US Domestic News Roundup: Still believe in Santa at your age? Trump ignites Twitter storm; Guatemalan boy dies in US custody

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. border wall no match for Mexican girl's Santa wish list

A balloon launched by a Mexican girl and carrying her Santa present list floated over the U.S. border wall and was found by an Arizona man who granted the 8-year-old's Christmas wishes. Randy Heiss, 60, was out walking his dog in Patagonia, Arizona, about 20 miles northeast of the border, on Dec. 16 when he found the deflated red balloon and the present list attached with a red ribbon.

Trump says U.S. government shutdown to last until agreement on border wall

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the partial shutdown of the federal government was going to last until his demand for funds to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border is met. The U.S. government partially shut down on Saturday, and there is not yet any sign of tangible efforts to reopen agencies closed by a political impasse over Trump's demand for border wall funds.

Still believe in Santa at your age? Trump ignites Twitter storm

President Donald Trump set off a Christmas social media storm when he asked whether a 7-year-old was too old to believe in Santa Claus, capping a week of plunging stocks, a government shutdown and the U.S. defense chief's unceremonious departure. Twitter lit up like a Christmas tree after Trump made his remark during a holiday event with first lady Melania Trump, taking calls from children calling the North American Aerospace Defense Command Santa tracker.

U.S. military tracking Santa despite partial government shutdown

The partial U.S. government shutdown is not preventing the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) from tracking Santa Claus as he embarks on his global trek to deliver Christmas gifts to children across the world, the command said on Monday. A holiday tradition, which allows parents and children to track Santa Claus online on his globe-trotting journey, will continue on Christmas Eve even though NORAD receives funding from the Department of Defense.

New Jersey urges patients at facility to check for HIV infections

New Jersey health officials have urged more than 3,700 former patients of a surgical facility to get blood tests "out of an abundance of caution," because they may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Although the risk of infection is low, patients who had procedures at the HealthPlus Surgery Center in Saddle Brook in northern New Jersey between Jan. 1 and Sept. 7 may have been exposed to infections, the state Department of Health said in an email on Tuesday.

U.S. authorities must probe migrant girl's death, stop child detentions: U.N.

A United Nations human rights expert called on U.S. authorities on Monday to conduct a full and independent investigation into the death of a seven-year-old Guatemalan migrant girl in U.S. custody and to stop detaining children. Felipe González Morales, U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, also said the family of Jakelin Caal, from the Mayan indigenous community, should be given access to legal representation in the proceedings in a language they understand.

Mega Millions drawing could deliver biggest Christmas lottery gift ever

Americans who included Mega Million tickets on their holiday shopping lists have a shot at winning more than $300 million in Tuesday's drawing, the largest Christmas Day jackpot in the history of the multi-state lottery. The grand prize has grown to $321 million after a nine-week spell without a winner. Combined with a $294 million Powerball jackpot up for grabs on Wednesday, the holiday week could deliver prizes worth more than $600 million.

Guatemalan boy becomes second child to die in U.S. custody in December

An 8-year-old Guatemalan migrant boy died shortly after midnight on Tuesday after being detained by U.S. border agents, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said, making him the second migrant child this month to die in U.S. detention. The boy and his father were in CBP custody on Monday when a Border Patrol agent noticed the child showing signs of illness, CBP said in a statement. The father and son were taken to the Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico, where the boy was diagnosed with a common cold and fever, and eventually released by hospital staff.

Actor Kevin Spacey charged with indecent assault in Massachusetts

Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey has been charged in connection with an allegation that he sexually abused an 18-year-old boy at a Nantucket, Massachusetts, bar more than two years ago, the local district attorney said on Monday. Spacey is scheduled to be arraigned at Nantucket District Court on Jan. 7 on a single charge of indecent assault and battery on a person who is at least 14 years old, according to court documents and a statement issued by Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe.

U.S. court orders North Korea to pay $501 million in U.S. student's death

A U.S. court on Monday ordered Pyongyang to pay $501 million in damages for the torture and death of U.S. college student Otto Warmbier, who died in 2017 shortly after being released from a North Korea prison. Warmbier's parents sued North Korea in April over their son's death. The 22-year-old student died days after he was returned to the United States in a coma, and an Ohio coroner said the cause of death was lack of oxygen and blood to the brain.

(With inputs from Reuters)