Joe Biden

The US has announced sanctions against Russian entities and expelled 10 Russian diplomats in response to a hacking attack and election interference.

President Joe Biden's executive order "sends a signal that the United States will impose costs in a strategic and economically impactful manner on Russia if it continues or escalates its destabilising international action," the White House said.

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday the withdrawal of all United States troops from Afghanistan by September 11, after two decades of fighting militants. The US would miss a May deadline for a pull-out agreed with the Trump administration's Taliban last year.

"It's time to end this forever war," said Biden.

President Joe Biden announced Thursday that all US adults will be eligible to receive a Covid-19 vaccine by April 19, two weeks earlier than the initial May 1 date.

"Let me be deadly earnest with you: We aren’t at the finish line. We still have a lot of work to do. We’re still in a life and death race against this virus," Biden cautioned, adding that as "new variants of the virus are spreading and they’re moving quickly, cases are going back up, hospitalizations are no longer declining."

President Joe Biden introduced The American Jobs Plan – a roughly $2 trillion infrastructure package – on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The plan included spendings for the modernisation of infrastructure such as roads, bridges and rail systems, affordable housing, manufacturing, community-based care for the elderly as well as clean energy.

"It's not a plan that tinkers around the edges," Biden said in a speech in Pittsburgh. "It's a once-in-a-generation investment in America, unlike anything we've seen or done since we built the interstate highway system and the space race decades ago. In fact, it's the largest American jobs investment since World War II."

Former Florida senator Bill Nelson is poised to be nominated to head the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) by President Joe Biden. Nelson, a three-term US senator and one-time astronaut, would succeed Trump appointee Jim Bridenstine.

The news was followed by criticism as many had hoped Biden would nominate a woman for this position. “Given how many qualified and talented women were rumored to be in consideration, he’s putting great trust in his former Senate colleague,” so Lori Garver, a former deputy administrator of NASA.

The United States will reach the Biden administration's goal to administer 100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses on Friday, President Joe Biden said.

"I am proud to announce that tomorrow, 58 days into our administration, we will have met my goal of administering 100 million shots to our fellow Americans," so Biden. "That's weeks ahead of schedule. Even with the setbacks we faced during the winter storms."

In his first primetime address to the nation, President Joe Biden announced that he has directed all states, tribes and territories to make all adults eligible for Covid-19 vaccines by May 1.

"I will not relent until we beat this virus. But I need you, the American people. I need you, I need every American, to do their part," Biden said. "I need you to get vaccinated when it's your turn and when you can find an opportunity. And to help your family, your friends, your neighbors get vaccinated as well. Because here's the point, if we do all this, if we do our part, if we do this together -- by July the Fourth, there's a good chance you, your family and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day. ... After this long hard year, that will make this Independence Day something truly special."

The United States Senate confirmed President Joe Biden’s nominee US Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland as Attorney General with a 70-30 vote. Garland, who was previously nominated for the Supreme Court by former President Barack Obama, will oversee the US Department of Justice.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services is going to purchase 100 million additional doses of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, so President Joe Biden on Wednesday. It's yet unclear when those doses will be available.

"There is light at the end of this dark tunnel of this past year, but we cannot let our guard down now or assume victory is inevitable. Together we're going to get through this pandemic and usher in a healthier and more hopeful future," Biden said.

The US House of Representatives voted 220 to 211 to pass the $1.9tn Covid relief bill on Wednesday and, according to press secretary Jen Psaki, President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill on Thursday.

Kyle Griffin from MSNBC tweeted that "President Biden will sign the American Rescue Plan in the Oval Office TODAY. The Vice President will attend."

The US Senate has voted, 50 to 49, to approve the $1.9 trillion relief bill on Saturday, and will now head to the House of Representatives. The Democratic-held House aims to pass the bill on Tuesday and send it to President Joe Biden for his signature before a March 14 deadline to renew unemployment aid programs.

Republicans senators opposed another major spending plan, contending the state of the economy does not warrant it.

After the Republican Governors of Texas, Greg Abbott, and Mississippi, Tate Reeves, announced Tuesday they would allow businesses to reopen at 100% capacity and lift mask mandates, President Joe Biden slammed states that repealed Covid-19 restrictions on businesses and rescinded mask mandates for residents, calling the moves a "big mistake."

On Monday, before the two governors announced it, Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned state officials against lifting public health restrictions too quickly.

"The last thing, the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking, that, ‘In the meantime, everything’s fine. Take off your mask. Forget it.’ It still matters," Biden said.

President Joe Biden said in a brief speech at the White House on Tuesday, that the United States is "on track" to offer a Covid-19 vaccine to "every adult in America by the end of May", two months earlier than previously expected.

After the US intelligence officials concluded that the Russian government was behind the attack on Navalny, the Biden administration slapped sanctions on Russian individuals and entities

Tuesday's sanctions mark the first of several steps by the Biden administration to "respond to a number of destabilizing actions,'' said one of the White House officials.

Brussels imposed bans on travel and froze the assets in Europe of Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Igor Krasnov, the prosecutor general, Viktor Zolotov, head of the National Guard, and Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the Federal Prison Service

CNN reports that Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump were vaccinated against the coronavirus back in January. Further details about their vaccination were not available.

According to The New York Times, both received at least the first dose of the vaccine before leaving the White House before President Joe Biden's inauguration.

The news came a day after Trump spoke at the CPAC political conference and said, "Everyone should go get your shot," encouraging everyone to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, is urging Americans to take any of the three Covid-19 vaccines currently available as all of them are "safe and efficacious."

“We’ve got to get away from that chain of thought. The only way you really know the difference between vaccines is by comparing them head to head,” so Fauci. “We have three highly efficacious vaccines that are safe and efficacious. That’s the bottom line.”

Donald Trump spoke on Sunday at the rightwing Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, saying it "is far from being over" and teases a potential run for re-election in 2024.

"I may even decide to beat them for a third time," Trump told the crowd, after falsely claiming he won the November election and that the US has a "very sick and corrupt electoral process".

Trump also heavily criticised President Joe Biden for "the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history".

"We all knew that the Biden administration was going to be bad – but none of us imagined just how bad they would be, and how far left they would go... Joe Biden has had the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history," Trump claimed. "Biden’s radical immigration policies aren’t just illegal – they are immoral, they are heartless, and they are a betrayal of our nation’s core values."

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency approval for the preparation on Saturday (local time). US President Joe Biden spoke of "inspiring news for all Americans and an encouraging development in our efforts to end the crisis". There is "light at the end of the tunnel", but no reason to sound the all-clear, he warned on Saturday evening (local time).

The new US administration of President Joe Biden has declared itself ready for talks with Tehran in the dispute over the Iranian nuclear agreement. At the same time, the US, along with Germany, Britain and France, addressed clear words to Tehran after Thursday's consultations, warning against restricting International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to Iranian nuclear facilities. The Trump administration had imposed drastic sanctions on Tehran after it pulled out of the deal, contributing to the worst economic crisis in recent Iranian history.

President Joe Biden has announced that the United States "purchased enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all Americans" and his administration was working "to get those vaccines into the arms of millions of people". A total of 200 million vaccine doses will be delivered by Moderna and Pfizer by the end of July, months sooner than initially planned.

"While scientists did their job in discovering vaccines in record time, my predecessor -- I'll be very blunt about it -- did not do his job in getting ready for the massive challenge of vaccinating hundreds of millions of Americans. He didn't order enough vaccines. He didn't mobilize enough people to administer the shots. He didn't set up the federal vaccine centers where eligible people can go and get their shots," Biden said. "When I became president three weeks ago, America had no plan to vaccinate most of the country. It was a big mess."