North America

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s decades-long history of sheltering political exiles was thrust into the spotlight this week as Bolivia’s Evo Morales was granted asylum and flown to the Mexican capital on Tuesday morning in a government plane amid fears his safety was at risk at home.

Morales, who declared victory in a widely disputed presidential election last month before being forced out amid protests, is the latest in a long line of leaders and agitators to have taken refuge in Mexico.

Here are some of Morales’ famous predecessors:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday congratulated Jeanine Anez, a Bolivian senator who became interim president of the South American country following the resignation of Evo Morales, the State Department said.

“The United States applauds Bolivian Senator Jeanine Anez for stepping up as Interim President of State to lead her nation through this democratic transition, under the constitution of Bolivia and in accordance with the principles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter,” Pompeo said in a statement.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with his Norwegian counterpart Ine Eriksen Soreide in Washington, discussing the upcoming North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders meeting and other issues.

The two senior officials on Tuesday spoke about the preparations for the upcoming NATO leaders meeting, defense cooperation, the Arctic, and global security issues, including in Afghanistan and Syria, according to a State Department statement Wednesday.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- More than 39 million U.S. dollars in funding was approved on Wednesday for a project that will build resilience and mitigate the effects of climate change, benefitting nearly 1 million Nepalis, the UN-backed Green Climate Fund (GCF) said.

Co-funding the initiative, Nepal's Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoFE) is adding another 8 million U.S. dollars for a total of more than 47 million U.S. dollars, which will see the project to fruition over the course of seven years, GCF said in a press release Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- NASA scientists have discovered a potential place for its Mars 2020 rover to look for signs of ancient life in Jezero Crater where the rover will land in February of 2021.

The study published Tuesday in the journal Icarus showed the existence of distinct deposits of minerals called carbonates along the inner rim of the crater, the site of a lake more than 3.5 billion years ago.

HAVANA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Cuba has seized up to 1.5 tons of drugs as part of its zero-tolerance policy against illegal narcotics, said a senior officer on Wednesday.

Colonel Juan Carlos Poey, chief of the National Anti-Drug Directorate, said that 1493.20 kilograms of drugs were confiscated from January to September, 93 percent among which were packages washed ashore as a result of international operations not directed at Cuba.

The other 94.48 kilograms of narcotic drugs were seized at airports and ports, and during domestic trafficking.

WASHINGTON (AP) — What hearings? What phone call?

Professing disinterest and disdain, President Donald Trump said he was “too busy” doing the people’s business Wednesday to watch the impeachment hearings that imperil his presidency. But even as Trump tried to suggest that he was above the fray, the president repeatedly laid out his many grievances against the process playing out on the opposite end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Republican Gov. Matt Bevin could face a legacy-defining decision when the vote totals from the Kentucky governor’s race are double-checked Thursday — concede to Democrat Andy Beshear or contest last week’s election in a historic move that could put the outcome in the hands of state lawmakers.

Bevin faces a growing chorus of Bluegrass State Republicans urging him to accept the results of the recanvass unless he can point to evidence of substantial voter fraud.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (all times local):

8:20 p.m.

President Donald Trump says he and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are “very good friends,” but their meeting Wednesday at the White House failed to resolve an issue that has badly strained relations between the two NATO allies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — On Day One of extraordinary public impeachment hearings, the top American diplomat in Ukraine revealed new evidence that President Donald Trump was overheard asking about political “investigations” that he later demanded from Ukraine in exchange for military aid.

The revelation came as House Democrats pressed their case for Trump’s impeachment before the American people after weeks of closed-door interviews.