Category Archives: Joe Biden

Biden to visit Nato and EU in Brussels as pressure over Ukraine increases – as it happened

Posted on by

If spending legislation remains stalled in Congress, the US will soon run out of funding for Covid booster shots, new treatments and testing efforts, a Biden administration official told NBC News.

To recap: the White House requested $22.5bn in Covid relief funding. Democrats negotiated the funding down to $15bn, but still had to take it out of the $1.5tn omnibus package in order for it to pass.

Continue reading...

Rising US isolationism means Australia must become more resilient and autonomous, thinktank warns

Posted on by

United States Studies Centre finds Americans are not convinced the Indo-Pacific should be a priority region for the Biden administration

Voters in the US are not convinced the Indo-Pacific should be a priority region for the Biden administration, and isolationist sentiment in the country continues to rise, according to a new analysis by the United States Studies Centre.

The new USSC State of the United States report, to be launched in Canberra at an event on Wednesday with the defence minister, Peter Dutton, Labor frontbenchers Penny Wong and Brendan O’Connor, and US congressman Joe Courtney, finds support for the US alliance with Canberra remains strong.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Will Biden’s handling of the Ukraine crisis prove popular with US voters?

Posted on by

Democrats tout president’s role in responding to Russian aggression – and bid to highlight contrast with Putin-friendly Donald Trump

Joe Biden came into the White House vowing to restore American leadership on the world stage. But the tumultuous end to the war in Afghanistan last year shook Americans’ confidence in their new commander-in-chief, raising doubts about his competence and judgment and sending his approval ratings tumbling.

Now Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has given Biden a second chance to demonstrate the steady leadership he promised, raising hopes among Democrats that the White House’s efforts to punish Moscow for its shocking aggression will resonate with voters in this year’s midterm elections.

Continue reading...

Manchin ‘very reluctant’ on electric cars in ominous sign for Biden’s climate fight

Posted on by

Centrist Democrat, who holds key swing vote in US Senate, has poured scorn on the idea of phasing out gasoline and diesel cars

Faced with rising gasoline prices, many Americans are now looking to switch to an electric car. But the shift away from fossil fuel vehicles has been criticized by Senator Joe Manchin, who has said he is “very reluctant” to see the proliferation of battery-powered cars.

There has been a surge in interest in buying electric vehicles (EVs) in the wake of the war in Ukraine, analysts say, with drivers in the US unnerved by gasoline prices that have surpassed $4.30 a gallon as a result of the conflict and the supply chain issues from the pandemic.

Continue reading...

White House warns of ‘significant consequences’ if China aids Russia – as it happened

Posted on by

The process to approve Joe Biden’s nominees for Federal Reserve board - including the Federal Reserve chair - have all been stalled over one particular nominee: Sarah Bloom Raskin, wife of Jamie Raskin, a Democratic member of Congress.

Last month, Republicans refused to attend the meeting to move the nomination process forward. They wanted senator Sherrod Brown, chair of the banking committee reviewing the nominations, to separate Raskin from the other four nominees, but Brown refused - a move the White House supported. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said if Republicans disagreed with the nomination, they should vote that way, but that it was irresponsible to not show up and do their jobs.

Continue reading...

Volodymyr Zelenskiy expected to urge jet transfer in address to US Congress

Posted on by

Leaders prepare to welcome Ukraine president before Wednesday speech amid divisions over question of planes

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, will address Congress on Wednesday in what could prove his most powerful plea yet for the west to take a tougher line against Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskiy is expected to use the virtual address to urge members of the House of Representatives and Senate to intensify pressure on Joe Biden to allow the transfer of MiG-29 fighter jets from Poland.

Continue reading...

White House faces oil standoff with Saudi Arabia and UAE as prices soar

Posted on by

Analysis: Disputes with Biden administration mean Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are likely to drive hard bargain

Joe Biden’s hardline stance on Russia has won him widespread plaudits, but with the most serious oil shock in decades now a reality, the US president’s attempt to cushion the blowback continues to meet resistance from the two allies he needs most.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman, and his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed, are yet to agree to a phone call with the west’s most powerful man – a scenario all but unthinkable during previous administrations.

Continue reading...

How Ukraine has become the crucible of the new world order

Posted on by

From Russia’s threat of nuclear weapons to the patriotic courage of Volodymyr Zelenskiy, an A to Z of how the world has changed

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been described by politicians and commentators as a watershed moment in modern history, a turning point comparable in importance to the 9/11 attacks in the US in 2001, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and even the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963.

Whether this portentous view of the war turns out to be justified, only time – and future historians – will tell. But there’s no doubt that in the violent, tumultuous days after 24 February, the established international order has been shaken and, in some respects, upended in extraordinary, unexpected and often unwelcome ways.

Continue reading...

US and allies set to revoke normal trade relations with Russia over Ukraine war, says Biden – as it happened

Posted on by

Bates only took one question before he was interrupted by the pilot asking passengers to take their seats. Shortly thereafter the feed your live-blogger was using to follow the mid-flight briefing cut out.

Asked to elaborate on what consequences Russia could face if it used chemical weapons against Ukraine, Bates deferred to the president’s remarks and said the “meaning was unmistakable”.

Continue reading...

US conducting ‘legal review’ of possible Russian war crimes in Ukraine – as it happened

Posted on by

Maya Yang reports:

North Carolina Republican congressman Madison Cawthorn has been charged with driving with a revoked license for the second time.

Continue reading...

Finland reports GPS disturbances in aircraft flying over Russia’s Kaliningrad

Posted on by

The interference began soon after a meeting between presidents Sauli Niinistö and Joe Biden

Aircraft flying near the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and near Finland’s eastern border with Russia have noticed interference with their GPS signals, according to Finnish authorities.

The interference began soon after Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö met Joe Biden in Washington on Saturday to discuss deepening defense ties between Finland and Nato due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Continue reading...

‘Traumatised and terrified, with nowhere else to go’: huge numbers of people stuck at US border

Posted on by

Title 42, enacted under Trump and kept in place by Biden, has led to hundreds of thousands being denied their right to asylum since the start of the pandemic

When Henry Ruiz* and Raquel Hernandez boarded a bus heading north to America with their two young children, they knew there would be no going back.

It was June 2021, and a few weeks earlier Ruiz, a 28-year-old banana farmer from central Mexico, had been abducted by a group of armed men and taken to an isolated ranch where 15 others – 13 men and two women – were being held.

Continue reading...

Biden’s impossible bind: how should the US tackle Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

Posted on by

The US president is facing demands for America to do more for Ukraine – but he’s also determined to avoid being the US president who started a third world war

It is an impossible bind. Joe Biden faces demands for America to do more as Ukrainian civilians are terrorized and killed by Russia. But he is also determined to avoid going down in history as the US president who started a third world war.

Russia has pummeled Ukraine with more than 625 missiles so far, according to the Pentagon, causing untold death and destruction and prompting an exodus of 2m refugees. Vladimir Putin is now reportedly recruiting Syrian mercenaries and preparing to level cities in a bid to break Ukrainians’ will in the face of his invasion.

Continue reading...

Biden bans Russian oil imports in response to Ukraine invasion – as it happened

Posted on by

Joe Biden said he is issuing this ban on Russian oil imports after “close consultation with our allies, especially in Europe”. He said the American people must understand that many of our European partners will not be able to join the US, a net exporter of energy, in this ban.

“We can take this step when others cannot, but we are working closely with Europe and our partners to develop a long term strategy to reduce their dependency on Russian energy as well,” he said.

Continue reading...

Democrats and Republicans agree on plan to suspend trade relations with Russia and Belarus – live

Posted on by

Federal prosecutors were expected to make closing arguments today in the first jury trial of someone charged with joining in the 6 January attack of the US Capitol.

Guy Reffitt of Texas, the first of some 750 people charged with joining the riot to face trial in Washington, has been charged with carrying a semi-automatic handgun while on Capitol grounds and obstructing justice by threatening his children with harm if they reported him to authorities.

Continue reading...

Biden criticized over report of planned Saudi trip to discuss global oil supply

Posted on by

White House refuses to confirm that top advisers considering spring Saudi Arabia visit to propose increase in oil exports

Joe Biden attracted criticism from both progressives and Republicans after a report indicated the White House was planning a visit to Saudi Arabia to discuss global oil supply.

Axios reported on Sunday that Biden’s senior advisers were considering a spring trip to Saudi Arabia in an effort to improve relations and to propose a potential increase in oil exports.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: Ukraine and Russia blame each other as Mariupol evacuation fails again – live

Posted on by

Hopes of establishing a humanitarian corridor out of besieged city of Mariupol dashed for second day running

The Ukrainian military is reporting that Russia has suffered losses of more than 11,000 military personnel since the invasion began.

A total of 285 Russian tanks and 985 armoured combat vehicles were also reported to have been destroyed as well as 109 artillery systems, 44 aircraft and 48 helicopters, according to a report by the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine and published to the website of the Ukrainian ministry of defence.

The scale and strength of Ukrainian resistance continue to surprise Russia.

[Russia] has responded by targeting populated areas in multiple locations, including Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol.

Continue reading...

Biden and Zelenskiy discuss more aid for Ukraine as bombardment continues

Posted on by

Intelligence report says Russia had responded to unexpected ferocity of the Ukrainian military by targeting cities such as Kharkiv and Mariupol

The strength of Ukraine’s resistance “continues to surprise Russia”, a British intelligence report has said, despite attempts by invading troops to break Ukrainian morale by targeting populated areas.

In its daily intelligence report, the Ministry of Defence said Russia had responded to the unexpected ferocity of the Ukrainian military response by targeting cities such as Kharkiv, Chirnihiv and Mariupol.

Continue reading...

Digested week: faded photos in war museum on the Hudson feel all too real

Posted on by

An exhibit invites visitors to imagine how it may have felt to live on the brink of nuclear annihilation. I don’t want to

Monday

The nearest thing New York has to the Imperial War Museum in London is the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, built on and around the USS Intrepid, a hulking great aircraft carrier parked at Pier 86 on the Hudson River. It is the obligation of every school age-child in greater New York to attend this museum at least once a year, and on the last day of mid-winter recess, we do.

Continue reading...

White House announces new sanctions on Russian oligarchs and Putin’s ‘cronies’ – live

Posted on by

Leaders of the Quad grouping of countries - the US, India, Australia and Japan - agreed today that what is happening to Ukraine should not be allowed to happen in the Indo-Pacific, Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida said.

Reuters reports:

A virtual meeting of the four-country grouping was held at a time of increased concern about Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by China, which has stepped up its alert level, wary of China taking advantage of a distracted west to move against it.

“We’ve agreed that unilateral changes to the status quo with force like this should not be allowed in the Indo-Pacific region,” Kishida said, referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Continue reading...