December 21, Monday, 2020 (1:30 p.m.) Newsline read by Ms. Yamamoto Miki

1. The U.S. Congress has reached a deal on a 900-billion-dollar coronavirus rescue package for businesses and workers affected by the pandemic. The legislation will include a direct payment of 600 dollars per adult and a temporary 300 dollars per week in additional jobless benefits.                                    2. A top U.S. scholar on East Asia, Ezra Vogel, has died at the age of 90.  He was a professor emeritus at Harvard University and was the author of “Japan as Number One.” After obtaining a doctorate in sociology at Harvard, he spent two years in Japan to study the country’s language and society.                     3. U.S. media report that President Donald Trump and some of his aides have discussed the possibility of imposing martial law to overturn the results of November’s presidential election.