USA

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A court ruling this week puts the police murder case of former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal back in the spotlight years after it drew the attention of Amnesty International, Hollywood celebrities and death penalty opponents worldwide.

Abu-Jamal, a one-time taxi driver and radio reporter, emerged over four decades in prison as a vocal critic of the American justice system, especially the racial bias he saw at the heart of his 1982 trial.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The end of 2018 seemed to signal good things to come for America’s farmers. Fresh off the passage of the farm bill, which reauthorized agriculture, conservation and safety net programs, the Agriculture Department last week announced a second round of direct payments to growers hardest hit by President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.

Then parts of the government shut down.

Wall Street capped a week of volatile trading Friday with an uneven finish and the market’s first weekly gain since November.

Losses in technology, energy and industrial stocks outweighed gains in retailers and other consumer-focused companies. Stocks spent much of the day wavering between small gains and losses, ultimately unable to maintain the momentum from a two-day winning streak.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to close the southern border amid an ongoing partial government shutdown, resuming his push for the funding of a long-promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.

"We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with," Trump tweeted Friday morning.

WASHINGTON; 28 Dec 2018; AA: A U.S. defense official on Friday denied the reports Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime forces entered Manbij.

Syrian state-run SANA news agency reported earlier in the day, regime forces entered the PYD/YPG terrorist-held city after the group invited forces to take control of the region and ward off an announced Turkish operation. Turkey sees the group an extension of PKK terrorist organization.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In his first visit to U.S. troops in a conflict zone, President Donald Trump drew cheers when he told troops he won them their first raise in 10 years and suggested it was a whopping one. Neither is true.

New York, Dec 27; PTI:A 33-year-old Indian-origin police officer in the US state of California has been killed after being shot by an "armed" unidentified gunman while he was conducting a traffic stop.

Corporal Ronil Singh of the Newman Police Department was shot and killed during a traffic stop when he was "working overtime on Christmas night to provide the best for his family."

"A few moments later he called out 'shots fired' over the radio,"the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department said in a statement, which is leading the investigation.

NEW YORK, Dec 25 (APP):US President Donald Trump has signed a bill to honour fallen Muslim U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, despite long-running fights with his father, a Pakistani-American lawyer, according to American media reports.

27 Dec 2018; AA: The U.S. had access to records of Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes in Yemen, and Saudis “often ignored” no-strike lists provided by Washington, The New York Times reported.

“A former senior State Department official said that the United States had access to records of every airstrike over Yemen since the early days of the war, including the warplane and munitions used,” the NYT reported in an article, titled Arms Sales to Saudis Leave American Fingerprints on Yemen’s Carnage, published on Tuesday.

WATERBORO, Maine (AP) — Authorities in Maine say a man broke into a home, had a bite to eat, watched TV and even got a car ride from his unsuspecting victim.

The York County sheriff’s office said 35-year-old Derek Tarbox broke into a Waterboro home Sunday afternoon, took a shower, got dressed in the homeowner’s clothing and was watching television when the homeowner arrived. The intruder said he mistakenly thought the house belonged to a friend and asked for a ride home.