Pentagon to mandate vaccines for US military – live

Joe Biden applauded defense secretary Lloyd Austin for taking steps to make coronavirus vaccines mandatory for members of the US military starting next month.

“I strongly support Secretary Austin’s message to the Force today on the Department of Defense’s plan to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of required vaccinations for our service members not later than mid-September,” the president said in a new statement.

Defense secretary Lloyd Austin is seeking the president’s approval to make coronavirus vaccines mandatory for all members of the US military by next month.

In a message to service members today, Austin noted that Joe Biden had asked him to consider how and when coronavirus vaccines might be added to the military’s list of mandatory vaccinations. The defense secretary has since been consulting with senior Pentagon leaders and health experts about the best timeline for the new policy.

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The infrastructure bill is being lauded as a victory for bipartisanship – but is it?

The truth of how the bill – which is not yet finished – has come to be is a little more self-interest than national interest

The Biden administration’s infrastructure proposal is still making its way through the congressional sausage-making process but it has already been lauded as a rare victory for bipartisanship in a divided America.

Pledging to unify America after his 2020 election win, Biden and his top supporters see the roughly $1tn package not just as a chance to repair America’s tattered and torn infrastructure but also as a model for reaching across the US’s political divide and getting things done.

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Senate resumes infrastructure debate as Trump threatens Republicans who back bill

Trump says it ‘will be very hard for me to endorse anyone foolish enough to vote in favor of this deal’ as session to resume at noon

Senators resumed a weekend session toward passage of a $1tn bipartisan infrastructure package on Sunday amid threats from former president Donald Trump who raged against any Republicans who support the measure.

Majority leader Chuck Schumer stressed to colleagues that they could proceed the “easy way or the hard way”, while a few Republican senators appeared determined to run out the clock for days. “We’ll keep proceeding until we get this bill done,” Schumer said.

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Senate advances $1tn infrastructure package in key vote

Members vote 67-27 to move the biggest investment in US roads, bridges, airports and waterways in decades to next stage

The US Senate voted on Saturday to advance to the next step of a $1tn infrastructure package, an important procedural stage towards passing the key legislation after months of negotiations between Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of senators.

In a 67-27 vote demonstrating broad support, senators agreed to limit debate on the legislation, which represents the biggest investment in decades in America’s roads, bridges, airports and waterways.

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Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO union president, dies aged 72 – as it happened

We’re wrapping up today’s live politics coverage. Here’s an updated summary of the day’s key political news:

Los Angeles County public health officials argue indoor mask policy is working

New numbers from the Los Angeles public health department suggest the county’s requirement that people once again wear masks indoors is working, the public health director argued today.

LA County public health director Barbara Ferrer cites these numbers as evidence that LA's mask law is working.

While cases in LA have increased 22%, they increased in the rest of CA by 57% in the same time frame. pic.twitter.com/NHt9wVXi3l

Ferrer also said that the rate of increase in cases in LA has slowed since the mask order went into effect.

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Joe Biden: half of new vehicles sold in US to be electric by 2030 – video

Joe Biden is setting a goal for half of all new US vehicle sales to be electric by 2030 while at the same time tightening pollution standards for cars and trucks, in a barrage of action aimed at reducing the largest source of planet-heating gases in America.

On Thursday, the White House outlined its plan to tackle the climate crisis by cutting emissions from vehicles. Biden is set to sign an executive order demanding that 50% of all new cars and trucks sold by the end of the decade be powered by electric batteries

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Majority of NY assembly members support impeaching Cuomo if he doesn’t resign – live

The Mexican government has launched legal action against US gunmakers in an unprecedented attempt to halt the flow of guns across the border, where US-made weapons are routinely used in cartel gun-battles, terror attacks on civilians – and increasingly to challenge the state itself.

The Mexican government is suing six gunmakers in a Massachusetts court, alleging negligence in their failure to control their distributors and that the illegal market in Mexico “has been their economic lifeblood”.

Related: Mexico sues US gunmakers in unprecedented bid to stop weapons crossing border

AP in Washington:

The state department has said that it is looking into the apparent disappearance of a nearly $6,000 bottle of whisky given more than two years ago to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by the government of Japan.

In a notice filed in the federal register, the department said it could find no trace of the bottle’s whereabouts and that there is an “ongoing inquiry” into what happened to the booze. The department reported the investigation in its annual accounting of gifts given to senior US officials by foreign governments and leaders.

Related: $5,800 whisky bottle given to Pompeo as gift missing, state department says

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Covid hospitalizations reach highs of last summer as Biden tries to win over unvaccinated – live

  • More than 51,000 Americans currently hospitalized with coronavirus
  • Sobering news comes as millions of eligible people remain unvaccinated

Richard Luscombe reports for the Guardian:

At least 70% of adults in the US have now received at least one Covid-19 vaccination shot, the White House announced on Monday, reaching a target Joe Biden originally said he had hoped to achieve by 4 July.

Related: US reaches Biden’s 70% first-shot goal as threat to unvaccinated people grows

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

Coronavirus hospitalizations continue to climb in the US, now reaching the levels of last summer’s surge in cases, as the highly transmissible Delta variant continues to spread across the country.

Update today, >51,000
Why can't the @CDCgov curate the data and partition it by vaccination status, as done in other countries?
We know it's >>90% unvaccinated, but this needs close tracking to determine extent of breakthrough illness, demographics, time from vaccination, etc pic.twitter.com/cBNx2hnZJK

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US reaches Biden’s 70% first-shot goal as threat to unvaccinated people grows

CDC director issues new warning as cases rise: ‘Covid-19 is clearly not done with us’

At least 70% of adults in the US have now received at least one Covid-19 vaccination shot, the White House announced on Monday, reaching a target Joe Biden originally said he had hoped to achieve by 4 July.

The administration reported the news in a tweet hailing “Milestone Monday” by Cyrus Shahpar, the government’s Covid-19 data director, who said the seven-day average of people receiving their first dose – 320,000 – was the highest since the Independence Day holiday.

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White House asks states to aid renters as CDC can’t extend eviction moratorium

Biden administration lacks authority to extend moratorium because supreme court said in June Congress would have to act

The White House said Monday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was “unable to find legal authority for a new, targeted eviction moratorium” and asked instead that states and local governments put in policies to keep renters in their homes.

Related: US states brace for ‘avalanche’ of evictions as federal moratorium ends

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Senate convenes for rare weekend session over infrastructure deal

  • Schumer: ‘We’re going to get the job done’
  • Republican Cornyn predicts a long ‘grind’

The Senate convened for a rare weekend session on Saturday with the majority leader, Chuck Schumer, encouraging the authors of a bipartisan infrastructure plan to finish writing their bill.

Related: Trump tries to defend ‘just say the election was corrupt’ demand to DoJ

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Biden’s political appointments for ambassador posts rile career diplomats

Progressives had hoped for fewer Biden allies, more foreign service professionals

Joe Biden is sticking to tradition as he slowly fills the vacancies in the ranks of ambassadors across the world, focussing on mixing longtime career diplomatic officials with figures with strong ties to himself and the Democratic party.

Among Biden’s expected picks is Caroline Kennedy, former US ambassador to Japan, daughter of the former president, and longtime Biden friend, ally and donor, to be ambassador to Australia. He has picked the Los Angeles mayor, Eric Garcetti, who was a prominent Biden surrogate on the presidential campaign trail, to be ambassador to India, despite a relative lack of foreign policy experience. And the president is also widely expected to name the former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel ambassador to Japan.

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US voices concern with Israeli officials about Pegasus revelations

Top Biden administration official reportedly raised questions about spyware sold by NSO Group

The White House has raised concerns with top Israeli officials about allegations that spyware sold by Israeli surveillance company NSO Group has been used by governments around the world to monitor journalists and activists and – potentially – government officials with close ties to the US.

Brett McGurk, a top Biden administration adviser on the Middle East, raised questions privately about NSO in a meeting last week with Zohar Palti, a senior Israeli defence ministry official, according to reports by Axios and the Washington Post.

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Federal workers must be vaccinated or submit to Covid testing and distancing

Rule would affect more than 2m civilian employees, but Republicans continue to block preventive measures

Joe Biden has announced that all civilian federal workers must show proof of vaccination against the coronavirus or face regular testing and stringent physical distancing, masking and travel restrictions.

Facing a daunting political test as the Delta variant cuts a swath through unvaccinated Americans, the president outlined a more aggressive approach by the federal government and expressed hope that it would offer a model for corporate employers.

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Biden praises infrastructure bill: ‘Deal signals to world our democracy can function’ – live

The Federal Reserve chair said today that the Delta variant poses little threat to the economy, so far. At a news conference, chair Jerome Powell said:

What we’ve seen is with successive waves of COVID over the past year and some months now, there has tended to be less in the way of economic implications from each wave. We will see whether that is the case with the delta variety, but it’s certainly not an unreasonable expectation.”

Dining out, traveling, some schools might not reopen. We may see economic effects from some of that or it might weigh on the return to the labor market. We don’t have a strong sense of how that will work out, so we’ll be monitoring it carefully.”

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has said he will vote to move forward with the infrastructure bill:

Based on a commitment from Leader Schumer to Senators Portman and Sinema that the Portman-Sinema amendment to be filed will be the substitute amendment, I will vote to proceed to the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

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Facebook reports fastest quarterly growth in five years

  • Social media company beats forecasts and hits $29bn revenue
  • Network condemned for allowing vaccine misinformation

Facebook saw its fastest growth this quarter since 2016, the company revealed in its earnings report on Wednesday, despite regulatory concerns and criticisms surrounding misinformation on the platform.

Related: Remington offers $33m to settle lawsuit by families of Sandy Hook massacre

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Covid vaccines mandated for employees of a US federal agency for the first time – as it happened

In a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation vaccine monitor, 23% of Republicans said they definitely won’t get vaccinated, while 16% of independents and 2% of Democrats said the same.

White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said local leaders, particularly in areas with low rates of vaccination, needed to lead outreach efforts to get people vaccinated.

Related: Fauci says health officials considering mask guidance revision for vaccinated

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US ‘not of the woods yet’, says CDC chief, as Delta variant drives Covid surge – video

The US is at another 'pivotal moment' in the pandemic as the Delta variant drives a big rise in new cases, said CDC director, Rochelle Walensky, who warned 'we are not out of the woods yet'. She added: 'The Delta variant is more aggressive and much more transmissible than previously circulating strains,' she said. 'It is one of the most infectious respiratory viruses that we know of and that I have seen in my 20-year career.'

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US in ‘another pivotal moment’ as Delta variant drives surge in Covid cases

  • Hospitals are filling up, especially in areas with low vaccinations
  • CDC offers no change in guidance on mask wearing

The US is “at another pivotal moment in this pandemic” as rising Covid-19 cases show no signs of abating, driven by the Delta variant, and some hospitals are filling up, especially in areas with low vaccination rates, government officials warned on Thursday.

The US government did not change its guidance on mask wearing, despite debates going on in the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about whether those who have been vaccinated should once again be officially advised to wear masks indoors to prevent the spread.

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US sanctions Cuban security chief and special forces over crackdown on protests

Biden moves to pressure government over alleged human rights abuses amid biggest demonstrations in decades

The US has imposed sanctions on a Cuban security minister and an interior ministry special forces unit for alleged human rights abuses in a crackdown on anti-government protests this month.

The move marked the first concrete steps by Joe Biden’s administration to apply pressure on Cuba’s Communist government as it faces calls from US lawmakers and the Cuban American community to show greater support for the biggest protests to hit the island in decades.

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