Biden news - live: GOP senator claims ‘fake’ Trump supporters caused riot as distracted Ted Cruz taps on phone

The Biden administration’s early efforts to resurrect the 2015 Iran nuclear deal are getting a chilly early response from Tehran.

Though few expected a breakthrough in the first month of the new administration, Iran’s tough line suggests a difficult road ahead.

Having made several significant overtures to Iran in its first weeks in office, the administration’s outreach has been all but shunned by the Iranians.

They had already rejected Biden‘s opening gambit: a U.S. return to the deal from which President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018 if Iran resumes full compliance with its obligations under the accord.

Iran is shaping up to be a major test of the Biden administration’s overall approach to foreign policy, which the president has said will realign itself with the kind of multilateral diplomacy that Trump shunned.

AP

An upcoming conservative political conference in the US called “America Uncanceled” has cancelled a speaker for his derogatory remarks about Jewish people.

Young Pharaoh, who identifies as an artist and philosopher, reportedly told his followers that Judaism is a lie, made up for political gain and allegedly also called them “thieving fake Jews.”

He was due to speak at the conservative political action conference (CPAC) in Orlando, starting on Thursday.

Mayank Aggarwal reports

Joe Biden is hoping his first meeting with Justin Trudeau will clear the way for strengthening US-Canada ties that were strongly tested under Donald Trump.

The US president, his Canadian counterpart, and their respective cabinets will come together virtually on Tuesday for the first bilateral head of government meeting of Mr Biden’s young presidency, writes The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg.

The ex-president has confirmed he will attend the Republican party’s donor retreat between April 9-11 in Florida, as reported by Politico.

The event will feature a number of potential candidates for the 2024 presidential election, including Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton and Florida Senator Rick Scott.

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel has said the party will be strictly neutral when coming to assess nominees for 2024.

Mr Trump’s attendance is further confirmation that he does not intend to shy away from the political limelight anytime soon.

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) opens on Thursday 25 February in Orlando, Florida, with ousted president Donald Trump its headline speaker in his first public engagement since leaving the White House for Mar-a-Lago a month ago.

Joe Sommerlad has all the details

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr fought for a year and a half to get access to former President Donald Trump’s tax records

Now, thanks to a US Supreme Court ruling, he will soon have them. But what will that mean for the Democrat’s investigation into Trump’s business affairs?

Former prosecutors say the trove of records could give investigators new tools to determine whether Mr Trump lied to lenders or tax officials, before or after he took office.

“Prosecutors look for discrepancies in paperwork. For example, if Trump told the IRS he’s broke and lenders that he’s rich that’s just the type of discrepancy they could build a case around,” said Duncan Levin, a former federal prosecutor.

AP

In a boost to President Joe Biden’s efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer will pledge today to ramp up the supply of jabs in the country.

Pfizer will increase capacity from four million doses a week, to more than 13 million by mid-March, as reported by NBC News. While Moderna will boost supply by almost double to 40 million doses by April.

In prepared testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee on Tuesday, John Young, Pfizer’s chief business officer said the company “has made significant investments in our U.S. manufacturing sites.”

He added: “As a result of these improvements, we expect to increase the number of doses we make available for shipment from approximately 4 to 5 million doses per week at the beginning of February to more than 13 million doses per week by the middle of March.

“We are on track to make 120 million doses available for shipment by the end of March and an additional 80 million doses by the end of May.”

Michelle Bachelet, the United Nation’s commissioner for human rights, said on Tuesday that she welcomed pledges by Joe Biden and his nominee for US attorney general, Merrick Garland, on the potential abolition of the death penalty in the US.

The comments came after Mr Garland told members of Congress during his confirmation hearing on Monday that his support for the death penalty had eroded.

Mr Garland cited concerns the punishment disproportionately affected Black Americans and other communities of colour and that too many were wrongfully convicted.

Mr Biden, meanwhile, promised voters that he would seek to end the federal death penalty on the campaign trail, and became the the country's first abolitionist president.

Mr Garland us expected to be approved by the Senate, following praise from some Republicans in the Senate.

Additional reporting by Reuters.

Officials in Florida have refused to lower flags for Rush Limbaugh, the late conservative talk show personality, following a call by governor Ron DeSantis to do so.

The controversy follows the Republican’s call for Florida to commemorate the former Palm Beach resident, who died on Wednesday following a lung cancer diagnosis.

Nikki Fried, the state’s only elected Democratic commissioner, said doing so would celebrate” the “bigotry and division” of Mr Limbaugh.

Following his death last week, Mr Trump described the former radio personality as a “legend”, despite having ridiculed minorities and women, and was often homophobic while on air.

Donald Trump might still be banned from Twitter, but that has not stopped the former president from sending out post-presidential endorsements of GOP politicians.

Here’s an endorsement sent to Drew McKissick, the chair of the South Carolina Republican Party, who recieved this hand-written note from Mr Trump.