Biden's son Hunter indicted on gun charges

WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden's son Hunter was indicted Thursday for illegally buying a gun when he was using drugs, casting a new shadow over his father's campaign for reelection next year.

Hunter Biden, 53, was charged with two counts of making false statements when claiming on forms required for the 2018 gun purchase that he was not using drugs illegally at the time.

A third charge said that, based on the false statements, he illegally possessed the gun during an 11-day period in October that year.

If convicted on all three felony charges, Biden could in theory face 25 years in prison, though in practice they are seldom punished by any jail time.

In attesting that he was not an unlawful user of drugs when he bought the Colt Cobra revolver, Biden "knew that statement was false," the Justice Department said.

The indictment came two days after Republicans in Congress opened an impeachment probe against Democrat Joe Biden, alleging that when he was vice president he benefitted financially from his son's foreign business dealings. 

The legal troubles of Hunter Biden present a target for political rivals of his father, who is bidding for a second term in the White House.

Hunter is a Yale-trained lawyer and lobbyist-turned-artist, but his life has been marred by alcoholism and crack cocaine addiction.

Without offering any evidence, Republicans have accused Biden's Justice Department of protecting his son and have accused Weiss, a Republican appointee, of going easy on Hunter.

Representative James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky who will be leading the impeachment inquiry, welcomed the filing of the gun charges, calling it a "very small start."

"Mountains of evidence reveals that Hunter Biden likely committed several felonies and Americans expect the Justice Department to apply the law equally," Comer said.

Twice-impeached former president Donald Trump reacted on his Truth Social platform.

"This, the gun charge, is the only crime that Hunter Biden committed that does not implicate Crooked Joe Biden," he said.

PLEA DEAL COLLAPSED 

But a leading Democrat, Keisha Lance Bottoms, ex-mayor of Atlanta and a former senior adviser to Joe Biden, questioned why Hunter had been charged.

"Can anyone tell me how many people have been federally indicted for purchasing a gun while dealing with substance abuse issues?" Bottoms said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"I don't know the answer, but in my over 29 years as an attorney, I have never heard of it."

The gun charges were filed by Justice Department special counsel David Weiss, who has been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018 over various allegations, mostly related to his overseas business deals.

Two months ago a plea deal between Biden and Weiss, covering the gun charge as well as alleged tax violations, went sour.

Biden agreed to plead guilty in federal court in Delaware to two minor tax charges. In exchange he was offered probation, as he had already paid what he owed the government along with penalties.

Weiss agreed to suspend the felony gun charge if Biden completed "pretrial diversion," which often involves counseling or rehabilitation.

But in a dramatic July 26 hearing, the deal collapsed over whether Biden would have been immune from any other charges also investigated by Weiss, including possible crimes related to his business dealings in Ukraine, China and elsewhere.

The judge mentioned the possibility that Biden could be charged as having acted as a lobbyist for foreign governments without registering with the Justice Department.

Three weeks later, after the deal collapsed, Weiss dropped the tax charges and said an indictment on the gun charge would come by the end of September.

As the 2024 election race swings into gear, Republicans in the House of Representatives on Tuesday formally opened an impeachment inquiry against President Biden.

They alleged, without offering hard evidence, that while vice president in 2015-2016, Biden intervened to protect an allegedly corrupt Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, where Hunter Biden sat on the board.

Republicans allege Joe Biden and his family reaped large sums for helping Burisma.

Agence France-Presse

Biden, Metallica and Mariah Carey come together against poverty

NEW YORK, United States - Metallica and Mariah Carey on Saturday led an A-list of musicians, and President Joe Biden made a surprise video appearance, as the Global Citizen Festival sought to mobilize action against poverty and climate change.

Marking its 10th year, the six-hour festival brought thousands to New York's Central Park and featured a sister show in Ghana's capital Accra, where performers included American R&B great Usher and British grime icon Stormzy.

Global Citizen awards tickets to fans in exchange for their commitment to take action to eradicate extreme poverty -- such as contacting elected representatives to encourage foreign aid -- and coincides with the annual UN General Assembly in hopes of raising pressure on world leaders.

"We're inspired and grateful for all the work you've done and want you to know -- your fight is our fight," First Lady Jill Biden said in a video appearance next to her husband.

President Biden -- along with top Senate and House Democrats Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, who both appeared in person -- highlighted a new climate package that is the most far-reaching legislation ever in the United States to spur clean energy.

But Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados warned that action against climate change cannot come quickly enough for islands such as hers.

"Yes, my friends, our time is running out," she said.

Thrash metal legends Metallica got the crowd headbanging with eight songs including a version of "Nothing Else Matters" featuring vocalist Mickey Guyton, who has been outspoken about her experiences as one of the most prominent Black women in country music.

Guests sought to raise awareness on an array of issues including women's rights, especially in light of major protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, who was allegedly beaten to death after her arrest by morality police who enforce clerical rulers' dress codes on women.

"I have seen my sisters forced to flee abuse, oppression and femicide globally, women like Mahsa Jina Amini," said Anuscheh Amir-Khalili, a refugee advocate in Berlin of Iranian descent.

"We must speak up for oppressed women. I stand here for them," she told the crowd.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen, appearing on stage, said, "We have to take care of our girls and our women. They deserve it."

She highlighted recent pledges by Europe including 600 million euros for food security in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific amid rising hunger in much of the world worsened by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Mariah Carey was introduced by leading ballerina Misty Copeland, who called the singer with her famed vocal range an inspiration, and was accompanied by a choreographed dance for her classic song "Hero."

Other performers included Maneskin, the new-generation Italian glam rockers who put on an energetic set, Spanish pop star Rosalia, and the Jonas Brothers, with Nick Jonas' wife, Indian screen star Priyanka Chopra, serving as master of ceremonies.

Agence France Presse

Biden to call for three-month suspension of federal gas tax as prices skyrocket

WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden will ask Congress Wednesday to suspend the federal gas tax for three months as skyrocketing prices cause widespread anger among Americans just months before crucial mid-term elections. 

The White House wants to discontinue the tax of 18 cents per gallon (3.78 liters) until September and will call on US states, which also tax at the pump, to do the same to "provide direct relief to American consumers who have been hit with Putin's price hike," a senior administration official said.

The official noted that prices had gone up almost $2 a gallon since Russian President Vladimir Putin began building up forces on the Ukrainian border earlier this year.

Federal taxes on gas and diesel help fund the Highway Trust Fund, which maintains roads and supports public transport, but Biden will call on Congress to ensure the fund does not suffer from the lost revenue.

"With our deficit already down by a historic $1.6 trillion this year, the president believes that we can afford to suspend the gas tax to help consumers while using other revenues to make the Highway Trust Fund whole for the roughly $10 billion cost," the official said.

Facing growing public anger over the rising cost of gas, several states including New York and Connecticut have already suspended fuel taxes, while others have delayed planned tax increases.

Biden has taken steps to alleviate the pain at the pump after Putin's February 24 invasion of Ukraine led to soaring fuel prices not just in the United States but worldwide, exacerbating inflation already on the rise.

Those measures include releasing a million barrels of oil per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, negotiating the release of an additional 60 million barrels from international partners and expanding access to biofuels.

But with average gas prices across the country near $5 a gallon, the Biden administration is keen to lessen the pain consumers feel over rising prices ahead of November mid-term elections that could see the Democrats lose control of Congress.

Agence France-Presse

US eyes trade deal-lite as Southeast Asian leaders gather

WASHINGTON—The United States is preparing a scaled-back version of a trade pact as Southeast Asian nations gather in Washington, where President Joe Biden is seeking to show solid commitment in the face of a rising China.

Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will meet Biden for dinner Thursday at the start of a two-day summit, part of a renewed US focus on Asia after months of intense effort on Ukraine.

Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration had made clear that its top priority was competition with China due to its rapid technological advances and rising assertiveness both at home and abroad.

Kurt Campbell, the top White House official on Asia, said the United States would raise areas of cooperation with ASEAN leaders including fighting the Covid pandemic and disaster relief.

He also said he expected "substantial interest" by Southeast Asian nations in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, or IPEF, the latest acronym-branded US trade initiative, which was mentioned late last year by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Indonesia.

"We're quite confident that we're going to be able to have a substantial launch with a very broad range of potential players," Campbell said at the US Institute of Peace.

Koji Tomita, Japan's ambassador to Washington, told a separate event that he expected IPEF to be unveiled formally a week later when Biden visits Tokyo and Seoul.

Former president Barack Obama had proposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, billing it as a high-standards deal that would let the United States lead the emerging trade order in Asia.

His successor Donald Trump trashed the deal, calling free trade unfair to US workers. Biden, seeing the shifting US political mood, has made clear he is in no rush for trade deals -- and China is now seeking to enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership's successor.

NOT SEEKING 'NEW COLD WAR'

Experts briefed on IPEF said it would formally commit the United States to work with partners on key economic priorities including ensuring smooth supply chains, fighting corruption and promoting green energy.

Unlike traditional trade deals, it would not guarantee market access to the United States, the world's largest economy -- the usual sweetener to persuade nations to make concessions.

Campbell said Biden knew that any initiative needed to be "fundamentally based on the needs and desires of the people of Southeast Asia."

"He does not want to descend Southeast Asia or Asia into a new Cold War," he said.

"I think we recognize quite clearly that any initiative that is simply designed for competition is likely to have difficulty gaining altitude in Asia."

China for more than a decade has been ASEAN's largest trading partner, despite widespread territorial rifts between Beijing and members of the bloc, especially Vietnam and the Philippines.

Evan Feigenbaum, a former senior State Department official, told a recent congressional hearing that the United States has historically enjoyed its privileged place in Asia due to both its security and economic leadership, only one of which remains.

"Even though America's economic role is growing in absolute terms, it is receding in relative terms, which means that, to lead, we should be leaning harder on the other pillar of our economic leadership, which was to be a rule writer and standard setter," said Feigenbaum, now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Labor advocacy group Trade Justice has already voiced alarm at IPEF, saying many Southeast Asian nations did not have adequate treatment of workers.

Trade diplomacy has long been at the forefront of US interactions with Southeast Asia, often seen as a victim of its own success given its perceived stability.

But the Washington summit also comes after a year of intense US pressure on Myanmar, once hailed as a model of democratic transition, following its military coup.

US officials say they will seek to show support for democratic forces in Myanmar and may represent the country with an empty chair during the summit.

Agence France-Presse

Biden authorizes ‘unprecedented’ new weapons aid to Ukraine

US President Joe Biden announced $1 billion in new security help and the deployment of longer-range weapons and drones to Ukraine on Wednesday -- assuring the ally of America's "unprecedented" support in its war with Russia.

The cash, approved as Russian forces close in on Ukraine's besieged capital Kyiv, includes $200 million allocated over the weekend and $800 million in new funds from an aid package approved last week by Congress.

"These are direct transfers of equipment from our Department of Defense to the Ukrainian military to help them as they fight against this invasion," said Biden, who also announced US help for Ukraine to acquire "additional longer-range anti-aircraft systems."

As expected, Biden gave no ground on the notion of a Western-imposed no-fly zone over the ex-Soviet state, which NATO has consistently rejected for fear of an escalation that could bring the alliance into direct conflict with Russian forces.

Ramping up its military assistance instead, the White House said Ukraine will receive an additional 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 9,000 anti-tank weapons, 7,000 light weapons and 20 million rounds of ammunition.

And the United States will be providing Ukraine with 100 drones -- or Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems -- which Biden said "demonstrates our commitment to sending our most cutting-edge systems to Ukraine for its defense."

Concerning the deployment of longer-range systems, Gregory Meeks, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, indicated the weapons involved would be Soviet-made S-300 surface-to-air missile systems.

"These S-300s and longer-range artillery forces is what will help close the sky" over Ukraine, Meeks said on CNN following Biden's address.

"President Zelensky is not asking for American troops or American equipment or anything of that nature to close the skies," Meeks said. "What he's asking for is the artillery that will do that. The S-300 may be the one that does that."

Agence France-Presse

Biden says Russian ‘invasion’ of Ukraine is ‘beginning’

‘First tranche’ of sanctions on Russia announced, including on debt

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Russia has begun to invade Ukraine but that there was still time for diplomacy to avoid the "worst case scenario" of a full-blown assault on the country.

"This is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine," the US leader said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin's declared plans to send troops deep into the Donbas region in southeast Ukraine. 

"He's setting up a rationale to take more territory by force," Biden said in a nationwide address from the White House.

"And if we listened to his speech last night... he's setting up a rationale to go much further," Biden said.

Biden announced more sanctions targeting Russian finances and political elite, in hopes that the pressure will deter a wholesale invasion.

He said that the United States would continue to supply "defensive" weapons to Ukraine and deploy more US troops to reinforce NATO allies in Eastern Europe.

But he suggested that diplomatic talks could stem a worsening of the crisis, one of the deepest in Europe since World War II.

"There's no question that Russia is the aggressor, so we're clear-eyed about the challenges we're facing," Biden said.

"Nonetheless, there is still time to avert the worst case scenario that will bring untold suffering to millions of people if they move as suggested," he said.

‘FIRST TRANCHE’ OF SANCTIONS

Biden, meanwhile, announced the "first tranche" of sanctions against Russia, including steps to starve the country of financing, saying Moscow had started an invasion of Ukraine.

And Biden threatened tougher steps if Russia "continues its aggression."

"We're implementing sanctions on Russia's sovereign debt. That means we've cut off Russia's government from Western financing," Biden said.

"It can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either."

The measures also target VEB, Russia's state development bank, and members of the country's "elites," the US leader said.

"They share the corrupt gains of the Kremlin policies, and should share in the pain as well."

The announcement came after the European Union unveiled its own sanctions in a coordinated Western effort to pressure Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Biden said the responses "have been closely coordinated with our allies and partners" and added, "We'll continue to escalate sanctions if Russia escalates."

However Washington's response did not seem to go as far as the European Union, nor as far as some expected.

Biden announced "full blocking sanctions" on both VEB and Russia's "military bank," which likely means the institutions will have their foreign assets frozen and will be prohibited from using the US financial system.

However, the penalties cover fewer financial institutions, and do not appear to have severed the country from the SWIFT system used to move money around the globe.

Nor did Biden resort to export controls, which would have cut Russian firms off from key high-tech equipment and software, which some analysts said was a possibility.

Agence France-Presse

5 cases of Omicron variant confirmed in New York state: governor

NEW YORK—The state of New York has confirmed 5 cases of the coronavirus Omicron variant, Governor Kathy Hochul said Thursday, bringing the total number of US detections of the new strain to 8.

"New York State has confirmed 5 cases of the Omicron variant," Hochul said in a Twitter post aimed at reassuring residents of the nation's fourth most populous state that the detections were not unexpected.

"Let me be clear: This is not cause for alarm. We knew this variant was coming and we have the tools to stop the spread," she said.

"Get your vaccine. Get your booster. Wear your mask."

It was not immediately clear whether the new cases were in or near New York City -- the country's most populous metropolitan area -- and whether they were detected in people who had recently returned from traveling outside the country.

Eight cases have so far been confirmed in the United States, with at least one, in Minnesota, involving a person with no recent international travel history, signaling the strain is already circulating inside the country.

Hochul's figures followed the announcement by President Joe Biden that he is bolstering his administration's campaign against COVID-19 as the winter takes hold.

The new measures include requiring all inbound international travelers be tested within 1 day of flying, and an extension of mask mandates on public transportation through mid-March.

Agence France-Presse

From Hollywood to Detroit, pandemic-weary companies cautious on Omicron

Pandemic-weary corporations struggled to assess the impact of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus on Monday, with industries from Hollywood movie studios to airlines and autos awaiting more details to help determine how it might affect their operations and profits.

The World Health Organization warned on Monday the Omicron variant carries a very high global risk of infection surges. Spooked investors wiped roughly $2 trillion off global stocks on Friday, but markets regained some ground on Monday.

Countries have swiftly imposed bans on travel from southern Africa, where the variant was first uncovered. Japan and Israel went even further, announcing bans on all foreign visitors.

Some airlines said they were not heavily changing schedules, but industry sources said big carriers moved swiftly to protect their hubs by curbing passenger travel from southern Africa.

Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary saw no reason to cancel flights although he was worried about some countries potentially shutting air travel. Lufthansa, Germany's flagship airline, said its flights were still well booked.

US President Joe Biden met with chief executives of major retailers and other companies on Monday to discuss how to move goods to shelves as the US holiday shopping season begins in the shadow of Omicron.

Before the meeting, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon cited improvement in the supply chain, noting the retailer had seen a 26% increase in shipping containers going through U.S. ports over the past four weeks.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Monday it was too soon to tell if Omicron will have any impact on global supply chains.

The prospect of a fast-spreading variant has raised fears of a return of the sort of restrictions that shut down a swathe of industries in 2020.

In Hollywood, where production on film and television shows returned to pre-pandemic levels this summer thanks to stringent health and safety precautions, the studios were waiting to learn more about this latest mutation of the coronavirus.

"With COVID, it keeps shape shifting. It's like mercury -- we can't get our hands around it," said Dr. Neal Baer, a physician who was a longtime producer of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

"It's going to take a couple of weeks for us to know, one, how well vaccinations protect us, two, whether you need a booster and whether a booster helps or three, whether the vaccine needs to be modified to make it effective against this mutation."

Movie theater attendance has been returning in fits and starts since the summer, but a spokesman for the National Association of Theatre Owners said variants remain a concern -- especially after the pullback in attendance that accompanied the Delta variant.

In the United States, auto plants were closed for two months last year. Even after automakers restarted operations, they have curtailed production schedules due to semiconductor chip shortages and other supply-chain constraints. Automakers said it was too soon to predict the impact of Omicron.

"This is new," Nissan Motor Co's US spokeswoman Lloryn love-Carter said. "We're monitoring of course, but we still have a lot of pretty strict COVID protocols in place."

General Motors Co, the largest US automaker, said it was watching closely and its COVID-19 safety protocols remain in place at its plants.

"We continue to strongly encourage our employees to get vaccinated given the broad availability of safe and highly efficacious vaccines," GM spokeswoman Maria Raynal said in an email. "We will continue to review and adjust our protocols as new information regarding this variant becomes available."

Toyota Motor Corp said its US management team will meet on Tuesday to discuss the Omicron variant.

"Right now we're in the 'gathering info' mode," Toyota's U.S. spokesman Scott Vazin said. "Since most of our employees are based in plants, we've never stopped COVID protocols such as social distancing, health screenings, masking up." 

(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit, additional reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles, Tim Hepher in Paris and Alex Alper in Washington; Editing by Peter Graff, Bill Berkrot and Sandra Maler)

-reuters-  

US Senate Democrats plan debt-limit vote, Biden hints filibuster could go

WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats are set to try again on Wednesday to extend the US government's borrowing authority to head off a catastrophic default, after President Joe Biden suggested they could change the chamber's rules to bypass a Republican roadblock.

Republicans for months have refused to help raise the self-imposed $28.4 trillion borrowing cap, instead trying to force Democrats to use a different parliamentary maneuver to do so in hopes of scoring political points with voters.

With less than two weeks to go before the Treasury Department expects to run out of ways to meet the government's expenses, Democrats are looking at all their options.

Biden said on Tuesday that it was "real possibility" that Democrats might use their current razor-thin majority to drop the Senate's filibuster rule, which requires 60 of the chamber's 100 members to agree to pass most legislation.

Biden, himself a former Senator, had previously opposed changes to the filibuster, which is meant to help maintain government stability through election cycles.

If Democrats follow through, they could easily suspend the debt ceiling before the deadline of about Oct. 18. That would head off the risk of a crippling default and allow them to focus on passing two mammoth spending bills that make up the bulk of Biden's domestic agenda.

In an effort to underline the severe economic risks of a default, Biden will meet on Wednesday with a group including CEOs of major corporations including JPMorgan Chase & Co , Intel Corp and Nasdaq Inc.

Many Democrats have long argued that the Senate should dump the filibuster entirely, saying it prevents progress on climate change, voting rights and other priorities. The chamber already allows federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, to win approval on a straight majority vote.

Centrist Democratic senators including Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have said repeatedly they are not willing to dump the filibuster, which would leave the party short of the votes they need to change the rule, however. They could not be reached for comment on whether Biden's words would change their minds.

Democratic Senators John Hickenlooper and Ron Wyden on Tuesday said they were open to dropping the filibuster requirement for the debt-limit vote. Manchin declined to comment when asked about it prior to Biden's remarks.

The Senate was due to hold a Wednesday afternoon procedural vote that would allow them to begin debating a bill that would suspend the debt limit until December 2022, after the elections that will determine control of Congress for the next two years.

That passed the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives last week but Republicans have stalled it in the Senate with the filibuster.

Without a quick resolution, some government services might be suspended, such as delivering Social Security benefit checks to the elderly.

Even a close call would likely be damaging. A 2011 debt ceiling dispute, which Congress resolved two days before the borrowing limit was due to have been reached, caused stocks to tumble and prompted a first-ever credit downgrade for US debt.

The Bipartisan Policy Center on Wednesday issued forecasts on when some federal payments could be postponed as a result of the standoff. Among them: Unemployment insurance payments due Oct. 20 could be delayed five days, federal salaries for civilian employees due Oct. 29 could be pushed back to Nov. 9 and Medicare payments to doctors could be delayed from Nov. 1 to Nov. 19.

Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday it expects Washington will raise the debt limit.

Democratic Senator Mark Warner said Congress was already risking US creditworthiness, however.

"We're in the danger zone right now," he told reporters on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan and Susan Cornwell, additional reporting by Richard Cowan and Steve Holland; Editing by Scott Malone, Sonya Hepinstall and Nick Zieminski)

-reuters-

Biden to discuss COVID-19 response after CDC backs boosters

WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden on Friday will deliver remarks on the nation's COVID-19 response, including vaccinations, the White House said, one day after federal health agencies backed a booster rollout.

The boosters will be available for people 65 and older, people at high risk of severe disease or of contracting COVID-19 through their work, and who were vaccinated six months ago with the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Biden had called for booster shots against the novel coronavirus to begin this week for all people once they were eight months out from vaccination, pending regulators' approval.

But the US Food and Drug Administration and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week only cleared the way for a subset, though it did broaden the timeframe for eligibility by two months.

Biden administration officials have said they would follow the science on additional vaccines and had set the week of Sept. 20 as a goal in order to prepare for more inoculations.

Biden, who is scheduled to speak at 9:45 a.m. (1345 GMT) at the White House, has said he will receive a third booster dose when available.

-reuters-

Facebook says it should not be blamed for US failing to meet vaccine goals

Facebook on Saturday defended itself against US President Joe Biden's assertion that the social media platform is "killing people" by allowing misinformation about coronavirus vaccines to proliferate, saying the facts tell a different story.

"The data shows that 85 percent of Facebook users in the US have been or want to be vaccinated against COVID-19," Facebook said in a corporate blog post by Guy Rosen, a company vice president. "President Biden’s goal was for 70 percent of Americans to be vaccinated by July 4. Facebook is not the reason this goal was missed."

COVID-19 misinformation has spread during the pandemic on social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet Inc-owned YouTube. Researchers and lawmakers have long accused Facebook of failing to police harmful content on its platforms.

"They're killing people. ... Look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they're killing people," Biden told reporters at the White House on Friday when asked about misinformation and what his message was to social media platforms such as Facebook.

The company has introduced rules against making specific false claims about COVID-19 and vaccines for it, and says it provides people with reliable information on these topics.

The Delta variant of the coronavirus is now the dominant strain worldwide, accompanied by a surge of deaths around the United States almost entirely among unvaccinated people, U.S. officials said on Friday.

American cases of COVID-19 are up 70 percent over the previous week and deaths are up 26 percent, with outbreaks occurring in parts of the country with low vaccination rates.

-reuters-

Biden: Biggest vaccine donation 'supercharges' battle against coronavirus

CARBIS BAY, England—U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that a donation of 500 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to the world's poorest countries would supercharge the battle with the virus and comes with "no strings attached."

Biden, speaking alongside Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla in the English seaside resort of Carbis Bay ahead of a G7 summit, thanked other leaders for recognizing their responsibility to vaccinate the world.

"The United States is providing these half billion doses with no strings attached. No strings attached," Biden said. "Our vaccine donations don't include pressure for favors, or potential concessions. We're doing this to save lives."

Biden, keen to burnish his multilateral credentials on his first foreign trip as leader, cast the donation as a bold move that showed America recognized its responsibility to the world and to its own citizens.

"America will be the arsenal of vaccines in our fight against COVID-19, just as America was the arsenal of democracy during World War Two," Biden said.

The largest ever vaccine donation by a single country will cost the United States $3.5 billion but will spur further donations from other G7 leaders - including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

G7 leaders want to vaccinate the world by the end of 2022 to try to halt the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 3.9 million people, devastated the global economy and upended the normal lives of billions of people.

Vaccination efforts so far are heavily correlated with wealth: the United States, Europe, Israel and Bahrain are far ahead of other countries. A total of 2.2 billion people have been vaccinated so far out of a world population of nearly 8 billion, based on Johns Hopkins University data.

'SAVE LIVES'

U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have agreed to supply the U.S. with the vaccines, delivering 200 million doses in 2021 and 300 million doses in the first half of 2022.

The shots, which will be produced at Pfizer's U.S. sites, will be supplied at a not-for-profit price. Around 100 countries will get the shots.

Pfizer CEO Bourla said the eyes of the world were on the leaders of rich nations to see if they would act to solve the COVID-19 crisis and share with poorer nations.

"This announcement with the U.S. government gets us closer to our goal and significantly enhances our ability to save even more lives across the globe," he said.

While such a large donation of vaccines was welcomed by many, there were immediately calls for the richest nations of the world to open up more of their giant hoards of vaccines.

Anti-poverty campaign group Oxfam called for more to be done to increase global production of vaccines.

"Surely, these 500 million vaccine doses are welcome as they will help more than 250 million people, but that’s still a drop in the bucket compared to the need across the world," said Niko Lusiani, Oxfam America’s vaccine lead.

"We need a transformation toward more distributed vaccine manufacturing so that qualified producers worldwide can produce billions more low-cost doses on their own terms, without intellectual property constraints," he said in a statement.

Another issue, especially in some poor countries, is the infrastructure for transporting the vaccines which often have to be stored at very cold temperatures.

IP WAIVER

Biden has also backed calls for a waiver of some vaccine intellectual property rights but there is no international consensus yet on how to proceed.

The new vaccine donations come on top of 80 million doses Washington has already pledged to donate by the end of June. There is also $2 billion in funding earmarked for the COVAX programme led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), the White House said.

GAVI and the WHO welcomed the initiative.

Washington is also taking steps to support local production of COVID-19 vaccines in other countries, including through its Quad initiative with Japan, India and Australia. (Reporting by Steve Holland in St. Ives, England, Andrea Shalal in Washington and Caroline Copley in Berlin; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Keith Weir; Editing by Leslie Adler, David Evans, Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Giles Elgood, Jane Merriman and Marguerita Choy)

-reuters-

Biden drops plan to ban Chinese-owned apps TikTok, WeChat

President Joe Biden on Wednesday revoked executive orders from his predecessor Donald Trump seeking to ban Chinese-owned mobile apps TikTok and WeChat over national security concerns, the White House said.

A statement said that instead of banning the popular apps, the Biden administration would carry out a "criteria-based decision framework and rigorous, evidence-based analysis to address the risks" from internet applications controlled by foreign entities.

Trump had claimed the apps posed national security risks and had sought to force the sale of TikTok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance and remains one of the world's most popular social media apps, to US investors.

The effort by the Trump administration prompted a series of legal challenges which delayed the efforts to ban or force the sale of the applications, which heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing.

There was no immediate comment from the two companies.

Biden issued a new executive order citing an "ongoing emergency" related to "the continuing effort of foreign adversaries to steal or otherwise obtain United States persons' data" and calling for a four-month review.

University of Texas law professor Bobby Chesney, who follows national security issues, called the Biden order "a good middle path."

"They affirmed the nature of the threat and the propriety of using sanctions to address it, and they have held the door open for reimposing some version of these sanctions... but likely with a far stronger and more defensible record," Chesney tweeted.

But officials said that Biden's order stopped short of rescinding a review of the 2017 acquisition of TikTok forerunner Musical.ly by ByteDance.

"It would be premature to celebrate; Bytedance remains subject to an entirely separate CFIUS divestment order," Chesney said in a blog post, referring to the intergovernmental Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which is carrying out the review.

"Today's action by President Biden does nothing to change that. Of course, it could be that this too will change," he added.

Finding 'unacceptable risks' -

Biden's order seeks to identify any "connected software applications that may pose an unacceptable risk to US national security and the American people" including "applications that are owned, controlled, or managed by persons that support foreign adversary military or intelligence activities, or are involved in malicious cyber activities, or involve applications that collect sensitive personal data."

The new order calls for the Commerce Department and other federal agencies to develop guidelines "to protect sensitive personal data... including personally identifiable information and genetic information" from misuse.

TikTok is believed to have some one billion users worldwide including more than 100 million in the United States, and is especially popular with young smartphone users.

Last September, US District Judge Carl Nichols issued a temporary injunction at the request of TikTok blocking the effort to ban downloads of the app in the United States.

Trump had given his blessing to a plan that would have given TikTok to US tech giant Oracle with investments from retail powerhouse Walmart, but that deal failed to win approval in Beijing.

WeChat, part of the Chinese tech giant Tencent, is a massively popular "super app" which includes social networking, messaging, e-commerce and more.

The ban on WeChat was also delayed by a lawsuit from users based in the United States claiming the ban infringed on their rights.

The Biden move comes a day after the US Senate passed a sweeping industrial policy bill aimed at countering the surging economic threat from China and pumping more than $170 billion into research and development.

The package, a key provision of which addresses a shortage of semiconductors that has slowed US auto production this year, will help American industry bolster its capacity and improve technology, in an effort to avoid being outmaneuvered by Beijing as the adversaries compete for tech leadership.

Agence France-Presse

Donuts and hangouts: US kicks off COVID vaccination for teens

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, United States - Harrison Hunger, 14, received his Covid shot at a clinic in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, on Thursday and now has pastries on his mind.

Asked what he plans to do first, the teen doesn't skip a beat: "Probably go to Krispy Kreme, because they are offering free donuts to people with one of these," he says, showing off his vaccine card.

The campaign to immunize America's 17 million adolescents aged 12-to-15 kicked off in full force on Thursday, a key part of President Joe Biden's strategy to push the country toward herd immunity.

Across the country, kids lined up with their parents, eager to return to some semblance of their pre-pandemic lives.

"It will help me get back out more," said Daniel Fox, a 13-year-old among the first in the door when the Javits Center in New York City opened at 10 am. "Online playdates are pretty fun, but it's also fun to have an in-person playdate once in a while."

Fourteen-year-old twins Anaya and Jay Tsai also received their first doses.

"I've been very much looking forward to this day for a while. It's hugely important," said their mother Purva Tsai, 47.

"I hope it means things will start to get back to normal for the kids and they can socialize with their friends."

Numbers were a little low at a vaccine site set up at the Walter E Washington Convention Center in the US capital.

Kandall Frederick, 15, was driven in by her mom ahead of the school day.

"I was excited," she said. "I was the last one in the family to be vaccinated so now we will be all safe and sound, be on the go and do things more freely."

PIZZA AND BAND

In Hartford, Connecticut, 13-year-old Charles Muro said he was looking forward to worrying less post-vaccination -- and being able to grab some pizza. 

"This will be the future," he said. "It feels revolutionary... it is pretty cool to be in this unique group."

And 14-year-old Sadie Sindland, who was also in Hartford, said she is ready to get back to school full-time, to play in a band and to see friends, despite some nervousness. 

"I am always very scared of getting vaccines," Sadie said. "But I was really excited to get this Covid vaccine, because this is the first step to getting back to a normal society."

An April poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation that interviewed parents of 12-to-15-year-olds found that three in ten were keen to get their children vaccinated right away, a quarter will wait to see how it's working, a fifth will vaccinate only if their child's school requires it, and the remaining quarter will refuse the vaccine.

Teens are much less susceptible to Covid than older age groups, and the main reason to vaccinate them is to drive down overall transmission.

But extremely rare cases of severe Covid can still occur, as can a post-viral complication called multisystem inflammatory syndrome.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has called this week's authorization of the Pfizer Covid vaccine for youths aged 12 to 15 an important tool for more schools to return to in-person learning this fall.

Agence France-Presse

Officer killed in US Capitol car-ramming attack

A US Capitol police officer was killed and a second injured Friday after a vehicle rammed through security and crashed into a barrier at the Washington complex, forcing it into lockdown less than three months after a mob assault on Congress.

Capitol Police shot dead the driver after he jumped out of the car and lunged at them with a knife, Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters.

US President Joe Biden, who was with First Lady Jill Biden at Camp David for the Easter holiday, offered his "heartfelt condolences" to the family of William Evans, the veteran policeman killed in the attack.

"Jill and I were heartbroken to learn of the violent attack at a security checkpoint on the US Capitol grounds," Biden said in a statement.

US media said officials had identified the attacker as Noah Green, a 25-year-old Black man from Indiana and an adherent of the black nationalist Nation of Islam movement.

Pittman said there was no immediate indication of his motivation or police file on him.

"It does not appear to be terrorism-related, but obviously we will continue to investigate," Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee added.

Green had graduated from Christopher Newport University in Virginia, where he played football, with a degree in finance in 2019, the school confirmed.

Some of his online postings in March suggested a level of despair and paranoia. He said he was unemployed and had health problems, and made references to biblical concepts of the end of times. 

He wrote that he had faced "unimaginable tests" and was "in search of a spiritual journey."

In one post he spoke of being tormented by the FBI and CIA, hospitalized and subjected to "mind control," and called the government "the #1 enemy of Black people!"

He also said he was a follower of Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, who promotes Black nationalist, anti-white and anti-Semitic thinking.

Facebook said it had removed Green's account from the social network as well as Instagram, and that it would remove "any content that praises, supports, or represents the attack or the suspect." 

'Martyr for democracy' 

Top officials expressed shock over the attack and sympathy for Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force.

"Please keep Officer Evans and his family in your thoughts and prayers," Pittman said in a statement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered flags lowered to half-staff on the Capitol, calling Evans "a martyr for our democracy."

"Members of Congress, staff and Capitol workers, and indeed all Americans, are united in appreciation for the courage of the US Capitol Police," she said.

Biden also ordered White House flags to be flown at half-staff.

"We know what a difficult time this has been for the Capitol, everyone who works there, and those who protect it," he said.

The attack came with the scars still raw and security tight after the January assault on Congress by hundreds of supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

National Guard troops were mobilized Friday and staff at the huge Capitol complex ordered to stay away from windows and seek cover after alerts went out over the incident shortly after 1:00 p.m. (1700 GMT).

While Congress was in recess for the Easter holiday, text messages sent to staffers still working inside told them no one could enter or leave the building.

"If you are outside, seek cover," the messages said, while television footage showed what appeared to be the injured officers being loaded onto gurneys and into ambulances.

Following the attack, the blue sedan could be seen crashed into a security barrier on one of the streets leading to Congress. 

Memory of January 6 

In the January 6 attack, hundreds of extremist Trump-backers smashed into the Capitol building yelling threats against politicians and shutting down the legislature.

One Capitol Police officer died as a result of the attack, as well as four other individuals who took part or were nearby.

Since then security officials have said there is an ongoing threat from extreme-right groups and Trump supporters.

More than 300 people have been charged in the January attack, including members of armed extremist groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, and 100 more are expected to be charged, according to Justice Department court filings.

In recent weeks some security around the complex has been loosened, with the number of armed National Guard troops at the Capitol reduced and a security fence that created a broad perimeter around the Capitol complex removed.

But permanent barriers remain in place on all the roadway entrances to the Capitol, well-manned by police and national guard.

"I drive through this checkpoint and wave to the officers guarding it nearly every day that I'm in Washington. I'm heartbroken to learn of an officer's death in today's attack," tweeted Representative Angie Craig.

Security officials, including the Capitol Police and National Guard, were faulted for reacting slowly to the crowds who stormed the Capitol on January 6.

But, Pittman said, they also remain on edge. 

"This has been an extremely difficult time for the US Capitol police after the events of January 6, and after the events that have occurred here today," she said.

Agence France-Presse

Biden to unveil $2 trillion 'once-in-a-century' infrastructure plan

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden will on Wednesday propose a $2 trillion infrastructure plan aimed at modernizing the United States' crumbling transport network, creating millions of jobs and enabling the country to "out-compete" China.

The first phase of Biden's "Build Back Better" program, which he will unveil in a speech in Pittsburgh, will detail massive investment spread over eight years.

It plans to inject $620 billion into transport, including upgrading 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers) of roads and highways, repairing thousands of bridges and doubling federal funding for public transit.

The president, whom Donald Trump tried to caricature as "Sleepy Joe" and a man without strong ideas or motivation, intends to make the bold infrastructure plan one of his flagship policies.

"He views his role as laying out... a broad vision, a bold vision for how we can invest in America, American workers, our communities," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

The investment would be partly paid for by raising corporate tax from 21 percent to 28 percent.

"The President is proposing to fundamentally reform the corporate tax code so that it incentivizes job creation and investment... and ensures that large corporations are paying their fair share," a senior administration official said ahead of the speech.

The new legislative offensive comes soon after Congress passed a nearly $2 trillion Covid-19 economic stimulus plan.

And Biden's speech is set to open a bitter battle in Congress, where the Democrats hold only a narrow majority and will face strong opposition from the Republicans.

The coming months will test the negotiating skills of the Democratic president, a veteran of Washington politics and deal-making, to the limit, and the chances of his infrastructure plan passing into law remain uncertain.

URGENCY OF THE MOMENT

"It's an important initiative to start the process with the president being very clear that he's got a plan, and that he's open to hearing what others think," the administration official said.

"But what he is uncompromising about is the urgency of the moment and the need to really deliver for the American people and make good on building back better in this moment."

The plan also vows to "spark the electric vehicle revolution" by building a network of 500,000 EV chargers, replacing 50,000 diesel transit vehicles and electrifying 20 percent of the famous yellow school buses.

And it aims to make infrastructure more resilient to climate change.

With much of the country's creaking infrastructure dating back to the 1950s, the dream of new roads, bridges, railways and airports is shared by many Americans.

But building a political consensus to transform Biden's plan into reality is no easy task.

Both his predecessors Barack Obama and Trump had great ambitions and made heady promises over infrastructure investment, but struggled to make any progress.

The issue keeps coming back to the same question: how to pay for it?

Biden's new transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, who ran against him in the Democratic primaries, will be on the front lines of the battle, trying to ensure that this time, the stars are all aligned.

"I think that there's a tremendous opportunity now to have bipartisan support for a big, bold vision on infrastructure," the youthful politician said.

"Americans don't need a lot of selling to know that we've got to do big things when it comes to our infrastructure."

Agence France-Presse

Biden 'First Dogs' arrive at White House

WASHINGTON - Joe Biden's dogs Champ and Major have moved into the White House, reviving a long-standing tradition of presidential pets that was broken under Donald Trump.

The pooches can be seen trotting on the White House grounds in pictures retweeted by First Lady Jill Biden's spokesman Michael LaRosa, with the pointed obelisk of the Washington Monument in the background.

"Champ is enjoying his new dog bed by the fireplace, and Major loved running around on the South Lawn," LaRosa told CNN in a statement Monday.

The Biden's dogs, both German shepherds, follow the pawprints of presidential pets that included Barack Obama's Bo, a black Portuguese water dog and George W. Bush's Scottish terrier, Barney. 

Trump, a famously finicky germaphobe, broke with that convention -- as he did with many presidential traditions -- and never had a pet in his White House.

"How would I look walking a dog on the White House lawn," Trump asked, with a grimace, in a video included in a Biden campaign ad.

Agence France-Presse

Biden to hit reset on US fight against COVID-19

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden on Wednesday will immediately reset the nation's response to the COVID-19 crisis when he heads to the Oval Office after being sworn in to lead a country reeling from its worst public health crisis in more than a century.

As part of a first sweep of executive actions, Biden will order that all federal employees wear masks and make face coverings mandatory on federal property. He will establish a new White House office to coordinate the coronavirus response and halt the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization, a process initiated by the outgoing president, Donald Trump.

The orders signal that Biden aims to fulfill his campaign promise to make COVID-19 relief a top priority and will mark a sharp divergence from the Trump administration's pandemic response, which critics say was ineffectual, uncoordinated and at least partly responsible for the death of more than 400,000 Americans.

He will begin work on his executive actions after a scaled-back inauguration ceremony unlike any other in US presidential history, with the National Mall covered in a "field of flags" instead of the typical crowds, who were not permitted because of the risk of contagion.

"We can overcome the deadly virus," Biden said in his inaugural address, which called for unity in a nation gripped by tense political divide.

Biden was also poised to nominate an acting US surgeon general as soon as Wednesday, a person familiar with the decision told MSNBC, following the resignation of Trump appointee Jerome Adams.

Biden's actions, particularly the mask mandate, are intended to set an example for state and local officials to rein in the virus, which has hobbled the US economy. The United States has reported nearly 200,000 new COVID-19 cases and 3,000 deaths per day on a seven-day rolling average, according to Reuters data. More than 123,000 Americans were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday.

Scientists and public health experts have said face masks can help prevent the spread of the highly contagious novel coronavirus, but the coverings have become a flashpoint in American life reflecting the nation's larger political divide.

Trump, who contracted COVID-19 last autumn, had eschewed their use at all but a handful of events and continued to hold crowded, largely maskless campaign rallies while Biden's campaign initially stuck to virtual events before expanding to other masked and socially distant gatherings.

There were few face masks as Trump departed Washington Wednesday morning. In remarks to the crowd at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Trump again painted his administration as a victim of the virus and listed a series of accomplishments such as tax cuts, deregulation and stock market gains before addressing COVID-19 deaths.

"We got hit. Nobody blames us for that. The whole world got it," he said of the pandemic's toll on the economy. He later touted the development of a vaccine as a "miracle" before paying his respects to people and families impacted by the virus.

-reuters-

US Capitol police officer dies of injuries in riot by Trump supporters

US Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick has died of injuries suffered during a riot led by supporters of President Donald Trump, the force said in a statement late on Thursday.

Wednesday's breach of the building was a stunning assault on American democracy at a time when Congress was certifying the victory of President-elect Joe Biden.

"Officer Sicknick was responding to the riots...and was injured while physically engaging with protesters," police said in a statement.

He succumbed on Thursday after being taken to hospital following his collapse upon returning to his divisional office, they added.

Metropolitan homicide officials will investigate the death of Sicknick, who joined the US Capitol Police in 2008, along with the USCP and its federal partners, police said.

Trump condemned the violence, saying rioters had defiled the seat of American democracy and must be held accountable. Critics and some world leaders have said he is to blame for the attack by his supporters on the US capitol. He had been claiming election fraud without proof. 

Among the four more killed were a woman demonstrator shot by authorities.

-reuters-

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris named Time 'Person of the Year'

NEW YORK - US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have been chosen as Time magazine's 2020 "Person of the Year," the publication announced Thursday.

The Democratic pair were chosen ahead of three other finalists: frontline health care workers and Anthony Fauci, the racial justice movement, and President Donald Trump who Biden defeated in November's election. 

Time's magazine cover has a picture of Biden, 78, and Harris, 56, with the subtitle "Changing America's story."

Biden beat Trump by 306 electoral college votes to Trump's 232 to end the real estate tycoon-turned-politician's presidency after one term.

Biden received roughly seven million more votes than his Republican adversary, who is yet to concede, claiming widespread fraud of which there is no evidence. 

Time magazine's award -- handed out annually since 1927 -- honors the person or people who most impacted the news, for better or worse, during the calendar year.

Earlier Thursday, Time named basketball superstar LeBron James Athlete of the Year for his achievements on and off the court.

The 35-year-old Los Angeles Lakers player was honored for battling voter suppression among Black citizens in a year when he won his fourth NBA title. 

K-Pop sensation BTS was named Entertainer of the Year.

Teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg was Time's Person of the Year last year, while Trump won in 2016. 

Agence France-Presse