USA

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died during an overnight raid led by U.S. military forces in Syria, a major victory as he fights a Democratic-led impeachment inquiry.

Under Iraqi-born Baghdadi’s rule, Islamic State — which at one point controlled swathes of Syria and Iraq — is responsible for gruesome attacks against religious minorities and attacks on five continents in the name of a form of ultra-fanatical Islam.

26 Oct 2019; MEMO: The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church in America has decided to withdraw its investments in Motorola Solutions, Caterpillar and the Israel Discount Bank for benefiting from the Israeli occupation, media agencies reported on Friday.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The first anniversary of the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history is being marked around the world Sunday with community service projects, music and an online remembrance.

The shooting on Oct. 27, 2018, killed 11 worshippers and wounded seven at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, John Kelly, says he advised the president not to fill the job with someone who wouldn’t be honest with him and provide a check on his impulses because he would end up being impeached.

“That was almost 11 months ago, and I have an awful lot of, to say the least, second thoughts about leaving,” Kelly told the Washington Examiner. “It pains me to see what’s going on because I believe if I was still there or someone like me was there, he would not be kind of, all over the place.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the shadowy leader of the Islamic State group who presided over its global jihad and became arguably the world’s most wanted man, is believed dead after being targeted by a U.S. military raid in Syria.

A U.S. official told The Associated Press late Saturday that al-Baghdadi was targeted in Syria’s Idlib province. The official said confirmation that the IS chief was killed in an explosion is pending. No other details were available. The official was not authorized to discuss the strike and spoke on condition of anonymity.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — About 90,000 residents were ordered to evacuate towns near a massive Northern California wildfire Saturday, and the state’s largest utility began power shut-offs for an estimated 2.35 million people due to forecasts of severe winds and extreme fire danger.

Two previous blackouts in recent weeks were carried out amid concern that gusty winds could disrupt or knock down power lines and spark devastating wildfires.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An ex-White House adviser who’s supposed to testify before House impeachment investigators on Monday has asked a federal court whether he should comply with a subpoena or follow President Donald Trump’s directive against cooperating in what the president dubs a “scam.”

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 26 (APP): A United Nations (UN) human rights expert has criticized India’s inadequate responses to her communications about wide-ranging abuses, including killings, in Indian Occupied Kashmir and vowed to keep the pressure on New Delhi.

At the same time, Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard told a press conference that experts at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Right (OHCHR) could have only a limited impact on the situation in occupied Kashmir.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and Chinese officials are “close to finalizing” some parts of a trade agreement after high-level telephone discussions on Friday, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office and China’s Commerce Ministry said, with talks to continue.

The USTR provided no details on the areas of progress.

“They made headway on specific issues and the two sides are close to finalizing some sections of the agreement. Discussions will go on continuously at the deputy level, and the principals will have another call in the near future,” a statement said.

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday validated the legality of the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump and ordered his administration to hand over an unredacted copy of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report detailing Russian meddling in the 2016 election.