As US President Joe Biden unveiled a $2 trillion infrastructure plan, US Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell has lodged a protest,&nbsp;vowing to "fight every step of the way" against it.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-outlines-far-reaching-plan-to-reengineer-us-infrastructure-374638">Biden outlines far-reaching plan to reengineer US infrastructure</a>

“I'm going to fight them every step of the way because I think this is the wrong prescription for America," he said.

Biden has proposed to finance the spending through an increase of corporate tax from 21 per cent to 28 per cent.

McConnell has described this tax increase of the plan as a "Trojan horse" and has denied supporting the plan in its present form.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-joe-bidens-2000000000000-infra-plan-374856">Watch |</a>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-joe-bidens-2000000000000-infra-plan-374856/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

"I think that package that they're putting together now as much as we would like to address infrastructure is not going to get support from our side," McConnell said. "I think... the last thing the economy needs right now is a big whooping tax increase on all the productive sections of our economy."

McConnell also feels Biden’s plan has "more money for electric cars than roads and bridges".

While the White House is aiming to gather support from the Democratic and Republican members of the Congress, McConnell’s resistance can delay or shelf the plan’s approval completely.

Generally, 60 votes are required to pass legislation into the final law. However, in some cases, a simple majority can pass budget-related bills. The Democrats are hoping to achieve the same result as the Coronavirus relief bill, which was passed in March solely by Democratic support.

As US President Joe Biden unveiled a $2 trillion infrastructure plan, US Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell has lodged a protest, vowing to "fight every step of the way" against it.

As US President Joe Biden unveiled a $2 trillion infrastructure plan, US Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell has lodged a protest, vowing to "fight every step of the way" against it. Also read | Biden outlines far-reaching plan to reengineer US infrastructure “I'm going to fight them every step of the way because I think this is the wrong prescription for America," he said. Biden has proposed to finance the spending through an increase of corporate tax from 21 per cent to 28 per cent. McConnell has described this tax increase of the plan as a "Trojan horse" and has denied supporting the plan in its present form. Watch | "I think that package that they're putting together now as much as we would like to address infrastructure is not going to get support from our side," McConnell said. "I think... the last thing the economy needs right now is a big whooping tax increase on all the productive sections of our economy." McConnell also feels Biden’s plan has "more money for electric cars than roads and bridges". While the White House is aiming to gather support from the Democratic and Republican members of the Congress, McConnell’s resistance can delay or shelf the plan’s approval completely. Generally, 60 votes are required to pass legislation into the final law. However, in some cases, a simple majority can pass budget-related bills. The Democrats are hoping to achieve the same result as the Coronavirus relief bill, which was passed in March solely by Democratic support.

Mitch McConnell to fight Joe Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure plan 'every step of the way'

US President Joe Biden will convene his first Cabinet meeting on Thursday -- being expected to be used to promote his new infrastructure plan.

The meeting will be held a week after the full Cabinet was confirmed and a day after Biden released his infrastructure plan in Pittsburgh, which will likely dominate Washington through the summer and shape next year’s midterm elections.

The full Cabinet won’t meet in the room that bears its name, instead assembling in the more spacious East Room to allow for social distancing. All attendees, including the president, will wear masks.&nbsp;

The focus of the meeting will be on how to package the benefits of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that Biden signed into law this month.

All 16 permanent members of the Cabinet -- the vice-president and heads of the executive departments, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin -- will attend in person. So will other Cabinet-ranked officials, including White House chief of staff Ron Klain and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-outlines-far-reaching-plan-to-reengineer-us-infrastructure-374638">Also read |&nbsp;Biden outlines far-reaching plan to reengineer US infrastructure</a>

In all, 25 people will attend, the White House said. For some, it will be their first time meeting other members of the Cabinet, given that the pandemic curtailed inauguration celebrations and other social gatherings.

The White House press pool will be present for Biden’s remarks but probably will be ushered from the room before other speakers begin.

US President Joe Biden will convene his first Cabinet meeting on Thursday -- being expected to be used to promote his new infrastructure plan. The meeting will be held a week after the full Cabinet was confirmed and a day after Biden released his infrastructure plan in Pittsburgh, which will likely dominate Washington through the summer and shape next year’s midterm elections.

US President Joe Biden will convene his first Cabinet meeting on Thursday -- being expected to be used to promote his new infrastructure plan. The meeting will be held a week after the full Cabinet was confirmed and a day after Biden released his infrastructure plan in Pittsburgh, which will likely dominate Washington through the summer and shape next year’s midterm elections. The full Cabinet won’t meet in the room that bears its name, instead assembling in the more spacious East Room to allow for social distancing. All attendees, including the president, will wear masks. The focus of the meeting will be on how to package the benefits of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that Biden signed into law this month. All 16 permanent members of the Cabinet -- the vice-president and heads of the executive departments, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin -- will attend in person. So will other Cabinet-ranked officials, including White House chief of staff Ron Klain and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. Also read | Biden outlines far-reaching plan to reengineer US infrastructure In all, 25 people will attend, the White House said. For some, it will be their first time meeting other members of the Cabinet, given that the pandemic curtailed inauguration celebrations and other social gatherings. The White House press pool will be present for Biden’s remarks but probably will be ushered from the room before other speakers begin.

Biden to hold first Cabinet meeting amid infrastructure push

American President Joe Biden says US sports teams are making a mistake if they ignore the science and allow fans back into stadiums at full capacity and without aggressive Covid-19 restrictions.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/nagano-bars-fans-from-parts-of-torch-relay-as-covid-precaution-374658" hreflang="en">Nagano bars fans from parts of torch relay as COVID precaution</a>

Biden said the Texas Rangers are not being "responsible" by allowing 100 per cent capacity at Globe Life Field on Major League Baseball's opening day. The National Football League said earlier this week it plans to play games beginning in early September at full capacity.

"Well, that's a decision they made. I think it's a mistake," Biden said of the Rangers filling their 40,300 seat stadium. "They should listen to Dr. [Anthony] Fauci, the scientists and the experts. But I think it's not responsible."

Biden made his comments as part of an interview with US sports broadcaster ESPN which aired Wednesday night.

He also emphasized the importance of wearing masks and continuing to follow safety and health restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus which has killed over 550,000 Americans since the global pandemic started. Texas has seen almost 50,000 people die, which is more than Canada and Sweden combined.

"In terms of it being responsible [for stadiums to open at full capacity] -- you see what's happening in Europe now when they lifted the mandates. I don't know why we don't just follow the science and beat this," Biden said.&nbsp;

The Washington Nationals said this week that five players would miss Thursday's season opener against the New York Mets because of Covid-19 protocols, including one undisclosed player who tested positive. The Nationals plan to open their stadium to 5,000 fans, at 12 per cent capacity.

When asked what he would tell athletes who are reluctant to get the vaccine, Biden remarked, "I'm president of the United States and I got vaccinated. I don't have an unimportant job. Would I take the vaccine if I thought it was going to hurt me? We have done incredible research on the vaccines and they have shown that they work. We have to get to the point where enough people have taken the vaccine so we diminish the possibility for (the virus) to spread."&nbsp;

Tennis players Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka, who are in Florida this week competing in a WTA tournament, have said they are reluctant to get the vaccine because of various concerns, including how fast it was rolled out.&nbsp;

Biden also addressed the anti-mask contingent, saying "Some people think they are being tough guys by not wearing masks, but guess what, they are just hurting themselves and other people."

Biden also talked about the importance of pay equity between men and women and described First Lady Jill Biden as a die-hard Philadelphia sports fan.

American President Joe Biden says US sports teams are making a mistake if they ignore the science and allow fans back into stadiums at full capacity and without aggressive Covid-19 restrictions.

American President Joe Biden says US sports teams are making a mistake if they ignore the science and allow fans back into stadiums at full capacity and without aggressive Covid-19 restrictions. ALSO READ: Nagano bars fans from parts of torch relay as COVID precaution Biden said the Texas Rangers are not being "responsible" by allowing 100 per cent capacity at Globe Life Field on Major League Baseball's opening day. The National Football League said earlier this week it plans to play games beginning in early September at full capacity. "Well, that's a decision they made. I think it's a mistake," Biden said of the Rangers filling their 40,300 seat stadium. "They should listen to Dr. [Anthony] Fauci, the scientists and the experts. But I think it's not responsible." Biden made his comments as part of an interview with US sports broadcaster ESPN which aired Wednesday night. He also emphasized the importance of wearing masks and continuing to follow safety and health restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus which has killed over 550,000 Americans since the global pandemic started. Texas has seen almost 50,000 people die, which is more than Canada and Sweden combined. "In terms of it being responsible [for stadiums to open at full capacity] -- you see what's happening in Europe now when they lifted the mandates. I don't know why we don't just follow the science and beat this," Biden said. The Washington Nationals said this week that five players would miss Thursday's season opener against the New York Mets because of Covid-19 protocols, including one undisclosed player who tested positive. The Nationals plan to open their stadium to 5,000 fans, at 12 per cent capacity. When asked what he would tell athletes who are reluctant to get the vaccine, Biden remarked, "I'm president of the United States and I got vaccinated. I don't have an unimportant job. Would I take the vaccine if I thought it was going to hurt me? We have done incredible research on the vaccines and they have shown that they work. We have to get to the point where enough people have taken the vaccine so we diminish the possibility for (the virus) to spread." Tennis players Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka, who are in Florida this week competing in a WTA tournament, have said they are reluctant to get the vaccine because of various concerns, including how fast it was rolled out. Biden also addressed the anti-mask contingent, saying "Some people think they are being tough guys by not wearing masks, but guess what, they are just hurting themselves and other people." Biden also talked about the importance of pay equity between men and women and described First Lady Jill Biden as a die-hard Philadelphia sports fan.

President Biden says sports teams need to follow the science and 'beat this' pandemic

US President Joe Biden has outlined a massive plan to revamp the nation’s infrastructure over the next eight years in what he billed as “a once in a generation investment in America”.

The $2.3 trillion plan to rebuild America's crumbling infrastructure proposes doubling federal funding for mass transit and spending $80 billion to expand and modernise passenger rail service. A key source of the financing would come from increasing the corporate tax rate from 21 per cent to 28 per cent, and cracking down on the use of tax havens to avoid paying US taxes.

Speaking at a carpenters union training center in Pittsburgh, Biden on Wednesday drew comparisons between his hard-hatted proposed transformation of the US economy and the space race.

“It’s not a plan that tinkers around the edges,” Biden said. “It’s a once-in-a-generation investment in America unlike anything we’ve seen or done since we built the interstate highway system and the space race decades ago. In fact, it’s the largest American jobs investment since World War II. It will create millions of jobs, good-paying jobs.”

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/joe-biden-set-to-end-trump-era-ban-on-temporary-foreign-workers-374388">Also read |&nbsp;Joe Biden set to end Trump-era ban on temporary foreign workers</a>

Biden also vowed to make companies like Amazon pay their fair share in taxes to fund his ambitious $2 trillion infrastructure plan. He said it was not about "retribution" against the wealthy and successful, but the fact that Amazon pays zero in federal taxes is "just wrong."

Biden expressed outrage over the imbalance between taxes paid by the wealthiest corporations and the burden for middle-class workers. He cited a 2019 study showing 91 Fortune 500 companies, "the biggest companies in the world, including Amazon ... pay not a single, solitary penny of federal income tax.&nbsp;

"That is just wrong."

The package already is drawing condemnation from corporations that balk at reversing the tax cuts signed&nbsp;in late 2017 by then-president Donald Trump. That measure slashed the corporate rate from 35 per cent, although with various deductions and loopholes, the average rate companies actually pay was, and remains,&nbsp;much lower.

White House officials say the spending would generate those jobs as the country shifts away from fossil fuels and combats the perils of climate change. It is also an effort to compete with the technology and public investments made by China, which has the world’s second-largest economy and is fast gaining on the United States’ dominant position.

“I’m convinced that if we act now, in 50 years people are going to look back and say this is the moment when America won the future,” Biden said.

Wednesday’s announcement will be followed in coming weeks by Biden pushing a companion bill of roughly equal size for investments in child care, family tax credits and other domestic programmes.

“Wall Street didn’t build this country,” Biden said. “You, the great middle class, built this country. And unions built the middle class.”

Biden's plan would invest $85 billion in subways, buses and other transportation systems, the plan says, "to modernize existing transit and help agencies expand their systems to meet rider demand," part of a broader push to get more people out of private cars.

"It will ultimately reduce traffic congestion for everyone," the plan says.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-to-pay-for-infrastructure-plan-with-15-years-of-corporate-taxes-374595">Also read |&nbsp;Biden to pay for infrastructure plan with 15 years of corporate taxes</a>

The new construction could keep the economy running hot, coming on the heels of Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. Economists already estimate it could push growth above 6 per cent this year.

Funding for the infrastructure projects would come from a hike on corporate taxes that would aim to raise the necessary piles of money over 15 years and then reduce the deficit going forward. In doing so, Biden would undo the action by Trump and congressional Republicans to lift the corporate tax rate to 28 per cent from the 21 per cent rate set in a 2017 overhaul.

The Biden plan also aims to crack down on tax havens used by multinationals and raise the global minimum tax to boost revenue collection, according to a White House handout.

Other changes include the elimination of subsidies for fossil fuel development and stiffening tax enforcement on large companies.

(with inputs from agencies)

US President Joe Biden has outlined a massive plan to revamp the nation’s infrastructure over the next eight years in what he billed as “a once in a generation investment in America”.

US President Joe Biden has outlined a massive plan to revamp the nation’s infrastructure over the next eight years in what he billed as “a once in a generation investment in America”. The $2.3 trillion plan to rebuild America's crumbling infrastructure proposes doubling federal funding for mass transit and spending $80 billion to expand and modernise passenger rail service. A key source of the financing would come from increasing the corporate tax rate from 21 per cent to 28 per cent, and cracking down on the use of tax havens to avoid paying US taxes. Speaking at a carpenters union training center in Pittsburgh, Biden on Wednesday drew comparisons between his hard-hatted proposed transformation of the US economy and the space race. “It’s not a plan that tinkers around the edges,” Biden said. “It’s a once-in-a-generation investment in America unlike anything we’ve seen or done since we built the interstate highway system and the space race decades ago. In fact, it’s the largest American jobs investment since World War II. It will create millions of jobs, good-paying jobs.” Also read | Joe Biden set to end Trump-era ban on temporary foreign workers Biden also vowed to make companies like Amazon pay their fair share in taxes to fund his ambitious $2 trillion infrastructure plan. He said it was not about "retribution" against the wealthy and successful, but the fact that Amazon pays zero in federal taxes is "just wrong." Biden expressed outrage over the imbalance between taxes paid by the wealthiest corporations and the burden for middle-class workers. He cited a 2019 study showing 91 Fortune 500 companies, "the biggest companies in the world, including Amazon ... pay not a single, solitary penny of federal income tax. "That is just wrong." The package already is drawing condemnation from corporations that balk at reversing the tax cuts signed in late 2017 by then-president Donald Trump. That measure slashed the corporate rate from 35 per cent, although with various deductions and loopholes, the average rate companies actually pay was, and remains, much lower. White House officials say the spending would generate those jobs as the country shifts away from fossil fuels and combats the perils of climate change. It is also an effort to compete with the technology and public investments made by China, which has the world’s second-largest economy and is fast gaining on the United States’ dominant position. “I’m convinced that if we act now, in 50 years people are going to look back and say this is the moment when America won the future,” Biden said. Wednesday’s announcement will be followed in coming weeks by Biden pushing a companion bill of roughly equal size for investments in child care, family tax credits and other domestic programmes. “Wall Street didn’t build this country,” Biden said. “You, the great middle class, built this country. And unions built the middle class.” Biden's plan would invest $85 billion in subways, buses and other transportation systems, the plan says, "to modernize existing transit and help agencies expand their systems to meet rider demand," part of a broader push to get more people out of private cars. "It will ultimately reduce traffic congestion for everyone," the plan says. Also read | Biden to pay for infrastructure plan with 15 years of corporate taxes The new construction could keep the economy running hot, coming on the heels of Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. Economists already estimate it could push growth above 6 per cent this year. Funding for the infrastructure projects would come from a hike on corporate taxes that would aim to raise the necessary piles of money over 15 years and then reduce the deficit going forward. In doing so, Biden would undo the action by Trump and congressional Republicans to lift the corporate tax rate to 28 per cent from the 21 per cent rate set in a 2017 overhaul. The Biden plan also aims to crack down on tax havens used by multinationals and raise the global minimum tax to boost revenue collection, according to a White House handout. Other changes include the elimination of subsidies for fossil fuel development and stiffening tax enforcement on large companies. (with inputs from agencies)

Biden outlines far-reaching plan to reengineer US infrastructure

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday unveiled what he called a “once-in-a-generation” $2 trillion proposal focusing on infrastructure and the climate crisis.

US: President Biden unveils 'once-in-a-generation' $2 trillion infrastructure plan

A New York man has been arrested and charged with assaulting a 65-year-old Asian woman in a hate crime. The said attack was captured on a video that went viral amid a rise in anti-Asian incidents in the United States.

Brandon Elliot was previously convicted of murdering his mother.

Police identified the 38-year old as the man seen in the video kicking the woman to the ground and then kicking her several more times on Monday near Times Square in midtown Manhattan.

Elliot was due to be arraigned later on Wednesday on two charges of second-degree assault as a hate crime and one count of first-degree attempted assault as a hate crime.

New York District Attorney Cy Vance said at a news briefing: "Mr Elliot is accused of brutally shoving, kicking and stomping a 65-year-old mother to the ground after telling her that she didn't belong here. There is no place for these atrocious acts of anti-Asian violence in New York."

Elliot, who was on lifetime parole after serving a prison term for murdering his mother, was arrested without incident at his residence in New York City on Tuesday.

The New York Times identified the victim of the attack as Vilma Kari, an immigrant from the Philippines, citing a law enforcement source. An NYPD spokesman declined to confirm her identity. According to the Times, Kari suffered a fractured pelvis.

Concern over anti-Asian hate crimes was heightened when six Asian women were among eight people fatally shot this month at Atlanta-area spas. A 21-year-old man was charged with the murders. Police have yet to determine a motive.

President Joe Biden's administration on Tuesday announced a set of measures responding to anti-Asian violence in the United States, including deploying $49.5 million from Covid-19 relief funds for US community programs that help victims.

(with inputs)

A New York man has been arrested and charged with assaulting a 65-year-old Asian woman in a hate crime. The said attack was captured on a video that went viral amid a rise in anti-Asian incidents in the United States.

A New York man has been arrested and charged with assaulting a 65-year-old Asian woman in a hate crime. The said attack was captured on a video that went viral amid a rise in anti-Asian incidents in the United States. Brandon Elliot was previously convicted of murdering his mother. Police identified the 38-year old as the man seen in the video kicking the woman to the ground and then kicking her several more times on Monday near Times Square in midtown Manhattan. Elliot was due to be arraigned later on Wednesday on two charges of second-degree assault as a hate crime and one count of first-degree attempted assault as a hate crime. New York District Attorney Cy Vance said at a news briefing: "Mr Elliot is accused of brutally shoving, kicking and stomping a 65-year-old mother to the ground after telling her that she didn't belong here. There is no place for these atrocious acts of anti-Asian violence in New York." Elliot, who was on lifetime parole after serving a prison term for murdering his mother, was arrested without incident at his residence in New York City on Tuesday. The New York Times identified the victim of the attack as Vilma Kari, an immigrant from the Philippines, citing a law enforcement source. An NYPD spokesman declined to confirm her identity. According to the Times, Kari suffered a fractured pelvis. Concern over anti-Asian hate crimes was heightened when six Asian women were among eight people fatally shot this month at Atlanta-area spas. A 21-year-old man was charged with the murders. Police have yet to determine a motive. President Joe Biden's administration on Tuesday announced a set of measures responding to anti-Asian violence in the United States, including deploying $49.5 million from Covid-19 relief funds for US community programs that help victims. (with inputs)

Suspect in NYC attack on Asian woman charged with assault as a hate crime

&nbsp;President Joe Biden intends to pay for the $2 trillion package of infrastructure spending he will propose on Wednesday with a substantial increase in corporate taxes, people briefed on the plan said Tuesday.

The scale of the infrastructure program — one of the most ambitious attempts in generations to shore up the nation’s aging roads, bridges, rail lines and utilities — is so big that it will require 15 years of higher taxes on corporations to pay for eight years of spending, they said.

Despite his ambitious programs, Biden had pledged that his long-term economic agenda would not add further to the growing national debt. But the fact that his proposed tax increases would not cover his spending over the same period shows the challenge he has in balancing his big goals and the deficit.

Biden’s proposals include raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% and efforts to force multinational corporations to pay significantly more in tax to the United States on profits they earn and book overseas. The corporate tax rate had been cut under President Donald Trump from 35% to 21%.

Biden’s infrastructure plan is the first step in a two-part agenda to overhaul American capitalism, fight climate change and attempt to improve economic productivity. Together, those two proposals could cost as much as $4 trillion between spending increases and tax incentives.

The spending in the first phase of Biden’s plan includes a wide range of investments in physical infrastructure, including highways, mass transit and electric vehicle charging systems and upgrades to water pipes, the electric grid and veterans’ hospitals. It also includes a big increase in federal research and development spending and efforts to provide home-based care to older and disabled Americans.

The second step, which officials have suggested will come next month, will feature spending and tax credits meant to invest in what liberal economists call human infrastructure. It will include aid to the poor, paid leave for workers, and measures meant to reduce the cost of child care and help women work and earn more.

Proposals to pay for that second step include tax increases on high-earning individuals and the wealthy, like an increase in the top marginal income tax rate to 39.6% from 37%.

President Joe Biden intends to pay for the $2 trillion package of infrastructure spending he will propose on Wednesday with a substantial increase in corporate taxes, people briefed on the plan said Tuesday.

President Joe Biden intends to pay for the $2 trillion package of infrastructure spending he will propose on Wednesday with a substantial increase in corporate taxes, people briefed on the plan said Tuesday. The scale of the infrastructure program — one of the most ambitious attempts in generations to shore up the nation’s aging roads, bridges, rail lines and utilities — is so big that it will require 15 years of higher taxes on corporations to pay for eight years of spending, they said. Despite his ambitious programs, Biden had pledged that his long-term economic agenda would not add further to the growing national debt. But the fact that his proposed tax increases would not cover his spending over the same period shows the challenge he has in balancing his big goals and the deficit. Biden’s proposals include raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% and efforts to force multinational corporations to pay significantly more in tax to the United States on profits they earn and book overseas. The corporate tax rate had been cut under President Donald Trump from 35% to 21%. Biden’s infrastructure plan is the first step in a two-part agenda to overhaul American capitalism, fight climate change and attempt to improve economic productivity. Together, those two proposals could cost as much as $4 trillion between spending increases and tax incentives. The spending in the first phase of Biden’s plan includes a wide range of investments in physical infrastructure, including highways, mass transit and electric vehicle charging systems and upgrades to water pipes, the electric grid and veterans’ hospitals. It also includes a big increase in federal research and development spending and efforts to provide home-based care to older and disabled Americans. The second step, which officials have suggested will come next month, will feature spending and tax credits meant to invest in what liberal economists call human infrastructure. It will include aid to the poor, paid leave for workers, and measures meant to reduce the cost of child care and help women work and earn more. Proposals to pay for that second step include tax increases on high-earning individuals and the wealthy, like an increase in the top marginal income tax rate to 39.6% from 37%.

Biden to pay for infrastructure plan with 15 years of corporate taxes

US President Joe Biden is set to unveil his mega package in the city of Pittsburgh, where he kicked off his presidential campaign in 2019. White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said that the aim of the package is to "rebuild our economy and create better-paying jobs for American workers".

US: Biden to unveil mega infra plan in Pittsburgh

US President Joe Biden's administration has announced a set of measures to counter the rising violence against the Asian-American community. The White House has allocated $49.5 million from COVID-19 relief funds community programs that help victims.

White House announces new measures to counter hate and violence

United States President Joe Biden is set to let a proclamation barring temporary foreign workers from coming into the country expire on Wednesday. The proclamation was put in place by his predecessor, Donald Trump and prevented temporary foreign workers from entering the States.

Reuters reported that Biden is set to let it expire. Biden has staunchly reversed many policies of Donald Trump especially in terms of immigration. After taking office on January 20, Biden has also revoked a proclamation which prevented applicants of permanent residency from entering the country.

Trump’s first directive against foreign workers was issued in June 2020 and later extended upto March 31, claiming it was necessary to protect American workers as unemployment rates soared during the pandemic.

In mid-March, jobless claims in the US dropped to a one-year low. Even then, a report by the US Labor Department claims that 19 million people are still receiving unemployment cheques.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/former-top-us-virus-official-slams-trumps-pandemic-response-citing-needless-deaths-374033" hreflang="en">Former top US virus official slams Trump’s pandemic response, citing needless deaths</a>

Those affected by the expiration of the proclamation are foreign workers in the country on H-1B visas whereby American employers hire people in specialised occupations, and for companies big on outsourcing services.

Recently, Trump spoke at a wedding ceremony at Mar-a-Lago. He used the moment to attack Biden over multiple issues, ranging from the border with Mexico, to China, and even Iran.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/miss-me-yet-donald-trump-shocks-everyone-by-making-wedding-speech-about-himself-374257" hreflang="en">'Miss me yet?': Donald Trump shocks everyone by making wedding speech about himself</a>

"We were ready to make a deal [with Iran], they were ready to do anything, they would have done anything. And this guy [Biden] goes and drops the sanctions and then he says we'd like to negotiate now," Trump is heard saying in the video.

"What's happening to the kids? They are living in squalor, they are living like nobody has ever seen," Trump said, while referring to the kids at border. "The border is not good. It's the worst that it has ever been," he said.

United States President Joe Biden is set to let a proclamation barring temporary foreign workers from coming into the country expire on Wednesday. The proclamation was put in place by his predecessor, Donald Trump and prevented temporary foreign workers from entering the States.

United States President Joe Biden is set to let a proclamation barring temporary foreign workers from coming into the country expire on Wednesday. The proclamation was put in place by his predecessor, Donald Trump and prevented temporary foreign workers from entering the States. Reuters reported that Biden is set to let it expire. Biden has staunchly reversed many policies of Donald Trump especially in terms of immigration. After taking office on January 20, Biden has also revoked a proclamation which prevented applicants of permanent residency from entering the country. Trump’s first directive against foreign workers was issued in June 2020 and later extended upto March 31, claiming it was necessary to protect American workers as unemployment rates soared during the pandemic. In mid-March, jobless claims in the US dropped to a one-year low. Even then, a report by the US Labor Department claims that 19 million people are still receiving unemployment cheques. Also read: Former top US virus official slams Trump’s pandemic response, citing needless deaths Those affected by the expiration of the proclamation are foreign workers in the country on H-1B visas whereby American employers hire people in specialised occupations, and for companies big on outsourcing services. Recently, Trump spoke at a wedding ceremony at Mar-a-Lago. He used the moment to attack Biden over multiple issues, ranging from the border with Mexico, to China, and even Iran. Also read: 'Miss me yet?': Donald Trump shocks everyone by making wedding speech about himself "We were ready to make a deal [with Iran], they were ready to do anything, they would have done anything. And this guy [Biden] goes and drops the sanctions and then he says we'd like to negotiate now," Trump is heard saying in the video. "What's happening to the kids? They are living in squalor, they are living like nobody has ever seen," Trump said, while referring to the kids at border. "The border is not good. It's the worst that it has ever been," he said.

Joe Biden set to end Trump-era ban on temporary foreign workers

The US migrant crisis is growing, with hundreds of unaccompanied children held in crowded processing centres. Take a look at one such facility in Texas.

A look inside the condition of children in a migrant processing centre

Hunter Biden doesn’t beat around the bush in his new memoir, “Beautiful Things,” which comes out on April 6.

“I’m a 51-year-old father who helped raise three beautiful daughters,” writes President Joe Biden’s younger son, who now has a year-old son of his own, in the prologue. “I’ve bought crack cocaine on the streets of Washington, D.C., and cooked up my own inside a hotel bungalow in Los Angeles. I’ve been so desperate for a drink that I couldn’t make the one-block walk between a liquor store and my apartment without uncapping the bottle to take a swig. In the last five years alone, my two-decades-long marriage has dissolved, guns have been put in my face, and at one point I dropped clean off the grid, living in $59-a-night Super 8 motels off I-95 while scaring my family even more than myself.”

The book is equal parts family saga, grief narrative and addict’s howl. Here is what readers will learn.

He remembers the accident that killed his mother and sister.

You probably know the story: It was Dec. 18, 1972. Joe Biden, then a newly elected senator, was in Washington. Neilia Hunter Biden — referred to as “my mommy” throughout “Beautiful Things” — took Hunter, who was 3; his brother, Beau, almost 4; and their 13-month-old sister, Naomi (known as “Caspy,” short for Casper the Friendly Ghost), to pick out a Christmas tree near their home in Wilmington, Delaware.

Hunter Biden describes how Naomi was “sound asleep in the front passenger seat tucked into a bassinet” — an eyebrow-raising detail by today’s standards. “Suddenly, I see my mother’s head turn to the right,” he writes. “I don’t remember anything else about her profile: the look in her eye, the expression of her mouth. Her head simply swings.” At a four-way intersection, their car was broadsided by a tractor-trailer carrying corncobs.

The next thing Biden remembers is waking up in a hospital bed next to Beau: “He’s mouthing three words to me, over and over: ‘I love you. I love you. I love you.’ That’s our origin story.”

His romantic relationship with Beau’s widow stemmed from ‘grasping for the love we had both lost.’

What began as a “shared-travails bond” with Hallie Biden blossomed into a full-blown, live-in arrangement as Hunter Biden’s own marriage ended. He attempted to be a stable presence for his niece, nephew and sister-in-law but acknowledges that none of it worked out.

“Our relationship began as a mutually desperate grasping for the love we had both lost, and its dissolution only deepened that tragedy,” he writes. “It made the obvious clear: What was gone was gone permanently. There was no putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.”

While his father was vice president, Biden spent a month in a Washington apartment bingeing on vodka.

Biden had his first glass of Champagne when he was 8. In his 20s, he started drinking heavily after work (“I could always drink five times more than anyone else”). He went to rehab and relapsed after seven years — not long after his father joined the Obama ticket, effectively ending his son’s lucrative lobbying career. Biden went back to rehab again, then relapsed in 2016 after Beau died.

The pattern continued, leading to 12- to 16-hour benders, withdrawal symptoms and a 20-pound weight loss: “I didn’t eat anything much beyond what was available at the liquor store: Doritos, pork rinds, ramen noodles. Eventually my stomach couldn’t even handle the noodles.”

Biden used a kitchen knife to remove the plastic nub that regulates the flow of vodka from its jug, allowing him to guzzle faster. He writes, “I learned to twist and contort my body in such a way as to lessen the weight of the bottle, to make it more manageable.”

His father, who was then vice president, arrived at his home and said, “I know you’re not fine, Hunter. You need help.” Hunter Biden recalls: “He never let me forget that all was not lost. He never abandoned me, never shunned me, never judged me, no matter how bad things got — and believe me, from there they would get much, much worse.”

He purchased crack from a homeless addict who later moved in with him.

“The relationship was symbiotic,” he writes. “It was two crack addicts who couldn’t find their way out of a paper bag. A one-act crack farce.”

Biden bluntly describes his progression from smoking crack to cooking it; his abusive relationships with unsavory dealers and sticky-fingered hangers on; and the desperate tricks he used when faced with drug tests, including buying “clean urine.” He attempted to quit crack with the help of ketamine infusions, psychoactive compounds and 5-MeO-DMT therapy, “which employs the gland secretions of the Sonoran Desert toad.” He doesn’t disclose how he paid for these treatments.

“Once you decide that you’re the bad person everyone thinks you’ve become, it’s hard to find the good guy you once were,” Biden writes. “Eventually, I quit looking for him: I decided I wasn’t the person everybody who loved me thought I was anymore.”

Readers follow Biden weaving through a Los Angeles homeless encampment, looking to score his next hit. “I went through and stepped around people curled up on thin pieces of cardboard. Beyond them, I noticed a tilting, unlit tent. It was pitch black. All I saw was the gun pointed at my face,” he writes. In the next chapter, we see Joe Biden chasing his son down the driveway after a family intervention: “He grabbed me, swung me around and hugged me. He held me tight in the dark and cried for the longest time.”

Biden doesn’t make excuses for his addiction but describes feeling ‘alone in a crowd.’

Of the car accident that killed his mother and sister, Biden writes, “I want to make it clear: I don’t see that tragic moment as necessarily resulting in behaviors that lent themselves to addiction. That would be a cop-out.”

But he describes a long-running feeling of unease, particularly in social situations. “That kind of insecurity is almost universal among those with real addiction issues — a feeling of being alone in a crowd. I’ve always felt alone in a crowd,” he writes.

When it comes to Ukraine, Biden’s account is as dry as toast.

Hunter Biden’s first “legal-age employment” was at Wilmington’s Brandywine Zoo — “I shoveled piles of llama manure as tall as I was and unclogged the drain in the otter pool” — but he is best known for his board membership at Burisma Holdings. “The episode that led to the impeachment of a president and landed me in the heart of the decade’s biggest political fable is most remarkable for its epic banality,” he writes.

He then proceeds to cover the incident in an 18-page chapter that reads like a research paper compiled by a reluctant student. Was Biden appointed to the board because of his last name?

Perhaps, he writes, but: “My response has always been to work harder so that my accomplishments stand on their own.”

Did he display a lack of judgment? “No.”

Would he do it again? “I did nothing unethical, and have never been charged with wrongdoing.”

He credits his wife, Melissa Cohen, for his sobriety.

In March 2019, Hunter Biden was “done with the world of politics, of figuring out how to go out on the campaign trail with Dad, if it came to that, as I would have in any other election year.” He writes, “I was a crack addict and that was that.”

He had been asked to vacate a hotel in Los Angeles where he was living, but before he left, he befriended some people at the pool who gave him the number of a South African filmmaker named Melissa Cohen.

An hour into their first dinner, they declared their love to one another. An hour after that, Biden told Melissa he was a crack addict. She said, “Not anymore. You’re finished with that.”

Hunter Biden doesn’t beat around the bush in his new memoir, “Beautiful Things,” which comes out on April 6. “I’m a 51-year-old father who helped raise three beautiful daughters,” writes President Joe Biden’s younger son, who now has a year-old son of his own, in the prologue.

Hunter Biden doesn’t beat around the bush in his new memoir, “Beautiful Things,” which comes out on April 6. “I’m a 51-year-old father who helped raise three beautiful daughters,” writes President Joe Biden’s younger son, who now has a year-old son of his own, in the prologue. “I’ve bought crack cocaine on the streets of Washington, D.C., and cooked up my own inside a hotel bungalow in Los Angeles. I’ve been so desperate for a drink that I couldn’t make the one-block walk between a liquor store and my apartment without uncapping the bottle to take a swig. In the last five years alone, my two-decades-long marriage has dissolved, guns have been put in my face, and at one point I dropped clean off the grid, living in $59-a-night Super 8 motels off I-95 while scaring my family even more than myself.” The book is equal parts family saga, grief narrative and addict’s howl. Here is what readers will learn. He remembers the accident that killed his mother and sister. You probably know the story: It was Dec. 18, 1972. Joe Biden, then a newly elected senator, was in Washington. Neilia Hunter Biden — referred to as “my mommy” throughout “Beautiful Things” — took Hunter, who was 3; his brother, Beau, almost 4; and their 13-month-old sister, Naomi (known as “Caspy,” short for Casper the Friendly Ghost), to pick out a Christmas tree near their home in Wilmington, Delaware. Hunter Biden describes how Naomi was “sound asleep in the front passenger seat tucked into a bassinet” — an eyebrow-raising detail by today’s standards. “Suddenly, I see my mother’s head turn to the right,” he writes. “I don’t remember anything else about her profile: the look in her eye, the expression of her mouth. Her head simply swings.” At a four-way intersection, their car was broadsided by a tractor-trailer carrying corncobs. The next thing Biden remembers is waking up in a hospital bed next to Beau: “He’s mouthing three words to me, over and over: ‘I love you. I love you. I love you.’ That’s our origin story.” His romantic relationship with Beau’s widow stemmed from ‘grasping for the love we had both lost.’ What began as a “shared-travails bond” with Hallie Biden blossomed into a full-blown, live-in arrangement as Hunter Biden’s own marriage ended. He attempted to be a stable presence for his niece, nephew and sister-in-law but acknowledges that none of it worked out. “Our relationship began as a mutually desperate grasping for the love we had both lost, and its dissolution only deepened that tragedy,” he writes. “It made the obvious clear: What was gone was gone permanently. There was no putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.” While his father was vice president, Biden spent a month in a Washington apartment bingeing on vodka. Biden had his first glass of Champagne when he was 8. In his 20s, he started drinking heavily after work (“I could always drink five times more than anyone else”). He went to rehab and relapsed after seven years — not long after his father joined the Obama ticket, effectively ending his son’s lucrative lobbying career. Biden went back to rehab again, then relapsed in 2016 after Beau died. The pattern continued, leading to 12- to 16-hour benders, withdrawal symptoms and a 20-pound weight loss: “I didn’t eat anything much beyond what was available at the liquor store: Doritos, pork rinds, ramen noodles. Eventually my stomach couldn’t even handle the noodles.” Biden used a kitchen knife to remove the plastic nub that regulates the flow of vodka from its jug, allowing him to guzzle faster. He writes, “I learned to twist and contort my body in such a way as to lessen the weight of the bottle, to make it more manageable.” His father, who was then vice president, arrived at his home and said, “I know you’re not fine, Hunter. You need help.” Hunter Biden recalls: “He never let me forget that all was not lost. He never abandoned me, never shunned me, never judged me, no matter how bad things got — and believe me, from there they would get much, much worse.” He purchased crack from a homeless addict who later moved in with him. “The relationship was symbiotic,” he writes. “It was two crack addicts who couldn’t find their way out of a paper bag. A one-act crack farce.” Biden bluntly describes his progression from smoking crack to cooking it; his abusive relationships with unsavory dealers and sticky-fingered hangers on; and the desperate tricks he used when faced with drug tests, including buying “clean urine.” He attempted to quit crack with the help of ketamine infusions, psychoactive compounds and 5-MeO-DMT therapy, “which employs the gland secretions of the Sonoran Desert toad.” He doesn’t disclose how he paid for these treatments. “Once you decide that you’re the bad person everyone thinks you’ve become, it’s hard to find the good guy you once were,” Biden writes. “Eventually, I quit looking for him: I decided I wasn’t the person everybody who loved me thought I was anymore.” Readers follow Biden weaving through a Los Angeles homeless encampment, looking to score his next hit. “I went through and stepped around people curled up on thin pieces of cardboard. Beyond them, I noticed a tilting, unlit tent. It was pitch black. All I saw was the gun pointed at my face,” he writes. In the next chapter, we see Joe Biden chasing his son down the driveway after a family intervention: “He grabbed me, swung me around and hugged me. He held me tight in the dark and cried for the longest time.” Biden doesn’t make excuses for his addiction but describes feeling ‘alone in a crowd.’ Of the car accident that killed his mother and sister, Biden writes, “I want to make it clear: I don’t see that tragic moment as necessarily resulting in behaviors that lent themselves to addiction. That would be a cop-out.” But he describes a long-running feeling of unease, particularly in social situations. “That kind of insecurity is almost universal among those with real addiction issues — a feeling of being alone in a crowd. I’ve always felt alone in a crowd,” he writes. When it comes to Ukraine, Biden’s account is as dry as toast. Hunter Biden’s first “legal-age employment” was at Wilmington’s Brandywine Zoo — “I shoveled piles of llama manure as tall as I was and unclogged the drain in the otter pool” — but he is best known for his board membership at Burisma Holdings. “The episode that led to the impeachment of a president and landed me in the heart of the decade’s biggest political fable is most remarkable for its epic banality,” he writes. He then proceeds to cover the incident in an 18-page chapter that reads like a research paper compiled by a reluctant student. Was Biden appointed to the board because of his last name? Perhaps, he writes, but: “My response has always been to work harder so that my accomplishments stand on their own.” Did he display a lack of judgment? “No.” Would he do it again? “I did nothing unethical, and have never been charged with wrongdoing.” He credits his wife, Melissa Cohen, for his sobriety. In March 2019, Hunter Biden was “done with the world of politics, of figuring out how to go out on the campaign trail with Dad, if it came to that, as I would have in any other election year.” He writes, “I was a crack addict and that was that.” He had been asked to vacate a hotel in Los Angeles where he was living, but before he left, he befriended some people at the pool who gave him the number of a South African filmmaker named Melissa Cohen. An hour into their first dinner, they declared their love to one another. An hour after that, Biden told Melissa he was a crack addict. She said, “Not anymore. You’re finished with that.”

Hunter Biden’s memoir: 7 takeaways from ‘Beautiful Things’

US President Joe Biden’s younger dog Major who made headlines for a biting incident at the White House has reportedly has struck again. The White House said that Major “nipped someone while on a walk” on Tuesday.

Michael LaRosa, First Lady Jill Biden’s press secretary claimed that the dog is still adjusting to the surroundings. Reportedly, the White House Medical Unit checked the person for any serious injuries or bites but found nothing serious.

On March 8, Major had caused a minor injury to an employee of the US Secret Service, after which him and his sibling Champ were temporarily sent to Delaware.

Major was seen by reporters at the White House South Lawn on Monday as the president and first lady travelled to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/bidens-dogs-reportedly-returned-to-delaware-after-biting-incident-at-white-house-369090" hreflang="en">Biden's dogs reportedly returned to Delaware after 'biting incident' at White House</a>

Major was adopted by the Biden family in November 2018 from the Delaware Humane Association (DHA) situated in Wilmington. Major's induction into the White House marked the first rescue dog to grace the halls of the presidential residence. The family's other dog, Champ also joined Major.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/indoguration-for-major-biden-as-joe-biden-prepares-white-house-move-355817" hreflang="en">'Indoguration' for Major Biden as Joe Biden prepares White House move</a>

Major, three-years-old is the younger of the Biden dogs, and has shown agitated behaviour on multiple occasions, including jumping and barking, and "charging" at staff members, according to CNN.

The other dog is called Champ is roughly 13-years-old. Owing to his age, he has physically slowed down. Both the dogs had moved into the White House in January, a week after Biden's presidential inauguration.

US President Joe Biden’s younger dog Major who made headlines for a biting incident at the White House has reportedly has struck again. The White House said that Major “nipped someone while on a walk” on Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden’s younger dog Major who made headlines for a biting incident at the White House has reportedly has struck again. The White House said that Major “nipped someone while on a walk” on Tuesday. Michael LaRosa, First Lady Jill Biden’s press secretary claimed that the dog is still adjusting to the surroundings. Reportedly, the White House Medical Unit checked the person for any serious injuries or bites but found nothing serious. On March 8, Major had caused a minor injury to an employee of the US Secret Service, after which him and his sibling Champ were temporarily sent to Delaware. Major was seen by reporters at the White House South Lawn on Monday as the president and first lady travelled to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Also read: Biden's dogs reportedly returned to Delaware after 'biting incident' at White House Major was adopted by the Biden family in November 2018 from the Delaware Humane Association (DHA) situated in Wilmington. Major's induction into the White House marked the first rescue dog to grace the halls of the presidential residence. The family's other dog, Champ also joined Major. Also read: 'Indoguration' for Major Biden as Joe Biden prepares White House move Major, three-years-old is the younger of the Biden dogs, and has shown agitated behaviour on multiple occasions, including jumping and barking, and "charging" at staff members, according to CNN. The other dog is called Champ is roughly 13-years-old. Owing to his age, he has physically slowed down. Both the dogs had moved into the White House in January, a week after Biden's presidential inauguration.

Major Biden, the presidential dog bites again!

According to a top US border official, more than a million migrants are set to arrive at the US-Mexico border this year. The constant influx of migrants on the Southwest border is posing a growing humanitarian challenge for US President Joe Biden.

US witnesses constant influx of migrants at Mexico border

US President Joe Biden has touted the progress of the US vaccination campaign against COVID-19. But at the same time, Biden has also warned Americans not to let their guard down and risk a setback in the vaccination program.

President Biden unveils plans for US vaccination expansion

President Joe Biden released his first slate of 11 federal judicial nominations on Wednesday, including three Black women for federal circuit court vacancies, a Muslim American and an Asian American and Pacific Islander.

"This trailblazing slate of nominees draws from the very best and brightest minds of the American legal profession," Biden said in a statement that emphasized their "broad diversity of background experience and perspective."

The nominees, which included nine women, must be confirmed by the US&nbsp;Senate.

The Black women nominated for federal circuit court vacancies include Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the US&nbsp;Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Tiffany Cunningham for the US&nbsp;Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi for the US&nbsp;Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Zahid N. Quraishi, a New Jersey magistrate judge, would be the nation’s first Muslim American to serve on a federal district court.

Judge Florence Pan would be the first Asian-American judge to serve on the US&nbsp;District Court for the District of Columbia, the White House said in a statement.

President Joe Biden released his first slate of 11 federal judicial nominations on Wednesday, including three Black women for federal circuit court vacancies, a Muslim American and an Asian American and Pacific Islander.

President Joe Biden released his first slate of 11 federal judicial nominations on Wednesday, including three Black women for federal circuit court vacancies, a Muslim American and an Asian American and Pacific Islander. "This trailblazing slate of nominees draws from the very best and brightest minds of the American legal profession," Biden said in a statement that emphasized their "broad diversity of background experience and perspective." The nominees, which included nine women, must be confirmed by the US Senate. The Black women nominated for federal circuit court vacancies include Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Tiffany Cunningham for the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi for the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Zahid N. Quraishi, a New Jersey magistrate judge, would be the nation’s first Muslim American to serve on a federal district court. Judge Florence Pan would be the first Asian-American judge to serve on the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the White House said in a statement.

US President Joe Biden releases first slate of judicial nominees with diverse backgrounds

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-bloodshed-absolutely-outrageous-us-working-on-sanctions-biden-373964">Myanmar bloodshed 'absolutely outrageous', US working on sanctions: Biden</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2021/03/29/189394-pjimage-68.jpg?itok=e0hV0wRs" />

US President Joe Biden has decried the bloodshed unleashed against anti-coup protesters in Myanmar as "absolutely outrageous," after security forces killed more than 100 people including at least seven children on a single day | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-bloodshed-absolutely-outrageous-us-working-on-sanctions-biden-373964">READ MORE</a>

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Chinese officials have asked Sweden's H&amp;M and other foreign companies facing a backlash in the country after raising concerns about forced labour in Xinjiang to look into the issue seriously and not politicise their economic behaviour | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-warns-companies-against-politicising-actions-regarding-xinjiang-373977">READ MORE</a>

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<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2021/03/29/189395-north-korea.jpg?itok=Wa_VI0zp" />

North Korea said on Monday that the UN Security Council showed a double standard as its sanctions committee criticised the country's recent missile test as a violation of UN resolutions | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/n-korea-accuses-unsc-of-double-standard-over-missile-tests-373966">READ MORE</a>

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mexico-opens-probe-into-death-of-woman-shown-pinned-to-ground-by-police-373969">Mexico opens probe into death of woman shown pinned to ground by police</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2021/03/29/189397-a-snapshot-from-the-video-in-question.jpg?itok=Mw5qU-7u" />

Mexican prosecutors have opened a homicide investigation into the death of a woman who was shown on video being pinned to the ground by a female police officer | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mexico-opens-probe-into-death-of-woman-shown-pinned-to-ground-by-police-373969">READ MORE</a>

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/five-injured-hundreds-evacuated-after-fire-at-indonesia-oil-refinery-373972">Five injured, hundreds evacuated after fire at Indonesia oil refinery</a>

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A massive fire at Indonesian state oil company Pertamina's Balongan oil refinery in West Java in Indonesia has so far injured five people and led to the evacuation of 950 nearby residents | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/five-injured-hundreds-evacuated-after-fire-at-indonesia-oil-refinery-373972">READ MORE</a>

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Canada has charged a suspect with murder in the fatal stabbing of a woman and the wounding of six others in an early afternoon attack at a library in a Vancouver suburb on Saturday | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/canada-charges-man-after-fatal-stabbing-at-vancouver-library-373974">READ MORE</a>

Myanmar bloodshed 'absolutely outrageous', US working on sanctions: Biden US President Joe Biden has decried the bloodshed unleashed against anti-coup protester

Myanmar bloodshed 'absolutely outrageous', US working on sanctions: Biden US President Joe Biden has decried the bloodshed unleashed against anti-coup protesters in Myanmar as "absolutely outrageous," after security forces killed more than 100 people including at least seven children on a single day | READ MORE China warns companies against politicising actions regarding Xinjiang Chinese officials have asked Sweden's H&M and other foreign companies facing a backlash in the country after raising concerns about forced labour in Xinjiang to look into the issue seriously and not politicise their economic behaviour | READ MORE N Korea accuses UNSC of 'double standard' over missile tests North Korea said on Monday that the UN Security Council showed a double standard as its sanctions committee criticised the country's recent missile test as a violation of UN resolutions | READ MORE Mexico opens probe into death of woman shown pinned to ground by police Mexican prosecutors have opened a homicide investigation into the death of a woman who was shown on video being pinned to the ground by a female police officer | READ MORE Five injured, hundreds evacuated after fire at Indonesia oil refinery A massive fire at Indonesian state oil company Pertamina's Balongan oil refinery in West Java in Indonesia has so far injured five people and led to the evacuation of 950 nearby residents | READ MORE Canada charges man after fatal stabbing at Vancouver library Canada has charged a suspect with murder in the fatal stabbing of a woman and the wounding of six others in an early afternoon attack at a library in a Vancouver suburb on Saturday | READ MORE

Morning news brief: Biden admonishes Myanmar, China warns companies, and more

US President Joe Biden has decried the bloodshed unleashed against anti-coup protesters in Myanmar as "absolutely outrageous," after security forces killed more than 100 people including at least seven children on a single day.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, triggering mass protests demanding a return to democracy.

On Saturday, at least 107 people were killed across Myanmar as security forces opened fire on protesters -- even as the junta celebrated the annual Armed Forces Day. According to a local monitoring group, the death toll from crackdowns since the coup has climbed to at least 423.

"It's absolutely outrageous and based on the reporting I've gotten, an awful lot of people have been killed totally unnecessarily. It's terrible," Biden Sunday told reporters in brief remarks he gave in his home state of Delaware.

Asked whether the US would respond with sanctions, Biden said "we are working on that now."

The European Union described the deadly violence as "unacceptable".

"Far from celebrating, the Myanmar military has made yesterday a day of horror and of shame," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.

On Saturday, the defence chiefs of at least 12 countries including the United States, Britain, Japan and Australia denounced the Myanmar military.

"A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting -- not harming -- the people it serves," the rare joint statement said.

"We urge the Myanmar Armed Forces to cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/military-chiefs-from-us-and-its-allies-condemn-myanmar-crackdown-373797">Also read |&nbsp;Military chiefs from US and its allies condemn Myanmar crackdown</a>

Protesters hit the streets again Sunday&nbsp;in parts of Yangon including Hlaing, and in the cities of Dawei, Bago, Myingyan and Monywa. State-run media confirmed two men and two women were killed at Monywa on Sunday.

There was also a death in Myingyan -- one woman was killed and two others injured, a medic said.&nbsp;

A day earlier there were brutal military crackdowns at more than 40 locations across the country. The Mandalay and Yangon regions saw the majority of deaths, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

Funerals were held Sunday for some of the victims, after the bloodiest day since the putsch.

In Mandalay, the family of Aye Ko, a father-of-four, commemorated his life at a service after he was killed overnight.

The UN put Saturday's death toll at 107 people –- including seven children –- but expected it to rise further.

"The shameful, cowardly, brutal actions of the military and police –- who have been filmed shooting at protesters as they flee, and who have not even spared young children –- must be halted immediately," United Nations envoys Alice Wairimu Nderitu and Michelle Bachelet said in a joint statement.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/thousands-flee-to-thailand-after-myanmar-armys-air-strikes-on-villages-373931">Also read |&nbsp;'Thousands flee to Thailand after Myanmar army's air strikes on villages' &nbsp;</a>

Meanwhile, rebels in eastern Myanmar's Karen state said they had been targetted in air strikes late Saturday, hours after the ethnic armed group seized a military base.

An ethnic Karen and human rights activist said three people were killed and at least eight injured.

It was the first air assault in 20 years in the state, and targetted the Fifth Brigade of the Karen National Union (KNU) -- one of the country's largest armed groups -- which says it represents the ethnic Karen people.

Further air strikes on Sunday sent 2,000 people from two villages in Karen state darting through the jungle across the border into Thailand seeking safety.

A grand parade of troops and military vehicles in the capital Naypyidaw on Saturday saw junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing defend the coup and pledge to yield power after new elections.

(with inputs from AFP)

US President Joe Biden has decried the bloodshed unleashed against anti-coup protesters in Myanmar as "absolutely outrageous," after security forces killed more than 100 people including at least seven children on a single day.

US President Joe Biden has decried the bloodshed unleashed against anti-coup protesters in Myanmar as "absolutely outrageous," after security forces killed more than 100 people including at least seven children on a single day. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, triggering mass protests demanding a return to democracy. On Saturday, at least 107 people were killed across Myanmar as security forces opened fire on protesters -- even as the junta celebrated the annual Armed Forces Day. According to a local monitoring group, the death toll from crackdowns since the coup has climbed to at least 423. "It's absolutely outrageous and based on the reporting I've gotten, an awful lot of people have been killed totally unnecessarily. It's terrible," Biden Sunday told reporters in brief remarks he gave in his home state of Delaware. Asked whether the US would respond with sanctions, Biden said "we are working on that now." The European Union described the deadly violence as "unacceptable". "Far from celebrating, the Myanmar military has made yesterday a day of horror and of shame," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement. On Saturday, the defence chiefs of at least 12 countries including the United States, Britain, Japan and Australia denounced the Myanmar military. "A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting -- not harming -- the people it serves," the rare joint statement said. "We urge the Myanmar Armed Forces to cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions." Also read | Military chiefs from US and its allies condemn Myanmar crackdown Protesters hit the streets again Sunday in parts of Yangon including Hlaing, and in the cities of Dawei, Bago, Myingyan and Monywa. State-run media confirmed two men and two women were killed at Monywa on Sunday. There was also a death in Myingyan -- one woman was killed and two others injured, a medic said. A day earlier there were brutal military crackdowns at more than 40 locations across the country. The Mandalay and Yangon regions saw the majority of deaths, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). Funerals were held Sunday for some of the victims, after the bloodiest day since the putsch. In Mandalay, the family of Aye Ko, a father-of-four, commemorated his life at a service after he was killed overnight. The UN put Saturday's death toll at 107 people –- including seven children –- but expected it to rise further. "The shameful, cowardly, brutal actions of the military and police –- who have been filmed shooting at protesters as they flee, and who have not even spared young children –- must be halted immediately," United Nations envoys Alice Wairimu Nderitu and Michelle Bachelet said in a joint statement. Also read | 'Thousands flee to Thailand after Myanmar army's air strikes on villages' Meanwhile, rebels in eastern Myanmar's Karen state said they had been targetted in air strikes late Saturday, hours after the ethnic armed group seized a military base. An ethnic Karen and human rights activist said three people were killed and at least eight injured. It was the first air assault in 20 years in the state, and targetted the Fifth Brigade of the Karen National Union (KNU) -- one of the country's largest armed groups -- which says it represents the ethnic Karen people. Further air strikes on Sunday sent 2,000 people from two villages in Karen state darting through the jungle across the border into Thailand seeking safety. A grand parade of troops and military vehicles in the capital Naypyidaw on Saturday saw junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing defend the coup and pledge to yield power after new elections. (with inputs from AFP)

Myanmar bloodshed 'absolutely outrageous', US working on sanctions: Biden

Dr.&nbsp;Deborah&nbsp;Birx, who coordinated the White House coronavirus task force under President Donald Trump, believes the COVID-19 death toll in the United States would have been substantially lower if the government had responded more effectively.

In an interview with CNN, parts of which were released before broadcast later on Sunday,&nbsp;Birx&nbsp;said there was an "excuse" for the initial surge of deaths last year as the government grappled with the start of the pandemic.

"There were about 100,000 deaths that came from that original surge,"&nbsp;Birx&nbsp;said. "All of the rest of them, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased substantially."

More than 542,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States,&nbsp;and almost 30 million have been infected.

Trump downplayed the outbreak in its early stages, resisted mitigation efforts and criticized harsh lockdown measures imposed to stop the spread of the virus. He repeatedly eschewed guidance on mask-wearing that health experts say prevents the spread of the disease.

Birx, who has since left the government, said in the interview that she received a "very uncomfortable" call from Trump after describing how widespread the virus was in an interview with CNN in August, during which she told people living in rural areas that they were not immune.

Trump, who tested positive for and then recovered from the virus in October, was running for re-election at the time.

"Everybody in the White House was upset with that interview and the clarity that I brought about the epidemic,"&nbsp;Birx&nbsp;said.

"I got called by the president," she said. "It was very uncomfortable, very direct, and very difficult to hear."

Birx&nbsp;at times faced criticism for not standing up more forcefully in public to Trump's misinformation about the pandemic, including his dangerous suggestion that Americans could consume bleach to kill the virus.

Trump went on to hold large rallies in the final months of the presidential election campaign despite public health guidance warning against large gatherings. He lost to Democrat Joe Biden, who campaigned largely on a promise to take the pandemic more seriously than his opponent.

Birx&nbsp;became sidelined in the final months of Trump's administration, and White House briefings about the pandemic largely ceased.

She was not offered a position in Biden's White House and now works in the private sector.

Dr. Deborah Birx, who coordinated the White House coronavirus task force under President Donald Trump, believes the COVID-19 death toll in the United States would have been substantially lower if the government had responded more effectively.

Dr. Deborah Birx, who coordinated the White House coronavirus task force under President Donald Trump, believes the COVID-19 death toll in the United States would have been substantially lower if the government had responded more effectively. In an interview with CNN, parts of which were released before broadcast later on Sunday, Birx said there was an "excuse" for the initial surge of deaths last year as the government grappled with the start of the pandemic. "There were about 100,000 deaths that came from that original surge," Birx said. "All of the rest of them, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased substantially." More than 542,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States, and almost 30 million have been infected. Trump downplayed the outbreak in its early stages, resisted mitigation efforts and criticized harsh lockdown measures imposed to stop the spread of the virus. He repeatedly eschewed guidance on mask-wearing that health experts say prevents the spread of the disease. Birx, who has since left the government, said in the interview that she received a "very uncomfortable" call from Trump after describing how widespread the virus was in an interview with CNN in August, during which she told people living in rural areas that they were not immune. Trump, who tested positive for and then recovered from the virus in October, was running for re-election at the time. "Everybody in the White House was upset with that interview and the clarity that I brought about the epidemic," Birx said. "I got called by the president," she said. "It was very uncomfortable, very direct, and very difficult to hear." Birx at times faced criticism for not standing up more forcefully in public to Trump's misinformation about the pandemic, including his dangerous suggestion that Americans could consume bleach to kill the virus. Trump went on to hold large rallies in the final months of the presidential election campaign despite public health guidance warning against large gatherings. He lost to Democrat Joe Biden, who campaigned largely on a promise to take the pandemic more seriously than his opponent. Birx became sidelined in the final months of Trump's administration, and White House briefings about the pandemic largely ceased. She was not offered a position in Biden's White House and now works in the private sector.

Former top US virus official slams Trump’s pandemic response, citing needless deaths

Democrats have spent the last several years clamoring to raise taxes on corporations and the rich, seeing that as a necessary antidote to widening economic inequality and a rebuke of former President Donald Trump’s signature tax cuts.

Now, under President Joe Biden, they have a shot at ushering in the largest federal tax increase since 1942. It could help pay for a host of spending programs that liberal economists predict would bolster the economy’s performance and repair a tax code that Democrats say encourages wealthy people to hoard assets and big companies to ship jobs and book profits overseas.

The question is whether congressional Democrats and the White House can agree on how sharply taxes should rise and who, exactly, should pay the bill. They widely share the goal of reversing many of Trump’s tax cuts from 2017 and of making the wealthy and big businesses pay more. But they do not yet agree on the details — and because Republicans are unlikely to support their efforts, they have no room for error in a closely divided Senate.

For Biden, the need to find consensus is urgent. The president is set to travel to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to unveil the next phase of his economic agenda: a sprawling collection of programs that would invest in infrastructure, education, carbon-reduction and working mothers and cost $3 trillion to $4 trillion.

The package, which follows on the heels of Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic aid bill, is central to the president’s long-term plan to revitalize American workers and industry by funding bridges and roads, universal prekindergarten, emerging industries like advanced batteries, and efforts to invigorate the fight against climate change.

Biden plans to finance that spending, at least in part, with tax increases that could raise upward of $2.5 trillion in revenue if his plan hews closely to what he proposed in the 2020 presidential campaign. Aides suggest his proposals might not be entirely paid for, with some one-time spending increases offset by increased federal borrowing.

“I think what you’re going to see is the administration is going to put a pay-for on the table for at least some and maybe all of the infrastructure plan,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. “If Team Biden makes a proposal, I’m sure we’ll make adjustments, but that’s a good way to start.”

Others in his party, including his own transportation secretary, have pushed Biden to explore tax plans he did not campaign on, like taxing consumption, wealth or vehicle miles traveled. (A Transportation Department spokesperson said Saturday that there would be no vehicle-miles-traveled tax in the infrastructure proposal.) Biden has stressed his broad-brush desire to increase the tax burden on wealthy Americans who largely earn their money through inheritance or investment, to fund spending programs meant to help people who earn their money primarily through wages.

“I want to change the paradigm,” Biden said Thursday during a news conference. “We start to reward work, not just wealth.”

Democratic lawmakers have promised for decades to raise taxes on companies and the wealthy, a desire that kicked into overdrive after Trump signed a tax-cut package that delivered an outsize share of its benefits to corporations and high earners. But they have struggled to muster the votes for large tax increases since President Bill Clinton signed a 1993 law that included a variety of hikes intended to help reduce the budget deficit. Business groups, conservative activists, lobbyists and donors across the ideological spectrum have largely blocked such attempts.

President Barack Obama campaigned on ending tax cuts for the rich signed into law by President George W. Bush, but after the 2008 financial crisis, he cut deals with Republicans to extend those cuts before allowing some of them to expire at the end of 2012.

Liberal economists say this year could be different, thanks to the unique political and economic circumstances surrounding the recovery from the pandemic recession. With Biden’s signing of a $1.9 trillion economic relief bill, financed entirely by federal borrowing, forecasters now expect the economy to grow this year at its fastest annual clip since the 1980s. Republicans and some economists have begun to warn of overheating growth spurring runaway inflation, which could reduce the salience of warnings that tax increases would cause growth to stall.

Public polling shows broad support, even among many Republican voters, for raising taxes on large corporations and high-income individuals. The most conservative Democrats in the Senate, who hold great sway over Biden’s legislative agenda, say they favor trillions of dollars in infrastructure spending, so long as there is a plan to pay for it.

That includes Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who told reporters this week that Biden’s infrastructure plan was “going to be enormous” and that its costs needed to be covered. He signaled openness to making changes to the 2017 tax overhaul, adding that the benefits in that legislation were “weighted in one direction to the upper end.”

“Where do they think it’s going to come from? How are they going to fix America?” he said, when asked about Republican resistance to tax increases. “I don’t think that’s reasonable.”

Democrats widely share a desire to raise the corporate income tax rate after it was cut to 21% in 2017. And they want to raise the top marginal rate for individuals back to 39.6% from 37%.

But there are disputes in the rank and file, with some favoring Biden’s plan to set the corporate rate at 28% and others preferring a lower one, like 25%. There are also questions over which high-earning individuals should see a tax increase.

Biden has pledged not to raise taxes on people earning less than $400,000. Some of his progressive allies, including Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have advocated raising taxes on a broader group. Democrats like Manchin have pushed him to consider additional tax plans that do not solely target the rich, like a European-style tax on consumption, though that type of tax could fall more heavily on low-income Americans than wealthy ones.

Republicans are unlikely to support any plan to raise taxes, leaving administration officials and leading congressional Democrats to hammer out a plan on their own. But absent Republican support in the Senate, where both parties hold 50 seats and Vice President Kamala Harris can break ties, Democrats would need to secure total consensus within their caucus to pass the legislation and use a fast-track budget process known as reconciliation to bypass the 60-vote threshold for ending a filibuster.

Business groups and Republican lawmakers, who supported the 2017 tax cuts, predict that any tax increase will slow economic growth and undermine the competitiveness of U.S. companies. They contend that the economic and wage growth in the run-up to the pandemic prove that Trump’s tax cuts worked, an argument Biden’s advisers reject, citing research from the International Monetary Fund and others.

“He wants a massive tax increase, and he wants to allocate the tax responsibility in this country on the basis of class,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “That’s a hell of a way to make tax policy. Sound tax policy is made on the basis of economics.”

Republicans who favor some form of an infrastructure bill have struggled to offer alternative ways to fund such an undertaking, which they argue should be significantly smaller than what Biden has floated. Some, however, are noodling on tax changes should a bipartisan plan emerge. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said this past week that her committee would examine changes to the gas tax or a related tax that also charges a fee to users of electric vehicles as discussions continue about a funding mechanism.

Many liberal economists say there are good reasons to raise taxes, starting with using those funds to invest in workers and help build economic opportunity. Spending on physical infrastructure, like roads and water pipes, or on programs like education and child care that are meant to help people earn more money could help curb persistent inequalities in income and wealth. The economists also say that tax increases that are properly set up would provide incentives for multinational companies to keep jobs in the United States and not shift profits to lower-tax foreign countries.

Key Democrats are trying to bring the party to consensus. The top tax writer in the Senate, Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is drafting a series of bills to raise taxes, many of them overlapping with Biden’s campaign proposals.

“I’ll be ready to raise what the Democratic caucus decides is required to move forward,” Wyden, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in an interview.

Democrats have spent the last several years clamoring to raise taxes on corporations and the rich, seeing that as a necessary antidote to widening economic inequality and a rebuke of former President Donald Trump’s signature tax cuts.

Democrats have spent the last several years clamoring to raise taxes on corporations and the rich, seeing that as a necessary antidote to widening economic inequality and a rebuke of former President Donald Trump’s signature tax cuts. Now, under President Joe Biden, they have a shot at ushering in the largest federal tax increase since 1942. It could help pay for a host of spending programs that liberal economists predict would bolster the economy’s performance and repair a tax code that Democrats say encourages wealthy people to hoard assets and big companies to ship jobs and book profits overseas. The question is whether congressional Democrats and the White House can agree on how sharply taxes should rise and who, exactly, should pay the bill. They widely share the goal of reversing many of Trump’s tax cuts from 2017 and of making the wealthy and big businesses pay more. But they do not yet agree on the details — and because Republicans are unlikely to support their efforts, they have no room for error in a closely divided Senate. For Biden, the need to find consensus is urgent. The president is set to travel to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to unveil the next phase of his economic agenda: a sprawling collection of programs that would invest in infrastructure, education, carbon-reduction and working mothers and cost $3 trillion to $4 trillion. The package, which follows on the heels of Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic aid bill, is central to the president’s long-term plan to revitalize American workers and industry by funding bridges and roads, universal prekindergarten, emerging industries like advanced batteries, and efforts to invigorate the fight against climate change. Biden plans to finance that spending, at least in part, with tax increases that could raise upward of $2.5 trillion in revenue if his plan hews closely to what he proposed in the 2020 presidential campaign. Aides suggest his proposals might not be entirely paid for, with some one-time spending increases offset by increased federal borrowing. “I think what you’re going to see is the administration is going to put a pay-for on the table for at least some and maybe all of the infrastructure plan,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. “If Team Biden makes a proposal, I’m sure we’ll make adjustments, but that’s a good way to start.” Others in his party, including his own transportation secretary, have pushed Biden to explore tax plans he did not campaign on, like taxing consumption, wealth or vehicle miles traveled. (A Transportation Department spokesperson said Saturday that there would be no vehicle-miles-traveled tax in the infrastructure proposal.) Biden has stressed his broad-brush desire to increase the tax burden on wealthy Americans who largely earn their money through inheritance or investment, to fund spending programs meant to help people who earn their money primarily through wages. “I want to change the paradigm,” Biden said Thursday during a news conference. “We start to reward work, not just wealth.” Democratic lawmakers have promised for decades to raise taxes on companies and the wealthy, a desire that kicked into overdrive after Trump signed a tax-cut package that delivered an outsize share of its benefits to corporations and high earners. But they have struggled to muster the votes for large tax increases since President Bill Clinton signed a 1993 law that included a variety of hikes intended to help reduce the budget deficit. Business groups, conservative activists, lobbyists and donors across the ideological spectrum have largely blocked such attempts. President Barack Obama campaigned on ending tax cuts for the rich signed into law by President George W. Bush, but after the 2008 financial crisis, he cut deals with Republicans to extend those cuts before allowing some of them to expire at the end of 2012. Liberal economists say this year could be different, thanks to the unique political and economic circumstances surrounding the recovery from the pandemic recession. With Biden’s signing of a $1.9 trillion economic relief bill, financed entirely by federal borrowing, forecasters now expect the economy to grow this year at its fastest annual clip since the 1980s. Republicans and some economists have begun to warn of overheating growth spurring runaway inflation, which could reduce the salience of warnings that tax increases would cause growth to stall. Public polling shows broad support, even among many Republican voters, for raising taxes on large corporations and high-income individuals. The most conservative Democrats in the Senate, who hold great sway over Biden’s legislative agenda, say they favor trillions of dollars in infrastructure spending, so long as there is a plan to pay for it. That includes Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who told reporters this week that Biden’s infrastructure plan was “going to be enormous” and that its costs needed to be covered. He signaled openness to making changes to the 2017 tax overhaul, adding that the benefits in that legislation were “weighted in one direction to the upper end.” “Where do they think it’s going to come from? How are they going to fix America?” he said, when asked about Republican resistance to tax increases. “I don’t think that’s reasonable.” Democrats widely share a desire to raise the corporate income tax rate after it was cut to 21% in 2017. And they want to raise the top marginal rate for individuals back to 39.6% from 37%. But there are disputes in the rank and file, with some favoring Biden’s plan to set the corporate rate at 28% and others preferring a lower one, like 25%. There are also questions over which high-earning individuals should see a tax increase. Biden has pledged not to raise taxes on people earning less than $400,000. Some of his progressive allies, including Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have advocated raising taxes on a broader group. Democrats like Manchin have pushed him to consider additional tax plans that do not solely target the rich, like a European-style tax on consumption, though that type of tax could fall more heavily on low-income Americans than wealthy ones. Republicans are unlikely to support any plan to raise taxes, leaving administration officials and leading congressional Democrats to hammer out a plan on their own. But absent Republican support in the Senate, where both parties hold 50 seats and Vice President Kamala Harris can break ties, Democrats would need to secure total consensus within their caucus to pass the legislation and use a fast-track budget process known as reconciliation to bypass the 60-vote threshold for ending a filibuster. Business groups and Republican lawmakers, who supported the 2017 tax cuts, predict that any tax increase will slow economic growth and undermine the competitiveness of U.S. companies. They contend that the economic and wage growth in the run-up to the pandemic prove that Trump’s tax cuts worked, an argument Biden’s advisers reject, citing research from the International Monetary Fund and others. “He wants a massive tax increase, and he wants to allocate the tax responsibility in this country on the basis of class,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “That’s a hell of a way to make tax policy. Sound tax policy is made on the basis of economics.” Republicans who favor some form of an infrastructure bill have struggled to offer alternative ways to fund such an undertaking, which they argue should be significantly smaller than what Biden has floated. Some, however, are noodling on tax changes should a bipartisan plan emerge. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said this past week that her committee would examine changes to the gas tax or a related tax that also charges a fee to users of electric vehicles as discussions continue about a funding mechanism. Many liberal economists say there are good reasons to raise taxes, starting with using those funds to invest in workers and help build economic opportunity. Spending on physical infrastructure, like roads and water pipes, or on programs like education and child care that are meant to help people earn more money could help curb persistent inequalities in income and wealth. The economists also say that tax increases that are properly set up would provide incentives for multinational companies to keep jobs in the United States and not shift profits to lower-tax foreign countries. Key Democrats are trying to bring the party to consensus. The top tax writer in the Senate, Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is drafting a series of bills to raise taxes, many of them overlapping with Biden’s campaign proposals. “I’ll be ready to raise what the Democratic caucus decides is required to move forward,” Wyden, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in an interview.

Under Biden, Democrats are poised to raise taxes on business and the rich

The fight over voting rights is emerging as one of the defining conflicts of the Biden era, and Georgia fired the opening shot with a set of new restrictions underscoring the political, legal and financial clashes that will influence whether Republicans retake Congress and the White House.

President Joe Biden on Friday called Georgia’s new law an “attack on the Constitution” and said the Justice Department was “taking a look” at Republican voting efforts in the state, without offering any specifics.

“This is Jim Crow in the 21st century, it must end,” Biden said, a day after Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law. “I will take my case to the American people — including Republicans who joined the broadest coalition of voters ever in this past election to put country before party.

“If you have the best ideas, you have nothing to hide. Let the people vote.”

Civil rights groups immediately challenged the Georgia law in federal court, backed by prominent Democratic voting rights lawyers. Several Black leaders described the legal skirmishes to come as an existential fight for representation, saying the law clearly puts a target on Black and brown voters. Protests against voting restrictions unfolded this week in state capitols like Austin, Texas, and Atlanta, and more lawsuits are expected.

In more than 24 states, Republican-led legislatures are advancing bills in a broad political effort that is the most aggressive attack on the right to vote since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. It follows months of Republican efforts to tarnish Biden’s presidential victory, which scores of high-level GOP officials still refuse to acknowledge as legitimate.

Democrats, who have limited power in many state capitols, are looking to Biden and congressional Democrats for a new federal law to protect voting. Many in the party see the fight over voting as not just a moral cause but also a political one, given their narrow margins of victory in presidential and Senate elections in Georgia, Arizona and other battlegrounds.

Georgia’s sweeping new provisions, passed by a Republican-controlled Legislature, represent the most substantive overhaul of a battleground state’s voting system since last November’s election. It would impose stricter voter identification requirements for absentee balloting, limit drop boxes, and forbid giving water and snacks to voters waiting in line.

But in a state where former President Donald Trump tried to persuade Republican election officials to reverse his loss, the measure went even further: It shifts the power and oversight of elections to the Legislature by stripping the secretary of state from chairing the state Board of Elections and authorizing the Legislature to name members to the board. It further empowers the state Board of Elections to have sweeping jurisdiction over county elections boards, including the authority to suspend officials.

Biden on Friday called Georgia’s new voting restrictions “un-American,” and sought to tie them to the Democrats’ push in Washington to enact the federal voting rights bill, which the House passed this month. The measure would put in place a raft of requirements intended to protect voting rights, including weakening restrictive state identification requirements, expanding early and mail-in voting and restoring voting rights to former felons.

The president said the new Georgia law was expressly what the House bill was designed to prevent. While Democrats in Congress debate abolishing the filibuster in order to pass the voting rights bill through the Senate, Republican legislators in more than 40 states have introduced hundreds of bills targeting voting access and seizing authority over administering elections.

And another crucial conflict looms this fall: the fights over redistricting to account for growing and changing populations, and the gerrymandering that will allow partisan majorities to limit the impact of votes by packing or splitting up population centers.

The gerrymandering disputes will determine the look of the House and dozens of state legislatures, in many cases locking in majorities for the next decade.

Bitter struggles over voting rights loom even in states with Democratic governors who can veto the legislation. In Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Republican-controlled legislatures are planning to advance restrictive bills, and new Republican governors would most likely sign them into law if they are elected next year.

“The 2020 election is behind us, but the war over the future of our democracy is escalating,” said Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat who is the secretary of state in Michigan, where Republicans this week introduced numerous proposed restrictions on voting. “For anyone to believe that they can sit down and rest because the 2020 election is behind need look no further than what happened in Georgia as an indication that our work is far from over.”

Republicans, borrowing language from their previous efforts at curtailing voting access, have described the new bills as a way to make voting easier while limiting fraud. Kemp, upon signing the bill into law, said it would “make it easier to vote and harder to cheat,” even though the state’s own Republican election officials found no substantive evidence of fraud.

Kemp on Friday pushed back at Biden’s criticism, saying, “There is nothing ‘Jim Crow’ about requiring a photo or state-issued ID to vote by absentee ballot.”

“President Biden, the left and the national media are determined to destroy the sanctity and security of the ballot box,” Kemp said. “As secretary of state, I consistently led the fight to protect Georgia elections against power-hungry, partisan activists.”

Jessica Anderson, executive director of Heritage Action for America, the political arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Georgia would serve as a model for other Republican-run states.

“The country was watching closely what Georgia would do,” Anderson said in an interview. “The fact that they were able to get these reforms through sets the tone and puts Georgia in a leadership role for other states.”

The Justice Department was aware of Georgia’s voting law, a spokesperson said Friday, but provided no further comment. A White House official said the president, in his comments, was assuming this was an issue the department would review.

The department’s civil rights division would most likely have lawyers investigate whether to file an independent lawsuit, said Tom Perez, the former labor secretary who also previously ran the department’s Civil Rights Division during the Obama administration. It could also take part in the case that was filed by civil rights groups by filing a so-called statement of interest or moving to intervene as the plaintiff, he said.

But this is a precarious time for the federal protections in place. In 2013, the Supreme Court gutted one of the core provisions of the Voting Rights Act, clearing the runway for much of the current legislation aimed at restricting voting. The remaining protection, in Section 2 of the act, is facing a new challenge before the Supreme Court, with arguments heard last month.

The debate is also spilling over into the corporate arena. Activists across the country have been chastising companies they see as silent on the issue of voting rights. In Georgia on Friday, numerous civil rights groups and faith leaders issued a call to boycott some of the standard-bearers of the Georgia business community — including Coca-Cola — until they took action against the effort to restrict voting access.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM.)

The early battle lines are increasingly centering on two key states that flipped from Republican to Democratic in 2020, Arizona and Georgia. Those states are also home to large populations of voters of color, who have historically faced discriminatory laws at the polls.

Two battleground states that remained in Republican control in 2020 — Texas and Florida — are also moving forward with new laws restricting voting.

In Florida, lawmakers are looking to ban drop boxes and limit who can collect ballots for other voters, among other provisions, even after an election that the Republican chair of the state party touted as the “gold standard” and that Republicans won handily.

Blaise Ingoglia, a Republican state representative who has sponsored some of the legislation, said that while the election was successful, it was “not without challenges and problems that we think we needed to fix.” He cited the use of ballot drop boxes, which he helped write into law but he said were not adequately being administered.

“They said the same thing with the last election bill, that we wrote it and they said it was voter suppression, and the exact opposite happened: We had more people vote in the state of Florida than ever before,” he said. “We have 40 days of election with three different ways to vote. How can anyone say voter suppression?”

In Arizona, Republican lawmakers have advanced legislation that would drop voters who skip consecutive election cycles from the permanent early voting list. The list currently consists of roughly 3.2 million voters, and critics of the legislation estimate it would purge roughly 100,000 voters.

Wisconsin Republicans have proposed many restrictions on the disabled, new limits on who can automatically receive an absentee ballot and a requirement that absentee voters provide photo identification for every election — as opposed to having one on file with their municipal clerk.

The measures are certain to be vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, but their sponsor, Republican state Sen. Duey Stroebel, said Friday that the legislation would encapsulate the party’s principles heading into the midterm elections.

“It will define that we as Republicans are people who want clean and fair elections in the state,” Stroebel said.

Wisconsin Democrats, confident in Evers’ veto, are eager to have a voting rights fight be front and center ahead of the 2022 elections, said state Sen. Kelda Roys, a Democrat.

“People hate the idea that their right to vote is under attack,” Roys said. “The freedom to vote is just popular. It’s a great issue for Democrats.”

The torrent of Republican voting legislation, Democrats say, undermines faith in elections.

“Even in states where they won’t be passed and have been introduced, like in Colorado, they’re dangerous,” said Jena Griswold, the secretary of state in Colorado. “The rhetoric of lying and trying to manipulate Americans to keep political power is dangerous. It led to all the death threats that secretaries of state and election officials received in 2020. It led to the insurrection.”

The fight over voting rights is emerging as one of the defining conflicts of the Biden era, and Georgia fired the opening shot with a set of new restrictions underscoring the political, legal and financial clashes that will influence whether Republicans retake Congress and the White House.

The fight over voting rights is emerging as one of the defining conflicts of the Biden era, and Georgia fired the opening shot with a set of new restrictions underscoring the political, legal and financial clashes that will influence whether Republicans retake Congress and the White House. President Joe Biden on Friday called Georgia’s new law an “attack on the Constitution” and said the Justice Department was “taking a look” at Republican voting efforts in the state, without offering any specifics. “This is Jim Crow in the 21st century, it must end,” Biden said, a day after Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law. “I will take my case to the American people — including Republicans who joined the broadest coalition of voters ever in this past election to put country before party. “If you have the best ideas, you have nothing to hide. Let the people vote.” Civil rights groups immediately challenged the Georgia law in federal court, backed by prominent Democratic voting rights lawyers. Several Black leaders described the legal skirmishes to come as an existential fight for representation, saying the law clearly puts a target on Black and brown voters. Protests against voting restrictions unfolded this week in state capitols like Austin, Texas, and Atlanta, and more lawsuits are expected. In more than 24 states, Republican-led legislatures are advancing bills in a broad political effort that is the most aggressive attack on the right to vote since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. It follows months of Republican efforts to tarnish Biden’s presidential victory, which scores of high-level GOP officials still refuse to acknowledge as legitimate. Democrats, who have limited power in many state capitols, are looking to Biden and congressional Democrats for a new federal law to protect voting. Many in the party see the fight over voting as not just a moral cause but also a political one, given their narrow margins of victory in presidential and Senate elections in Georgia, Arizona and other battlegrounds. Georgia’s sweeping new provisions, passed by a Republican-controlled Legislature, represent the most substantive overhaul of a battleground state’s voting system since last November’s election. It would impose stricter voter identification requirements for absentee balloting, limit drop boxes, and forbid giving water and snacks to voters waiting in line. But in a state where former President Donald Trump tried to persuade Republican election officials to reverse his loss, the measure went even further: It shifts the power and oversight of elections to the Legislature by stripping the secretary of state from chairing the state Board of Elections and authorizing the Legislature to name members to the board. It further empowers the state Board of Elections to have sweeping jurisdiction over county elections boards, including the authority to suspend officials. Biden on Friday called Georgia’s new voting restrictions “un-American,” and sought to tie them to the Democrats’ push in Washington to enact the federal voting rights bill, which the House passed this month. The measure would put in place a raft of requirements intended to protect voting rights, including weakening restrictive state identification requirements, expanding early and mail-in voting and restoring voting rights to former felons. The president said the new Georgia law was expressly what the House bill was designed to prevent. While Democrats in Congress debate abolishing the filibuster in order to pass the voting rights bill through the Senate, Republican legislators in more than 40 states have introduced hundreds of bills targeting voting access and seizing authority over administering elections. And another crucial conflict looms this fall: the fights over redistricting to account for growing and changing populations, and the gerrymandering that will allow partisan majorities to limit the impact of votes by packing or splitting up population centers. The gerrymandering disputes will determine the look of the House and dozens of state legislatures, in many cases locking in majorities for the next decade. Bitter struggles over voting rights loom even in states with Democratic governors who can veto the legislation. In Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Republican-controlled legislatures are planning to advance restrictive bills, and new Republican governors would most likely sign them into law if they are elected next year. “The 2020 election is behind us, but the war over the future of our democracy is escalating,” said Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat who is the secretary of state in Michigan, where Republicans this week introduced numerous proposed restrictions on voting. “For anyone to believe that they can sit down and rest because the 2020 election is behind need look no further than what happened in Georgia as an indication that our work is far from over.” Republicans, borrowing language from their previous efforts at curtailing voting access, have described the new bills as a way to make voting easier while limiting fraud. Kemp, upon signing the bill into law, said it would “make it easier to vote and harder to cheat,” even though the state’s own Republican election officials found no substantive evidence of fraud. Kemp on Friday pushed back at Biden’s criticism, saying, “There is nothing ‘Jim Crow’ about requiring a photo or state-issued ID to vote by absentee ballot.” “President Biden, the left and the national media are determined to destroy the sanctity and security of the ballot box,” Kemp said. “As secretary of state, I consistently led the fight to protect Georgia elections against power-hungry, partisan activists.” Jessica Anderson, executive director of Heritage Action for America, the political arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Georgia would serve as a model for other Republican-run states. “The country was watching closely what Georgia would do,” Anderson said in an interview. “The fact that they were able to get these reforms through sets the tone and puts Georgia in a leadership role for other states.” The Justice Department was aware of Georgia’s voting law, a spokesperson said Friday, but provided no further comment. A White House official said the president, in his comments, was assuming this was an issue the department would review. The department’s civil rights division would most likely have lawyers investigate whether to file an independent lawsuit, said Tom Perez, the former labor secretary who also previously ran the department’s Civil Rights Division during the Obama administration. It could also take part in the case that was filed by civil rights groups by filing a so-called statement of interest or moving to intervene as the plaintiff, he said. But this is a precarious time for the federal protections in place. In 2013, the Supreme Court gutted one of the core provisions of the Voting Rights Act, clearing the runway for much of the current legislation aimed at restricting voting. The remaining protection, in Section 2 of the act, is facing a new challenge before the Supreme Court, with arguments heard last month. The debate is also spilling over into the corporate arena. Activists across the country have been chastising companies they see as silent on the issue of voting rights. In Georgia on Friday, numerous civil rights groups and faith leaders issued a call to boycott some of the standard-bearers of the Georgia business community — including Coca-Cola — until they took action against the effort to restrict voting access. (END OPTIONAL TRIM.) The early battle lines are increasingly centering on two key states that flipped from Republican to Democratic in 2020, Arizona and Georgia. Those states are also home to large populations of voters of color, who have historically faced discriminatory laws at the polls. Two battleground states that remained in Republican control in 2020 — Texas and Florida — are also moving forward with new laws restricting voting. In Florida, lawmakers are looking to ban drop boxes and limit who can collect ballots for other voters, among other provisions, even after an election that the Republican chair of the state party touted as the “gold standard” and that Republicans won handily. Blaise Ingoglia, a Republican state representative who has sponsored some of the legislation, said that while the election was successful, it was “not without challenges and problems that we think we needed to fix.” He cited the use of ballot drop boxes, which he helped write into law but he said were not adequately being administered. “They said the same thing with the last election bill, that we wrote it and they said it was voter suppression, and the exact opposite happened: We had more people vote in the state of Florida than ever before,” he said. “We have 40 days of election with three different ways to vote. How can anyone say voter suppression?” In Arizona, Republican lawmakers have advanced legislation that would drop voters who skip consecutive election cycles from the permanent early voting list. The list currently consists of roughly 3.2 million voters, and critics of the legislation estimate it would purge roughly 100,000 voters. Wisconsin Republicans have proposed many restrictions on the disabled, new limits on who can automatically receive an absentee ballot and a requirement that absentee voters provide photo identification for every election — as opposed to having one on file with their municipal clerk. The measures are certain to be vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, but their sponsor, Republican state Sen. Duey Stroebel, said Friday that the legislation would encapsulate the party’s principles heading into the midterm elections. “It will define that we as Republicans are people who want clean and fair elections in the state,” Stroebel said. Wisconsin Democrats, confident in Evers’ veto, are eager to have a voting rights fight be front and center ahead of the 2022 elections, said state Sen. Kelda Roys, a Democrat. “People hate the idea that their right to vote is under attack,” Roys said. “The freedom to vote is just popular. It’s a great issue for Democrats.” The torrent of Republican voting legislation, Democrats say, undermines faith in elections. “Even in states where they won’t be passed and have been introduced, like in Colorado, they’re dangerous,” said Jena Griswold, the secretary of state in Colorado. “The rhetoric of lying and trying to manipulate Americans to keep political power is dangerous. It led to all the death threats that secretaries of state and election officials received in 2020. It led to the insurrection.”

Georgia law kicks off partisan battle over voting rights

US President Joe Biden said he had suggested to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that democratic countries should have "an infrastructure plan" to rival China’s Belt and Road initiative. He gave this advice via a phone call on Friday.

“I suggested we should have, essentially, a similar initiative, pulling from the democratic states, helping those communities around the world that, in fact, need help,” Biden told reporters on Friday.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a multitrillion-dollar infrastructure scheme launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping involving development and investment initiatives that would stretch from East Asia to Europe.

The project would significantly expand China’s economic and political influence, raising concerns in the United States and elsewhere.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-invites-40-world-leaders-including-xi-and-putin-to-virtual-climate-summit-373539">Also read |&nbsp;Biden invites 40 world leaders, including Xi and Putin, to virtual climate summit</a>

Biden’s remarks came after he said on Thursday he would prevent China from passing the United States to become the most powerful country in the world, vowing to invest heavily to ensure America prevails in the ever-growing rivalry between the world’s two largest economies.

Biden plans to unveil a multitrillion-dollar plan to upgrade US infrastructure next week. He said on Thursday this would ensure increased US investment in promising new technologies, such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and biotechnology.

Over 100 countries have signed agreements with China to cooperate in BRI projects like railways, ports, highways and other infrastructure. However, China said last year that about 20% of BRI projects had been “seriously affected” by the coronavirus pandemic.

US President Joe Biden said he had suggested to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that democratic countries should have "an infrastructure plan" to rival China’s Belt and Road initiative.

US President Joe Biden said he had suggested to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that democratic countries should have "an infrastructure plan" to rival China’s Belt and Road initiative. He gave this advice via a phone call on Friday. “I suggested we should have, essentially, a similar initiative, pulling from the democratic states, helping those communities around the world that, in fact, need help,” Biden told reporters on Friday. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a multitrillion-dollar infrastructure scheme launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping involving development and investment initiatives that would stretch from East Asia to Europe. The project would significantly expand China’s economic and political influence, raising concerns in the United States and elsewhere. Also read | Biden invites 40 world leaders, including Xi and Putin, to virtual climate summit Biden’s remarks came after he said on Thursday he would prevent China from passing the United States to become the most powerful country in the world, vowing to invest heavily to ensure America prevails in the ever-growing rivalry between the world’s two largest economies. Biden plans to unveil a multitrillion-dollar plan to upgrade US infrastructure next week. He said on Thursday this would ensure increased US investment in promising new technologies, such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and biotechnology. Over 100 countries have signed agreements with China to cooperate in BRI projects like railways, ports, highways and other infrastructure. However, China said last year that about 20% of BRI projects had been “seriously affected” by the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden says he suggested UK PM Johnson a plan to rival China's Belt and Road Initiative

The United States has invited the leaders of 40 countries, including that of China and Russia, to participate in a global summit on climate change in April.

US President Joe Biden's Earth Day global summit on climate is part of his effort to elevate climate change as a top priority. It will be held virtually given pandemic restrictions and will be live-streamed for public viewing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are invited to the April 22-23 summit, according to a White House statement.

Biden told reporters he had not yet spoken to the two leaders about it, "but they know they're invited."

At his first solo news conference since taking office, Biden on Thursday called Xi and Putin supporters of autocracy.

The White House statement said a key goal of the Earth Day summit and a separate gathering in the Scottish city of Glasgow in November will be to galvanise efforts to keep within reach a goal of limiting planetary warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Climate was also a topic when Biden spoke to European leaders on Thursday in a virtual summit of the European Council.

The Biden administration is expected to announce what the White House called "an ambitious 2030 target" for reducing carbon emissions by the time of the summit.

The summit will bring together 17 countries responsible for 80 percent of global emissions and global GDP. The invitee list of 40 nations includes Canada and Mexico as well as allies in Europe and Asia as well as Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria and South Africa.

Biden is urging world leaders to use the summit as an opportunity to outline how their countries will contribute to reduced emissions, the White House said.

The United States has invited the leaders of 40 countries, including that of China and Russia, to participate in a global summit on climate change in April. US President Joe Biden's Earth Day global summit on climate is part of his effort to elevate climate change as a top priority.

The United States has invited the leaders of 40 countries, including that of China and Russia, to participate in a global summit on climate change in April. US President Joe Biden's Earth Day global summit on climate is part of his effort to elevate climate change as a top priority. It will be held virtually given pandemic restrictions and will be live-streamed for public viewing. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are invited to the April 22-23 summit, according to a White House statement. Biden told reporters he had not yet spoken to the two leaders about it, "but they know they're invited." At his first solo news conference since taking office, Biden on Thursday called Xi and Putin supporters of autocracy. The White House statement said a key goal of the Earth Day summit and a separate gathering in the Scottish city of Glasgow in November will be to galvanise efforts to keep within reach a goal of limiting planetary warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Climate was also a topic when Biden spoke to European leaders on Thursday in a virtual summit of the European Council. The Biden administration is expected to announce what the White House called "an ambitious 2030 target" for reducing carbon emissions by the time of the summit. The summit will bring together 17 countries responsible for 80 percent of global emissions and global GDP. The invitee list of 40 nations includes Canada and Mexico as well as allies in Europe and Asia as well as Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria and South Africa. Biden is urging world leaders to use the summit as an opportunity to outline how their countries will contribute to reduced emissions, the White House said.

Biden invites 40 world leaders, including Xi and Putin, to virtual climate summit

Joe Biden appeared for his first press conference with 'cheat sheets', notes and even a list of the reporters in attendance. What did the US President tell the press? WION's Palki Sharma brings you report.

Gravitas: Joe Biden attends his first press conference with a 'cheat sheet'

North Korea on Saturday said the administration of US President Joe Biden had taken a wrong first step and revealed "deep-seated hostility" by criticising its self-defensive missile test.

North Korea on Friday said it had launched a new type of tactical short-range ballistic missile. Biden, in response, said the test violated UN Security Council resolutions.

The US president, however, added&nbsp;he remained open to diplomacy with Pyongyang.

The nuclear-armed North has a long history of using weapons tests to ramp up tensions, in a carefully calibrated process to try to forward its objectives.

Pyongyang had been biding its time since the new administration took office in Washington, not even officially acknowledging its existence until last week.

Ri Pyong Chol, secretary of the North's ruling Worker's Party's Central Committee, Biden's remarks were an "undisguised encroachment on our state's right to self-defence and provocation," and that the test was self-defensive against threats posed by South Korea and the United States with their joint military exercises and advanced weapons.

He added Washington might face "something that is not good" if it continues to make "thoughtless remarks."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/north-korea-fires-suspected-ballistic-missile-into-the-sea-reports-say-37296">Also read |&nbsp;North Korea fires suspected ballistic missile into the sea, reports say</a>&nbsp;

"We express our deep apprehension over the U.S. chief executive faulting the regular testfire, exercise of our state's right to self-defence, as the violation of U.N. 'resolutions' and openly revealing his deep-seated hostility," Ri said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

"I think that the new US administration obviously took its first step wrong."

He further accused the Biden administration of "exploiting every opportunity" to provoke Pyongyang by branding it as a "security threat."

The test came just days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed to work to denuclearise North Korea and criticised its "systemic and widespread" human rights abuses during a visit to Seoul with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

North Korea has also slammed the South Korea-US military exercises which ended last week, even though they were repeatedly scaled back to facilitate a restart of denuclearization talks with Pyongyang.

Ri said Washington insisted on a "gangster-like logic" to be able to bring strategic nuclear assets to South Korea and test intercontinental ballistic missiles at its convenience, but ban North Korea from testing even a tactical weapon.

Experts, to this end, said Ri's remarks meant North Korea would potentially ramp up military tension in the coming months by developing and testing advanced weapons.

Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report on Friday that commercial satellite imagery showed North Korea has continued to produce uranium concentrate, used to build nuclear weapons, over the past eight months, though it has not tested any bombs since 2017.

Thursday's launch, and an earlier test of short-range, non-ballistic missiles at the weekend, came after joint exercises by the US and South Korean militaries and a visit to the region by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

(with inputs from agencies)

North Korea on Saturday said the administration of US President Joe Biden had taken a wrong first step and revealed "deep-seated hostility" by criticising its self-defensive missile test.

North Korea on Saturday said the administration of US President Joe Biden had taken a wrong first step and revealed "deep-seated hostility" by criticising its self-defensive missile test. North Korea on Friday said it had launched a new type of tactical short-range ballistic missile. Biden, in response, said the test violated UN Security Council resolutions. The US president, however, added he remained open to diplomacy with Pyongyang. The nuclear-armed North has a long history of using weapons tests to ramp up tensions, in a carefully calibrated process to try to forward its objectives. Pyongyang had been biding its time since the new administration took office in Washington, not even officially acknowledging its existence until last week. Ri Pyong Chol, secretary of the North's ruling Worker's Party's Central Committee, Biden's remarks were an "undisguised encroachment on our state's right to self-defence and provocation," and that the test was self-defensive against threats posed by South Korea and the United States with their joint military exercises and advanced weapons. He added Washington might face "something that is not good" if it continues to make "thoughtless remarks." Also read | North Korea fires suspected ballistic missile into the sea, reports say "We express our deep apprehension over the U.S. chief executive faulting the regular testfire, exercise of our state's right to self-defence, as the violation of U.N. 'resolutions' and openly revealing his deep-seated hostility," Ri said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. "I think that the new US administration obviously took its first step wrong." He further accused the Biden administration of "exploiting every opportunity" to provoke Pyongyang by branding it as a "security threat." The test came just days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed to work to denuclearise North Korea and criticised its "systemic and widespread" human rights abuses during a visit to Seoul with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. North Korea has also slammed the South Korea-US military exercises which ended last week, even though they were repeatedly scaled back to facilitate a restart of denuclearization talks with Pyongyang. Ri said Washington insisted on a "gangster-like logic" to be able to bring strategic nuclear assets to South Korea and test intercontinental ballistic missiles at its convenience, but ban North Korea from testing even a tactical weapon. Experts, to this end, said Ri's remarks meant North Korea would potentially ramp up military tension in the coming months by developing and testing advanced weapons. Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report on Friday that commercial satellite imagery showed North Korea has continued to produce uranium concentrate, used to build nuclear weapons, over the past eight months, though it has not tested any bombs since 2017. Thursday's launch, and an earlier test of short-range, non-ballistic missiles at the weekend, came after joint exercises by the US and South Korean militaries and a visit to the region by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. (with inputs from agencies)

North Korea accuses Biden admin of 'provocation' after missile test

Supporters of gun control lashed out at President Joe Biden on Friday for suggesting a day earlier that gun legislation would not be his next priority even after two mass shootings in a week.

Biden initially said Tuesday that he did not need to “wait another minute” to address the epidemic of gun violence, calling on the Senate to pass a ban on assault weapons and to close background check loopholes.

But on Thursday, at the first formal news conference of his presidency, Biden left gun control proponents dumbstruck and disappointed when he said the key to legislative success was ordering priorities, and that infrastructure — not guns — was next on his list.

“I’m disappointed he has the nerve and audacity to say he’s going to do things in sequential order,” said Maisha Fields, the vice president of organizing for Brady: United Against Gun Violence, a nonprofit group. “It’s out of order to have to bury your child. It’s out of order to be shopping for eggs and to have your life disrupted.”

At his news conference, Biden was asked specifically about his plans for promoting gun legislation or using executive actions on the issue. In response, he pivoted to a lengthy explanation of why infrastructure was a bigger priority for him.

To some, the response was a pragmatic approach by a president dealing with crises on multiple fronts and a blockade of opposition by Republicans to any gun control measures.

But gun control supporters said they were appalled by his shift in tone from a year ago, when Biden said on the campaign trail that “every day that we do nothing in response, it is an insult to the innumerable lives across this nation that have been forever shattered by gun violence.”

During the campaign, Biden also promised on his first day in office to send a bill to Congress that would repeal liability protections for gun manufacturers and close background-check loopholes. He has not done so yet, 65 days into his term.

“I was very frustrated that he pivoted to infrastructure week,” said Igor Volsky, the founder of Gun Down America. That the administration has not approached gun legislation with the same intensity that it brought to its $1.9 trillion pandemic rescue plan — which passed with no Republican support — only added to his frustration, he said.

“We saw what they can do when they hit the gas pedal,” Volsky said. “They got it across despite unanimous opposition. That’s the kind of leadership we need to see on this issue.”

The House passed two gun control bills this month but they are languishing in the Senate in the face of Republican opposition and the chamber’s 60-vote threshold for passing most legislation.

“This crisis is beyond any other crisis we’ve seen,” said Greg Jackson, the national advocacy director for the Community Justice Action Fund, a group focused on gun violence in communities of color.

After the 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were murdered, President Barack Obama vowed to press Congress to ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, expand background checks and toughen gun-trafficking laws. He has described his failure to pass any legislation as one of his biggest regrets.

In 2019, President Donald Trump briefly said he would push for what he described as “very meaningful background checks,” after a pair of deadly mass shootings in Texas and Ohio. But after discussions with officials from the National Rifle Association, he reversed himself, saying that he was concerned with protecting the Second Amendment and that the country had “very strong background checks right now.”

Notably absent from the public chorus of disapproval Friday was Everytown for Gun Safety, one of the most influential gun violence prevention organizations in the country. While John Feinblatt, the group’s president, has been encouraging Biden to act immediately, he has so far not openly criticized him for a delay.

A spokeswoman for Everytown, Stacey Radnor, said the group was continuing to work closely with the White House to carry out executive actions and pressure Congress to act.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said at a news briefing Friday that Biden understood the frustration among gun control proponents. But, she added, that “frustration should be vented at the members of the House and Senate who voted against the measures the president supports, and we’d certainly support their advocacy in that regard.”

Po Murray, chairwoman of the Newtown Action Alliance, said the administration’s “inconsistent” messaging was a problem.

“We’re trying to figure out what’s happening here,” she said. “We pushed for it, we supported him, we expected a better response after the election.”

The administration has been working on three executive actions on guns but has yet to roll them out.

One would classify so-called ghost guns — kits that allow a gun to be assembled from pieces — as firearms, which would require their sales to be subject to background checks. Another would fund community violence intervention programs, and the third would strengthen the background checks system, according to congressional aides familiar with the conversations.

Psaki declined to provide a timetable for any executive actions.

Some gun control supporters also said they wanted to see a more senior official at the White House overseeing the issue. Susan Rice, the director of Biden’s Domestic Policy Council, has been serving as the internal point person on efforts addressing gun violence. But Obama put his vice president, Biden, in charge of the issue after the Sandy Hook shootings.

Murray said she had the perfect figure in mind to serve as Biden’s point person on the issue.

“We’ll take Barack Obama,” she said.

Supporters of gun control lashed out at President Joe Biden on Friday for suggesting a day earlier that gun legislation would not be his next priority even after two mass shootings in a week.

Supporters of gun control lashed out at President Joe Biden on Friday for suggesting a day earlier that gun legislation would not be his next priority even after two mass shootings in a week. Biden initially said Tuesday that he did not need to “wait another minute” to address the epidemic of gun violence, calling on the Senate to pass a ban on assault weapons and to close background check loopholes. But on Thursday, at the first formal news conference of his presidency, Biden left gun control proponents dumbstruck and disappointed when he said the key to legislative success was ordering priorities, and that infrastructure — not guns — was next on his list. “I’m disappointed he has the nerve and audacity to say he’s going to do things in sequential order,” said Maisha Fields, the vice president of organizing for Brady: United Against Gun Violence, a nonprofit group. “It’s out of order to have to bury your child. It’s out of order to be shopping for eggs and to have your life disrupted.” At his news conference, Biden was asked specifically about his plans for promoting gun legislation or using executive actions on the issue. In response, he pivoted to a lengthy explanation of why infrastructure was a bigger priority for him. To some, the response was a pragmatic approach by a president dealing with crises on multiple fronts and a blockade of opposition by Republicans to any gun control measures. But gun control supporters said they were appalled by his shift in tone from a year ago, when Biden said on the campaign trail that “every day that we do nothing in response, it is an insult to the innumerable lives across this nation that have been forever shattered by gun violence.” During the campaign, Biden also promised on his first day in office to send a bill to Congress that would repeal liability protections for gun manufacturers and close background-check loopholes. He has not done so yet, 65 days into his term. “I was very frustrated that he pivoted to infrastructure week,” said Igor Volsky, the founder of Gun Down America. That the administration has not approached gun legislation with the same intensity that it brought to its $1.9 trillion pandemic rescue plan — which passed with no Republican support — only added to his frustration, he said. “We saw what they can do when they hit the gas pedal,” Volsky said. “They got it across despite unanimous opposition. That’s the kind of leadership we need to see on this issue.” The House passed two gun control bills this month but they are languishing in the Senate in the face of Republican opposition and the chamber’s 60-vote threshold for passing most legislation. “This crisis is beyond any other crisis we’ve seen,” said Greg Jackson, the national advocacy director for the Community Justice Action Fund, a group focused on gun violence in communities of color. After the 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were murdered, President Barack Obama vowed to press Congress to ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, expand background checks and toughen gun-trafficking laws. He has described his failure to pass any legislation as one of his biggest regrets. In 2019, President Donald Trump briefly said he would push for what he described as “very meaningful background checks,” after a pair of deadly mass shootings in Texas and Ohio. But after discussions with officials from the National Rifle Association, he reversed himself, saying that he was concerned with protecting the Second Amendment and that the country had “very strong background checks right now.” Notably absent from the public chorus of disapproval Friday was Everytown for Gun Safety, one of the most influential gun violence prevention organizations in the country. While John Feinblatt, the group’s president, has been encouraging Biden to act immediately, he has so far not openly criticized him for a delay. A spokeswoman for Everytown, Stacey Radnor, said the group was continuing to work closely with the White House to carry out executive actions and pressure Congress to act. Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said at a news briefing Friday that Biden understood the frustration among gun control proponents. But, she added, that “frustration should be vented at the members of the House and Senate who voted against the measures the president supports, and we’d certainly support their advocacy in that regard.” Po Murray, chairwoman of the Newtown Action Alliance, said the administration’s “inconsistent” messaging was a problem. “We’re trying to figure out what’s happening here,” she said. “We pushed for it, we supported him, we expected a better response after the election.” The administration has been working on three executive actions on guns but has yet to roll them out. One would classify so-called ghost guns — kits that allow a gun to be assembled from pieces — as firearms, which would require their sales to be subject to background checks. Another would fund community violence intervention programs, and the third would strengthen the background checks system, according to congressional aides familiar with the conversations. Psaki declined to provide a timetable for any executive actions. Some gun control supporters also said they wanted to see a more senior official at the White House overseeing the issue. Susan Rice, the director of Biden’s Domestic Policy Council, has been serving as the internal point person on efforts addressing gun violence. But Obama put his vice president, Biden, in charge of the issue after the Sandy Hook shootings. Murray said she had the perfect figure in mind to serve as Biden’s point person on the issue. “We’ll take Barack Obama,” she said.

Supporters of gun control assail Biden over delay on action

When Virginia abolished the death penalty this week, much of the response focused on what was new: the first Southern state to take this step, the state that has executed more people than any other in American history.

But it’s also worth noting what was not new: the reasoning behind the decision. In a statement on Wednesday, Virginia’s governor, Ralph Northam, said: “Ending the death penalty comes down to one fundamental question, one question: Is it fair? For the state to apply this ultimate, final punishment, the answer needs to be yes. Fair means that it is applied equally to anyone, no matter who they are.”

Because he could not answer that question in the affirmative, Northam said, he could not support the death penalty’s continued use.

This is the same rationale that justices of the Supreme Court relied on almost 50 years ago, when the court barred the use of the death penalty as it was applied at the time. The ruling in Furman v. Georgia involved death sentences in three separate cases with very different facts.

“These death sentences are cruel and unusual in the same way that being struck by lightning is cruel and unusual,” Justice Potter Stewart wrote in a concurring opinion. “The Eighth and 14th Amendments cannot tolerate the infliction of a sentence of death under legal systems that permit this unique penalty to be so wantonly and so freakishly imposed.”

Four years later, in 1976, the court allowed the practice to resume after states updated their sentencing procedures to address the constitutional concerns. But those fixes did not actually solve the problems that continue to plague capital punishment.

For one thing, race has always been a central factor in the imposition of death, no matter how often officials deny it. In a 1987 case, the court considered evidence that those convicted of murdering a white person were more than four times as likely to be sentenced to death than if their victim were Black. The court declined to find that this was sufficient to strike down the practice. More recent research confirms the pattern: Counties with more Black residents, and more white victims, still have more death sentences — what researchers have called a “white lives matter” effect.

Over the past few decades, the court has restricted or barred the use of the death penalty in cases involving juveniles and those with intellectual disabilities. But some states have found creative ways to avoid these rulings and keep on killing.

Then there are the wrongful convictions and even cases of innocence. Since 1973, 185 people have been exonerated of the charges that landed them on death row, most often because of official misconduct. Not everyone is so lucky; at least 18 people have been executed despite serious doubts about their guilt, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes the practice.

The death penalty has not been shown to deter crime, despite the repeated claim to the contrary by its supporters. “It’s going to make Virginia less safe, less secure,” Jason Miyares, a Republican lawmaker, said of abolition. In fact, states that execute people have consistently higher murder rates than those that do not.

Despite this compelling evidence of the death penalty’s futility, the federal and state governments have put to death more than 1,450 people since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976.

The good news is that its overall use has dropped sharply in recent years. New death sentences are down from a high of 315 in 1996 to 18 in 2020. Annual executions have plummeted, too, from 98 in 1999 to 17 in 2020.

More than half of last year’s executions were for federal crimes, the first time in history that the federal government put more people to death than all the states combined. Credit for this dubious achievement goes to former President Donald Trump, who authorized a spate of executions as the election neared, and then three more after he lost to Joe Biden.

Politicians once calculated that backing the death penalty was an effective electoral strategy to show their tough-on-crime bona fides. But that’s less and less true. Americans’ support for the death penalty, which in the past reached as high as 80%, has now fallen to 55%, its lowest mark in half a century — part of Americans’ growing awareness of the profound failures and inequities of their criminal justice system.

With Virginia’s ban this week, 23 states now prohibit the death penalty, and 11 more haven’t used it in at least a decade. It’s not a simple partisan issue, either. In several states, Republican lawmakers have joined Democrats in voting to ban capital punishment. In Virginia, some Democrats still supported the practice as recently as last year.

What remains for the defenders of state-sponsored killing? Nothing but cruelty. It’s a tried and true tactic, even among certain Supreme Court justices, to linger on the grisliness of the crimes, as if those who oppose capital punishment are somehow unaware of those facts, or are untroubled by them. Horror stories miss the point. No one disputes that the crimes for which people are sentenced to death are abhorrent and demand justice. But a society that sinks to the level of its worst offenders is not only hypocritical, it also poisons itself with an endless cycle of vengeance.

Biden, who like most Democratic presidential candidates campaigned on ending the death penalty, can help break that cycle by imposing an immediate moratorium on federal executions, and commuting the sentences of the 50 or so inmates on federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana. These inmates account for a small fraction of the more than 2,500 condemned people around the country, but a moratorium would still be an important step toward admitting what the country’s highest court began to acknowledge decades ago: The death penalty is cruel, ineffective and morally repugnant. America needs to join most of the rest of the world and eliminate it.

When Virginia abolished the death penalty this week, much of the response focused on what was new: the first Southern state to take this step, the state that has executed more people than any other in American history.

When Virginia abolished the death penalty this week, much of the response focused on what was new: the first Southern state to take this step, the state that has executed more people than any other in American history. But it’s also worth noting what was not new: the reasoning behind the decision. In a statement on Wednesday, Virginia’s governor, Ralph Northam, said: “Ending the death penalty comes down to one fundamental question, one question: Is it fair? For the state to apply this ultimate, final punishment, the answer needs to be yes. Fair means that it is applied equally to anyone, no matter who they are.” Because he could not answer that question in the affirmative, Northam said, he could not support the death penalty’s continued use. This is the same rationale that justices of the Supreme Court relied on almost 50 years ago, when the court barred the use of the death penalty as it was applied at the time. The ruling in Furman v. Georgia involved death sentences in three separate cases with very different facts. “These death sentences are cruel and unusual in the same way that being struck by lightning is cruel and unusual,” Justice Potter Stewart wrote in a concurring opinion. “The Eighth and 14th Amendments cannot tolerate the infliction of a sentence of death under legal systems that permit this unique penalty to be so wantonly and so freakishly imposed.” Four years later, in 1976, the court allowed the practice to resume after states updated their sentencing procedures to address the constitutional concerns. But those fixes did not actually solve the problems that continue to plague capital punishment. For one thing, race has always been a central factor in the imposition of death, no matter how often officials deny it. In a 1987 case, the court considered evidence that those convicted of murdering a white person were more than four times as likely to be sentenced to death than if their victim were Black. The court declined to find that this was sufficient to strike down the practice. More recent research confirms the pattern: Counties with more Black residents, and more white victims, still have more death sentences — what researchers have called a “white lives matter” effect. Over the past few decades, the court has restricted or barred the use of the death penalty in cases involving juveniles and those with intellectual disabilities. But some states have found creative ways to avoid these rulings and keep on killing. Then there are the wrongful convictions and even cases of innocence. Since 1973, 185 people have been exonerated of the charges that landed them on death row, most often because of official misconduct. Not everyone is so lucky; at least 18 people have been executed despite serious doubts about their guilt, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes the practice. The death penalty has not been shown to deter crime, despite the repeated claim to the contrary by its supporters. “It’s going to make Virginia less safe, less secure,” Jason Miyares, a Republican lawmaker, said of abolition. In fact, states that execute people have consistently higher murder rates than those that do not. Despite this compelling evidence of the death penalty’s futility, the federal and state governments have put to death more than 1,450 people since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976. The good news is that its overall use has dropped sharply in recent years. New death sentences are down from a high of 315 in 1996 to 18 in 2020. Annual executions have plummeted, too, from 98 in 1999 to 17 in 2020. More than half of last year’s executions were for federal crimes, the first time in history that the federal government put more people to death than all the states combined. Credit for this dubious achievement goes to former President Donald Trump, who authorized a spate of executions as the election neared, and then three more after he lost to Joe Biden. Politicians once calculated that backing the death penalty was an effective electoral strategy to show their tough-on-crime bona fides. But that’s less and less true. Americans’ support for the death penalty, which in the past reached as high as 80%, has now fallen to 55%, its lowest mark in half a century — part of Americans’ growing awareness of the profound failures and inequities of their criminal justice system. With Virginia’s ban this week, 23 states now prohibit the death penalty, and 11 more haven’t used it in at least a decade. It’s not a simple partisan issue, either. In several states, Republican lawmakers have joined Democrats in voting to ban capital punishment. In Virginia, some Democrats still supported the practice as recently as last year. What remains for the defenders of state-sponsored killing? Nothing but cruelty. It’s a tried and true tactic, even among certain Supreme Court justices, to linger on the grisliness of the crimes, as if those who oppose capital punishment are somehow unaware of those facts, or are untroubled by them. Horror stories miss the point. No one disputes that the crimes for which people are sentenced to death are abhorrent and demand justice. But a society that sinks to the level of its worst offenders is not only hypocritical, it also poisons itself with an endless cycle of vengeance. Biden, who like most Democratic presidential candidates campaigned on ending the death penalty, can help break that cycle by imposing an immediate moratorium on federal executions, and commuting the sentences of the 50 or so inmates on federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana. These inmates account for a small fraction of the more than 2,500 condemned people around the country, but a moratorium would still be an important step toward admitting what the country’s highest court began to acknowledge decades ago: The death penalty is cruel, ineffective and morally repugnant. America needs to join most of the rest of the world and eliminate it.

Stop the executions, President Biden

WASHINGTON — As President Joe Biden signaled this week that he would let a May 1 deadline pass without withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, some officials are using an intelligence assessment to argue for prolonging the military mission there.

U.S. intelligence agencies have told the Biden administration that if U.S. troops leave before a power-sharing settlement is reached between the Taliban and the Afghan government, the country could fall largely under the control of the Taliban within two or three years after the withdrawal of international forces. That could potentially open the door for al-Qaida to rebuild its strength within the country, according to U.S. officials.

The classified assessment, first prepared last year for the Trump administration but not previously disclosed, is the latest in a series of grim predictions of Afghanistan’s future that intelligence analysts have delivered throughout the two-decade-long war.

But the intelligence has landed in a changed political environment. While former President Donald Trump pushed for a withdrawal of all forces even before the terms of the peace deal required it, Biden has been more cautious, saying Thursday that he does not view May 1 as a deadline he must meet, although he also said he “could not picture” troops being in the country next year.

The decision looms as one of the most critical of Biden’s young presidency. He long argued while vice president for a minimal presence in Afghanistan but has been said to have privately described as haunting the possibility of allowing the country to descend into collapse.

Some senior Biden administration officials have expressed skepticism of any intelligence prediction of a resurgence of a weakened al-Qaida or of the Islamic State group. Taliban commanders remain opposed to the Islamic State in Afghanistan, and al-Qaida, which has little current presence in the country, could regroup instead in any number of other lawless regions around the world.

Also left unanswered by the intelligence warning is the question of whether Afghanistan could really prosper if U.S. troops remain indefinitely. Their presence would most likely prevent a collapse of the nation’s own security forces and allow the government in Kabul, the Afghan capital, to retain control of its major cities, but the Taliban are still likely to gradually expand their power in other parts of the country, including curbing the rights of women.

A Taliban spokesperson said Friday that the group was committed to last year’s peace agreement “and wants the American side to also remain firmly committed.” If troops are not withdrawn by May 1, the spokesperson promised, the Taliban would “continue its jihad and armed struggle against foreign forces.”

Biden administration officials insisted no final decision had been made. Nevertheless, with the deadline looming, administration officials are jockeying to influence Biden and his top national security officials. While Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has not signaled what course of action he prefers, some Pentagon officials who believe U.S. forces should stay longer have pointed to the intelligence assessment predicting a Taliban takeover of the country.

Some military commanders and administration officials have argued that any set date for withdrawing the approximately 3,500 U.S. troops who remain, whether it is May 1 or at the end of the year, will doom the mission. The only way to preserve hard-fought gains in Afghanistan, they said, is to keep the small U.S. presence there long enough to force a lasting deal between the Taliban and Afghan government.

These officials have used the intelligence assessment to make the point that a withdrawal this year will lead to a fall of the current government, a sharp erosion of women’s rights and the return of international terrorist groups. A rush to the exit, some officials said, will only drag the United States back into Afghanistan soon after leaving — much as was the case in Iraq in 2014, three years after the Obama administration pulled troops out of that conflict.

The White House has held a series of meetings on Afghanistan, and more are to come. On Thursday, the president said he was waiting for briefings from Austin, who met recently with Afghan officials, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who conferred this week with NATO allies, for their bottom-line advice on what he should do.

For many Biden administration officials, the issue that has resonated the most clearly is the threat that a Taliban takeover could pose to Afghan women. While some former intelligence officials predict the Taliban will initially take care not to roll back women’s rights altogether — at least in major cities — if they take over the entire country, it will be difficult to guarantee protections for women, such as education for girls and access to health care.

“Any agreement must preserve their gains if Afghanistan wants to ensure the international community’s continued political and financial support,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the Security Council this week. “We will not give an inch on this point.”

The Biden administration is making a final effort before May 1 to show progress in slow-moving negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government in Doha, Qatar. The Taliban, according to U.S. officials, are stalling.

The administration is pushing the two sides to participate in a peace conference in Turkey to demonstrate progress. Simultaneously, the American and Taliban negotiators continue to try to cement a 90-day reduction in violence, but so far, both sides have hesitated to agree.

The classified intelligence assessment of the Taliban largely taking control assumes that the Afghan government and the Taliban fail to reach a political agreement and that a civil war would erupt after the U.S. exit.

Administration officials warned that making any intelligence estimate is challenging, that predictions about the future are always imprecise and that various factors influence the analysis.

For example, intelligence estimates depend on whether international funding for the Afghan government remains in place. The more money the United States and its allies provide Afghanistan, the longer the government in Kabul should be able to retain control of some of the country. But some officials said that history shows that once U.S. troops are withdrawn, Congress moves quickly to cut financial support for partner forces.

There is also a debate in Washington about the seriousness of the threat of a return of terrorist groups. For now, the number of Qaida and Islamic State militants in Afghanistan is very small, a senior U.S. official said.

Some senior lawmakers with access to the classified assessments said that it was not certain that if the United States withdrew that al-Qaida could rebuild a base in Afghanistan from which to carry out terrorist attacks against the United States.

“What is that threat really going to be?” Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said this week during a virtual conference on Afghanistan. “This isn’t the 1990s when al-Qaida set up camps, and they had the Taliban, and no one was paying attention to them.”

Smith said keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan actually increased the risk to Americans there, incurred greater financial costs and handed a propaganda victory and recruiting tool to the U.S.’ enemies.

Some counterterrorism officials believe that al-Qaida would prefer to reestablish its headquarters in Afghanistan, should U.S. troops withdraw. But other officials said al-Qaida’s leadership might be just as likely to look to Africa or the Middle East.

While U.S. intelligence officials have been mostly focused on the threat of al-Qaida, senior military officials have also raised the prospect of a growth in the power of the Afghanistan arm of the Islamic State.

But in recent years, the Taliban have been at odds with the Islamic State. The two groups have fought, and the Taliban have for the most part pushed back Islamic State forces.

“I can’t imagine a scenario where ISIS and the Taliban would strategically cooperate or collaborate in Afghanistan,” said Lisa Maddox, a former CIA analyst. “The Taliban is an ideological organization, and that ideology is Afghan-centric and not aligned with ISIS’ overarching goals.”

The intelligence estimate predicted that the Taliban would relatively swiftly expand their control over Afghanistan, suggesting that the Afghan security forces remain fragile despite years of training by the U.S. military and billions of dollars in U.S. funding.

Offensives last year in Kandahar and Helmand provinces, two areas in the country’s south where the Taliban have long held sway, demonstrated that police and local forces are unable to hold ground, prompting elite commando forces and regular army troops to take their place — a tactic that is likely unsustainable in the long run.

Afghan security forces still rely heavily on U.S. air support to hold territory, which U.S. military leaders acknowledged this week. It is unclear whether that U.S. air power would continue if U.S. forces left Afghanistan, perhaps launched from bases in the Persian Gulf, although the Pentagon has drawn up such options for the White House.

“The capabilities that the U.S. provides for the Afghans to be able to combat the Taliban and other threats that reside in Afghanistan are critical to their success,” Gen. Richard D. Clarke, head of Special Operations Command, told the Senate on Thursday.

WASHINGTON — As President Joe Biden signaled this week that he would let a May 1 deadline pass without withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, some officials are using an intelligence assessment to argue for prolonging the military mission there.

WASHINGTON — As President Joe Biden signaled this week that he would let a May 1 deadline pass without withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, some officials are using an intelligence assessment to argue for prolonging the military mission there. U.S. intelligence agencies have told the Biden administration that if U.S. troops leave before a power-sharing settlement is reached between the Taliban and the Afghan government, the country could fall largely under the control of the Taliban within two or three years after the withdrawal of international forces. That could potentially open the door for al-Qaida to rebuild its strength within the country, according to U.S. officials. The classified assessment, first prepared last year for the Trump administration but not previously disclosed, is the latest in a series of grim predictions of Afghanistan’s future that intelligence analysts have delivered throughout the two-decade-long war. But the intelligence has landed in a changed political environment. While former President Donald Trump pushed for a withdrawal of all forces even before the terms of the peace deal required it, Biden has been more cautious, saying Thursday that he does not view May 1 as a deadline he must meet, although he also said he “could not picture” troops being in the country next year. The decision looms as one of the most critical of Biden’s young presidency. He long argued while vice president for a minimal presence in Afghanistan but has been said to have privately described as haunting the possibility of allowing the country to descend into collapse. Some senior Biden administration officials have expressed skepticism of any intelligence prediction of a resurgence of a weakened al-Qaida or of the Islamic State group. Taliban commanders remain opposed to the Islamic State in Afghanistan, and al-Qaida, which has little current presence in the country, could regroup instead in any number of other lawless regions around the world. Also left unanswered by the intelligence warning is the question of whether Afghanistan could really prosper if U.S. troops remain indefinitely. Their presence would most likely prevent a collapse of the nation’s own security forces and allow the government in Kabul, the Afghan capital, to retain control of its major cities, but the Taliban are still likely to gradually expand their power in other parts of the country, including curbing the rights of women. A Taliban spokesperson said Friday that the group was committed to last year’s peace agreement “and wants the American side to also remain firmly committed.” If troops are not withdrawn by May 1, the spokesperson promised, the Taliban would “continue its jihad and armed struggle against foreign forces.” Biden administration officials insisted no final decision had been made. Nevertheless, with the deadline looming, administration officials are jockeying to influence Biden and his top national security officials. While Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has not signaled what course of action he prefers, some Pentagon officials who believe U.S. forces should stay longer have pointed to the intelligence assessment predicting a Taliban takeover of the country. Some military commanders and administration officials have argued that any set date for withdrawing the approximately 3,500 U.S. troops who remain, whether it is May 1 or at the end of the year, will doom the mission. The only way to preserve hard-fought gains in Afghanistan, they said, is to keep the small U.S. presence there long enough to force a lasting deal between the Taliban and Afghan government. These officials have used the intelligence assessment to make the point that a withdrawal this year will lead to a fall of the current government, a sharp erosion of women’s rights and the return of international terrorist groups. A rush to the exit, some officials said, will only drag the United States back into Afghanistan soon after leaving — much as was the case in Iraq in 2014, three years after the Obama administration pulled troops out of that conflict. The White House has held a series of meetings on Afghanistan, and more are to come. On Thursday, the president said he was waiting for briefings from Austin, who met recently with Afghan officials, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who conferred this week with NATO allies, for their bottom-line advice on what he should do. For many Biden administration officials, the issue that has resonated the most clearly is the threat that a Taliban takeover could pose to Afghan women. While some former intelligence officials predict the Taliban will initially take care not to roll back women’s rights altogether — at least in major cities — if they take over the entire country, it will be difficult to guarantee protections for women, such as education for girls and access to health care. “Any agreement must preserve their gains if Afghanistan wants to ensure the international community’s continued political and financial support,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the Security Council this week. “We will not give an inch on this point.” The Biden administration is making a final effort before May 1 to show progress in slow-moving negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government in Doha, Qatar. The Taliban, according to U.S. officials, are stalling. The administration is pushing the two sides to participate in a peace conference in Turkey to demonstrate progress. Simultaneously, the American and Taliban negotiators continue to try to cement a 90-day reduction in violence, but so far, both sides have hesitated to agree. The classified intelligence assessment of the Taliban largely taking control assumes that the Afghan government and the Taliban fail to reach a political agreement and that a civil war would erupt after the U.S. exit. Administration officials warned that making any intelligence estimate is challenging, that predictions about the future are always imprecise and that various factors influence the analysis. For example, intelligence estimates depend on whether international funding for the Afghan government remains in place. The more money the United States and its allies provide Afghanistan, the longer the government in Kabul should be able to retain control of some of the country. But some officials said that history shows that once U.S. troops are withdrawn, Congress moves quickly to cut financial support for partner forces. There is also a debate in Washington about the seriousness of the threat of a return of terrorist groups. For now, the number of Qaida and Islamic State militants in Afghanistan is very small, a senior U.S. official said. Some senior lawmakers with access to the classified assessments said that it was not certain that if the United States withdrew that al-Qaida could rebuild a base in Afghanistan from which to carry out terrorist attacks against the United States. “What is that threat really going to be?” Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said this week during a virtual conference on Afghanistan. “This isn’t the 1990s when al-Qaida set up camps, and they had the Taliban, and no one was paying attention to them.” Smith said keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan actually increased the risk to Americans there, incurred greater financial costs and handed a propaganda victory and recruiting tool to the U.S.’ enemies. Some counterterrorism officials believe that al-Qaida would prefer to reestablish its headquarters in Afghanistan, should U.S. troops withdraw. But other officials said al-Qaida’s leadership might be just as likely to look to Africa or the Middle East. While U.S. intelligence officials have been mostly focused on the threat of al-Qaida, senior military officials have also raised the prospect of a growth in the power of the Afghanistan arm of the Islamic State. But in recent years, the Taliban have been at odds with the Islamic State. The two groups have fought, and the Taliban have for the most part pushed back Islamic State forces. “I can’t imagine a scenario where ISIS and the Taliban would strategically cooperate or collaborate in Afghanistan,” said Lisa Maddox, a former CIA analyst. “The Taliban is an ideological organization, and that ideology is Afghan-centric and not aligned with ISIS’ overarching goals.” The intelligence estimate predicted that the Taliban would relatively swiftly expand their control over Afghanistan, suggesting that the Afghan security forces remain fragile despite years of training by the U.S. military and billions of dollars in U.S. funding. Offensives last year in Kandahar and Helmand provinces, two areas in the country’s south where the Taliban have long held sway, demonstrated that police and local forces are unable to hold ground, prompting elite commando forces and regular army troops to take their place — a tactic that is likely unsustainable in the long run. Afghan security forces still rely heavily on U.S. air support to hold territory, which U.S. military leaders acknowledged this week. It is unclear whether that U.S. air power would continue if U.S. forces left Afghanistan, perhaps launched from bases in the Persian Gulf, although the Pentagon has drawn up such options for the White House. “The capabilities that the U.S. provides for the Afghans to be able to combat the Taliban and other threats that reside in Afghanistan are critical to their success,” Gen. Richard D. Clarke, head of Special Operations Command, told the Senate on Thursday.

Officials try to sway Biden using intelligence on potential for Taliban takeover of Afghanistan

US President Joe Biden holds his first press conference over 60 days since taking office.

US President Joe Biden's first Press Conference as the POTUS

US President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Joe Biden </a>on Thursday set a new goal of administering 200 million doses of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/coronavirus-vaccine">coronavirus vaccine </a>within his first 100 days in office, a target which is double of what he originally promised.&nbsp;

"Today I'm setting a second goal, and that is, we will by my 100th day in office have administered 200 million shots in people's arms," Biden said in his first press conference since becoming the president on January 20.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LIVE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LIVE</a> | US President <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoeBiden</a> holds his first press conference over 60 days since taking office <a href="https://t.co/SvN0yU8QNC">https://t.co/SvN0yU8QNC</a>
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"I know it's ambitious, twice our original goal," Biden added.&nbsp;

"But no other country in the world has even come close -- not even close -- to what we are doing, and I believe we can do it."

Biden also said that as of Wednesday more than 100 million payments of $1,400 each have been credited to the people of this country as Covid-19 relief.&nbsp;

"As of yesterday, more than 100 million payments of $1,400 have gone into people's bank accounts. That's real money in people's pockets bringing relief instantly almost, and millions more will be getting their money very soon".

Let's take a look at what the US president spoke about other important issues.&nbsp;

On North Korea

Biden also responded to North Korea testing ballistic missiles, saying that the United States will "respond accordingly" if Pyongyang increases its missile testing.

"We are consulting with our partners and allies," Biden said. "And there will be responses if they choose to escalate.

"We will respond accordingly."

But, he hinted at "some form of diplomacy" with North Korea, conditional "upon the end result of denuclearization".&nbsp;

On troops withdrawal in Afghanistan

The US president insisted that it will be "hard" to meet the May 1 deadline to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan as part of Washington's deal with the Taliban.&nbsp;

"It is going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline in terms of tactical reasons. It's hard to get those troops out," Biden said. &nbsp;

However, when asked whether US soldiers in Afghanistan will completely leave Afghanistan, he said "We will leave, the question is when".&nbsp;

On another run in 2024

The 78-year-old president also highlighted that he plans to run for re-election in 2024, adding that he "would fully expect" that Vice President Kamala Harris would be on board.&nbsp;

"My plan is to run for reelection. That's my expectation," Biden said.&nbsp;

Not 'confrontation', but 'steep competition' with China

Speaking about the US's strategy on arch-rival China, Biden said that his administration is not seeking a "confrontation", but a "steep competition".&nbsp;

He also called his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping an autocrat &nbsp;who "doesn't have a democratic -- with a small 'd' -- bone in his body."

"I told him in person on several occasions we're not looking for confrontation, though we know that there will be steep, steep competition," the US president said.&nbsp;

On migrant crisis

Biden also said that undocumented immigrants entering the US has hit crisis levels and added that the surge is a seasonal problem occurring every year.&nbsp;

"There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year," he said. &nbsp;

He also said that his administration is committed to let&nbsp;unaccompanied migrant children enter the country on humanitarian grounds.&nbsp;

"We are sending back the vast majority of the families that are coming," the US president said.

"They should all be going back." 
&nbsp;

US President Joe Biden on Thursday set a new goal of administering 200 million doses of coronavirus vaccine within his first 100 days in office, a target which is double of what he originally promised.

US President Joe Biden on Thursday set a new goal of administering 200 million doses of coronavirus vaccine within his first 100 days in office, a target which is double of what he originally promised. "Today I'm setting a second goal, and that is, we will by my 100th day in office have administered 200 million shots in people's arms," Biden said in his first press conference since becoming the president on January 20. Watch | #LIVE | US President @JoeBiden holds his first press conference over 60 days since taking office https://t.co/SvN0yU8QNC — WION (@WIONews) March 25, 2021 × "I know it's ambitious, twice our original goal," Biden added. "But no other country in the world has even come close -- not even close -- to what we are doing, and I believe we can do it." Biden also said that as of Wednesday more than 100 million payments of $1,400 each have been credited to the people of this country as Covid-19 relief. "As of yesterday, more than 100 million payments of $1,400 have gone into people's bank accounts. That's real money in people's pockets bringing relief instantly almost, and millions more will be getting their money very soon". Let's take a look at what the US president spoke about other important issues. On North Korea Biden also responded to North Korea testing ballistic missiles, saying that the United States will "respond accordingly" if Pyongyang increases its missile testing. "We are consulting with our partners and allies," Biden said. "And there will be responses if they choose to escalate. "We will respond accordingly." But, he hinted at "some form of diplomacy" with North Korea, conditional "upon the end result of denuclearization". On troops withdrawal in Afghanistan The US president insisted that it will be "hard" to meet the May 1 deadline to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan as part of Washington's deal with the Taliban. "It is going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline in terms of tactical reasons. It's hard to get those troops out," Biden said. However, when asked whether US soldiers in Afghanistan will completely leave Afghanistan, he said "We will leave, the question is when". On another run in 2024 The 78-year-old president also highlighted that he plans to run for re-election in 2024, adding that he "would fully expect" that Vice President Kamala Harris would be on board. "My plan is to run for reelection. That's my expectation," Biden said. Not 'confrontation', but 'steep competition' with China Speaking about the US's strategy on arch-rival China, Biden said that his administration is not seeking a "confrontation", but a "steep competition". He also called his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping an autocrat who "doesn't have a democratic -- with a small 'd' -- bone in his body." "I told him in person on several occasions we're not looking for confrontation, though we know that there will be steep, steep competition," the US president said. On migrant crisis Biden also said that undocumented immigrants entering the US has hit crisis levels and added that the surge is a seasonal problem occurring every year. "There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year," he said. He also said that his administration is committed to let unaccompanied migrant children enter the country on humanitarian grounds. "We are sending back the vast majority of the families that are coming," the US president said. "They should all be going back."

From North Korea to re-run in 2024: Biden addresses first press conference

In the White House news conference US President Joe Biden has spoken on the relationship with Chinese resident Xi Jinping. Biden has vowed to check china's escalating ambitions and hold it responsible for unfair trade practices and as well as for human rights violations.

US President Joe Biden speaks about relationship with Xi Jinping

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