U.S. President Donald Trump pressured Georgia's top election official to "find" enough votes to overturn his defeat in the southern state, according to a recording of the hour-long call published by U.S. media on Sunday (January 3).

Donald Trump pressures Georgia official to 'find' votes to overturn election

Democrat Nancy Pelosi on Sunday was&nbsp;re-elected as the&nbsp;United States Speaker of the House with a slim majority in a deeply divided new Congress that convened in the final weeks of Donald Trump's presidency.

Pelosi was&nbsp;reinstated after the House&nbsp;voted 216-209&nbsp;after Democrats lost 11 seats in the November elections to command a narrower 222-212 majority.

She&nbsp;faced a scare when five fellow Democrats defected and voted "present" or for someone else during the floor vote.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/nancy-pelosis-house-vandalised-with-graffiti-and-pigs-head-353988">Nancy Pelosi's house vandalised with graffiti and pig's head</a>

"As we are sworn in today, we accept responsibility as daunting and demanding as any that previous generations of leadership have faced. We begin the new Congress during a time of extraordinary difficulty,"&nbsp;Pelosi&nbsp;said in a floor speech that noted the deaths of more than 350,000 Americans from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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As we are sworn in today, we accept a responsibility as daunting and demanding as any that previous generations of leadership have faced. 
 
Our most urgent priority will continue to be defeating the coronavirus - and defeat it, we will! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/117thCongress?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#117thCongress</a> <a href="https://t.co/HD5w1OUfx3">pic.twitter.com/HD5w1OUfx3</a>
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi/status/1345893278500212742?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2021</a></blockquote>
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"Our most urgent priority will continue to be defeating the coronavirus. And defeat it, we will," she added, pledging that further aid would follow the latest $892 billion package that Congress passed in December.

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Our work <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ForThePeople?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ForThePeople</a> continues, even in the face of this unprecedented national crisis. Tune in as I swear in Members of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/117thCongress?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#117thCongress</a>. <a href="https://t.co/ATx5aPEaWa">https://t.co/ATx5aPEaWa</a>
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi/status/1345857232437727234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The Senate remains Republican-run ahead of twin elections in Georgia on Tuesday, giving its members a platform to again air President Donald Trump's baseless claims that his loss to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden was the result of fraud.

Multiple state and federal reviews have found no evidence of the sort of widespread fraud Trump claims, but Republican senators and House members plan to challenge the election result when Congress certifies it on Wednesday.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/nancy-pelosi-wants-a-commission-to-evaluate-trumps-mental-and-physical-health-333817">Nancy Pelosi wants a commission to evaluate Trump's mental and physical health</a>

Pelosi, 80, the only woman to serve as US Speaker of the House,&nbsp;has been Trump's chief nemesis in Congress, and the two clashed bitterly over the past two years, particularly as she levelled impeachment charges against the president.

Trump was impeached in December 2019, but the Senate acquitted him early in 2020. His successor, Joe Biden, takes office on January 20.

With Pelosi scrambling to keep her post, it was a handful of progressive lawmakers and members-elect who have been critical of her leadership but ultimately voted for her on Sunday.

Among them was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most high-profile Democrats in Washington, and incoming lawmaker Cori Bush, who is the first African-American woman to represent Missouri in Congress.

There are normally 435 members of the House, but just 427 votes were cast Sunday as a few congressmen-elect are in quarantine due to Covid-19 and a tight House race in New York has yet to be formally decided.

One congressman-elect from Louisiana, Luke Letlow, died of complications from Covid-19 last week, days before he was due to be sworn in.

That leaves Democrats with one of the slimmest House majorities in two decades, 222 to 211 with two vacancies, as they navigate the remaining few weeks of Trump and carry into the Biden presidency.

On a day that was anything but conventional, Republican Chip Roy interrupted the swearing-in process to ask that the delegations from the six swing states where Trump has contested the election results not be seated Sunday as House members.

Pelosi dispensed with the effort by holding a vote that affirmed her right to swear in all members.

Democrat Nancy Pelosi on Sunday was re-elected as the United States Speaker of the House with a slim majority in a deeply divided new Congress that convened in the final weeks of Donald Trump's presidency.

Democrat Nancy Pelosi on Sunday was re-elected as the United States Speaker of the House with a slim majority in a deeply divided new Congress that convened in the final weeks of Donald Trump's presidency. Pelosi was reinstated after the House voted 216-209 after Democrats lost 11 seats in the November elections to command a narrower 222-212 majority. She faced a scare when five fellow Democrats defected and voted "present" or for someone else during the floor vote. Also read: Nancy Pelosi's house vandalised with graffiti and pig's head "As we are sworn in today, we accept responsibility as daunting and demanding as any that previous generations of leadership have faced. We begin the new Congress during a time of extraordinary difficulty," Pelosi said in a floor speech that noted the deaths of more than 350,000 Americans from the COVID-19 pandemic. As we are sworn in today, we accept a responsibility as daunting and demanding as any that previous generations of leadership have faced. Our most urgent priority will continue to be defeating the coronavirus - and defeat it, we will! #117thCongress pic.twitter.com/HD5w1OUfx3 — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 4, 2021 × "Our most urgent priority will continue to be defeating the coronavirus. And defeat it, we will," she added, pledging that further aid would follow the latest $892 billion package that Congress passed in December. Our work #ForThePeople continues, even in the face of this unprecedented national crisis. Tune in as I swear in Members of the #117thCongress. https://t.co/ATx5aPEaWa — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 3, 2021 × The Senate remains Republican-run ahead of twin elections in Georgia on Tuesday, giving its members a platform to again air President Donald Trump's baseless claims that his loss to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden was the result of fraud. Multiple state and federal reviews have found no evidence of the sort of widespread fraud Trump claims, but Republican senators and House members plan to challenge the election result when Congress certifies it on Wednesday. Also read: Nancy Pelosi wants a commission to evaluate Trump's mental and physical health Pelosi, 80, the only woman to serve as US Speaker of the House, has been Trump's chief nemesis in Congress, and the two clashed bitterly over the past two years, particularly as she levelled impeachment charges against the president. Trump was impeached in December 2019, but the Senate acquitted him early in 2020. His successor, Joe Biden, takes office on January 20. With Pelosi scrambling to keep her post, it was a handful of progressive lawmakers and members-elect who have been critical of her leadership but ultimately voted for her on Sunday. Among them was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most high-profile Democrats in Washington, and incoming lawmaker Cori Bush, who is the first African-American woman to represent Missouri in Congress. There are normally 435 members of the House, but just 427 votes were cast Sunday as a few congressmen-elect are in quarantine due to Covid-19 and a tight House race in New York has yet to be formally decided. One congressman-elect from Louisiana, Luke Letlow, died of complications from Covid-19 last week, days before he was due to be sworn in. That leaves Democrats with one of the slimmest House majorities in two decades, 222 to 211 with two vacancies, as they navigate the remaining few weeks of Trump and carry into the Biden presidency. On a day that was anything but conventional, Republican Chip Roy interrupted the swearing-in process to ask that the delegations from the six swing states where Trump has contested the election results not be seated Sunday as House members. Pelosi dispensed with the effort by holding a vote that affirmed her right to swear in all members.

Democrat Nancy Pelosi wins re-election as US Speaker of the House with slim majority

Vice President-elect Kamala&nbsp;Harris lambasted US President Donald Trump's for his "bold abuse of power" on a recorded phone call in which he pressured the Georgia secretary of state to "find" enough votes to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the Southern US state.

Harris took the stage during a drive-through rally in Georgia where she&nbsp;rallied supporters on Sunday&nbsp;for Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock ahead of Tuesday's consequential run-off election.

The soon-to-be-sworn-in Vice President Harris called&nbsp;Trump's&nbsp;words "the voice of desperation" and "a bald-faced, bold abuse of power."

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trumps-leaked-audio-tape-reveals-he-wanted-to-find-votes-to-win-us-election-354264" hreflang="en">Donald Trump's leaked audio tape reveals he wanted to 'find' votes</a>

The release on Sunday by US media of a stunning audiotape in which President Donald Trump pressured Georgia's secretary of state to "find" enough votes to overturn his election defeat there to Democrat Joe Biden sent shockwaves across Washington.

The tape, a rebel push by scores of Republican lawmakers to challenge Biden's electoral win later this week, a pair of runoffs in Georgia to decide control of the US Senate and expected pro-Trump protests in Washington are combining to set the stage for a fiery week in American politics.

Lawmakers got back to work Sunday on Capitol Hill, where Democrat Nancy Pelosi was narrowly re-elected as speaker of the House of Representatives, but the real political fireworks were to come later in the week.

Following the release of the recording, Democrats and a few Republicans heaped scorn on the outgoing president, who fired off a tweetstorm of unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the November 3 election.

The taped conversation between Trump and fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger, first obtained by the Washington Post, includes vague threats by Trump that Raffensperger and another official could face "a big risk" if they failed to take moves toward overturning Biden's victory.

"There's nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you've recalculated" the vote tally, Trump is heard saying on the tape. &nbsp;"You're off by hundreds of thousands of votes."

Raffensperger is heard responding: "Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong."

Biden won the long Republican-leaning state by fewer than 12,000 votes -- a narrow margin but one that has remained unchanged through a series of recounts and audits.

"The current margin is only 11,779. Brad, I think you agree with that, right?" Trump says. "So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes."

Making Trump's call more surprising is the fact that even a hypothetical reversal in Georgia, which has 16 Electoral College votes, would not overturn victory by Biden, who won by a margin of 306 to 232.

Ahead of the release of the audio, Trump tweeted about the call, saying that Raffensperger "was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the 'ballots under table' scam, ballot destruction, out of state 'voters', dead voters, and more."

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I spoke to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger yesterday about Fulton County and voter fraud in Georgia. He was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the “ballots under table” scam, ballot destruction, out of state “voters”, dead voters, and more. He has no clue!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1345731043861659650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Raffensperger tweeted back, also ahead of the release of the audio, saying: "Respectfully, President Trump: What you're saying is not true. The truth will come out."

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Respectfully, President Trump: What you're saying is not true. The truth will come out <a href="https://t.co/ViYjTSeRcC">https://t.co/ViYjTSeRcC</a>
— GA Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (@GaSecofState) <a href="https://twitter.com/GaSecofState/status/1345753643593687040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Trump's relentless attacks since the November&nbsp;3 election included an accusation that Raffensperger hid tens of thousands of illegal votes, ensuring Biden's victory. Georgia's Republican incumbent senators - David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler -- have called on Raffensperger to resign.

Perdue and Loeffler themselves are locked in tight campaigns with Ossoff and Warnock ahead of Tuesday run-off elections that will determine which party controls the US&nbsp;Senate

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris lambasted US President Donald Trump's for his "bold abuse of power" on a recorded phone call in which he pressured the Georgia secretary of state to "find" enough votes to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the Southern US state.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris lambasted US President Donald Trump's for his "bold abuse of power" on a recorded phone call in which he pressured the Georgia secretary of state to "find" enough votes to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the Southern US state. Harris took the stage during a drive-through rally in Georgia where she rallied supporters on Sunday for Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock ahead of Tuesday's consequential run-off election. The soon-to-be-sworn-in Vice President Harris called Trump's words "the voice of desperation" and "a bald-faced, bold abuse of power." Also read: Donald Trump's leaked audio tape reveals he wanted to 'find' votes The release on Sunday by US media of a stunning audiotape in which President Donald Trump pressured Georgia's secretary of state to "find" enough votes to overturn his election defeat there to Democrat Joe Biden sent shockwaves across Washington. The tape, a rebel push by scores of Republican lawmakers to challenge Biden's electoral win later this week, a pair of runoffs in Georgia to decide control of the US Senate and expected pro-Trump protests in Washington are combining to set the stage for a fiery week in American politics. Lawmakers got back to work Sunday on Capitol Hill, where Democrat Nancy Pelosi was narrowly re-elected as speaker of the House of Representatives, but the real political fireworks were to come later in the week. Following the release of the recording, Democrats and a few Republicans heaped scorn on the outgoing president, who fired off a tweetstorm of unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the November 3 election. The taped conversation between Trump and fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger, first obtained by the Washington Post, includes vague threats by Trump that Raffensperger and another official could face "a big risk" if they failed to take moves toward overturning Biden's victory. "There's nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you've recalculated" the vote tally, Trump is heard saying on the tape. "You're off by hundreds of thousands of votes." Raffensperger is heard responding: "Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong." Biden won the long Republican-leaning state by fewer than 12,000 votes -- a narrow margin but one that has remained unchanged through a series of recounts and audits. "The current margin is only 11,779. Brad, I think you agree with that, right?" Trump says. "So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes." Making Trump's call more surprising is the fact that even a hypothetical reversal in Georgia, which has 16 Electoral College votes, would not overturn victory by Biden, who won by a margin of 306 to 232. Ahead of the release of the audio, Trump tweeted about the call, saying that Raffensperger "was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the 'ballots under table' scam, ballot destruction, out of state 'voters', dead voters, and more." I spoke to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger yesterday about Fulton County and voter fraud in Georgia. He was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the “ballots under table” scam, ballot destruction, out of state “voters”, dead voters, and more. He has no clue! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2021 × Raffensperger tweeted back, also ahead of the release of the audio, saying: "Respectfully, President Trump: What you're saying is not true. The truth will come out." Respectfully, President Trump: What you're saying is not true. The truth will come out https://t.co/ViYjTSeRcC — GA Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (@GaSecofState) January 3, 2021 × Trump's relentless attacks since the November 3 election included an accusation that Raffensperger hid tens of thousands of illegal votes, ensuring Biden's victory. Georgia's Republican incumbent senators - David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler -- have called on Raffensperger to resign. Perdue and Loeffler themselves are locked in tight campaigns with Ossoff and Warnock ahead of Tuesday run-off elections that will determine which party controls the US Senate

Kamala Harris lambasts Trump's Georgia phone call as 'abuse of power'

Anthony Fauci, Director of USA's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on Sunday rejected current US President Donald Trump's claim that data on COVID-19 cases and deaths in US was overblown.

"The deaths are real deaths," Anthony Fauci told ABC News. He added that jam-packed hospitals and stressed-out healthcare workers are "not fake. That's real".

On Sunday,&nbsp;Trump fired off a tweet making the allegations about inflated numbers and blamed Centre for Disease Control and Prevention for using "ridiculous method" to collate and calculate numbers.

"The number of cases and deaths of the China Virus is far exaggerated in the United States because of @CDCgov ’s ridiculous method of determination compared to other countries, many of whom report, purposely, very inaccurately and low. “When in doubt, call it Covid.” Fake News!" tweeted Trump.

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The number of cases and deaths of the China Virus is far exaggerated in the United States because of <a href="https://twitter.com/CDCgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CDCgov</a>’s ridiculous method of determination compared to other countries, many of whom report, purposely, very inaccurately and low. “When in doubt, call it Covid.” Fake News!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1345720107255926784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Anthony Fauci along with US Surgeon General Jerome Adams defended accuracy of data published by CDC. Adams appeared on CNN's State of the Union.

“From a public health perspective, I have no reason to doubt those numbers and I think people need to be very aware that it’s not just about the deaths,” Adams said. “It’s about the hospitalizations, the capacity.”

Fauci and Adams expressed optimism that the pace of vaccinating Americans against the virus is accelerating after a slow start. More than 4.2 million people have been inoculated since Dec. 14 with one of two vaccines, far short of the Trump administration’s goal of 20 million by the end of 2020.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-vp-mike-pence-welcomes-senate-republican-efforts-to-derail-joe-biden-victory-certification-354243">US VP Mike Pence 'welcomes' Senate Republican efforts to derail Joe Biden victory certification</a>

“We wanted to get to 20 million, but some glimmer of hope is that in the last 72 hours, they’ve gotten 1.2 million doses into peoples’ arms, which is an average of about 500,000 a day,” Fauci said. “We are not where we want to be. There’s no doubt about that. But I think we can get there.”

Trump, a Republican who leaves office on Jan. 20 after losing a bid for a second term to Democrat Joe Biden, has frequently downplayed the severity of the pandemic. He has also scorned and ignored federal recommendations for containing the spread.

More than 20 million people have been infected in the United States and nearly 347,000 have died – or one out of every 950 U.S. residents - since the virus first emerged in China in late 2019, according to the CDC.

(With Reuters inputs)

Anthony Fauci, Director of USA's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on Sunday rejected current US President Donald Trump's claim that data on COVID-19 cases and deaths in US was overblown.

Anthony Fauci, Director of USA's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on Sunday rejected current US President Donald Trump's claim that data on COVID-19 cases and deaths in US was overblown. "The deaths are real deaths," Anthony Fauci told ABC News. He added that jam-packed hospitals and stressed-out healthcare workers are "not fake. That's real". On Sunday, Trump fired off a tweet making the allegations about inflated numbers and blamed Centre for Disease Control and Prevention for using "ridiculous method" to collate and calculate numbers. "The number of cases and deaths of the China Virus is far exaggerated in the United States because of @CDCgov ’s ridiculous method of determination compared to other countries, many of whom report, purposely, very inaccurately and low. “When in doubt, call it Covid.” Fake News!" tweeted Trump. The number of cases and deaths of the China Virus is far exaggerated in the United States because of @CDCgov’s ridiculous method of determination compared to other countries, many of whom report, purposely, very inaccurately and low. “When in doubt, call it Covid.” Fake News! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2021 × Anthony Fauci along with US Surgeon General Jerome Adams defended accuracy of data published by CDC. Adams appeared on CNN's State of the Union. “From a public health perspective, I have no reason to doubt those numbers and I think people need to be very aware that it’s not just about the deaths,” Adams said. “It’s about the hospitalizations, the capacity.” Fauci and Adams expressed optimism that the pace of vaccinating Americans against the virus is accelerating after a slow start. More than 4.2 million people have been inoculated since Dec. 14 with one of two vaccines, far short of the Trump administration’s goal of 20 million by the end of 2020. Also Read | US VP Mike Pence 'welcomes' Senate Republican efforts to derail Joe Biden victory certification “We wanted to get to 20 million, but some glimmer of hope is that in the last 72 hours, they’ve gotten 1.2 million doses into peoples’ arms, which is an average of about 500,000 a day,” Fauci said. “We are not where we want to be. There’s no doubt about that. But I think we can get there.” Trump, a Republican who leaves office on Jan. 20 after losing a bid for a second term to Democrat Joe Biden, has frequently downplayed the severity of the pandemic. He has also scorned and ignored federal recommendations for containing the spread. More than 20 million people have been infected in the United States and nearly 347,000 have died – or one out of every 950 U.S. residents - since the virus first emerged in China in late 2019, according to the CDC. (With Reuters inputs)

Anthony Fauci rejects Trump's assertion of 'exaggerated' COVID data in US

A major avenue for global money laundering and tax evasion in the United States has been closed off, courtesy a new law requiring disclosure of owners of shell companies used to hide billions of dollars.

The Corporate Transparency Act was included in the US defence appropriations bill passed into law by Congress late Friday, overriding President Donald Trump's veto.

The law forces "beneficial owners" behind shell companies to report their identities to the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN.

This is being considered as a huge step against kleptocrats, organised crime and rich tax evaders who have been able to anonymously wash their suspect wealth through the world's largest economy.

The United Nations estimates that $800 billion to $2 trillion is laundered through the global financial system every years.

While much of the attention on has focussed on tax havens like Panama and the Cayman Islands, experts say that the size of the US economy, and its ability to absorb billions of dollars without notice, has made it crucial for converting illicit funds into legitimate assets.

In early 2020, the Tax Justice Network ranked the Cayman Islands and the United States as the global leaders in helping people conceal their finances from law and tax enforcement.&nbsp;

To this end, Gary Kalman, the US director of Transparency International, said money has flowed into the United States from China and Russia because it was the easiest place to launder it, through properties, corporate assets, securities and art.

By forcing company owners to divulge their identities, he said, the US is establishing a "global norm" for the world's financial system.

The legislation sets penalties for not reporting a company's beneficial owners of up to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

FACT said the law could result in a sharp drop in all-cash business transactions, especially in real estate, a favoured way for outsiders to move large sums into the US economy.

FACT also says that anonymous companies underpin trade in counterfeit luxury goods, pharmaceuticals and industrial equipment.

(with inputs)

A major avenue for global money laundering and tax evasion in the United States has been closed off, courtesy a new law requiring disclosure of owners of shell companies used to hide billions of dollars.

A major avenue for global money laundering and tax evasion in the United States has been closed off, courtesy a new law requiring disclosure of owners of shell companies used to hide billions of dollars. The Corporate Transparency Act was included in the US defence appropriations bill passed into law by Congress late Friday, overriding President Donald Trump's veto. The law forces "beneficial owners" behind shell companies to report their identities to the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN. This is being considered as a huge step against kleptocrats, organised crime and rich tax evaders who have been able to anonymously wash their suspect wealth through the world's largest economy. The United Nations estimates that $800 billion to $2 trillion is laundered through the global financial system every years. While much of the attention on has focussed on tax havens like Panama and the Cayman Islands, experts say that the size of the US economy, and its ability to absorb billions of dollars without notice, has made it crucial for converting illicit funds into legitimate assets. In early 2020, the Tax Justice Network ranked the Cayman Islands and the United States as the global leaders in helping people conceal their finances from law and tax enforcement. To this end, Gary Kalman, the US director of Transparency International, said money has flowed into the United States from China and Russia because it was the easiest place to launder it, through properties, corporate assets, securities and art. By forcing company owners to divulge their identities, he said, the US is establishing a "global norm" for the world's financial system. The legislation sets penalties for not reporting a company's beneficial owners of up to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine. FACT said the law could result in a sharp drop in all-cash business transactions, especially in real estate, a favoured way for outsiders to move large sums into the US economy. FACT also says that anonymous companies underpin trade in counterfeit luxury goods, pharmaceuticals and industrial equipment. (with inputs)

Key money-laundering channel in US shut down by new law

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif urged U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday not to be "trapped" by an alleged Israeli plan to provoke a war through attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq.

Fineprint: Iran's Foreign Minister urges Trump to avoid Israel 'trap' to provoke war

The veteran US lawmaker Ted Cruz and a few others have declared they would not be willing to vote next week to certify the President-elect Joe Biden's US election 2020 win, which is being considered one last try by the Republican party to&nbsp;make the outgoing President Donald Trump spin the election result.

This is being studied as one last and desperate move by the Republican Party, which experts believe will surely lead to another failed attempt.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-sets-a-new-record-marks-277000-covid-cases-in-24-hours-354101" hreflang="en">US sets a new record, marks 277,000 Covid cases in 24 hours</a>

Signed by Ted Cruz and six others, the statement accuses that all the court rulings which have concluded the elections were fair have been given a wrong decision and asserts that all "allegations of fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election exceed any in our lifetimes".

The lawmakers are planning to demand the creation of a special commission to carry an "emergency 10-day audit" of the results. They plan to protest the Pro-forma certification of Biden's victory o Wednesday when the Congress convenes in a joint session.

This can then later be revised for total votes by individual states by convening special legislative sessions.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/be-careful-of-trap-israel-may-provoke-war-with-attacks-on-us-forces-iran-to-trump-354076" hreflang="en">Be careful of trap, Israel may provoke war with attacks on US forces: Iran to Trump</a>

Cruz's legal protest has, predictably, gained support from the defeated US President Donald Trump who took to Twitter, to express his support to Cruz. "An attempt to steal a landslide win. Can't let it happen!," he tweeted.

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An attempt to steal a landslide win. Can’t let it happen! <a href="https://t.co/sKn4iTjUy0">https://t.co/sKn4iTjUy0</a>
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1345508977031974918?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2021</a></blockquote>
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He also tweeted a list of 11 senators and assured, "And after they see the facts, plenty more to come...Our Country will love them for it!".

This opposition has come weeks after the electoral college has ruled in favour of Democratic candidate Joe Biden. This has been labelled as yet another defeat as the House is majorly controlled by the Democrats.&nbsp;

The veteran US lawmaker Ted Cruz and a few others have declared they would not be willing to vote next week to certify the President-elect Joe Biden's US election 2020 win, which is being considered one last try by the Republican party to make the outgoing President Donald Trump spin the election result.

The veteran US lawmaker Ted Cruz and a few others have declared they would not be willing to vote next week to certify the President-elect Joe Biden's US election 2020 win, which is being considered one last try by the Republican party to make the outgoing President Donald Trump spin the election result. This is being studied as one last and desperate move by the Republican Party, which experts believe will surely lead to another failed attempt. Also read| US sets a new record, marks 277,000 Covid cases in 24 hours Signed by Ted Cruz and six others, the statement accuses that all the court rulings which have concluded the elections were fair have been given a wrong decision and asserts that all "allegations of fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election exceed any in our lifetimes". The lawmakers are planning to demand the creation of a special commission to carry an "emergency 10-day audit" of the results. They plan to protest the Pro-forma certification of Biden's victory o Wednesday when the Congress convenes in a joint session. This can then later be revised for total votes by individual states by convening special legislative sessions. Also read| Be careful of trap, Israel may provoke war with attacks on US forces: Iran to Trump Cruz's legal protest has, predictably, gained support from the defeated US President Donald Trump who took to Twitter, to express his support to Cruz. "An attempt to steal a landslide win. Can't let it happen!," he tweeted. An attempt to steal a landslide win. Can’t let it happen! https://t.co/sKn4iTjUy0 — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2021 × He also tweeted a list of 11 senators and assured, "And after they see the facts, plenty more to come...Our Country will love them for it!". This opposition has come weeks after the electoral college has ruled in favour of Democratic candidate Joe Biden. This has been labelled as yet another defeat as the House is majorly controlled by the Democrats.

Ted Cruz and other US senators plan to oppose Joe Biden's certification

A year after Soleimani's killing: The operation, the method, and sanctions

On Election Day, Gen. Paul Nakasone, the nation’s top cyberwarrior, reported that the battle against Russian interference in the presidential campaign had posted major successes and exposed the other side’s online weapons, tools and tradecraft.

“We’ve broadened our operations and feel very good where we’re at right now,” he told journalists.

Eight weeks later, Nakasone and other U.S. officials responsible for cybersecurity are now consumed by what they missed for at least nine months: a hacking, now believed to have affected upward of 250 federal agencies and businesses, that Russia aimed not at the election system but at the rest of the U.S. government and many large American corporations.

Three weeks after the intrusion came to light, U.S. officials are still trying to understand whether what the Russians pulled off was simply an espionage operation inside the systems of the American bureaucracy or something more sinister, inserting “backdoor” access into government agencies, major corporations, the electric grid and laboratories developing and transporting new generations of nuclear weapons.

At a minimum it has set off alarms about the vulnerability of government and private-sector networks in the United States to attack and raised questions about how and why the nation’s cyberdefenses failed so spectacularly.

Those questions have taken on particular urgency given that the breach was not detected by any of the government agencies that share responsibility for cyberdefense — the military’s Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, both of which are run by Nakasone, and the Department of Homeland Security — but by a private cybersecurity company, FireEye.

“This is looking much, much worse than I first feared,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “The size of it keeps expanding. It’s clear the United States government missed it.”

“And if FireEye had not come forward,” he added, “I’m not sure we would be fully aware of it to this day.”

Interviews with key players investigating what intelligence agencies believe to be an operation by Russia’s SVR intelligence service revealed these points:

— The breach is far broader than first believed. Initial estimates were that Russia sent its probes only into a few dozen of the 18,000 government and private networks it gained access to when it inserted code into network management software made by a Texas company named SolarWinds. But as businesses like Amazon and Microsoft that provide cloud services dig deeper for evidence, it now appears Russia exploited multiple layers of the supply chain to gain access to as many as 250 networks.

— The hackers managed their intrusion from servers inside the United States, exploiting legal prohibitions on the National Security Agency from engaging in domestic surveillance and eluding cyberdefenses deployed by the Department of Homeland Security.

— “Early warning” sensors placed by Cyber Command and the National Security Agency deep inside foreign networks to detect brewing attacks clearly failed. There is also no indication yet that any human intelligence alerted the United States to the hacking.

— The government’s emphasis on election defense, while critical in 2020, may have diverted resources and attention from long-brewing problems like protecting the “supply chain” of software. In the private sector, too, companies that were focused on election security, like FireEye and Microsoft, are now revealing that they were breached as part of the larger supply chain attack.

— SolarWinds, the company that the hackers used as a conduit for their attacks, had a history of lackluster security for its products, making it an easy target, according to current and former employees and government investigators. Its chief executive, Kevin Thompson, who is leaving his job after 11 years, has sidestepped the question of whether his company should have detected the intrusion.

— Some of the compromised SolarWinds software was engineered in Eastern Europe, and American investigators are now examining whether the incursion originated there, where Russian intelligence operatives are deeply rooted.

The intentions behind the attack remain shrouded. But with a new administration taking office in three weeks, some analysts say the Russians may be trying to shake Washington’s confidence in the security of its communications and to demonstrate their cyberarsenal to gain leverage against President-elect Joe Biden before nuclear arms talks.

“We still don’t know what Russia’s strategic objectives were,” said Suzanne Spaulding, who was the senior cyberofficial at the Homeland Security Department during the Obama administration. “But we should be concerned that part of this may go beyond reconnaissance. Their goal may be to put themselves in a position to have leverage over the new administration, like holding a gun to our head to deter us from acting to counter Putin.”

Growing Hit List

The U.S. government was clearly the main focus of the attack, with the Treasury Department, the State Department, the Commerce Department, the Energy Department and parts of the Defense Department among the agencies confirmed to have been infiltrated. (The &nbsp;Pentagon insists the attacks on its systems were unsuccessful, though it has offered no evidence.)

But the hacking also breached large numbers of corporations, many of which have yet to step forward. SolarWinds is believed to be one of several supply chain vendors Russia used in the hacking. Microsoft, which had tallied 40 victims as of Dec. 17, initially said that it had not been breached, only to discover this week that it had been — and that resellers of its software had been, too. A previously unreported assessment by Amazon’s intelligence team found the number of victims may have been five times greater, though officials warn some of those may be double-counted.

Publicly, officials have said they do not believe the hackers from Russia’s SVR pierced classified systems containing sensitive communications and plans. But privately, officials say they still do not have a clear picture of what might have been stolen.

They said they worried about delicate but unclassified data the hackers might have taken from victims like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, including Black Start, the detailed technical blueprints for how the United States plans to restore power in the event of a cataclysmic blackout.

The plans would give Russia a hit list of systems to target to keep power from being restored in an attack like the one it pulled off in Ukraine in 2015, shutting off power for six hours in the dead of winter. Moscow long ago implanted malware in the U.S. electric grid, and the United States has done the same to Russia as a deterrent.

A Supply Chain Compromised

One main focus of the investigation so far has been SolarWinds, the company based in Austin, Texas, whose software updates the hackers compromised.

But the cybersecurity arm of the Department of Homeland Security concluded the hackers worked through other channels, too. And last week, CrowdStrike, another security company, revealed that it was also targeted, unsuccessfully, by the same hackers, but through a company that resells Microsoft software.

Because resellers are often entrusted to set up clients’ software, they — like SolarWinds — have broad access to Microsoft customers’ networks. As a result, they can be an ideal Trojan horse for Russia’s hackers. Intelligence officials have expressed anger that Microsoft did not detect the attack earlier; the company, which said Thursday that the hackers viewed its source code, has not disclosed which of its products were affected or for how long hackers were inside its network.

“They targeted the weakest points in the supply chain and through our most trusted relationships,” said Glenn Chisholm, a founder of Obsidian Security.

Interviews with current and former employees of SolarWinds suggest it was slow to make security a priority, even as its software was adopted by America’s premier cybersecurity company and federal agencies.

Employees say that under Thompson, an accountant by training and a former chief financial officer, every part of the business was examined for cost savings, and common security practices were eschewed because of their expense. His approach helped almost triple SolarWinds’ annual profit margins to more than $453 million in 2019 from $152 million in 2010.

But some of those measures may have put the company and its customers at greater risk for attack. SolarWinds moved much of its engineering to satellite offices in the Czech Republic, Poland and Belarus, where engineers had broad access to the Orion network management software that Russia’s agents compromised.

The company has said only that the manipulation of its software was the work of human hackers rather than of a computer program. It has not publicly addressed the possibility of an insider being involved in the breach.

None of the SolarWinds customers contacted by The New York Times in recent weeks were aware they were reliant on software that was maintained in Eastern Europe. Many said they did not even know they were using SolarWinds software until recently.

Even with its software installed throughout federal networks, employees said SolarWinds tacked on security only in 2017, under threat of penalty from a new European privacy law. Only then, employees say, did SolarWinds hire its first chief information officer and install a vice president of “security architecture.”

Ian Thornton-Trump, a former cybersecurity adviser at SolarWinds, said he warned management that year that unless it took a more proactive approach to its internal security, a cybersecurity episode would be “catastrophic.” After his basic recommendations were ignored, Thornton-Trump left the company.

SolarWinds declined to address questions about the adequacy of its security. In a statement, it said it was a “victim of a highly sophisticated, complex and targeted cyberattack” and was collaborating closely with law enforcement, intelligence agencies and security experts to investigate.

But security experts note that it took days after the Russian attack was discovered before SolarWinds’ websites stopped offering clients compromised code.

Offense Over Defense

Billions of dollars in cybersecurity budgets have flowed in recent years to offensive espionage and preemptive action programs, what Nakasone calls the need to “defend forward” by hacking into adversaries’ networks to get an early look at their operations and to counteract them inside their own networks before they can attack, if required.

But that approach, while hailed as a long-overdue strategy to preempt attacks, missed the Russian breach.

By staging their attacks from servers inside the United States, in some cases using computers in the same town or city as their victims, according to FireEye, the Russians took advantage of limits on the National Security Agency’s authority. Congress has not given the agency or homeland security any authority to enter or defend private-sector networks. It was on these networks that SVR operatives were less careful, leaving clues about their intrusions that FireEye was ultimately able to find.

By inserting themselves into the SolarWinds’ Orion update and using custom tools, they also avoided tripping the alarms of the “Einstein” detection system that homeland security deployed across government agencies to catch known malware, and of the so-called CDM program that was explicitly devised to alert agencies to suspicious activity.

Some intelligence officials are questioning whether the government was so focused on election interference that it created openings elsewhere.

Intelligence agencies concluded months ago that Russia had determined it could not infiltrate enough election systems to affect the outcome of elections and instead shifted its attention to deflecting ransomware attacks that could disenfranchise voters and influence operations aimed at sowing discord, stoking doubt about the system’s integrity and changing voters’ minds.

The SolarWinds hacking, which began as early as October 2019, and the intrusion into Microsoft’s resellers gave Russia a chance to attack the most vulnerable, least defended networks across multiple federal agencies.

Nakasone declined to be interviewed. But a spokesperson for the National Security Agency, Charles Stadtlander, said, “We don't consider this as an ‘either/or’ trade-off. The actions, insights and new frameworks constructed during election security efforts have broad positive impacts for the cybersecurity posture of the nation and the U.S. government.”

In fact, the United States appears to have succeeded in persuading Russia that an attack aimed at changing votes would prompt a costly retaliation. But as the scale of the intrusion comes into focus, it is clear the U.S. government failed to convince Russia there would be a comparable consequence to executing a broad hacking on federal government and corporate networks.

Getting the Hackers Out

Intelligence officials say it could be months, years even, before they have a full understanding of the hacking.

Since the extraction of a top Kremlin informant in 2017, the CIA’s knowledge of Russian operations has been diminished. And the SVR has remained one of the world’s most capable intelligence services by avoiding electronic communications that could expose its secrets to the National Security Agency, intelligence officials say.

The best assessments of the SVR have come from the Dutch. In 2014, hackers working for the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service pierced the computers used by the group, watching them for at least a year and at one point catching them on camera.

It was the Dutch who helped alert the White House and State Department to an SVR hacking of their systems in 2014 and 2015, and last month, they caught and expelled from the Netherlands two SVR operatives accused of infiltrating technology companies there. While the group is not known to be destructive, it is notoriously difficult to evict from computer systems it has infiltrated.

When the SVR broke into the unclassified systems at the State Department and White House, Richard Ledgett, then the deputy director of the National Security Agency, said the agency engaged in the digital equivalent of “hand-to-hand combat.” At one point, the SVR gained access to the NetWitness Investigator tool that investigators use to uproot Russian back doors, manipulating it in such a way that the hackers continued to evade detection.

Investigators said they would assume they had kicked out the SVR, only to discover the group had crawled in through another door.

Some security experts said that ridding so many sprawling federal agencies of the SVR may be futile and that the only way forward may be to shut systems down and start anew. Others said doing so in the middle of a pandemic would be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming, and the new administration would have to work to identify and contain every compromised system before it could calibrate a response.

“The SVR is deliberate, they are sophisticated, and they don’t have the same legal restraints as we do here in the West,” said Adam Darrah, a former government intelligence analyst who is now director of intelligence at Vigilante, a security firm.

Sanctions, indictments and other measures, he added, have failed to deter the SVR, which has shown it can adapt quickly.

“They are watching us very closely right now,” Darrah said. “And they will pivot accordingly.”

On Election Day, Gen. Paul Nakasone, the nation’s top cyberwarrior, reported that the battle against Russian interference in the presidential campaign had posted major successes and exposed the other side’s online weapons, tools and tradecraft.

On Election Day, Gen. Paul Nakasone, the nation’s top cyberwarrior, reported that the battle against Russian interference in the presidential campaign had posted major successes and exposed the other side’s online weapons, tools and tradecraft. “We’ve broadened our operations and feel very good where we’re at right now,” he told journalists. Eight weeks later, Nakasone and other U.S. officials responsible for cybersecurity are now consumed by what they missed for at least nine months: a hacking, now believed to have affected upward of 250 federal agencies and businesses, that Russia aimed not at the election system but at the rest of the U.S. government and many large American corporations. Three weeks after the intrusion came to light, U.S. officials are still trying to understand whether what the Russians pulled off was simply an espionage operation inside the systems of the American bureaucracy or something more sinister, inserting “backdoor” access into government agencies, major corporations, the electric grid and laboratories developing and transporting new generations of nuclear weapons. At a minimum it has set off alarms about the vulnerability of government and private-sector networks in the United States to attack and raised questions about how and why the nation’s cyberdefenses failed so spectacularly. Those questions have taken on particular urgency given that the breach was not detected by any of the government agencies that share responsibility for cyberdefense — the military’s Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, both of which are run by Nakasone, and the Department of Homeland Security — but by a private cybersecurity company, FireEye. “This is looking much, much worse than I first feared,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “The size of it keeps expanding. It’s clear the United States government missed it.” “And if FireEye had not come forward,” he added, “I’m not sure we would be fully aware of it to this day.” Interviews with key players investigating what intelligence agencies believe to be an operation by Russia’s SVR intelligence service revealed these points: — The breach is far broader than first believed. Initial estimates were that Russia sent its probes only into a few dozen of the 18,000 government and private networks it gained access to when it inserted code into network management software made by a Texas company named SolarWinds. But as businesses like Amazon and Microsoft that provide cloud services dig deeper for evidence, it now appears Russia exploited multiple layers of the supply chain to gain access to as many as 250 networks. — The hackers managed their intrusion from servers inside the United States, exploiting legal prohibitions on the National Security Agency from engaging in domestic surveillance and eluding cyberdefenses deployed by the Department of Homeland Security. — “Early warning” sensors placed by Cyber Command and the National Security Agency deep inside foreign networks to detect brewing attacks clearly failed. There is also no indication yet that any human intelligence alerted the United States to the hacking. — The government’s emphasis on election defense, while critical in 2020, may have diverted resources and attention from long-brewing problems like protecting the “supply chain” of software. In the private sector, too, companies that were focused on election security, like FireEye and Microsoft, are now revealing that they were breached as part of the larger supply chain attack. — SolarWinds, the company that the hackers used as a conduit for their attacks, had a history of lackluster security for its products, making it an easy target, according to current and former employees and government investigators. Its chief executive, Kevin Thompson, who is leaving his job after 11 years, has sidestepped the question of whether his company should have detected the intrusion. — Some of the compromised SolarWinds software was engineered in Eastern Europe, and American investigators are now examining whether the incursion originated there, where Russian intelligence operatives are deeply rooted. The intentions behind the attack remain shrouded. But with a new administration taking office in three weeks, some analysts say the Russians may be trying to shake Washington’s confidence in the security of its communications and to demonstrate their cyberarsenal to gain leverage against President-elect Joe Biden before nuclear arms talks. “We still don’t know what Russia’s strategic objectives were,” said Suzanne Spaulding, who was the senior cyberofficial at the Homeland Security Department during the Obama administration. “But we should be concerned that part of this may go beyond reconnaissance. Their goal may be to put themselves in a position to have leverage over the new administration, like holding a gun to our head to deter us from acting to counter Putin.” Growing Hit List The U.S. government was clearly the main focus of the attack, with the Treasury Department, the State Department, the Commerce Department, the Energy Department and parts of the Defense Department among the agencies confirmed to have been infiltrated. (The Pentagon insists the attacks on its systems were unsuccessful, though it has offered no evidence.) But the hacking also breached large numbers of corporations, many of which have yet to step forward. SolarWinds is believed to be one of several supply chain vendors Russia used in the hacking. Microsoft, which had tallied 40 victims as of Dec. 17, initially said that it had not been breached, only to discover this week that it had been — and that resellers of its software had been, too. A previously unreported assessment by Amazon’s intelligence team found the number of victims may have been five times greater, though officials warn some of those may be double-counted. Publicly, officials have said they do not believe the hackers from Russia’s SVR pierced classified systems containing sensitive communications and plans. But privately, officials say they still do not have a clear picture of what might have been stolen. They said they worried about delicate but unclassified data the hackers might have taken from victims like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, including Black Start, the detailed technical blueprints for how the United States plans to restore power in the event of a cataclysmic blackout. The plans would give Russia a hit list of systems to target to keep power from being restored in an attack like the one it pulled off in Ukraine in 2015, shutting off power for six hours in the dead of winter. Moscow long ago implanted malware in the U.S. electric grid, and the United States has done the same to Russia as a deterrent. A Supply Chain Compromised One main focus of the investigation so far has been SolarWinds, the company based in Austin, Texas, whose software updates the hackers compromised. But the cybersecurity arm of the Department of Homeland Security concluded the hackers worked through other channels, too. And last week, CrowdStrike, another security company, revealed that it was also targeted, unsuccessfully, by the same hackers, but through a company that resells Microsoft software. Because resellers are often entrusted to set up clients’ software, they — like SolarWinds — have broad access to Microsoft customers’ networks. As a result, they can be an ideal Trojan horse for Russia’s hackers. Intelligence officials have expressed anger that Microsoft did not detect the attack earlier; the company, which said Thursday that the hackers viewed its source code, has not disclosed which of its products were affected or for how long hackers were inside its network. “They targeted the weakest points in the supply chain and through our most trusted relationships,” said Glenn Chisholm, a founder of Obsidian Security. Interviews with current and former employees of SolarWinds suggest it was slow to make security a priority, even as its software was adopted by America’s premier cybersecurity company and federal agencies. Employees say that under Thompson, an accountant by training and a former chief financial officer, every part of the business was examined for cost savings, and common security practices were eschewed because of their expense. His approach helped almost triple SolarWinds’ annual profit margins to more than $453 million in 2019 from $152 million in 2010. But some of those measures may have put the company and its customers at greater risk for attack. SolarWinds moved much of its engineering to satellite offices in the Czech Republic, Poland and Belarus, where engineers had broad access to the Orion network management software that Russia’s agents compromised. The company has said only that the manipulation of its software was the work of human hackers rather than of a computer program. It has not publicly addressed the possibility of an insider being involved in the breach. None of the SolarWinds customers contacted by The New York Times in recent weeks were aware they were reliant on software that was maintained in Eastern Europe. Many said they did not even know they were using SolarWinds software until recently. Even with its software installed throughout federal networks, employees said SolarWinds tacked on security only in 2017, under threat of penalty from a new European privacy law. Only then, employees say, did SolarWinds hire its first chief information officer and install a vice president of “security architecture.” Ian Thornton-Trump, a former cybersecurity adviser at SolarWinds, said he warned management that year that unless it took a more proactive approach to its internal security, a cybersecurity episode would be “catastrophic.” After his basic recommendations were ignored, Thornton-Trump left the company. SolarWinds declined to address questions about the adequacy of its security. In a statement, it said it was a “victim of a highly sophisticated, complex and targeted cyberattack” and was collaborating closely with law enforcement, intelligence agencies and security experts to investigate. But security experts note that it took days after the Russian attack was discovered before SolarWinds’ websites stopped offering clients compromised code. Offense Over Defense Billions of dollars in cybersecurity budgets have flowed in recent years to offensive espionage and preemptive action programs, what Nakasone calls the need to “defend forward” by hacking into adversaries’ networks to get an early look at their operations and to counteract them inside their own networks before they can attack, if required. But that approach, while hailed as a long-overdue strategy to preempt attacks, missed the Russian breach. By staging their attacks from servers inside the United States, in some cases using computers in the same town or city as their victims, according to FireEye, the Russians took advantage of limits on the National Security Agency’s authority. Congress has not given the agency or homeland security any authority to enter or defend private-sector networks. It was on these networks that SVR operatives were less careful, leaving clues about their intrusions that FireEye was ultimately able to find. By inserting themselves into the SolarWinds’ Orion update and using custom tools, they also avoided tripping the alarms of the “Einstein” detection system that homeland security deployed across government agencies to catch known malware, and of the so-called CDM program that was explicitly devised to alert agencies to suspicious activity. Some intelligence officials are questioning whether the government was so focused on election interference that it created openings elsewhere. Intelligence agencies concluded months ago that Russia had determined it could not infiltrate enough election systems to affect the outcome of elections and instead shifted its attention to deflecting ransomware attacks that could disenfranchise voters and influence operations aimed at sowing discord, stoking doubt about the system’s integrity and changing voters’ minds. The SolarWinds hacking, which began as early as October 2019, and the intrusion into Microsoft’s resellers gave Russia a chance to attack the most vulnerable, least defended networks across multiple federal agencies. Nakasone declined to be interviewed. But a spokesperson for the National Security Agency, Charles Stadtlander, said, “We don't consider this as an ‘either/or’ trade-off. The actions, insights and new frameworks constructed during election security efforts have broad positive impacts for the cybersecurity posture of the nation and the U.S. government.” In fact, the United States appears to have succeeded in persuading Russia that an attack aimed at changing votes would prompt a costly retaliation. But as the scale of the intrusion comes into focus, it is clear the U.S. government failed to convince Russia there would be a comparable consequence to executing a broad hacking on federal government and corporate networks. Getting the Hackers Out Intelligence officials say it could be months, years even, before they have a full understanding of the hacking. Since the extraction of a top Kremlin informant in 2017, the CIA’s knowledge of Russian operations has been diminished. And the SVR has remained one of the world’s most capable intelligence services by avoiding electronic communications that could expose its secrets to the National Security Agency, intelligence officials say. The best assessments of the SVR have come from the Dutch. In 2014, hackers working for the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service pierced the computers used by the group, watching them for at least a year and at one point catching them on camera. It was the Dutch who helped alert the White House and State Department to an SVR hacking of their systems in 2014 and 2015, and last month, they caught and expelled from the Netherlands two SVR operatives accused of infiltrating technology companies there. While the group is not known to be destructive, it is notoriously difficult to evict from computer systems it has infiltrated. When the SVR broke into the unclassified systems at the State Department and White House, Richard Ledgett, then the deputy director of the National Security Agency, said the agency engaged in the digital equivalent of “hand-to-hand combat.” At one point, the SVR gained access to the NetWitness Investigator tool that investigators use to uproot Russian back doors, manipulating it in such a way that the hackers continued to evade detection. Investigators said they would assume they had kicked out the SVR, only to discover the group had crawled in through another door. Some security experts said that ridding so many sprawling federal agencies of the SVR may be futile and that the only way forward may be to shut systems down and start anew. Others said doing so in the middle of a pandemic would be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming, and the new administration would have to work to identify and contain every compromised system before it could calibrate a response. “The SVR is deliberate, they are sophisticated, and they don’t have the same legal restraints as we do here in the West,” said Adam Darrah, a former government intelligence analyst who is now director of intelligence at Vigilante, a security firm. Sanctions, indictments and other measures, he added, have failed to deter the SVR, which has shown it can adapt quickly. “They are watching us very closely right now,” Darrah said. “And they will pivot accordingly.”

As understanding of Russian hacking grows, so does alarm

Iranian foreign minister Muhammad Jawad Zarif has accused the US President Donald Trump of attempting to fabricate a pretext to attack Iran.

Iran's commander vows ‘resistance’ a year after US killing of Soleimani

US President Donald Trump has vetoed a bill that would gradually end the use of large-mesh drift gillnets deployed exclusively in federal waters off the coast of California.

He on Friday, in his veto message to the Senate, said such legislation would increase reliance on imported seafood and worsen a multibillion-dollar seafood trade deficit.

Trump vetoed the fishing bill as the Republican-controlled Senate followed the Democratic-led House and voted to overturn his earlier veto of the annual defence policy bill, enacting it into law despite Trump's objections.

The fishing bill's sponsors said large-mesh drift gillnets, which measure between 1.6 kilometers and 2.4 kilometers long and can extend 60.9 meters below the surface of the ocean, are left in the waters overnight to catch swordfish and thresher sharks.&nbsp;

At least 60 other marine species - including whales, dolphins and sea lions - can also become entangled in the nets, where they are injured or die.

It is illegal to use these nets in US territorial waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and off the coasts of Washington state, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii. They remain legal in federal waters off California's coast.

The bill Trump vetoed would have extended similar protections to federal waters off California's shoreline within five years and authorised the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help the commercial fishing industry switch to more sustainable types of gear.

(with inputs)

US President Donald Trump has vetoed a bill that would gradually end the use of large-mesh drift gillnets deployed exclusively in federal waters off the coast of California.

US President Donald Trump has vetoed a bill that would gradually end the use of large-mesh drift gillnets deployed exclusively in federal waters off the coast of California. He on Friday, in his veto message to the Senate, said such legislation would increase reliance on imported seafood and worsen a multibillion-dollar seafood trade deficit. Trump vetoed the fishing bill as the Republican-controlled Senate followed the Democratic-led House and voted to overturn his earlier veto of the annual defence policy bill, enacting it into law despite Trump's objections. The fishing bill's sponsors said large-mesh drift gillnets, which measure between 1.6 kilometers and 2.4 kilometers long and can extend 60.9 meters below the surface of the ocean, are left in the waters overnight to catch swordfish and thresher sharks. At least 60 other marine species - including whales, dolphins and sea lions - can also become entangled in the nets, where they are injured or die. It is illegal to use these nets in US territorial waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and off the coasts of Washington state, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii. They remain legal in federal waters off California's coast. The bill Trump vetoed would have extended similar protections to federal waters off California's shoreline within five years and authorised the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help the commercial fishing industry switch to more sustainable types of gear. (with inputs)

Trump vetoes California fishing bill over seafood trade deficit

A federal judge on Friday rejected a lawsuit from a Republican congressman that sought to allow Vice President Mike Pence to reject Electoral College votes for Joe Biden when Congress meets on Jan. 6 to certify his victory over President Donald Trump.

The latest long-shot attempt by Trump`s Republican allies to overturn the Nov. 3 election was dismissed by one of Trump`s own appointees to the federal bench, Jeremy Kernodle. He ruled that U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas and a slate of Republican electors from Arizona could not show they suffered any personal harm "fairly traceable" to Pence`s allegedly unlawful conduct and, therefore, lacked legal standing to bring the case.

The standing requirement "helps enforce the limited role of federal courts in our constitutional system. The problem for plaintiffs here is that they lack standing," Kernodle wrote.

A spokesman for Trump referred questions to Pence`s office. A spokesman for Pence declined to comment.

A spokeswoman for Gohmert did not immediately comment.

Trump has refused to concede defeat to Democrat Biden and has repeatedly falsely claimed the election was tainted by widespread fraud. He and his allies have lost dozens of court efforts seeking to reverse the election results.

Biden beat President Donald Trump by a 306-232 margin in the Electoral College and is set to be sworn in on Jan. 20.

Under the Electoral College system, "electoral votes" are allotted to states and the District of Columbia based on their congressional representation.

Gohmert`s suit argued that Pence had discretion to decide what votes should count. They also asked the judge to bar Pence from following the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which lays out how objections to votes are handled by Congress.

Some Republicans have said they plan to object to the count of presidential electors next week in Congress. Reuters reported this week the effort could trigger a lengthy debate in the Senate but has virtually no chance of overturning the results.

A Justice Department lawyer representing Pence on Thursday urged Kernodle to dismiss the lawsuit saying they had sued the wrong person as they raised "a host of weighty legal issues about the manner in which the electoral votes for president are to be counted."

"The Senate and the House, not the Vice President, have legal interests that are sufficiently adverse to plaintiffs to ground a case or controversy," Pence`s filing said.

A federal judge on Friday rejected a lawsuit from a Republican congressman that sought to allow Vice President Mike Pence to reject Electoral College votes for Joe Biden when Congress meets on Jan.

A federal judge on Friday rejected a lawsuit from a Republican congressman that sought to allow Vice President Mike Pence to reject Electoral College votes for Joe Biden when Congress meets on Jan. 6 to certify his victory over President Donald Trump. The latest long-shot attempt by Trump`s Republican allies to overturn the Nov. 3 election was dismissed by one of Trump`s own appointees to the federal bench, Jeremy Kernodle. He ruled that U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas and a slate of Republican electors from Arizona could not show they suffered any personal harm "fairly traceable" to Pence`s allegedly unlawful conduct and, therefore, lacked legal standing to bring the case. The standing requirement "helps enforce the limited role of federal courts in our constitutional system. The problem for plaintiffs here is that they lack standing," Kernodle wrote. A spokesman for Trump referred questions to Pence`s office. A spokesman for Pence declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Gohmert did not immediately comment. Trump has refused to concede defeat to Democrat Biden and has repeatedly falsely claimed the election was tainted by widespread fraud. He and his allies have lost dozens of court efforts seeking to reverse the election results. Biden beat President Donald Trump by a 306-232 margin in the Electoral College and is set to be sworn in on Jan. 20. Under the Electoral College system, "electoral votes" are allotted to states and the District of Columbia based on their congressional representation. Gohmert`s suit argued that Pence had discretion to decide what votes should count. They also asked the judge to bar Pence from following the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which lays out how objections to votes are handled by Congress. Some Republicans have said they plan to object to the count of presidential electors next week in Congress. Reuters reported this week the effort could trigger a lengthy debate in the Senate but has virtually no chance of overturning the results. A Justice Department lawyer representing Pence on Thursday urged Kernodle to dismiss the lawsuit saying they had sued the wrong person as they raised "a host of weighty legal issues about the manner in which the electoral votes for president are to be counted." "The Senate and the House, not the Vice President, have legal interests that are sufficiently adverse to plaintiffs to ground a case or controversy," Pence`s filing said.

US judge dismisses lawmaker lawsuit against Pence over electoral count

US President Donald Trump suffered a stinging rebuke in the Senate in his last days in office with the Congress voting overwhelmingly to override his veto of a sweeping defence bill.

This is the first time lawmakers have done so during his presidency.&nbsp;

By a lopsided vote of 81-13, well more than the two-thirds of the 100-member chamber required, the Republican-controlled Senate approved the $740.5 billion National Defence Authorisation Act to fund the military for fiscal year 2021.&nbsp;They met in a rare New Year's Day session.

The Democratic-led House of Representatives had voted 322 to 87 on Monday to override Trump's veto.&nbsp;

Both houses of Congress had earlier passed the legislation in early December by strong majorities, but Trump, citing a litany of objections, vetoed it on December 23.

New members will be sworn in on Sunday, just 17 days before Democrat Joe Biden is inaugurated to succeed Trump.

Trump had called the bill a "gift" to China and Russia and said it restricted his ability to lower troop numbers in Afghanistan, South Korea and elsewhere. He bristled at language to rename military installations that currently honor leaders of the breakaway Civil War-era, pro-slavery Confederacy.&nbsp;

He also insisted the bill should include a repeal of a federal law, known as Section 230, that provides liability protection to internet companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Google, which he regularly accuses of anti-conservative bias.

A president has the power to veto a bill passed by Congress, but lawmakers can uphold the bill if two-thirds of both houses vote to override the veto.

The $740 billion National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA) determines everything from how many ships are bought to soldiers' pay and how to address geopolitical threats.

Trump refused to sign it into law because it did not repeal certain legal protections for social media platforms and included a provision stripping the names of Confederate generals from military bases.

Until Friday's vote, Trump had been on track to be the first president since Lyndon Johnson with no vetoes overridden.

(with inputs)

US President Donald Trump suffered a stinging rebuke in the Senate in his last days in office with the Congress voting overwhelmingly to override his veto of a sweeping defence bill.

US President Donald Trump suffered a stinging rebuke in the Senate in his last days in office with the Congress voting overwhelmingly to override his veto of a sweeping defence bill. This is the first time lawmakers have done so during his presidency. By a lopsided vote of 81-13, well more than the two-thirds of the 100-member chamber required, the Republican-controlled Senate approved the $740.5 billion National Defence Authorisation Act to fund the military for fiscal year 2021. They met in a rare New Year's Day session. The Democratic-led House of Representatives had voted 322 to 87 on Monday to override Trump's veto. Both houses of Congress had earlier passed the legislation in early December by strong majorities, but Trump, citing a litany of objections, vetoed it on December 23. New members will be sworn in on Sunday, just 17 days before Democrat Joe Biden is inaugurated to succeed Trump. Trump had called the bill a "gift" to China and Russia and said it restricted his ability to lower troop numbers in Afghanistan, South Korea and elsewhere. He bristled at language to rename military installations that currently honor leaders of the breakaway Civil War-era, pro-slavery Confederacy. He also insisted the bill should include a repeal of a federal law, known as Section 230, that provides liability protection to internet companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Google, which he regularly accuses of anti-conservative bias. A president has the power to veto a bill passed by Congress, but lawmakers can uphold the bill if two-thirds of both houses vote to override the veto. The $740 billion National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA) determines everything from how many ships are bought to soldiers' pay and how to address geopolitical threats. Trump refused to sign it into law because it did not repeal certain legal protections for social media platforms and included a provision stripping the names of Confederate generals from military bases. Until Friday's vote, Trump had been on track to be the first president since Lyndon Johnson with no vetoes overridden. (with inputs)

US Congress deals Trump a blow, overrides veto of defence bill

No one expected 2020 to turn out the way it did. The worst I imagined for this year, in my annual list of digital predictions in 2019, was that the “ever screechy” President Trump would get “to stay on Twitter retweeting fake accounts and links that appear to unmask a whistle-blower.”

If only. Mr. Trump is screechier than ever, and even more unhinged than expected. Most of his tweets are now labeled “disputed” by Twitter, which I would translate from geekspeak as a polite way of calling them lies.

Since I’m not polite, I’m starting this round of prognosticating with this: Soon after our forever troller in chief leaves office on Jan. 20, his account will be suspended by Twitter temporarily, and then, since he cannot stop breaking rules, he’ll get tossed off, just like his hideous pal, Alex Jones.

I have never thought, as many have, that Mr. Trump should have been de-platformed during his term as president. As flagitious as he can be, Mr. Trump has been a legitimate news figure and, thus, what he had to say should be aired.

But after Joe Biden is inaugurated, Mr. Trump should be treated like any other mendacious loudmouth, and Twitter will be well within its rights to put a sock in it. He’ll rage and then head over Parler to try to make fetch happen, which will not satisfy his enormous ego. It will all end in a whimper.

Speaking of the end, many of the multitude of “special interest acquisition companies” that have popped up in recent years and raised giant piles of money will fold in 2021 and 2022. (These SPACs are a financial maneuver seen as a back door to taking a start-up public, an alternative to a traditional I.P.O.)

There have been 165 SPACs in 2020, double the number the year before and five times more than five years ago. Back when there was a rush of new venture capital flooding the market, I used to say that there were not enough ratholes to shove all the money down. Guess what? There are also not enough rathole companies to merge into these SPACs.

Instead, there will be a lot of acquisitions. Big companies will swoop in, post-pandemic, to scoop up all the juicy bits. Because of increasing scrutiny from regulators, though, we will not see many megadeals, but rather smaller ones in arenas that are more competitive, such as in autonomous vehicles, health care, fintech and media. The maxim for midsize companies is clear: Get big or get bought.

And for the big companies, the mantra is just: Buy. The Amazon acquisition this week of the podcast maker Wondery, in a deal valued at $300 million — whatever that means — was exactly the kind of thing we will see more of. Amazon is aiming its considerable heft and pocketbook directly at a nascent podcast market. This will result in an inevitable smackdown with Spotify, which has been playing the most aggressively in this space, and we’ll see Apple wade in too along with traditional media companies.

Speaking of media companies: While the reverberations of the Warner Bros. decision to put all its 2021 movies on its HBOMax streaming service are sorting themselves out, the shift is permanent — whether offended filmmakers like it or not. Creators who adapt will benefit, especially if they devise new models of payment.

The longtime entertainment business model was built on powerful gatekeepers that made most of the money and relied on a vast network of middlemen. But in the new world, those who can assemble a fan base that they directly service will profit. Imagine the future relationship between creators and fans as a subscription business, and the economics get much more interesting. Hollywood will have to become much more nimble and entrepreneurial.

So, too, will more Americans in general, since the pandemic has accelerated the introduction of what will be permanent changes in how we work. Last December, I urged tech to be at the forefront of this major overhaul:

“And rather than accept that poor pay and poor protections for gig workers are inevitable and that the pressures of a global work force are too hard to push back, tech companies should figure out how to creatively and humanely deploy talent across the world to show that they are interested in dealing with the consequences of their inventions.”

This was pre-coronavirus — an exogenous circumstance. Now I am often asked when will work go back to normal, which is really a question of when will we get back to physical workplaces. That will certainly happen in the coming year, but in all kinds of new ways.

The coronavirus has forced the kind of work experimentation that would have taken a decade to eventually happen: limiting business travel, cutting in-person office time, questioning every cost associated with the analog workplace. Technology is making doing business cheaper and more efficient and, as it has turned out, more productive.

These changes have proved nearly useless and even dangerous when it comes to education, where physical presence is much more of an asset than we thought. More consideration will be put into how to make technology and schooling mesh better and how to provide students with the kind of experience that they are not getting, as well as a bigger focus on universal connectivity for those who are without it.

While pandemics are short term, the looming climate disaster is not. So, lastly, I’ll repeat my 2019 declaration that the “world’s first trillionaire will be a green-tech entrepreneur.” President-elect Biden, who is championing green technology, will be more successful if his efforts are seen as job creators, and not so much as giant government programs.

And now that Mr. Trump, who minimized the existential threat of climate change, is leaving, we can get to work on the kind of tech that could be the most lucrative ever. It’s an imperative that we solve our climate problems through innovation.

While Mr. Trump’s noxious digital fumes will dissipate, the other kind will not.

(Kara Swisher is the host of “Sway,” a New York Times Opinion podcast, and a contributing writer for The Times.)

No one expected 2020 to turn out the way it did. The worst I imagined for this year, in my annual list of digital predictions in 2019, was that the “ever screechy” President Trump would get “to stay on Twitter retweeting fake accounts and links that appear to unmask a whistle-blower.

No one expected 2020 to turn out the way it did. The worst I imagined for this year, in my annual list of digital predictions in 2019, was that the “ever screechy” President Trump would get “to stay on Twitter retweeting fake accounts and links that appear to unmask a whistle-blower.” If only. Mr. Trump is screechier than ever, and even more unhinged than expected. Most of his tweets are now labeled “disputed” by Twitter, which I would translate from geekspeak as a polite way of calling them lies. Since I’m not polite, I’m starting this round of prognosticating with this: Soon after our forever troller in chief leaves office on Jan. 20, his account will be suspended by Twitter temporarily, and then, since he cannot stop breaking rules, he’ll get tossed off, just like his hideous pal, Alex Jones. I have never thought, as many have, that Mr. Trump should have been de-platformed during his term as president. As flagitious as he can be, Mr. Trump has been a legitimate news figure and, thus, what he had to say should be aired. But after Joe Biden is inaugurated, Mr. Trump should be treated like any other mendacious loudmouth, and Twitter will be well within its rights to put a sock in it. He’ll rage and then head over Parler to try to make fetch happen, which will not satisfy his enormous ego. It will all end in a whimper. Speaking of the end, many of the multitude of “special interest acquisition companies” that have popped up in recent years and raised giant piles of money will fold in 2021 and 2022. (These SPACs are a financial maneuver seen as a back door to taking a start-up public, an alternative to a traditional I.P.O.) There have been 165 SPACs in 2020, double the number the year before and five times more than five years ago. Back when there was a rush of new venture capital flooding the market, I used to say that there were not enough ratholes to shove all the money down. Guess what? There are also not enough rathole companies to merge into these SPACs. Instead, there will be a lot of acquisitions. Big companies will swoop in, post-pandemic, to scoop up all the juicy bits. Because of increasing scrutiny from regulators, though, we will not see many megadeals, but rather smaller ones in arenas that are more competitive, such as in autonomous vehicles, health care, fintech and media. The maxim for midsize companies is clear: Get big or get bought. And for the big companies, the mantra is just: Buy. The Amazon acquisition this week of the podcast maker Wondery, in a deal valued at $300 million — whatever that means — was exactly the kind of thing we will see more of. Amazon is aiming its considerable heft and pocketbook directly at a nascent podcast market. This will result in an inevitable smackdown with Spotify, which has been playing the most aggressively in this space, and we’ll see Apple wade in too along with traditional media companies. Speaking of media companies: While the reverberations of the Warner Bros. decision to put all its 2021 movies on its HBOMax streaming service are sorting themselves out, the shift is permanent — whether offended filmmakers like it or not. Creators who adapt will benefit, especially if they devise new models of payment. The longtime entertainment business model was built on powerful gatekeepers that made most of the money and relied on a vast network of middlemen. But in the new world, those who can assemble a fan base that they directly service will profit. Imagine the future relationship between creators and fans as a subscription business, and the economics get much more interesting. Hollywood will have to become much more nimble and entrepreneurial. So, too, will more Americans in general, since the pandemic has accelerated the introduction of what will be permanent changes in how we work. Last December, I urged tech to be at the forefront of this major overhaul: “And rather than accept that poor pay and poor protections for gig workers are inevitable and that the pressures of a global work force are too hard to push back, tech companies should figure out how to creatively and humanely deploy talent across the world to show that they are interested in dealing with the consequences of their inventions.” This was pre-coronavirus — an exogenous circumstance. Now I am often asked when will work go back to normal, which is really a question of when will we get back to physical workplaces. That will certainly happen in the coming year, but in all kinds of new ways. The coronavirus has forced the kind of work experimentation that would have taken a decade to eventually happen: limiting business travel, cutting in-person office time, questioning every cost associated with the analog workplace. Technology is making doing business cheaper and more efficient and, as it has turned out, more productive. These changes have proved nearly useless and even dangerous when it comes to education, where physical presence is much more of an asset than we thought. More consideration will be put into how to make technology and schooling mesh better and how to provide students with the kind of experience that they are not getting, as well as a bigger focus on universal connectivity for those who are without it. While pandemics are short term, the looming climate disaster is not. So, lastly, I’ll repeat my 2019 declaration that the “world’s first trillionaire will be a green-tech entrepreneur.” President-elect Biden, who is championing green technology, will be more successful if his efforts are seen as job creators, and not so much as giant government programs. And now that Mr. Trump, who minimized the existential threat of climate change, is leaving, we can get to work on the kind of tech that could be the most lucrative ever. It’s an imperative that we solve our climate problems through innovation. While Mr. Trump’s noxious digital fumes will dissipate, the other kind will not. (Kara Swisher is the host of “Sway,” a New York Times Opinion podcast, and a contributing writer for The Times.)

Goodbye, Twitter Trump! And other predictions for 2021

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday extended a pair of immigration bans that block many "green card" applicants and temporary foreign workers from entering the country, measures he says are needed to protect U.S. workers amid the pandemic-battered economy.

The bans, which were issued in April and June, were set to expire on Dec. 31, but will be extended until March 31, 2021, the latest in a series of last-gasp immigration moves by the outgoing Trump administration. A broad range of businesses oppose the ban on certain foreign workers.

President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office on Jan. 20, has criticized the restrictions, but has not yet said whether he would immediately reverse them.

Trump issued the bans in the form of presidential proclamations that could be swiftly undone.

At least 20 million people remain on unemployment benefits in the United States as the novel coronavirus continues to spread nationwide.

In October, a federal judge in California blocked Trump’s ban on foreign guest workers as it applied to hundreds of thousands of U.S. businesses that fought the policy in court.

The judge found the ban would cause “irreparable harm” to the businesses by interfering with their operations and leading them to lay off employees and close open positions.

The U.S. Department of Justice appealed the decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is scheduled to hear arguments on Jan. 19.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday extended a pair of immigration bans that block many "green card" applicants and temporary foreign workers from entering the country, measures he says are needed to protect U.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday extended a pair of immigration bans that block many "green card" applicants and temporary foreign workers from entering the country, measures he says are needed to protect U.S. workers amid the pandemic-battered economy. The bans, which were issued in April and June, were set to expire on Dec. 31, but will be extended until March 31, 2021, the latest in a series of last-gasp immigration moves by the outgoing Trump administration. A broad range of businesses oppose the ban on certain foreign workers. President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office on Jan. 20, has criticized the restrictions, but has not yet said whether he would immediately reverse them. Trump issued the bans in the form of presidential proclamations that could be swiftly undone. At least 20 million people remain on unemployment benefits in the United States as the novel coronavirus continues to spread nationwide. In October, a federal judge in California blocked Trump’s ban on foreign guest workers as it applied to hundreds of thousands of U.S. businesses that fought the policy in court. The judge found the ban would cause “irreparable harm” to the businesses by interfering with their operations and leading them to lay off employees and close open positions. The U.S. Department of Justice appealed the decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is scheduled to hear arguments on Jan. 19.

Trump extends immigration bans despite opposition from US business groups

The outgoing president of the United States, Donald Trump, has issued a video, looking back on what he called "historic victories" and said, "We have to be remembered for what's been done."

Trump, who has yet to formally concede his November election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, posted the message on Twitter after returning to Washington early from his Florida resort amid a fight with Congress over a defence bill and coronavirus aid checks.

Trump praised his administration's accomplishments, which he said included its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and rebuilding the economy.

Trump said the United States has produced a COVID-19 vaccine in record time and he had correctly predicted this would come before the year ended. The president has frequently played down the severity of the pandemic and overseen a response many health experts have criticised as disorganised, cavalier and sometimes ignored the science behind virus transmission.

The United States has been one of the countries worst-hit by COVID-19 and leads the world in fatalities, with more than 340,000 deaths officially attributed to the virus.

Trump was originally scheduled to attend a New Year's Eve party at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

The White House has given no reason for why he returned to Washington early, but it coincides with Trump's fight with Congress over his veto of a major defense bill and his demand for increased COVID-19 stimulus checks, as well as a spike in tensions with Iran.

Trump ignored shouted questions from reporters about Iran and whether he would attend Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration when he arrived back at the White House.

President-elect Biden is expected to see in the New Year at his beach house in Delaware, although he is due to appear on the long-running ABC special "Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2021."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the chamber, dealt a likely death blow on Wednesday to Trump's bid to boost coronavirus aid to Americans, declining to schedule a swift vote on a bill to raise relief checks to $2,000 from the $600 included in a $892 billion relief package passed by Congress earlier this month.

Trump's fellow Republicans in Congress have largely stuck with him through four turbulent years, but he lashed out at them in recent days for not fully backing his unsupported claims of election fraud, rejecting his demand for bigger checks and for moving toward the veto override.

The House voted to overturn Trump's veto on Monday. The Senate will convene again on Friday at noon EST (1700 GMT) for a rare New Year's Day session in which lawmakers are expected to cast the first of two procedural votes aimed at overriding the veto. If that succeeds, the Senate is expected to hold a second procedural vote on Saturday followed by a final vote on passage.

The outgoing president of the United States, Donald Trump, has issued a video, looking back on what he called "historic victories" and said, "We have to be remembered for what's been done.

The outgoing president of the United States, Donald Trump, has issued a video, looking back on what he called "historic victories" and said, "We have to be remembered for what's been done." Trump, who has yet to formally concede his November election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, posted the message on Twitter after returning to Washington early from his Florida resort amid a fight with Congress over a defence bill and coronavirus aid checks. Trump praised his administration's accomplishments, which he said included its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and rebuilding the economy. Trump said the United States has produced a COVID-19 vaccine in record time and he had correctly predicted this would come before the year ended. The president has frequently played down the severity of the pandemic and overseen a response many health experts have criticised as disorganised, cavalier and sometimes ignored the science behind virus transmission. The United States has been one of the countries worst-hit by COVID-19 and leads the world in fatalities, with more than 340,000 deaths officially attributed to the virus. Trump was originally scheduled to attend a New Year's Eve party at his Mar-a-Lago resort. The White House has given no reason for why he returned to Washington early, but it coincides with Trump's fight with Congress over his veto of a major defense bill and his demand for increased COVID-19 stimulus checks, as well as a spike in tensions with Iran. Trump ignored shouted questions from reporters about Iran and whether he would attend Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration when he arrived back at the White House. President-elect Biden is expected to see in the New Year at his beach house in Delaware, although he is due to appear on the long-running ABC special "Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2021." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the chamber, dealt a likely death blow on Wednesday to Trump's bid to boost coronavirus aid to Americans, declining to schedule a swift vote on a bill to raise relief checks to $2,000 from the $600 included in a $892 billion relief package passed by Congress earlier this month. Trump's fellow Republicans in Congress have largely stuck with him through four turbulent years, but he lashed out at them in recent days for not fully backing his unsupported claims of election fraud, rejecting his demand for bigger checks and for moving toward the veto override. The House voted to overturn Trump's veto on Monday. The Senate will convene again on Friday at noon EST (1700 GMT) for a rare New Year's Day session in which lawmakers are expected to cast the first of two procedural votes aimed at overriding the veto. If that succeeds, the Senate is expected to hold a second procedural vote on Saturday followed by a final vote on passage.

Trump looks back at his 'historic victories' in the pandemic year

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has begun the process of delisting three Chinese telecoms companies as it seeks to comply with an order by the Trump administration barring investment in firms with ties to the Chinese military.

It comes as relations between the world's two biggest economies spiral downwards over sore points ranging from trade and the coronavirus to Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

China Mobile Ltd, China Telecom Corp Ltd, and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd will be suspended from trading between January 7 and January 11. The three Chinese companies have separate listings in Hong Kong.

Quantitative hedge fund managers including Renaissance Technologies LLC, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP and Two Sigma Investments LP were among the largest holders in these US listings. The stakes they held at the end of September were, however, small.

In November, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning Americans from investing in Chinese companies deemed to be supplying or supporting Beijing's military and security apparatus, earning a sharp rebuke from China.

The order listed 31 companies it said China was using for the "increasing exploitation" of US investment capital to fund military and intelligence services, including the development and deployment of weapons of mass destruction.

To this end, the Chinese Foreign Ministry accused the US of slandering its military-civilian integration policies and vowed to protect the country’s companies.

Under his "America First" banner, Trump has portrayed China as the greatest threat to the United States and global democracy, pursued a trade war with it, harangued Chinese tech firms, and laid all the blame for the coronavirus pandemic at Beijing's door.

Other index providers including MSCI Inc, S&amp;P Dow Jones Indices and Nasdaq have deleted various Chinese firms from their listings.

The US Federal Communications Commission in May barred China Mobile from operating in the US.

(with inputs)

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has begun the process of delisting three Chinese telecoms companies as it seeks to comply with an order by the Trump administration barring investment in firms with ties to the Chinese military.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has begun the process of delisting three Chinese telecoms companies as it seeks to comply with an order by the Trump administration barring investment in firms with ties to the Chinese military. It comes as relations between the world's two biggest economies spiral downwards over sore points ranging from trade and the coronavirus to Hong Kong and Xinjiang. China Mobile Ltd, China Telecom Corp Ltd, and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd will be suspended from trading between January 7 and January 11. The three Chinese companies have separate listings in Hong Kong. Quantitative hedge fund managers including Renaissance Technologies LLC, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP and Two Sigma Investments LP were among the largest holders in these US listings. The stakes they held at the end of September were, however, small. In November, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning Americans from investing in Chinese companies deemed to be supplying or supporting Beijing's military and security apparatus, earning a sharp rebuke from China. The order listed 31 companies it said China was using for the "increasing exploitation" of US investment capital to fund military and intelligence services, including the development and deployment of weapons of mass destruction. To this end, the Chinese Foreign Ministry accused the US of slandering its military-civilian integration policies and vowed to protect the country’s companies. Under his "America First" banner, Trump has portrayed China as the greatest threat to the United States and global democracy, pursued a trade war with it, harangued Chinese tech firms, and laid all the blame for the coronavirus pandemic at Beijing's door. Other index providers including MSCI Inc, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Nasdaq have deleted various Chinese firms from their listings. The US Federal Communications Commission in May barred China Mobile from operating in the US. (with inputs)

New York Stock Exchange to delist Chinese telecom firms on US executive order

After weeks of vowing to win his fight to remain in office, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a video on Thursday looking back on what he called "historic victories" and said: "We have to be remembered for what's been done."

Donald Trump: We have to be remembered for what's been done

US President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden will campaign next week in Georgia on the eve of runoff elections.

The two leaders are set to hold dueling events, which will determine who controls the US Senate and the fate of Biden's legislative agenda.

The visits come as Trump escalates his fight with fellow Republican leaders in the state for not supporting his bid to overturn the election results. On Wednesday, he called for the states Republican governor, Brian Kemp, to resign.

Biden, who takes office on January 20, will travel to Atlanta on Monday to campaign on behalf of Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, his transition team said on Wednesday. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will go to Savannah, Georgia, a day earlier.

Meanwhile, Trump will travel to Dalton, Georgia, to hold a "victory rally" to support Republican incumbent Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.

The candidates will square off in an election on Tuesday.

If the Democrats win both seats, the Senate would be split 50-50 with the Republican Party, giving the tie-breaking vote to Harris and control of both congressional chambers to the Democratic Party.

More than 2.5 million votes have already been cast in the runoff races, according to the Georgia secretary of states office.

If the Republicans win one or both of the Georgia seats, they will retain a slim majority in the Senate, giving them an opportunity to block Bidens legislative goals and judicial nominees.

Biden gave a speech in Georgia last month urging voters there to oust Republican Senator Mitch McConnell as majority leader by electing the two Democratic candidates.

Kemp dismissed Trumps call for his resignation on Wednesday, saying the demands and stream of complaints were a distraction from more pressing issues.

Trump, who has claimed without evidence that Democrats stole the election through fraud, has repeatedly attacked Kemp for refusing to acknowledge him as the rightful victor in Georgia. Biden won the state by roughly 12,000 votes. He called for Kemps resignation in a tweet Wednesday morning in which he called the governor an "obstructionist."

Kemp said the election process should be allowed to play out, noting that the U.S. Congress was set to meet to validate the results on January 6.

(with input from Reuters)

US President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden will campaign next week in Georgia on the eve of runoff elections. The two leaders are set to hold dueling events, which will determine who controls the US Senate and the fate of Biden's legislative agenda.

US President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden will campaign next week in Georgia on the eve of runoff elections. The two leaders are set to hold dueling events, which will determine who controls the US Senate and the fate of Biden's legislative agenda. The visits come as Trump escalates his fight with fellow Republican leaders in the state for not supporting his bid to overturn the election results. On Wednesday, he called for the states Republican governor, Brian Kemp, to resign. Biden, who takes office on January 20, will travel to Atlanta on Monday to campaign on behalf of Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, his transition team said on Wednesday. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will go to Savannah, Georgia, a day earlier. Meanwhile, Trump will travel to Dalton, Georgia, to hold a "victory rally" to support Republican incumbent Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. The candidates will square off in an election on Tuesday. If the Democrats win both seats, the Senate would be split 50-50 with the Republican Party, giving the tie-breaking vote to Harris and control of both congressional chambers to the Democratic Party. More than 2.5 million votes have already been cast in the runoff races, according to the Georgia secretary of states office. If the Republicans win one or both of the Georgia seats, they will retain a slim majority in the Senate, giving them an opportunity to block Bidens legislative goals and judicial nominees. Biden gave a speech in Georgia last month urging voters there to oust Republican Senator Mitch McConnell as majority leader by electing the two Democratic candidates. Kemp dismissed Trumps call for his resignation on Wednesday, saying the demands and stream of complaints were a distraction from more pressing issues. Trump, who has claimed without evidence that Democrats stole the election through fraud, has repeatedly attacked Kemp for refusing to acknowledge him as the rightful victor in Georgia. Biden won the state by roughly 12,000 votes. He called for Kemps resignation in a tweet Wednesday morning in which he called the governor an "obstructionist." Kemp said the election process should be allowed to play out, noting that the U.S. Congress was set to meet to validate the results on January 6. (with input from Reuters)

Biden, Trump to campaign in Georgia on eve of Senate runoffs

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the United States on Thursday of aiming to fabricate a "pretext for war" as tensions mount between the two countries.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Instead of fighting Covid in US, <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> &amp; cohorts waste billions to fly B52s &amp; send armadas to OUR region 
 
Intelligence from Iraq indicate plot to FABRICATE pretext for war. 
 
Iran doesn't seek war but will OPENLY &amp; DIRECTLY defend its people, security &amp; vital interests.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) <a href="https://twitter.com/JZarif/status/1344619249214627842?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2020</a></blockquote>
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US President Donald Trump had recently tweeted that the US was hearing "chatter of additional attacks against Americans in Iraq" and warned that "if one American is killed, I will hold&nbsp;Iran&nbsp;responsible. Think it over."

Since mid-November,&nbsp;the United States has sent B-52 bombers on&nbsp;missions in the Persian Gulf three times, including a 30-hour round trip from North Dakota to the Gulf on December 29.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/iran-honours-martyr-soleimani-killed-a-year-ago-by-us-353483">Iran honours 'martyr' Soleimani, killed a year ago by US</a>

Pentagon officials say the military muscle-flexing is meant to warn Tehran off attacking American interests or personnel in the days surrounding the January 3 anniversary of the Trump administration's assassination of the powerful Iranian leader military commander&nbsp;Qasem Soleimani.

Soleimani's killing at age 62 sharply heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran, whose decades-old animosity had deepened when Trump withdrew from&nbsp;Iran's nuclear deal and launched a "maximum pressure" campaign to isolate&nbsp;Iran.

Within days,&nbsp;Iran&nbsp;retaliated to the killing of a military leader long deemed untouchable by firing rockets at Iraqi bases housing US forces, which claimed no lives but caused injuries and preceded a tragedy.

&nbsp;

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the United States on Thursday of aiming to fabricate a "pretext for war" as tensions mount between the two countries.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the United States on Thursday of aiming to fabricate a "pretext for war" as tensions mount between the two countries. Instead of fighting Covid in US, @realDonaldTrump & cohorts waste billions to fly B52s & send armadas to OUR region Intelligence from Iraq indicate plot to FABRICATE pretext for war. Iran doesn't seek war but will OPENLY & DIRECTLY defend its people, security & vital interests. — Javad Zarif (@JZarif) December 31, 2020 × US President Donald Trump had recently tweeted that the US was hearing "chatter of additional attacks against Americans in Iraq" and warned that "if one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over." Since mid-November, the United States has sent B-52 bombers on missions in the Persian Gulf three times, including a 30-hour round trip from North Dakota to the Gulf on December 29. Also read: Iran honours 'martyr' Soleimani, killed a year ago by US Pentagon officials say the military muscle-flexing is meant to warn Tehran off attacking American interests or personnel in the days surrounding the January 3 anniversary of the Trump administration's assassination of the powerful Iranian leader military commander Qasem Soleimani. Soleimani's killing at age 62 sharply heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran, whose decades-old animosity had deepened when Trump withdrew from Iran's nuclear deal and launched a "maximum pressure" campaign to isolate Iran. Within days, Iran retaliated to the killing of a military leader long deemed untouchable by firing rockets at Iraqi bases housing US forces, which claimed no lives but caused injuries and preceded a tragedy.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accuses US of plotting to fabricate war pretext

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The United States has approved another $290 million precision-guided bomb sale to Saudi Arabia, according to a notice to Congress released Tuesday | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-approves-sale-of-3000-smart-bombs-worth-290-million-to-saudi-arabia-353281">READ MORE</a>

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A Chinese court Wednesday jailed 10 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists for up to three years over a bid by the group to flee the city by speedboat to seek sanctuary in Taiwan | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinese-court-jails-10-of-hong-kong-12-activists-two-teenagers-to-be-sent-back-353272">READ MORE</a>

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The first known US case of a highly infectious coronavirus variant has been detected in Colorado | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/new-coronavirus-variant-hits-us-as-biden-vows-all-out-effort-353244">READ MORE</a>

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-opens-new-case-against-navalny-the-putin-critic-who-was-poisoned-in-august-353254">Russia opens new case against Navalny, the Putin critic who was poisoned in August</a>

Russian investigators on Tuesday claimed to have opened a new criminal case against Alexei Navalny, the outspoken Kremlin critic who was recently poisoned | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-opens-new-case-against-navalny-the-putin-critic-who-was-poisoned-in-august-353254">READ MORE</a>

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-has-all-it-needs-to-vaccinate-millions-except-proof-its-vaccines-work-353301">China has all it needs to vaccinate millions, except proof its vaccines work</a>

Hospitals all over China have almost everything necessary for a mass vaccination drive: millions of doses | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-has-all-it-needs-to-vaccinate-millions-except-proof-its-vaccines-work-353301">READ MORE</a>

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/lifestyle/news-love-wins-harry-and-meghan-say-in-2020-reflections-on-first-podcast-353245">'Love wins,' Harry and Meghan say in 2020 reflections on first podcast</a>

Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan on Tuesday thanked essential workers and offered encouragement to people who suffered during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in their first podcast released on Spotify | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/lifestyle/news-love-wins-harry-and-meghan-say-in-2020-reflections-on-first-podcast-353245">READ MORE</a>

UK mutant strain in India: Total 20 test positive for new Covid variant A total of 20 people who returned to India from the United Kingdom have tested positive 

UK mutant strain in India: Total 20 test positive for new Covid variant A total of 20 people who returned to India from the United Kingdom have tested positive for the new coronavirus variant so far | READ MORE Trump approves sale of 3,000 smart bombs worth $290 million to Saudi Arabia The United States has approved another $290 million precision-guided bomb sale to Saudi Arabia, according to a notice to Congress released Tuesday | READ MORE Chinese court jails 10 of 'Hong Kong 12' activists; two teenagers to be sent back A Chinese court Wednesday jailed 10 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists for up to three years over a bid by the group to flee the city by speedboat to seek sanctuary in Taiwan | READ MORE New coronavirus variant hits US as Biden vows all-out effort The first known US case of a highly infectious coronavirus variant has been detected in Colorado | READ MORE Russia opens new case against Navalny, the Putin critic who was poisoned in August Russian investigators on Tuesday claimed to have opened a new criminal case against Alexei Navalny, the outspoken Kremlin critic who was recently poisoned | READ MORE China has all it needs to vaccinate millions, except proof its vaccines work Hospitals all over China have almost everything necessary for a mass vaccination drive: millions of doses | READ MORE 'Love wins,' Harry and Meghan say in 2020 reflections on first podcast Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan on Tuesday thanked essential workers and offered encouragement to people who suffered during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in their first podcast released on Spotify | READ MORE

News brief: New virus strain, power play in US and Russia, and more

President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday criticized the speed of vaccine distribution under the Trump administration and promised to step up the pace when he takes office, while delivering a sober warning about the toll of the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden offered a bleak assessment of the months ahead, saying they would be “a very tough period for our nation,” and he exhorted Americans to make the sacrifices necessary to overcome the devastation of the virus.

“It’s going to take all the grit and determination we have as Americans to get it done,” he said.

He warned that if the current pace of administering vaccines under President Donald Trump continued, “it’s going to take years, not months,” to vaccinate the nation. And he said he had directed his team to prepare a more aggressive effort once he takes office in three weeks, pledging “to move heaven and earth to get us going in the right direction.”

“This is going to be the greatest operational challenge we’ve ever faced as a nation,” Biden said during an address in Wilmington, Delaware, “but we’re going to get it done.”

Biden will assume the presidency amid a health crisis that has already killed more than 336,000 people in the United States and inflicted widespread economic disruption. Distributing vaccines to the American people will pose an early test for him.

Earlier this month, federal officials had said their goal was for 20 million people to get their first shots of a vaccine by the end of the year. As of Monday morning, 11.4 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines had been sent out across the country, but just 2.1 million people in the United States had received their first dose, according to a dashboard maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which most likely reflects a reporting lag of several days.

Biden has vowed to get 100 million vaccine shots into the arms of Americans in his first 100 days in office; vaccination currently requires two shots, which would suggest that about 50 million people would be vaccinated in that time.

On Tuesday, Biden announced new members of his COVID-19 response team, including coordinators to handle vaccinations, testing and supply chain management.

Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s effort to fast-track the development and rollout of vaccines, spent billions of dollars to help drug companies test and manufacture their vaccines and ensure that they would have a buyer. Those investments helped vaccines become available much faster than many experts had predicted.

Still, getting those vaccines into arms has gotten off to a slower start than federal officials had hoped.

“We certainly are not at the numbers that we wanted to be at the end of December,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said on CNN on Tuesday. But he added, “I believe that as we get into January, we are going to see an increase in the momentum.”

Moncef Slaoui, the scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed, said as recently as last week that the odds were high that the first 100 million people in the United States would be immunized by the end of March.

Michael Pratt, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, defended the pace of the vaccine rollout. He said in a statement that it was “a testament to the success of Operation Warp Speed” that 20 million doses had already been made available to states and other jurisdictions. (Not all of the doses have been shipped.) And Trump said in a tweet that it was “up to the States to distribute the vaccines once brought to the designated areas by the Federal Government.”

The pace of inoculation in the United States is expected to pick up in the first months of next year as more vaccine supply became becomes available and more facilities begin giving it out to a wider swath selection of Americans. So far, vaccines have been given primarily to health care workers at hospitals and to residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

In his remarks Tuesday, Biden said he could “see a return to normalcy in the next year,” but he also offered an ominous forecast for the near future. “We need to steel our spines for what’s ahead,” he said, adding that the next few months could be “the toughest during this entire pandemic.”

“I know it’s hard to hear, but it’s the truth,” he said.

He expressed hope that Trump, who has resisted wearing a mask and mocked Biden during the campaign for wearing one, could still influence the public in a positive way.

“It would make a huge difference for President Trump to say, ‘Wear masks,’” Biden said. “I hope the president will clearly and unambiguously urge all Americans to take the vaccine once it’s available.”

Hours before Biden spoke, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received her first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The shot was administered on live television, just as Biden’s was last week when he received the Pfizer vaccine at a hospital in Delaware.

Harris received the Moderna vaccine at United Medical Center, a public hospital in southeast Washington. She encouraged Americans to get vaccinated as well, saying: “It is relatively painless. It happens really quickly. It is safe.” Her husband, Doug Emhoff, also received the vaccine on Tuesday.

State and local officials have long said they need more money to distribute and administer vaccines. The $900 billion relief package that Trump signed into law on Sunday sets aside more than $8 billion for vaccine distribution, roughly in line with the $8.4 billion that health departments requested from Congress. The CDC in September had sent $200 million to the states for the effort, followed by another $140 million this month.

The government has said the goal is to allow anyone who wants a vaccine to get one by June, but it has not yet secured enough supply of vaccines that have been authorized for use. The United States has secured commitments for enough vaccine to vaccinate 200 million of the roughly 260 million adult Americans who are eligible to be inoculated.

Moderna has agreed to provide 200 million doses of its vaccine to the United States, with the first half coming by the end of March and the second half coming by the end of June.

Pfizer has also agreed to provide 200 million doses. With each person requiring two shots, it leaves the supply 120 million doses short.

Over the summer, before its vaccine had been shown to be effective, Pfizer agreed to provide an initial 100 million doses to the United States. At the time, the government passed on an offer from Pfizer to lock in additional supplies.

But as it became clear that more doses were needed, the government resumed talks with Pfizer. In a deal announced last week, Pfizer agreed to provide an additional 70 million doses by the end of June and another 30 million by the end of July.

As part of the deal, the government agreed to invoke the Defense Production Act, a Korean War-era law that allows the government to more quickly secure key supplies by forcing suppliers to prioritize orders from a specific contractor. Operation Warp Speed has so far used the Defense Production Act 18 times, including to help produce glass vials and syringes, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Biden said on Tuesday that he would also make use of the Defense Production Act upon taking office, saying he would “order private industry to accelerate the making of the materials needed for the vaccines as well as protective gear.”

The government has a few avenues for providing vaccines to the 60 million American adults not covered by the existing deals with Pfizer and Moderna.

It may be able to exercise options to buy more doses from Pfizer or Moderna. The government could also turn to vaccines from other manufacturers expected to report late-stage results in the coming weeks. Johnson &amp;amp; Johnson is expecting results late next month from a trial of its single-shot vaccine, a format that would make it easier to deliver than the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. And a U.S. trial evaluating a two-shot vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford could have results in February.

On Tuesday, Biden acknowledged he was not yet in control of the government’s virus response, saying, “My ability to change the direction of this pandemic starts in three weeks.” And he made clear that he would need help from Congress next year to provide additional funding to carry out his plans.

But even as he warned about the difficult weeks and months ahead, he struck an optimistic note about the longer term.

“We’re going to get through this,” he said. “Brighter days are coming.”

President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday criticized the speed of vaccine distribution under the Trump administration and promised to step up the pace when he takes office, while delivering a sober warning about the toll of the coronavirus pandemic.

President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday criticized the speed of vaccine distribution under the Trump administration and promised to step up the pace when he takes office, while delivering a sober warning about the toll of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden offered a bleak assessment of the months ahead, saying they would be “a very tough period for our nation,” and he exhorted Americans to make the sacrifices necessary to overcome the devastation of the virus. “It’s going to take all the grit and determination we have as Americans to get it done,” he said. He warned that if the current pace of administering vaccines under President Donald Trump continued, “it’s going to take years, not months,” to vaccinate the nation. And he said he had directed his team to prepare a more aggressive effort once he takes office in three weeks, pledging “to move heaven and earth to get us going in the right direction.” “This is going to be the greatest operational challenge we’ve ever faced as a nation,” Biden said during an address in Wilmington, Delaware, “but we’re going to get it done.” Biden will assume the presidency amid a health crisis that has already killed more than 336,000 people in the United States and inflicted widespread economic disruption. Distributing vaccines to the American people will pose an early test for him. Earlier this month, federal officials had said their goal was for 20 million people to get their first shots of a vaccine by the end of the year. As of Monday morning, 11.4 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines had been sent out across the country, but just 2.1 million people in the United States had received their first dose, according to a dashboard maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which most likely reflects a reporting lag of several days. Biden has vowed to get 100 million vaccine shots into the arms of Americans in his first 100 days in office; vaccination currently requires two shots, which would suggest that about 50 million people would be vaccinated in that time. On Tuesday, Biden announced new members of his COVID-19 response team, including coordinators to handle vaccinations, testing and supply chain management. Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s effort to fast-track the development and rollout of vaccines, spent billions of dollars to help drug companies test and manufacture their vaccines and ensure that they would have a buyer. Those investments helped vaccines become available much faster than many experts had predicted. Still, getting those vaccines into arms has gotten off to a slower start than federal officials had hoped. “We certainly are not at the numbers that we wanted to be at the end of December,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said on CNN on Tuesday. But he added, “I believe that as we get into January, we are going to see an increase in the momentum.” Moncef Slaoui, the scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed, said as recently as last week that the odds were high that the first 100 million people in the United States would be immunized by the end of March. Michael Pratt, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, defended the pace of the vaccine rollout. He said in a statement that it was “a testament to the success of Operation Warp Speed” that 20 million doses had already been made available to states and other jurisdictions. (Not all of the doses have been shipped.) And Trump said in a tweet that it was “up to the States to distribute the vaccines once brought to the designated areas by the Federal Government.” The pace of inoculation in the United States is expected to pick up in the first months of next year as more vaccine supply became becomes available and more facilities begin giving it out to a wider swath selection of Americans. So far, vaccines have been given primarily to health care workers at hospitals and to residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. In his remarks Tuesday, Biden said he could “see a return to normalcy in the next year,” but he also offered an ominous forecast for the near future. “We need to steel our spines for what’s ahead,” he said, adding that the next few months could be “the toughest during this entire pandemic.” “I know it’s hard to hear, but it’s the truth,” he said. He expressed hope that Trump, who has resisted wearing a mask and mocked Biden during the campaign for wearing one, could still influence the public in a positive way. “It would make a huge difference for President Trump to say, ‘Wear masks,’” Biden said. “I hope the president will clearly and unambiguously urge all Americans to take the vaccine once it’s available.” Hours before Biden spoke, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received her first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The shot was administered on live television, just as Biden’s was last week when he received the Pfizer vaccine at a hospital in Delaware. Harris received the Moderna vaccine at United Medical Center, a public hospital in southeast Washington. She encouraged Americans to get vaccinated as well, saying: “It is relatively painless. It happens really quickly. It is safe.” Her husband, Doug Emhoff, also received the vaccine on Tuesday. State and local officials have long said they need more money to distribute and administer vaccines. The $900 billion relief package that Trump signed into law on Sunday sets aside more than $8 billion for vaccine distribution, roughly in line with the $8.4 billion that health departments requested from Congress. The CDC in September had sent $200 million to the states for the effort, followed by another $140 million this month. The government has said the goal is to allow anyone who wants a vaccine to get one by June, but it has not yet secured enough supply of vaccines that have been authorized for use. The United States has secured commitments for enough vaccine to vaccinate 200 million of the roughly 260 million adult Americans who are eligible to be inoculated. Moderna has agreed to provide 200 million doses of its vaccine to the United States, with the first half coming by the end of March and the second half coming by the end of June. Pfizer has also agreed to provide 200 million doses. With each person requiring two shots, it leaves the supply 120 million doses short. Over the summer, before its vaccine had been shown to be effective, Pfizer agreed to provide an initial 100 million doses to the United States. At the time, the government passed on an offer from Pfizer to lock in additional supplies. But as it became clear that more doses were needed, the government resumed talks with Pfizer. In a deal announced last week, Pfizer agreed to provide an additional 70 million doses by the end of June and another 30 million by the end of July. As part of the deal, the government agreed to invoke the Defense Production Act, a Korean War-era law that allows the government to more quickly secure key supplies by forcing suppliers to prioritize orders from a specific contractor. Operation Warp Speed has so far used the Defense Production Act 18 times, including to help produce glass vials and syringes, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Biden said on Tuesday that he would also make use of the Defense Production Act upon taking office, saying he would “order private industry to accelerate the making of the materials needed for the vaccines as well as protective gear.” The government has a few avenues for providing vaccines to the 60 million American adults not covered by the existing deals with Pfizer and Moderna. It may be able to exercise options to buy more doses from Pfizer or Moderna. The government could also turn to vaccines from other manufacturers expected to report late-stage results in the coming weeks. Johnson &amp; Johnson is expecting results late next month from a trial of its single-shot vaccine, a format that would make it easier to deliver than the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. And a U.S. trial evaluating a two-shot vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford could have results in February. On Tuesday, Biden acknowledged he was not yet in control of the government’s virus response, saying, “My ability to change the direction of this pandemic starts in three weeks.” And he made clear that he would need help from Congress next year to provide additional funding to carry out his plans. But even as he warned about the difficult weeks and months ahead, he struck an optimistic note about the longer term. “We’re going to get through this,” he said. “Brighter days are coming.”

Biden criticizes Trump on vaccine distribution and pledges to pick up pace

The leader of majority in US Senate - Mitch McConnell on Tuesday delayed the vote on increasing coronavirus relief cheques from $2000 to $600, challenging fellow Republican and incumbent President Donald Trump’s calls for increase the stimulus amount.

Earlier, US House of Representatives - with Democrat majority gave the green light to the jump, which was perhaps the first instance of Democrats supporting a move by Trump.

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McConnell also urged senators to override Trump’s veto of a defence bill, which marks a rare challenge within the Republican Party.

On Tuesday, Trump attacked Republican leaders, asking them to increase the cheques, while urging them to support his veto of the defense bill, which he wants scrapped because of the legal protections it gives to social media companies.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/in-rare-agreement-with-trump-democrat-led-us-house-approves-demand-for-increasing-coronavirus-relief-amount-353044" hreflang="en">In rare agreement with Trump, Democrat-led US House approves demand for increasing coronavirus relief amount</a>

Trump had tweeted that the Senate ought to approve higher stimulus amount as soon as possible, ‘’unless Republicans have a death wish’’.

Next week, the control of US Senate will be determined in the Georgia run offs.

Many Republican senators support raising the amount of stimulus cheques, including two who are running in the Georgia races - David Purdue, and Kelly Loeffler.

But many Republicans worry about its cost to taxpayers, and remain opposed to the move.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/us-house-approves-bill-to-widen-marijuana-research-348722" hreflang="en">US House approves bill to widen marijuana research</a>

Democrats, who have lent support to the $2000 cheques believe that this will play into their favour in Georgia.

On Tuesday, McConnell introduced a bill which combined $2,000 cheques with a provision to scrap legal protections for social media companies, and another which refers to the study of election security.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that election fraud led to his loss, with no evidence.

The leader of majority in US Senate - Mitch McConnell on Tuesday delayed the vote on increasing coronavirus relief cheques from $2000 to $600, challenging fellow Republican and incumbent President Donald Trump’s calls for increase the stimulus amount.

The leader of majority in US Senate - Mitch McConnell on Tuesday delayed the vote on increasing coronavirus relief cheques from $2000 to $600, challenging fellow Republican and incumbent President Donald Trump’s calls for increase the stimulus amount. Earlier, US House of Representatives - with Democrat majority gave the green light to the jump, which was perhaps the first instance of Democrats supporting a move by Trump. McConnell also urged senators to override Trump’s veto of a defence bill, which marks a rare challenge within the Republican Party. On Tuesday, Trump attacked Republican leaders, asking them to increase the cheques, while urging them to support his veto of the defense bill, which he wants scrapped because of the legal protections it gives to social media companies. Also read: In rare agreement with Trump, Democrat-led US House approves demand for increasing coronavirus relief amount Trump had tweeted that the Senate ought to approve higher stimulus amount as soon as possible, ‘’unless Republicans have a death wish’’. Next week, the control of US Senate will be determined in the Georgia run offs. Many Republican senators support raising the amount of stimulus cheques, including two who are running in the Georgia races - David Purdue, and Kelly Loeffler. But many Republicans worry about its cost to taxpayers, and remain opposed to the move. Also read: US House approves bill to widen marijuana research Democrats, who have lent support to the $2000 cheques believe that this will play into their favour in Georgia. On Tuesday, McConnell introduced a bill which combined $2,000 cheques with a provision to scrap legal protections for social media companies, and another which refers to the study of election security. Trump has repeatedly claimed that election fraud led to his loss, with no evidence.

Countering Trump, Republican McConnell puts off Senate vote on increasing stimulus cheques to $2000

Maybe it was the visuals that did it. It’s hard to know what aspects of reality make it into Donald Trump’s ever-shrinking bubble — and I’m happy to say that after Jan. 20 we won’t have to care about what goes on in his not-at-all beautiful mind — but it’s possible that he became aware of how he looked, playing golf as millions of desperate families lost their unemployment benefits.

Whatever the reason, on Sunday he finally signed an economic relief bill that will, among other things, extend those benefits for a few months. And it wasn’t just the unemployed who breathed a sigh of relief. Stock market futures — which are not&nbsp;a measure of economic success, but still — rose. Goldman Sachs marked up its forecast of economic growth in 2021.

So this year is closing out with a second demonstration of the lesson we should have learned in the spring: In times of crisis, government aid to people in distress is a good thing, not just for those getting help, but for the nation as a whole. Or to put it a bit differently, 2020 was the year Reaganism died.

What I mean by Reaganism goes beyond voodoo economics, the claim that tax cuts have magical power and can solve all problems. After all, nobody believes in that claim aside from a handful of charlatans and cranks, plus the entire Republican Party.

No, I mean something broader — the belief that aid to those in need always backfires, that the only way to improve ordinary people’s lives is to make the rich richer and wait for the benefits to trickle down. This belief was encapsulated in Ronald Reagan’s famous dictum that the most terrifying words in English are “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”

Well, in 2020 the government was there to help — and help it did.

True, there were some people who advocated trickle-down policies even in the face of a pandemic. Trump repeatedly pushed for payroll tax cuts, which by definition would do nothing to directly help the jobless, even attempting (unsuccessfully) to slash tax collections through executive action.

Oh, and the new recovery package does include a multibillion-dollar tax break for business meals, as if three-martini lunches were the answer to a pandemic depression.

Reagan-style hostility to helping people in need also persisted. There were some politicians and economists who kept insisting, in the teeth of the evidence, that aid to unemployed workers was actually causing unemployment, by making workers unwilling to accept job offers.

Overall, however — and somewhat shockingly — U.S. economic policy actually responded fairly well to the real needs of a nation forced into lockdown by a deadly virus. Aid to the unemployed and business loans that were forgiven if they were used to maintain payrolls limited the suffering. Direct checks sent to most adults weren’t the best targeted policy ever, but they boosted personal incomes.

All this big-government intervention worked. Despite a lockdown that temporarily eliminated 22 million jobs, poverty actually fell while the assistance lasted.

And there was no visible downside. As I’ve already suggested, there was no indication that helping the unemployed deterred workers from taking jobs when they became available. Most notably, the employment surge from April to July, in which 9 million Americans went back to work, took place while enhanced benefits were still in effect.

Nor did huge government borrowing have the dire consequences deficit scolds always predict. Interest rates stayed low, while inflation remained quiescent.

So the government was there to help, and it really did. The only problem was that it cut off help too soon. Extraordinary aid should have continued as long as the coronavirus was still rampant — a fact implicitly acknowledged by bipartisan willingness to enact a second rescue package, and Trump’s grudging eventual willingness to sign that legislation.

Indeed, some of the aid we provided in 2020 should continue even after we have widespread vaccination. What we should have learned last spring is that adequately funded government programs can greatly reduce poverty. Why forget that lesson as soon as the pandemic is over?

Now, when I say that Reaganism died in 2020 I don’t mean that the usual suspects will stop making the usual arguments. Voodoo economics is too deeply embedded in the modern GOP — and too useful to billionaire donors seeking tax cuts — to be banished by inconvenient facts.

Opposition to helping the unemployed and the poor was never evidence-based; it was always rooted in a mix of elitism and racial hostility. So we’ll still keep hearing about the miraculous power of tax cuts and the evils of the welfare state.

But while Reaganism will still be out there, it will now, even more than before, be zombie Reaganism — a doctrine that should have been killed by its encounter with reality, even if it’s still shambling along, eating politicians’ brains.

For the lesson of 2020 is that in a crisis, and to some extent even in calmer times, the government can do a lot to improve people’s lives. And what we should fear most is a government that refuses to do its job.

Maybe it was the visuals that did it. It’s hard to know what aspects of reality make it into Donald Trump’s ever-shrinking bubble — and I’m happy to say that after Jan.

Maybe it was the visuals that did it. It’s hard to know what aspects of reality make it into Donald Trump’s ever-shrinking bubble — and I’m happy to say that after Jan. 20 we won’t have to care about what goes on in his not-at-all beautiful mind — but it’s possible that he became aware of how he looked, playing golf as millions of desperate families lost their unemployment benefits. Whatever the reason, on Sunday he finally signed an economic relief bill that will, among other things, extend those benefits for a few months. And it wasn’t just the unemployed who breathed a sigh of relief. Stock market futures — which are not a measure of economic success, but still — rose. Goldman Sachs marked up its forecast of economic growth in 2021. So this year is closing out with a second demonstration of the lesson we should have learned in the spring: In times of crisis, government aid to people in distress is a good thing, not just for those getting help, but for the nation as a whole. Or to put it a bit differently, 2020 was the year Reaganism died. What I mean by Reaganism goes beyond voodoo economics, the claim that tax cuts have magical power and can solve all problems. After all, nobody believes in that claim aside from a handful of charlatans and cranks, plus the entire Republican Party. No, I mean something broader — the belief that aid to those in need always backfires, that the only way to improve ordinary people’s lives is to make the rich richer and wait for the benefits to trickle down. This belief was encapsulated in Ronald Reagan’s famous dictum that the most terrifying words in English are “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” Well, in 2020 the government was there to help — and help it did. True, there were some people who advocated trickle-down policies even in the face of a pandemic. Trump repeatedly pushed for payroll tax cuts, which by definition would do nothing to directly help the jobless, even attempting (unsuccessfully) to slash tax collections through executive action. Oh, and the new recovery package does include a multibillion-dollar tax break for business meals, as if three-martini lunches were the answer to a pandemic depression. Reagan-style hostility to helping people in need also persisted. There were some politicians and economists who kept insisting, in the teeth of the evidence, that aid to unemployed workers was actually causing unemployment, by making workers unwilling to accept job offers. Overall, however — and somewhat shockingly — U.S. economic policy actually responded fairly well to the real needs of a nation forced into lockdown by a deadly virus. Aid to the unemployed and business loans that were forgiven if they were used to maintain payrolls limited the suffering. Direct checks sent to most adults weren’t the best targeted policy ever, but they boosted personal incomes. All this big-government intervention worked. Despite a lockdown that temporarily eliminated 22 million jobs, poverty actually fell while the assistance lasted. And there was no visible downside. As I’ve already suggested, there was no indication that helping the unemployed deterred workers from taking jobs when they became available. Most notably, the employment surge from April to July, in which 9 million Americans went back to work, took place while enhanced benefits were still in effect. Nor did huge government borrowing have the dire consequences deficit scolds always predict. Interest rates stayed low, while inflation remained quiescent. So the government was there to help, and it really did. The only problem was that it cut off help too soon. Extraordinary aid should have continued as long as the coronavirus was still rampant — a fact implicitly acknowledged by bipartisan willingness to enact a second rescue package, and Trump’s grudging eventual willingness to sign that legislation. Indeed, some of the aid we provided in 2020 should continue even after we have widespread vaccination. What we should have learned last spring is that adequately funded government programs can greatly reduce poverty. Why forget that lesson as soon as the pandemic is over? Now, when I say that Reaganism died in 2020 I don’t mean that the usual suspects will stop making the usual arguments. Voodoo economics is too deeply embedded in the modern GOP — and too useful to billionaire donors seeking tax cuts — to be banished by inconvenient facts. Opposition to helping the unemployed and the poor was never evidence-based; it was always rooted in a mix of elitism and racial hostility. So we’ll still keep hearing about the miraculous power of tax cuts and the evils of the welfare state. But while Reaganism will still be out there, it will now, even more than before, be zombie Reaganism — a doctrine that should have been killed by its encounter with reality, even if it’s still shambling along, eating politicians’ brains. For the lesson of 2020 is that in a crisis, and to some extent even in calmer times, the government can do a lot to improve people’s lives. And what we should fear most is a government that refuses to do its job.

2020 was the year Reaganism died

The new American law to bolster support to Tibet comes at a time when China has stepped up its oppression campaign in Tibet.&nbsp;

From people being forced into re-education camps to forced labour, China's Xinjiang playbook is implemented in Tibet.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;

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This report will tell you the crimes of the dragon in this region.&nbsp;

China has built multiple slave camps across Tibet which are run by People's Armed Police, a paramilitary organisation.

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-signs-laws-to-further-uss-support-to-taiwan-tibet-drawing-chinas-criticism-352951">Donald Trump signs laws to further US's support to Taiwan, Tibet; drawing China's criticism</a>

Rural Tibetans moved into these camps must dress in uniforms and perform military drills.&nbsp;

Reports say their teaching program includes curriculum on skills, legal, and gratitude education and all the subjects have one driving theme, loyalty to the Communist Party of China.&nbsp;

News agency Reuters earlier this year conducted an investigation into these camps and they found local-level officials have been given quotas.&nbsp;

These officials must send a fixed number of Tibetan workers to factories where they are employed in low-paying jobs. Officials who meet their quotas are rewarded. Those who fall short of quotas are punished. Bigger districts have bigger quotas.&nbsp;

In the first seven months of 2020, more than half a million people were trained in these camps, which is 15 per cent of Tibet's population.&nbsp;

Out of these, 50 thousand people were transferred to jobs within Tibet, while thousands more were shipped across China.

Many of them ended up in low-paying jobs in textile, manufacturing, construction and agriculture, among others.

<h2>Why does Beijing want to ship out Tibetans?</h2>

The exodus is part of a campaign of cultural cleansing for forced assimilation of Tibet into China.&nbsp;

China's Tibet mission has several objectives.&nbsp;

First, it wants to homogenise the population and to do that Tibet is being flooded with the majority Han Chinese.&nbsp;

Six years ago, China began promoting mixed marriages between Han Chinese and Tibetans.

From 2008 to 2013, mixed marriages saw double-digit growth in Tibet.&nbsp;

The government also offered incentives for such marriages, including social security, vacations, reproductive rights, among others.&nbsp;

In fact, children that were a product of mixed marriages were promised special treatment, including funding for education, assured employment and even membership of the Communist Party.&nbsp;

Beijing followed this up with an assault on the Tibetan culture and faith and recently local officials ordered the destruction of Tibetan flags.&nbsp;

A U.S. State Department report lists more crimes of the Communist Party.&nbsp;

There are reports of former detainees being beaten up until they lost consciousness. Monks and nuns being forced to wear military clothing and undergo political indoctrination in detention centres.&nbsp;

The US has accused the Chinese government of restricting the size of Buddhist monasteries with evictions of monks and nuns who are being banned from practising Buddhism.&nbsp;

All this tells one story that Tibet has become a police state with the iron hand controlling the life of every Tibetan and execute forced assimilation of Tibet into China.&nbsp;

The new American law to bolster support to Tibet comes at a time when China has stepped up its oppression campaign in Tibet. From people being forced into re-education camps to forced labour, China's Xinjiang playbook is implemented in Tibet.

The new American law to bolster support to Tibet comes at a time when China has stepped up its oppression campaign in Tibet. From people being forced into re-education camps to forced labour, China's Xinjiang playbook is implemented in Tibet. Watch | This report will tell you the crimes of the dragon in this region. China has built multiple slave camps across Tibet which are run by People's Armed Police, a paramilitary organisation. Also read | Donald Trump signs laws to further US's support to Taiwan, Tibet; drawing China's criticism Rural Tibetans moved into these camps must dress in uniforms and perform military drills. Reports say their teaching program includes curriculum on skills, legal, and gratitude education and all the subjects have one driving theme, loyalty to the Communist Party of China. News agency Reuters earlier this year conducted an investigation into these camps and they found local-level officials have been given quotas. These officials must send a fixed number of Tibetan workers to factories where they are employed in low-paying jobs. Officials who meet their quotas are rewarded. Those who fall short of quotas are punished. Bigger districts have bigger quotas. In the first seven months of 2020, more than half a million people were trained in these camps, which is 15 per cent of Tibet's population. Out of these, 50 thousand people were transferred to jobs within Tibet, while thousands more were shipped across China. Many of them ended up in low-paying jobs in textile, manufacturing, construction and agriculture, among others. Why does Beijing want to ship out Tibetans? The exodus is part of a campaign of cultural cleansing for forced assimilation of Tibet into China. China's Tibet mission has several objectives. First, it wants to homogenise the population and to do that Tibet is being flooded with the majority Han Chinese. Six years ago, China began promoting mixed marriages between Han Chinese and Tibetans. From 2008 to 2013, mixed marriages saw double-digit growth in Tibet. The government also offered incentives for such marriages, including social security, vacations, reproductive rights, among others. In fact, children that were a product of mixed marriages were promised special treatment, including funding for education, assured employment and even membership of the Communist Party. Beijing followed this up with an assault on the Tibetan culture and faith and recently local officials ordered the destruction of Tibetan flags. A U.S. State Department report lists more crimes of the Communist Party. There are reports of former detainees being beaten up until they lost consciousness. Monks and nuns being forced to wear military clothing and undergo political indoctrination in detention centres. The US has accused the Chinese government of restricting the size of Buddhist monasteries with evictions of monks and nuns who are being banned from practising Buddhism. All this tells one story that Tibet has become a police state with the iron hand controlling the life of every Tibetan and execute forced assimilation of Tibet into China.

US comes to the rescue when China ramped up oppressions campaign in Tibet

The youngest victim of the 2007 massacre in Baghdad’s Nisour Square, committed by Blackwater mercenaries whom Donald Trump pardoned Tuesday, was a 9-year-old boy named Ali Kinani.

In a 2010 documentary, journalist Jeremy Scahill interviewed Ali’s father, Mohammed Hafedh Abdulrazzaq Kinani, who spoke of how he’d welcomed the U.S. invasion of his country and brought along his son to greet U.S. soldiers. “The first day the American Army entered Baghdad, I handed out juice and candy in the street to celebrate our liberation from Saddam,” said Kinani. Scahill called him “that rare personification of the neoconservative narrative about the U.S. invasion.”

On Sept. 16, 2007, Kinani was driving toward the traffic circle at Nisour Square with his sister, her children and Ali when guards from Blackwater opened fire with machine guns and grenade launchers. (Blackwater, a private security company, has since changed its name to Academi.) Ali was one of 17 people killed. According to The Washington Post, a U.S. military report found that there had been no provocation. “It was obviously excessive, it was obviously wrong,” a military official told the paper. An FBI investigator reportedly described it as the “My Lai Massacre of Iraq.”

The U.S. Embassy offered Ali’s family a $10,000 condolence payment. After initially refusing the money, they donated half of it to the family of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq. “They wanted to do that to honor and acknowledge the sacrifice of those men and women that had come over to Iraq to fight for them and free them from Saddam Hussein,” Paul Dickinson, a lawyer who represented Kinani and others in a civil suit against Blackwater, told me.

Gen. Raymond Odierno, then the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, wrote to Ali’s mother, “In the face of your family’s own personal tragedy, your act of kindness and compassion for grieving American families is truly remarkable.”

Until Tuesday, the American system worked to give Ali’s family a modicum of justice. Blackwater settled with the family. The guards were prosecuted criminally. The process was torturous, with several roadblocks, but powerful figures in the United States were determined to see it through. After a judge dismissed the charges on procedural grounds, Vice President Joe Biden promised, in a 2010 news conference in Baghdad, that there would be an appeal. “The United States is determined, determined to hold accountable anyone who commits crimes against the Iraqi people,” he said.

Eventually three of the Blackwater guards — Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard — were convicted of voluntary manslaughter and other charges. A fourth, Nicholas Slatten, was convicted of murder and last year sentenced to life in prison. Kinani moved to America and became a citizen, though he was back in Iraq when the BBC reached him Wednesday. Until just days ago, he’d felt that the legal system in the United States had been “very fair with me,” he said.

Then came Tuesday’s pardon spree, which included the Blackwater killers along with some Russiagate felons, corrupt ex-congressmen and others. It was perhaps not surprising that the president acted to free the mercenaries; Trump’s enthusiasm for war crimes is well known, and last year he pardoned three men accused or convicted of them. Because of Biden’s words in 2010, some conservatives called the perpetrators of the Nisour Square massacre the “Biden four,” giving Trump an extra incentive to let them go. Erik Prince, who founded Blackwater, is a close Trump ally and the brother of his education secretary, Betsy DeVos.

Neither the predictability of these pardons, however, nor our dulled capacity for shock lessens their grotesqueness. The last days of Trump’s reign have been an orgy of impunity as he hands out indulgences like party favors and rubs America’s face in his power to put his supporters beyond ordinary law. On Wednesday, Trump pardoned even more cronies, including, most egregiously, his former campaign chair Paul Manafort, a likely reward for Manafort’s help undermining Robert Mueller’s investigation. But even in this low moment, the pardons of the Blackwater killers stand out for their depravity.

They also exemplify a core tenet of Trumpism: absolute license for some and absolute submission for others. Nowhere is that truer than in Trump’s conception of the relationship between U.S. soldiers and paramilitaries and foreigners.

Last year, Trump intervened to reverse a demotion of Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL special operations chief who took a celebratory photo with a corpse and was described by men under his command as “freaking evil” and “toxic.” But the president didn’t just spare Gallagher. He lionized him, and his movement made him an icon. The New York Times described Gallagher “making appearances at influential conservative gatherings and rubbing elbows with Mr. Trump’s inner circle at Mar-a-Lago.”

You could argue that Trump has simply stripped pretense from the dynamics that always drove the “war on terror.” As Spencer Ackerman wrote in The Daily Beast, “Blackwater fed from the same American logic of occupation — the same impunity — that turned even those Iraqis willing to work for the U.S. into ‘local nationals’ who had to enter dining halls on U.S. military bases through separate doorways.”

But if the approach to Iraq that preceded Trump was infested with hypocrisy, that hypocrisy at least revealed an aspiration to a humane foreign policy. That aspiration did more than flatter the sensibilities of liberals and neoconservatives. It could be leveraged to allow a man like Kinani to make demands of the country that occupied his.

Trump’s pardon, Kinani told the BBC, made him feel as if Ali, who should now be 22, had been killed again. Before, he said, he felt that no one was “above the law.” No more.

“I feel I’m nothing today. I feel I’m nothing. I lost my son, and I feel I’m nothing,” Kinani said. By all indications, the president of the United States agrees.

The youngest victim of the 2007 massacre in Baghdad’s Nisour Square, committed by Blackwater mercenaries whom Donald Trump pardoned Tuesday, was a 9-year-old boy named Ali Kinani.

The youngest victim of the 2007 massacre in Baghdad’s Nisour Square, committed by Blackwater mercenaries whom Donald Trump pardoned Tuesday, was a 9-year-old boy named Ali Kinani. In a 2010 documentary, journalist Jeremy Scahill interviewed Ali’s father, Mohammed Hafedh Abdulrazzaq Kinani, who spoke of how he’d welcomed the U.S. invasion of his country and brought along his son to greet U.S. soldiers. “The first day the American Army entered Baghdad, I handed out juice and candy in the street to celebrate our liberation from Saddam,” said Kinani. Scahill called him “that rare personification of the neoconservative narrative about the U.S. invasion.” On Sept. 16, 2007, Kinani was driving toward the traffic circle at Nisour Square with his sister, her children and Ali when guards from Blackwater opened fire with machine guns and grenade launchers. (Blackwater, a private security company, has since changed its name to Academi.) Ali was one of 17 people killed. According to The Washington Post, a U.S. military report found that there had been no provocation. “It was obviously excessive, it was obviously wrong,” a military official told the paper. An FBI investigator reportedly described it as the “My Lai Massacre of Iraq.” The U.S. Embassy offered Ali’s family a $10,000 condolence payment. After initially refusing the money, they donated half of it to the family of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq. “They wanted to do that to honor and acknowledge the sacrifice of those men and women that had come over to Iraq to fight for them and free them from Saddam Hussein,” Paul Dickinson, a lawyer who represented Kinani and others in a civil suit against Blackwater, told me. Gen. Raymond Odierno, then the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, wrote to Ali’s mother, “In the face of your family’s own personal tragedy, your act of kindness and compassion for grieving American families is truly remarkable.” Until Tuesday, the American system worked to give Ali’s family a modicum of justice. Blackwater settled with the family. The guards were prosecuted criminally. The process was torturous, with several roadblocks, but powerful figures in the United States were determined to see it through. After a judge dismissed the charges on procedural grounds, Vice President Joe Biden promised, in a 2010 news conference in Baghdad, that there would be an appeal. “The United States is determined, determined to hold accountable anyone who commits crimes against the Iraqi people,” he said. Eventually three of the Blackwater guards — Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard — were convicted of voluntary manslaughter and other charges. A fourth, Nicholas Slatten, was convicted of murder and last year sentenced to life in prison. Kinani moved to America and became a citizen, though he was back in Iraq when the BBC reached him Wednesday. Until just days ago, he’d felt that the legal system in the United States had been “very fair with me,” he said. Then came Tuesday’s pardon spree, which included the Blackwater killers along with some Russiagate felons, corrupt ex-congressmen and others. It was perhaps not surprising that the president acted to free the mercenaries; Trump’s enthusiasm for war crimes is well known, and last year he pardoned three men accused or convicted of them. Because of Biden’s words in 2010, some conservatives called the perpetrators of the Nisour Square massacre the “Biden four,” giving Trump an extra incentive to let them go. Erik Prince, who founded Blackwater, is a close Trump ally and the brother of his education secretary, Betsy DeVos. Neither the predictability of these pardons, however, nor our dulled capacity for shock lessens their grotesqueness. The last days of Trump’s reign have been an orgy of impunity as he hands out indulgences like party favors and rubs America’s face in his power to put his supporters beyond ordinary law. On Wednesday, Trump pardoned even more cronies, including, most egregiously, his former campaign chair Paul Manafort, a likely reward for Manafort’s help undermining Robert Mueller’s investigation. But even in this low moment, the pardons of the Blackwater killers stand out for their depravity. They also exemplify a core tenet of Trumpism: absolute license for some and absolute submission for others. Nowhere is that truer than in Trump’s conception of the relationship between U.S. soldiers and paramilitaries and foreigners. Last year, Trump intervened to reverse a demotion of Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL special operations chief who took a celebratory photo with a corpse and was described by men under his command as “freaking evil” and “toxic.” But the president didn’t just spare Gallagher. He lionized him, and his movement made him an icon. The New York Times described Gallagher “making appearances at influential conservative gatherings and rubbing elbows with Mr. Trump’s inner circle at Mar-a-Lago.” You could argue that Trump has simply stripped pretense from the dynamics that always drove the “war on terror.” As Spencer Ackerman wrote in The Daily Beast, “Blackwater fed from the same American logic of occupation — the same impunity — that turned even those Iraqis willing to work for the U.S. into ‘local nationals’ who had to enter dining halls on U.S. military bases through separate doorways.” But if the approach to Iraq that preceded Trump was infested with hypocrisy, that hypocrisy at least revealed an aspiration to a humane foreign policy. That aspiration did more than flatter the sensibilities of liberals and neoconservatives. It could be leveraged to allow a man like Kinani to make demands of the country that occupied his. Trump’s pardon, Kinani told the BBC, made him feel as if Ali, who should now be 22, had been killed again. Before, he said, he felt that no one was “above the law.” No more. “I feel I’m nothing today. I feel I’m nothing. I lost my son, and I feel I’m nothing,” Kinani said. By all indications, the president of the United States agrees.

Trump’s most disgusting pardons

The institution of the Dalai Lama has its foundation on reincarnation. Traditionally, the Dalai Lama has always chosen his successor. China now wants to cherry-pick the next Tibetan spiritual leader. Palki Sharma Upadhyay tells you why.

Gravitas: Will China pick the next Dalai Lama?

US President Donald Trump has signed a bill that reaffirms the right of Tibetans to pick the next Dalai Lama. The law also includes a demand for a consulate in Tibet. Palki Sharma Upadhyay tells you how 5 provisions of this new law strengthen the 'Free Tibet' campaign.

Gravitas: US to demand a consulate in Tibet

From re-education camps to the destruction of places of worship - China is waging an assault on the identity of Tibetans. Palki Sharma Upadhyay tells you what China is doing to Tibet.

Gravitas: How China is waging an assault on the Tibetan identity

President-elect Joe Biden said on Monday many of America`s security agencies had been "hollowed out" under President Donald Trump and the lack of information being provided to his transition team by the outgoing administration was an "irresponsibility." 
 
"We`ve encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget," Biden said after a meeting with his foreign policy team. 
 
"Right now we just aren`t getting all of the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. It`s nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility," he added. 
 
After Biden beat Trump in the Nov. 3 election, the Democrat’s team only began meeting with administration officials in late November to coordinate the handover. 
 
Trump, a Republican, has refused to concede defeat and his administration only authorized cooperation with Biden on Nov. 23. Biden takes office on Jan. 20. 
 
Earlier this month, Biden`s team said they had met resistance to requests for information from some Pentagon officials. 
 
The Pentagon pushed back. 
 
In a statement, acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said the Pentagon had conducted 164 interviews with over 400 officials and provided more than 5,000 pages of documents. 
 
"Our (Department of Defense) political and career officials have been working with the utmost professionalism to support transition activities in a compressed time schedule and they will continue to do so in a transparent and collegial manner that upholds the finest traditions of the department," Miller said. 
 
But Biden reiterated his team`s concerns on Monday. When he takes office, he will inherit a wide range of foreign policy and national security challenges, including China, Iran and North Korea, as well as the coronavirus pandemic raging across the globe. 
 
One of his toughest tasks will be rebuilding U.S. alliances that have frayed under four years of Trump`s "America First" agenda. 
 
"My team needs a clear picture of our force posture around the world and our operations to deter our enemies," Biden said. "We need full visibility to the budget planning under way at the Defense Department and other agencies in order to avoid any window of confusion or catch up that our adversaries may try to exploit." 
 
But Biden said his team, while securing cooperation from some federal agencies, had "encountered obstruction from the political leadership" at the Pentagon. 
 
"And the truth is that many of the agencies that are crucial to our security have incurred enormous damage. Many of them have been hollowed out – in personnel, capacity and in morale," he said. "There’s policy processes that have atrophied or have been sidelined to the despair of our alliances."

President-elect Joe Biden said on Monday many of America`s security agencies had been "hollowed out" under President Donald Trump and the lack of information being provided to his transition team by the outgoing administration was an "irresponsibility.

President-elect Joe Biden said on Monday many of America`s security agencies had been "hollowed out" under President Donald Trump and the lack of information being provided to his transition team by the outgoing administration was an "irresponsibility." "We`ve encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget," Biden said after a meeting with his foreign policy team. "Right now we just aren`t getting all of the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. It`s nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility," he added. After Biden beat Trump in the Nov. 3 election, the Democrat’s team only began meeting with administration officials in late November to coordinate the handover. Trump, a Republican, has refused to concede defeat and his administration only authorized cooperation with Biden on Nov. 23. Biden takes office on Jan. 20. Earlier this month, Biden`s team said they had met resistance to requests for information from some Pentagon officials. The Pentagon pushed back. In a statement, acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said the Pentagon had conducted 164 interviews with over 400 officials and provided more than 5,000 pages of documents. "Our (Department of Defense) political and career officials have been working with the utmost professionalism to support transition activities in a compressed time schedule and they will continue to do so in a transparent and collegial manner that upholds the finest traditions of the department," Miller said. But Biden reiterated his team`s concerns on Monday. When he takes office, he will inherit a wide range of foreign policy and national security challenges, including China, Iran and North Korea, as well as the coronavirus pandemic raging across the globe. One of his toughest tasks will be rebuilding U.S. alliances that have frayed under four years of Trump`s "America First" agenda. "My team needs a clear picture of our force posture around the world and our operations to deter our enemies," Biden said. "We need full visibility to the budget planning under way at the Defense Department and other agencies in order to avoid any window of confusion or catch up that our adversaries may try to exploit." But Biden said his team, while securing cooperation from some federal agencies, had "encountered obstruction from the political leadership" at the Pentagon. "And the truth is that many of the agencies that are crucial to our security have incurred enormous damage. Many of them have been hollowed out – in personnel, capacity and in morale," he said. "There’s policy processes that have atrophied or have been sidelined to the despair of our alliances."

Biden says Trump aides setting 'roadblocks' for his transition team

A group of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who were caught trying to flee the country on a speedboat were caught and tried in a Chinese court on December 28 on charges linked to an illegal border crossing.

As the trial began in China, the United States urged China to release the detainees and called out China's "tyranny". Now, after a day of the trial, the European Union has followed the suit and is demanding the immediate release of the 12 activists.

"According to credible sources, Ms Zhang has been subject to torture and ill-treatment during her detention and her health condition has seriously deteriorated. It is crucial that she receives adequate medical assistance,"&nbsp;EU foreign policy spokesman Peter Stano said in a statement.

The EU listed Li Yuhan, Huang Qi, Ge Jueping, Qin Yongmin, Gao Zhisheng, Ilham Tohti, Tashi Wangchuk, Wu Gan, Liu Feiyue "as well as all those who have engaged in reporting activities in the public interest".

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-trial-of-hong-kong-12-begins-as-us-decries-tyranny-353000">China trial of 'Hong Kong 12' begins as US decries 'tyranny'</a>

Out of "Hong Kong 12", 10 of the accused were put on trial yesterday in the southern city of Shenzhen.&nbsp;The trial began on Monday afternoon with no entry rules for foreign reporters and diplomats.

As the trial began it was clear that at least two of the group members can be sentenced to&nbsp;seven years in jail for allegedly planning and executing the infamous escape from the country.

Also read|<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/hong-kong-media-tycoon-jimmy-lai-granted-bail-351768">&nbsp;Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai granted bail</a>

The relatives and family of the 12 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists are accusing the Chinese government of keeping the proceedings a 'secret' to make sure their 'strict' and 'unfair' rules are not exposed infront of the world.

"I would like to urge the Yantian court to hand down the verdict as soon as possible... With a verdict I can set off for Shenzhen. I just want to meet my son," pleaded&nbsp;activist Wong Wai-Yin's mother. On a similar note,&nbsp;activist Lester Shum added that "none of the families we know got to hear the trial".

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/chinese-journalist-face-4-yr-imprisonment-for-reporting-virus-in-wuhan-352885">WATCH|</a>

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"The defendants' rights to a fair trial and due process -- in accordance with international human rights law and as provided by China's Criminal Procedure Law -- have not been respected," Stano said. "The European Union calls for the immediate release of these 12 individuals and their swift return to Hong Kong."

Meanwhile, the US embassy has labelled China as 'tyranny' for detaining the pro-democracy activists. "Their so-called 'crime' was to flee tyranny," a US embassy spokesperson said. "Communist China will stop at nothing to prevent its people from seeking freedom elsewhere."

A group of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who were caught trying to flee the country on a speedboat were caught and tried in a Chinese court on December 28 on charges linked to an illegal border crossing.

A group of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who were caught trying to flee the country on a speedboat were caught and tried in a Chinese court on December 28 on charges linked to an illegal border crossing. As the trial began in China, the United States urged China to release the detainees and called out China's "tyranny". Now, after a day of the trial, the European Union has followed the suit and is demanding the immediate release of the 12 activists. "According to credible sources, Ms Zhang has been subject to torture and ill-treatment during her detention and her health condition has seriously deteriorated. It is crucial that she receives adequate medical assistance," EU foreign policy spokesman Peter Stano said in a statement. The EU listed Li Yuhan, Huang Qi, Ge Jueping, Qin Yongmin, Gao Zhisheng, Ilham Tohti, Tashi Wangchuk, Wu Gan, Liu Feiyue "as well as all those who have engaged in reporting activities in the public interest". Also read| China trial of 'Hong Kong 12' begins as US decries 'tyranny' Out of "Hong Kong 12", 10 of the accused were put on trial yesterday in the southern city of Shenzhen. The trial began on Monday afternoon with no entry rules for foreign reporters and diplomats. As the trial began it was clear that at least two of the group members can be sentenced to seven years in jail for allegedly planning and executing the infamous escape from the country. Also read| Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai granted bail The relatives and family of the 12 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists are accusing the Chinese government of keeping the proceedings a 'secret' to make sure their 'strict' and 'unfair' rules are not exposed infront of the world. "I would like to urge the Yantian court to hand down the verdict as soon as possible... With a verdict I can set off for Shenzhen. I just want to meet my son," pleaded activist Wong Wai-Yin's mother. On a similar note, activist Lester Shum added that "none of the families we know got to hear the trial". WATCH| × "The defendants' rights to a fair trial and due process -- in accordance with international human rights law and as provided by China's Criminal Procedure Law -- have not been respected," Stano said. "The European Union calls for the immediate release of these 12 individuals and their swift return to Hong Kong." Meanwhile, the US embassy has labelled China as 'tyranny' for detaining the pro-democracy activists. "Their so-called 'crime' was to flee tyranny," a US embassy spokesperson said. "Communist China will stop at nothing to prevent its people from seeking freedom elsewhere."

EU urges China to release of 12 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists

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