A majority of Americans want Joe Biden to take a tougher stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a new poll by The Associated Press and NORC Public Affairs Research.

Released on Thursday, the results show that 56% of respondents believe the president’s response to Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine was not tough enough, while only 36% think it was somewhat almost correct, and 6% said it was too hard.

As the war in Ukraine entered its second month on Thursday, President Joe Biden pledged more humanitarian aid and new sanctions.

Mr Biden said the United States would provide an additional $1 billion in food, medicine, water and other supplies, on top of recently signed spending of more than $4 billion in humanitarian aid and $1.4 billion for the refugee crisis.

Mr. Biden also announced his intention to take in up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.

However, the efforts fall short of the robust military assistance demanded by Volodymyr Zelensky during his live video meeting with Congress.

A man who pleaded guilty to participating in a plot to kidnap Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has told court his alleged co-conspirators were seeking to ‘start’ a civil war and disrupt the election presidential election of 2020 before being the target of a superb sting by the FBI.

Star witness Ty Garbin, who described building a mock set of the Governor’s house to practice how they planned to break in, said the group ‘wanted to cause as much disruption as possible to prevent Joe Biden from taking office.”

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week fell to its lowest level in 52 years as the US labor market continues to show strength amid rising costs and the ongoing virus pandemic .

Unemployment claims fell 28,000 to 187,000 for the week ending March 19, the lowest since September 1969, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The first applications for unemployment assistance generally follow the rhythm of layoffs.

The White House released a statement from President Joe Biden regarding today’s encouraging unemployment insurance claims.

Americans are getting back to work at a historic rate, with fewer Americans receiving unemployment insurance today than at any time in the past half-century. This morning we learned that the number of Americans receiving unemployment insurance had fallen to its lowest level since 1970 and that the number of Americans filing new claims had fallen to its lowest one-week level since 1969.

This historic progress is no accident: it is the result of an economic strategy aimed at growing the economy from the bottom and from the middle, starting with the American Rescue Plan. And it was the result of effective management of pandemic emergency resources that resulted in 75% of American adults being vaccinated and 99% of schools reopening.

We still have work to do to reduce costs for families, but today’s data reminds us that the US economy is uniquely positioned to face the global challenge of inflation. We will continue the fight to cut costs with every tool at our disposal, whether it’s doing more here in America and rebuilding our supply chains, cutting costs that have held Americans back for decades, to promote competition to ensure that markets can operate efficiently and that consumers are protected.

A senior administration official confirmed that he had reported by The New York Times that the White House has established a team of national security officials to plan what will happen if Russia uses chemical, biological or tactical nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine.

The United States and its allies fear the Kremlin might resort to such a move as its invasion grapples with Ukrainian resistance and Moscow’s own troubles. The Biden administration has warned of such a possibility since the early days of the war — perhaps as a false flag operation.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan sent a memo on February 28 detailing how the “Tiger Team” would review what might happen over the next three months of conflict, reports NBC News, according to a senior administrative official.

The team studies scenarios such as: Russia using chemical, biological or nuclear weapons; Russia targeting Allied convoys carrying weapons to Ukraine; the implications of a disruption in the global food supply; and the growing refugee crisis as millions of Ukrainians flee the country, the official said.

Sullivan’s memo also established a second “strategic group” to look at major, longer-term geopolitical changes that were triggered by the invasion.

The use of such lethal weapons of mass destruction would greatly aggravate the conflict. Russia has already increasingly attacked civilians.

Given the possibility that the impact of these types of weapons could spill over into NATO countries, the alliance should consider whether it would react.

A committee Democrat on Thursday asked the Alabama attorney general, a staunch supporter of the former president’s lies about the 2020 election, if Mr Biden was the “duly elected” president; Republican official Steve Marshall repeatedly dodged his questions until the senator moved on.

Reporting by John Bowden of Washington, DC.

Today the European Council was joined by US President Joseph R Biden, Jr. The leaders discussed the coordinated and united response of the European Union and the United States to the unprovoked and unjustified military aggression of Russia in Ukraine. They reviewed their ongoing efforts to impose economic costs on Russia and Belarus, as well as their willingness to adopt additional measures and end any attempts to circumvent sanctions.

The leaders discussed the urgent needs caused by Russia’s aggression, pledged to continue to provide humanitarian assistance, including to neighboring countries hosting refugees, and stressed the need for Russia to ensure humanitarian access people affected by violence or fleeing violence.

Leaders welcomed the initiation of international investigations, including by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and ongoing efforts to gather evidence of atrocities.

In addition, the leaders discussed EU-US cooperation to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels, accelerate the transition to clean energy, as well as the need to meet changing food security needs in the world.

Leaders also agreed on the importance of strengthening democratic resilience in Ukraine, Moldova and the wider Eastern Partnership region.

Finally, leaders underlined the importance of strengthening transatlantic security and defence, including through strong cooperation between NATO and the EU, as described in the EU strategic compass.