Abyzemen

U.S. lawmakers said on Wednesday they expect Congress will pass a resolution ending U.S. involvement in the Yemen war, which would force President Donald Trump to issue the first veto of his presidency in order to continue supporting the Saudi-led coalition. Republican and Democratic senators and representatives said on Wednesday they were re-introducing a war powers resolution that passed the Senate by 56-41 in December, a rebuke of Trump amid anger at Saudi Arabia not just over civilian deaths in Yemen, but also the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey. The lawmakers – an alliance of progressive Democrats and Republican constitutional conservatives – deplored the “humanitarian disaster” in Yemen but also said they wanted Congress to reassert its constitutional authority to decide whether the United States should be involved in military conflict. “That decision has never been debated and discussed and voted on and approved by Congress...

A new round of high-level talks of China and United States was held on Wednesday morning in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of White House, Washington D.C. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin attended this high-level economic and trade consultations. Liu He is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue. This round of talks is scheduled for two days from Jan. 30th to 31st.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence plans to head to Miami on Friday, home to the country's largest community of Venezuelan exiles, to rally support for the opposition ahead of Venezuelan protests against President Nicolas Maduro, a White House official said. Pence, who has helped lead White House efforts to prop up the self-declared president Juan Guaido, will be joined by fellow Republicans including Florida senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott. Pence will meet with Venezuelans who fled the country out of political causes, the White House official said, and he will later give formal remarks.  Guaido's U.S. representative Carlos Vecchio, who has been meeting with White House officials to discuss taking control of Venezuelan assets from the Maduro government, is also expected to attend the Miami event, the White House said. The White House earlier imposed stiff sanctions on Venezuela's oil exports to the U.S., aiming to increase pressure on Maduro's government. ...

Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal of Justice barred opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has declared himself the country's acting president, from leaving the country and froze his bank accounts Tuesday.  The court also said prosecutors could investigate Guaido, in apparent retaliation for sweeping U.S. sanctions on oil firm PDVSA, announced on Monday. The 35-year-old head of the National Assembly legislature "is prohibited from leaving the country until the end of the (preliminary) investigation," high court president Maikel Moreno said. The Supreme Court approved a request from Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek Saab to open a preliminary investigation into Guaido based on accusations he helped foreign countries to interfere in internal matters. The court also imposed a travel ban on the 35-year-old leader and froze his bank accounts. In response to news earlier of the attorney general's plan, U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton warned of "serious...

U.S. lawmakers introduced the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act on Tuesday with rare bi-partisan support to criminalize international doping fraud conspiracies, a week after the World Anti-Doping Agency decided against suspending Russia. The proposed law would attack U.S. sponsorship and broadcast rights money for global sports events with U.S. competitors to ensure fraud against Americans wouldn't go unpunished, with penalties up to a 1 million-U.S. dollar fine and 10 years in prison. "Now is the time to create stiff penalties for Russia's cheating and send a signal that Russia and other sponsors of state-directed fraud can't use corruption as a tool of foreign policy," U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said. WADA decided against re-imposing a ban on Russia for missing a deadline to provide data from drug tests in the wake of the 2016 report from Richard McLaren detailing Russian state-backed doping from 2011 to 2015 involving more than 1,000 athletes across more...

The death toll from the mine dam collapse in the Brazilian town of Brumadinho rose to 84 people, and 276 were still unaccounted for, according to rescuers working at the site on Tuesday. They said that more than 40 people have been identified so far, as work continues in the area. The mining barrier collapsed in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais on January 25, spewing millions of tons of muddy sludge across the facility and down towards the nearby town.

Five police officers have been shot in southeast Houston, reported local media on Monday. "We have had several officers shot please pray for officers on the way to the scene now more information to follow," confirmed Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo on Twitter.  The suspect is dead, but the site remains an active scene, according to reports. It's still not clear what led the shooting.