There is a potential war brewing in Eastern Europe. NATO countries are growing wary because Russia is keeping its cards too close to its chest. World leaders are banking on diplomatic talks, but there have been no breakthroughs so far.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to speak to US President Joe Biden as tensions mount

Biden administration has unveiled its plan to award nearly five billion dollars. The money will be used over five years to build thousands of electric vehicle charging stations.

US unveils $5 bn plan to fund EV charging network

US President Joe Biden, who is of Irish descent, once revealed that his mother Catherine Eugenia Finnegan disliked England to a great extent. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Once she chose to sleep on the floor and not in a bed where England’s Queen had slept previously, as per an autobiography of a comedian Georgia Pritchett. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/inflation-in-us-worsens-becomes-highest-in-40-years-452274" hreflang="en">Inflation in US worsens, becomes highest in 40 years</a>

The US leader seems to have made the revelation when Pritchett met him in the White House during his tenure as vice-president, claimed the British comedian in his autobiography called 'My Mess is a Bit of a Life’. &nbsp;

Pritchett had met Biden while conducting research for the hit comedy Veep, where she was an co-executive producer and joint writer. They were also coming up with a film tie-in of the show. &nbsp;

During the meeting, the conversation had started with Biden’s trip to Ukraine. The comedian wrote: “He changed the subject to how much his mother hated the English. His parents were Irish and she had written several poems about her hatred of the English. He went off to find them and returned with hundreds of poems describing how God must smite the English and rain blood on our heads.” &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/string-of-controversies-trigger-london-police-head-cressida-dicks-resignation-452267">String of controversies trigger London police head Cressida Dick’s resignation</a>

Biden also recalled how his mother visited the UK and spent a night in a hotel where, she was told, the Queen had once stayed. &nbsp;

“She was so appalled that she slept on the floor all night, rather than risk sleeping on a bed that the Queen had slept on,” Pritchett wrote. &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;&nbsp;

US President Joe Biden, who is of Irish descent, once revealed that his mother Catherine Eugenia Finnegan disliked England to a great extent. Once she chose to sleep on the floor and not in a bed where England’s Queen had slept previously, as per an autobiography of a comedian Georgia Pritchett.

US President Joe Biden, who is of Irish descent, once revealed that his mother Catherine Eugenia Finnegan disliked England to a great extent. Once she chose to sleep on the floor and not in a bed where England’s Queen had slept previously, as per an autobiography of a comedian Georgia Pritchett. Also Read: Inflation in US worsens, becomes highest in 40 years The US leader seems to have made the revelation when Pritchett met him in the White House during his tenure as vice-president, claimed the British comedian in his autobiography called 'My Mess is a Bit of a Life’. Pritchett had met Biden while conducting research for the hit comedy Veep, where she was an co-executive producer and joint writer. They were also coming up with a film tie-in of the show. During the meeting, the conversation had started with Biden’s trip to Ukraine. The comedian wrote: “He changed the subject to how much his mother hated the English. His parents were Irish and she had written several poems about her hatred of the English. He went off to find them and returned with hundreds of poems describing how God must smite the English and rain blood on our heads.” Also Read: String of controversies trigger London police head Cressida Dick’s resignation Biden also recalled how his mother visited the UK and spent a night in a hotel where, she was told, the Queen had once stayed. “She was so appalled that she slept on the floor all night, rather than risk sleeping on a bed that the Queen had slept on,” Pritchett wrote. (With inputs from agencies)

Biden’s mother disliked England, chose to sleep on floor rather than in bed where Queen had once slept  

in the face of soaring fuel prices and fears of diminishing energy supplies, US President Joe Biden held a phone call with King Salman of Saudi Arabia. It was the second reported conversation between them since Biden took office. Saudi Arabia is the largest crude exporter in the OPEC oil production group.

Biden, Saudi King discuss global oil supplies, Iran and Yemen

After a slew of diplomatic meetings trying to deescalate tensions over Ukraine, French president Emmanuel Macron briefed his US counterpart Joe Biden about his meetings with the top leaders. WION's correspondent Susan Tehrani brings in more information on this.

Russia-Ukraine tensions: Macron talks with Biden about his diplomatic meets with Putin and Zelensky

It is an intense week of diplomacy for the West on the Ukraine conflict. While French president Emmanuel Macron headed to Moscow and is on to Kyiv next, German chancellor Olaf Scholz headed to the White House. US President Joe Biden and German chancellor Olaf Scholz held detailed talks on the ongoing crisis but one key sticking point appeared to remain despite all pledges of unity the Nord stream 2 pipeline.

Biden pledges 'No Nord Stream 2 if Russia invades Ukraine'

US President Joe Biden said that US forces had eliminated Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, a leader of ISIS in a raid in Syria. The raid was carried out under his direction, Biden said in a statement. He said that all Americans returned safely from the operation.

"Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces in the northwest Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our Allies, and make the world a safer place. Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi—the leader of ISIS. All Americans have returned safely from the operation. I will deliver remarks to the American people later this morning. May God protect our troops," Biden said in the statement.

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Reports of the operation were doing rounds in media before the official statement from the president. It was initially thought that an Al Qaeda terrorist was the target.&nbsp;It has been reported that At least 13 people, including six children and four women were killed in the clashes. &nbsp;The raid targetted a house in the Atmeh area near the Turkish border.

After the initial reports, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby had confirmed that such a raid had taken place. Biden's statement was released after this.&nbsp;

"US Special Operations forces under the control of US&nbsp;Central Command conducted a counter-terrorism mission this evening in northwest Syria. The mission was successful," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in the statement earlier.

A US official said that "at the beginning of the operation the terrorist target exploded a bomb that killed him and members of his own family, including women and children."

&nbsp;“We all remember the gut wrenching stories, mass slaughters that wiped out entire villages, thousands of women and young girls sold into slavery, rape used a weapon of war,” and that “this horrible terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said.

(With inputs from agencies)

US President Joe Biden said that US forces had eliminated Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, a leader of ISIS in a raid in Syria. The raid was carried out under his direction, Biden said in a statement.

US President Joe Biden said that US forces had eliminated Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, a leader of ISIS in a raid in Syria. The raid was carried out under his direction, Biden said in a statement. He said that all Americans returned safely from the operation. "Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces in the northwest Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our Allies, and make the world a safer place. Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi—the leader of ISIS. All Americans have returned safely from the operation. I will deliver remarks to the American people later this morning. May God protect our troops," Biden said in the statement. × Reports of the operation were doing rounds in media before the official statement from the president. It was initially thought that an Al Qaeda terrorist was the target. It has been reported that At least 13 people, including six children and four women were killed in the clashes. The raid targetted a house in the Atmeh area near the Turkish border. After the initial reports, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby had confirmed that such a raid had taken place. Biden's statement was released after this. "US Special Operations forces under the control of US Central Command conducted a counter-terrorism mission this evening in northwest Syria. The mission was successful," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in the statement earlier. A US official said that "at the beginning of the operation the terrorist target exploded a bomb that killed him and members of his own family, including women and children." “We all remember the gut wrenching stories, mass slaughters that wiped out entire villages, thousands of women and young girls sold into slavery, rape used a weapon of war,” and that “this horrible terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said. (With inputs from agencies)

ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim exploded a bomb that killed him: US official

The situation at the Russia-Ukraine border remains tense and in a backdrop of military deployments and drills efforts to reach a diplomatic solution are in full swing despite roadblocks. In Lastest, the French president says that he will hold talks with US Prez Biden.

French President Emmanuel Macron to hold talks with US Prez Joe Biden on Russia-Ukraine crisis

Billionaires cut giant checks to super PACs. Small donors gave online in mass quantities. Multimillionaires poured money into their own campaigns. And both political parties announced record-setting hauls in 2021.

The 2022 midterm elections were awash in political money even before the year began, according to new Federal Election Commission campaign disclosures made Monday.

With control of both chambers up for grabs — the Senate is knotted at 50-50 and Democrats are clinging to a narrow majority in the House — the two parties were almost equally matched when it came to fundraising last year. The Democratic and Republican national committees, as well as the main House and Senate committees, pulled in nearly identical sums — about $400 million each.

On the Republican side, several primary contests in the coming months will pit the Trump wing of the party against more traditional Republicans.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the only Republican up for reelection in 2022 to have voted for former President Donald Trump’s impeachment, faces a right-wing challenge from Kelly Tshibaka, a Trump-endorsed rival.

Among Murkowski’s donors in December was George W. Bush, who listed his occupation as “former president.” Overall, Murkowski raised nearly $1.4 million and reported entering 2022 with $4.2 million cash on hand. Tshibaka raised $602,000 and had $634,000 cash on hand.

Bush made one other symbolic donation: the legal maximum of $5,800 to Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, one of the most outspoken anti-Trump Republicans in Congress.

Like Murkowski, Cheney outraised her Trump-backed challenger, Harriet Hageman, collecting $2 million to Hageman’s $443,000 last quarter, although money is often not the determining factor in outcomes, especially in high-profile cases that garner significant media attention.

The battleground contests expected to determine which party is in the Senate majority are shaping up to be especially expensive. In Georgia, Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, was the top 2022 Senate fundraiser, collecting $9.8 million in the fourth quarter. Warnock had nearly $23 million at the end of the year.

His likely Republican opponent, former football player Herschel Walker, was urged to run by Trump. Walker has emerged as one of the strongest new Republican fundraisers, raising $5.4 million, with $5.4 million in the bank.

In Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, raised $5.2 million and has $10.5 million in the bank; his expected Democratic challenger, Rep. Val Demings, outraised him by collecting $7.2 million, although she has less cash on hand, at $8.2 million.

While candidates face contribution limits of $2,900 each for the primary and general election, there is no limit on what the ultrarich can pour into campaigns through super PACs. Billionaire liberal philanthropist George Soros seeded his own political committee with $125 million, new disclosures show, a sign that he will yet again continue to be a major financier on the left.

Big money flowed, in particular, to super PACs focused on control of Congress.

In the House, the leading Republican super PAC and linked nonprofit announced raising twice as much money as the equivalent House Democratic groups, $110 million compared with $55 million last year.

The disclosed donors to the House Democratic super PAC in the second half of the year included media executive Fred Eychaner ($4 million); LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman ($1.45 million); and philanthropist Connie Ballmer and real estate developer George Marcus ($1 million each). Eychaner also gave $4 million to the Senate Democratic super PAC.

The top donors to the House Republican super PAC were Patrick G. Ryan, an insurance magnate who gave $10 million, and Ken Griffin, a hedge fund manager who also gave $10 million.

Griffin also gave $5 million to the main Republican Senate super PAC, making him its largest donor in the second half of the year.

In addition, Griffin gave $5 million to a Pennsylvania-focused super PAC that has opposed Dr. Mehmet Oz, a surgeon and former television show host running in the Republican primary there. Among his opponents is David McCormick, who is the former CEO of a prominent hedge fund and who entered the race after the filing deadline.

Oz contributed more than $5 million to his own race — one of multiple wealthy Republican candidates powering their Senate campaigns with their own money. Jeff Bartos, another Republican candidate in Pennsylvania, gave his campaign $1.3 million.

In Arizona, Jim Lamon, a former energy executive, has put more than $8 million of his own money into his primary Senate run.

In Ohio, the Senate race is crowded with wealthy Republican self-funders who have lent or donated money to their own campaigns: Mike Gibbons, an investment banker ($11.4 million); Jane Timken, a former party chair ($3.5 million); Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer ($3.75 million); and Matt Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians ($10.5 million).

Some of Dolan’s family members put an additional $3 million into a super PAC.

In Alabama, Mike Durant, who was in one of the Black Hawk helicopters that was shot down in Somalia in 1993, put more than $4 million into his run. Durant faces a former top aide to Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, Katie Britt, who raised $1.2 million last quarter and has $4.1 million cash on hand.

Trump has endorsed a third Alabama candidate, Rep. Mo Brooks, whose fundraising has flagged. Brooks raised only $386,000 in the fourth quarter, down sharply from his previous two quarters.

Big money also poured into the campaigns of some politicians who are not even on the ballot this year, reflecting the high stakes of the legislative battles that have raged on Capitol Hill over President Joe Biden’s agenda.

Two moderate Democratic senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who have not committed to supporting Biden’s signature domestic bill, raised bigger sums than some facing competitive contests, even though neither is up for election again until 2024.

Sinema raised nearly $1.6 million in the fourth quarter — more than four times what she raised in the first quarter of 2021. Nearly 98% of her money came from larger contributions. Some of her contributions were from traditional Republican donors, including Nelson Peltz, an investor; Harlan Crow, a real estate developer; and Mike Fernandez, a health care industry investor.

Manchin also raised almost $1.6 million, of which more than $300,000 came from PACs.

Billionaires cut giant checks to super PACs. Small donors gave online in mass quantities. Multimillionaires poured money into their own campaigns. And both political parties announced record-setting hauls in 2021.

Billionaires cut giant checks to super PACs. Small donors gave online in mass quantities. Multimillionaires poured money into their own campaigns. And both political parties announced record-setting hauls in 2021. The 2022 midterm elections were awash in political money even before the year began, according to new Federal Election Commission campaign disclosures made Monday. With control of both chambers up for grabs — the Senate is knotted at 50-50 and Democrats are clinging to a narrow majority in the House — the two parties were almost equally matched when it came to fundraising last year. The Democratic and Republican national committees, as well as the main House and Senate committees, pulled in nearly identical sums — about $400 million each. On the Republican side, several primary contests in the coming months will pit the Trump wing of the party against more traditional Republicans. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the only Republican up for reelection in 2022 to have voted for former President Donald Trump’s impeachment, faces a right-wing challenge from Kelly Tshibaka, a Trump-endorsed rival. Among Murkowski’s donors in December was George W. Bush, who listed his occupation as “former president.” Overall, Murkowski raised nearly $1.4 million and reported entering 2022 with $4.2 million cash on hand. Tshibaka raised $602,000 and had $634,000 cash on hand. Bush made one other symbolic donation: the legal maximum of $5,800 to Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, one of the most outspoken anti-Trump Republicans in Congress. Like Murkowski, Cheney outraised her Trump-backed challenger, Harriet Hageman, collecting $2 million to Hageman’s $443,000 last quarter, although money is often not the determining factor in outcomes, especially in high-profile cases that garner significant media attention. The battleground contests expected to determine which party is in the Senate majority are shaping up to be especially expensive. In Georgia, Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, was the top 2022 Senate fundraiser, collecting $9.8 million in the fourth quarter. Warnock had nearly $23 million at the end of the year. His likely Republican opponent, former football player Herschel Walker, was urged to run by Trump. Walker has emerged as one of the strongest new Republican fundraisers, raising $5.4 million, with $5.4 million in the bank. In Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, raised $5.2 million and has $10.5 million in the bank; his expected Democratic challenger, Rep. Val Demings, outraised him by collecting $7.2 million, although she has less cash on hand, at $8.2 million. While candidates face contribution limits of $2,900 each for the primary and general election, there is no limit on what the ultrarich can pour into campaigns through super PACs. Billionaire liberal philanthropist George Soros seeded his own political committee with $125 million, new disclosures show, a sign that he will yet again continue to be a major financier on the left. Big money flowed, in particular, to super PACs focused on control of Congress. In the House, the leading Republican super PAC and linked nonprofit announced raising twice as much money as the equivalent House Democratic groups, $110 million compared with $55 million last year. The disclosed donors to the House Democratic super PAC in the second half of the year included media executive Fred Eychaner ($4 million); LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman ($1.45 million); and philanthropist Connie Ballmer and real estate developer George Marcus ($1 million each). Eychaner also gave $4 million to the Senate Democratic super PAC. The top donors to the House Republican super PAC were Patrick G. Ryan, an insurance magnate who gave $10 million, and Ken Griffin, a hedge fund manager who also gave $10 million. Griffin also gave $5 million to the main Republican Senate super PAC, making him its largest donor in the second half of the year. In addition, Griffin gave $5 million to a Pennsylvania-focused super PAC that has opposed Dr. Mehmet Oz, a surgeon and former television show host running in the Republican primary there. Among his opponents is David McCormick, who is the former CEO of a prominent hedge fund and who entered the race after the filing deadline. Oz contributed more than $5 million to his own race — one of multiple wealthy Republican candidates powering their Senate campaigns with their own money. Jeff Bartos, another Republican candidate in Pennsylvania, gave his campaign $1.3 million. In Arizona, Jim Lamon, a former energy executive, has put more than $8 million of his own money into his primary Senate run. In Ohio, the Senate race is crowded with wealthy Republican self-funders who have lent or donated money to their own campaigns: Mike Gibbons, an investment banker ($11.4 million); Jane Timken, a former party chair ($3.5 million); Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer ($3.75 million); and Matt Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians ($10.5 million). Some of Dolan’s family members put an additional $3 million into a super PAC. In Alabama, Mike Durant, who was in one of the Black Hawk helicopters that was shot down in Somalia in 1993, put more than $4 million into his run. Durant faces a former top aide to Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, Katie Britt, who raised $1.2 million last quarter and has $4.1 million cash on hand. Trump has endorsed a third Alabama candidate, Rep. Mo Brooks, whose fundraising has flagged. Brooks raised only $386,000 in the fourth quarter, down sharply from his previous two quarters. Big money also poured into the campaigns of some politicians who are not even on the ballot this year, reflecting the high stakes of the legislative battles that have raged on Capitol Hill over President Joe Biden’s agenda. Two moderate Democratic senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who have not committed to supporting Biden’s signature domestic bill, raised bigger sums than some facing competitive contests, even though neither is up for election again until 2024. Sinema raised nearly $1.6 million in the fourth quarter — more than four times what she raised in the first quarter of 2021. Nearly 98% of her money came from larger contributions. Some of her contributions were from traditional Republican donors, including Nelson Peltz, an investor; Harlan Crow, a real estate developer; and Mike Fernandez, a health care industry investor. Manchin also raised almost $1.6 million, of which more than $300,000 came from PACs.

Billionaires and big cheques shape battle for Congress

The American president Joe Biden hosted the Emir Of State Of Qatar. The US president designated Qatar a major Non-NATO ally, and expressed his gratitude for the tiny Persian Gulf nation's assistance with evacuations from Afghanistan and in ending last year's Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

US President Biden designates Qatar as a major Non-NATO ally

The United States has called on the Taliban to release an American civil engineer abducted in Afghanistan two years ago. Mark Frerichs, a 59-year-old US Navy veteran, was kidnapped in early 2020 and passed on to the dreaded Haqqani Network a month before Washington signed the true pull-out deal in Doha.

United States president Joe Biden demands release of Mark Frerichs

President Joe Biden is contending with an uncomfortable disconnect: The economy grew at the fastest pace since 1984 last year, but voters are downright pessimistic about economic conditions and their own financial prospects.

The divide traces back to the lingering pandemic and high prices, economists said. Inflation is running at its fastest pace since 1982, eroding gains and eating away paychecks as even robust wage increases struggle to keep pace. And despite vaccines, life has yet to return to normal in the way many people once expected.

The disparity poses a significant challenge for Biden and his party before the November midterm elections. Faltering consumer confidence in the economy — and Biden’s handling of it — could be a liability as Democrats battle to keep control of both the House and Senate.

Biden and his top advisers are trying to turn attention toward the positives: emphasising how rapidly the economy has recovered and that wages are rising, and hailing efforts to fix snarled supply chains and rebuild domestic manufacturing.

“We are finally building an American economy for the 21st century, with the fastest economic growth in nearly four decades, along with the greatest year of job growth in American history,” Biden said in a statement following the release of gross domestic product data Thursday.

But inflation has complicated that narrative.

The new GDP figures show that the economy has more than fully recovered from its pandemic hit, but a big chunk of that progress evaporates when you factor in recent price gains. In fact, growth is still falling short of its pre-pandemic trend after it is adjusted for inflation.

The bite that inflation is taking out of the recovery is palpable in everyday life. Workers are seeing their wages rise at the fastest pace in decades — but as they have to shell out more for couches, used cars, steaks and frozen chicken, many are finding that today’s bigger paycheck does not go as far as last year’s smaller one. While the unemployment rate has dropped much faster than almost anyone predicted, millions remain on its sidelines as child care issues and coronavirus fears persist.

“It’s kind of hard to be cheerful when there’s still a pandemic raging,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. Plus, “pocketbook issues really are important.”

The contrast between how the economy is doing on paper and how it feels on the ground has made it difficult for Biden to capitalize politically on what has been, by most measures, a historically strong economic recovery even after accounting for rising prices.

Biden might take some comfort from the last president to experience a similar combination of strong growth and rapid inflation: Ronald Reagan. Reagan, too, faced an economy struggling with rising prices and snarled supply lines early in his term. He, too, initially struggled to convince Americans that the economy was on the upswing. Yet in 1984, his message of “morning in America” carried him to a landslide reelection victory.

There are important differences. Reagan took office near the peak of the “Great Inflation” of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when interest rates were very high; by 1984, price growth and borrowing costs both had moderated. Economic growth also accelerated near the end of Reagan’s first term, whereas now most forecasters expect growth to slow as the post-pandemic boom fades. And Reagan ran for reelection in an era when views of the economy were much less divided along partisan lines than they are today.

The conundrum Biden is facing shows clearly in polling and survey numbers.

A Gallup survey conducted this month found that Americans view the economy more negatively than positively: Only 29% said the economy was improving, while 67% believed it was getting worse.

Consumer expectations data produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has shown that a high share of consumers expect to be financially worse off a year from now: 26.3% in December, compared to 9.9% at the end of 2019, before the onset of the coronavirus. That change has come as inflation expectations tracked by the same survey have surged.

Part of the gloominess inevitably ties back to the long-lasting pandemic. While people harbored hope that the economy would reopen and ordinary life would resume once vaccines were readily available, continued waves of infection have prevented that from happening.

“There was a lot of optimism a year ago,” said Karen Dynan, a Harvard economist and former Treasury official in the Obama administration. “We’d gotten the vaccines faster than we’d thought, and we thought our lives were going to be able to go back to normal, and people just expected the economy to come along with that. And maybe that was a little naive.”

Getting voters to feel like they are benefiting from recent progress toward restoring the economy probably hinges on two things: bringing the pandemic under control and bringing inflation to heel.

Price gains are expected to fade this year, partly on their own and partly as a result of fiscal and monetary policy. While Congress and the White House pumped a lot of money into the economy last year in the form of expanded unemployment insurance, one-time checks and other benefits, that support is waning, which means that consumers will have less new money in their pockets to spend this year. As demand slackens, it may allow beleaguered supply chains to catch up.

The Federal Reserve is also preparing to raise interest rates, signalling that an initial increase is coming at its meeting in March; it has already begun to pull back its additional support for the economy. Higher borrowing costs should further cool off consumer and business demand, slowing hiring and wage growth in the process.

The trouble for the administration is that if the Fed slows down the economy drastically in its bid to tame inflation, voters may not end up happier: Fast growth and fast inflation and slow growth and slow inflation may both prove to be bad outcomes, from a worker’s perspective.

“Nirvana would be strong growth and low inflation,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, the payroll processor and employment data provider. “That would be harder to pull off.”

Policymakers hope that the Fed will be able to engineer what economists call a “soft landing,” stabilizing prices while also managing to keep the job market relatively strong and growth chugging along steadily.

Yet economists have warned that accomplishing that could be a challenge, and the timeline may clash with America’s political cycle. Price gains are expected to begin to moderate by November, but high costs may not have completely evaporated by then.

The Fed projected in December that inflation would be running at about 2.6% by the end of this year, down sharply from the current pace — it is expected to come in at 5.8% in a report set for release Friday — but still above the central bank’s 2% goal.

The Fed is not partisan and operates independently of the White House. But its policies can affect political outcomes.

“The question is, do you want to be in the situation where demand is curtailed and we’re slowing down headed into an election cycle?” Richardson said. “There’s a lot of risk there.”

&nbsp;

And in the meantime, Republicans have been zeroing in on rising prices, blaming the administration’s 2021 relief package and arguing that they detract from economic progress.

“There are real red flags here, with raging inflation, a massive drop in real disposable income and GDP growth driven primarily by a temporary buildup in inventories,” Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said in a release after the GDP report.

“Given that many Americans have lost confidence in his competency to heal the economy, it’s too soon for President Biden be celebrating, with the challenges workers and families face.”

President Joe Biden is contending with an uncomfortable disconnect: The economy grew at the fastest pace since 1984 last year, but voters are downright pessimistic about economic conditions and their own financial prospects.

President Joe Biden is contending with an uncomfortable disconnect: The economy grew at the fastest pace since 1984 last year, but voters are downright pessimistic about economic conditions and their own financial prospects. The divide traces back to the lingering pandemic and high prices, economists said. Inflation is running at its fastest pace since 1982, eroding gains and eating away paychecks as even robust wage increases struggle to keep pace. And despite vaccines, life has yet to return to normal in the way many people once expected. The disparity poses a significant challenge for Biden and his party before the November midterm elections. Faltering consumer confidence in the economy — and Biden’s handling of it — could be a liability as Democrats battle to keep control of both the House and Senate. Biden and his top advisers are trying to turn attention toward the positives: emphasising how rapidly the economy has recovered and that wages are rising, and hailing efforts to fix snarled supply chains and rebuild domestic manufacturing. “We are finally building an American economy for the 21st century, with the fastest economic growth in nearly four decades, along with the greatest year of job growth in American history,” Biden said in a statement following the release of gross domestic product data Thursday. But inflation has complicated that narrative. The new GDP figures show that the economy has more than fully recovered from its pandemic hit, but a big chunk of that progress evaporates when you factor in recent price gains. In fact, growth is still falling short of its pre-pandemic trend after it is adjusted for inflation. The bite that inflation is taking out of the recovery is palpable in everyday life. Workers are seeing their wages rise at the fastest pace in decades — but as they have to shell out more for couches, used cars, steaks and frozen chicken, many are finding that today’s bigger paycheck does not go as far as last year’s smaller one. While the unemployment rate has dropped much faster than almost anyone predicted, millions remain on its sidelines as child care issues and coronavirus fears persist. “It’s kind of hard to be cheerful when there’s still a pandemic raging,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. Plus, “pocketbook issues really are important.” The contrast between how the economy is doing on paper and how it feels on the ground has made it difficult for Biden to capitalize politically on what has been, by most measures, a historically strong economic recovery even after accounting for rising prices. Biden might take some comfort from the last president to experience a similar combination of strong growth and rapid inflation: Ronald Reagan. Reagan, too, faced an economy struggling with rising prices and snarled supply lines early in his term. He, too, initially struggled to convince Americans that the economy was on the upswing. Yet in 1984, his message of “morning in America” carried him to a landslide reelection victory. There are important differences. Reagan took office near the peak of the “Great Inflation” of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when interest rates were very high; by 1984, price growth and borrowing costs both had moderated. Economic growth also accelerated near the end of Reagan’s first term, whereas now most forecasters expect growth to slow as the post-pandemic boom fades. And Reagan ran for reelection in an era when views of the economy were much less divided along partisan lines than they are today. The conundrum Biden is facing shows clearly in polling and survey numbers. A Gallup survey conducted this month found that Americans view the economy more negatively than positively: Only 29% said the economy was improving, while 67% believed it was getting worse. Consumer expectations data produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has shown that a high share of consumers expect to be financially worse off a year from now: 26.3% in December, compared to 9.9% at the end of 2019, before the onset of the coronavirus. That change has come as inflation expectations tracked by the same survey have surged. Part of the gloominess inevitably ties back to the long-lasting pandemic. While people harbored hope that the economy would reopen and ordinary life would resume once vaccines were readily available, continued waves of infection have prevented that from happening. “There was a lot of optimism a year ago,” said Karen Dynan, a Harvard economist and former Treasury official in the Obama administration. “We’d gotten the vaccines faster than we’d thought, and we thought our lives were going to be able to go back to normal, and people just expected the economy to come along with that. And maybe that was a little naive.” Getting voters to feel like they are benefiting from recent progress toward restoring the economy probably hinges on two things: bringing the pandemic under control and bringing inflation to heel. Price gains are expected to fade this year, partly on their own and partly as a result of fiscal and monetary policy. While Congress and the White House pumped a lot of money into the economy last year in the form of expanded unemployment insurance, one-time checks and other benefits, that support is waning, which means that consumers will have less new money in their pockets to spend this year. As demand slackens, it may allow beleaguered supply chains to catch up. The Federal Reserve is also preparing to raise interest rates, signalling that an initial increase is coming at its meeting in March; it has already begun to pull back its additional support for the economy. Higher borrowing costs should further cool off consumer and business demand, slowing hiring and wage growth in the process. The trouble for the administration is that if the Fed slows down the economy drastically in its bid to tame inflation, voters may not end up happier: Fast growth and fast inflation and slow growth and slow inflation may both prove to be bad outcomes, from a worker’s perspective. “Nirvana would be strong growth and low inflation,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, the payroll processor and employment data provider. “That would be harder to pull off.” Policymakers hope that the Fed will be able to engineer what economists call a “soft landing,” stabilizing prices while also managing to keep the job market relatively strong and growth chugging along steadily. Yet economists have warned that accomplishing that could be a challenge, and the timeline may clash with America’s political cycle. Price gains are expected to begin to moderate by November, but high costs may not have completely evaporated by then. The Fed projected in December that inflation would be running at about 2.6% by the end of this year, down sharply from the current pace — it is expected to come in at 5.8% in a report set for release Friday — but still above the central bank’s 2% goal. The Fed is not partisan and operates independently of the White House. But its policies can affect political outcomes. “The question is, do you want to be in the situation where demand is curtailed and we’re slowing down headed into an election cycle?” Richardson said. “There’s a lot of risk there.” And in the meantime, Republicans have been zeroing in on rising prices, blaming the administration’s 2021 relief package and arguing that they detract from economic progress. “There are real red flags here, with raging inflation, a massive drop in real disposable income and GDP growth driven primarily by a temporary buildup in inventories,” Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said in a release after the GDP report. “Given that many Americans have lost confidence in his competency to heal the economy, it’s too soon for President Biden be celebrating, with the challenges workers and families face.”

Growth is surging in Biden’s economy, why don’t voters feel better?

Pics: Bridge collapses in Pittsburg just hours before Biden's visit

US President Joe Biden and his Democratic Party may be on thin ice as his approval ratings among US voters continue to crash. To add to Biden's woes,&nbsp;It has now been observed that Biden's support among African-American voters is dwindling. In a survey carried out by Pew Research Center, it has been revealed that Biden's approval rating among African-American voters has gone down by 7 per cent since September last year.

In September last year, 67 per cent of African-Africans approved Biden's performance. But now only 60 per cent feel so. African-American voters traditionally vote for Democratic Party and a big dent in this vote bank may prove to be problematic for the party

Percentage of White voters supporting Biden has also seen a decrease. The number has gone from 37 per cent to 33 per cent. Biden's support among Hispanic (52%) and Asian (55 voters) has remained somewhat unchanged.

When Biden took&nbsp;office after 2020 US Presidential Elections, there was a palpable feeling of relief in and outside USA as Biden's predecessor Donald Trump was seen as an isolationist leader with a slant towards the right-wing. After he took office, Biden did a course correction of US foreign policy and reentered agreements and understandings with allies.

However, Biden's stature took a massive hit after America's disastrous exit from Afghanistan. The regime America propped up for two decades collapsed in matter of weeks and US had to rely on the Taliban's help to get own citizens out of the country.

Biden's handling of the Covid pandemic in US, especially his vaccine mandates have been divisive issues.

Midterm elections are due to be held in November this year. It is being predicted that Democratic Party may face a heavy defeat in US Congress. If this happens, it will be even harder for Biden to push his legislations through Congress.

US President Joe Biden and his Democratic Party may be on thin ice as his approval ratings among US voters continue to crash. To add to Biden's woes, It has now been observed that Biden's support among African-American voters is dwindling.

US President Joe Biden and his Democratic Party may be on thin ice as his approval ratings among US voters continue to crash. To add to Biden's woes, It has now been observed that Biden's support among African-American voters is dwindling. In a survey carried out by Pew Research Center, it has been revealed that Biden's approval rating among African-American voters has gone down by 7 per cent since September last year. In September last year, 67 per cent of African-Africans approved Biden's performance. But now only 60 per cent feel so. African-American voters traditionally vote for Democratic Party and a big dent in this vote bank may prove to be problematic for the party Percentage of White voters supporting Biden has also seen a decrease. The number has gone from 37 per cent to 33 per cent. Biden's support among Hispanic (52%) and Asian (55 voters) has remained somewhat unchanged. When Biden took office after 2020 US Presidential Elections, there was a palpable feeling of relief in and outside USA as Biden's predecessor Donald Trump was seen as an isolationist leader with a slant towards the right-wing. After he took office, Biden did a course correction of US foreign policy and reentered agreements and understandings with allies. However, Biden's stature took a massive hit after America's disastrous exit from Afghanistan. The regime America propped up for two decades collapsed in matter of weeks and US had to rely on the Taliban's help to get own citizens out of the country. Biden's handling of the Covid pandemic in US, especially his vaccine mandates have been divisive issues. Midterm elections are due to be held in November this year. It is being predicted that Democratic Party may face a heavy defeat in US Congress. If this happens, it will be even harder for Biden to push his legislations through Congress.

Biden's support among African-American voters dwindles

The US&nbsp;administration on Monday declined to rule out sending American troops to Ukraine as new satellite images revealed Russian forces assembling at numerous critical strategic areas along the Ukrainian border in preparation for an invasion.

In a warning to Moscow on the eve of talks between presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, the US indicated it would impose tough new economic sanctions in reaction to a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

According to a senior US official, Biden will also make it clear to Putin that the US would not rule out eventual Ukrainian membership in Nato, as the Russian leader has asked. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/what-will-happen-if-russian-troops-invade-ukraine-431684">Also Read:&nbsp;What will happen if Russian troops invade Ukraine?</a>

The images show ground military equipment being deployed as well as personnel buildup in western Russia and Crimea.

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Maxar Tech satellite images show Russian troops massed near Ukraine border<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/russiaukraine?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#russiaukraine</a> <a href="https://t.co/a8nxqSSt4y">pic.twitter.com/a8nxqSSt4y</a>
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Just hours after the photos were posted, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked if Americans should be prepared for US military on the ground if Russia decided to invade.

"I’m not going to get ahead of the President’s conversations with our transatlantic partners, which is going to happen later this afternoon," Psaki responded, "and we’ll provide you a list of who will be participating in that call as soon as the scheduling details are finalized.&nbsp; 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-planning-to-invade-ukraine-with-175000-troops-report-434188">Also read | Russia planning to invade Ukraine with 175,000 troops: Report</a>

But I would say that our objective here is to convey diplomatically that this is the moment for Russia to pull back its military buildup at the border, "Psaki added.

The United States and European allies are prepared to take "substantial economic countermeasures ... that would impose significant and severe economic harm on the Russian economy" if Russia attacks, the official said.

In addition, Biden will make clear that if Putin "moved in, there would be an increasing request from eastern flank allies and a positive response from the United States for additional forces and capabilities and exercises," they said.

(With inputs from agencies)

The US administration on Monday declined to rule out sending American troops to Ukraine as new satellite images revealed Russian forces assembling at numerous critical strategic areas along the Ukrainian border in preparation for an invasion.

The US administration on Monday declined to rule out sending American troops to Ukraine as new satellite images revealed Russian forces assembling at numerous critical strategic areas along the Ukrainian border in preparation for an invasion. In a warning to Moscow on the eve of talks between presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, the US indicated it would impose tough new economic sanctions in reaction to a Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to a senior US official, Biden will also make it clear to Putin that the US would not rule out eventual Ukrainian membership in Nato, as the Russian leader has asked. Also Read: What will happen if Russian troops invade Ukraine? The images show ground military equipment being deployed as well as personnel buildup in western Russia and Crimea. Maxar Tech satellite images show Russian troops massed near Ukraine border#russiaukraine pic.twitter.com/a8nxqSSt4y — ChicagoMike (@ChicagoMyk) December 7, 2021 × Just hours after the photos were posted, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked if Americans should be prepared for US military on the ground if Russia decided to invade. "I’m not going to get ahead of the President’s conversations with our transatlantic partners, which is going to happen later this afternoon," Psaki responded, "and we’ll provide you a list of who will be participating in that call as soon as the scheduling details are finalized. Also read | Russia planning to invade Ukraine with 175,000 troops: Report But I would say that our objective here is to convey diplomatically that this is the moment for Russia to pull back its military buildup at the border, "Psaki added. The United States and European allies are prepared to take "substantial economic countermeasures ... that would impose significant and severe economic harm on the Russian economy" if Russia attacks, the official said. In addition, Biden will make clear that if Putin "moved in, there would be an increasing request from eastern flank allies and a positive response from the United States for additional forces and capabilities and exercises," they said. (With inputs from agencies)

If Russia invades Ukraine, US to send more troops to Eastern Europe

The tensions between Ukraine and Russia have been rising unabated. It seems to be the right time to deescalate before the situation leads to war. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Along with congratulating new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on his appointment, US President Joe Biden on Friday spoke about various issues, including efforts needed to check military buildup by Russia near Ukraine, the White House said. &nbsp;

Ukraine&nbsp;President Volodymyr Zelensky&nbsp;on Friday said that the opportunities of talks with Russia may come up as diplomatic efforts have been undertaken by the US to de-escalate tensions. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/on-human-rights-day-us-imposes-sanctions-on-myanmar-china-north-korea-435962" hreflang="en">On Human Rights Day, US imposes sanctions on Myanmar, China, North Korea</a>

In a Twitter post, Biden, said, "Today, I spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to congratulate him on his appointment." &nbsp;

The White House said, “Biden reaffirmed his support for robust US-German relations and desire to further strengthen transatlantic cooperation." &nbsp;&nbsp;

The two leaders also discussed issues including "continued efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic, counter the threat of climate change and address Russia’s escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine," it said. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-supreme-court-allows-abortion-providers-to-challenge-texas-law-in-federal-court-435920" hreflang="en">US Supreme Court allows abortion providers to challenge Texas law in federal court</a>

Creating fears of a possible invasion, Moscow has increased the number of troops near Ukraine's border. &nbsp;

Zelenskyy, in an interview aired by Ukrainian TV channel 1+1 on Friday, said that ‘thanks to the US’, one more platform for talks with Russia may surface, along with the Normandy format, which involves France and Germany. &nbsp;

“I see the support for this path from both our European partners and the US," Zelenskyy said. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

The tensions between Ukraine and Russia have been rising unabated. It seems to be the right time to deescalate before the situation leads to war. Along with congratulating new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on his appointment, US President Joe Biden on Friday spoke about various issues, including efforts needed to check military buildup by Russia near Ukraine, the White House said.

The tensions between Ukraine and Russia have been rising unabated. It seems to be the right time to deescalate before the situation leads to war. Along with congratulating new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on his appointment, US President Joe Biden on Friday spoke about various issues, including efforts needed to check military buildup by Russia near Ukraine, the White House said. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday said that the opportunities of talks with Russia may come up as diplomatic efforts have been undertaken by the US to de-escalate tensions. Also Read: On Human Rights Day, US imposes sanctions on Myanmar, China, North Korea In a Twitter post, Biden, said, "Today, I spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to congratulate him on his appointment." The White House said, “Biden reaffirmed his support for robust US-German relations and desire to further strengthen transatlantic cooperation." The two leaders also discussed issues including "continued efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic, counter the threat of climate change and address Russia’s escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine," it said. Also Read: US Supreme Court allows abortion providers to challenge Texas law in federal court Creating fears of a possible invasion, Moscow has increased the number of troops near Ukraine's border. Zelenskyy, in an interview aired by Ukrainian TV channel 1+1 on Friday, said that ‘thanks to the US’, one more platform for talks with Russia may surface, along with the Normandy format, which involves France and Germany. “I see the support for this path from both our European partners and the US," Zelenskyy said. (With inputs from agencies)

Ukraine-Russia tensions: Biden talks to Germany's Scholz as Kyiv leader looks for talks with Moscow

US President Joe Biden is due to speak on Sunday with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zekensky on phone about Russian assertiveness in the region. There are growing fears that Russian military build-up along its border with Ukraine is a preparation for an invasion. Russia has already annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

Biden's conversation with Zelensky, a show of support, will come just days after Biden's warning to Russia against invading Ukraine. The USA and number of western countries have threatened Russia of severe consequences if it invades Ukraine.

There have been allegations from Russian quarters that Ukraine's manoeuvres were threatening Russian security. But this is widely seen as an excuse-building exercise to justify possible aggression.

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Using some of his most direct language yet, Biden said Friday, "I'm not going to negotiate here in public, but we made it clear he cannot -- I'll emphasize, cannot -- invade Ukraine."

The US leader added, in remarks to reporters during a holiday stay in Delaware, that he had "made it clear to President Putin that we will have severe sanctions, we will increase our presence in Europe, with NATO allies" if Russia invades Ukraine.

The White House said that in Sunday's call with Zelensky, Biden will "reaffirm US support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, discuss Russia's military build-up on Ukraine's borders, and review preparations for upcoming diplomatic engagements to help de-escalate the situation in the region."

Zelensky tweeted: "Look forward to talking again with @POTUS this Sunday to coordinate our steps for the sake of peace in Ukraine and security in Europe."

'Engage meaningfully'

Washington and its European allies accuse Russia of threatening Ukraine with a new invasion.&nbsp;

Some 100,000 Russian troops are massed near the border of the country, where Putin already seized the Crimea region in 2014 and is accused of fomenting a pro-Russian separatist war which erupted that same year in the east.

Moscow describes the troop presence as protection against the expansion of NATO, although Ukraine has not been offered membership in the military alliance.

High-ranking US and Russian officials are due to sit down on January 9 and 10 in Geneva to discuss the crisis.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Friday with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg; afterwards, Blinken urged Russia to "engage meaningfully" in the upcoming talks on the tense standoff between Moscow and Kiev.

Stoltenberg said that NATO was "united" and "prepared for dialogue."

In Thursday's call, Biden warned Putin against invading Ukraine, while the Kremlin leader said anti-Moscow sanctions would be a "colossal mistake."

After a 50-minute phone call -- their second in just over three weeks -- both presidents indicated support for further diplomacy.

Putin was "pleased" overall with the talks, foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov told reporters.&nbsp;

A senior US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the tone "was serious and substantive."

But there was no disguising the depth of disagreement -- or the dangerously high stakes on the fringes of eastern Europe.

(With inputs from agencies)

US President Joe Biden is due to speak on Sunday with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zekensky on phone about Russian assertiveness in the region. There are growing fears that Russian military build-up along its border with Ukraine is a preparation for an invasion.

US President Joe Biden is due to speak on Sunday with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zekensky on phone about Russian assertiveness in the region. There are growing fears that Russian military build-up along its border with Ukraine is a preparation for an invasion. Russia has already annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Biden's conversation with Zelensky, a show of support, will come just days after Biden's warning to Russia against invading Ukraine. The USA and number of western countries have threatened Russia of severe consequences if it invades Ukraine. There have been allegations from Russian quarters that Ukraine's manoeuvres were threatening Russian security. But this is widely seen as an excuse-building exercise to justify possible aggression. × Using some of his most direct language yet, Biden said Friday, "I'm not going to negotiate here in public, but we made it clear he cannot -- I'll emphasize, cannot -- invade Ukraine." The US leader added, in remarks to reporters during a holiday stay in Delaware, that he had "made it clear to President Putin that we will have severe sanctions, we will increase our presence in Europe, with NATO allies" if Russia invades Ukraine. The White House said that in Sunday's call with Zelensky, Biden will "reaffirm US support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, discuss Russia's military build-up on Ukraine's borders, and review preparations for upcoming diplomatic engagements to help de-escalate the situation in the region." Zelensky tweeted: "Look forward to talking again with @POTUS this Sunday to coordinate our steps for the sake of peace in Ukraine and security in Europe." 'Engage meaningfully' Washington and its European allies accuse Russia of threatening Ukraine with a new invasion. Some 100,000 Russian troops are massed near the border of the country, where Putin already seized the Crimea region in 2014 and is accused of fomenting a pro-Russian separatist war which erupted that same year in the east. Moscow describes the troop presence as protection against the expansion of NATO, although Ukraine has not been offered membership in the military alliance. High-ranking US and Russian officials are due to sit down on January 9 and 10 in Geneva to discuss the crisis. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Friday with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg; afterwards, Blinken urged Russia to "engage meaningfully" in the upcoming talks on the tense standoff between Moscow and Kiev. Stoltenberg said that NATO was "united" and "prepared for dialogue." In Thursday's call, Biden warned Putin against invading Ukraine, while the Kremlin leader said anti-Moscow sanctions would be a "colossal mistake." After a 50-minute phone call -- their second in just over three weeks -- both presidents indicated support for further diplomacy. Putin was "pleased" overall with the talks, foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov told reporters. A senior US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the tone "was serious and substantive." But there was no disguising the depth of disagreement -- or the dangerously high stakes on the fringes of eastern Europe. (With inputs from agencies)

Biden to speak with Ukraine president on heels of warning to Russia against invasion

A senior US official said on Sunday that the US will announce its "next steps" over Ukraine crisis. The statement came after &nbsp;intense diplomacy failed to ease the threat of a new conflict over Ukraine

Amid mounting fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, national security advisor Jake Sullivan said the US was "ready either way."&nbsp;

"We're in close touch with our allies and partners, including the Ukrainians," the top advisor to President Joe Biden told CBS. "We're coordinating closely on next steps. And we'll have more to share in terms of the next steps into the diplomacy early next week."

"But the key point here is that we're ready either way. If Russia wants to move forward with diplomacy, we are absolutely ready to do that in lockstep with our allies and partners.

"If Russia wants to go down the path of invasion and escalation, we're ready for that too, with a robust response."

Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops along its border with Ukraine. Though Russia claims that it does not plan to invade Ukraine, tensions are high.

The Kremlin again insisted on Sunday that it did not want to lead "a military action," even while warning of unnamed "counter actions" if NATO rejects Moscow's demands to lessen its military presence in Eastern Europe.

Meantime, officials in Kiev said Sunday they had proof that Moscow was involved in what they called a "massive cyberattack on government websites" in Ukraine.&nbsp;

The Kremlin has denied any involvement.

(With inputs from agencies)

A senior US official said on Sunday that the US will announce its "next steps" over Ukraine crisis. The statement came after intense diplomacy failed to ease the threat of a new conflict over Ukraine Amid mounting fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, national security advisor Jake Sullivan said the US was "ready either way.

A senior US official said on Sunday that the US will announce its "next steps" over Ukraine crisis. The statement came after intense diplomacy failed to ease the threat of a new conflict over Ukraine Amid mounting fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, national security advisor Jake Sullivan said the US was "ready either way." "We're in close touch with our allies and partners, including the Ukrainians," the top advisor to President Joe Biden told CBS. "We're coordinating closely on next steps. And we'll have more to share in terms of the next steps into the diplomacy early next week." "But the key point here is that we're ready either way. If Russia wants to move forward with diplomacy, we are absolutely ready to do that in lockstep with our allies and partners. "If Russia wants to go down the path of invasion and escalation, we're ready for that too, with a robust response." Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops along its border with Ukraine. Though Russia claims that it does not plan to invade Ukraine, tensions are high. The Kremlin again insisted on Sunday that it did not want to lead "a military action," even while warning of unnamed "counter actions" if NATO rejects Moscow's demands to lessen its military presence in Eastern Europe. Meantime, officials in Kiev said Sunday they had proof that Moscow was involved in what they called a "massive cyberattack on government websites" in Ukraine. The Kremlin has denied any involvement. (With inputs from agencies)

Ukraine crisis: US 'ready either way', says Biden aide

President Joe Biden and his legal team have spent a year preparing for this moment: the chance to make good on his pledge to name the first Black woman to the Supreme Court at a time of continuing racial reckoning for the country.

The decision by Justice Stephen G. Breyer to retire will give Biden his most high-profile opportunity since taking office to reshape the federal judiciary, having already nominated dozens of district and appeals court judges from a range of racial, ethnic and legal backgrounds.

His promise also underscores how much Black women have struggled to become part of a very small pool of elite judges in the nation’s higher federal courts. Speculation on Wednesday focused on a rarefied group of well-credentialed Black women who have elite educations and experience on the bench.

The short list included Ketanji Brown Jackson, a 51-year-old judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit who graduated from Harvard Law School and clerked for Breyer, and Leondra R. Kruger, a 45-year-old justice on the California Supreme Court who graduated from Yale Law School and clerked for former Justice John Paul Stevens.

J. Michelle Childs, 55, a little-known U.S. District Court judge in South Carolina whom Biden recently nominated for an appeals court, is also seen as a potential contender. One of Biden’s top congressional allies, Rep. James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, told Biden during the presidential campaign that he believed she should be appointed, in part because she came from a blue-collar background, another underrepresented group among federal judges.

Jackson and Kruger attended Ivy League law schools, unlike Childs, who attended the University of South Carolina. And while there are some differences in the women’s backgrounds and experience, they are united in being among a relative handful of Black women who have the kind of credentials normally considered qualifications for the Supreme Court.

The first Black woman to serve as a federal appeals court judge — an experience that in the modern era is usually a key credential in becoming a justice — was appointed by President Gerald R. Ford in 1975. By the time Biden took office more than 40 years later, only seven more had served in such a position.

“If you just look at the raw numbers, it’s a telling and a sobering statistic,” said Leslie D. Davis, the chief executive of the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms. “That makes it clear that we must do better.”

Biden has said he hopes the diversity he has brought to the high ranks of the federal government will be a centerpiece of his legacy. In addition to his record on judgeships, his decision to pick Kamala Harris as his running mate during the 2020 campaign led to her becoming the first Black woman to serve as vice president.

Half of Biden’s first 16 nominees for federal appeals courts have been Black women — as many as all previous presidents combined had appointed. That emphasis has attracted scrutiny from across the ideological spectrum. For Davis, the important point of comparison is how few Black women had previously been appointed to the federal bench.

“It’s a story that Black women’s voices have not been appreciated,” she said, “that their perspectives have not been valued, and their voices have not been heard.”

But conservatives like the National Review legal commentator Ed Whelan have pointed out that the number of Black women Biden has nominated is strikingly disproportionate to the available pool of Black women with law degrees.

According to a 2021 profile of the legal profession by the American Bar Association, just 4.7% of American lawyers are Black and 37% of lawyers are female. The report did not break out Black women in particular, but the implication is that roughly 2% of American lawyers are both Black and female.

“By Biden’s declared standard of demographic diversity, his first year of judicial nominations has clearly been a remarkable success,” Whelan wrote this month, calling Biden’s record on appointing Black women “extraordinary” while also taking “some delight in noting” that liberal white males, with just two appellate nomination slots so far, were “the big losers.”

Biden made his promise to name a Black woman to the Supreme Court at a debate in February 2020, just days before facing his Democratic rivals in the South Carolina primary, where Black people make up a large portion of the party’s voters. At the time, his campaign was struggling amid losses in two of the early presidential contests.

“I’m looking forward to making sure there’s a Black woman on the Supreme Court to make sure we in fact get everyone represented,” Biden said that night.

The promise helped Biden secure the support of Clyburn just days before the party’s contest in South Carolina.

“I have three daughters,” Clyburn told Bloomberg. “I think I would be less than a good dad if I did not say to the president-to-be, this is an issue that is simmering in the African American community, that Black women think they have as much right to sit on the Supreme Court as any other women, and up to that point none had been considered.”

Biden went on to win the South Carolina primary, proving the durability of his support among Black voters and setting in motion a string of victories on Super Tuesday a short time later.

Biden's Supreme Court selection will take place in a country still feeling the reverberations of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020 and subsequent mass protests over racial justice.

It also would come as the conservative-dominated court agreed this week to hear cases challenging race-conscious college admissions programs, raising the possibility that it may ban affirmative action policies aimed at maintaining racial diversity.

Biden’s political support has been especially strong among Black women. New York Times exit polling data from the 2020 election showed that while they made up just 8% of the electorate, they were Biden’s most lopsided supporters: 90% of Black female voters cast their ballots for him.

And in Georgia, Biden’s win was followed by Democrats sweeping a pair of crucial runoff elections for Senate seats that gave the party razor-thin control of the Senate — and with it the ability to confirm judges without needing any Republican support.

Several factors went into those narrow wins that flipped the state blue, but one was that a group of Black female organizers — most famously Stacey Abrams, the former candidate for governor who founded a voter registration group called the New Georgia Project — had been working to register hundreds of thousands new voters and encourage them to turn out.

For Democrats, maintaining enthusiastic support among Black voters, and especially Black women, may be critical in November’s midterm elections. Democratic activists urged Biden on Wednesday not to back down from his promise.

“There would be little to no rationale for President Biden to miss this opportunity,” Aimee Allison, the president of She the People, a liberal advocacy group, said in a statement. “It is and could be a defining moment for his presidency.”

Polls show Democrats trailing in their efforts to keep control of the House and the Senate, and Biden has had a rocky first year, in part because the Senate filibuster rule means Republicans can block much of his agenda, like passage of a social spending bill and an expansion of federal protections for voting rights.

But since the Senate abolished the filibuster for judges — Democrats did so for lower and appellate court judges in 2013, and Republicans did so for Supreme Court justices in 2017 — a party that controls both the White House and the Senate by any margin can appoint life-tenured federal judges, including to fill any vacancies among the 179 federal appellate seats.

In April, when Biden announced his first three appeals court nominees, all three were Black women with Ivy League educations, including Jackson. Two more of the next 10 appellate judges he appointed are also Black women. And of his six appellate nominees still pending before the Senate, three are Black women.

Biden’s decision to use his power to place numerous Black women on the bench — as well as in district court judgeships and high-profile roles in the executive branch — is transformative considering the many decades during which they have rarely exercised power in the legal system.

The history of Black female judges mirrors the larger story of African Americans since the Civil War, according to a 2010 article in the Howard Law Journal by Anna Blackburne-Rigsby, who is the chief judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

“Black women judges came to the ‘judicial’ table much later than Black men (by more than 80 years) and also much later than white women (by almost 60 years),” she wrote in the article, “Black Women Judges: The Historical Journey of Black Women to the Nation’s Highest Courts.”

New York City did not have its first Black female judge until 1939, when Jane Matilda Bolin was appointed to the Domestic Relations Court, Blackburne-Rigsby wrote, adding that when the city’s mayor, Fiorello H. LaGuardia, appointed Bolin, he first consulted her husband — a sign of the times and of the limits placed on Black women in the court system.

Blackburne-Rigsby declined to comment Wednesday. But in her article, she sounded a note of caution about viewing that demographic’s slow rise to judicial power as a matter of numbers alone.

“Being both Black and female brings an important additional voice to the deliberative process,” she wrote, “but that voice is varied because there is no singular ‘Black woman’ perspective.”

Even after the civil rights movement in the 1960s, which included President Lyndon B. Johnson’s appointment of Thurgood Marshall as the first Black Supreme Court justice in 1967, Black women’s access to the levers of judicial power remained limited.

In 1966, Johnson had also appointed the first Black female federal judge — Constance Baker Motley, whom he placed in the Southern District of New York.

And in the years that followed, Motley was sometimes mentioned as a potential future Supreme Court justice, said Tomiko Brown-Nagin, a Harvard legal historian who published a biography of the judge this week, “Civil Rights Queen.”

But Brown-Nagin, who is also the dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, said that while Motley was “eminently qualified” for elevation, her political window closed: As a former civil rights lawyer, she was seen as a liberal, and from 1969 until 1993, there was no Supreme Court vacancy while a Democrat was president.

“This appointment has been a long time coming,” Brown-Nagin said.

President Joe Biden and his legal team have spent a year preparing for this moment: the chance to make good on his pledge to name the first Black woman to the Supreme Court at a time of continuing racial reckoning for the country.

President Joe Biden and his legal team have spent a year preparing for this moment: the chance to make good on his pledge to name the first Black woman to the Supreme Court at a time of continuing racial reckoning for the country. The decision by Justice Stephen G. Breyer to retire will give Biden his most high-profile opportunity since taking office to reshape the federal judiciary, having already nominated dozens of district and appeals court judges from a range of racial, ethnic and legal backgrounds. His promise also underscores how much Black women have struggled to become part of a very small pool of elite judges in the nation’s higher federal courts. Speculation on Wednesday focused on a rarefied group of well-credentialed Black women who have elite educations and experience on the bench. The short list included Ketanji Brown Jackson, a 51-year-old judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit who graduated from Harvard Law School and clerked for Breyer, and Leondra R. Kruger, a 45-year-old justice on the California Supreme Court who graduated from Yale Law School and clerked for former Justice John Paul Stevens. J. Michelle Childs, 55, a little-known U.S. District Court judge in South Carolina whom Biden recently nominated for an appeals court, is also seen as a potential contender. One of Biden’s top congressional allies, Rep. James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, told Biden during the presidential campaign that he believed she should be appointed, in part because she came from a blue-collar background, another underrepresented group among federal judges. Jackson and Kruger attended Ivy League law schools, unlike Childs, who attended the University of South Carolina. And while there are some differences in the women’s backgrounds and experience, they are united in being among a relative handful of Black women who have the kind of credentials normally considered qualifications for the Supreme Court. The first Black woman to serve as a federal appeals court judge — an experience that in the modern era is usually a key credential in becoming a justice — was appointed by President Gerald R. Ford in 1975. By the time Biden took office more than 40 years later, only seven more had served in such a position. “If you just look at the raw numbers, it’s a telling and a sobering statistic,” said Leslie D. Davis, the chief executive of the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms. “That makes it clear that we must do better.” Biden has said he hopes the diversity he has brought to the high ranks of the federal government will be a centerpiece of his legacy. In addition to his record on judgeships, his decision to pick Kamala Harris as his running mate during the 2020 campaign led to her becoming the first Black woman to serve as vice president. Half of Biden’s first 16 nominees for federal appeals courts have been Black women — as many as all previous presidents combined had appointed. That emphasis has attracted scrutiny from across the ideological spectrum. For Davis, the important point of comparison is how few Black women had previously been appointed to the federal bench. “It’s a story that Black women’s voices have not been appreciated,” she said, “that their perspectives have not been valued, and their voices have not been heard.” But conservatives like the National Review legal commentator Ed Whelan have pointed out that the number of Black women Biden has nominated is strikingly disproportionate to the available pool of Black women with law degrees. According to a 2021 profile of the legal profession by the American Bar Association, just 4.7% of American lawyers are Black and 37% of lawyers are female. The report did not break out Black women in particular, but the implication is that roughly 2% of American lawyers are both Black and female. “By Biden’s declared standard of demographic diversity, his first year of judicial nominations has clearly been a remarkable success,” Whelan wrote this month, calling Biden’s record on appointing Black women “extraordinary” while also taking “some delight in noting” that liberal white males, with just two appellate nomination slots so far, were “the big losers.” Biden made his promise to name a Black woman to the Supreme Court at a debate in February 2020, just days before facing his Democratic rivals in the South Carolina primary, where Black people make up a large portion of the party’s voters. At the time, his campaign was struggling amid losses in two of the early presidential contests. “I’m looking forward to making sure there’s a Black woman on the Supreme Court to make sure we in fact get everyone represented,” Biden said that night. The promise helped Biden secure the support of Clyburn just days before the party’s contest in South Carolina. “I have three daughters,” Clyburn told Bloomberg. “I think I would be less than a good dad if I did not say to the president-to-be, this is an issue that is simmering in the African American community, that Black women think they have as much right to sit on the Supreme Court as any other women, and up to that point none had been considered.” Biden went on to win the South Carolina primary, proving the durability of his support among Black voters and setting in motion a string of victories on Super Tuesday a short time later. Biden's Supreme Court selection will take place in a country still feeling the reverberations of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020 and subsequent mass protests over racial justice. It also would come as the conservative-dominated court agreed this week to hear cases challenging race-conscious college admissions programs, raising the possibility that it may ban affirmative action policies aimed at maintaining racial diversity. Biden’s political support has been especially strong among Black women. New York Times exit polling data from the 2020 election showed that while they made up just 8% of the electorate, they were Biden’s most lopsided supporters: 90% of Black female voters cast their ballots for him. And in Georgia, Biden’s win was followed by Democrats sweeping a pair of crucial runoff elections for Senate seats that gave the party razor-thin control of the Senate — and with it the ability to confirm judges without needing any Republican support. Several factors went into those narrow wins that flipped the state blue, but one was that a group of Black female organizers — most famously Stacey Abrams, the former candidate for governor who founded a voter registration group called the New Georgia Project — had been working to register hundreds of thousands new voters and encourage them to turn out. For Democrats, maintaining enthusiastic support among Black voters, and especially Black women, may be critical in November’s midterm elections. Democratic activists urged Biden on Wednesday not to back down from his promise. “There would be little to no rationale for President Biden to miss this opportunity,” Aimee Allison, the president of She the People, a liberal advocacy group, said in a statement. “It is and could be a defining moment for his presidency.” Polls show Democrats trailing in their efforts to keep control of the House and the Senate, and Biden has had a rocky first year, in part because the Senate filibuster rule means Republicans can block much of his agenda, like passage of a social spending bill and an expansion of federal protections for voting rights. But since the Senate abolished the filibuster for judges — Democrats did so for lower and appellate court judges in 2013, and Republicans did so for Supreme Court justices in 2017 — a party that controls both the White House and the Senate by any margin can appoint life-tenured federal judges, including to fill any vacancies among the 179 federal appellate seats. In April, when Biden announced his first three appeals court nominees, all three were Black women with Ivy League educations, including Jackson. Two more of the next 10 appellate judges he appointed are also Black women. And of his six appellate nominees still pending before the Senate, three are Black women. Biden’s decision to use his power to place numerous Black women on the bench — as well as in district court judgeships and high-profile roles in the executive branch — is transformative considering the many decades during which they have rarely exercised power in the legal system. The history of Black female judges mirrors the larger story of African Americans since the Civil War, according to a 2010 article in the Howard Law Journal by Anna Blackburne-Rigsby, who is the chief judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. “Black women judges came to the ‘judicial’ table much later than Black men (by more than 80 years) and also much later than white women (by almost 60 years),” she wrote in the article, “Black Women Judges: The Historical Journey of Black Women to the Nation’s Highest Courts.” New York City did not have its first Black female judge until 1939, when Jane Matilda Bolin was appointed to the Domestic Relations Court, Blackburne-Rigsby wrote, adding that when the city’s mayor, Fiorello H. LaGuardia, appointed Bolin, he first consulted her husband — a sign of the times and of the limits placed on Black women in the court system. Blackburne-Rigsby declined to comment Wednesday. But in her article, she sounded a note of caution about viewing that demographic’s slow rise to judicial power as a matter of numbers alone. “Being both Black and female brings an important additional voice to the deliberative process,” she wrote, “but that voice is varied because there is no singular ‘Black woman’ perspective.” Even after the civil rights movement in the 1960s, which included President Lyndon B. Johnson’s appointment of Thurgood Marshall as the first Black Supreme Court justice in 1967, Black women’s access to the levers of judicial power remained limited. In 1966, Johnson had also appointed the first Black female federal judge — Constance Baker Motley, whom he placed in the Southern District of New York. And in the years that followed, Motley was sometimes mentioned as a potential future Supreme Court justice, said Tomiko Brown-Nagin, a Harvard legal historian who published a biography of the judge this week, “Civil Rights Queen.” But Brown-Nagin, who is also the dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, said that while Motley was “eminently qualified” for elevation, her political window closed: As a former civil rights lawyer, she was seen as a liberal, and from 1969 until 1993, there was no Supreme Court vacancy while a Democrat was president. “This appointment has been a long time coming,” Brown-Nagin said.

Biden expected to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court

There are no signs of de-escalation at the Russia-Ukrainian border where an estimated 100,000 Russian troops have been deployed but for what this is not yet clear. Russia maintains that it has no plans of an invasion the West believes otherwise and both sides are preparing for the worst.

Biden says 'willing to sanction Putin' if Russia invades Ukraine

Gun violence in America is something of an epidemic. Every year, thousands fall prey to it and yet no solution seems to be in sight for this persistent social problem. As per data by Gun Violence Archive (GVA), a US-based gun violence watchdog, the year 2021 was one of the deadliest years in American history for gun violence. Is Joe Biden's America more violent than Donald Trump's? Let's find out.

US gun violence worse under Biden than Trump

After months of simmering tensions at the Ukrainian border things seem to be heading towards a tipping point. While on the surface all players involved in this conflict that is Russia, Ukraine the United States and NATO have been calling for calm, the actions suggest otherwise.

Biden, EU call for unity against Russia against escalating tensions at Ukrainian border

The Democrat lawmakers have vowed to block US President Joe Biden's Build Back Better bill without the tax break.

US: Democrats vow to block President Joe Biden's Build Back Better bill without the tax break

Biden had seemed to suggest that a minor incursion by Russia into Ukraine would call for a weaker response from the United States and its allies. His statement has now led to a lot of confusion at a time especially when the allies are trying to present a unified front against Russia, the statement of course has not gone down well with the Ukrainian president.

‘Minor incursion by Russia could call for a weaker response,' Biden to clarify this statement

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