Democratic U.S. Representative Adelita Grijalva in her first day in office on Wednesday signed the discharge petition to start the process for a vote on directing the Justice Department to release files related to deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Stay up to date with live coverage of the government shutdown Wednesday as the House will vote this evening on a bill to reopen the government.

A US aircraft carrier strike group arrived in Latin America Tuesday, escalating a military buildup Venezuela has warned could trigger a full-blown conflict as it announced its own "massive" deployment.

A deal to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history has cleared an initial hurdle in the Senate, but Congress has more work to do before sending it on to President Donald Trump to sign into law.

Thousands of files from the Jeffrey Epstein estate have been released - with Republicans publishing 20,000 pages, after Democrats shared three emails about Trump and Epstein. A vote could also end the longest US government shutdown in history tonight.

China is grappling with a glut of soybeans after months of record imports, curbing prospects for U.S. exports despite a recent trade truce that Washington said includes a pledge by Beijing to resume heavy purchases.

Soybeans have been a flashpoint in the trade war between the US and China, the world’s largest importer of the oilseed. To begin the new harvest season, the East Asian nation boycotted American soybeans.

Marion County in rural Kansas has agreed to pay more than $3 million US for its role in authorizing police raids against a smalltown newspaper, its publisher and a city councilor.