US News Roundup: GM and UAW labor deal; U.S. online privacy rules and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

GM and UAW union to continue talks on new labor deal

General Motors Co and United Auto Workers (UAW) said they will continue talks on a new labor deal on Monday, as a strike by the union's members enters its third week. UAW members went on strike on Sept. 16 seeking higher pay, greater job security, a bigger share of the leading U.S. automaker's profit and protection of their healthcare benefits.

New York city cop, suspect killed in exchange of gunfire

A New York city police officer on anti-gang duty and a suspect he was trying to arrest were both killed during an exchange of gunfire in the Bronx early Sunday, police said. Officer Brian Mulkeen, 33, was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said in a statement. The 27-year-old suspect was pronounced dead on the scene.

U.S. House impeachment inquiry to intensify; Trump remains defiant

The House of Representatives impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump over his request that a foreign power investigate a domestic political rival is set to intensify this week with testimony due from witnesses concerning allegations made by a whistleblower within the U.S. intelligence community. The whistleblower's complaint cited a July 25 telephone call in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate Joe Biden, one of the leading Democratic candidates seeking to challenge him in 2020, and his son Hunter, who sat on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.

U.S. CDC recommends against using vapes with marijuana ingredient

People should stop using e-cigarettes with marijuana ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), U.S. public health officials recommended on Friday as investigation on outbreak of lung illness linked to vaping deepens. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has previously warned on vaping, but its latest recommendation focused on THC products after nationwide data pointed to a large number of cases related to the use of the high-inducing component of marijuana.

U.S. judge blocks Trump rule on migrant child detention

A U.S. judge on Friday blocked a Trump administration rule that would have allowed indefinite detention of migrant families, saying it was inconsistent with a decades-old court settlement that governs conditions for migrant children in U.S. custody. The 1997 settlement agreement, which originated in 1985 with a complaint brought on behalf of 15-year-old Salvadoran immigrant Jenny L. Flores, set standards for humane treatment of children in detention and ordered their prompt release in most cases.

American who leaked Singapore HIV data jailed in the United States

An American who leaked the names of more than 14,000 HIV-positive people in Singapore has been sentenced to 24 months in a U.S. federal prison for extorting the Singapore government. Mikhy Farrera-Brochez, a 34-year-old man originally from Winchester, Kentucky, was found guilty in June of threatening the Singapore government with widely publishing the identification of HIV positive patients.

Record snow, cold, slams northern U.S. Rockies with winter-like weather

Midwinter-like weather clobbered the northern Rockies Sunday and into Monday, making early Autumn feel like deep winter, while as much as 4 feet (121 cm) of snow fell in places and hard-hit Montana declared a state of emergency to clear blocked roads. "You have to go back to the 1930s before you find another storm like this, this early in the season," said Josh Weiss, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's (NWS) Weather Prediction Center.

U.S. online privacy rules unlikely this year, hurting big tech

A U.S. online privacy bill is not likely to come before Congress this year, three sources said, as lawmakers disagree over issues like whether the bill should preempt state rules, forcing companies to deal with much stricter legislation in California that goes into effect on Jan. 1. Without a federal law, technology companies, retailers, advertising firms and others dependent on collecting consumer data to track users and increase sales must adapt to the California law, potentially harming corporate profits over the long term.

In pushing probe of rival, did Trump enlist the U.S. government?

President Donald Trump pressed his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate a political foe. Now, a central question for Democratic lawmakers moving with remarkable speed to impeach him is the extent to which Trump entangled both his office and the machinery of the U.S. government to spark investigations that would benefit him personally.

Legal setback for Trump administration plan to speed some deportations

A federal judge ordered the Department of Homeland Security to set aside a plan that would make more people vulnerable to expedited deportation until a court can rule on the matter. The lawsuit, filed by WeCount! and other immigration advocates, asked a Washington court to overturn a plan making undocumented people eligible for deportation without court oversight unless they could prove they had been in the country more than two years.