Day: December 22, 2020

The $2.3 trillion catchall spending package Congress passed late Monday includes some funding for President-elect Joseph R. Biden’s transition into office.

The bill includes at least $8 million for “administrative support” for the transition and at least $9.9 million for presidential transition expenses.

For the latter amount, $8.9 million would be permanently rescinded when the president-elect is the incumbent president.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/dec/22/massive-spending-bill-includes-funding-joe-bidens-/?utm_source=onesignal&utm_campaign=pushnotify&utm_medium=push

Silicon Valley behemoths Google and Facebook have reportedly foreseen that a secret deal to manipulate the advertising market could be exposed and vowed to cooperate if one of them faces an antitrust lawsuit.

In a complaint filed last week, Texas and nine other states accused the tech duo of striking a deal to divide the lucrative market, with Google agreeing to give Facebook perks if the latter backs off from direct competition. The secret pact was codenamed after a ‘Star Wars’ character, and while the exact name was omitted from the publicly available redacted version of the lawsuit, the initial version seen by the Wall Street Journal says that it was known as ‘Jedi Blue’.

https://www.rt.com/business/510391-google-facebook-lawsuit-cooperation/

The coronavirus has now affected all seven continents, as 36 infections were reported among people stationed at Chile’s General Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme research base in Antarctica.

After testing positive, the 36 individuals were taken to Chile’s Punta Arenas where they are believed to be in good, stable condition. However, they will remain under constant isolation while they recover.

The Chilean Army has thanked the timely preventive action, as “it was possible to relieve said personnel, who, after being subjected to a medical control and the administration of a PCR test… turned out to be positive for Covid-19.”

It is not clear when Chilean officials first became aware of the outbreak, but it’s been suggested that they could have been informed over a week ago.

https://www.rt.com/news/510420-antarctica-chile-coronavirus-pandemic/