North America

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — The brother of rapper Nicki Minaj was sentenced Monday to 25 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl at his Long Island home.

A judge convicted Jelani Maraj of predatory sexual assault and child endangerment in November 2017. The victim testified during the trial that Maraj repeatedly raped her in 2015 while her mother was at work.

Prosecutors have said DNA evidence recovered from the girl’s pajama pants was linked to Maraj. The girl’s younger brother also testified at the trial that he witnessed one assault.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — When the leading Democratic presidential candidates marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day by linking arms and marching through South Carolina’s capital, Michael Bloomberg was nowhere near the early primary state.

The former New York mayor was instead in Arkansas, tossing out candy at a King Day parade and enjoying his status as the only presidential hopeful in town.

“Mike Boomerang?” a woman asked, as the billionaire businessman walked by.

“Mike Bloomberg,” a supporter clarified. “He’s running for president.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s legal team is raising a broad-based attack on the impeachment case against him even as it mostly brushes past allegations in a new book that could undercut a key defense argument at his Senate trial.

NEW YORK, Jan 26 (APP): The (Kashmir) valley looked like Switzerland but felt like the Gaza Strip,” is how a veteran American journalist with years of reporting experience in South Asia described India’s repression in the disputed state during one of her trips there even before it plunged into deeper crisis after New Delhi’s annexation on August 5.

NEW YORK, Jan 27 (APP): Thousands of slogan-shouting Indian-Americans Sunday staged a demonstration near the Consulate of India in New York to protest against new citizenship regulations that discriminate against Muslims.

Organized by the ‘Coalition Against Genocide’ — a grouping of some 40 organizations based in the United States and Canada as well as individuals — the emotion-charged rally was timed to coincide with India’s Republic Day.

(Reuters) - Donald Trump and the Democrats hoping to unseat him as president all say they want to reform the criminal justice system in the United States, which held 2.3 million people behind bars in 2019

Here is a look at the criminal justice platforms for leading Democrats running for the presidential nomination as well as Trump’s record during his first term in office.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Candidates running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination have been uniformly critical of the immigration policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, who was elected after promising to crack down on illegal immigration and bolster enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Here is a look at the immigration positions of Trump and the leading Democratic candidates looking to take him on in the November election.

NEW YORK, Jan 27 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Argentina’s Economy Minister Martin Guzman is in New York and on Monday will be participating of a conference at the Council of Americas.

Later in the day he will meet International Monetary Fund and U.S. Treasury officials, as part of Argentina’s efforts to revive growth and renegotiate its debts.

Guzman, an acolyte of frequent IMF critic Joseph Stiglitz will meet with the Fund’s Argentine mission head Luis Cubeddu, and economist Julie Kozak, as well as analysts, investors and U.S. officials.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Elizabeth Warren is fighting to regain momentum in the turbulent fight for the Democratic presidential nomination amid lingering questions about her authenticity and electability.

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — At nearly nine p.m. on Saturday, Samy Amkieh was about to head back to his office after braving 20 degree temperatures to knock on doors for three hours in East Des Moines. But the 20-year-old field organizer knocked on one more door and was rewarded by convincing the resident to be a team leader for Bernie Sanders at a nearby caucus location.