Today's D Brief: Deadliest year in US history; A carrier off Somalia; Missile sub through Hormuz; Sanctions on Russia and China
By Ben Watson and Kevin Baron
December 22, 2020
More Americans died this year than any other year in history, the Associated Press reports as “deaths [are] expected to top 3 million for the first time — due mainly to the coronavirus pandemic.â€
Trending badly: “2020 numbers amount to a jump of about 15%, and could go higher once all the deaths from this month are counted.†So far, more than 319,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University.
U.S. lawmakers finally passed their $892 billion COVID-19 relief package on Monday, and President Donald Trump just signed the bill, Reuters reports. The deal is packaged with a government funding bill to avert a shutdown; in all, lawmakers cleared more than $2 trillion with Monday’s agreement. The bill includes $600 payments to many Americans, and those could go out as soon as next week, Reuters reports.
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2020/12/the-d-brief-december-22-2020/170960/
