US senate confirms Rex Tillerson as secretary of state

Outgoing US President Donald Trump says the bill is a gift to Russia and China and that it limits any future adminstration's ability to bring troops home.

The US Congress has dealt Donald Trump a humiliating blow in his last days in office with the Senate voting overwhelmingly to override his veto of a defense spending bill.

The House has reached enough votes to make Donald Trump the first US president to be impeached twice. Lawmakers have accused Trump of "incitement of insurrection" following the Capitol storming.

The US Senate confirms Joe Biden's pick for secretary of transportation in a 86-13 vote, making Pete Buttigieg the first openly gay member of a White House cabinet.

Former President Donald Trump is accused of inciting the Capitol riot on January 6. US lawmakers have voted to hold a full impeachment trial.

One of the largest spending plans in US history has passed through the Senate after half a day of debate and deliberation. It will now return to the House of Representatives.

Moscow's departure from the pact is the final nail in the coffin for the confidence-building pact. Washington left the treaty in November last year.

The GOP has once again used its minority rights in the Senate to block key Democrat legislation. Democrats have pledged to keep trying to pass voting rights reforms.

Israeli premier Bennett said Egypt could help restart the peace process with the Palestinians, while Egyptian President Al-Sisi said he wants to "strengthen regional security."

The twin pandas born at Tokyo's Ueno zoo in June have been named Xiao Xiao for the male and Lei Lei for the female. There are an estimated 1,800 giant pandas left in the wild, mainly in bamboo forests in the mountains of China, according to environmental group WWF. Around 600 more live in zoos and breeding centres around the world.

With divergent platforms and a promise to have a new government before Christmas, the Social Democrats, Greens, and business-focused Free Democrats have their work cut out for them.

A report by a US Senate Committee has raised concerns by whistleblowers about the safety approval process for new aircraft, in the wake of the deadly Boeing 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019. Senators spoke to whistleblowers at Boeing, its supplier GE, and engineers working for the Federal Aviation Administration. It found the FAA's certification process had been "eroded" and that the agency had "increasingly delegated away its authority". Our business editor Stephen Carroll tells us more.