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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has added another role to his long list of White House duties - U.S.-China trade negotiator - as Washington and Beijing try to reach an initial agreement to avoid new U.S. tariffs on Dec. 15.

People familiar with the talks said Kushner, who helped bring the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) to fruition, has increased his direct involvement in the negotiations with China over the past two weeks.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - High-tech entrepreneur Elon Musk testified at his defamation trial on Tuesday that his “pedo guy” Twitter message at the center of the case was not meant to be taken literally and was sent in response to an “unprovoked” insult he received from the man now suing him.

Musk, 48, the billionaire chief executive of electric carmaker Tesla Inc and founder of the rocket company SpaceX, also apologized to the plaintiff from the witness stand in the packed Los Angeles courtroom.

WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments that a trade deal with China might have to wait until late 2020 raised fresh doubts on when the dispute might end, while a U.S. House bill targeting camps for Muslims in Xinjiang drew Beijing’s ire.

“In some ways, I like the idea of waiting until after the election for the China deal. But they want to make a deal now, and we’ll see whether or not the deal’s going to be right,” Trump told reporters in London on Tuesday, triggering a sharp fall in stocks and a flight to government bonds.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The U.S space agency NASA is going to send a "robot hotel" to the outside of the International Space Station with the upcoming SpaceX commercial resupply mission.

The Robotic Tool Stowage (RiTS), a protective storage unit for critical robotic tools, will be launched on Dec. 4 with SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, according to NASA.

Its first residents will be two robots designed to detect leaks from the station, which are capable of "sniffing" out the presence of gases such as ammonia. The robotic tools are on board the station right now.

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court in New York handed President Donald Trump another legal defeat, ruling Tuesday that Congress can see his banking records for investigations into possible foreign influence in U.S. politics or other misdeeds.

A panel of 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges said two banks, Deutsche Bank and Capital One, should comply with subpoenas from the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees seeking records related to Trump’s business ventures.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Families of several U.S. and British people held in Iran expressed fear for their loved ones Tuesday amid the deadliest unrest in decades in the Islamic republic.

The relatives spoke at a news conference in Washington to demand the release of spouses and parents held in Iran — in at least one case for more than a decade. Among those who spoke was a daughter of Robert Levinson, the former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007.

OSHKOSH, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin high school resource officers have found themselves on the front lines in two student shootings in the past two days, underscoring how police in schools can face life-or-death situations and likely adding to the debate over the best ways to respond to school threats.

PHOENIX (AP) — For months, asylum seekers have been prohibited from filing their claims at U.S. border crossings under a much-criticized Trump administration policy. Now some are sprinting down vehicle lanes or renting cars to try to make it inside the U.S.

The migrants’ efforts are causing traffic delays at Arizona crossings because U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials had to barricade lanes used by cars legally entering the U.S. from Mexico, officials said.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Joe Biden is taking aim at Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren during an eight-day tour of Iowa that the former vice president hopes will help him gain ground in the state that holds the first presidential caucus.

CHICAGO (AP) — Ousted Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said Tuesday that he didn’t “intentionally mislead or deceive” anyone about the mid-October night he was found sleeping behind the wheel of his SUV.

Johnson, 59, released a statement through his attorney a day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot fired him for “ethical lapses,” just weeks before he was set to retire. She said an inspector general’s report, which hasn’t been released publicly, revealed he misled her and the public about the circumstances of that evening and showed “flawed decision-making.”