December 20, 2021: Manchin, U.S. vaccine push, Booker, Warren, Ghislaine Maxwell trial, Omicron

December 20, 2021: Manchin, U.S. vaccine push, Booker, Warren, Ghislaine Maxwell trial, Omicron

1. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who is key to President Joe Biden's hopes of passing a $1.75 trillion domestic investment bill, said he would not support the package, drawing a sharp rebuke from the White House.

2. U.S. health officials urged Americans to get booster shots, wear masks and be careful if they travel over the winter holidays, as the Omicron variant raged across the world and was set to take over as the dominant strain in the United States.

3. U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker said they both tested positive for COVID-19 and were experiencing mild symptoms amid a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases.

4. The jury in Ghislaine Maxwell's sex abuse trial may weigh whether the British socialite "consciously avoided" knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged encounters with teenage girls, the judge in the case said on Saturday.

5. Britain's cabinet will meet later as pressure grows on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to slow the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant with a tightening of social restrictions before Christmas.

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