USA

WATERTOWN, Conn. (AP) — A UPS employee accused of fatally assaulting a co-worker he was helping deliver packages told police he stabbed the man before fleeing into the woods, according to an arrest warrant released Thursday.

When he was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon by state troopers at a gas station in Plymouth, Elijah David Bertrand, 19, of Bristol, asked officers, “What took you guys so long to find me,” according to the warrant, posted online by the Waterbury Republican-American.

ATLANTA (AP) — The United States will require airline passengers from Britain to get a negative COVID-19 test before their flight, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced late Thursday.

The U.S. is the latest country to announce new travel restrictions because of a new variant of the coronavirus that is spreading in Britain and elsewhere.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s sudden demand for $2,000 checks for most Americans was swiftly rejected by House Republicans on Thursday as his haphazard actions throw a massive COVID relief and government funding bill into chaos.

ATLANTA (AP) — In the first week of early voting for Georgia’s Senate runoff election, Casie Yoder parked at a polling location in Cobb County and loaded miniature hand sanitizer bottles, knitted hats, hand warmers and face masks into a collapsible wagon cart.

PALM BEACH (AP) — After tossing a grenade that threatens to blow up a massive COVID relief and government funding bill and force a government shutdown in the midst of a pandemic, President Donald Trump spent his Christmas Eve golfing in Florida.

Failure to agree on the bill could deny checks to millions of Americans on the brink.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hard-hit California eclipsed 2 million coronavirus cases on Christmas Eve as the U.S. headed into a holiday season of travel and family gatherings that threaten to fuel the deadly outbreak across the nation.

Despite warnings from public health experts to stay home, over 1.19 million travelers passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints Wednesday — down by about 40% from a year ago, but the highest one-day total since the crisis took hold in mid-March.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 24 (APP): UN human rights expert has called for Facebook’s Oversight Board to give greater consideration to the rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities before making decisions over controversial content, particularly involving hate speech.

WASHINGTON, Dec 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States slapped fresh sanctions on Syria, targeting its central bank and blacklisting several people and entities in a continued effort to cut off funds for President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

The latest action, building on sanctions imposed on Syria earlier this year, marked another round in a US campaign to push Assad’s government back into UN-led negotiations to end the country’s nearly decade-long war.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. cybersecurity agency said on Wednesday that a sprawling cyber espionage campaign made public earlier this month is affecting state and local governments, although it released few additional details.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021, despite the bill's passage in Congress by a veto-proof majority.

The presidential action followed through on Trump's threat to block the 741-billion-U.S.-dollar annual national security legislation, which now depends on both the House and the Senate overriding the veto for the bill to be enacted.