Biden news: Harris says US ‘not into regime change’ but won’t say whether she agrees Putin must go
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Your support makes all the difference.President Joe Biden delivered remarks this morning hailing another successful jobs reports that sees employment return to pre-pandemic levels and unemployment to drop to a level not seen since 1969.
While inflation remains a huge concern to Americans, Mr Biden has also ordered the release of up 1 million barrels of oil per day from the strategic petroleum reserve for the next six months in a bid to control prices that have spiked since the US and its allies imposed strict sanctions on Russia after it began its war on Ukraine.
Answering questions from reporters on Thursday, Mr Biden said Russian president Vladimir Putin “seems to be self-isolated and there’s some indication that he has fired or put under house arrest some of his advisers”.
Meanwhile, new reports say that White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki will leave her post this spring to take up a job at MSNBC. It had long been speculated that Ms Psaki would be leaving the administration soon after more than a year in the role.
At Friday’s press briefing Ms Psaki refused to comment on her plans, other than to say she that if she left she would spend time with her children and would sleep.
Pressed on if she could do be an effective briefer with plans to join a media outlet Ms Psaki said she is abiding by all ethics rules and legal requirements.
Biden planning to tap oil reserve to control gas pricesBiden says Putin appears to be ‘self-isolating’ from advisers
The next Jen Psaki? Who is Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s Covid stand-in auditioning at the press podium
Donald Trump claims that he ‘built up’ oil reserves – the facts tell a different story
Jen Psaki criticises ‘extreme and harmful’ laws targeting trans people and abortion
White House press secretary Jen Psaki criticised four bills signed into law in Arizona and Oklahoma this week targeting transgender young people and restricting abortion care, among dozens of bills filed by Republican legislators this year aimed at LGBT+ Americans and abortion rights.
The Republican governors of both states signed bills into law banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports.
Alex Woodward reports.
Jen Psaki criticises ‘extreme and harmful’ laws targeting trans athletes and abortion
‘These laws are unacceptable and we won’t stop fighting for justice and equality’
Biden says Putin may have placed advisors under 'house arrest'
Joe Biden said on Thursday that the Russian president Vladimir Putin may have placed some of his advisors under “house arrest.”
Mr Biden also said that he was sceptical about Moscow’s claim that it has scaled back its onslaught in parts of Ukraine.
He said: “He seems to be self-isolated and there’s some indication that he has fired or put under house arrest some of his advisers.”
Mr Biden however added that “there’s a lot of speculation” and that he did not want to “put too much stock in that.”
Trump’s false claim that he ‘built up’ oil reserves debunked as Biden acts on gas prices
Former president Donald Trump’s recent claim that his administration “built up” US strategic petroleum reserves that were “virtually empty” for a half-century is a complete falsehood, according to US Department of Energy records.
Andrew Feinberg explains.
Debunking Donald Trump’s false claim that he ‘built up’ oil reserves
The strategic petroleum reserve had fewer barrels of oil on the day Trump left office than on the day he was sworn in
Congress close to deal on smaller $10 billion Covid bill
US lawmakers on Thursday moved slightly closer to an agreement on the $10bn to combat Covid-19.
The amount has been reduced from an earlier $15.6bn agreement between the two parties that collapsed weeks ago.
President Joe Biden had requested $22.5bn in early March.
“We’ve reached an agreement in principle on all the spending and all of the offsets,” Mitt Romney said.
“It’s entirely balanced by offsets,” he said, referring to savings in the measure.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said: “We are getting close to a final agreement that would garner bipartisan support.
ICYMI: Biden calls for ‘use it or lose it’ policy for oil leases on federal land
US President Joe Biden on Thursday slammed oil companies for refusing to increase production to make up shortfalls caused by the removal of Russian oil from US markets.
Read the full story here:
Biden calls for ‘use it or lose it’ policy for oil leases on federal land
US President Joe Biden on Thursday slammed oil companies for refusing to increase production to make up shortfalls caused by the removal of Russian oil from US markets.
Biden to lift Trump-era pandemic restrictions on US-Mexico border, reports say
President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to lift a public health order imposed by Donald Trump that blocked most asylum seekers from the US-Mexico border during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to reports citing administration officials familiar with the move.
Read the full story here:
Biden to lift Trump-era pandemic restrictions on US-Mexico border, reports say
White House ‘planning for multiple contingencies’ as immigration advocates report thousands of human rights abuses along southern border under Title 42
Ukrainian air force calls for urgently needed US and western hardware
One of the more complicated matters confronting the Nato alliance in the Ukrainian crisis is how to best help the Ukrainian military without escalating the conflict into a wider war. In a long myth-debunking threat on Twitter, the Ukrainian air force has made clear that it is unable to close its country’s air space without supplies of hardware from the west – specifically calling out the US and others for not providing it.
Biden’s oil announcement, explained
Joe Biden’s announcement that he will release 1 million barrels of oil a day for six months from the US’s strategic reserve is a measure of just how seriously the rise in gas prices is hitting many Americans, and of the projected impact of sanctions on Russian oil.
To help you understand what exactly it is that the president’s done, Justin Vallejo has this explainer on what the reserve is.
Joe Biden’s announcement of 1 million barrels for the next six months, or roughly 180 million barrels, represents roughly two days’ worth of the global oil demand.
It is the third dip into the well since Biden came to office, following 30 million barrels announced in March and another 50 million in November last year.
Leaving a theoretical balance of 388 million barrels at the end of the six-month drawdown, the cupboard would be far from bare but still at its lowest levels since 1984.
It’s just 44 million barrels of oil above the 340 million barrel floor that can be legally hit from a “limited” drawdown, and anything beyond that would require the determination of an “emergency situation”.
Read the full piece below:
What is the strategic petroleum reserve and why is Joe Biden dipping in
Reserve started by in 1975 amid soaring prices
Right-wing media tries to make scandal out of Biden eating pizza
When Joe Biden coughed after eating a spicy pizza while sitting down for a bite with some US troops, it sent a thrill through the right-wing media ecosystem, where hosts wasted no time laying into the president for his run-in with a chilli pepper. This they did as Republicans voted against capping the price of insulin and after Donald Trump called for Vladimir Putin to help him damage the sitting commander-in-chief.
The expert media-watchers at the Daily Show have pulled together this supercut.
Outraged climate activists condemn Biden’s oil release plan
Joe Biden’s announcement that he will release one million barrels of oil a day from the strategic petroleum reserve has angered climate activists, who said Mr Biden was investing in the wrong solution to a much bigger problem.
“The fossil fuel industry’s greed is hurting working people at the pump, and we should tax those windfall profits and give relief directly to families in need - not count on indirect signals and the market to help when immediate aid is needed,” said Collin Rees of Oil Change International. “The solution must be a wartime mobilization to transform our energy system, not doubling down on a volatile fossil-fueled system driving the climate crisis, worsening conflict, and boosting economic inequality.”
Louise Boyle, The Independent’s senior climate correspondent, has this report:
Climate activists condemn oil firms’ greed after Biden releases 1m reserve barrels
High oil prices have not led oil companies to increase production, and instead the sector has focused on creating more profits for investors
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