President Joe Biden on Saturday (February 27) said his administration would make an announcement on Saudi Arabia on Monday, following a U.S. intelligence report that found Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had approved the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Biden says announcement on Saudi Arabia will be released on Monday

Asylum-seekers that had become a symbol of Trump-era immigration restrictions entered the United States from Mexico on Friday (February 26) under a new policy meant to end the hardships endured by migrants in dangerous border towns.

Asylum-seekers cross into the US amid change in immigration policy

President Biden directed the US military to carry out airstrikes on facilities in eastern Syria in retaliation against rocket attacks on US troop locations in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/we-will-hold-iran-responsible-says-us-after-rockets-target-us-embassy-in-iraqs-green-zone-365542">Iraq</a>.

Watch:

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"At President Biden's direction, US military forces earlier this evening conducted airstrikes against infrastructure utilized by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria," Pentagon said.

It is the first military attack carried out by the Biden administration.&nbsp;According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 17 pro-Iran fighters were killed in the airstrikes in Syria.

According to the Pentagon, the airstrikes were pointed towards &nbsp;Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah and Kataeb Sayyid al-Shuhada at the border control point.

"These strikes were authorized in response to recent attacks against American and Coalition personnel in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/rockets-target-us-embassy-in-iraqi-capital-military-365520">Iraq</a>, and to ongoing threats to those personnel," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

The airstrikes come after rocket attacks on US and coalition facilities in Iraq on a military complex in the Kurdish region's capital Arbil on February 15 in which a civilian and a foreign contractor working with coalition forces were killed.

Pentagon said the strikes were "proportionate" and "conducted together with diplomatic measures".

"The operation sends an unambiguous message: President Biden will act to protect American and Coalition personnel," the Pentagon added.

President Biden directed the US military to carry out airstrikes on facilities in eastern Syria in retaliation against rocket attacks on US troop locations in Iraq.

President Biden directed the US military to carry out airstrikes on facilities in eastern Syria in retaliation against rocket attacks on US troop locations in Iraq. Watch: "At President Biden's direction, US military forces earlier this evening conducted airstrikes against infrastructure utilized by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria," Pentagon said. It is the first military attack carried out by the Biden administration. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 17 pro-Iran fighters were killed in the airstrikes in Syria. According to the Pentagon, the airstrikes were pointed towards Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah and Kataeb Sayyid al-Shuhada at the border control point. "These strikes were authorized in response to recent attacks against American and Coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats to those personnel," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. The airstrikes come after rocket attacks on US and coalition facilities in Iraq on a military complex in the Kurdish region's capital Arbil on February 15 in which a civilian and a foreign contractor working with coalition forces were killed. Pentagon said the strikes were "proportionate" and "conducted together with diplomatic measures". "The operation sends an unambiguous message: President Biden will act to protect American and Coalition personnel," the Pentagon added.

US carries out airstrikes against Iran-backed militia in eastern Syria

Syria has criticised the US air raid against positions of Iran-backed fighters in east Syria, which killed one and wounded four others, describing it as a “bad sign” from the administration of new US President Joe Biden.

Syria "strongly condemns the cowardly American aggression" on Deir Ezzor province, its foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official SANA news agency.

"It is a bad sign regarding the policies of the new US administration which should adhere to international" norms.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-carries-out-airstrikes-against-iran-backed-militia-in-eastern-syria-366309">Also read: US carries out airstrikes against Iran-backed militia in eastern Syria</a> 
 
President Biden directed the US military to carry out airstrikes on facilities in eastern Syria in retaliation against rocket attacks on US troop locations in Iraq.

"At President Biden's direction, US military forces earlier this evening conducted airstrikes against infrastructure utilized by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria," Pentagon said.

It is the first military attack carried out by the Biden administration. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 17 pro-Iran fighters were killed in the airstrikes in Syria.

According to the Pentagon, the airstrikes were pointed towards Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah and Kataeb Sayyid al-Shuhada at the border control point.

Meanwhile, The Kremlin said that it was closely monitoring the situation in Syria following U.S. air strikes there and that it was in constant contact with the Syrian authorities.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that he could not say whether the United States had notified Russia of its plans in advance, adding that operational contacts were made through the military.

(With inputs from agencies)

Syria has criticised the US air raid against positions of Iran-backed fighters in east Syria, which killed one and wounded four others, describing it as a “bad sign” from the administration of new US President Joe Biden.

Syria has criticised the US air raid against positions of Iran-backed fighters in east Syria, which killed one and wounded four others, describing it as a “bad sign” from the administration of new US President Joe Biden. Syria "strongly condemns the cowardly American aggression" on Deir Ezzor province, its foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official SANA news agency. "It is a bad sign regarding the policies of the new US administration which should adhere to international" norms. Also read: US carries out airstrikes against Iran-backed militia in eastern Syria President Biden directed the US military to carry out airstrikes on facilities in eastern Syria in retaliation against rocket attacks on US troop locations in Iraq. "At President Biden's direction, US military forces earlier this evening conducted airstrikes against infrastructure utilized by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria," Pentagon said. It is the first military attack carried out by the Biden administration. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 17 pro-Iran fighters were killed in the airstrikes in Syria. According to the Pentagon, the airstrikes were pointed towards Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah and Kataeb Sayyid al-Shuhada at the border control point. Meanwhile, The Kremlin said that it was closely monitoring the situation in Syria following U.S. air strikes there and that it was in constant contact with the Syrian authorities. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that he could not say whether the United States had notified Russia of its plans in advance, adding that operational contacts were made through the military. (With inputs from agencies)

Syria denounces US strike as 'bad sign' from Biden administration

US President Joe Biden spoke to Saudi Arabia's King Salman, 85, for the first time after taking office as president on January 20.

Watch:

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The US president stressed the importance of human rights and vowed to make the relationship between the two countries stronger and more transparent.

The two leaders also discussed the US commitment to help Saudi defend itself against attacks by Iran-aligned groups.

According to a statement from the White House, President Biden stressed "the depth of the relationship between the two countries" and discussed Iran's "destabilizing activities and its support for terrorist groups" in the region.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken had earlier called Saudi foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan and "discussed the importance of Saudi progress on human rights, including through legal and judicial reforms."

Biden's call to King Salman comes ahead of the release of the intelligence report on the murder of a Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered in 2018 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Saudi Arabia had conducted its own investigation handing death sentences to five people, however, a Saudi court last year had overturned the verdict giving them jail terms of up to 20 years.

US President Joe Biden spoke to Saudi Arabia's King Salman, 85, for the first time after taking office as president on January 20. Watch: The US president stressed the importance of human rights and vowed to make the relationship between the two countries stronger and more transparent.

US President Joe Biden spoke to Saudi Arabia's King Salman, 85, for the first time after taking office as president on January 20. Watch: The US president stressed the importance of human rights and vowed to make the relationship between the two countries stronger and more transparent. The two leaders also discussed the US commitment to help Saudi defend itself against attacks by Iran-aligned groups. According to a statement from the White House, President Biden stressed "the depth of the relationship between the two countries" and discussed Iran's "destabilizing activities and its support for terrorist groups" in the region. US secretary of state Antony Blinken had earlier called Saudi foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan and "discussed the importance of Saudi progress on human rights, including through legal and judicial reforms." Biden's call to King Salman comes ahead of the release of the intelligence report on the murder of a Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered in 2018 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia had conducted its own investigation handing death sentences to five people, however, a Saudi court last year had overturned the verdict giving them jail terms of up to 20 years.

President Biden calls Saudi King Salman; Iran tops agenda

One month into the job, President Joe Biden is on the cusp of securing a bigger economic rescue package than during the 2009 financial crisis. He has wiped out his predecessor Donald Trump's policies from climate change to travel bans, while the U.S. daily COVID-19 vaccine distribution rate grew 55%.

A look at US President Joe Biden's major policy decisions

A report by Wall Street Journal based on US Campaign Finance Records has said that US President Joe Biden's campaign received at least USD 15.1 million from employees of big tech firms in donations. The report has said that the companies include Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Facebook. This made up biggest source of donations to Democrats among corporate employees.

Biden campaign received USD 15 million in donations from big tech employees: Report

A report by Wall Street Journal based on US Campaign Finance Records has said that US President Joe Biden's campaign received at least USD 15.1 million from employees of big tech firms in donations. The report has said that the companies include Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Facebook. This made up biggest source of donations to Democrats among corporate employees.

Corporations are prohibited from directly donating to campaigns. But their employees are free to donate as individuals. USA's Federal Election Commission requires individuals who contribute USD 200 or more to report their employer.

The companies have declined to comment after the WSJ reveal.

Microsoft employees donated USD 3.2 million to Biden in the election. Microsoft employees have long been a top source of money for Democratic presidential candidates.

Facebook employees have emerged as another top source of money, donating USD 1.9 million to Biden's campaign.

Employees of Amazon contributed a total of USD 2.8 million to Biden’s campaign.&nbsp;

Republican Party has been asserting for long that big tech companies were biased against them. They have also accused companies like Facebook and Google of censoring online content to favour liberal views.

Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai are set to testify before US House of Representatives panel next month. Biden administration will also be picking the heads for key bodies dealing with the tech companies - &nbsp;like Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department Antitrust Division. The picks will be interesting as it will largely determine how the government under Joe Biden handles the big tech

A report by Wall Street Journal based on US Campaign Finance Records has said that US President Joe Biden's campaign received at least USD 15.1 million from employees of big tech firms in donations.

A report by Wall Street Journal based on US Campaign Finance Records has said that US President Joe Biden's campaign received at least USD 15.1 million from employees of big tech firms in donations. The report has said that the companies include Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Facebook. This made up biggest source of donations to Democrats among corporate employees. Corporations are prohibited from directly donating to campaigns. But their employees are free to donate as individuals. USA's Federal Election Commission requires individuals who contribute USD 200 or more to report their employer. The companies have declined to comment after the WSJ reveal. Microsoft employees donated USD 3.2 million to Biden in the election. Microsoft employees have long been a top source of money for Democratic presidential candidates. Facebook employees have emerged as another top source of money, donating USD 1.9 million to Biden's campaign. Employees of Amazon contributed a total of USD 2.8 million to Biden’s campaign. Republican Party has been asserting for long that big tech companies were biased against them. They have also accused companies like Facebook and Google of censoring online content to favour liberal views. Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai are set to testify before US House of Representatives panel next month. Biden administration will also be picking the heads for key bodies dealing with the tech companies - like Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department Antitrust Division. The picks will be interesting as it will largely determine how the government under Joe Biden handles the big tech

President Joe Biden on Friday (February 19) said he is confident the United States will exceed his goal of delivering 100 million vaccine doses in the first 100 days of his term in office.

Biden confident US will deliver more than 100 million vaccine shots in 100 days

NASA's Mars rover Perseverence succssfully touched down on the red planet in early hours of Friday (Indian time). It will now carry out observations for life on Mars that may have existed billions of years ago. Meanwhile, various Spanish cities have seen massive violence over jailing of a rapper. Read this and more in our Morning News Brief

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/touchdown-confirmed-nasas-perseverance-rover-lands-on-mars-364653">'Touchdown confirmed': NASA's Perseverance rover lands on Mars</a>

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/touchdown-confirmed-nasas-perseverance-rover-lands-on-mars-364653"><img alt="NASA Mars touchdown" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c2a1e827-55b4-4710-b2ad-4dad12580722" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Mars_1.JPG" /></a> 
 
US President Biden congratulated NASA and said that the event has proved once again that with the power of science and American ingenuity, nothing is beyond the realm of possibility.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-administration-offers-talks-with-iran-over-nuclear-deal-364657">Biden administration offers talks with Iran over nuclear deal</a>

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-administration-offers-talks-with-iran-over-nuclear-deal-364657"><img alt="Biden nuclear deal" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="cfe032af-1d6f-4a19-a383-a2a6156f8008" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Iran%20nuclear%20deal.JPG" /></a> 
 
Iran's Rouhani government has demanded an end to the sanctions before joining the US at the negotiating table.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/spain-hundreds-protest-for-third-night-after-rappers-jailing-364655">Spain: Hundreds protest for third night after rapper's jailing</a>

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/spain-hundreds-protest-for-third-night-after-rappers-jailing-364655"><img alt="Spain violence" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a5aa5a57-9d78-479d-8ffb-d9cd05e30d0e" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Spain.JPG" /></a> 
 
Known for his hard-left views, the rapper was arrested after failing to turn himself in on Friday to start a nine-month sentence over tweets calling former king Juan Carlos I a mafia boss

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/republican-senator-ted-cruz-faces-criticism-over-trip-as-texas-battles-winter-storm-364666">Republican Senator Ted Cruz faces criticism over trip as Texas battles winter storm</a>

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/republican-senator-ted-cruz-faces-criticism-over-trip-as-texas-battles-winter-storm-364666"><img alt="Ted Cruz" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9a19f698-4079-471c-96c9-4d8537477e04" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Ted%20Cruz.JPG" /></a> 
 
The lack of power has cut off water supplies for millions, further strained hospitals' ability to treat patients amid a pandemic in Texas

41 students still missing in Nigeria’s latest school kidnapping

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NASA's Mars rover Perseverence succssfully touched down on the red planet in early hours of Friday (Indian time). It will now carry out observations for life on Mars that may have existed billions of years ago.

NASA's Mars rover Perseverence succssfully touched down on the red planet in early hours of Friday (Indian time). It will now carry out observations for life on Mars that may have existed billions of years ago. Meanwhile, various Spanish cities have seen massive violence over jailing of a rapper. Read this and more in our Morning News Brief 'Touchdown confirmed': NASA's Perseverance rover lands on Mars US President Biden congratulated NASA and said that the event has proved once again that with the power of science and American ingenuity, nothing is beyond the realm of possibility. Biden administration offers talks with Iran over nuclear deal Iran's Rouhani government has demanded an end to the sanctions before joining the US at the negotiating table. Spain: Hundreds protest for third night after rapper's jailing Known for his hard-left views, the rapper was arrested after failing to turn himself in on Friday to start a nine-month sentence over tweets calling former king Juan Carlos I a mafia boss Republican Senator Ted Cruz faces criticism over trip as Texas battles winter storm The lack of power has cut off water supplies for millions, further strained hospitals' ability to treat patients amid a pandemic in Texas 41 students still missing in Nigeria’s latest school kidnapping ×

Morning news brief: NASA rover reaches Mars, Spain violence, and more

United States President Joe Biden faces the ultimate challenge of foreign policy. Biden is a seasoned player at this game, but until now he operated behind the scenes - first as a US senator, and then as deputy to the US president.

Biden's first challenge is to tame a rogue ally - Turkey. American and Turkish interests don't converge anymore, and the relationship has been rocky for a while now The personal equation between Trump and Erdogan kept it intact. During trump's presidency, Turkey repeatedly provoked Washington. First - with the purchase of Russian S-400 missiles. And then, with an attack on Kurdish fighters.

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Both the times, Trump's response was reluctant. Then, Biden arrived on the scene - promising change.

"He is an autocrat. He's the president of Turkey and a lot more. I'm still of the view that we can support those elements of the Turkish leadership that still exist and embolden them to be able to take on and defeat Erdogan. Not by a coup, but by electoral process", Biden said about Erdogan recently.

Joe Biden has not spoken to Erdogan yet but his administration has rebuked Turkey multiple times. First, they demanded the release of activist Osman Kavala. Then - they condemned Erdogan's homophobic rhetoric against student protesters. But the Turkish president is unmoved. On Sunday, Turkey accused the Kurdistan Workers Party of executing 13 Turks. The US condemned the attack, but Erdogan called the statement a joke.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/biden-wants-us-congress-to-reform-american-gun-laws-363630" hreflang="en">Biden wants US Congress to reform American gun laws</a> 
 
''Now there is a statement made by the United States. It's a joke. Were you not supposed to stand against the terrorist, the PKK, the YPG and PYD? You clearly support them and stand behind them", Erdogan said. ''If we are together with you in NATO (US), if we are to continue our unity in the world and in NATO, then you will act sincerely towards us. Then, you will stand with us, not with the terrorists", Erdogan added.

For the record, the US has designated the Kurdistan Workers Party as a terrorist group. During the war against ISIS, they had allied with another Kurdish militia called the YPG. The question of Kurdish fighters will always be a thorn between Turkey and America. The Kurdish alliance was created by Barack Obama, Biden's former boss.

All indications are that Biden wants to be an activist president. He is talking about holding a democracy summit - later this year. Erdogan may not feature in Biden's plan. But the country he rules does. Turkey is a strategic ally of Washington, and both Erdogan and Biden want to reset ties.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/turkish-president-erdogan-accuses-us-of-backing-terrorists-in-iraq-363811" hreflang="en">Turkish President Erdogan accuses US of backing 'terrorists' in Iraq</a>

But a reset means different things for the two leaders. For Biden - it's a return to US-led, liberal world order. For Erdogan - it's a new geopolitical reality in Eurasia - one where Turkey is the big dog.

Beyond a rogue ally, Biden must also contend with an old foe - Iran. Biden wants to return to the Iran nuclear deal, but Tehran is not making it easy.

On Monday, a volley of rockets was fired at the American military base in Erbil, in Iraq. One civilian military contractor was killed and eight others were injured. It was the deadliest attack on coalition troops - in a year and the perpetrators were Awliya Al-dam, a little-known Shia group - one of the many proxies, paid and backed by Iran.

America's top diplomat condemned the attack and has promised action against those responsible. But Biden is reluctant to pursue military options against Iran and wants to repair the nuclear deal. But he also wants Iran to comply with the terms first. Many predicted a thaw in US-Iran ties with Biden in office. What we're getting instead is a stalemate.

United States President Joe Biden faces the ultimate challenge of foreign policy. Biden is a seasoned player at this game, but until now he operated behind the scenes - first as a US senator, and then as deputy to the US president.

United States President Joe Biden faces the ultimate challenge of foreign policy. Biden is a seasoned player at this game, but until now he operated behind the scenes - first as a US senator, and then as deputy to the US president. Biden's first challenge is to tame a rogue ally - Turkey. American and Turkish interests don't converge anymore, and the relationship has been rocky for a while now The personal equation between Trump and Erdogan kept it intact. During trump's presidency, Turkey repeatedly provoked Washington. First - with the purchase of Russian S-400 missiles. And then, with an attack on Kurdish fighters. Both the times, Trump's response was reluctant. Then, Biden arrived on the scene - promising change. "He is an autocrat. He's the president of Turkey and a lot more. I'm still of the view that we can support those elements of the Turkish leadership that still exist and embolden them to be able to take on and defeat Erdogan. Not by a coup, but by electoral process", Biden said about Erdogan recently. Joe Biden has not spoken to Erdogan yet but his administration has rebuked Turkey multiple times. First, they demanded the release of activist Osman Kavala. Then - they condemned Erdogan's homophobic rhetoric against student protesters. But the Turkish president is unmoved. On Sunday, Turkey accused the Kurdistan Workers Party of executing 13 Turks. The US condemned the attack, but Erdogan called the statement a joke. Also read: Biden wants US Congress to reform American gun laws ''Now there is a statement made by the United States. It's a joke. Were you not supposed to stand against the terrorist, the PKK, the YPG and PYD? You clearly support them and stand behind them", Erdogan said. ''If we are together with you in NATO (US), if we are to continue our unity in the world and in NATO, then you will act sincerely towards us. Then, you will stand with us, not with the terrorists", Erdogan added. For the record, the US has designated the Kurdistan Workers Party as a terrorist group. During the war against ISIS, they had allied with another Kurdish militia called the YPG. The question of Kurdish fighters will always be a thorn between Turkey and America. The Kurdish alliance was created by Barack Obama, Biden's former boss. All indications are that Biden wants to be an activist president. He is talking about holding a democracy summit - later this year. Erdogan may not feature in Biden's plan. But the country he rules does. Turkey is a strategic ally of Washington, and both Erdogan and Biden want to reset ties. Also read: Turkish President Erdogan accuses US of backing 'terrorists' in Iraq But a reset means different things for the two leaders. For Biden - it's a return to US-led, liberal world order. For Erdogan - it's a new geopolitical reality in Eurasia - one where Turkey is the big dog. Beyond a rogue ally, Biden must also contend with an old foe - Iran. Biden wants to return to the Iran nuclear deal, but Tehran is not making it easy. On Monday, a volley of rockets was fired at the American military base in Erbil, in Iraq. One civilian military contractor was killed and eight others were injured. It was the deadliest attack on coalition troops - in a year and the perpetrators were Awliya Al-dam, a little-known Shia group - one of the many proxies, paid and backed by Iran. America's top diplomat condemned the attack and has promised action against those responsible. But Biden is reluctant to pursue military options against Iran and wants to repair the nuclear deal. But he also wants Iran to comply with the terms first. Many predicted a thaw in US-Iran ties with Biden in office. What we're getting instead is a stalemate.

Biden's first foreign policy challenge - to tame Turkey, a rogue ally

The previous two presidents of the United States declared that they wanted to pull all US&nbsp;troops out of Afghanistan, and they both decided in the end that they could not do it.

Now President Joe Biden is facing the same issue, with a deadline less than three months away.

The Pentagon, uncertain what the new commander in chief will do, is preparing variations on a plan to stay, a plan to leave and a plan to withdraw very, very slowly — a reflection of the debate now swirling in the White House. The current deadline is May 1, in keeping with a much-violated peace agreement that calls for the complete withdrawal of the remaining 2,500 US&nbsp;forces.

The deadline is a critical decision point for Biden, and it will come months before the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that prompted the US-led invasion of Afghanistan to root out al-Qaida.

Two decades later, the strategic goals have shifted many times, from counterterrorism and democratization to nation-building, and far more limited goals that President Barack Obama’s administration called “Afghan good enough.” Biden — who argued as vice president throughout Obama’s term for a minimal presence — will have to decide whether following his instincts to get out would run too high a risk of a takeover of the country’s key cities by the Taliban.

Biden, one senior aide noted, started his long career in the Senate just before the United States evacuated its personnel from Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam; the image of helicopters plucking Americans and a few Vietnamese from a roof was a searing symbol of a failed strategy. Biden is highly aware of the risks of something similar transpiring in Kabul, the Afghan capital, if all Western troops leave, and he has privately described the possibility as haunting, aides said.

But the president also questions whether the small remaining contingent of Americans can accomplish anything after 20 years in which almost 800,000 U.S. troops have deployed, or whether it will ever be possible to bring them home.

Biden has kept in place Zalmay Khalilzad, the longtime diplomat who had negotiated the peace agreement under President Donald Trump, in hopes of continuity in dealing with the Taliban and the Afghan government. But the key advisers on the issue are Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan — along with Jon Finer, Sullivan’s deputy.

By all accounts, Biden will be guided by his own experience, and he has yet to make a decision. Allies will be looking for some indications at a NATO summit meeting that starts Wednesday, though Biden’s aides say they are not rushing a critical decision.

“We are conducting a rigorous review of the situation we’ve inherited, including all relevant options and with full consideration of the consequences of any potential course of action,” said Emily J. Horne, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council. “It would be wrong for anyone to assume the outcome of that process at this point.”

At the same time, the Taliban and the Afghan government are gearing up for a violent spring. Administration officials last week started discussions over how to proceed with Afghan officials whom Trump left out of his deal with the Taliban.

One option under consideration, aides said, would be to extend the May 1 troop withdrawal deadline by six months to give all sides more time to decide how to proceed. But it is unclear that the Taliban would agree — or whether Biden would.

At the center of the decision-making is a new American president who has had to stand by for 20 years while other leaders ignored his advice on Afghanistan and committed large numbers of U.S. troops to a war effort there, overriding his argument that all the United States needed was a streamlined, focused counterterrorism presence.

The decision is harder because if Biden decides to withdraw, he will bear some responsibility — and much of the blame — if there is a collapse of the elected Afghan government that U.S. troops and their NATO allies have fought and died for and spent billions of dollars propping up.

In the panoply of foreign policy decisions facing the president, he and his senior national security aides do not view Afghanistan as the most far-reaching. The right relationship with China is far more central to American prosperity. Carrying through on Biden’s promise not to let Russia roll over the United States is more important to its security. The Iranian nuclear program looms over Middle East calculations. Afghanistan is deeply personal to him, and the most influential voice the president will listen to may be his own.

“His head is more in the game on this because he has been connecting with these people around the world for years,” said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank with close ties to the Biden administration.

Katulis recalled bumping into Biden at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in 2008, when the president was a senator visiting the country as part of a congressional tour with his colleagues John Kerry, who would become secretary of state, and Chuck Hagel, who would become secretary of defense. It was midnight in the hotel’s executive club, Katulis recalled, and Biden wanted to chat South Asia. For two hours.

“He was just energized by this issue,” Katulis said.

The May 1 deadline, enshrined in a peace deal reached with the Taliban nearly a year ago, will be the focus of the meeting in Brussels this week of allied defense ministers, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. There are now more than twice as many troops from NATO allies in Afghanistan as there are Americans, and as they gauge their own commitment to the country, they are looking to Biden and Austin for a road map.

The president is already being lobbied by the same voices that, for the past 20 years, have advocated maintaining at least a limited troop presence in Afghanistan.

In December, before Biden was inaugurated, the bipartisan, congressionally appointed Afghan Study Group run by the United States Institute of Peace met with his foreign policy advisers to brief them on a report on Afghanistan. The report, which was released Feb. 3, argued, in essence, for abandoning the May 1 timetable by saying that the Taliban had not met the conditions for a US&nbsp;withdrawal as set by the Trump-Taliban agreement.

The group said that going to zero troops, as the Trump-Taliban agreement called for, would lead to civil war, set back American interests in the region and render pointless the sacrifice of 3,500 coalition troops killed prosecuting the U.S.-led war effort in Afghanistan.

John F. Kirby, the new Pentagon press secretary, insisted that the Biden administration stood by the agreement, with its commitment for a full troop withdrawal, but he expressed pessimism that the Taliban would do what they were supposed to: Cut ties with al-Qaida and reduce violence.

“Without them meeting their commitments to renounce terrorism and to stop the violent attacks against the Afghan National Security Forces, it’s very hard to see a specific way forward for the negotiated settlement,” Kirby said. “But we’re still committed to that.”

But that was the standard line from the Pentagon even during the Trump administration. What is unclear at this point is where Biden falls on the spectrum.

When he was vice president, he battled Pentagon leaders in urging his boss, Obama, to limit the number of US&nbsp;troops in Afghanistan.

“Joe and a sizable number of NSC staffers,” Obama wrote in his memoir, “A Promised Land,” viewed a proposal by Gen. Stanley McChrystal to surge tens of thousands of troops into the country “as just the latest attempt by an unrestrained military to drag the country deeper into a futile, wildly expensive nation-building exercise, when we could and should be narrowly focused on counterterrorism efforts.”

Although Biden lost the argument in 2009, Obama came around to his position by the end of his presidency after hundreds of Americans and allied troops had been killed and the gains of the surge had been mostly lost to the Taliban.

Biden must decide whether it is possible to defeat terrorist groups even if there is no physical troop presence. Aides say he is acutely aware that most Americans are tired of the war and doubtful that continued spending, in blood and treasure, will accomplish anything. And Afghanistan, without doubt, has receded in the public consciousness.

For Biden, that could change the instant that Afghanistan is used again as a base from which to launch another terrorist attack on the United States or Western targets. For an example, he needs only to look to Iraq and the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which followed Obama’s withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2011 after the end of the combat mission there.

Critics contend that the Taliban have not yet pledged to cut ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups threatening the United States, as the February 2020 agreement called for.

Moreover, some analysts say that the Taliban, bolstered by battlefield triumphs and success at the bargaining table in Qatar in winning the release of more than 5,000 prisoners, remain confident they can wait out the new administration and have little incentive to compromise.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, a retired four-star Marine general and a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who helped lead the Afghan Study Group, said the United States still had leverage. Dunford, a former top commander in Afghanistan, said that beyond increased battlefield pressure, the Taliban want international recognition as a legitimate political movement and a relief from punishing economic sanctions.

One option gaining traction among some former diplomats and Afghanistan specialists is for Washington, working with its allies, to negotiate a monthslong extension to the troop withdrawal deadline. That would buy time for the new administration to bolster the peace talks in Qatar; rally support from other states in the region, including Pakistan; and conduct a new assessment of the future terrorism threat in Afghanistan.

“It won’t be easy, but it’s feasible,” said Laurel E. Miller, a former top State Department official who worked on Afghanistan and Pakistan diplomacy for Obama and Trump. “The Taliban has an interest in keeping the process going because the process has been working for them.”

If that approach fails, however, the Taliban have threatened to resume attacks against American and other NATO forces if the United States unilaterally decides to keep its 2,500 troops in the country beyond the May deadline. The U.S. forces are now hunkered down in about a dozen bases and perform two main missions: counterterrorism operations and advising Afghan security forces at various headquarters.

Preparing for the possibility of renewed attacks against Americans, the military’s Central Command has been ordered to draw up a wide range of options to cover whether troops stay or go, and to counter even higher levels of Taliban violence, Pentagon officials say.

The administration could, for instance, temporarily increase the number of troops in the country, reversing Trump’s order to cut forces in the final weeks of his term. That could prove politically risky for Biden as he seeks to push higher-priority legislation, such as pandemic relief, through Congress.

Another option would be to increase the number of American airstrikes against Taliban targets across the country, like the fighters threatening major Afghan cities such as Kabul and Kandahar. This could require sending more strike aircraft to land at bases in the Middle East or ensuring that an aircraft carrier with its strike wing is operating in the Persian Gulf region, military officials said.

Kelly A. Ayotte, a former Republican senator from New Hampshire and another leader of the congressionally mandated Afghanistan commission, summed up the sentiment of not only panel members but many administration officials.

“It is not whether we leave,” she said, “but it’s how we leave.”

The previous two presidents of the United States declared that they wanted to pull all US troops out of Afghanistan, and they both decided in the end that they could not do it.

The previous two presidents of the United States declared that they wanted to pull all US troops out of Afghanistan, and they both decided in the end that they could not do it. Now President Joe Biden is facing the same issue, with a deadline less than three months away. The Pentagon, uncertain what the new commander in chief will do, is preparing variations on a plan to stay, a plan to leave and a plan to withdraw very, very slowly — a reflection of the debate now swirling in the White House. The current deadline is May 1, in keeping with a much-violated peace agreement that calls for the complete withdrawal of the remaining 2,500 US forces. The deadline is a critical decision point for Biden, and it will come months before the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that prompted the US-led invasion of Afghanistan to root out al-Qaida. Two decades later, the strategic goals have shifted many times, from counterterrorism and democratization to nation-building, and far more limited goals that President Barack Obama’s administration called “Afghan good enough.” Biden — who argued as vice president throughout Obama’s term for a minimal presence — will have to decide whether following his instincts to get out would run too high a risk of a takeover of the country’s key cities by the Taliban. Biden, one senior aide noted, started his long career in the Senate just before the United States evacuated its personnel from Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam; the image of helicopters plucking Americans and a few Vietnamese from a roof was a searing symbol of a failed strategy. Biden is highly aware of the risks of something similar transpiring in Kabul, the Afghan capital, if all Western troops leave, and he has privately described the possibility as haunting, aides said. But the president also questions whether the small remaining contingent of Americans can accomplish anything after 20 years in which almost 800,000 U.S. troops have deployed, or whether it will ever be possible to bring them home. Biden has kept in place Zalmay Khalilzad, the longtime diplomat who had negotiated the peace agreement under President Donald Trump, in hopes of continuity in dealing with the Taliban and the Afghan government. But the key advisers on the issue are Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan — along with Jon Finer, Sullivan’s deputy. By all accounts, Biden will be guided by his own experience, and he has yet to make a decision. Allies will be looking for some indications at a NATO summit meeting that starts Wednesday, though Biden’s aides say they are not rushing a critical decision. “We are conducting a rigorous review of the situation we’ve inherited, including all relevant options and with full consideration of the consequences of any potential course of action,” said Emily J. Horne, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council. “It would be wrong for anyone to assume the outcome of that process at this point.” At the same time, the Taliban and the Afghan government are gearing up for a violent spring. Administration officials last week started discussions over how to proceed with Afghan officials whom Trump left out of his deal with the Taliban. One option under consideration, aides said, would be to extend the May 1 troop withdrawal deadline by six months to give all sides more time to decide how to proceed. But it is unclear that the Taliban would agree — or whether Biden would. At the center of the decision-making is a new American president who has had to stand by for 20 years while other leaders ignored his advice on Afghanistan and committed large numbers of U.S. troops to a war effort there, overriding his argument that all the United States needed was a streamlined, focused counterterrorism presence. The decision is harder because if Biden decides to withdraw, he will bear some responsibility — and much of the blame — if there is a collapse of the elected Afghan government that U.S. troops and their NATO allies have fought and died for and spent billions of dollars propping up. In the panoply of foreign policy decisions facing the president, he and his senior national security aides do not view Afghanistan as the most far-reaching. The right relationship with China is far more central to American prosperity. Carrying through on Biden’s promise not to let Russia roll over the United States is more important to its security. The Iranian nuclear program looms over Middle East calculations. Afghanistan is deeply personal to him, and the most influential voice the president will listen to may be his own. “His head is more in the game on this because he has been connecting with these people around the world for years,” said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank with close ties to the Biden administration. Katulis recalled bumping into Biden at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in 2008, when the president was a senator visiting the country as part of a congressional tour with his colleagues John Kerry, who would become secretary of state, and Chuck Hagel, who would become secretary of defense. It was midnight in the hotel’s executive club, Katulis recalled, and Biden wanted to chat South Asia. For two hours. “He was just energized by this issue,” Katulis said. The May 1 deadline, enshrined in a peace deal reached with the Taliban nearly a year ago, will be the focus of the meeting in Brussels this week of allied defense ministers, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. There are now more than twice as many troops from NATO allies in Afghanistan as there are Americans, and as they gauge their own commitment to the country, they are looking to Biden and Austin for a road map. The president is already being lobbied by the same voices that, for the past 20 years, have advocated maintaining at least a limited troop presence in Afghanistan. In December, before Biden was inaugurated, the bipartisan, congressionally appointed Afghan Study Group run by the United States Institute of Peace met with his foreign policy advisers to brief them on a report on Afghanistan. The report, which was released Feb. 3, argued, in essence, for abandoning the May 1 timetable by saying that the Taliban had not met the conditions for a US withdrawal as set by the Trump-Taliban agreement. The group said that going to zero troops, as the Trump-Taliban agreement called for, would lead to civil war, set back American interests in the region and render pointless the sacrifice of 3,500 coalition troops killed prosecuting the U.S.-led war effort in Afghanistan. John F. Kirby, the new Pentagon press secretary, insisted that the Biden administration stood by the agreement, with its commitment for a full troop withdrawal, but he expressed pessimism that the Taliban would do what they were supposed to: Cut ties with al-Qaida and reduce violence. “Without them meeting their commitments to renounce terrorism and to stop the violent attacks against the Afghan National Security Forces, it’s very hard to see a specific way forward for the negotiated settlement,” Kirby said. “But we’re still committed to that.” But that was the standard line from the Pentagon even during the Trump administration. What is unclear at this point is where Biden falls on the spectrum. When he was vice president, he battled Pentagon leaders in urging his boss, Obama, to limit the number of US troops in Afghanistan. “Joe and a sizable number of NSC staffers,” Obama wrote in his memoir, “A Promised Land,” viewed a proposal by Gen. Stanley McChrystal to surge tens of thousands of troops into the country “as just the latest attempt by an unrestrained military to drag the country deeper into a futile, wildly expensive nation-building exercise, when we could and should be narrowly focused on counterterrorism efforts.” Although Biden lost the argument in 2009, Obama came around to his position by the end of his presidency after hundreds of Americans and allied troops had been killed and the gains of the surge had been mostly lost to the Taliban. Biden must decide whether it is possible to defeat terrorist groups even if there is no physical troop presence. Aides say he is acutely aware that most Americans are tired of the war and doubtful that continued spending, in blood and treasure, will accomplish anything. And Afghanistan, without doubt, has receded in the public consciousness. For Biden, that could change the instant that Afghanistan is used again as a base from which to launch another terrorist attack on the United States or Western targets. For an example, he needs only to look to Iraq and the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which followed Obama’s withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2011 after the end of the combat mission there. Critics contend that the Taliban have not yet pledged to cut ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups threatening the United States, as the February 2020 agreement called for. Moreover, some analysts say that the Taliban, bolstered by battlefield triumphs and success at the bargaining table in Qatar in winning the release of more than 5,000 prisoners, remain confident they can wait out the new administration and have little incentive to compromise. Gen. Joseph Dunford, a retired four-star Marine general and a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who helped lead the Afghan Study Group, said the United States still had leverage. Dunford, a former top commander in Afghanistan, said that beyond increased battlefield pressure, the Taliban want international recognition as a legitimate political movement and a relief from punishing economic sanctions. One option gaining traction among some former diplomats and Afghanistan specialists is for Washington, working with its allies, to negotiate a monthslong extension to the troop withdrawal deadline. That would buy time for the new administration to bolster the peace talks in Qatar; rally support from other states in the region, including Pakistan; and conduct a new assessment of the future terrorism threat in Afghanistan. “It won’t be easy, but it’s feasible,” said Laurel E. Miller, a former top State Department official who worked on Afghanistan and Pakistan diplomacy for Obama and Trump. “The Taliban has an interest in keeping the process going because the process has been working for them.” If that approach fails, however, the Taliban have threatened to resume attacks against American and other NATO forces if the United States unilaterally decides to keep its 2,500 troops in the country beyond the May deadline. The U.S. forces are now hunkered down in about a dozen bases and perform two main missions: counterterrorism operations and advising Afghan security forces at various headquarters. Preparing for the possibility of renewed attacks against Americans, the military’s Central Command has been ordered to draw up a wide range of options to cover whether troops stay or go, and to counter even higher levels of Taliban violence, Pentagon officials say. The administration could, for instance, temporarily increase the number of troops in the country, reversing Trump’s order to cut forces in the final weeks of his term. That could prove politically risky for Biden as he seeks to push higher-priority legislation, such as pandemic relief, through Congress. Another option would be to increase the number of American airstrikes against Taliban targets across the country, like the fighters threatening major Afghan cities such as Kabul and Kandahar. This could require sending more strike aircraft to land at bases in the Middle East or ensuring that an aircraft carrier with its strike wing is operating in the Persian Gulf region, military officials said. Kelly A. Ayotte, a former Republican senator from New Hampshire and another leader of the congressionally mandated Afghanistan commission, summed up the sentiment of not only panel members but many administration officials. “It is not whether we leave,” she said, “but it’s how we leave.”

Stay or go? Biden, long a critic of Afghan deployments, faces a deadline

US President Joe <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-announces-pentagon-task-force-to-tackle-china-362758">Biden </a>spoke with &nbsp;President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, the White House said on the occasion of Lunar New Year.

Watch:

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/uighurs-stage-protest-outside-chinese-embassy-in-turkey-362673/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Biden asserted the importance of free and open Indo-Pacific during his phone call with the Chinese president while underscoring his concerns about "Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices" including the "crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan."&nbsp;

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I spoke today with President Xi to offer good wishes to the Chinese people for Lunar New Year. I also shared concerns about Beijing’s economic practices, human rights abuses, and coercion of Taiwan. I told him I will work with China when it benefits the American people.
— President Biden (@POTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1359692096693817347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2021</a></blockquote>
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During the phone call, the US president affirmed his priorities towards protecting the American people’s security, prosperity, health, and way of life, the White House said.

It is Biden's first phone call to President Xi since he took office on January 20.

The two leaders also exchanged views on countering the COVID-19 pandemic, and the shared challenges of global health security, climate change and preventing weapons proliferation.

Biden told the Chinese president that his country is "committed to pursuing practical, results-oriented engagements when it advances the interests of the American people and those of our allies."

Earlier on Wednesday, President Biden had announced setting up of a Pentagon task force to review US strategy on China. The US president called for an immediate review of the military-strategic approach to challenges posed by China while visiting the Pentagon for the first time since becoming the president.

"I will never dishonour you, I will never disrespect you," the Biden told the US servicemen, adding, "I will never politicize the work you do."&nbsp;

"So often, our armed forces and the Department of Defense staff are how the rest of the world encounters America," Biden said. "But our country is safer and stronger when we lead not just with the example of our power, but with the power of our example."

US President Joe Biden spoke with President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, the White House said on the occasion of Lunar New Year. Watch: Biden asserted the importance of free and open Indo-Pacific during his phone call with the Chinese president while underscoring his concerns about "Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices" including the "crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan.

US President Joe Biden spoke with President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, the White House said on the occasion of Lunar New Year. Watch: Biden asserted the importance of free and open Indo-Pacific during his phone call with the Chinese president while underscoring his concerns about "Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices" including the "crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan." I spoke today with President Xi to offer good wishes to the Chinese people for Lunar New Year. I also shared concerns about Beijing’s economic practices, human rights abuses, and coercion of Taiwan. I told him I will work with China when it benefits the American people. — President Biden (@POTUS) February 11, 2021 × During the phone call, the US president affirmed his priorities towards protecting the American people’s security, prosperity, health, and way of life, the White House said. It is Biden's first phone call to President Xi since he took office on January 20. The two leaders also exchanged views on countering the COVID-19 pandemic, and the shared challenges of global health security, climate change and preventing weapons proliferation. Biden told the Chinese president that his country is "committed to pursuing practical, results-oriented engagements when it advances the interests of the American people and those of our allies." Earlier on Wednesday, President Biden had announced setting up of a Pentagon task force to review US strategy on China. The US president called for an immediate review of the military-strategic approach to challenges posed by China while visiting the Pentagon for the first time since becoming the president. "I will never dishonour you, I will never disrespect you," the Biden told the US servicemen, adding, "I will never politicize the work you do." "So often, our armed forces and the Department of Defense staff are how the rest of the world encounters America," Biden said. "But our country is safer and stronger when we lead not just with the example of our power, but with the power of our example."

In first phone call to President Xi, Biden asserts importance of Indo-Pacific; Xinjiang human rights abuses

For decades the US-dominated the world politically, diplomatically, economically, culturally and scientifically. America's influence was unmatched in every way possible...

It was called the most powerful nation since imperial Rome, one that was stronger than any likely combination of other nations, the world's tallest buildings were in America. The world's biggest factories were American and so was the biggest movie industry, the best health-care system, and the best law and order. Cut to 2021 and America's share in the global pie is much smaller, the playing field has levelled, the tallest buildings are in Dubai, the biggest factories are Chinese and the biggest movie industry is Indian.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-can-biden-reclaim-americas-place-in-the-world-362274/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

America's health-care system is in a sorry state as India is vaccinating the world. There's a breakdown of law and order. America is grappling with political unrest and racial divide. The US now looks similar to the countries it once tried to liberate and it is no longer in a position to impose its views, interests and values on the world.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/as-joe-biden-takes-over-the-us-does-the-world-trust-him-362269">As Joe Biden takes over the US, does the world trust him?</a>

The US President, Joe Biden, said, "America is back. America is back". That may not be completely true as the world order has changed since the Democrats were last in power. There are too many challenges at home for the Biden administration to take a lead on global issues.

America remains the worst-hit nation due to COVID-19 with 27 million cases and counting, and over 460,000 deaths and counting. Schools are yet to reopen in many states. Vaccines are not reaching the minority communities even as the UK variant is spreading rapidly.

A new study says the mutated virus is doubling every 10 days and could become America's dominant strain by March potentially driving up the number of cases and causing more deaths.&nbsp;

American politics is beyond the point of repair. The Republicans are rallying behind Trump, dismissing the impeachment as a waste of time. The Democrats have not wavered, they won't rest until Trump is convicted. This ceaseless political war is hampering legislation. The Republicans say their freedoms are being taken away.

"We have Nancy Pelosi leading the democrats in congress to do whatever they want. They don't care what Republicans have to say. They don't care about what our districts and our voters have to say. They only care about pushing their socialist agenda through. They only care about taking away our freedoms. That's not right," said Republican US Representative from Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Americans have become deeply distrustful of one another as they disagree with each other's beliefs, policies and plans. In a poll conducted by the Associated Press, 85 per cent of registered voters described Americans as being deeply divided in their values and only 15 per cent said that democracy was working.

In yet another poll conducted by CBS News in January this year, 54 per cent said that the biggest threat to America wasn't economic collapse, natural disasters or foreign interference, but America's own citizens. This difference in ideologies reflects in the racial divide.

Joe Biden is promising to make America diverse again, but it will take time to undo the impact of Donald Trump's presidency.

According to Kaiser health news analysis, the vaccination rates among black Americans are significantly lower than that of white Americans. In Indiana, 85.8 per cent of the vaccinated population is white and only 4 per cent are blacks. In Tennessee, 68.15 per cent are whites, 6.7 per cent are blacks and in Florida 63.7 per cent are whites and only 4.9 per cent are blacks.

Researches blame limited access and mistreatment of the black community in health-care for this disparity.

While Biden claims "America is back", that may not be true, nd the country is in fact in a state of decline. Joe Biden will have to clean the mess in his own backyard first before he embarks on his self-righteous promise of making the world better.

For decades the US-dominated the world politically, diplomatically, economically, culturally and scientifically. America's influence was unmatched in every way possible.

For decades the US-dominated the world politically, diplomatically, economically, culturally and scientifically. America's influence was unmatched in every way possible... It was called the most powerful nation since imperial Rome, one that was stronger than any likely combination of other nations, the world's tallest buildings were in America. The world's biggest factories were American and so was the biggest movie industry, the best health-care system, and the best law and order. Cut to 2021 and America's share in the global pie is much smaller, the playing field has levelled, the tallest buildings are in Dubai, the biggest factories are Chinese and the biggest movie industry is Indian. America's health-care system is in a sorry state as India is vaccinating the world. There's a breakdown of law and order. America is grappling with political unrest and racial divide. The US now looks similar to the countries it once tried to liberate and it is no longer in a position to impose its views, interests and values on the world. Also read| As Joe Biden takes over the US, does the world trust him? The US President, Joe Biden, said, "America is back. America is back". That may not be completely true as the world order has changed since the Democrats were last in power. There are too many challenges at home for the Biden administration to take a lead on global issues. America remains the worst-hit nation due to COVID-19 with 27 million cases and counting, and over 460,000 deaths and counting. Schools are yet to reopen in many states. Vaccines are not reaching the minority communities even as the UK variant is spreading rapidly. A new study says the mutated virus is doubling every 10 days and could become America's dominant strain by March potentially driving up the number of cases and causing more deaths. American politics is beyond the point of repair. The Republicans are rallying behind Trump, dismissing the impeachment as a waste of time. The Democrats have not wavered, they won't rest until Trump is convicted. This ceaseless political war is hampering legislation. The Republicans say their freedoms are being taken away. "We have Nancy Pelosi leading the democrats in congress to do whatever they want. They don't care what Republicans have to say. They don't care about what our districts and our voters have to say. They only care about pushing their socialist agenda through. They only care about taking away our freedoms. That's not right," said Republican US Representative from Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene. Americans have become deeply distrustful of one another as they disagree with each other's beliefs, policies and plans. In a poll conducted by the Associated Press, 85 per cent of registered voters described Americans as being deeply divided in their values and only 15 per cent said that democracy was working. In yet another poll conducted by CBS News in January this year, 54 per cent said that the biggest threat to America wasn't economic collapse, natural disasters or foreign interference, but America's own citizens. This difference in ideologies reflects in the racial divide. Joe Biden is promising to make America diverse again, but it will take time to undo the impact of Donald Trump's presidency. According to Kaiser health news analysis, the vaccination rates among black Americans are significantly lower than that of white Americans. In Indiana, 85.8 per cent of the vaccinated population is white and only 4 per cent are blacks. In Tennessee, 68.15 per cent are whites, 6.7 per cent are blacks and in Florida 63.7 per cent are whites and only 4.9 per cent are blacks. Researches blame limited access and mistreatment of the black community in health-care for this disparity. While Biden claims "America is back", that may not be true, nd the country is in fact in a state of decline. Joe Biden will have to clean the mess in his own backyard first before he embarks on his self-righteous promise of making the world better.

Joe Biden's 'America is back' falls short of real action

A veteran CIA analyst who had led President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Joe Biden’s</a> in-person briefings in the opening days of the administration is no longer doing so, intelligence officials said Saturday.

The duties of the briefer typically included coordinating work across 18 intelligence agencies, in what is known as mission integration, and overseeing the assembly of the written intelligence document delivered to the White House each day. In a shift from previous administrations, the job of leading the in-person briefing will be distinct from the other responsibilities and divided among various people.

The veteran analyst, Morgan Muir, is still set to take over as director of mission integration, a top post in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, succeeding Beth Sanner, who was the lead briefer for President Donald Trump. As director of mission integration, Muir will put together what is known as the President’s Daily Brief, or PDB, from various reports from across the intelligence community, but he will no longer lead the in-person briefings.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-should-not-receive-intelligence-briefings-joe-biden-feels-361686" hreflang="en">Donald Trump should not receive intelligence briefings, Joe Biden feels</a>

In his new role, Muir will oversee the agency’s efforts to integrate the intelligence community’s activities “from collection to analysis, including the interagency PDB process,” said Amanda Schoch, the spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The appointment of Muir as Biden’s briefer last month was unusual because it was his second tour in that job, the only time someone had returned to the post under a new administration. He had served as one of George W. Bush’s briefers midway through his presidency.

Former presidents, too, continue to receive briefings, though they are different from the classified one that a sitting president is given daily. Still, it is provided partly as a courtesy and partly for the instances in which a sitting president reaches out for advice. The team of CIA analysts who would brief a former president is not the same team who would brief a current president.

The question of whether <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump?page=1">Trump</a> should continue to get briefings has been raised in recent days. On Friday, Biden told CBS that there was “no need” for the former president to receive briefings, citing his “erratic” behavior. But a day later, the White House clarified those comments.

“The president was expressing his concern about former president Trump receiving access to sensitive intelligence,” Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said in a statement, “but he also has deep trust in his own intelligence team to make a determination about how to provide intelligence information if at any point the former president Trump requests a briefing.”

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/what-us-presidents-intelligence-briefing-is-and-why-biden-wants-trump-out-of-loop-361778" hreflang="en">What US President's intelligence briefing is and why Biden wants Trump out of loop</a>

On Saturday night, the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment clarifying whether Trump had asked for briefings.

The New York Times earlier reported that Muir was set to become the lead briefer, but at the time intelligence officials said that the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, was still determining the final format of the briefing sessions and that additional briefers would work with Biden. Officials also said at the time that there had been no final decision about whether to split briefing duties from the broader responsibilities of the director of mission integration.

Some officials in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have long pushed to delegate those tasks to different people.

But in recent days, Haines decided to bring in a series of expert briefers to lead the sessions in the Oval Office, Schoch said. Haines continues to participate in those meetings.

On Saturday, BuzzFeed News reported that in 2013, Muir, then a senior CIA analyst, led a delegation from the agency in tense talks with Senate Intelligence Committee staff members putting together what would become the report on the agency’s torture program. The article quoted Daniel J. Jones, one of the lead committee staff members at the time, saying that, in private talks with Senate aides, Muir had defended the value of the CIA’s torture program.

In a statement, Jones said that Muir had provided “verifiably false information” to the committee that year. The CIA later acknowledged that Muir’s statements were wrong, Jones said.

“One would hope that type of professional failure would be, at the very least, disqualifying for any future leadership positions,” Jones said.

The Senate report issued in 2014, a sweeping indictment of the CIA, outlined abuses and torture by the agency in interrogating terrorism suspects in the years after the Sept. 11 attacks and a pattern of misleading Congress and the White House about it.

While the report remains a sore point with many former senior agency officials, who disagree with its conclusions and characterization, a number of senators have expressed frustration that some top agency officials continue to question the report.

After the publication of the BuzzFeed article, two intelligence officials insisted the criticism of Muir’s interactions with the Senate committee had nothing to do with the decision to change how Biden was being briefed.

Schoch said Haines remained “confident in Morgan’s steady leadership.”

“Morgan Muir is a widely respected intelligence officer who has demonstrated the highest standards of integrity and professionalism throughout his career,” Schoch said.

A veteran CIA analyst who had led President Joe Biden’s in-person briefings in the opening days of the administration is no longer doing so, intelligence officials said Saturday.

A veteran CIA analyst who had led President Joe Biden’s in-person briefings in the opening days of the administration is no longer doing so, intelligence officials said Saturday. The duties of the briefer typically included coordinating work across 18 intelligence agencies, in what is known as mission integration, and overseeing the assembly of the written intelligence document delivered to the White House each day. In a shift from previous administrations, the job of leading the in-person briefing will be distinct from the other responsibilities and divided among various people. The veteran analyst, Morgan Muir, is still set to take over as director of mission integration, a top post in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, succeeding Beth Sanner, who was the lead briefer for President Donald Trump. As director of mission integration, Muir will put together what is known as the President’s Daily Brief, or PDB, from various reports from across the intelligence community, but he will no longer lead the in-person briefings. Also read| Donald Trump should not receive intelligence briefings, Joe Biden feels In his new role, Muir will oversee the agency’s efforts to integrate the intelligence community’s activities “from collection to analysis, including the interagency PDB process,” said Amanda Schoch, the spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The appointment of Muir as Biden’s briefer last month was unusual because it was his second tour in that job, the only time someone had returned to the post under a new administration. He had served as one of George W. Bush’s briefers midway through his presidency. Former presidents, too, continue to receive briefings, though they are different from the classified one that a sitting president is given daily. Still, it is provided partly as a courtesy and partly for the instances in which a sitting president reaches out for advice. The team of CIA analysts who would brief a former president is not the same team who would brief a current president. The question of whether Trump should continue to get briefings has been raised in recent days. On Friday, Biden told CBS that there was “no need” for the former president to receive briefings, citing his “erratic” behavior. But a day later, the White House clarified those comments. “The president was expressing his concern about former president Trump receiving access to sensitive intelligence,” Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said in a statement, “but he also has deep trust in his own intelligence team to make a determination about how to provide intelligence information if at any point the former president Trump requests a briefing.” Also read| What US President's intelligence briefing is and why Biden wants Trump out of loop On Saturday night, the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment clarifying whether Trump had asked for briefings. The New York Times earlier reported that Muir was set to become the lead briefer, but at the time intelligence officials said that the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, was still determining the final format of the briefing sessions and that additional briefers would work with Biden. Officials also said at the time that there had been no final decision about whether to split briefing duties from the broader responsibilities of the director of mission integration. Some officials in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have long pushed to delegate those tasks to different people. But in recent days, Haines decided to bring in a series of expert briefers to lead the sessions in the Oval Office, Schoch said. Haines continues to participate in those meetings. On Saturday, BuzzFeed News reported that in 2013, Muir, then a senior CIA analyst, led a delegation from the agency in tense talks with Senate Intelligence Committee staff members putting together what would become the report on the agency’s torture program. The article quoted Daniel J. Jones, one of the lead committee staff members at the time, saying that, in private talks with Senate aides, Muir had defended the value of the CIA’s torture program. In a statement, Jones said that Muir had provided “verifiably false information” to the committee that year. The CIA later acknowledged that Muir’s statements were wrong, Jones said. “One would hope that type of professional failure would be, at the very least, disqualifying for any future leadership positions,” Jones said. The Senate report issued in 2014, a sweeping indictment of the CIA, outlined abuses and torture by the agency in interrogating terrorism suspects in the years after the Sept. 11 attacks and a pattern of misleading Congress and the White House about it. While the report remains a sore point with many former senior agency officials, who disagree with its conclusions and characterization, a number of senators have expressed frustration that some top agency officials continue to question the report. After the publication of the BuzzFeed article, two intelligence officials insisted the criticism of Muir’s interactions with the Senate committee had nothing to do with the decision to change how Biden was being briefed. Schoch said Haines remained “confident in Morgan’s steady leadership.” “Morgan Muir is a widely respected intelligence officer who has demonstrated the highest standards of integrity and professionalism throughout his career,” Schoch said.

Rotating group of analysts to provide Biden security briefs

President Joe Biden has served in elected office for almost four decades. He has interacted with nine presidents. He is accustomed to staff waiting on him, traveling by motorcade, and knew his way around the Oval Office and the mazelike layout of the West Wing from eight years as vice president.

“It feels like I am going home,” he said on Inauguration Day as he approached the White House along the parade route.

But not all of the accouterments of power are old hat for the country’s oldest president. When he flies on Air Force One Friday afternoon to go home to Wilmington, Delaware, for the weekend, it will be his first flight aboard the presidential jet in more than two decades, according to more than a half-dozen administration officials and former Biden aides.

As President Barack Obama’s vice president, Biden was prohibited from flying on the Boeing VC-25 that is known as Air Force One. For security reasons, the vice president and the president never fly together. Air Force Two, a Boeing 757, is a smaller, much more cramped and much more modest plane.

Despite his decades in public office, the only trip aboard Air Force One that anyone in the White House or Biden’s circle can recall him taking was in the summer of 2000. Back then, Biden traveled to Colombia as part of a delegation with President Bill Clinton, helping unveil an emergency aid program to fight the narcotics trade and prop up the country’s democracy.

That means that Jill Biden, the first lady, who accompanied Obama to a community college in Michigan aboard Air Force One in 2015, has been on board more recently than her husband. (At the time, she said she spent her time on the flight grading papers.)

Biden rode on Air Force One on Friday afternoon, but not the one that has so delighted his predecessors. He jogged up the stairs of the Boeing 757-200, which is a smaller, narrow-body jet used for smaller airports like the one Biden was bound for in Wilmington.

“It’s a great plane,” Biden told reporters traveling with him. “It’s the same plane that we had as vice president, only it’s much nicer.”

“When that 747 lands, it’s a sight to behold,” said John Podesta, a former White House chief of staff to Clinton. “When the president walks down those steps, you feel the power of that. He will feel the power of that. It’s a little different from the 757.”

Even President Donald Trump, who liked to brag about his own Trump-branded plane, was impressed.

“This is a very special plane,” he told reporters after taking them to his front cabin for a rare peek en route to Philadelphia. He had been in office for only six days when he showed off a navy blue Air Force One jacket. His press secretary at the time, Sean Spicer, described him as “in awe of the splendor of this plane.”

In 2018, Trump bragged that the plane, equipped to act as a mobile White House, had “about 20 televisions.” Still, he had plans for a makeover for the plane, plans that never came to fruition and that the Biden administration has made clear could not be lower on its list of priorities.

Obama appeared equally captivated by his new ride when he took his first flight in the third week of his presidency, traveling a short distance to Williamsburg, Virginia, to a retreat for House Democrats.

“What do you think of this spiffy ride here? It’s not bad,” Obama said to reporters sitting in the back of the plane. Like Trump, he also made a show of his crew jacket, which ha

Clinton took his first flight 22 days after taking office in 1993. He flew to Detroit for a nationally broadcast town hall event to lay the groundwork for the economic policies he was set to unveil, while his staff made jokes about how relieved he was to give up his rickety campaign plane, nicknamed “Air Elvis.”

President George W. Bush’s first trip aboard Air Force One after moving into the White House came less than a month into his presidency, when he visited military families and troops at Fort Stewart, in Georgia, part of a slate of trips intended to promote his national security policies.

White House officials would not say when Biden would take his first domestic trip but said that a typical presidential travel schedule was on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. “Certainly, his preference would be to get on a plane and fly around the country, but that’s not the step we’re planning currently,” the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said during a briefing last month.

Other senior administration officials insisted that Biden was not grounded and would travel domestically soon, pointing to the fact that he safely made two trips to Georgia during the transition to campaign for Democratic Senate candidates.

Presidential travel is expensive and time-consuming, but it is also essential to the job, former White House officials said.

“It’s critical for people to feel the presence and be aware of the fact that the president took the time to come to the place where they are,” Podesta said. “One of the things that underlies the deep divisions in the country is people feeling like, ‘You forgot about me.’ Showing up changes that dynamic.”

Podesta said it would be critical for Biden to travel after addressing a joint session of Congress this month, even if it meant taking on some health risks. “He’s going to lay down a lot of ideas of what needs to get built, and he’s got to go to some places where those things will get built,” he said.

But given the pandemic and the politically fragile moment the country is in, Michael Beschloss, the presidential historian, said that staying in Washington more often may work better for Biden.

“After John Kennedy’s assassination, the country was so agitated that the new president, Lyndon Johnson, made a commitment not to travel abroad for a period of time,” he said. “Although for different reasons, Biden’s staying close to the White House has reminded me of that. I believe that right now, seeing Biden in the State Dining Room, announcing how he’s dealing with one supreme problem after another, is more reassuring than it would be to see him on the road, in the middle of a pandemic, trying to find a crowd to speak to.”

Biden, however, may not agree once he has been on the plane.

President Joe Biden has served in elected office for almost four decades. He has interacted with nine presidents. He is accustomed to staff waiting on him, traveling by motorcade, and knew his way around the Oval Office and the mazelike layout of the West Wing from eight years as vice president.

President Joe Biden has served in elected office for almost four decades. He has interacted with nine presidents. He is accustomed to staff waiting on him, traveling by motorcade, and knew his way around the Oval Office and the mazelike layout of the West Wing from eight years as vice president. “It feels like I am going home,” he said on Inauguration Day as he approached the White House along the parade route. But not all of the accouterments of power are old hat for the country’s oldest president. When he flies on Air Force One Friday afternoon to go home to Wilmington, Delaware, for the weekend, it will be his first flight aboard the presidential jet in more than two decades, according to more than a half-dozen administration officials and former Biden aides. As President Barack Obama’s vice president, Biden was prohibited from flying on the Boeing VC-25 that is known as Air Force One. For security reasons, the vice president and the president never fly together. Air Force Two, a Boeing 757, is a smaller, much more cramped and much more modest plane. Despite his decades in public office, the only trip aboard Air Force One that anyone in the White House or Biden’s circle can recall him taking was in the summer of 2000. Back then, Biden traveled to Colombia as part of a delegation with President Bill Clinton, helping unveil an emergency aid program to fight the narcotics trade and prop up the country’s democracy. That means that Jill Biden, the first lady, who accompanied Obama to a community college in Michigan aboard Air Force One in 2015, has been on board more recently than her husband. (At the time, she said she spent her time on the flight grading papers.) Biden rode on Air Force One on Friday afternoon, but not the one that has so delighted his predecessors. He jogged up the stairs of the Boeing 757-200, which is a smaller, narrow-body jet used for smaller airports like the one Biden was bound for in Wilmington. “It’s a great plane,” Biden told reporters traveling with him. “It’s the same plane that we had as vice president, only it’s much nicer.” “When that 747 lands, it’s a sight to behold,” said John Podesta, a former White House chief of staff to Clinton. “When the president walks down those steps, you feel the power of that. He will feel the power of that. It’s a little different from the 757.” Even President Donald Trump, who liked to brag about his own Trump-branded plane, was impressed. “This is a very special plane,” he told reporters after taking them to his front cabin for a rare peek en route to Philadelphia. He had been in office for only six days when he showed off a navy blue Air Force One jacket. His press secretary at the time, Sean Spicer, described him as “in awe of the splendor of this plane.” In 2018, Trump bragged that the plane, equipped to act as a mobile White House, had “about 20 televisions.” Still, he had plans for a makeover for the plane, plans that never came to fruition and that the Biden administration has made clear could not be lower on its list of priorities. Obama appeared equally captivated by his new ride when he took his first flight in the third week of his presidency, traveling a short distance to Williamsburg, Virginia, to a retreat for House Democrats. “What do you think of this spiffy ride here? It’s not bad,” Obama said to reporters sitting in the back of the plane. Like Trump, he also made a show of his crew jacket, which ha Clinton took his first flight 22 days after taking office in 1993. He flew to Detroit for a nationally broadcast town hall event to lay the groundwork for the economic policies he was set to unveil, while his staff made jokes about how relieved he was to give up his rickety campaign plane, nicknamed “Air Elvis.” President George W. Bush’s first trip aboard Air Force One after moving into the White House came less than a month into his presidency, when he visited military families and troops at Fort Stewart, in Georgia, part of a slate of trips intended to promote his national security policies. White House officials would not say when Biden would take his first domestic trip but said that a typical presidential travel schedule was on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. “Certainly, his preference would be to get on a plane and fly around the country, but that’s not the step we’re planning currently,” the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said during a briefing last month. Other senior administration officials insisted that Biden was not grounded and would travel domestically soon, pointing to the fact that he safely made two trips to Georgia during the transition to campaign for Democratic Senate candidates. Presidential travel is expensive and time-consuming, but it is also essential to the job, former White House officials said. “It’s critical for people to feel the presence and be aware of the fact that the president took the time to come to the place where they are,” Podesta said. “One of the things that underlies the deep divisions in the country is people feeling like, ‘You forgot about me.’ Showing up changes that dynamic.” Podesta said it would be critical for Biden to travel after addressing a joint session of Congress this month, even if it meant taking on some health risks. “He’s going to lay down a lot of ideas of what needs to get built, and he’s got to go to some places where those things will get built,” he said. But given the pandemic and the politically fragile moment the country is in, Michael Beschloss, the presidential historian, said that staying in Washington more often may work better for Biden. “After John Kennedy’s assassination, the country was so agitated that the new president, Lyndon Johnson, made a commitment not to travel abroad for a period of time,” he said. “Although for different reasons, Biden’s staying close to the White House has reminded me of that. I believe that right now, seeing Biden in the State Dining Room, announcing how he’s dealing with one supreme problem after another, is more reassuring than it would be to see him on the road, in the middle of a pandemic, trying to find a crowd to speak to.” Biden, however, may not agree once he has been on the plane.

After years in government, Biden has a new perk: Air Force One

US under President Joe Biden may soon revoke the designation of Houthis in Yemen as terrorists. Donald Trump administration had given the terror tag on the very last day in power. Meanwhile Twitter has condemned Myanmar's move to block the platform. China's Tianwen-1 probe has snapped first images of Mars. Read this and more in WION's morning news brief.

 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-to-revoke-terrorist-designation-of-houthis-in-yemen-361678">US to revoke terrorist designation of Houthis in Yemen</a>

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-to-revoke-terrorist-designation-of-houthis-in-yemen-361678"><img alt="Joe Biden" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b113557d-6a70-472f-8e8a-67ddd95ed051" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Biden_5.JPG" /></a> 
 
The United Nations describes Yemen as the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, with 80% of its people in need.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/twitter-condemns-myanmars-move-to-block-access-to-platform-361680">Twitter condemns Myanmar's move to block access to platform</a>

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/twitter-condemns-myanmars-move-to-block-access-to-platform-361680"><img alt="Twitter" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="174d34e8-d395-4680-a543-fbebaeeb47c7" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Twitter_0.JPG" /></a> 
 
After the coup in Myanmar, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have been blocked

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-should-not-receive-intelligence-briefings-joe-biden-feels-361686">Donald Trump should not receive intelligence briefings, Joe Biden feels</a>

<img alt="Donald Trump" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="1f607eb9-13c5-42a7-b13b-27a64ebbc79e" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Trump_12.JPG" /> 
 
When asked what was his concern about Trump getting the intelligence briefings, Biden said that he would "rather not speculate out loud"

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/pure-anti-semitism-israels-netanyahu-slams-icc-decision-and-says-will-fight-it-361677">'Pure anti-semitism': Israel's Netanyahu slams ICC decision and says will fight it</a>

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/pure-anti-semitism-israels-netanyahu-slams-icc-decision-and-says-will-fight-it-361677"><img alt="Netanyahu" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ffe232b0-4219-469d-919f-6115f0a7a4a5" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Netanyahu.JPG" /></a> 
 
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the ICC as a 'political body' while the United States said it had 'serious concerns' over the decision

<a href="World Health Organization says China granted it 'full access' for COVID-19 origin probe in Wuhan">World Health Organization says China granted it 'full access' for COVID-19 origin probe in Wuhan</a>

<img alt="WHO" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="379cc6a3-9e39-483f-9b2e-1dfd9783946f" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/WHO_1.JPG" />

The visit by the WHO team took months to negotiate after China only agreed to it amid massive international pressure at the World Health Assembly meeting last May, and Beijing has continued to deny calls for a strictly independent investigation

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/mars-ahead-chinas-tianwen-1-probe-snaps-first-photo-of-red-planet-361679C">Mars ahead! China's Tianwen-1 probe snaps first photo of red planet</a>

<img alt="Mars" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="8c36516a-ed03-4a2e-acbc-d6de4f7fcdb0" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Mars.JPG" /> 
 
The five-tonne Tianwen-1 includes a Mars orbiter, a lander and a rover that will study the planet's soil

Gravitas: The story of Alexei Navalny

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US under President Joe Biden may soon revoke the designation of Houthis in Yemen as terrorists. Donald Trump administration had given the terror tag on the very last day in power.

US under President Joe Biden may soon revoke the designation of Houthis in Yemen as terrorists. Donald Trump administration had given the terror tag on the very last day in power. Meanwhile Twitter has condemned Myanmar's move to block the platform. China's Tianwen-1 probe has snapped first images of Mars. Read this and more in WION's morning news brief. US to revoke terrorist designation of Houthis in Yemen The United Nations describes Yemen as the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, with 80% of its people in need. Twitter condemns Myanmar's move to block access to platform After the coup in Myanmar, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have been blocked Donald Trump should not receive intelligence briefings, Joe Biden feels When asked what was his concern about Trump getting the intelligence briefings, Biden said that he would "rather not speculate out loud" 'Pure anti-semitism': Israel's Netanyahu slams ICC decision and says will fight it Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the ICC as a 'political body' while the United States said it had 'serious concerns' over the decision World Health Organization says China granted it 'full access' for COVID-19 origin probe in Wuhan The visit by the WHO team took months to negotiate after China only agreed to it amid massive international pressure at the World Health Assembly meeting last May, and Beijing has continued to deny calls for a strictly independent investigation Mars ahead! China's Tianwen-1 probe snaps first photo of red planet The five-tonne Tianwen-1 includes a Mars orbiter, a lander and a rover that will study the planet's soil Gravitas: The story of Alexei Navalny ×

Morning news brief: US to revoke Houthi terror tag, Twitter fumes at Myanmar, more

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday promised a new era after the scattershot foreign policy of his predecessor, Donald Trump, declaring "America is back" on the global stage in his first diplomatic address as president.

Joe Biden touts muscular foreign policy in first diplomatic speech

In a major reset of American foreign policy, US President Joe <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-to-issue-executive-orders-on-asylum-legal-immigration-separated-families-360866">Biden</a> on Thursday said the United States will end all support including arms sales for ally Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen.

Watch:

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Biden said the war in Yemen as "has created a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe" as Saudi Arabia later reaffirmed support for a "comprehensive political solution" in Yemen.

"We are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arm sales," President Biden said adding, "at the same time, Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks and other attacks from Iranian supplied forces in multiple countries. We're going to help Saudi Arabia to defend its territory and its people."

Biden also appointed US special envoy for Yemen, Timothy Lenderking in a bid to ensure a ceasefire and revive peace talks between the government and Huthi rebels.&nbsp;

"America is back. Diplomacy is back," Biden asserted. Biden said the United States will work "to ensure that humanitarian aid is reaching the Yemeni people who are suffering unendurable devastation&nbsp;while stating that "this war has to end".

"The kingdom has affirmed its firm position in support of a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni crisis, and welcomes the US emphasis on the importance of supporting diplomatic efforts to resolve the Yemeni crisis," Saudi Arabia said in a statement.

In a Twitter message, Prince Khalid bin Salman said: "We welcome President Biden's stated commitment to work with friends and allies to resolve conflicts, and deal with attacks from Iran &amp; its proxies in the region, "we look forward to continuing working with our American partners to alleviate the humanitarian situation and find a solution to the Yemen crisis."&nbsp;

In a major reset of American foreign policy, US President Joe Biden on Thursday said the United States will end all support including arms sales for ally Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen.

In a major reset of American foreign policy, US President Joe Biden on Thursday said the United States will end all support including arms sales for ally Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen. Watch: Biden said the war in Yemen as "has created a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe" as Saudi Arabia later reaffirmed support for a "comprehensive political solution" in Yemen. "We are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arm sales," President Biden said adding, "at the same time, Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks and other attacks from Iranian supplied forces in multiple countries. We're going to help Saudi Arabia to defend its territory and its people." Biden also appointed US special envoy for Yemen, Timothy Lenderking in a bid to ensure a ceasefire and revive peace talks between the government and Huthi rebels. "America is back. Diplomacy is back," Biden asserted. Biden said the United States will work "to ensure that humanitarian aid is reaching the Yemeni people who are suffering unendurable devastation while stating that "this war has to end". "The kingdom has affirmed its firm position in support of a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni crisis, and welcomes the US emphasis on the importance of supporting diplomatic efforts to resolve the Yemeni crisis," Saudi Arabia said in a statement. In a Twitter message, Prince Khalid bin Salman said: "We welcome President Biden's stated commitment to work with friends and allies to resolve conflicts, and deal with attacks from Iran & its proxies in the region, "we look forward to continuing working with our American partners to alleviate the humanitarian situation and find a solution to the Yemen crisis."

'Humanitarian catastrophe': Biden pulls US out of Yemen war, stops Saudi support

US President Joe Biden has said that Myanmar's military must relinquish power and that it should release all the lawmakers and activists that it has detained.

US President Joe Biden calls on Myanmar's military to relinquish power

President Joe Biden met with 10 moderate Republican senators on Monday (February 01) to discuss their proposal to shrink his sweeping $1.9 trillion U.S. COVID-19 relief package, even as Democrats prepare to push legislation through Congress without Republican support.

Biden meets Republicans as Dems push ahead on aid

When Joselaine Cordeiro arrived at the U.S. border in 2017, she spent seven months in immigration detention in Texas while her 14-year-old son, James, languished in a shelter in Chicago.

As the months wore on, her child’s case worker reported that he was depressed, and suggested putting him up for adoption. “I thought, my God, I will never see my child again,” recalled Cordeiro, who had fled an abusive husband in Brazil.

She and her son were among the first of more than 5,500 migrant families separated at the southwestern border under the Trump administration’s most hotly debated immigration policy — a program that President Joe Biden must now find a way to unravel years after the policy was abandoned.

On Tuesday, the White House is expected to announce a task force that will look at demands for restitution, expanded mental health services, the readmission of deported parents and possible permanent legal residency for families like Cordeiro’s who suffered lingering damage from a policy intended to make it too emotionally punishing for migrant families to attempt to cross into the United States.

More than 1,000 migrant children still in the United States likely remain separated from their parents, and another 500 or more were taken from their parents who have yet to be located, according to the latest estimates from lawyers working on the issue.

One of the continuing obstacles to reunification is that hundreds of parents have been deported to their home countries — places they had fled because of the danger there — and are fearful of having their children sent home to them. And some children are being deported even though their parents are still in the United States trying to obtain legal residence.

Cordeiro became the second named plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit that the American Civil Liberties Union brought against the family separation policy and that has accomplished much of the work of identifying relatives all over the world.

“When we brought this case in 2018, we never thought there would be thousands of families separated, much less that we would still be looking for hundreds of them three years later,” said Lee Gelernt, lead counsel in the ACLU lawsuit.

Having inherited the crisis, the Biden administration has committed to addressing it: On Tuesday, Biden is expected to announce a task force that will look at demands for restitution, expanded mental health services, the readmission of deported parents and possible permanent legal residency for families disrupted by separations.

The task force, with representatives from the departments of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services and State, will be headed by Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

Biden has already encountered resistance to dismantling Trump administration policies, signaling roadblocks ahead. A federal court last week temporarily blocked his administration from enforcing a 100-day suspension of deportations until the judge considers a lawsuit brought by Texas. The Senate confirmation of Mayorkas was stalled by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.

But given the firestorm that family separations generated across party lines, Biden will be asked to take a wide range of actions to make amends.

“There’s a clear moral imperative here,” said Oscar Chacón, executive director of Alianza Americas, an advocacy group. “At a minimum, they should be offered the opportunity to be reunited and settled in the U.S. as eventual permanent residents.”

In addition to proposals for legal residency and demands for financial compensation, some immigrant advocacy groups are calling for those in the senior levels of the Trump White House who were responsible for crafting and carrying out the policy to be held accountable.

That would include the chief architect of the policy, Stephen Miller, former President Donald Trump’s primary adviser on immigration, and the former attorney general, Jeff Sessions, who issued the official memorandum on “zero tolerance” in April 2018. Former senior officials at the Justice Department, as well as in the Department of Homeland Security, also could be included in accountability investigations.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, has called for the creation of a committee to investigate the policy and identify officials to be held responsible and face consequences.

The policy epitomized the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. According to a report issued last month by the Justice Department’s inspector general, top department officials were a “driving force” behind the decision to separate families in their quest to fulfill Trump’s agenda.

Nearly 3,000 migrant children were separated from their parents while zero tolerance was in force. It later emerged that another 1,000 families had been separated during a pilot program conducted in 2017 near El Paso, Texas. And even after Trump officially rescinded the policy, border authorities removed more than 1,000 children from their families, sometimes for reasons as minor as committing a traffic infraction or failing to change a baby’s diaper, according to court documents.

The revelation late in the presidential campaign that parents of hundreds of children had yet to be found by a committee charged with contacting families created outrage anew, prompting Biden to promise to address the families’ plight. Two-thirds of the parents are believed to be in their home countries, including some whose children may be living in the United States, and a third are believed to be in the United States but might have gone under the radar because of their own fears of being deported.

Some advocates said it was vital that the White House push for legislation to prevent such extreme punitive measures from being employed as a deterrence tool in the future.

“We must right the wrongs committed and make sure this doesn’t happen again under another administration,” said Jennifer Podkul, vice president for policy and advocacy for Kids in Need of Defense, which represents some of the families.

Locating missing parents will continue to be a daunting task. Contact information for many parents is outdated or unavailable, and conditions in Central America make searches on the ground difficult and dangerous. The coronavirus pandemic and hurricanes have caused further delays. Some families, understanding their children to be in safe hands, have not answered their phones or have declined to talk after what they endured.

Even if the Biden administration is willing to offer green cards to parents who were deported, the logistics will be challenging because many remain suspicious of the government and worry they will be arrested again. It is also not clear whether the issue of redress for the effects of family separation will be folded into Biden’s broader immigration plans, which some Republicans might oppose.

Unless Biden revamps border procedures, further separations will almost certainly occur when Border Patrol agents suspect that someone accompanying a child is not a parent or a legal guardian. Some parents lack birth certificates and documents to prove lineage. Border officials are tasked with guarding against the trafficking of children across borders.

In Cordeiro’s case, after months had passed, she finally found a friend willing to take her son from the shelter. But the authorities told her that the woman did not qualify because she was not related.

After acting out, James was administered antidepressants and other drugs, according to his mother.

When she finally was released seven months later, red tape delayed their reunification by another two months.

They are now living in the Boston area, and James has been weaned off the medication, Cordeiro said, but he has few friends and spends most of his time alone. “I never imagined a government would do this to human beings,” she said. “It was pure cruelty.”

Among parents hoping that Biden’s administration will allow them back into the United States is a woman from El Salvador named Xiomara, who was deported without her daughter after they were separated at the border on Mother’s Day in 2018.

“I can hardly wait for the day when I will wake up from this nightmare,” said Xiomara, 34, who spoke on condition that she be identified only by her first name because of security concerns.

One of her last acts of motherhood was to bathe and dress her daughter, after being told by border officials that Briselda, then 8, would be taken away. She said she watched helplessly as officials escorted Briselda to join a line of children, most of them crying, who were waiting to board a van bound for the airport.

For her daughter’s safety, Xiomara said she had preferred that Briselda remain in the United States with family rather than return to her in El Salvador. They are in regular contact over WhatsApp, she said, but the distance has taken an emotional toll, and Xiomara has battled depression and recently started seeing a therapist.

Others continue to suffer repercussions despite being reunited.

Fifteen days passed before Oscar, an immigrant from Honduras who was locked up in McAllen, Texas, heard from his son, Daniel, then 8, from whom he had been separated.

“I felt mad. I was going crazy,” recalled Oscar, 35, who spoke on condition that he be identified only by his middle name.

On a tearful call, his son told him he was staying in a shelter in Houston. Father and son were reunited after 33 days, thanks to a judge’s order, and they moved to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Since then, Oscar has been grappling with how to help his son, whom he described as “not the same boy since we were separated.” Daniel runs away whenever he sees someone in police uniform and wakes up screaming at night, Oscar said.

Recently, Oscar learned that his child had been ordered deported even though his own case is still pending, a result of Daniel’s immigration case not being transferred to North Carolina and consolidated with his father’s.

He struggles to imagine what would happen to his son in Honduras without him.

“I pray to God that this country won’t separate us again,” Oscar said.

When Joselaine Cordeiro arrived at the U.S. border in 2017, she spent seven months in immigration detention in Texas while her 14-year-old son, James, languished in a shelter in Chicago.

When Joselaine Cordeiro arrived at the U.S. border in 2017, she spent seven months in immigration detention in Texas while her 14-year-old son, James, languished in a shelter in Chicago. As the months wore on, her child’s case worker reported that he was depressed, and suggested putting him up for adoption. “I thought, my God, I will never see my child again,” recalled Cordeiro, who had fled an abusive husband in Brazil. She and her son were among the first of more than 5,500 migrant families separated at the southwestern border under the Trump administration’s most hotly debated immigration policy — a program that President Joe Biden must now find a way to unravel years after the policy was abandoned. On Tuesday, the White House is expected to announce a task force that will look at demands for restitution, expanded mental health services, the readmission of deported parents and possible permanent legal residency for families like Cordeiro’s who suffered lingering damage from a policy intended to make it too emotionally punishing for migrant families to attempt to cross into the United States. More than 1,000 migrant children still in the United States likely remain separated from their parents, and another 500 or more were taken from their parents who have yet to be located, according to the latest estimates from lawyers working on the issue. One of the continuing obstacles to reunification is that hundreds of parents have been deported to their home countries — places they had fled because of the danger there — and are fearful of having their children sent home to them. And some children are being deported even though their parents are still in the United States trying to obtain legal residence. Cordeiro became the second named plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit that the American Civil Liberties Union brought against the family separation policy and that has accomplished much of the work of identifying relatives all over the world. “When we brought this case in 2018, we never thought there would be thousands of families separated, much less that we would still be looking for hundreds of them three years later,” said Lee Gelernt, lead counsel in the ACLU lawsuit. Having inherited the crisis, the Biden administration has committed to addressing it: On Tuesday, Biden is expected to announce a task force that will look at demands for restitution, expanded mental health services, the readmission of deported parents and possible permanent legal residency for families disrupted by separations. The task force, with representatives from the departments of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services and State, will be headed by Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Biden has already encountered resistance to dismantling Trump administration policies, signaling roadblocks ahead. A federal court last week temporarily blocked his administration from enforcing a 100-day suspension of deportations until the judge considers a lawsuit brought by Texas. The Senate confirmation of Mayorkas was stalled by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. But given the firestorm that family separations generated across party lines, Biden will be asked to take a wide range of actions to make amends. “There’s a clear moral imperative here,” said Oscar Chacón, executive director of Alianza Americas, an advocacy group. “At a minimum, they should be offered the opportunity to be reunited and settled in the U.S. as eventual permanent residents.” In addition to proposals for legal residency and demands for financial compensation, some immigrant advocacy groups are calling for those in the senior levels of the Trump White House who were responsible for crafting and carrying out the policy to be held accountable. That would include the chief architect of the policy, Stephen Miller, former President Donald Trump’s primary adviser on immigration, and the former attorney general, Jeff Sessions, who issued the official memorandum on “zero tolerance” in April 2018. Former senior officials at the Justice Department, as well as in the Department of Homeland Security, also could be included in accountability investigations. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, has called for the creation of a committee to investigate the policy and identify officials to be held responsible and face consequences. The policy epitomized the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. According to a report issued last month by the Justice Department’s inspector general, top department officials were a “driving force” behind the decision to separate families in their quest to fulfill Trump’s agenda. Nearly 3,000 migrant children were separated from their parents while zero tolerance was in force. It later emerged that another 1,000 families had been separated during a pilot program conducted in 2017 near El Paso, Texas. And even after Trump officially rescinded the policy, border authorities removed more than 1,000 children from their families, sometimes for reasons as minor as committing a traffic infraction or failing to change a baby’s diaper, according to court documents. The revelation late in the presidential campaign that parents of hundreds of children had yet to be found by a committee charged with contacting families created outrage anew, prompting Biden to promise to address the families’ plight. Two-thirds of the parents are believed to be in their home countries, including some whose children may be living in the United States, and a third are believed to be in the United States but might have gone under the radar because of their own fears of being deported. Some advocates said it was vital that the White House push for legislation to prevent such extreme punitive measures from being employed as a deterrence tool in the future. “We must right the wrongs committed and make sure this doesn’t happen again under another administration,” said Jennifer Podkul, vice president for policy and advocacy for Kids in Need of Defense, which represents some of the families. Locating missing parents will continue to be a daunting task. Contact information for many parents is outdated or unavailable, and conditions in Central America make searches on the ground difficult and dangerous. The coronavirus pandemic and hurricanes have caused further delays. Some families, understanding their children to be in safe hands, have not answered their phones or have declined to talk after what they endured. Even if the Biden administration is willing to offer green cards to parents who were deported, the logistics will be challenging because many remain suspicious of the government and worry they will be arrested again. It is also not clear whether the issue of redress for the effects of family separation will be folded into Biden’s broader immigration plans, which some Republicans might oppose. Unless Biden revamps border procedures, further separations will almost certainly occur when Border Patrol agents suspect that someone accompanying a child is not a parent or a legal guardian. Some parents lack birth certificates and documents to prove lineage. Border officials are tasked with guarding against the trafficking of children across borders. In Cordeiro’s case, after months had passed, she finally found a friend willing to take her son from the shelter. But the authorities told her that the woman did not qualify because she was not related. After acting out, James was administered antidepressants and other drugs, according to his mother. When she finally was released seven months later, red tape delayed their reunification by another two months. They are now living in the Boston area, and James has been weaned off the medication, Cordeiro said, but he has few friends and spends most of his time alone. “I never imagined a government would do this to human beings,” she said. “It was pure cruelty.” Among parents hoping that Biden’s administration will allow them back into the United States is a woman from El Salvador named Xiomara, who was deported without her daughter after they were separated at the border on Mother’s Day in 2018. “I can hardly wait for the day when I will wake up from this nightmare,” said Xiomara, 34, who spoke on condition that she be identified only by her first name because of security concerns. One of her last acts of motherhood was to bathe and dress her daughter, after being told by border officials that Briselda, then 8, would be taken away. She said she watched helplessly as officials escorted Briselda to join a line of children, most of them crying, who were waiting to board a van bound for the airport. For her daughter’s safety, Xiomara said she had preferred that Briselda remain in the United States with family rather than return to her in El Salvador. They are in regular contact over WhatsApp, she said, but the distance has taken an emotional toll, and Xiomara has battled depression and recently started seeing a therapist. Others continue to suffer repercussions despite being reunited. Fifteen days passed before Oscar, an immigrant from Honduras who was locked up in McAllen, Texas, heard from his son, Daniel, then 8, from whom he had been separated. “I felt mad. I was going crazy,” recalled Oscar, 35, who spoke on condition that he be identified only by his middle name. On a tearful call, his son told him he was staying in a shelter in Houston. Father and son were reunited after 33 days, thanks to a judge’s order, and they moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. Since then, Oscar has been grappling with how to help his son, whom he described as “not the same boy since we were separated.” Daniel runs away whenever he sees someone in police uniform and wakes up screaming at night, Oscar said. Recently, Oscar learned that his child had been ordered deported even though his own case is still pending, a result of Daniel’s immigration case not being transferred to North Carolina and consolidated with his father’s. He struggles to imagine what would happen to his son in Honduras without him. “I pray to God that this country won’t separate us again,” Oscar said.

Biden faces pressure to make amends on family separation

Ten Republican senators are set to meet with President Joe Biden on Monday to push a much smaller alternative to his $1.9 trillion stimulus bill to address the toll of the pandemic, including scaling back another round of direct payments from the government.

The coalition of mostly centrist Republican senators, led by Susan Collins of Maine, on Monday outlined their $618 billion plan, which they are billing as a way for Biden to pass a pandemic aid bill with bipartisan support and make good on his inauguration pledge to unite the country.

With 10 Republicans on board joining the Senate’s 50 Democrats, a bipartisan bill could overcome the chamber’s 60-vote filibuster rule. But Democrats have shown little enthusiasm for a measure that amounts to less than one third of what the president says is needed to confront the public health and economic crisis.

Still, after receiving a letter from the senators Sunday requesting a meeting, Biden called Collins and invited her and the other signers to the White House, where they are scheduled to meet Monday evening. He also spoke with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader.

The Republicans’ proposal is likely to be met with resistance from congressional Democrats, who are preparing this week to begin laying the groundwork for passing Biden’s plan through a process known as budget reconciliation, which would allow it to bypass a filibuster and pass solely with Democratic votes.

The Republican proposal would include $160 billion for vaccine distribution and development, coronavirus testing and the production of personal protective equipment; $20 billion toward helping schools reopen; more relief for small businesses; and additional aid to individuals.

The package would also extend enhanced unemployment benefits of $300 a week — currently slated to lapse in March — until June 30.

“We recognize your calls for unity and want to work in good faith with your administration to meet the health, economic and societal challenges of the COVID crisis,” wrote the Republican group, which includes Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mitt Romney of Utah.

The measure omits a federal minimum wage increase Biden included in his plan. It would also whittle down his proposal to send $1,400 checks to many Americans, and limit it to lower-income earners.

The proposal calls for checks of up to $1,000 for individuals making $50,000 a year or less and families with a combined income of up to $100,000, with individuals earning less than $40,000 — and families earning less than $80,000 — receiving the full amount. Previous rounds of direct payments were targeted to Americans earning less than $99,000 annually, with those earning less than $75,000 receiving the full amount.

“Let’s focus on those who are struggling,” Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a member of the group, said Sunday on the CNN program “State of the Union.”

Biden and Democrats have said they want to work with Republicans, but will press ahead without them if they cannot win agreement on a robust response.

“His first responsibility as president is to help take care of the families who need it,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said of Biden on Sunday, telling CNN that he should move ahead with his full plan if Republicans would not agree.

Congress approved more than $4 trillion through a series of bills last year to address the coronavirus crisis and its economic fallout. Most recently, in December, lawmakers passed a $900 billion stimulus plan that included $600 direct checks to many Americans.

That package sprang from a compromise forged by many of the same centrist Republicans who are to meet with Biden on Monday, who joined moderate Democrats to force their leaders to the negotiating table to find common ground.

Ten Republican senators are set to meet with President Joe Biden on Monday to push a much smaller alternative to his $1.9 trillion stimulus bill to address the toll of the pandemic, including scaling back another round of direct payments from the government.

Ten Republican senators are set to meet with President Joe Biden on Monday to push a much smaller alternative to his $1.9 trillion stimulus bill to address the toll of the pandemic, including scaling back another round of direct payments from the government. The coalition of mostly centrist Republican senators, led by Susan Collins of Maine, on Monday outlined their $618 billion plan, which they are billing as a way for Biden to pass a pandemic aid bill with bipartisan support and make good on his inauguration pledge to unite the country. With 10 Republicans on board joining the Senate’s 50 Democrats, a bipartisan bill could overcome the chamber’s 60-vote filibuster rule. But Democrats have shown little enthusiasm for a measure that amounts to less than one third of what the president says is needed to confront the public health and economic crisis. Still, after receiving a letter from the senators Sunday requesting a meeting, Biden called Collins and invited her and the other signers to the White House, where they are scheduled to meet Monday evening. He also spoke with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader. The Republicans’ proposal is likely to be met with resistance from congressional Democrats, who are preparing this week to begin laying the groundwork for passing Biden’s plan through a process known as budget reconciliation, which would allow it to bypass a filibuster and pass solely with Democratic votes. The Republican proposal would include $160 billion for vaccine distribution and development, coronavirus testing and the production of personal protective equipment; $20 billion toward helping schools reopen; more relief for small businesses; and additional aid to individuals. The package would also extend enhanced unemployment benefits of $300 a week — currently slated to lapse in March — until June 30. “We recognize your calls for unity and want to work in good faith with your administration to meet the health, economic and societal challenges of the COVID crisis,” wrote the Republican group, which includes Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mitt Romney of Utah. The measure omits a federal minimum wage increase Biden included in his plan. It would also whittle down his proposal to send $1,400 checks to many Americans, and limit it to lower-income earners. The proposal calls for checks of up to $1,000 for individuals making $50,000 a year or less and families with a combined income of up to $100,000, with individuals earning less than $40,000 — and families earning less than $80,000 — receiving the full amount. Previous rounds of direct payments were targeted to Americans earning less than $99,000 annually, with those earning less than $75,000 receiving the full amount. “Let’s focus on those who are struggling,” Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a member of the group, said Sunday on the CNN program “State of the Union.” Biden and Democrats have said they want to work with Republicans, but will press ahead without them if they cannot win agreement on a robust response. “His first responsibility as president is to help take care of the families who need it,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said of Biden on Sunday, telling CNN that he should move ahead with his full plan if Republicans would not agree. Congress approved more than $4 trillion through a series of bills last year to address the coronavirus crisis and its economic fallout. Most recently, in December, lawmakers passed a $900 billion stimulus plan that included $600 direct checks to many Americans. That package sprang from a compromise forged by many of the same centrist Republicans who are to meet with Biden on Monday, who joined moderate Democrats to force their leaders to the negotiating table to find common ground.

Centrist Republicans outline relief package before meeting Biden

Ten moderate Republican U.S. senators urged President Joe Biden on Sunday to significantly downsize his sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package to win bipartisan support as Democrats in Congress prepared to push ahead with his plan this week.

Republicans press Biden to downsize $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan

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