USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is proposing to end an arrangement in which a single military officer leads two of the nation’s main cybersecurity organizations, a move that a leading Democrat said Saturday makes him “profoundly concerned” amid a large-scale hacking campaign on U.S. government computer systems.

Rep. Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a letter to acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller that he objects to the way the Pentagon is going about splitting off U.S. Cyber Command from the National Security Agency.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Denver’s mayor flies to Mississippi to spend Thanksgiving with his family — after urging others to stay home. He later says he was thinking with “my heart and not my head.” A Pennsylvania mayor bans indoor dining, then eats at a restaurant in Maryland. The governor of Rhode Island is photographed at an indoor wine event as her state faces the nation’s second-highest virus rate.

(AP) --- The Army general in charge of getting COVID-19 vaccines across the United States apologized on Saturday for “miscommunication” with states over the number of doses to be delivered in the early stages of distribution.

“I failed. I’m adjusting. I am fixing and we will move forward from there,” Gen. Gustave Perna told reporters in a telephone briefing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Contradicting his secretary of state and other top officials, President Donald Trump suggested without evidence that China — not Russia — may be behind the cyber espionage operation against the United States and tried to minimize its impact.

In his first comments on the breach, Trump scoffed at the focus on the Kremlin and downplayed the intrusions, which the nation’s cybersecurity agency has warned posed a “grave” risk to government and private networks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top congressional lawmakers struck a late-night agreement on the last major obstacle to a COVID-19 economic relief package costing nearly $1 trillion, clearing the way for votes as early as Sunday.

A Democratic aide said in an email that an agreement had been reached late Saturday and that compromise language was being finalized to seal a deal to be unveiled on Sunday.

The breakthrough involved a fight over Federal Reserve emergency powers that was defused by an odd couple: the Senate’s top Democrat and a senior conservative Republican.

19 Dec 2020; MEMO: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo affirmed that the aim of the sanctions on Turkey is to prevent Russia from gaining influence and not to undermine Ankara's military capabilities. Pompeo considers that the acquisition of the S-400 missile system: "Allows Russia to access Turkish forces and their defensive industries."

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 19 (APP): Pakistan highlighted the struggle of peoples in occupied Palestine and Kashmir for their right of self-determination at an event organized by Russia, South Africa and Vietnam on Friday to mark the 60th anniversary of the landmark UN Declaration on Decolonization.

The commemorative meeting, held on the sidelines of the 75th session of UN General Assembly, was attended by nearly 100 member states.

NEW YORK, December 19. /TASS/: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has conceded that Russia is among enemies for the United States, he said in an interview with American journalist Mark Levin published by the State Department Friday.

Levin wondered what Pompeo thinks about certain Republic Party representatives’ opinion that Russia is not an enemy for the country despite its alleged attempts to interfere in the US electoral process.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing officials “inappropriately coached” test pilots during recertification efforts after two fatal 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people, according to a lengthy congressional report released on Friday.

The report from the Senate Commerce Committee Republican staff raised questions about testing this year of a key safety system known as MCAS tied to both fatal crashes was contrary to proper protocol.

(Reuters) - President-elect Joe Biden is scheduled to publicly introduce his climate and energy team on Saturday, a history-making group that will be tasked with advancing his ambitious climate policy and strengthening safeguards against pollution.