USA

WASHINGTON (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 U.S. 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.

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump has lost his social media megaphone, the power of government and the unequivocal support of his party’s elected leaders. But a week after leaving the White House in disgrace, a large-scale Republican defection that would ultimately purge him from the party appears unlikely.

Many Republicans refuse to publicly defend Trump’s role in sparking the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. But as the Senate prepares for an impeachment trial for Trump’s incitement of the riot, few seem willing to hold the former president accountable.

(AP) --- Answering growing frustration over vaccine shortages, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. is ramping up deliveries to hard-pressed states over the next three weeks and expects to provide enough doses to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of the summer or early fall.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 26 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Monday called for a dialogue between India and China to ease tensions between the two countries, after reports came in of a new clash along their disputed Himalayan border.

“We hope that through dialogue tension can be dialed down,” his Spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in response to a question at the regular noon briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.

The spokesman did not elaborate.

MINNEAPOLIS (Minnesota, US), Jan 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A new Brazilian variant of the coronavirus has made its first known appearance in the United States, in a person who had recently returned to Minnesota after travelling to that country, state health officials announced.

The virus known as the Brazil P1 variant was found in a specimen from a patient who lives in the Minneapolis-St Paul area and became ill the first week of January, the Minnesota Department of Health said in a statement.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — China has overtaken the United States as the largest recipient of foreign direct investment, which rose by 4 per cent to reach 163 billion dollars in 2020, according to a UN report.

By contrast, that kind of investment into the US dropped by 49 per cent year on year, mirroring a global decrease of 42 per cent in 2020, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said in its report.

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Joe Biden’s administration froze US sanctions on dealing with Yemen’s Houthi rebels for one month as it reviews a terrorist designation that aid groups warn will aggravate a humanitarian crisis.

The Treasury Department in a notice said that all transactions with the group will be authorized through Feb 26 at 12:01 am (0401 GMT).

The order signed by Bradley Smith, acting director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, said the United States was not unblocking any funds that have already been targeted.

26 Jan 2021; MEMO: Following an attack apparently launched by the Houthis in Yemen, the US administration said it would help its "partner" Saudi Arabia to defend itself against attacks on its territory, spokesman of the US Department of State Ned Price said on Sunday.

"The United States strongly condemns the latest attack on Riyadh, Saudi Arabia," Price said in the statement which was published on the Department of State's website.

Washington, Jan 26 (PTI) US President Joe Biden on Monday spoke over the phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, expressing his intention to revitalise the transatlantic alliance, the White House said.

The leaders agreed to work together on common foreign policy priorities, including Afghanistan, China, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, and the western Balkans, a statement issued by the White House said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday will pledge to take “aggressive” action in response to trade practices from China.

Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo will tell the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee the United States must “take aggressive trade enforcement actions to combat unfair trade practices from China and other nations that undercut American manufacturing,” according to a copy of her written testimony seen by Reuters.