USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is projecting confidence that it will prevail in a constitutional spat with Democrats over the nature of the Senate’s impeachment trial, which threatens to deprive President Donald Trump of the swift acquittal he seeks.

CHICAGO (AP) — One person has been charged in connection with a shooting early Sunday at a house party that left 13 people wounded, four of them critically, Chicago police said.

The shooting stemmed from a dispute at the memorial party, Chief of Patrol Fred Waller said at a news conference. He said shots were first fired just after 12:30 a.m. The party was being held in honor of someone who was killed in April.

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — A pileup involving more than 60 cars on a major interstate in Virginia on Sunday morning injured dozens of people, according to state police.

The crash happened just before 8 a.m. Sunday on westbound Interstate 64 in York County near Williamsburg, Virginia State Police Sgt. Michelle Anaya said. No fatalities were reported, but it took crews several hours to clear the roadway and reopen all lanes of traffic.

Authorities do not yet know the cause of the crash, but fog and icy road conditions were contributing factors, Anaya said.

USA (AP) --- As the political clamor caused by a top Christian magazine’s call to remove President Donald Trump from office continues to reverberate, more than 100 conservative evangelicals closed ranks further around Trump on Sunday.

In a letter to the president of Christianity Today magazine, the group of evangelicals chided Editor-in-Chief Mark Galli for penning an anti-Trump editorial, published Thursday, that they portrayed as a dig at their characters as well as the president’s.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The night before the whistleblower complaint that launched President Donald Trump’s impeachment was made public, Democrats and Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee crammed into the same room to get a first look at the document.

For Democrats, it was an instant bombshell, a “jaw-hit-the-floor sort of moment,” one lawmaker said. Another described sneaking peeks at Republican colleagues to see whether they were having a similar reaction.

Sydney, Dec 22 (AP) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday apologised for taking a family vacation in Hawaii as deadly bushfires raged across several states, destroying homes and claiming the lives of two volunteer firefighters.

Morrison cut short a vacation with his wife and adult children amid public anger at his absence from Australia at a time of national crisis. He arrived home Saturday and on Sunday morning spoke to reporters while visiting the headquarters of the Rural Fire Service in Sydney.

Washington, Dec 21 (AFP/PTI) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday described as "shameful" Russia and China blocking a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended for a year cross-border humanitarian aid to four million Syrians.

"The Russian Federation's and China's veto yesterday of a Security Council resolution that allows for humanitarian aid to reach millions of Syrians is shameful," Pompeo said in a statement.

"To Russia and China, who have chosen to make a political statement by opposing this resolution, you have blood on your hands.

NEW YORK, Dec 21 (APP): Two publications that are read worldwide — The Washington Post and The Diplomat — Saturday denounced India’s frequent resort to shuts downs of internet services on various pretexts, especially the communications blockade in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir since August 5 that has compounded the difficulties of an already distressed people.

“India has earned itself a dubious distinction: It has imposed the longest-ever Internet shutdown by a democracy,” The Washington Post said in an editorial: India marks a new low for a democracy.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump spoke on Saturday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about developments related to North Korea, Iran, and trade, a White House spokesman said.

“President Trump and Prime Minister Abe agreed to continue close communication and coordination, particularly in light of recent threatening statements issued by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said, referring to North Korea’s official name.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Saturday said the United States and China would “very shortly” sign their so-called Phase One trade pact.

“We just achieved a breakthrough on the trade deal and we will be signing it very shortly,” Trump said at a Turning Point USA event in Florida.

The Phase One deal was announced earlier this month as part of a bid to end the months-long tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s two largest economies, which has roiled markets and hit global growth.