AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EST

Trump defence: Ukraine ‘quid pro quo’ not impeachable

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a striking shift from President Donald Trump’s claims of “perfect” dealings with Ukraine, his defence asserted Wednesday at his Senate trial that a trade of U.S. military aid for political favours — even if proven — could not be grounds for his impeachment.

Trump’s defenders relied o n retired professor Alan Dershowitz, a member of their team, who told senators that every politician conflates his own interest with the public interest. “It cannot be impeachable,” he declared.

Democrats are pressing hard to force the Senate to call more witnesses to testify, but Republicans appear intently focused on bringing the impeachment trial to a vote of acquittal, possibly in a matter of days. Even new revelations from former national security adviser John Bolton are being countered by the president’s lawyers, who used Wednesday’s unusual question-and-answer session to warn off prolonging the proceeding, insisting senators have heard enough.

Democrats argued Bolton’s forthcoming book cannot be ignored. It contends he personally heard Trump say he wanted military aid withheld from Ukraine until it agreed to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden — the abuse of power charge that is the first article of impeachment.

The vote on calling witnesses is expected by Friday.

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Vanessa Bryant statement: ‘We are completely devastated’

Vanessa Bryant made her first public comment Wednesday since the helicopter crash that killed her husband Kobe Bryant, one of their daughters and seven others, taking to Instagram to thank people for the global outpouring of support since the tragedy.

She also announced the formation of a fund to help support the other families that were affected by the crash.

“Thank you for all the prayers. We definitely need them,” Vanessa Bryant wrote. “We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe — the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna — a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka, and Capri. We are also devastated for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately.”

The Bryants would have celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary this April. They had four daughters including Gianna, the 13-year-old who died in the crash.

“There aren’t enough words to describe our pain right now,” Vanessa Bryant wrote. “I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved. We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon.”

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Health experts: Human-to-human spread of new virus worrying

BEIJING (AP) — World health officials expressed “great concern” Wednesday that a dangerous new virus is starting to spread between people outside of China, a troubling development as China and the world frantically work to contain the outbreak. For a second day, the number of infections grew dramatically.

The new virus has now infected more people in China than were sickened there during the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak. On Wednesday, the number of cases jumped to 5,974, surpassing the 5,327 people diagnosed with SARS.

The death toll, which rose to 170 on Wednesday, is still less than half the number who died in China from SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. Scientists say there are many questions to be answered about the new virus, including just how easily it spreads and how severe it is.

In a report published Wednesday, Chinese researchers suggested that person-to-person spread among close contacts occurred as early as mid-December. Based on the first 425 confirmed cases, the researchers estimate that each infection led to 2.2 others on average. That’s a bit more than ordinary flu but far less than some other respiratory diseases such as whooping cough and tuberculosis. The rate for SARS, a cousin to this new virus, was estimated to be 3.

“Considerable efforts” will be needed to control the spread if this ratio holds up elsewhere, researchers wrote in the report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Trial highlights: Senators’ questions launch pointed debate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Finally playing an active role at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, senators posed written inquiries that led to pointed, back-and-forth debate Wednesday as Trump’s legal team and House Democratic prosecutors pressed their respective cases.

Throughout, the urgent question of whether former national security adviser John Bolton will be allowed to testify remained at the forefront. Democrats argued that Bolton must be allowed to speak to ensure a fair trial, while Republicans said Democrats should have demanded earlier that Bolton and other witnesses testify.

Meanwhile, the actions of former Vice-President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, a former executive at a Ukraine energy company, drew continued attention from Republicans amid claims by Democrats that the younger Biden was irrelevant and “a distraction.”

Highlights of Wednesday’s session and what’s ahead as senators conduct just the third impeachment trial of a president

BOLTON FALLOUT

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Accusers: Weinstein excused lewd acts as a showbiz norm

NEW YORK (AP) — Two women who say they met Harvey Weinstein when they were aspiring actresses in their 20s testified at his rape trial Wednesday that the one-time Hollywood titan preyed on their dreams of stardom to sexually assault them.

Dawn Dunning told jurors that Weinstein put his hand up her skirt and fondled her genitals during what was supposed to be a 2004 meeting about her fledgling career and later tried trading movie roles for three-way sex with him and his assistant.

She said Weinstein claimed the lewd offer was the kind of thing that happened all the time in the film business and that he mentioned the names of several big stars in hopes of convincing her to do it.

Tarale Wulff testified that Weinstein raped her at his New York City apartment after luring her there in 2005 with promises of an audition for a film role.

Wulff choked back tears as she described the much larger Weinstein grabbing her by the arm, pushing her onto a bed and spurning her pleas to stop with reassurances that she shouldn’t worry because he’d had a vasectomy.

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Biden under pressure to prove he can thwart new GOP attacks

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — With five days until the Iowa caucuses, Joe Biden is fending off a new onslaught of GOP attacks over his son’s business overseas and facing piling pressure to show Democratic voters he can handle the incoming.

As Republicans amplified their allegations against the former vice-president, accusing him of nepotism and worse in a series of charges stemming from the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, the Biden campaign promised an aggressive and direct counterstrategy ahead of Monday’s first nominating contest. Biden planned an address Thursday in Iowa at the same time Trump was to stage a rally in Des Moines.

The Biden campaign was mindful that the last-minute GOP meddling in the Democratic race provides something of a preview of the election ahead should Biden be the party’s nominee. As such, it was a test of whether Iowa voters would see strength or weakness in Biden’s response.

Biden made his case Wednesday by openly mocking Florida Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican, for running a digital ad in Iowa that repeats Trump’s discredited theories about Biden’s work in Ukraine as vice-president and his son’s private business dealings there. The ad came a day after Trump’s impeachment defence team repeatedly framed Hunter Biden’s tenure on an energy firm’s governing board as the real corruption in need of investigation.

“A senator from Florida, sitting in Washington, has decided to start running negative ads against Joe Biden just days before the Iowa caucus,” the elder Biden told several hundred Iowa voters in Sioux City. “What do you think that’s about? Look, it’s simple,” he said, returning to an oft-used line: “They’re smearing me … because they know if I’m the nominee, I’m going to beat Donald Trump like a drum.”

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US expands troop, fighter jet presence at Saudi base

PRINCE SULTAN AIR BASE, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Across the vast expanse of this desert air base, hundreds of tents have popped up and a newly arrived squadron of U.S. Air Force F-15E fighters is lined up on the tarmac, flying daily missions over Iraq and Syria. Off in the distance, two American Patriot missile batteries are scanning the skies, prepared to knock down any Iranian attack against the Saudi kingdom.

The U.S. troop presence here has grown to roughly 2,500 since last summer, when the U.S. announced it had begun deploying forces to what once was a major U.S. military hub. The return of U.S. forces to Prince Sultan Air Base is one of the more dramatic signs of America’s decision to beef up troops in the Middle East in response to threats from Iran.

On Wednesday, the top U,S. commander in the Middle East spent a few hours meeting with his commanders and troops here, assessing what he called a “sweet spot” of U.S. force projection in the region.

Prince Sultan Air Base, said Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, presents a complicated target for Iran to hit and provides a remote location for U.S. troops, fighter jets and other assets. It also provides greater security for Saudi Arabia, which asked for U.S. help in the wake of an Iranian drone and missile attack on oil facilities in the kingdom last September.

Right now, the large white tents that flap in the stiff winds give a temporary feel to the mission. But according to Air Force Col. Jason King, vice commander of the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing here, there is “prudent planning” underway that could lead to the tents being replaced with trailers and other more permanent structures.

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Bond denied for officer in handcuffed man’s fatal shooting

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) — A judge denied bond Wednesday for a Maryland police officer who has been charged with murder after being accused of fatally shooting a handcuffed man in his patrol car.

Judge Robert Heffron Jr. said he found convincing evidence that Prince George’s County Police Cpl. Michael Owen Jr. posed a danger to the community. Owen’s defence attorney had asked for him to be freed without bond.

Investigators didn’t find any evidence of a fight between Owen and William Howard Green before Green was fatally shot Monday night in the front passenger seat of a patrol car, police said in a report on a murder charge against the officer.

That finding contradicted statements on the night of the shooting by a department spokeswoman, who told reporters that two “independent witnesses” said they saw or heard a struggle “of some sort” coming from the patrol car before they heard loud bangs.

Owen fired seven shots at Green and struck him multiple times, according to the police report released Wednesday.

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Authorities find longest Southwest border smuggling tunnel

SAN DIEGO (AP) — U.S. authorities on Wednesday announced the discovery of the longest smuggling tunnel ever found on the Southwest border, stretching more than three-quarters of a mile from an industrial site in Tijuana, Mexico, to the San Diego area.

The tunnel featured an extensive rail cart system, forced air ventilation, high voltage electrical cables and panels, an elevator at the tunnel entrance and a drainage system.

While there were no arrests, no drugs found at the site and no confirmed exit point in the U.S., the length — more than 14 football fields — stunned authorities.

“This one blows past (the second-longest),” said Lance LeNoir, a Border Patrol operations supervisor. “We never really thought they had the moxie to go that far. They continue to surprise me.”

The tunnel exposes limitations of President Donald Trump’s border wall, which stretches several feet underground in the area and is considered effective against small, crudely built tunnels often called “gopher holes.” The one announced Wednesday was found about 70 feet (21 metres) underground, well below the wall.

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Fun-loving TEs Kelce, Kittle the life of Super Bowl party

MIAMI (AP) — They’ve got swagger, style and lots and lots of catches.

Kansas City’s Travis Kelce and San Francisco’s George Kittle are talkative tight ends at this year’s Super Bowl and among the most entertaining personalities in the NFL — Rob Gronkowski-types who could play big roles in who wins the big game Sunday.

“I just love to live life, man,” Kelce said with a big smile. “And I like to enjoy happiness along the way.”

That comes from a guy whose silly, entertaining, ridiculous, hilarious — or, all of the above — dances to celebrate his touchdowns instantly go viral moments after he gets into the end zone.

The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Kelce has “Hit the Quan” and done “The Chicken Head” and everything in between. He’s the life of a football party that has moved to the NFL’s biggest stage — and with a worldwide audience watching.