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In Trump-Nixon impeachment comparison, Pelosi raises specter of resignation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is amplifying her unfavorable comparison of President Donald Trump to fellow Republican Richard Nixon, saying that disgraced president at least cared enough about the country to leave office before his impeachment.

The top Democrat in Congress told reporters last week that Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to investigate one of his potential opponents in the 2020 election “makes what Nixon did look almost small.”

Weary Democratic voters balk at new presidential candidates

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The number of Democrats running for president is growing as the first votes of the primary approach. And voters have a clear message: Stop.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick roiled the race last week by launching a surprise bid. New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg is likely to do the same in the coming days.

Thousands at vigil for victims of California school shooting

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (AP) — Thousands of people gathered Sunday at a city park to hold a candlelight vigil to remember two students shot and killed by a classmate at his Southern California high school as investigators try to determine what prompted the deadly attack that left three other teens wounded.

The brother of one of the two students killed told people at the vigil in Central Park that his sister 15-year-old Gracie Anne Muehlberger “was the best sister ever. You always put a smile on my face.”

Police say at least 9 shot in shooting at backyard party

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — At least nine people were shot Sunday at a party in Fresno in what appears to be a “mass casualty shooting,” police said.

The shooting took place about 6 p.m. on the city’s southeast side, Fresno police Lt. Bill Dooley said.

There was a party in the backyard of a home to watch a football game when the shooting suspects sneaked in and fired into the crowd, Dooley said.

At least nine people were shot, with several people being found dead in the backyard, he told the Fresno Bee and the KSEE/KGPE TV stations.

Census counting of prisoners becomes partisan battleground

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — When the U.S. Census Bureau counts residents of Milwaukee’s poorest neighborhoods next year, a significant portion of their population will be missing: prisoners.

For these predominantly black areas, with incarceration rates among the highest in the nation, the government’s longstanding policy to count inmates as residents of the prison where they are held diminishes their political power back home.

Russia providing mood music for House impeachment drama

WASHINGTON (AP) — For all the talk about Ukraine in the House impeachment inquiry, there’s a character standing just off-stage with a dominant role in this tale of international intrigue: Russia.

As has so often been the case since President Donald Trump took office, Moscow provides the mood music for the unfolding political drama.

“With you, Mr. President, all roads lead to Putin,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared last week, and not for the first time.

Bloomberg apologizes for ‘stop and frisk’ police practice

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Bloomberg on Sunday apologized for his longstanding support of the controversial “stop-and-frisk” police strategy ahead of a potential Democratic presidential run, a practice that he embraced as New York’s mayor and continued to defend despite its disproportionate impact on people of color.

Addressing a black church in Brooklyn, Bloomberg said he was “sorry” and acknowledged it often led to the detention of blacks and Latinos.

2019 Takeaways: Suburb shift, high turnout and ‘Socialism!’

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Odd-year elections in Louisiana, Kentucky and Virginia have let Democrats expand their footprint in Southern states where Republicans dominated not long ago.

Those outcomes hardly predict national 2020 results: President Donald Trump isn’t suddenly at risk of losing Louisiana because Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards got re-elected Saturday. And the story wasn’t all good for Democrats: They came up short in Mississippi, where Republicans won the governorship and picked up the last remaining statewide office that had been held by a Democrat.

Democrats invite Trump to testify in impeachment inquiry

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited President Donald Trump to testify in front of investigators in the House impeachment inquiry ahead of a week that will see several key witnesses appear publicly.

Pushing back against accusations from the president that the process has been stacked against him, Pelosi said Trump is welcome to appear or answer questions in writing, if he chooses.

UN calls for action to tackle global road safety crisis

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 17 (APP): Saving lives by improving road safety is one of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda’s objectives, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his message for the global day set aside for remembering the victims of traffic accidents.

Noting that more than 1.3 million people die in road accidents every year, he pointed out that more young people between the ages of 15 and 29 die from road crashes annually than from HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis or homicide.

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