USA

DALLAS (AP) — A destructive storm marched across the United States, spawning tornadoes that touched down in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, where the deaths of a young boy and his mother were reported, and it delivered blizzard-like conditions to the Great Plains and threatened more severe weather Wednesday in the South.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers leading the negotiations on a bill to fund the federal government for the current fiscal year announced late Tuesday they’ve reached agreement on a “framework” that should allow them to complete work on the bill over the next week and avoid a government shutdown.

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (NNN-XINHUA) – Nearly 100 members of the U.S. Congress had traded financial assets, that intersected with their duty or reported similar transactions by some of their close relatives, between 2019 and 2021, The New York Times (NYT) said recently.

The most glaring example is outgoing House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who has, alongside her husband Paul, outperformed legendary investor, Warren Buffett, in terms of their investment return, during the above-mentioned period, thus being hailed as the “Queen of Stonks” by some investors.

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Tuesday called on Nigeria to conduct an independent investigation of allegations in a Reuters report that the Nigerian army killed children in its fight against insurgents.

"The Department of Defense is concerned by the allegations reported in the Reuters article, and we join our colleagues from the State Department in urging the Government of Nigeria to conduct an independent investigation," a Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With dozens of African leaders descending on Washington this week, the Biden administration is offering a not-so-subtle pitch in its economic competition with China on the continent: The U.S. offers a better option to African partners.

Ahead of Tuesday’s start of the three-day U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves acknowledged that the U.S. has fallen behind as China has surged past American foreign direct investment in Africa but argued that the U.S. remains the “partner of choice” in Africa.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Much of the central United States from the Rocky Mountains to the Midwest was braced Tuesday for blizzard-like conditions, while states farther to the south were warned of the risk of flash flooding and tornadoes from a massive storm blowing across the country.

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — They would have been 16 or 17 this year. High school juniors.

The children killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012 should have spent this year thinking about college, taking their SATs and getting their driver’s licenses. Maybe attending their first prom.

Instead, the families of the 20 students and six educators slain in the mass shooting will mark a decade without them Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was set to announce a “major scientific breakthrough” Tuesday in the decades-long quest to harness fusion, the energy that powers the sun and stars.

NEW YORK (AP) — The former CEO of failed cryptocurrency firm FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been arrested in the Bahamas at the request of the U.S. government, U.S. and Bahamian authorities said Monday.

WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress faces a Friday deadline to fund the federal government, as Democrats and Republicans bicker over the details of an expected roughly $1.5 trillion funding bill in the final weeks that Democrats control both the House and Senate.