North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington Sunday night vowing to “make history” at a planned meeting with President Donald Trump for the unveiling of the U.S. administration’s much-anticipated plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But the high-profile meeting in Washington looks set to serve mostly as a sideshow to the two allied leaders’ serious legal problems. The Palestinians have not been consulted on the much-trumpeted deal and have pre-emptively rejected the U.S. proposal.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The stakes over witness testimony at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial are rising now that a draft of a book from former national security adviser John Bolton appears to undercut a key defense argument.

HAMBURG, Pa. (AP) — For all the gravity of a presidential impeachment trial, Americans don’t seem to be giving it much weight.

As House impeachment managers make their case to remove President Donald Trump from office, voters in several states said in interviews with The Associated Press that they’re only casually following the Senate trial, or avoiding it altogether — too busy to pay close attention, bored of the legal arguments, convinced the outcome is preordained or just plain tired of the whole partisan saga.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The urgent fight for the Democratic presidential nomination raged across Iowa on Sunday as the party’s leading candidates scrambled to deliver closing arguments centered on the defining question of the 2020 primary: Who can beat President Donald Trump?

Former Vice President Joe Biden demonstrated the breadth of his appeal by appearing at separate events with Catholics, union members and African Americans. He told black voters with a smile that “I’ve gone to more black churches than you have, probably, because I’m older.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial enters a pivotal week as his defense team resumes its case and senators face a critical vote on whether to hear witnesses or proceed directly to a vote that is widely expected to end in his acquittal. The articles of impeachment charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he wanted to maintain a freeze on military assistance to Ukraine until it aided political investigations into his Democratic rivals, former national security adviser John Bolton recounts in a draft of his forthcoming book.

The revelation challenges the defense offered up by Trump and his attorneys in his Senate impeachment trial and raises the stakes as the chamber decides this week whether to seek sworn testimony from Bolton and other witnesses.

CALABASAS, Calif. (AP) — NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others were killed Sunday when their helicopter plunged into a steep hillside in dense morning fog in Southern California, his sudden death at age 41 touching off an outpouring of grief for a star whose celebrity transcended basketball.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 26 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said on Saturday that he was “deeply saddened” by the loss of life and destruction to property in the wake of a deadly earthquake in Turkey’s Elazig province, and voiced solidarity with Ankara and offered support.

According to latest news reports, at least 31 victims lost their lives and more than 1,500 were injured in the quake-hit areas.

NEW YORK, Jan 26 (APP): The Des Moines Register, the US state of Iowa’s largest and most influential newspaper, endorsed Senator Elizabeth Warren in the crowded race for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination Saturday, calling her “the best leader for these times.”

Lowa’s caucuses are the first nominating contests in presidential election cycles, giving the largely rural state an outsized role in choosing standard-bearers from each party.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawyers for U.S. President Donald Trump told his Senate impeachment trial on Saturday that Democrats’ efforts to remove the president from office would set a “very, very dangerous” precedent in an election year.

White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, the head of the defense team, told senators they would be denying voters their right to give their opinion on Trump at the Nov. 3 presidential election if they found him guilty and ousted him now.