USA

HONOLULU (AP) — A defense bill expected to be passed by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday seeks to prevent local government agencies from mistakenly warning residents of a ballistic missile attack the way Hawaii did nearly two years ago.

The legislation includes a provision giving the U.S. government, not local authorities, the job of notifying residents of incoming missile threats.

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz authored the measure after officials in his home state blasted cell phone and broadcast alerts warning a ballistic missile was heading toward the islands.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats laid out their impeachment case against President Donald Trump on Monday, a sweeping report accusing him of betraying the nation and deserving to be ousted, as key lawmakers began to signal where they stand ahead of this week’s landmark votes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House leaders on Monday unveiled a $1.4 trillion government-wide spending package that’s carrying an unusually large load of unrelated provisions catching a ride on the last train out of Congress this year.

A House vote is slated for Tuesday on the sprawling package, some 2,313 pages long, as lawmakers wrap up reams of unfinished work — and vote on impeaching President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Utah Democrat Ben McAdams stepped into a small town city council chamber just outside Salt Lake City and took a deep breath.

“I will vote yes,” McAdams told reporters.

With a tight smile, the congressman made clear, in the heart of ruby-red Utah, that he will vote to impeach President Donald Trump.

USA (AP) --- The message to Boeing Co. from the Federal Aviation Administration was clear: The grounded 737 Max won’t get approval to fly again anytime soon. So the company had little choice but to idle the giant factory where the plane is made.

Boeing announced Monday that it will suspend production of the Max starting sometime in January, with no specific date for when the Renton, Washington, plant will be restarted.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer than 30 people were executed in the United States and under 50 new death sentences were imposed for the fifth straight year, part of a continuing decline in capital punishment that saw only a few states carry out executions, a new report issued Tuesday said.

But even as death row populations were dropping in most of the 29 states that still have the death penalty, the Trump administration tried to restart executions on the federal level and a more conservative Supreme Court appeared less willing to grant death-row inmates last-minute reprieves.

USA (AP) --- Three people are confirmed dead and a dozen more injured as a powerful storm front packing suspected tornadoes smashed into buildings, downed trees and left a trail of destruction around the Deep South on Monday, authorities said.

One person was reported killed in a suspected tornado strike on a Louisiana home, and two others were reported dead after another storm hit around a community about 55 miles (90 kilometers) west of the north Alabama city of Huntsville.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The political fate of party-switching Rep. Jeff Van Drew may well hinge on how forcefully he is backed by President Donald Trump, whose impeachment the New Jersey lawmaker is refusing to support.

With the House set for a near party-line vote impeaching Trump this week, the longtime Democrat told his staff two days ago that he will become a Republican, a former aide said Monday. Underscoring the partisan animosity that the impeachment fight has spawned, at least six of Van Drew’s top aides promptly quit.

UNITED NATIONS, December 16. /TASS/: More members of UN General Assembly have voted in favor of the Russian-led resolution on cybersecurity in 2019 than during the previous year, Russian Special Presidential Representative for International Information Security Cooperation Andrei Krutskikh told TASS on Monday. The resolution dubbed Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security was approved by the UN General Assembly earlier.

16 December 2019; AFP: The United States quietly expelled two Chinese embassy officials in September after they drove onto a sensitive military base in Virginia, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The newspaper, which cited multiple people with knowledge of the episode, said it appeared to be the first time in more than 30 years that the US has expelled Chinese diplomats on suspicion of espionage.