Leaders of Quad countries will meet for the first ever in-person summit on Friday at the White House. But, can the Quad define its mission? Palki Sharma discusses with a special panel of guests.

Gravitas US Edition:Can the Quad define its mission?

In the summer of 2020, America burnt in the flames of racial inequality. Millions rallied to tell the world that 'Black Lives Matter' Today, a memorial near the White House serves as a symbol of that movement. Here's a Ground Report by Palki Sharma

Gravitas US Edition: Black Lives Matter Movement: A WION Ground Report

Ahead of the most anticipated Quad leader summit at the White House this week, the foreign secretary of India has given an update on the Indian prime minister's US visit, listen in.

WION-USA Direct | Indian PM Narendra Modi to address UNGA on September 25

It has been 12 months since the historic Abraham Accords were signed at the White House. A year later, Ghadi Francis takes a look at what the normalisation deals have achieved in the region.

The West Asia Post: The Abraham accords, a year later

The White House has invited Nicki Minaj to clear her doubts about the COVID-19 vaccine. The pop star is under attack for peddling fake news about vaccine side effects. Palki Sharma tells you more.

Gravitas: Nicki Minaj pushes vaccine hesitancy on Twitter

The White House has announced on Monday that the first in-person Quad or India, US, Australia and Japan's leaders' summit will take place on September 24 in Washington. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The summit marks a major milestone and coming of age for the grouping, which has been in works for some time now. For the summit, the US President Biden will be hosting Australian PM Scott Morrison, Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga and Indian PM Narendra Modi. &nbsp;

A White House statement said, "The Biden-Harris Administration has made elevating the Quad a priority, as seen through the first-ever Quad Leaders-level engagement in March, which was virtual, and now this Summit, which will be in-person". &nbsp;&nbsp;

Watch:&nbsp;Innocent civilians pay the price of America's war on terror

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March 12 saw the first Quad summit, but that happened virtually amid the Covid pandemic. The key outcome of the summit was Quad Covid vaccine initiative. Quad Vaccine initiative will see covid vaccines--developed in the US, manufactured in India, financed by Japan and US and supported by Australia.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The White House statement highlighted that "hosting the leaders of the Quad demonstrates the Biden-Harris Administration’s priority of engaging in the Indo-Pacific, including through new multilateral configurations to meet the challenges of the 21st century." &nbsp;&nbsp;

Indo Pacific as a vision is being backed by India and US among other countries in the region. Many countries in Europe have also issued their papers on the visions and how to support it. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/to-combat-covid-19s-second-wave-india-inc-spent-over-rs-16-billion-412792" hreflang="en">To combat COVID-19's second wave, India Inc spent over Rs 16 billion</a>

The statement pointed that the focus of the summit will be on "deepening our ties and advancing practical cooperation" on areas, such as "combatting COVID-19, addressing the climate crisis, partnering on emerging technologies and cyberspace and promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific." &nbsp;&nbsp;

Quad first came into existence after the 2004 Tsunami and saw some formalisation in 2007. At that time, Australia had issues, with the grouping again meeting a decade later in 2017 at the official level. Since 2019, Quad has had regular conversations at the foreign ministers' level. &nbsp;

The announcement by White House confirms Indian PM Modi's US visit. He is expected to hold bilateral meeting with US President Biden on September 23, the first in-person meet between the two leaders since the change of guard in Washington. &nbsp;&nbsp;

On September 25, he will be travelling to New York for the United Nations General Assembly high-level week for the address. During his address, he will be focusing on UN reforms, climate change, Covid crisis and vaccines, counter terror and some references can be expected on Afghanistan as well.&nbsp;

The White House has announced on Monday that the first in-person Quad or India, US, Australia and Japan's leaders' summit will take place on September 24 in Washington.

The White House has announced on Monday that the first in-person Quad or India, US, Australia and Japan's leaders' summit will take place on September 24 in Washington. The summit marks a major milestone and coming of age for the grouping, which has been in works for some time now. For the summit, the US President Biden will be hosting Australian PM Scott Morrison, Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga and Indian PM Narendra Modi. A White House statement said, "The Biden-Harris Administration has made elevating the Quad a priority, as seen through the first-ever Quad Leaders-level engagement in March, which was virtual, and now this Summit, which will be in-person". Watch: Innocent civilians pay the price of America's war on terror × March 12 saw the first Quad summit, but that happened virtually amid the Covid pandemic. The key outcome of the summit was Quad Covid vaccine initiative. Quad Vaccine initiative will see covid vaccines--developed in the US, manufactured in India, financed by Japan and US and supported by Australia. The White House statement highlighted that "hosting the leaders of the Quad demonstrates the Biden-Harris Administration’s priority of engaging in the Indo-Pacific, including through new multilateral configurations to meet the challenges of the 21st century." Indo Pacific as a vision is being backed by India and US among other countries in the region. Many countries in Europe have also issued their papers on the visions and how to support it. Also Read: To combat COVID-19's second wave, India Inc spent over Rs 16 billion The statement pointed that the focus of the summit will be on "deepening our ties and advancing practical cooperation" on areas, such as "combatting COVID-19, addressing the climate crisis, partnering on emerging technologies and cyberspace and promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific." Quad first came into existence after the 2004 Tsunami and saw some formalisation in 2007. At that time, Australia had issues, with the grouping again meeting a decade later in 2017 at the official level. Since 2019, Quad has had regular conversations at the foreign ministers' level. The announcement by White House confirms Indian PM Modi's US visit. He is expected to hold bilateral meeting with US President Biden on September 23, the first in-person meet between the two leaders since the change of guard in Washington. On September 25, he will be travelling to New York for the United Nations General Assembly high-level week for the address. During his address, he will be focusing on UN reforms, climate change, Covid crisis and vaccines, counter terror and some references can be expected on Afghanistan as well.

First in-person Quad leaders' Summit on September 24, says White House  

Days after Nicki&nbsp;Minaj voiced her scepticism about the COVID-19 vaccine, the debate rages on. The rapper had claimed that she had been invited to discuss her concerns with the US government. However, on Thursday, officials at White House refuted Minaj's claims.&nbsp; 
 
Instead, they stated that Minaj was offered a phone call to discuss her concerns with a doctor, as has been an option for others who have been feeling doubtful about the jab. 
 
On Monday, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/nicki-minaj-draws-flak-for-justifying-why-she-had-not-taken-covid-19-vaccine-so-far-413203">explaining her absence from Met Gala-</a> which had a strict vaccine mandate- Minaj expressed her doubts on vaccination in a series of tweets. In one of the tweets, Minaj suggested that the vaccine could lead to impotency. 
 
A White House official said, "As we have with others, we offered a call with Nicki Minaj and one of our doctors to answer questions she has about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine." 
 
Minaj had made the claim on Twitter that she`d been invited to the White House. 
 
She wrote, "The White House has invited me &amp; I think it`s a step in the right direction. Yes, I`m going. I`ll be dressed in all pink like Legally Blonde so they know I mean business. I`ll ask questions on behalf of the ppl who have been made fun of for simply being human. #BallGate day 3" 
 
She subsequently asked her followers to send their questions and concerns to her so she could put them before the officials in the White House. 
 
In response to a post from a fan, she said, "I`m doing it, babe. If you guys have questions you`d like me to ask, leave in the comments. You`ll see it in real-time with full transparency."

Days after Nicki Minaj voiced her scepticism about the COVID-19 vaccine, the debate rages on. The rapper had claimed that she had been invited to discuss her concerns with the US government.

Days after Nicki Minaj voiced her scepticism about the COVID-19 vaccine, the debate rages on. The rapper had claimed that she had been invited to discuss her concerns with the US government. However, on Thursday, officials at White House refuted Minaj's claims. Instead, they stated that Minaj was offered a phone call to discuss her concerns with a doctor, as has been an option for others who have been feeling doubtful about the jab. On Monday, explaining her absence from Met Gala- which had a strict vaccine mandate- Minaj expressed her doubts on vaccination in a series of tweets. In one of the tweets, Minaj suggested that the vaccine could lead to impotency. A White House official said, "As we have with others, we offered a call with Nicki Minaj and one of our doctors to answer questions she has about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine." Minaj had made the claim on Twitter that she`d been invited to the White House. She wrote, "The White House has invited me & I think it`s a step in the right direction. Yes, I`m going. I`ll be dressed in all pink like Legally Blonde so they know I mean business. I`ll ask questions on behalf of the ppl who have been made fun of for simply being human. #BallGate day 3" She subsequently asked her followers to send their questions and concerns to her so she could put them before the officials in the White House. In response to a post from a fan, she said, "I`m doing it, babe. If you guys have questions you`d like me to ask, leave in the comments. You`ll see it in real-time with full transparency."

Nicki Minaj says the US govt invited her to discuss COVID-19 vaccines, White House denies claims

On September 24, Joe Biden will host the first in-person quad summit at the White House. What will member-nations bring to the table? Palki Sharma takes you through the priorities of each country.

Gravitas: White House to host first in-person meeting of the quad

The White House on Monday announced that the first in-person Quad or India, US, Australia and Japan's leaders' summit will take place on September 24 in Washington. The summit marks a major milestone and coming of age for the grouping which has been in works for some time now. For the summit, US President Joe Biden will be hosting Australian PM Scott Morrison, Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga and Indian PM Narendra Modi.

A White House statement said, "The Biden-Harris Administration has made elevating the Quad a priority, as seen through the first-ever Quad Leaders-level engagement in March, which was virtual, and now this Summit, which will be in-person".&nbsp;

March 12th saw the first Quad summit, but that happened virtually amid the Covid pandemic. The key outcome of the summit was Quad Covid vaccine initiative. Quad vaccine initiative will see Covid vaccines developed in the US being manufactured in India. This will be financed by Japan and US and supported by Australia.

The White House statement highlighted that "hosting the leaders of the Quad demonstrates the Biden-Harris Administration’s priority of engaging in the Indo-Pacific, including through new multilateral configurations to meet the challenges of the 21st century." Indo-Pacific as a vision is being back by India and US among other countries in the region. Many countries in Europe have also issued their papers on the visions and how to support it.

The statement pointed that the focus of the summit will be on "deepening our ties and advancing practical cooperation" on areas such as "combatting COVID-19, addressing the climate crisis, partnering on emerging technologies and cyberspace, and promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific." Quad first came into existence after the 2004 tsunami and saw some formalization in 2007. At that time Australia had issues. Since 2019, Quad has had regular conversations at the foreign ministers' level.

The announcement by White House confirms Indian PM Modi's US visit. He is expected to hold bilateral talks with US President Biden on September 23, the first in-person meet between the 2 leaders since the change of guard in Washington. On 25th he will be travelling to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. During his address he will be focusing on UN reforms, climate change, Covid crisis and vaccines, counter-terror and some references can be expected on Afghanistan as well.

The White House on Monday announced that the first in-person Quad or India, US, Australia and Japan's leaders' summit will take place on September 24 in Washington.

The White House on Monday announced that the first in-person Quad or India, US, Australia and Japan's leaders' summit will take place on September 24 in Washington. The summit marks a major milestone and coming of age for the grouping which has been in works for some time now. For the summit, US President Joe Biden will be hosting Australian PM Scott Morrison, Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga and Indian PM Narendra Modi. A White House statement said, "The Biden-Harris Administration has made elevating the Quad a priority, as seen through the first-ever Quad Leaders-level engagement in March, which was virtual, and now this Summit, which will be in-person". March 12th saw the first Quad summit, but that happened virtually amid the Covid pandemic. The key outcome of the summit was Quad Covid vaccine initiative. Quad vaccine initiative will see Covid vaccines developed in the US being manufactured in India. This will be financed by Japan and US and supported by Australia. The White House statement highlighted that "hosting the leaders of the Quad demonstrates the Biden-Harris Administration’s priority of engaging in the Indo-Pacific, including through new multilateral configurations to meet the challenges of the 21st century." Indo-Pacific as a vision is being back by India and US among other countries in the region. Many countries in Europe have also issued their papers on the visions and how to support it. The statement pointed that the focus of the summit will be on "deepening our ties and advancing practical cooperation" on areas such as "combatting COVID-19, addressing the climate crisis, partnering on emerging technologies and cyberspace, and promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific." Quad first came into existence after the 2004 tsunami and saw some formalization in 2007. At that time Australia had issues. Since 2019, Quad has had regular conversations at the foreign ministers' level. The announcement by White House confirms Indian PM Modi's US visit. He is expected to hold bilateral talks with US President Biden on September 23, the first in-person meet between the 2 leaders since the change of guard in Washington. On 25th he will be travelling to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. During his address he will be focusing on UN reforms, climate change, Covid crisis and vaccines, counter-terror and some references can be expected on Afghanistan as well.

First in person Quad leaders' Summit on September 24: White House

The Taliban was businesslike, "professional" and cooperative in facilitating the latest evacuation of US nationals from Afghanistan, the White House said Thursday.

"The Taliban have been cooperative in facilitating the departure of American citizens and lawful permanent residents on charter flights from HKIA," National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne said of Thursday's flight from Kabul to Qatar.

"They have shown flexibility, and they have been businesslike and professional in our dealings with them in this effort," Horne added, stressing that efforts to facilitate such evacuations of Americans and Afghans who worked with the US mission would continue.

The Taliban was businesslike, "professional" and cooperative in facilitating the latest evacuation of US nationals from Afghanistan, the White House said Thursday.

The Taliban was businesslike, "professional" and cooperative in facilitating the latest evacuation of US nationals from Afghanistan, the White House said Thursday. "The Taliban have been cooperative in facilitating the departure of American citizens and lawful permanent residents on charter flights from HKIA," National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne said of Thursday's flight from Kabul to Qatar. "They have shown flexibility, and they have been businesslike and professional in our dealings with them in this effort," Horne added, stressing that efforts to facilitate such evacuations of Americans and Afghans who worked with the US mission would continue.

Taliban was 'businesslike and professional' in new evacuation: White House

The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, has received acclaim for interrupting a male reporter who was questioning Joe Biden about his support for abortion rights.

Owen Jones, a correspondent for the Catholic news network EWTN, asked Jen Psaki at the White House's daily press conference on Thursday why Catholic Joe Biden supported abortion rights while the church does not.

"How can the president accept abortion when his own Catholic faith teaches that it is morally wrong?" he asked.&nbsp;

When the reporter asked who Biden believes should look out for the unborn child, Psaki replied: "He believes that it is up to a woman to make those decisions and up to a woman to make those decisions with her doctor."

&nbsp;"I know you have never faced those choices, nor have you ever been pregnant, but for women out there who have faced those choices, this is an incredibly difficult thing.

"The president believes their rights should be respected."

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TELT <a href="https://t.co/SPkyWGqLTC">pic.twitter.com/SPkyWGqLTC</a>
— Janey Godley (@JaneyGodley) <a href="https://twitter.com/JaneyGodley/status/1433586303879323650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Jones attempted to ask more questions, but Psaki shut him down, saying: "You’ve had plenty of time today."&nbsp;

It comes as Texas enacts stringent abortion legislation, allowing citizens to sue anyone involved in providing or facilitating an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

After the Supreme Court failed to block the bill in a 5-4 ruling, Biden promised a "whole-of-government" response.&nbsp;

Biden is a devout Catholic who frequently attends Mass on Sundays. While his views on abortion are at variance with the church's teachings, polling shows that the majority of Catholic people believe abortion should be permitted in all or most situations.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, has received acclaim for interrupting a male reporter who was questioning Joe Biden about his support for abortion rights.

The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, has received acclaim for interrupting a male reporter who was questioning Joe Biden about his support for abortion rights. Owen Jones, a correspondent for the Catholic news network EWTN, asked Jen Psaki at the White House's daily press conference on Thursday why Catholic Joe Biden supported abortion rights while the church does not. "How can the president accept abortion when his own Catholic faith teaches that it is morally wrong?" he asked. When the reporter asked who Biden believes should look out for the unborn child, Psaki replied: "He believes that it is up to a woman to make those decisions and up to a woman to make those decisions with her doctor." "I know you have never faced those choices, nor have you ever been pregnant, but for women out there who have faced those choices, this is an incredibly difficult thing. "The president believes their rights should be respected." TELT pic.twitter.com/SPkyWGqLTC — Janey Godley (@JaneyGodley) September 3, 2021 × Jones attempted to ask more questions, but Psaki shut him down, saying: "You’ve had plenty of time today." It comes as Texas enacts stringent abortion legislation, allowing citizens to sue anyone involved in providing or facilitating an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. After the Supreme Court failed to block the bill in a 5-4 ruling, Biden promised a "whole-of-government" response. Biden is a devout Catholic who frequently attends Mass on Sundays. While his views on abortion are at variance with the church's teachings, polling shows that the majority of Catholic people believe abortion should be permitted in all or most situations. (With inputs from agencies)

Watch: White House press secretary shuts down male reporter over abortion remarks

According to the White House, top US military generals have been instructed by the president that they should stop at nothing to make Afghanistan's ISIS affiliate pay for 13 US service members' deaths.

White House: Biden told top US military generals to 'stop at nothing' to go after ISIS

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will push US&nbsp;President Joe Biden to harden his approach to Iran during his first White House visit, with few prospects their talks will lead to renewed movement on Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Yet both Israel and the United States have expressed hope the meeting on Thursday will set a positive tone between Biden and Bennett, a far-right politician and high-tech millionaire who ended Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year run as prime minister in June.

This would stand in sharp contrast to years of tensions between the conservative Netanyahu, who was close to former President Donald Trump, and the last Democratic administration led by Barack Obama with Biden as his vice president.

"There's a new administration in the United States and a new government in Israel and I'm bringing a new spirit of cooperation with me from Jerusalem," Bennett said on departure for Washington from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport on Tuesday.

The visit gives the US&nbsp;administration an opportunity to demonstrate business as usual with its closest Middle East ally while it contends with the chaotic situation in Afghanistan, Biden's biggest foreign policy crisis since taking office.

But Israel faces concern from Washington over housing construction in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, on land Palestinians seek for a state. US-Israeli friction over the issue was absent while Trump was in office.

Bennett is less dramatic but publicly just as adamant as Netanyahu in pledging not to allow Iran, which Israel views as an existential threat, to build a nuclear weapon, telling a cabinet meeting on Sunday the situation was at a critical point.

Bennett said he would tell Biden: "This is the time to stop the Iranians, not to give them a lifeline in the form of re-entering an expired nuclear deal."

A US&nbsp;official said Bennett’s expected entreaties for the Biden administration to drop its efforts to revive the agreement are not likely to bear fruit.

To Israeli acclaim, Trump in 2018 withdrew the United States from the 2015 deal between six world powers and Iran. He deemed it too advantageous for Tehran and reimposed US&nbsp;sanctions.

In a report seen last week by Reuters, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had accelerated uranium enrichment to near weapons-grade.

Iran has consistently denied seeking a bomb, but the enrichment raised tensions with the West as both sides seek to resume talks on reviving their deal to curb Tehran's nuclear activities in return for the lifting of sanctions.

ISRAELI PLAN ON IRAN

Bennett told his cabinet he would present Biden with "an orderly plan that we have formulated in the past two months to curb the Iranians, both in the nuclear sphere and vis-à-vis regional aggression". He gave no further details.

At the airport in Tel Aviv, Bennett told reporters he would share with Biden the findings that Israel has gleaned from its extensive COVID-19 vaccine booster drive aimed at taming the Delta variant.

Bennett, 49, is the son of American immigrants to Israel. A former head of Israel's main West Bank settlers council, he heads an unlikely coalition of left-wing, right-wing, centrist and Arab parties.

With consensus on Palestinian statehood virtually impossible within the diverse Israeli government, Biden and his aides are not expected to press Bennett for any major concessions towards the Palestinians in his first foreign visit.

The two leaders are expected to speak briefly to a small pool of reporters during their Oval Office meeting but will not hold a joint news conference.

But even with little sign of U.S. pressure to resume peace negotiations with the Palestinians that collapsed in 2014, Israel faces concern from Washington over its settlement activity in areas it captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

The Biden administration has already made clear it opposes further expansion of Jewish settlements on occupied land. Most countries consider such settlements illegal. Israel disputes this.

So far, Bennett, who has advocated annexation of parts of the West Bank, has moved cautiously on the settlement issue.

Scheduled approval last week of 2,200 new settler homes, along with 800 houses for Palestinians, was postponed, apparently to avoid dissonance with Washington ahead of Bennett's visit, which he said would include meetings on Wednesday with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

But rising tensions and violence along the Israel-Gaza border, three months after an 11-day war between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants, could cast a shadow over Bennett's trip.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will push US President Joe Biden to harden his approach to Iran during his first White House visit, with few prospects their talks will lead to renewed movement on Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will push US President Joe Biden to harden his approach to Iran during his first White House visit, with few prospects their talks will lead to renewed movement on Israeli-Palestinian peace. Yet both Israel and the United States have expressed hope the meeting on Thursday will set a positive tone between Biden and Bennett, a far-right politician and high-tech millionaire who ended Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year run as prime minister in June. This would stand in sharp contrast to years of tensions between the conservative Netanyahu, who was close to former President Donald Trump, and the last Democratic administration led by Barack Obama with Biden as his vice president. "There's a new administration in the United States and a new government in Israel and I'm bringing a new spirit of cooperation with me from Jerusalem," Bennett said on departure for Washington from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport on Tuesday. The visit gives the US administration an opportunity to demonstrate business as usual with its closest Middle East ally while it contends with the chaotic situation in Afghanistan, Biden's biggest foreign policy crisis since taking office. But Israel faces concern from Washington over housing construction in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, on land Palestinians seek for a state. US-Israeli friction over the issue was absent while Trump was in office. Bennett is less dramatic but publicly just as adamant as Netanyahu in pledging not to allow Iran, which Israel views as an existential threat, to build a nuclear weapon, telling a cabinet meeting on Sunday the situation was at a critical point. Bennett said he would tell Biden: "This is the time to stop the Iranians, not to give them a lifeline in the form of re-entering an expired nuclear deal." A US official said Bennett’s expected entreaties for the Biden administration to drop its efforts to revive the agreement are not likely to bear fruit. To Israeli acclaim, Trump in 2018 withdrew the United States from the 2015 deal between six world powers and Iran. He deemed it too advantageous for Tehran and reimposed US sanctions. In a report seen last week by Reuters, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had accelerated uranium enrichment to near weapons-grade. Iran has consistently denied seeking a bomb, but the enrichment raised tensions with the West as both sides seek to resume talks on reviving their deal to curb Tehran's nuclear activities in return for the lifting of sanctions. ISRAELI PLAN ON IRAN Bennett told his cabinet he would present Biden with "an orderly plan that we have formulated in the past two months to curb the Iranians, both in the nuclear sphere and vis-à-vis regional aggression". He gave no further details. At the airport in Tel Aviv, Bennett told reporters he would share with Biden the findings that Israel has gleaned from its extensive COVID-19 vaccine booster drive aimed at taming the Delta variant. Bennett, 49, is the son of American immigrants to Israel. A former head of Israel's main West Bank settlers council, he heads an unlikely coalition of left-wing, right-wing, centrist and Arab parties. With consensus on Palestinian statehood virtually impossible within the diverse Israeli government, Biden and his aides are not expected to press Bennett for any major concessions towards the Palestinians in his first foreign visit. The two leaders are expected to speak briefly to a small pool of reporters during their Oval Office meeting but will not hold a joint news conference. But even with little sign of U.S. pressure to resume peace negotiations with the Palestinians that collapsed in 2014, Israel faces concern from Washington over its settlement activity in areas it captured in the 1967 Middle East war. The Biden administration has already made clear it opposes further expansion of Jewish settlements on occupied land. Most countries consider such settlements illegal. Israel disputes this. So far, Bennett, who has advocated annexation of parts of the West Bank, has moved cautiously on the settlement issue. Scheduled approval last week of 2,200 new settler homes, along with 800 houses for Palestinians, was postponed, apparently to avoid dissonance with Washington ahead of Bennett's visit, which he said would include meetings on Wednesday with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. But rising tensions and violence along the Israel-Gaza border, three months after an 11-day war between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants, could cast a shadow over Bennett's trip.

Israel's new leader to present Iran plan in first White House visit

USA spent trillions of dollars in Afghanistan, its soldiers spent countless hours in training what was Afghan National Army. But the situation unravelled in surprisingly short time and Taliban came back to power. Now, to add to the embarrassment, videos of Taliban fighters wearing US uniforms and driving Humvees left behind by the US soldiers and retreating Afghan armymen are putting the US in a tight spot.

Taliban has seized huge amounts of weaponry, equipment and ammunition from Afghan armed forces. All of this had been supplied by the USA in last two decades.

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More than 100 Humvees captured in Mazar sharif.Dostum and its troops were fleeing to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tajikistan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tajikistan</a> but couldn't get the permission,later <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Taliban?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Taliban</a> ask them if they could surrendered instead being killed.<a href="https://t.co/1LDHdig5iT">pic.twitter.com/1LDHdig5iT</a>
— Spoils of war (@SpoilOfWar) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpoilOfWar/status/1427011818325696514?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2021</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

Videos of Taliban fighters parading in US-made armored vehicles, wielding US-supplied firearms and climbing on American Black Hawk helicopters after the defeat of Afghan government forces have embarrassed the White House.

The videos are doing rounds on social media. Taliban fighters can be seen carrying M4 an M18 assault rifles and M24 sniper weapons, driving around in the iconic US Humvees and, in one video, apparently wearing US-style special forces tactical uniforms.

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Taliban fighters ride on top of a U.S.-made Humvee previously used by Afghan security services in the streets of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kabul?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kabul</a> (📸 via <a href="https://twitter.com/ShehabAgency?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ShehabAgency</a>) <a href="https://t.co/IkBMhdDXUs">pic.twitter.com/IkBMhdDXUs</a>
— ℳℴhamed Keita (@ModKeita) <a href="https://twitter.com/ModKeita/status/1427049651245568010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The images are underpinning a political attack on President Joe Biden for alleged mishandling of the US withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war.

Afghan forces conceded Kabul last weekend without a fight. This happened despite two decades of training and tens of billions of dollars from the US. Most of the equipment has been seized from Afghan soldiers

"We don't have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defense materials has gone. But certainly, a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban," said White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Tuesday.

'Botched withdrawal'

"Obviously, we don't have a sense that they are going to readily hand it over to us," he said. 
Republicans seized on the admission to pounce on Biden.

"Thanks to Biden's botched withdrawal, the Taliban is better equipped today than they ever have been," said Republican national chair Ronna McDaniel.

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Taliban enjoying the $400,000 Humvee we left them <a href="https://t.co/OjjjEbbd4Q">pic.twitter.com/OjjjEbbd4Q</a>
— Ethan Klein (@h3h3productions) <a href="https://twitter.com/h3h3productions/status/1427716692084289542?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2021</a></blockquote>
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According to official figures, the US military supplied the Afghan army with more than 7,000 machine guns, 4,700 Humvees and 20,000 grenades in recent years.

The Afghans have also received artillery and reconnaissance drones from Washington, as well as more than 200 aircraft, both fixed-wing and helicopters.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday that the department is looking at the issue.

Limited threat

"We obviously don't want to see our equipment in the hands of those who would act against our interests, or the interests of the Afghan people," Kirby told reporters.

"There are numerous policy choices that can be made, up to and including destruction," he said, without giving specifics.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

(Disclaimer: WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of these visuals)

USA spent trillions of dollars in Afghanistan, its soldiers spent countless hours in training what was Afghan National Army. But the situation unravelled in surprisingly short time and Taliban came back to power.

USA spent trillions of dollars in Afghanistan, its soldiers spent countless hours in training what was Afghan National Army. But the situation unravelled in surprisingly short time and Taliban came back to power. Now, to add to the embarrassment, videos of Taliban fighters wearing US uniforms and driving Humvees left behind by the US soldiers and retreating Afghan armymen are putting the US in a tight spot. Taliban has seized huge amounts of weaponry, equipment and ammunition from Afghan armed forces. All of this had been supplied by the USA in last two decades. More than 100 Humvees captured in Mazar sharif.Dostum and its troops were fleeing to #Tajikistan but couldn't get the permission,later #Taliban ask them if they could surrendered instead being killed.pic.twitter.com/1LDHdig5iT — Spoils of war (@SpoilOfWar) August 15, 2021 × Videos of Taliban fighters parading in US-made armored vehicles, wielding US-supplied firearms and climbing on American Black Hawk helicopters after the defeat of Afghan government forces have embarrassed the White House. The videos are doing rounds on social media. Taliban fighters can be seen carrying M4 an M18 assault rifles and M24 sniper weapons, driving around in the iconic US Humvees and, in one video, apparently wearing US-style special forces tactical uniforms. Taliban fighters ride on top of a U.S.-made Humvee previously used by Afghan security services in the streets of #Kabul (📸 via @ShehabAgency) pic.twitter.com/IkBMhdDXUs — ℳℴhamed Keita (@ModKeita) August 15, 2021 × The images are underpinning a political attack on President Joe Biden for alleged mishandling of the US withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war. Afghan forces conceded Kabul last weekend without a fight. This happened despite two decades of training and tens of billions of dollars from the US. Most of the equipment has been seized from Afghan soldiers "We don't have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defense materials has gone. But certainly, a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban," said White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Tuesday. 'Botched withdrawal' "Obviously, we don't have a sense that they are going to readily hand it over to us," he said. Republicans seized on the admission to pounce on Biden. "Thanks to Biden's botched withdrawal, the Taliban is better equipped today than they ever have been," said Republican national chair Ronna McDaniel. Taliban enjoying the $400,000 Humvee we left them pic.twitter.com/OjjjEbbd4Q — Ethan Klein (@h3h3productions) August 17, 2021 × According to official figures, the US military supplied the Afghan army with more than 7,000 machine guns, 4,700 Humvees and 20,000 grenades in recent years. The Afghans have also received artillery and reconnaissance drones from Washington, as well as more than 200 aircraft, both fixed-wing and helicopters. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday that the department is looking at the issue. Limited threat "We obviously don't want to see our equipment in the hands of those who would act against our interests, or the interests of the Afghan people," Kirby told reporters. "There are numerous policy choices that can be made, up to and including destruction," he said, without giving specifics. (With inputs from agencies) (Disclaimer: WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of these visuals)

Videos of Taliban with US equipment embarrass White House

Recent reports reveal that President Joe Biden's administration has held secret talks with more countries than previously known in a desperate attempt to secure deals for temporarily housing at-risk Afghans working for the US government.&nbsp;

Seeing the Taliban's advances as a threat to those still awaiting Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), Washington is looking for third countries to host them until their paperwork is completed and they can come to the United States, as per a Reuter's report.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/taliban-ban-covid-19-vaccine-in-eastern-afghanistans-paktia-province-report-405235" hreflang="en">Taliban ban COVID-19 vaccine in Eastern Afghanistan's Paktia province: Report</a>

An official in the know says that an agreement to house about 8,000 Afghans in Qatar, a country that has a large US military base, has been close for weeks, but no official announcement has been made.

Afghanistan nationals who served as interpreters and/or performed other jobs,&nbsp;for the US government, can apply to the SIV program.

So far, approximately 1,200 Afghans have been evacuated to the United States under "Operation Allies Refuge" with an additional 3,500 expected in the coming weeks. Some Afghans will be taken to a US military base in Virginia for paperwork and some will go directly to US hosts.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghanistan-nato-eu-un-confirm-they-will-not-recognise-govt-formed-through-military-405223" hreflang="en">Afghanistan: NATO, EU, UN confirm they will not recognise govt formed through military</a>

Taking into account the Taliban's rapid advance in Afghanistan, the United States has decided to send around 1,000 personnel to Qatar to expedite the processing of SIVs.

Countries hesitant

As per two US officials, who wanted to stay anonymous, concerns surround the quality of security vetting and health screening in the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/coronavirus">COVID-19</a> process before the Afghans could fly, resulting in some countries hesitating to accept the Afghans.

The Biden administration explored having Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan accept thousands of applicants, but that effort has so far proved ineffective.

"There's concerns that you might expect: 'Who are these people? How do you know these people? Can you assure that these people will get visas to the United States? Who's going to care for and feed these people. What happens if these people wander off this facility you've got them in?" a senior State Department official said.

After encountering reluctance from some countries, the US has turned to others who might be willing to help, in exchange for assistance.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/wion-gravitas-afghan-peace-talks-hit-a-deadlock-has-the-us-failed-208235/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

For taking in several thousand Afghans, the United States has offered concessions to Kosovo in economic and political terms, but officials are concerned about the country's capacity to house the new arrivals.

The 1,200 Afghans evacuated represent less than 1 per cent of the 21,000 people on the SIV pipeline, and the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Biden</a> administration has been struggling to find temporary housing for the evacuees.

When family members are counted, advocates estimate that 50,000 and 80,000 people will be evacuated under the SIV program.

(With inputs from agencies)

Recent reports reveal that President Joe Biden's administration has held secret talks with more countries than previously known in a desperate attempt to secure deals for temporarily housing at-risk Afghans working for the US government.

Recent reports reveal that President Joe Biden's administration has held secret talks with more countries than previously known in a desperate attempt to secure deals for temporarily housing at-risk Afghans working for the US government. Seeing the Taliban's advances as a threat to those still awaiting Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), Washington is looking for third countries to host them until their paperwork is completed and they can come to the United States, as per a Reuter's report. Also read | Taliban ban COVID-19 vaccine in Eastern Afghanistan's Paktia province: Report An official in the know says that an agreement to house about 8,000 Afghans in Qatar, a country that has a large US military base, has been close for weeks, but no official announcement has been made. Afghanistan nationals who served as interpreters and/or performed other jobs, for the US government, can apply to the SIV program. So far, approximately 1,200 Afghans have been evacuated to the United States under "Operation Allies Refuge" with an additional 3,500 expected in the coming weeks. Some Afghans will be taken to a US military base in Virginia for paperwork and some will go directly to US hosts. Also read | Afghanistan: NATO, EU, UN confirm they will not recognise govt formed through military Taking into account the Taliban's rapid advance in Afghanistan, the United States has decided to send around 1,000 personnel to Qatar to expedite the processing of SIVs. Countries hesitant As per two US officials, who wanted to stay anonymous, concerns surround the quality of security vetting and health screening in the COVID-19 process before the Afghans could fly, resulting in some countries hesitating to accept the Afghans. The Biden administration explored having Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan accept thousands of applicants, but that effort has so far proved ineffective. "There's concerns that you might expect: 'Who are these people? How do you know these people? Can you assure that these people will get visas to the United States? Who's going to care for and feed these people. What happens if these people wander off this facility you've got them in?" a senior State Department official said. After encountering reluctance from some countries, the US has turned to others who might be willing to help, in exchange for assistance. For taking in several thousand Afghans, the United States has offered concessions to Kosovo in economic and political terms, but officials are concerned about the country's capacity to house the new arrivals. The 1,200 Afghans evacuated represent less than 1 per cent of the 21,000 people on the SIV pipeline, and the Biden administration has been struggling to find temporary housing for the evacuees. When family members are counted, advocates estimate that 50,000 and 80,000 people will be evacuated under the SIV program. (With inputs from agencies)

Seeking asylum for SIV applicants: A desperate bid by the Biden administration

After the month of negotiations, President Joe Biden's massive trillion-dollar infrastructure bill is inching its way to the White House.

United States: $1.2 TN bill waits final vote in senate

Half&nbsp;of&nbsp;the US population is now&nbsp;fully&nbsp;vaccinated&nbsp;against&nbsp;Covid-19, the&nbsp;White&nbsp;House&nbsp;said Friday, as inoculations rise in response to the surging Delta variant&nbsp;of&nbsp;the coronavirus.

"50%&nbsp;of&nbsp;Americans are now&nbsp;fully&nbsp;vaccinated. Keep going!" Cyrus Shahpar, the&nbsp;White&nbsp;House's&nbsp;Covid-19 data director, tweeted.

That means more than 165 million people have received either the two-dose Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or the one-and-done Johnson &amp; Johnson shot.&nbsp;

The threshold&nbsp;of&nbsp;half&nbsp;of&nbsp;all adult&nbsp;Americans&nbsp;fully&nbsp;vaccinated&nbsp;was reached in late May.

President Joe Biden has been pressing hard for&nbsp;Americans&nbsp;to get&nbsp;vaccinated&nbsp;ever since he took office in January but has faced stubborn resistance, especially in conservative parts&nbsp;of&nbsp;the country, with inoculations dropping off sharply in April.

The aggressive vaccination program had raised hopes&nbsp;of&nbsp;a return to some semblance&nbsp;of&nbsp;normal life this summer, but the plan was hindered by the Delta variant.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-state-department-announces-five-additions-to-global-terrorist-list-403595">Also read |&nbsp;US State Department announces five additions to global terrorist list</a>

In an increasingly assertive approach, the Biden administration has asked all federal employees to get&nbsp;vaccinated&nbsp;or face&nbsp;Covid&nbsp;testing twice a week.&nbsp;

Biden hinted Friday there would be further measures, saying, "There will be more to come in the days ahead."

White&nbsp;House&nbsp;spokeswoman Jen Psaki said there were "early conversations, early discussions about a range&nbsp;of&nbsp;options."

One possibility mentioned in press reports is pressuring nursing homes -- a hotbed&nbsp;of&nbsp;deaths early in the pandemic -- to force vaccinations among staff or risk losing public funding.

Cities including New York and Los Angeles are imposing new restrictions, such as demanding proof&nbsp;of&nbsp;vaccination for entering indoor venues including restaurants and gyms.

The seven-day average&nbsp;of&nbsp;newly&nbsp;vaccinated&nbsp;people is up 11 percent from last week, and up 44 percent over the past two weeks, Shahpar said.

Daily new cases, deaths and hospitalizations have risen sharply in recent weeks. Last week, there was an average&nbsp;of&nbsp;90,000 new coronavirus cases per day, with Florida and Texas accounting for a third&nbsp;of&nbsp;them, the&nbsp;White&nbsp;House&nbsp;said.

The United States is back up to around 380&nbsp;Covid-19 deaths a day, with hospitalisations averaging 7,300 a day over a week.

The level&nbsp;of&nbsp;community transmission&nbsp;of&nbsp;the virus is "high" or "substantial" in 85 percent&nbsp;of&nbsp;the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention&nbsp;says.

The United States is the nation hardest-hit by the pandemic, with 615,000 deaths.

Half of the US population is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the White House said Friday, as inoculations rise in response to the surging Delta variant of the coronavirus.

Half of the US population is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the White House said Friday, as inoculations rise in response to the surging Delta variant of the coronavirus. "50% of Americans are now fully vaccinated. Keep going!" Cyrus Shahpar, the White House's Covid-19 data director, tweeted. That means more than 165 million people have received either the two-dose Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or the one-and-done Johnson & Johnson shot. The threshold of half of all adult Americans fully vaccinated was reached in late May. President Joe Biden has been pressing hard for Americans to get vaccinated ever since he took office in January but has faced stubborn resistance, especially in conservative parts of the country, with inoculations dropping off sharply in April. The aggressive vaccination program had raised hopes of a return to some semblance of normal life this summer, but the plan was hindered by the Delta variant. Also read | US State Department announces five additions to global terrorist list In an increasingly assertive approach, the Biden administration has asked all federal employees to get vaccinated or face Covid testing twice a week. Biden hinted Friday there would be further measures, saying, "There will be more to come in the days ahead." White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said there were "early conversations, early discussions about a range of options." One possibility mentioned in press reports is pressuring nursing homes -- a hotbed of deaths early in the pandemic -- to force vaccinations among staff or risk losing public funding. Cities including New York and Los Angeles are imposing new restrictions, such as demanding proof of vaccination for entering indoor venues including restaurants and gyms. The seven-day average of newly vaccinated people is up 11 percent from last week, and up 44 percent over the past two weeks, Shahpar said. Daily new cases, deaths and hospitalizations have risen sharply in recent weeks. Last week, there was an average of 90,000 new coronavirus cases per day, with Florida and Texas accounting for a third of them, the White House said. The United States is back up to around 380 Covid-19 deaths a day, with hospitalisations averaging 7,300 a day over a week. The level of community transmission of the virus is "high" or "substantial" in 85 percent of the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The United States is the nation hardest-hit by the pandemic, with 615,000 deaths.

White House says 50% of Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19

The CDC also recommended that everyone in grade schools wear masks indoors, “including teachers, staff, students and visitors, regardless of vaccination status.”

US Prez Joe Biden wears mask while returning to White House

White House has called Chinese opposition to a World Health Organization probe into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic as "irresponsible" and "dangerous." This comes after Beijing strongly criticised a request by the WHO to audit labs in areas where the first coronavirus cases were identified, including the Chinese city of Wuhan.

White House condemns China's opposition to probe into COVID-19 origins

White House has called&nbsp;Chinese opposition to a World Health Organization probe into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic as "irresponsible" and "dangerous."

"Their position is irresponsible and frankly dangerous ... It's not a time to be stonewalling,"&nbsp;White House press secretary Jen Psaki&nbsp;told reporters, after Beijing strongly criticised a request by the WHO to audit labs in areas where the first coronavirus cases were identified, including the Chinese city of Wuhan.&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/china-rejects-who-probe-plan-on-covid-origin-399758/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The WHO this month proposed a second phase of studies into the origins of the coronavirus in China, including audits of laboratories and markets in the city of Wuhan, calling for transparency from authorities.

"We will not accept such an origins-tracing plan as it, in some aspects, disregards common sense and defies science," Zeng Yixin, vice minister of the National Health Commission (NHC), told reporters.

Zeng said he was taken aback when he first read the WHO plan because it lists the hypothesis that a Chinese violation of laboratory protocols had caused the virus to leak during research.

The head of the WHO said earlier in July that investigations into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic in China were being hampered by the lack of raw data on the first days of spread there.

Zeng reiterated China's position that some data could not be completely shared due to privacy concerns.

"We hope the WHO would seriously review the considerations and suggestions made by Chinese experts and truly treat the origin tracing of the COVID-19 virus as a scientific matter, and get rid of political interference," Zeng said.

China opposed politicising the study, he said.

The origin of the virus remains contested among experts.

The first known cases emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. The virus was believed to have jumped to humans from animals being sold for food at a city market.

In May, US&nbsp;President Joe Biden ordered aides to find answers to questions over the origin, saying that US&nbsp;intelligence agencies were pursuing rival theories potentially including the possibility of a laboratory accident in China.

Zeng, along with other officials and Chinese experts at the news conference, urged the WHO to expand origin-tracing efforts beyond China to other countries.

"We believe a lab leak is extremely unlikely and it is not necessary to invest more energy and efforts in this regard," said Liang Wannian, the Chinese team leader on the WHO joint expert team. More animal studies should be conducted, in particular in countries with bat populations, he said.

However, Liang said the lab leak hypothesis could not be entirely discounted but suggested that if evidence warranted, other countries could look into the possibility it leaked from their labs.

One key part of the lab leak theory has centred on the Wuhan Institute of Virology's (WIV) decision to take offline its gene sequence and sample databases in 2019.

When asked about this decision, Yuan Zhiming, professor at WIV and the director of its National Biosafety Laboratory, told reporters that at present the databases were only shared internally due to cyber attack concerns.

(With inputs from agencies)

White House has called Chinese opposition to a World Health Organization probe into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic as "irresponsible" and "dangerous." "Their position is irresponsible and frankly dangerous .

White House has called Chinese opposition to a World Health Organization probe into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic as "irresponsible" and "dangerous." "Their position is irresponsible and frankly dangerous ... It's not a time to be stonewalling," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, after Beijing strongly criticised a request by the WHO to audit labs in areas where the first coronavirus cases were identified, including the Chinese city of Wuhan. The WHO this month proposed a second phase of studies into the origins of the coronavirus in China, including audits of laboratories and markets in the city of Wuhan, calling for transparency from authorities. "We will not accept such an origins-tracing plan as it, in some aspects, disregards common sense and defies science," Zeng Yixin, vice minister of the National Health Commission (NHC), told reporters. Zeng said he was taken aback when he first read the WHO plan because it lists the hypothesis that a Chinese violation of laboratory protocols had caused the virus to leak during research. The head of the WHO said earlier in July that investigations into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic in China were being hampered by the lack of raw data on the first days of spread there. Zeng reiterated China's position that some data could not be completely shared due to privacy concerns. "We hope the WHO would seriously review the considerations and suggestions made by Chinese experts and truly treat the origin tracing of the COVID-19 virus as a scientific matter, and get rid of political interference," Zeng said. China opposed politicising the study, he said. The origin of the virus remains contested among experts. The first known cases emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. The virus was believed to have jumped to humans from animals being sold for food at a city market. In May, US President Joe Biden ordered aides to find answers to questions over the origin, saying that US intelligence agencies were pursuing rival theories potentially including the possibility of a laboratory accident in China. Zeng, along with other officials and Chinese experts at the news conference, urged the WHO to expand origin-tracing efforts beyond China to other countries. "We believe a lab leak is extremely unlikely and it is not necessary to invest more energy and efforts in this regard," said Liang Wannian, the Chinese team leader on the WHO joint expert team. More animal studies should be conducted, in particular in countries with bat populations, he said. However, Liang said the lab leak hypothesis could not be entirely discounted but suggested that if evidence warranted, other countries could look into the possibility it leaked from their labs. One key part of the lab leak theory has centred on the Wuhan Institute of Virology's (WIV) decision to take offline its gene sequence and sample databases in 2019. When asked about this decision, Yuan Zhiming, professor at WIV and the director of its National Biosafety Laboratory, told reporters that at present the databases were only shared internally due to cyber attack concerns. (With inputs from agencies)

White House calls China's opposition to probe into Covid origins 'irresponsible'

In a speech earlier this month, US President Joe Biden slipped a phrase into a major address on infrastructure spending with a bit of a laugh, calling it a "boring speech" but "an important speech."

Boring but important sort of sums up the veteran Democrat's game plan, six months after moving into the White House: focus on substance, not style, to rebuild American prosperity and restore the country to a central role in global politics.

"Biden essentially is trying to get all the emotional energy out of our politics," Robert Rowland, a professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas, told AFP, contrasting Biden's style to the bombast of predecessor Donald Trump.

"The long-term effect is to say: 'Look, I may be boring but I am actually producing real results'."

On Tuesday, when the 78-year-old Biden brought his cabinet together to mark six months in office, he reiterated some of the key themes of his presidency, which he has been hammering home since January.

He said the United States was in a "defining competition" with countries such as China that "believe autocracy is the future."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/day-of-mourning-death-toll-from-flooding-in-western-europe-hits-200-399331">Also read |&nbsp;'Day of mourning': Death toll from flooding in western Europe hits 200</a>

"Democracy is more capable," Biden said -- in his view, capable of being innovative, of fighting climate change, of bringing prosperity to the most citizens possible.

The former US senator believes that the road to prosperity comes with spending -- big spending on "hard" infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges and broadband internet, but also on health care, education and child care.

On the diplomatic front, being capable and innovative means reviving America's traditional alliances, which were stifled -- or simply ignored -- under Trump, who pushed a stark "America First" agenda.

Biden focuses on big ideas, and big issues -- but none of them are necessarily what voters are most excited about. Biden himself even admits it, as he did in that speech earlier this month.

"I know that's a boring speech, but it's an important speech," he said on July 7 in Crystal Lake, Illinois after telling the audiences about his spending plans, offering streams of numbers. The applause grew weaker and weaker as he went on.

"Anybody under the age of 13 -- this has got to be boring, boring, boring for you," he then said on July 15 in front of a room of parents and children as he detailed a tax credit measure for families.

The Anti-Trump

After a Trump presidency full of diatribes and vicious barbs, Biden and his team are instead maintaining an iron grip on their message -- and that message is straight-up dull, on purpose.

"Biden is making a virtue of something that has been a problem in his rhetoric for a long time -- he is wonky," explained Rowland.

Nearly every time he faces the press, Biden relies on the teleprompter and handwritten notes, and his speeches are typically not very long. His aides often rush reporters out of the room before they can ask him any off-the-cuff questions.

That is in stark contrast to Trump, who favored long, stream-of-consciousness speeches. The Republican former leader also loved using Twitter as his bully pulpit for shock statements, while Biden's social media presence is far more calculated.

Trump loved to shout. Biden sometimes whispers.

Lawrence Jacobs, a professor of political science at the University of Minnesota, says listening to a Biden speech can be "painful."&nbsp;

"He loses his place, or he misspeaks, or he goes off on a tangent," Jacobs told AFP, while acknowledging that the Democrat "is more confident with foreign policy or national security speeches" due to his deep international experience while in the Senate.

When he talked this month about the withdrawal of the last US soldiers from Afghanistan -- one of the biggest decision of his presidency to date -- he delivered his message without a hiccup.

"He shows you the rhetorical power of the presidency," Jacobs said. "It's a mistake to say that he lacks the ability to shape conversations."

Indeed, last Friday, before leaving the White House for the weekend, Biden launched a broadside on Facebook and other social media giants, accusing them of "killing people" by allowing misinformation about the coronavirus to spread.

Though he would later walk them back a bit, those comments made the rounds on US television networks all weekend.

Comforter-in-chief

Biden is spontaneous in one circumstance -- when he allows his empathy to shine through.

The Democratic president, whose life has been marked by family tragedy -- including the deaths of his first wife and daughter in a car accident, and his son Beau's fatal battle with cancer -- happily takes on the role of comforter-in-chief.

He recently spent long hours consoling the loved ones of those who died in the collapse of an apartment building in south Florida.

"He has a gift for giving solace to people, a real ability to create a sense of shared identity," Rowland said.

For now, Biden's popularity rating is firmly anchored above 50 percent -- a level Trump was never able to achieve.

In a speech earlier this month, US President Joe Biden slipped a phrase into a major address on infrastructure spending with a bit of a laugh, calling it a "boring speech" but "an important speech.

In a speech earlier this month, US President Joe Biden slipped a phrase into a major address on infrastructure spending with a bit of a laugh, calling it a "boring speech" but "an important speech." Boring but important sort of sums up the veteran Democrat's game plan, six months after moving into the White House: focus on substance, not style, to rebuild American prosperity and restore the country to a central role in global politics. "Biden essentially is trying to get all the emotional energy out of our politics," Robert Rowland, a professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas, told AFP, contrasting Biden's style to the bombast of predecessor Donald Trump. "The long-term effect is to say: 'Look, I may be boring but I am actually producing real results'." On Tuesday, when the 78-year-old Biden brought his cabinet together to mark six months in office, he reiterated some of the key themes of his presidency, which he has been hammering home since January. He said the United States was in a "defining competition" with countries such as China that "believe autocracy is the future." Also read | 'Day of mourning': Death toll from flooding in western Europe hits 200 "Democracy is more capable," Biden said -- in his view, capable of being innovative, of fighting climate change, of bringing prosperity to the most citizens possible. The former US senator believes that the road to prosperity comes with spending -- big spending on "hard" infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges and broadband internet, but also on health care, education and child care. On the diplomatic front, being capable and innovative means reviving America's traditional alliances, which were stifled -- or simply ignored -- under Trump, who pushed a stark "America First" agenda. Biden focuses on big ideas, and big issues -- but none of them are necessarily what voters are most excited about. Biden himself even admits it, as he did in that speech earlier this month. "I know that's a boring speech, but it's an important speech," he said on July 7 in Crystal Lake, Illinois after telling the audiences about his spending plans, offering streams of numbers. The applause grew weaker and weaker as he went on. "Anybody under the age of 13 -- this has got to be boring, boring, boring for you," he then said on July 15 in front of a room of parents and children as he detailed a tax credit measure for families. The Anti-Trump After a Trump presidency full of diatribes and vicious barbs, Biden and his team are instead maintaining an iron grip on their message -- and that message is straight-up dull, on purpose. "Biden is making a virtue of something that has been a problem in his rhetoric for a long time -- he is wonky," explained Rowland. Nearly every time he faces the press, Biden relies on the teleprompter and handwritten notes, and his speeches are typically not very long. His aides often rush reporters out of the room before they can ask him any off-the-cuff questions. That is in stark contrast to Trump, who favored long, stream-of-consciousness speeches. The Republican former leader also loved using Twitter as his bully pulpit for shock statements, while Biden's social media presence is far more calculated. Trump loved to shout. Biden sometimes whispers. Lawrence Jacobs, a professor of political science at the University of Minnesota, says listening to a Biden speech can be "painful." "He loses his place, or he misspeaks, or he goes off on a tangent," Jacobs told AFP, while acknowledging that the Democrat "is more confident with foreign policy or national security speeches" due to his deep international experience while in the Senate. When he talked this month about the withdrawal of the last US soldiers from Afghanistan -- one of the biggest decision of his presidency to date -- he delivered his message without a hiccup. "He shows you the rhetorical power of the presidency," Jacobs said. "It's a mistake to say that he lacks the ability to shape conversations." Indeed, last Friday, before leaving the White House for the weekend, Biden launched a broadside on Facebook and other social media giants, accusing them of "killing people" by allowing misinformation about the coronavirus to spread. Though he would later walk them back a bit, those comments made the rounds on US television networks all weekend. Comforter-in-chief Biden is spontaneous in one circumstance -- when he allows his empathy to shine through. The Democratic president, whose life has been marked by family tragedy -- including the deaths of his first wife and daughter in a car accident, and his son Beau's fatal battle with cancer -- happily takes on the role of comforter-in-chief. He recently spent long hours consoling the loved ones of those who died in the collapse of an apartment building in south Florida. "He has a gift for giving solace to people, a real ability to create a sense of shared identity," Rowland said. For now, Biden's popularity rating is firmly anchored above 50 percent -- a level Trump was never able to achieve.

'Boring but important': Biden finishes six months at White House

A spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi has tested positive for <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/coronavirus">Covid</a> even after getting fully vaccinated against the deadly virus.

"Yesterday, a fully-vaccinated senior spokesperson in the Speaker’s Press Office tested positive for COVID after contact with members of the Texas state legislature last week," Drew Hammill, a top aide to Pelosi said in a statement.

The aide tested positive after meeting the members of the&nbsp;Texas&nbsp;Legislature.

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However, Pelosi’s office confirmed that the House Speaker has had no recent contact with the aide who tested positive, and she is therefore out of danger of getting infected. Her office is still taking all necessary precautions.

"This individual has had no contact with the Speaker since exposure. The entire Press Office is working remotely today with the exception of individuals who have had no exposure to the individual or have had a recent negative test. &nbsp;Our office will continue to follow the guidance of the Office of Attending Physician closely," Hammill said.

Local reports by Axios have also claimed that another White House staffer has tested positive for coronavirus after attending the same rooftop reception with the Pelosi staffer last Wednesday night. This staffer, too, was fully vaccinated against the virus, as per the reports.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/rise-of-covid-19-cases-among-unvaccinated-population-concerning-us-surgeon-general-398946" hreflang="en">Rise of COVID-19 cases among unvaccinated population concerning: US Surgeon General</a>

"We know that there will be breakthrough cases, but as this instance shows, cases in vaccinated individuals are typically mild," a White House official told the local channel, Fox News. "The White House is prepared for breakthrough cases with regular testing. This is another reminder of the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines against severe illness or hospitalization. We wish our colleague a speedy recovery."

This news has come a few days after the Vice President, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/kamala-harris">Kamala Harris</a>, tested negative after she had close contact with members of the Texas delegation who got infected by the virus immediately after the meeting.

A spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi has tested positive for Covid even after getting fully vaccinated against the deadly virus. "Yesterday, a fully-vaccinated senior spokesperson in the Speaker’s Press Office tested positive for COVID after contact with members of the Texas state legislature last week," Drew Hammill, a top aide to Pelosi said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi has tested positive for Covid even after getting fully vaccinated against the deadly virus. "Yesterday, a fully-vaccinated senior spokesperson in the Speaker’s Press Office tested positive for COVID after contact with members of the Texas state legislature last week," Drew Hammill, a top aide to Pelosi said in a statement. The aide tested positive after meeting the members of the Texas Legislature. Also read | US stocks plunge as Delta variant spreads in US; Los Angeles worst-hit However, Pelosi’s office confirmed that the House Speaker has had no recent contact with the aide who tested positive, and she is therefore out of danger of getting infected. Her office is still taking all necessary precautions. "This individual has had no contact with the Speaker since exposure. The entire Press Office is working remotely today with the exception of individuals who have had no exposure to the individual or have had a recent negative test. Our office will continue to follow the guidance of the Office of Attending Physician closely," Hammill said. Local reports by Axios have also claimed that another White House staffer has tested positive for coronavirus after attending the same rooftop reception with the Pelosi staffer last Wednesday night. This staffer, too, was fully vaccinated against the virus, as per the reports. Also read | Rise of COVID-19 cases among unvaccinated population concerning: US Surgeon General "We know that there will be breakthrough cases, but as this instance shows, cases in vaccinated individuals are typically mild," a White House official told the local channel, Fox News. "The White House is prepared for breakthrough cases with regular testing. This is another reminder of the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines against severe illness or hospitalization. We wish our colleague a speedy recovery." This news has come a few days after the Vice President, Kamala Harris, tested negative after she had close contact with members of the Texas delegation who got infected by the virus immediately after the meeting.

Nancy Pelosi's aide and White House staffer test positive for Covid, despite getting fully vaccinated

US President Joe Biden welcomed Jordan's King Abdullah II to the White House on Monday. Before the bilateral meeting, Biden called King Abdullah a good, loyal and decent friend.

US President Biden welcomes Jordan's King Abdullah II to White House

With the aim to&nbsp;tackle&nbsp;vaccine misinformation,&nbsp;White House&nbsp;has increased pressure over the Big Tech companies in the&nbsp;Silicon Valley.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The&nbsp;White House has&nbsp;singled out 12 people, who are&nbsp;being dubbed as the 'disinformation dozen’&nbsp;as they seem to have been&nbsp;responsible for a great deal of misinformation&nbsp;being circulated&nbsp;about COVID-19.&nbsp;

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said,&nbsp;"There's about 12 people,&nbsp;who are producing 65% of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms."&nbsp;&nbsp;

The&nbsp;non-profit Centre&nbsp;for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) has released the statistics&nbsp;in a report published in March, which said&nbsp;about a dozen people were super-spreaders of anti-vaccine misinformation.&nbsp;At the time, the CCDH had&nbsp;asked&nbsp;Facebook and Twitter to shut down all pages run by these people.&nbsp;

Earlier, Twitter was looking to deploy human monitors to crack down on disinformation as COVID-19 shots were being rolled out across the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The microblogging platform&nbsp;was thinking of&nbsp;labelling&nbsp;tweets that include misleading information about coronavirus vaccines.&nbsp;

Twitter said it has started using human reviewers to assess whether tweets violate its policy against Covid vaccine misinformation. Eventually, the work will be done by a combination of humans and automation, it said.&nbsp;

It will be using a&nbsp;'strike system'&nbsp;to eventually remove accounts that repeatedly violate its rules.&nbsp;

"Through the use of the strike system, we hope to educate people on why certain content breaks our rules so they have the opportunity to further consider their&nbsp;behaviour&nbsp;and their impact on the public conversation," Twitter said in a blog post on Monday.&nbsp;

"We believe the strike system will help to educate the public on our policies and further reduce the spread of potentially harmful and misleading information on Twitter, particularly for repeated moderate and high-severity violations of our rules," the company said.&nbsp;

(With&nbsp;inputs from agencies)&nbsp;&nbsp;

With the aim to tackle vaccine misinformation, White House has increased pressure over the Big Tech companies in the Silicon Valley. The White House has singled out 12 people, who are being dubbed as the 'disinformation dozen’ as they seem to have been responsible for a great deal of misinformation being circulated about COVID-19.

With the aim to tackle vaccine misinformation, White House has increased pressure over the Big Tech companies in the Silicon Valley. The White House has singled out 12 people, who are being dubbed as the 'disinformation dozen’ as they seem to have been responsible for a great deal of misinformation being circulated about COVID-19. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, "There's about 12 people, who are producing 65% of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms." The non-profit Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) has released the statistics in a report published in March, which said about a dozen people were super-spreaders of anti-vaccine misinformation. At the time, the CCDH had asked Facebook and Twitter to shut down all pages run by these people. Earlier, Twitter was looking to deploy human monitors to crack down on disinformation as COVID-19 shots were being rolled out across the world. The microblogging platform was thinking of labelling tweets that include misleading information about coronavirus vaccines. Twitter said it has started using human reviewers to assess whether tweets violate its policy against Covid vaccine misinformation. Eventually, the work will be done by a combination of humans and automation, it said. It will be using a 'strike system' to eventually remove accounts that repeatedly violate its rules. "Through the use of the strike system, we hope to educate people on why certain content breaks our rules so they have the opportunity to further consider their behaviour and their impact on the public conversation," Twitter said in a blog post on Monday. "We believe the strike system will help to educate the public on our policies and further reduce the spread of potentially harmful and misleading information on Twitter, particularly for repeated moderate and high-severity violations of our rules," the company said. (With inputs from agencies)

White House increases pressure on Big Tech firms to act on vaccine misinformation 

White House says Facebook and others are not doing enough to push back on fake news, as a spike in COVID-19 deaths is exclusively hitting the unvaccinated. Many people in the US are refuse vaccinations despite easy availability.

Joe Biden: COVID misinformation killing people

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is in the United States for probably the last time before she leaves office. A number of topics were under discussion during talks at the White House, such as the Nord Stream 2 project, COVID-19 travel restrictions and ongoing concerns over Russia and China.

Biden welcomes 'great friend' Merkel to the White House

According to the excerpts of a new book,&nbsp;the&nbsp;then-US&nbsp;President Donald Trump told&nbsp;several&nbsp;of his advisers&nbsp;that whoever leaked information about his stay in the White House bunker in May&nbsp;2020&nbsp;had committed treason and should be executed for sharing details with the press.&nbsp;

According to the&nbsp;CNN report,&nbsp;the&nbsp;excerpts have been&nbsp;obtained by&nbsp;the channel&nbsp;from Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender, who has written the book.&nbsp;The name of the book is&nbsp;'Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost’.&nbsp;

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-told-chief-of-staff-hitler-did-good-things-book-396485">Trump told Chief of Staff, 'Hitler did good things': Book</a>

Trump, the then-first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron, were&nbsp;taken to the bunker for some time&nbsp;after the protesters gathered outside the building to&nbsp;protest&nbsp;against&nbsp;the killing of George&nbsp;Floyd.&nbsp;

In the book,&nbsp;Bender&nbsp;writes&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;held a meeting with top military, law enforcement and West Wing advisers&nbsp;following the time in the bunker. The former president had aired grievances over the leak in the meeting.&nbsp;

As per the&nbsp;Bender,&nbsp;"Trump boiled over about the bunker story as soon as they arrived and shouted at them to smoke out whoever had leaked it. It was the most upset some aides had ever seen the president."&nbsp;&nbsp;

The book reads,&nbsp;"'Whoever did that, they should be charged with treason!' Trump yelled. 'They should be executed!'”.&nbsp;

According to the excerpts of a new book, the then-US President Donald Trump told several of his advisers that whoever leaked information about his stay in the White House bunker in May 2020 had committed treason and should be executed for sharing details with the press.

According to the excerpts of a new book, the then-US President Donald Trump told several of his advisers that whoever leaked information about his stay in the White House bunker in May 2020 had committed treason and should be executed for sharing details with the press. According to the CNN report, the excerpts have been obtained by the channel from Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender, who has written the book. The name of the book is 'Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost’. Also Read | Trump told Chief of Staff, 'Hitler did good things': Book Trump, the then-first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron, were taken to the bunker for some time after the protesters gathered outside the building to protest against the killing of George Floyd. In the book, Bender writes Trump held a meeting with top military, law enforcement and West Wing advisers following the time in the bunker. The former president had aired grievances over the leak in the meeting. As per the Bender, "Trump boiled over about the bunker story as soon as they arrived and shouted at them to smoke out whoever had leaked it. It was the most upset some aides had ever seen the president." The book reads, "'Whoever did that, they should be charged with treason!' Trump yelled. 'They should be executed!'”.

Trump said White House bunker stay info leaker should be 'executed', claims new book  

The US is sending 1.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Nepal and another 500,000 to Bhutan, the White House has said, asserting that its donations around the world are without any strings attached.

Today we are sending three million doses to Indonesia, 1.5 million doses to Nepal, 500,000 doses to Moldova, and 500,000 doses to Bhutan, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday at her daily news conference.

There are no strings attached to our vaccines that we're providing. We're providing them around the world to save lives and to be a contributor to the global effort to fight the pandemic, Psaki said in response to a question.

She said that with these shipments, in this week alone, the US has sent nearly 15 million doses to countries including Guatemala, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Afghanistan, and Vietnam.

Psaki said that in addition to the vaccines given to Indonesia, the US is also moving forward on plans to increase assistance for Indonesia's broader COVID-19 response efforts.

"We recognise the difficult situation Indonesia currently finds itself in with a surge of COVID cases, and our thoughts are with all those in Indonesia who are affected, she said.

Psaki acknowledged that there are more doses needed beyond the billion.

I would note that the United States is far and away the largest contributor in the world to the fight against the pandemic, including specific doses of vaccines.&nbsp;

The President has made clear that we will continue to build from here, and we're working on manufacturing capacity around the world and in the United States, and we will continue to contribute even beyond the billion doses, she said.

The US is sending 1.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Nepal and another 500,000 to Bhutan, the White House has said, asserting that its donations around the world are without any strings attached.

The US is sending 1.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Nepal and another 500,000 to Bhutan, the White House has said, asserting that its donations around the world are without any strings attached. Today we are sending three million doses to Indonesia, 1.5 million doses to Nepal, 500,000 doses to Moldova, and 500,000 doses to Bhutan, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday at her daily news conference. There are no strings attached to our vaccines that we're providing. We're providing them around the world to save lives and to be a contributor to the global effort to fight the pandemic, Psaki said in response to a question. She said that with these shipments, in this week alone, the US has sent nearly 15 million doses to countries including Guatemala, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Afghanistan, and Vietnam. Psaki said that in addition to the vaccines given to Indonesia, the US is also moving forward on plans to increase assistance for Indonesia's broader COVID-19 response efforts. "We recognise the difficult situation Indonesia currently finds itself in with a surge of COVID cases, and our thoughts are with all those in Indonesia who are affected, she said. Psaki acknowledged that there are more doses needed beyond the billion. I would note that the United States is far and away the largest contributor in the world to the fight against the pandemic, including specific doses of vaccines. The President has made clear that we will continue to build from here, and we're working on manufacturing capacity around the world and in the United States, and we will continue to contribute even beyond the billion doses, she said.

COVID-19: US sending 1.5 million Covid vaccine doses to Nepal, 500,000 to Bhutan — White House

Taiwan has asked its office in Washington to remind the United States not to cause "unnecessary speculation or misunderstanding" after the&nbsp;White&nbsp;House&nbsp;deleted a social media post on <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/coronavirus-vaccine">COVID-19 vaccine</a> donations that included Taiwan's flag.

The&nbsp;White&nbsp;House&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/coronavirus">COVID-19</a> Response Team this week posted on Twitter an image giving details of US vaccine donations globally, including last month's Moderna shots sent to Taiwan, and showed the island's flag along with those of others getting vaccines.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/forces-for-good-will-prevail-taiwan-welcomes-massive-us-vaccine-aid-392666">'Forces for good will prevail' - Taiwan welcomes massive US vaccine aid</a>

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen re-tweeted it, adding: "Thank you to the US&nbsp;for your generosity. Together, we will beat this pandemic."

However, the post was then removed, apparently on Wednesday.

The United States, like most countries, does not formally recognise Taiwan's government, only having official relations with Beijing, which claims Taiwan as Chinese territory under a "one China" policy.

China is invariably angered by any suggestion that Taiwan is, or deserves to be recognised as a separate country.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/dont-seek-political-manipulation-says-china-after-us-sends-vaccine-to-taiwan-392957">Don't seek political manipulation, says China after US sends vaccine to Taiwan</a>

Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said the ministry had noted that the Twitter post had gone.

"Regarding the reason for the deletion of this tweet, as the media has different interpretations, the Foreign Ministry has asked the representative office in the United States to remind the United States not to cause unnecessary speculation or misunderstanding from all walks of life due to the removal of the related tweet," she said.

The American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto US&nbsp;embassy, referred questions to the&nbsp;White&nbsp;House.

Reuters was not able to immediately contact the&nbsp;White&nbsp;House&nbsp;during overnight hours in Washington.

The United States is Taiwan's most important international backer and supplier of arms, and the Biden administration has moved to re-assure of that support.

However,&nbsp;White&nbsp;House&nbsp;Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said on Tuesday that while Washington supports a strong unofficial relationship it does not support Taiwan's formal independence.

Ou said that in recent years mutual trust between Taiwan and the United States has been "continuously improved", and that Biden's team has shown strong support for Taiwan, including the vaccine donation.

Taiwan has asked its office in Washington to remind the United States not to cause "unnecessary speculation or misunderstanding" after the White House deleted a social media post on COVID-19 vaccine donations that included Taiwan's flag.

Taiwan has asked its office in Washington to remind the United States not to cause "unnecessary speculation or misunderstanding" after the White House deleted a social media post on COVID-19 vaccine donations that included Taiwan's flag. The White House COVID-19 Response Team this week posted on Twitter an image giving details of US vaccine donations globally, including last month's Moderna shots sent to Taiwan, and showed the island's flag along with those of others getting vaccines. Also read | 'Forces for good will prevail' - Taiwan welcomes massive US vaccine aid Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen re-tweeted it, adding: "Thank you to the US for your generosity. Together, we will beat this pandemic." However, the post was then removed, apparently on Wednesday. The United States, like most countries, does not formally recognise Taiwan's government, only having official relations with Beijing, which claims Taiwan as Chinese territory under a "one China" policy. China is invariably angered by any suggestion that Taiwan is, or deserves to be recognised as a separate country. Also read | Don't seek political manipulation, says China after US sends vaccine to Taiwan Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said the ministry had noted that the Twitter post had gone. "Regarding the reason for the deletion of this tweet, as the media has different interpretations, the Foreign Ministry has asked the representative office in the United States to remind the United States not to cause unnecessary speculation or misunderstanding from all walks of life due to the removal of the related tweet," she said. The American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto US embassy, referred questions to the White House. Reuters was not able to immediately contact the White House during overnight hours in Washington. The United States is Taiwan's most important international backer and supplier of arms, and the Biden administration has moved to re-assure of that support. However, White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said on Tuesday that while Washington supports a strong unofficial relationship it does not support Taiwan's formal independence. Ou said that in recent years mutual trust between Taiwan and the United States has been "continuously improved", and that Biden's team has shown strong support for Taiwan, including the vaccine donation.

Taiwan asks US not to cause 'misunderstanding' after flag tweet removed

American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson on Tuesday was declined by USA Track &amp; Field (USATF) to be a part of the 4x100-metre relay team for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo after she tested positive for cannabis use. However, the White House has decided to step in to review the anti-doping rules in sport on Wednesday.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/tokyo-olympics-shacarri-richardson-not-selected-to-us-relay-team-after-testing-positive-for-cannabis-396376" hreflang="en">Tokyo Olympics: Sha'Carri Richardson not selected to US relay team after testing positive for cannabis</a>

As per Richardson, she used the banned substance to cope with the death of her mother. The 21-year-old sprinter was expected to be one of the biggest stars for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics but is unable to compete in the individual 100m event as her suspension wiped out her win at the trials.

"We know the rules are where they are, maybe we should take another look at them," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a CNN interview, adding that President Joe Biden had paid particular attention to her after the tragedy she endured.

"We certainly have to respect the role of the US&nbsp;Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the US&nbsp;Olympic Committee and the decisions they make," said Psaki. "But it is sad, and we do wish her luck and look forward to seeing her running, running as the fastest woman in the world, and for years to come."

In response, USADA CEO Travis Tygart said the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was the global arbiter.

"While the US&nbsp;government has a seat at the table to provide feedback, and will continue to speak up for athletes, we are ultimately bound to the WADA rules," he said in a statement.

"This is true even in sad and tough cases like this one, where we might take a different approach if the choice was ours to make."

USATF said on Tuesday that its "heartfelt understanding lies with Sha'Carri" but that out of fairness for other athletes it had declined to select her for the team.

(Inputs from Agency)&nbsp;

American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson on Tuesday was declined by USA Track & Field (USATF) to be a part of the 4x100-metre relay team for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo after she tested positive for cannabis use.

American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson on Tuesday was declined by USA Track & Field (USATF) to be a part of the 4x100-metre relay team for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo after she tested positive for cannabis use. However, the White House has decided to step in to review the anti-doping rules in sport on Wednesday. ALSO READ: Tokyo Olympics: Sha'Carri Richardson not selected to US relay team after testing positive for cannabis As per Richardson, she used the banned substance to cope with the death of her mother. The 21-year-old sprinter was expected to be one of the biggest stars for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics but is unable to compete in the individual 100m event as her suspension wiped out her win at the trials. "We know the rules are where they are, maybe we should take another look at them," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a CNN interview, adding that President Joe Biden had paid particular attention to her after the tragedy she endured. "We certainly have to respect the role of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the US Olympic Committee and the decisions they make," said Psaki. "But it is sad, and we do wish her luck and look forward to seeing her running, running as the fastest woman in the world, and for years to come." In response, USADA CEO Travis Tygart said the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was the global arbiter. "While the US government has a seat at the table to provide feedback, and will continue to speak up for athletes, we are ultimately bound to the WADA rules," he said in a statement. "This is true even in sad and tough cases like this one, where we might take a different approach if the choice was ours to make." USATF said on Tuesday that its "heartfelt understanding lies with Sha'Carri" but that out of fairness for other athletes it had declined to select her for the team. (Inputs from Agency)

Tokyo Olympics: White House to review anti-doping rules after Richardson ban

As the US troops handed over Afghanistan's Bagram airbase to Afghan forces, US President Joe Biden on Friday said there were no immediate plans for complete troop withdrawal from the country. "No. We're on, we're on track exactly as to where we expect to be," the US president said.

Troops drawdown in Afghanistan is on track, says US President Joe Biden

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