Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat of Virginia, has revealed he was still experiencing lingering Covid-19 symptoms one year after he contracted the virus.

This revelation about the 63-year-old senator’s health came during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing, also attended Dr Anthony Fauci and CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky, on Thursday.

“I have these weird, neurological symptoms one year later,” Mr Kaine said during the hearing. “They’re not debilitating, they’re not painful, but they’re weird and they’re 24/7.”

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been accused of sexual harassment by another woman – this time an aide who currently works in his office, The New York Times reports. 

Alyssa McGrath, 33, claimed Mr Cuomo previously ogled her body, remarked on her looks, and made suggestive comments about her and another female aide in the office, according to the newspaper.

This made Ms McGrath the first woman to speak against the governor as a current employee, as she currently works in Mr Cuomo’s office. 

Four men described as leaders of the far-right Proud Boys group have been charged over their alleged involvement in the Capitol riots.

An indictment which was made public on Friday provided fresh evidence of how officials believe Proud Boys members planned and carried out a coordinated attack to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory. 

So far, at least 19 leaders, members or associates of the neo-fascist Proud Boys have been charged in federal court with offenses related to the 6 January riots.

The latest indictment suggests the Proud Boys deployed a much larger contingent in Washington, with over 60 users “participating in” an encrypted messaging channel for group members that was created a day before the riots. 

Joe Biden “will be good for the relationship” between China and the United States, even though both sides might have “started a little on frosty side”, former US Secretary of Defence William Cohen told a Beijing forum.

Speaking via video link to the China Development Forum, Cohen, who has known Mr Biden since 1972, said US engagement with China will be more professional, diplomatic and civil under Mr Biden, as compared to the name-calling during the Donald Trump era.

US and Chinese officials finished two days of contentious talks in Alaska on Friday after trading insults over vastly different views of each other during their first face-to-face meeting since Joe Biden took office. 

The US accused the Chinese delegation of “grandstanding” while Beijing said there was a “strong smell of gunpowder and drama” that was the fault of the Americans. 

“We got a defensive response,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after the meetings concluded. 

“We wanted to share with them the significant concerns that we have about a number of the actions that China has taken, and behaviors exhibiting concerns, shared by our allies and partners,” he said. “And we did that. We also wanted to lay out very clearly, our own policies, priorities, and worldview. And we did that too.” 

In separate comments, Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi said dialogue was the only way to resolve differences. But he also made clear that Beijing had no intention of backing down. 

“China is going to safeguard our national sovereignty, security and our interests to develop China,” he said. “It is an irreversible trend.

“We hope the United States is not going to underestimate China‘s determination to defend its territory, safeguard its people and defend its righteous interests.”

The mood is so bad at the US Capitol that a Democratic congressman recently let an elevator pass him by rather than ride with Republican colleagues who voted against certifying Joe Biden’s election. 

Not yet 100 days into the new Congress, the legislative branch has become an increasingly toxic and unsettled place, with lawmakers frustrated by the work-from-home limits imposed by the virus and suspicious of each other after the riot over Trump’s presidency.

Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club has been partially closed because of a Covid outbreak. That’s according to several people familiar with the situation, including a club member who received a phone call about the closure Friday.

A receptionist at the Palm Beach estate confirmed the news, saying it was closed until further notice, but declined to comment further.

Donald Trump Jr, son of the former president, has posted a mock video to his Twitter feed making fun of Joe Biden’s Air Force One tumble.

The clip intersperses footage of Donald Trump playing golf with pretend golf balls knocking Mr Biden over as he climbed the steps to the presidential plane.

Mr Trump Jr captioned the post: “It wasn’t the wind folks,” in reference to comments from White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who said it had been “pretty windy outside”.

As he boarded Air Force One on Friday morning, Mr Biden, who was wearing a mask, stumbled several times up the stairs to the aircraft, before saluting the military officer who greeted him on the tarmac. Ms Jean-Pierre said Mr Biden was “doing 100 per cent fine”.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris denounced the scourge of racism at times hidden “in plain sight” as they visited Atlanta on Friday after a shooting there left eight people dead, most of them Asian American women. 

Addressing the nation after a roughly 80-minute meeting with Asian American state legislators and other leaders, Mr Biden said it was “heart-wrenching” to listen to their stories of the fear amid what he called a “skyrocketing spike” of harassment and violence. 

“We have to change our hearts,” he said. “Hate can have no safe harbor in America.”  Mr Biden called on all Americans to stand up to bigotry when they see it, adding: “Our silence is complicity. We cannot be complicit.” 

Ms Harris, the first person of South Asian descent to hold national office, said: “Racism is real in America. And it has always been. Xenophobia is real in America, and always has been. Sexism, too.

“The president and I will not be silent. We will not stand by. We will always speak out against violence, hate crimes and discrimination, wherever and whenever it occurs.” 

Hello and welcome to The Independent’s rolling coverage of events from the US, where Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Friday visited Atlanta after a mass shooting left eight dead – mostly Asian American women.