USA

14 Dec 2019; MEMO: The quest for accountability in Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death took a step forward this week with United States lawmakers calling on their intelligence chiefs to publish details about those behind the assassination, reports Anadolu Agency.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has rejected a $13.5 billion settlement that Pacific Gas & Electric struck just last week with thousands of people who lost homes, businesses and family members in a series of devastating fires that drove the nation’s largest utility into bankruptcy.

The decision announced Friday in a five-page letter to PG&E CEO William D. Johnson marks a major setback in the utility’s race to meet a June 30 deadline to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

NEW YORK (AP) — A 13-year-old boy was arrested Friday in the stabbing death of a Barnard College freshman who was approached in a park by as many as three youths as she ventured from her New York City campus on the eve of final exams.

The arrest of such a young suspect added another tragic element to the slaying of 18-year-old Tessa Majors, a case that has troubled city and campus leaders.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi don’t see eye-to-eye on much these days, but in the throes of impeachment, they’re in lockstep on the desire to close out the year by checking off items on their to-do lists.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Friday it will hear President Donald Trump’s pleas to keep his tax, bank and financial records private, a major confrontation between the president and Congress that also could affect the 2020 presidential campaign.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats propelled President Donald Trump’s impeachment toward a historic vote by the full U.S. House as the Judiciary Committee on Friday approved charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. It’s the latest major step in the constitutional and political storm that has divided Congress and the nation.

The House is expected to approve the two articles of impeachment next week, before lawmakers depart for the holidays.

Washington, Dec 13 (AFP/PTI) The United States has announced a pause in talks with the Taliban after an attack near a US airbase in Afghanistan.

"When I met the Talibs today, I expressed outrage about yesterday's attack on Bagram, which recklessly killed two and wounded dozens of civilians," US special representative for Afghanistan peace talks Zalmay Khalilzad said on Twitter on Thursday.

"#Taliban must show they are willing & able to respond to Afghan desire for peace," he tweeted.

Washington, Dec 13 (AFP/PTI) The United States on Thursday urged China not to interfere in elections next month in Taiwan, where President Tsai Ing-wen, a critic of Beijing, is seeking a new term.

David Stilwell, the top US diplomat for Asia, said that tensions have historically risen whenever Taiwan goes to the polls.

"They should not," he said of the tensions.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 13 (APP): Pakistan has warned that India’s unilateral annexation of Jammu and Kashmir, imposition of a crippling, military-enforced curfew in the disputed state and mass arrests of Kashmiris, as also its hostile actions against Indian Muslims could propel South Asia “towards a catastrophe”.

“It is high time for the international community to wake up to the clear and present danger and intervene to defuse this India-instigated crisis,” Ambassador Munir Akram told the UN General Assembly on Thursday.

THE UNITED NATIONS, December 13. /TASS/: THE UNITED NATIONSThe United Nations General Assembly on Friday almost unanimously adopted a Russia-proposed resolution on strengthening the system of treaties and agreements on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation.

Some 179 states, including the United States, voted in favor of the resolution, and no country voted against it. Only Ukraine, Georgia and Palau abstained from the vote, a TASS correspondent reported.