The Biden administration announced Tuesday that the U.S. is restoring relations with the Palestinians and will resume supporting assistance programs that deliver humanitarian aid to refugees, a reversal from former President Donald Trump's policies.

Acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Mills said the new policy is "the best way to ensure Israel's future as a democratic and Jewish state while upholding the Palestinians' legitimate aspirations for a state of their own and to live with dignity and security."

During the Trump administration, the U.S. stopped making contributions to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which provides education, health care, and aid to Palestinian refugees; shuttered the Washington office of the Palestinian Liberation Organization; and submitted a peace proposal leaving Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which was rejected by the Palestinians.

Mills said under the Biden administration, "the policy of the United States will be to support a mutually agreed two-state solution, one in which Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state." Both sides are being urged to "avoid unilateral steps that make a two-state solution more difficult, such as annexation of territory, settlement activity, demolitions, incitement to violence, and providing compensation for individuals in prison for acts of terrorism," Mills added.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said now is "the time to heal and repair the damage left by the previous U.S. administration. We look forward to the reversal of the unlawful and hostile measures undertaken by the Trump administration and to working together for peace." Catherine Garcia

Federico Klein, a former State Department aide who worked on former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, was arrested Thursday on charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the FBI announced Thursday night.

This is the first known instance of a Trump appointee facing prosecution in connection with the attack, Politico reports. An FBI Washington Field Office spokeswoman told Politico that Klein, 42, was taken into custody in Virginia, but did not release any information on the charges against him.

Federal Election Commission records show Klein worked as a tech analyst for the 2016 Trump campaign, Politico says, and after the election he was hired at the State Department. A federal directory from last summer lists Klein as a special assistant in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, making him a "Schedule C" political appointee, Politico reports.

On Jan. 6, a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying President Biden's victory. Klein's mother, Cecilia, told Politico on Thursday night that he told her he was in Washington, D.C., on the day of the riot, and "as far as I know, he was on the Mall." She is a retired economist and trade official, and told Politico because of their different views, she rarely spoke about Trump or politics with her son. "Fred's politics burn a little hot," she said. "But I've never known him to violate the law." Catherine Garcia

Richard Barnett, the Arkansas man who posed for pictures in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, complained on Thursday that it is "not fair" he is still in jail while "everybody else who did things much worse are already home."

Barnett was arrested in January on federal charges of entering and remaining on restricted grounds, violent entry, and theft of public property, and has entered a plea of not guilty. On Thursday, he attended a virtual hearing before U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who announced Barnett would remain in jail until his next court date in May. That's when Barnett erupted, yelling this was "not fair" and adding, "I've been here for a month, they're going to set it for another month, and everybody else is getting out."

Barnett's attorney, Joseph D. McBride, told NBC News his client's "frustration stems from the fact that he is incarcerated pre-trial, despite lacking any criminal history, being gainfully employed, respected in his community, and in a stable relationship for over 20 years. Normally, facts like these are more than enough for an individual to fight their case from the outside." McBride also said because of the pandemic, he is restricted in how he can meet with Barnett, and wasn't able to clearly explain the court proceedings.

On the day of the riot, Barnett was photographed with his feet on Pelosi's desk and holding up an envelope with her name on it. During an interview with New York Times reporter Matthew Rosenberg, Barnett said he wrote Pelosi "a nasty note" and took one of her envelopes, but didn't steal it because he left behind a quarter on her desk. Catherine Garcia

The United States has picked up the vaccination pace, and for the first time on Wednesday, the average number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per day surpassed 2 million, The New York Times reports. 


The average a month ago was roughly 1.3 million per day. After his inauguration, President Biden said his goal was for the U.S. to administer at least 1.5 million doses every day, in order to surpass 100 million vaccines by his 100th day in office.

There are three COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use in the U.S., and as of Thursday, 54 million Americans have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. On Tuesday, Biden said every adult in the United States who wants a vaccine will be able to get one by the end of May. Catherine Garcia

While Texas and Mississippi are lifting their mask mandates, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) announced on Thursday she is extending her state's mask order for another month.

On Wednesday, President Biden slammed Ivey's fellow Republican governors, Texas' Greg Abbott and Mississippi's Tate Reeves, for ending mask requirements and fully reopening businesses, saying they were showing "Neanderthal thinking." He called on leaders to listen to public health experts, and Ivey said that's what she's doing, extending the mask order that was set to expire on Friday.

"We need to get past Easter and hopefully allow more Alabamians to get their first shot before we take a step some other states have taken to remove the mask order altogether and lift other restrictions," Ivey said. "Folks, we are not there yet, but goodness knows we're getting closer."

The mask order will now expire on April 9, and Ivey said after that, people will have to be responsible for wearing them without a mandate. Face coverings, Ivey said, are "one of our greatest tools" in preventing the spread of coronavirus, and when the order is lifted she will "continue to wear my mask when I'm around others and strongly urge my fellow citizens to use common sense and do the same."

Public health experts have warned of the dangers associated with reopening states too soon, before more people are vaccinated and as highly-transmissible variants spread, saying it could erase gains made against the virus. Alabama is home to 4.9 million people, with just 13 percent of the population having received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Don Williamson, head of the Alabama Hospital Association, told The Associated Press that if 1.75 million doses are delivered by early April, that would be "a terrific place to be." Catherine Garcia

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is under close scrutiny following multiple sexual harassment allegations and revelations of withheld COVID-19 data, but most voters haven't fully turned against him.

In a Quinnipiac poll released Thursday, voters gave Cuomo a split 45-46 percent approval rating, down almost 30 points since his nearly-peak approval at the height of the pandemic in New York last year. Even though his overall approval has plummeted, voters don't necessarily think he should resign.

Cuomo has faced some calls to step down after three women accused him of sexual harassment, including two former aides. The governor apologized on Wednesday, but said he "never touched anyone inappropriately" and said he would not resign. Quinnipiac found that 40 percent of New York voters believe he should resign, while 55 percent say he should not. Perhaps surprisingly, just 21 percent of Democrats say Cuomo should step down, and 74 percent say he should stay.

Even so, while voters aren't united in saying Cuomo should leave office immediately, there's more consensus that he shouldn't run again. A full 59 percent said he should not run for re-election in 2022, and 36 percent said he should. Democrats were more split on the question, with 50 percent saying he should run again, and 44 percent disagreeing.

There's more bad news for Cuomo on the coronavirus front, seeing as 56 percent of those polled approve of his handling of the pandemic, down from 81 percent who approved last May. That could be related to Cuomo's office reportedly acknowledging they withheld data on COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes across the state, undercounting by as much as 50 percent. While 75 percent say his handling of the issue was wrong, 51 percent say he did something "unethical, but not illegal."

Quinnipiac surveyed 935 registered voters in New York from March 2-3. The margin of error is 3.2 percentage points. See more results here. Summer Meza

Former President Donald Trump may have been permanently booted from Twitter, but YouTube will let him have his account back — just not yet quite yet.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said at an event Thursday that the former president, who was suspended from YouTube in January, will be allowed to use his account again once there's no longer an "elevated risk of violence" in the United States.

"We will lift the suspension of the Donald Trump channel when we determine the risk of violence has decreased," Wojcicki said, Politico reports.

YouTube suspended Trump's account in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, saying he violated the platform's "policies for inciting violence." The suspension was initially said to be for at least a week, but it was later extended.

The video platform never said Trump's suspension would be permanent, though, contrasting with Twitter, which booted Trump from the platform forever due to his actions surrounding the riot. Trump was also suspended from Facebook, a decision that's being reviewed by the platform's independent oversight board and could potentially be overturned.

Wojcicki didn't offer a specific timeline for when Trump's account could come back online but she said that, after Capitol Police warned of a potential plot to breach the Capitol building on Thursday, it's "pretty clear" that the "elevated violence risk still remains." Brendan Morrow