Trump signs massive funding measure

President Trump has signed a $900 billion pandemic relief package that will deliver long-needed cash to businesses and individuals. It also avoids a government shutdown.

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  • In reversal, Trump signs spending bill, unlocking Covid aid and averting shutdown

    Pandemic unemployment benefits expired Sunday after the president delayed approving the bill and confusion reigned in Washington.

  • NY health network faces criminal investigation over COVID-19 vaccine

    ParCare Community Health Network "may have fraudulently obtained COVID-19 vaccine, transferred it to facilities in other parts of the state in violation of state guidelines and diverted it to members of the public - contrary to the state's plan to administer it first to frontline healthcare workers, as well as nursing home residents and staffers," state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said in a statement. "We take this very seriously and DOH will be assisting State Police in criminal investigation into this matter," he added.

  • China lowers age of criminal responsibility to 12 after high-profile offences committed by children

    China has lowered the age of criminal responsibility for murder and some other serious crimes from 14 to 12 after some high-profile killings by children. The change means that children aged between 12 and 14 who commit crimes such as intentional homicide, or intentional injury that leads to death or severe disability, will now be held criminally liable. Before, they were exempt from criminal punishment, but could be ordered to undergo correctional education. Currently, the age of criminal liability in China is 16, but teenagers aged 14 to 16 can be charged and punished as criminals for serious crimes including intentional homicide, rape and robbery. The issue of whether to lower the criminal age of responsibility came to the fore after a case last year in which a 13-year-old boy confessed to police that he had killed a 10-year-old girl. State media reported that the girl failed to return home from a painting class one Sunday afternoon. The girl’s father said that the boy had tricked the girl into entering his home, sexually assaulted her, stabbed her to death and then dumped her body on the side of a road. Following the killing in Dalian city in northeastern China, the boy was sent to a juvenile rehabilitation centre for three years. There was public outrage over what was perceived to be his lenient treatment. In another case, a 13-year-old boy was allegedly beaten to death in August in Shaanxi province by six juveniles, including one who was under the age of 14, according to reports last month. The youngest has been placed under the supervision of a guardian, while the other five have been arrested on suspicion of intentional injury causing death. Authorities have previously announced an increase in the number of juvenile cases being handled by prosecutors. Last year, there was a 5 per cent increase year-on-year in the number of prosecutions of juveniles, with the most common crimes being theft, robbery, intentional injury, affray, creating disturbances and rape, according to a white paper released by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate in June.

  • Top associate of Russia's Navalny released from detention

    A top associate of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was released from detention Sunday and said she was charged with trespassing after entering the apartment building of an alleged security operative who inadvertently revealed details of Navalny’s supposed poisoning with a Soviet-era nerve agent. Lyubov Sobol, a key figure in Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, was detained for 48 hours on Friday after a day of interrogation. The move followed Sobol’s attempt on Monday to enter the Moscow apartment of the alleged operative, whom Navalny had previously duped into revealing details of his alleged poisoning.

  • Why the U.S. may not be aware of new coronavirus variant's presence

    Former Food and Drug Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Sunday that the new, possibly more transmissible coronavirus variant first identified in the United Kingdom is "probably" already in the United States in "low numbers," especially since it's been detected in Canada, Japan, Australia, Singapore, and several European countries. But he told CBS News' Margaret Brennan that it's not a surprise that it may have slipped under the radar.That's because the U.S. doesn't sequence coronavirus samples frequently and the sequencing that does get done often happens in private labs, meaning that the government doesn't really trace viral genomes. "In the U.K., they're sequencing about 10 percent of all the samples, here we're doing a fraction of 1 percent," Gottlieb said during his appearance on Face the Nation. "We probably need a better approach to more systematically sequence strains in the United States to track changes and new variants in this virus." > NEW COVID19 STRAIN: @ScottGottliebMD warns @margbrennan that a new strain of coronavirus is "probably here in the United States, and it could be here in a reasonable number at this point" as Canada and parts of Europe report detections pic.twitter.com/ojMN1gNHD7> > — Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) December 27, 2020Scientists do believe there's a solid chance the variant is more transmissible, though it's possible it simply became the dominant form of the coronavirus in London and southeast England. Tracking it more closely in other countries like the U.S., therefore, could help shed light on the theory. There is no evidence suggesting the variant differs from others in terms of severity, and scientists remain confident vaccines will hold up against it, although more testing and data collection is required to know for sure.More stories from theweek.com Trump reportedly wants to 'inflict as much pain on Congress as possible' The best movies of 2020 What would actually happen if Trump tried the 'martial law' idea?

  • Unemployment benefits expire for millions

    Unemployment benefits for millions of Americans lapsed overnight as President Trump refused to sign an end-of-year COVID-19 relief and spending bill that had been considered a done deal before his objections.

  • Doctor uses autoinjector, stems his allergic reaction to vaccine

    A physician with a severe shellfish allergy felt symptoms after his shot and was allowed to self-administer epinephrine, Boston Medical Center says.

  • Trump refuses to budge over aid bill, imperiling jobless benefits for millions

    Millions of Americans are about to see their jobless benefits expire on Saturday as President Donald Trump has so far refused to sign into law a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package, insisting that it did not do enough to help everyday people. Trump stunned Republicans and Democrats alike when he said this week he was unhappy with the massive bill, which provides $892 billion in badly needed coronavirus relief, including extending emergency unemployment benefits that expire at the close of Dec. 26, and $1.4 trillion for normal government spending. Without Trump's signature, about 14 million people could lose those extra benefits, according to Labor Department data.

  • Hundreds of British holidaymakers escape from quarantine in luxury ski resort

    Hundreds of British skiers forced to quarantine in the Swiss resort of Verbier have escaped from their quarters, as a local politician complained it was nearly impossible to control the coronavirus due to Europe's porous borders. The holiday-makers were ordered to isolate for 10 days in their accommodation after the UK announced it had detected a mutation of the coronavirus. But on Sunday, hoteliers informed officials that breakfast trays were left untouched outside guests’ rooms and calls were unanswered. Of the 420 Britons identified by authorities as being in the luxury resort when the quarantine was hastily enforced, less than a dozen remained by Sunday. From midnight on December 20, Switzerland banned flights from the UK and put in place a retroactive 10-day quarantine for Britons who had arrived since December 14. On December 24, Swiss authorities then announced Britons were allowed to return home, even those in quarantine if special measures were taken which included informing cantonal authorities of their mode of transport. Christophe Darbellay, the President of the Valais government, defended his office against accusations that too little was done to enforce the quarantine. He said: “Some guests left by car and are now in quarantine in the UK. “There is a sense of personal responsibility. You can travel all over Europe without having to identify yourself. The border is a sieve.” He criticised the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), saying passenger information was delivered too late. He said: “Passenger data was missing. Our work was made unnecessarily difficult.” The FOPH denied this and said it had requested airline data for the 92 UK flights that had arrived since December 14 and gave the cantons data on Wednesday. Simon Wiget, the Director of Verbier Tourist Office, told The Daily Telegraph that the rules were confusing. He said: “It was a drip, drip of information that we had and we informed tourists about the rules as best we could. “We called all the hotels and tour operators and said that people who had travelled from the UK had to announce themselves to the Swiss authorities.

  • China can still salvage 'one country, two systems' in Hong Kong – here's how

    Authorities in Hong Kong may have hoped to start 2020 by putting a turbulent period of sustained, often violent protests behind them. Instead hundreds of thousands of protesters ushered in the new year by taking to the streets. Around 400 were arrested as protesters continued their push for political reform on the densely populated island.The clash between the government and demonstrators is now seven months long and has served to further erode Hong Kongers’ trust in China’s commitment to the “one country, two systems” formula. Under that principle, the region was granted a degree of autonomy over its own matters in 1997. But a perception that Beijing is increasingly imposing its authority has led not only to a more militant protest movement, but one that is eyeing separation from the mainland.As a political scientist who has closely followed political developments in Hong Kong over the last decade, I have watched trust in Beijing ebb away during the sustained unrest.If China wants to correct this course and convince Hong Kongers that their best hope lies in autonomy rather than independence, then I believe it must permit genuine democracy in the region. Cycle of unrestThe people of Hong Kong have not had much of a say in their own destiny. Not only did they lack political power as a colony of the British, but they also weren’t consulted in the drafting of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration that set the terms for the 1997 handover of the territory from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic of China. Nevertheless, that agreement offered an implicit bargain to Hong Kongers: They would submit to Beijing’s sovereignty in return for the promise of a “high degree of autonomy” on the basis of “one country, two systems.”Over the past two decades, major outbreaks of unrest in Hong Kong have followed attempts by Beijing to impose unwanted measures that violate this bargain. Large-scale protests beat back Beijing-directed legislative proposals dealing with sedition in 2003, national education in 2012 and extradition last year. The Umbrella Movement protests of 2014 succeeded in stymieing Beijing’s proposed revisions to Hong Kong’s system for selecting its chief executive, but protesters’ demands for universal suffrage and an open nomination process were rejected.Many Hong Kongers consider this interference a violation of the promised autonomy built into the terms of the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution. This interference reinforces fears that the city will lose its autonomy entirely after 2047, the end point of commitments made under the Joint Declaration.With only limited and inadequate democratic mechanisms at their disposal, Hong Kongers have developed a vibrant and increasingly militant protest culture as a primary means for exercising political influence. Autonomy or independence?Efforts to steer Hong Kong toward greater integration with the mainland have backfired, undermining trust in Beijing’s promise of a “high degree of autonomy.” The result is an ongoing cycle of radicalization. The focal point for many protesters has moved away from any one particular issue to focus on the fundamental status of Hong Kong’s relationship to China. Growing numbers of people are questioning why they should keep their side of the bargain – accepting Beijing’s sovereignty over Hong Kong. According to a recent Reuters poll, 17% of Hong Kongers express outright support for independence from China, while another 20% express dissatisfaction with the “one country, two systems” model. Moreover, 59% of respondents said they supported the recent protests and over one-third had themselves attended a protest.According to a separate survey, support for eventual independence among young people approaches 40%. Many young people have also come to reject any “Chinese” identity in favor of a “Hong Kong” identity.The depth of discontent among Hong Kongers was reflected in the District Council elections held on Nov. 24. These low-level posts have traditionally been dominated by pro-Beijing political parties. The recent elections, however, brought a record turnout with pro-democratic parties winning close to 90% of contested positions. Beijing’s miscalculationTo blunt the growth of separatist sentiment in Hong Kong, Beijing must tackle what social scientists call a “commitment problem.” In any negotiation, each side will cooperate only if they believe that the other side is both willing and able to carry out any commitments made as part of the bargain. If either side believes the other side’s commitments lack credibility, then cooperation fails. What China needs to do now is show that it is committed to respecting the autonomy promises embodied in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.I believe the best way to do that is for Beijing to stop manipulating governance of the city. As long as selection of the chief executive and a majority of the Legislative Council lies in Beijing’s hands, it will be difficult for the mainland to resist meddling in Hong Kong’s affairs and for Hong Kongers to feel that autonomy offers them any real say over their fate.In other words, Beijing could undercut calls for independence and interrupt the cycle of mass protests by offering Hong Kongers the ability to select their leaders through free and fair elections.Beijing badly miscalculated in 2014 when it proposed electoral reforms that fell far short of the demands of Hong Kong’s pan-democratic camp, a coalition of parties that advocate universal suffrage. As a consequence, older, mainstream leaders lost control of the protest movement to younger, more militant activists. By 2019, young radicals resorted to violent street actions coupled with harsh anti-Beijing rhetoric. Yet a move toward democracy could still calm the waters provided the process allowed for genuine and effective local participation.This proposal may be far-fetched. Indeed, some accounts suggest that leaders in Beijing are laying plans to move in the opposite direction by taking more direct control over Hong Kong’s political and legal institutions. Moreover, Beijing worries that full democracy in Hong Kong might lead to demands for the same elsewhere in China.If a democratic solution to China’s Hong Kong problem appears unattractive to Beijing, the alternatives may be worse. The current cycle of provocation, protest, radicalization and rising separatism can lead to only one eventual result: a violent crackdown that would damage China’s reputation and leave it in costly occupation of a sullen and defiant population for a generation or more.[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. Read more: * As Digital Earth gains momentum, China is setting the pace * Unrest in Latin America makes authoritarianism look more appealing to some * Decade of dissent: how protest is shaking the UK and why it’s likely to continueDavid Skidmore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

  • FBI investigating whether man linked to Nashville bombing was paranoid about 5G networks

    Steve Fridrich said he was asked by FBI agents whether Anthony Warner ever mentioned being concerned about 5G networks

  • Trump reportedly wants to 'inflict as much pain on Congress as possible'

    President Trump still hasn't signed Congress' $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill, and the clock is ticking. Indeed, it's looking more likely that he'll veto it, or simply sit on it, unless lawmakers find a way to increase direct stimulus payments and cut some other items, like foreign aid, out of the package before a potential government shut down on Tuesday.While Trump may genuinely want more significant individual payments, he's faced criticism for waiting until after a bipartisan agreement was reached to make his opinion clear, surprising Congress and his own negotiating team led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in the process. One source briefed by White House officials on the matter told The Washington Post, Trump — who has been frustrated by his election loss and the fallout from the coronavirus during his final year in office — is "just angry at everybody and wants to inflict as much pain on Congress as possible."Even Mnuchin, one of the few Cabinet members to make it all four years with Trump, seems to be on the outs with his boss. Per the Post, Mnuchin was excited about the agreement and believed the president would sign it, but was then reportedly blindsided by Trump posting a video last week in which he bashed the deal and its $600 checks."Loyalty and assistance to President Trump generally gets rewarded with humiliation," Brian Reidl, a conservative policy expert at the right-leaning think tank, the Manhattan Institute, told the Post. Read more at The Washington Post.More stories from theweek.com The best movies of 2020 What would actually happen if Trump tried the 'martial law' idea? Why the U.S. may not be aware of new coronavirus variant's presence

  • Refill ban for sugary drinks

    Free refills of sugary drinks and "buy one get one free" offers on unhealthy foods will be banned under government plans to tackle obesity, it will be announced on Monday. The restrictions, which cover any multi-buy promotion, will apply to foods high in fat, salt or sugar - including cakes, crisps, soft drinks, breakfast cereals, pizzas and ready meals. Small stores are exempt from the plans. The measures will come into force from April 2022. The restrictions will apply to foods high in fat, salt or sugar - including cakes, crisps, soft drinks, breakfast cereals, pizzas and ready meals. Small stores are exempt from the plans. Manufacturers will have 14 months to reformulate less healthy products if they want to continue with promotions. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the coronavirus pandemic had highlighted the need for the nation to lose weight, with Covid-19 being particularly deadly to overweight people. The DHSC said that while promotions appear to save shoppers money, they actually encourage people to buy 20 per cent more than they need. Alongside supermarkets, the hospitality sector will no longer be allowed to offer free refills of sugary drinks. Announcing an eight-week consultation on the plans, Public Health Minister Jo Churchill, said: “We know families want to be presented with healthier choices. This is why we are restricting promotions and introducing a range of measures to make sure the healthy choice is the easy choice. “Creating an environment which helps everyone eat healthier foods more regularly is crucial to improving the health of the nation.”

  • Sheriff: 2 women, 3 girls found dead in Arkansas home

    Two women and three girls have been found dead in a home in northwest Arkansas in what authorities said are being investigated as suspected homicides. Deputies responded to a call around 5 p.m. Friday and found the five people dead in a home in Atkins, a city about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, Pope County Sheriff Shane Jones said in a statement. Jones said during a short news conference Saturday that authorities did not immediately have a suspect and that at least some of the people were shot.

  • At least 7 killed in knife attack in northeastern China, state media reports

    The suspect, identified by the media by his surname Yang, was arrested while the motive for the attack remains unknown.

  • Trump signs pandemic aid and spending bill, averting government shutdown

    Trump, who leaves office on Jan. 20 after losing November's election to President-elect Joe Biden, backed down from his earlier threat to block the bill, which was approved by Congress last week, after he came under intense pressure from lawmakers on both sides. The Republican president, who golfed on Sunday and remained out of public view even as the potential government crisis loomed, had demanded that Congress change the bill to increase the size of stimulus checks for struggling Americans to $2,000 from $600 and also cut some other spending. It was not immediately clear why Trump, who has refused to concede defeat to Biden, changed his mind on the stimulus package.

  • At least 11 climbers dead in blizzards and avalanche on Iranian mountain

    At least 11 hikers died over the weekend in the mountain range north of Tehran when a series of avalanches were triggered by blizzards and heavy snowfall, Iran’s Red Crescent rescue group said. The rescue efforts, which began on Friday when the first two deaths were reported, intensified over the weekend as more were reported missing. State television broadcast footage of the helicopter rescue mission searching for bodies and survivors on the Tochal and Kolakchal peaks; as well as Red Crescent personnel carrying a body on a stretcher along a snowy mountainside. Ten people had been killed on the mountain and one died in hospital after being rescued, Mehdi Valipour, head of emergency operations at Iran’s Red Crescent, was quoted as saying by state broadcaster IRIB. Tehran lies at the foot of the Alborz mountain range, a popular weekend attraction for hiking and climbing. According to state TV, the avalanches struck in four different areas. The Iranian Red Crescent said the rescue efforts were complicated by the bad weather. On Friday, Iranian media reported that more than 100 people were estimated to be stuck in the avalanche. Shahin Fathi, the managing director of the Red Crescent, told BBC Persian that as of Saturday, families were still reporting seven people missing. “We may still have injuries in the Kolakchal area, but there are no exact statistics," said Mr Fathi on Sunday. The Mountaineering Meteorological channel on Telegram warned people in Tehran not to go to the mountains because of the possibility of an avalanche in Alborz.

  • China's pace to overtake U.S. as world's largest economy accelarates by 5 years, report predicts

    China is on course to overtake the United States as the world's biggest economy by 2028, the Center for Economics and Business Research predicted in a report released Saturday. The two countries have long been expected to swap places, but CEBR anticipates the pace has accelerated thanks to China recovering more quickly from the COVID-19 pandemic.A year ago, the CEBR pegged 2033 as the transition year, but China's economy is expected to grow by 2 percent in 2020, the lone major global economy to expand, while the U.S. economy is expected to contract by 5 percent. The report also anticipates China will become a "high-income economy" by 2023, though living standards are expected to remain much lower than in the U.S.China is not an outlier in its region when it comes to future economic growth. "Other Asian economies are also shooting up the table," said Douglas McWilliams, the CEBR's deputy chair. "One lesson for western policymakers, who have performed relatively badly during the pandemic, is that they need to pay much more attention to what is happening in Asia rather than simply looking at each other." Read more at The Guardian and Bloomberg.More stories from theweek.com Trump reportedly wants to 'inflict as much pain on Congress as possible' The best movies of 2020 What would actually happen if Trump tried the 'martial law' idea?

  • Four Black women physicians write op-ed in remembrance of Dr. Susan Moore

    Black physicians have been voicing their sadness and outrage online in light of Dr. Susan Moore’s death, who raised attention towards racial treatment as a patient. In an op-ed for The Washington Post, four Black women physicians echoed their anger and amplified Moore’s dying message to address racism in the health system. The physicians include Aletha Maybank, chief health equity officer at the American Medical Association, Camara Phyllis Jones, family physician, epidemiologist and former president of the American Public Health Association; Uche Blackstock, founder and CEO of Advancing Medical Health Equity, and Joia Crear Perry, president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative.

  • Hezbollah doubled its precision-guided missiles in a year

    The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah said Sunday his group now has twice as many precision-guided missiles as it had a year ago, saying Israel's efforts to prevent it from acquiring them has failed. Hassan Nasrallah, in an end-of-year interview with the Beirut-based Arabic Al-Mayadeen TV, said his group has the capability to strike anywhere in Israel and occupied Palestinian territories. Nasrallah said that when Israel threatened through a U.S. official to target a Hezbollah facility in the eastern Bekaa region, his group warned it would retaliate to any such attack.