USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial heads toward a historic conclusion this week, with senators all-but-certain to acquit him on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress after narrowly rejecting Democratic demands to summon witnesses.

There’s still plenty of drama to unfold before Wednesday’s vote.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Standing before lawmakers in the grand-domed Capitol where his impeachment trial is still underway, President Donald Trump on Tuesday night will declare the state of the union strong, even when it is bitterly divided as he asks Americans for a second term.

After becoming just the third president in U.S. history to be impeached, Trump will try to move forward, aides say, offering an optimistic message that stresses economic growth in his annual address before Congress.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Sunday that she was not aware of questionable evidence and police tactics used to send a young black teen to prison for life when she was a top Minneapolis prosecutor.

But much of what The Associated Press found while investigating the case of Myon Burrell, now 33, would have been available to her office at the time.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, Democratic presidential candidates hustled across the state on Sunday trying to fire up voters and make one last appeal to those struggling to reach a final decision about their choice in the crowded field.

Campaigns and voters acknowledged a palpable sense of unpredictability and anxiety as Democrats begin choosing which candidate to send on to a November face-off with President Donald Trump.

UNITE NATIONS, Feb 02 (APP): The Monitoring Team of a U.N. Security Council committee overseeing sanctions against Al-Qaeda and Da’esh has, in a report, said that Pakistan too has been a victim of cross-border terrorism emanating from Afghanistan.

The report also expressed concern over the growth of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan and their impact on the region.

Pakistan has consistently maintained that certain terrorist elements have been targeting Pakistan from their bases in Afghanistan.

2 February 2020; AFP: US officials have cited presidential privilege in withholding details of 24 emails related to President Donald Trump's hold on military assistance to Ukraine, US media reported on Saturday.

(Reuters) - A South Carolina caucus for African-American women will back Tom Steyer on Sunday, the group’s chair said, an important endorsement for the billionaire U.S. presidential candidate in the first state to vote in which most Democrats are black.

“This is a crucial election and black women need a candidate who’s going to champion our policies” from housing to reproductive rights and entrepreneurship, Mattie Thomas, chair of the Black Women’s Caucus of South Carolina, told Reuters.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted on Friday against calling witnesses and collecting new evidence in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, clearing the way for Trump’s almost certain acquittal next week.

By a vote of 51-49, the Republican-controlled Senate stopped Democrats’ drive to hear testimony from witnesses like former national security adviser John Bolton, who is thought to have first-hand knowledge of Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Travel restrictions and business closures aimed at stopping the spread of a new virus that has killed more than 300 people in China could end up causing ripple effects that harm the global economy, experts say.

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Gunfire erupted after a funeral Saturday in Florida, killing a teenager and a man and leaving one other person wounded, police said.

Riviera Beach police said in a statement that the shooting happened near the Victory City Church shortly after 2:30 p.m. They said a 15-year-old boy and 47-year-old Royce Freeman died at the scene. The teen’s name wasn’t immediately released.