North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — Long before Donald Trump’s impeachment landed in the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had one piece of advice for the president: Focus on the House.

Gin it up. Use maximum effort. Make sure Republicans are united. And leave the Senate to him.

The Republican leader encouraged the president not to turn attention on wayward GOP senators, like Mitt Romney, who were “troubled’’ by Trump’s actions toward Ukraine, but to stir the partisan passions of the House.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that the U.S. at his direction has conducted a counter-terrorism operation in Yemen that killed Qassim al-Rimi, an al-Qaida leader who claimed responsibility for last year’s deadly shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola, where a Saudi aviation trainee killed three American sailors.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A powerful winter storm raked the Southeast on Thursday with high winds, rain and floods that killed at least four people and injured several more across a dozen states. Rescue crews repeatedly pulled people from cars that got stuck in high water, but couldn’t reach a person whose vehicle disappeared into a rain-swollen creek.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the Democratic National Committee on Thursday called for a “recanvass” of the results of the Iowa caucuses, saying it was needed to “assure public confidence” after three days of technical issues and delays.

”Enough is enough,” party leader Tom Perez wrote on Twitter.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dispatching Cabinet secretaries across the country to woo Iowa voters. Using private cash to finance an official made-for-TV moment. Delivering a State of the Union address that doubled as a campaign kickoff speech. Holding an impeachment acquittal victory rally in the White House East Room.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The flu-like virus that exploded from China has researchers worldwide once again scrambling to find a vaccine against a surprise health threat, with no guarantee one will arrive in time.

Just days after Chinese scientists shared the genetic map of the culprit coronavirus, researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health had engineered a possible key ingredient for a vaccine they hope to begin testing by April.

06 Feb 2020; MEMO: US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib wore Palestinian traditional dress to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.

Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American woman to be elected to Congress, published a photo of herself dressed in a white thobe before entering the Congress Hall on Tuesday.

“There is no right or wrong way to protest,” she tweeted, adding: “I’m joining my sisters in Congress in wearing white-my white #PalestinianThobe–to #SOTU.”

Washington, Feb 6 (PTI) The US has expressed concern over the current situation of religious freedom in India and raised the issue with Indian officials, a senior State Department official has said.

The remarks came in the wake of widespread protests held across India against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The senior State Department official, on condition of anonymity, said that he has met with officials in India about what is taking place in the nation and expressed concern.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 06 (APP): A Pakistan Army’s second Female Engagement Team (FET) has joined the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), according to a message received at UN Headquarters in New York.

The group comprises 21 officers and includes vocational training officers, psychologists, doctors, paramedics, operations officers and software engineers.

A team of 15 female officers is already deployed in Adikivu in South Kivu, one the provinces of D.R. Congo, a central African country.

6 February 2020; AFP: Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido on Wednesday visited the White House like a head of state, but President Donald Trump's impeachment drama overshadowed the moment.