North America

WASHINGTON, July 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic congressional leaders confirmed Monday that the White House and Congress struck an agreement on increasing overall spending levels and suspending the debt ceiling for two years.

"I am pleased to announce that a deal has been struck with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy - on a two-year Budget and Debt Ceiling," Trump tweeted.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Older U.S. east coast cities are leaking nine times as much natural gas into the air — from homes or pipes heading into houses — than the federal government had thought, a new airborne monitoring study finds.

It’s probably not a safety problem because what’s coming out doesn’t reach explosive concentrations, but the extra methane heading into the air is a climate change issue, said study co-author University of Michigan atmospheric scientist Eric Kort.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A woman was arrested after running a red light in a rented Tesla in San Francisco and causing a crash that killed a tourist and left his wife critically injured, authorities said Monday.

Officers were investigating whether the Tesla, which was rented through the peer-to-peer car rental service Get Around, was operating in “Autopilot,” a partially self-driving system, when the collision occurred.

Tesla’s Autopilot had been activated at the time of two separate fatal crashes in Florida.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A man suspected of fatally shooting an off-duty Pittsburgh police officer more than a week ago has been charged with criminal homicide, police announced Monday.

The indictment against Christian Bey, 30, in the death of Officer Calvin Hall, 35, is sealed, so further details will not be provided, said Cmdr. Victor Joseph. Officials said earlier that Bey was arrested last week on a parole violation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump met with executives from several of the nation’s leading chip and computer part makers Monday and discussed restrictions his administration has imposed on the sale of components to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, the White House said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump claimed Monday he could end the nearly two-decade-old war in Afghanistan in a matter of days but that it would kill millions of people and wipe the country “off the face of the earth.”

The president made the statement at the White House as he praised Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and sought his help in negotiating a peace deal in neighboring Afghanistan.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Trump administration announced Monday that it will vastly extend the authority of immigration officers to deport migrants without allowing them to appear before judges, its second major policy shift on immigration in eight days.

Starting Tuesday, fast-track deportations can apply to anyone in the country illegally for less than two years. Previously, those deportations were largely limited to people arrested almost immediately after crossing the Mexican border.

NEW YORK (AP) — He won’t watch. Well, maybe just a little bit.

President Donald Trump on Monday feigned indifference to Robert Mueller’s upcoming congressional testimony, an eyebrow-raising claim for a media-obsessed president who has been concerned for months about the potential impact of the former special counsel’s appearance.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Waving flags, chanting and banging pots and pans, tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans jammed a highway Monday to demand the resignation of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló in a crisis triggered by a leak of offensive, obscenity-laden chat messages between him and his advisers.

The demonstration appeared to be the biggest protest on the island in nearly two decades.

“Finally, the government’s mask has fallen,” said Jannice Rivera, a 43-year-old mechanical engineer who lives in Houston but was born and raised in Puerto Rico and flew in to join the crowds.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and congressional leaders announced Monday a critical debt and budget agreement that’s an against-the-odds victory for Washington pragmatists seeking to avoid political and economic tumult over the possibility of a government shutdown or first-ever federal default.