USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial enters a pivotal week as his defense team resumes its case and senators face a critical vote on whether to hear witnesses or proceed directly to a vote that is widely expected to end in his acquittal. The articles of impeachment charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he wanted to maintain a freeze on military assistance to Ukraine until it aided political investigations into his Democratic rivals, former national security adviser John Bolton recounts in a draft of his forthcoming book.

The revelation challenges the defense offered up by Trump and his attorneys in his Senate impeachment trial and raises the stakes as the chamber decides this week whether to seek sworn testimony from Bolton and other witnesses.

CALABASAS, Calif. (AP) — NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others were killed Sunday when their helicopter plunged into a steep hillside in dense morning fog in Southern California, his sudden death at age 41 touching off an outpouring of grief for a star whose celebrity transcended basketball.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 26 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said on Saturday that he was “deeply saddened” by the loss of life and destruction to property in the wake of a deadly earthquake in Turkey’s Elazig province, and voiced solidarity with Ankara and offered support.

According to latest news reports, at least 31 victims lost their lives and more than 1,500 were injured in the quake-hit areas.

NEW YORK, Jan 26 (APP): The Des Moines Register, the US state of Iowa’s largest and most influential newspaper, endorsed Senator Elizabeth Warren in the crowded race for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination Saturday, calling her “the best leader for these times.”

Lowa’s caucuses are the first nominating contests in presidential election cycles, giving the largely rural state an outsized role in choosing standard-bearers from each party.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawyers for U.S. President Donald Trump told his Senate impeachment trial on Saturday that Democrats’ efforts to remove the president from office would set a “very, very dangerous” precedent in an election year.

White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, the head of the defense team, told senators they would be denying voters their right to give their opinion on Trump at the Nov. 3 presidential election if they found him guilty and ousted him now.

NEW YORK, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Some 85,000 artifacts from the Museum of Chinese in America are in jeopardy after a fire struck a Chinatown building in New York City (NYC).

The fire on Thursday night struck a building at 70 Mulberry Street that housed the historic and artistic items the museum had carefully preserved and protected for 40 years, the museum said.

Museum officials told The New York Times that one hundred percent of the museum's collection, other than what is on view, was stored at the place and all of them could be destroyed.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation that will raise tariffs on derivative steel and aluminum imports to cover nails, staples and other downstream products, while studies show that tariffs have hurt the American manufacturing sector and the overall economy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lashed out in anger Saturday at an NPR reporter who accused him of shouting expletives at her after she asked him in an interview about Ukraine. In a direct and personal attack, America’s chief diplomat said the journalist had “lied” to him and he called her conduct “shameful.”

NPR said it stood by Mary Louise Kelly’s reporting.

NEW YORK (AP) — “Sesame Street” in the past year has tackled everything from foster care to substance abuse. Now its latest effort is trying to help children suffering as a result of the Syrian civil war.

Sesame Workshop — the nonprofit, educational organization behind “Sesame Street” — has launched a new, locally produced Arabic TV program for the hundreds of thousands of children dealing with displacement in Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.