USA

WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who is key to President Joe Biden's hopes of passing a $1.75 trillion domestic investment bill, said on Sunday he would not support the package.

"I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation," Manchin said during an interview with the "Fox News Sunday" program, citing concerns about inflation. "I just can't. I have tried everything humanly possible."

WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The Omicron virus is raging across the world as the winter holiday season approaches, making COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots more crucial than ever for traveling Americans, chief White House medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday.

Omicron has been found through testing in 43 out of 50 U.S. states and around 90 countries so far after first being identified in southern Africa and Hong Kong in late November.

DETROIT (AP) — While restaurants in the U.S. and United Kingdom are open without restrictions and often bustling, they are entering their second winter of the coronavirus pandemic anxious about what’s ahead: They’re squeezed by labor shortages and skyrocketing food costs and the omicron variant is looming.

“I’m extremely worried. I’ve never felt like we were out of the woods,” said Caroline Glover, chef and owner of the restaurant Annette in the Denver suburb of Aurora.

WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Southwest (LUV.N) Chief Executive Gary Kelly tested positive for COVID-19 after appearing at a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday, the airline confirmed on Friday.

Kelly appeared at the Senate Commerce hearing with the CEOs of United Airlines and American Airlines (AAL.O) as well as a senior Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) executive and the head of a flight attendants union. Kelly drew attention at the hearing for questioning the health benefits of masks on airplanes.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Limitations on the U.S.-China scientific and technological exchanges and collaboration, including restrictions on Chinese scientists and students, are in the interest of neither side, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang has said.

Qin made the remarks in an interview with Kim Montgomery, director of International Affairs and Science Diplomacy and executive editor of Science & Diplomacy magazine, on China's science diplomacy initiatives. The story was published on Friday.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- COVID-19 testing kits developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the pandemic's early weeks contained a design flaw that caused false positives, a recent internal review has found.

The CDC previously disclosed that the polymerase chain reaction tests developed in January 2020 were contaminated but had not acknowledged the basic design flaw, according to The New York Times, citing the analysis published earlier this week on PLOS One.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed more than 30 ambassadors and other Biden administration nominees early Saturday after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed to schedule a vote on sanctions on the company behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that will deliver natural gas from Russia to Germany.

With many senators anxious to go home for the holidays, Schumer, D-N.Y., threatened to keep the Senate in for as long as it took to break a logjam on a broad array of diplomatic and national security nominees.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The jury that will weigh 11 charges of fraud and conspiracy against former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes finally got the case Friday afternoon after a three-month trial that captivated Silicon Valley.

The hand-off came after lawyers for the opposing sides wrapped up a second day of painstaking final arguments to sum up their respective interpretations of the evidence submitted to the jury. That included the testimony of 32 witnesses — including Holmes herself — and more than 900 exhibits.

18 Dec 2021; MEMO: US Senator Rand Paul voted on Wednesday to block another attempt to provide Israel with $1 billion to replenish its missile defence system – the Iron dome, The Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday.

The Times of Israel said that the Democrats came under fire from pro-Israel groups in early October after House leadership briefly delayed a vote on the bill amid opposition from a handful of progressive members.

(AP) --- They are just three little words, but they have become nearly impossible for many Republicans to say: “Joe Biden won.”

Eleven months after the Democrat’s inauguration, Republican lawmakers and candidates across the country are squirming and stumbling rather than acknowledging the fact of Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. In debates and interviews, they offer circular statements or vague answers when asked whether they believe Biden won.

Yes or no?