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'Not for the faint of heart:' Critical landing test ahead for Boeing Starliner

(Reuters) - The Boeing Co Starliner spacecraft that failed in its mission to reach the International Space Station was due to barrel down to the Earth’s surface early on Sunday with the daunting task of landing safely.

Boeing (BA.N) and NASA officials said they still do not understand why software caused the unmanned craft to miss the orbit required to rendezvous with the space station following its successful launch on Friday.

All efforts were now focused on ensuring the Starliner touched down in White Sands, New Mexico, without any problems.

Trump invites UK's Johnson to White House in new year: British media

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has invited British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to visit him in the White House in the new year, British media reported on Sunday.

Trump’s invitation was made after the British prime minister’s election win this month, The Sunday Times newspaper reported. Britain wants to strike a new trade deal with the United States after it leaves the European Union at the end of January.

Slain Barnard College student mourned at private memorial

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A Barnard College freshman who was fatally stabbed in a New York City park earlier this month was remembered by friends and classmates Saturday at a private memorial service at her high school alma mater in Virginia.

Those who knew Tessa Majors gathered at St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Virginia, local media outlets reported. Music figured prominently in the gathering, along with poetry readings and personal testimonies by those close to her.

Warren’s souvenir wine bottle pops up in big-donor debate

WASHINGTON (AP) — On a Saturday evening in June 2018, with temperatures in the 70s and the Red Sox playing at Fenway Park, supporters of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren gathered at the City Winery Boston for a fundraiser.

They were treated to songs by the Grammy-winning artist Melissa Etheridge and heard remarks from Warren, who was months away from announcing her campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. For the top donors, those who could contribute or raise $5,400 per couple or $2,700 a person, there was a VIP photo reception and premium seating.

Trump slams ‘unfair’ Pelosi delay, rallies conservatives

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump complained Saturday about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s delayed transmission of the articles of impeachment to the Senate, which may delay a trial in the GOP-controlled chamber.

“It’s so unfair,” Trump said, days after he was impeached by the House, as he spoke at a conservative student conference organized by the group Turning Point USA. “They are violating the Constitution,” he added.

Three passenger buses catch fire at LA International Airport

LOS ANGELES (AP) — At least three unoccupied passenger buses caught fire Saturday night at Los Angeles International Airport, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

Shortly after 9 p.m., LAX Airport said on its Twitter account that “”there is a significant fire emergency at the LAX-it lot. Emergency responders are on scene. More to come. No immediate reports of injuries.”

KTLA and the CBS station in Los Angeles tweeted photos of the fire spewing smoke.

6 die in Las Vegas apartment building fire; 13 injured

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A fire in a three-story apartment building in downtown Las Vegas where residents were apparently using their stoves for heat killed six people and forced some residents to jump from upper-floor windows to escape the heavy smoke before dawn Saturday, authorities said.

Investigators reported that the fire started around a first-floor unit’s stove and that residents had told them that there was no heat in the building, which sits a few blocks from downtown Las Vegas’ touristy Fremont Street District.

US heads to court to build Trump border wall in Texas

HOUSTON (AP) — Three years into Donald Trump’s presidency, the U.S. government is ramping up its efforts to seize private land in Texas to build a border wall.

Trump’s signature campaign promise has consistently faced political, legal, and environmental obstacles in Texas, which has the largest section of the U.S.-Mexico border, most of it without fencing. And much of the land along the Rio Grande, the river that forms the border in Texas, is privately held and environmentally sensitive.

House vote locks in impeachment as issue in ’20 Hill races

WASHINGTON (AP) — The day after nearly every House Democrat voted to impeach President Donald Trump, the chief of the House Republican campaign committee said the political fallout was clear.

“Last night their obsession with impeachment finally came to a head, and they basically ended their majority,” Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer said Thursday. “Max Rose is done,” he continued, listing him among freshmen Democrats from districts Trump captured in 2016 who he said won’t survive next November’s elections.

Challenged by China and Russia, US builds force for future space wars

Washington, Dec 21 (AFP/PTI) The United States has met a mounting 21st century strategic challenge from Russia and China with the creation of a full-fledged US Space Force within the Department of Defense.

Acting on an ambition by President Donald Trump that had met resistance at first, the White House signalled its determination to not cede superiority in a Star Wars-like future of killer satellites and satellite-killer weapons.

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