North America

HAVANA (Reuters) - A day after Bolivia suspended diplomatic relations with Cuba, Havana accused its interim government of having sought to sabotage bilateral ties ever since it took power last year, partly under pressure from the Trump administration.

Communist-run Cuba was a key ally of Bolivia’s former leftist President Evo Morales - who resigned amid a political crisis and protests in November - and has supported his assertion that he was toppled in a foreign-backed “coup”.

NEW YORK, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Some 85,000 artifacts from the Museum of Chinese in America are in jeopardy after a fire struck a Chinatown building in New York City (NYC).

The fire on Thursday night struck a building at 70 Mulberry Street that housed the historic and artistic items the museum had carefully preserved and protected for 40 years, the museum said.

Museum officials told The New York Times that one hundred percent of the museum's collection, other than what is on view, was stored at the place and all of them could be destroyed.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation that will raise tariffs on derivative steel and aluminum imports to cover nails, staples and other downstream products, while studies show that tariffs have hurt the American manufacturing sector and the overall economy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lashed out in anger Saturday at an NPR reporter who accused him of shouting expletives at her after she asked him in an interview about Ukraine. In a direct and personal attack, America’s chief diplomat said the journalist had “lied” to him and he called her conduct “shameful.”

NPR said it stood by Mary Louise Kelly’s reporting.

NEW YORK (AP) — “Sesame Street” in the past year has tackled everything from foster care to substance abuse. Now its latest effort is trying to help children suffering as a result of the Syrian civil war.

Sesame Workshop — the nonprofit, educational organization behind “Sesame Street” — has launched a new, locally produced Arabic TV program for the hundreds of thousands of children dealing with displacement in Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (NNN-XINHUA) – U.S. President, Donald Trump’s legal team started Saturday, to make opening arguments in defence of the president, in the ongoing impeachment trial in the Senate, after House managers, a group of seven House Democrats, acting as prosecutors, argued for the president’s conviction and removal from office over the last three days.

LISLE, Ill. (AP) — A woman fatally shot a retired Illinois State Police trooper and wounded another retired state trooper and an off-duty trooper Friday night before turning the gun on herself at a cigar lounge in the Chicago suburbs, police said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A blueprint the White House is rolling out to resolve the decades-long conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is as much about politics as it is about peace.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democratic presidential candidates have roared back into Iowa touting fresh endorsements, critiquing their rivals and predicting victories in the caucuses that will soon launch the process of deciding who will challenge President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump inquired how long Ukraine would be able to resist Russian aggression without U.S. assistance during a 2018 meeting with donors that included the indicted associates of his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.