North America

Schiff becomes face of Democratic drive to impeach Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — With impeachment officially under way at last, Rep. Adam Schiff launched into a dramatic reading of “the essence” of President Donald Trump’s conversation with the president of Ukraine.

“I’m going to say this only seven times, so you better listen good,” said the House intelligence committee chairman on Thursday, voicing his interpretation of Trump’s message to President Volodymyr Zelensky. “I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent.”

Trump ad claims Dems trying to ‘steal’ election

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and the House impeachment inquiry (all times local):

5 p.m.

President Donald Trump is accusing Democrats of trying to “steal” the 2020 election in a new television ad, as he fends off an impeachment probe by House Democrats.

The ad also attacks Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, highlighting his efforts to make U.S. aid to Ukraine contingent on that country firing its chief prosecutor. The ad claims that the fired prosecutor was investigating the former vice president’s son.

Russian minister: West out of step, can’t accept its decline

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia’s foreign minister took aim at the West on Friday, saying its philosophies are out of step with the times and that it is struggling to accept what he called its diminishing dominance in world affairs.

In his speech before the U.N. General Assembly, Sergei Lavrov blamed the countries that declared themselves winners of the Cold War between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union for the current challenges facing the world, and for the increasing fragmentation of the international community.

Trump signs stopgap funding bill, averting US government shutdown

WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (NNN-Xinhua) — US President Donald Trump on Friday signed a stopgap funding bill, averting another government shutdown days before the end of the current fiscal year.

The so-called continuing resolution will keep the federal government running through Nov 21.

The House and Senate both passed the measure on a bipartisan basis to allow lawmakers to have more time to decide the specific spending levels for federal departments.

The current fiscal year ends on Sept 30 and the 2020 fiscal year starts on Oct 1.

US ambassador pressed Ukraine corruption fight before ouster

WASHINGTON (AP) — Months before the call that set off an impeachment inquiry, many in the diplomatic community were alarmed by the Trump administration’s abrupt removal of a career diplomat from her post as ambassador to Ukraine.

The ambassador’s ouster, and the campaign against her that preceded it, are now emerging as a key sequence of events behind a whistleblower’s complaint alleging that the president pressured a foreign country to investigate his political rival.

Democrats move ahead with subpoenas, Trump impeachment

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats took their first concrete steps in the impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump, issuing subpoenas demanding documents from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and scheduling legal depositions for other State Department officials.

At the end of a stormy week of revelation and recrimination, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi framed the impeachment inquiry as a somber moment for a divided nation.

“This is no cause for any joy,” she said on MSNBC.

Judge blocks Trump rules for detained migrant kids

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A U.S. judge on Friday blocked new Trump administration rules that would enable the government to keep immigrant children in detention facilities with their parents indefinitely.

U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles said the rules conflict with a 1997 settlement agreement that requires the government to release immigrant children caught on the border as quickly as possible to relatives in the U.S. and says they can only be held in facilities licensed by a state.

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