US relief money is modest compared to other countries' aid packages

After many months of fits and starts, the US Congress on Monday passed a bipartisan COVID-19 relief bill that is being celebrated by both parties. [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [View in your browser]( [Top of The World]( --------------------------------------------------------------- In the news today How does the US government's coronavirus aid response stack up? [Dusk falls over the Capitol, Dec. 21, 2020, in Washington.]( Credit: Jacquelyn Martin/AP After many months of fits and starts, the US Congress on Monday passed a [bipartisan COVID-19 relief bill]( that is being celebrated by both parties as a carefully negotiated agreement to send stimulus checks to Americans in need, aid to small businesses and money for the nationwide mass vaccination drive. The [pandemic package]( was part of a larger bill to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2021. With around $3 trillion from the CARES Act, the first coronavirus aid package signed in March, and other prior measures — in addition to the new $900 billion bill — the US government’s total fiscal responses comes to almost $4 trillion since the [coronavirus outbreak began](. That sum is roughly comparable, after adjusting for inflation, to the 2009 Recovery Act, the economic rescue package that pulled the US out of the Great Recession. The US relief funds amount to about [18% of GDP](. However, several other advanced economies have enacted measures that are even more aggressive. Japan has implemented [economic relief worth 42% of its GDP](, while Sweden, Finland and Germany have all embraced fiscal policies valued about 20% of GDP in their countries. On the other hand, the United Kingdom’s economic relief is only 9% of GDP, with Spain just above 10% and Brazil and Italy coming in at 12% and 13%, respectively. France’s is almost 16%. But, there is wide variation in the type of aid given, with many European countries focusing on strengthening furlough systems and loans to businesses, while the US emphasizes cash payments to households, forgivable loans to enterprises, expanded unemployment insurance and enhanced paid sick leave. What The World is following Pfizer and Moderna are both testing their COVID-19 vaccines [against the new faster-spreading mutated variant]( in the United Kingdom. Pfizer is currently “generating data” on how blood samples from immunized people can neutralize the new strain. And Moderna said it expects immunity from its jab to protect against the more contagious new strain. Known by some scientists as the B.1.1.7 lineage, the mutation is up to 70% more transmissible than the previously dominant version of the virus. And, on the 32nd anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland, the US has charged the bomber, Abu Agila Mohammad Masud, with terrorism-related crimes. The 1988 attack on a Boeing 747 killed 270 people, of whom 190 were Americans. Prosecutors seek to [extradite the Libyan defendant](, allegedly an ex-intelligence operative who carried out the mission at the behest of Muammar Gaddafi. --------------------------------------------------------------- Invest in global journalism! We need 309 more donors to reach our goal! Be one of the 1,000 people to donate $100 (or pledge $8.33 a month) to receive an invite to a virtual party with Marco Werman and The World team to thank you for your support! Many of you have stepped forward and shown your support for The World with thoughtful messages like this one: "Clear concise thoughtful journalism, thank you!" – Robert in Georgia Thank you for your support. Visit [www.theworld.org/give]( to donate. [Donate now]( --------------------------------------------------------------- From The World [Undeterred by ICC decision, Uighurs hail EU, UK steps toward holding China accountable]( [Uighur security personnel patrol near the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar in western China's Xinjiang region, Nov. 4, 2017.]( Credit: Ng Han Guan/AP For several years, Beijing repeatedly denied allegations of genocide. But [some recent developments suggest 2021]( may see a breakthrough in the Uighurs’ long struggle for justice, with help from a new group of international lawmakers. [Royal Spanish Academy dismisses movement to make Spanish more gender-inclusive]( [Demonstrators wave a gay pride flag outside Congress in support of a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 14, 2010.]( Credit: Natacha Pisarenko/File photo/AP LGBTQ and feminist activists have spearheaded a movement to use the letter “e” to diverge from the binary structure of masculine "o" or feminine "a" in Spanish. But the Royal Spanish Academy, the leading authority on Spanish grammar and vocabulary, [has yet to recognize the need for this shift](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Bright spot Four sisters in Wiesbaden, a city about 25 miles west of Frankfurt, decided to make use of all of the extra time they had under Germany's first lockdown. So they created a board game where players compete to buy all the groceries on a shopping list for an elderly neighbor. Now the game, “Corona – the rush to the shops,” [has become so popular in Germany]( that the family has enlisted the help of professional designers and distributors and has sold 2,000 games. [A screen grab of a tweet from Al Jazeera English]( Credit: Courtesy of Twitter --------------------------------------------------------------- In case you missed it on The World - [Fiji reels from second cyclone in one year]( - [Indonesia is building a ‘Jurassic Park’-style tourist center for Komodo dragons]( - [Therapy for immigrant communities]( - [Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny tricks FSB agent into revealing how he was poisoned]( - [Colombian singer Carlos Vives on the Indigenous roots of his latest album, ‘Cumbiana’]( - [Massive hack or routine espionage?]( - [New variants of the coronavirus emerge]( - [Over 40 countries close their doors to the UK]( Don't forget to subscribe to The World's Latest Edition podcast using your favorite podcast player: [RadioPublic](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Stitcher](, [Soundcloud](, [RSS]( [The World logo]( [The World on Facebook]( [The World's Twitter account]( [Donate]( | [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [Edit your subscription]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [View in your browser]( Top of the World is written weekday mornings by the team at [The World](. 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