North America

HOUSTON, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. astronaut Walt Cunningham, who flew into space on Apollo 7, the first crewed Apollo flight, died at 90 on Tuesday in Houston, according to a news release from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

"On Apollo 7, the first launch of a crewed Apollo mission, Walt and his crewmates made history, paving the way for the Artemis Generation we see today," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

Cunningham died of complications of a fall, his family said. A public memorial service will be held on Jan. 24 in Houston.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House of Representatives adjourned on Tuesday evening after its members failed to elect a speaker for the lower chamber.

U.S. Congressman Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, failed to secure enough votes in three ballots earlier in the day after a group of House Republicans voted against him.

There will be at least a fourth vote as House members agreed to adjourn until Wednesday noon. McCarthy is reportedly negotiating with fellow Republicans on Tuesday night.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Mega Millions jackpot increased to an estimated $940 million after another drawing resulted in plenty of losers but not a single grand prize winner.

The numbers drawn late Tuesday were: 25, 29, 33, 41, 44 and gold Mega Ball 18.

The next drawing is scheduled to be held Friday night.

The new $940 million jackpot is for a winner who chooses to be paid through an annuity over 29 years. Nearly all winners opt for a cash payout, which for Friday night’s drawing would be an estimated $483.5 million.

Twitter says it will ease up on its 3-year-old ban on political advertising, the latest change by Elon Musk as he tries to pump up revenue after purchasing the social media platform last year.

The company tweeted late Tuesday that “we’re relaxing our ads policy for cause-based ads in the US.”

“We also plan to expand the political advertising we permit in the coming weeks,” the company said from its Twitter Safety account.

Twitter banned all political advertising in 2019, reacting to growing concern about misinformation spreading on social media.

HAVANA (AP) — The United States Embassy in Cuba is reopening visa and consular services Wednesday, the first time it has done so since a spate of unexplained health incidents among diplomatic staff in 2017 slashed the American presence in Havana.

The Embassy confirmed this week it will begin processing immigrant visas, with a priority placed on permits to reunite Cubans with family in the U.S., and others like the diversity visa lottery.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans will open the second day of the new Congress much like the first — with leader Kevin McCarthy trying to become House speaker despite losing in multiple rounds of voting that threw the new GOP majority into chaos.

It was the first time in 100 years that a nominee for House speaker could not take the gavel on the first vote, but McCarthy appeared undeterred. Instead, he vowed to fight to the finish, encouraged, he said, by former President Donald Trump to end the disarray and pull the Republican Party together.

NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) - The greenback jumped on Tuesday before the Federal Reserve on Wednesday releases minutes from its December meeting, while the euro was dented by moderating inflation data.

The U.S. central bank slowed its pace of interest rate hikes to 50 basis points last month after delivering four consecutive 75-basis point hikes but stressed the need to hold rates in restrictive territory to bring down inflation.

WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - The 2022 midterm vote in the United States was a story of great expectations.

Given the public's sour mood over the direction of the country and with inflation rampant, Republicans had high hopes of seizing control of the U.S. Congress from Democrats, perhaps grabbing dozens of seats in a so-called "red wave" in the House of Representatives in the process.

NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) has been sued by a passenger who said it failed to provide refunds to passengers left stranded when an operational meltdown led the carrier to cancel more than 15,000 flights late last month.

In a proposed class action filed on Dec. 30 in New Orleans federal court, Eric Capdeville accused Southwest of breach of contract after a fierce winter storm that swept across the United States shortly before Christmas upended the carrier's schedule.

WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Republican Kevin McCarthy lost a dramatic first vote for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and appeared poised to fall short in a second ballot on Tuesday as hardline conservatives from his own party rebelled against him, leaving the new Republican majority in turmoil. In an embarrassing beginning to what could prove to be a brutal showdown between hardliners and most House Republicans, McCarthy fell short in the first ballot of the 218-vote majority needed to succeed Democrat Nancy Pelosi as speaker.