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TRUMP
Trump barrels into 2020 campaign, emboldened after acquittal
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate's impeachment trial has ended, and now President Donald Trump is barreling into his reelection fight with a united Republican Party behind him. And he's emboldened by reassuring poll numbers and chaos on the Democratic side in the race to replace him. Republican senators voted almost in lockstep to acquit Trump on Wednesday, and they relied on a variety of rationales for keeping him in office. But for Trump, there was one message in acquittal vote on the two impeachment charges, And that message seems to be that even at a time of maximum political peril, it's his Republican Party.
AP-US-ELECTION-2020-IOWA
Buttigieg clings to narrow lead as Iowa results trickle in
NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Buttigieg is clinging to a slight lead over Bernie Sanders in a new batch of votes released by the Iowa Democratic Party. The race remained too early to call Wednesday evening, two days after the state hosted its first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. Much of the political world has already shifted its attention to New Hampshire, which votes on Tuesday. Wednesday's updated results show Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar trailing. Iowa officials attributed their delay to technical problems. The chaos surrounding the reporting breakdown has undermined the impact of Iowa's election, which typically rewards winners with a surge of momentum.
EX-SHERIFF-CORRUPTION
Ex-Los Angeles sheriff reports to prison for corruption
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The former sheriff of Los Angeles County has reported to prison to begin serving a prison sentence for a corruption conviction. Lee Baca was sentenced to a three-year term for obstructing an FBI probe into corruption in the nation's largest sheriff's department. The 77-year-old had been free on bail while appealing his conviction. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected his last appeal in January. Baca is being held at the Federal Correctional Institution La Tuna, near El Paso, Texas.
OBIT-KIRK DOUGLAS
Kirk Douglas, longtime influential movie star, dies at 103
Kirk Douglas, the muscular actor with the dimpled chin who starred in "Spartacus," "Lust for Life" and dozens of other films and helped fatally weaken the Hollywood blacklist, has died at 103. Douglas was nominated three times for Oscars _ for "Champion," "The Bad and the Beautiful" and "Lust for Life." He later received an honorary award for "50 years as a creative and moral force" in the movie industry. His son Michael won Oscars as producer for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and as actor for “Wall Street.”
AP-US-SUBWAY-STABBING-CALIFORNIA
Videos show fatal stabbing on California subway platform
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Jurors in the trial of a man accused of fatally stabbing a young woman on a California subway platform were shown video Wednesday of the stabbing that also injured her sister. The surveillance video from the July 2018 attack prompted gasps in the courtroom Wednesday as 18-year-old Nia Wilson's family and friends watched. John Lee Cowell is charged with killing Wilson and wounding her sister after following them onto a Bay Area Rapid Transit train. He has pleaded not guilty. Cowell was thrown out of court after he argued with a prosecutor during opening statements. His lawyer said the killing was fueled by Cowell's severe mental illness.
CHINA-OUTBREAK
10 more sick with virus on one of two isolated cruise ships
BEIJING (AP) — Japanese health officials say 10 more people have been sickened with a new virus aboard one of two quarantined cruise ships with some 5,400 passengers and crew aboard. China has reported 73 more deaths and announced that the first group of patients were expected to start taking a new antiviral drug on Thursday. The ships in Japan and Hong Kong are caught up in a global health emergency that seems to worsen by the day. The 10 who were infected on top of 10 others on Wednesday were dropped off in Yokohama where the ship docked and transferred to nearby hospitals for further test and treatment. In the epicenter of Wuhan, in central China, a second 1,500-bed hospital is set to open Thursday.
CHINA OUTBREAK-US EVACUEES
Life under virus quarantine: Boxing, chalk art and waiting
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — At a military base in Riverside, California, the nearly 200 Americans evacuated out of a Chinese city over the viral outbreak have been jogging together, taking classes and eating pizza at a Super Bowl party. The cluster of U.S. consular officials, business people and families with children was the first placed under a 14-day federal quarantine order over the coronavirus. They have formed their own community on the March Air Reserve Base in Southern California and have been keeping busy by setting up activities and holding daily “town hall” meetings to discuss their situation.
FBI DIRECTOR
FBI director warns of ongoing Russian 'information warfare'
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Chris Wray says Russia is engaged in “information warfare" heading into the 2020 presidential election. But he says law enforcement hasn't seen ongoing efforts by Russia to interfere in America's election infrastructure. Wray tells the House Judiciary Committee that Russia is relying on a covert social media campaign aimed at dividing American public opinion and sowing discord. That effort may have an uptick in an election year but it's otherwise a round-the-clock threat that is in some ways harder to combat than an election system hack. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security Department are on alert for possible election-related cyberactivity like what occurred in 2016,
AP-US-CENTRAL-AMERICA-DEPORTATIONS
Report: At least 138 sent from US to El Salvador were killed
WASHINGTON (AP) — Human Rights Watch says at least 138 people deported from the U.S. to El Salvador in recent years were subsequently killed in the Central American country. The group says a majority of those deportees were killed within a year and some within days of returning to a country with the highest homicide rate in the Western Hemisphere. A report being released by the group Wednesday also documented at least 70 cases of sexual assault and other violence against deportees. It comes as the Trump administration works to discourage Central Americans from trying to claim asylum in the U.S.
CIA HACKING TOOLS
CIA worker: Massive 2017 leak 'was crippling' to the agency
NEW YORK (AP) — A CIA computer engineer whose real name was kept secret from a jury says a massive 2017 leak of secrets turned his office into an FBI crime scene. The engineer — testifying under the pseudonym Jeremy Weber — said the release of thousands of documents by WikiLeaks left the CIA scrambling to fix the damage. Weber testified for the government Wednesday in its espionage case against former CIA engineer Joshua Adam Schulte. Prosecutors say Schulte unleashed the single biggest leak of classified information in CIA history because he was angry and disgruntled at work. Weber says he considered Schulte a friend until he believed Schulte made up lies about a coworker. Schulte has pleaded not guilty.
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