The US President faces "serious dilemmas" in Afghanistan
Experts urge Biden to regain leadership in global nuclear security
US President Joe Biden speaks with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House.
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Democratic Senator Mark Warner, followed by reporters as he walks through the Capitol building, after the third day of Trump's trial ends.
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About 30 experts on global nuclear security urged the administration of US President Joe Biden to restore Washington’s leadership in the field of fissile materials to reduce the risk of militants using them to make weapons, while a senior US official announced that President Biden faces “serious dilemmas” in Afghanistan.
In detail, experts on global nuclear security said in a letter to about six officials at the State Department, the Department of Energy and the National Security Council that global security of materials such as plutonium and highly enriched uranium had received "limited attention from high-level circles" in the administration of former President Donald Trump.
According to a transcript of the letter, the experts said, "The American leadership has stepped back on this issue and global progress has slowed."
The experts recommended launching a comprehensive plan to achieve the security of global stockpiles of nuclear weapons and fissile materials, and nuclear installations whose sabotage could cause a disaster.
They added that the US administration should increase the funding allocated to this issue, which the letter described as "an investment in national security against the threats of nuclear and radiological terrorism." Washington should also increase financial and political support for the International Atomic Energy Agency and improve diplomatic efforts in this regard.
On the other hand, a senior US official announced that President Joe Biden faces "serious dilemmas" in Afghanistan, where the time for a complete withdrawal of US forces is approaching while the Taliban does not seem ready to renounce violence.
The US administration requested a review of the agreement signed with the Taliban in February 2020, which provides for the complete withdrawal of US forces by May 1 in exchange for security guarantees by the insurgents and their commitment to negotiate a peace agreement with the Afghan government.
"The level of violence remains very high ... and this is very disappointing and worrying," a senior US State Department official told "AFP" in Kabul this week, asking not to be named.
"This undoubtedly harms the atmosphere of any agreement to settle the Afghan conflict," he added.
"From our viewpoint, the Taliban are responsible for the majority of the targeted assassinations," the official said.
In his view, the Biden administration, which remains determined to implement the agreement, is facing "serious dilemmas."
On the other hand, the White House confirmed that US President Joe Biden will hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "soon," while criticism is mounting for the unusual delay in this regard.
More than three weeks into his presidency, Biden has yet to hold any conversation with Netanyahu, who was a spoiled for former President Donald Trump and one of the leaders most in tune with him.
Biden, however, held talks with leaders of several allied countries (the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan), and with leaders of other countries such as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
And after the renewed emphasis on the importance of relations between the United States and Israel, White House spokeswoman Jane Saki preferred ambiguity over the date of the upcoming talks between the two men.
She only said, "He will talk to him soon, but I do not have a specific date," without explaining whether the talks will take place before March 23, the date of the legislative elections in Israel.
On the other hand, the US President announced that the United States had signed contracts to purchase 200 million additional doses of "Covid-19" vaccines.
The new doses will be manufactured by Pfizer and Biontech.
Biden said that "both companies agree and are contractually bound to expedite the delivery of 100 million doses that were pledged to deliver at the end of June, to be delivered by the end of May," adding that this additional month's difference will save lives.
Biden stressed that the United States is on the right track to provide adequate supplies of the vaccine to 300 million people by the end of July.
Trump's defense team hopes to quickly acquit him
The defense team of the former US president in the Senate confirms "a tragedy that Donald Trump has nothing to do with" in the hope that he will be quickly cleared of the charge of "incitement to disobedience" after his supporters' attack on the Capitol building.
Attorneys for the 45th President of the United States are trying to refute the arguments of Democratic prosecutors, who for two days reviewed the facts of the bloody attack on January 6, presenting horrific videos.
"The president is very optimistic," David Shawn, a Trump lawyer, told Fox News, promising that the case will be short and last less than four hours in front of hundreds of senators, judges, jurors and witnesses in this historic trial.
“As I said from the start, this trial should never have happened.
And if it happened, it should be as short as possible due to the complete absence of evidence.
Not only did the defense reject his client's full responsibility for the attack carried out by hundreds of his supporters at the end of his big speech on January 6, but also considered that the entire impeachment measures are inconsistent with the constitution because Trump is no longer president.
Asked about the resentment felt by even Republicans after displaying the harsh images of the attack, David Shawn said, "This is what happens when a movie studio is resorted to."
"They never connected Donald Trump and all of that," he added.
Democratic prosecutors believe that the Republican billionaire "knew how explosive the situation was" when he was fanning the anger of his supporters by shouting and without presenting any evidence of "major fraud" before and after the presidential elections, which were won by Democrat Joe Biden.
Democratic Attorney Joe Negus said Trump "lit the fuse and threw it directly into this room, on us."
Jimmy Raskin, who heads the impeachment team, said the bloody attack was "the culmination of the president's behavior, and he's not an outsider."
Washington - AFP
Biden announces the purchase of 200 million additional doses of the Corona vaccine.
The White House: The first conversation between Biden and Netanyahu will take place "soon"
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