National News

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new COVID-19 relief bill shaping up in Congress includes individual payments reaching $600 for most Americans and an extra $300 a week in unemployment benefits. Votes on the bill in the House and Senate are expected Monday. The COVID bill would pump $900 billion into relief efforts. Among those getting help…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence and the leaders of the House and Senate received their first COVID-19 vaccinations as they tried to reassure Americans the shot is safe. Pence celebrated the milestone Friday as “a medical miracle” that could eventually end a pandemic that has killed more than 310,000 Americans. Conspicuously absent was…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration blacklisted China’s top chipmaker Friday, limiting the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.’s access to advanced U.S. technology because of its alleged ties to the Chinese military. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said his agency won't allow such technology to help build the military of an increasingly belligerent adversary. SMIC has previously…

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a hurry up and wait moment on Capitol Hill as congressional negotiators on a must-pass, almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package struggle through a handful of remaining snags. The holdups mean a weekend session now appears virtually certain, and a top lawmaker warned that a government shutdown this weekend can’t…

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. authorities are expressing increased alarm about an intrusion into computer systems around the globe that officials suspect was carried out by Russia. The cybersecurity unit of the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday the hack “poses a grave risk" to the federal government and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments as…