Wednesday Morning Briefing: Sanders and Warren spar over disputed remark in debate

Top Stories

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders disagreed in a Democratic presidential debate over whether he once told her a woman could not win the White House in 2020, underlining an emerging rift between the progressive contenders as the first voting nears. Trump threw his support, welcome or not, behind Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders in his back-and-forth with rival Elizabeth Warren, saying he did not believe Sanders would suggest a woman could not win the 2020 election. The pared-down stage gave candidates more time to focus on the top issues of the 2020 contest. Here are some highlights.

After weeks of delay, the House of Representatives is expected to send impeachment charges against Donald Trump to the Senate, clearing the way for that chamber to consider whether Trump should be removed from office. The weeks-long trial in the Senate is expected to ultimately end in the president’s acquittal.

The U.S.-China trade war is set to enter a new, quieter phase as President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He sign an initial trade deal that aims to vastly increase Chinese purchases of U.S. manufactured products, agricultural goods, energy and services.

A sweeping reform of Mexico’s criminal justice system would allow private communications to be used as evidence and limit legal challenges to avoid extradition delays for criminal suspects, according to a draft reviewed by Reuters.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said his company will invest $1 billion to bring small businesses online in India, reaching out to some of his fiercest critics in a goodwill visit that saw him donning traditional Indian attire and flying a kite with children.

World

The race to refine: Governments of gold-producing countries in Africa have long complained that the precious metal is being illegally produced and smuggled out on a vast scale, often at a high human and environmental cost. By refining gold themselves states hope to capture value that is being lost. There are now around 15-20 million artisanal miners, and millions more who depend on them. So what is artisanal gold and why is it booming?

Iranians called on social media for fresh demonstrations a week after the shooting down of a passenger plane, seeking to turn the aftermath of the crash into a sustained campaign against Iran’s leadership. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed a proposal for a new “Trump deal” aimed at resolving a nuclear row, saying it was a “strange” offer and criticizing U.S. president for always breaking promises.

United Nations sanctions experts are warning people not to attend a cryptocurrency conference in North Korea in February, flagging it as a likely sanctions violation, according to a confidential report due to be submitted to the U.N. Security Council later this month.

Gray pineapples: Volcano devastates Philippines farm Farmer Jack Imperial woke to a picture of devastation after ash spewed from a volcano in the Philippines - his verdant green pineapple field had been transformed to a dirty dark gray. Imperial said his chances of salvaging produce from his 1-hectare (2.5-acre) farm were small and, in any case, there was no one to sell them to with tourists avoiding the Tagaytay area on the archipelago’s biggest island Luzon, 20 miles from the Taal volcano.

Environment

Australia softens climate change rhetoric as bushfires, and voters, rage

Three years ago, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, then Treasurer, brandished a lump of coal in parliament as a totem of how the ruling conservative coalition planned to keep the lights on and power prices low. Now, with the country experiencing one of its worst ever bushfire seasons and facing criticism for his pro-coal policies, Morrison is acknowledging climate change is real. He is also talking about “adaptation” and “resilience”.

5 min read

In quake-hit Puerto Rico even the bees are fleeing their homes

Puerto Rican bees are abandoning hives as weeks of earthquakes disrupt colonies, experts said, raising concerns that a subspecies seen as a possible solution to the global bee crisis could take another hit after being decimated by hurricanes in 2017.

3 min read

Fears for planet dominate as leaders pack for 'green' Davos

Risks posed by climate change and environmental destruction top the concerns of world decision-makers as they prepare to head to this year’s meeting of the global elite in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos, an annual survey found.

4 min read

Amazon tribes gather to plan resistance to Brazil government

Brazilian indigenous leaders began a four-day tribal gathering in the Amazon to plan their opposition to far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s push to open their reservations for commercial mining and agriculture.

3 min read

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