In addition to the "100 Days Masking Challenge" for the federal government, Biden signed an order making it the official policy of the US government to "advance racial equity." This will reportedly abolish Trump's '1776 Commission' for patriotic education, which his new domestic policy adviser Susan Rice called "harmful," and have all government agencies review their programs and action to ensure federal funds are "equitably distributed in communities of color."

Trump withdrew the US from the climate pact on his first day in office in 2017. Biden's order would see the US rejoin within 30 days, with former secretary of state John Kerry now acting as "climate czar" in charge of its implementation.

According to mainstream media outlets that have been given talking points about the executive actions, they will also include an order to count non-citizens in the US Census again - something Trump tried to stop - as well as strengthening "workplace discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity."

The Biden White House is also re-establishing the Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, that was part of the National Security Council under the Obama administration, and rejoining the World Health Organization.

President Joe Biden will seek to extend the New START arms control treaty with Russia for five years, The Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing unidentified senior U.S. officials.

Biden's secretary of state nominee, Antony Blinken, on Tuesday told Congress the administration would seek to extend the key nuclear treaty that expired Feb. 5. The Kremlin on Wednesday said it would welcome an extension.

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Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser set a chilling standard for what might make someone a terrorist threat, saying soldiers in the US capital must vow "allegiance to their mission" of guarding President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.

Bowser spoke to reporters on Tuesday regarding the thousands of National Guardsmen being brought to the District of Columbia from all across the nation to help provide beefed-up inauguration security in the wake of the January 6 US Capitol riot.

"It's prudent to make sure that they're being vetted and that anybody who cannot pledge allegiance to..." Bowser said before pausing. Rather than saying "the Constitution" or "the United States," she continued by saying, "their mission, and may be pulled by other views, needs not only to be removed from this duty; they need to be removed from the Guard."

Many social media users, including some who were once supporters, tore into outgoing President Donald Trump during his final hours in office. Trump received backlash for failing to "Drain the Swamp" as promised, by revoking a lobbying ban and pardoning a list of US establishment figures.

"Forget about draining the swamp...President Trump just filled it up,"reacted journalist Yashar Ali - a sentiment echoed by many others, including conservative journalist Eduardo Neret, who called out Trump for performing "another total one-eighty."

"Trump went to Washington to 'drain the swamp.' Then he hired the swamp. Then his final act as President was to bow to the swamp,"tweeted conservative commenter and assistant director of The Plot Against the President, Daniel Bostic. Another user compared Trump's slogan to former President Barack Obama's own "Hope and Change" slogan, which disappointed liberals due to the lack of any meaningful change by the end of Obama's two terms in office.

New Zealand-based entrepreneur Kim Dotcom accused Trump of becoming "his own swamp paralyzed by fear and selfishness," while journalist Cassandra Fairbanks questioned, "What did we even get? No wall. DACA still exists. He hired tons of neocons and got people who would otherwise oppose them to cheerlead them. Julian is in prison. Was it even worth it?"

Morgan Stanley managed to substantially capitalize in 2020. The US investment bank beat fourth-quarter earnings forecasts to round off the lender's best year on record.

Earnings jumped 51 percent in the final three months of the year. The Wall Street bank's net income applicable to common shareholders surged to $3.39 billion, or $1.81 per share, in the fourth quarter against $2.09 billion, or $1.30 per share, a year earlier. Analysts had forecasted a profit of $1.27 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Morgan Stanley confirmed plans to buy back $10 billion worth of its shares this year. The bank's shares rose 2.5 percent to $76.88 in premarket trading, the highest since late 2000. Chief financial officer Jon Pruzan said:

"We saw exceptional support from central banks and strong fiscal policy supports during the health crisis. We supported our clients and were extraordinarily active, and very disciplined around our risk, and that led to record results."

Revenue from the institutional securities business, its largest source of income, rose to $7 billion from $5.05 billion recorded a year ago.

Morgan Stanley's trading unit, which is housed within the institutional securities business, benefitted from the US elections and the release of coronavirus vaccines across the world, which boosted high trading volumes during the last quarter of 2020.

Net revenue grew to $13.64 billion versus $10.86 billion last year. Revenue from the company's investment banking division advanced to $2.30 billion from $1.58 billion in 2019, while revenue from sales and trading rose to $4.22 billion from $3.19 billion.

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