North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — After two weeks of public hearings, Democrats could soon turn the impeachment process over to the House Judiciary Committee. They’re moving “expeditiously” ahead as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has instructed.

BOSTON (AP) — The first cargo-carrying robot marketed directly to consumers is on sale this holiday season. But how many people are ready to ditch their second car to buy a two-wheeled rover that can follow them around like a dog?

Corporate giants like Amazon, FedEx and Ford have already been experimenting with sending delivery robots to doorsteps. Now Piaggio, the Italian company that makes the Vespa scooter, is offering a stylish alternative to those blandly utilitarian machines — albeit one that weighs 50 pounds (23 kilograms) and costs $3,250.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trees toppling onto above-ground power lines spark wildfires, more than 1,000 of them in the last decade in California alone. The wires snap in blizzards and hurricanes, causing dayslong outages. Everywhere, power poles topple in all kinds of disasters, blocking escape routes.

Around the U.S., dealing with the vulnerability of overhead power lines — one of many problems that experts say will only get worse as the climate deteriorates — by burying them or strengthening them is spotty and disorganized on a national level, and painfully slow, at best.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday fired the Navy’s top official, ending a stunning clash between President Donald Trump and top military leadership over the fate of a SEAL accused of war crimes in Iraq.

24 November 2019; AFP: The US State Department on Saturday called on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to suspend the accounts of Iranian government leaders until Tehran re-establishes internet coverage throughout the riot-torn country.

The government imposed a near-total Internet blackout more than a week ago amid violent protests.

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy Secretary said on Saturday he did not threaten to resign amid a disagreement with President Donald Trump over whether a Navy SEAL convicted of battlefield misconduct should face a board of peers who may oust him from the elite force.

“There seem to be rumors out there that I threatened to resign. I have not threatened to resign,” Richard Spencer told reporters at a security conference in Halifax. The New York Times reported earlier on Saturday that Spencer had threatened to quit if Trump subverted the process.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic lawmaker leading the impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he did not rule out more depositions or public hearings in the investigation.

Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said his team would continue working on the inquiry as it prepares its report after two weeks of public hearings with testimony from current and former U.S. officials.

(Reuters) - A court ruling expected on Monday could give cover to former national security advisor John Bolton and other administration officials to cooperate in the impeachment inquiry against U.S. President Donald Trump, legal experts said.

U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in Washington said she would rule by Monday in a lawsuit by a U.S. House of Representatives committee seeking to compel former White House Counsel Don McGahn to testify in the probe.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The UN Trusteeship Council has elected Jonathan Guy Allen, deputy permanent representative of Britain to the United Nations, as its president at the opening its 72nd session.

Anne Gueguen, deputy permanent representative of France to UN was elected as the council's vice president.

Both were elected by acclamation after being nominated on the basis of consultations among council members Friday. The council also adopted its provisional agenda by acclamation at the brief organizational meeting.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was admitted to hospital Friday night after experiencing "chills and fever," the court said Saturday.

Ginsburg, 86, was initially evaluated at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. before being transferred to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in Maryland State for "further evaluation and treatment of any possible infection," the court said in a statement.