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Militia leaders warn Virginia gun rally could get violent

A pro-gun rally expected to draw thousands around Virginia's capitol building on Monday has authorities bracing for violence, but it also marks shifting battle lines in the U.S. gun debate. "The Virginia election last November was an indictment of guns, and it was not an outlier," said Christian Heyne, who leads legislative efforts at the gun violence prevention group Brady.

Explainer: How Trump's impeachment trial will differ from a criminal one

The U.S. Senate's impeachment trial of President Donald Trump will begin in earnest on Tuesday, when senators may begin hearing opening statements on why he should be removed from office. While senators will serve as jurors, legal experts say an impeachment trial will look fundamentally different from a U.S. criminal proceeding. HOW DOES AN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL WORK?

Democrats mark King's birthday on presidential campaign trail

Democrats locked in a tight race for their party's presidential nomination will mark the holiday that celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. by seeking the support of black voters. U.S. presidential candidates, including Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg, will spend Monday in Iowa and South Carolina, which are among the first states to hold nominating contests in the race.

Senate's McConnell keeps cool in heated Trump impeachment trial

U.S. President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, which begins next week, may pose one of the greatest political challenges Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has faced in more than three decades in Congress. McConnell, the top Republican in Congress, says America's founders created the Senate for moments such as this, to block the "factional fevers" and "runaway passions" of the House of Representatives. The reserved Senate leader, who represents Trump-friendly Kentucky, views with contempt the allegations by the Democratic-controlled House that the Republican president abused his power.

Italy's Salvini dares lawmakers to vote to put him on trial

Italy's right-wing opposition leader Matteo Salvini is daring fellow senators to vote to put him on trial for alleged kidnapping for keeping migrants aboard a rescue ship for days last year when he was interior minister. The Senate commission on parliamentary immunity meets later Monday to decide. Italy's governing center-left parties fear Salvini will exploit any lifting of his immunity for sympathy votes in a Jan. 26 regional election where he hopes his anti-migrant League party will triumph.

Phew! Easing of strike brings relief for Paris commuters

Paris commuters who were careworn after six weeks of misery-inducing transport strikes found their smiles again Monday as some subway workers ended their walkouts against a contested overhaul of France's pension system. A weekend announcement by the subway wing of the UNSA union of a return to work after 46 consecutive days of strikes produced a marked improvement in services as the French capital embarked on a new week Monday. “It was very fluid,” said traveler Eric Lebrun, after taking a train and then riding the metro during the morning rush hour.

A Drexel University professor has been charged with stealing $185,000 in government grant money to spend on Philadelphia strip clubs and iTunes

The Philadelphia district attorney's office charged Chikaodinaka Nwankpa with theft by unlawful taking and theft by deception last week.

75 years on, Holocaust survivors struggle to recover property in Poland

WARSAW/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lea Evron, 85, has only fragments of memories of the fur factory and the three-story apartment building her family owned before World War Two in Zywiec, a small town in southern Poland. What she does remember clearly is returning after the war, when most of her family had been killed in the Holocaust. A local woman said to her and her mother "Hitler promised to get rid of all of the Jews, and here they come home," Evron told Reuters in her apartment in New York.

Trump to offer first detailed impeachment defense as pivotal week begins

After refusing to cooperate with the Democratic Party-led impeachment probe in the House of Representatives, President Donald Trump will on Monday offer his first comprehensive defense, before his trial begins in earnest in the Senate. "This is a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election - now just months away," Trump's lawyers argued in a six-page initial response to the charges on Saturday. Senior administration officials said Monday's document will offer a more detailed and aggressive defense in arguing that Trump is innocent of the charges and should not be removed from office, as Democrats are demanding.

10 years after landmark Citizens United Supreme Court decision, record cash flooding US elections

American elections have long been awash in cash, but a decade after the Supreme Court eliminated limits on political spending by outside groups, watchdogs say the system is drowning in it. Ten years ago this week, the court decided Citizens United v FEC, a landmark 5-4 ruling that unleashed billions of dollars from corporations, labor unions and other groups into American campaigns as a protected form of free speech. "The decision stands for freedom and encourages participation in the political process," said Michael Boos, vice president and general counsel of Citizens United, the conservative nonprofit organization which successfully challenged federal caps on independent political spending.

Authorities brace for massive gun rights rally in Richmond, Virginia

Law enforcement officials will be on high alert Monday as activists from around the country are expected to descend on Richmond, Virginia, to rally against the state’s progressive gun control proposals. Gun rights groups such as the Virginia Citizens Defense League and Gun Owners of America are planning a protest on the state’s Lobby Day. Lawmakers in Virginia have proposed a ban on assault rifles and a "red flag" law, which would give officials the power to confiscate weapons from an individual who poses a threat, among other gun control measures.

Singer-songwriter David Olney dies on stage mid-performance

American folk singer and songwriter David Olney died on stage during a performance in Florida over the weekend. Olney, who wrote songs recorded by Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Steve Young and others, suffered an apparent heart attack during his performance at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Santa Rosa Beach on Saturday night, according to a statement on his website.

Japan, U.S. lead survey's corporate climate change action 'A List'

BT , Danone , Microsoft and Sony are among 178 companies with top marks in the latest global ranking of transparency and action on climate change. Japan and the U.S. were the countries with the headquarters of the most 'A List' companies individually, while regionally, Europe as a bloc was home to the highest number. Companies are coming under pressure from customers and investors to step up efforts to help slow climate change in accordance with the 2015 Paris climate agreement to phase out greenhouse gas emissions by shifting away from fossil fuels.

Why Stitch Fix CEO Katrina Lake turned down a multimillion-dollar offer

Stitch Fix founder and CEO Katrina Lake made history in 2017 when she became the youngest female founder to take a company public at just 34. Users fill out a "Style Profile," which a personal stylist uses to handpick items fitting a customer's tastes, needs and budget.

How this woman went from 350 pounds to 4-time marathoner

From keeping your New Year’s resolutions going to Instagram-worthy meal prep to workout programs to eating plans to taking time for yourself, we have it all covered. Liz Rock started her transformation journey four years ago weighing 350 pounds. "At 350 pounds there were a lot of things I couldn’t do, simple things that people don’t have to think about if they‘re not considered overweight," Rock told "Good Morning America." "I would have anxiety about taking the train because I’m taking up a seat-and-a-half.

Woman struck and killed by 2 cars running across street to get McDonalds for her family

Laura Bryant was in northeast Fresno, California, on Saturday night when she attempted to cross a busy street to get her family some food at McDonalds but, according to detectives, she didn’t use the crosswalk and poor lighting made it difficult for her to be seen. The impact of getting hit then sent her into the middle lane where she was struck by a second passing vehicle. "This is an absolute tragic event, but this shows the importance to not be running in the middle of the road at night on a busy road," said Lt. Bill Dooley with the Fresno Police Department to ABC’s Fresno station KFSN.