Everything you need to know about the world today in 80 seconds

House eyes vote this week on $2 trillion Biden spending plan

House Democrats hope to begin debate as soon as Wednesday on a roughly $2 trillion proposal to overhaul the country’s health care, education, climate, immigration and tax laws, aiming to adopt the sweeping measure by the end of the week.

The chamber’s majority leader, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, outlined the timeline in a private meeting with party lawmakers early Tuesday, reflecting Democrats’ revitalized efforts to seize on their recent legislative momentum and advance the remaining component of President Joe Biden’s broader economic agenda.

The roughly $2 trillion plan would expand Medicare to include hearing benefits, authorize universal prekindergarten for all American children, invest new sums to combat climate change and offer a slew of new tax benefits chiefly to aid low-income Americans.

Inflation set to spoil holidays for struggling U.S. families

Retailers are forecasting a record holiday spending season. But for one in 10 Americans, prices rising at the fastest pace in 30 years will dampen the Christmas spirit.

Inflation is especially taking a toll on lower-income families, who spend roughly one-third of their earnings on essentials such as food and energy. It’s eating into wage increases, and the timing couldn’t be worse after federal pandemic relief expired for about 7.5 million people.

“Anything that in the very short run puts a lot of pressure on family budgets across the board will cause more stress and damage to low-income households because they just have less scope to absorb it,” said Josh Bivens, director of research for the Economic Policy Institute.

The holiday season will lay bare inequalities in the economic recovery.

Houston officials pick internal review of Astroworld tragedy

Calls for an independent investigation into what led to 10 deaths at the Astroworld music festival went unheeded Monday, as Houston-area officials instead chose to direct a county administrator to conduct a review with other governmental entities.

County Judge Lina Hidalgo — the top elected official in Harris County, which includes Houston — had proposed a third-party probe of the planning and execution of the festival founded and headlined by rap superstar Travis Scott.

The Harris County administrator instead will work with other city and county entities to review security, fire and other safety plans at the county-owned NRG Park, where the festival was held.

Trump ally Bannon talks tough after court appearance

Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon appeared before a judge to face criminal contempt charges for defying a subpoena from Congress’ Jan. 6 committee, then declared combatively outside court that he was “taking on the Biden regime” in fighting the charges.

Bannon did not enter a plea Monday and is due back in court Thursday for the next phase of what could be the first high-level trial in connection with January’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Combative outside court, he said he was “going on the offense” against the attorney general, the speaker of the House and President Biden.

2 explosions rock Uganda’s capital, Kampala, killing 3

Two explosions rocked Uganda’s capital, Kampala, early Tuesday, killing at least three civilians in what police described as a coordinated attack by extremists.

Three suicide bombers also died in the blasts, police said. The explosions caused chaos in Kampala as terrified residents fled the city’s center.

“The bomb threats are still active, especially from suicide attackers,” police spokesman Fred Enanga said, blaming the blasts on the Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamic extremist group.

The twin explosions occurred within three minutes of each other. Both were carried out by attackers carrying explosives.

Poland uses water hoses at border, blames Belarus for attack

Polish border forces said they were attacked with stones by migrants Tuesday at the border with Belarus and responded by using water cannons against them. Police said the migrants were given gas grenades and other weapons by Belarusian forces, who directed the entire violent operation with a drone.

The situation marked an escalation in a tense migration and political crisis at the eastern border of the European Union and NATO in which the lives of thousands of migrants who are being used as proxies by Belarus are at stake.

Polish police said one officer was hurt when the migrants threw objects.