President Joe Biden is ordering an expansion of government benefits for hungry Americans, after the coronavirus pandemic ignited the worst food crisis the United States has seen in modern times.

The decree, one of two executive orders he is to sign on Friday, represents one of Biden's first actions to revive the world's largest economy after Covid-19 caused mass layoffs that have left many people scrambling to pay the bills.&nbsp;

"The American people can't afford to wait. And so many are hanging by a thread, they need help, and we are committed to doing everything we can to provide that help as quickly as possible," said&nbsp;Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council.

Biden's main initiative to turn the economy around is a $1.9 trillion "rescue" package that he outlined last week, followed by a promised proposal aimed at fueling job creation and spurring hiring.

"Much, much more is needed. And so that's why, as we take these actions, we will continue to engage with Congress and with the American people around the need to move on the American rescue plan," Deese told reporters.

The orders also instruct government agencies to help people more quickly access federal stimulus payments, allow workers to leave jobs that could jeopardize their health, and expand protections for federal workers.

- Economy wrecked -

Even after two massive government aid packages, the US economy is reeling from the damage caused by the pandemic, which has killed more than 410,000 people -- the highest death toll in any country.

The Labor Department reported more than 1.3 million new applications for unemployment were filed last week, and as of the first week of January, nearly 16 million people were still receiving some form of government jobless benefits.

Amid the widespread joblessness, many families are struggling to pay for groceries: the Commerce Department reported in mid-December that 13.7 percent of adults lived in households where they sometimes or often did not have enough to eat.

Schools' decisions to close or modify their schedules due to the pandemic worsened the hunger crisis, as many poor children rely on meals served there.

The government last year offered families food aid equivalent to what their children would be getting at school, and Biden's order expands that by 15 percent, which the White House said would give a family with three children more than $100 extra every two months.

The president's order also instructs the Agriculture Department to issue guidance that would allow states to expand food aid to an additional 12 million people, and reevaluate its basis for determining benefits, according to the White House.

"These executive actions are quite a big deal," Lauren Bauer, an economic studies fellow at the Brookings Institution, told AFP.&nbsp;

"Every other month, a low-income family gets to make another grocery run. That is some serious firepower for the economy."

- 'Model employer' -

Congress has issued many Americans fresh stimulus checks totaling up to $600,&nbsp;but not everyone received them quickly: Biden's order calls for the Treasury Department to find ways to get that money to those in need.

It also asks the Labor Department to let people who turn down jobs that could harm them, including by exposing them to Covid-19, to be allowed to claim unemployment benefits.

Biden's second order restores collective bargaining rights to federal government employees, and instructs agencies to do the preliminary work to allow him to issue a new order requiring federal contractors to&nbsp;pay their workers a minimum of $15 an hour and provide them with paid emergency leave.

"These steps are designed to help ensure the federal government is a model employer," Deese said.

Biden has proposed raising the national minimum wage to $15, but that would require approval by Congress, where Democrats have a slim majority.

President Joe Biden is ordering an expansion of government benefits for hungry Americans, after the coronavirus pandemic ignited the worst food crisis the United States has seen in modern times.

President Joe Biden is ordering an expansion of government benefits for hungry Americans, after the coronavirus pandemic ignited the worst food crisis the United States has seen in modern times. The decree, one of two executive orders he is to sign on Friday, represents one of Biden's first actions to revive the world's largest economy after Covid-19 caused mass layoffs that have left many people scrambling to pay the bills. "The American people can't afford to wait. And so many are hanging by a thread, they need help, and we are committed to doing everything we can to provide that help as quickly as possible," said Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council. Biden's main initiative to turn the economy around is a $1.9 trillion "rescue" package that he outlined last week, followed by a promised proposal aimed at fueling job creation and spurring hiring. "Much, much more is needed. And so that's why, as we take these actions, we will continue to engage with Congress and with the American people around the need to move on the American rescue plan," Deese told reporters. The orders also instruct government agencies to help people more quickly access federal stimulus payments, allow workers to leave jobs that could jeopardize their health, and expand protections for federal workers. - Economy wrecked - Even after two massive government aid packages, the US economy is reeling from the damage caused by the pandemic, which has killed more than 410,000 people -- the highest death toll in any country. The Labor Department reported more than 1.3 million new applications for unemployment were filed last week, and as of the first week of January, nearly 16 million people were still receiving some form of government jobless benefits. Amid the widespread joblessness, many families are struggling to pay for groceries: the Commerce Department reported in mid-December that 13.7 percent of adults lived in households where they sometimes or often did not have enough to eat. Schools' decisions to close or modify their schedules due to the pandemic worsened the hunger crisis, as many poor children rely on meals served there. The government last year offered families food aid equivalent to what their children would be getting at school, and Biden's order expands that by 15 percent, which the White House said would give a family with three children more than $100 extra every two months. The president's order also instructs the Agriculture Department to issue guidance that would allow states to expand food aid to an additional 12 million people, and reevaluate its basis for determining benefits, according to the White House. "These executive actions are quite a big deal," Lauren Bauer, an economic studies fellow at the Brookings Institution, told AFP. "Every other month, a low-income family gets to make another grocery run. That is some serious firepower for the economy." - 'Model employer' - Congress has issued many Americans fresh stimulus checks totaling up to $600, but not everyone received them quickly: Biden's order calls for the Treasury Department to find ways to get that money to those in need. It also asks the Labor Department to let people who turn down jobs that could harm them, including by exposing them to Covid-19, to be allowed to claim unemployment benefits. Biden's second order restores collective bargaining rights to federal government employees, and instructs agencies to do the preliminary work to allow him to issue a new order requiring federal contractors to pay their workers a minimum of $15 an hour and provide them with paid emergency leave. "These steps are designed to help ensure the federal government is a model employer," Deese said. Biden has proposed raising the national minimum wage to $15, but that would require approval by Congress, where Democrats have a slim majority.

Biden orders expanded aid to address growing hunger crisis

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Former US President Donald Trump's old aid Anthony Fauci has now joined hands with the current President<a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden"> Joe Biden</a> and has described the change in bosses as "liberating".

As the country crossed the mark of 408,000 casualties because of COVID-19, the top infectious disease expert conducted a routine press briefing with reporters on Thursday to discuss the current situation and effects of coronavirus in the country.

Also read|<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/were-in-national-emergency-biden-warns-covid-19-death-toll-in-us-could-climb-to-half-a-million-next-month-358420">&nbsp;'We're in national emergency': Biden warns COVID-19 death toll in US could climb to half a million next month</a>

During the briefing, when he was questioned about the change in environment and experience with a new boss, Fauci claimed it was a welcome change.

Claiming he won't be able to detail the change in experience much, citing he has spent very less time with the new President, he said, "One of the things that was very clear as recently as about 15 minutes ago, when I was with the president, is that one of the things that we're going to do is to be completely transparent, open and honest."

Hoping this time there will be less of the blame game, he added, "If things go wrong, not point fingers but to correct them and to make everything we do be based on science and evidence."

Another reporter asked about the "jokes" Fauci reportedly made about the massive difference in the leadership style of the former reality TV star, Trump, and US President Biden, Fauci laughingly said, "I was very serious about it, I wasn't joking."

"Obviously I don't want to be going back over history, but it was very clear that there were things that were said, be it regarding things like hydroxychloroquine and other things like that —&nbsp;that really was uncomfortable because they were not based on scientific fact," Fauci explained.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-here-are-all-the-members-of-team-biden-358414">WATCH|</a>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-here-are-all-the-members-of-team-biden-358414/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Recalling his days in the coronavirus task force under the leadership of Trump, Fauci recalled how he could not openly disagree with construction champ Trump. "It was really something that you didn't feel that you could actually say something, and there wouldn't be any repercussions about it," he said.

"The idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know. What the evidence, what the science is, and know that's it — let the science speak — it is somewhat of a liberating feeling," he said about the Biden administration.

His statements have come as President Biden declared a 'national emergency' and warned Americans that the coronavirus death toll could climb to half a million next month as he unveiled new plans to fight the virus.

"Today, today, I am unveiling a national strategy on COVID-19 and executive actions to beat this pandemic. This plan reflects the ideas I set forward during the campaign and further refined over the past three months. It consists of my transition team, the task force, Tony Fauci and the team here today and other experts put this plan together. Our national strategy is comprehensive, it's based on science, not politics. It's based on truth, not denial, and it's detailed," Biden said on his first day in the Oval Office.

Former US President Donald Trump's old aid Anthony Fauci has now joined hands with the current President Joe Biden and has described the change in bosses as "liberating".

Former US President Donald Trump's old aid Anthony Fauci has now joined hands with the current President Joe Biden and has described the change in bosses as "liberating". As the country crossed the mark of 408,000 casualties because of COVID-19, the top infectious disease expert conducted a routine press briefing with reporters on Thursday to discuss the current situation and effects of coronavirus in the country. Also read| 'We're in national emergency': Biden warns COVID-19 death toll in US could climb to half a million next month During the briefing, when he was questioned about the change in environment and experience with a new boss, Fauci claimed it was a welcome change. Claiming he won't be able to detail the change in experience much, citing he has spent very less time with the new President, he said, "One of the things that was very clear as recently as about 15 minutes ago, when I was with the president, is that one of the things that we're going to do is to be completely transparent, open and honest." Hoping this time there will be less of the blame game, he added, "If things go wrong, not point fingers but to correct them and to make everything we do be based on science and evidence." Another reporter asked about the "jokes" Fauci reportedly made about the massive difference in the leadership style of the former reality TV star, Trump, and US President Biden, Fauci laughingly said, "I was very serious about it, I wasn't joking." "Obviously I don't want to be going back over history, but it was very clear that there were things that were said, be it regarding things like hydroxychloroquine and other things like that — that really was uncomfortable because they were not based on scientific fact," Fauci explained. WATCH| Recalling his days in the coronavirus task force under the leadership of Trump, Fauci recalled how he could not openly disagree with construction champ Trump. "It was really something that you didn't feel that you could actually say something, and there wouldn't be any repercussions about it," he said. "The idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know. What the evidence, what the science is, and know that's it — let the science speak — it is somewhat of a liberating feeling," he said about the Biden administration. His statements have come as President Biden declared a 'national emergency' and warned Americans that the coronavirus death toll could climb to half a million next month as he unveiled new plans to fight the virus. "Today, today, I am unveiling a national strategy on COVID-19 and executive actions to beat this pandemic. This plan reflects the ideas I set forward during the campaign and further refined over the past three months. It consists of my transition team, the task force, Tony Fauci and the team here today and other experts put this plan together. Our national strategy is comprehensive, it's based on science, not politics. It's based on truth, not denial, and it's detailed," Biden said on his first day in the Oval Office.

Anthony Fauci describes Joe Biden's leadership as 'liberating', compared to Trump

The Biden administration believes that the WHO is vital to controlling the spread of COVID-19 and building back better global health and pandemic preparedness, Vice President Kamala Harris has told WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a day after the US rejoined the UN health agency.

The US rejoined the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday in one of the first official orders of the Joe Biden presidency, reversing a key foreign policy decision his predecessor Donald Trump took last year after accusing the UN health agency of incompetence and bowing to Chinese pressure over the coronavirus pandemic.

In April last year, as the coronavirus pandemic was spreading across the globe, Trump cut off US funding to the WHO, saying it was "virtually controlled by China." He then went further, triggering the process to pull the US completely out of the organisation. The withdrawal was due to go into effect in July this year, but Biden's order will cancel it.

During her phone call on Thursday, Harris discussed the decision by the Biden administration to rejoin the WHO with the health agency's Director-General Dr. Ghebreyesus.

Harris emphasised that she and Biden believe that the WHO is vital to controlling the spread of COVID-19 and building back better global health and pandemic preparedness, according to a readout of the call issued by the White House.

"The vice president and the director-general also discussed the resumption of the United States' role in the global public health and humanitarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic,? it said.

Harris also stressed on the Biden-Harris administration's strong support for efforts to strengthen the global COVID-19 response, mitigate its secondary impacts, including on women and girls, and advance global health security to prevent the next outbreak from becoming an epidemic or pandemic.

She emphasised the importance of making the US safer through global cooperation, the White House said.

Ghebreyesus thanked Harris for the call and congratulated her and Biden on their inauguration. Both the director-general and the vice president reiterated that they look forward to meeting in person.

Earlier in the day, Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious-disease expert, while addressing the WHO executive board meeting said the US will cease the drawdown of its staff seconded to the agency.

The US will also resume regular engagement of its government personnel with the WHO both directly and through the agency's collaborating centres, he said.

The United States intends to fulfil its financial obligations to the organisation. It sees technical collaboration at all levels as a fundamental part of our relationship with the WHO, one that we value deeply and look to strengthen going forward, Fauci said.

"As a WHO member state, the United States will work constructively with partners to strengthen and importantly reform the WHO, to help lead the collective effort to strengthen the international COVID-19 response and address its secondary impacts on people, communities, and health systems around the world,"&nbsp;he added.

The Biden administration also intends to be fully engaged in advancing global health, supporting global health security and the global health security agenda, and building a healthier future for all people.

"I am also pleased to announce today that the United States plans to work multilaterally to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. President Biden will issue a directive later today which will include the intent of the US to join COVAX and support the ACT-Accelerator to advance multilateral efforts for COVID-19 vaccine, therapeutic, and diagnostic distribution, equitable access, and research and development,"&nbsp;Fauci said.

The US will also work with the WHO and member states to counter the erosion of major gains in global health that we have achieved through decades of research, collaboration and investments in health and health security, including in HIV/AIDS, food security, malaria, and epidemic preparedness, he said.&nbsp;

The Biden administration believes that the WHO is vital to controlling the spread of COVID-19 and building back better global health and pandemic preparedness, Vice President Kamala Harris has told WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a day after the US rejoined the UN health agency.

The Biden administration believes that the WHO is vital to controlling the spread of COVID-19 and building back better global health and pandemic preparedness, Vice President Kamala Harris has told WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a day after the US rejoined the UN health agency. The US rejoined the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday in one of the first official orders of the Joe Biden presidency, reversing a key foreign policy decision his predecessor Donald Trump took last year after accusing the UN health agency of incompetence and bowing to Chinese pressure over the coronavirus pandemic. In April last year, as the coronavirus pandemic was spreading across the globe, Trump cut off US funding to the WHO, saying it was "virtually controlled by China." He then went further, triggering the process to pull the US completely out of the organisation. The withdrawal was due to go into effect in July this year, but Biden's order will cancel it. During her phone call on Thursday, Harris discussed the decision by the Biden administration to rejoin the WHO with the health agency's Director-General Dr. Ghebreyesus. Harris emphasised that she and Biden believe that the WHO is vital to controlling the spread of COVID-19 and building back better global health and pandemic preparedness, according to a readout of the call issued by the White House. "The vice president and the director-general also discussed the resumption of the United States' role in the global public health and humanitarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic,? it said. Harris also stressed on the Biden-Harris administration's strong support for efforts to strengthen the global COVID-19 response, mitigate its secondary impacts, including on women and girls, and advance global health security to prevent the next outbreak from becoming an epidemic or pandemic. She emphasised the importance of making the US safer through global cooperation, the White House said. Ghebreyesus thanked Harris for the call and congratulated her and Biden on their inauguration. Both the director-general and the vice president reiterated that they look forward to meeting in person. Earlier in the day, Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious-disease expert, while addressing the WHO executive board meeting said the US will cease the drawdown of its staff seconded to the agency. The US will also resume regular engagement of its government personnel with the WHO both directly and through the agency's collaborating centres, he said. The United States intends to fulfil its financial obligations to the organisation. It sees technical collaboration at all levels as a fundamental part of our relationship with the WHO, one that we value deeply and look to strengthen going forward, Fauci said. "As a WHO member state, the United States will work constructively with partners to strengthen and importantly reform the WHO, to help lead the collective effort to strengthen the international COVID-19 response and address its secondary impacts on people, communities, and health systems around the world," he added. The Biden administration also intends to be fully engaged in advancing global health, supporting global health security and the global health security agenda, and building a healthier future for all people. "I am also pleased to announce today that the United States plans to work multilaterally to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. President Biden will issue a directive later today which will include the intent of the US to join COVAX and support the ACT-Accelerator to advance multilateral efforts for COVID-19 vaccine, therapeutic, and diagnostic distribution, equitable access, and research and development," Fauci said. The US will also work with the WHO and member states to counter the erosion of major gains in global health that we have achieved through decades of research, collaboration and investments in health and health security, including in HIV/AIDS, food security, malaria, and epidemic preparedness, he said.

Biden administration believes WHO is vital to contain Covid pandemic: Kamala Harris tells WHO chief

Former presidents and vice-presidents in the United States are usually guaranteed pensions, security, travel allowances and a raft of other entitlements after finishing up at the White House. And former US president Donald Trump is expected to inherit the same.

Trump formally left the White House, and Joe Biden took office on January 20 in a muted inauguration ceremony.

For the most part, the entitled perks remain available to Trump even if he is convicted by the Senate in a still-pending, looming impeachment trial.

Having said that, the Former Presidents Act remains an act of Congress that can be amended.

So Congress likely could strip Trump of the perks he enjoys as an ex-president.

In case, it does not, here are the perks that Trump stands to get once he re-enters life as a "regular" US citizen.

A life-long pension

The Former Presidents Act says former presidents "shall be entitled for the remainder of his life to receive from the United States a monetary allowance at a rate per annum ... which is equal to the annual rate of basic pay" (in this instance, we're looking at more than US$200,000) unless they're employed by the Federal Government in some other capacity.

Former presidents aren't entitled to this pension if they were convicted in an impeachment trial or removed from office — but only if either of those happened while still serving.

Because Donald Trump's potential impeachment conviction won't actually remove him from office, chances are he will get to keep his pension.

Access to classified briefings

Former presidents usually have access to routine intelligence briefings. But there have been strong calls to ensure Trump does not continue having access to classified intelligence.

Let's see what exactly happens and on what basis.

Security and protection

Former presidents also enjoy personal security protection. The stiputaled law says -- “under the direction of the Secretary of Homeland Security, the United States Secret Service is authorised to protect” a former president and their spouse.&nbsp;

Alternatively, presidents who do not receive Secret Service protection instead receive “up to $1,000,000 for each former President and up to $500,000 for the spouse of each former President each fiscal year for security and travel related expenses.”

The Department of Homeland Security, however, can deny Secret Service protection to Trump, or Congress can amend the law to strip Trump of his security protections.

Office and staff

The Former Presidents Act also funds office space and a modest staff for one-time chief executives. The total budget for such hires is $150,000 per year during the former president’s first 30 months out of office, and then $96,000 per year thereafter.

An ex-president may select the staff employed under this act. The administrator of general services, however, has the power to determine what kind of office space is “suitable” for Trump.

Allowance for his widow

The law provides this benefit to the “widow of each former President.”

If Trump dies before former first lady Melania Trump, then Melania is entitled to “a monetary allowance at a rate of $20,000 per annum,” provided that she does not remarry before turning 60 years old.

However, if the Trumps divorce, Melania would not be entitled to this allowance upon his death. If he were to remarry, his new spouse could potentially be eligible upon his death.

Ability to run for a second presidential term

If Trump is convicted, there's then an option to hold a separate vote on whether he should be allowed to have another crack at the presidency.

The Senate vote on whether he could run again would not need two-thirds of the Senate vote to go through.

Former presidents and vice-presidents in the United States are usually guaranteed pensions, security, travel allowances and a raft of other entitlements after finishing up at the White House.

Former presidents and vice-presidents in the United States are usually guaranteed pensions, security, travel allowances and a raft of other entitlements after finishing up at the White House. And former US president Donald Trump is expected to inherit the same. Trump formally left the White House, and Joe Biden took office on January 20 in a muted inauguration ceremony. For the most part, the entitled perks remain available to Trump even if he is convicted by the Senate in a still-pending, looming impeachment trial. Having said that, the Former Presidents Act remains an act of Congress that can be amended. So Congress likely could strip Trump of the perks he enjoys as an ex-president. In case, it does not, here are the perks that Trump stands to get once he re-enters life as a "regular" US citizen. A life-long pension The Former Presidents Act says former presidents "shall be entitled for the remainder of his life to receive from the United States a monetary allowance at a rate per annum ... which is equal to the annual rate of basic pay" (in this instance, we're looking at more than US$200,000) unless they're employed by the Federal Government in some other capacity. Former presidents aren't entitled to this pension if they were convicted in an impeachment trial or removed from office — but only if either of those happened while still serving. Because Donald Trump's potential impeachment conviction won't actually remove him from office, chances are he will get to keep his pension. Access to classified briefings Former presidents usually have access to routine intelligence briefings. But there have been strong calls to ensure Trump does not continue having access to classified intelligence. Let's see what exactly happens and on what basis. Security and protection Former presidents also enjoy personal security protection. The stiputaled law says -- “under the direction of the Secretary of Homeland Security, the United States Secret Service is authorised to protect” a former president and their spouse. Alternatively, presidents who do not receive Secret Service protection instead receive “up to $1,000,000 for each former President and up to $500,000 for the spouse of each former President each fiscal year for security and travel related expenses.” The Department of Homeland Security, however, can deny Secret Service protection to Trump, or Congress can amend the law to strip Trump of his security protections. Office and staff The Former Presidents Act also funds office space and a modest staff for one-time chief executives. The total budget for such hires is $150,000 per year during the former president’s first 30 months out of office, and then $96,000 per year thereafter. An ex-president may select the staff employed under this act. The administrator of general services, however, has the power to determine what kind of office space is “suitable” for Trump. Allowance for his widow The law provides this benefit to the “widow of each former President.” If Trump dies before former first lady Melania Trump, then Melania is entitled to “a monetary allowance at a rate of $20,000 per annum,” provided that she does not remarry before turning 60 years old. However, if the Trumps divorce, Melania would not be entitled to this allowance upon his death. If he were to remarry, his new spouse could potentially be eligible upon his death. Ability to run for a second presidential term If Trump is convicted, there's then an option to hold a separate vote on whether he should be allowed to have another crack at the presidency. The Senate vote on whether he could run again would not need two-thirds of the Senate vote to go through.

Pension and classified intel: Here are the perks Trump will get as former US president

US President Joe Biden has hired a group of national security veterans with deep cyber expertise, drawing praise from former defence officials and investigators.

The US government has notably been working to recover from one of the biggest hacks of its agencies attributed to Russian spies.

Cybersecurity was demoted as a policy field under the Trump administration. It discontinued the Cybersecurity Coordinator position at the White House, shrunk the State Department's cyber diplomacy wing, and fired federal cybersecurity leader Chris Krebs in the aftermath of Donald Trump's November 3 election defeat.

Disclosed in December, the hack struck eight federal agencies and numerous companies, including software provider SolarWinds Corp. US intelligence agencies publically attributed it to Russian state actors. Moscow has denied involvement in the hack.

Under a recent law, Biden must open a cyber-focussed office reporting to a new National Cyber Director, who will coordinate the federal government's vast cyber capabilities, said Mark Montgomery, a former congressional staffer who helped design the role.

The leading candidate for Cyber Director is Jen Easterly, a former high ranking National Security Agency official. He has held several senior intelligence posts in the Obama administration and helped create US Cyber Command, the country's top cyber warfare unit.

To replace Krebs at the Homeland Security Department, Biden plans to nominate Rob Silvers, who also worked in the Obama administration, to become director of the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency, according to four people briefed on the matter. Silvers declined to comment for this article.

Biden's National Security Council, an arm of the White House that guides an administration's security priorities, includes five experienced cybersecurity officials.

Leading the hires is National Security Agency senior official Anne Neuberger as Deputy National Security Adviser for cyber and emerging technology, a new position designed to elevate the subject internally.

The other four hires are Michael Sulmeyer as senior director for cyber, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall as Homeland security advisor, Russ Travers as deputy homeland security adviser and Caitlin Durkovich as senior director for resilience and response at the NSC. All four previously served in senior national security posts that dealt with cybersecurity.

US President Joe Biden has hired a group of national security veterans with deep cyber expertise, drawing praise from former defence officials and investigators.

US President Joe Biden has hired a group of national security veterans with deep cyber expertise, drawing praise from former defence officials and investigators. The US government has notably been working to recover from one of the biggest hacks of its agencies attributed to Russian spies. Cybersecurity was demoted as a policy field under the Trump administration. It discontinued the Cybersecurity Coordinator position at the White House, shrunk the State Department's cyber diplomacy wing, and fired federal cybersecurity leader Chris Krebs in the aftermath of Donald Trump's November 3 election defeat. Disclosed in December, the hack struck eight federal agencies and numerous companies, including software provider SolarWinds Corp. US intelligence agencies publically attributed it to Russian state actors. Moscow has denied involvement in the hack. Under a recent law, Biden must open a cyber-focussed office reporting to a new National Cyber Director, who will coordinate the federal government's vast cyber capabilities, said Mark Montgomery, a former congressional staffer who helped design the role. The leading candidate for Cyber Director is Jen Easterly, a former high ranking National Security Agency official. He has held several senior intelligence posts in the Obama administration and helped create US Cyber Command, the country's top cyber warfare unit. To replace Krebs at the Homeland Security Department, Biden plans to nominate Rob Silvers, who also worked in the Obama administration, to become director of the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency, according to four people briefed on the matter. Silvers declined to comment for this article. Biden's National Security Council, an arm of the White House that guides an administration's security priorities, includes five experienced cybersecurity officials. Leading the hires is National Security Agency senior official Anne Neuberger as Deputy National Security Adviser for cyber and emerging technology, a new position designed to elevate the subject internally. The other four hires are Michael Sulmeyer as senior director for cyber, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall as Homeland security advisor, Russ Travers as deputy homeland security adviser and Caitlin Durkovich as senior director for resilience and response at the NSC. All four previously served in senior national security posts that dealt with cybersecurity.

With more SolarWinds fallout, Biden enlists his cybersecurity team

US President Joe Biden's decision to remove the bust of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill has not generated angry reactions from the Downing Street who said it's up to the president's "wishes" of how he decorates the Oval Office.&nbsp;

Biden, who was sworn in as the President of the US on January 20, removed Churchill's bust and replaced it with civil rights movement's heroes Rosa Park, Martin Luther King Jr., among others.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/biden-supports-successful-ties-between-us-india-leaders-says-white-house-press-sec-jen-psaki-358486/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

&nbsp;The redesigning of the Oval Office also saw the busts of Eleanor Roosevelt and Latino civil rights leader Cesar Chavez.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-welcomes-us-president-joe-bidens-proposal-to-extend-nuclear-treaty-358567">Russia welcomes US President Joe Biden's proposal to extend nuclear treaty</a>

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's official spokesman said the removal of Churchill's bust is up to the "wishes" of Biden, adding that the UK doesn't doubt the "importance" Biden places on the relationship between the US and the UK.&nbsp;

"The Oval Office is the president's private office, and it's up to the president to decorate it as he wishes," the spokesman said.&nbsp;

"We're in no doubt about the importance President Biden places on the UK-US relationship, and the prime minister looks forward to having that close relationship with him."

Johnson's tepid response is in sharp contrast with how he reacted when a similar thing was done by former President Barack Obama.&nbsp;

The UK PM in 2016 said Obama's move is a "snub" and called it "the part-Kenyan president's ancestral dislike of the British empire".

US President Joe Biden's decision to remove the bust of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill has not generated angry reactions from the Downing Street who said it's up to the president's "wishes" of how he decorates the Oval Office.

US President Joe Biden's decision to remove the bust of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill has not generated angry reactions from the Downing Street who said it's up to the president's "wishes" of how he decorates the Oval Office. Biden, who was sworn in as the President of the US on January 20, removed Churchill's bust and replaced it with civil rights movement's heroes Rosa Park, Martin Luther King Jr., among others. Watch | The redesigning of the Oval Office also saw the busts of Eleanor Roosevelt and Latino civil rights leader Cesar Chavez. Also read | Russia welcomes US President Joe Biden's proposal to extend nuclear treaty UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's official spokesman said the removal of Churchill's bust is up to the "wishes" of Biden, adding that the UK doesn't doubt the "importance" Biden places on the relationship between the US and the UK. "The Oval Office is the president's private office, and it's up to the president to decorate it as he wishes," the spokesman said. "We're in no doubt about the importance President Biden places on the UK-US relationship, and the prime minister looks forward to having that close relationship with him." Johnson's tepid response is in sharp contrast with how he reacted when a similar thing was done by former President Barack Obama. The UK PM in 2016 said Obama's move is a "snub" and called it "the part-Kenyan president's ancestral dislike of the British empire".

Joe Biden removes Winston Churchill's bust from Oval Office; Johnson unconcerned

The European Union hailed Joe Biden's inauguration later on Wednesday as U.S. president as a "new dawn" for Europe and the United States, while insisting U.S. technology companies should be regulated to stop the "dark forces" of hate speech online.

US and EU to collaborate on COVID-19 pandemic, climate change

The Kremlin on Friday welcomed the stated intention of US President Joe Biden to extend the New START arms control treaty with Russia, but said that Moscow wanted to see concrete proposals from Washington.

The White House said on Thursday that Biden would seek a five-year extension of the arms control treaty that is due to expire in early February, in one of the first major foreign policy decisions of the new administration.

To this end, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Moscow stands for extending the pact and that it was important to see the detail of the US proposal. The Trump administration had sought to attach conditions to any renewal, something Moscow rejected.

“We can only welcome political will to extend the document," Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. “But all will depend on the details of the proposal."

The treaty, signed in 2010 by President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads. It expires on February 5.

Russia has long proposed to prolong the pact without any conditions or changes, but Trump’s administration waited until last year to start talks and made the extension contingent on a set of demands. The talks stalled, and months of bargaining have failed to narrow differences.

“Certain conditions for the extension have been put forward, and some of them have been absolutely unacceptable for us, so let's see first what the US is offering," Peskov said.

Biden indicated during the campaign that he favoured the preservation of the New START treaty, which was negotiated during his tenure as US vice president.

The talks on the treaty’s extension also were clouded by tensions between Russia and the United States, which have been fuelled by Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and other irritants.

Despite the extension proposal, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden remains committed to holding Russia “to account for its reckless and adversarial actions," such as its alleged involvement in the Solar Winds hacking event, 2020 election interference, the chemical poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny and the widely reported allegations that Russia may have offered bounties to the Taliban to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan.

Peskov has, meanwhile, reaffirmed Russia’s denial of involvement in any such activities. 
&nbsp;

The Kremlin on Friday welcomed the stated intention of US President Joe Biden to extend the New START arms control treaty with Russia, but said that Moscow wanted to see concrete proposals from Washington.

The Kremlin on Friday welcomed the stated intention of US President Joe Biden to extend the New START arms control treaty with Russia, but said that Moscow wanted to see concrete proposals from Washington. The White House said on Thursday that Biden would seek a five-year extension of the arms control treaty that is due to expire in early February, in one of the first major foreign policy decisions of the new administration. To this end, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Moscow stands for extending the pact and that it was important to see the detail of the US proposal. The Trump administration had sought to attach conditions to any renewal, something Moscow rejected. “We can only welcome political will to extend the document," Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. “But all will depend on the details of the proposal." The treaty, signed in 2010 by President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads. It expires on February 5. Russia has long proposed to prolong the pact without any conditions or changes, but Trump’s administration waited until last year to start talks and made the extension contingent on a set of demands. The talks stalled, and months of bargaining have failed to narrow differences. “Certain conditions for the extension have been put forward, and some of them have been absolutely unacceptable for us, so let's see first what the US is offering," Peskov said. Biden indicated during the campaign that he favoured the preservation of the New START treaty, which was negotiated during his tenure as US vice president. The talks on the treaty’s extension also were clouded by tensions between Russia and the United States, which have been fuelled by Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and other irritants. Despite the extension proposal, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden remains committed to holding Russia “to account for its reckless and adversarial actions," such as its alleged involvement in the Solar Winds hacking event, 2020 election interference, the chemical poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny and the widely reported allegations that Russia may have offered bounties to the Taliban to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan. Peskov has, meanwhile, reaffirmed Russia’s denial of involvement in any such activities.

Russia welcomes US President Joe Biden's proposal to extend nuclear treaty

As the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Biden</a> administration takes power with a pledge to tame the most dire public health crisis in a century, one pillar of its strategy is to significantly increase the supply of COVID-19 vaccines.

But federal health officials and corporate executives agree that it will be impossible to increase the immediate supply of vaccines before April because of lack of manufacturing capacity. The administration should first focus, experts say, on fixing the hodgepodge of state and local vaccination centers that has proved incapable of managing even the current flow of vaccines.

President Joe Biden’s goal of 1 million shots a day for the next 100 days, they say, is too low and will arguably leave tens of millions of doses unused. Data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that the nation has already reached that milestone pace. About 1.1 million people received shots last Friday, after an average of 911,000 people a day received them on the previous two days.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-suggests-removing-aliens-suggests-noncitizens-for-immigrants-358475" hreflang="en">Biden suggests removing 'aliens'; suggests 'noncitizens' for immigrants</a>

That was true even though CDC data indicates that states and localities are administering as few as 46% of the doses that the federal government is shipping to them. An efficient vaccination regimen could deliver millions more shots.

“I love that he set a goal, but a million doses a day?” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of a federal vaccine advisory board.

“I think we can do better,” he said. “We are going to have to if we really want to get on top of this virus by, say, summer.”

The pace of vaccination is critical not just to curbing disease and death but also to heading off the impact of more infectious forms of the virus. The CDC has warned that one variant, which is thought to be 50% more contagious, might become the dominant source of infection in the United States by March. Although public health experts are optimistic that the existing vaccines will be effective against that variant, known as B.1.1.7, it may drive up the infection rate if enough people remain unvaccinated.

The current vaccination effort, which has little central direction, has sown confusion and frustration. Some localities are complaining they are running out of doses, while others have unused vials.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/anthony-fauci-describes-joe-bidens-leadership-as-liberating-compared-to-trump-358426" hreflang="en">Anthony Fauci describes Joe Biden's leadership as 'liberating', compared to Trump</a>

Biden is asking Congress for $20 billion to vastly expand vaccination centers to include stadiums, pharmacies, doctors’ offices and mobile clinics. He also wants to hire 100,000 health care workers and to use federal disaster relief funds to reimburse states and local governments for vaccination costs.

Dr. Mark McClellan, director of Duke University’s health policy center, said those moves should help clear the bottlenecks and “push the number beyond 1 million doses a day and probably significantly beyond.”

The nation’s vaccine supply in the first three months of the year is expected to substantially exceed what is needed to meet the administration’s goal. According to a senior administration official, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have been ramping up and are now on track to deliver up to 18 million doses a week. Together, they have pledged to deliver 200 million doses by the end of March. A third vaccine maker, Johnson &amp; Johnson, might also come through with more doses. If all of that supply were used, the nation could average well over 2 million shots a day.

Asked Thursday afternoon by a reporter if 1 million shots a day was enough, Biden said, “When I announced it, you all said it’s not possible. Come on, give me a break, man. It’s a good start.”

The administration is promising to purchase even more vaccine doses as they become available from the vaccine makers, and to use the Defense Production Act to spur production. But federal health officials and corporate executives said those were longer-term goals because the supply for the first three months of the year was essentially fixed.

The Trump administration invoked the Defense Production Act to force suppliers to prioritize orders from Pfizer, Moderna and other vaccine makers whose products are still in development. Health officials said it was unclear how the new administration could use the law beyond that to boost production.

A senior federal health official involved in the government’s vaccine efforts said that Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s crash development program, had looked at all available manufacturing capacity domestically and globally and that there was little space left to negotiate at this point. The official said that if there had been more doses available to the government in the first quarter, they would have been purchased.

Experts generally agree that the federal government should be locking in purchases of as many doses as possible because no one knows yet how long the vaccines will protect against the coronavirus, whether booster shots will be required and what threats mutations of the virus could pose.

From April and thereafter, the supply outlook brightens. Pfizer and Moderna have each committed to supply another 100 million doses by the end of July, and the companies might be able to provide even more. A week ago, Pfizer and BioNTech, its German partner, increased their global production target for the year to 2 billion doses from 1.3 billion doses.

Pfizer has delayed deliveries to European countries while it retools its Belgium factory to expand production. But at the firm’s factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which supplies doses for Americans, production has quickened since the federal government ordered suppliers to prioritize Pfizer’s needs. The unexpected discovery that efficient syringes could extract a sixth dose from its vials also upped Pfizer’s estimates.

Moderna has also raised its production targets for the year to 600 million doses from 500 million.

Johnson &amp; Johnson is expected to announce results from its vaccine trial within days. If that vaccine proves effective, it could drastically speed up the pace of vaccinations because, unlike Moderna’s and Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccines, it requires only one dose. The company could apply for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration as soon as the end of the month. While its manufacturing has lagged, Johnson &amp; Johnson is trying to catch up to the goals detailed in the federal contract it signed last year.

The firm is now expected to deliver anywhere from several million to 12 million doses by the end of February, and 10 million to 20 million more doses at the end of March or the first week in April, according to several people familiar with the firm’s manufacturing output. The first batch would be produced at its Dutch factory, and later batches at a factory in Baltimore operated by its manufacturing partner, Emergent BioSolutions.

But to deliver the second batch that quickly, federal regulators may have to agree to delay certain manufacturing reviews of the vaccine from the Baltimore plant, according to people familiar with the situation. Those discussions are underway.

Johnson &amp; Johnson is also in preliminary talks with Merck, a major U.S. pharmaceutical company, about using its production lines, one of several ideas that federal health officials discussed with the Biden transition team. Federal officials are interested in boosting the nation’s vaccine-making power long-term, and Merck’s facilities may be among the few with remaining manufacturing capability.

But McClellan, who sits on Johnson &amp; Johnson’s board of directors, said it would take months to adapt Merck’s factory to produce Johnson &amp; Johnson’s vaccine. A senior administration official predicted that it could take until the end of the year.

Other vaccine makers may also come through by midyear. Novavax has worked to iron out what were recently dire manufacturing problems that delayed its clinical trials. Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientific adviser for the Trump administration's vaccine development program, said in a recent interview that Novavax could apply for emergency use authorization in late April. The government has already ordered 110 million doses of the Novavax vaccine, to be delivered by the end of June, and Novavax has said it believes it can meet that target.

Biden has surrounded himself with new health officials assigned to getting vaccines from factories to recipients, including Dr. Bechara Choucair, a former Chicago health commissioner who is the White House’s vaccinations coordinator, and Tim Manning, a former top official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency who is now the supply coordinator. Dr. David Kessler, former FDA commissioner, will help lead the federal government’s vaccine development program at the Department of Health and Human Services, with special attention to manufacturing.

After both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines proved to be highly effective in clinical trials late last year, the Trump administration considered whether to rethink its strategy of backing six different vaccine makers and instead throw all of its weight behind the proven producers. A senior administration official described “countless hours of debate” over the issue.

In the end, officials decided it was critical to keep aiming for a broad portfolio of vaccines, in part because no one has figured out which vaccines might work best for children or be most effective against emerging variants. They recommended that the Biden administration do the same.

As the Biden administration takes power with a pledge to tame the most dire public health crisis in a century, one pillar of its strategy is to significantly increase the supply of COVID-19 vaccines.

As the Biden administration takes power with a pledge to tame the most dire public health crisis in a century, one pillar of its strategy is to significantly increase the supply of COVID-19 vaccines. But federal health officials and corporate executives agree that it will be impossible to increase the immediate supply of vaccines before April because of lack of manufacturing capacity. The administration should first focus, experts say, on fixing the hodgepodge of state and local vaccination centers that has proved incapable of managing even the current flow of vaccines. President Joe Biden’s goal of 1 million shots a day for the next 100 days, they say, is too low and will arguably leave tens of millions of doses unused. Data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that the nation has already reached that milestone pace. About 1.1 million people received shots last Friday, after an average of 911,000 people a day received them on the previous two days. Also read| Biden suggests removing 'aliens'; suggests 'noncitizens' for immigrants That was true even though CDC data indicates that states and localities are administering as few as 46% of the doses that the federal government is shipping to them. An efficient vaccination regimen could deliver millions more shots. “I love that he set a goal, but a million doses a day?” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of a federal vaccine advisory board. “I think we can do better,” he said. “We are going to have to if we really want to get on top of this virus by, say, summer.” The pace of vaccination is critical not just to curbing disease and death but also to heading off the impact of more infectious forms of the virus. The CDC has warned that one variant, which is thought to be 50% more contagious, might become the dominant source of infection in the United States by March. Although public health experts are optimistic that the existing vaccines will be effective against that variant, known as B.1.1.7, it may drive up the infection rate if enough people remain unvaccinated. The current vaccination effort, which has little central direction, has sown confusion and frustration. Some localities are complaining they are running out of doses, while others have unused vials. Also read| Anthony Fauci describes Joe Biden's leadership as 'liberating', compared to Trump Biden is asking Congress for $20 billion to vastly expand vaccination centers to include stadiums, pharmacies, doctors’ offices and mobile clinics. He also wants to hire 100,000 health care workers and to use federal disaster relief funds to reimburse states and local governments for vaccination costs. Dr. Mark McClellan, director of Duke University’s health policy center, said those moves should help clear the bottlenecks and “push the number beyond 1 million doses a day and probably significantly beyond.” The nation’s vaccine supply in the first three months of the year is expected to substantially exceed what is needed to meet the administration’s goal. According to a senior administration official, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have been ramping up and are now on track to deliver up to 18 million doses a week. Together, they have pledged to deliver 200 million doses by the end of March. A third vaccine maker, Johnson & Johnson, might also come through with more doses. If all of that supply were used, the nation could average well over 2 million shots a day. Asked Thursday afternoon by a reporter if 1 million shots a day was enough, Biden said, “When I announced it, you all said it’s not possible. Come on, give me a break, man. It’s a good start.” The administration is promising to purchase even more vaccine doses as they become available from the vaccine makers, and to use the Defense Production Act to spur production. But federal health officials and corporate executives said those were longer-term goals because the supply for the first three months of the year was essentially fixed. The Trump administration invoked the Defense Production Act to force suppliers to prioritize orders from Pfizer, Moderna and other vaccine makers whose products are still in development. Health officials said it was unclear how the new administration could use the law beyond that to boost production. A senior federal health official involved in the government’s vaccine efforts said that Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s crash development program, had looked at all available manufacturing capacity domestically and globally and that there was little space left to negotiate at this point. The official said that if there had been more doses available to the government in the first quarter, they would have been purchased. Experts generally agree that the federal government should be locking in purchases of as many doses as possible because no one knows yet how long the vaccines will protect against the coronavirus, whether booster shots will be required and what threats mutations of the virus could pose. From April and thereafter, the supply outlook brightens. Pfizer and Moderna have each committed to supply another 100 million doses by the end of July, and the companies might be able to provide even more. A week ago, Pfizer and BioNTech, its German partner, increased their global production target for the year to 2 billion doses from 1.3 billion doses. Pfizer has delayed deliveries to European countries while it retools its Belgium factory to expand production. But at the firm’s factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which supplies doses for Americans, production has quickened since the federal government ordered suppliers to prioritize Pfizer’s needs. The unexpected discovery that efficient syringes could extract a sixth dose from its vials also upped Pfizer’s estimates. Moderna has also raised its production targets for the year to 600 million doses from 500 million. Johnson & Johnson is expected to announce results from its vaccine trial within days. If that vaccine proves effective, it could drastically speed up the pace of vaccinations because, unlike Moderna’s and Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccines, it requires only one dose. The company could apply for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration as soon as the end of the month. While its manufacturing has lagged, Johnson & Johnson is trying to catch up to the goals detailed in the federal contract it signed last year. The firm is now expected to deliver anywhere from several million to 12 million doses by the end of February, and 10 million to 20 million more doses at the end of March or the first week in April, according to several people familiar with the firm’s manufacturing output. The first batch would be produced at its Dutch factory, and later batches at a factory in Baltimore operated by its manufacturing partner, Emergent BioSolutions. But to deliver the second batch that quickly, federal regulators may have to agree to delay certain manufacturing reviews of the vaccine from the Baltimore plant, according to people familiar with the situation. Those discussions are underway. Johnson & Johnson is also in preliminary talks with Merck, a major U.S. pharmaceutical company, about using its production lines, one of several ideas that federal health officials discussed with the Biden transition team. Federal officials are interested in boosting the nation’s vaccine-making power long-term, and Merck’s facilities may be among the few with remaining manufacturing capability. But McClellan, who sits on Johnson & Johnson’s board of directors, said it would take months to adapt Merck’s factory to produce Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. A senior administration official predicted that it could take until the end of the year. Other vaccine makers may also come through by midyear. Novavax has worked to iron out what were recently dire manufacturing problems that delayed its clinical trials. Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientific adviser for the Trump administration's vaccine development program, said in a recent interview that Novavax could apply for emergency use authorization in late April. The government has already ordered 110 million doses of the Novavax vaccine, to be delivered by the end of June, and Novavax has said it believes it can meet that target. Biden has surrounded himself with new health officials assigned to getting vaccines from factories to recipients, including Dr. Bechara Choucair, a former Chicago health commissioner who is the White House’s vaccinations coordinator, and Tim Manning, a former top official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency who is now the supply coordinator. Dr. David Kessler, former FDA commissioner, will help lead the federal government’s vaccine development program at the Department of Health and Human Services, with special attention to manufacturing. After both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines proved to be highly effective in clinical trials late last year, the Trump administration considered whether to rethink its strategy of backing six different vaccine makers and instead throw all of its weight behind the proven producers. A senior administration official described “countless hours of debate” over the issue. In the end, officials decided it was critical to keep aiming for a broad portfolio of vaccines, in part because no one has figured out which vaccines might work best for children or be most effective against emerging variants. They recommended that the Biden administration do the same.

Biden inherits a vaccine supply unlikely to grow before April

The US President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a> has taken a lot of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/joe-biden-signs-raft-of-orders-rolls-back-trump-policies-on-coronavirus-immigration-and-more-358220">new decisions</a> on his first day in the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/the-white-house">White House</a> and one of the most important ones has been his proposed bill about immigration.

In the newly-proposed immigration bill, Biden has also taken a small but important point to notice. The President has proposed to remove the word "alien" from the US immigration laws.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/were-in-national-emergency-biden-warns-covid-19-death-toll-in-us-could-climb-to-half-a-million-next-month-358420" hreflang="en">'National emergency': Biden warns COVID-19 toll could climb to half a million</a>

As per a summary of the new bill released by the Biden administration, Biden has decided to replace the word with the term "noncitizen".

The decision has been taken to recognise America as a "nation of immigrants", and put an end to the term which has often been in a dehumanising manner by many in the country.

Usage of this term had seen a scarring increase under Donald Trump's presidency and many federal officers had also encouraged the usage of this racially-motivated slur. Trump, too, had used the term several times in his speeches.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/joe-biden-warns-covid-will-get-worse-before-it-gets-better-358454">WATCH|</a>

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As per the current immigration law, 'alien' is described as "any person not a citizen or national of the United States."

The change in the term has come as a welcome change, especially in the minority communities, who see this as a ray of hope after years of racial stereotyping, violence and aggression.

Biden's administration has brought a vibrant change in the White House appointments with equal opportunities being provided to the minority communities and women — an effort missing from the Trump administration.

The US President Joe Biden has taken a lot of new decisions on his first day in the White House and one of the most important ones has been his proposed bill about immigration.

The US President Joe Biden has taken a lot of new decisions on his first day in the White House and one of the most important ones has been his proposed bill about immigration. In the newly-proposed immigration bill, Biden has also taken a small but important point to notice. The President has proposed to remove the word "alien" from the US immigration laws. Also read| 'National emergency': Biden warns COVID-19 toll could climb to half a million As per a summary of the new bill released by the Biden administration, Biden has decided to replace the word with the term "noncitizen". The decision has been taken to recognise America as a "nation of immigrants", and put an end to the term which has often been in a dehumanising manner by many in the country. Usage of this term had seen a scarring increase under Donald Trump's presidency and many federal officers had also encouraged the usage of this racially-motivated slur. Trump, too, had used the term several times in his speeches. WATCH| As per the current immigration law, 'alien' is described as "any person not a citizen or national of the United States." The change in the term has come as a welcome change, especially in the minority communities, who see this as a ray of hope after years of racial stereotyping, violence and aggression. Biden's administration has brought a vibrant change in the White House appointments with equal opportunities being provided to the minority communities and women — an effort missing from the Trump administration.

Biden suggests removing 'aliens'; suggests 'noncitizens' for immigrants

Biden has set a goal of having 100 million doses of the vaccine administered in the first 100 days of his administration.

Joe Biden warns COVID will 'get worse before it gets better'

Iran President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday welcomed what he called was end to 'tyrant' Donald Trump's rule. Rouhani said that the ball was "in America's court" in order to return to landmark nuclear deal. On Wednesday, Joe Biden took oath to become 46th President of the United States of America. Biden has showed a willingness to engage with Iran again. Donald Trump had taken America out of the landmark nuclear deal struck with Iran by USA and other global powers.&nbsp;

Rouhani labelled Trump "someone for whom all of his four years bore no fruit other than injustice and corruption and causing problems for his own people and the world". Former US President Donald Trump had adopted the strategy of "maximum pressure" against Iran. 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 
The sanctions targeted Iran's vital oil sales and international banking ties, plunging its economy into a deep recession.&nbsp;

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Biden was vice-president under Barack Obama when nuclear deal with Iran was struck. The deal imposed clear limits on Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for relief from international sanctions. Since 2019, Tehran has suspended its compliance with most of the limits set by the agreement in response to Washington's abandonment of the deal under Obama.

Rouhani said Trump's political career had "died ... but the JCPOA is alive," referring to the agreement's official name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.&nbsp;

"He did all he could to destroy the JCPOA but could not.

"We expect (the Biden administration) to return to law and to commitments, and try in the next four years, if they can, to remove the stains of the past four years," he added.

Biden's pick for secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, said at a Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday that Trump's policies had made Iran "more dangerous".

Blinken confirmed Biden's desire for Washington to return to the nuclear agreement, but said that was conditional on Tehran's return to strict compliance with its commitments.

(With AFP inputs)

Iran President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday welcomed what he called was end to 'tyrant' Donald Trump's rule. Rouhani said that the ball was "in America's court" in order to return to landmark nuclear deal.

Iran President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday welcomed what he called was end to 'tyrant' Donald Trump's rule. Rouhani said that the ball was "in America's court" in order to return to landmark nuclear deal. On Wednesday, Joe Biden took oath to become 46th President of the United States of America. Biden has showed a willingness to engage with Iran again. Donald Trump had taken America out of the landmark nuclear deal struck with Iran by USA and other global powers. Rouhani labelled Trump "someone for whom all of his four years bore no fruit other than injustice and corruption and causing problems for his own people and the world". Former US President Donald Trump had adopted the strategy of "maximum pressure" against Iran. The sanctions targeted Iran's vital oil sales and international banking ties, plunging its economy into a deep recession. Click here for LIVE updates Biden was vice-president under Barack Obama when nuclear deal with Iran was struck. The deal imposed clear limits on Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for relief from international sanctions. Since 2019, Tehran has suspended its compliance with most of the limits set by the agreement in response to Washington's abandonment of the deal under Obama. Rouhani said Trump's political career had "died ... but the JCPOA is alive," referring to the agreement's official name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. "He did all he could to destroy the JCPOA but could not. "We expect (the Biden administration) to return to law and to commitments, and try in the next four years, if they can, to remove the stains of the past four years," he added. Biden's pick for secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, said at a Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday that Trump's policies had made Iran "more dangerous". Blinken confirmed Biden's desire for Washington to return to the nuclear agreement, but said that was conditional on Tehran's return to strict compliance with its commitments. (With AFP inputs)

Iran hails end of 'tyrant' Trump's regime

On Wednesday, Amanda Gorman made history by becoming the youngest inaugural poet in the history of the United States.&nbsp;

She performed at the 59th Presidential Inauguration, delivering her original composition "The Hill We Climb" at the Capitol. In attendance were US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

In conversation with CBS, Gorman called the feat "amazing", further adding that at 22, nobody gets to say that they're the inaugural poet. 
 
Her inspiration behind the poem? Abraham Lincoln and Dr Martin Luther King Jr's speeches, she claimed. But the recent riots at the US Capitol inspired her to pick up the poem.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/kamala-harris-breaks-barriers-as-americas-first-black-south-asian-woman-vice-president-358140" hreflang="en">Kamala Harris breaks barriers as America's first Black, South Asian woman Vice President</a>

She told CBS that her poem "came to life" in the aftermath of the riots at the Capitol, which left six people dead - including a police officer.&nbsp; 
 
At the age of 19, Gorman was named the US' First Youth Poet Laureate. At the age of 16, Gorman was Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles.

Due to a speech impediment, Gorman couldn't put her voice to work, which inspired her to "author her voice on the page".

In Pics:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/joe-bidens-presidential-inauguration-whats-changed-whats-new-and-whats-missing-358033" hreflang="en">Joe Biden's presidential inauguration: What's changed, what's new, and what's missing!</a>

She further referred to poetry as a weapon, calling it an "instrument of social change".

But this is not it! Gorman has bigger plans - she intends to run as US President in 2036.

This was not the only first at the inauguration ceremony. Kamala Harris on Wednesday became the first woman Vice President of the United States, during a ceremony which took place at the West Front of the Capitol. 56-year-old Harris is the country's 49th Vice President and will serve as the deputy of 46th American President - Joe Biden.

On Wednesday, Amanda Gorman made history by becoming the youngest inaugural poet in the history of the United States. She performed at the 59th Presidential Inauguration, delivering her original composition "The Hill We Climb" at the Capitol.

On Wednesday, Amanda Gorman made history by becoming the youngest inaugural poet in the history of the United States. She performed at the 59th Presidential Inauguration, delivering her original composition "The Hill We Climb" at the Capitol. In attendance were US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. In conversation with CBS, Gorman called the feat "amazing", further adding that at 22, nobody gets to say that they're the inaugural poet. Her inspiration behind the poem? Abraham Lincoln and Dr Martin Luther King Jr's speeches, she claimed. But the recent riots at the US Capitol inspired her to pick up the poem. Also read: Kamala Harris breaks barriers as America's first Black, South Asian woman Vice President She told CBS that her poem "came to life" in the aftermath of the riots at the Capitol, which left six people dead - including a police officer. At the age of 19, Gorman was named the US' First Youth Poet Laureate. At the age of 16, Gorman was Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles. Due to a speech impediment, Gorman couldn't put her voice to work, which inspired her to "author her voice on the page". In Pics: Joe Biden's presidential inauguration: What's changed, what's new, and what's missing! She further referred to poetry as a weapon, calling it an "instrument of social change". But this is not it! Gorman has bigger plans - she intends to run as US President in 2036. This was not the only first at the inauguration ceremony. Kamala Harris on Wednesday became the first woman Vice President of the United States, during a ceremony which took place at the West Front of the Capitol. 56-year-old Harris is the country's 49th Vice President and will serve as the deputy of 46th American President - Joe Biden.

Amanda Gorman becomes youngest inaugural poet in US history

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq composite and Russell 2000 index of smaller companies also notched record highs.

Wall Street hits record after President Joe Biden takes office

Long before he won US Election 2020, Joe Biden had promised that if he gets elected, he will build a team that 'looks like America'; diverse, inclusive and young. Team Biden will indeed be diverse. The choices of people in this team represent diversity of ideology, background, race and religion.

61 per cent of the White House appointees are women. 54 per cent are people or colour. 11 per cent are of LGBTQ community. 20 per cent of the appointee are first-generation Americans. And 40% per cent of them have children at home.

What about the cabinet picks? It's a motley crew again. Moreover, many of the nominees will be pioneers in their roles. People who have broken barriers and shattered glass ceilings with their appointments.

In Biden administration, there will be many firsts.

First woman to lead national intelligence.

First black defence secretary.

First Latino health secretary.

First Native American cabinet secretary.

First Latino head of homeland security.

Youngest secretary of state in decades.

And the first openly-gay man confirmed to a cabinet role in American history!

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Joe Biden plans to use America's diversity as an essential strength in his cabinet. At Department of Justice, judge Merrick Garland has been nominated to serve as America's next attorney-general. He is a 68-year-old centrist. This is Garland's third nomination to the US Supreme Court.

At Department of Commerce, Gina Raimondo Has been nominated as commerce secretary. If confirmed she will be the fourth woman to hold this position. At Department of Education Miguel Cardona has been nominated as the head. He is currently the commissioner of education in Connecticut. If confirmed, Cardona will be the second Puerto Rican and the 3rd Latino secretary of education.

At Department of Interior, US Representative from New Mexico. Deb Haaland has been nominated for the position of interior secretary. If confirmed, 60-year-old Haaland will be the first Native American to become a cabinet secretary. He is a rising star in the Democratic Party and a familiar name among millennials.

Pete Buttigieg has been nominated as transportation secretary. If confirmed, the 39-year-old will be the first LGBTQ person to hold a cabinet post in America

Next, in Department of Energy, former Michigan Mayor Jennifer Granholm has been appointed as secretary of energy. She is a strong advocate for zero-emission vehicles. 61-year-old Granholm will only be the second woman to serve as secretary of energy.

Janet Yellen has been appointed as Treasury Secretary. She will be the first woman ever to hold this post. Yellen was also the first woman to chair US Federal Reserve in Obama era.

Another important and unprecedented nomination is of Llyod Austin who is a retired four-star army general. He has been nominated to head the department of defence. If confirmed, Llyod Austin will be the first black defence secretary, the first black chief of Pentagon in American history.

Xavier Becerra has been nominated to steer the Department of Health &amp; Human Services. If confirmed, The 62-year-old will be the first Latino to head the department

At the Office of Management &amp; Budget Neera Tanden has been nominated to serve as the director. If her name is confirmed, she will be the first woman of colour and the first South Asian-American to lead this office.

Alejandro Myorkas has been nominated to head the Department of Homeland Security.

If confirmed, he will be the first Latino-American and the first immigrant to lead this agency. This is the agency that is in-charge of implementing America's immigration policies and border laws.

Looking after national intelligence will be Avril Haines. She has been nominated as director of intelligence. Once her name is confirmed, she will be the first woman to lead America's intel community.

And working in tandem with her will be Jake Sullivan. He has been appointed as the National Security Adviser. At age 43, Sullivan will be the youngest person to hold the position since the Eisenhower administration.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield has been nominated as US Ambassador to United Nations. If confirmed, she would be only the second black woman to hold the post.

And lastly the Department of State.

Replacing the dynamic Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State will be Antony Blinken. As the country's top diplomat, Blinken will play a pivotal role in rebuilding America's alliances like re-entering agreements with Iran, and to halt his country's exit from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Confirmation of these names is a given since Democrats have won control of US Senate too. So once these appointments are made, the Biden-Harris administration will be the most diverse in American history.

Long before he won US Election 2020, Joe Biden had promised that if he gets elected, he will build a team that 'looks like America'; diverse, inclusive and young.

Long before he won US Election 2020, Joe Biden had promised that if he gets elected, he will build a team that 'looks like America'; diverse, inclusive and young. Team Biden will indeed be diverse. The choices of people in this team represent diversity of ideology, background, race and religion. 61 per cent of the White House appointees are women. 54 per cent are people or colour. 11 per cent are of LGBTQ community. 20 per cent of the appointee are first-generation Americans. And 40% per cent of them have children at home. What about the cabinet picks? It's a motley crew again. Moreover, many of the nominees will be pioneers in their roles. People who have broken barriers and shattered glass ceilings with their appointments. In Biden administration, there will be many firsts. First woman to lead national intelligence. First black defence secretary. First Latino health secretary. First Native American cabinet secretary. First Latino head of homeland security. Youngest secretary of state in decades. And the first openly-gay man confirmed to a cabinet role in American history! × Joe Biden plans to use America's diversity as an essential strength in his cabinet. At Department of Justice, judge Merrick Garland has been nominated to serve as America's next attorney-general. He is a 68-year-old centrist. This is Garland's third nomination to the US Supreme Court. At Department of Commerce, Gina Raimondo Has been nominated as commerce secretary. If confirmed she will be the fourth woman to hold this position. At Department of Education Miguel Cardona has been nominated as the head. He is currently the commissioner of education in Connecticut. If confirmed, Cardona will be the second Puerto Rican and the 3rd Latino secretary of education. At Department of Interior, US Representative from New Mexico. Deb Haaland has been nominated for the position of interior secretary. If confirmed, 60-year-old Haaland will be the first Native American to become a cabinet secretary. He is a rising star in the Democratic Party and a familiar name among millennials. Pete Buttigieg has been nominated as transportation secretary. If confirmed, the 39-year-old will be the first LGBTQ person to hold a cabinet post in America Next, in Department of Energy, former Michigan Mayor Jennifer Granholm has been appointed as secretary of energy. She is a strong advocate for zero-emission vehicles. 61-year-old Granholm will only be the second woman to serve as secretary of energy. Janet Yellen has been appointed as Treasury Secretary. She will be the first woman ever to hold this post. Yellen was also the first woman to chair US Federal Reserve in Obama era. Another important and unprecedented nomination is of Llyod Austin who is a retired four-star army general. He has been nominated to head the department of defence. If confirmed, Llyod Austin will be the first black defence secretary, the first black chief of Pentagon in American history. Xavier Becerra has been nominated to steer the Department of Health & Human Services. If confirmed, The 62-year-old will be the first Latino to head the department At the Office of Management & Budget Neera Tanden has been nominated to serve as the director. If her name is confirmed, she will be the first woman of colour and the first South Asian-American to lead this office. Alejandro Myorkas has been nominated to head the Department of Homeland Security. If confirmed, he will be the first Latino-American and the first immigrant to lead this agency. This is the agency that is in-charge of implementing America's immigration policies and border laws. Looking after national intelligence will be Avril Haines. She has been nominated as director of intelligence. Once her name is confirmed, she will be the first woman to lead America's intel community. And working in tandem with her will be Jake Sullivan. He has been appointed as the National Security Adviser. At age 43, Sullivan will be the youngest person to hold the position since the Eisenhower administration. Linda Thomas-Greenfield has been nominated as US Ambassador to United Nations. If confirmed, she would be only the second black woman to hold the post. And lastly the Department of State. Replacing the dynamic Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State will be Antony Blinken. As the country's top diplomat, Blinken will play a pivotal role in rebuilding America's alliances like re-entering agreements with Iran, and to halt his country's exit from the World Health Organisation (WHO). Confirmation of these names is a given since Democrats have won control of US Senate too. So once these appointments are made, the Biden-Harris administration will be the most diverse in American history.

Joe Biden to have the most diverse administration in US history

Joe Biden began his presidency Wednesday with the same animating philosophy that guided his campaign: The center can hold.

That’s a big wager. American society is more brittle now than it has been in years. It is unequal, unhealthy and politically radicalized. A pandemic is raging nearly unchecked. The economy is in tatters. The climate is in crisis. Residents of red and blue America can’t even agree on the reality before their eyes, let alone demarcate the common ground they share.

Biden, now the 46th president, acknowledged all that in his inaugural address, calling for comity. “Let’s begin to listen to one another again, hear one another, see one another,” he said. “Show respect to one another. Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war, and we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.”

It was a sanguine message to deliver from the steps of the U.S. Capitol, two weeks to the day after the building was sacked by a mob trying to overturn the results of the election. Because of the continued threat of violence, tens of thousands of National Guard troops were on hand Wednesday to provide security for a crowd that was sparse because of the coronavirus contagion.

Biden spoke to the bleak gravity of the moment, noting that democracy is as precious as it is fragile. “Without unity, there is no peace,” Biden said, “only bitterness and fury, no progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of chaos.”

The past four years have been nothing if not exhausting and chaotic. Donald Trump began his term from the same rostrum in 2017, decrying the “American carnage” caused by urban poverty, lost manufacturing jobs, drugs and crime. After four years of Trump waging ceaseless battle against his political opponents, the country is still shot through with all those maladies and is even more unmoored from the political traditions that once bound it together.

In his last act as president, Trump and the first lady flew to Florida rather than share the stage with Biden and participate in the pageantry of a peaceful transition of power. But there was the faintest flicker of decency. “I wish the new administration great luck and great success,” Trump told supporters who watched his departure from Joint Base Andrews. “I think they’ll have great success. They have the foundation to do something really spectacular.”

Inaugurations are, by their nature, the closing of one chapter in the nation’s story and the beginning of another. Now at the helm of the executive branch, along with Kamala Harris — the country’s first female vice president, first Black vice president and first Asian American vice president — Biden has a chance to test the firmness of common ground. For the new president and the nation to succeed, there must be enough like-minded leaders willing to put prosperity over party and the good of the nation above all else.

Biden’s call for unity was not a demand that Americans agree but rather that they live in mutual tolerance, recommitted to the democratic process and to peacefully adjudicating their differences until the next inauguration. All Americans should be able to agree on that.

&lt;b&gt;The World Deserves Answers From China&lt;/b&gt;

The terrible ravages of the coronavirus pandemic are evident in every corner of the world, so it should seem self-evident that every effort must be made to find out where and when the virus made its fateful leap from animal to human. That is why a team from the World Health Organization last week arrived in Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus was first identified.

Alas, the Chinese Communist Party has consistently demonstrated that it is far more concerned with maintaining some myth of infallibility than with helping find the source of the scourge. In doing so, it is obstructing efforts to prevent other pandemics and endangering all humanity.

Just getting into China has taken the WHO’s international team of scientists more than a year, considerably lowering the odds of finding any clues about the origins of the virus. Even after permission was granted for the team to arrive in the first days of the new year, China procrastinated, prompting the director-general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to express disappointment — a sentiment that in the politically charged lexicon of the organization amounts to a sharp rebuke.

When the team finally reached Wuhan on Thursday, China promptly planted more obstacles in its way. Two scientists remained in Singapore after they tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, and the remaining 13 were ordered to quarantine for two weeks in Wuhan, although all 15 tested negative for the virus before setting off.

When they do finally get to work, the going is not likely to get any easier. While the Chinese government publicly claimed it has cooperated with the WHO team from the outset “in an open, transparent and responsible attitude,” it has not. Instead it has repeatedly thrown out red herrings suggesting that the source of the virus was not China or that it might have had more than one source. Chinese officials have suggested at various times that the WHO should also go to Spain and other countries.

The Trump administration did not help. When he was president, Donald Trump contributed to the politicization of the pandemic by regularly referring to the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” and suggesting that it might have escaped from a Chinese laboratory.

Trump also withdrew the United States from the WHO after accusing the organization of not being sufficiently critical of China. In fact, the WHO is politically constrained from publicly criticizing any of its member states. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s withdrawal from a global organization critical to the struggle against a pandemic was widely condemned as the height of folly. President Joe Biden is expected to promptly rejoin.

It is China, however, that bears the primary responsibility for tracing the origins of the deadly pathogen first identified on its territory. Instead, China first sought to quell reports of a new disease. Then China slapped stern control over any information about it while putting out unsubstantiated claims and touting its handling of the outbreak.

An investigation by The Associated Press found that as the pandemic gained momentum, President Xi Jinping gave direct orders that any information had to be cleared by a government task force and that anyone publishing without permission, “causing serious adverse social impact, shall be held accountable.” As a result, little has been made public, and the WHO team is not likely to get the direct access to data and research that is critical for its investigation.

Without cooperation and transparency in China, there is little the WHO can learn. The sprawling Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, which peddled game meat and live animals and to which many of the first infections were traced, has been closed and disinfected. The samples and information gathered there are locked away at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and no researchers will dare speak with the international team without explicit permission — and a carefully vetted narrative — from the government.

Whether that first germ came from a bat or a pangolin or a civet or a neighboring country is likely to remain a mystery, and the search for ways to stop such transmission will remain handicapped.

The WHO, which is beholden to each of its 194 member states, has little leverage with China. But the rest of the world should raise its voice and demand that Beijing share everything it knows with the WHO experts and the world. It should be made clear to Xi that to treat a disease that has sickened 94 million people and killed 2 million as a propaganda problem is dangerous and unworthy of a country with pretensions to global influence and power.

Joe Biden began his presidency Wednesday with the same animating philosophy that guided his campaign: The center can hold. That’s a big wager. American society is more brittle now than it has been in years.

Joe Biden began his presidency Wednesday with the same animating philosophy that guided his campaign: The center can hold. That’s a big wager. American society is more brittle now than it has been in years. It is unequal, unhealthy and politically radicalized. A pandemic is raging nearly unchecked. The economy is in tatters. The climate is in crisis. Residents of red and blue America can’t even agree on the reality before their eyes, let alone demarcate the common ground they share. Biden, now the 46th president, acknowledged all that in his inaugural address, calling for comity. “Let’s begin to listen to one another again, hear one another, see one another,” he said. “Show respect to one another. Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war, and we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.” It was a sanguine message to deliver from the steps of the U.S. Capitol, two weeks to the day after the building was sacked by a mob trying to overturn the results of the election. Because of the continued threat of violence, tens of thousands of National Guard troops were on hand Wednesday to provide security for a crowd that was sparse because of the coronavirus contagion. Biden spoke to the bleak gravity of the moment, noting that democracy is as precious as it is fragile. “Without unity, there is no peace,” Biden said, “only bitterness and fury, no progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of chaos.” The past four years have been nothing if not exhausting and chaotic. Donald Trump began his term from the same rostrum in 2017, decrying the “American carnage” caused by urban poverty, lost manufacturing jobs, drugs and crime. After four years of Trump waging ceaseless battle against his political opponents, the country is still shot through with all those maladies and is even more unmoored from the political traditions that once bound it together. In his last act as president, Trump and the first lady flew to Florida rather than share the stage with Biden and participate in the pageantry of a peaceful transition of power. But there was the faintest flicker of decency. “I wish the new administration great luck and great success,” Trump told supporters who watched his departure from Joint Base Andrews. “I think they’ll have great success. They have the foundation to do something really spectacular.” Inaugurations are, by their nature, the closing of one chapter in the nation’s story and the beginning of another. Now at the helm of the executive branch, along with Kamala Harris — the country’s first female vice president, first Black vice president and first Asian American vice president — Biden has a chance to test the firmness of common ground. For the new president and the nation to succeed, there must be enough like-minded leaders willing to put prosperity over party and the good of the nation above all else. Biden’s call for unity was not a demand that Americans agree but rather that they live in mutual tolerance, recommitted to the democratic process and to peacefully adjudicating their differences until the next inauguration. All Americans should be able to agree on that. The World Deserves Answers From China The terrible ravages of the coronavirus pandemic are evident in every corner of the world, so it should seem self-evident that every effort must be made to find out where and when the virus made its fateful leap from animal to human. That is why a team from the World Health Organization last week arrived in Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus was first identified. Alas, the Chinese Communist Party has consistently demonstrated that it is far more concerned with maintaining some myth of infallibility than with helping find the source of the scourge. In doing so, it is obstructing efforts to prevent other pandemics and endangering all humanity. Just getting into China has taken the WHO’s international team of scientists more than a year, considerably lowering the odds of finding any clues about the origins of the virus. Even after permission was granted for the team to arrive in the first days of the new year, China procrastinated, prompting the director-general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to express disappointment — a sentiment that in the politically charged lexicon of the organization amounts to a sharp rebuke. When the team finally reached Wuhan on Thursday, China promptly planted more obstacles in its way. Two scientists remained in Singapore after they tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, and the remaining 13 were ordered to quarantine for two weeks in Wuhan, although all 15 tested negative for the virus before setting off. When they do finally get to work, the going is not likely to get any easier. While the Chinese government publicly claimed it has cooperated with the WHO team from the outset “in an open, transparent and responsible attitude,” it has not. Instead it has repeatedly thrown out red herrings suggesting that the source of the virus was not China or that it might have had more than one source. Chinese officials have suggested at various times that the WHO should also go to Spain and other countries. The Trump administration did not help. When he was president, Donald Trump contributed to the politicization of the pandemic by regularly referring to the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” and suggesting that it might have escaped from a Chinese laboratory. Trump also withdrew the United States from the WHO after accusing the organization of not being sufficiently critical of China. In fact, the WHO is politically constrained from publicly criticizing any of its member states. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s withdrawal from a global organization critical to the struggle against a pandemic was widely condemned as the height of folly. President Joe Biden is expected to promptly rejoin. It is China, however, that bears the primary responsibility for tracing the origins of the deadly pathogen first identified on its territory. Instead, China first sought to quell reports of a new disease. Then China slapped stern control over any information about it while putting out unsubstantiated claims and touting its handling of the outbreak. An investigation by The Associated Press found that as the pandemic gained momentum, President Xi Jinping gave direct orders that any information had to be cleared by a government task force and that anyone publishing without permission, “causing serious adverse social impact, shall be held accountable.” As a result, little has been made public, and the WHO team is not likely to get the direct access to data and research that is critical for its investigation. Without cooperation and transparency in China, there is little the WHO can learn. The sprawling Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, which peddled game meat and live animals and to which many of the first infections were traced, has been closed and disinfected. The samples and information gathered there are locked away at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and no researchers will dare speak with the international team without explicit permission — and a carefully vetted narrative — from the government. Whether that first germ came from a bat or a pangolin or a civet or a neighboring country is likely to remain a mystery, and the search for ways to stop such transmission will remain handicapped. The WHO, which is beholden to each of its 194 member states, has little leverage with China. But the rest of the world should raise its voice and demand that Beijing share everything it knows with the WHO experts and the world. It should be made clear to Xi that to treat a disease that has sickened 94 million people and killed 2 million as a propaganda problem is dangerous and unworthy of a country with pretensions to global influence and power.

Biden bets on unity

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is a fierce advocate of fair wages and a former presidential candidate who lost the Democratic nomination to now-President Joe Biden. And thanks to his practical clothing choices he is also now the center of a seemingly endless flood of altered pictures that dominated some corners of the internet in the hours after Biden’s socially distanced inauguration Wednesday.

Amid the dark suits and bright coats dotting the Capitol steps, Sanders was photographed sitting masked, cross-legged and bundled up in a bulky coat and mittens against the frigid weather in Washington, D.C. Soon after, the image, taken by photographer Brendan Smialowski for Getty Images, began to circulate on social media inserted into a wide array of photographs and scenes from movies and artworks.

On a day all about Biden, it was in some ways appropriate that Sanders, whose strongest political support in the presidential race came from young voters, would nonetheless be the star of the day’s biggest meme by doing nothing but sitting and crossing his arms. In their primary competition, Sanders enjoyed a significantly larger online following than Biden, especially among those who often communicate through memes.

Though other memes starring Sanders were often used to say something — he wore what appears to be the same coat in a 2019 fundraising video in which he is “once again asking for your financial support,” a line that has been repurposed in a litany of ways — there was no such deeper meaning to the newest meme. Instead of using his image to make an argument, he was simply placed into new contexts, with his pose, outfit and expression themselves serving as the joke.

While the day belonged to Biden, the meme served as an amusing sideshow, a bit of fun and levity after four years in which presidential politics brought Sanders’ supporters few reasons to be in a good mood.

It wasn’t the only meme inspired by Inauguration Day: Others touched on former first lady Michelle Obama’s outfit and on Lady Gaga, who sang the national anthem dressed not entirely unlike a character from the “Hunger Games.” But even with Janet Yellen, Biden’s nominee for Treasury secretary, dressed just as warmly, it was Sanders, the incoming chair of the Senate Budget Committee, who seemed far the favorite.

Early posts about him started with simple reviews of his practical, relatively unglamorous outfit. Some saw their uncles and fathers in his choice to put warmth over style.

Then came the memes, in which social media users took the original image of Sanders and found new locations for him and his coat. He was inserted into history. Sat at the bowling alley with The Dude. Enjoyed the sun at a closed state beach in New Jersey with that state’s former governor, Chris Christie.

Still others brought the Sanders image to the movies, showing him on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise in “Star Trek,” and as a member of the Avengers.

The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame capitalized by selling its own version of the pose. Nick Sawhney, a software engineer in New York, created a tool that allows you to insert Sanders into any street address in Google Maps street view.

The senator’s avatar looked busy. It visited a museum and sat on the Iron Throne from “Game of Thrones.” It dropped in on a curling match and photobombed a Leonardo da Vinci painting.

There was a cameo in Mario Kart, a news conference in Mexico and a trip to the surface of the moon. He took a tour of New York City.

BuzzFeed News reported that Sanders got his mittens from Jen Ellis, a second-grade teacher in Essex Junction, Vermont, who made gloves on the side. She said she sent him a pair after he lost a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.

Ellis tweeted that the mittens were made from repurposed wool and lined with fleece.

In an interview with CBS, Sanders laughed off the attention.

“In Vermont, we dress, we know something about the cold,” he told Gayle King. “And we’re not so concerned about good fashion. We just want to keep warm. And that’s what I did today.”

“Mission accomplished,” King said.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is a fierce advocate of fair wages and a former presidential candidate who lost the Democratic nomination to now-President Joe Biden.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is a fierce advocate of fair wages and a former presidential candidate who lost the Democratic nomination to now-President Joe Biden. And thanks to his practical clothing choices he is also now the center of a seemingly endless flood of altered pictures that dominated some corners of the internet in the hours after Biden’s socially distanced inauguration Wednesday. Amid the dark suits and bright coats dotting the Capitol steps, Sanders was photographed sitting masked, cross-legged and bundled up in a bulky coat and mittens against the frigid weather in Washington, D.C. Soon after, the image, taken by photographer Brendan Smialowski for Getty Images, began to circulate on social media inserted into a wide array of photographs and scenes from movies and artworks. On a day all about Biden, it was in some ways appropriate that Sanders, whose strongest political support in the presidential race came from young voters, would nonetheless be the star of the day’s biggest meme by doing nothing but sitting and crossing his arms. In their primary competition, Sanders enjoyed a significantly larger online following than Biden, especially among those who often communicate through memes. Though other memes starring Sanders were often used to say something — he wore what appears to be the same coat in a 2019 fundraising video in which he is “once again asking for your financial support,” a line that has been repurposed in a litany of ways — there was no such deeper meaning to the newest meme. Instead of using his image to make an argument, he was simply placed into new contexts, with his pose, outfit and expression themselves serving as the joke. While the day belonged to Biden, the meme served as an amusing sideshow, a bit of fun and levity after four years in which presidential politics brought Sanders’ supporters few reasons to be in a good mood. It wasn’t the only meme inspired by Inauguration Day: Others touched on former first lady Michelle Obama’s outfit and on Lady Gaga, who sang the national anthem dressed not entirely unlike a character from the “Hunger Games.” But even with Janet Yellen, Biden’s nominee for Treasury secretary, dressed just as warmly, it was Sanders, the incoming chair of the Senate Budget Committee, who seemed far the favorite. Early posts about him started with simple reviews of his practical, relatively unglamorous outfit. Some saw their uncles and fathers in his choice to put warmth over style. Then came the memes, in which social media users took the original image of Sanders and found new locations for him and his coat. He was inserted into history. Sat at the bowling alley with The Dude. Enjoyed the sun at a closed state beach in New Jersey with that state’s former governor, Chris Christie. Still others brought the Sanders image to the movies, showing him on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise in “Star Trek,” and as a member of the Avengers. The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame capitalized by selling its own version of the pose. Nick Sawhney, a software engineer in New York, created a tool that allows you to insert Sanders into any street address in Google Maps street view. The senator’s avatar looked busy. It visited a museum and sat on the Iron Throne from “Game of Thrones.” It dropped in on a curling match and photobombed a Leonardo da Vinci painting. There was a cameo in Mario Kart, a news conference in Mexico and a trip to the surface of the moon. He took a tour of New York City. BuzzFeed News reported that Sanders got his mittens from Jen Ellis, a second-grade teacher in Essex Junction, Vermont, who made gloves on the side. She said she sent him a pair after he lost a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. Ellis tweeted that the mittens were made from repurposed wool and lined with fleece. In an interview with CBS, Sanders laughed off the attention. “In Vermont, we dress, we know something about the cold,” he told Gayle King. “And we’re not so concerned about good fashion. We just want to keep warm. And that’s what I did today.” “Mission accomplished,” King said.

Bernie Sanders is once again the star of a meme

Justin Timberlake chose just the right song to perform at Joe Biden's 2021 presidential inauguration.&nbsp;Timberlake was part the live 'Celebrating America prime-time special that aired on Janúary 20. The singer teamed up with R&amp;B vocalist Ant Clemons for the song 'Better Days.' 
 
The segment was filmed at Timberlake's hometown of Memphis, Tenn. and featured the singers starting out indoors before making their way to the streets, where they danced with a small group of students and alumni from the city's Stax Music Academy.&nbsp; 
 
While speaking to NBC, Clemons revealed that Biden's team approached the duo after hearing them debut the tune as part of Stacey Abrams' 'Rock the Runoff'- the virtual event in December 2020. Clemons has been nominated at the 2021 Grammys for his EP 'Happy 2 Be Here'.&nbsp; 
 
"A few months ago @AntClemons and I wrote BETTER DAYS," Timberlake tweeted on Jan. 13. "This song was our way of doing what little we could to encourage everyone to stay hopeful and to keep working towards a better future. I'm honored to announce we'll be performing it for the Inauguration."

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A few months ago <a href="https://twitter.com/AntClemons?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AntClemons</a> and I wrote BETTER DAYS. This song was our way of doing what little we could to encourage everyone to stay hopeful and to keep working towards a better future. I’m honored to announce we’ll be performing it for the Inauguration. <a href="https://t.co/aes5gXdEww">pic.twitter.com/aes5gXdEww</a>
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) <a href="https://twitter.com/jtimberlake/status/1349363968536694784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The song talks about hope and a better tomorrow and goes well with the theme of the inaugural event which was historic in many ways.A line from the chorus includes the lyrics, "It gets worse 'fore it gets better, but better's ahead." 
 
Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. He is the oldest person to have Presidential elections in America. Kamala Harris became the first person of colour and first woman to be sworn in as the Vice President of US.&nbsp;

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u4HkM6WzmFY" width="560"></iframe> 
 
The song delivers a tone of optimism in line with the general theme of the historic day that saw Biden sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.&nbsp; 
'Celebrating America'- a virtual event had a starry line up of performers and was hosted by veteran actor Tom Hanks.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Justin Timberlake chose just the right song to perform at Joe Biden's 2021 presidential inauguration. Timberlake was part the live 'Celebrating America prime-time special that aired on Janúary 20.

Justin Timberlake chose just the right song to perform at Joe Biden's 2021 presidential inauguration. Timberlake was part the live 'Celebrating America prime-time special that aired on Janúary 20. The singer teamed up with R&B vocalist Ant Clemons for the song 'Better Days.' The segment was filmed at Timberlake's hometown of Memphis, Tenn. and featured the singers starting out indoors before making their way to the streets, where they danced with a small group of students and alumni from the city's Stax Music Academy. While speaking to NBC, Clemons revealed that Biden's team approached the duo after hearing them debut the tune as part of Stacey Abrams' 'Rock the Runoff'- the virtual event in December 2020. Clemons has been nominated at the 2021 Grammys for his EP 'Happy 2 Be Here'. "A few months ago @AntClemons and I wrote BETTER DAYS," Timberlake tweeted on Jan. 13. "This song was our way of doing what little we could to encourage everyone to stay hopeful and to keep working towards a better future. I'm honored to announce we'll be performing it for the Inauguration." A few months ago @AntClemons and I wrote BETTER DAYS. This song was our way of doing what little we could to encourage everyone to stay hopeful and to keep working towards a better future. I’m honored to announce we’ll be performing it for the Inauguration. pic.twitter.com/aes5gXdEww — Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) January 13, 2021 × The song talks about hope and a better tomorrow and goes well with the theme of the inaugural event which was historic in many ways.A line from the chorus includes the lyrics, "It gets worse 'fore it gets better, but better's ahead." Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. He is the oldest person to have Presidential elections in America. Kamala Harris became the first person of colour and first woman to be sworn in as the Vice President of US. The song delivers a tone of optimism in line with the general theme of the historic day that saw Biden sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. 'Celebrating America'- a virtual event had a starry line up of performers and was hosted by veteran actor Tom Hanks.

Justin Timberlake and Ant Clemons chose the perfect song for Joe Biden's presidential inauguration

US President&nbsp;Joe Biden has said his predecessor Donald Trump has left him a "very generous" letter in the Oval Office before departing the White House.

Biden told reporters that he will not reveal the content of the letter as it was private but he plans on talking to Trump about it.

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It is customary for outgoing presidents to write their successors a letter and leave it for them on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.

However, given that the former president broke several of the past traditions, including by opting to skip Biden's inauguration ceremony and never formally congratulated him on his election win, it was unclear until Wednesday whether Trump would maintain the tradition of outgoing presidents leaving notes for their successors.

In her maiden news briefing on Wednesday night, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that she was with Biden when he was reading the letter in the Oval Office right before he signed the executive actions.

However, she declined to offer more details on the letter, saying, it "was private, as he (Biden) said to you all".

"It was both generous and gracious, and it was just a reflection of him not planning to release the letter unilaterally, but I wouldn't take it as an indication of a pending call with the former president," Psaki said.

Psaki&nbsp;addressed other issues during the Biden administration's first White House briefing. She told reporters she has a "deep respect for the role of a free and independent press in our democracy."

She also said Biden will leave the mechanics of how to proceed with former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial to the US&nbsp;Senate.

"We are confident that ... the Senate ... can do their constitutional duty while continuing to conduct the business of the American people,"&nbsp;Psaki&nbsp;told reporters. "He's going to leave the mechanics, the timing and the specifics of how Congress moves forward on impeachment to them."

Biden, a Democrat, was sworn in earlier on Wednesday, a week after the US&nbsp;House of Representatives impeached Trump for a second time, charging him with inciting an insurrection in the deadly rampage at the Capitol on January&nbsp;6.

US President Joe Biden has said his predecessor Donald Trump has left him a "very generous" letter in the Oval Office before departing the White House. Biden told reporters that he will not reveal the content of the letter as it was private but he plans on talking to Trump about it.

US President Joe Biden has said his predecessor Donald Trump has left him a "very generous" letter in the Oval Office before departing the White House. Biden told reporters that he will not reveal the content of the letter as it was private but he plans on talking to Trump about it. It is customary for outgoing presidents to write their successors a letter and leave it for them on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. However, given that the former president broke several of the past traditions, including by opting to skip Biden's inauguration ceremony and never formally congratulated him on his election win, it was unclear until Wednesday whether Trump would maintain the tradition of outgoing presidents leaving notes for their successors. In her maiden news briefing on Wednesday night, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that she was with Biden when he was reading the letter in the Oval Office right before he signed the executive actions. However, she declined to offer more details on the letter, saying, it "was private, as he (Biden) said to you all". "It was both generous and gracious, and it was just a reflection of him not planning to release the letter unilaterally, but I wouldn't take it as an indication of a pending call with the former president," Psaki said. Psaki addressed other issues during the Biden administration's first White House briefing. She told reporters she has a "deep respect for the role of a free and independent press in our democracy." She also said Biden will leave the mechanics of how to proceed with former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial to the US Senate. "We are confident that ... the Senate ... can do their constitutional duty while continuing to conduct the business of the American people," Psaki told reporters. "He's going to leave the mechanics, the timing and the specifics of how Congress moves forward on impeachment to them." Biden, a Democrat, was sworn in earlier on Wednesday, a week after the US House of Representatives impeached Trump for a second time, charging him with inciting an insurrection in the deadly rampage at the Capitol on January 6.

Trump wrote a 'very generous' letter before departing White House: Biden

&nbsp;A decade ago, Joe Biden strode into a reception room in Athens for a meeting with the president of Greece, a country then drowning in debt and locked in tense negotiations with the European Union.

“This man represents the Treasury Department,” a deadpan Biden said to his host as he gestured to a gray-suited member of his delegation. “He’s brought hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Watch |&nbsp;

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The room broke up in laughter. It was clear the vice president had not come with a briefcase of cash to pay off Greece’s debts. But his joke captured a deeper truth: In 2011, many still viewed the United States as the ultimate guarantor of the international order. And Biden clearly saw himself as a steward of that legacy, his easy self-confidence the product of four decades as a globe-trotting senator.

As Biden took the oath of office Wednesday, vowing to “repair our alliances and engage with the world once more,” the question for many overseas is whether they will see this man of the world anytime soon.

In capitals from Europe to Asia, diplomats and foreign policy experts have questioned whether the United States is too divided, too weakened and too preoccupied by internal convulsions to play the kind of leadership role that Biden took for granted as a senator and vice president.

Yet there are reasons to believe as president Biden will be more visible and more of an activist than many expect, even as he grapples with the pandemic, a massive economic recovery effort and the deep divisions left by the Trump era. From the people he has chosen for key foreign policy posts to the travel opportunities he has this year, those who know Biden say he is unlikely to stay off the global stage for long.

“This is a guy who spent 40 years getting to know foreign leaders around the world,” said Peter Westmacott, who lived next door to Biden as British ambassador to Washington during the Obama administration. “Once you’ve got a flavor for international relationships, you don’t turn your back on all that.”

Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German ambassador to the United States, said he expected Biden to draw on his personal relationships to mend bonds with European allies that had been sundered by former President Donald Trump.

“Joe Biden is a master of networking, and he will easily repair the lack of trust,” said Ischinger, who now runs the Munich Security Forum.

Ischinger’s immediate goal is to persuade the president to attend his influential annual conference. He has a decent chance of landing him; Biden has been a staple in Munich for years, most memorably in 2009, when he announced that former President Barack Obama wanted to hit the “reset button” with Russia.

In his inaugural address, Biden said the “world is watching.” He promised that the United States had “come out stronger” from its recent stress test. And he pledged a restoration of American leadership in which, he said, “we’ll lead not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.”

Biden is likely to make his formal debut at a meeting of Group of 7 leaders in June, which Britain is hosting at a seaside resort in Cornwall. He may expand that trip to include other European destinations, including Germany, where he could bid farewell to Chancellor Angela Merkel before she steps down after 16 years.

In the fall, Biden is expected to attend a Group of 20 meeting in Rome and the United Nations’ climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, where he could showcase his decision to rejoin the Paris climate accord.

Beyond dates in the diplomatic diary, experts contend that Biden’s appointments do not suggest an inward-looking White House.

His choice of Kurt Campbell to serve as a high-level coordinator of Asia policy, for example, could foretell a tough line with China coupled with an energetic effort to reassure U.S. allies Japan and South Korea. As a State Department official in the Obama administration, Campbell devised the so-called “pivot” to Asia.

“Biden has chosen people who understand and are committed to strategic competition,” said Thomas Wright, a foreign policy expert at the Brookings Institution.

Some experts argue that the chaos at the Capitol had compromised the nation’s traditional role as a champion of democracy and that the cascading domestic crises would consume Biden’s energy, distracting from world affairs.

“Ambitious foreign policy goals are completely out of step with the realities of the country’s domestic political and economic dysfunction,” Emma Ashford, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, wrote in Foreign Policy. “How can the United States spread democracy or act as an example for others if it barely has a functioning democracy at home?”

But Wright argued that the homegrown threats to democracy should strengthen the Biden administration’s resolve to fight human rights abuses by China, Russia and other autocratic governments.

“I’ve never understood the trade-off between ambition at home and ambition overseas,” he said. “It’s precisely because democracy is challenged at home that the U.S. needs to be more energetic in defending democracy overseas.”

The links between domestic and foreign policy were reinforced by the appointment of Susan Rice, who served as national security adviser to Obama, as director of Biden’s domestic policy council. Key domestic priorities like the pandemic, experts pointed out, are also global challenges.

Another top Biden aide, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, used Twitter to weigh in on sensitive issues before his boss took office. He condemned Russia’s arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, appealed to the European Union to think twice before signing an investment treaty with China, and said Trump’s designation of the Houthi rebels in Yemen as a terrorist group “will only inflict more suffering on Yemeni people.”

Whether the Biden administration will back up those words with action remains to be seen, of course. But some say that Biden’s instincts, temperament and background as a longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee make him unlikely to shrug off chances to command the world stage.

As vice president, he reveled in his access to world leaders. On a trip to Turkey in 2011, there were doubts that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was recuperating from a medical procedure, would see him. Instead, Erdogan invited him to his private residence, where the two men, wearing slippers, spoke for two hours about Syria and Iran.

“I don’t want to sound like I’m inflating my importance or relationship with him,” a chuffed Biden told reporters, “but we have listened to each other. And he was genuinely listening to my perspective and wasn’t challenging it.”

At other times, Biden has taken pride in his readiness to speak bluntly to foreign leaders. He famously walked out of a dinner with Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, in 2009 after a rancorous exchange over corruption.

In 2012, Biden was assigned to play host to Xi Jinping, then China’s vice president and designated future leader, when he visited the United States. Toasting Xi at a Valentine’s Day lunch, Biden ran through a litany of grievances, from Chinese theft of intellectual property to human rights abuses.

“Cooperation, as you and I have spoken about, can only be mutually beneficial if the game is fair,” Biden said as Xi looked on.

On a trip to China the following year, Biden publicly criticized China for refusing to say if it would renew the visas of American correspondents and for blocking the websites of U.S.-based news media. Several years later, China expelled correspondents for The New York Times and other publications.

Speaking as a president, to be sure, is different from as vice president. During his trip to Greece in 2011, Biden ruminated about the risks of commenting on the fiscal tensions between Greece and the European Union.

“You know, in the good old days when I was a senator, I was my own man,” Biden told reporters at the time. “I could just tell you my views. But now whatever I say is attributed to the administration.”

“I finally learned that,” said the man who now leads his own administration. “It took me about six months, but I got it down.”

 
&nbsp;

A decade ago, Joe Biden strode into a reception room in Athens for a meeting with the president of Greece, a country then drowning in debt and locked in tense negotiations with the European Union.

A decade ago, Joe Biden strode into a reception room in Athens for a meeting with the president of Greece, a country then drowning in debt and locked in tense negotiations with the European Union. “This man represents the Treasury Department,” a deadpan Biden said to his host as he gestured to a gray-suited member of his delegation. “He’s brought hundreds of millions of dollars.” Watch | The room broke up in laughter. It was clear the vice president had not come with a briefcase of cash to pay off Greece’s debts. But his joke captured a deeper truth: In 2011, many still viewed the United States as the ultimate guarantor of the international order. And Biden clearly saw himself as a steward of that legacy, his easy self-confidence the product of four decades as a globe-trotting senator. As Biden took the oath of office Wednesday, vowing to “repair our alliances and engage with the world once more,” the question for many overseas is whether they will see this man of the world anytime soon. In capitals from Europe to Asia, diplomats and foreign policy experts have questioned whether the United States is too divided, too weakened and too preoccupied by internal convulsions to play the kind of leadership role that Biden took for granted as a senator and vice president. Yet there are reasons to believe as president Biden will be more visible and more of an activist than many expect, even as he grapples with the pandemic, a massive economic recovery effort and the deep divisions left by the Trump era. From the people he has chosen for key foreign policy posts to the travel opportunities he has this year, those who know Biden say he is unlikely to stay off the global stage for long. “This is a guy who spent 40 years getting to know foreign leaders around the world,” said Peter Westmacott, who lived next door to Biden as British ambassador to Washington during the Obama administration. “Once you’ve got a flavor for international relationships, you don’t turn your back on all that.” Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German ambassador to the United States, said he expected Biden to draw on his personal relationships to mend bonds with European allies that had been sundered by former President Donald Trump. “Joe Biden is a master of networking, and he will easily repair the lack of trust,” said Ischinger, who now runs the Munich Security Forum. Ischinger’s immediate goal is to persuade the president to attend his influential annual conference. He has a decent chance of landing him; Biden has been a staple in Munich for years, most memorably in 2009, when he announced that former President Barack Obama wanted to hit the “reset button” with Russia. In his inaugural address, Biden said the “world is watching.” He promised that the United States had “come out stronger” from its recent stress test. And he pledged a restoration of American leadership in which, he said, “we’ll lead not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.” Biden is likely to make his formal debut at a meeting of Group of 7 leaders in June, which Britain is hosting at a seaside resort in Cornwall. He may expand that trip to include other European destinations, including Germany, where he could bid farewell to Chancellor Angela Merkel before she steps down after 16 years. In the fall, Biden is expected to attend a Group of 20 meeting in Rome and the United Nations’ climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, where he could showcase his decision to rejoin the Paris climate accord. Beyond dates in the diplomatic diary, experts contend that Biden’s appointments do not suggest an inward-looking White House. His choice of Kurt Campbell to serve as a high-level coordinator of Asia policy, for example, could foretell a tough line with China coupled with an energetic effort to reassure U.S. allies Japan and South Korea. As a State Department official in the Obama administration, Campbell devised the so-called “pivot” to Asia. “Biden has chosen people who understand and are committed to strategic competition,” said Thomas Wright, a foreign policy expert at the Brookings Institution. Some experts argue that the chaos at the Capitol had compromised the nation’s traditional role as a champion of democracy and that the cascading domestic crises would consume Biden’s energy, distracting from world affairs. “Ambitious foreign policy goals are completely out of step with the realities of the country’s domestic political and economic dysfunction,” Emma Ashford, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, wrote in Foreign Policy. “How can the United States spread democracy or act as an example for others if it barely has a functioning democracy at home?” But Wright argued that the homegrown threats to democracy should strengthen the Biden administration’s resolve to fight human rights abuses by China, Russia and other autocratic governments. “I’ve never understood the trade-off between ambition at home and ambition overseas,” he said. “It’s precisely because democracy is challenged at home that the U.S. needs to be more energetic in defending democracy overseas.” The links between domestic and foreign policy were reinforced by the appointment of Susan Rice, who served as national security adviser to Obama, as director of Biden’s domestic policy council. Key domestic priorities like the pandemic, experts pointed out, are also global challenges. Another top Biden aide, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, used Twitter to weigh in on sensitive issues before his boss took office. He condemned Russia’s arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, appealed to the European Union to think twice before signing an investment treaty with China, and said Trump’s designation of the Houthi rebels in Yemen as a terrorist group “will only inflict more suffering on Yemeni people.” Whether the Biden administration will back up those words with action remains to be seen, of course. But some say that Biden’s instincts, temperament and background as a longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee make him unlikely to shrug off chances to command the world stage. As vice president, he reveled in his access to world leaders. On a trip to Turkey in 2011, there were doubts that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was recuperating from a medical procedure, would see him. Instead, Erdogan invited him to his private residence, where the two men, wearing slippers, spoke for two hours about Syria and Iran. “I don’t want to sound like I’m inflating my importance or relationship with him,” a chuffed Biden told reporters, “but we have listened to each other. And he was genuinely listening to my perspective and wasn’t challenging it.” At other times, Biden has taken pride in his readiness to speak bluntly to foreign leaders. He famously walked out of a dinner with Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, in 2009 after a rancorous exchange over corruption. In 2012, Biden was assigned to play host to Xi Jinping, then China’s vice president and designated future leader, when he visited the United States. Toasting Xi at a Valentine’s Day lunch, Biden ran through a litany of grievances, from Chinese theft of intellectual property to human rights abuses. “Cooperation, as you and I have spoken about, can only be mutually beneficial if the game is fair,” Biden said as Xi looked on. On a trip to China the following year, Biden publicly criticized China for refusing to say if it would renew the visas of American correspondents and for blocking the websites of U.S.-based news media. Several years later, China expelled correspondents for The New York Times and other publications. Speaking as a president, to be sure, is different from as vice president. During his trip to Greece in 2011, Biden ruminated about the risks of commenting on the fiscal tensions between Greece and the European Union. “You know, in the good old days when I was a senator, I was my own man,” Biden told reporters at the time. “I could just tell you my views. But now whatever I say is attributed to the administration.” “I finally learned that,” said the man who now leads his own administration. “It took me about six months, but I got it down.”

Will Biden be an activist president on the world stage?

People protesting against US President Joe Biden's inauguration vandalised a Democratic Party office and other buildings in Oregon on Thursday. The vandalism and violence was seen in Seattle as well. Protesters dressed in black with their faces covered broke windows and a glass door of a Democratic Party of Oregon office in Portland. Video posted on social media showed that the protesters even spray-painted an anarchist symbol over Democratic Party sign.

"We don't want Biden. We want revenge for police murders, imperialist wars, and fascist massacres," read a banner they marched under.

Joe Biden was sworn in on Wednesday. In his inaugural speech, Biden urged unity and restoration.

Portland has been the scene of unrest for months, with civil rights, anarchist and anti-fascist protesters scuffling with police and occasionally with right-wing militias and Trump supporters.

The protests began in last summer after George Floyd's death, the Black man who died in Minneapolis in May after police pinned his neck to the ground for nearly nine minutes.

Eight people were arrested in Portland on suspicion of offences including rioting and reckless burning, while two people were arrested in Seattle, one for assault and another for property damage, police said.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/a-visibly-relieved-china-warms-up-to-joe-biden-congratulates-him-358356">A visibly relieved China warms up to Joe Biden, congratulates him</a>

In their statement, the police said that about 150 protesters scuffled with police on bicycles before heading to Democratic Party office.

In Seattle, police said multiple sites had been vandalized and posted pictures of the damage, including what appeared to be of an Amazon Go store.

(With Reuters inputs)

People protesting against US President Joe Biden's inauguration vandalised a Democratic Party office and other buildings in Oregon on Thursday. The vandalism and violence was seen in Seattle as well.

People protesting against US President Joe Biden's inauguration vandalised a Democratic Party office and other buildings in Oregon on Thursday. The vandalism and violence was seen in Seattle as well. Protesters dressed in black with their faces covered broke windows and a glass door of a Democratic Party of Oregon office in Portland. Video posted on social media showed that the protesters even spray-painted an anarchist symbol over Democratic Party sign. "We don't want Biden. We want revenge for police murders, imperialist wars, and fascist massacres," read a banner they marched under. Joe Biden was sworn in on Wednesday. In his inaugural speech, Biden urged unity and restoration. Portland has been the scene of unrest for months, with civil rights, anarchist and anti-fascist protesters scuffling with police and occasionally with right-wing militias and Trump supporters. The protests began in last summer after George Floyd's death, the Black man who died in Minneapolis in May after police pinned his neck to the ground for nearly nine minutes. Eight people were arrested in Portland on suspicion of offences including rioting and reckless burning, while two people were arrested in Seattle, one for assault and another for property damage, police said. Also Read | A visibly relieved China warms up to Joe Biden, congratulates him In their statement, the police said that about 150 protesters scuffled with police on bicycles before heading to Democratic Party office. In Seattle, police said multiple sites had been vandalized and posted pictures of the damage, including what appeared to be of an Amazon Go store. (With Reuters inputs)

Portland: Protesters opposing Biden's inauguration vandalise Democratic Party office

A visibly relieved China warms up to Joe Biden, congratulates him

China on Thursday congratulated new US President Joe Biden, asking him to heal and rebuild the severely damaged bilateral ties by his predecessor Donald Trump | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/a-visibly-relieved-china-warms-up-to-joe-biden-congratulates-him-358356">READ MORE</a>

PM Narendra Modi to receive coronavirus jab in second phase: Reports

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will receive coronavirus vaccine in the second phase of the mass vaccination drive launched last week, sources said on Thursday | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/pm-narendra-modi-to-receive-coronavirus-jab-in-second-phase-reports-358347">READ MORE</a>

Kamala Harris' Indian family is waiting for her to become president

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Philippines: Magnitude 7 earthquake detected at sea

A major earthquake was detected at sea near the Philippines on Thursday evening | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/philippines-magnitude-68-earthquake-detected-at-sea-358344">READ MORE</a>

In an about-turn, US thanks WHO for leading global Covid response

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China to gift Pakistan half million doses of Sinopharm vaccine

China will provide half a million doses of its Sinopharm COVID-19 free of cost to Pakistan by January 31 | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-to-gift-pakistan-half-million-doses-of-sinopharm-vaccine-358349">READ MORE</a>

It's going to be legendary at 21 mins past 9 tonight. And we're intrigued!

Every once in a while, there comes a date that proves to be a bit more legendary than other numbers on a calendar. January 21, 2021 is one of those days | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/its-going-to-be-legendary-at-21-mins-past-9-tonight-and-were-intrigued-358343">READ MORE</a>

Mars' glaciers give insights on the planet's many ice ages

A new study on glaciers has said that Mars has been hit by six and 20 ice ages in the past 300 to 800 million years | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/mars-glaciers-give-insights-on-the-planets-many-ice-ages-358330">READ MORE&nbsp;</a>

Cautious welcome for Biden in Gulf amid yet uncertain Iran policy

Print media in Arab states of the Gulf gave a cautious welcome to US President Joe Biden who was sworn in as 46th President of the USA on Wednesday | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/cautious-welcome-for-biden-in-gulf-amid-yet-uncertain-iran-policy-358313">READ MORE</a>

Biden unveils ambitious Covid strategy on first day of office

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Mongolian PM resigns after protests over Covid-19 mother's treatment

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Russia tells social networks: Stop promoting anti-Kremlin Navalny protests to minors

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A visibly relieved China warms up to Joe Biden, congratulates him China on Thursday congratulated new US President Joe Biden, asking him to heal and rebuild the severely damaged bilateral ties by his predecessor Donald Trump | READ MORE PM Narendra Modi to receive coronavirus jab in second phase: Reports Prime Minister Narendra Modi will receive coronavirus vaccine in the second phase of the mass vaccination drive launched last week, sources said on Thursday | READ MORE Kamala Harris' Indian family is waiting for her to become president Kamala Harris' family in India huddled around their television set to watch her inauguration as she created history on Wednesday | READ MORE Philippines: Magnitude 7 earthquake detected at sea A major earthquake was detected at sea near the Philippines on Thursday evening | READ MORE In an about-turn, US thanks WHO for leading global Covid response The new US administration on Thursday thanked the World Health Organisation (WHO) for leading the global pandemic response and vowed to remain a member state | READ MORE China to gift Pakistan half million doses of Sinopharm vaccine China will provide half a million doses of its Sinopharm COVID-19 free of cost to Pakistan by January 31 | READ MORE It's going to be legendary at 21 mins past 9 tonight.

A visibly relieved China warms up to Joe Biden, congratulates him China on Thursday congratulated new US President Joe Biden, asking him to heal and rebuild the severely damaged bilateral ties by his predecessor Donald Trump | READ MORE PM Narendra Modi to receive coronavirus jab in second phase: Reports Prime Minister Narendra Modi will receive coronavirus vaccine in the second phase of the mass vaccination drive launched last week, sources said on Thursday | READ MORE Kamala Harris' Indian family is waiting for her to become president Kamala Harris' family in India huddled around their television set to watch her inauguration as she created history on Wednesday | READ MORE Philippines: Magnitude 7 earthquake detected at sea A major earthquake was detected at sea near the Philippines on Thursday evening | READ MORE In an about-turn, US thanks WHO for leading global Covid response The new US administration on Thursday thanked the World Health Organisation (WHO) for leading the global pandemic response and vowed to remain a member state | READ MORE China to gift Pakistan half million doses of Sinopharm vaccine China will provide half a million doses of its Sinopharm COVID-19 free of cost to Pakistan by January 31 | READ MORE It's going to be legendary at 21 mins past 9 tonight. And we're intrigued! Every once in a while, there comes a date that proves to be a bit more legendary than other numbers on a calendar. January 21, 2021 is one of those days | READ MORE Mars' glaciers give insights on the planet's many ice ages A new study on glaciers has said that Mars has been hit by six and 20 ice ages in the past 300 to 800 million years | READ MORE Cautious welcome for Biden in Gulf amid yet uncertain Iran policy Print media in Arab states of the Gulf gave a cautious welcome to US President Joe Biden who was sworn in as 46th President of the USA on Wednesday | READ MORE Biden unveils ambitious Covid strategy on first day of office The newly formed administration in the United States, led by Joe Biden, unveiled a detailed Covid-19 roadmap Thursday to boost vaccinations and testing while centering scientific expertise | READ MORE Mongolian PM resigns after protests over Covid-19 mother's treatment Mongolia's prime minister resigned Thursday following protests and public outrage over the treatment of a coronavirus patient and her newborn baby | READ MORE Russia tells social networks: Stop promoting anti-Kremlin Navalny protests to minors Russia has asked social networks, including the video-sharing app TikTok, to stop the spread of posts encouraging minors to take part in unsanctioned rallies on Saturday in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny | READ MORE

Top ten world news: China warms up to Biden, Modi to soon receive Covid jab, and more

US President Joe Biden signed a series of executive orders&nbsp;shortly after being sworn on Wednesday, undoing policies put in place by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.

The orders included keeping the United States in the&nbsp;World Health Organization, ending the ban on entries from mostly Muslim-majority countries, bolstering environmental protections and strengthening the fight against Covid-19.

Also see:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/from-trillion-package-to-paris-agreement-heres-how-joe-biden-plans-to-tackle-climate-change-358022">From trillion package to Paris agreement, here's how Joe Biden plans to tackle climate change</a>

Also among the directives was a halt to construction of the wall on the US-Mexico border, and efforts to expand diversity and equality for minority groups in the federal government.

"Mexico welcomes the end of the construction of the wall, the immigration initiative in favour of DACA and a path to dual citizenship," Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard wrote on Twitter.

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México saluda el fin de la construcción del muro, la iniciativa migratoria en favor de DACA y un camino hacia la doble ciudadanía. 
 
Como escribió el presidente <a href="https://twitter.com/Lopez_Obrador?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lopez_obrador</a> hace unos años al ahora presidente <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoeBiden</a> los puentes abren paso a la cooperación y al entendimiento.
— Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) <a href="https://twitter.com/m_ebrard/status/1352065930541621257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2021</a></blockquote>
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He was referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to regularize the immigration status of young people who arrived illegally as children, which Trump tried to shut down.

Biden's orders were aimed at reversing decisions by his predecessor Donald Trump and setting a clear policy path for Biden's new administration, just hours after he was sworn in as president.

"Some of the executive actions I'm going to be signing today are going to help change the course of the COVID crisis, we're going to combat climate change in a way that we haven't done so far and advance racial equity and support other underserved communities" said&nbsp;Biden. “These are just all starting points”.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/pandemic-economic-crisis-racial-injustice-climate-crisis-threats-to-our-democracy-says-president-biden-from-lincoln-memorial-358219" hreflang="en">Pandemic, economic crisis, racial injustice threats to our democracy: Biden</a>

Biden&nbsp;signed a document to begin the process of re-entering the Paris climate accord and issued a sweeping order tackling climate change, including revoking the presidential permit granted to the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Among a raft of orders addressing immigration,&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;revoked Trump's emergency declaration that helped fund the construction of a border wall and ended a travel ban on some majority-Muslim countries.

The Day One plans were just the start of a flurry of executive actions&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;would take soon after entering office, said his press secretary, Jen Psaki.

"In the coming days and weeks, we will be announcing additional executive actions that confront these challenges and deliver on the president-elect's promises to the American people," Psaki said.

Further actions would include revoking the ban on military service by transgender Americans, and reversing a policy that blocks US&nbsp;funding for programs overseas linked to abortion.

On the economic front,&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;asked the US&nbsp;Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to extend a moratorium on evictions until the end of March, and the Department of Education to suspend student loan payments until the end of September.

US President Joe Biden signed a series of executive orders shortly after being sworn on Wednesday, undoing policies put in place by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.

US President Joe Biden signed a series of executive orders shortly after being sworn on Wednesday, undoing policies put in place by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump. The orders included keeping the United States in the World Health Organization, ending the ban on entries from mostly Muslim-majority countries, bolstering environmental protections and strengthening the fight against Covid-19. Also see: From trillion package to Paris agreement, here's how Joe Biden plans to tackle climate change Also among the directives was a halt to construction of the wall on the US-Mexico border, and efforts to expand diversity and equality for minority groups in the federal government. "Mexico welcomes the end of the construction of the wall, the immigration initiative in favour of DACA and a path to dual citizenship," Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard wrote on Twitter. México saluda el fin de la construcción del muro, la iniciativa migratoria en favor de DACA y un camino hacia la doble ciudadanía. Como escribió el presidente @lopez_obrador hace unos años al ahora presidente @JoeBiden los puentes abren paso a la cooperación y al entendimiento. — Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) January 21, 2021 × He was referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to regularize the immigration status of young people who arrived illegally as children, which Trump tried to shut down. Biden's orders were aimed at reversing decisions by his predecessor Donald Trump and setting a clear policy path for Biden's new administration, just hours after he was sworn in as president. "Some of the executive actions I'm going to be signing today are going to help change the course of the COVID crisis, we're going to combat climate change in a way that we haven't done so far and advance racial equity and support other underserved communities" said Biden. “These are just all starting points”. Also read: Pandemic, economic crisis, racial injustice threats to our democracy: Biden Biden signed a document to begin the process of re-entering the Paris climate accord and issued a sweeping order tackling climate change, including revoking the presidential permit granted to the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline. Among a raft of orders addressing immigration, Biden revoked Trump's emergency declaration that helped fund the construction of a border wall and ended a travel ban on some majority-Muslim countries. The Day One plans were just the start of a flurry of executive actions Biden would take soon after entering office, said his press secretary, Jen Psaki. "In the coming days and weeks, we will be announcing additional executive actions that confront these challenges and deliver on the president-elect's promises to the American people," Psaki said. Further actions would include revoking the ban on military service by transgender Americans, and reversing a policy that blocks US funding for programs overseas linked to abortion. On the economic front, Biden asked the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to extend a moratorium on evictions until the end of March, and the Department of Education to suspend student loan payments until the end of September.

Joe Biden signs raft of orders, rolls back Trump policies on coronavirus, immigration and more

The newly formed administration in the United States, led by Joe Biden, unveiled a detailed Covid-19 roadmap Thursday to boost vaccinations and testing while centering scientific expertise.

President Biden, during his inaugural speech on Wednesday, warned the pandemic was entering its "deadliest period."&nbsp;His presidency will initially be shaped by his response to Covid-19 and the associated economic emergency.

Whereas Trump seldom acknowledged the tragic toll the virus was inflicting on Americans, Biden paused in his inaugural address -- which the public was essentially barred from attending due to the pandemic -- to offer a moment's silent prayer for its victims.

Officials said Biden would immediately sign 10 executive orders and other directives to jumpstart the national strategy, which experts said was sorely missing under his predecessor Donald Trump.

The US is the world's hardest-hit country with more than 405,000 deaths, and government models suggest the B.1.1.7 variant imported from Britain could supercharge the outbreak's trajectory in the coming months.

"For almost a year now, Americans could not look to the federal government for any strategy, let alone a comprehensive approach to respond to Covid," Jeff Zients, a former management consultant who is Biden's new Covid-19 task force coordinator, told reporters.

Biden's plan has organised goals like restoring the trust of the American people, surging the vaccination campaign, and mitigating viral spread through aggressive masking and testing, while expanding the public health workforce.

It also seeks to expand emergency relief and invoke emergency legislation to increase industrial production;&nbsp;safely reopen schools, businesses and travel; protect the most vulnerable and advance racial equity; and restore US global leadership with future pandemic preparedness.

The administration is seeking $1.9 trillion from Congress for its plans, which includes $20 billion for vaccines and $50 billion for testing.

A few measures were already announced in recent days, including recommending that the eligibility criteria for vaccine priority groups be widened and simplified in order to increase the rate of shots being injected.

As it stands, the federal government has overseen the allocation of 35.9 million doses to states, of which 16.5 million have been used -- or 46 per cent.&nbsp;

The administration will also continue the policy of rolling out vaccine doses for Pfizer and Moderna's two-shot regimes as soon as they become available.

The Trump team had initially set aside the booster as reserve, but later changed course after running low on supply.

Executive orders would also be advanced to establish a pandemic testing board, to boost research efforts into treatments, and create a Health Equity Task Force.

This group, headed by Yale associate professor Marcella Nunez-Smith, will advise the president on allocating resources and funding in communities affected by inequities linked to race, geography and disability.

The administration also plans to invoke the Defence Production Act to boost supply of personal protective equipment, lab equipment and to maximize vaccine production.&nbsp;

Tim Manning, who will coordinate supply chain issues, told reporters he had identified 12 supply shortfalls where the law could be invoked.

Biden's team has relentlessly criticised the Trump administration in recent weeks over its failure in particular to adequately plan for the last mile of its Covid response and get vaccines developed at record speed into arms.

An early test will be whether they achieve their own goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans within Biden's first 100 days in office, by April 20.

(with inputs from agencies)

The newly formed administration in the United States, led by Joe Biden, unveiled a detailed Covid-19 roadmap Thursday to boost vaccinations and testing while centering scientific expertise.

The newly formed administration in the United States, led by Joe Biden, unveiled a detailed Covid-19 roadmap Thursday to boost vaccinations and testing while centering scientific expertise. President Biden, during his inaugural speech on Wednesday, warned the pandemic was entering its "deadliest period." His presidency will initially be shaped by his response to Covid-19 and the associated economic emergency. Whereas Trump seldom acknowledged the tragic toll the virus was inflicting on Americans, Biden paused in his inaugural address -- which the public was essentially barred from attending due to the pandemic -- to offer a moment's silent prayer for its victims. Officials said Biden would immediately sign 10 executive orders and other directives to jumpstart the national strategy, which experts said was sorely missing under his predecessor Donald Trump. The US is the world's hardest-hit country with more than 405,000 deaths, and government models suggest the B.1.1.7 variant imported from Britain could supercharge the outbreak's trajectory in the coming months. "For almost a year now, Americans could not look to the federal government for any strategy, let alone a comprehensive approach to respond to Covid," Jeff Zients, a former management consultant who is Biden's new Covid-19 task force coordinator, told reporters. Biden's plan has organised goals like restoring the trust of the American people, surging the vaccination campaign, and mitigating viral spread through aggressive masking and testing, while expanding the public health workforce. It also seeks to expand emergency relief and invoke emergency legislation to increase industrial production; safely reopen schools, businesses and travel; protect the most vulnerable and advance racial equity; and restore US global leadership with future pandemic preparedness. The administration is seeking $1.9 trillion from Congress for its plans, which includes $20 billion for vaccines and $50 billion for testing. A few measures were already announced in recent days, including recommending that the eligibility criteria for vaccine priority groups be widened and simplified in order to increase the rate of shots being injected. As it stands, the federal government has overseen the allocation of 35.9 million doses to states, of which 16.5 million have been used -- or 46 per cent. The administration will also continue the policy of rolling out vaccine doses for Pfizer and Moderna's two-shot regimes as soon as they become available. The Trump team had initially set aside the booster as reserve, but later changed course after running low on supply. Executive orders would also be advanced to establish a pandemic testing board, to boost research efforts into treatments, and create a Health Equity Task Force. This group, headed by Yale associate professor Marcella Nunez-Smith, will advise the president on allocating resources and funding in communities affected by inequities linked to race, geography and disability. The administration also plans to invoke the Defence Production Act to boost supply of personal protective equipment, lab equipment and to maximize vaccine production. Tim Manning, who will coordinate supply chain issues, told reporters he had identified 12 supply shortfalls where the law could be invoked. Biden's team has relentlessly criticised the Trump administration in recent weeks over its failure in particular to adequately plan for the last mile of its Covid response and get vaccines developed at record speed into arms. An early test will be whether they achieve their own goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans within Biden's first 100 days in office, by April 20. (with inputs from agencies)

Biden unveils ambitious Covid strategy on first day of office

China on Thursday congratulated new US President Joe Biden, asking him to heal and rebuild the severely damaged bilateral ties by his predecessor Donald Trump.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, known for fiery retorts against the US, welcomed Biden's first moves to join the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organisation (WHO) which was trashed by Trump as a puppet of China over its conduct to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

"We express congratulations on the inauguration of President Biden. I noted many US media say this is a new day in America. We hope Biden will be successful in governance," she said.

"I noticed the word unity has been mentioned several times in his inaugural speech. This is what is urgently needed in our bilateral relations," she said, adding that over the past four years "a handful of US politicians made so many lies and incited so much hatred and division."

"Chinese and Americans have fallen victims to this," she said and asked the new US administration to bring the damaged China-US ties on the right track.

"We have different social systems, development stages and historical culture. It is only natural for us to have differences. Just as Biden said democracy should allow the right to dissent and disagreement must not lead to disunion, this should also be true to international relations," she said.

"Countries with different ideologies, social systems and culture can live in harmony and achieve the goal of common development and peace and development for the world," she said.

On Wednesday, as the curtain came down on the Trump administration, China heaved a sigh of relief, hoping that the most torrid period in Beijing-Washington ties will have some cooling period.

Biden, who in his inaugural speech mainly focussed on forging unity at home, did not mention China even once, in sharp contrast to Trump but did not offer any clear signals to fix the damaged ties, official media here reported.

The ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) headed by President Xi Jinping had struggled to deal with Donald Trump -- what China's officials say is the most elusive and unpredictable American leader ever.

During his tenure, Trump, a Republican, pushed aggressively on all aspects of US-China ties, including with his relentless trade war, challenging China's military hold on the disputed South China Sea, its constant threats to Taiwan and branding coronavirus as "China virus" after it emerged from Wuhan in December 2019 as well as Xinjiang and Tibet issues.

Minutes after Biden was sworn in as the new President, China imposed sanctions against former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and 27 others associated with the previous Trump administration for promoting and executing "crazy moves", which "gravely" undermined its interests.

The sanctions were largely symbolic but highlight China's anger and contempt for them.

"These individuals and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China. They and companies and institutions associated with them are also restricted from doing business with China," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a press release, announcing the sanctions.

In her lengthy answer to China's response to change of guard in Washington, Hua said on Thursday that "Biden also mentioned Americans have much to heal and much to restore. This is also the same to China-US relations".

"In the past four years, the US administration, especially Pompeo, has laid too many mines that need to be removed, burned too many bridges that need to be rebuilt and damaged too many roads that need to be restored,? she said.

"The two sides should show courage and wisdom. We need to heed and listen to each other with respect," she said and hoped that "better angels" from two sides will "surely defeat the evil forces".

China on Thursday congratulated new US President Joe Biden, asking him to heal and rebuild the severely damaged bilateral ties by his predecessor Donald Trump. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, known for fiery retorts against the US, welcomed Biden's first moves to join the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organisation (WHO) which was trashed by Trump as a puppet of China over its conduct to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

China on Thursday congratulated new US President Joe Biden, asking him to heal and rebuild the severely damaged bilateral ties by his predecessor Donald Trump. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, known for fiery retorts against the US, welcomed Biden's first moves to join the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organisation (WHO) which was trashed by Trump as a puppet of China over its conduct to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. "We express congratulations on the inauguration of President Biden. I noted many US media say this is a new day in America. We hope Biden will be successful in governance," she said. "I noticed the word unity has been mentioned several times in his inaugural speech. This is what is urgently needed in our bilateral relations," she said, adding that over the past four years "a handful of US politicians made so many lies and incited so much hatred and division." "Chinese and Americans have fallen victims to this," she said and asked the new US administration to bring the damaged China-US ties on the right track. "We have different social systems, development stages and historical culture. It is only natural for us to have differences. Just as Biden said democracy should allow the right to dissent and disagreement must not lead to disunion, this should also be true to international relations," she said. "Countries with different ideologies, social systems and culture can live in harmony and achieve the goal of common development and peace and development for the world," she said. On Wednesday, as the curtain came down on the Trump administration, China heaved a sigh of relief, hoping that the most torrid period in Beijing-Washington ties will have some cooling period. Biden, who in his inaugural speech mainly focussed on forging unity at home, did not mention China even once, in sharp contrast to Trump but did not offer any clear signals to fix the damaged ties, official media here reported. The ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) headed by President Xi Jinping had struggled to deal with Donald Trump -- what China's officials say is the most elusive and unpredictable American leader ever. During his tenure, Trump, a Republican, pushed aggressively on all aspects of US-China ties, including with his relentless trade war, challenging China's military hold on the disputed South China Sea, its constant threats to Taiwan and branding coronavirus as "China virus" after it emerged from Wuhan in December 2019 as well as Xinjiang and Tibet issues. Minutes after Biden was sworn in as the new President, China imposed sanctions against former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and 27 others associated with the previous Trump administration for promoting and executing "crazy moves", which "gravely" undermined its interests. The sanctions were largely symbolic but highlight China's anger and contempt for them. "These individuals and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China. They and companies and institutions associated with them are also restricted from doing business with China," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a press release, announcing the sanctions. In her lengthy answer to China's response to change of guard in Washington, Hua said on Thursday that "Biden also mentioned Americans have much to heal and much to restore. This is also the same to China-US relations". "In the past four years, the US administration, especially Pompeo, has laid too many mines that need to be removed, burned too many bridges that need to be rebuilt and damaged too many roads that need to be restored,? she said. "The two sides should show courage and wisdom. We need to heed and listen to each other with respect," she said and hoped that "better angels" from two sides will "surely defeat the evil forces".

A visibly relieved China warms up to Joe Biden, congratulates him

US President Joe Biden and his family have entered the White House for the first time after being his swearing-in&nbsp;ceremony on Wednesday.

Biden's first telephone conversation with a foreign leader will be with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and it will happen on Friday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

Standing on the steps of the US Capitol that was ransacked by pro-Trump mobs exactly two weeks earlier, Biden was sworn in moments after Kamala Harris took the oath as America's first woman vice president.

"Democracy is precious, democracy is fragile and at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed," Biden said before a National Mall that was virtually empty due to the ultra-tight security and a raging Covid-19 pandemic that he vowed to confront immediately.

"We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts, if we show a little tolerance and humility and we're willing to stand in the other person's shoes," he said.

"Together we shall write an American story of hope, not fear, of unity, not division, of light, not darkness. A story of decency and dignity, love and healing and goodness."

But Trump, who falsely said that he was cheated out of a second term and egged on his supporters before their rampage at the Capitol, broke 152 years of tradition by refusing to attend his successor's inauguration.

Biden pushed through a flurry of orders the moment he entered the White House, starting with rejoining the 2015 Paris climate accord, from which the United States was the sole outlier after a withdrawal by Trump, an ally of the fossil fuel industry.

"We are going to combat&nbsp;climate&nbsp;change in a way we have not done so far," the new US leader said in the Oval Office as he signed papers to rejoin the Paris deal, which was negotiated by Barack Obama when Biden was his vice president.

Biden also halted the US exit from the World Health Organization, rescinded a ban on visitors from several Muslim-majority nations and halted construction of Trump's cherished wall on the Mexican border.

'President for all Americans'

In his inaugural address, Biden appealed to supporters of Trump, who shattered political norms by ruthlessly belittling rivals, denouncing entire ethnic groups and trying to cast doubt on basic facts.

"I will be a president for all Americans," the veteran Democrat said.

But Biden confronted head-on the rise of domestic extremism, as evidenced during Trump's presidency by the Capitol mob, deadly attacks on synagogues and immigrants, and a violent march by neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The United States faces "a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront, and we will defeat," Biden said.

"Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear and demonization have long torn us apart."

At 78, Biden is the oldest-ever US president, a job he first sought in 1987. He is only the second Roman Catholic president after John F Kennedy and swore his oath on a bulging old family Bible.&nbsp;

Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, became the highest-ranking woman in US history, and the first Black person and first person of Asian heritage as the nation's number two.&nbsp;

She and her husband Doug Emhoff -- America's first-ever "second gentleman" -- were escorted to the inauguration by Eugene Goodman, a Black police officer at the Capitol who was seen luring the mostly white mob away from the Senate chambers in a video that went viral.

Empty Washington

Central Washington took on the dystopian look of an armed camp, protected by some 25,000 National Guard troops tasked with preventing any repeat of the January 6 violence.&nbsp;

With the public essentially barred from attending due to the pandemic, Biden's audience at the National Mall instead was 200,000 flags planted to represent the absent crowds.

Biden, who has vowed a major escalation in the nation's Covid vaccination drive, warned that the "toughest and deadliest period" was still ahead.&nbsp;

So far, more than 400,000 people have died of Covid in the United States, more than in any other country.

"We must set aside politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation," he said, striking a new tone after Trump's mockery of mask-wearing and business closings meant to halt the virus.

While the public crowds were gone, Biden brought in celebrity power -- absent four years ago with Trump.

Lady Gaga, in a dress with a black bodice and a billowing red skirt, sang the national anthem and Tom Hanks prepared to host a televised evening appearance with the new president.

Jennifer Lopez sang a pop rendition of "This Land is Your Land," often considered the unofficial US national anthem, ending it by exclaiming the final words of the pledge of allegiance -- "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" -- in Spanish.

The new first lady, Jill Biden, invited a 22-year-old poet, Amanda Gorman, who became a star of the day with verse on how democracy "can never be permanently defeated."

Biden and Harris started their administration by jointly paying respects to fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery followed by an inaugural parade -- devoid of the usual crowds -- that featured both an Army fife and drum corps in the red coats of George Washington's time, and a drumline and dancers from Howard University, the historically Black institution that counts the new vice president as a graduate.

Trump vows to be back

Trump left Washington hours before the inauguration, walking on a red carpet on the White House lawn with his wife Melania into the Marine One presidential helicopter, which flew near the inauguration-ready Capitol before heading to Andrews Air Force Base.

"This has been an incredible four years," Trump told several hundred cheering supporters at a campaign-style event with cannons before leaving for his Florida resort in his last trip on Air Force One.

"We will be back in some form," vowed Trump, who retains a hold on much of the Republican Party despite being the first president to be impeached twice.

In a first hint of graciousness, Trump wished the next administration "great luck and great success" -- without saying Biden's name.

Biden said that Trump left him a traditional letter that was "very generous" but declined to reveal the contents.

Mike Pence, the outgoing vice president who clashed with Trump in his final days by acknowledging he could not overturn the election, attended the inauguration and was spotted laughing with Harris.

Also taking part were former presidents Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and their wives -- including Hillary Clinton, for whom Biden's victory was especially sweet four years after her narrow, surprise defeat to Trump.

In the middle of his last night at the White House, Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of 73 people including his former campaign chief Steve Bannon, who was charged with defrauding donors who thought they were building Trump's wall.

US President Joe Biden and his family have entered the White House for the first time after being his swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday. Biden's first telephone conversation with a foreign leader will be with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and it will happen on Friday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

US President Joe Biden and his family have entered the White House for the first time after being his swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday. Biden's first telephone conversation with a foreign leader will be with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and it will happen on Friday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. Standing on the steps of the US Capitol that was ransacked by pro-Trump mobs exactly two weeks earlier, Biden was sworn in moments after Kamala Harris took the oath as America's first woman vice president. "Democracy is precious, democracy is fragile and at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed," Biden said before a National Mall that was virtually empty due to the ultra-tight security and a raging Covid-19 pandemic that he vowed to confront immediately. "We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts, if we show a little tolerance and humility and we're willing to stand in the other person's shoes," he said. "Together we shall write an American story of hope, not fear, of unity, not division, of light, not darkness. A story of decency and dignity, love and healing and goodness." But Trump, who falsely said that he was cheated out of a second term and egged on his supporters before their rampage at the Capitol, broke 152 years of tradition by refusing to attend his successor's inauguration. Biden pushed through a flurry of orders the moment he entered the White House, starting with rejoining the 2015 Paris climate accord, from which the United States was the sole outlier after a withdrawal by Trump, an ally of the fossil fuel industry. "We are going to combat climate change in a way we have not done so far," the new US leader said in the Oval Office as he signed papers to rejoin the Paris deal, which was negotiated by Barack Obama when Biden was his vice president. Biden also halted the US exit from the World Health Organization, rescinded a ban on visitors from several Muslim-majority nations and halted construction of Trump's cherished wall on the Mexican border. 'President for all Americans' In his inaugural address, Biden appealed to supporters of Trump, who shattered political norms by ruthlessly belittling rivals, denouncing entire ethnic groups and trying to cast doubt on basic facts. "I will be a president for all Americans," the veteran Democrat said. But Biden confronted head-on the rise of domestic extremism, as evidenced during Trump's presidency by the Capitol mob, deadly attacks on synagogues and immigrants, and a violent march by neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia. The United States faces "a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront, and we will defeat," Biden said. "Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear and demonization have long torn us apart." At 78, Biden is the oldest-ever US president, a job he first sought in 1987. He is only the second Roman Catholic president after John F Kennedy and swore his oath on a bulging old family Bible. Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, became the highest-ranking woman in US history, and the first Black person and first person of Asian heritage as the nation's number two. She and her husband Doug Emhoff -- America's first-ever "second gentleman" -- were escorted to the inauguration by Eugene Goodman, a Black police officer at the Capitol who was seen luring the mostly white mob away from the Senate chambers in a video that went viral. Empty Washington Central Washington took on the dystopian look of an armed camp, protected by some 25,000 National Guard troops tasked with preventing any repeat of the January 6 violence. With the public essentially barred from attending due to the pandemic, Biden's audience at the National Mall instead was 200,000 flags planted to represent the absent crowds. Biden, who has vowed a major escalation in the nation's Covid vaccination drive, warned that the "toughest and deadliest period" was still ahead. So far, more than 400,000 people have died of Covid in the United States, more than in any other country. "We must set aside politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation," he said, striking a new tone after Trump's mockery of mask-wearing and business closings meant to halt the virus. While the public crowds were gone, Biden brought in celebrity power -- absent four years ago with Trump. Lady Gaga, in a dress with a black bodice and a billowing red skirt, sang the national anthem and Tom Hanks prepared to host a televised evening appearance with the new president. Jennifer Lopez sang a pop rendition of "This Land is Your Land," often considered the unofficial US national anthem, ending it by exclaiming the final words of the pledge of allegiance -- "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" -- in Spanish. The new first lady, Jill Biden, invited a 22-year-old poet, Amanda Gorman, who became a star of the day with verse on how democracy "can never be permanently defeated." Biden and Harris started their administration by jointly paying respects to fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery followed by an inaugural parade -- devoid of the usual crowds -- that featured both an Army fife and drum corps in the red coats of George Washington's time, and a drumline and dancers from Howard University, the historically Black institution that counts the new vice president as a graduate. Trump vows to be back Trump left Washington hours before the inauguration, walking on a red carpet on the White House lawn with his wife Melania into the Marine One presidential helicopter, which flew near the inauguration-ready Capitol before heading to Andrews Air Force Base. "This has been an incredible four years," Trump told several hundred cheering supporters at a campaign-style event with cannons before leaving for his Florida resort in his last trip on Air Force One. "We will be back in some form," vowed Trump, who retains a hold on much of the Republican Party despite being the first president to be impeached twice. In a first hint of graciousness, Trump wished the next administration "great luck and great success" -- without saying Biden's name. Biden said that Trump left him a traditional letter that was "very generous" but declined to reveal the contents. Mike Pence, the outgoing vice president who clashed with Trump in his final days by acknowledging he could not overturn the election, attended the inauguration and was spotted laughing with Harris. Also taking part were former presidents Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and their wives -- including Hillary Clinton, for whom Biden's victory was especially sweet four years after her narrow, surprise defeat to Trump. In the middle of his last night at the White House, Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of 73 people including his former campaign chief Steve Bannon, who was charged with defrauding donors who thought they were building Trump's wall.

'Democracy has prevailed': First family enters the White House for first time

US President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Joe Biden's </a>inaugural speech that was based on unity, democracy and hope and widely praised by people worldwide was written by Indian American Vinay Reddy.&nbsp;

Here are some of the quotes from the speech that struck a chord.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/former-us-presidents-congratulate-biden-as-he-joins-office-as-46th-president-358287/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

"This is America's day, this is democracy's day, the day of history and hope. Today we celebrate a triumph, not of a candidate, but of a cause. We have learned again that democracy is precious, democracy is fragile. At this hour my friends, Democracy has prevailed."

Also, read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-president-joe-biden-inaugural-speech-full-text-358185">US President Joe Biden inaugural speech full text</a>

"Here we stand just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, to drive us from this sacred ground. It did not happen. It will never happen. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Not ever."

He also insisted that he will be a "president for all Americans",&nbsp;

Michael Beschloss, a presidential historian, described US president's speech in a tweet as "modest, austere, grave, calming, cleansing" and "inspiring".

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Biden’s inaugural speech was modest, austere, grave, calming, cleansing, inspiring.
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/BeschlossDC/status/1351941614206394378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Biden inaugural address will be known for three words: 
“Democracy has prevailed."
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/BeschlossDC/status/1351942140650278916?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Several people from the media fraternity also lauded Biden's speech, saying that he delivered what the US required at this moment.&nbsp;

"Biden's speech is about appealing to 'our better angels', 'history, faith, and reason', 'dignity', 'respect', 'unity'. It's literally a rebuttal to Trump's 'American carnage' Inaugural address," journalist Matt wrote in a tweet.&nbsp;

"Joe Biden gave the speech the moment demanded. Well done," Time magazine columnist David French in a tweet said.&nbsp;

Reddy, who grew up in Dayton, Ohio, has previously served as chief speechwriter to Biden during his second term as the Vice President.&nbsp;

He currently works as a speechwriter on the Biden-Harris Transition and was the Senior Advisor and Speechwriter for the Biden-Harris campaign for the election 2020. 
&nbsp;

US President Joe Biden's inaugural speech that was based on unity, democracy and hope and widely praised by people worldwide was written by Indian American Vinay Reddy.

US President Joe Biden's inaugural speech that was based on unity, democracy and hope and widely praised by people worldwide was written by Indian American Vinay Reddy. Here are some of the quotes from the speech that struck a chord. Watch | "This is America's day, this is democracy's day, the day of history and hope. Today we celebrate a triumph, not of a candidate, but of a cause. We have learned again that democracy is precious, democracy is fragile. At this hour my friends, Democracy has prevailed." Also, read | US President Joe Biden inaugural speech full text "Here we stand just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, to drive us from this sacred ground. It did not happen. It will never happen. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Not ever." He also insisted that he will be a "president for all Americans", Michael Beschloss, a presidential historian, described US president's speech in a tweet as "modest, austere, grave, calming, cleansing" and "inspiring". Biden’s inaugural speech was modest, austere, grave, calming, cleansing, inspiring. — Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) January 20, 2021 × Biden inaugural address will be known for three words: “Democracy has prevailed." — Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) January 20, 2021 × Several people from the media fraternity also lauded Biden's speech, saying that he delivered what the US required at this moment. "Biden's speech is about appealing to 'our better angels', 'history, faith, and reason', 'dignity', 'respect', 'unity'. It's literally a rebuttal to Trump's 'American carnage' Inaugural address," journalist Matt wrote in a tweet. "Joe Biden gave the speech the moment demanded. Well done," Time magazine columnist David French in a tweet said. Reddy, who grew up in Dayton, Ohio, has previously served as chief speechwriter to Biden during his second term as the Vice President. He currently works as a speechwriter on the Biden-Harris Transition and was the Senior Advisor and Speechwriter for the Biden-Harris campaign for the election 2020.

Widely praised Joe Biden's speech written by Indian American

Democrat Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th U.S. President on Wednesday (January 20), taking the helm of a country beset by deep political divides and battered by a raging coronavirus pandemic

Presidential Inauguration: Joe Biden sworn in as 46th US President

Print media in Arab states of the Gulf gave a cautious welcome to US President Joe Biden who was sworn in as 46th President of the USA on Wednesday. The caution appeared to be due to USA's yet uncertain stance towards Iran. Biden aides have indicated that the administration would be keen to re-enter 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. However, they have also cautioned Iran in recent past to not become complacent.

"Goodbye Trump, hello Biden," Saudi columnist Abdulrahman Al-Rashed wrote in the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat.

Like other Gulf commentators, he pointed to concerns over whether the new US administration's policies will mirror those of Barack Obama, for whom Biden served as vice president.

Biden is expected to re-adopt a less confrontational stance towards the Islamic republic, unlike Trump's policy of "maximum pressure" and high tensions.

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The nuclear deal with Iran was struck by USA under Barack Obama along with other world powers. The development was considered to be a landmark achievement and much political capital was spent in securing the deal.

However, Trump unilaterally took the USA out of the deal and applied "maximum pressure" on Iran. Under Trump, America also assassinated Iran's once-untouchable military commander Qasem Soleimani. Trump also cultivated close relations with Gulf monarchies

Saudi Arabia's pro-government Okaz asked whether the Biden administration would stand by Washington's Arab allies or "renew with their enemies".

In Bahrain, the paper Akhbar Al-Khaleej said Trump deserved "thanks and appreciation".

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/widely-praised-joe-bidens-speech-written-by-indian-american-358312">Widely praised Joe Biden's speech written by Indian American</a>

His "policies and positions against Iran have established a new reality in American dealings with Iran, and it will be difficult for the Biden administration to completely bypass them," its columnist Al-Sayed Zahra wrote.

Just across the Gulf from Iran, Bahrain is a longstanding Western ally and home to the US Fifth Fleet.

Print media in Arab states of the Gulf gave a cautious welcome to US President Joe Biden who was sworn in as 46th President of the USA on Wednesday. The caution appeared to be due to USA's yet uncertain stance towards Iran.

Print media in Arab states of the Gulf gave a cautious welcome to US President Joe Biden who was sworn in as 46th President of the USA on Wednesday. The caution appeared to be due to USA's yet uncertain stance towards Iran. Biden aides have indicated that the administration would be keen to re-enter 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. However, they have also cautioned Iran in recent past to not become complacent. "Goodbye Trump, hello Biden," Saudi columnist Abdulrahman Al-Rashed wrote in the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat. Like other Gulf commentators, he pointed to concerns over whether the new US administration's policies will mirror those of Barack Obama, for whom Biden served as vice president. Biden is expected to re-adopt a less confrontational stance towards the Islamic republic, unlike Trump's policy of "maximum pressure" and high tensions. × The nuclear deal with Iran was struck by USA under Barack Obama along with other world powers. The development was considered to be a landmark achievement and much political capital was spent in securing the deal. However, Trump unilaterally took the USA out of the deal and applied "maximum pressure" on Iran. Under Trump, America also assassinated Iran's once-untouchable military commander Qasem Soleimani. Trump also cultivated close relations with Gulf monarchies Saudi Arabia's pro-government Okaz asked whether the Biden administration would stand by Washington's Arab allies or "renew with their enemies". In Bahrain, the paper Akhbar Al-Khaleej said Trump deserved "thanks and appreciation". Also Read | Widely praised Joe Biden's speech written by Indian American His "policies and positions against Iran have established a new reality in American dealings with Iran, and it will be difficult for the Biden administration to completely bypass them," its columnist Al-Sayed Zahra wrote. Just across the Gulf from Iran, Bahrain is a longstanding Western ally and home to the US Fifth Fleet.

Cautious welcome for Biden in Gulf amid yet uncertain Iran policy

Kamala Harris' family in India huddled around their television set to watch her inauguration as she created history on Wednesday. She was sworn in as the 49th vice-president of the nation -- the first female, Black and south Asian vice-president in US history.

The family though plans on being in the US in person in four years if she becomes America's number one.

Harris was born in California but her mother took her on several trips to India as a child, and her links to the country have set its 1.3 billion people abuzz.

"I wish she does such a damn good job, four years later she will automatically get a Democratic nomination and win the presidency," said Harris's uncle Gopalan Balachandran.

Balachandran could not be in Washington to see Harris sworn in on Wednesday because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"It would have been nice to have been there," the uncle told AFP, but he hopes to travel to the United States at a later date if he can secure a vaccination.

US media reports have spoken of a possible deal under which President Joe Biden, 78, will serve only one term, leaving Harris a clear run to the Democratic Party's candidacy in the next election.

Balachandran's daughter, Sharada Balachandran Orihuela, an English professor at the University of Maryland, was at the ceremony and was pictured with Harris.

Hours before the event, Harris, 56, posted a video on Twitter in which she credited the women who have inspired her, including her late mother Shyamala Gopalan, a breast cancer specialist who was born in India.

"She (Kamala) did everything on her own. If anybody, her beacon was her mother," Balachandran said.

Celebrations for the inauguration were held in the family's ancestral village, Thulasendrapuram, in Tamil Nadu state, with firecrackers set off and people clapping and cheering as Harris took the oath.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Harris, calling her swearing-in a "historic occasion".&nbsp;

Modi said he was "looking forward to interacting with her to make India-USA relations more robust. The India-USA partnership is beneficial for our planet."

(with inputs from AFP)

Kamala Harris' family in India huddled around their television set to watch her inauguration as she created history on Wednesday. She was sworn in as the 49th vice-president of the nation -- the first female, Black and south Asian vice-president in US history.

Kamala Harris' family in India huddled around their television set to watch her inauguration as she created history on Wednesday. She was sworn in as the 49th vice-president of the nation -- the first female, Black and south Asian vice-president in US history. The family though plans on being in the US in person in four years if she becomes America's number one. Harris was born in California but her mother took her on several trips to India as a child, and her links to the country have set its 1.3 billion people abuzz. "I wish she does such a damn good job, four years later she will automatically get a Democratic nomination and win the presidency," said Harris's uncle Gopalan Balachandran. Balachandran could not be in Washington to see Harris sworn in on Wednesday because of the coronavirus pandemic. "It would have been nice to have been there," the uncle told AFP, but he hopes to travel to the United States at a later date if he can secure a vaccination. US media reports have spoken of a possible deal under which President Joe Biden, 78, will serve only one term, leaving Harris a clear run to the Democratic Party's candidacy in the next election. Balachandran's daughter, Sharada Balachandran Orihuela, an English professor at the University of Maryland, was at the ceremony and was pictured with Harris. Hours before the event, Harris, 56, posted a video on Twitter in which she credited the women who have inspired her, including her late mother Shyamala Gopalan, a breast cancer specialist who was born in India. "She (Kamala) did everything on her own. If anybody, her beacon was her mother," Balachandran said. Celebrations for the inauguration were held in the family's ancestral village, Thulasendrapuram, in Tamil Nadu state, with firecrackers set off and people clapping and cheering as Harris took the oath. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Harris, calling her swearing-in a "historic occasion". Modi said he was "looking forward to interacting with her to make India-USA relations more robust. The India-USA partnership is beneficial for our planet." (with inputs from AFP)

Kamala Harris' Indian family is waiting for her to become president

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