4/28/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 28, 2021

White House News in Chinese - About (weebly.com)

Infections and death rates are soaring in India
India Covid death toll passes 200,000, Biden hails 'stunning' US progress

Apr. 28 - India's coronavirus death toll crossed 200,000 Wednesday as a relentless wave of new cases swamped hospitals, while US President Joe Biden hailed America's "stunning" progress in its fight against the pandemic...

...In the United States, Biden hailed America's "stunning" progress against the virus, as the country's premier health agency said Americans who had been vaccinated would no longer need to wear masks outdoors.


While we still have a long way to go in this fight, a lot of work to do in May and June to get us to July 4, we've made stunning progress," Biden said, referencing Independence Day as a milestone date in the fight against the virus...     quoted from

APRIL 27, 2021
White House Daily Briefing
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki held a briefing with reporters. The press secretary took questions on the new CDC mask guidance, previewed President Biden’s joint session of Congress speech, and providing other countries with COVID-19 vaccines. 
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki,
April 27, 2021

MS. PSAKI:  All right.  Happy Tuesday. 
 
Okay, a couple of items for you at the top.  Today, President Biden is issuing an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay a $15 minimum wage to hundreds of thousands of their employees.  These workers are critical to the functioning of federal government, from cleaning professionals and maintenance workers, to nursing assistants who care for the nation’s veterans, to cafeteria and other food service workers who ensure we all have healthy and nutritious food to eat, to laborers who build and repair federal infrastructure.
 
The executive order will increase the hourly minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 in new and renewed contracts and contract options starting in January 2022.  This increase must be implemented by March 30th, 2022; continue to index the minimum wage to an inflation measure, so it keeps up the cost of living — with the cost of living; eliminate the tipped minimum wage for federal contractors by 2024; ensure a $15 minimum wage for federal contractors with disabilities; and restore minimum wage protections to outfitters and guides operating on federal lands. 
 
Also, as you may remember — and I think this announcement just went out — but President Biden signed a Made in America executive order directing federal agencies to ensure taxpayer dollars supporting American manufacturing.  We’ve been, of course, hard at work delivering on that commitment.  And, today, the President announced the appointment of Celeste Drake as the nation’s first Made in America Director — which, I think, is a great title.
 
As Made in America Director with the — within the Office of Management and Budget, she will make sure agencies follow the President’s ambitious “Buy American” commitment and will help continue the work to carry out his bold “Made in America” agenda...
  ​     continue to read
APRIL 27, 2021
President Biden Remarks on COVID-19 Pandemic Response
President Biden said the U.S. had made “stunning progress” in its battle against the coronavirus pandemic but acknowledged there was still a “long way to go in this fight” before July 4, which the president said was his “target date to get life in America closer to normal.” The president said he would lay out the next steps of his pandemic response plan the following week, but spoke about the CDC’s guidance issued earlier in the day regarding mask wearing for those who have been fully vaccinated. He urged Americans 16 years or older to get the vaccine and stressed that it was not the time to let up on mitigation measures. President Biden also said he had spoken to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the country’s outbreak and said the U.S. would send therapeutics and mechanical parts for machines to build vaccines. He also said he hoped in the future to directly send vaccines to the country. 
Mr Biden encouraged all Americans to get vaccinated
​The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that fully vaccinated Americans do not need to wear a mask when they are outdoors.


Apr. 28 - ​Those who have received all required jabs can ditch their face coverings if alone or in small groups of vaccinated people, the new guidelines say.

​But the CDC left in place its guidance to don a mask indoors and in crowded settings or venues.
Over 95 million Americans have been fully vaccinated thus far.

Following the CDC announcement on Tuesday, President Joe Biden celebrated the new guidance as "extraordinary progress".

"Our scientists are convinced by the data that the odds of getting or giving the virus to others is very, very low," Mr Biden said. "The bottom line is clear: if you're vaccinated you can do more."

The president also urged Americans who have not yet received their shot to do so, calling it a "patriotic" act.

"Vaccines are about saving your life but also the lives of the people around you - but they're also about helping us get back closer to more normal living."

Health officials presented the new safety guidelines at Tuesday's White House coronavirus task force briefing.

"Small- and medium-sized gatherings for people who are outside and vaccinated can safely be done without a mask," said CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky. This includes exercising or dining outdoors.

She said that determining whether to wear a mask in larger outdoor gatherings would depend on other concerns like how well-ventilated a venue is and how much space is left between people.

The guidelines are for the fully vaccinated - which means two weeks after a person's final vaccine jab.
IMAGE COPYRIGHTBRENDAN SMIALOWSKI
image captionMr Biden encouraged all Americans to get vaccinatedEvidence suggests that, although Covid-19 infections can happen outdoors, the risks of transmission are very low. Early studies also indicate that fully vaccinated people are much less likely to spread the virus.

Dr Walensky said mask guidance for the fully vaccinated was intended largely "to protect the unvaccinated".

"We really do want people who are unvaccinated to limit interactions with people, to go back to the basic principles of increased ventilation, spacing," she said.

Health officials have noted that the case count in the US is stabilising as the rate of vaccinations continues to grow, and on Tuesday, they called for more people to sign up for vaccinations.

Nearly 141 million Americans - about 42% of the total population - have received at least one vaccine dose as of 26 April, according to the CDC.     source from

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4/27/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 27, 2021

 White House News in Chinese - About (weebly.com)

APRIL 26, 2021
White House Daily Briefing
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, held a briefing on the Biden administration’s policy agenda. Director Reese told reporters the president’s plan would include a capital gains tax increase for 0.3% of households that make over $1 million dollars. Following his remarks, Press Secretary Psaki answered questions from reporters on the president’s upcoming joint address to Congress, COVID-19 pandemic aid to India, and understanding why some Americans have not taken their scheduled second dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. 
US to share AstraZeneca shots with world after safety check

Apr. 27 - The U.S. will begin sharing its entire stock of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines with the world once it clears federal safety reviews, the White House said on April 26, with as many as 60 million doses expected to be available for export in the coming months.


The move greatly expands on the Biden administration’s action last month to share about 4 million doses of the vaccine with Mexico and Canada. The AstraZeneca vaccine is widely in use around the world but has not yet been authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The White House is increasingly feeling assured about the supply of the three vaccines being administered in the U.S., particularly following the restart of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot over the weekend. The U.S. has also been under mounting pressure in recent weeks to share more of its vaccine supply with the world, as countries like India experience devastating surges of the virus and others struggle to access doses needed to protect their most vulnerable populations.

​“Given the strong portfolio of vaccines that the U.S. already has and that have been authorized by the FDA, and given that the AstraZeneca vaccine is not authorized for use in the U.S., we do not need to use the AstraZeneca vaccine here during the next several months," said White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients. "Therefore the U.S. is looking at options to share the AstraZeneca doses with other countries as they become available.”     more

APRIL 26, 2021
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Louisville Police Department Investigation
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a Justice Department investigation into Louisville’s policing practices. The investigation comes as police in this Kentucky city are under fire after officers in March 2020, fatally shot Breonna Taylor, who was unarmed, in her home while executing what’s called a no-knock search warrant.

On April 26, Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the Justice Department will open a civil investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department. 
Justice Dept. to investigate Louisville police practices after Breonna Taylor’s fatal shooting


Apr. 27 - Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Monday that the Justice Department will open a civil investigation of the Louisville Metro Police Department, 13 months after the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman whose killing was among the flash points that sparked mass social-justice protests across the nation last summer.

Garland said the federal “pattern or practice” probe will seek to determine whether the Louisville police have engaged in systemic abuses and unlawful tactics with little accountability — marking the second time in five days he has sought to use federal power to examine a local law enforcement agency’s use of deadly force. Last week, he said the federal agency would investigate the Minneapolis Police Department after former officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty in the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, last May.

The twin announcements reflected the urgency with which the Biden administration is aiming to confront abusive policing amid an outcry from civil rights groups. Although the Chauvin verdict offered a measure of accountability, advocates have pointed to the fatal police shootings this month of Black men in Brooklyn Center, Minn., and Elizabeth City, N.C., as evidence that broad-reaching reforms are necessary in departments across the country.

President Biden is expected to address the issue in his first speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, White House aides said.     more

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4/26/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 26, 2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 26, 2021

BIDEN AND THE WESTERN BALKANS

Apr. 26 - ...​China poses an even greater challenge to Western interests in the Balkans. Unlike Russia, which solely acts as a spoiler power obstructing the West, China is a rising power offering a strategic vision for Eurasia with its Belt and Road Initiative. In the past decade, Chinese firms invested $2.4 billion in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. At the same time, Beijing has provided $6.8 billion in infrastructure loans. In Serbia, China is the third-largest foreign direct investor (accounting for 6.61 percent of all net foreign direct investments) after the European Union (72.27 percent) and Russia (11.21 percent). In Montenegro, China owns 25 percent of the country’s public debt. Beijing is supplying Belgrade with drones. The recent visit by Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe to Greece, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Hungary suggests that China wants to expand its military ties with regional powers. On the vaccination front, to Serbia alone China supplied 1 million doses of the Chinese-produced Sinopharm vaccine, and the supply of an additional 2 million doses has also been agreed. However, China is also bringing highly questionable labor and environmental standards to the region.

​The United States has already shown itself capable of pushing back against Russia and China in the Balkans, even under Trump...     quoted from


Chinese vessels were captured moored at the disputed Whitsun Reef in South China Sea
'China is militarising ports across our region': Dutton's stern warning for Australia


Apr. 26 - Defence Minister Peter Dutton has issued a stern warning for Australians this Anzac Day, saying it's time the Defence Force turned its attention to nearer shores amid a growing threat from China.

Speaking to Weekend Today this morning, Mr Dutton paid tribute to the "amazing effort" of the tens of thousands of Australians and other Allied service personnel who had fought in the Middle East over the past two decades, saying they had saved Australia and other nations from terror attacks.

However, with the remaining 80 ADF personnel set to return from service in Afghanistan by September, Mr Dutton said that Australia must now focus on closer threats to its national security.,,     (more evidences)


..,Over the past year, China has slapped trade sanctions on a range of Australian exports, with billions of dollars wiped, after Australia called for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic and the Federal Government introduced foreign interference legislation.

​The recently-installed defence minister's comments today will be taken as further indication of rising tensions, as the federal government refuses to back down.   quoted from

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President Biden made one of the biggest commitments at the summit, promising to reduce US emissions by half before the year 2030.
What happened at Biden’s global climate summit?

Date published on Apr. 26, 2021
...​So what comes next?
  • Now, countries are going to work to implement the things they promised.

Some countries, particularly those in the European Union, have already made significant strides toward reducing their emissions and have taken additional steps to do more.

Other countries, like China and Russia, have put out very vague, more easily achieved goals in what may be an effort to not fall short of their stated aims.

​In November, leaders from those countries that were a part of the Paris Agreement will set official emission targets for the next
decade at a climate conference in Scotland.     quoted from

MONDAY
April 26, 2021

4/24/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 24 , 2021

 White House News in Chinese - About (weebly.com)

APRIL 23, 2021 | PART OF WHITE HOUSE HOSTS VIRTUAL LEADERS SUMMIT ON CLIMATE, DAY 2
White House Hosts Virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, Day 2, Part 1
The White House hosts a virtual summit on climate change with world leaders.

Biden’s Anti-China Ambitions
Like Trump, Joe Biden is committed to a distinctly anti-China global strategy rooted in fears of American decline.

Apr. 24 - ​Like his immediate predecessor, Joe Biden is committed to a distinctly anti-China global strategy and has sworn that China will not “become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world…on my watch.” In the topsy-turvy universe created by the Covid-19 pandemic, it was, however, Jamie Dimon, the CEO and chairman of JP Morgan Chase, a banking giant with assets of $3.4 trillion, who spoke truth to Biden on the subject.


While predicting an immediate boom in the US economy “that could easily run into 2023,” Dimon had grimmer news on the future as well. “China’s leaders believe that America is in decline,” he wrote in his annual letter to the company’s shareholders. While the United States had faced tough times in the past, he added, today “the Chinese see an America that is losing ground in technology, infrastructure, and education—a nation torn and crippled by politics, as well as racial and income inequality—and a country unable to coordinate government policies (fiscal, monetary, industrial, regulatory) in any coherent way to accomplish national goals.” He was forthright enough to say, “Unfortunately, recently, there is a lot of truth to this.”

As for China, Dimon could also have added, its government possesses at least two powerful levers in areas where the United States is likely to prove vulnerable: dominant control of container ports worldwide and the supplies of rare earth metals critical not just to the information-technology sector but also to the production of electric and hybrid cars, jet fighters, and missile guidance systems. And that’s only a partial list of the areas where China is poised to become dominant in the foreseeable future. Here’s a likely scenario.

​THE DIGITAL YUAN VERSUS THE (MISSING) DIGITAL DOLLAR...     more


APRIL 23, 2021
White House Daily Briefing
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland joined Press Secretary Jen Psaki at the White House to emphasis the administration’s commitment to addressing climate change. The first Native American cabinet member said, “I believe that a clean energy future is within our grasp in the United States.” She responded to questions about a pause in new oil and gas permitting, fracking, federal assistance for under-served communities and preserving America’s National Parks. Ms. Psaki also announced President Biden’s first planned international trip, which he’ll take in June to Great Britain and Belgium. She answered a variety of questions from reporters on the climate summit, the American Jobs Plan, the potential for a White House declaration on Armenian genocide, COVID-19 vaccine distribution and the president’s plans for future travel. 

US Says China 'Not Doing Enough' on Climate

Apr. 24, TEHRAN (FNA)- Special Climate Envoy John Kerry stated Friday night that China isn’t doing enough on climate change after the country said at a White House climate summit this week that it would try to reduce its coal use starting in a few years.

After acknowledging some of the promises Chinese President Xi Jinping made, Kerry argued during a CNN town hall that the country is “not doing enough".


“They have a massive coal dependency. We have to try to get them to move further and we have to also ask China not to be funding the building of new coal-fired power plants in other parts of the world,” he added.

China, during the White House event this week, announced it would “strictly limit” its increase in coal consumption through 2025 and start to “phase it down” starting in 2026. 

Xi also noted that the country plans to “strictly control” coal-fired power plant projects.
However, unlike countries such as the US that will seek to reduce their greenhouse emissions over the course of the next decade, China announced that it expects its emissions to peak in 2030. 

​China is the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter and the US is the second-largest. 
     source from

4/23/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 23 , 2021

 White House News in Chinese - About (weebly.com)

Biden-Harris administration: 100-day review of Sanctions policy

​Apr. 24 - ​When the Biden administration took office on 20 January 2021 it had already announced that there would be reviews of how the US deals with international partnerships.

Under the previous administration the US had left the Paris accord on climate change and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Within a day of taking office the new administration set in motion the reversal of both the withdrawal from the Paris agreement and WHO membership.

US secretary of the treasury Janet Yellen has said that one of her top priorities is to review the US use of sanctions as well as those that are currently in place. While the review will clearly take some time, the US cannot sit still awaiting the outcome and so it requires an active sanctions policy.

Burma
While the US had closed its previous Burma sanctions programme, recent events led to the announcement of sanctions and export controls under Executive Order 14014. This is now established and there have been some coordinated listings announced with the UK and EU during the early stages.

China
The US invoked two Chinese-related sanctions programmes in 2020. The Hong Kong autonomy act set out two sets of listings which have menu based prohibitions. The first list is those targeted, while the second list will be made up of financial institutions that are dealing with those on the first list.
The “Communist Chinese Military Companies” (CCMC) sanctions were more problematic for financial services due to the ‘near match’ element that was included in EO 13959. This provision was the subject of general licence 1 which was issued and updated to licence 1A in the early days of the new administration. This extension of the general licence to 27 May can be seen as a tactic to allow time for a full review and for appropriate action to be taken if required.

Iran
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which set out the plan for a solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, is a significant agreement signed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus the High Representative of the EU, Germany, and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Biden administration has said that it is open to discussing the US re-joining, though this will be a problematic area for both the US and Iran to negotiate. The upcoming Iranian elections will add distractions through the middle of 2021.
Recent meetings between participants have been encouraging. If not resolving the differences, at least they have paused the divergence between the parties and JCPOA compliance.

Russia
Russia is a complex area. On one hand the US is likely to look for coordinated international action and this will almost certainly involve the EU, as we have seen with the recent sanctions in response to the Novichok poisoning of Alexei Navalny. This is counterbalanced by the increasing pressure the US is exerting on the Nord Stream 2 project which has joint investment and involvement from leading companies in EU member states (Germany, France, Austria and the Netherlands). The US recently imposed additional sanctions on Russian individuals and entities under EO 14024 which shows how the US is leading on additional sanctions. Those invoked under EO 14024 are wide ranging, covering areas such as cyber, election interference and sovereign debt prohibitions.

ICC

This month (April) the US has reversed the sanctions put in place against personnel of the International Criminal Court under EO 13928

On 27 April UK Finance will be hosting a panel of experts to discuss the first 100 days of the Biden/Harris administration, the approach we have seen and what we may expect with regard to the above.


This event is free to attend and registration can be completed via this link.     source from

APRIL 22, 2021
President Biden and Vice President Harris Deliver Remarks at Climate Summit
President Biden delivered opening remarks at a virtual climate summit from the White House with world leaders on Earth Day. The president spoke about the importance of nations working together to address climate change saying the challenge is too big for one country to solve. He also announced the U.S. will aim to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050.


Boris Johnson and Joe Biden, on screen, take part in the opening session of the virtual summit on climate change organised by the US President
​Joe Biden's climate change pledge will help to get world moving in right direction – Scotsman comment


When the US President speaks, the words echo all over the world.

Apr. 23 - Joe Biden’s promise that the US will cut carbon emissions by about twice as much as previously planned by the end of this decade is a rallying cry. It will be answered by countries whose governments similarly realise the importance of the fight against climate change, and also by those who understand the value of staying in Washington’s good books.

Boris Johnson has just increased the UK’s target to cut carbon emissions to 78 per cent of 1990 levels by 2035. Would this have happened if the coal-loving, climate change-sceptic Donald Trump was still in the White House and therefore the person to whom the UK would have to go, cap in hand, seeking an all-important post-Brexit trade deal?

Johnson described Biden’s announcement as “game-changing” and spoke of “building back greener” in the wake of the Covid crisis.

Both leaders’ comments are a further signal to the business world – investors in particular – about the direction of travel over what Biden called a “decisive decade” if we are to avoid the worst effects of global warming.
It is clearer than ever what the future is going to be like and there will be much money to be made – and many jobs to be created – for businesses that jump at the array of new opportunities.

​Biden’s focus on climate change – the most pressing issue facing humanity bar none – also means that the United Nations’ Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow later this year could become as important and historic as the one that led to the 2016 Paris Agreement.     source from

APRIL 22, 2021
White House Daily Briefing
White House Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy joined White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki to speak about the Biden administration’s climate initiatives. Ms. McCarthy reiterated President Biden’s goal of cutting carbon emissions in half by 2030 and reaching net zero emissions by 2050 and discussed how the administration was using an all of government approach to reach this standard. Secretary Kerry talked about his efforts to work with other countries to encourage their efforts on climate change and said he was pleased with the commitments made by China, Russia, India and other nations. Ms. Psaki also answered a variety of questions on climate change, the president’s planned address to Congress, the American Families Plan, and working with Republicans for bipartisan solutions. 

4/22/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 22 , 2021

 2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

Pompeo Touts ‘Toughest' GOP Sanctions Bill on Iran Amid Signs of Tentative Progress at Vienna Talks

Amid ongoing Vienna talks to reactivate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Biden administration has been sending indications to Tehran that it may consider reducing punitive sanctions currently targeting Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Apr. 20 - ...Coming against the backdrop of ongoing Vienna talks between senior diplomats from the US, Iran, Germany, France, Russia, China and the European Union in a bid to chart a manner in which the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) can be fully restored, the bill seeks to forestall a US reentry into the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Amid signs of tentative progress in indirect talks between the US and Iran in Vienna, the proposed legislation would incorporate measures that would require any new deal with Tehran to be ratified by the Senate, while codifying into law sanctions introduced on Iran during the Trump-era.

​Furthermore, the bill would expand sanctions, extending them to the Iran's ballistic missile programme, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian-backed militias elsewhere in the Middle East and a range of Iranian industries...     quoted from
President Joe Biden is reportedly planning to refer to mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as an act of genocide.
​What Joe Biden Has Said About Armenian Genocide

Apr. 22 - President Joe Biden is on the cusp of formally recognizing the Armenian massacre by the Ottoman Empire more than 100 years ago as an act of genocide, fulfilling a promise he made on the campaign trail.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that the White House was moving to break with tradition and refer to the massacre as genocide on April 24, the date of Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.


However, the news wire reported that the president could back out of the plan if he believes it will damage U.S. relations with Turkey. Ankara is expected to be angered by the move, should it go ahead.

Asked if Biden would call the Armenian massacre an act of genocide in time for the Saturday memorial, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said: "I expect we will have more to say about Remembrance Day on Saturday. But I don't have anything to get ahead of that at this point in time."

The reported move to recognize the mass killings as an act of genocide has come after Rep. 
Adam Schiff (D-CA) penned an open letter to the president calling on him to honor his campaign promise.

​"On behalf of hundreds of thousands of Armenian Americans, the children and grandchildren and great grandchildren of genocide survivors, I ask you: Keep that promise," the open letter read. "Recognize the Armenian Genocide." More than 100 lawmakers representing both parties signed the open letter.     more
美拉伙伴“围攻”俄罗斯?普京称对敌对行为将强硬回应 20210421 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
Apr 22, 2021

The U.S. Embassy in MoscowUS Embassy in Russia Confirms That Sullivan Has Left the Diplomatic Mission and is On His Way to DC

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on 16 April that the Russian side had recommended that Ambassador Sullivan return to Washington for consultations about the bilateral relationship.


Apr. 22 - US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan has left the diplomatic mission and is on his way to Washington, the US embassy confirmed to RIA Novosti on Thursday.

"We can confirm that Ambassador Sullivan is on his way to Washington, DC," the embassy said.

Sullivan will briefly travel to the United States for a family visit and consultations with the US presidential administration. He is set to return to Moscow in the coming weeks.

Earlier this month, the United States imposed new sanctions on 32 Russian entities and individuals as part of a new round of sanctions for Moscow's alleged cyber attacks and other hostile acts against US interests. The United States also expelled ten Russian diplomats from the country and prohibited US entities from purchasing ruble-based bonds.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has condemned the fresh round of sanctions as running contrary to the interests of the two nations. In response, Russia banned eight US citizens from entering the country, including US Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and FBI Director Christopher Wray.     source from