Biden to impose string of sanctions on Russia

Yahoo Finance's Akiko Fujita breaks down the top stories around the world.

Video transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: In our worldview today, the Biden administration is imposing sweeping new sanctions on Russia for its efforts to interfere in the 2020 election and the most recent SolarWinds hack. The sanctions target more than 30 Russian companies and individuals, while the Treasury Department issued an order barring US banks from purchasing ruble denominated bonds. 10 Russian officials have already been expelled from the embassy in DC. This is the second round of sanctions against Moscow. Earlier this year, the administration targeted more than a dozen government entities and individuals for the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made a surprise visit to Kabul, one day after the president announced he would withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan. In a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Blinken reiterated Washington's support for the Afghan government, saying the US will continue to provide financial assistance and remain in discussions to secure a peace deal with the Taliban. More than 3,000 US troops are based in Afghanistan today. And Biden has announced a full withdrawal no later than September 11, 20 years after the 9/11 attacks led to the war in Afghanistan.

And will they or won't they? Tokyo officials raising questions about the viability of the Summer Olympics yet again. The latest comments came in a TV interview Thursday. Two lawmakers from the ruling party saying the Olympics should definitely be canceled if COVID-19 infections are not under control. Even if they move forward, the games could be held without fans. Those comments come with just 100 days to go until the scheduled start of the games. But infections have been rising in Japan again. In Tokyo, case counts hit their highest total in two months.