Voice of America
21 Jan 2021, 23:35 GMT+10
U.S. President Joe Biden signed a series of executive orders and other actions Wednesday aiming to address the coronavirus crisis and to reverse a number of policy changes enacted under former President Donald Trump.
"There's no time to start like today," Biden told reporters at the signing event hours after he was inaugurated.
Among the orders, Biden ended a travel ban on some Muslim-majority countries, called for federal agencies to prioritize racial equity, halted wall construction along the U.S.-Mexico border, revoked approval for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, reversed a Trump order to exclude noncitizens from the U.S. census, and enhanced anti-discrimination protections based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
Biden also signed letters declaring U.S. intent to join the Paris Climate Accord and retracting Trump's declaration that the country would withdraw from the World Health Organization.
Regarding the coronavirus, Biden extended a federal eviction moratorium, mandated wearing masks in federal buildings and created a new office to coordinate the national response to the virus that has killed more than 400,000 people in the United States.
Administration aides said Biden would be taking dozens more actions in the next 10 days.
Get a daily dose of Paris Guardian news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Paris Guardian.
More InformationMOSCOW, Russia: This week, Russia became the first country to officially recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan since...
CAIRO, Egypt: This week, both Hamas and Israel shared their views ahead of expected peace talks about a new U.S.-backed ceasefire plan....
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Trump administration has made public a visa decision that would usually be kept private. It did this to send...
MADRID, Spain: Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his younger brother, André Silva, have died in a car accident in Spain. Spanish...
LONDON, U.K.: An unrelenting heatwave sweeping across Europe has pushed early summer temperatures to historic highs, triggering deadly...
President Donald Trump's plans to build a space-based Golden Dome missile defense shield have drawn immediate criticism from China,...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: With just weeks to spare before a potential government default, U.S. lawmakers passed a sweeping tax and spending...
PARIS, France: Fast-fashion giant Shein has been fined 40 million euros by France's antitrust authority over deceptive discount practices...
PALO ALTO/TEL AVIV: The battle for top AI talent has claimed another high-profile casualty—this time at Safe Superintelligence (SSI),...
FRANKLIN, Tennessee: Hundreds of thousands of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles are being recalled across the United States due to a potential...
REDMOND, Washington: Microsoft is the latest tech giant to announce significant job cuts, as the financial strain of building next-generation...
LONDON UK - U.S. stock markets were closed on Friday for Independence Day. Global Forex Markets Wrap Up Friday with Greeback Comeback...