Category Archives: Joe Biden

Bipartisan group of US senators push for compromise on gun control legislation – as it happened

Posted on by

In more midterms news, independent Tiffany Bond of Maine has secured enough verified signatures to qualify for a spot on the ballot this November, according to the Press Herald.

This upends one of the most closely-watched races of the cycle: a rematch between Democratic congressman Jared Golden and former Republican congressman Bruce Poliquin for Maines second congressional district.

Continue reading...

Biden praises Ardern for ‘galvanising action’ on gun control and climate change

Posted on by

US president welcomes New Zealand’s PM to Oval Office and speaks of devastation caused by mass shootings

New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has met US president Joe Biden to discuss shared concerns about China’s growing influence in the Pacific, as well as extremism and dealing with the aftermath of mass shootings.

The two leaders spoke for more than an hour, with Biden saying Ardern’s leadership on issues like climate change, violence and extremism was of international importance.

Continue reading...

Clinton lawyer acquitted of lying to FBI when he briefed them on Trump-Russia links – as it happened

Posted on by

Jury’s verdict is setback for special counsel John Durham’s search for alleged misconduct in investigation of Trump’s 2016 campaign

• Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer acquitted of lying to the FBI

US supreme court clerks may be required to hand over phone records – report

• ‘We have to do something’: calls mount for Texas gun control laws after latest deadly attack

• Trump aide Peter Navarro ordered to testify before grand jury over January 6

In an unprecedented move, US supreme court clerks may be required to release their phone records as the investigation into who leaked the Roe v Wade opinion draft widens.

The possible mandated release of private cell records and signed affidavits, reported by CNN, is reportedly causing some clerks to consider retaining legal counsel.

Continue reading...

Biden will not supply Ukraine with long-range rockets that can hit Russia

Posted on by

Moscow has threatened retaliation if missiles are used against its territory but US plans to ship shorter range systems

Joe Biden has said the US will not supply Ukraine with rockets that can reach into Russia, in an attempt to ease tensions with Moscow over the potential deployment of long-range missiles with a range of about 185 miles.

The White House has been weighing up pleas from Ukraine – which is losing ground in the battle for Donbas – for multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS) to offset Moscow’s increasingly effective use of long-range artillery, amid Russian warnings that doing so would cross a red line.

Continue reading...

Biden says pain ‘palpable’ in Uvalde as memorial services for shooting victims to begin

Posted on by

President returns to White House after visiting small south Texas city and says he will continue to push for gun control

The first memorial services for the 19 children and two teachers killed in a mass shooting at their elementary school in Uvalde began on Monday, a day after Joe Biden visited the small south Texas city and was urged by residents to take action on gun safety laws.

Returning to Washington on Monday morning, the US president, wearing a black suit, talked about the “palpable” pain in Uvalde.

Continue reading...

‘Do something!’: Biden visits Uvalde after mass shooting as onlookers urge him to take action

Posted on by

President and first lady seek to comfort community as DoJ launches investigation into police response to school shooting

Joe Biden on Sunday visited Uvalde, Texas, seeking to comfort a community devastated by the latest American mass shooting, which claimed the lives of 19 elementary school children and two teachers.

The visit marked the second presidential visit related to a massacre within two weeks following a racist attack in Buffalo, New York, as Democrats in Washington offered tentative hope of bipartisan gun reform legislation in Congress.

Continue reading...

‘Too much fear, too much grief’: Biden visits Uvalde amid scrutiny of police response to shooting

Posted on by

Kamala Harris calls for ban on assault weapons after attending last funeral of those killed in Buffalo attack

Joe Biden lamented “too much violence, too much fear, too much grief” after the latest US mass shooting as he prepared to visit Uvalde, where police face intensifying scrutiny for waiting outside the classroom where a teenage gunman with an assault rifle killed 19 children and two teachers.

The US president and first lady, Jill Biden, arrived in Uvalde, Texas, on Sunday morning, both dressed in black. They visited the informal memorial of flowers and notes that has accumulated outside Robb elementary school, where the carnage took place last Tuesday.

Continue reading...

School shooting strengthens case for guns, Donald Trump tells NRA

Posted on by

Speaking at the gun lobby’s convention, the former US president repeated his call to arm teachers

Donald Trump has said the recent US school shooting is a reason to arm law-abiding citizens not disarm them.

The former US president was a guest speaker at the National Rifle Association, which held its annual convention in Houston on Friday.

Continue reading...

Biden says Putin trying to ‘wipe out’ Ukrainian culture, as prospect of retreat looms in east

Posted on by

US president says Putin trying to eliminate people’s identity, as governor of Luhansk says retreat in Sievierodonetsk may be needed to avoid becoming surrounded.

Joe Biden has accused Vladimir Putin of trying to “wipe out” Ukraine’s culture but suggested the plan had at least partially backfired by spurring the expansion of Nato in Europe.

The US president told 1,200 graduating cadets in Annapolis, Maryland, on Friday: “Not only is he trying to take over Ukraine, he’s literally trying to wipe out the culture and identity of the Ukrainian people. Attacking schools, nurseries, hospitals, museums, with no other purpose than to eliminate a culture.”

Continue reading...

Georgia primaries deliver blow to Trump’s grip on Republican party – live

Posted on by

Several candidates who supported the ex-president’s big lie of election fraud were defeated but the Maga wing also had successes

Texas Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar was still locked in a tight primary runoff race with progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros on Wednesday, but “the Squad” is already angry, regardless of the result.

New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among the most prominent of the party’s progressive wing in Congress, called out its leaders for backing the anti-abortion, pro-gun Cuellar over Cisneros.

Continue reading...

Fears Biden’s Taiwan comments may raise tensions despite rowback

Posted on by

President said US would ‘get involved ’ if China attacked Taiwan, which some saw as policy shift

Comments by Joe Biden suggesting major US policy changes in regard to defending Taiwan before Washington quickly rowed back have sparked concern that the confusion could escalate tensions.

On Monday, in answer to a reporter’s question at a meeting of the informal Quad alliance, the US president said the US would “get involved militarily” to defend Taiwan if it came under attack from China. The answer was interpreted by some as an indication of a major policy shift. However, within minutes the state department began walking back the comments, and Biden himself clarified on Tuesday that there was no change to US policy.

Continue reading...

North Korea fires suspected ICBM amid signs of preparation for nuclear test

Posted on by

South Korea calls launches ‘grave provocation’ and detects experiment that suggests forthcoming nuclear test

North Korea has fired three ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, including one believed to have long-range capabilities, the South Korean military has said, a day after Joe Biden ended his first presidential visit to Asia.

Hours after the missile tests, South Korea said it had detected signs North Korea had conducted an experiment with a detonation device in preparation for a possible nuclear test, according to Yonhap news agency.

Continue reading...

Albanese insists ‘we will determine our values’ after Chinese premier reaches out to new PM

Posted on by

Prime minister in Tokyo says no ‘serious person’ had believed Coalition line that a Labor government would adopt a softer approach towards Beijing

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says his government will not bend to demands from China to reset the strained relationship despite overtures from Beijing in the wake of Labor’s election win.

Speaking after a meeting of the quadrilateral security dialogue (Quad) in Tokyo on Tuesday, Albanese confirmed the Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, had sent a congratulatory letter to him following Saturday’s election win. The letter was first reported by Chinese state media Xinhua on Monday.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden: invasion of Ukraine shows need for free and open Indo-Pacific

Posted on by

Leaders of US, India, Japan and Australia meet in Tokyo for Quad summit Beijing claims is an attempt to contain China

The turmoil caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has underlined the need for a free Indo-Pacific region, Joe Biden has said at a meeting with regional partners that Beijing has condemned as part of a US-led attempt to contain China.

Biden and the leaders of a loose alliance known as the Quad – India, Japan and Australia – reaffirmed their commitment to a “free and open” Indo-Pacific during talks in Tokyo on Tuesday. The comments came one day after the US president said Washington would be ready to intervene militarily to defend Taiwan, prompting China to accuse him of “playing with fire”.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden says US recession ‘is not inevitable’ despite rampant inflation – live

Posted on by

Poll finds 77% of Americans ‘pessimistic’ about cost of goods and services in coming months

• US would defend Taiwan if attacked by China, says Joe Biden

• Capitol attack panel to hold six public hearings

• Sign up to receive First Thing – our daily briefing by email

The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol is expected to stage six public hearings in June on how Donald Trump and some allies broke the law as they sought to overturn the 2020 election results, according to sources familiar with the inquiry.

The hearings are set to be a pivotal political moment for the country as the panel aims to publicly outline the potentially unlawful schemes that tried to keep the former president in office despite his defeat at the hands of Joe Biden.

Continue reading...

US would defend Taiwan if attacked by China, says Joe Biden

Posted on by

President says US’s responsibility to protect island is ‘even stronger’ after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Joe Biden has said the US would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan if it came under attack from China, in an unusually forceful presidential statement in support of self-governing that drew a defiant response from Beijing.

Speaking in Tokyo on the second day of his visit to Japan, and against the backdrop of growing concern over Chinese military activity in the region, Biden said the US’s responsibility to protect the self-ruled island – which China considers a renegade province – was “even stronger” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Continue reading...

Russia bans 963 Americans from entering country

Posted on by

List includes Biden and other senior officials, but not Trump, as country says it is retaliating against what it calls hostile US actions

Russia on Saturday released a list of 963 Americans it said were banned from entering the country, a punctuation of previously announced moves against president Joe Biden and other senior US officials.

The country, which has received global condemnation for its 24 February invasion of Ukraine, said it would continue to retaliate against what it called hostile US actions, Reuters reported.

Continue reading...

Biden says ‘everybody’ should be concerned about spread of monkeypox

Posted on by

National security adviser assures public that the US has a ‘vaccine that is relevant to treating’ virus

Joe Biden said Sunday that “everybody” should be worried about the spread of monkeypox recently, and his national security adviser assured the public that the US has a “vaccine that is relevant to treating” the virus.

During an official visit to South Korea, Biden told reporters, “They haven’t told me the level of exposure yet but it is something that everybody should be concerned about.” The president, who was speaking at Osan airbase, also added: “It is a concern in that if it were to spread it would be consequential.”

Continue reading...

‘I still owe $123,379’: pressure grows on Biden to tackle student loan debt

Posted on by

Many have been paying thousands of dollars in interest alone, with their principal debt hardly affected despite monthly payments

In 2001, Karen Herrera of Minnesota took advice from a Sallie Mae representative to consolidate her student loan debt with her husband’s. They both worked in the public sector, but due to their type of loans, they did not qualify for public service forgiveness. Herrera lost her job in 2009 due to the economic recession, and though the couple filed for bankruptcy, their student loan debts remained.

Herrera and her husband have continued to make monthly payments throughout the pandemic, as their loans through the Federal Family Education Loan Program were not eligible for the pause on payments.

Continue reading...

Biden and South Korean president mull expanding joint military exercises

Posted on by

US president willing to meet Kim Jong-un, while Seoul says deployment of US ‘strategic assets’ was discussed

Joe Biden and his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, have said they are considering expanding joint military exercises in response to the “threat” posed by North Korea, a move that is expected to enrage the regime as speculation builds that it could conduct a nuclear test.

Speaking in Seoul on the second day of his visit to South Korea, Biden said he was willing to meet North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, but only if he was “sincere and serious” about dismantling his nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Continue reading...