The latest is a dispute between Republicans and Democrats over 
emergency Federal Reserve powers.
Republicans support a plan to limit emergency Federal Reserve powers, Democrats are adamantly against it.

Unnamed sources reported on trade-deal talk (lack of) progress from the UK and EU via the BBC.
BBC citing a UK government source
And adds:
BBC link here
Also, the (may be gated)  has a piece they’ve popped up over the weekend, referring to  comments made last week:

The difference between Pro and beginner traders
When you start trading from a retail perspective it is a bit like entering a profession as an amateur. So, for example, imagine starting life out as a practising lawyer, Or how about starting as doctor, l. Now, if you follow that analogy, starting trading without any advance

Greg posted the news on Friday US time of the Federal Reserve giving the green light (waving the white flag?) for US banks to begin buying back stock again.
Greg’s post here:

Forex news for North American trading on December 18, 2020
The day (and week for that matter) started with hopes for deals.  One was for a Brexit deal out of the EU/UK. The second was a deal out of US lawmakers for a Covid stimulus deal.   Both did not happen with negotiations continuing into the weekend. 

Stress test results announced by the Fed
.
Stress test from the Federal Reserve

Major indices rebounded into the close but and lower
– NASDAQ snaps a 4 day winning streak
– Each of the major indices set intraday all-time highs
– S&P 500 snaps a 3 day win streak

US commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, confirms the earlier report
This relates to the earlier report at the start of the session (⬆). Ross adds that there is a total of 77 companies that is being added to the so-called entity list.

Says that many issues still remain on fisheries
That is largely to do with ratification before the year-end i.e. possible brief period of no-deal after 31 December if both sides can eventually reach a compromise.

Latest data released by UK CBI – 18 December 2020
The CBI readings are a survey on manufacturers to rate the level of volume for orders expected during the next 3 months.