USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — As House Democrats prepare for public impeachment hearings, President Donald Trump and his legal team are working to organize a defense that will rely heavily on White House attorneys and congressional Republicans to stave off the threat to his presidency.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Democrats promised swift action on a host of liberal policy proposals after taking full control of state government for the first time in more than two decades.

Democratic leaders said Virginians should expect a higher minimum wage, new gun restrictions and greater abortion rights after their party flipped control of the state House and Senate in Tuesday’s election. They also promised ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, making Virginia the final state needed for possible passage of the gender equality measure.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department’s third-ranking official is expected to tell Congress that political considerations were behind the agency’s refusal to deliver a robust defense of the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Roger Stone, a longtime Republican provocateur and former confidant of President Donald Trump, is going on trial over charges related to his alleged efforts to exploit the Russian-hacked Hillary Clinton emails for political gain.

The trial in Washington, which begins Tuesday, promises to revive the specter of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation as the impeachment inquiry against Trump proceeds in the House.

5 Nov 2019; AP: Gubernatorial and legislative elections in four states Tuesday will test voter enthusiasm and party organization amid impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump and a fevered Democratic presidential primary scramble.

WASHINGTON, November 5. /TASS/. The United States wants to strike a new arms control deal with Russia, China and possibly some other countries, US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House before heading to Kentucky.

5 Nov 2019; MEMO: US President Donald Trump spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday and voiced support for negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan over a giant hydroelectric dam on Ethiopia’s Blue Nile, the White House said, Reuters reports.

Egypt’s foreign minister said last week the Trump administration had invited the three countries to a meeting in Washington on Nov. 6 to try to break the deadlock in the talks.

Washington, Nov 5 (PTI) The US has formally notified the UN of its withdrawal from the 2015 Paris climate accord, a landmark global agreement which brought together 188 nations, including India, to combat global warming.

The Paris Agreement, in which Trump's predecessor Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi played instrumental roles, was adopted at the UN climate conference "COP 21" held in the French capital in 2015 with an aim to reduce the hazardous greenhouse gas emissions.

Nonthaburi, Nov 4 (AP/PTI) President Donald Trump has invited Southeast Asian leaders to a "special summit" in the United States early next year after skipping their annual summit.

Robert O'Brien, the national security adviser Trump sent in his stead, included the invitation in a letter from Trump that he read at a U.S.-ASEAN meeting on Monday on the sidelines of the summit of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations on the outskirts of Thailand's capital.

WASHINGTON, November 4. /TASS/. Russian national Maria Butina, who has recently been released from a US prison, in an interview with CBS said that being in jail was "a torture." The interview was recorded shortly before the Butina’s release.

According to the interviewer, Butina particularly wanted to talk about "the conditions in the Washington DC jail where she was first held." "Cockroaches were everywhere, she claimed. No mattresses or blankets," the interviewed added.