plan doesn’t say, explicitly, is where—or when, or how big—those federally supported sites are going to be. Outside the new government, experts are starting to talk about whether it will be possible to create mass vaccination clinics, where thousands of doses can be delivered each day. There’s no question mass sites could put the most shots into the most arms in the shortest period of time. “It’s slower to roll vaccine out to priority populations than it is to mass-vaccinate a lot of people.”Which is not to say that mass vaccination is easy to organize or quick.

Georgia’s latest wingnut star, Marjorie Taylor Greene. And if you want to see the tip of the spear of unrepentant MAGA fury, a good barometer is freshman Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Greene thinks Biden should be impeached for “enabling” bribery and other misdeeds by his son. Hey, we’ll impeach Biden for what he did as vice-president four years after he left that office! If you want to see where the MAGA movement is going next, keep an eye on Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Those hoping Mitch McConnell would lead Republicans to abandon and convict Trump had their illusions shattered. Photo: Pool/Getty ImagesIn a development whose timing, but not its outcome, was a surprise, all but five Republican senators have voted to dismiss as unconstitutional the article of impeachment against Donald Trump that was passed by the House on January 13. “I will admit to you I did not think we’d be having a vote on this at this point in time,” [Lisa] Murkowski said. And in the event, only five Republicans joined the 50 Democrats to defeat Paul’s motion: Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, and Pat Toomey. Even then, getting to 17 Republican votes for conviction when only five GOP senators consider the proceedings legitimate is about as likely as Bernie Sanders voting “not guilty.” Indeed, it’s more logical that some senators voting to affirm the trial’s constitutionality may yet decide against conviction.

Biden may not have much of a honeymoon in Congress or in public opinion, but he’s off to a better start than his predecessor. The reliably Republican-tilting robo-pollster Rasmussen, the only survey that regularly showed Trump at over 50 percent job approval, now has Biden at 48 percent approval, with 47 percent disapproval. Reuters/Ipsos, an online survey that doesn’t have much history of partisan lean, has Biden’s job approval at 57 among registered voters, with 32 percent disapproval (Biden’s job approval is 92 percent among Democrats, 21 percent among Republicans, and 52 percent among independents). So there are no signs just yet of any huge Biden public-opinion honeymoon, but he’s in better shape than Trump was for pretty much all of his presidency. But Clinton, George W. Bush, and Trump fell well short of that mark (Trump most conspicuously, at 41.4 percent approval).

The clouds have parted over Ojai, California, on November 7th, and Chloe Zhao can’t stop smiling. Zhao respects her characters too much to reduce them to tropes or make them avatars of an idea. The others are people Zhao and McDormand, who optioned the book and is also a producer of the film, encountered on the road. As McDormand puts it, Zhao “draws a razor-sharp line between sentiment and sentimentality.”“We all go through our own personal apocalypse at some point,” Zhao says of the film’s subjects. But Zhao says she’s not upset that Lindelof beat her to the punch — and there’s still plenty of story to tell.

President Joe Biden is pushing full-steam ahead with more executive orders that undo former President Donald Trump's policies. Meanwhile, the Senate is ironing out details for Trump's impeachment trial. And amid it all, Biden and Republicans are still figuring out how to get along. 'A more equitable society'After focusing his first few days on the coronavirus pandemic, Biden is turning the spotlight on racial inequality. Trump's Senate impeachment trial is unusual in a number of ways.

Biden replaces WH doctor, models virus safety tipsPresident Joe Biden has brought back Dr. Kevin O’Connor as his physician, replacing President Donald Trump’s doctor with the one who oversaw his care when he was vice president. (January 26)

President Biden jokes about phone call with Vladimir PutinPresident Biden joked around when a reporter asked about his first phone call with Vladimir Putin.

We know that a number of these potentially more dangerous or difficult variants are circulating in the U.S. in increasing numbers. Moderna said its COVID-19 vaccine protects against the two variants that emerged from Britain and South Africa, though not as strongly against the variant in South Africa, according to a company study. Pfizer-BioNTech, which makes a similar COVID-19 vaccine, says its shot appear to be effective against the variant from Britain, although the company has not yet studied other variants. They say lack of genetic sequencing in COVID-19 testing fails to capture the true number of cases of these emerging variants. “If people would just wear masks in general, we would actually be fine against the variants.”Tracking COVID-19 vaccine distribution by state: How many people have been vaccinated in the US?

ET Covid-19 Live Updates: Global Virus Cases Surpass 100 Million C.D.C. Video President Biden addresses the fight against the coronavirus pandemic from the White House. As of Tuesday, Moderna had delivered to a federal government distributor 30.4 million doses out of the 100 million doses it has pledged to ship by the end of March. Some states and localities have been clamoring for more vaccine doses, while many others are struggling to use their existing supply. Credit... Adek Berry/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Indonesia officially passed one million coronavirus cases on Tuesday, with many hospitals near capacity even as vaccinations are underway.

In Texas, he said this is a “tender time” for our country, a “time for our nation to heal,” but Mr. Trump never was a healer of wounds. Mr. Trump wasn’t the first sower of divisions or builder of walls. But Mr. Biden has an opportunity to begin the work of healing. Mr. Biden has already begun to reverse some of the damage, offering a draft of immigration reforms and halting construction on the border wall. That’s not enough, but it’s an important step toward moving beyond the border thinking of Mr. Trump and his supporters.

President Biden on Tuesday said he’s abolishing former President Donald Trump’s “offensive” 1776 Commission on “patriotic education” and loosening rules on racial sensitivity training imposed by Trump. The 1776 Commission released a “final report” this month after it was formed ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Biden signed four executive orders at the event, each apparently unrelated to the commission or racial trainings, which Trump created by executive order. Trump signed the First Step Act in 2018 including provisions targeted to help minority individuals incarcerated under Biden’s crime bills. Biden’s 1986 legislation created significant sentencing disparities between powder and crack cocaine, contributing to racial disparities in prison populations.

You had better have a word with him,” Lemke allegedly wrote in the text message. On the same day, Lemke also allegedly texted a family member of an unidentified journalist while she was in the Bronx, the complaint states. After the threats were reported, investigators tracked down details about Lemke’s phone and his social media accounts. On his social media accounts, Lemke claimed to be an Air Force veteran and a retired sergeant in the Alameda Sheriff’s Office, prosecutors wrote in the complaint. “There is very false information on social media that a Robert Lemke worked for the Alameda County Sheriff.

The Biden administration will ramp up states’ allocations of the coronavirus vaccine for next week by about 17 percent, after state and local leaders repeatedly called for increased access to the life-saving shots. The promise of extra shots comes as New York, along with several other states, has been forced to postpone scheduled inoculations and shutter large-scale distribution centers with supplies drying up. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio have each beseeched the Biden administration to up New York’s allocation to keep up with both the state’s demand and capacity to administer the shots. Earlier Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that President Biden was set to announce a more comprehensive plan to give states the supplies they need following a conference call with governors. The administration has declined, however, to detail exactly how many doses of the vaccine are on hand.

We have to: “The sound of Spector is the sound of the American apogee. And at least 60 percent of child trafficking victims in the US have once been in the foster-care system,” reports Cheri Williams at National Review. Those are ugly statistics, and the COVID-19 crisis hasn’t helped. The COVID-related reasons: children spending more time online, the bad economy “heightening the vulnerability of struggling families” and already-vulnerable foster-care children grappling with “feelings of loneliness or isolation” intensified by the pandemic. — Compiled by The Post Editorial Board

President Biden has signed a record 37 executive actions in his first week in office, and the exact number of executive orders is not known because the Federal Register has not been updated since Jan. 21. Executive orders are legally binding, and as a result, are published in the Federal Register. On Tuesday, Biden signed four items, all focused on “racial equity.”The first order directed the Department of Housing and Urban Development to address the issue of housing discrimination. President Joe Biden signing his first executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A Biden administration spokesperson did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on the record number of executive orders.

Migrants return to Mexico, using the Puerta Mexico bridge that crosses the Rio Grande river in Matamoros, Mexico, on the border with Brownsville, Texas. The moratorium would have continued as the agency reviews procedures and practices as it battles the coronavirus pandemic. Tipton’s order is an early blow to the Biden administration, which has proposed far-reaching changes sought by immigration advocates, including a plan to legalize an estimated 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. “Due to limited resources, DHS cannot respond to all immigration violations or remove all persons unlawfully in the United States. Rather, DHS must implement civil immigration enforcement based on sensible priorities and changing circumstances,” the memo ?from acting Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske said.

LIVE NationalBiden delivers remarks on U.S. coronavirus effortsPresident Biden on Tuesday speaks on the fight to contain the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.

The mainstream media’s love affair with Vice President Kamala Harris doesn’t appear to be wrapping up anytime soon. The Los Angeles Times was ridiculed on social media Tuesday after announcing it would launch "Covering Kamala Harris," a project described as "a beat dedicated to her historic rise to the White House." "Covering Kamala Harris" was announced last week when the Los Angeles newspaper unveiled an Instagram account dedicated to Harris. "Kamala Harris is all kinds of firsts: the first woman, woman of color, Black woman, mixed-race woman and South Asian elected to national office. Others said the type of coverage simply isn’t journalism:The Los Angeles Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since the inauguration of President Joe Biden on Jan. 20, the adult children of former President Donald Trump have enjoyed a boost in Twitter followers. Since Trump and former first lady Melania Trump boarded Air Force One en route to Palm Beach International Airport almost a week ago, Ivanka Trump, Tiffany Trump, and Donald Trump Jr. have all acquired thousands of new followers. Although his brother's account has risen incrementally to now more than 6.6 million followers, Donald Trump Jr. reportedly also saw his numbers decrease on Tuesday. Comparatively, Tiffany Trump has fewer than 1 million Twitter followers -- at more than 886,800 -- and even her numbers are shown falling. Line graphs that accompany their Twitter statistics show steep drops in "Monthly Gained Followers" starting around November of last year.

American Federation of Teachers leader Randi Weingarten said Tuesday that Chicago educators are battling both the coronavirus pandemic and "fear" as an impasse continues over resuming in-person learning in America's third-largest city. "We're fighting a pandemic and now we're fighting fear," Weingarten told "The Faulkner Focus." Weingarten briefed Biden White House officials last week on the standoff betweeen Chicago public officials and the Chicago Teachers Union, an affiliate of Weingarten's AFT. Members of the Chicago Teachers Union overwhelmingly voted over the weekend to refuse a district order to return for in-person instruction on Monday. Biden sided with the union on Monday, saying that teachers want to work as long as it's in a safe environment.

In November, Biden said he was going to "shut down" coronavirus once in office. Biden was pressed Monday to explain the change of tone between his campaign promises and current sentiment. "Now that you're president, you're saying there's nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next couple months," Doocy asked the president. Biden caused a stir with the grim outlook he offered on the nation’s ability to combat the coronavirus pandemic. "I believe President Biden made it very clear, the plane is in a nosedive, and we gotta pull it up.

The Biden administration's cancelation of the Keystone XL Pipeline project was "totally political," a laid-off worker said on Tuesday, expressing dismay after being unemployed due to the executive order. At the time the cross-border permits for the pipeline were rescinded, he and his team were in Nebraska working on a pump station for Keystone XL. LAID-OFF KEYSTONE XL WORKER SAYS DECISION TO CANCEL PIPELINE ‘IS GOING TO HURT A LOT OF PEOPLE’In his first day in office, President Biden signed an executive order to halt the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which was meant to transport Canadian crude oil to the U.S., citing the climate-change crisis as the reason. The move swiftly eliminated the estimated 11,000 U.S. jobs – including 8,000 union jobs – the project would have sustained in 2021. This pipeline wasn't going to be the start of it.

Republicans are already targeting vulnerable Democrats in states like Texas and Pennsylvania, where many jobs depend on oil or natural gas, as President Biden recommits to the Paris climate a1greement and makes other reversals of his predecessor's environmental policy. "By rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, President Biden indicates he's more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh. Many Democrats, including Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, voted for H.R. 9, which would have required the U.S. to stick with the Paris agreement's stipulations had it advanced further than the House of Representatives. But the gap between Green New Deal Democrats and their swing district colleagues could pose a problem for the party.

President Biden on Tuesday signed a series of executive orders aimed at promoting racial equity in America, following through on a campaign promise he made last year amid nationwide racial protests. "It marked a turning point in this country’s attitude toward racial justice." Floyd’s death quickly pushed longstanding concerns over police brutality against minorities and the broader issue of the country’s history of systemic racism firmly back into the national spotlight. Biden signed four executive actions, including one which he said would root out systemic racism in housing and criminal justice. He directed the Department of Housing and Urban Development, known by its acronym HUD, "to redress historical racism in federal housing policies."

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailU.S. plans to buy 200 million Covid vaccine doses from Moderna and PfizerKayla Tausche reports the HHS will boost its vaccine supply to states from 8.6 million to a minimum of 10 million doses per week. States will now get a 3-week look ahead. She joins 'Closing Bell' to discuss what the Biden administration is doing to increase the supply of vaccines.

McGuire's plan will also push for increased city cooperation with technology companies, from local startups to Silicon Valley giants, to help job growth. The former Citi executive aims to enact his jobs plan within his first 100 days if he is elected mayor. It would also include a new workforce development program to help people who lost their positions in other industries gain access to infrastructure jobs. McGuire's plan would rely on federal funds, and it touts the former Citi executive's relationship with President Joe Biden's administration. Biden has proposed overall federal spending of $3 trillion for green infrastructure projects and $100 billion for affordable housing.

SEE NEW POSTSNorth Carolina running out of vaccine doses North Carolina has doled out 95 percent of its allotted coronavirus vaccines, with demand now on the verge of eclipsing scheduled supply, officials said Tuesday. We are continuing enforcement of the Los Angeles County health orders to address underground party events. Share this -N.J. governor says state is 'desperately short' on vaccine doses Gov. He added that there are roughly 270 locations around the state ready to administer vaccine doses. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has repeatedly said the city's supply of vaccine doses is running very low, too.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris watches as President Joe Biden signs executive orders on his racial equity agenda at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 26, 2021. Critics accused Trump of pursuing policies built around “white grievance” in a nation where the white population is declining by percentage. On the day he took office last week, Biden signed an executive order establishing a government-wide initiative to address racial inequity and systemic racism in federal policies, laws and programs. Biden said there is “a battle for the soul of this nation.”“And the simple truth is: our soul will be troubled as long as systemic racism is allowed to persist. “Housing is a right in America and home ownership is an essential tool to wealth creation and to be passed down to generations,” Biden said.

REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration will purchase 200 million more coronavirus vaccines and funnel more to states now, in a bid to deliver on the U.S. president’s promise to curb the pandemic, a senior administration official said on Tuesday. The administration will purchase 100 million doses each of the vaccines made by Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc, increasing the overall total doses to 600 million, with delivery expected by summer. Each vaccine requires two doses per person to be fully effective, suggesting the new purchases would cover most of the country’s 331 million people. The administration also promised to provide notice to the states three weeks in advance of how much vaccine they would be getting in the future. Biden is expected to speak more about the topic at 4:45 p.m. EST (2145 GMT) from the White House.

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia and the United States have struck a deal to extend the New START nuclear arms control treaty, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, a move that preserves the last major pact of its kind between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov arrives to the Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual news conference in Moscow, Russia December 20, 2018. Signed in 2010, the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is a cornerstone of global arms control. “They discussed both countries’ willingness to extend New START for five years, agreeing to have their teams work urgently to complete the extension by Feb. 5,” the White House said. The White House stressed that it will raise matters where it disagrees with Russia, and said Biden had reaffirmed the United States’ “firm support for Ukraine’s sovereignty”.

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced that the federal government intends to purchase 200 million additional doses of two federally approved COVID-19vaccines, potentially creating a stock large enough to reach nearly the entire U.S. population. A background briefing paper for reporters said that the administration is “working to purchase” more vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. The discovery that vials contain enough extra liquid for extra doses means that the companies can produce their vaccines at a quicker rate than they initially anticipated. Pfizer’s chief executive officer said on Tuesday that the company would be able to deliver its initial shipment of 200 million doses by the end of May ? two months ahead of schedule. With the additional doses, administration officials said, the supply should be adequate to vaccinate nearly the entire population by the end of summer.

Biden officials also committed to giving states estimates of how much vaccine they will receive at least three weeks in advance. More than 41 million shots have been distributed so far, nearly half of which have yet to be administered, according to Centers for Disease Control data. The administration is hoping that adding an additional 200 million doses will alleviate those supply issues over the long term, though it remains unclear when agreements with the manufacturers will be finalized. Moderna and Pfizer have pledged a total of 200 million doses of their Covid shots by the end of March, with another 200 million available over the three months after that. The White House is betting heavily on the eventual arrival of a third vaccine from Johnson & Johnson that requires only a single shot compared with the two-dose regimen for Moderna and Pfizer.

HOUSTON — A federal judge on Tuesday barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Joe Biden. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton issued a temporary restraining order sought by Texas, which sued on Friday against a Department of Homeland Security memo that instructed immigration agencies to pause most deportations. The order represents a victory for Texas' Republican leaders, who often sued to stop programs enacted by Biden's Democratic predecessor, President Barack Obama. That was a reversal from Trump administration policy that made anyone in the U.S. illegally a priority for deportation. The 100-day moratorium went into effect Friday and applied to almost anyone who entered the U.S. without authorization before November.

Eva Longoria and Amy Schumer are urging the government to pay mothers a $2,400 stipend for their labor as the COVID-19 epidemic continues. It was modeled after “The Marshall Plan,” an initiative passed in 1948, that provided economic aid to Europe after World War II. It was modeled after “The Marshall Plan,” an initiative passed in 1948, that provided economic aid to Europe after World War II. Today, @GirlsWhoCode took out a full-page ad in the @nytimes calling on the Biden administration to support moms by implementing a #MarshallPlanForMoms in the first 100 days. “The first 100 days are an opportunity to define our values.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is purchasing an additional 200 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, a move that could provide enough doses for nearly every American to get fully inoculated by the end of the summer, a senior administration official said Tuesday. The new purchase of 100 million doses from Pfizer and 100 million from Moderna will be made available over the summer and are in addition to the 400 million combined doses the companies had already committed to providing to the U.S., the official said. The agreement will lessen the country’s reliance on getting additional vaccines on the market from other manufacturers. The Trump administration had passed up on purchasing more vaccine doses from Pfizer and Moderna and was instead relying on additional vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca coming to market. As of Jan. 26, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 23.5 million doses were administered and more than 3.4 million were people fully vaccinated.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry arrives for the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)Former Secretary of State John Kerry arrives for the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. Kerry’s diplomatic efforts match the fast pace of domestic climate directives by the week-old Biden administration, which created the job Kerry now holds. The role acknowledges what climate and military experts say will be growing conflicts around the world as climate change increases competition for natural resources. Kerry is expected to have desks at both the White House and the State Department.

A court-appointed committee has yet to find the parents of 628 children separated at the border early in the Trump administration. A court-appointed committee has yet to find the parents of 628 children separated at the border early in the Trump administration. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Tuesday rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. Most families have not been prosecuted under zero tolerance since 2018, when the separations were halted, though separations have continued on a smaller scale. The “zero tolerance” policy was one of several increasingly restrictive policies aimed at discouraging migrants from coming to the Southern border.

The Biden Administration Is Working To Buy 200 Million More COVID-19 Vaccine DosesEnlarge this image toggle caption Micah Green/Bloomberg via Getty Images Micah Green/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPresident Biden will announce Tuesday that his administration is working to purchase an additional 200 million doses of the two COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use, with the goal, the White House says, of having enough vaccine supply for nearly the entire U.S. population by the end of the summer. The administration says it plans to buy an additional 100 million doses each from both Moderna and from Pfizer, which has a vaccine with its German counterpart BioNTech. Speaking Monday, Biden threw out a higher figure he'd like to see: 150 million shots. Over the next three weeks, the Biden administration says it will boost supply to states, tribes and territories from a current 8.6 million doses a week to a minimum of 10 million doses per week. And responding to complaints from state and local officials about a lack of understanding about what vaccine supply to expect, the administration is also pledging more transparency.

XThe Nasdaq and Dow Jones industrials pulled back less than 0.1% each, while the S&P 500 slipped nearly 0.2% in the stock market today. President Joe Biden said Monday he is "open to negotiate" parts of the $1.9 trillion proposal to try to reach a bipartisan deal. The stock is well extended from a 155.57 buy point of a flat base, according to MarketSmith chart analysis. Apple stock is still in the 5% buy zone from a new buy point at 138.89. 1-800-Flowers, featured in Monday's IBD 50 Stocks To Watch, is now extended from a 32.88 buy point and an earlier 29.94 entry.

Lesser-known are shares of companies that would benefit from a federal push into electric vehicles. Workhorse has a non-disclosure agreement with the Postal Service, so Chief Financial Officer Steve Schrader couldn’t say much. But he did tell me that the USPS will make an announcement on its vehicle fleet by the end of the first quarter. Big cost savingsFor the postal service, the efficiencies appear to be big. Electric vehicle analyst Loren McDonald of CleanTechnica predicts U.S. sales of electric vehicles will total about 585,375 units this year.

Offered for $32.5 million, the 30,000-square-foot estate is the most expensive home ever listed in the area. In the U.S. more than 3 million Americans have received two doses of either vaccine. CDC Director: ‘I can’t tell you how much vaccine we have and, if I can’t tell it to you, then I can’t tell it to the governors’President Joe Biden has outlined a goal of 100 million vaccinations in 100 days, which some analysts describe as ambitious. ‘I’m tired of being the only one with moral values’: My mother put me on the deed of her home. IMF boosts U.S. and global growth outlook for 2021The International Monetary Fund boosts its forecast for global economic growth this year to 5.5% but warned that uncertainty remains 'exceptional.'

A Capitol Police officer stands at the East Front of the US Capitol ((EPA))Close to 40 Capitol Police officers have tested positive for Covid-19 in the weeks since the riot at the US Capitol on 6 January. Mr Papathanasiou told the Post that the majority of the cases were among officers and supervisors, but it was unclear how many were directly involved in the riots at the Capitol. Around 1,500 Capitol Police officers responded to the riots on 6 January, alongside close to 1,000 members of the DC Metropolitan police force. According to Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 25.1 million people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in the US. Read MoreUS police weigh officer discipline after rally, Capitol riotUS judge blocks release of Tennessee man in Capitol riot

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris Jim Watson/AFP via Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden issued four executive orders on Tuesday. One of them will order the DOJ to halt any new contracts with private prisons. In a series of executive actions announced on Tuesday, President Joe Biden will halt any new contracts between the Department of Justice and private prisons. The new executive actions from Biden were framed as part of a broader initiative in a White House news release. She also said subsequent executive actions could precede fuller legislation in Congress.

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced that the federal government intends to purchase 200 million additional doses of two federally approved COVID-19 vaccines, potentially creating a stock large enough to reach nearly the entire U.S. population. A background briefing paper for reporters said that the administration is “working to purchase” more vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. The discovery that vials contain enough extra liquid for extra doses means that the companies can produce their vaccines at a quicker rate than they initially anticipated. Pfizer’s chief executive officer said on Tuesday that the company would be able to deliver its initial shipment of 200 million doses by the end of May ? two months ahead of schedule. With the additional doses, administration officials said, the supply should be adequate to vaccinate nearly the entire population by the end of summer.

HOUSTON — A federal judge on Tuesday barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Joe Biden. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton issued a temporary restraining order sought by Texas, which sued on Friday against a Department of Homeland Security memo that instructed immigration agencies to pause most deportations. The order represents a victory for Texas' Republican leaders, who often sued to stop programs enacted by Biden's Democratic predecessor, President Barack Obama. That was a reversal from Trump administration policy that made anyone in the U.S. illegally a priority for deportation. The 100-day moratorium went into effect Friday and applied to almost anyone who entered the U.S. without authorization before November.

(Bloomberg) -- YouTube said it suspended Rudy Giuliani from its partner program for at least 30 days after he repeatedly shared misinformation about the 2020 presidential election. That limitation has been in effect since last week, YouTube said Tuesday. Giuliani promulgated conspiracies and other misleading claims about the November U.S. presidential election, which Joe Biden won. The last upload on his YouTube channel, which has 583,000 followers, was Jan. 1. The service also banned Steve Bannon’s podcast after Giuliani appeared on an episode in early January and shared election misinformation.

The Senate primarily divides its work among 20 permanent committees, such as the intelligence and judiciary, with 13 to 19 members each. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Senate Judiciary CommitteeSen. Dick Durbin. “The Senate Judiciary Committee will conduct vigorous oversight of these matters," Durbin wrote in the letter, which was addressed to acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson. Mark Warner, D-Va., Senate Intelligence CommitteeSen. Mark Warner. (Steve Helber/File/AP)Warner served as the vice chair of the Senate intelligence committee, which conducted one of two congressional investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The Biden administration has renewed a plan to replace President Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. "The Treasury Department is taking steps to resume efforts to put Harriet Tubman on the front of the new 20-dollar notes," Psaki said. The replacement of $20 bill with abolitionist Tubman was announced in 2016 by Obama administration. "Ready to help the Biden admin see this through so we can finally give Harriet Tubman the honor and recognition she long deserves." While the date of the change remains unclear, Tubman will be the first Black person to appear on U.S. currency.

Fox News Media announced Tuesday that Kudlow, 73, will have a daily program on Fox Business Network starting Feb. 8. He is the first Trump White House official to join Fox or any other TV news organization since Trump lost the election in November and is likely not to be the last. The company did not say who Kudlow will replace on Fox Business Network, which is the home of its most fiery right-wing commentator, Lou Dobbs. He fronted programs on CNBC from 2001 to 2014 and remained a commentator at the network until he joined the Trump White House in 2018. The door has swung the other way as well, with Fox News personnel and executives joining the Trump administration.

The Biden administration plans to rush additional vaccine doses to states, territories and tribal governments, senior officials said, ramping up its effort to inoculate more Americans, more quickly, as the death toll from COVID-19 continues to rise. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity before President Biden formally unveils the initiative on Tuesday afternoon at the White House. Under the plan, 10 million doses would be distributed each week for the next three weeks, up from the current 8.6 million. Biden also plans to announce the purchase of an additional 200 million vaccine doses to be delivered this summer, bringing the total purchased to 600 million. “We’re leaving no stone unturned as we work as quickly as we can.”AdvertisementInsufficient vaccine supplies are not the only challenge, however.

WASHINGTON — Antony Blinken, a longtime foreign policy aide to President Biden who has pledged to rebuild American alliances and reinvigorate a State Department beset by low morale, was confirmed by the Senate as secretary of state on Tuesday. As has Biden, Blinken has said that his other primary goals will be restoring American global leadership and joining with allies on challenges from China to COVID-19. Under president Barack Obama, he was Biden’s chief foreign policy adviser, then deputy national security adviser to the president. From 2015 to 2017, he was deputy secretary of state under John F. Kerry. If confirmed, he said in the Twitter video, he believed he would be the “only secretary of state with a Spotify play list with some of my own work on it.”

WASHINGTON — President Biden is scheduled to take executive actions as early as Thursday to reopen federal marketplaces selling Affordable Care Act health plans and to lower recently imposed barriers to joining Medicaid. AdvertisementThe most ambitious parts of Biden’s campaign health care platform would require Congress to provide consent and money. It is not clear whether restoring outreach will be part of Biden’s order or will be done within federal health care agencies. Trump health officials also tightened the rules for qualifying for special enrollment. At the end of March, Trump health officials decided against that.

He went on to describe in detail how the GOP would respond if Democrats changed their position and moved to eliminate the filibuster to pass their agenda. ’'None of us on either side want to live in a scorched-earth Senate,’' McConnell said. After Democrats blocked some of President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees, Republicans responded with a broader blockade of President Barack Obama’s nominees and agenda. In 2013, Democrats led by Senator Harry Reid, Democrat from Nevada, moved to eliminate the filibuster requirement for executive branch nominees and lower-court judges. While Republicans have given Biden’s proposal a chilly reception, Democrats are ready to move forward using special budget procedures that can skirt a filibuster under the current Senate rules rather than eliminate the filibuster entirely.

“Schools are an important source not just of education, but health and social services for children,” Honein said. More recently, however, staff case rates in New York increased at a faster rate than community case rates. Case rates increased among teachers engaged in in-person teaching and among those teaching remotely, suggesting in-person instruction was not the sole factor. The researchers calculated that 1,700 in-person school days were lost to quarantines and isolation of patients and their contacts. CDC researchers also took a look at 17 elementary and secondary schools in rural Wisconsin where mask-wearing was routine.

Nomaan MerchantAssociated PressA federal judge on Tuesday barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Joe Biden. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton issued a temporary restraining order sought by Texas, which sued on Friday against a Department of Homeland Security memo that instructed immigration agencies to pause most deportations. Tipton said the Biden administration had failed “to provide any concrete, reasonable justification for a 100-day pause on deportations." That was a reversal from Trump administration policy that made anyone in the U.S. illegally a priority for deportation. The 100-day moratorium went into effect Friday and applied to almost anyone who entered the U.S. without authorization before November.

The Biden administration’s 100-day freeze on certain deportations was temporarily halted by a federal judge Tuesday in an early legal contest from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Texas is the first state in the nation to bring a lawsuit against the Biden administration. Within six days of Biden’s inauguration, Texas has halted his illegal deportation freeze.”Paxton added in the tweet, “This was a seditious left-wing insurrection. The department-wide memo applied to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and Citizenship and Immigration Services agencies. “I told the Department of Homeland Security and Joe Biden last night to rescind its deportation freeze, which is unconstitutional, illegal, and bad for Texas and the nation,” Paxton wrote in a tweet.

The government expects to be able to deliver enough of the two-dose regimens to states to vaccinate 300 million people. The purchases from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna come as the Biden administration is trying to ramp up vaccine production and states’ capacities to inject them into arms. The setup inherited from the Trump administration has been marked by miscommunication and unexplained bottlenecks, with shortages reported in some places even as vaccine doses remain on the shelf. As of Tuesday afternoon, the CDC reported that just over half of the 44 million doses distributed to states have been put in people’s arms. The vaccine rollout across the 27-nation European Union has also run into roadblocks and has likewise been criticized as too slow.

“We want the platforms to be transparent about how their algorithms work,” von der Leyen said. Hungary’s justice minister said Tuesday that large tech companies might face Hungarian government regulation over what she called “deliberate, ideological” censorship on social media. Opposition parties have used social media to reach potential voters amid a lack of coverage in Hungary’s public outlets. Last week, Varga claimed that tech companies “limit the visibility of Christian, conservative, right-wing opinions,” and that “power groups behind global tech giants” were capable of deciding elections. She alleged that she had personally been “shadow banned” by Facebook, a term referring to social media platforms restricting the visibility of users’ profiles or posts without their knowledge.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Tuesday rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. “Consistent with this longstanding principle of making individualized assessments in criminal cases, I am rescinding — effective immediately — the policy directive,” Wilkinson wrote. While the rescinding of “zero tolerance” is in part symbolic, it undoes the Trump administration’s massively unpopular policy responsible for the separation of more than 5,500 children from their parents at the U.S-Mexico border. Most families have not been prosecuted under zero tolerance since 2018, when the separations were halted, though separations have continued on a smaller scale. The “zero tolerance” policy was one of several increasingly restrictive policies aimed at discouraging migrants from coming to the Southern border.

The government expects to be able to deliver enough of the two-dose regimens to states to vaccinate 300 million people. The purchases from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna come as the Biden administration is trying to ramp up vaccine production and states’ capacities to inject them into arms. The setup inherited from the Trump administration has been marked by miscommunication and unexplained bottlenecks, with shortages reported in some places even as vaccine doses remain on the shelf. "And if I can’t tell it to you, then I can’t tell it to the governors, and I can’t tell it to the state health officials." As of Tuesday afternoon, the CDC reported that just over half of the 44 million doses distributed to states have been put in people’s arms.

The purchases from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna come as the Biden administration is trying to ramp up vaccine production and states’ capacities to inject them into arms. Seeking to those concerns, Biden was set to pledge to provide states with firm vaccine allocations three weeks ahead of delivery to allow for accurate planning for injections. The setup inherited from the Trump administration has been marked by miscommunication and unexplained bottlenecks, with shortages reported in some places even as vaccine doses remain on the shelf. As of Tuesday afternoon, the CDC reported that just over half of the 44 million doses distributed to states have been put in people’s arms. The former volunteer firefighter had hoped the vaccine would enable him to resume attending church, playing golf and seeing friends.

The stand-off between McConnell and new Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had all but ground the Senate to a halt in the early days of the Democratic majority and threatened President Joe Biden’s agenda. “I’m glad we’re finally able to get the Senate up and running,” Schumer said Tuesday as he opened the chamber. Schumer’s office said the Republican leader had no choice but to set aside his demands. “We’re glad Sen. McConnell threw in the towel and gave up on his ridiculous demand,” said Justin Goodman, a spokesman for the Democratic leader. He wanted to prevent Schumer from taking it to the next level and ending the filibuster for legislation.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, focused on Putin’s response to Biden’s proposal to extend the last remaining U.S.-Russia arms control treaty. Former President Donald Trump’s administration had withdrawn from two arms control treaties with Russia and had been prepared to let New START lapse. Before he spoke to Putin, Biden also called NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg to pledge U.S. commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Biden’s team has already reacted strongly to the crackdown on the protests, in which more than 3,700 people were arrested across Russia, including more than 1,400 in Moscow. He also downplayed Russia’s involvement in the hack of federal government agencies last year and the allegations that Russia offered the Taliban bounties.

From a wood-paneled library in his Boston mansion, new climate envoy John Kerry is talking the U.S. back into a leading role in global climate action, making clear the nation isn't just revving up its own efforts to reduce oil, gas and coal pollution but that it intends to push everyone in the world to do more, too. Kerry’s diplomatic efforts match the fast pace of domestic climate directives by the week-old Biden administration, which created the job Kerry now holds. Success for Kerry is hardly assured. At home, he faces pushback from the oil and gas industry and hears concerns that jobs will be lost. Internationally, there's uncertainty about whether Biden's climate commitments can survive the United States' intensely divided politics, let alone the next presidential transition.

(AP) — Four new proposed abortion restrictions passed the state House Tuesday in Montana, one of several states where GOP gains are lending more momentum to prohibitions on the procedure. The bills come as President Joe Biden looks to change course nationally on the issue, though the Supreme Court has a conservative majority that's given hope to anti-abortion activists. In Montana, GOP lawmakers are hoping to capitalize on the election of a Republican governor after 16 years of pro-abortion access Democratic governors. The Montana bills largely echo legislation already passed in other Republican-controlled states — including a ban on abortion in most cases after 20 weeks of gestation; a requirement that health care providers give pregnant women the opportunity to view an ultrasound before performing an abortion; and a requirement that abortion pills be administered in-person rather than through telehealth. Another bill would ask voters to approve a requirement to care for fetuses born alive during abortion procedures.

.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Tuesday rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. “Consistent with this longstanding principle of making individualized assessments in criminal cases, I am rescinding — effective immediately — the policy directive,” Wilkinson wrote. The “zero tolerance” policy meant that any adult caught crossing the border illegally would be prosecuted for illegal entry. Most families have not been prosecuted under zero tolerance since 2018, when the separations were halted, though separations have continued on a smaller scale. The “zero tolerance” policy was one of several increasingly restrictive policies aimed at discouraging migrants from coming to the Southern border.

“We want the platforms to be transparent about how their algorithms work,” von der Leyen said. Hungary’s justice minister said Tuesday that large tech companies might face Hungarian government regulation over what she called “deliberate, ideological” censorship on social media. Opposition parties have used social media to reach potential voters amid a lack of coverage in Hungary’s public outlets. Last week, Varga claimed that tech companies “limit the visibility of Christian, conservative, right-wing opinions,” and that “power groups behind global tech giants” were capable of deciding elections. She alleged that she had personally been “shadow banned” by Facebook, a term referring to social media platforms restricting the visibility of users’ profiles or posts without their knowledge.

FILE - In this March 10, 2011, file photo, then-Vice President Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)FILE - In this March 10, 2011, file photo, then-Vice President Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia. President Joe Biden has been thrown into a high-wire act with Russia as he seeks to toughen his administration's stance against Putin while preserving room for diplomacy in a post-Donald Trump era. The Kremlin, meanwhile, focused on Putin’s response to Biden’s proposal to extend the last remaining U.S.-Russia arms control treaty. Before he spoke to Putin, Biden also called NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg to pledge U.S. commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression.

Sign up for the Guardian's First Thing newsletterDonald Trump’s hopes of avoiding conviction by the US Senate received a boost on Tuesday when 45 Republicans tried to dismiss his impeachment trial before it even began. Romney was the sole Republican to vote for Trump’s removal from office at his first impeachment trial a year ago. Instead, Senator Patrick Leahy, a Democrat who serves in the largely ceremonial role of Senate president pro tempore, oversaw proceedings. Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, tweeted: “45 GOP Senators just voted that Trump’s trial is unconstitutional since he isn’t in office now. Those who thought 17 R Senators would somehow vote to convict Trump have presumably awakened from their dream.

A federal judge on Tuesday barred the US government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of the new president, Joe Biden. US district judge Drew Tipton issued a temporary restraining order sought by Texas, which sued last Friday against a Department of Homeland Security memo that instructed immigration agencies to pause most deportations. Biden promised during his campaign to pause most deportations for 100 days. That was a reversal from Trump administration policy that made anyone in the US illegally a priority for deportation. The Biden administration argued in court filings that the agreement is unenforceable because “an outgoing administration cannot contract away that power for an incoming administration”.

The US and Russia have agreed to extend an arms control treaty limiting their deployed nuclear warheads after Joe Biden’s first phone call as president with Vladimir Putin. Biden challenged Putin on US intelligence reports that Russia had offered bounties to the Taliban and other extremist groups in Afghanistan for the killing of US soldiers. Biden and Putin discussed the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which Trump left but Biden has said he is willing to rejoin, and the conflict in Ukraine between the government there and Russian-backed separatists. The Biden team has said its first foreign policy goal would be to repair relations with allies and global institutions ruptured by Trump. “The United States shares the goals of the ICC in promoting accountability for the worst crimes known to humanity.

The coronavirus has infected more than 100 million people worldwide about 13 months after the novel virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, according to Johns Hopkins University. The grim milestone comes at a time when the world surpassed two million deaths from Covid-19 on 15 January. In the US, more than 423,000 Americans have died from the novel virus. Experts warn the actual death toll from the novel virus was likely higher due to people dying without a firm diagnosis. Mass vaccination campaigns were taking place around the world as one way to respond to the novel virus.

Biden raises election meddling with Putin in first phone call Published 10 minutes agoimage copyright Getty ImagesUS President Joe Biden has spoken to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for his first time as president, warning him about 2020 election meddling. Mr Putin congratulated the new US president on winning the election, according to a Russian statement. The call comes after criticism that former President Donald Trump was not forceful enough in his condemnation of Mr Putin. Mr Biden later appeared at the White House to sign a series of executive orders aimed at addressing what he called US systemic racism. I believe the vast majority of Democrats, Republicans and Independents share these values and want us to act as well," said Mr Biden.

The vaccine supply for first doses had dwindled to 7,710 in NYC as of Tuesday, according to the city's health department. The city handed out just over 7,000 first doses and 8,800 second doses on Monday. The city handed out just over 7,000 first doses and 8,800 second doses on MondayThe vaccine supply for first doses had dwindled to 7,710 in NYC as of Tuesday, according to the city's health department. So far 23.4 million vaccine doses have been administered, which is 56 percent of the 41.4 million shots already distributed to states by the federal government. The company, which signed a purchase agreement with the US for 200 million doses, said it has supplied 30.4 million doses of its vaccine so far.

Republican Senator Rand Paul forced the Senate to vote on the issue, arguing the trial was illegal given that Trump no longer occupies the Oval Office. It would take two-thirds of the Senate to convict Trump, which would mean 17 Republican senators would have to cross ranks and vote for the conviction. He told reporters afterward the vote meant 'the impeachment trial is dead on arrival.' Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who is acting as a liaison between Trump and the Republican senators said he spoke to the former president Monday night. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy is presiding instead of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who sat over Trump's first impeachment trial.

IMF boosts economic forecast on vaccine optimismBUSINESS DAILY © France 24By: Kate MOODY 8 minThe International Monetary Fund has lifted its forecast for economic expansion in 2021, as it banks on the Covid-19 vaccine to bring back growth. Petya Koeve Brooks, Deputy Director of the IMF's Strategy, Policy, and Review Department, tells us why the economic recovery will remain unequal. Also in the show - the EU urges the Biden administration to get on board with reforming digital giants, and the pandemic leaves champagne sales flat.

Postal Service — buy clean vehicles and renewable power, according to three people familiar with the matter, though the timing of that announcement wasn’t clear. Biden hinted at the plans Monday during remarks detailing White House plans to boost federal spending on U.S. products. Postal Service fleet — which was exempt from Obama-era fleet fuel efficiency standards — could deliver an immediate jolt. The postal service now operates more than 228,000 vehicles — one of the largest civilian fleets in the world. The Postal Service has been considering a broad replacement for years and was on track to choose a winning design from what was originally six prototypes early this year.

January 26, 2021MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIESSUBJECT: Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation RelationshipsAmerican Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Nations are sovereign governments recognized under the Constitution of the United States, treaties, statutes, Executive Orders, and court decisions. The United States has made solemn promises to Tribal Nations for more than two centuries. Tribal consultation under this order strengthens the Nation-to-Nation relationship between the United States and Tribal Nations. The plan shall be developed after consultation by the agency with Tribal Nations and Tribal officials as defined in Executive Order 13175. Recommendations for improving the plans and making the Tribal consultation process more effective, if any, should be included in this report.

The agenda for the Biden-Putin conversation was long, running from areas of cooperation, such as nuclear arms control, to areas of contention, such as Russia's military aggression toward Ukraine. During the campaign, Biden promised to take a tougher line with Putin than ex-President Donald Trump did. Trump often seemed to reluctant to confront Putin on Russia's antagonistic behavior, particularly Moscow's efforts to undermine U.S. elections. That major arms control pact expires on Feb. 5, so it’s an urgent matter. In 2011, for example, Biden was in Russia for a meeting with Putin when Biden made a startling remark about Putin’s character.

Biden to announce purchase of 200M more doses of Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 vaccines The U.S. expects enough for nearly every American to get both doses. The announcement does not resolve the major shortages the nation is experiencing now, and does not suggest the Biden administration has found a novel way to ramp up production quickly. Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. government had already agreed to buy 200 million doses from Pfizer and 200 million from Moderna, both delivered by July. Because each vaccine requires two shots, those 400 million doses already purchased from Pfizer and Moderna would be enough to vaccinate about 200 million U.S. adults. The Biden administration official did not provide a firm timetable on the 200 million extra doses, but hailed the move as a guarantee that every American who wants a shot can get one.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time as commander-in-chief. Biden pressed Putin on an array of topics, including Russian election interference. The president pressed Putin on "the SolarWinds hack, reports of Russia placing bounties on United States soldiers in Afghanistan, interference in the 2020 United States election, and the poisoning of Aleksey Navalny." The Biden administration has called on the Russian government to release Navalny and people arrested in protest of his detention. The issue of Russian election interference was a major thorn in Trump's side throughout his presidency, and he often railed against the special counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry into the matter.

President Joe Biden signs executive orders in the State Dining Room of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, in Washington. In remarks before signing the order, Biden said the U.S. government needs to change “its whole approach” on the issue of racial equity. The order to end the reliance on privately-run prisons directs the attorney general not to renew Justice Department contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities. The move will effectively revert the Justice Department to the same posture it held at the end of the Obama administration. GEO Group, a private company that operates federal prisons, called the Biden order “a solution in search of a problem.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday temporarily blocked a move by new U.S. President Joe Biden to halt the deportation of many immigrants for a 100-day period, a swift legal setback for his ambitious immigration agenda. The Biden administration is expected to appeal the ruling, which halts the deportation freeze while both parties submit briefs on the matter. Paxton also said it went against the terms of an enforcement agreement Texas brokered with the Trump administration less than two weeks before Biden took office. As of Jan. 16, ICE was holding around 6,000 detainees with final deportation orders, the spokeswoman said. Kate Huddleston, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, which filed a brief in support of the Biden administration, criticized the Texas lawsuit in a statement after the ruling.

Biden: 'Now is the time to act' on racial justicePresident Joe Biden signed a series of orders and memorandums designed to make combating racial injustice a central focus of his presidency. "Now is the time to act," on tackling racial injustice Biden said, before signing the orders.

AUSTIN – A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium, a key immigration priority of President Joe Biden. "Texas is the FIRST state in the nation to bring a lawsuit against the Biden Admin," Paxton, a conservative Republican, wrote on Twitter. Within 6 days of Biden’s inauguration, Texas has HALTED his illegal deportation freeze. “This lawsuit should not be allowed to proceed,” said Kate Huddleston, attorney for the ACLU of Texas, said on Tuesday. The freeze also doesn’t apply to those who voluntarily waive the right to remain in the United States.

Biden signs new executive orders, says 'now's the time to act' on racial equityPresident Joe Biden signed four new executive orders, building on steps taken as part of his campaign promise to create a more equitable society.

Open schools. When to keep schools open, and how to do so, has been an issue plaguing the response by the United States to the pandemic since its beginning. President Biden vowed to “teach our children in safe schools” in his inaugural address. On Tuesday, federal health officials weighed in with a call for returning children to the nation’s classrooms as soon as possible, saying the “preponderance of available evidence” indicates that in-person instruction can be carried out safely as long as mask-wearing and social distancing are maintained. “But outdoor cross-country, where distance can be maintained, might be fine to continue.”

ET Janet Yellen Sworn In as Treasury Secretary: Live UpdatesVerizon is still investigating the cause of a widespread internet outage on the East Coast. Ms. Yellen is the nation’s 78th Treasury secretary and the first woman to assume that role in the institution’s 232-year history. Standing outside the White House, Ms. Yellen took the oath of office with her husband, the economist George Akerlof, and her son by her side. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:01 - 0:00 transcript Biden’s Commerce Secretary Nominee Testifies Before Senate Gov. Janet L. Yellen was confirmed as Treasury secretary on Monday and was sworn in on Tuesday.

MOSCOW — President Biden and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia agreed to extend the last remaining nuclear arms treaty between their countries, but Mr. Biden confronted his counterpart over the poisoning of a Russian opposition leader and other issues, the White House said. It was the first call between the leaders of the world’s two nuclear superpowers since Mr. Biden’s inauguration. The New Start treaty, which limits the size of the two countries’ strategic nuclear arsenals, expires on Feb. 5, and the call appeared to seal a last-minute agreement to extend the treaty after the Trump administration declined to do so. But on a host of other high-stakes matters, Mr. Biden sent the message that he would be taking a harder line on Russia than his predecessor. He raised the poisoning of the Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny, whose arrest on Jan. 17 sparked protests across the country last weekend, the White House said.

ET Covid-19 Live Updates: Global Virus Cases Surpass 100 Million C.D.C. As of Tuesday, Moderna had delivered to a federal government distributor 30.4 million doses out of the 100 million doses it has pledged to ship by the end of March. Some states and localities have been clamoring for more vaccine doses, while many others are struggling to use their existing supply. Credit... Adek Berry/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Indonesia officially passed one million coronavirus cases on Tuesday, with many hospitals near capacity even as vaccinations are underway. A healthcare worker receiving a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine at the military hospital FFAA in Quito, Ecuador, last week.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders is dodging questions on when or if he will move forward with President Biden’s pick for budget chief — given their rocky history. Asked by Punchbowl News whether he would push Neera Tanden’s nomination to run the Office of Management and Budget forward, Sanders (I-Vt.) was cagey. Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress (CAP), was tapped by Biden as his pick for budget chief in late November. President Biden tapped Neera Tanden as his pick for budget chief. We’re talking about a woman who’s notorious for assaulting Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager,” Briahna Joy Gray, Sanders’ 2020 campaign press secretary, told Politico of the choice.

WASHINGTON — The US Senate was sworn in as jurors for the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump on Tuesday afternoon. Congress is gearing-up for its second impeachment trial in 13 months on accusations Trump incited the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol by encouraging his supporters to overturn the presidential election. Under normal rules, the impeachment trial would begin at 1 p.m. the day after the articles are presented to the Senate. Sen. Patrick Leahy getting sworn in to preside over the second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on January 26, 2021. Members of the US Senate are sworn in as jurors Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, for the second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

ADADBut the judge changed course after learning more during hearings Monday and Tuesday, saying the case was appearing less like a spy thriller and more like a domestic dispute. ADWilliams’s defense argued that she deleted social media accounts not to hide evidence but because the ex-boyfriend had started sending messages under her name. The affidavit links to images of all-caps, typo-riddled social media posts from a user named “Riley” who declares that they “STOLE . ADAlso Tuesday, two Rocky Mount, Va., police officers who are charged with taking part in the Capitol riot were fired. He said he never intended to harm Ocasio-Cortez nor police, apologized to both, and called his social media posts “completely inappropriate.”Miller tweeted “Assassinate AOC” on Jan. 6, according to charging papers.

ADAs of Tuesday, the number of Maryland residents eligible for a vaccine was roughly three times larger than the number of doses available. The number of appointments available at those sites will be based on dose allocations from the federal government. ADMembers of Congress from Virginia sent a letter to FEMA’s acting director Tuesday asking for a mass vaccination site in Northern Virginia like those Hogan is setting up in Maryland. Democratic Reps. Jennifer Wexton, Don Beyer and Gerald E. Connolly wrote that the region has both the capacity and the demand to support one of the 100 federally operated mass vaccination sites that the Biden administration has proposed. President Biden unveiled the proposal to create mass vaccination sites on his first day in office.

Paxton, a close Trump ally, celebrated the ruling as a “victory” and declared Texas “the first state in the nation to bring a lawsuit against the Biden (administration). AND WE WON.”As one of his first executive actions, Biden ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to halt most deportations from the interior of the United States for 100 days. But Texas alleged the moratorium would inflict immediate harm on the state, and the measure violated an agreement Paxton and Gov. Hundreds of additional executive actions by Trump were disputed in the federal court system, and immigrant advocates and attorneys filed many of those motions in California’s Ninth Circuit. “This lawsuit should not be allowed to proceed,” said Kate Huddleston, an attorney for the ACLU of Texas, in a statement.

President Biden has ordered a 90-day commission to pursue solutions to sexual misconduct in the military, but Mr. Austin said he didn’t want to wait to take action. I know you have worked this problem for many years,” he wrote. Yet reports of sexual assaults have increased steadily since 2006, including a 13 percent jump in 2018 and a 3 percent increase in 2019. “My hope,” Don Christensen, president of Protect Our Defenders, told Military Times, “is that leadership is honest in its assessment. If they are they will see they have made no real progress in reducing the rate of sexual assault and are failing when it comes to accountability.”ADAD

ADImportant progress is being made on peace, but Afghanistan has experienced unprecedented levels of violence since the U.S.-Taliban agreement was signed last year. According to the U.S.-Taliban agreement, a full U.S. withdrawal of troops is scheduled for May 2021, if the conditions are met. Given that the conditions have been repeatedly violated, the United States must now decide how to proceed. ADAlready, the Taliban is marketing the U.S.-Taliban agreement as evidence of its victory over the United States. If we truly desire peace — and we do — the United States must ensure it is not just trimming the branches, but treating the roots.

The NCAA, the Power Five conferences, and their $2 million platoon of lobbyists had a pretty good year on Capitol Hill in 2020. "I think the Power Five and NCAA proposals are dead in the water. "At this point, all they can do is play defense, which is what we were doing at first. The NCAA and the Power Five had sought a federal solution, arguing that individual states granting earning power to athletes would give an unfair recruiting advantage to schools in those states. Earlier this month, the NCAA put its own NIL legislation on hold, angering some Democrats in Congress.

The world has now seen more than 100 million cases of the novel coronavirus since the outbreak of the deadly disease began a year ago. The United States leads the world with most cases, with more than 25.3 million total cases as of this writing, according to estimates from the university’s Coronavirus Resource Center. India follows behind with some 10.7 million cases. Brazil, meanwhile, is third in the world for most reported cases of COVID-19, recording some 8.9 million cases to date. But the rollout of these jabs has been slow, with recently-inaugurated President Joe Biden hoping to speed the process by vaccinating 100 million Americans in his administration’s first 100 days.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Obama and Bush-era homeland security secretaries on Tuesday urged the Senate to "swiftly" confirm Alejandro Mayorkas to lead DHS, saying "any further delays" will "hinder" the country’s ability to respond to national security risks. The four former homeland security secretaries pointed out that in the past four years, DHS "has seen no fewer than six people — two Senate-confirmed, four acting — at the helm of the 24,000-person agency charged with protecting the American people and their homeland." "The president-elect could not have found a more qualified person to be the next homeland security secretary," they wrote. We urge the Senate to act swiftly to put Mayorkas in place." The letter comes after Mayorkas was voted out of the Senate Homeland Security Committee by 7-4, with Democrats and GOP Sens.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is pushing back on a report that he alleges is trying to smear his military service. Cotton is a Ranger school graduate and was awarded the coveted Ranger tab upon graduation. He has never claimed he served in the 75th Ranger Regiment -- separate from Ranger school -- a Special Operations unit. "I graduated from the Ranger School. However, as many in military circles note, calling oneself an Army Ranger is often used interchangeably, albeit often debated.

Gavin Newsom of hiding coronavirus data on Tuesday. McCarthy, who represents California's 23rd Congressional District, criticized Newsom for lifting a regional stay-at-home order less than a week after President Biden took office and failing to explain why the state dropped its ICU capacity threshold for determining lockdowns. At the start of last week, no regions appeared likely to have the stay-at-home order lifted soon because their capacity was well below 15%. But within a day, the state announced it was lifting the order for the 13-county Greater Sacramento area. "There is more uncertainty created by NOT releasing the data that only the state has access to," he said in an email.

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailU.S.-China trade relations could become less confrontational under President Biden: JPMorganJoyce Chang, chair of global research at JPMorgan, breaks down how U.S.-China relations could shift under President Joe Biden and what cooling tensions could mean for markets.

U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton sided with the state of Texas, which is arguing that a Jan. 20 memorandum issued by acting Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske freezing deportations is unlawful. In an 18-page order, Tipton wrote that the Biden administration's memorandum likely exceeds the administration's authority, and that it may violate federal laws governing administrative procedure. "Defendants are free to conduct a 'measured and considered assessment' of immigration policies regardless of the existence of the January 20 Memorandum's 100-day pause," Tipton wrote. Tipton wrote that his order will apply for 14 days, as Texas and the Biden administration continue to litigate the matter. "Within 6 days of Biden's inauguration, Texas has HALTED his illegal deportation freeze."

That includes $1,400 stimulus checks to bring the $600 payments Congress authorized in December to $2,000 in total. The package also calls for raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. How the $1,400 payments could changeThe idea of new direct payments is popular with Americans. Such a change could mean fewer people may qualify for the full $1,400 payments. $15 minimum wage faces hurdlesProtestors call for McDonald’s Corporation to raise wages to a $15 minimum and allow unionization in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on May 23, 2019.

Markets figure that as long as the Fed keeps pumping, then it's safe to keep buying. One key element to that is inflation, which the Fed wants to run consistently around a 2% level that it's missed for most of the last decade. The market experienced just such a reaction back in 2013, when former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke first raised the idea for the program that was happening then. 'We're not even thinking about thinking about raising interest rates,'" said Vincent Reinhart, chief economist at Mellon, repeating Powell's pledge in June. And there's always asset price inflation, which besides the stock market has included the meteoric rise of bitcoin.

Starbucks is expected to report its fiscal first-quarter earnings after the bell Tuesday. In China, Starbucks' second-largest market, the recovery is well underway. The country's same-store sales declined just 3% in the previous quarter. In the company's prior quarter, U.S. same-store sales fell 9%. Shares of Starbucks have risen 13% over the past year, giving the company a market value of $123 billion.

Among all sorts of noteworthy items, a moon rock was found to be sitting on a bookshelf. But what many didn't know was that this rock, dubbed Lunar Sample 76015,143, had been on an Odyssean journey to get there, one 3.9 billion years in the making. Like the other rocks brought back by the Apollo missions, it was housed at the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The Oval Office's moon rock is, for many, a cathartic sight, a symbol of the new President's science-driven agenda, of his administration's adherence to facts and to objective truths, something America needs now more than ever. If so, I suspect Americans will look back in pride at the moment they saw a moon rock sitting in Biden's Oval Office.

Soon after his election loss to Biden, Trump reportedly asked advisers for options to strike Iran militarily. Biden has stated an inten t to rejoin the nuclear deal, while also signaling he hopes a more expansive agreement can be reached soon after. As the UN's atomic watchdog chief warned on Jan. 11 , there is a matter of weeks rather than months to salvage the nuclear deal. Public sentiments around diplomacy with the West are much more negative than when the nuclear deal was first agreed. First, the US and Iran should agree on technical steps required for mutual compliance with the nuclear deal, cool regional tensions and build confidence.

Indoor gatherings remain limited to 10 people and outdoor gatherings are limited to 25. "The goal of these enforcement actions is to reduce the spread of #COVID19 and the risk to our vulnerable populations." The Boston Marathon is usually held in April and was canceled last year because of Covid-19, though there was a virtual edition. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has repeatedly said the city's supply of vaccine doses is running very low, too. "These findings suggest that the prevalence of self-reported psychological distress among school-aged children and adolescents during the Covid-19 pandemic was relatively high," the researchers said in a summary of the study's key findings.

SEE NEW POSTSBoris Johnson says he's 'deeply sorry' for Covid-19 deaths, takes 'full responsibility' British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday he was "deeply sorry" for every life taken by Covid-19 as he insisted his government has done "everything we could" to ease the pain of the pandemic. California will also launch a new online portal, called My Turn, where residents can make vaccine appointments and check their eligibility status. We are continuing enforcement of the Los Angeles County health orders to address underground party events. "The goal of these enforcement actions is to reduce the spread of #COVID19 and the risk to our vulnerable populations." The Boston Marathon is usually held in April and was canceled last year because of Covid-19, though there was a virtual edition.

SEE NEW POSTSCalifornia officials take control over state's slow vaccine rollout California is changing its vaccine delivery system to give the state more control over who gets doses amid growing frustration over a slow rollout that has forced people to wait hours, and months, for their shots. Under the new system, state officials will work with third party administrators to allocate vaccines directly to providers, including county public health systems, pharmacies, health systems, public hospitals, community health centers, pharmacies and pop-up sites. California will also launch a new online portal, called My Turn, where residents can make vaccine appointments and check their eligibility status. He emphasized that unlike other states, New Jersey was sticking with an "appointment-based system" for vaccine distribution instead of a first come, first served model. Murphy, a first-term Democrat, expressed confidence that the Biden administration would help speed the vaccine rollout nationwide.

SEE NEW POSTSNorth Carolina running out of vaccine doses North Carolina has doled out 95 percent of its allotted coronavirus vaccines, with demand now on the verge of eclipsing scheduled supply, officials said Tuesday. We are continuing enforcement of the Los Angeles County health orders to address underground party events. Share this -N.J. governor says state is 'desperately short' on vaccine doses Gov. He added that there are roughly 270 locations around the state ready to administer vaccine doses. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has repeatedly said the city's supply of vaccine doses is running very low, too.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden believes the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline is a “bad deal for Europe” and his administration will be reviewing restrictions on the project included in a bill that passed during the Trump administration, the White House said on Tuesday. The restrictions on the undersea pipeline project were included in the annual defense policy bill that passed on Jan. 1. Russia has cut deliveries of the fuel to Ukraine and parts of Europe in winter during pricing disputes. “We continue to believe, the president continues to believe, that Nord Stream 2 is a bad deal for Europe,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told the daily briefing, adding the administration “will be reviewing” the restrictions included in the defense policy legislation. The $11 billion pipeline, which is 90% complete, would double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream duct to deliver gas from Russia to Europe via Germany under the Baltic Sea.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday temporarily blocked a move by new U.S. President Joe Biden to halt the deportation of many immigrants for a 100-day period, a swift legal setback for his ambitious immigration agenda. The Biden administration is expected to appeal the ruling, which halts the deportation freeze while both parties submit briefs on the matter. In a complaint filed on Friday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the state would face irreparable harm if the deportation freeze was allowed to go into effect. Paxton, a Republican, said it would increase education and healthcare costs as more immigrants remained in Texas illegally. Paxton also said it went against the terms of an enforcement agreement Texas brokered with the Trump administration less than two weeks before Biden took office.

ASYLUM AND REGIONAL MIGRATIONBiden plans to rescind some Trump policies that made it harder to obtain asylum in the United States, according to the memo. REUNITING FAMILIES SEPARATED BY TRUMPBiden will create a task force to reunite migrant families who were separated by Trump’s immigration policies. Biden pledged during his presidential campaign to create a task force to reunite children and parents separated at the U.S.-Mexico border. REVIEW OF THE LEGAL IMMIGRATION SYSTEMBiden is expected to issue an executive order that would remove barriers to legal immigration and citizenship. The new actions expected on Friday come after Biden issued six immigration-themed executive orders on Jan. 20.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday as coronavirus deaths globally continued to rise and weighed on the demand outlook, but losses were capped by reports of a blast in Saudi Arabia. Prices edged up briefly after reports of a blast in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, although the cause was unclear. Oil prices were also supported by geopolitical tensions after two supertankers, with crew members from Iran and China, were seized on Sunday in Indonesian waters near Kalimantan island for suspected illegal oil transfers. Elsewhere, Indian crude oil imports in December rose to their highest in more than two years. Raising the prospect of higher oil demand later in the year, the International Monetary Fund predicted global growth of 5.5% in 2021, an increase of 0.3 percentage points from the October forecast, citing expectations of a vaccine-powered uptick.

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This week Chris sits down with professor and historian David Bligt to talk about his Pulitzer winning book "Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom." And Frederick Douglass is in a somewhat similar category in so far as like, yes, we know Fredrick Douglass. Well, and it's also, I mean, after my encomium Frederick Douglass, he was, of course, not unflawed either. But first, I guess, for people that have not read the biography, which is probably the large majority of the listeners right now, just tell me a little bit about how does Frederick Douglass become Frederick Douglass? The book we were just discussing "Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom."

I mean, Texas is a microcosm for the bigger trends in the country. ABBY LIVINGSTON: That's right. Those are ranches that's ... that's not metro area stuff. I think that's the debate that's happening right now. ABBY LIVINGSTON: That's my Austin.

Senator Elizabeth Warren discusses her hopes for the new Biden administration, highlights among new staff members she is enthusiastic about, and expectations that Democrats will hold together to advance an agenda.

Rachel Maddow expresses her alarm at the realization that former presidents are usually only gathered to call for American unity in especially dire situations, making that portion of the Biden inaugural prime time special as concerning as it is reassuring.

A portrait of Benjamin Franklin and busts of Cesar Chavez, Rosa Parks, and Eleanor Roosevelt are just some of the changes President Joe Biden has brought to the Oval Office. NBC News’ Geoff Bennett explains what these personal touches signify.

While giving his inaugural address, Pres. Joe Biden called for a divided America to unite. Will the new president's call for unity resonate with the nation? We talk to Baratunde Thurston and Bill Kristol.

QAnon believers looked to Inauguration Day for Trump to stop Biden from taking office and Democrats - who they believe to be pedophiles and cannibals - to be arrested. Ben Collins and Jen Golbeck discuss how Q loyalists reacted after none of that happened.

The House has delivered the Trump impeachment article to the Senate, and the stage is now set for the fmr. president's second impeachment trial. Meanwhile, Biden is pushing to get his agenda in motion before the trial begins.

Since taking office, President Biden has already issued a series of executive orders addressing Covid-19, student debt, climate change and immigration. Oscar winning filmmaker Michael Moore joins MSNBC's Ari Melber to discuss Biden's aggressive agenda for his first 100 days in office, Moore asserting Biden needs to address the crippling debt Americans are facing in light of the pandemic and should implement universal healthcare. Moore also hits out at Republicans, arguing Biden needs to ensure they "answer for what they did" to enable Donald Trump and subvert democracy.

A look back at President-Elect Joe Biden’s life-long career in politics, that spans more than five decades. It all began in November of 1972, and this week, Biden will become the President of the United States.

Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, January 20 in a ceremony that will keep with tradition while being unlike any other inauguration in U.S. history. The Morning Joe panel discusses.

Climate change activist Greta Thunberg says that the climate goals from the Biden administration are "very far from being in line with the Paris Agreement" but welcomes the new tone from the president.

Dr. Anthony Fauci talks with Rachel Maddow about how the Trump administration blocked him from appearing on her should through most of the coronavirus crisis and how much more free top U.S. scientist are under the Biden administration to communicate with the public.

President Biden is making his first call to a foreign leader today since his inauguration, putting a focus on the United States’ relationship with other countries around the world. Eurasia Group founder and president Ian Bremmer join Stephanie Ruhle to discuss why his call might be a little tense.

The Senate confirmed Antony Blinken as President Joe Biden's secretary of state on Tuesday with overwhelming bipartisan support. Blinken must be confirmed so we can start addressing the challenges we face abroad," Sen. Bob Menenedez, D-N.J., said ahead of the vote. Blinken has served Biden in various roles for over two decades, including as a staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But not all U.S. foreign policy under Blinken will be a repudiation of the Trump administration. He has said the Trump administration was right in taking a tougher approach to China, and he has committed to keeping the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, where it was moved under Trump.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the first phone call between the two since Biden took office last week, the White House confirmed. "President Biden made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies," the White House said in a statement. In addition, Biden raised the issue of 2020 election interference and the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Biden has spoken to a number of America's allies since taking office, including the leaders of Canada, Germany and France. "Vladimir Putin congratulated Joseph Biden on the start of his work as President of the United States," the Kremlin described the call in a translation of a readout of the call.

A California man was arrested Tuesday after federal authorities said he sent threatening text messages to family members of a New York City congressman and journalist. "We are nearby armed and ready," the suspect allegedly said in one text described in the document. “Your brother is putting your entire family at risk with his lies and other words. In the text to the lawmaker's brother, authorities said Lemke wrote: “your words have consequences. Members of Lemke's family could not be reached for comment at several publicly listed phone numbers for them in Northern California on Tuesday afternoon.

SEE NEW POSTSMinnesota reports first known case of Brazil coronavirus variant in the U.S. Minnesota public health officials announced what appears to be the first known case of the coronavirus' Brazil P.1 variant in the nation. Paul who became ill after traveling to Brazil, the Minnesota Department of Health said. Google is contributing $150 million in advertising credits so that public health agencies and nonprofits can run announcements and information campaigns, Pichai said. The city has reported more than 628,000 cases and more than 12,000 deaths from the virus, according to data from Public Health England. Share this -California lifts regional coronavirus stay-at-home orders California lifted its stay-at-home orders for all regions statewide Monday, citing improving coronavirus conditions, health officials announced.

The 8-minute video tribute can be seen at 107 stations throughout the city starting Jan. 25 through Feb. 7 and can also be seen online. The strain was found among the 50 random samples analyzed every week as part of the state's variant surveillance program, according to the health department. Share this -California is ramping up its lagging vaccination effort, governor says California Gov. Google is contributing $150 million in advertising credits so that public health agencies and nonprofits can run announcements and information campaigns, Pichai said. She said the briefings will focus on bringing the public "key updates" on the virus and the federal government's response to the pandemic.

Senate Republicans have figured out a way to wiggle out of passing judgment on President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial: claiming that the Senate has no ability to try him after he leaves office Wednesday. Every impeachment trial is basically a blank canvas for the Senate to impress its stamp upon. Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution says the Senate "shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments." Unlike this time last year, Republicans will no longer hold the majority by the time the trial is likely to start. And finally, any challenge to the ability of the Senate to hold the trial should be deemed out of order.

But this time, the insurrection was televised — and hosted on social media websites around the world. In response to the Trump-supporting extremists storming the Capitol, platforms like Twitter and Facebook have finally taken the previously unprecedented leap to ban or block Trump’s account. We do not want extremism to proliferate freely on social media websites, radicalizing vulnerable people and potentially infecting all of society, with often violent results. Trump himself has not been a fan of social media platforms, despite being an incredibly prolific user, of Twitter in particular. Trump himself has not been a fan of social media platforms, despite being an incredibly prolific user, of Twitter in particular.

Democrats have said for years that as a party they stand with workers, not big business — and now is their chance to prove it. Once praised for its flexibility, the field has been a nightmare for anyone who wants anything resembling job security or benefits. Thankfully, workers managed to get in a win last week — one that Democrats should pay close attention to. I want Biden's pick to be general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board to go after Instacart for its retaliation and union busting. And on Capitol Hill, let's see the Democrats take their new majority out for a spin and transform some of these suggestions into law.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., may be the youngest member of Congress, but he's already racking up a number of scandals that could rival those of his veteran peers. We could sit here all day and analyze Cawthorn's deceitful actions toward the public he took an oath to serve. "None of this would be possible if the public weren't complicit in perpetuating ableism," disability rights activist and writer Imani Barbarin told me. From the conversations I've had with disability rights activists, it seems the grift Cawthorn was running wasn't fooling many members of the disabled community. And how else could Cawthorn exist in the GOP reality, with an openly ableist man like Trump in charge of the Republican Party?

Experts are urging Biden administration officials to better understand the source behind Covid-19 vaccine skepticism across different Latino communities to improve vaccine rollout strategies nationwide. At least 28 percent of all Latinos surveyed by the Latino advocacy nonprofit UnidosUS in October reported that they were unlikely to get vaccinated for Covid-19. Over a third of all Latinas surveyed by UnidosUS stated they will likely not get vaccinated, compared to 22 percent of Latino men. The researchers are calling for officials to commission an in-depth study that identifies the most effective messaging strategies for different Latino subgroups. They also urge an aggressive use of fact-based information to counter the overwhelming amount of bilingual vaccine disinformation Latinos have been exposed to over the past months.

There's a lot more work that needs to be done.”The memorandum issues guidance for the DOJ on how to better collect data and assist with the reporting of anti-Asian hate incidents. Many officials warned that the term and others like it would perpetuate the racist association between the disease and Asian Americans, prompting more hate attacks. Research published in the journal Health Education & Behavior suggests that such racist rhetoric has already had a profound impact on how those in the United States see Asian Americans. The language led to an increased subconscious belief that Asian Americans are “perpetual foreigners,” researchers said. More than 40 percent of the incidents were identified as anti-Asian incidents.

President Biden announced executive orders he would be signing that focused on his administration's plans for racial equity. This includes a move to eventually end the Justice Department's use of private prisons.

President Joe Biden made history Jan. 19 when he announced the nomination of Dr. Rachel Levine to be his assistant health secretary — if approved, she would become the first openly transgender federal official confirmed by the U.S. Senate. However, some prominent figures on the right responded to the news by launching transphobic attacks against herMost notably, a Republican lawmaker from Pennsylvania, state Rep. Jeff Pyle, authored a Facebook post mocking Levine’s appearance. The post drew a swift backlash, with some people responding to his post with calls for him to resign. They don’t care about Dr. Levine’s record on managing the crisis, which, according to most indicators, seems to be exemplary,” Suen added. Branstetter also shared that Levine was a source of inspiration for her during a pivotal time in her own life, when Branstetter covered Levine while working as a health care reporter in Pennsylvania.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., left, speaks during a news conference next to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Schumer told Senate Democrats to be ready as soon as next week to consider a budget resolution that would lay the groundwork for swift passage of the sweeping virus aid and economic recovery act. As proposed, Biden’s package would provide $1,400 in direct payments to Americans and billions of dollars for vaccine distribution and other elements to shore up the economy. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters earlier Tuesday that Biden is still looking to negotiate on an aid package, while putting a priority on acting as swiftly as possible before aid lapses in March. Senators from both parties who joined the White House call over the weekend agreed the priority needs to be standing up the country’s faltering vaccine distribution system.

'Take The Politics Out Of The Census,' Biden's Commerce Pick Raimondo SaysEnlarge this image toggle caption Jonathan Ernst/Bloomberg via Getty Images Jonathan Ernst/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPresident Biden's nominee for overseeing the Census Bureau, Rhode Island Gov. "I believe that we need to take the politics out of the census, and we need to rely on the experts," Raimondo, a Democrat, told lawmakers Tuesday. "The experts and statisticians in the Census Bureau are top-notch, so I, once confirmed, intend to rely on them." Raimondo's comments during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee were the governor's first public remarks about the national head count since becoming Biden's pick for secretary of the Commerce Department, which oversees the bureau. ), the outgoing chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said before ending Tuesday's hearing.

Plug Power (PLUG) raised 2021 guidance and a key 2024 target as fuel cell stocks continue to rally amid hopes for more green energy policies. Plug Power stock and other fuel cell stocks rose. IBD Live: A New Tool For Daily Stock Market AnalysisPlug Power StockShares jumped 14% to 74.87 on the stock market today. Plug Power stock is at highs not seen since 2005, according to MarketSmith analysis. YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:FuelCell Energy, Plug Power Stock May Be Out Of Juice: AnalystLooking For The Next Big Stock Market Winners?

Opinion: Why I'm An Invisible Man In The Global Vaccine CampaignEnlarge this image Kaz Fantone for NPR Kaz Fantone for NPRI began my global health career as a surveillance officer with Nigeria's National Programme on Immunization. I was elated when the first COVID-19 vaccine was shown to be effective late last year. However, my joy was cut short when richer Western nations began buying up the vaccine doses. I am angry at African leaders who have let this happen again — always depending on richer Western nations to fund vaccinations on the continent. There are about 59 million health workers globally, according to the WHO global health workforce report.

New York City’s top pension funds will cut out $4 billion in fossil-fuel investments, following through on an earlier pledge, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Comptroller Scott Stringer said. In 2018, New York City became the first major city in the nation to commit to divesting major public pension funds from fossil-fuel reserve companies. The divestment is expected to be complete within the original five year timeline pledged by the city. “Fossil fuels are not only bad for our planet and our frontline communities, they are a bad investment,” de Blasio said. The New York City Board of Education Retirement System (BERS) is expected to move forward on a divestment vote imminently.

Oil futures ended on a mixed note on Tuesday, with U.S. benchmark prices down, but global benchmark Brent crude modestly higher, as traders weighed potential risks to supplies, as well as demand. Oil prices, however, are likely to “hold back if the Indonesian vessel seizure gets resolved quickly and if today’s blast in Saudi Arabia proves to be an isolated incident that does not escalate regional tensions, consequently not affecting oil output,” he said. Meanwhile, the front-month March Brent crude contract BRNH21, -0.13% , the global benchmark, added 3 cents, or nearly 0.1%, to $55.91 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. On average, analysts expect the EIA to report a decline of 1.7 million barrels in domestic crude supplies for the week ended Jan. 22, according to a survey conducted by S&P Global Platts. They also forecast a weekly climb of 1.2 million barrels in gasoline stockpiles and a decline of 800,000 barrels for distillate inventories.

“In keeping our options open, on our caucus call today, I informed senators to be prepared that a vote on a budget resolution could come as early as next week,” Schumer said Tuesday at a press conference. Read more: A guide to budget reconciliation, which Democrats could use to push Biden’s agenda“We want to work with our Republican colleagues to advance this legislation in a bipartisan way. But the work must move forward, preferably with our Republican colleagues, but without them, if we must,” Schumer said. Incoming Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, said his staff is already busy writing the instructions to committees that would be included in a budget resolution. We’re going forward, soon and aggressively,” Sanders told reporters at the U.S. Capitol.

HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Joe Biden. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton issued a temporary restraining order sought by Texas, which sued on Friday against a Department of Homeland Security memo that instructed immigration agencies to pause most deportations. That was a reversal from Trump administration policy that made anyone in the U.S. illegally a priority for deportation. The 100-day moratorium went into effect Friday and applied to almost anyone who entered the U.S. without authorization before November. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued that the moratorium violated federal law as well as an agreement Texas signed with the Department of Homeland Security late in the Trump administration.

Andrew Jackson — the country’s controversial seventh president who was wary of banks — has been on the $20 bill since 1928. It’s also a nice note to grace, considering how heavily the $20 bill is used. The Fed ordered 1.24 billion $20 notes, second behind its order for 1.57 billion $1 bills in fiscal year 2020 . The Fed ordered 1.24 billion $20 notes, second behind its order for 1.57 billion $1 bills in Fiscal Year 2020 . Andrew Jackson — the country’s controversial seventh president who was wary of banks — has been on the $20 bill since 1928.

Evan Vucci/APEvery incoming president gets to redecorate the Oval Office, and Biden has added his own touches. Every incoming president gets to redecorate the Oval Office to their taste, but few have packed in as many personal touches and as much symbolism as President Joe Biden. Keep scrolling for the hidden meanings behind some of President Biden's décor choices. The dark blue rug was last seen in the Oval Office during the Clinton administration. President Biden sits in front of an American flag and a presidential seal flag.

Texas AG Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit to halt the Biden administration’s “unlawful” freeze on deportationsA federal judge has temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s move to freeze deportations of illegal immigrants for the next 100-days. The 14-day restraining order issued by Texas judge Drew Tipton follows a legal challenge by the state’s attorney general Ken Paxton. In his complaint, Mr Paxton said the directive violates the Administrative Procedure Act, which required that the department seek input from Texas. Read more: Follow live updates on the Biden administrationThe Biden administration argued in court filings that the agreement is unenforceable because “an outgoing administration cannot contract away that power for an incoming administration”, according to The Associated Press. In announcing the deportation freeze, DHS’s acting secretary, David Pekoske, said the pause on certain removals would allow them to focus resources on where they are most needed.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian-American has been sentenced by Iran to 10 years in prison on spying charges, despite his family alleging he never had a trial or an opportunity to defend himself. A family spokesman Tuesday confirmed the sentencing of Emad Shargi, the latest dual national to be held in Iran amid tensions with the West. It wasn’t immediately clear which court sentenced Shargi. However, cases involving dual nationals have found themselves tied to money frozen overseas wanted by Iran. Other Americans held by Iran include Baquer and Siamak Namazi and conservationist Morad Tahbaz, who also holds British citizenship.

WASHINGTON — In a briefing with reporters on Tuesday afternoon White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed President Joe Biden was set to talk to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Russian intelligence has also been tied to efforts to interfere in recent American elections. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin. While the Trump administration went along with Congressional sanctions on Russia, Trump was criticized for not doing more to publicly criticize Putin. At an unrelated White House event shortly after Psaki’s briefing, Biden was asked about his call with Putin by Peter Doocy, a correspondent with the Fox News Channel.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia and the United States traded documents Tuesday to extend their last remaining nuclear arms control treaty days before it is due to expire, the Kremlin said. “In the nearest days, the parties will complete the necessary procedures that will ensure further functioning of this important international legal nuclear arms control tool," the Kremlin said. Top members of the Kremlin-controlled parliament said they would fast-track the issue and complete the necessary steps to extend the treaty this week. After both Moscow and Washington withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, New START is the only remaining nuclear arms control deal between the two countries. The Trump administration then proposed to extend New START for just one year and also sought to expand it to include limits on battlefield nuclear weapons.

HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Joe Biden. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton issued a temporary restraining order sought by Texas, which sued on Friday against a Department of Homeland Security memo that instructed immigration agencies to pause most deportations. The order represents a victory for Texas' Republican leaders, who often sued to stop programs enacted by Biden's Democratic predecessor, President Barack Obama. That was a reversal from Trump administration policy that made anyone in the U.S. illegally a priority for deportation. The 100-day moratorium went into effect Friday and applied to almost anyone who entered the U.S. without authorization before November.

By Ted HessonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday temporarily blocked a move by new U.S. President Joe Biden to halt the deportation of many immigrants for a 100-day period, a swift legal setback for his ambitious immigration agenda. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, an appointee of former President Donald Trump in the Southern District of Texas, issued a temporary restraining order that blocks the policy nationwide for 14 days following a legal challenge by Texas. The Biden administration is expected to appeal the ruling, which halts the deportation freeze while both parties submit briefs on the matter. In a complaint filed on Friday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the state would face irreparable harm if the deportation freeze was allowed to go into effect. Paxton, a Republican, said it would increase education and healthcare costs as more immigrants remained in Texas illegally.

By Jeffrey HellerJERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's top general said on Tuesday that its military was refreshing its operational plans against Iran and that any U.S. return to a 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran would be "wrong." The remarks are an apparent signal to U.S. President Joe Biden to tread cautiously in any diplomatic engagement with Iran. Such comments by Israel's military chief of staff on U.S. policymaking are rare and likely would have been pre-approved by the Israeli government. "In light of this fundamental analysis, I have instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare a number of operational plans, in addition to those already in place," Kohavi said. Story continuesNetanyahu had threatened possible Israeli strikes against Iran in the run-up to the accord.

President Joe Biden is talking about unity, but in his first days in office, he’s pursued a divided economic agenda that will undercut the recovery he’s promised to deliver. The biggest threat to President Biden’s pursuit of economic recovery isn’t coming from outside his party, but from within it. But those ideological divisions are now showing up in economic policy that is at odds with itself. GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HEREPresident Biden is right that a strong economic recovery is part of the recipe to promote unity in our country. Self-defeating economic policy that gives with one hand and takes with the other won’t speed up recovery or strengthen America’s manufacturers.

A federal judge on Tuesday barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Biden. It also showed that just as Democratic-led states and immigration groups fought former President Trump over immigration in court, often successfully, so too will Republicans with Biden in office. That was a reversal from Trump administration policy that made anyone in the U.S. illegally a priority for deportation. The 100-day moratorium went into effect Friday and applied to almost anyone who entered the U.S. without authorization before November. Gen. Ken Paxton argued that the moratorium violated federal law as well as an agreement Texas signed with the Department of Homeland Security late in the Trump administration.

Biden has looked to establish a sharp break from the warm rhetoric often displayed toward Putin by his predecessor, former President Trump. AdvertisementAnd on Tuesday before his call with Putin, Biden spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, pledging the United States’ commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Biden told Putin that his administration was assessing the SolarWinds cyberbreach and the reports that Russia offered the Taliban bounties to kill American troops in Afghanistan. Biden said the United States is willing to defend itself and will take action, which could include further sanctions, to ensure that Moscow does not act with impunity, according to the administration officials. Biden on Monday told reporters he hoped the U.S. and Russia could cooperate in areas where both see benefit.

Global coronavirus cases topped 25 million at the end of August, more than eight months after the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China. Experts say that 100 million most likely underestimates the true number of cases, given the lack of adequate testing and contact tracing in many countries, including the United States. Likewise, the number of deaths — more than 2 million people worldwide, including more than 420,000 in the United States — is probably much higher than officially reported. The world surpassed a total of 100 million known coronavirus cases on Tuesday, according to a New York Times database, a staggering milestone for a global health crisis that is entering a phase of both hope and deep concern. But the U.S. decrease in cases has contributed to a recent decline in the number of daily new cases reported worldwide.

By Nomaan Merchant | Associated PressHOUSTON — A federal judge on Tuesday barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Joe Biden. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton issued a temporary restraining order sought by Texas, which sued on Friday against a Department of Homeland Security memo that instructed immigration agencies to pause most deportations. That was a reversal from Trump administration policy that made anyone in the U.S. illegally a priority for deportation. The 100-day moratorium went into effect Friday and applied to almost anyone who entered the U.S. without authorization before November. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued that the moratorium violated federal law as well as an agreement Texas signed with the Department of Homeland Security late in the Trump administration.

By LARRY NEUMEISTER | The Associated PressNEW YORK — A California man disgruntled about the presidential election result was arrested Tuesday on charges alleging he threatened family members of a New York congressman and a journalist in text messages sent during the attack on the Capitol, authorities said. Robert Lemke, 35, was arrested in Bay Point, California, on charges filed in Manhattan federal court. He was scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Northern California on Wednesday. The identities of the member of Congress and the journalist were not revealed in court papers. “Rather than peaceably disagree, Lemke allegedly threatened to harm those individuals’ families, demanding they retract their statements,” she said.

Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kellyin the new 50-50 Senate. Kelly joined the Senate in December and helped torpedo former President Donald Trump’s controversial nomination of Judy Shelton to the Federal Reserve. And while the filibuster’s future remained unclear, Kelly during his 2020 Senate campaign declined to take a position on whether it should stay or go. Kyrsten Sinema seems to think things are working just fine in Washington D.C.” one ad from the group on Twitter said. Throughout his 2020 run for the Senate, Kelly ran largely as a centrist candidate who would make decisions independent of the Democratic Party.

I rather liked President Joe Biden’s scaled-back inauguration for many reasons, but particularly because it provided equal access for all Americans. Although much of the change was forced by the pandemic and, to a lesser degree, the Jan. 6 attempted insurrection, I hope this can be a lasting guide for many national events. When the president and first lady walked up the steps at the White House toward a closed door, they turned and listened to the music and hugged. The president went to work for a while and then their evening activities, capped off with a fantastic fireworks show. There were a few mostly virtual events before inauguration day and everything concluded Thursday morning with a prayer service.

Biden signals support for CTU’s COVID-19 safety concerns as top union chief briefs White House "The teachers, I know they want to work," Biden said when asked about the Chicago Teachers Union by a reporter on Monday. "They just want to work in a safe environment."

HOUSTON — A federal judge on Tuesday barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Joe Biden. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton issued a temporary restraining order sought by Texas, which sued on Friday against a Department of Homeland Security memo that instructed immigration agencies to pause most deportations. That was a reversal from Trump administration policy that made anyone in the U.S. illegally a priority for deportation. The 100-day moratorium went into effect Friday and applied to almost anyone who entered the U.S. without authorization before November. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued that the moratorium violated federal law as well as an agreement Texas signed with the Department of Homeland Security late in the Trump administration.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden had his first call with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the White House and Kremlin said. Biden has looked to establish a break from the warm rhetoric often displayed toward Putin by his predecessor, Donald Trump. On Tuesday before his call with Putin, Biden spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, pledging the United States’ commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Biden told Putin that his administration was assessing the SolarWinds breach and the reports that Russia offered the Taliban bounties to kill American troops in Afghanistan,. Biden on Monday told reporters he hoped the U.S. and Russia could cooperate in areas where both see benefit.

White House domestic policy adviser Susan Rice said Biden sees addressing equity issues as also good for the nation’s bottom line. She cited a Citigroup study from last year that U.S. gross domestic product lost $16 trillion over the last 20 years as a result of discriminatory practices in a range of areas, including in education and access to business loans. The same study finds the U.S. economy would be boosted by $5 trillion over the next five years if it addressed issues of discrimination in areas such as education and access to business loans.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered the Department of Justice to end its reliance on private prisons and acknowledge the central role government has played in implementing discriminatory housing policies. In remarks before signing the order, Biden said the U.S. government needs to change “its whole approach” on the issue of racial equity. He added that the nation is less prosperous and secure because of the scourge of systemic racism. Biden rose to the presidency during a year of intense reckoning on institutional racism in the U.S. The moves announced on Tuesday reflect his efforts to follow through with campaign pledges to combat racial injustice.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union called Tuesday on U.S. President Joe Biden to help draw up a common rule book to rein in the power of big tech companies like Facebook and Twitter and combat the spread of fake news that is eating away at Western democracies. In a speech to the Davos World Economic Forum, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged the Biden administration to join forces against “the darker sides of the digital world,” which she said was partly behind the “shock” storming of Capitol Hill on Jan. 6. “The business model of online platforms has an impact and not only on free and fair competition, but also on our democracies, our security and on the quality of our information,” von der Leyen said. “That is why we need to contain this immense power of the big digital companies.”She urged the White House to join the 27-nation bloc’s efforts, saying that “together, we could create a digital economy rule book that is valid worldwide,” and would encompass data protection, privacy rules and the security of critical infrastructure.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia and the United States traded documents Tuesday to extend their last remaining nuclear arms control treaty days before it is due to expire, the Kremlin said. A Kremlin readout of a phone call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin said the two leaders voiced satisfaction with the exchange of diplomatic notes about extending the New START treaty. “In the nearest days, the parties will complete the necessary procedures that will ensure further functioning of this important international legal nuclear arms control tool," the Kremlin said. The pact's extension doesn't require congressional approval in the U.S., but Russian lawmakers must ratify the move. Top members of the Kremlin-controlled parliament said they would fast-track the issue and complete the necessary steps to extend the treaty this week.

"GM, Ford and Chrysler face an existential threat," McElroy, the analyst, said. 'Greater questions'By focusing nearly exclusively on electric, GM seems to be positioned well long term, said analyst Dan Levy at Credit Suisse. The executive zigzagged among dozens of Fords – Model A, Model B, Model C, Model F, Model K, Model N and Model R, Model S and Model T. He zeroed in on the fancy Model K, built before the Model T and selling for $2,800 at the time. Totally changed Ford," Farley said. "The electric car, I would just say, is a better car, in a way.

Senators were sworn in on Tuesday as jurors for former President Trump Donald TrumpSchumer: Impeachment trial will be quick, doesn't need a lot of witnesses Nurse to be tapped by Biden as acting surgeon general: report Schumer calls for Biden to declare climate emergency MORE's impeachment trial, which is expected to start in roughly two weeks. Sen. Patrick Leahy Patrick Joseph LeahyBiden says Trump's impeachment trial 'has to happen' House formally sends impeachment to Senate, putting Trump on trial for Capitol riot Most in new poll support Trump impeachment, want Senate conviction MORE (D-Vt.), who will preside over the Senate during the trial, swore in senators. WATCH: Sen. Patrick Leahy is sworn in as the presiding officer in Trump's second impeachment trial https://t.co/DPPUdXQxTg pic.twitter.com/OxD9EOlZd2 — Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) January 26, 2021ADVERTISEMENTUnderscoring the seriousness of the trial, senators stood at the desk to be sworn in. In addition to senators being sworn in, under the agreement a summons will also be issued on Tuesday to Trump. Trump's response to the article and House's pretrial brief will be due by Feb. 2, and Trump's pretrial brief will be due six days later.

A federal judge on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Joe Biden. A federal judge on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Joe Biden. Tipton said the Biden administration had failed “to provide any concrete, reasonable justification for a 100-day pause on deportations.” (AP Photo/Emilio Espejel, File)HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Joe Biden. That was a reversal from Trump administration policy that made anyone in the U.S. illegally a priority for deportation. The 100-day moratorium went into effect Friday and applied to almost anyone who entered the U.S. without authorization before November.

Joe Biden is set to ban new oil and gas drilling on land owned by the US government as he unveils wide-ranging climate change plans. The latest move was welcomed by environmentalists, but attacked by oil and gas industry groups. Kieran Suckling, executive director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said: "The fossil fuel industry has inflicted tremendous damage on the planet. "The administration's review, if done correctly, will show that filthy fracking and drilling must end for good, everywhere." "Oil and natural gas prices are going up and so will home heating bills, consumer prices and fuel costs."

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s move to freeze deportations of illegal immigrants for the next 100-days. The 14-day restraining order issued by Texas judge Drew Tipton follows a legal challenge by the state’s attorney general Ken Paxton. Read more: Follow live updates on the Biden administrationThe Biden administration argued in court filings that the agreement is unenforceable because “an outgoing administration cannot contract away that power for an incoming administration”, according to The Associated Press. The administration also suspended the policy of having non-Mexican asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for court hearings in the US. In announcing the deportation freeze, DHS’s acting secretary, David Pekoske, said the pause on certain removals would allow them to focus resources on where they are most needed.

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney reportedly wants to keep some of the damage done during the US Capitol insurrection on 6 January. While many Republican lawmakers spoke out against the violence at the Capitol, Mr Romney was one of the few who directly blamed Donald Trump for inciting the attack. What happened here today was an insurrection, incited by the President of the United States," Mr Romney said in a statement. Mr Romney is the only Republican Senator who voted to convict Mr Trump during his first impeachment trial. Mr Romney disagreed, arguing instead that unity would only be possible through justice.

U.S. President Joe Biden had his first call with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, raising concerns about the arrest of opposition figure Alexei Navalny while pressing the Russian president on his nation’s involvement in a massive cyberespionage campaign and bounties on American troops in Afghanistan, two senior administration officials said. Biden has looked to establish a sharp break from the warm rhetoric often displayed toward Putin by his predecessor, Donald Trump. Biden agreed but wanted first to prepare with his staff and speak with European allies, including the leaders of Britain, France, and Germany. And on Tuesday before his call with Putin, Biden spoke to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, pledging the United States’ commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. The call came as Putin considers the aftermath of pro-Navalny protests that took place in more than 100 Russian cities over the weekend.

Ayanna Pressley and Cori Bush — both members of the so-called ‘squad’ of progressive Democratic representatives — have called on new president Joe Biden to save the lives of Roof and 48 others currently on federal death row. Of the 49 prisoners on death row, 21 are listed as white, 20 black, seven Latino and one Asian by the anti-execution Death Penalty Information Center. Besides Dylan Roof and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, these are the others currently on Federal death row. Agofsky is on death row for stomping fellow prisoner Luther Plant to death inside a federal penitentiary in Texas in 2004. Brandon Council, 35: Council shot bank tellers Donna Major, 59, and Katie Skeen, 36, dead during an armed bank robbery in Conway, South Carolina in August 2017.

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Antony Blinken as America's top diplomat, tasked with carrying out President Joe Biden's commitment to reverse the Trump administration's 'America First' doctrine that weakened international alliances. Senators voted 78-22 to approve Blinken, a longtime Biden confidant, as the nation's 71st secretary of state, succeeding Mike Pompeo. Blinken, 58, served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration. He is expected to start work on Wednesday after being sworn in, according to State Department officials. (AP Graphic)Blinken inherits a deeply demoralized and depleted career workforce at the State Department.

A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday temporarily blocked a move by President Joe Biden to halt the deportation of certain immigrants for a 100-day period, a swift legal setback for his ambitious immigration agenda. The Biden administration is expected to appeal the ruling, which halts the policy while both parties submit briefs on the matter. The 100-day moratorium went into effect Friday and applied to almost anyone who entered the U.S. without authorization before November. Paxton also said it went against the terms of an enforcement agreement Texas brokered with the Trump administration less than two weeks before Biden took office. Paxton also said it went against the terms of an enforcement agreement Texas brokered with the Trump administration less than two weeks before Biden took office.

Unfortunately, the Trump administration denounced the American mythos and ethos by cancelling out the American Dream. In that sense, we should extend our heartfelt congratulations to the launching of the Biden administration. We only hope that the USS Biden can sail skillfully between Scylla and Charybdis and successfully reach its destination. The compelling, urgent tasks that the Biden administration has to deal with are ubiquitous. Watching the launch of the Biden administration, we have new hope for America and the world, as well.

At least during the sacking of Washington in the war of 1812, the White House burned alongside the Capitol. But on Jan. 6, 2021 the head of the executive branch urged his followers to interfere with the operation of the legislative branch. The entire sequence of events is a reminder that congressional power has been receding relative to the executive branch for almost a century. It’s that President Joe Biden is the first career legislator to occupy the White House in nearly 50 years. Yet despite these strong reasons for both parties to favor congressional action, Congress has been steadily losing its mojo for generations.

And political quarrels have emerged, particularly between China and the United States, with the Trump administration assigning blame on China for the pandemic. Tightly controlledWhile WHO scientists say they hope that Chinese scientists will be forthcoming, Beijing is known to have controlled information about the coronavirus. Kevin Frayer / Getty ImagesThe problem, Huang of New Jersey’s Seton Hall University said, are the possibly contradictory motivations driving the Chinese scientists and politicians. Experts from China and the World Health Organization joint team visit the Wuhan Tongji Hospital in Wuhan in February 2020. “The last thing China wants is to publicly quarrel with the WHO, because that would look bad diplomatically and politically.”

The Senate voted 55-45 to set aside Paul's motion, with all but five GOP senators siding with Paul. The vote is the clearest sign yet that Trump is heading toward a second acquittal and offers an early insight into which Republicans are lining up behind an argument that his second impeachment trial isn't constitutional. ADVERTISEMENTTrump will be the first president to undergo a trial after leaving office, but the Senate previously held an impeachment trial for a Cabinet official after they left office. Trump will be the first president to undergo a trial after leaving office, but the Senate previously held an impeachment trial for a Cabinet official after they left office. Though some GOP senators have said they are waiting to hear presentations during the trial, a growing number appear to be latching onto the argument that the trial, which will start next month, is not constitutional.

REUTERS/Amir CohenThe remarks are an apparent signal to U.S. President Joe Biden to tread cautiously in any diplomatic engagement with Iran. Such comments by Israel’s military chief of staff on U.S. policymaking are rare and likely would have been pre-approved by the Israeli government. Since Washington pulled out of the deal, Iran has gradually breached its key limits, building up its stockpile of low enriched uranium, enriching uranium to higher levels of purity, and installing centrifuges in ways barred by the accord. Kohavi said those actions by Iran, which denies it is seeking atomic arms, showed it could ultimately decide to push forward rapidly towards building a nuclear weapon. “In light of this fundamental analysis, I have instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare a number of operational plans, in addition to those already in place,” Kohavi said.

(CNN) The world has now surpassed 100 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus . On January 15, the official global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic surpassed 2 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. Only confirmed Covid-19 deaths are included in the tally, which means that people who die without a firm diagnosis may not be included. The world passed the threshold of 1 million confirmed cases on April 2, and 10 million on June 28, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. It took until November 7 for the world to register 50 million confirmed cases.

White House adviser Kellyanne Conway speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, U.S., August 6, 2020. "I have no comment," Kellyanne Conway told CNBC when asked about the police visit and how a photo of her daughter was posted as a Twitter Fleet. Kellyanne Conway, who had helped run former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, served as a senior White House advisor until last August, when she resigned. A Twitter spokesperson told CNBC, "Through technology and human review, we'll proactively remove any images that violate the Twitter Rules." Claudia Conway, in a TikTok on Monday addressing the photo of her, warned Kellyanne Conway by name that she, Kellyanne, could go to jail.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris watches as President Joe Biden signs executive orders on his racial equity agenda at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 26, 2021. “President Biden is committed to reducing mass incarceration while making our communities safer - that starts with ending the federal government’s reliance on private prisons,” Susan Rice, Biden’s domestic policy adviser, told reporters at the White House. Shares of two leading publicly traded companies that operate private prisons fell after the White House announcement, with GEO Group Inc down 3.5% in afternoon trading and Corecivic Inc off 3.7%. Democratic former President Barack Obama’s administration tried to reduce reliance on private prisons as part of a broad effort to cut the overall prison population. It was not immediately clear when the White House would do so.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday for the first time since taking office and raised concerns about Russian activities including the treatment of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the White House said. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about administration plans to strengthen American manufacturing during a brief appearance in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 25, 2021. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki announced the phone call between the two leaders at her daily briefing. “President Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to collective defense under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty and underscored his commitment to strengthening transatlantic security,” a White House statement said. The arms control treaty limits the United States and Russia to deploying no more than 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads each.

President Joe Biden signs executive orders in the State Dining Room of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)President Joe Biden signs executive orders in the State Dining Room of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, in Washington. In remarks before signing the order, Biden said the U.S. government needs to change “its whole approach” on the issue of racial equity. The move will effectively revert the Justice Department to the same posture it held at the end of the Obama administration. White House domestic policy adviser Susan Rice said Biden sees addressing equity issues as also good for the nation’s bottom line.

Global Covid-19 cases topped 100 million Tuesday as virus mutations continue to create new concerns, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. The milestone comes less than three months after the world hit 50 million cases, and just over a year after the first case was diagnosed in the U.S. The U.S. remains the leader in recorded cases of the coronavirus with more than 25 million infections. India ranks second with more than 10.5 million cases, and Brazil third with almost nine million, according to John Hopkins. The Biden administration has pledged to vaccinate 50 million people, with 2 doses of the vaccine, in its first 100 days.

× Expand STRF/STAR MAX/IPx 2020 First100-012621 Postal Service delivery times actually went down after the election. Postal Service Board of Governors, the 11 members who operate as kind of a board of directors for one of the nation’s largest employers. Most of the people in New Jersey got their card in January.”Pascrell has been a longtime supporter of the Postal Service. Give what you can... SUPPORT THE PROSPECTThis latest recommendation falls squarely within the law: the president can absolutely fire Postal Service board members for cause. The Senate can confirm new board members by a majority vote, and Democrats are united on the Postal Service.

× Expand Patrick Semansky/AP Photo President Biden signed an executive order yesterday expanding the government’s Buy American requirements. What with all the purported concern over the gutting of American manufacturing, you’d think someone would have kept an eye on just how much offshoring our own government has been engaged in. That’s a lot of shopping abroad for strategic necessities—and not just face masks but also many high-tech products on which the Pentagon relies. Yesterday, President Biden signed an executive order expanding the government’s own Buy American requirements. They’d still only amount to a down payment on rebuilding our much-diminished middle class, but even just the change in direction would be a big step forward.

After nearly a decade of activism, the Fight for $15 stands closer than ever to achieving its most visible goal: a $15 federal minimum wage. Separately, a group of congressional Democrats today are reintroducing the Raise the Wage Act, which would gradually move the federal minimum wage up to $15 over a period of five years. “We’ve never given up that dream, as much as Fight for $15 has been characterized as a minimum wage movement,” says Henry. When he joined the Fight for $15 in 2014, he was making $7.47 an hour at McDonald’s. If the Democrats do manage to raise the minimum wage, Terrence Wise — a grown man with a family, a job, and years of activism that have taken him all over America — would get a raise.

Others among the “Fight for Trump” crowd, buying into the “Wild Time” promised by the presidential twitter feed, were independent contractors, self-employed professionals, the pettiest of the petty bourgeoisie. This dangerous militia-like presence in the Trump crowd no doubt provided a good part of its discipline and preparedness. The result was that when the Trump crowd proceeded to the Capitol, it had something of a cakewalk. Race was undoubtedly an important component of this political disaffection, but a lot more was also swirling in the witch’s brew on which the Trump crowd was drunk and disorderly. Many white protesters have found themselves on the wrong, and occasionally lethal, side of law’s vengeance.

Because their election will put an end to the block in Washington on that $2,000 stimulus check. The good news is: there’s still time to reverse this trajectory, so now is not the time to give up hope and stop pushing. You’ll recall that back then, Barack Obama and Biden got themselves elected in the middle of an economic crisis after promising to pass a public health insurance option. A little more than a decade later, the public option fight should be a harrowing cautionary tale for Biden on both the policy and the politics. The $2,000 checks initiative does not have to go down the same way the public option went down.

Review of Red Metropolis: Socialism and the Government of London by Owen Hatherley (Repeater Books, 2020). It is this London that is the subject of Owen Hatherley’s new history of municipal socialism in the British capital, Red Metropolis. The Rise of Municipal London Most of the municipal formations that have ruled London have not been oriented toward transforming the social order but maintaining it. The origins of municipal London can be found in a secretive, unelected public organization. In 1889, the scandal-ridden MBW was replaced by the London County Council (LCC), which was the first elected municipal body to govern London.

Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated.”Yet it would be a mistake to think the fight to preserve and revive our flawed democracy concluded on Inauguration Day.

Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Md. —John Nichols MORE FROM John Nichols Forget About ‘100 Days.’ These Are the 10 Days That Will Define Biden’s Presidency. We were forced to don gas masks, and it was a scene of absolute terror and mayhem. She said, “The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”JN: Congress had to act.

In one area, however, senior Biden officials have not only praised Trump’s endeavors but promised to carry them further: mobilizing the nation for a new Cold War, this time with China. Signs Point to a Possible US Attack on Iran December 10, 2020 Trump Is Leaving Us With a New Cold War December 8, 2020 Author pageWhy this single-minded focus on girding the nation for a catastrophic war with China, or at the very least, a mutually debilitating Cold War? This is the real China threat in the minds of America’s top leaders, and they will do whatever it takes to prevent it from occurring. A harsh Cold War environment will also stymie any hope of diverting funds from the US defense budget to domestic revival in other areas, such as health, education, and the environment. China Policy Biden’s China Problem: Resisting a New Cold War in Asia Jeet HeerIt is essential, then, that thoughtful, peace-minded people in the United States—and China, wherever feasible—take steps to oppose the rush toward a new Cold War while proposing peaceful, mutually beneficial solutions to the divisive issues in US-China relations.

Postal Service board and appoint replacements who in turn can get rid of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, named, like the board, by former GOP Oval Office occupant Donald Trump. That led one big union, the Postal Workers, to demand Biden dump the USPS board so a new board can get rid of DeJoy. “Through the devastating arson of the Trump regime, the USPS Board of Governors sat silent,” Pascrell wrote Biden. And Biden can remove the entire USPS board “for cause,” Pascrell said. “After several years of unprecedented sabotage, the United States Postal Service is teetering on the brink of collapse.

Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci at a Trump coronavirus task force meeting. | APThe top two scientists upon whom Americans depended for a year for guidance on the coronavirus pandemic are now confirming the fears of many. They are telling the nation that Trump’s response to the crisis was far worse than has generally been believed. What’s worse, the Trump administration was fully aware of the danger when it took actions it knew would kill people. While Birx spent time last week trying to save her reputation, Fauci described for the press some pretty horrifying facts about Trump’s handling of the crisis.

If the $15 minimum wage bill backed by Biden passes the entire nation will be covered by the new wage. | Steven Senne/APWASHINGTON—Joined by a top “Fight for $15 and a union” campaigner, congressional Democrats formally introduced legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. He included the $15 minimum wage in his $1.9 trillion pandemic economic aid plan. So when the Democratic-run House OKd the $15 minimum wage in the last Congress, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., refused to even allow hearings. The tipped minimum wage would more than double in 2022, to $4.95, then rise to $12.95 hourly in 2025 and the regular, indexed, minimum after that.

Finding a way to get rid of this harmful rule will allow the EPA to fully carry out its mission of protecting public health and the environment. It revokes the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline because it is inconsistent with the economic and climate goals of the new administration. Improve efficiency, transparency, and inclusiveness in the interagency review process. Under an improved review process, the rule would have never moved through the process because it will in fact overburden, yet again, vulnerable communities. Though OIRA’s work is often behind the scenes and rarely fully acknowledged, the agency plays a critical role in either advancing or hindering the regulatory process.

Nearly one week after captivating the nation with a powerful poem recitation on Inauguration Day, Amanda Gorman appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to recap the history-making moment — including quite the entertaining exchange she overheard during Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's swearing-in ceremony. And stick it she certainly did — in the presence of notable politicians and big-name celebrities, no less. Amanda and her mother were seated next to Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez during the festivities, and Barack and Michelle Obama were casually within earshot, allowing Amanda to listen in on a funny conversation between the former first couple. "[Michelle] kind of kept yelling at Barack like, 'Stop hugging people. And then when I was done, she kind of pushed him out of the way and gave me the biggest, warmest Michelle Obama hug."

It's not just about our political figures looking great — which they certainly did on Inauguration Day — it's also about the message they send with the clothes they choose. Her decision to wear these ensembles, which showcased and uplifted emerging Black fashion designers, underscored the Biden-Harris administration's values of unity and inclusivity, and celebrates the importance of the American fashion industry. "Particularly on a day like Inauguration Day . "I don't think that she had a particular desire or interest in working to elevate the American fashion industry. We obsessed over her mix of high and low fashion, the various American designers she championed, and her overall understated elegance.

There’s strong debate over whether public housing is the solution to America’s housing problems. There is a simple truth public housing advocates are pointing out: There is simply not enough affordable housing available to service our current population. But the reality on the ground is hard to square with DFP’s finding that large majorities are in favor of public housing. Liberal intuitions would indicate that left-leaning folks would at least be in favor of affordable housing projects that have a demonstrated benefit for vulnerable populations. Opposition to affordable housing development and even market rate development, particularly in opportunity-rich areas, can be indiscriminate.

A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday temporarily blocked President Joe Biden’s attempt to pause deportations for 100 days, marking the new administration’s first major defeat on immigration policy. The agreement demands that DHS provide 180 days' notice and consult with Texas before implementing certain changes to immigration policy. The moratorium on deportations, one of Biden’s key campaign promises on immigration, went into effect on January 22. The Biden administration has also argued that it has vast discretion over immigration enforcement, and that the agreements aren’t binding. There is no federal law that gives DHS the ability to “contract away” its powers over immigration enforcement to state and local authorities, it said.

Before taking office, President Joe Biden promised that racial justice would be one of the four “compounding crises” he’d tackle in his first days on the job. “Historically, whenever this country made major gains around racial justice and equity, it was because social movements led the government. Significant movement around racial justice and equity has never come from the White House, but we are encouraged they’re paying attention. Biden’s equity order also emphasizes that the administration is looking for ways to expand its communication with community-based organizations and civil rights organizations. “He’s shining a spotlight on equity and racial justice early on, and that’s a good thing,” Mitchell told Vox.

The Biden administration is inheriting a number of lawsuits aimed at breaking up big tech monopolies in the United States. Some 59 percent of people surveyed in the online poll said they supported breaking up big tech monopolies, including 24 percent who said they strongly support it. An even higher percentage — nearly two-thirds — of Americans say the economic power of these tech companies is a problem facing the US economy. The leadership at the Justice Department might be more favorable to Big Tech. Whoever ends up leading these agencies will have to consider how the American people are united — for once — in their scrutiny of Big Tech.

Amid Joe Biden’s flurry of executive actions in the first few days of his presidency, one in particular stands out for animal welfare and meatpacking worker advocates. Biden withdrew a Trump administration request to raise the maximum speed at which chicken plants can operate from 140 birds per minute to 175 birds per minute. That’s how line speeds got to the already astonishing rate of 140 birds per minute — 2.33 birds per second — in the first place. Sometimes, for instance, chickens miss the “stun bath” meant to knock them out and feel their throats getting sliced open. Block has repeatedly argued that the agency needs to reorient itself toward defending the interests of workers, a goal that blocking the line speeds rule certainly helps achieve.

Also on Saturday, the Arizona Republican Party passed official resolutions censuring three prominent party members — Gov. The state GOP accuses Ducey — who is, again, the sitting Republican governor — of seizing “dictatorial powers” by imposing coronavirus lockdowns. Moreover, new political science research suggests that what’s happening to these state parties is very much representative of broader national trends. Now, you might expect that this is just a reflection of national parties, that the RNC and DNC began to polarize and the state parties just followed their lead. During the recent Arizona Republican Party meeting, CNN spoke with two local GOP activists named Barbara Wyllie and Corky Haynes.

President Joe Biden on Monday raised his Covid-19 vaccination goal to 1.5 million shots a day, up from 100 million in his first 100 days (or 1 million a day), following criticism that the previous goal wasn’t ambitious enough. Then, over the weekend, the US surpassed 1 million shots a day, before Biden’s policies and executive actions had any time to really sink in. That means 245 million Americans likely have to be vaccinated, with 19 million already getting at least their first doses. At a rate of 1 million shots a day, the US may not hit herd immunity until as late as next year. Knowing this, Biden’s team is working to balance expectation-setting with finding an ambitious goal for the vaccine campaign.

Dogs are back in the White House. After four years of a dog-less Trump administration, Major and Champ, President Joe Biden's pups, have officially moved into the White House residence after they made the trip to their new D.C. residence on Sunday. Very important breaking news: Champ and Major Biden have moved into the White House pic.twitter.com/LiBh8c1qZ9 — Alli Hedges Maser (@AllisonLHedges) January 25, 2021"We're also hearing Republicans have launched an investigation into the dogs," Berman added jokingly. ?: The First Dogs arrived at the White House Sunday, including Major, the first rescue dog ever to live in the White House. The Biden family wanted to get settled in the White House before moving Champ and Major from Delaware to Washington, per First Lady Jill Biden’s office.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Monday morning overturning the Trump-era ban on openly transgender Americans serving in the military. "President Biden believes that gender identity should not be a bar to military service, and that America’s strength is found in its diversity," the statement reads. It reversed a 2016 Obama administration mandate that lifted the previous ban on transgender service members. “This discriminatory ban cheapened the bravery and patriotism of transgender service members and transgender people seeking to serve. BREAKING: President Biden has ended the ban on transgender military service set in place under the Trump administration.

In 2019, the year before the coronavirus pandemic, rural hospital closures reached a record high, with 18 nationwide. Unlike larger, wealthier facilities, rural hospitals often have only a few weeks’ worth of cash on hand to operate with. The distribution of funding for health care providers is just one example of complications with the sweeping $2 trillion CARES Act. The report found that those hospitals with a larger share of revenue coming from private insurers received about $44,000 per bed, while poor, rural hospitals got about half that amount. Subsequently, HHS set aside billions more for rural health care providers and for hospitals with a higher percentage of COVID-19 patients.

His assessment today:The truth is that my support for President Trump has never wavered, and has only grown over the years. President Trump did something that very few politicians in my lifetime have done: He followed through on his campaign promises. Do I wish that President Trump would continue to serve as our President for the next four years? In fact, I believe with every ounce of my being that President Trump won the 2020 Election. They are supposed to be a platform for free speech and the exchange of ideas, but instead they block President Trump and ban conservative views.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. In his inaugural address, President Biden called for unity. He’ll find plenty of work to do in pursuit of that goal: America’s new president oversees a country brutally divided. “Although Trump will eventually exit political life, the seditionists will not,” Anne writes. In the forthcoming impeachment trial, “the Senate must make clear that attempted coups, no matter how clumsy or ineffective, are the type of crime that is answered with swift and permanent exile from American political life,” Adam Serwer writes.

The Space Force has always been more boring than its name implies, amounting to some organizational reshuffling of Air Force personnel and operations. On the day of the Capitol attack, some supporters in Washington, D.C., and around the country complemented their Trump regalia with Space Force flags. We’ll call it the Space Force,’” he said in March 2018, speaking to an audience of marines in California. “He only asks me about the Space Force every week,” then-Vice President Mike Pence joked as staff worked to formulate the plans. In public, Trump avoided the full truth of the final product—that the Space Force would operate within the Department of the Air Force rather than stand alone, that Congress stipulated that its workforce must be built from existing Air Force personnel.

This is also where we went this weekend, when the weight of the pandemic hit me again. But it was hard not to imagine them — and me — as extras in the movie, just going through the motions. But amid all this I’ve found myself suddenly struggling with impatience and the reality that, yeah, this isn’t ending soon. This year, as the new government confronts a lumbering and monumental vaccine rollout, it now feels as if the only calendar event we’re waiting for is the end of the pandemic itself. The pandemic is the next thing on the to-do list as a society,” said Adam Simon, a 40-year-old advertising worker in Brooklyn.

Sometimes presidents lie because the politics of their actions are inconvenient. On Thursday, Biden insisted that 100 million vaccinations in 100 days was an ambitious goal that the press had declared impossible. You can’t do 100 million in 100 days.” Well, we’re going to, God willing, not only do 100 million, we’re going to do more than that. The standard should be the plain truth, even though the Biden administration will, at times, inevitably fail to meet it. Biden will lie.

President Joe Biden is directing the Justice Department to not renew contracts with private prisons, as part of a slew of executive orders focused on racial equity he is signing Tuesday. The Biden administration will not enter new contracts with private prisons, according to a senior administration official. Susan Rice said that the executive order would only apply to Department of Justice facilities and not to Department of Homeland Security facilities, like private ICE detention centers. “It addresses the Department of Justice prisons in the first instance and is silent on what may or may not transpire with ICE facilities,” Rice told reporters. Biden had promised to make racial equity a central part of his presidency on the campaign trail and during his inauguration last week.

BuzzFeed NewsCOVID-19 vaccines seem to be effective against two extra-contagious versions of the coronavirus, according to new lab results released on Monday. But experts see trouble ahead as the virus, which is mutating faster than scientists expected, could threaten to overcome vaccines. Moderna reported a “six-fold reduction” in its vaccine’s antibody levels against the B.1.351 variant, supporting similar findings announced by South African scientists last week. However, he said, the surprisingly effective Pfizer and Moderna vaccines — which both offer around 95% protection — give some “cushion” for the shots to still create enough antibodies to protect people. While future variants may threaten our existing vaccines, scientists cautioned that the news so far should be reassuring.

On Jan. 20, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. Derek W. Black analyzes the problem with public education in the United States today, and lays out a plan to fix it, in Schoolhouse Burning. In What Can a Body Do?, Sara Hendren imagines a world built around accessibility — a vision President Biden should work to implement in the United States. As President Biden moves the United States toward a greener future, he should keep this book on his nightstand. Decades after the Americans with Disabilities Act became the law of the land, the United States still has a long way to go to become an accessible society.

Shannon Powell said it turns her stomach when she drives by the signs for Donald J. Trump State Park on the Taconic Parkway in New York. As of Tuesday, more than 160,000 people had signed a Change.org petition to rename the state park after Sojourner Truth, who after enslavement became an influential abolitionist and women's rights activist. A monument to Truth and sufrragists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton was unveiled in Central Park last August. Previous efforts to rename the state park have stalled because Trump donated the property, and a 2006 agreement said his name should stay on the park and be displayed at its entrances. A Feb. 24, 2006, letter from a Trump attorney to the state Attorney General laid out that the property would bear Trump’s name in acknowledgement of the gift.

The transition memos from the left flank of American agriculture began piling up almost as soon as Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s presidential win was clear. Fix the rules for raising organic livestock, and reverse the department’s track record with Black farmers. There was even a suggestion to change the name of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the Department of Food and Well-Being. The chef Michel Nischan is among those who have spoken with the Biden transition team about nutrition and farming policy. It was his idea to double the value of food stamps for fruits and vegetables, a notion that has grown into a national program.

WASHINGTON — After years of failure to curb the scourge of sexual assault in the military, Lloyd J. Austin III, the new secretary of defense, is open to considering significant revisions to how those crimes are prosecuted, a potential sea change that generations of commanders have resisted. Overhauling the way the military handles sexual assault cases — by taking them outside the military chain of command and assigning them to military prosecutors with no connection to the accused — would need approval by Congress, where some legislators have long pushed for such a system. President Biden has been a vocal proponent of these changes, even as general after general has gone to Capitol Hill to argue against them over the last decade. Mr. Austin’s first act as secretary was to order a review of how the Pentagon has been handling sexual assault cases. In December, he met remotely with survivors of assault in the military and was disturbed and moved by their stories, an official said.

ET Covid-19 Live Updates: More Vaccines to Go to U.S. States as Pledged Supply Remains on Track Several countries, including the U.S., are imposing international travel restrictions, citing the danger of more contagious virus variants. More vaccines will go to states next week, showing companies are on track to deliver their pledged doses. As of Tuesday, Moderna had delivered to a federal government distributor 30.4 million doses out of the 100 million doses it has pledged to ship by the end of March. Some states and localities have been clamoring for more vaccine doses, while many others are struggling to use their existing supply. The city’s vaccine tracker showed less than 7,710 first doses and around 202,000 second doses on hand as of Tuesday morning, with 72,409 second doses yet to be scheduled.

ET Janet Yellen Sworn in as Treasury Secretary: Live UpdatesA widespread internet outage on the East Coast disrupted work and school. With a stock market value of $840 billion, Tesla does not have trouble raising money on its own. Ms. Yellen is the nation’s 78th Treasury secretary and the first woman to assume that role in the institution’s 232-year history. Standing outside the White House, Ms. Yellen took the oath of office with her husband, the economist George Akerlof, and her son by her side. Janet L. Yellen was confirmed as Treasury secretary on Monday and was sworn in on Tuesday.

President Biden on Tuesday called Russian President Vladimir Putin to put him on notice about his “malign actions,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. Psaki said that Biden intended to discuss a range of hot-button issues with Putin, including an allegation that Russia offered bounties to the Taliban to kill Americans. She said Biden also intended to discuss Putin’s support for pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, the recently discovered SolarWinds hack impacting US computer systems and a desire to extend an arms control treaty. “He called him, called President Putin this afternoon with the intention of discussing our willingness to extend new START for five years. “His intention was also to make clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of our national interests in response to malign actions by Russia”Psaki said the call had been scheduled to occur after she began the early-afternoon briefing and that the White House would later release a readout describing the call.

At her daily briefing, Psaki repeatedly danced around requests for hard numbers on the available jabs, at one point punting to a briefing by President Biden scheduled for later in the day. “The president is going to have more of an update later this afternoon,” she said, when asked point-blank how many doses are currently in the US stockpile. Pressed for an explanation on the holdup, Psaki, as she did Monday, fell back on the excuse that the Biden administration is still less than a week old. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a briefing on January 26, 2021. AP“As I started the briefing conveying, the president will have more to say on our vaccine supply and also assistance and cooperation that we will be doing with the states later this afternoon,” she said.

That way they can support Trump without having to defend his indefensible actions in refusing to acknowledge his defeat and goading his violent supporters to insurrection. To do otherwise would be to risk the wrath of the conservative media, the party base, and Trump himself. Not only that, Biden’s early policy and personnel choices have been about as good as anyone on the left could have expected. No one in the Democratic Party seems to particularly care whether anyone else is loyal to Biden, not even Biden himself. ADThese internal conflicts can be problematic at times for both parties.

ADADWhile Blinken awaited confirmation, Biden and his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, began calling U.S. partners and allies and moved to renew U.S. membership in the World Health Organization and the Paris climate accord. He began there in 1993 as a Europe specialist before moving to President Bill Clinton’s National Security Council, where he eventually became senior director for European affairs. ADADIn 2001, after the election of Republican George W. Bush as president, Blinken moved to the Senate, where he became staff director for the Foreign Relations Committee, on which then-Sen. Biden served as chairman. Under President Barack Obama, he was Vice President Biden’s chief foreign policy adviser, then deputy national security adviser to the president. In his various roles over decades in senior foreign policy positions, Blinken helped formulate Biden’s support for the war in Iraq and Biden’s rejected proposal in the Senate to divide Iraq into three autonomous regions.

The failure to meet that 2008 promise — which came after a 2007 bipartisan bill failed under a Democratic-controlled Congress — continues to echo. Even a Dream Act push failed in 2010, when five Democratic senators joined most of the Republicans in voting no. Right-wing media and obstructionist Republicans always manage to weaken their resolve — and that’s why we’ve never seen results. Biden’s decision to propose immigration reform on his first day indicates that he knows that a record-breaking turnout of Latino voters delivered states like Arizona to him. A lot of people on the ground just want to be asked to be part of the fight.

Susana Martinez warned Tuesday that it is "very wrong" for the Biden administration to halt the construction of the southern border wall, calling the fence a "piece of the security of our nation." "We're certainly going to have the same problems that we did at the very beginning of President Trump's administration," Martinez told "America's Newsroom." "There was not enough wall, there weren't enough tools to make sure our borders were protected." ARIZONA SHERIFF RIPS BIDEN'S IMMIGRATION ORDERS: 'POLITICAL THEATER'President Biden last week signed an executive order that ends the construction of the wall at the southern border and issued a 100-day "pause" on deportations of illegal immigrants. By the strike of a pen the president has now said no, we’re not going to send them back.

In an effort to learn more about how the pandemic has affected those living with hearing loss — an estimated 48 million Americans suffer from some degree of hearing loss — the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) surveyed 1,399 people across the country, 85% of whom were 55 years of age or older. Additionally, the survey also found that 70% of those with hearing loss said they have become more aware of their hearing loss since the pandemic began, while 46% said the pandemic has made them "more eager to explore hearing loss solutions due to the pandemic." "The survey results reinforce the overwhelming challenge with masks for the hearing loss community, and many requested that the larger population invest in safe, clear face masks." The HLAA survey further confirms earlier reports that face masks have made hearing trouble more obvious. In fact, such difficulties inspired one deaf Florida man over the summer to create special "windowed" face masks for lip readers.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday said "all violence" will be reviewed as part of the Biden administration’s effort to combat domestic violent extremism when asked about recent riots in the Pacific Northwest. On Friday, Psaki announced that President Biden had requested a "comprehensive threat assessment" on domestic violent extremism from ODNI in coordination with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. Psaki told reporters that the National Security Council would also build a new capability to focus on domestic violent extremism, which she referred to as "DVE." On Monday, Psaki said the president "condemns violence" and supports "peaceful protests," but in referring to Portland and Seattle, said those activities were not peaceful. "President Biden condemns violence and any violence in the strongest possible terms," Psaki said.

Alejandro Mayorkas, President Biden’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), was one step closer to taking the position on Tuesday after the Senate Homeland Security Committee advanced his nomination. It will now advance to the Senate floor, when he is likely to be confirmed. Citizenship and Immigration Services and deputy Homeland Security secretary, would be the first immigrant to run the department if confirmed. ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT BIDEN'S DHS PICKThe committee held a confirmation hearing for Mayorkas last week, but quick passage was delayed by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who cited Biden’s immigration plan as a reason for imposing the hurdle. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPDemocrats pushed back, with Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., saying Mayorkas represented "the best of America."

President Joe Biden has proposed some "extreme" policies that warrant more attention from the mainstream media, "The Five" co-panelist Dana Perino said on Monday. "Joe Biden sounds boring, but his policies are actually kind of extreme if you go through the executive orders. President Trump's personality was extreme, but his policies were actually, in some cases, pretty leaning right, conventional," Perino said on "The Five." The Five co-panelist said Biden's cancellation of the Keystone Pipeline is one of the examples of "extreme executive orders that really affect people at home." Being at the White House is not boring, but they also focus way too much on the White House itself and not enough on the entire federal government.

Gina Raimondo, President Biden's nominee for secretary of commerce, promised that the Biden administration will ensure that union workers who lost jobs due to the blocking of the Keystone XL pipeline will get new jobs. LAID-OFF KEYSTONE XL WORKER SAYS DECISION TO CANCEL PIPELINE 'IS GOING TO HURT A LOT OF PEOPLE'"Last week, President Biden signed an executive order canceling the Keystone pipeline, destroying 11,000 jobs including 8,000 union jobs. If you were confirmed as secretary of commerce, what would you say to those 11,00 construction workers whose jobs have been destroyed by the stroke of a pen?" "So for those workers, the answer is somebody else will get a job?" Buttigieg responded that he and the administration "are very eager to see those workers continue to be employed in good-paying union jobs, even if they might be different ones."

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailPresident Joe Biden signs executive orders on racial equityPresident Joe Biden gives remarks after his signing of executive orders on racial equity.

Generally, you can't refuse what's considered "suitable work," whether it's a new job offer or a call to return to a reopened workplace, and still receive unemployment insurance. In more traditional times, suitable work is thought of as a job that matches your skill set and pays a similar rate as your old one. For example, you can't just walk into your work facility, see that no one's wearing a mask, walk off the job and later file for unemployment. These individuals may qualify for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance federal program, which currently phases out by mid-April. It's worth remembering that a general fear of contracting the virus isn't enough of a cause to refuse suitable work.

Biden has looked to establish a sharp break from the warm rhetoric often displayed toward Putin by his predecessor, Donald Trump. And on Tuesday before his call with Putin, Biden spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, pledging the United States' commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Biden told Putin that his administration was assessing the SolarWinds breach and the press allegations that Russia offered the Taliban bounties to kill American troops in Afghanistan. Biden, in his call with Putin, broke sharply with Trump by declaring that he knew that Russia attempted to interfere with both the 2016 and 2020 elections. Biden on Monday told reporters he hoped the U.S. and Russia could cooperate in areas where both see benefit.

SEE NEW POSTSL.A. sheriffs super-spreader task force break up underground parties Members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Super-Spreader Taskforce are breaking up underground parties that continue to take place despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 5,000 L.A. residents since the start of the year. Nearly 90 people were arrested over the weekend at two separate parties, the sheriff's office said. The Boston Marathon is usually held in April and was canceled last year because of Covid-19, though there was a virtual edition. "These findings suggest that the prevalence of self-reported psychological distress among school-aged children and adolescents during the Covid-19 pandemic was relatively high," the researchers said in a summary of the study's key findings. officials by surprise last week when it announced its initial delivery volumes of the Covid-19 vaccine would be lower than originally anticipated because of manufacturing issues in Europe.

SEE NEW POSTSBoston Marathon tentatively set for October if Covid-19 allows The organizers of the Boston Marathon said Tuesday they had selected Oct. 11 as the date for this year’s race, if pandemic restrictions in Massachusetts allow it. The Boston Marathon is usually held in April and was canceled last year because of Covid-19, though there was a virtual edition. Boston joins other major marathons that are moving their events from early in the year to October to try to avoid cancellation. "These findings suggest that the prevalence of self-reported psychological distress among school-aged children and adolescents during the Covid-19 pandemic was relatively high," the researchers said in a summary of the study's key findings. officials by surprise last week when it announced its initial delivery volumes of the Covid-19 vaccine would be lower than originally anticipated because of manufacturing issues in Europe.

President Joe Biden is poised to issue executive actions scaling back the use of private prisons and placing new limits on the transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement, according to a person familiar with the matter and a planning...morePresident Joe Biden is poised to issue executive actions scaling back the use of private prisons and placing new limits on the transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement, according to a person familiar with the matter and a planning document. The executive actions are part of a broader push by the new administration to roll back controversial policies by Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump, promote criminal justice reform and address racial inequity across the United States. Pictured above: Detroit police enforce a curfew following a rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, June 2020. REUTERS/Rebecca CookClose

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday that President Joe Biden continues to believe the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline is a bad deal for Europe. She said the Biden administration will be reviewing measures, which have been taken to date relating to the pipeline.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone on Tuesday after the two countries struck a deal to extend the New START arms control treaty, the Kremlin said in a statement. Reporting by Polina Devitt/Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Editing by Andrew Osborn Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday for the first time since taking office and raised concerns about Russian activities including the treatment of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the White House said. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about administration plans to strengthen American manufacturing during a brief appearance in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueWhite House spokeswoman Jen Psaki announced the phone call between the two leaders at her daily briefing. It came as Biden adjusts U.S. policy in a more robust way toward Russia after his predecessor, Donald Trump refused to take on Putin directly. “President Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to collective defense under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty and underscored his commitment to strengthening transatlantic security,” a White House statement said.

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia and the United States have struck a deal to extend the New START nuclear arms control treaty, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, a move that preserves the last major pact of its kind between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov arrives to the Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual news conference in Moscow, Russia December 20, 2018. The Kremlin declared the breakthrough, which was widely anticipated, in a statement announcing that President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden had spoken for the first time since Biden took office last week. Signed in 2010, the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is widely regarded as a cornerstone of global arms control. The Kremlin said in the same statement that Putin had told Biden a normalisation of relations between Moscow and Washington would be in both countries’ interests.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday temporarily blocked a move by U.S. President Joe Biden to halt the deportation of certain immigrants for a 100-day period, a swift legal setback for the new Democratic president’s ambitious immigration agenda. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, an appointee of former President Donald Trump in the Southern District of Texas, issued a temporary restraining order that blocks the policy nationwide for 14 days following a legal challenge by Texas.

VILNIUS (Reuters) - Europe urged pharmaceutical companies on Tuesday to honour their commitments to supply coronavirus vaccines, as delivery cuts and delays dim hopes of a quick fix to COVID-19 and increase talk of protectionism and hoarding. “Europe invested billions to help develop the world’s first COVID-19 vaccines. “The possibility should be evaluated, and it should be coordinated among the EU countries,” the minister told Reuters, via his spokesman. The White House said U.S. President Joe Biden will provide an update on Tuesday on efforts to bolster the supply of vaccines as demand far exceeds supply. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, speaking at the same forum, urged wealthy countries not to hoard vaccines.

In particular, Republicans are resisting Biden’s proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 and conservatives loath spending on state and local governments. And for now Democrats have ruled out gutting the filibuster, narrowing their options to reconciliation or recruiting 10 Senate Republicans on coronavirus relief. Even if they decide to toss out the idea of a bipartisan bill, Democrats haven’t agreed on how big a partisan effort should go. Every provision in a reconciliation package must pass the so-called Byrd Rule, meaning it must have a significant effect on federal revenues, spending or the debt. Durbin said that Senate Democrats have made no final decision on when to push forward with a budget resolution.

Biden also intended to support Ukrainian sovereignty and his goal of extending a nuclear arms treaty for five years with Russia, Psaki said. The two leaders agreed to “work urgently” to extend the nuclear treaty by Feb. 5, when the deal is slated to expire, according to the Biden administration’s readout of the call. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty limits the two nation's deployed nuclear weapons to 1,550 each. Biden and Putin agreed to be transparent and communicate consistently, according to the readout. Biden has pledged to "restore dignified leadership at home and respected leadership on the world stage" in wake of Trump's foreign policy.

The idea of a $15 wage floor from coast to coast has never had more momentum, or more political viability. But Democrats still face major hurdles in their effort to more than double the federal minimum wage ? and not just from Republicans. The party still has not garnered all the support for a $15 minimum wage that it would need within its own caucus, as some moderate Democrats continue to resist an aggressive increase. He said there was a moral imperative for Congress to pass a minimum wage hike for the first time since 2007. … The minimum wage must be a living wage enabling people to live with dignity.” Yet not all Senate Democrats are signed on.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Tuesday condemning the wave of anti-Asian racism accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, a largely symbolic measure but one that nevertheless stands in stark contrast to the actions of his predecessor, who actively fomented racism against Asian Americans. Since the beginning of last year, Asian Americans have experienced a surge in racist attacks and harassment related to the COVID-19 pandemic. A coalition of AAPI advocacy groups and scholars called STOP AAPI HATE started collecting these incidents in an online database. In September, the House passed legislation similar to Biden’s executive order. This is a time for the Biden-Harris administration to take bold action.”Tuesday’s executive order was part of a series of executive orders regarding racial equity and civil rights.

HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Joe Biden. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton issued a temporary restraining order sought by Texas, which sued on Friday against a Department of Homeland Security memo that instructed immigration agencies to pause most deportations. That was a reversal from Trump administration policy that made anyone in the U.S. illegally a priority for deportation. The 100-day moratorium went into effect Friday and applied to almost anyone who entered the U.S. without authorization before November. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued that the moratorium violated federal law as well as an agreement Texas signed with the Department of Homeland Security late in the Trump administration.

Carter cited concerns about artificial intelligence in light of China’s broad use of AI facial recognition and other technology for surveillance. And we’ve got to understand and know how we’re going to manage those risks,” Carter said. Carter acknowledged finding support for increased regulation might be hard to find among the GOP caucus, though. The European Union implemented its own privacy law in 2018, but concerns about a lack of enforcement have remained. “We need to work with the European Union,” Carter said.

Biden has looked to establish a sharp break from the warm rhetoric often displayed toward Putin by his predecessor, Donald Trump. ASSOCIATED PRESS Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. And on Tuesday before his call with Putin, Biden spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, pledging the United States’ commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Biden told Putin that his administration was assessing the SolarWinds breach and the press allegations that Russia offered the Taliban bounties to kill American troops in Afghanistan. ASSOCIATED PRESS In this March 10, 2011, file photo, then-Vice President of the United States Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with then-Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia.

Rubio is consistent: He insists that holding Trump accountable is more polarizing than Trump’s actual behavior. In November, after a pro-Trump caravan swarmed a Biden campaign bus in Texas, Rubio gushed at a Trump rally: “I saw yesterday a video of these people in Texas. All the cars on the road, we love what they did.”)Despite his fawning support, Rubio has reportedly been threatened with a primary challenge from Ivanka Trump. The point about witnesses is ironic, since Rubio himself voted against hearing any witnesses during Trump’s first trial. But one way or another, the Senate’s verdict will set a precedent; are presidents above the law?

Bringing people back to reality is a bottom-up effort, according to experts who have worked directly with adherents to conspiracy ideologies. Since he left government, Blackburn has consulted extensively with law enforcement and nonprofit organizations to rehabilitate people who have succumbed to extremist ideologies. But shutting down the biggest sources of intelligence on extremist group activities will make them harder to track. And it needs to be part of a larger strategy as Trump-supporting conspiracy theorists, white supremacists and QAnon devotees go further underground on the internet. If the Biden administration is going to prioritize domestic deradicalization, it needs to act swiftly, while extremists and conspiracy theorists are seeing cracks in their ideologies.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, the first phone call between the two since the American president took office, the White House confirmed. "Vladimir Putin congratulated Joseph Biden on the start of his work as President of the United States," the Kremlin described the call in a translation of a readout of the call. The Russians added, "In general, the conversation between the leaders of Russia and the United States was businesslike and frank." “His intention was also to make clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of our national interests in response to malign actions by Russia,” Psaki said. Biden has spoken to a number of America's allies since taking office including the leaders of Canada, Germany and France.

As President Biden sets a new goal of 1.5 million vaccines a day despite the demand exceeding the supply, Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Michael Osterholm, joins Stephanie Ruhle to explain why he is “not at all optimistic” about the upcoming months.

A California man was arrested Tuesday after federal authorities said he sent threatening text messages to family members of a New York City congressman and journalist. “Your brother is putting your entire family at risk with his lies and other words. In the text to the lawmaker's brother, authorities said Lemke wrote: “your words have consequences. You are putting your family at risk. He is scheduled to appear in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Wednesday.

The Senate confirmed Antony Blinken as President Joe Biden's secretary of state on Tuesday with overwhelming bipartisan support. Blinken must be confirmed so we can start addressing the challenges we face abroad," Sen. Bob Menenedez, D-N.J., said ahead of the vote. Blinken has served Biden in various roles for over two decades, including as a staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But not all U.S. foreign policy under Blinken will be a repudiation of the Trump administration. He has said the Trump administration was right in taking a tougher approach to China, and he has committed to keeping the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, where it was moved under Trump.

The NCAA, the Power Five conferences and their $2 million platoon of lobbyists had a pretty good year on Capitol Hill in 2020. The NCAA, the Power Five conferences and their $2 million platoon of lobbyists had a pretty good year on Capitol Hill in 2020. They went to Congress and they lost,” said Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association. Earlier this month, the NCAA put its own NIL legislation on hold , angering some Democrats in Congress. Even with Democrats in charge, it’s still possible that the NCAA and the Power Five could stave off bold action by Congress.

NEW YORK (AP) — A California man disgruntled about the presidential election result was arrested Tuesday on charges alleging he threatened family members of a New York congressman and a journalist in text messages sent during the attack on the Capitol, authorities said. Robert Lemke, 35, was arrested in Bay Point, California, on charges filed in Manhattan federal court. He was scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Northern California on Wednesday. The identities of the member of Congress and the journalist were not revealed in court papers. “Rather than peaceably disagree, Lemke allegedly threatened to harm those individuals’ families, demanding they retract their statements,” she said.

The Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech said it has already delivered more than 30 million doses of the vaccine to the U.S. government. About 10.1 million doses of the vaccine have by now been administered in the U.S., the company said, citing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Investors will also eye how the Fed communicates over the recent worries around inflationary pressures building up this year. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city price index posted a 9.1% year-over-year gain in November, up from 8% the previous month. The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence rose to 89.3 this month from a revised 87.1 in December.

The short seller’s gross profit is the difference between the price shares were sold at and the price shares were purchased later. When the stock surges because short sellers are buying the stock to cover their bets, it is an event known as a “short squeeze.”GameStop is the new poster child for short squeezes. The average stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average has less than 2% of total shares available for trading sold short. The USPS bid was part of the reason Barron’s recently wrote positively about Workhorse stock. Since that article appeared in July Workhorse stock is up about 95%, far better than comparable gains of the S&P 500 and Dow.

Biden has looked to establish a sharp break from the warm rhetoric often displayed toward Putin by his predecessor, Donald Trump. And on Tuesday before his call with Putin, Biden spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, pledging the United States’ commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Biden told Putin that his administration was assessing the SolarWinds breach and the press allegations that Russia offered the Taliban bounties to kill American troops in Afghanistan. The call came as Putin considers the aftermath of pro-Navalny protests that took place in more than 100 Russian cities over the weekend. Biden on Monday told reporters he hoped the U.S. and Russia could cooperate in areas where both see benefit.

"I saw the president presenting graphs that I never made...."Dr. Deborah Birx, the former coronavirus response coordinator under former President Donald Trump, revealed on Sunday that the White House used data and graphs she didn't prepare. Asked whether she thought the Biden administration was set up for failure by the Trump White House's response the virus, Dr. Birx said this: "If I thought that was true, I wouldn’t be sleeping right now." This after the Trump administration fell far short of its vaccine promises. Story continues- Dr. Deborah Birx, the former coronavirus response coordinator under former President Donald Trump, revealed on Sunday that the White House used data and graphs she didn't prepare. - Asked whether she thought the Biden administration was set up for failure by the Trump White House's response to the virus, Dr. Birx said this.

Then Vice President Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a 2012 meeting in California. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty ImagesChinese leader Xi Jinping preached about multilateralism at the World Economic Forum on Monday. Xi warned about the consequences of a "new Cold War," in a veiled message to President Joe Biden. Without explicitly mentioning the US, the Chinese leader also warned against the dangers of a "new Cold War." In 2020, experts warned that the US and China appeared to be on the brink of a new Cold War that could have major consequences for the global economy.

The setup inherited from the Trump administration has been marked by miscommunication and unexplained bottlenecks, with shortages reported in some places even as vaccine doses remain on the shelf. “I can’t tell you how much vaccine we have," she told “Fox News Sunday,” describing the problem as a challenge left by the outgoing Trump administration. “And if I can’t tell it to you, then I can’t tell it to the governors, and I can’t tell it to the state health officials. If they don’t know how much vaccine they’re getting, not just this week, but next week and the week after, they can’t plan.”On Monday, Florida Gov. In the New Orleans area, Ochsner Health said Monday that inadequate supply forced the cancellation last week of 21,400 first-dose appointments but that second-dose appointments aren’t affected.

"Sen. Mitch McConnell has caved and Sen. Schumer has won that fight. "> No sooner has the portion of Rachel Maddow's interview with Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer aired than Mitch McConnell has put out a statement that he is folding, ending the stand-off. "> "We will not let Mitch McConnell dictate to us what we will do and not do." Here's Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer earlier in his interview with Rachel Maddow, talking about the filibuster specifically, and getting things done. Senate Majority Leader Schumer cites Obama era lessons in prioritizing legislation over bad faith Republican 'bipartisanship.'

Tasos KatopodisFormer White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany is apparently in talks to sign with Fox News, according to reports. McEnany did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but according to journalist Yashar Ali, the network claims McEnany is not yet employed there. McEnany previously worked at Fox News early in her media career, as a producer for Mike Huckabee’s show and making regular appearances on shows like Red Eye. Following the president’s electoral defeat, she made near-nightly appearances on pro-Trump Fox host Sean Hannity’s primetime program to boost her boss’ baseless election-fraud conspiracy theories. Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you.

Democrat Chuck Schumer, now the the Senate Majority Leader, has been at odds with McConnell over the Republican's request that Democrats promise to protect the key stalling tactic. In recent years, the filibuster has brought the Senate nearly to a halt on major legislation. - Democrat Chuck Schumer, now the Senate majority leader, has been at odds with McConnell over the Republican's request that Democrats promise to protect the key stalling tactic. - In recent years, the filibuster has brought the Senate nearly to a halt on major legislation. With Harris unable to attend every Senate session, Schumer and McConnell have been discussing an arrangement to govern day-to-day operations, similar to one struck the last time the Senate was equally split in 2001.

President Biden answers questions from reporters Monday at the White House complex. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press)President Biden will take action Tuesday to disavow another aspect of his predecessor's legacy — racial animus toward Asian Americans, which rose sharply during a pandemic that President Trump blamed on "the China virus." Another executive order will reinstate and expand a fair-housing regulation from 2015 that Trump repealed last year. "We'll hold the federal government accountable for advancing equity for families across America," Susan Rice, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, told reporters. The White House announced the creation of a task force to help reduce "domestic violent extremism," but offered few additional details.

Racial justice is one of the administration’s top priorities, alongside the pandemic and the economy, he said. It has the potential to advance the cause of racial justice on several key fronts. Erasing Trump’s Most Egregious ActionsThe executive order on racial justice erased two of the Trump administration’s most blatantly racist policies. In addition to rolling back Trump’s executive order on race, Biden also reversed Trump’s Muslim ban and his ban on transgender people serving in the military; two more blows against religious and sex discrimination. Rooting Out Systemic InequitiesBut along with reversing Trump’s white supremacist policies, the executive order on racial justice directs federal agencies to audit their policies and practices to root out systemic inequities.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Tuesday condemning the wave of anti-Asian racism accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, a largely symbolic measure but one that nevertheless stands in stark contrast to the actions of his predecessor, who actively fomented racism against Asian Americans. A coalition of AAPI advocacy groups and scholars called STOP AAPI HATE started collecting these incidents in an online database. In September, the House passed legislation similar to Biden’s executive order. The nonbinding resolution condemned and denounced “any and all anti-Asian sentiment in any form” and urged federal, state and local officials to document, investigate and collect data on any reports of anti-Asian hate incidents. This is a time for the Biden-Harris administration to take bold action.”Tuesday’s executive order was part of a series of executive orders regarding racial equity and civil rights.

Kamala Harris is starting her term as vice president in an impressive, though temporary, residence. After Harris was sworn in, she and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, relocated from California to Blair House, otherwise known as the president’s guest house. Typically, the vice president resides in the U.S. Over the past few decades, many of the presidents’ guests, including foreign dignitaries and family members, have taken residence at Blair House. New president Joe Biden also stayed at Blair House the night before the inauguration.

TEL AVIV (AP) — Israel's military chief Tuesday warned the Biden administration against rejoining the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, even if it toughens its terms, adding he's ordered his forces to step up preparations for possible offensive action against Iran during the coming year. The 2015 deal put curbs on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the easing of crippling economic sanctions. Israel strongly opposed the deal, saying it did not include sufficient safeguards to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Kohavi said that given the threat posed by Iran, Israel's military would be prepared to attack on its own if needed. Just hours before Kohavi spoke against a deal, Iran prodded Biden to rejoin the atomic accord.

The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, introduced strict limits on Iran's nuclear program in return for easing economic sanctions. Related: The imprisonment of a fourth American could derail a bid by the Biden administration to revive a nuclear agreement with Iran. Story continuesAs a candidate, Biden said he would have the United States return to the agreement if Iran met its obligations under the deal. Related: Past assassinations of other scientists and the head of Iran’s missile program exposed security gaps but didn't halt Iran’s nuclear or missile projects. "We are ready to engage on a comprehensive exchange of all prisoners or detainees on both sides, in the United States, in Iran, and those that are waiting to be extradited to the United States.

The following is our collection of a year covering the NBA icon’s life and death, then and now. The pandemic’s relentlessness makes a tragedy that came before — the deaths of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven more in a helicopter crash — feel at once eons away and just yesterday. To feel death around us night after night and not to share mourning is to become numb. Then, the pain of Vanessa Bryant’s voice cracks us open again. One year has passed since the death of Kobe Bryant.

Plus, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi discloses investment in Tesla options. For all of today's Tesla news, please see the included video. ? TSLA stock at all-time high close, briefly crosses $900 per share? Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi discloses purchase of TSLA call options? Biden administration reportedly seeks to declare climate as a matter of national security, proposes converting federal government vehicle fleet to electric (https://d2d.gsa.gov/report/federal-fleet-open-data-visualization)? Baird ups TSLA price target, discusses “Company X” holding company? Musk tweets about autonomy, pokes back at Waymo? Sandy Munro offers observations on a different 2021 Model 3? New photo of Model Y rear underbody casting? Model S spotted testing---Disclosure: Rob Maurer is long TSLA stock and derivatives.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday is ordering the Department of Justice to end its reliance on private prisons and acknowledge the central role the government has played in implementing discriminatory housing policies, White House officials say. Beyond calling on the Justice Department to curb the use of private prisons, the new orders will recommit the federal government to respect tribal sovereignty and disavow discrimination against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community over the coronavirus pandemic. The order to end the reliance on privately run prisons directs the attorney general not to renew Justice Department contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities. The move will effectively revert the Justice Department to the same posture it held at the end of the Obama administration. Rice, in her comments to reporters, also made clear that Biden sees addressing equity issues as also good for the nation's bottom line.

PROVIDENCE — “I do not believe you will be serving as the governor of Rhode Island for very much longer.”AdvertisementCommerce secretary nominee confirmation hearing Share Email to a Friend Embed Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo answered questions during the confirmation hearing for commerce secretary. Reed told the committee that he has known Raimondo since she was born, and their families regularly vacationed together when they were young. Whitehouse offered a more straightforward pitch to his colleagues: “You will like working with Secretary Raimondo,” he said. Senator Jacky Rosen of Nevada also used part of her speaking time to urge her colleagues to swiftly confirm Raimondo. Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida questions Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, the nominee for Secretary of Commerce, during her Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee confirmation hearing,Jan.

His approval rating is well above 50 percent. Yes, it feels like President Biden is having himself a bit of a political honeymoon since taking office less than a week ago. So, yes, when new president is sworn in and suddenly has an approval rating 23 points higher than his predecessor, it does feel like something different. From Harry Truman through Ronald Reagan, presidents’ first years featured approval ratings in the 60 percent to 70 percent range. On the flip side, any president following Trump would also probably do better in public opinion polls compared to Trump’s historic unpopularity.

Biden has looked to establish a sharp break from the warm rhetoric often displayed toward Putin by his predecessor, Donald Trump. And on Tuesday before his call with Putin, Biden spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, pledging the United States’ commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Biden told Putin that his administration was assessing the SolarWinds breach and the press allegations that Russia offered the Taliban bounties to kill American troops in Afghanistan. Biden said the United States is willing to defend itself and will take action, which could include further sanctions, to ensure that Moscow does not act with impunity, according to the administration officials. Biden, in his call with Putin, broke sharply with Trump by declaring that he knew that Russia attempted to interfere with both the 2016 and 2020 elections.

By Jonathan Lemire and Matthew Lee | Associated PressWASHINGTON — President Joe Biden had his first call with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the White House and Kremlin said. Biden has looked to establish a break from the warm rhetoric often displayed toward Putin by his predecessor, Donald Trump. On Tuesday before his call with Putin, Biden spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, pledging the United States’ commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Biden told Putin that his administration was assessing the SolarWinds breach and the reports that Russia offered the Taliban bounties to kill American troops in Afghanistan. Biden, in his call with Putin, broke sharply with Trump by declaring that he knew that Russia attempted to interfere with both the 2016 and 2020 elections.

As the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump approaches, Facebook and Twitter are allowing the Oregon Republican Party to make false claims that the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol was not perpetrated by the former President’s supporters. Trump was impeached Jan. 13 in the U.S. House of Representatives on a charge of inciting insurrection over the assault on the Capitol. Five people including a police officer beaten with a fire extinguisher died in connection with events at the Capitol that day. Facebook, asked about the “false flag” assertion, did not explain why it was allowing the false claim to remain on its website. Twitter described the claim as the Oregon GOP’s “opinion as a party” despite the party asserting as fact non-existent “growing evidence” of a false flag operation.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will vote Wednesday onwhether to conduct another audit on the county voting system in an attempt to placate any concerns of voter fraud or election misconduct during the 2020 general election. The county will use the two companies that are certified by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to conduct the audit. The proposed audit would do the following to ensure that the county's voting system worked properly in the general election, according to a county document:Analyze its hacking vulnerability. Verify state and county procurement regulations were followed when leasing the equipment from Dominion Voting Systems. The supervisors are hoping this audit will satisfy those with concerns about the election, including state senators, Moseley said.

Biden has looked to establish a sharp break from the warm rhetoric often displayed toward Putin by his predecessor, Donald Trump. And on Tuesday before his call with Putin, Biden spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, pledging the United States’ commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Biden told Putin that his administration was assessing the SolarWinds breach and the press allegations that Russia offered the Taliban bounties to kill American troops in Afghanistan. Biden, in his call with Putin, broke sharply with Trump by declaring that he knew that Russia attempted to interfere with both the 2016 and 2020 elections. Biden on Monday told reporters he hoped the U.S. and Russia could cooperate in areas where both see benefit.

WASHINGTON — Easing off a stalemate, the Senate moved forward Tuesday with a power-sharing agreement in the evenly-split chamber after Republican leader Mitch McConnell backed off his demand that Senate Democrats preserve the procedural tool known as the filibuster. “I’m glad we’re finally able to get the Senate up and running,” Schumer said Tuesday as he opened the chamber. Schumer’s office said the Republican leader had no choice but to set aside his demands. “We’re glad Sen. McConnell threw in the towel and gave up on his ridiculous demand,” said Justin Goodman, a spokesman for the Democratic leader. He wanted to prevent Schumer from taking it to the next level and ending the filibuster for legislation.

MOSCOW — Russia and the United States exchanged documents Tuesday to extend the New START nuclear treaty, their last remaining arms control pact, the Kremlin said. “In the nearest days, the parties will complete the necessary procedures that will ensure further functioning” of the pact, the Kremlin said. Lawmakers in the Kremlin-controlled parliament said it would complete the necessary moves to extend the pact this week. Biden indicated during the campaign that he favored the preservation of the New START treaty, which was negotiated during his tenure as U.S. vice president. Trump’s administration then proposed to extend New START for just one year and also sought to expand it to include limits on battlefield nuclear weapons.

The Kremlin’s readout did not address the most contentious issues between the countries, though it said the leaders also discussed other “acute issues on the bilateral and international agenda.” It described the talk as “frank and businesslike” — often a diplomatic way of referring to tense discussions. It also said Putin congratulated Biden on becoming president and “noted that normalization of ties between Russia and the United States would serve the interests of both countries.”

By JONATHAN LEMIRE and MATTHEW LEEWASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden had his first call with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the White House and Kremlin said. Biden has looked to establish a break from the warm rhetoric often displayed toward Putin by his predecessor, Donald Trump. On Tuesday before his call with Putin, Biden spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, pledging the United States’ commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Biden told Putin that his administration was assessing the SolarWinds breach and the reports that Russia offered the Taliban bounties to kill American troops in Afghanistan,. Biden, in his call with Putin, broke sharply with Trump by declaring that he knew that Russia attempted to interfere with both the 2016 and 2020 elections.

WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden on Tuesday will order on the Department of Justice to end its reliance on private prisons and acknowledge the central role the government has played in implementing discriminatory housing policies, White House officials say. The order to end the reliance on privately run prisons directs the attorney general not to renew Justice Department contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities. The move will effectively revert the Justice Department to the same posture it held at the end of the Obama administration. The latest executive actions come after Biden signed an order Monday reversing a Trump-era Pentagon policy that largely barred transgender people from serving in the military. Last week, he signed an order reversing Trump's ban on travelers from several predominantly Muslim and African countries.

What workers need is a living wage, not a minimum one. Paying workers a living wage is a question of willingness, not ability, for much of corporate America. A similar bipartisan rigor around the minimum wage debate would be refreshing. It can start with a recognition that a minimum wage isn't the bogeyman many fear. It generates an annual income of just more than $31,000 a year — which still isn't a living wage in most places.

Companies are unlikely to mandate their employees receive a COVID-19 vaccine to come to work, said Business Roundtable Chairman and Walmart Inc. CEO Doug McMillon. McMillon said no members of the Business Roundtable, a lobbying group whose members are CEOs of the largest U.S. companies, have chosen to require vaccination so far. The largest U.S. company, Walmart employs almost 1.5 million people in the United States and has remained open during the pandemic. Walmart store employees and other workers categorized as essential should be eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines ahead of the general population. He said nationwide rules on who is eligible to receive the vaccine would be particularly useful.

Senators voted 78-22 to approve Blinken, a longtime Biden confidant, as the nation’s 71st secretary of state, succeeding Mike Pompeo. Blinken, 58, served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration. He is expected to start work on Wednesday after being sworn in, according to State Department officials. Blinken inherits a deeply demoralized and depleted career workforce at the State Department. Blinken served on the National Security Council during the Clinton administration before becoming staff director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Biden was chair of the panel.

Ken Sweet and Damian J. TroiseAssociated PressNew York – Stocks were muted in afternoon trading on Wall Street Tuesday, as investors weighed solid corporate earnings results against concerns about the virus pandemic. Investors are in the midst of quarterly earnings reporting season for U.S. companies, and this is the busiest week so far. Dozens of large companies are reporting this week, from all parts of the economy, including American Express, J&J, Apple, GE and others. More than 100 companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled to tell investors this week how they fared during the last three months of 2020. As a whole, analysts expect S&P 500 companies to say their fourth-quarter profit fell 5% from a year earlier.

Jonathan Lemire and Matthew LeeAssociated PressWashington – President Joe Biden had his first call with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the White House and Kremlin said. Biden has looked to establish a break from the warm rhetoric often displayed toward Putin by his predecessor, Donald Trump. On Tuesday before his call with Putin, Biden spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, pledging the United States’ commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Biden told Putin that his administration was assessing the SolarWinds breach and the reports that Russia offered the Taliban bounties to kill American troops in Afghanistan,. Biden, in his call with Putin, broke sharply with Trump by declaring that he knew that Russia attempted to interfere with both the 2016 and 2020 elections.

Today is Day 7 of the Biden presidency. Two people with knowledge of Biden’s plans outlined the proposed moratorium, which will be announced Wednesday. They asked not to be identified because the plan has not been made been public; some details remain in flux. The moratorium is intended to allow time for officials to review the impact of oil and gas drilling on the environment and climate. Read more:IN OTHER BIDEN NEWS

The setup inherited from the Trump administration has been marked by miscommunication and unexplained bottlenecks, with shortages reported in some places even as vaccine doses remain on the shelf. “I can’t tell you how much vaccine we have,” she told “Fox News Sunday,” describing the problem as a challenge left by the outgoing Trump administration. “And if I can’t tell it to you, then I can’t tell it to the governors, and I can’t tell it to the state health officials. If they don’t know how much vaccine they’re getting, not just this week, but next week and the week after, they can’t plan.”On Monday, Florida Gov. In the New Orleans area, Ochsner Health said Monday that inadequate supply forced the cancellation last week of 21,400 first-dose appointments but that second-dose appointments aren’t affected.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden had his first call with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the White House and Kremlin said. U.S. officials said Biden raised concerns about the arrest of opposition figure Alexei Navalny while pressing the Russian president on his nation’s involvement in a massive cyberespionage campaign and bounties on American troops in Afghanistan. On a positive note, the two presidents agreed to have their teams work urgently to complete an extension of New START, the last remaining U.S.-Russian arms control treaty, before it expires next month. Biden has looked to establish a break from the warm rhetoric often displayed toward Putin by his predecessor, Donald Trump. And, with a heavy domestic agenda and looming decisions needed on Iran and China, a direct confrontation with Russia is not something he seeks.

IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi says he has directed the military to prepare operational plans for the possibility that it will need to strike Iran to block its nuclear program. “Iran can decide that it wants to advance to a bomb, either covertly or in a provocative way. In light of this basic analysis, I have ordered the IDF to prepare a number of operational plans, in addition to the existing ones. We are studying these plans and we will develop them over the next year,” Kohavi says. “With the changing of the administration in the United States, the Iranians have said they want to return to the previous agreement.

A number of pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol wore clothing with anti-Semitic messages—the latest sign of a growing problem in America. From 2015 to 2019, anti-Semitic incidents jumped to nearly a record high, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The most recent numbers show the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents in its recorded history. I think we're now moving into a dangerous new phase and it's going to require government and business and civil society to work hand in hand. That history is front and center for Annie Polland, president of the Tenement Museum in New York.

Joe Biden signed four more executive orders on Tuesday, as he aimed to fulfil a campaign promise to increase racial equity in the US. “We’ll hold the federal government accountable for advancing racial equity for families across America,” said Susan Rice, Biden’s domestic policy council director. “These [orders] are a continuation of our initial steps to advance racial justice and equity through early executive action,” Rice told reporters on Tuesday. The fourth Biden order on Tuesday was aimed at fighting xenophobia against Asian Americans and Pacific islanders. The executive order also directed the justice department to work with Asian American and Pacific island communities to fight harassment and hate crimes.

Charlize Theron, Eva Longoria, and other famous actors have joined a call urging President Joe Biden to support mothers as the coronavirus pandemic continues – by paying them for their unseen labour. The movement, which took out a full-age ad in The New York Times this Tuesday, asks President Biden to put into place a “Marshall Plan for Moms”. The Marshall Plan was a US-sponsored programme implemented from 1948 to 1951, meant to provide economic support to a list of European countries in the wake of World War II. “Like the original Marshall Plan of 1948, this plan would be a financial investment in rebuilding from the ground up,” reads a statement in support of the Marshall Plan for Moms campaign. “Covid has decimated so many of our careers,” the statement reads in part.

White Americans are getting a Covid-19 vaccine at significantly higher rates compared to Black and Latino Americans, based on data released by the states. Black Americans share of Covid-19 cases in these 16 states is greater than their share of the vaccinations. In Mississippi, for example, Black Americans make up 38 per cent of Covid-19 cases and 42 per cent of deaths in the state. Black Americans have a stronger distrust towards the US healthcare system due to past treatment. At the same time, a system of repression was formed that gave Black Americans limited access to resources.

President Joe Biden’s nominee Antony Blinken has been confirmed by the Senate as the next Secretary of State after a bipartisan confirmation vote with a final tally of 78-22. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee moved forward with the nomination to the Senate floor after Mr Blinken got strong bipartisan support, with the committee voting 15-3 to move his confirmation forward, Reuters reported. Mr Blinken served as Deputy Secretary of State during the Obama administration, from 2015 to 2017. Mr Blinken speaks French and is the step-son of a Holocaust survivor, something which he says shaped his worldview, Axios writes. During his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr Blinken said: "Humility and confidence should be the flip sides of America's leadership coin.

Joe Biden cited George Floyd’s murder as a ‘turning point’ as he signed a string of executive orders to tackle racial equity. "Those 8mins 46 secs that took George Floyd’s life opened the eyes of millions of Americans and millions of people all around the world. “It was the knee on the neck of justice and it stirred the consciousness of tens of millions of Americans and it would not be forgotten. Chauvin faces charges of second-degree unintentional murder and a second-degree manslaughter charge in Mr Floyd's, which sparked nationwide protests. Mr Biden recalled meeting Mr Floyd’s daughter, Gianna, following his death and the impact that the youngster had on him.

If Harriet Tubman could see the state of things for Black individuals in our nation, she’d be rolling in her grave. Harriet Tubman was never American, until whitewashing her into an American hero benefited the narrative. As recent as sentencing guidelines for crimes leading to longer incarceration rates for Black men as opposed to white men. Giving us a $20 bill with Harriet Tubman on it is the equivalent of putting a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound, handing us a cookie, and saying get well soon. More importantly, Harriet Tubman would not want to be on the $20 bill.

President Joe Biden signed a series of executive orders Tuesday afternoon that deal with 'equity,' including one that instructs the Department of Justice not to renew contracts with private prisons. He also signed a memorandum directing the Department of Housing and Urban Development to mitigate racial bias in housing. Earlier, Susan Rice, the director of the United States Domestic Policy Council, had previewed the four orders. President Joe Biden will sign a series of executive orders and memos on Tuesday that will deal with 'equity'One of the orders Biden is expected to sign will create a federal policing commission that will work to prevent deaths like George Floyd's. Trump embraced a 'law and order' candidacy and etched out policy positions such as statues and military bases named after Confederate generals should remain.

White House medical officials have provided COVID-19 to several hundred White House staffers as they seek to banish the virus from a building that has seen super-spreader events. Hundreds of staff in office of the president have been vaccinated, the White House saidVice President Kamala Harris was to visit the N.I.H. I think we'll be able to do that this spring,' Biden said at the White House Monday. White House spokesman Kevin Munos confirmed the vaccination effort. The move comes after the White House was the site of multiple potential super-spreader events during the Trump administration.

Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany had a job offer with Fox News put on hold after the MAGA riot at the Capitol earlier this month. She filed the report ahead of her departure from Donald Trump's White House. But a Fox spokesperson told DailyMail.com that 'Kayleigh McEnany is not currently an employee or contributor at FOX News.' There were discussions between the cable news network, where McEnany was a familiar face during her time as White House press secretary, and McEnany but they were put on hold. Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany had a job offer with Fox News put on hold after the MAGA riot at the CapitolKayleigh McEnany was a frequent face on Fox News during her White House tenureAfter the election, McEnany made 20 appearances on Fox News, according to a tally by The Washington Post.

President Joe Biden has phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time in office – and raised a series of sensitive issues that stand between the U.S. and Russia. President Joe Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the White House said. 'He called President Putin this afternoon with the intent of discussing our willingness to extent New START for five years. During his infamous Helsinki meeting with Putin, Trump appeared to accept his denials of interfering in the U.S. elections, despite what U.S. intelligence agencies concluded. President Trump made his infamous July 25 call to Ukrainian President Volodym Zelensky seeking an investigation of the Bidens.

Article contentThe new administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has fast-tracked efforts to feature famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the US$20 bill, a change that was first announced in 2016. If Canada could have hoped for anyone on a United States Treasury Note, it would have to be Harriet Tubman. Try refreshing your browser, or 'Thank god for Canada': Harriet Tubman on the US$20 bill is a triumph for the Great White North Back to videoHere was a woman who lived in Canada, who risked her life to turn people into Canadians and stands as a testament that when it came to basic human freedom, the so-called “land of liberty” couldn’t hold a candle to a cold, agrarian British colony. “I wouldn’t trust Uncle Sam with my people no longer, I brought ’em all clear off to Canada,” Tubman told her biographer in 1869. “We’re ecstatic that we can call her one of our own,” said Rochelle Bush, historian for Tubman’s former church in St. Catharines, Ont.

(AP) - President Joe Biden on Tuesday will order on the Department of Justice to end its reliance on private prisons and acknowledge the central role the government has played in implementing discriminatory housing policies, White House officials say. “America has never lived up to its founding promise of equality for all, but we’ve never stopped trying,” Biden tweeted on Tuesday morning. The order to end the reliance on privately run prisons directs the attorney general not to renew Justice Department contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities. The move will effectively revert the Justice Department to the same posture it held at the end of the Obama administration. The latest executive actions come after Biden signed an order Monday reversing a Trump-era Pentagon policy that largely barred transgender people from serving in the military.

“I would agree that we need some reform in Section 230 and I would look forward to working with you on that,” said Raimondo, who is currently the Democratic governor of Rhode Island. Biden said during his presidential campaign that Section 230 should be revoked, but he has largely not detailed plans moving forward regarding tech regulation. Biden’s reasoning behind revoking Section 230 differs from his predecessor. Raimondo voiced similar concerns during her confirmation hearing, noting that she has seen the impact of misinformation narratives in Rhode Island. I've seen in my own state that misinformation hurts people — misinformation posted anonymously or otherwise can hurt people,” Raimondo said.

U.S. President Joe Biden in his first phone call with Vladimir Putin since taking office raised concerns with the Kremlin leader over the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and Russian "aggression" against Ukraine, the White House said Tuesday. Biden placed the call in order to discuss with Putin "our willingness to extend" for five years the New START nuclear weapons treaty, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. He also brought up "our strong support for Ukraine's sovereignty in the face of Russia's ongoing aggression," Psaki said. Biden raised other "matters of concern, including the Solar Winds hack, reports of Russia placing bounties on United States soldiers in Afghanistan, interference in the 2020 election, the poisoning of Alexei Navalny and treatment of peaceful protesters by Russian security forces."

Top Republicans have rapidly shifted from blaming Trump for the Capitol attack to bashing Democrats for impeaching him over it. But just a few weeks later, they're already singing a different tune as the Senate prepares for Trump's impeachment trial. Eight days after McCarthy said Trump "bears responsibility," he told reporters that Trump did not provoke the attack. On January 17, the South Carolina Republican called on President Joe Biden to oppose Trump's impeachment. "President Trump has not always chosen the right words," Haley reportedly said.

The Associated Press first reported Mr Biden and Mr Putin’s phone call. Mr Biden is eager to set a new tone for the US in its relationship with Russia, its Cold War adversary throughout the back half of the 20th century that has sought to undermine American democracy and re-establish itself on the world stage under Mr Putin these last two decades. While Mr Biden has broken with Mr Trump by directly confronting Mr Putin election interference, the Afghan bounty scheme, and the 2020 cyber attack, the two leaders’ conversation on Tuesday was not entirely combative. Mr Navalny, who has recovered from the attack after treatment in a German hospital, returned to Moscow on a flight on 17 January and was promptly arrested. He is the most popular opposition political leader to Mr Putin.

FILE - In this March 10, 2011, file photo, then-Vice President Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)FILE - In this March 10, 2011, file photo, then-Vice President Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden had his first call with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the White House and Kremlin said. Biden has looked to establish a break from the warm rhetoric often displayed toward Putin by his predecessor, Donald Trump. On Tuesday before his call with Putin, Biden spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, pledging the United States’ commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression.

The international community considers both areas to be occupied territory, and the Palestinians seek them as parts of a future independent state. “In order to advance these objectives, the Biden administration will restore credible U.S. engagement with Palestinians as well as Israelis,” he said. “This will involve renewing U.S. relations with the Palestinian leadership and Palestinian people,” Mills said. Mills said the United States hopes to start working to slowly build confidence on both sides to create an environment to reach a two-state solution. The Biden administration welcomes the recent normalization of relations between Israel and a number of Arab nations and will urge other countries to establish ties, Mills said.

WASHINGTON – The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Antony Blinken to be the nation’s 71st secretary of state on Tuesday, as lawmakers scrambled to approve President Joe Biden's Cabinet nominees before impeachment proceedings begin. "Mr. Blinken has a long and distinguished history when it comes to state-craft and foreign relations matters," said Sen. James Risch, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He served as Biden's staff director on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for six years, starting in 2002. When Biden became vice president, Blinken became his national security director – before President Barack Obama elevated him to higher positions, including the No. In his confirmation hearing, Blinken promised to rebuild the State Department, repair frayed alliances and restore America’s global leadership.

“I am here to offer my sincerest apologies on behalf of the Department,” acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman told lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees the agency’s funding. Her department should have been more prepared for the “terrorist attack,” she told lawmakers. "The agency prepared, but “we did not do enough," she told lawmakers. The Capitol's top law enforcement officials – the Capitol Police chief and the House and Senate sergeants at arms – resigned in the aftermath of the riot. The House impeached President Donald Trump for allegedly inciting the riot Jan. 13 and the Senate is set to begin an impeachment trial the week of Feb. 8.

NJ Governor to Biden: ramp up vaccine productionNew Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says the number one priority of the Biden administration should be to ramp up production of the COVID-19 vaccine. Murphy said the state will struggle to meet its vaccination goals if more supply is not made available.

ET Covid-19 Live Updates: More Vaccines to Go to U.S. States as Pledged Supply Remains on Track Several countries, including the U.S., are imposing international travel restrictions, citing the danger of more contagious virus variants. More vaccines will go to states next week, showing companies are on track to deliver their pledged doses. On Monday President Biden said that he was now aiming for the United States to administer 1.5 million vaccine doses a day, which would be 10.5 million a week. As of Tuesday, Moderna had delivered to a federal government distributor 30.4 million of the 100 million doses it has pledged to ship out by the end of the March. That promise is dependent on the country receiving the 56.2 million does of the AstraZeneca vaccine, based on its original delivery pledge.

ET Janet Yellen Sworn in as Treasury Secretary: Live Updates RIGHT NOW European leaders announce a $3.5 billion push to grab a slice of the emerging market for car batteries. Janet Yellen, the first woman to be Treasury secretary, is sworn in by the first woman to be vice president. Video Janet L. Yellen made history on Tuesday, after being sworn in as the first woman to serve as Treasury secretary. Ms. Yellen is the nation’s 78th Treasury secretary and the first woman to assume that role in the institution’s 232-year history. Standing outside the White House, Ms. Yellen took the oath of office with her husband, the economist George Akerlof, and her son by her side.

Larry Fink is telling companies he invests in to show him how they will combat climate change — or else. “We are asking you to disclose how this plan is incorporated into your long-term strategy and reviewed by your board of directors,” Fink writes. The request appears to mostly apply to BlackRock’s actively managed funds, which make up roughly a quarter of the fund’s portfolio. Deese, 42, was BlackRock’s global head of sustainable investing, a role that put him in control of the fund’s climate change investment policies. He is now the president’s chief economic advisor and will play a key role in shaping federal ESG policies and regulations.

The Senate on Tuesday easily confirmed Tony Blinken to be President Joe Biden’s secretary of state. Blinken won broad bipartisan support in the 78-22 vote. At his confirmation hearing this month, Blinken praised former President Donald Trump for taking a tougher approach to China, but was grilled on Obama-era Mideast policies. Tony Blinken won broad bipartisan support in the 78-22 vote. Paul said he’s concerned that “the lesson to Blinken and Biden and his administration isn’t that regime change doesn’t work.

Twitter is still targeting users who share reporting related to The Post’s Hunter Biden exposé — this time by blocking conservative radio host Dana Loesch from joining Birdwatch, the platform’s new campaign to root out disinformation. “The violation was @Twitter locking my account for sharing a story I wrote about big tech’s reaction to the NYP/Hunter Biden story,” Loesch tweeted Monday, the day the platform launched the crowdsourced tool designed to target misinformation. Citing its “hacked materials” policy, Twitter locked The Post’s account for two weeks — as well as booted users who tweeted about the story. On Monday, Twitter launched Birdwatch, a Wikipedia-esque function that allows people to flag misleading posts and write notes that provide more context. “Let’s be real: @birdwatch will mainly be progressives gaslighting center and right-of-center stories,” Loesch tweeted.

Biden must decide how much he wants to restore the pre-Trump status quo vs. how much the times call for a new approach. ADADAnd Biden has been working the phones, calling leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Biden has for weeks aimed for 1 million shots a day, or 100 million vaccinations, in his first 100 days. Biden nominated Vivek Murthy, a close adviser who served as surgeon general in the Obama administration, to return to his previous role. Senate committees are today scheduled to consider Alejandro Mayorkas’s nomination for secretary of homeland security and Rhode Island Gov.

Beyond that, many activists say they want Biden to put resources toward reducing disparities in educational and economic opportunities. Susan Rice, whom Biden has chosen to lead his Domestic Policy Council, has been focused on ensuring that efforts toward equity are integrated into the administration’s broader policies. In the general election, Black voters favored Biden over Trump by a large margin. Biden has already been criticized by some Republicans, who say the focus on equity in his inaugural address implicitly suggested his political opponents are racist. And policies designed to increase housing equity were scaled back by Trump and remain an object of criticism by some Republicans.

He went to on to describe in detail how the GOP would respond if Democrats changed their position and moved to eliminate the filibuster in order to pass their agenda. AD“None of us on either side want to live in a scorched-earth Senate,” McConnell said. ADAfter Democrats blocked some of President George W. Bush's judicial nominees, Republicans responded with a broader blockade of President Barack Obama's nominees and agenda. In 2013, Democrats led by Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) moved to eliminate the filibuster requirement for executive branch nominees and lower court judges. While Republicans have given Biden's proposal a chilly reception, Democrats are ready to move forward using special budget procedures that can skirt a filibuster under the current Senate rules rather than eliminate the filibuster entirely.

“The preponderance of available evidence from the fall school semester has been reassuring,” wrote three CDC researchers in a viewpoint piece published online Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. A new CDC study, also released Tuesday, looked at 17 rural K-12 schools in Wisconsin and found just seven out of 191 coronavirus cases resulted from in-school transmission. Researchers noted that students and staff in these schools wore masks almost all the time. ADLittle was known about the spread of the virus in schools when the pandemic shuttered virtually every classroom in America last spring. As the school year progressed, evidence emerged that virus transmission inside schools was low, giving some comfort.

But some variants in the genetic makeup can cause significant changes in viral behavior and in the ability of vaccines to protect against it. The British variant spread with remarkable speed and is now dominant there, leading to a strict lockdown. The data is limited, but this could foreshadow trouble in the United States, where the new variant has a foothold. Also, a more transmissible virus could lead to a jump in cases, hospitalizations and deaths. The Moderna announcement points to what could be — but so far has not yet become — a serious threat to the vaccines, if the virus mutates to become evasive.

Howie Kurtz on President Biden getting some high approval ratings early, Biden saying daily vaccinations need to increase and support for impeachment running down party lines. Follow Howie on Twitter: @HowardKurtzFor more #MediaBuzz click here

The auto industry’s quickening shift to electric cars is spurring investment in another emerging industry in the U.S.: manufacturing lithium-ion batteries for those vehicles. Much of that money will be used to build a factory in the U.S. for making battery materials, he said. Industry executives and lawmakers say the U.S. needs to reduce its reliance on China if it wants to lower costs and remain competitive in making electric vehicles and their batteries domestically. And yet, there is currently little production in the U.S. for critical battery materials such as lithium and graphite. The factory, when finished, is expected to make enough materials to supply batteries in more than one million cars annually, he said.

At least one case of a coronavirus variant that’s linked to several outbreaks in California was identified for the first time in Hawaii, health officials in the Aloha State announced on Monday. SOUTH AFRICAN CORONAVIRUS VARIANT 'UNLIKELY TO COMPLETELY NEGATE' COVID-19 VACCINES: SCIENTIST"It is common to find variants to viruses like COVID-19. The news comes after California health officials on Sunday warned that the L452R variant has been on the rise across the state since November. Not unlike the U.K. variant, the L452R variant also involves several mutations on the surface spike protein, which the virus uses to infect cells. CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGEThe variant has been found in large outbreaks in Santa Clara County, in particular.

The Biden Administration is set to extend a ban on new leases for oil and gas drilling and fracking on federal lands and waters for one year as it attempts to combat climate change, a source told FOX Business. Continue Reading BelowThe decision comes days after President Biden signed an executive order that putting drilling and fracking on hold for 60 days. Biden on the campaign trail called for the U.S. to phase out its dependence on fossil fuels. BUTTIGIEG DEFENDS BIDEN KILLING KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE AMID CRITICISM FROM UNIONS“I would transition away from the oil industry,” Biden said at a presidential debate in October. A fracking ban on federal lands would deliver a devastating blow to the U.S. economy, according to the American Petroleum Institute.