US takes aim at China territorial claims as Biden vows to back Japan

US president smooths over Trump-era complaints to deepen Japan security alliance as new secretary of state rejects Beijing’s South China Sea claims

Joe Biden has vowed to strengthen the US’s alliance with Japan to counter growing Chinese military activity in the volatile Asia-Pacific region, including a commitment to defend the Senkakus, a group of islands in the East China sea administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing.

The US president and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga agreed during a phone call that their countries’ security alliance was “the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in a free and open Indo-Pacific”.

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Crochet artist turns viral Bernie Sanders image into a doll that sells for $20,000

‘I really hope he thinks this is something cool,’ said Tobey King, who made the doll and plans to donate the proceeds to charity

Bernie Sanders went from becoming a hit meme to a nearly $20,000 crochet doll in less than a week.

After an inauguration day image of the Vermont senator went viral, showing him sitting on a folding chair, socially distanced from other guests, hunched against the cold wearing chunky knitted mittens, Tobey King in Texas got to crocheting. She turned the sensational meme that trended for days into a crochet doll.

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White House: ‘great concern’ over Covid origin ‘misinformation’ from China

Joe Biden’s administration demands ‘robust and clear’ investigation as WHO team visits Wuhan

The US wants a “robust and clear” international probe into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic in China, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, has said.

Speaking to reporters, she said it was “imperative we get to the bottom” of how the virus appeared and spread. She highlighted “great concern” over “misinformation” from “some sources in China”.

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Homeland security warns of heightened domestic terror threat after US Capitol attack

National terrorism bulletin suggests attack may embolden extremists and set the stage for additional attacks

The US Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday issued a national terrorism bulletin warning of the lingering potential for violence from people motivated by anti-government sentiment after Joe Biden’s election.

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White House ‘monitoring’ GameStop share surge as US hedge fund pulls out

Melvin Capital Management had bet on failure of store before small investors sent shares soaring

The White House has said it is “monitoring” the extraordinary surge in the share price of ailing video games retailer GameStop and other companies amid a surge of bets by small investors discussing their investments online.

Wednesday’s announcement by the press secretary, Jen Psaki, came as the Treasury and the Securities and Exchange Commission said they were “aware of and actively monitoring the ongoing market volatility in the options and equities markets”.

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‘We can’t wait any longer’: Biden announces plan to tackle ‘existential’ climate crisis – video

In a sharp 180-degree turn from the Trump administration, Joe Biden signed a series of executive orders to address the 'existential threat' of the climate crisis. Biden insisted his climate plan would create millions of new 'clean' jobs to replace those lost in the coal and oil industries

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Amanda Gorman signs modeling contract after star turn at inauguration

Already a fashion sensation, the 22-year-old joins IMG Models, the same agency as Gigi and Bella Hadid

Amanda Gorman, whose performance of her poem The Hill We Climb during Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration drew widespread praise, has signed to IMG Models, the same agency as Gigi and Bella Hadid.

The 22-year-old US national youth poet laureate, has already become a fashion sensation. The red satin Prada headband she wore during the inauguration ceremony led to the item selling out, while her yellow coat (also Prada) caused searches for “yellow coats” to increase 1,328% (according to fashion search engine Lyst) in the wake of her appearance.

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Biden signals radical shift from Trump era with executive orders on climate change

‘We need to be bold,’ Biden says, signing orders to halt fossil fuel activity on public lands and transform the government’s fleet of cars into electric vehicles

Joe Biden has warned the climate crisis poses an “existential threat” to the world as he unveiled a radical change in direction from the Trump era by halting fossil fuel activity on public lands and directing the US government to start a full-frontal effort to lower planet-heating emissions.

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‘Black resistance endured’: paying tribute to civil war soldiers of color

In a new book, the often under-appreciated contribution that black soldiers made during the civil war is brought to light with a trove of unseen photos

A classic tintype photo from the 19th century showing a civil war soldier, whose garments are hand-colored in gold paint. The soldier, crowned by a gold frame, looks forward, holding a gun over his chest.

But rather than just any war portrait, it’s part of the overlooked history of African American soldiers who fought during the period. This one and more are featured in a new book called The Black Civil War Soldier: A Visual History of Conflict and Citizenship.

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Biden turns attention to climate crisis with new executive orders today – live updates

President, who has already cancelled Keystone XL pipeline, will address nation on the environment

While we’re waiting for a Covid-19 briefing, it’s worth remembering just how many people have gone through a year of pandemic without health insurance: likely at least 28.9 million.

The number of people who lacked health insurance rose through the Trump presidency, and grew by experts millions were added to the ranks of uninsured as the pandemic drove unprecedented job losses. A plurality of Americans rely on private health insurance through an employer.

WASHINGTON (AP) Fulfilling a campaign promise, President Joe Biden plans to reopen the HealthCare.gov insurance markets for a special sign-up opportunity geared to people needing coverage in the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden is expected to sign an executive order Thursday, said two people familiar with the plan, whose details were still being finalized. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the pending order ahead of a formal announcement.

Hello – this is Jessica Glenza taking over from Martin Belam. Among the most high profile events happening in Washington DC today is the first Covid-19 briefing, which the Biden administration promised will be a regular feature of his administration.

At 11am ET, we’re expecting Biden’s first Covid-19 briefing. Here’s a closer look at what is expected:

(AP) - For nearly a year it was the Trump show. Now President Joe Biden is calling up the nation’s top scientists and public health experts to regularly brief the American public about the pandemic that has claimed more than 425,000 US lives.

Beginning Wednesday, administration experts will host briefings three times a week on the state of the outbreak, efforts to control it and the race to deliver vaccines and therapeutics to end it.

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Boeing 737 Max cleared to fly again by EU regulator

The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority will certify the plane separately

Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft has been given the green light to return to the skies in the EU by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), after a 22-month grounding following two fatal crashes.

Marking a crucial step in its return to service, a modified version of the US company’s previously bestselling aeroplane has been given permission to fly again, although not until a package of checks and training is completed.

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How GameStop found itself at the center of a groundbreaking battle between Wall Street and small investors

The video game retailer has become one of the hottest stocks this year in a tale that illustrates the changing face of investing

The coronavirus pandemic hit GameStop hard. Like many retailers, already suffering from the shift to online sales, the video games chain is losing money and plans to close 450 stores this year. And yet, surprisingly, GameStop has become one the hottest stocks of the year.

The 37-year-old chain store group is now the focus of a David-and-Goliath battle between an army of small investors and Wall Street that shows no signs of abating and has highlighted some fundamental shifts in investing.

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45 Republican senators vote to dismiss impeachment of Donald Trump – video

Donald Trump’s hopes of avoiding conviction by the US Senate were strengthened on Tuesday when 45 Republicans tried to dismiss his impeachment trial before it even began.

After they were sworn in and signed the oath book – each using a different pen owing to coronavirus precautions – Rand Paul of Kentucky challenged the legitimacy of the trial.

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader, dismissed Paul’s theory as 'flat-out wrong'

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Biden signs four executive orders aimed at promoting racial equity – video

The US president, Joe Biden, has signed four executive orders aimed at healing the racial divide in America, including one to curb the US government’s use of private prisons and another to bolster anti-discrimination enforcement in housing. They are among several steps Biden is taking to roll back policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump, and to promote racial justice reforms that he pledged to address during his campaign

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Biden announces ‘wartime’ boost in vaccine supply – video

The Biden administration is increasing vaccination efforts with a goal of protecting 300 million Americans by early fall, as the administration surges deliveries to states for the next three weeks following complaints of shortages and inconsistent supplies. 'This is enough vaccine to vaccinate 300 million Americans by end of summer, early fall,' Biden said. 'This is a wartime effort,' he added, saying more Americans had already died from the coronavirus than during all of the second world war

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US senators sworn in as jurors for Trump’s second impeachment trial – live

There’s been a steady stream of activity on Capitol Hill today, paricularly leading up to the swearing-in of the senators for Trump’s impeachment trial.

At a weekly press conference, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said the chamber is prepared to work simultaneously to hold an impeachment trial, approve Biden’s cabinet nominees, and pass additional coronavirus relief.

.@SenSchumer says “a vote on a budget resolution could come as soon as next week.” This would give Dems option to use reconciliation for Covid relief package

McConnell doesn’t say if Trump’s actions were impeachable, saying only that he’ll “listen to the arguments” in the trial.

He says he hasn’t spoken to Trump since the day after he declared Biden had “obviously” won the election (that was 12/15).

Tim Ryan tells reporters on Zoom presser that the order among Capitol Police on Jan. 6 was to not use lethal force unless lives were threatened, as was standard for USCP (he'd asked about it during this morning's closed-door briefing)

Vice president Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, received her second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland.

Twenty-eight days after receiving her first shot, Harris removed her jacked, rolled up her sleeve and extended her left arm for the jab.

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Biden presses Putin on election interference and Navalny arrest in first call

  • US and Russia agree to extend arms control treaty
  • Biden raised concerns over several issues

The US and Russia have agreed to extend an arms control treaty limiting their deployed nuclear warheads after Joe Biden’s first phone call as president with Vladimir Putin.

At the same time, Biden took a firm position on Russian actions that Donald Trump largely ignored, raising concerns about the poisoning and arrest of the opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, warning Putin that the US supported Ukraine against Russian “aggression”, complaining about Russian interference in last year’s US presidential election, and the “Solar Winds” cyber attack on US government agencies last year.

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Pharmaceutical giants not ready for next pandemic, report warns

Ten of the world’s most infectious diseases identified by the WHO not being catered for by drug firms

The world’s biggest pharmaceutical firms are little prepared for the next pandemic despite a mounting response to the Covid-19 outbreak, an independent report has warned.

Jayasree K Iyer, executive director of the Netherlands-based Access to Medicine Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation funded by the UK and Dutch governments and others, highlighted an outbreak of the Nipah virus in China, with a fatality rate of up to 75%, as potentially the next big pandemic risk.

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Avril Haines’s unusual backstory makes her an unlikely chief of US intelligence

The former plane enthusiast, lawyer and judo brown belt owned a cafe that staged erotica nights and worked for President Obama

Avril Haines, who now oversees all 16 US intelligence agencies, is unlike any of the spies who came before her, and not just because she is the country’s first female director of national intelligence.

She is also the first intelligence chief to have to make an emergency landing while trying to cross the Atlantic in a tiny plane; the first to take a year out in Japan to learn judo; and surely the first anywhere in the world to have owned a cafe-bookstore that staged frequent erotica nights.

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Weinstein Co to pay out $17m over sexual abuse claims as part of liquidation

Bankruptcy judge rejects objections from some of Harvey Weinstein’s accusers seeking to pursue further claims

A US bankruptcy court judge has approved the Weinstein Co’s liquidation plan, which sets aside $17m for women who accused co-founder Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct.

Judge Mary Walrath, presiding over a remote hearing from Wilmington, Delaware, overruled an objection from a handful of women who have been looking to pursue appeals of their claims outside the bankruptcy court.

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