Trump news: President says he 'never understood wind' as China attacks Space Force as threat to peace

Senate majority leader says Republicans are not opposed to witnesses in senate trial

Mitch McConnell – who has admitted he would be coordinating with the White House over shaping the impeachment trial – has said Republicans are not opposed to having witnesses as part of the trial, despite previous opposition, Reuters reports.

"We haven't ruled out witnesses," he said in an interview with Fox & Friends. "We've said 'let's handle this case just like we did with President Clinton'. Fair is fair."

Trump attacks Pelosi for 'most unfair trial in the history of the US Congress'

Nancy Pelosi wins the hotly contested prize of being the first target of the president's online wrath today.

"Pelosi gives us the most unfair trial in the history of the US Congress, and now she is crying for fairness in the Senate, and breaking all rules while doing so," Mr Trump said. She lost Congress once, she will do it again!"

Christmas choir sings story of Trump impeachment

The Washington International Chorus are giving the impeachment scandal a festive twist, performing a version of The Twelve Days of Christmas. Lyrics by BBC news begin: "On the first day of Christmas, Congress gave to me / An impeachment and divided country."

White House under fire over Hannukah social media post

The White House was mocked on Twitter after it used its "advent calendar" to post about Hannukah, with members of the public immediately accusing them of conflating Judaism and Christianity.

Accusing the White House of cultural insensitivity, others pointed out that, as the first night of Hannukah, only one of the candles should have been lit, rather than six.

Satellite images show North Korea expanding missile factory amid 'Christmas gift' warnings to US

A new structure is being built at a site near Pyongang used to make equipment to launch long-range missiles. 

The release of several images from Planet Labs comes amid concern that North Korea could launch a rocket or missile as it seeks concessions in stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States.

Planet Labs Inc, Middlebury Institute of International Studies via AP 

North Korea has warned that what "Christmas gift" it gives the US depends on what action Washington takes.

It comes as CNN reports the dictatorship could be considering taking denuclearisation off the table, in part due to a perception of Donald Trump's current political vulnerability.

Christianity Today 'sees surge in subscriptions' after calling for Trump's removal

The president's ongoing war of words with the magazine continues after the magazine came out in favour of his impeachment.

Editor Mark Galli on Sunday wrote an update on his recent editorial, reinforcing his message that evangelical Christianity in the US has been "made toxic" by its apparent marriage with Mr Trump. 

"The alliance of American evangelicalism with this presidency has wrought enormous damage to Christian witness," the update said. "It has alienated many of our children and grandchildren. It has harmed African American, Hispanic American, and Asian American brothers and sisters."

Despite Mr Trump offering this swift rebuke after the editorial...

...Mr Galli told MSNBC that while they had lost subscribers, they have had three times as many start to subscribe", amid a wave of emotional responses thanking the magazine for what some allegedly described as "a watershed moment in the history of the American church".

China brands new US Space Force 'direct threat to outer space peace and security'

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters that China is "deeply concerned about it and resolutely opposed to it."

"The relevant US actions are a serious violation of the international consensus on the peaceful use of outer space, undermine global strategic balance and stability, and pose a direct threat to outer space peace and security," Mr Geng said.

China's space programme has advanced rapidly since its first crewed mission in 2003.

In a report last February, the Pentagon asserted that China and Russia have embarked on major efforts to develop technologies that could allow them to disrupt or destroy American and allied satellites in a crisis or conflict, according to the Associated Press.

Pro-Trump news outlet used AI to create fake Facebook accounts pushing far-right stories, officials say

Facebook has removed hundreds of fake accounts created with artificial intelligence by a right-wing media company meant to promote its own content supportive of Donald Trump and critical of the Chinese government, the company said. 

The campaign used artificially generated profile images and employed more than 600 Facebook accounts, 89 pages, 156 groups and 72 Instagram profiles, according to NBC News, all of which had been removed from the company’s social media platforms by Monday, Chris Riotta reports.

Researchers from New York-based Graphika and the Digital Forensics Research Lab, an arm of the Washington-based Atlantic Council, said it was the first time they had seen the large-scale use of computer-generated faces to spread disinformation on social media.

Trump would be convicted 'in a heartbeat' and imprisoned in criminal trial, veteran prosecutor claims

Glenn Kirscher, a legal analyst for MSNBC who spent 30 years as a federal prosecutor, claims that in a criminal trial with 12 "fair and impartial citizens serving as jurors", the president would be sent to prison.

Here's our latest on the Christianity Today saga: