USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats know they don’t have the votes to convict President Donald Trump when the Senate convenes as the Court of Impeachment. So they are pursuing the case in the court of public opinion.

It became a defining moment, one that stunned Washington, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to immediately transmit the charges to the Senate after the House impeached Trump.

The abrupt move vexed the president and his party, annoying some, angering others, and caused a political firestorm as the days turned to weeks. It’s now approaching a month.

Washington, Jan 8 (AFP/PTI) The Democratic-led US House of Representatives will vote Thursday to prevent President Donald Trump from waging war with Iran after he ordered the killing of a top general, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Pelosi said that the Democrats will move forward because their concerns were not addressed in a closed-door briefing to lawmakers Wednesday by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other top officials.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that no U.S. casualties have resulted from Iran's missiles attack against U.S. forces in Iraq on Tuesday, adding that the United States would impose additional sanctions against Tehran.

"No Americans were harmed in last night's attack by the Iranian regime. We suffered no casualties," Trump said in a televised White House address after Iran launched ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops in retaliation for the U.S. killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said on Wednesday that Iran launched 16 short-range ballistic missiles from three locations within Iran in Tuesday's attack.

Esper told reporters that, among the 16 missiles, 11 hit the Al-Asad base and at least one hit the base near Erbil, adding that the missiles damaged tents, taxiways, parking lots and a helicopter.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Pentagon confirmed Iran's launching of more than a dozen ballistic missiles against at least two military bases housing the U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration made its case on Capitol Hill for killing a powerful Iranian general, but Democrats — and a handful of Republicans — said the classified briefings Wednesday were short on details and left them wondering about the president’s next steps in the volatile Mideast.

Democrats said that by not disclosing many details of the threat that prompted the U.S. to kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, President Donald Trump is asking the American public to trust the very intelligence reports he has often disparaged.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A billion-dollar investment last year has yet to curtail California’s growing homeless crisis, and with the state awash in revenue, Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to spend a billion more on programs aimed at getting people off the streets.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House will vote Thursday on a measure limiting President Donald Trump’s ability to take military action against Iran as Democratic criticism of the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general intensified.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced the planned vote in a one-page statement that said last week’s drone strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani was “provocative and disproportionate.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The standoff over President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial deepened as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said there will be “no haggling” with Democrats as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi demands for more details and witnesses.

McConnell’s Senate majority has the leverage Republicans need to launch Trump’s trial toward swift acquittal of the charges, but Pelosi’s reluctance to transmit the articles of impeachment leaves the proceedings at a standstill.

NEW YORK (AP) — The election was always going to be about Donald Trump.

But over the span of a few days, the yearslong focus on the Republican president’s performance on the economy, health care and immigration has been overtaken by an urgent debate over foreign policy and war. And as the sprint to Iowa’s Feb. 3 caucuses begins, both Trump and his Democratic rivals are being forced to navigate a delicate and dangerous military conflict with Iran that injects a new level of uncertainty into the 2020 contest.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and Iran stepped back from the brink of possible war on Wednesday as President Donald Trump signaled he would not retaliate militarily for Iran’s missile strikes on Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops. No one was harmed in the strikes, but U.S. forces in the region remained on high alert.