USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee is wrapping up its investigation of the violent 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, with lawmakers expected to cap one of the most exhaustive and aggressive congressional probes in memory with an extraordinary recommendation: The Justice Department should consider criminal charges against former President Donald Trump.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 18 (APP): The United Nations on Friday launched the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (IDIL 2022-2032) aimed at helping peoples around the world to keep their mother tongues alive.

Preserving their languages is “not only important for them, but for all humanity,” UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi said while marking the occasion.

NEW YORK, December 18. /TASS/: The US company SpaceX on Saturday launched a Falcon 9 rocket with another cluster of 54 satellites for its orbital Starlink network, according to a broadcast on the company’s website.

The liftoff took place at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 4:32 ET (00:32 Moscow time).

NEW YORK, December 18. /TASS/: American authorities are still guided by Cold War logic in their policy toward Russia, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said in an article published in the American magazine Newsweek.

"Washington seems to need to constantly assert itself through competition with Russia. It looks as if the 'ghost' of the Soviet Union is still haunting the corridors of power in the American capital, and the ‘Сold War' has not ended at all," he wrote.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For two years, Becky Mourey pushed the Food and Drug Administration to approve an experimental drug for her Lou Gehrig’s disease.

She went to members of Congress and health regulators to make the case for Relyvrio, until patient-advocates finally prevailed.

Dec 16 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Friday reversed a 1954 decision by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to revoke the security clearance of Robert Oppenheimer, known as the "father of the atomic bomb" for his work on the Manhattan Project.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a written order that the since-dissolved AEC acted out of political motives when it revoked Oppenheimer's security clearance nearly 70 years ago. Oppenheimer died in 1967.

CHICAGO, Dec 16 (Reuters) - China's abrupt lifting of stringent COVID-19 restrictions could result in an explosion of cases and over a million deaths through 2023, according to new projections from the U.S.-based Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).

According to the group's projections, cases in China would peak around April 1, when deaths would reach 322,000. About a third of China's population will have been infected by then, IHME Director Christopher Murray said.

CHICAGO (AP) — A judge on Saturday set bond at $50,000 for the father of an Illinois man charged with killing seven people at a July 4 parade near Chicago who is accused of helping his son get a gun license.

Robert Crimo Jr. looked somber and tired as he made his first appearance before a judge since surrendering to police Friday. He is charged with seven felony counts of reckless conduct. His lawyer told the judge Saturday that Crimo would be able to pay the required bond amount for his release.

(AP) --- Elon Musk’s abrupt suspension of several journalists who cover Twitter widens a growing rift between the social media site and media organizations that have used the platform to build their audiences.

Individual reporters with The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Voice of America and other news agencies saw their accounts go dark Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump pledged to fix U.S. infrastructure as president. He vowed to take on China and bulk up American manufacturing. He said he would reduce the budget deficit and make the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.