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VOA NEWSJanuary 14, 2021This is VOA news. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd.The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday made Donald Trump the first U.S. president ever to be impeached twice, formally charging him with inciting an insurrection in a vote held a week after a violent mob of his supporters besieged the Capitol. AP's Sagar Meghani reports.The 45th president is now the first impeached twice."They ayes are 232. The nays are 197."House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats have charged him with incitement of insurrection for last week's Capitol riot, labelling him a "clear and present danger" over his final days in office."I ask you to search your souls."Ten Republicans voted against the president but others like number 2 GOP leader Steve Scalise argued impeachment would only hurt an already divided America."We need to be focused on toning down the rhetoric."The president issued a statement during the debate saying much the same.The soonest a Senate trial would start is Tuesday, a day before Joe Biden is due to replace the president.Senate GOP chief Mitch McConnell is not ruling out voting to convict the president.Sagar Meghani, Washington.After last week's violence at the U.S. Capitol, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser says she is asking people to attend next week's inauguration virtually rather than coming to the Mall in person."And we know that is the right choice and the best way to keep everyone safe."The mayor says the city has also discussed with the U.S. Department of Interior the cancellation of public gathering permits in the days before and after the event. Those discussions are ongoing.Last week's mob attack on the Capitol starkly highlighted a longstanding local security paradox: The District of Columbia government lacks authority over much of the area within its borders.This is VOA news.The head of Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that U.S. President-elect Joe Biden should bring fundamental change to American policy on human rights and allow criminal investigations of President Donald Trump to show that the president is not above the law.Kenneth Roth lamented what he called "four years of Trump's indifference and often hostility to human rights" and his support for autocratic leaders and dictators in ways that eroded U.S. credibility."To sum it up, Donald Trump was a disaster for human rights. His flouting of human rights at home and his embrace of friendly autocrats around the world severely eroded U.S. credibility on human rights."Roth's comments came as Human Rights Watch issued its annual "World Report 2021" that chronicles concerns about human rights in more than 100 countries around the world.Coronavirus cases and deaths continue to rise in some U.S. states as mass vaccination programs expand. AP's Ed Donahue reports.Leaders of some Arizona hospitals say they may have to rush in life-saving care.Dr. Marjorie Bessel at Banner Health says they are facing one of the worst infection rates in the country."About one in ten Arizonans is currently infected."Bessel says staffing should not be an issue."Health care workers have been vaccinated."New York's Javits Center is open for mass vaccinations. But State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker says supply is a big issue."We only get 300,000 doses each week from the federal government and at that rate it could take up to six months to vaccinate everyone currently eligible."Supply is also an issue in California but the state is immediately allowing people 65 and older to get the vaccines.I'm Ed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny says he will fly home to Russia this week. AP's Charles De Ledesma has more.Navalny is making this move despite the Russian prison service's latest motion to put him behind bars for allegedly breaching the terms of his suspended sentence and probation.The Kremlin critic is convalescing in Germany from an August poisoning with a nerve agent that he has blamed on Russia. He charges that Russian President Vladimir Putin is now trying to deter him from coming home with new legal motions.Despite all this, he says he will nevertheless come back from Germany on Sunday.Navalny is Putin's most outspoken critic.I'm Charles De Ledesma.A mixed day on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrials off slightly but the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 closing in positive territory. The Dow was down .03 percent, the NASDAQ was up .43 percent, the S&P gained .23 percent.Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd, VOA news. ................
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