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Public testimony in Congress has done little to sway Wisconsin voters' views on the possible impeachment of President Donald Trump, a new poll from the battleground state showed on Thursday. The Marquette University Law School poll also showed former Vice President Joe Biden was the only Democratic candidate with an advantage in the state in a predictive match-up with Trump in the 2020 presidential election, though just barely. Forty percent of the 800 registered voters in Wisconsin queried by the school in early December after most testimony had concluded said Trump should be impeached and removed from office, while 52% did not support that, and 6% said they did not know.

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 16:44:44 -0500

Three senators of the ruling anti-establishment 5-Star Movement quit the party on Thursday to join the far-right League opposition group, cutting the government’s already slim majority in the upper-house of parliament. The move, which was announced by League leader Matteo Salvini, will make it harder for Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to govern an already fractious coalition and leave him vulnerable to opposition ambushes in the 321-seat Senate. The walkout by Ugo Grassi, Stefano Lucidi and Francesco Urraro also underscores deep divisions and unhappiness within the ranks of 5-Star, which emerged as Italy’s top party in 2018 national elections but has seen its support halve in recent months as it struggles to get to grips with difficult policy decisions.

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 16:44:34 -0500

A court in Monaco has dismissed a case in which a prominent European art dealer was accused by a Russian oligarch who lived in the principality of fraud and money laundering, a prosecutor has confirmed. Monaco prosecutor Sylvie Petit-Leclair told Reuters that Monaco's appeals court had ordered the closure of a preliminary investigation that local authorities had opened into art dealer Yves Bouvier in 2016 in response to a complaint brought by Dmitry Rybolovlev, a Russian oligarch and owner of Monaco's soccer team who in 2008 bought an oceanfront property in Palm Beach, Florida, from Donald Trump.

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 16:44:30 -0500

MSCI's global stock index hit a record high on Thursday and the U.S. dollar gained along with U.S. Treasury yields after reports the United States has reached in principle a "phase one" trade deal with China. Citing two people familiar with the trade negotiations, Reuters reported that the United States had offered to cut existing tariffs on Chinese goods by as much as 50%, and to suspend new tariffs due to kick in Sunday with an aim to securing a deal. While the U.S. stock trading session ended without official confirmation of a deal, President Donald Trump had encouraged investor appetites for risk early in the day after he said the countries were "very close." This also pushed safe-haven gold prices lower while oil futures gained.

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 16:40:46 -0500

Michael Bloomberg is in “outstanding health,” but a letter from his doctor released Thursday notes that the 77-year-old Democrat is receiving treatment for several medical conditions, including an irregular heartbeat.

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 16:31:36 -0500