U.S. crude oil imports rose last week2018-12-29
Crude oil imports in the United States rose last week as commercial crude oil inventories remained stable, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Friday.

Seven die in Mexico City house fire2018-12-29
Seven children died in a pre-dawn fire on Friday in Iztapalapa, a populous town within Mexico City's greater metropolitan area.

Californian county sheriff blames officer's death on sanctuary law2018-12-29
A Californian county sheriff on Friday blamed the death of a police officer on the state's sanctuary laws, which prevent local authorities from according cooperation to federal officials in immigration-related law enforcement.

Flights cancelled, highways closed due to winter storm in U.S. New Mexico2018-12-29
A major blizzard in the U.S. state of New Mexico from Thursday night to Friday has caused cancellation of flights and closure of many highways in the southwestern state.

Number of U.S. active drilling rigs increases this week2018-12-29
The number of active drilling rigs in the United States increased by three to 1,083 this week, or 154 more than last year's same period, according to weekly data released by Baker Hughes on Friday.

News Analysis: Trump's surprise visit to Iraq for multilayered objectives2018-12-29
U.S. President Donald Trump made use of his surprise visit to Iraq to achieve multi-layered objectives home and abroad, including asserting his influence over the military, gaining political capital and committing to defeat Islamic State (IS), observers said.

School shootings in U.S. sets 20-year records in 2018: report2018-12-29
Gun violence on campuses across the Unites States in 2018 reached records unseen in the past 20 years in terms of both the number of incidents and the degree of devastation, according to a report Thursday by the Washington Post.

Transformer explosion hits power plant in NYC2018-12-29
An explosion took place at a power plant in U.S. New York City's Queens borough Thursday night, which illuminated the sky into silver blue and triggered a fire, local authorities said.

Spotlight: U.S. government shutdown to drag into next week, causing outrage, concern2018-12-29
The partial shutdown of the U.S. federal government is set to drag into next week after lawmakers made little progress Thursday in resolving a budgetary stalemate over funding for the border wall proposed by President Donald Trump.

Yearender: Cuba seeks to increase economic efficiency, exports after tough 20182018-12-29
After a 1.2 percent economic growth this year, Cuba seeks to increase its efficiency and exports to reach greater development in 2019, amid financial tensions due to cash constraints and reinforced U.S. sanctions.

Chinese fitness device retailer Fit Boxx files for U.S. IPO2018-12-29
China's Fit Boxx Holdings, which sells beauty, fitness and health care products and devices, is seeking to raise about 20 million U.S. dollars in an initial public offering (IPO) on the U.S. stock market.

Trump threatens to close southern border amid gov't shutdown2018-12-29
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.

Dell Technologies goes public on New York Stock Exchange after signature buyout2018-12-29
U.S. tech tycoon Dell Technologies turned into a publicly traded company on Friday, with its stock starting to trade on the New York Stock Exchange after Dell announced completion of a transaction that marked a hard-won reverse merger.

U.S. pending home sales drop 0.7 pct in November2018-12-29
U.S. pending home sales overall fell 0.7 percent in November, and the latest government shutdown will harm the housing market, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Friday.