North America

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate is expected to wrap up the initial phase of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial before turning on Friday to the explosive question of whether to call witnesses such as former national security adviser John Bolton.

Republicans who control the Senate said there was a chance the trial could end on Friday with Trump’s acquittal, leaving him in office and rendering moot the articles of impeachment Democrats approved in the House of Representatives in December.

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Pres Donald Trump and White House lawyers pushed back on Wednesday against Democratic efforts to have John Bolton testify at the Senate impeachment trial of the president, arguing that the former national security adviser could reveal government secrets.

Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said it may be an “uphill” fight to garner enough Republican support to compel the 71-year-old Bolton — seen as a potentially damaging witness to the president — to testify.

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the new North American trade pact with Canada and Mexico into law, pronouncing a “glorious future” for US industry.

It was another opportunity for Trump to tout successes in the midst of an impeachment trial where he is fighting charges of abuse of office and obstructing Congress. On Tuesday he announced a Middle East peace plan — rejected immediately by the Palestinians — and earlier this month he signed a truce in his trade war with China.

LOS ANGELES, Jan 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) —Some 200 US citizens are due to be quarantined in California after arriving from Wuhan, China amid the coronavirus oubreak.

The passengers, mostly diplomats, were evacuated via a chartered flight that landed on US soil on Wednesday.

They will be quarantined for at least 72 hours, but could be kept isolated for up to two weeks if they have any symptoms, officials said.

The flight landed at a US air base near Riverside, California.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- China's UN envoy on Wednesday refuted accusations by U.S. and British envoys regarding the latest humanitarian crisis in Syria, calling the accusations do not square with the fact and makes no sense.

Speaking at a Security Council meeting, China's Permanent Representative to the UN Zhang Jun stressed that political settlement is the fundamental way to improve the humanitarian situation in Syria.

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Vanessa Bryant broke silence Wednesday after her husband, 41-year-old American basketball legend Kobe Bryant, died in a helicopter crash with their daughter Gianna this Sunday.

"There aren't enough words to describe our pain right now," she wrote in an Instagram post accompanied by a picture of her entire family. "I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just as the outlook for the global economy had been brightening in recent months, a new threat has suddenly emerged in the form of the viral outbreak in China.

That was the cautionary message that Chairman Jerome Powell delivered Wednesday after the Federal Reserve held interest rates low after its latest policy meeting.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The spotlight on brain injuries suffered by American troops in Iraq this month is an example of America’s episodic attention to this invisible war wound, which has affected hundreds of thousands over the past two decades but is not yet fully understood.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Move over, 2020 Democrats. President Donald Trump would like to remind voters that he, too, is on the ballot next week.

With no serious challenger and money to burn, Trump’s reelection team hopes to use voting in early states on the campaign calendar as a test run for its organizing prowess and to boost excitement for the president’s candidacy come November.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Senate impeachment trial grinds toward a climax, it remains unclear how three Democrats will vote on whether to toss President Donald Trump from office.

Sens. Doug Jones of Alabama, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are all question marks, though they’re widely regarded as likely to vote for at least one of the two impeachment articles.