What Abdul’s victory in Michigan means for the future

 

WATCH: 'It's up to all of us to fix this,' Obama says about democracy

The New Normal - Election Special

UAE abolishes law boycotting Israel

Straits Times - AFP - August 30, 2020

Protesters wave a United Arab Emirates flag during an anti-government demonstration
 in front of the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem. - Protests demanding that
 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resign over several corruption indictments
and his handling of the coronavirus crisis have been mounting in recent weeks, and
the premier has been scathing in his counter-attack. (Photo by Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP)

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates announced on Saturday it had repealed legislation imposing a boycott of Israel after the two countries struck a US-brokered deal to normalise relations.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan issued a federal decree "abolishing the Federal Law No. 15 of 1972 regarding boycotting Israel and the penalties thereof", the official WAM news agency reported.

"It will be permissible to enter, exchange or possess Israeli goods and products of all kinds in the UAE and trade in them."

The UAE will be the first Gulf state and only the third Arab country to establish full diplomatic ties with Israel – a move condemned by the Palestinians as a betrayal.

Companies and individuals in the UAE may now enter into agreements with firms or individuals residing in Israel, WAM reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the decision in a statement later on Saturday.

"This is an important move to advance prosperity and peace in the region," he said.

The UAE move comes ahead of the arrival of an Israeli-American delegation to Abu Dhabi on the first commercial flight from Israel on Monday.

The delegation, led by top aide and son-in-law to US President Donald Trump Jared Kushner and Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabbat, will seek ways to boost cooperation in areas including aviation, tourism, trade, health, energy and security, according to Netanyahu's office..

Israel and UAE to normalise ties in 'historic' US-brokered deal

Yahoo – AFP, Mohamad Ali Harissi and Sarah Stewart, August 13, 2020

Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world, and a symbol of the oil-rich UAE

Israel and the UAE agreed Thursday to normalise ties in a landmark US-brokered deal, only the third such accord the Jewish state has struck with an Arab nation, in which it pledged to suspend annexation of Palestinian lands.

The bombshell news was broken by US President Donald Trump, in a tweet hailing a "HUGE breakthrough" and a "Historic Peace Agreement between our two GREAT friends".

Establishing diplomatic ties between Israel and Washington's Middle East allies, including the oil-rich Gulf monarchies, has been central to Trump's regional strategy to contain Iran, also an arch-foe of Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a "historic day" and would launch a "new era" for the Arab world and Israel.

US President Donald Trump announced the agreement between the United 

Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize diplomatic ties

The Palestinians strongly rejected the deal, calling it a "betrayal" of their cause, including their claim to Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

They also announced they were withdrawing their ambassador from the Emirates, and demanded an emergency Arab League meeting.

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which runs the coastal Gaza Strip, quickly said the agreement "does not serve the Palestinian cause".

A joint statement by Trump, Netanyahu and UAE's leader Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan announced that they had "agreed to the full normalisation of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates".

It added that Israel would "suspend declaring sovereignty" over occupied Palestinian West Bank areas -- an idea proposed in Trump's controversial earlier plan to resolve the conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a "historic day" and 

represented a "new era" for the Arab world and Israel

Sheikh Mohamed quickly stressed in a tweet that "during a call with President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, an agreement was reached to stop further Israeli annexation of Palestinian territories".

But Netanyahu said shortly afterwards in a national television address that he had only agreed to delay, not cancel, the annexations, that the plans remained "on the table" and that he would "never give up our rights to our land".

The controversial Trump plan, unveiled in January, had offered a path for Israel to annex territory and Jewish West Bank settlements, communities considered illegal under international law.

The Palestinians rejected it outright as biased and untenable, as did Israel's Arab neighbours, and it sparked fears of further escalation in a tense region. 

Protestors confront Israeli forces as a structure serving as a home to a 

Palestinian family is demolished in the southern West Bank on August 11

'Things are happening'

Israel has had difficult relations and several wars with its Muslim and Arab neighbours since its founding in 1948, with most states ruling out relations until the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is resolved.

Thursday's deal would make the UAE only the third Arab country to establish formal diplomatic ties with Israel, after its peace deals with former enemies Egypt and Jordan.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, which signed a treaty with Israel in 1979 to opposition from across the Arab world, praised the deal on "the halt of Israel's annexation of Palestinian land," and said he hoped it would bring "peace".

The deal marks a major foreign policy achievement for Trump as he heads into a difficult campaign for re-election in November.

The city hall in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv is lit up in the colours of

the United Arab Emirates national flag

His presumptive Democratic challenger for the presidency Joe Biden welcomed the "historic" agreement and called the UAE's move a "badly-needed act of statesmanship".

Trump hinted to reporters that more diplomatic breakthroughs between Israel and Arab countries in the region were expected, but gave no further details.

"Things are happening that I can't talk about," he said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described it as "a historic day and a significant step forward for peace in the Middle East".

"The United States hopes that this brave step will be the first in a series of agreements that ends 72 years of hostilities in the region," Pompeo said, adding that the formal agreement would be signed at the White House at a future date.

Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world, and a symbol of the oil-rich UAE

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP the deal was "a milestone in Arab acceptance of Israel in the region".

It was also be "a brake on annexation, which would jeopardise Israel's peace with Jordan and Israel's own future as a Jewish, democratic state", he said. 

'Annexation trap'

Israeli and UAE delegations will meet in the coming weeks to discuss investment, tourism, direct flights, security and the establishment of embassies, they said.

The trio were confident of further similar deals with other countries, their statement added.

Israeli and UAE delegations will meet in the coming weeks to discuss investment,

tourism, direct flights, security and the establishment of reciprocal embassies

The UAE's minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash told a media briefing that "most countries will see this as a bold step to secure a two-state solution, allowing time for negotiations".

Hours after the deal was announced, the Emirati flag was projected onto Tel Aviv's town hall.

Aaron David Miller, a veteran US negotiator on the Middle East peace process and analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, called the deal a "win for all".

"(The) UAE says it's prevented annexation; US prevents annexation too and gets big breakthrough and Netanyahu gets enormous win and off hook from the annexation trap," he tweeted.

Pope Francis and other religious leaders at the Vatican. Photograph: AP

Related Articles:

Pope Francis Says He'd Love to Visit Indonesia

Pope and Welby joined by imams and rabbis for anti-slavery declaration

Pope, patriarch urge Christian unity at historic talks

Lebanon president hedges over eventual peace with Israel in interview - New

"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

" ..... Abraham, Father of the Jews

I want to honor Abraham [Abram], born in Ur, which is now part of modern Iraq, and I want to honor his sons, not all born of Sara. The one I wish to speak of is Ishmael. Abraham is Jewish... the great Jewish prophet. Ishmael is his son. There's no way that you could say Ishmael was not Jewish, and he is even to this day. Ishmael was born in Hebron. So in addition, he is very Israeli. Ishmael is a Jew.

Now some would argue, due to how the Jewish lineage is computed by men [mother's side]. But Spirit looks at the DNA and the Akashic lineage, so spiritually, Ishmael is a Jew. He came in to be part of the lineage of the Jews.

He fell from favor even with the Jewish people early on for political reasons. Then Ishmael went on to become that which is the ancestor of all Arabs... the father of Arabia. Therefore, you could say that the Arabs are with Jewish blood, that of Abraham flowing through them. But early on, the Jews cast Ishmael out. So although you have the one God and monotheism, and you have the principle of the love of God and the unity of God, there was a split. The truth was mixed with untruths and, even to this day, there would be a billion Human Beings who would say it was Ishmael and not Isaac who was almost sacrificed at the Temple Mount. They would also say that he is not a Jew.

So what is the truth here? Human Beings were not built to unify. In an older energy on the planet from those days, and even the days that you were born in, the energy laid upon you is for you to separate, not unify. And that is why we call it the old energy. Oh, they were wise men and women who knew better, but it is the old energy that separates and divides, and it is the old energy that has created the divisions of hatred within millions of those who are actually "all Jews."

Muhammad's Beautiful Message of Unity

Let me tell you about Muhammad, the prophet. Muhammad is of the lineage of Ishmael, who is of the lineage of Abraham. Therefore, Muhammad had Jewish blood, so that was his lineage but not necessarily his culture. But his Akashic lineage was from Abraham. [Abraham is the founder of Islam, according to the Quran.]

Muhammad had a beautiful meeting, more than one, with an angelic presence. The angels talked to humanity back then in basic 3D ways. But how many of you have put together that most of the angels in that time who spoke to Human Beings talked to those of Jewish lineage? Like Muhammad, like Moses, like Jesus, like Abraham. For this was part of a set-up of history, part of what makes the Jewish lineage important to the core Akash of humanity, and we have spoken before, "As go the Jews, go Earth." Indeed, there is something there to look at which is important, and it is going to change soon. For in our eyes, the "Jews" are all those in the Middle East.

Muhammad's information from the angel was this: "Unify the Arabs and give them the God of Israel." And he did! The information he had was beautiful and was written down later for his followers. It was all about the incredible love of God and the unity of man. Muhammad the prophet was a unifier, not a separatist.

Long before Muhammad, there came Jesus - Jesus the Jew. He became responsible for what you would call Christianity today. All of his disciples were Jewish. The Rock, Peter the fisherman, who started the Christian church, was Jewish. And we tell you these things to remind you that there's a unity here. Perhaps there is a reason, dear ones, why the 12 layers of DNA have Hebrew names? Indeed, it's in honor of the masters and the lineage, including that of Muhammad, of Ishmael, of Isaac, of Abraham and of Jesus. All of them, part of the original spiritual language [Hebrew].

"Oh," you might say, "there was Sumerian and before that there was Lemurian. There was Sanskrit and Tamil, and many other older languages." Correct, but we're speaking of a language of today - one that you can relate to, that has power, and that is spoken today by the pure lineage of the masters who walked the planet.

So what did humanity do with all this? What did they do with all this sacred information from these Jewish masters? They went to war, because Humans separate things. They don't put them together. So here we are with one beautiful God, creator of all there is, and millions who believe that very thing, yet they are going to war with each other over ideology about what God said, which prophet was best, and which group is in God's favor. That's ancient history, thousands of years old. But it shows exactly what the old energy is all about. ..."

Pentagon nixes Confederate flag at US military facilities

Yahoo - AFP, July 17, 2020

White supremacists often display the Confederate flag during demonstrations
 as they did at a neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017 -- it is
now effectively banned at US military installations (AFP Photo/ANDREW
CABALLERO-REYNOLDS)

Washington (AFP) - Pentagon chief Mark Esper on Friday effectively banned the display of the Confederate flag at all US military facilities, where the banner -- seen by many as racist -- is frequently displayed in barracks and common areas.

In a message to all US military officials, the Defense Department posted a list of flags authorized to be flown at bases and aboard war ships, in offices and conference halls, and in any spaces operated by the military.

Left off that list was the Confederate battle flag, a red banner with two diagonal blue stripes and 13 white stars symbolizing the southern slave-holding states that seceded from the union or supported the effort during the 1861-1865 American Civil War.

"The flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols," Esper wrote in a two-page memorandum.

The carefully worded statement did not specifically mention the Confederate flag, or the racial tensions that have simmered since the killing of unarmed African American George Floyd in police custody in late May.

It appeared crafted in a way to avoid open conflict with US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly waded into the debate over the Confederate flag to argue that people who fly it are exercising their freedom of speech.

Since the death of Floyd, the US military -- one of the most racially diverse American institutions -- has conducted a sweeping internal debate on racism.

For years, some soldiers have been fond of displaying Confederate flags in their barracks, claiming the freedom of expression enshrined in the US Constitution.

White southerners often fly the flag as a symbol of their southern heritage and pride, but for most African Americans, it is a potent symbol of slavery, racism and white supremacy.

Members of the Ku Klux Klan, a notorious white supremacist hate group, often flew the flag.

By effectively banning the flag, Esper is differentiating himself from Trump, who addressed the Confederate issue in a CBS interview this week.

"I know people that like the Confederate flag and they're not thinking about slavery," Trump told the network. "With me, it's freedom of speech, very simple."

Esper and General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have also spoken out in favor of renaming US military bases currently named for Confederate generals, an idea the president opposes.

Supreme Court orders Trump financial records released to NY prosecutors

Yahoo – AFP, July 9, 2020

The US Supreme Court issued two rulings in cases involving President Donald
Trump's financial records (AFP Photo/Mandel NGAN)

Washington (AFP) - The US Supreme Court ruled Thursday that President Donald Trump must hand over his tax returns to prosecutors in New York but temporarily blocked Congress from accessing his financial records.

The rulings were a setback for Trump's claim to absolute immunity from criminal investigation but may allow him at the same time to keep his finances private until after the November presidential election.

The court ruled 7-2 against Trump in a case brought by Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance, a Democrat who is seeking eight years of the president's financial records in connection with an alleged "hush money" payment made to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

Trump's attorneys had claimed the president was immune from criminal investigation -- a claim rejected by the court.

"Two hundred years ago, a great jurist of our Court established that no citizen, not even the President, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding," the court said. "We reaffirm that principle today."

The other case before the nation's highest court concerned a request by Democratic-led congressional committees for Trump's tax returns and financial records.

In a 7-2 ruling, the court sent the congressional case back to a lower court for further consideration, earning the president a reprieve of sorts.

Vance called the ruling "a tremendous victory for our nation's system of justice and its founding principle that no one -– not even a president -– is above the law.

"Our investigation, which was delayed for almost a year by this lawsuit, will resume, guided as always by the grand jury's solemn obligation to follow the law and the facts, wherever they may lead," Vance said.

Even if Trump's financial records are turned over to prosecutors by his accounting firm Mazars they may remain hidden from public view because of grand jury secrecy.

Trump fired off a string of furious tweets following the rulings.

"This is about PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT," he tweeted.

"This is all a political prosecution," Trump said. "Now I have to keep fighting in a politically corrupt New York. Not fair to this Presidency or Administration!"

Nancy Pelosi, Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, said she would continue to press for Trump's financial records to be handed over to Congress.

"The Congress will continue to conduct oversight For The People, upholding the separation of powers that is the genius of our Constitution," Pelosi said. "We will continue to press our case in the lower courts."

US Supreme Court rejects key challenge to abortion rights

Yahoo – AFP, Charlotte PLANTIVE, June 29, 2020

Anti-abortion activists demonstrate in front of the US Supreme Court on June 29,
2020 (AFP Photo/NICHOLAS KAMM)

Washington (AFP) - The US Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Louisiana law that tightly restricted access to abortion in the first constitutional test of abortion rights since President Donald Trump named two conservative justices to the top court.

In a key victory for abortion rights activists, the justices voted 5-4 to overrule a state law that requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

The Louisiana law "would drastically reduce the number and geographic distribution of abortion providers, making it impossible for many women to obtain a safe, legal abortion in the state," the ruling said.

Right-leaning Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the court's four progressives, frustrating abortion opponents who had hoped that Trump's appointments had tilted the high court firmly in their direction.

But Roberts gave them hope that a different challenge to abortion rights might succeed in the future in the conservative court.

He said his decision to join with the progressives in the case, June Medical Services v Russo, was strictly on institutional grounds, and not because he believed the Louisiana law was unconstitutional.

Instead, Roberts said that he was not prepared to reverse the precedent set by the court's 2016 decision -- made before Trump's justices arrived -- rejecting an identical Texas law.

Roberts said he continues to believe that the Texas case was wrongly decided.

However, he said, "The legal doctrine of stare decisis requires us, absent special circumstances, to treat like cases alike."

An anti-abortion activist reads to others the US Supreme Court's decision on a 

Louisiana law restricting abortion in Washington, DC, on June 29, 2020 (AFP 

Photo/NICHOLAS KAMM)

'Unelected justices'

The White House sharply criticized the decision, saying "unelected justices" intruded on the powers individual states have to set policies.

"In an unfortunate ruling today, the Supreme Court devalued both the health of mothers and the lives of unborn children," said a statement from spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany.

"States have legitimate interests in regulating any medical procedure -- including abortions -- to protect patient safety," McEnany said.

Supporters of the Louisiana and previous Texas laws had argued that clinics providing abortion services had substandard health and safety practices, an argument pro-abortion groups said was false.

Both sides saw the Louisiana case as a test of the court's view of abortion as a constitutional right.

Abortion foes have in their sights the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade case, in which the Supreme Court legalized a woman's right to an abortion.

Robert's view of the actual Louisiana law, along with the four other conservative justices who opposed the decision, suggests that the court has a potentially decisive five votes supporting other restrictions on abortion.

Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said they were relieved that the court blocked the Louisiana law.

"With this win, the clinics in Louisiana can stay open to serve the one million women of reproductive age in the state," she said in a statement.

"But we're concerned about tomorrow," she said. "Unfortunately, the court's ruling today will not stop those hell-bent on banning abortion."

US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has been a key vote in several
recent decisions that went against the White House (AFP Photo/Mandel NGAN)

Court frustrates Trump

The decision Monday kept the focus of both sides of the political spectrum on Roberts, who has been the key vote in several decisions that have frustrated conservatives and the Trump administration.

A centerpiece of Trump's promises to his supporters was to turn the court rightward with the appointments of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the bench.

Yet earlier this month the court expanded equal protection rights to gay and transgender people, and sustained protections for certain undocumented immigrants that Trump had sought to end.

In the immigration case, Roberts also joined the four liberals in a 5-4 decision against the administration.

In the equal rights case, both Roberts and Gorsuch sided with their progressive colleagues, stunning conservatives who did not anticipate that a Trump appointee would support gay and transgender rights.

US top court rules civil rights law protects LGBT workers

Yahoo – AFP, June 15, 2020

US Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch in February 2019 shaking hands with
US President Donald Trump: Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion banning
employers from firing LGBT employees on the basis of their sexual orientation
(AFP Photo/MANDEL NGAN)

Washington (AFP) - The US Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal protections against workplace discrimination apply equally to sexual orientation, contrary to the position taken by the administration of President Donald Trump.

The landmark decision said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlaws discrimination against employees because of a person's sex, also covers sexual orientation and transgender status.

"Today we must decide whether someone can be fired simply for being homosexual or transgender," the court said. "The answer is clear."

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights (LGBT) activists, as well as Democratic politicians and several major businesses had been demanding that the court spell out that the community was protected by the law.

"This is a huge victory for LGBTQ equality," said James Esseks, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBTQ & HIV Project.

"The court has caught up to the majority of our country, which already knows that discriminating against LGBTQ people is both unfair and against the law," he said in a statement.

Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic governor of New York state, concurred on Twitter."This #SCOTUS decision is a major victory for #LGBTQ rights," he said

"No one should be discriminated against based on their sexual orientation or gender identity," he added.

In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage to be legal, a landmark victory for the LGBTQ community.

But rights activists feared that the appointment by Trump of two new conservative judges to the top court could hinder further wins for their cause.

Yet it was one of them, Neil Gorsuch, who wrote the majority decision, joining with the court's four progressive judges and Chief Justice John Roberts.

"An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids," Gorsuch wrote.

The ruling was a blow for the Trump administration, which had effectively thrown in its lot with employers.

"Sex refers to whether you were born woman or man, not your sexual orientation or gender identity," argued Solicitor General Noel Francisco, representing the government's position before the court. He said it is the job of Congress to update the law, not the justice system.

That position was echoed by Brett Kavanaugh, the other conservative judge appointed by Trump.

Despite his opposition, Kavanaugh wrote in his own separate dissent that the decision still represented an "important victory achieved today by gay and lesbian Americans."

Donna Stephens, the wife of transgender plaintiff Aimee Stephens who died last month, hailed her late partner's struggle for justice after being sacked by a Detroit funeral parlor when she came out.

"For the last seven years of Aimes's life, she rose as a leader who fought against discrimination against transgender people, starting when she was fired for coming out as a woman, despite her recent promotion at the time.

"I am grateful for this victory to honor the legacy of Aimee, and to ensure people are treated fairly regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity," she said in a statement after the court pronounced its ruling.

Trump urges China, Russia, US arms control in Putin call: W.House

Yahoo – AFP, May 7, 2020

US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin discussed arms control
issues in a phone call (AFP Photo/JIM WATSON, EMMANUEL DUNAND)

US President Donald Trump called Thursday for involving China in new arms control talks with Russia, telling his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that they need to avoid a "costly arms race," the White House said.

"President Trump reaffirmed that the United States is committed to effective arms control that includes not only Russia, but also China, and looks forward to future discussions to avoid a costly arms race," a statement said.

Trump and Putin spoke by phone, also discussing the global coronavirus pandemic, the White House said.

"President Trump reiterated that the United States is working hard to care for Americans at home and is also ready to provide assistance to any country in need, including Russia," the statement said.

Russia and the United States -- rivals during the four decades of the Cold War -- ripped up the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty this year, blaming one another for its demise.

That deal was seen as a cornerstone of global security and its burial sparked fears of a new arms race.

Washington is threatening to quit the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or "New START", when it expires next year.

New START -- which obliged them to halve the number of missile launchers and set up a new verification regime -- is seen as the last major deal keeping their arsenals below the Cold War peak.

However, Trump has been pushing for China to be brought into a future deal, arguing that Beijing's missile and nuclear capability is rapidly expanding.

Obama endorses Biden for president to 'heal' America

Yahoo – AFP, Michael Mathes, April 14, 2020

Former US president Barack Obama endorsed his vice president Joe Biden's
2020 White House bid (AFP Photo/MANDEL NGAN)

Washington (AFP) - Barack Obama endorsed Joe Biden's White House bid on Tuesday, saying his longtime vice president can unify and "heal" a nation struggling through some of its darkest moments.

The formal backing by perhaps the most popular politician in America is the latest boost for Biden's surging candidacy, and a further sign that Democratic leaders are rallying around the party flagbearer more than six months before November's election.

"Joe has the character and the experience to guide us through one of our darkest times and heal us through a long recovery," Obama said in a 12-minute video.

"I believe Joe has all the qualities we need in a president right now."

The cherished endorsement comes at a time of deep national anxiety, with the vast majority of Americans under stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 25,000 people in the United States.

With President Donald Trump's handling of the outbreak under the spotlight, Obama signalled he believed Biden -- with four decades of government experience -- would be a far more capable manager of the US response.

"Joe helped me manage H1N1 (influenza) and prevent the Ebola epidemic from becoming the type of pandemic we're seeing now," Obama said.

Biden, 77, promptly expressed his thanks in a tweet.

"Barack -- This endorsement means the world to Jill and me," the Democratic stalwart said.

"We're going to build on the progress we made together, and there's no one I'd rather have standing by my side."

Biden is the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee to challenge Trump, after his lone remaining opponent Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race last week.

The leftist US senator from Vermont endorsed his ex-rival Monday, saying it was time for Americans to "come together" behind Biden.

Two-term president Obama also praised Sanders as a progressive champion whose energy and enthusiasm inspired young voters by the millions.

And he said it was time for those progressive supporters to help defeat the Republican incumbent.

"Right now, we need Americans of goodwill to unite in a great awakening against a politics that too often has been characterized by corruption, carelessness, self-dealing, disinformation, ignorance, and just plain meanness," Obama said.

"To change that, we need Americans of all political stripes to get involved in our politics and our public life like never before."

Special bond

Obama's endorsement comes as the coronavirus has frozen traditional campaigning.

Typically, such high-profile support would be followed by Obama's appearance at a major Biden rally, generating substantial national coverage and prompting a deluge of campaign donations.

But it remains unclear when, if at all, on-the-ground campaigning will resume.

Obama forged a special bond with Biden during the eight years the former Delaware senator served as his wingman, awarding him the presidential medal of freedom in January 2017.

But thus far in the 2020 race the nation's first African-American leader had largely flown under the political radar.

Despite his silence he was given a starring role in campaign advertisements by Biden, Sanders and other candidates as they scrambled for advantage ahead of key primaries, such as those on Super Tuesday on March 3.

At campaign events and debates Biden made sure to show he is running as Obama's heir, routinely highlighting the partnership with his former boss.

But Biden, after sitting out 2016 to mourn the loss of his son Beau to cancer, had made clear from the start he would run on his terms.

"I asked president Obama not to endorse," Biden said last April 25, the day he launched his candidacy. "Whoever wins this nomination should win it on their own merits."

Obama's endorsement comes relatively early in the race compared to 2016.

That year he waited until June 8 to endorse Hillary Clinton, who had clinched the Democratic nomination against Sanders two days earlier.

David Axelrod, chief strategist of Obama's 2008 campaign, said Obama had committed to all 2020 Democratic candidates to not put his finger on the scale until the nomination was decided.

"He wanted to be a unifying figure for the Democratic Party, and he didn't feel he could do that if he intervened too soon," Axelrod told CNN Tuesday.

"Now that the outcome is determined, he is clearly going to plunge into this."

White House, Senate agree on $2 trillion coronavirus rescue plan

Yahoo – AFP, Michael Mathes, March 25, 2020

The measure will put cash directly into the hands of Americans hard hit by the
crisis (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

Washington (AFP) - The White House and Senate have reached agreement on a $2 trillion stimulus package for the US economy and millions of Americans ravaged by the coronavirus crisis, top lawmakers said early Wednesday.

"At last, we have a deal," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, hailing the massive "wartime level of investment into our nation" reached after five days of arduous and tense negotiations.

"We have a bipartisan agreement on the largest rescue package in American history," top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said shortly after McConnell spoke.

"So many people are being put out of work through no fault of their own. They don't know what their future is going to be like, how are they going to pay the bills," Schumer added.

"Well, we come to their rescue."

The Senate and House of Representatives still need to pass the legislation before sending it to President Donald Trump for his signature.

McConnell said the Senate will vote on the measure later Wednesday.

The deal aims to buttress the teetering economy by giving roughly $2 trillion to health facilities, businesses and ordinary Americans buckling under the strain of the coronavirus pandemic.

It will put cash directly into the hands of Americans hard hit by the crisis, provide grants to small businesses and hundreds of billions of dollars in loans for larger corporations including airlines.

The pandemic has infected 55,000 and killed nearly 800 in the US (AFP Photo/

SETH HERALD)

It also proposes the injection of around $130 billion into what Schumer calls "a Marshall Plan for hospitals" and health care infrastructure, referring to the huge American aid program to rebuild Europe after World War II.

With infection numbers rising from coast to coast, hospitals have been in dire need of equipment like protective gear, intensive care beds and ventilators.

Asian equities soared Wednesday on the news, with Tokyo's Nikkei closing up eight percent and oil prices also climbing.

US stocks had already surged Tuesday on expectations of an agreement.

McConnell and Schumer negotiated the deal with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and other White House officials after days of bitter partisan fighting over what to put into the final package.

Mnuchin had shuttled between the Capitol offices of the Senate's leaders as they and staffers hammered out the language of the bill.

The agreement followed multiple failed attempts to advance a Republican-led proposal, and pressure had soared to swiftly reach a compromise.

President Donald Trump called for an immediate resolution to the stalemate.

"Congress must approve the deal, without all of the nonsense, today," he said Tuesday on Twitter.

"The longer it takes, the harder it will be to start up our economy. Our workers will be hurt!"

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hailed the massive 'wartime level of 

investment into our nation' (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)

'Stop negotiating'

Democrats rejected the original package, arguing that it put corporations ahead of workers, including health professionals on the front lines of the battle against a pandemic that has infected 55,000 and killed nearly 800 in the US alone.

As the hours ticked away Tuesday, several lawmakers voiced their anxiety.

"Pass the damn bill. Stop negotiating. Enough is enough," a visibly angry Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on the floor, after accusing Democrats of "nickeling and diming at a time people are dying."

Any relief package that passes the Senate will need to clear the Democratic-led House too before going to Trump.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a more generous, roughly $2.5 trillion counterproposal that included ambitious elements like guaranteed paid and family medical leave, student loan forgiveness and oversight of the $500 billion earmarked for corporations.

But she signaled the House may simply take up the Senate bill and try to pass it.

"Much of what we have in our bill is reflected in this supposed agreement," Pelosi said.

According to Schumer, the compromise legislation includes an oversight mechanism for the company loans, and will guarantee that laid-off workers "on average, will receive their full pay for four months."

Pelosi suggested the measure might even pass the House by unanimous consent.

But getting 435 lawmakers to swallow a gargantuan rescue package without debate could be an uphill proposition in a sharply divided chamber.

Congressman Justin Amash, a former Republican who left the party after feuding with Trump, slammed the agreement, tweeting that it gave "far too little for those who need the most help, while providing hundreds of billions in corporate welfare."