North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — American businesses have complained for years that they can’t find the workers they need to fill available jobs. November’s robust hiring gain suggests that at least some have found a way to do so.

With the unemployment rate now at a half-century low of 3.5%, many economists have also warned that hiring would soon slow simply because there are fewer unemployed workers available.

HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Navy sailor who fatally shot two people at Pearl Harbor before killing himself was unhappy with his commanders and had been undergoing counseling, a military official said Friday.

Gabriel Romero, 22, also faced non-judicial punishment, which is a lower-level administrative process for minor misconduct, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters not made public. He used his two service weapons in the attack, the official said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday blocked the Trump administration from restarting federal executions next week after a 16-year break.

The justices denied the administration’s plea to undo a lower court ruling in favor of inmates who have been given execution dates. The first of those had been scheduled for Monday, with a second set for Friday. Two more inmates had been given execution dates in January.

Attorney General William Barr announced during the summer that federal executions would resume using a single drug, pentobarbital, to put inmates to death.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas and Electric says it has reached a $13.5 billion settlement that will resolve all major claims related to devastating wildfires blamed on its outdated equipment and negligence.

The settlement, which the utility says was reached Friday, still requires court approval. PG&E says it is a key step in leading it out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. law enforcement officials were digging into the background of the suspected Florida naval station shooter Friday, to determine the Saudi Air Force officer’s motive and whether it was connected to terrorism.

As questions swirled about the shooting, which left four people dead, including the attacker, officials identified the suspect as 2nd Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, an aviation officer in the Saudi Air Force. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are bringing the impeachment focus back to Russia as they draft formal charges against President Donald Trump.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is connecting the dots — “all roads lead to Putin,” she says — and making the argument that Trump’s pressure campaign on Ukraine was not an isolated incident but part of a troubling bond with the Russian president reaching back to special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings on the 2016 election.

“This has been going on for 2 1/2 years,” Pelosi said Friday.

06 Dec 2019; MEMO: The United States Congress advanced a new resolution supporting a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, which can be brought to the floor for a vote.

According to a report in the Hill, lawmakers “adopted two amendments meant to satisfy Republican and Democratic demands to achieve bipartisan consensus”.

NEW YORK, Dec 06 (APP): Amna Nawaz, an upcoming Pakistani-American journalist, has been selected to moderate a US presidential debate, the first woman of South Asian origin to win this honour, according to media reports.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Thursday targeted a Russian cybercriminal group known as Evil Corp, indicting its Lamborghini-driving alleged leader and ordering asset freezes against 17 of his associates over a global, $100 million digital crime spree.

The action against Evil Corp., described by officials as one of the most damaging criminal organizations on the internet, comes with a $5 million bounty issued for information leading to the arrest of its alleged leader, Maksim Yakubets.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Politically vulnerable Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are eager to move quickly on the impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump, and focus on other topics such as healthare costs and repairing infrastructure.

Democrats from districts that voted for Republican Trump in the 2016 election face a deluge of Republican advertising attacks over impeachment and voters who are divided on the subject.