Morning rundown: House voting on omnibus, historic winter storm advancing

The House plans to vote on a spending bill, North Korea has tested missiles and Facebook parent company Meta reached an expensive settlement. These stories and more headline Straight Arrow News’ Friday, Dec. 23 morning rundown.

$1.7 trillion omnibus bill goes to House vote

Today, the House will vote on the $1.7 trillion government spending package. The Senate approved the omnibus bill yesterday. 

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said the House will proceed “as soon as we get the documents to process,” which could take a while, since there are 4,155 pages to the bill. It includes $45 billion in military aid to Ukraine and $38 billion in emergency disaster assistance. During Thursday’s vote, the Senate added eight amendments to the bill, including compensation for terrorism victims. 

North Korea flexes its missiles 

North Korea is testing its missiles again. Today, it fired off two short-range ballistic missiles towards waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The tests come days after the U.S. and South Korea conducted defensive warplane drills that North Korea reportedly viewed as invasion practice.

South Korea and Japan reported the missiles Friday. South Korea’s military said the launches hurt international peace, calling them “a grave provocation.”

Meta to pay $725 million in settlement

Facebook’s parent company, Meta, is getting more than a slap on the hand for sharing users’ personal information. It will pay $725 million to resolve a long-running lawsuit that accused Facebook of allowing Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm, to access data from 87 million users. As part of the settlement, Meta did not admit wrongdoing, but it said in a statement that it has implemented a comprehensive privacy program over the last three years. The proposed $725 million payout is the most Meta has ever paid to resolve a class action lawsuit. 

Tory Lanez vs. Megan Thee Stallion, jurors reconvene

Jurors didn’t reach a verdict yesterday in the trial against Canadian rapper Tory Lanez. He’s accused of shooting hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion in the feet. He’s charged with three felony counts and is facing 22 years in prison and deportation. 

Megan had to undergo surgery to remove bullet fragments from her feet after Lanez allegedly shot at her feet as she exited his vehicle.

The jurors, who did not reach a verdict Thursday after three hours of deliberation, will reconvene today. 

Half of U.S. suffering from historic winter storm

A powerful Arctic front has been whipping across the nation. 60% of the population, or 200 million people, are under a weather advisory. 

Freezing temperatures, high winds and dangerous wind chills will continue to sweep across the eastern third of the nation after storming the Midwest early Thursday. Forecasters are expecting bomb cyclones near the Great Lakes, which will stir up blizzard conditions. 

The National Weather Service has warned about the potential for power outages into the Christmas weekend. 

Holiday travel will continue to be affected by the storms.