| Full-court press | The White House is targeting more than a dozen key states to drum up public support for Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion pandemic-relief bill and solidify Democratic votes in a closely divided Senate to ensure its passage. The president is heading to Texas tomorrow while he and lieutenants have been pitching the giant bill to mayors and governors, along with workers and the business community. - Biden revoked more executive orders and memos issued by former President Donald Trump, affecting policies on issues such as financial regulation, immigration and architecture.
- Should Biden's controversial pick for budget director, Neera Tanden, fail to win Senate approval, his administration will find another post for her.
Left in limbo | The U.K. government has offered hundreds of thousands of people in Hong Kong a potential pathway to citizenship as China clamps down on the Asian financial hub. But, as Kitty Donaldson and Alberto Nardelli report, the program is unlikely to help those who most need it, including students and other activists involved in pro-democracy protests in 2019. - Read how the U.K. is squaring off with China over Hong Kong.
Extending support | Facebook widened a ban on pages linked to Myanmar's military and barred advertising from affiliated commercial entities, stepping up its actions in the aftermath of the Feb. 1 coup. Treating the situation as an emergency, Facebook has mobilized Myanmar nationals with native-language skills to help moderate content, put more protections in place for journalists and curbed the reach of military spokespeople and misinformation. - Thousands of striking truck drivers protesting the coup have slowed the delivery of imports, trapping cargo containers at ports.
 Balancing act | Biden's nominee for trade chief, Katherine Tai, pledged to work with allies to take on China while also signaling a pragmatic approach, calling Beijing both a rival and partner whose cooperation is needed on some global challenges. China in turn dismissed efforts to shift U.S. supply chains toward alternative sources as unrealistic, hours after Biden signed an order to review how America buys strategic goods. - China denied ever asking U.S. diplomats to take anal swab tests for Covid-19 following a report that said Beijing admitted to the practice.
- President Xi Jinping led a ceremony highlighting efforts to end extreme poverty, his latest push to use the achievement to consolidate power before his second term ends.
On-the-job training | Like his predecessor as boss of Brazil's state-controlled oil giant Petrobras, Joaquim Silva e Luna never worked in the industry before being nominated for the job. A career military man who cut his teeth building highways in the Amazon, critics say his greatest qualification for the job is his respect for hierarchy and discipline — important traits in the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro, a former Army officer himself. - After crude prices hit an 18-year low during the pandemic, there are increasing hints they could again top $100 a barrel by the end of next year, Ben Sharples reports.
 What to Watch - Armenia's military demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who called the statement the start of an attempted coup and appealed to his allies to gather in the capital's main square to show support.
- India joined the global regulatory push to curb the power of Silicon Valley giants, with measures that will require Facebook and Twitter to take down unlawful content and stricter rules for the likes of Netflix.
- South Africa has found about 4,000 cases of coronavirus re-infection that are probably due to the new variant.
- Russia proposes a synchronized approach to help Iran and the U.S. break their deadlock and resurrect the 2015 nuclear deal, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview.
And finally ... A stadium in India where Trump basked in adulation before a crowd of more than 100,000 has been renamed after the former president's host: Narendra Modi. Putting the prime minister's name on the world's biggest cricket arena — just before his country faces off against England — is a rare example of rebranding a public venue after an Indian leader who's both alive and in power, prompting critics to warn it may signal the country is slipping toward authoritarianism.  Then-First Lady Melania Trump with Trump as Modi speaks at the Motra stadium on Feb. 24, 2020. Photographer: T. Narayan/Bloomberg | 
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