Climate change, Covid-19 and jobs are together splitting Americans by class more profoundly than Americans are split by politics.

Senator Ted Cruz cleans up damaged house in Texas

The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven most developed countries on Tuesday 'firmly condemned' the deadly use of force by Myanmar's military against people protesting a coup.&nbsp;

"We, the G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union firmly condemn violence committed by Myanmar's security forces against peaceful protests," the joint statement from the G7 read.&nbsp;

According to Sputnik, at least two protesters have died after the junta seized power in Myanmar on February 1. Tens of thousands have rallied across the country to demand the release of the elected leaders, prompting a military crackdown.&nbsp;

The group offered condolences for the loss of life and called for the Myanmar military to exercise 'utmost respect and respect international law'.&nbsp;

"We offer condolences for the loss of life. The military and the police must exercise utmost restraint and respect human rights and international law. Use of live ammunition against unarmed people is unacceptable. Anyone responding to peaceful protests with violence must be held to account," the group said.&nbsp;

The group has also condemned the intimidation of those opposing the coup and raised concerns at the crackdown on freedom of expression, including through the internet blackout and draconian changes to the law that repress free speech. "The systematic targeting of protesters, doctors, civil society and journalists must stop and the state of emergency must be revoked. We continue to call for full humanitarian access to support the most vulnerable," the group continued.&nbsp;

The G7 foreign ministers reiterated their call for the immediate and unconditional release of those detained arbitrarily, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and continue to stand with the people of Myanmar in their quest for democracy and freedom.&nbsp;

The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven most developed countries on Tuesday 'firmly condemned' the deadly use of force by Myanmar's military against people protesting a coup.

The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven most developed countries on Tuesday 'firmly condemned' the deadly use of force by Myanmar's military against people protesting a coup. "We, the G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union firmly condemn violence committed by Myanmar's security forces against peaceful protests," the joint statement from the G7 read. According to Sputnik, at least two protesters have died after the junta seized power in Myanmar on February 1. Tens of thousands have rallied across the country to demand the release of the elected leaders, prompting a military crackdown. The group offered condolences for the loss of life and called for the Myanmar military to exercise 'utmost respect and respect international law'. "We offer condolences for the loss of life. The military and the police must exercise utmost restraint and respect human rights and international law. Use of live ammunition against unarmed people is unacceptable. Anyone responding to peaceful protests with violence must be held to account," the group said. The group has also condemned the intimidation of those opposing the coup and raised concerns at the crackdown on freedom of expression, including through the internet blackout and draconian changes to the law that repress free speech. "The systematic targeting of protesters, doctors, civil society and journalists must stop and the state of emergency must be revoked. We continue to call for full humanitarian access to support the most vulnerable," the group continued. The G7 foreign ministers reiterated their call for the immediate and unconditional release of those detained arbitrarily, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and continue to stand with the people of Myanmar in their quest for democracy and freedom.

G7 'firmly condemns' Myanmar coup, use of force against protesters

Supreme leader Ali Khamenei has said that Iran might enrich Uranium up to 60% purity if the country needed to do so, adding that Iran will never yield to American pressure over its nuclear program.

WION Dispatch: Ali Khamenei says Iran may enrich Uranium up to 60%

Ali Khamenei says Iran may enrich Uranium up to 60%

The US Supreme Court has allowed prosecutors to view Former President Donald Trump's tax returns, though the documents will not be made public.

US Supreme Court allows access to Trump's tax records

After being swept by an unusual winter storm, Texas is facing a dire aftermath situation. 8.8 million people without water, at least 15,000 people still without electricity & rampant food shortages. Molly Gambhir tells you more.

Texas faces dire aftermath situation

According to a new BBC documentary, Donald Trump offered North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a ride home on Air Force One after a summit in Hanoi two years ago.

Donald Trump offers Air Force One ride home to Kim Jong Un

US President Joe Biden will deliver remarks on Monday on the lives lost to the coronavirus pandemic and will hold a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony at sundown together with the First Lady, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, the White House said.&nbsp;

"... the President, the First Lady, the Vice President, and the Second Gentleman will hold a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony at sundown in the South Portico," Biden's Monday daily guidance, released by the White House, says.&nbsp;

According to the release, Biden will deliver remarks in the Cross Hall of the White House ahead of the candle lighting ceremony.&nbsp;

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According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States has confirmed more than 28.1 million coronavirus cases, and the country's Covid-19 death toll stands at over 498,800. &nbsp;

These are the highest figures of all the countries in the world. According to US media reports, the US coronavirus death toll is expected to surpass 500,000 on Monday. The United States faces this dark milestone this week despite a recent decline in Covid-19 cases. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-official-says-who-needs-to-dig-deeper-on-virus-origins-365454">Biden official says WHO needs to dig deeper on virus origins</a>

The number of Covid-19 cases fell for the fifth straight week and officials scrambled to inoculate the population. It has been nearly a year since the pandemic upended the country with dueling public health and economic crises.&nbsp;

"It's nothing like we've ever been through in the last 102 years since the 1918 influenza pandemic... It really is a terrible situation that we've been through - and that we're still going through," Dr Anthony Fauci, White House Covid-19 medical adviser and the nation's top infectious disease official, told CNN's 'State of the Union' programme on Sunday.&nbsp;

US President Joe Biden will deliver remarks on Monday on the lives lost to the coronavirus pandemic and will hold a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony at sundown together with the First Lady, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, the White House said.

US President Joe Biden will deliver remarks on Monday on the lives lost to the coronavirus pandemic and will hold a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony at sundown together with the First Lady, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, the White House said. "... the President, the First Lady, the Vice President, and the Second Gentleman will hold a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony at sundown in the South Portico," Biden's Monday daily guidance, released by the White House, says. According to the release, Biden will deliver remarks in the Cross Hall of the White House ahead of the candle lighting ceremony. × According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States has confirmed more than 28.1 million coronavirus cases, and the country's Covid-19 death toll stands at over 498,800. These are the highest figures of all the countries in the world. According to US media reports, the US coronavirus death toll is expected to surpass 500,000 on Monday. The United States faces this dark milestone this week despite a recent decline in Covid-19 cases. Also Read: Biden official says WHO needs to dig deeper on virus origins The number of Covid-19 cases fell for the fifth straight week and officials scrambled to inoculate the population. It has been nearly a year since the pandemic upended the country with dueling public health and economic crises. "It's nothing like we've ever been through in the last 102 years since the 1918 influenza pandemic... It really is a terrible situation that we've been through - and that we're still going through," Dr Anthony Fauci, White House Covid-19 medical adviser and the nation's top infectious disease official, told CNN's 'State of the Union' programme on Sunday.

US President to hold candle lighting ceremony in memory of Covid-19 victims as toll nears 5 lakh

Erdoğan told his Iranian counterpart that he saw a window of opportunity for Iran and the United States after recent statements on sanctions.

'Hope US lifts restrictions on Iran', says Turkish President Erdogan

Iran is planning to partially suspend the inspection by IAEA if the US doesn't waive off sanctions by Feb 23. This report brings more details

UN's nuclear watchdog chief arrives in Tehran, Iran

Ten big US corporations slashed donations to candidates seeking federal office by more than 90 per cent in January. This followed after they pledged to not donate to Republican Party lawmakers who supported former US President Donald Trump's attempts to overturn his election defeat. After his defeat in US Presidential elections 2020, Donald Trump had falsely claimed that the election was rigged and continued making allegations without presenting any evidence. These culminated in a violent attack by his supporters on US Capitol building on January 6.

None of the political action committees of 10 major companies reviewed by Reuters, including Microsoft Corp, Walmart Inc, AT&amp;T Inc and Comcast Corp, donated to any of the 147 congressional Republicans who voted to support Trump's claims just hours after his supporters launched a deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol.

Disclosures to the Federal Election Commission ahead of a Saturday filing deadline showed the group of corporate PACs affiliated with those 10 companies made $13,000 in new donations to candidates in January. The reports were the first by the PACs to detail contributions made since the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

The money donated during the month was less than one-tenth the roughly $190,000 the 10 company PACs gave candidates in January 2017, and tiny relative to the roughly $10 million donated to candidates during the 2019-2020 election season. The 147 lawmakers who voted to overturn President Joe Biden's victory had received more than $2 million from those 10 PACs during the last two-year political cycle.

Only committees tied to two of the companies - General Electric Co and American Express Co - reported any new giving to federal candidates in January.

American Express' PAC gave $5,000 to Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota, while GE's gave $5,000 to Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a prominent Republican Trump critic, and $1,000 to Representative Rick Larsen of Washington, a Democrat.

It is true that political donations slows down in months after US presidential elections and money from corporate political action committees is a small slice of the funds raised by political campaigns.

However, the sudden and marked slump in political donations after incidents in January points to slower start to political donations as strategising for 2022 midterm election begins.

While more than a thousand PACs are associated with corporate America, the 10 reviewed by Reuters include major companies which made clear public statements that they would throttle back donations following the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

(With Reuters inputs)

Ten big US corporations slashed donations to candidates seeking federal office by more than 90 per cent in January. This followed after they pledged to not donate to Republican Party lawmakers who supported former US President Donald Trump's attempts to overturn his election defeat.

Ten big US corporations slashed donations to candidates seeking federal office by more than 90 per cent in January. This followed after they pledged to not donate to Republican Party lawmakers who supported former US President Donald Trump's attempts to overturn his election defeat. After his defeat in US Presidential elections 2020, Donald Trump had falsely claimed that the election was rigged and continued making allegations without presenting any evidence. These culminated in a violent attack by his supporters on US Capitol building on January 6. None of the political action committees of 10 major companies reviewed by Reuters, including Microsoft Corp, Walmart Inc, AT&T Inc and Comcast Corp, donated to any of the 147 congressional Republicans who voted to support Trump's claims just hours after his supporters launched a deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol. Disclosures to the Federal Election Commission ahead of a Saturday filing deadline showed the group of corporate PACs affiliated with those 10 companies made $13,000 in new donations to candidates in January. The reports were the first by the PACs to detail contributions made since the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. The money donated during the month was less than one-tenth the roughly $190,000 the 10 company PACs gave candidates in January 2017, and tiny relative to the roughly $10 million donated to candidates during the 2019-2020 election season. The 147 lawmakers who voted to overturn President Joe Biden's victory had received more than $2 million from those 10 PACs during the last two-year political cycle. Only committees tied to two of the companies - General Electric Co and American Express Co - reported any new giving to federal candidates in January. American Express' PAC gave $5,000 to Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota, while GE's gave $5,000 to Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a prominent Republican Trump critic, and $1,000 to Representative Rick Larsen of Washington, a Democrat. It is true that political donations slows down in months after US presidential elections and money from corporate political action committees is a small slice of the funds raised by political campaigns. However, the sudden and marked slump in political donations after incidents in January points to slower start to political donations as strategising for 2022 midterm election begins. While more than a thousand PACs are associated with corporate America, the 10 reviewed by Reuters include major companies which made clear public statements that they would throttle back donations following the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. (With Reuters inputs)

Big US corporates slashed political donations after Trump's claims of election fraud

Facebook began 16 years ago from a dorm-room at Harvard to connect college students. It has evolved into the biggest social media network in the world. &nbsp;

Facebook has driven revolutions but it has also fuelled anarchy, unrest and election fraud. And each time, it has gotten away with it. &nbsp;

Let’s explore the reasons why. &nbsp;

It started as a website for poking acquaintances and has now become one of the most powerful engines of communication in the world.&nbsp;

22% of the global population is on Facebook. Out of this, 1.85 billion are daily active users and 2.8 billion are monthly active users. &nbsp;

Facebook is the third-most visited website in the world and the fourth-most valuable brand in the world. It operates in over 190 countries and 111 different languages. &nbsp;

WATCH|

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If Facebook were a country, it would be substantially bigger than China. And this tech giant is by all means more powerful than most countries. &nbsp;

Some biggest revolutions in the world have gained strength because of Facebook. &nbsp;

The Arab spring in West Asia, Euro-maidan revolution in Ukraine and even the ongoing protests in Myanmar, Facebook has also helped politicians seize power. In the 2016 US elections, the Trump campaign sent out 50,000 different messages in a day. Tweaking each one depending on how people reacted. The rest is history. Andrew Bosworth, a close friend of Mark Zuckerberg, once claimed that the company was responsible for Trump getting elected. &nbsp;

The Cambridge Analytica scandal served as a reminder of Facebook's power. The data of at least 87 million Facebook users was harvested without consent and then used to influence their voting behaviour. Now, Facebook has banned news in Australia. &nbsp;

Yet another reminder of its power and monopoly but how does this tech giant get away with such scandals &amp; misuse of power? &nbsp;

Much of it has do to with how the internet works. It is not controlled by anyone. There are not many consequences for the decisions of tech giants. No concrete punitive action in case of blunders, no accountability for their decisions and no system of keeping a check on their political biases. &nbsp;

In the last few years, Facebook along with Twitter and Google has been subjected to several grillings by the US Congress over its unchecked power. Each time, American lawmakers promised to restrict the power of Facebook but there has been little action.&nbsp;

Facebook began 16 years ago from a dorm-room at Harvard to connect college students. It has evolved into the biggest social media network in the world. Facebook has driven revolutions but it has also fuelled anarchy, unrest and election fraud.

Facebook began 16 years ago from a dorm-room at Harvard to connect college students. It has evolved into the biggest social media network in the world. Facebook has driven revolutions but it has also fuelled anarchy, unrest and election fraud. And each time, it has gotten away with it. Let’s explore the reasons why. It started as a website for poking acquaintances and has now become one of the most powerful engines of communication in the world. 22% of the global population is on Facebook. Out of this, 1.85 billion are daily active users and 2.8 billion are monthly active users. Facebook is the third-most visited website in the world and the fourth-most valuable brand in the world. It operates in over 190 countries and 111 different languages. WATCH| If Facebook were a country, it would be substantially bigger than China. And this tech giant is by all means more powerful than most countries. Some biggest revolutions in the world have gained strength because of Facebook. The Arab spring in West Asia, Euro-maidan revolution in Ukraine and even the ongoing protests in Myanmar, Facebook has also helped politicians seize power. In the 2016 US elections, the Trump campaign sent out 50,000 different messages in a day. Tweaking each one depending on how people reacted. The rest is history. Andrew Bosworth, a close friend of Mark Zuckerberg, once claimed that the company was responsible for Trump getting elected. The Cambridge Analytica scandal served as a reminder of Facebook's power. The data of at least 87 million Facebook users was harvested without consent and then used to influence their voting behaviour. Now, Facebook has banned news in Australia. Yet another reminder of its power and monopoly but how does this tech giant get away with such scandals & misuse of power? Much of it has do to with how the internet works. It is not controlled by anyone. There are not many consequences for the decisions of tech giants. No concrete punitive action in case of blunders, no accountability for their decisions and no system of keeping a check on their political biases. In the last few years, Facebook along with Twitter and Google has been subjected to several grillings by the US Congress over its unchecked power. Each time, American lawmakers promised to restrict the power of Facebook but there has been little action.

The real power of Facebook

The United States on Friday expressed concerns over China's new legislation, saying the law can be used to "intimidate" China's maritime neighbours. China has enacted a new law that empowers its coast guard to use weapons against foreign ships entering illegally in what Beijing considers its waters.

US calls China's assertive campaign in sea 'illegal'

When the United States last tried to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran, the reaction from the Israeli government was blunt and fierce. In the years preceding Iran’s 2015 agreement with Washington and several other leading powers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel repeatedly called the negotiations a “historic mistake.”

But Friday, the formal announcement that the Biden administration was seeking a return to nuclear negotiations with Iran, after the collapse of the 2015 agreement under President Donald Trump, did not provoke a sharp backlash — not just in Jerusalem, but also in the Gulf nations of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which also oppose too generous a rapprochement with Iran.

The muted response from Iran’s regional antagonists may mask a strong undercurrent of pessimism and behind-the-scenes pushback against the Americans’ decision. Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates remain wary of Iran’s intentions, and have signaled that they would be open to a deal only if it went well beyond the previous one — reining in Iran’s ballistic missile program, its meddling in other countries and the militias it supports in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and elsewhere, in addition to its nuclear program.

Also read|<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/probe-launched-after-17-metre-long-whale-found-dead-in-israeli-beach-364986">&nbsp;Probe launched after 17-metre-long whale found dead in Israeli beach</a>

Netanyahu’s office issued a brief statement avoiding direct comment on the U.S. intention to negotiate but noting that Israel was in contact with the United States.

“Israel remains committed to preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons, and its position on the nuclear agreement has not changed,” the statement said. “Israel believes that going back to the old agreement will pave Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal.”

Western diplomats and former Israeli officials said that the Israelis had accepted the need to engage constructively with Washington instead of dismissing the negotiations out of hand.

Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel’s minister for community affairs, said the Israeli government was not intrinsically opposed to negotiations. But the talks had to yield a better deal than the one in 2015, which Israel and the Gulf countries condemned because its restrictions on Iranian nuclear activities would expire in a decade and a half and because it did nothing to restrict Iranian military activity across the Middle East.

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“We would like the negotiations to emphasize what the world would like to see: an agreement for a longer time — for at least 50 years, if not more,” Hanegbi said in an interview. “It has to be an agreement that will be valid for generations. Anything else will not achieve the goal of preventing a nuclear Iran.”

Saudi and Emirati officials, for their part, were silent Friday. Watching the Biden administration’s outreach to Tehran with resignation, the two Gulf states — which were outraged at being excluded from the last negotiations — can only hope that the United States will keep its promises to consider Gulf interests in the talks, analysts said.

“We just have to trust the new administration,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, an Emirati political scientist. “We don’t have any option. They really are determined to reach out to Iran, so there’s no way that anybody could stop them.”

But he acknowledged there could be something to gain, saying, “If the end result is less confrontation with Iran, a less aggressive Iran, a less expansionist Iran, it’s a dream of a sort.”

The Israeli government’s reticence reflects a less combative approach to the Biden administration’s policymaking than with President Barack Obama’s, at least initially, said Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence.

“Practically, they will not confront the Biden administration directly,” he said. “They will wait a little bit to see whether the Iranians are reacting and how the negotiations develop.”

But behind the scenes, Israel is already lobbying the United States for an agreement that is much tougher on Iran. Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and a team of experts will soon travel to Washington to brief senior American officials about what they see as the threats still posed by Iran, hoping to persuade the United States to hold out for harsher restrictions on Iran in any deal, two senior Israeli officials said.

Israeli intelligence suggests that Iran has blatantly violated the terms of the original nuclear deal and is still taking steps to develop a nuclear warhead, the officials said, claims that Iran denies.

In Europe, Russia and China, which supported the original deal and opposed Trump’s withdrawal from it, the reaction was positive.

“The U.S.A. is giving diplomacy a chance,” Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, wrote on Twitter. “We expressly welcome and support this!”

Maas also warned Iran against taking aggressive measures at a time when diplomatic breakthroughs seemed possible. “Now the Iranian leaders must also show that they are serious,” he said.

In Russia — an ally of Iran and a signatory to the nuclear deal — the Kremlin praised how the White House had also backed away from the Trump administration effort to restore United Nations sanctions on Iran.

“Halting the call for sanctions is a good thing, on its own,” said Dmitry S. Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman. “This is an event that one can probably mark with a plus sign.”

China, which signed a trade and military pact with Iran last year and is another signatory, reiterated Friday that the United States should “unconditionally” rejoin the nuclear deal. It has opposed renegotiating a new agreement in the past.

An unconditional return “is the key to breaking the deadlock,” Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, said at a news conference.

Biden administration officials said Friday that the next move was Iran’s and that they did not intend to offer concessions or incentives for Tehran to join negotiations.

“We don’t anticipate taking additional steps,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters traveling with President Joe Biden on Air Force One. A senior administration official said that any U.S. actions, such as the removal of sanctions on Iran, would have to be discussed at the negotiating table.

Iranian officials did not formally respond to Biden’s proposal Friday, although several officials said Thursday that Iran would likely join the talks. But they did reiterate their position that the United States must lift sanctions first before Iran would return to its commitments under the nuclear agreement.

“Gestures are fine,” Saeed Khatibzadeh, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on Twitter. But to revive the nuclear talks, he said, the “U.S. must Act: LIFT sanctions. We WILL respond.”

In the Persian Gulf, U.S. allies who view Iran as a major threat were gritting their teeth over the possible talks.

Ali Shihabi, a Saudi political commentator who is viewed as being close to the government, said Saudi Arabia had been signaling to the Biden administration for months that it supported reengaging with Iran, but only if the goal was a deal with additional constraints on Iran’s regional behavior.

“The Biden people are making all the right noises,” he said, “but the proof is in the pudding.”

Calling renewed negotiations with Iran “a totally mind-boggling thing to do,” Mohammed Alyahya, editor-in-chief of the English website of Saudi-owned news channel Al-Arabiya, warned that lifting sanctions against Iran would mean relinquishing all the leverage the Trump administration accrued through its maximum-pressure campaign of economic punishment, leaving Tehran to do as it pleased.

“We’ve seen this movie before,” Alyahya said. “Going back to the same deal is going to yield the same exact results that the first deal did: an empowered Iran, an Iran that is going to quickly try to reclaim its regional leverage that it has lost as a result of the maximum pressure campaign. This is not a regime that will act in good faith.”

Yet amid a cooling in U.S.-Saudi relations — Biden officials have said they will recalibrate the relationship after four years of coziness between the Trump administration and the Saudis — Saudi Arabia’s official communications have emphasized the positive in dealings with the Biden administration so far, said Eman Alhussein, a Saudi analyst at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

“They want to be seen as being part of the solution to these problems,” Alhussein said, partly because of the “atmosphere of apprehension” about the kingdom’s uncertain relationship with United States.

When the United States last tried to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran, the reaction from the Israeli government was blunt and fierce. In the years preceding Iran’s 2015 agreement with Washington and several other leading powers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel repeatedly called the negotiations a “historic mistake.

When the United States last tried to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran, the reaction from the Israeli government was blunt and fierce. In the years preceding Iran’s 2015 agreement with Washington and several other leading powers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel repeatedly called the negotiations a “historic mistake.” But Friday, the formal announcement that the Biden administration was seeking a return to nuclear negotiations with Iran, after the collapse of the 2015 agreement under President Donald Trump, did not provoke a sharp backlash — not just in Jerusalem, but also in the Gulf nations of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which also oppose too generous a rapprochement with Iran. The muted response from Iran’s regional antagonists may mask a strong undercurrent of pessimism and behind-the-scenes pushback against the Americans’ decision. Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates remain wary of Iran’s intentions, and have signaled that they would be open to a deal only if it went well beyond the previous one — reining in Iran’s ballistic missile program, its meddling in other countries and the militias it supports in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and elsewhere, in addition to its nuclear program. Also read| Probe launched after 17-metre-long whale found dead in Israeli beach Netanyahu’s office issued a brief statement avoiding direct comment on the U.S. intention to negotiate but noting that Israel was in contact with the United States. “Israel remains committed to preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons, and its position on the nuclear agreement has not changed,” the statement said. “Israel believes that going back to the old agreement will pave Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal.” Western diplomats and former Israeli officials said that the Israelis had accepted the need to engage constructively with Washington instead of dismissing the negotiations out of hand. Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel’s minister for community affairs, said the Israeli government was not intrinsically opposed to negotiations. But the talks had to yield a better deal than the one in 2015, which Israel and the Gulf countries condemned because its restrictions on Iranian nuclear activities would expire in a decade and a half and because it did nothing to restrict Iranian military activity across the Middle East. Also read| Jab but no tab: Israeli bar offers free drinks with vaccines “We would like the negotiations to emphasize what the world would like to see: an agreement for a longer time — for at least 50 years, if not more,” Hanegbi said in an interview. “It has to be an agreement that will be valid for generations. Anything else will not achieve the goal of preventing a nuclear Iran.” Saudi and Emirati officials, for their part, were silent Friday. Watching the Biden administration’s outreach to Tehran with resignation, the two Gulf states — which were outraged at being excluded from the last negotiations — can only hope that the United States will keep its promises to consider Gulf interests in the talks, analysts said. “We just have to trust the new administration,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, an Emirati political scientist. “We don’t have any option. They really are determined to reach out to Iran, so there’s no way that anybody could stop them.” But he acknowledged there could be something to gain, saying, “If the end result is less confrontation with Iran, a less aggressive Iran, a less expansionist Iran, it’s a dream of a sort.” The Israeli government’s reticence reflects a less combative approach to the Biden administration’s policymaking than with President Barack Obama’s, at least initially, said Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence. “Practically, they will not confront the Biden administration directly,” he said. “They will wait a little bit to see whether the Iranians are reacting and how the negotiations develop.” But behind the scenes, Israel is already lobbying the United States for an agreement that is much tougher on Iran. Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and a team of experts will soon travel to Washington to brief senior American officials about what they see as the threats still posed by Iran, hoping to persuade the United States to hold out for harsher restrictions on Iran in any deal, two senior Israeli officials said. Israeli intelligence suggests that Iran has blatantly violated the terms of the original nuclear deal and is still taking steps to develop a nuclear warhead, the officials said, claims that Iran denies. In Europe, Russia and China, which supported the original deal and opposed Trump’s withdrawal from it, the reaction was positive. “The U.S.A. is giving diplomacy a chance,” Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, wrote on Twitter. “We expressly welcome and support this!” Maas also warned Iran against taking aggressive measures at a time when diplomatic breakthroughs seemed possible. “Now the Iranian leaders must also show that they are serious,” he said. In Russia — an ally of Iran and a signatory to the nuclear deal — the Kremlin praised how the White House had also backed away from the Trump administration effort to restore United Nations sanctions on Iran. “Halting the call for sanctions is a good thing, on its own,” said Dmitry S. Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman. “This is an event that one can probably mark with a plus sign.” China, which signed a trade and military pact with Iran last year and is another signatory, reiterated Friday that the United States should “unconditionally” rejoin the nuclear deal. It has opposed renegotiating a new agreement in the past. An unconditional return “is the key to breaking the deadlock,” Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, said at a news conference. Biden administration officials said Friday that the next move was Iran’s and that they did not intend to offer concessions or incentives for Tehran to join negotiations. “We don’t anticipate taking additional steps,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters traveling with President Joe Biden on Air Force One. A senior administration official said that any U.S. actions, such as the removal of sanctions on Iran, would have to be discussed at the negotiating table. Iranian officials did not formally respond to Biden’s proposal Friday, although several officials said Thursday that Iran would likely join the talks. But they did reiterate their position that the United States must lift sanctions first before Iran would return to its commitments under the nuclear agreement. “Gestures are fine,” Saeed Khatibzadeh, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on Twitter. But to revive the nuclear talks, he said, the “U.S. must Act: LIFT sanctions. We WILL respond.” In the Persian Gulf, U.S. allies who view Iran as a major threat were gritting their teeth over the possible talks. Ali Shihabi, a Saudi political commentator who is viewed as being close to the government, said Saudi Arabia had been signaling to the Biden administration for months that it supported reengaging with Iran, but only if the goal was a deal with additional constraints on Iran’s regional behavior. “The Biden people are making all the right noises,” he said, “but the proof is in the pudding.” Calling renewed negotiations with Iran “a totally mind-boggling thing to do,” Mohammed Alyahya, editor-in-chief of the English website of Saudi-owned news channel Al-Arabiya, warned that lifting sanctions against Iran would mean relinquishing all the leverage the Trump administration accrued through its maximum-pressure campaign of economic punishment, leaving Tehran to do as it pleased. “We’ve seen this movie before,” Alyahya said. “Going back to the same deal is going to yield the same exact results that the first deal did: an empowered Iran, an Iran that is going to quickly try to reclaim its regional leverage that it has lost as a result of the maximum pressure campaign. This is not a regime that will act in good faith.” Yet amid a cooling in U.S.-Saudi relations — Biden officials have said they will recalibrate the relationship after four years of coziness between the Trump administration and the Saudis — Saudi Arabia’s official communications have emphasized the positive in dealings with the Biden administration so far, said Eman Alhussein, a Saudi analyst at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. “They want to be seen as being part of the solution to these problems,” Alhussein said, partly because of the “atmosphere of apprehension” about the kingdom’s uncertain relationship with United States.

In Israel and the Gulf, reaction to US push for Iran talks is muted but wary

In the West,&nbsp;people are refusing to take jabs,&nbsp;but in&nbsp;Africa,&nbsp;there aren't medicines,&nbsp;let alone vaccines.&nbsp;

There are talks&nbsp;about global cooperation, but&nbsp;this is the end result.&nbsp;It is&nbsp;a logistical nightmare.&nbsp;&nbsp;

This whole pandemic has been a learning curve.&nbsp;The lessons learnt in the last&nbsp;year&nbsp;should help us prevent the next pandemic&nbsp;if countries are willing to learn.&nbsp;

Right now,&nbsp;this is a world of vaccine haves and have nots.&nbsp;In the United States,&nbsp;doses are&nbsp;getting&nbsp;wasted&nbsp;in refrigerators.&nbsp;In Japan,&nbsp;they don't have enough syringes.&nbsp;

It's a complete breakdown&nbsp;in terms of&nbsp;global cooperation and planning.&nbsp;

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Earlier,&nbsp;multilateral and regional groupings have failed to boost cooperation&nbsp;but on Thursday,&nbsp;Saarc&nbsp;workshop was South Asia's chance to&nbsp;make the&nbsp;right amends.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The virtual meeting was convened by India&nbsp;and around&nbsp;10 of&nbsp;India's&nbsp;neighbours&nbsp;participated along with&nbsp;Saarc&nbsp;members.&nbsp;

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the meeting&nbsp;and&nbsp;talked about promoting best Covid&nbsp;practises&nbsp;and the need for South&nbsp;Asian&nbsp;unity.&nbsp;

Some proposals laid out&nbsp;were&nbsp;a visa regime for medical workers,&nbsp;a regional air ambulance for health contingencies,&nbsp;and most importantly,&nbsp;sharing vaccine efficiency data.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The only issue is that&nbsp;getting everyone onboard&nbsp;in this political climate will be next to impossible.&nbsp;

Politicisation&nbsp;of the pandemic&nbsp;has been happening. Now,&nbsp;even vaccine approvals and purchases are political.&nbsp;Venezuela will only use Russia's&nbsp;Sputnik.&nbsp;Iran will let its people die before using&nbsp;US&nbsp;jabs.&nbsp;Pakistan is at the mercy of Chinese doses.&nbsp;Add to this,&nbsp;a breakdown in supply chains&nbsp;and we have a full-blown crisis.&nbsp;

More than 180 million Americans have been inoculated&nbsp;and&nbsp;in Africa,&nbsp;the jabs haven't even arrived&nbsp;yet.&nbsp;At this rate,&nbsp;it will be 2023 before large parts of the continent are inoculated.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Meanwhile,&nbsp;the world's most powerful fighting force is turning out to be anti-vaccine.&nbsp;Almost one-third of&nbsp;US&nbsp;servicemen are refusing to take the jab.&nbsp;The reason is unclear.&nbsp;Some reports say the troops are falling for internet&nbsp;rumours.&nbsp;Either way,&nbsp;it's a dangerous prospect.&nbsp; 
US&nbsp;troops travel the world.&nbsp;They eat, sleep and train in close quarters.&nbsp;It's a virus cluster waiting to emerge.&nbsp;So,&nbsp;the Pentagon leadership is scrambling to find a solution.&nbsp;

Maj&nbsp;Gen Jeff Taliaferro, joint chiefs of staff vice director for operations,&nbsp;"We believe that, of course, the vaccine is the right thing to do.&nbsp;It's clearly safe for service members and we need to continue to educate our force and help them understand the benefits and ensure there's leadership involvement in the discussion of the benefits of the of the vaccine."&nbsp;

Across the Atlantic,&nbsp;Britain is falling back on some desperate tactics.&nbsp;They have approved a new clinical trial.&nbsp;One that will deliberately expose healthy people to the Wuhan virus.&nbsp;It's a first during this outbreak.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
During a vaccine trial,&nbsp;normally&nbsp;people are&nbsp;given an experimental jab&nbsp;but at no point,&nbsp;they&nbsp;are infected on purpose.&nbsp;In this case,&nbsp;volunteers are being infected in a controlled environment.&nbsp;

It is&nbsp;to understand the minimum virus load needed to trigger the infection&nbsp;and understanding how the virus transmits.&nbsp;

90 volunteers have been roped in&nbsp;for it.&nbsp;All&nbsp;are&nbsp;aged between 18 and 30.&nbsp;They&nbsp;will&nbsp;be paid 88 pounds per day&nbsp;as&nbsp;the&nbsp;cost of putting their lives on the line.&nbsp;

Human challenge trials have been done before&nbsp;as&nbsp;they can be helpful in understanding more about a disease.&nbsp;But the fact that the UK&nbsp;is&nbsp;doing this now just goes to show how dire the situation is.&nbsp;

The world would do well to take a leaf from India's playbook,&nbsp;cooperation,&nbsp;solidarity,&nbsp;and&nbsp;neighbourhood&nbsp;first.&nbsp;These have been the pillars of India's pandemic response.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In the West, people are refusing to take jabs, but in Africa, there aren't medicines, let alone vaccines. There are talks about global cooperation, but this is the end result.

In the West, people are refusing to take jabs, but in Africa, there aren't medicines, let alone vaccines. There are talks about global cooperation, but this is the end result. It is a logistical nightmare. This whole pandemic has been a learning curve. The lessons learnt in the last year should help us prevent the next pandemic if countries are willing to learn. Right now, this is a world of vaccine haves and have nots. In the United States, doses are getting wasted in refrigerators. In Japan, they don't have enough syringes. It's a complete breakdown in terms of global cooperation and planning. × Earlier, multilateral and regional groupings have failed to boost cooperation but on Thursday, Saarc workshop was South Asia's chance to make the right amends. The virtual meeting was convened by India and around 10 of India's neighbours participated along with Saarc members. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the meeting and talked about promoting best Covid practises and the need for South Asian unity. Some proposals laid out were a visa regime for medical workers, a regional air ambulance for health contingencies, and most importantly, sharing vaccine efficiency data. The only issue is that getting everyone onboard in this political climate will be next to impossible. Politicisation of the pandemic has been happening. Now, even vaccine approvals and purchases are political. Venezuela will only use Russia's Sputnik. Iran will let its people die before using US jabs. Pakistan is at the mercy of Chinese doses. Add to this, a breakdown in supply chains and we have a full-blown crisis. More than 180 million Americans have been inoculated and in Africa, the jabs haven't even arrived yet. At this rate, it will be 2023 before large parts of the continent are inoculated. Meanwhile, the world's most powerful fighting force is turning out to be anti-vaccine. Almost one-third of US servicemen are refusing to take the jab. The reason is unclear. Some reports say the troops are falling for internet rumours. Either way, it's a dangerous prospect. US troops travel the world. They eat, sleep and train in close quarters. It's a virus cluster waiting to emerge. So, the Pentagon leadership is scrambling to find a solution. Maj Gen Jeff Taliaferro, joint chiefs of staff vice director for operations, "We believe that, of course, the vaccine is the right thing to do. It's clearly safe for service members and we need to continue to educate our force and help them understand the benefits and ensure there's leadership involvement in the discussion of the benefits of the of the vaccine." Across the Atlantic, Britain is falling back on some desperate tactics. They have approved a new clinical trial. One that will deliberately expose healthy people to the Wuhan virus. It's a first during this outbreak. During a vaccine trial, normally people are given an experimental jab but at no point, they are infected on purpose. In this case, volunteers are being infected in a controlled environment. It is to understand the minimum virus load needed to trigger the infection and understanding how the virus transmits. 90 volunteers have been roped in for it. All are aged between 18 and 30. They will be paid 88 pounds per day as the cost of putting their lives on the line. Human challenge trials have been done before as they can be helpful in understanding more about a disease. But the fact that the UK is doing this now just goes to show how dire the situation is. The world would do well to take a leaf from India's playbook, cooperation, solidarity, and neighbourhood first. These have been the pillars of India's pandemic response.

The story of vaccine haves and have nots

Sri Lanka has decided to re-acquire 99 oil tanks, which were leased out to Indian Oil for 30 years in 2003. The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka says the reports are incorrect but there's a pattern.&nbsp;

Recently, Sri Lanka halted a port project involving India and Japan. US withdrew its aid offer because Colombo wasn't using the funds. While Chinese investments are being steadily approved. &nbsp;

Reports say India was supposed to upgrade and commission the world war era tanks. But talks remained stalled for more than a decade. Then in 2015, discussions revived when Prime Minister Modi visited Sri Lanka. By 2017, the two sides had a roadmap but the project never really took off.&nbsp;

The Indian High Commission issued a statement on Thursday, claiming that there is no truth in these reports. Indian diplomats say both sides will explore ways to jointly develop and operate the facility.&nbsp;

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&nbsp;

Last month, Colombo had scrapped a trilateral agreement with India and Japan. This was for the development of the eastern container terminal at the Colombo Port.&nbsp;

Apparently, the project had received strong opposition from trade unions across Sri Lanka. This is despite the fact that Colombo was supposed to hold the majority stake.&nbsp;

It's not just Indian projects that Sri Lanka is scrapping. Even the United States suffered a setback this year. It withdrew $480 million in infrastructure aid to Colombo because Sri Lanka said it wasn't keen on using it. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The only country that seems to be getting a red-carpet welcome in Colombo is China. Within weeks of rejecting US aid, the Sri Lankan cabinet cleared a Chinese energy project. It is quite close to Indian borders.&nbsp;

A Chinese company has won the contract to set up hybrid wind and solar energy projects off the northern Jaffna peninsula on three islands, which are barely 50 kilometers away from the Tamil Nadu coast.&nbsp;

Reports say India had lodged a strong protest with Sri Lanka. It happened days before the Colombo Port deal was cancelled.&nbsp;

The Chinese seems to be deepening their influence in Sri Lanka under the Rajapaksa Government.&nbsp;

Before the energy deal, they secured several major projects. It includes a $13 billion city on Sri Lanka's sea front, a new Chinese factory in Hambantota, a $300 million tire plan for the Shandong Haohua tire, a $one billion road from Colombo to Kandy and $300 million coal-based power plant in Norochcholai. Colombo has given green-light to all these projects and pushed itself further under Chinese debt. &nbsp;&nbsp;

India hasn't given up though. Reports say India has offered a grant of $12 million to displace the Chinese company for the energy project off the Jaffna peninsula. A group of Tamil parties have also voiced their opposition to Chinese involvement.&nbsp;

Sri Lanka has decided to re-acquire 99 oil tanks, which were leased out to Indian Oil for 30 years in 2003. The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka says the reports are incorrect but there's a pattern.

Sri Lanka has decided to re-acquire 99 oil tanks, which were leased out to Indian Oil for 30 years in 2003. The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka says the reports are incorrect but there's a pattern. Recently, Sri Lanka halted a port project involving India and Japan. US withdrew its aid offer because Colombo wasn't using the funds. While Chinese investments are being steadily approved. Reports say India was supposed to upgrade and commission the world war era tanks. But talks remained stalled for more than a decade. Then in 2015, discussions revived when Prime Minister Modi visited Sri Lanka. By 2017, the two sides had a roadmap but the project never really took off. The Indian High Commission issued a statement on Thursday, claiming that there is no truth in these reports. Indian diplomats say both sides will explore ways to jointly develop and operate the facility. × Last month, Colombo had scrapped a trilateral agreement with India and Japan. This was for the development of the eastern container terminal at the Colombo Port. Apparently, the project had received strong opposition from trade unions across Sri Lanka. This is despite the fact that Colombo was supposed to hold the majority stake. It's not just Indian projects that Sri Lanka is scrapping. Even the United States suffered a setback this year. It withdrew $480 million in infrastructure aid to Colombo because Sri Lanka said it wasn't keen on using it. The only country that seems to be getting a red-carpet welcome in Colombo is China. Within weeks of rejecting US aid, the Sri Lankan cabinet cleared a Chinese energy project. It is quite close to Indian borders. A Chinese company has won the contract to set up hybrid wind and solar energy projects off the northern Jaffna peninsula on three islands, which are barely 50 kilometers away from the Tamil Nadu coast. Reports say India had lodged a strong protest with Sri Lanka. It happened days before the Colombo Port deal was cancelled. The Chinese seems to be deepening their influence in Sri Lanka under the Rajapaksa Government. Before the energy deal, they secured several major projects. It includes a $13 billion city on Sri Lanka's sea front, a new Chinese factory in Hambantota, a $300 million tire plan for the Shandong Haohua tire, a $one billion road from Colombo to Kandy and $300 million coal-based power plant in Norochcholai. Colombo has given green-light to all these projects and pushed itself further under Chinese debt. India hasn't given up though. Reports say India has offered a grant of $12 million to displace the Chinese company for the energy project off the Jaffna peninsula. A group of Tamil parties have also voiced their opposition to Chinese involvement.

Is Sri Lanka falling to Chinese debt trap?

The winter storm in Texas has killed at least 30. More than 200,000 homes are without power. Millions have been told to boil tap water. Can climate change be blamed for the crisis in Texas? WION's Palki Sharma brings you a report.

Gravitas: A brutal blast of winter weather leads to blackouts in Texas

The US House of Representatives on Thursday reintroduced a bill that would ban imports from China's Xinjiang region unless it is certified they are not produced with forced labour and allow further sanctions against Chinese officials responsible for abuses against Muslims.&nbsp;

"We have watched in horror as the Chinese government first created, and then expanded a system of extrajudicial mass internment camps targeting Uyghurs and Muslim minorities. We now know the entire XUAR economy is built upon a foundation of forced labour and repression," said Representative Jim McGovern.&nbsp;

According to the Massachusetts Congressman, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act would create a 'rebuttable presumption' that any goods made in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are made with forced labour and prohibited from entering the United States unless 'clear and convincing' evidence is shown to the contrary.&nbsp;

"Many US, international, and Chinese corporations are complicit in the exploitation of forced labour and these products continue to make their way into global supply chains and our country. It is long past time for Congress to act," McGovern added.&nbsp;

Representative Chris Smith from New Jersey, a Republican, said that the US cannot be silent.&nbsp;

"Congress must hold the Chinese government accountable and give a strong voice to the millions of Muslim Uyghurs, who are victims of genocide, rape, torture, forced marriages, reeducation camps, and other gross violations of human rights. Chinese authorities had the audacity to deny the existence of mass internment camps and portray them as vocational training centres," he said.&nbsp;

The bill would prohibit all imports from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China unless the Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection can certify that the goods being imported to the US are not produced, either wholly or in part, with forced labour and the Commissioner submits to Congress a report outlining such a determination.&nbsp;

The US House of Representatives on Thursday reintroduced a bill that would ban imports from China's Xinjiang region unless it is certified they are not produced with forced labour and allow further sanctions against Chinese officials responsible for abuses against Muslims.

The US House of Representatives on Thursday reintroduced a bill that would ban imports from China's Xinjiang region unless it is certified they are not produced with forced labour and allow further sanctions against Chinese officials responsible for abuses against Muslims. "We have watched in horror as the Chinese government first created, and then expanded a system of extrajudicial mass internment camps targeting Uyghurs and Muslim minorities. We now know the entire XUAR economy is built upon a foundation of forced labour and repression," said Representative Jim McGovern. According to the Massachusetts Congressman, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act would create a 'rebuttable presumption' that any goods made in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are made with forced labour and prohibited from entering the United States unless 'clear and convincing' evidence is shown to the contrary. "Many US, international, and Chinese corporations are complicit in the exploitation of forced labour and these products continue to make their way into global supply chains and our country. It is long past time for Congress to act," McGovern added. Representative Chris Smith from New Jersey, a Republican, said that the US cannot be silent. "Congress must hold the Chinese government accountable and give a strong voice to the millions of Muslim Uyghurs, who are victims of genocide, rape, torture, forced marriages, reeducation camps, and other gross violations of human rights. Chinese authorities had the audacity to deny the existence of mass internment camps and portray them as vocational training centres," he said. The bill would prohibit all imports from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China unless the Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection can certify that the goods being imported to the US are not produced, either wholly or in part, with forced labour and the Commissioner submits to Congress a report outlining such a determination.

US House reintroduces bill to ban goods from China's Xinjiang

A total of six US police officers have been suspended with pay and another 29 have been put under investigation over their conduct during the riots on Capitol Hill on January 6, according to a police department spokesperson.&nbsp;

"Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman has directed that any member of her department whose behaviour is not in keeping with the Department's Rules of Conduct will face appropriate discipline," said police spokesperson John Stolnis, as quoted by CNN.&nbsp;

Last month, CNN had reported that the Capitol police were investigating at least 10 officers, while two were suspended. &nbsp;

According to Tim Ryan, a member of the House of Representatives, one of the suspended officers took a selfie with a protester, while another officer was wearing a hat with then President Donald Trump's slogan 'Make America Great Again'. &nbsp;

On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the US Congress would establish a special commission to probe Capitol Hill attack. On January 6, a group of then US President Donald Trump's supports stormed the US Capitol building.&nbsp;

The unrest took place after Trump urged his supporters to protest what he claims is a stolen presidential election. Five people, four protesters and a police officer, were killed in the riots. &nbsp;

The last time, the Capitol was stormed was when British troops marched into Washington and set fire to the building in 1814. The deadly attack prompted the House Democrats to move to impeach Trump. The Senate trial that ended this weekend acquitted Trump.&nbsp;

A total of six US police officers have been suspended with pay and another 29 have been put under investigation over their conduct during the riots on Capitol Hill on January 6, according to a police department spokesperson.

A total of six US police officers have been suspended with pay and another 29 have been put under investigation over their conduct during the riots on Capitol Hill on January 6, according to a police department spokesperson. "Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman has directed that any member of her department whose behaviour is not in keeping with the Department's Rules of Conduct will face appropriate discipline," said police spokesperson John Stolnis, as quoted by CNN. Last month, CNN had reported that the Capitol police were investigating at least 10 officers, while two were suspended. According to Tim Ryan, a member of the House of Representatives, one of the suspended officers took a selfie with a protester, while another officer was wearing a hat with then President Donald Trump's slogan 'Make America Great Again'. On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the US Congress would establish a special commission to probe Capitol Hill attack. On January 6, a group of then US President Donald Trump's supports stormed the US Capitol building. The unrest took place after Trump urged his supporters to protest what he claims is a stolen presidential election. Five people, four protesters and a police officer, were killed in the riots. The last time, the Capitol was stormed was when British troops marched into Washington and set fire to the building in 1814. The deadly attack prompted the House Democrats to move to impeach Trump. The Senate trial that ended this weekend acquitted Trump.

Six cops suspended for misconduct during Capitol Hill riots

Pentagon officials have said that 33% of the US military are declining to receive the COVID-19 vaccine shots, despite significant coronavirus infection levels in the forces.

Pentagon: 33% of US service members say not to COVID-19 vaccine

The United States says it has decided to de-link its suspension of millions of dollars of aid to Ethiopia from that country's dispute with Egypt over a massive hydroelectric dam project.&nbsp;

But the State Department early on Friday said that does not mean all the roughly USD 272 million in security and development assistance will immediately start to flow, and it depends on more recent 'developments', an apparent reference to the deadly conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region.&nbsp;

The State Department said humanitarian assistance remains exempt from the aid suspension.&nbsp;

It said it has informed Ethiopia's government. A spokeswoman for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not immediately respond to a request for comment.&nbsp;

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&nbsp;

Ethiopians were furious after former President Donald Trump last year directed the suspension of aid to their country in a rare example of his direct involvement in an African issue.&nbsp;

Ethiopia had left a US-led attempt to mediate the dispute with Egypt, alleging bias.&nbsp;

Trump also caused an uproar by saying downstream Egypt would blow up the dam project that Cairo considers an existential threat.&nbsp;

Ethiopia asserts that the US $4.6 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam that it has nearly completed on the Blue Nile River is essential for development and the pulling of millions of people out of poverty. Egypt says it threatens its water supply.&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-affirms-support-for-normalisation-of-ties-between-israel-arab-nations-364613">Biden affirms support for normalisation of ties between Israel, Arab nations</a>

Ethiopia is now under pressure from the US and others including the European Union and United Nations over the deadly fighting in its northern Tigray region, where some six million people have been largely cut off from the world since fighting began in November between Ethiopian and allied forces and Tigray ones.&nbsp;

Witness accounts have emerged of massacres, people beginning to starve to death and the presence of thousands of soldiers from neighbouring Eritrea, which Ethiopia's government has denied.&nbsp;

The US has said Eritrean soldiers should immediately leave Ethiopia. And earlier this week, a State Department spokesperson said we remain gravely concerned by the widespread humanitarian suffering and reported human rights abuses in the Tigray region.&nbsp;

The spokesperson urged an immediate end to the fighting in Tigray, full and unhindered humanitarian access, an independent investigation into the human rights violations and abuses and for those responsible to be held accountable.

The United States says it has decided to de-link its suspension of millions of dollars of aid to Ethiopia from that country's dispute with Egypt over a massive hydroelectric dam project.

The United States says it has decided to de-link its suspension of millions of dollars of aid to Ethiopia from that country's dispute with Egypt over a massive hydroelectric dam project. But the State Department early on Friday said that does not mean all the roughly USD 272 million in security and development assistance will immediately start to flow, and it depends on more recent 'developments', an apparent reference to the deadly conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region. The State Department said humanitarian assistance remains exempt from the aid suspension. It said it has informed Ethiopia's government. A spokeswoman for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not immediately respond to a request for comment. × Ethiopians were furious after former President Donald Trump last year directed the suspension of aid to their country in a rare example of his direct involvement in an African issue. Ethiopia had left a US-led attempt to mediate the dispute with Egypt, alleging bias. Trump also caused an uproar by saying downstream Egypt would blow up the dam project that Cairo considers an existential threat. Ethiopia asserts that the US $4.6 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam that it has nearly completed on the Blue Nile River is essential for development and the pulling of millions of people out of poverty. Egypt says it threatens its water supply. Also Read: Biden affirms support for normalisation of ties between Israel, Arab nations Ethiopia is now under pressure from the US and others including the European Union and United Nations over the deadly fighting in its northern Tigray region, where some six million people have been largely cut off from the world since fighting began in November between Ethiopian and allied forces and Tigray ones. Witness accounts have emerged of massacres, people beginning to starve to death and the presence of thousands of soldiers from neighbouring Eritrea, which Ethiopia's government has denied. The US has said Eritrean soldiers should immediately leave Ethiopia. And earlier this week, a State Department spokesperson said we remain gravely concerned by the widespread humanitarian suffering and reported human rights abuses in the Tigray region. The spokesperson urged an immediate end to the fighting in Tigray, full and unhindered humanitarian access, an independent investigation into the human rights violations and abuses and for those responsible to be held accountable.

US: Aid pause to Ethiopia no longer linked to dam dispute

Some of the world's wealthiest countries are promising to share coronavirus vaccines with the poorest, but details of when and how many remain scarce as leaders of the Group of Seven economic powers hold their first meeting of 2021 on Friday.&nbsp;

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, which holds the G-7 presidency this year, is meeting virtually with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and the United States to discuss international challenges, chief among them the pandemic that has killed almost 2.5 million people around the world.&nbsp;

Wealthy nations have snapped up hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines against the virus, while some countries in the developing world have little or none.&nbsp;

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Johnson, whose country has had almost 120,000 coronavirus deaths, will promise to give the majority of any future surplus vaccines to the UN-backed COVAX effort to vaccinate the world's most vulnerable people, and will encourage other G-7 countries to do the same, the British government said.&nbsp;

But Foreign Office Minister James Cleverly said it was difficult to say with any kind of certainty when or how much Britain could donate.&nbsp;

We're not really able to give with certainty either a timescale or the numbers involved, he told the BBC.&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/the-story-of-vaccine-haves-and-have-nots-364633">The story of vaccine haves and have nots</a>

Anti-poverty group the One Campaign said Britain's promise was not enough.&nbsp;

The virus won't wait on us to be ready before it mutates, so we need to get these vaccines around the world as quickly as possible, said Romilly Greenhill, the group's UK director.&nbsp;

French President Emmanuel Macron gave a firmer target, saying Europe and the US should allocate up to five per cent of their current Covid-19 vaccine supplies to the poorest countries very fast, so that people on the ground see it happening.&nbsp;

Some of the world's wealthiest countries are promising to share coronavirus vaccines with the poorest, but details of when and how many remain scarce as leaders of the Group of Seven economic powers hold their first meeting of 2021 on Friday.

Some of the world's wealthiest countries are promising to share coronavirus vaccines with the poorest, but details of when and how many remain scarce as leaders of the Group of Seven economic powers hold their first meeting of 2021 on Friday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, which holds the G-7 presidency this year, is meeting virtually with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and the United States to discuss international challenges, chief among them the pandemic that has killed almost 2.5 million people around the world. Wealthy nations have snapped up hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines against the virus, while some countries in the developing world have little or none. × Johnson, whose country has had almost 120,000 coronavirus deaths, will promise to give the majority of any future surplus vaccines to the UN-backed COVAX effort to vaccinate the world's most vulnerable people, and will encourage other G-7 countries to do the same, the British government said. But Foreign Office Minister James Cleverly said it was difficult to say with any kind of certainty when or how much Britain could donate. We're not really able to give with certainty either a timescale or the numbers involved, he told the BBC. Also Read: The story of vaccine haves and have nots Anti-poverty group the One Campaign said Britain's promise was not enough. The virus won't wait on us to be ready before it mutates, so we need to get these vaccines around the world as quickly as possible, said Romilly Greenhill, the group's UK director. French President Emmanuel Macron gave a firmer target, saying Europe and the US should allocate up to five per cent of their current Covid-19 vaccine supplies to the poorest countries very fast, so that people on the ground see it happening.

Britain vows to ‘share’ vaccines with poor nations as G-7 meets

The United States would accept an invitation from the European Union High Representative to attend a meeting of the P5+1 and Iran to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Irans nuclear program.

US says ready for talks with Iran to revive nuclear deal

As Texas finds itself in the midst of a rare and brutal blast of winter, people across the US state have been left without power after high demand for electricity caused the power grid to repeatedly fail. Over 20 deaths have been attributed to the unprecedented winter storm so far in the state.

Storm causes widespread blackouts in energy-rich Texas

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