New York is set to legalize recreational marijuana after state lawmakers reached a deal to allow sales of the drug for recreational use. With this, New York will be the 15th US state to legalize marijuana.

New York to legalize recreational marijuana

The first day in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is accused of killing George Floyd, featured an intense series of opening arguments, numerous photographs, videos of the killing, and testimony from three witnesses.

George Floyd Murder Trial: Prosecutor says Chauvin betrayed his oath

Opening statements begin in Derek Chauvin trial for George Floyd's death

Opening arguments in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer charged over George Floyd’s death last year. The African American's May 2020 killing drew outrage and a worldwide reckoning on police reform and racial justice.

Opening arguments in George Floyd case set to begin, US braces for Chauvin's trial

Former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin squeezed the life out of George Floyd when he arrested him in last May, a prosecutor told jurors in his opening statement at Chauvin's trial on murder charges on Monday.&nbsp;

Jerry Blackwell, a prosecutor with the Minnesota attorney general's office, told jurors that officers who wear the Minneapolis police badge pledge to never use 'unnecessary force or violence'.&nbsp;

"You will learn that on May 25, Derek Chauvin betrayed this badge when he used excessive and unreasonable force upon the body of George Floyd," Blackwell said.&nbsp;

He displayed a still image from a bystander's cellphone video of Chauvin, who his white, with his knee on the neck of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man in handcuffs, saying it showed Chauvin 'grinding and crushing him until the very breath — no, ladies and gentlemen — the very life was squeezed out of him'.&nbsp;

Floyd's death ignited a global protest movement and over the preceding two weeks of jury selection, many jurors told Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill and the lawyers on each side that they recognised the scrutiny their deliberations would come under, not least by those who view the trial as a reckoning for how Black people are policed in the United States.&nbsp;

"It's been a long time coming," a gospel choir sang on Sunday evening at a prayer service attended by Floyd's relatives. "But I know a change is gonna come."&nbsp;

The service was held in a church a few blocks east of the deadly arrest.&nbsp;

Philonise Floyd, a brother of George Floyd, said before the service began that he had faith that prosecutors from the Minnesota attorney general's office would see Chauvin convicted.&nbsp;

"The video is the proof," he said.&nbsp;

Chauvin, 45, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, with his lawyers arguing that he followed his training and that the main cause of Floyd's death, which the county examiner ruled a homicide, was a drug overdose. He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted on the most serious charge.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin squeezed the life out of George Floyd when he arrested him in last May, a prosecutor told jurors in his opening statement at Chauvin's trial on murder charges on Monday.

Former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin squeezed the life out of George Floyd when he arrested him in last May, a prosecutor told jurors in his opening statement at Chauvin's trial on murder charges on Monday. Jerry Blackwell, a prosecutor with the Minnesota attorney general's office, told jurors that officers who wear the Minneapolis police badge pledge to never use 'unnecessary force or violence'. "You will learn that on May 25, Derek Chauvin betrayed this badge when he used excessive and unreasonable force upon the body of George Floyd," Blackwell said. He displayed a still image from a bystander's cellphone video of Chauvin, who his white, with his knee on the neck of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man in handcuffs, saying it showed Chauvin 'grinding and crushing him until the very breath — no, ladies and gentlemen — the very life was squeezed out of him'. Floyd's death ignited a global protest movement and over the preceding two weeks of jury selection, many jurors told Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill and the lawyers on each side that they recognised the scrutiny their deliberations would come under, not least by those who view the trial as a reckoning for how Black people are policed in the United States. "It's been a long time coming," a gospel choir sang on Sunday evening at a prayer service attended by Floyd's relatives. "But I know a change is gonna come." The service was held in a church a few blocks east of the deadly arrest. Philonise Floyd, a brother of George Floyd, said before the service began that he had faith that prosecutors from the Minnesota attorney general's office would see Chauvin convicted. "The video is the proof," he said. Chauvin, 45, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, with his lawyers arguing that he followed his training and that the main cause of Floyd's death, which the county examiner ruled a homicide, was a drug overdose. He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted on the most serious charge. (With inputs from agencies)

A 'grinding and crushing' knee on Floyd: Opening statements begin in trial 

Donald Trump is not in the White House anymore, but there are things still on his mind. But the selection of the right stage to say it all could keep&nbsp;him safe from online trolling.

The former US president took to stage to wish a couple getting married at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

It must have been a great moment for the couple to have a former US president speak at their&nbsp;wedding. But Trump went on a rant, talking about Iran, China, the border migrant crisis&nbsp;and Joe Biden.

"We were ready to make a deal [with Iran], they were ready to do anything, they would have done anything. And this guy [Biden] goes and drops the sanctions and then he says we'd like to negotiate now," Trump is heard saying in a video circulating online.&nbsp;

This was an apparent reference to Biden's effort to engage with Iran in order to re-enter the nuclear deal the US struck in 2015 under Barack Obama, and Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018.

Trump also spoke about the domestic situation in the US. "The border is not good. It's the worst that it has ever been," he said.

Trump had strived hard to&nbsp;build a wall along the US-Mexico border, one of his key campaign promises in&nbsp;2016.

Trump then went on to speak&nbsp;about his election loss to Biden in 2020. "They said get 66 million votes, sir, and the election is over. I got 75 million votes, and you saw what happened," he said.

Trump still maintains that he did not lose the elections and that there was widespread voting fraud. His claims have been refuted by US Supreme Court and election officials. Joe Biden got 80 million votes, 5 million more than what Trump bagged.

At the very end of his 400-word long address, Trump said, "It's an honour to have you at Mar-a-Lago, you are a beautiful couple...have fun".

The video has been posted online by TMZ.

Donald Trump is not in the White House anymore, but there are things still on his mind. But the selection of the right stage to say it all could keep him safe from online trolling.

Donald Trump is not in the White House anymore, but there are things still on his mind. But the selection of the right stage to say it all could keep him safe from online trolling. The former US president took to stage to wish a couple getting married at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. It must have been a great moment for the couple to have a former US president speak at their wedding. But Trump went on a rant, talking about Iran, China, the border migrant crisis and Joe Biden. "We were ready to make a deal [with Iran], they were ready to do anything, they would have done anything. And this guy [Biden] goes and drops the sanctions and then he says we'd like to negotiate now," Trump is heard saying in a video circulating online. This was an apparent reference to Biden's effort to engage with Iran in order to re-enter the nuclear deal the US struck in 2015 under Barack Obama, and Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018. Trump also spoke about the domestic situation in the US. "The border is not good. It's the worst that it has ever been," he said. Trump had strived hard to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, one of his key campaign promises in 2016. Trump then went on to speak about his election loss to Biden in 2020. "They said get 66 million votes, sir, and the election is over. I got 75 million votes, and you saw what happened," he said. Trump still maintains that he did not lose the elections and that there was widespread voting fraud. His claims have been refuted by US Supreme Court and election officials. Joe Biden got 80 million votes, 5 million more than what Trump bagged. At the very end of his 400-word long address, Trump said, "It's an honour to have you at Mar-a-Lago, you are a beautiful couple...have fun". The video has been posted online by TMZ.

Trump takes mic to wish a couple at wedding, starts talking about foreign policy

The sacred intersection where George Floyd died beneath the knee of a police officer has seen such an increase in violence that food delivery drivers are afraid to venture there. There have been gunbattles, with bloodied shooting victims dragged to ambulances because of barricades keeping the police and emergency vehicles away.

“Having no police: This is the experiment right here,” said P.J. Hill, a leader of Worldwide Outreach for Christ, a church that has been on that corner in Minneapolis for almost 40 years. “This is their one-block experiment.”

Residents all over town still complain of officers using excessive force, like during a recent confrontation in which a white officer appeared to wind up and punch a Black teenager. And officers accuse some community members of antagonizing them, like in a recent dispute over a homeless encampment that erupted into a melee with punches and pepper spray.

Ten months ago, Minneapolis, and the country, seemed to coalesce around the belief that policing needed an overhaul after gruesome video footage surfaced of the last moments of Floyd’s life. Now, with the murder trial of the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck scheduled to begin Monday, the struggle over what to overhaul and how to do it has left Minneapolis at war with itself over public safety and the role of the police.

A pledge by most City Council members in June to defund and dismantle the Police Department and create a new system of public safety met fierce resistance. It has since given way to a grab bag of efforts that have yet to prove their effectiveness and have left the city fractured.

Looming over everything is a palpable unease over what the 12 jurors will decide in the trial of Derek Chauvin, who is facing second- and third-degree murder charges, as well as manslaughter, after being captured on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes in May.

Many worry that an acquittal could set back the work that has been done to reform public safety and to attempt healing, and put the city right back where it was last summer with buildings ablaze and the streets roiling with anger.

“People don’t have much faith that he’s going to be convicted,” said pastor Brian Herron of Zion Baptist Church in the neighborhood Near North, the historic heart of Black Minneapolis. “I think there’s hope that he is, but we have seen this movie before. We’ve watched this movie over and over and over again. We can recite the lines.”

Cities all across America last year faced a surge in violence, fueled in part by the economic despair and alienation brought on by the pandemic, criminologists said. Minneapolis was no exception: It saw a 25% increase in homicides, rapes, robberies and assaults.

But home in on the four neighborhoods surrounding George Floyd Square, the name given to the corner where Floyd died, and the story is far bleaker and deadlier. In those areas — Powderhorn Park, Central, Bryant and Bancroft — violent crime shot up by 66% last year, according to statistics from the Police Department. And this year, so far, little has changed.

The area has become something of an autonomous zone, with barriers and signs calling it “the free state of George Floyd.” Police have stayed away for almost a year to avoid inflaming tensions.

Residents and city leaders have tussled over the role that the Police Department’s depleted ranks have played in the violence plaguing the entire city. Around 200 officers have left the force, some temporarily, over the past year, with many taking leave for post-traumatic stress disorder. The City Charter allows for 888 officers, but there are currently 648 on active duty, city officials said.

Supporters of defunding the police have applauded steps to redirect $8 million from the Police Department’s budget, which now sits at about $170 million. Some of those funds have gone to the Office of Violence Prevention, which has seen its budget grow more than fourfold over the past year to about $7 million.

With that money, the office is expanding programs that offer social services, said Sasha Cotton, its director. The office is also developing a program modeled after Cure Violence, a national violence-intervention initiative. The city’s version will consist of six teams of about 15 people, some former gang members, working in communities to settle any simmering disputes that may lead to violence.

The growth in resources won’t make the work any simpler, Cotton said. That’s because the challenges have grown, too: the surge in violence, the pandemic-induced economic hardship, the unease over the trial.

“We’re under a microscope and at an epicenter that no city wants to be in,” she said. “I think that from these challenges there is real growth happening, and that we will come out of it better on the other side. But it’s sort of like that awkward teenage space that people have to go through.”

Pastor Curtis Farrar, who leads Worldwide Outreach for Christ at George Floyd Square, said gang violence had long been a problem in the area, but it had been improving before Floyd was killed and the police pulled back. Now the sounds of gunshots are a constant, and recently workers he has hired to change his church’s windows have refused to come to the area because they feel it is too dangerous.

In many ways, the future of the intersection could turn on the outcome of the trial. For too long, he said, the community has watched police officers kill and get away with it.

“I don’t know if anybody at this point knows how it’s going to be solved unless they see justice as really being blind,” he said. “If they don’t, we’re going to have some serious problems in this community.”

Many officers worry about further unrest, said Sgt. Sherral Schmidt, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis. Officers began leaving the department in droves after the uprising last summer, she said, and morale has only gotten worse. With a staffing shortage, officers have found themselves bouncing from call to call, with little opportunity to engage with the community, she said. Even the members of the community engagement team have been reassigned to different jobs to help make up for the patrol shortage, she said.

Officers are expected to have to work 12-hour shifts once the trial reaches closing arguments, Schmidt added.

“The biggest thing for our cops right now is they feel no support,” she said. “So every day, they come in and it’s like, ‘Oh, what are we going to be scrutinized for today?’”

Some longtime civil rights activists have been critical of the police, but they have also criticized the way that supporters of the defund movement have tried to effect change. Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights lawyer, said the defund movement is nothing more than “catchy slogans and catchphrases.” She said that last summer she warned Jeremiah Ellison, a City Council member supporting efforts to dismantle the Police Department, that it would lead to only chaos.

“You’re going to turn Minneapolis into the wild, Wild West,” she recalled telling him.

But Ellison said the uptick in violence in the city began long before any money was redirected from the police, and he credited council members for investing in alternatives to policing.

“To do what we’ve done in 10 months,” he said, “as far as city government is concerned, that’s kind of moving at light speed.”

In June, nine council members, a veto-proof majority, stood on a stage in a park behind large block letters that read “Defund Police” and pledged to dismantle the Police Department.

“They stood on a stage in Powderhorn Park in front of the entire nation with a big sign, with 1-million-point font saying, ‘defund the police,’” said Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, calling it an ill-conceived move. He could not support that position, he added, because he did not agree with it and “it wasn’t going to be delivered.”

Many of those members have since backtracked. They proposed a measure last year to change the City Charter to create a Public Safety Department — of which the police would be just one part — that they say would promote a more holistic approach to public safety. That effort has failed, but a new proposal is on track to appear on the ballot this fall. Activists are also gathering signatures to get a measure on the ballot that would perform a similar action.

Though he has disagreed with most council members, Frey has acknowledged the urgency to do something.

“There’s clearly a lot of passion and pain and frustration,” he said.

He has favored working with the police chief, Medaria Arradondo, to establish policy reforms — many of which his critics have said are too incremental.

A number of new policies on the use of force has been put into effect, including requiring officers to intervene when a fellow officer is using impermissible force and requiring greater scrutiny when force is used against someone in handcuffs.

For many residents, though, the policy changes have done nothing to upend what they see as an underlying culture of aggression and disrespect. D.A. Bullock, an activist and a filmmaker who lives in North Minneapolis, recalled recently going to a scene where the police had just shot someone and having officers aggressively tell him to get back.

“I’ve seen a number of interactions between police and residents since George Floyd was murdered, and I can’t, from a practical standpoint, I can’t identify anything that they’re doing differently,” Bullock said. “They still roll up, and they roll up in force. They’re still very much aggressive. I haven’t seen any deescalation tactics.”

Still, if the city feels tense over the continued debate about policing and public safety, there are small signs of racial healing.

One of them is on display every Sunday at Herron’s church, which is predominantly Black. More white faces have been appearing in the pews, he said. It gives Herron hope that even as the city feels these days as if it is under siege — with National Guard troops on the streets, and concrete-and-wire barricades fortifying government buildings downtown — some people, at least, are trying to come together.

“If you look physically, it doesn’t look like much has changed,” he said. “But if you look with spiritual eyes, you see a conversation. You see a movement toward each other, instead of away from each other.”

He continued, “It’s being done organically. We’re not on purpose trying to be a multicultural church. It’s what’s in the atmosphere now.”

The sacred intersection where George Floyd died beneath the knee of a police officer has seen such an increase in violence that food delivery drivers are afraid to venture there.

The sacred intersection where George Floyd died beneath the knee of a police officer has seen such an increase in violence that food delivery drivers are afraid to venture there. There have been gunbattles, with bloodied shooting victims dragged to ambulances because of barricades keeping the police and emergency vehicles away. “Having no police: This is the experiment right here,” said P.J. Hill, a leader of Worldwide Outreach for Christ, a church that has been on that corner in Minneapolis for almost 40 years. “This is their one-block experiment.” Residents all over town still complain of officers using excessive force, like during a recent confrontation in which a white officer appeared to wind up and punch a Black teenager. And officers accuse some community members of antagonizing them, like in a recent dispute over a homeless encampment that erupted into a melee with punches and pepper spray. Ten months ago, Minneapolis, and the country, seemed to coalesce around the belief that policing needed an overhaul after gruesome video footage surfaced of the last moments of Floyd’s life. Now, with the murder trial of the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck scheduled to begin Monday, the struggle over what to overhaul and how to do it has left Minneapolis at war with itself over public safety and the role of the police. A pledge by most City Council members in June to defund and dismantle the Police Department and create a new system of public safety met fierce resistance. It has since given way to a grab bag of efforts that have yet to prove their effectiveness and have left the city fractured. Looming over everything is a palpable unease over what the 12 jurors will decide in the trial of Derek Chauvin, who is facing second- and third-degree murder charges, as well as manslaughter, after being captured on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes in May. Many worry that an acquittal could set back the work that has been done to reform public safety and to attempt healing, and put the city right back where it was last summer with buildings ablaze and the streets roiling with anger. “People don’t have much faith that he’s going to be convicted,” said pastor Brian Herron of Zion Baptist Church in the neighborhood Near North, the historic heart of Black Minneapolis. “I think there’s hope that he is, but we have seen this movie before. We’ve watched this movie over and over and over again. We can recite the lines.” Cities all across America last year faced a surge in violence, fueled in part by the economic despair and alienation brought on by the pandemic, criminologists said. Minneapolis was no exception: It saw a 25% increase in homicides, rapes, robberies and assaults. But home in on the four neighborhoods surrounding George Floyd Square, the name given to the corner where Floyd died, and the story is far bleaker and deadlier. In those areas — Powderhorn Park, Central, Bryant and Bancroft — violent crime shot up by 66% last year, according to statistics from the Police Department. And this year, so far, little has changed. The area has become something of an autonomous zone, with barriers and signs calling it “the free state of George Floyd.” Police have stayed away for almost a year to avoid inflaming tensions. Residents and city leaders have tussled over the role that the Police Department’s depleted ranks have played in the violence plaguing the entire city. Around 200 officers have left the force, some temporarily, over the past year, with many taking leave for post-traumatic stress disorder. The City Charter allows for 888 officers, but there are currently 648 on active duty, city officials said. Supporters of defunding the police have applauded steps to redirect $8 million from the Police Department’s budget, which now sits at about $170 million. Some of those funds have gone to the Office of Violence Prevention, which has seen its budget grow more than fourfold over the past year to about $7 million. With that money, the office is expanding programs that offer social services, said Sasha Cotton, its director. The office is also developing a program modeled after Cure Violence, a national violence-intervention initiative. The city’s version will consist of six teams of about 15 people, some former gang members, working in communities to settle any simmering disputes that may lead to violence. The growth in resources won’t make the work any simpler, Cotton said. That’s because the challenges have grown, too: the surge in violence, the pandemic-induced economic hardship, the unease over the trial. “We’re under a microscope and at an epicenter that no city wants to be in,” she said. “I think that from these challenges there is real growth happening, and that we will come out of it better on the other side. But it’s sort of like that awkward teenage space that people have to go through.” Pastor Curtis Farrar, who leads Worldwide Outreach for Christ at George Floyd Square, said gang violence had long been a problem in the area, but it had been improving before Floyd was killed and the police pulled back. Now the sounds of gunshots are a constant, and recently workers he has hired to change his church’s windows have refused to come to the area because they feel it is too dangerous. In many ways, the future of the intersection could turn on the outcome of the trial. For too long, he said, the community has watched police officers kill and get away with it. “I don’t know if anybody at this point knows how it’s going to be solved unless they see justice as really being blind,” he said. “If they don’t, we’re going to have some serious problems in this community.” Many officers worry about further unrest, said Sgt. Sherral Schmidt, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis. Officers began leaving the department in droves after the uprising last summer, she said, and morale has only gotten worse. With a staffing shortage, officers have found themselves bouncing from call to call, with little opportunity to engage with the community, she said. Even the members of the community engagement team have been reassigned to different jobs to help make up for the patrol shortage, she said. Officers are expected to have to work 12-hour shifts once the trial reaches closing arguments, Schmidt added. “The biggest thing for our cops right now is they feel no support,” she said. “So every day, they come in and it’s like, ‘Oh, what are we going to be scrutinized for today?’” Some longtime civil rights activists have been critical of the police, but they have also criticized the way that supporters of the defund movement have tried to effect change. Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights lawyer, said the defund movement is nothing more than “catchy slogans and catchphrases.” She said that last summer she warned Jeremiah Ellison, a City Council member supporting efforts to dismantle the Police Department, that it would lead to only chaos. “You’re going to turn Minneapolis into the wild, Wild West,” she recalled telling him. But Ellison said the uptick in violence in the city began long before any money was redirected from the police, and he credited council members for investing in alternatives to policing. “To do what we’ve done in 10 months,” he said, “as far as city government is concerned, that’s kind of moving at light speed.” In June, nine council members, a veto-proof majority, stood on a stage in a park behind large block letters that read “Defund Police” and pledged to dismantle the Police Department. “They stood on a stage in Powderhorn Park in front of the entire nation with a big sign, with 1-million-point font saying, ‘defund the police,’” said Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, calling it an ill-conceived move. He could not support that position, he added, because he did not agree with it and “it wasn’t going to be delivered.” Many of those members have since backtracked. They proposed a measure last year to change the City Charter to create a Public Safety Department — of which the police would be just one part — that they say would promote a more holistic approach to public safety. That effort has failed, but a new proposal is on track to appear on the ballot this fall. Activists are also gathering signatures to get a measure on the ballot that would perform a similar action. Though he has disagreed with most council members, Frey has acknowledged the urgency to do something. “There’s clearly a lot of passion and pain and frustration,” he said. He has favored working with the police chief, Medaria Arradondo, to establish policy reforms — many of which his critics have said are too incremental. A number of new policies on the use of force has been put into effect, including requiring officers to intervene when a fellow officer is using impermissible force and requiring greater scrutiny when force is used against someone in handcuffs. For many residents, though, the policy changes have done nothing to upend what they see as an underlying culture of aggression and disrespect. D.A. Bullock, an activist and a filmmaker who lives in North Minneapolis, recalled recently going to a scene where the police had just shot someone and having officers aggressively tell him to get back. “I’ve seen a number of interactions between police and residents since George Floyd was murdered, and I can’t, from a practical standpoint, I can’t identify anything that they’re doing differently,” Bullock said. “They still roll up, and they roll up in force. They’re still very much aggressive. I haven’t seen any deescalation tactics.” Still, if the city feels tense over the continued debate about policing and public safety, there are small signs of racial healing. One of them is on display every Sunday at Herron’s church, which is predominantly Black. More white faces have been appearing in the pews, he said. It gives Herron hope that even as the city feels these days as if it is under siege — with National Guard troops on the streets, and concrete-and-wire barricades fortifying government buildings downtown — some people, at least, are trying to come together. “If you look physically, it doesn’t look like much has changed,” he said. “But if you look with spiritual eyes, you see a conversation. You see a movement toward each other, instead of away from each other.” He continued, “It’s being done organically. We’re not on purpose trying to be a multicultural church. It’s what’s in the atmosphere now.”

Ten months after Floyd’s death, Minneapolis residents are at war over policing

China agreed to invest $400 billion in Iran over 25 years in exchange for a steady supply of oil to fuel its growing economy under a sweeping economic and security agreement signed Saturday.

The deal could deepen China’s influence in the Middle East and undercut U.S. efforts to keep Iran isolated. But it was not immediately clear how much of the agreement can be implemented while the U.S. dispute with Iran over its nuclear program remains unresolved.

President Joe Biden has offered to resume negotiations with Iran over the 2015 nuclear accord that his predecessor, President Donald Trump, abrogated three years after it was signed. American officials say both countries can take synchronized steps to bring Iran into compliance with the terms of the agreement while the U.S. gradually lifts sanctions.

Iran has refused to do so, and China has backed it up, demanding that the United States act first to revive the deal it broke by lifting unilateral sanctions that have suffocated the Iranian economy. China was one of five world powers that, along with the U.S., signed the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.

The foreign ministers of the two countries, Javad Zarif and Wang Yi, signed the agreement during a ceremony at the foreign ministry in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday, according to Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency. That capped a two-day visit by Wang that reflected China’s growing ambition to play a larger role in a region that has been a strategic preoccupation of the United States for decades.

“China firmly supports Iran in safeguarding its state sovereignty and national dignity,” Wang said in his meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the Chinese foreign ministry reported. The United States, Wang said, should immediately rescind its sanctions on Iran and “remove its long arm of jurisdictional measures that have been aimed at China, among others.”

Iran did not make the details of the agreement public before the signing, nor did the Chinese government give specifics. But experts said it was largely unchanged from an 18-page draft obtained last year by The New York Times.

That draft detailed $400 billion of Chinese investments to be made in dozens of fields, including banking, telecommunications, ports, railways, health care and information technology, over the next 25 years. In exchange, China would receive a regular — and, according to an Iranian official and an oil trader, heavily discounted — supply of Iranian oil.

The draft also called for deepening military cooperation, including joint training and exercises, joint research and weapons development and intelligence-sharing.

Iranian officials touted the agreement with Beijing — first proposed by China’s leader, Xi Jinping, during a 2016 visit — as a breakthrough. But it has been met with criticism inside Iran that the government could be giving too much away to China.

Hesamoddin Ashena, a top adviser to Rouhani, called the deal “an example of a successful diplomacy” on Twitter, saying it was a sign of Iran’s power “to participate in coalitions, not to remain in isolation.” He called it “an important decree for long-term cooperation after long negotiations and joint work.”

A spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, called the document a “complete road map” of relations for the next quarter-century.

Wang has already visited Iran’s archrival, Saudi Arabia, as well as Turkey, and is scheduled to go to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman in the days ahead. He has said that the region is at a crossroads and offered China’s help in resolving persistent disputes, including over Iran’s nuclear program.

China is even ready to play host to direct talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, hinting that U.S. dominance in the region has hindered peace and development.

In Iran, opinions about China’s expanding influence have been mixed.

After Xi first proposed the strategic agreement during his visit in 2016, negotiations to complete it moved slowly at first. Iran had just reached its deal with the United States and other nations to ease economic sanctions in exchange for severe restrictions on its nuclear research activities, and European companies began flocking to Iran with investments and offers of joint partnerships to develop gas and oil fields.

Those opportunities evaporated after Trump withdrew the United States from the deal and imposed new sanctions that the Europeans feared could entangle them, forcing Iran to look east.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, ordered a revival of talks with China, appointing a trusted conservative politician and former speaker of parliament, Ali Larijani, as a special envoy.

“China is a friend for hard times,” Zarif, the foreign minister, said after signing the deal. “The history of cooperation between two ancient cultures of Iran and China dates back centuries. Signing the cooperation agreement will further strengthen the ties of the two nations.”

Critics have complained that the negotiations lacked transparency and called the deal a sellout of Iran’s resources, comparing it to one-sided agreements that China has made with countries like Sri Lanka.

Supporters of the deal said that Iran had to be pragmatic and recognize China’s growing economic prominence.

“For too long in our strategic alliances, we have put all our eggs in the basket of the West, and it did not yield results,” said Ali Shariati, an economic analyst who until recently was a member of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce. “Now, if we shift policy and look at the East, it won’t be so bad.”

It remains to be seen how many of the ambitious projects detailed in the agreement will materialize. If the nuclear agreement collapses entirely, Chinese companies, too, could face secondary sanctions from Washington, an issue that has infuriated China in the past.

The U.S. prosecution of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei includes accusations that the company was furtively trading with Iran in violation of those sanctions.

Chinese officials have emphasized that both Washington and Tehran needed to take steps to resolve the nuclear dispute.

“All the parties can consider an approach of synchronized reciprocity, creating a road map for restoring observance of the agreement,” Wang said in the talks with his Iranian counterpart, Zarif. “There can be efforts to achieve initial gains, creating the conditions for relaunching the whole agreement.”

China agreed to invest $400 billion in Iran over 25 years in exchange for a steady supply of oil to fuel its growing economy under a sweeping economic and security agreement signed Saturday.

China agreed to invest $400 billion in Iran over 25 years in exchange for a steady supply of oil to fuel its growing economy under a sweeping economic and security agreement signed Saturday. The deal could deepen China’s influence in the Middle East and undercut U.S. efforts to keep Iran isolated. But it was not immediately clear how much of the agreement can be implemented while the U.S. dispute with Iran over its nuclear program remains unresolved. President Joe Biden has offered to resume negotiations with Iran over the 2015 nuclear accord that his predecessor, President Donald Trump, abrogated three years after it was signed. American officials say both countries can take synchronized steps to bring Iran into compliance with the terms of the agreement while the U.S. gradually lifts sanctions. Iran has refused to do so, and China has backed it up, demanding that the United States act first to revive the deal it broke by lifting unilateral sanctions that have suffocated the Iranian economy. China was one of five world powers that, along with the U.S., signed the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran. The foreign ministers of the two countries, Javad Zarif and Wang Yi, signed the agreement during a ceremony at the foreign ministry in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday, according to Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency. That capped a two-day visit by Wang that reflected China’s growing ambition to play a larger role in a region that has been a strategic preoccupation of the United States for decades. “China firmly supports Iran in safeguarding its state sovereignty and national dignity,” Wang said in his meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the Chinese foreign ministry reported. The United States, Wang said, should immediately rescind its sanctions on Iran and “remove its long arm of jurisdictional measures that have been aimed at China, among others.” Iran did not make the details of the agreement public before the signing, nor did the Chinese government give specifics. But experts said it was largely unchanged from an 18-page draft obtained last year by The New York Times. That draft detailed $400 billion of Chinese investments to be made in dozens of fields, including banking, telecommunications, ports, railways, health care and information technology, over the next 25 years. In exchange, China would receive a regular — and, according to an Iranian official and an oil trader, heavily discounted — supply of Iranian oil. The draft also called for deepening military cooperation, including joint training and exercises, joint research and weapons development and intelligence-sharing. Iranian officials touted the agreement with Beijing — first proposed by China’s leader, Xi Jinping, during a 2016 visit — as a breakthrough. But it has been met with criticism inside Iran that the government could be giving too much away to China. Hesamoddin Ashena, a top adviser to Rouhani, called the deal “an example of a successful diplomacy” on Twitter, saying it was a sign of Iran’s power “to participate in coalitions, not to remain in isolation.” He called it “an important decree for long-term cooperation after long negotiations and joint work.” A spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, called the document a “complete road map” of relations for the next quarter-century. Wang has already visited Iran’s archrival, Saudi Arabia, as well as Turkey, and is scheduled to go to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman in the days ahead. He has said that the region is at a crossroads and offered China’s help in resolving persistent disputes, including over Iran’s nuclear program. China is even ready to play host to direct talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, hinting that U.S. dominance in the region has hindered peace and development. In Iran, opinions about China’s expanding influence have been mixed. After Xi first proposed the strategic agreement during his visit in 2016, negotiations to complete it moved slowly at first. Iran had just reached its deal with the United States and other nations to ease economic sanctions in exchange for severe restrictions on its nuclear research activities, and European companies began flocking to Iran with investments and offers of joint partnerships to develop gas and oil fields. Those opportunities evaporated after Trump withdrew the United States from the deal and imposed new sanctions that the Europeans feared could entangle them, forcing Iran to look east. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, ordered a revival of talks with China, appointing a trusted conservative politician and former speaker of parliament, Ali Larijani, as a special envoy. “China is a friend for hard times,” Zarif, the foreign minister, said after signing the deal. “The history of cooperation between two ancient cultures of Iran and China dates back centuries. Signing the cooperation agreement will further strengthen the ties of the two nations.” Critics have complained that the negotiations lacked transparency and called the deal a sellout of Iran’s resources, comparing it to one-sided agreements that China has made with countries like Sri Lanka. Supporters of the deal said that Iran had to be pragmatic and recognize China’s growing economic prominence. “For too long in our strategic alliances, we have put all our eggs in the basket of the West, and it did not yield results,” said Ali Shariati, an economic analyst who until recently was a member of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce. “Now, if we shift policy and look at the East, it won’t be so bad.” It remains to be seen how many of the ambitious projects detailed in the agreement will materialize. If the nuclear agreement collapses entirely, Chinese companies, too, could face secondary sanctions from Washington, an issue that has infuriated China in the past. The U.S. prosecution of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei includes accusations that the company was furtively trading with Iran in violation of those sanctions. Chinese officials have emphasized that both Washington and Tehran needed to take steps to resolve the nuclear dispute. “All the parties can consider an approach of synchronized reciprocity, creating a road map for restoring observance of the agreement,” Wang said in the talks with his Iranian counterpart, Zarif. “There can be efforts to achieve initial gains, creating the conditions for relaunching the whole agreement.”

China, with $400 billion Iran deal, could deepen influence in Mideast

Members of the United States Navy were recently witnessed singing a popular Hindi song at dinner with Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) on Saturday.&nbsp; On the same day, India’s Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu met with the CNO, Michael M Gilday.

“Together, we will promote a free, open &amp; inclusive rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. I look forward to our two navies’ continued cooperation”, Gilday tweeted.

The Navy sang the following in Hindi - "This is a friendship bond that cannot be broken ever”, echoing the state of relations between the United States and India.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Great to meet with India’s Ambassador to the United States <a href="https://twitter.com/SandhuTaranjitS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SandhuTaranjitS</a> today! Together, we will promote a free, open &amp; inclusive rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. I look forward to our two navies’ continued cooperation. <a href="https://twitter.com/IndianEmbassyUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IndianEmbassyUS</a> 🇮🇳🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/UJ8aopHjl0">pic.twitter.com/UJ8aopHjl0</a>
— USNavyCNO (@USNavyCNO) <a href="https://twitter.com/USNavyCNO/status/1375613959106088960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The original song is called “Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera” and was performed by coveted musician AR Rahman for the soundtrack of the film “Swades” in 2004.

Watch the clip below

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
'ये वो बंधन है जो कभी टूट नहीं सकता! This is a friendship bond that cannot be broken ever.' 🇮🇳🇺🇸 
 
US Navy singing a popular Hindi tune <a href="https://twitter.com/USNavyCNO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USNavyCNO</a> 's dinner last night! <a href="https://t.co/hfzXsg0cAr">pic.twitter.com/hfzXsg0cAr</a>
— Taranjit Singh Sandhu (@SandhuTaranjitS) <a href="https://twitter.com/SandhuTaranjitS/status/1375937058229919744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Cooperation between the United States and India has improved in the face of increased Chinese activity in the Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific.&nbsp;

Recently, a grouping of four countries called “Quad” including India, United States, Japan, and Australia convened which was seen as signalling to China that their excesses in the region will not go unanswered.

The US also extended extensive support to Taiwan as it faces increasing threat of a Chinese invasion, with Chinese planes continuously breaching territorial borders.

Members of the United States Navy were recently witnessed singing a popular Hindi song at dinner with Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) on Saturday. On the same day, India’s Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu met with the CNO, Michael M Gilday.

Members of the United States Navy were recently witnessed singing a popular Hindi song at dinner with Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) on Saturday. On the same day, India’s Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu met with the CNO, Michael M Gilday. “Together, we will promote a free, open & inclusive rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. I look forward to our two navies’ continued cooperation”, Gilday tweeted. The Navy sang the following in Hindi - "This is a friendship bond that cannot be broken ever”, echoing the state of relations between the United States and India. Great to meet with India’s Ambassador to the United States @SandhuTaranjitS today! Together, we will promote a free, open & inclusive rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. I look forward to our two navies’ continued cooperation. @IndianEmbassyUS 🇮🇳🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/UJ8aopHjl0 — USNavyCNO (@USNavyCNO) March 27, 2021 × The original song is called “Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera” and was performed by coveted musician AR Rahman for the soundtrack of the film “Swades” in 2004. Watch the clip below 'ये वो बंधन है जो कभी टूट नहीं सकता! This is a friendship bond that cannot be broken ever.' 🇮🇳🇺🇸 US Navy singing a popular Hindi tune @USNavyCNO 's dinner last night! pic.twitter.com/hfzXsg0cAr — Taranjit Singh Sandhu (@SandhuTaranjitS) March 27, 2021 × Cooperation between the United States and India has improved in the face of increased Chinese activity in the Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific. Recently, a grouping of four countries called “Quad” including India, United States, Japan, and Australia convened which was seen as signalling to China that their excesses in the region will not go unanswered. The US also extended extensive support to Taiwan as it faces increasing threat of a Chinese invasion, with Chinese planes continuously breaching territorial borders.

Watch: US Navy sings Hindi song from hit Bollywood movie 'Swades'

At the end of a winding answer Thursday about competing with China and about his relationship with Xi Jinping, a man he said does not have a democratic “bone in his body,” President Joe Biden offered up a revealing assessment of one of America’s most pressing challenges.

“This is a battle between the utility of democracies in the 21st century and autocracies,” he told reporters at his first news conference as president. “We’ve got to prove democracy works.”

China’s president, Xi, Biden said bluntly, was “a smart, smart guy” who shared with President Vladimir Putin of Russia a belief that “autocracy is the wave of the future and democracy can’t function” in the complexities of the modern world.

Among the biggest tasks of his presidency, Biden seemed to be arguing, is to prove anew to a skeptical world that both American democracy and its model of democratic capitalism still works — and that it is superior to the very different system Xi is ruthlessly enforcing at home as he tries to extend China’s influence around the world.

For a president barely 10 weeks into office, casting the United States as confronting a global struggle with the Chinese model has some clear political benefits. One of the few issues that unites Democrats and Republicans is the need to compete head-on with Beijing. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said Monday that the Chinese have already taken notice.

“They recognize in many ways that we are now finally awakened to the challenge,” he said this week at the Atlantic Council. “And I would call it a bipartisan awakening.”

Biden’s aides say his view of the Chinese challenge is not solely one of foreign policy. He plans to make full use of the fear of Beijing’s ambitions as he introduces his infrastructure initiative next week.

There will be hundreds of billions of dollars for technologies and projects that the Chinese are also pouring cash into, including semiconductors, artificial intelligence and 5G networks, as well as big breakthroughs in electric cars and synthetic biotechnology.

On Friday, Biden said he suggested to Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain that the big Western democracies work together to counter China’s ambitious efforts to build better trade routes around the world, a project called the Belt and Road Initiative. The project is one of China’s main instruments for influencing nations in its economic orbit by investing in ports, rail lines, roads and other infrastructure in Asia, Africa and Europe.

“We talked about China and the competition they’re engaging in in the Belt and Road Initiative,” Biden said. “And I suggested we should have, essentially, a similar initiative coming from the democratic states, helping those communities around the world.”

There is a striking similarity between Biden’s list and Xi’s “Made in China 2025” initiative — which was first announced six years ago as an effort to make China largely independent of Western suppliers for critical technology.

At the core of Biden’s infrastructure and supply-chain initiatives is an effort — parts of which began in the Trump years — to ensure the West is not dependent on Chinese technology. It is a battle that blossomed over Huawei, the maker of next-generation communications networks, but has now spread to fears that Chinese apps like TikTok could be a pathway for attacks on American infrastructure.

“China is outinvesting us by a long shot,” Biden said, previewing his argument, “because their plan is to own that future.”

It is a time-tested approach: President Dwight D. Eisenhower used the launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, to spur a military and civilian space race, and President John F. Kennedy picked up on the theme in setting the goal for landing a man on the moon.

A decade ago, President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address to call for a “Sputnik moment” of public investment, also using China as a spur, but the effort fell flat.

Yet for all the unanimity around the China challenge, it is far from clear whether Biden’s political strategy will work.

Republicans object to both the huge government spending in the Biden plan and to the overhang of debt it would create. And there seems bound to be a rerun of the arguments, dating to the 1980s, over whether a federal “industrial policy” — where taxpayer dollars are poured directly into technologies in which the United States judges it must stay ahead — that creates a competitive advantage for America makes sense or just squelches the innovations of Silicon Valley.

No matter how that plays out, Biden is casting the United States’ current competition in very different terms than his predecessors did. “Look, I predict to you,” he said, “your children or grandchildren are going to be doing their doctoral thesis on the issue of who succeeded: autocracy or democracy? Because that is what is at stake, not just China.”

Most notable was what was missing. There was no talk of American “exceptionalism,” just a shorter-term assurance that “on my watch,” China would not reach its overall goal “to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world.”

Biden was also careful not to make Cold War analogies; in fact, he noted that what was missing now was much of an ideological contest. (“You don’t have Russia talking about communism anymore,” he noted.) He has always said he would cooperate with adversaries, and on Friday he invited Xi and Putin to a virtual climate summit meeting he is hosting in April. He speaks of competition, not containment.

“I see stiff competition with China,” Biden said, over everything from chips to national values, which he added was the key to his two-hour conversation with Xi. And that, he said, meant pushing back on China’s stripping of rights in Hong Kong or on its harsh repression of Muslim minorities.

“The moment a president walks away from that, as the last one did,” he said, taking a dig at former President Donald Trump, “is the moment we begin to lose our legitimacy around the world.”

Still, Biden’s discussion of an open contest between two similarly sized superpowers was a significant change for U.S. presidents.

A quarter-century ago, President Bill Clinton would make the case — oftentimes, during visits to Beijing — that the arrival of the internet would force China to embrace an more American-style democracy. Clearly, that did not work out.

President George W. Bush stressed areas where Chinese and American interests overlapped — counterterrorism and North Korea were the two he mentioned the most — but never cast China as a technological equal. Obama would always say the United States “welcomes the rise of China” and recognized that it could not contain the country if it wanted to, so it would be foolish to try.

And Trump spent three years imposing tariffs and insisting he would cut the deal of the century with China, and one year castigating it as the exporter of the coronavirus, while his secretary of state at the time, Mike Pompeo, insisted that over time, the Communist Party would collapse.

Now, Biden’s team says it is assembling a strategy built more around competition than containment.

“I don’t think China is on a mission to export its model abroad and undermine democracy abroad,” said Thomas J. Christensen, a Columbia professor and former State Department official dealing with China during the Bush administration. “But I do think they are on a mission to defend their model from criticism and defend single-party authoritarian rule.”

Christensen published an essay this week in Foreign Affairs titled, “There Will Not Be a New Cold War,” arguing that American allies were “too economically dependent on China to adopt entirely hostile policies,” and that the United States’ advantage was that it had allies and partners who ranked among the greatest technological powers in the world.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken seemed to acknowledge that this week when, on a visit to Brussels, he assured the Europeans that he would not force them to make an “us or them choice.”

The Biden camp’s calculation seems to be that it is more important to hold allies together than to ensure that each one cuts off its dependency on Chinese technology or investment.

The problem will come, as Blinken notes, as China lashes out at those who criticize its actions at home, in the South China Sea, or against Taiwan. “When one of us is coerced,” he said, “we should respond as allies and work together to reduce our vulnerability by ensuring our economies are more integrated with each other.” Which sounds a lot like creating opposing camps.

At the end of a winding answer Thursday about competing with China and about his relationship with Xi Jinping, a man he said does not have a democratic “bone in his body,” President Joe Biden offered up a revealing assessment of one of America’s most pressing challenges.

At the end of a winding answer Thursday about competing with China and about his relationship with Xi Jinping, a man he said does not have a democratic “bone in his body,” President Joe Biden offered up a revealing assessment of one of America’s most pressing challenges. “This is a battle between the utility of democracies in the 21st century and autocracies,” he told reporters at his first news conference as president. “We’ve got to prove democracy works.” China’s president, Xi, Biden said bluntly, was “a smart, smart guy” who shared with President Vladimir Putin of Russia a belief that “autocracy is the wave of the future and democracy can’t function” in the complexities of the modern world. Among the biggest tasks of his presidency, Biden seemed to be arguing, is to prove anew to a skeptical world that both American democracy and its model of democratic capitalism still works — and that it is superior to the very different system Xi is ruthlessly enforcing at home as he tries to extend China’s influence around the world. For a president barely 10 weeks into office, casting the United States as confronting a global struggle with the Chinese model has some clear political benefits. One of the few issues that unites Democrats and Republicans is the need to compete head-on with Beijing. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said Monday that the Chinese have already taken notice. “They recognize in many ways that we are now finally awakened to the challenge,” he said this week at the Atlantic Council. “And I would call it a bipartisan awakening.” Biden’s aides say his view of the Chinese challenge is not solely one of foreign policy. He plans to make full use of the fear of Beijing’s ambitions as he introduces his infrastructure initiative next week. There will be hundreds of billions of dollars for technologies and projects that the Chinese are also pouring cash into, including semiconductors, artificial intelligence and 5G networks, as well as big breakthroughs in electric cars and synthetic biotechnology. On Friday, Biden said he suggested to Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain that the big Western democracies work together to counter China’s ambitious efforts to build better trade routes around the world, a project called the Belt and Road Initiative. The project is one of China’s main instruments for influencing nations in its economic orbit by investing in ports, rail lines, roads and other infrastructure in Asia, Africa and Europe. “We talked about China and the competition they’re engaging in in the Belt and Road Initiative,” Biden said. “And I suggested we should have, essentially, a similar initiative coming from the democratic states, helping those communities around the world.” There is a striking similarity between Biden’s list and Xi’s “Made in China 2025” initiative — which was first announced six years ago as an effort to make China largely independent of Western suppliers for critical technology. At the core of Biden’s infrastructure and supply-chain initiatives is an effort — parts of which began in the Trump years — to ensure the West is not dependent on Chinese technology. It is a battle that blossomed over Huawei, the maker of next-generation communications networks, but has now spread to fears that Chinese apps like TikTok could be a pathway for attacks on American infrastructure. “China is outinvesting us by a long shot,” Biden said, previewing his argument, “because their plan is to own that future.” It is a time-tested approach: President Dwight D. Eisenhower used the launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, to spur a military and civilian space race, and President John F. Kennedy picked up on the theme in setting the goal for landing a man on the moon. A decade ago, President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address to call for a “Sputnik moment” of public investment, also using China as a spur, but the effort fell flat. Yet for all the unanimity around the China challenge, it is far from clear whether Biden’s political strategy will work. Republicans object to both the huge government spending in the Biden plan and to the overhang of debt it would create. And there seems bound to be a rerun of the arguments, dating to the 1980s, over whether a federal “industrial policy” — where taxpayer dollars are poured directly into technologies in which the United States judges it must stay ahead — that creates a competitive advantage for America makes sense or just squelches the innovations of Silicon Valley. No matter how that plays out, Biden is casting the United States’ current competition in very different terms than his predecessors did. “Look, I predict to you,” he said, “your children or grandchildren are going to be doing their doctoral thesis on the issue of who succeeded: autocracy or democracy? Because that is what is at stake, not just China.” Most notable was what was missing. There was no talk of American “exceptionalism,” just a shorter-term assurance that “on my watch,” China would not reach its overall goal “to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world.” Biden was also careful not to make Cold War analogies; in fact, he noted that what was missing now was much of an ideological contest. (“You don’t have Russia talking about communism anymore,” he noted.) He has always said he would cooperate with adversaries, and on Friday he invited Xi and Putin to a virtual climate summit meeting he is hosting in April. He speaks of competition, not containment. “I see stiff competition with China,” Biden said, over everything from chips to national values, which he added was the key to his two-hour conversation with Xi. And that, he said, meant pushing back on China’s stripping of rights in Hong Kong or on its harsh repression of Muslim minorities. “The moment a president walks away from that, as the last one did,” he said, taking a dig at former President Donald Trump, “is the moment we begin to lose our legitimacy around the world.” Still, Biden’s discussion of an open contest between two similarly sized superpowers was a significant change for U.S. presidents. A quarter-century ago, President Bill Clinton would make the case — oftentimes, during visits to Beijing — that the arrival of the internet would force China to embrace an more American-style democracy. Clearly, that did not work out. President George W. Bush stressed areas where Chinese and American interests overlapped — counterterrorism and North Korea were the two he mentioned the most — but never cast China as a technological equal. Obama would always say the United States “welcomes the rise of China” and recognized that it could not contain the country if it wanted to, so it would be foolish to try. And Trump spent three years imposing tariffs and insisting he would cut the deal of the century with China, and one year castigating it as the exporter of the coronavirus, while his secretary of state at the time, Mike Pompeo, insisted that over time, the Communist Party would collapse. Now, Biden’s team says it is assembling a strategy built more around competition than containment. “I don’t think China is on a mission to export its model abroad and undermine democracy abroad,” said Thomas J. Christensen, a Columbia professor and former State Department official dealing with China during the Bush administration. “But I do think they are on a mission to defend their model from criticism and defend single-party authoritarian rule.” Christensen published an essay this week in Foreign Affairs titled, “There Will Not Be a New Cold War,” arguing that American allies were “too economically dependent on China to adopt entirely hostile policies,” and that the United States’ advantage was that it had allies and partners who ranked among the greatest technological powers in the world. Secretary of State Antony Blinken seemed to acknowledge that this week when, on a visit to Brussels, he assured the Europeans that he would not force them to make an “us or them choice.” The Biden camp’s calculation seems to be that it is more important to hold allies together than to ensure that each one cuts off its dependency on Chinese technology or investment. The problem will come, as Blinken notes, as China lashes out at those who criticize its actions at home, in the South China Sea, or against Taiwan. “When one of us is coerced,” he said, “we should respond as allies and work together to reduce our vulnerability by ensuring our economies are more integrated with each other.” Which sounds a lot like creating opposing camps.

Biden defines his underlying challenge with China: ‘Prove democracy works’

Gunshots were fired at the US cultural centre in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon on Saturday but caused no injuries, an embassy spokesperson said.&nbsp;

The United States has been strident in its criticism of the junta that seized power in Myanmar on February 1 and the killing of hundreds of anti-coup protesters by security forces.&nbsp;

"We can confirm that shots were fired at the American Center Yangon on March 27. There were no injuries. We are investigating the incident," embassy spokesperson Aryani Manring said.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, Myanmar's security forces shot and killed at least 91 people - including a young boy - on Saturday, news reports and witnesses said, even as the ruling junta's leader said the military would protect the people and strive for democracy.&nbsp;

Protesters against the February 1 military coup came out on the streets of Yangon, Mandalay and other towns, defying a warning that they could be shot 'in the head and back', while the country's generals celebrated Armed Forces Day.&nbsp;

"Today is a day of shame for the armed forces," Dr Sasa, a spokesman for CRPH, an anti-junta group set up by deposed lawmakers, told an online forum.&nbsp;

The deaths on Saturday, one of the bloodiest days since the coup, would take the number of civilians reported killed to nearly 400. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in parts of Myanmar on Saturday.&nbsp;

A boy reported by local media to be as young as five was among at least 13 people killed in Myanmar's second city of Mandalay. The Myanmar Now news portal said 64 people had been killed in total across the country by 2.30 pm (0800 GMT).&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Gunshots were fired at the US cultural centre in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon on Saturday but caused no injuries, an embassy spokesperson said. The United States has been strident in its criticism of the junta that seized power in Myanmar on February 1 and the killing of hundreds of anti-coup protesters by security forces.

Gunshots were fired at the US cultural centre in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon on Saturday but caused no injuries, an embassy spokesperson said. The United States has been strident in its criticism of the junta that seized power in Myanmar on February 1 and the killing of hundreds of anti-coup protesters by security forces. "We can confirm that shots were fired at the American Center Yangon on March 27. There were no injuries. We are investigating the incident," embassy spokesperson Aryani Manring said. Meanwhile, Myanmar's security forces shot and killed at least 91 people - including a young boy - on Saturday, news reports and witnesses said, even as the ruling junta's leader said the military would protect the people and strive for democracy. Protesters against the February 1 military coup came out on the streets of Yangon, Mandalay and other towns, defying a warning that they could be shot 'in the head and back', while the country's generals celebrated Armed Forces Day. "Today is a day of shame for the armed forces," Dr Sasa, a spokesman for CRPH, an anti-junta group set up by deposed lawmakers, told an online forum. The deaths on Saturday, one of the bloodiest days since the coup, would take the number of civilians reported killed to nearly 400. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in parts of Myanmar on Saturday. A boy reported by local media to be as young as five was among at least 13 people killed in Myanmar's second city of Mandalay. The Myanmar Now news portal said 64 people had been killed in total across the country by 2.30 pm (0800 GMT). (With inputs from agencies)

Gunshots fired at US cultural centre in Myanmar, says embassy 

The US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has departed for Turkey and the nearby region, the US State Department said on Saturday, in a push to encourage Afghan parties to accelerate negotiations to end conflict in the country.&nbsp;

President Joe Biden is deciding whether to meet a May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of the last 3,500 American troops in Afghanistan that was set in a February 2020 accord struck with the Taliban under former President Donald Trump.&nbsp;

Biden's administration has sought to build international pressure on the Taliban and US-backed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's government to reach a peace agreement and a ceasefire before the deadline.&nbsp;

"He will engage the two sides on their preparatory efforts for talks on a political settlement that produces a permanent ceasefire and a durable and just peace," the State Department said in a statement, adding that Khalilzad departed for the talks on Thursday.&nbsp;

The Taliban on Friday said it would resume hostilities against foreign forces - which ended under the US-Taliban deal - if they remain beyond the deadline.&nbsp;

Biden on Thursday said it would be hard to comply with the deadline, which also requires the departure of some 7,000 allied forces.&nbsp;

The Taliban has said it was committed to the agreement, which it has termed the 'most sensible and shortest path' to end 20 years of war in Afghanistan - America's longest foreign conflict.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies) &nbsp;

The US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has departed for Turkey and the nearby region, the US State Department said on Saturday, in a push to encourage Afghan parties to accelerate negotiations to end conflict in the country.

The US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has departed for Turkey and the nearby region, the US State Department said on Saturday, in a push to encourage Afghan parties to accelerate negotiations to end conflict in the country. President Joe Biden is deciding whether to meet a May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of the last 3,500 American troops in Afghanistan that was set in a February 2020 accord struck with the Taliban under former President Donald Trump. Biden's administration has sought to build international pressure on the Taliban and US-backed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's government to reach a peace agreement and a ceasefire before the deadline. "He will engage the two sides on their preparatory efforts for talks on a political settlement that produces a permanent ceasefire and a durable and just peace," the State Department said in a statement, adding that Khalilzad departed for the talks on Thursday. The Taliban on Friday said it would resume hostilities against foreign forces - which ended under the US-Taliban deal - if they remain beyond the deadline. Biden on Thursday said it would be hard to comply with the deadline, which also requires the departure of some 7,000 allied forces. The Taliban has said it was committed to the agreement, which it has termed the 'most sensible and shortest path' to end 20 years of war in Afghanistan - America's longest foreign conflict. (With inputs from agencies)

US envoy to Afghanistan heads to Turkey, region to push talks to end conflict 

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

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

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

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

A nine-year-old Mexican child died while trying to cross the Rio Grande River into the United States, the Border Patrol said Friday amid a surge in migrants seeking to enter the country.

The child was found together with a Guatemalan woman and her three-year-old, all unconscious and stranded on an island in the middle of the river which demarcates the US-Mexico border in Texas on March 20.

"Agents found the individuals and immediately began administering first aid while transporting the migrants to shore," the Border Patrol said in a statement that did not state the deceased child's gender.

The woman and the three-year-old regained consciousness but the nine-year-old could not be revived.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/lack-of-sanitation-and-social-distancing-how-immigrants-in-america-are-struggling-372618">Lack of sanitation and social distancing: How immigrants in America are struggling</a>

The three, who were not identified, were some of the 500 migrants rescued from dangerous situations in the past five months as thousands attempt to cross the border every day.

A senior Border Patrol official said Friday that the numbers continue to increase: some 6,000 undocumented migrants were caught on Thursday trying to enter the country.

Unlike in the past, when most of those caught crossing the southern border illegally were single adults, most recently about half have been either in family units or as unaccompanied children.

Most are being sent back into Mexico but all of the unaccompanied children and a number of the families are being allowed to stay in the United States.

Holding and processing facilities for the children at both the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are packed far beyond capacity.

On Wednesday the CBP was holding 5,156 migrant minors while HHS, which takes them from CBP and tries to place them with family members in the United States, had 11,900. &nbsp;

In February more than 9,000 unaccompanied children, mostly from Mexico and Central American, came in, and that number appears on track to top 14,000 this month.

"We are apprehending more people than we are discharging," the official, who declined to be identified, told reporters.

On Thursday President Joe Biden defended his handling of the increase in migrants, which has become his largest political liability two months into his adminsitration, after predecessor Donald Trump sought to seal off the border.

Biden called the surge seasonal, because it was the safest time to travel, and said the children were being accepted in for humane reasons.

The Border Patrol official said they expect the surge to continue at least through April.

"I fully expect the numbers to increase into the summer months," he said.

A nine-year-old Mexican child died while trying to cross the Rio Grande River into the United States, the Border Patrol said Friday amid a surge in migrants seeking to enter the country.

A nine-year-old Mexican child died while trying to cross the Rio Grande River into the United States, the Border Patrol said Friday amid a surge in migrants seeking to enter the country. The child was found together with a Guatemalan woman and her three-year-old, all unconscious and stranded on an island in the middle of the river which demarcates the US-Mexico border in Texas on March 20. "Agents found the individuals and immediately began administering first aid while transporting the migrants to shore," the Border Patrol said in a statement that did not state the deceased child's gender. The woman and the three-year-old regained consciousness but the nine-year-old could not be revived. Also read | Lack of sanitation and social distancing: How immigrants in America are struggling The three, who were not identified, were some of the 500 migrants rescued from dangerous situations in the past five months as thousands attempt to cross the border every day. A senior Border Patrol official said Friday that the numbers continue to increase: some 6,000 undocumented migrants were caught on Thursday trying to enter the country. Unlike in the past, when most of those caught crossing the southern border illegally were single adults, most recently about half have been either in family units or as unaccompanied children. Most are being sent back into Mexico but all of the unaccompanied children and a number of the families are being allowed to stay in the United States. Holding and processing facilities for the children at both the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are packed far beyond capacity. On Wednesday the CBP was holding 5,156 migrant minors while HHS, which takes them from CBP and tries to place them with family members in the United States, had 11,900. In February more than 9,000 unaccompanied children, mostly from Mexico and Central American, came in, and that number appears on track to top 14,000 this month. "We are apprehending more people than we are discharging," the official, who declined to be identified, told reporters. On Thursday President Joe Biden defended his handling of the increase in migrants, which has become his largest political liability two months into his adminsitration, after predecessor Donald Trump sought to seal off the border. Biden called the surge seasonal, because it was the safest time to travel, and said the children were being accepted in for humane reasons. The Border Patrol official said they expect the surge to continue at least through April. "I fully expect the numbers to increase into the summer months," he said.

Mexican child, 9, dies trying to enter US: Border patrol

Sanctions are how countries wage an economic war but do you know how did this idea come about and how effective are these sanctions?

The story of sanctions dates back to ancient Greece which was a different time with different politics but the same result.

A statesman from Athens' statesman, Pericles, was the first to impose sanctions. All city-states that refused to ally with Athens were placed under a trade embargo. However, that did not help much as the Spartans went on to beat the Athenian alliance.

So, the first economic sanction in human history ended in failure. This set the trend for what was to come.

The first thing you need to know about sanctions is that they can only be imposed from a position of power which is why it is America's favourite tool. The US has imposed sanctions on more than a dozen countries such as Iran, Venezuela, China and North Korea.

Sanctions take different forms such as arms embargoes, asset freezes, denial of visas, cutting off trade and credit lines. The idea is to cripple a country financially.

US sanctions on China are not new. They are as old as the people's republic itself.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-why-do-sanctions-fail-373197">Watch |</a>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-why-do-sanctions-fail-373197/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

From 1949 to 1972, China was under American sanctions. It was typical cold war-era politics. They were lifted in 1972 ahead of the open door policy.&nbsp;

However, Chinese politics did not change. Democracy and human rights continued to be curbed. It reached a tipping point in 1989 during the Tiananmen Square massacre and the American sanctions returned.

But unlike the last century, economic warfare isn't unilateral anymore. China now has the power to respond, at least on paper.&nbsp;

A case in point is Hong Kong. In August last year, the US sanctioned Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Beijing responded with targeted action on 11 Americans. The list included Republican senators namely Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz, but these actions were toothless.

Carrie Lam does not have assets in America and the US senators do not have interests in China. So, the sanctions were symbolic with no economic impact and herein lies the problem with sanctioning leaders. Make no mistake, autocrats double up as businessmen. They have major economic interests but they rarely extend overseas for these sanctions to make a dent.

Think back to the Gulf War. Bush's White House sanctioned Saddam Hussein for six months without any effect. In the end, it took a major military offensive.&nbsp;

A present-day example is Iran. Donald Trump followed the policy of maximum pressure. Crippling sanctions that throttled the Iranian economy but Tehran continues to expand its nuclear arsenal. Last week, they revealed an entire city of missiles.

The lesson one can learn here is that sanctions have unintended effects. They help galvanise public opinion. For example, American sanctions are rallying calls in Iran and North Korea. They bring the people together against a common enemy.

In this case, the US sanctions only work in a collective. It cannot be a unilateral campaign which is why the latest campaign against China is important.

The US and its European partners have sanctioned China. The walls are closing in from all sides. Beijing will most likely deepen ties with existing allies such as North Korea, Russia, Pakistan and Turkey.&nbsp;

Sanctions are a pinch, not a purge. There is a limit to what government action can achieve. However, what about private businesses?

It's a globalised world and Companies have interests all over the world. This could be a game changer in economic warfare.

Nearly 217 Chinese companies are listed in American exchanges. For dozens more, the American market is a money churner. To think of the inverse, American companies look to China for raw materials. They operate factories there and ignore the abuses endured by the workers.

The question here is that can Apple be docked for making iPhones in China? Or can Tesla be pulled up for making cars in China? Joe Biden could do it, but the companies will be livid. Years of capitalism has taught American firms to put profits over national interest.

Trump proposed taxes on American firms shifting away from the country. He was criticised for trying to stage manage the economy. However, it's different for Chinese firms. Most of them are owned at least in part by the government.

National interest is paramount, even at the cost of losses. The future of economic warfare will be decided by private companies. They can take away jobs, funding and factories from rival nations, but will they indulge home governments? If they don't, can governments force their hand?

Sanctions are how countries wage an economic war but do you know how did this idea come about and how effective are these sanctions? The story of sanctions dates back to ancient Greece which was a different time with different politics but the same result.

Sanctions are how countries wage an economic war but do you know how did this idea come about and how effective are these sanctions? The story of sanctions dates back to ancient Greece which was a different time with different politics but the same result. A statesman from Athens' statesman, Pericles, was the first to impose sanctions. All city-states that refused to ally with Athens were placed under a trade embargo. However, that did not help much as the Spartans went on to beat the Athenian alliance. So, the first economic sanction in human history ended in failure. This set the trend for what was to come. The first thing you need to know about sanctions is that they can only be imposed from a position of power which is why it is America's favourite tool. The US has imposed sanctions on more than a dozen countries such as Iran, Venezuela, China and North Korea. Sanctions take different forms such as arms embargoes, asset freezes, denial of visas, cutting off trade and credit lines. The idea is to cripple a country financially. US sanctions on China are not new. They are as old as the people's republic itself. Watch | From 1949 to 1972, China was under American sanctions. It was typical cold war-era politics. They were lifted in 1972 ahead of the open door policy. However, Chinese politics did not change. Democracy and human rights continued to be curbed. It reached a tipping point in 1989 during the Tiananmen Square massacre and the American sanctions returned. But unlike the last century, economic warfare isn't unilateral anymore. China now has the power to respond, at least on paper. A case in point is Hong Kong. In August last year, the US sanctioned Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Beijing responded with targeted action on 11 Americans. The list included Republican senators namely Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz, but these actions were toothless. Carrie Lam does not have assets in America and the US senators do not have interests in China. So, the sanctions were symbolic with no economic impact and herein lies the problem with sanctioning leaders. Make no mistake, autocrats double up as businessmen. They have major economic interests but they rarely extend overseas for these sanctions to make a dent. Think back to the Gulf War. Bush's White House sanctioned Saddam Hussein for six months without any effect. In the end, it took a major military offensive. A present-day example is Iran. Donald Trump followed the policy of maximum pressure. Crippling sanctions that throttled the Iranian economy but Tehran continues to expand its nuclear arsenal. Last week, they revealed an entire city of missiles. The lesson one can learn here is that sanctions have unintended effects. They help galvanise public opinion. For example, American sanctions are rallying calls in Iran and North Korea. They bring the people together against a common enemy. In this case, the US sanctions only work in a collective. It cannot be a unilateral campaign which is why the latest campaign against China is important. The US and its European partners have sanctioned China. The walls are closing in from all sides. Beijing will most likely deepen ties with existing allies such as North Korea, Russia, Pakistan and Turkey. Sanctions are a pinch, not a purge. There is a limit to what government action can achieve. However, what about private businesses? It's a globalised world and Companies have interests all over the world. This could be a game changer in economic warfare. Nearly 217 Chinese companies are listed in American exchanges. For dozens more, the American market is a money churner. To think of the inverse, American companies look to China for raw materials. They operate factories there and ignore the abuses endured by the workers. The question here is that can Apple be docked for making iPhones in China? Or can Tesla be pulled up for making cars in China? Joe Biden could do it, but the companies will be livid. Years of capitalism has taught American firms to put profits over national interest. Trump proposed taxes on American firms shifting away from the country. He was criticised for trying to stage manage the economy. However, it's different for Chinese firms. Most of them are owned at least in part by the government. National interest is paramount, even at the cost of losses. The future of economic warfare will be decided by private companies. They can take away jobs, funding and factories from rival nations, but will they indulge home governments? If they don't, can governments force their hand?

Why do sanctions fail? Ancient Greece's history might have answers

US President Joe Biden is about to hold his first presidential press conference today. Biden has assured to face tough questions on topics such as the border issue, COVID-19 vaccination drive, his economic relief bill and gun laws.

United States: President Joe Biden gets ready to face the press

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told Turkey to abandon Russia's S-400 missile defence system. The two NATO allies have long been at odds over the S-400.

Antony Blinken pushes Turkey over Russian S-400 at NATO

The United States and European Nation have agreed to re-launch a bilateral dialogue on China and work together to address what they termed Russia's challenging behaviour.

EU, US agree to coordinate actions towards China

US President Joe Biden shared his condolences after a deadly mass shooting at a Colorado grocery store and urged Congress to tighten gun laws in response to the killings.

Colorado mass shooting: President Biden urged Congress to enact gun control

A US Senate panel on Wednesday confirmed Brenda Mallory to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality, a key role that will coordinate President Joe Biden's climate change and environmental justice policies.&nbsp;

The Senate Environment and Public Works committee voted 11-9 to approve Mallory, who previously served as general counsel of the council and until recently was head of regulatory affairs at the green advocacy group Southern Environmental Law Centre.&nbsp;

The Council on Environmental Quality coordinates White House energy and environmental policies across federal agencies, and can have broad influence on the outlook for big infrastructure projects from pipelines to industrial facilities.&nbsp;

In an interview ahead of her nomination last December, Mallory said she hoped the council would reverse changes made by the Trump administration to the National Environmental Policy Act, a major environmental permitting law, that sought to ease and speed up approval of big energy infrastructure projects.&nbsp;

The Trump-era changes eased requirements to weigh climate change impacts of a project and limited the amount of public comment, a move seen as diminishing the voice of low-income and minority communities that are often in the way of these projects.&nbsp;

“I am hoping at top of the priority list for CEQ is addressing changes Trump made to how CEQ implements NEPA,” she said.&nbsp;

The Senate panel also voted 11-9 to advance the nomination of Janet McCabe to be deputy Environmental Protection Agency administrator, another key environmental regulatory role.&nbsp;

McCabe previously served as the top air and water regulator at the EPA under then-President Barack Obama and played a key role drafting regulations like the Clean Power Plan and vehicle emission standards.&nbsp;

The nominations will now face a full Senate vote. The timing of the vote has not yet been announced.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

A US Senate panel on Wednesday confirmed Brenda Mallory to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality, a key role that will coordinate President Joe Biden's climate change and environmental justice policies.

A US Senate panel on Wednesday confirmed Brenda Mallory to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality, a key role that will coordinate President Joe Biden's climate change and environmental justice policies. The Senate Environment and Public Works committee voted 11-9 to approve Mallory, who previously served as general counsel of the council and until recently was head of regulatory affairs at the green advocacy group Southern Environmental Law Centre. The Council on Environmental Quality coordinates White House energy and environmental policies across federal agencies, and can have broad influence on the outlook for big infrastructure projects from pipelines to industrial facilities. In an interview ahead of her nomination last December, Mallory said she hoped the council would reverse changes made by the Trump administration to the National Environmental Policy Act, a major environmental permitting law, that sought to ease and speed up approval of big energy infrastructure projects. The Trump-era changes eased requirements to weigh climate change impacts of a project and limited the amount of public comment, a move seen as diminishing the voice of low-income and minority communities that are often in the way of these projects. “I am hoping at top of the priority list for CEQ is addressing changes Trump made to how CEQ implements NEPA,” she said. The Senate panel also voted 11-9 to advance the nomination of Janet McCabe to be deputy Environmental Protection Agency administrator, another key environmental regulatory role. McCabe previously served as the top air and water regulator at the EPA under then-President Barack Obama and played a key role drafting regulations like the Clean Power Plan and vehicle emission standards. The nominations will now face a full Senate vote. The timing of the vote has not yet been announced. (With inputs from agencies)

US Senate panel confirms Mallory to lead White House environmental council 

The United States has witnessed its second mass shooting in a week. A gunman opened fire at a grocery store in Colorado, killing 10. Will this force US President Joe Biden to push for gun control? WION's Molly Gambhir brings you a report.

Gravitas: Mass shooting in Colorado takes 10 lives, 21-year-old faces 10 counts of murder

Shocking images of a Biden-Era detention centre have emerged. The photos from Texas show children sleeping on mats under foil blankets. A report claims the migrants haven't been given adequate access to soap or food. WION's Molly Gambhir tells you more.

Gravitas: Shocking images of Biden-era detention centre

US President Joe Biden will join a video conference of European Union leaders on Thursday, a top EU official said, as both sides try to repair ties after four difficult years with former president Donald Trump.&nbsp;

"Looking forward to welcome @POTUS at this week's European Council meeting," European Council President Charles Michel, who chairs summits, said on Twitter. "I have invited the President of the US to join our meeting for him to share his views on our future cooperation. Time to rebuild our transatlantic alliance."&nbsp;

EU leaders will meet via video conference on Thursday and Friday to discuss vaccines, Russia, Turkey and industrial policy. Biden is expected to join at 1945 GMT, an EU spokesman said.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday pledged to rebuild and revitalise the transatlantic military alliance after a bruising four years when Washington portrayed NATO as outdated, divided and in crisis. &nbsp;

The first top US official to visit NATO since President Joe Biden took office in January, Blinken said the alliance was at a pivotal moment but could emerge stronger after internal disputes over Turkey and Russian gas. &nbsp;

"I've come here to express the United States' steadfast commitment (to NATO)," Blinken told reporters as he met NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. "The United States wants to rebuild our partnerships, first and foremost with our NATO allies, we want to revitalise the alliance." &nbsp;

After four years of friction with Washington under the presidency of Donald Trump, who said the alliance was obsolete and harangued allies over defence spending targets, NATO's European members have welcomed the change in tone, saying they are once again being consulted on strategy.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

US President Joe Biden will join a video conference of European Union leaders on Thursday, a top EU official said, as both sides try to repair ties after four difficult years with former president Donald Trump.

US President Joe Biden will join a video conference of European Union leaders on Thursday, a top EU official said, as both sides try to repair ties after four difficult years with former president Donald Trump. "Looking forward to welcome @POTUS at this week's European Council meeting," European Council President Charles Michel, who chairs summits, said on Twitter. "I have invited the President of the US to join our meeting for him to share his views on our future cooperation. Time to rebuild our transatlantic alliance." EU leaders will meet via video conference on Thursday and Friday to discuss vaccines, Russia, Turkey and industrial policy. Biden is expected to join at 1945 GMT, an EU spokesman said. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday pledged to rebuild and revitalise the transatlantic military alliance after a bruising four years when Washington portrayed NATO as outdated, divided and in crisis. The first top US official to visit NATO since President Joe Biden took office in January, Blinken said the alliance was at a pivotal moment but could emerge stronger after internal disputes over Turkey and Russian gas. "I've come here to express the United States' steadfast commitment (to NATO)," Blinken told reporters as he met NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. "The United States wants to rebuild our partnerships, first and foremost with our NATO allies, we want to revitalise the alliance." After four years of friction with Washington under the presidency of Donald Trump, who said the alliance was obsolete and harangued allies over defence spending targets, NATO's European members have welcomed the change in tone, saying they are once again being consulted on strategy. (With inputs from agencies)

Biden to join EU leaders' video conference on Thursday

Colorado officials have revealed details about the attacker whose shooting rampage claimed 10 lives at a supermarket. The suspect has been identified as 21-year-old Ahmad Alissa.

Colorado Shooting: Officials reveal identity of shooter, yet to ascertain motive

Biden is already struggling with a surge in migrant arrivals. Shocking pictures have now emerged from detention centres that show adults and children huddled together in makeshift rooms and separated by plastic sheets.

Allegedly, they don't even have adequate access to food.

Migrants are flooding the borders of the US. Texas facility is overflowing and becoming a crowded space where migrants, including children, are lying on the floor. Sleeping on thin mattresses, with foil blankets, they are separated by plastic sheets.

Reportedly, this government-run site is housing 1,000 people and they don't have adequate access to soap or food.

With the pandemic still raging, there are also concerns over the possible lack of social distancing.

Since taking office, Joe Biden has removed some restrictions that were placed by his predecessor Donald Trump.

Now, the American borders are witnessing a surge.&nbsp; Joe Biden says he knows what's going on. Since Biden's inauguration, American borders have been battling a surge in migration.

In February, border officials encountered more than 18,000 family members and over &nbsp;9,000 unaccompanied children.

Central America is driving the surge. For years, citizens of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have suffered from the violence of gangs, extortion, government corruption and poverty.

However, now back to back hurricanes have only worsened the situation. The devastation has forced many to leave.

The migrants are struggling to enter the borders, and are then struggling to survive.

With the Republicans attacking the Democrats, reports say Joe Biden has dispatched top officials to Mexico and Central America. It seems like Washington is seeking the help of its allies to manage the situation at the border. However, &nbsp;with the migrants determined to reach America, it doesn't look like their flow will stem anytime soon.

Biden is already struggling with a surge in migrant arrivals. Shocking pictures have now emerged from detention centres that show adults and children huddled together in makeshift rooms and separated by plastic sheets.

Biden is already struggling with a surge in migrant arrivals. Shocking pictures have now emerged from detention centres that show adults and children huddled together in makeshift rooms and separated by plastic sheets. Allegedly, they don't even have adequate access to food. Migrants are flooding the borders of the US. Texas facility is overflowing and becoming a crowded space where migrants, including children, are lying on the floor. Sleeping on thin mattresses, with foil blankets, they are separated by plastic sheets. Reportedly, this government-run site is housing 1,000 people and they don't have adequate access to soap or food. With the pandemic still raging, there are also concerns over the possible lack of social distancing. Since taking office, Joe Biden has removed some restrictions that were placed by his predecessor Donald Trump. Now, the American borders are witnessing a surge. Joe Biden says he knows what's going on. Since Biden's inauguration, American borders have been battling a surge in migration. In February, border officials encountered more than 18,000 family members and over 9,000 unaccompanied children. Central America is driving the surge. For years, citizens of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have suffered from the violence of gangs, extortion, government corruption and poverty. However, now back to back hurricanes have only worsened the situation. The devastation has forced many to leave. The migrants are struggling to enter the borders, and are then struggling to survive. With the Republicans attacking the Democrats, reports say Joe Biden has dispatched top officials to Mexico and Central America. It seems like Washington is seeking the help of its allies to manage the situation at the border. However, with the migrants determined to reach America, it doesn't look like their flow will stem anytime soon.

Lack of sanitation and social distancing: How immigrants in America are struggling

The United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels. Both leaders vowed to renew US-NATO ties and focus on vision 2030 while touching on divisive issues like Russia and China.

WION Fineprint: US Secretary of State Blinken meets NATO Chief

Eyewitnesses inside the store at the time of the shooting, which took place just before 3:00 pm (2100 GMT) said they heard multiple gunshots before fleeing through a back entrance.

10 people died in Colorado store shooting: Police

A shooting at a Colorado supermarket killed multiple people including a police officer, and a suspect is in custody. At a news conference, Boulder Police said that the suspect is getting medical treatment and there is no further threat to the public but didn't give more details on the shooting.

Colorado: Boulder cops brief the media on mass shooting

Police officer dead, several injured in shooting at Colorado grocery store

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday pledged to rebuild and revitalise the transatlantic military alliance after a bruising four years when Washington portrayed NATO as outdated, divided and in crisis.&nbsp;

The first top US official to visit NATO since President Joe Biden took office in January, Blinken said the alliance was at a pivotal moment but could emerge stronger after internal disputes over Turkey and Russian gas.&nbsp;

"I've come here to express the United States' steadfast commitment (to NATO)," Blinken told reporters as he met NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. "The United States wants to rebuild our partnerships, first and foremost with our NATO allies, we want to revitalise the alliance."&nbsp;

After four years of friction with Washington under the presidency of Donald Trump, who said the alliance was obsolete and harangued allies over defence spending targets, NATO's European members have welcomed the change in tone, saying they are once again being consulted on strategy.&nbsp;

"The last thing we can afford to do is take this alliance for granted," said Blinken, a longtime Biden confidant, who is seeking to repair damage done by Trump's 'America First' policy.&nbsp;

"The process of confronting our own shortcomings can be very painful. It can be ugly. But ultimately, at least today, we've emerged the better and the stronger for it," he said.&nbsp;

Blinken said China's military rise and Russia's attempts to destabilise the West were threats that required NATO to come together, urging Turkey to embrace the alliance.&nbsp;

Having already bought Russian weapons, Turkey briefly blocked NATO defence plans in 2019 and launched an offensive on US-backed rebels in Syria, prompting French President Emmanuel Macron to assert that NATO was 'experiencing brain death'.&nbsp;

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian welcomed Blinken's overtures, saying that NATO, founded in 1949 to contain a military threat from the Soviet Union, had 'rediscovered' it's better self.&nbsp;

"There will be no European defence without NATO and there will be no efficient and relevant NATO without Europeans," he said at NATO headquarters, where foreign ministers were meeting for the first time in person in a year, due to Covid-19.&nbsp;

Stoltenberg has set out areas where NATO could modernise - from climate measures to more sustainable funding of military operations and refocusing the alliance to help the West face China's technological prowess and growing armed forces.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday pledged to rebuild and revitalise the transatlantic military alliance after a bruising four years when Washington portrayed NATO as outdated, divided and in crisis.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday pledged to rebuild and revitalise the transatlantic military alliance after a bruising four years when Washington portrayed NATO as outdated, divided and in crisis. The first top US official to visit NATO since President Joe Biden took office in January, Blinken said the alliance was at a pivotal moment but could emerge stronger after internal disputes over Turkey and Russian gas. "I've come here to express the United States' steadfast commitment (to NATO)," Blinken told reporters as he met NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. "The United States wants to rebuild our partnerships, first and foremost with our NATO allies, we want to revitalise the alliance." After four years of friction with Washington under the presidency of Donald Trump, who said the alliance was obsolete and harangued allies over defence spending targets, NATO's European members have welcomed the change in tone, saying they are once again being consulted on strategy. "The last thing we can afford to do is take this alliance for granted," said Blinken, a longtime Biden confidant, who is seeking to repair damage done by Trump's 'America First' policy. "The process of confronting our own shortcomings can be very painful. It can be ugly. But ultimately, at least today, we've emerged the better and the stronger for it," he said. Blinken said China's military rise and Russia's attempts to destabilise the West were threats that required NATO to come together, urging Turkey to embrace the alliance. Having already bought Russian weapons, Turkey briefly blocked NATO defence plans in 2019 and launched an offensive on US-backed rebels in Syria, prompting French President Emmanuel Macron to assert that NATO was 'experiencing brain death'. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian welcomed Blinken's overtures, saying that NATO, founded in 1949 to contain a military threat from the Soviet Union, had 'rediscovered' it's better self. "There will be no European defence without NATO and there will be no efficient and relevant NATO without Europeans," he said at NATO headquarters, where foreign ministers were meeting for the first time in person in a year, due to Covid-19. Stoltenberg has set out areas where NATO could modernise - from climate measures to more sustainable funding of military operations and refocusing the alliance to help the West face China's technological prowess and growing armed forces. (With inputs from agencies)

US Secretary of State pledges to revitalise NATO alliance in Brussels 

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