The Supreme Court will allow Trump's partial ban on transgender people serving in the military to take effect while court challenges continue.

Mexico has opened an investigation into what caused a deadly pipeline explosion, including possible negligence by authorities, the attorney general said Monday, as the death toll rose to 91 people. It is still unclear exactly how events unfolded leading up to the Friday blast, which occurred as hundreds of people rushed to collect fuel in buckets and jerrycans from a geyser of gasoline that was spouting from an illegal pipeline tap near the town of Tlahuelilpan, in the central state of Hidalgo. Attorney General Alejandro Gertz said investigators were trying to determine who tapped the pipeline -- whether locals acting alone or one of the criminal gangs that have turned fuel theft into a booming industry in Mexico.

Images show trees and pathways coated in thick sheets of snow and ice

The little-noticed change, made since the Democrats took over majority control of the House earlier this month, will let staffers of House investigative committees take testimony from subpoenaed witnesses without a lawmaker being present. By eliminating complications with lawmakers' schedules, the change will let staffers work faster and range more widely, said former staffers and sources inside the committees that are launching several inquiries into Trump and his presidency. The importance of this was underscored, legal experts said, when attorney general nominee William Barr indicated last week that he was unlikely to release the final report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller to lawmakers in its original format.

The US will go ahead with formal extradition proceedings to bring the detained Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou to America from Canada, it has been reported, despite the risk of increased trans-Pacific tensions. Canada’s ambassador to the US, David MacNaughton, said in an interview on Monday that Washington had told Ottawa it will make the formal request, without going into detail on timing. Ms Meng was detained by Canada on 1 December at the request of the United States, meaning the deadline for filing the extradition request falls on 30 January – 60 days later.

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania's president said on Tuesday that a government decree that could invalidate hundreds of corruption cases involving senior officials is "crassly unconstitutional," a development that also prompted concern from the European Union.

The pound recovered ground Monday after British Prime Minister Theresa May said she plans to return to Brussels to discuss changes to the Brexit deal she agreed with EU leaders last month despite an overwhelming rejection of the draft text by MPs last week. There was mixed news out of China, with official data showing the country's economic growth at its slowest pace in 28 years offsetting a report that the country has offered to eliminate its massive trade surplus with the United States -- easing trade war tensions between the world's two biggest economies. "Unless the British PM intends to commit political suicide, an extension request is the most likely scenario and the EU will most probably agree, which should be a positive development that will take the pound towards $1.30 again," predicted Konstantinos Anthis, Head of Research at ADSS.

Women from various political and ideological backgrounds challenged the 2019 Women’s March by marching in protest and organizing alternative rallies near the Washington, D.C. event on Saturday. The third annual Women’s March took place in Freedom Plaza, a more confined space than in years past, suggesting that organizers anticipated smaller crowds after facing allegations of anti-Semitism and defending Nation of Islam’s anti-Semitic leader Louis Farrakhan. Following the development of those controversies, conservative group Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) organized a rally across the street in the name of “all women” at the same time as the Women’s March.

The court said it will hear an appeal from three city handgun owners and an advocacy group who say New York has the most extreme firearm-transportation restrictions in the country. The case may demonstrate the impact of the newest justice, Brett Kavanaugh, whose appeals court record suggests he’ll be a more aggressive enforcer of gun rights than the justice he replaced, Anthony Kennedy.

Police in far north suburban Round Lake are searching for a man after teachers at John J. Murphy Elementary School saw an 11-year-old girl pull up to the school with the adult man in the passenger seat.

The video presents a fuller picture of what happened between students from the all-male Catholic high school and Native American Nathan Phillips.

Police had carried out a controlled explosion on a vehicle on Monday that was hijacked by masked men in Londonderry and examined two other abandoned vans, two days after a car bomb had exploded in the city. "We are not picking up any information that indicates that anybody wants to engage in violence in relation to the Brexit issue, certainly not at this point," PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton told Irish broadcaster RTE.

Two deaths have been confirmed in the US after two separate avalanches in Colorado and New Mexico trapped skiers in crushing snow this week and last. Authorities in Aspen, Colorado confirmed the most recent death on Monday, which happened to be the same day that relatives of a New Mexico avalanche victim announced their loss. A second victim of the New Mexico avalanche had already been reported.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Tuesday that it has successfully tested the country's advanced missile defense system capable of defending against long-range ballistic missile threats.

Los Angeles public school teachers reached a tentative settlement with school officials Tuesday in order to end a weeklong strike that has affected some 500,000 students. The settlement -- reached after 21 hours of marathon talks that ended early Tuesday -- was set to be voted on by the roughly 30,000 members of the teachers union later in the day and classes are due to resume on Wednesday. "The strike nobody wanted is now behind us," Los Angeles United School District superintendent Austin Beutner said at a joint press conference with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Alex Caputo-Pearl, the president of United Teachers Los Angeles.

Thousands of ships, including former dictator Saddam Hussein's yacht, have passed through the Iraqi shipyard's three docks, where a giant steam engine hauls them out of the water and up the century-old wooden tracks. Mohammed Adnan, who has been operating the huge steam engine for six years now, says it is not easy. "They say they [the British] brought in the wood from Burma... we tried to drill a 1.5 inch nail into it once, we couldn't," said Jassim Hussain Sabour, the shipyard's longest-serving worker.

Norwegian Cruise Line on Tuesday denied that a crew member used a British couple's cabin for sex during a recent voyage.

Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible obstruction by President Donald Trump. The dispute apparently marks the first time the Supreme Court has been asked to intervene in the probe. The Supreme Court previously refused to block the daily fines, but the company is still pressing the court to hear an appeal.

Investigators have accused a British citizen held on espionage charges in Russia of receiving a USB stick that contained state secrets, his lawyer has said.  Paul Whelan, 48, believed the USB stick had photographs and other information about a church he had visited, lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov said. FSB security agents swooped in and seized him before he could see what was on the flash drive, he added. Russian media previously claimed he was grabbed at the Metropole Hotel near the Kremlin while receiving a USB stick with a list of employees of a state agency. In the first public appearance since he was detained on December 28, Moscow city court refused an appeal to grant bail to Mr Whelan, leaving him pre-trial confinement in Lefortovo jail until at least the end of February. He faces 10 to 20 years in prison. Mr Whelan, head of security for a Michigan auto parts company who holds American, British, Canadian and Irish passports, appeared calm and well-fed. Dressed in a blue shirt, dark trousers and rimless eyeglasses, the former Marine and police officer declined to answer shouted questions, instead whispering with his lawyers through an opening in the thick glass defendant's cage.  A source told The Telegraph last week that Mr Whelan is accused of gathering information about “classified military structures”. During the hearing, which was closed until the judge returned with a decision, Mr Whelan “refuted in detail the prosecution's arguments,” Mr Zherebenkov said.  “He didn't think these were state secrets, as he did indeed say, 'I'm a friend of Russia,'” the lawyer said. “He has a lot of acquaintances here. For him all these meetings, all these contacts were ordinary and connected with the culture of the country, nothing more.” The defence had offered a bond of up to 30 million roubles (£350,000) for his release. Lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov speaks to Mr Whelan in the defendant's cage Credit: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters Russian police have often been accused of faking evidence, and in September, two officers in Izhevsk were given prison sentences for planting a pistol and personal items from a supposed victim on an innocent man. Mr Whelan was detained by the powerful FSB, however, in a much more high-profile bust. Former CIA officers have said the United States wouldn't send an agent to Russia without diplomatic cover. Although Mr Whelan “feels good,” he has an illness that requires medical attention, and Mr Zherebenkov said he had agreed with investigators to have a doctor visit him with an interpreter, as he doesn't speak good Russian. He is reportedly suffering from a hernia as well as a shoulder problem.  Prison monitors have said his cell is better than normal, with good heating, a television and a refrigerator. Vladimir Putin's spokesman denied that Mr Whelan had been detained as a “pawn in a diplomatic game,” but some including US officials have disputed this. There has been speculation Moscow could seek to swap him for a Russian prisoner in the United States. Mr Whelan's twin brother previously told The Telegraph that the family had doubts about the appointment of Mr Zherebenkov to represent him. While the lawyer has successfully defended well-known clients like former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, he is known to have close relationships with state investigators after working as one himself for two decades.  Mr Zherebenkov speaks outside Moscow city court on Tuesday Credit: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters Mr Whelan came to Russia in December for a friend's wedding and showed other guests around the Kremlin grounds, relatives have said. Friends contacted the embassy when he failed to appear at the wedding. At least 20 friends on his page on a Russian social network had completed military education or service, while others worked in IT. His twin brother previously told The Telegraph that Mr Whelan had always enjoyed meeting foreign military and law enforcement personnel during his extensive travels.  Mr Whelan first visited Russia while on leave after serving in Iraq in 2007, a trip he described afterward as a chance to “travel throughout the world wherever we want to go and experience the diversity of culture”. He came to Russia on several other occasions and, according to his lawyer, had in May visited Sergiyev Posad, a city near Moscow famous for its ancient monastery complex. He has also reportedly been to the imperial capital of St Petersburg as well as Volgograd, which is known for its Second World War history.  Mr Whelan joined the US Marine Corps reserves in 1994 but was court-martialled over larceny allegations and discharged for bad conduct in 2008.  He was employed at the temporary staffing firm Kelly Services, which operates in countries including Russia, as senior manager of global security and investigations. Most recently he was employed at auto parts supplier BorgWarner, which has said he wasn't in Russia for work.  He also did stints in law enforcement and at one point started an online gun-selling business.

Democratic senator Kamala Harris has announced that she is throwing her hat in the ring to run for president in 2020 — so now is as good a time as any to remind everyone of her terrible record on criminal justice. Thankfully, criminal-justice reform has become a bit of a popular issue these days among both Democrats and Republicans. As a civil libertarian, it’s my opinion that we still have a long way to go — and putting Kamala Harris in the White House would not be a step in the right direction.

Alphabet Inc's Google disclosed on Tuesday that it spent a company-record $21.2 million on lobbying the United States government in 2018, topping its previous high of $18.22 million in 2012, as the search engine operator fights wide-ranging scrutiny into its practices. Google said in a quarterly disclosure to Congress that it spent $4.9 million on lobbying activities during the fourth quarter, slightly above $4.4 million in the same period a year ago. The 2018 total also surpassed $18.04 million spent on lobbying in 2017, according to tracking of the filings by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa arrived in Harare late Monday after cutting short his fund-raising trip in order to address the country's economic crisis and crackdown.

Facebook will expand its presence in Ireland with an additional 1,000 staff over 2019, the firm announced Monday, bolstering the tech giant's largest base outside of its California headquarters. Facebook currently employs 4,000 across the Republic and the capital Dublin where the company has established its international base. "We're going to be hiring an additional thousand people in Ireland in the next year alone," said chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg.