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TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT-HIGHLIGHTS
Trial highlights: Trump defense urges end to impeachment
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s legal team concluded its three-day presentation on the same note with which it began — that the Democrats’ case amounted to partisan politics that would undo the results of the 2016 presidential election. Trump's lawyers argued forcefully Tuesday against calling former national security adviser John Bolton as a witness, saying his unpublished manuscript contains unproven allegations. Meanwhile, Democrats and some Republicans pressed to call Bolton and other witnesses as the case heads to a question-and-answer phase.
ELECTION 2020-TRUMP
Trump shores up support for newest GOP congressman in Jersey
WILDWOOD, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump is capping off a busy day by heaping praise on the newest Republican member of Congress and savaging Democrats he said are engaged in “demented hoaxes” like his impeachment trial. Trump's rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, on Tuesday came hours after his legal team wrapped up the final day of its opening arguments on the Senate floor. The president spoke to an enthusiastic audience in support of Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who recently abandoned the Democratic Party after breaking ranks over impeachment. Trump called Van Drew on stage, saying, “Jeff had the guts to defy the left-wing fanatics in his own party.”
CHINA-OUTBREAK-THE LATEST
The Latest: Australia and New Zealand to evacuate citizens
BEIJING (AP) — Australia and New Zealand will work together to evacuate their isolated and vulnerable citizens from China’s virus-hit Hubei province. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison could not say how many or how soon citizens would be flown by Qantas from Hubei. The departures would be arranged in consultation with China. The citizens would be quarantined on Christmas Island, which has been used to hold asylum seekers and foreign criminals facing deportation. Australia has advised its citizens to reconsider their need to travel to China and not to travel to Hubei. New Zealand's government advised people to avoid all non-essential travel to China due to the coronavirus outbreak.
AP-US-IRAN-MISSILES-INJURIES
Pentagon: 50 troops suffered brain injuries in Iran strike
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has raised to 50 the number of U.S. service members who suffered traumatic brain injuries in Iran's missile strike earlier this month on an Iraqi air base, It's the third time the number of injuries has been increased. The new casualty total belies President Donald Trump's initial claim that no Americans were harmed. Days later, the military said 11 service members had been injured and then increased the total to 34. A Pentagon spokesman says 31 of the 50 service members have returned to duty.
ELECTION 2020-BIDEN
Biden won't say whether Sanders could unify Dems as nominee
MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden won't say whether he thinks Bernie Sanders could unify the Democratic Party as nominee. Biden said Tuesday that he won't make any judgments now and that his assessment could depend on how the two men treat each other as the primary fight plays out. Tensions between Biden and Sanders have escalated recently. The two men reflect the larger ideological battle between a Democratic establishment in which Biden has spent his career and the progressive left that has surged in influence since Sanders' failed bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.
TRAVEL BAN LAWSUIT
Court hears request to proceed with Trump travel ban cases
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court appeared skeptical as civil rights groups sought to allow legal challenges to President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from predominantly Muslim countries to move forward. Judges on Tuesday noted there has already been a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding the ban. The 2017 ban sparked an international outcry from advocates who said it was rooted in religious bias. The Justice Department wants the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss the lawsuits. They cite a Supreme Court ruling in a separate case that found the travel ban has a “legitimate grounding in national security concerns."
AP-AS-CHINA-OUTBREAK
4 Japanese evacuees from Wuhan taken to hospital with fevers
BEIJING (AP) — Japanese officials say four evacuees on a flight from the Chinese city of Wuhan have a cough and fever. Tokyo Metropolitan Government confirmed their condition after the flight of 206 evacuees arrived in Tokyo. Passengers on the flight were wearing masks and underwent temperature checks. Plans were made for all evacuees to be treated and quarantined depending on their test results. The four are a woman in her 50s and three men whose ages are from their 30s to 50s. They were taken to a Tokyo hospital on separate ambulances for treatment and further medical checks.
TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT-WITNESSES
AP source: McConnell says he can't yet block new witnesses
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has told senators privately he does not yet have the votes to block new witnesses in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. That's according to a Republican familiar with a closed-door meeting of GOP senators and granted anonymity to discuss it. McConnell convened the meeting shortly after Trump's legal team made its closing arguments. At this point, the GOP leader faces a handful of potential defections. But there are still several days before any potential witness vote would be taken. A decision to call more witnesses would need 51 votes to pass.
HANDCUFFED SUSPECT KILLED-MARYLAND
Murder charge for officer accused of killing handcuffed man
TEMPLE HILLS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland police officer accused of shooting and killing a handcuffed man in the front seat of a police cruiser will face a murder charge. Prince George's County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said during a news conference on Tuesday that he asked his special investigations response team to file a charge of second-degree murder against Cpl. Michael Owen Jr. He is also facing manslaughter and other associated weapons charges. The deadly shooting occurred Monday night inside the cruiser after Prince George's County police officers responded to reports that a driver had struck multiple vehicles. The victim was identified as 43-year-old William Howard Green.
CHARLESTON CHURCH SHOOTING
White supremacist appeals death penalty in church massacre
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — White supremacist Dylann Roof on Tuesday appealed his convictions and death sentence in the massacre of nine black church members in South Carolina. His lawyers argue he was mentally ill when he represented himself during his capital trial. Roof became the first person to be ordered executed for a federal hate crime when he was sentenced to death for opening fire during a Bible study session at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston on June 17, 2015. Roof told FBI agents that he wanted the shootings to bring back segregation or perhaps start a race war.
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