USA

PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had signed a contract about denuclearization and that he thought the North Korean leader was a “man of his word.”

Hours after Kim said his country would continue developing nuclear programs and introduce a “new strategic weapon” in the near future, Trump said he got along with Kim and “we have to do what we have to do.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts will be a central figure in the ongoing drama of the Donald Trump presidency in the coming months. He is due to preside over a Senate impeachment trial, while the Supreme Court he leads will rule on a titanic clash over the president’s attempts to keep his financial records secret.

WASHINGTON, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – U.S. Secretary of Defence, Mark Esper, said on Tuesday that, the United States will deploy about 750 troops immediately, to the Middle East, a move taken hours after demonstrators stormed the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.

“Approximately 750 Soldiers will be deployed to the region immediately, and additional forces from the IRF are prepared to be deployed over the next several days,” said the Pentagon chief, in a series of tweets on Tuesday evening.

The IRF refers to the Immediate Response Force of the 82nd Airborne Division.

WASHINGTON, Dec 31 (NNN-YONHAP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday he hopes North Korea will choose peace over war after the regime threatened to reveal a “new strategic weapon.”

Pompeo made the comment to Fox News shortly after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivered the threat amid stalled denuclearization talks with Washington.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A financial tug-of-war is emerging over the $13.5 billion that the nation’s largest utility has agreed to pay to victims of recent California wildfires, as government agencies jockey for more than half the money to cover the costs of their response to the catastrophes.

Pacific Gas & Electric declared bankruptcy nearly a year ago as it faced about $36 billion in claims from people who lost family members, homes and businesses in devastating wildfires in 2017 and 2018. The utility acknowledged its power lines ignited some of the fires.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The first phase of a U.S.-China trade agreement will be inked at the White House in mid-January, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday, adding that he will visit Beijing at a later date to open another round of talks aimed at resolving other sticking points in the relationship.

The so-called “Phase One” agreement is smaller than the comprehensive deal Trump had hoped for and leaves many of the thorniest issues between the two countries for future talks. Few economists expect any resolution of “Phase Two” before the presidential election in 2020.

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren marked one year of running for president on Tuesday by slamming billionaires from both parties who she says put corporate interests above the needs of the rest of the country, as many top Democrats looking to unseat President Donald Trump spent the last day of 2019 rallying core supporters. Warren addressed a raucous hometown crowd at Boston’s Old South Meeting House, a Congregational church famous for being the organizing point for the Boston Tea Party in 1773.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The acting secretary of Homeland Security is taking aim Tuesday at new laws in New York, New Jersey and other states that allow immigrants to get driver’s licenses without proof they are in the U.S. legally, and restrict data sharing with federal authorities.

GARDENA, Calif. (AP) — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating the crash of a speeding Tesla that killed two people in a Los Angeles suburb, the agency announced Tuesday.

Agency spokesman Sean Rushton wouldn’t say whether the Tesla Model S was on Autopilot when it crashed on Dec. 29 in Gardena. That system is designed to automatically change lanes and keep a safe distance from other vehicles.

DALLAS (AP) — The congregation at a Texas church where two people were fatally shot had repeatedly given food to the gunman, according to the pastor, but had declined to give money to him, angering a man who court records show was deemed mentally incompetent for trial in 2012.

It’s unclear whether Keith Thomas Kinnunen’s extensive criminal record and psychological history would have barred him from legally buying the shotgun he used during Sunday’s attack at the West Freeway Church of Christ in the Fort Worth-area town of White Settlement.