Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced Monday he plans to offer an amendment to the COVID relief bill this week that aims to see the minimum wage raised to $15 an hour.

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WHO DG Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaking at a press conference says that the number of reported new cases of COVID-19 increased last week for the first time in seven weeks. Says the rise is 'disappointing but not surprising'.

• Link: https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1RDGlPZogpVGL
• Says it is 'regrettable' that some [developed] countries are prioritising low-risk groups domestically rather than sending vaccines to poorer countries with widespread COVID-19 outbreaks.

The new Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Nigerian former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala delivered her first remarks in office earlier today to the WTO's General Council.

• "I have said it. It cannot be business as usual. We have to change our approach from debate and rounds of questions to delivering results [...] we are not delivering results at the pace required by our fast-changing environment. [...] We have to be more accountable to the people we came here to serve — the ordinary women and men"
• "Several Trade Ministers said to me that if things don't change, they will no longer attend the Ministerial [meeting] because it is a waste of their time. I have noticed that more and more of the work and decision making that should be undertaken at the WTO is being done elsewhere because there is an increasing loss of confidence in the ability of the WTO to produce results. But there is hope. If we all accept that we can no longer do business as usual, that will help us create the parameters for success."
• Full remarks can be found here: https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/spno_e/spno1_e....

Latest YouGov opinion poll shows that a narrow majority of respondents approved of President Joe Biden's authorisation of air strikes on Iranian-backed militias in Syria last week in retaliation for rocket attacks on a Coalition airbase in Iraq.

• YouGov: APPROVE- US adults - 51%, Democrats - 60%,Republicans - 48%
• DISAPPROVE - US adults - 26%, Democrats - 20%, Republicans - 32%
• Fieldwork 26 Feb-1 Mar, 15,881 respondents.
• There was pushback against Biden's actions from some members of Congress, both Democrat and Republican, who objected to the lack of consultation with the legislature on behalf of the administration. However, polling indicates that a sizeable proportion of the US population - whether Democrat, Republican, or independents, favour the actions taken by the president.

Source: YouGov