While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Oct 4
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Trump openly calls on Ukraine, China to investigate Biden
US President Donald Trump openly called on China as well as Ukraine to investigate his potential 2020 election rival Joe Biden, doubling down as Democrats began interviewing witnesses in an impeachment investigation that has rocked the White House.
Facing possible removal from office precisely for seeking foreign help against his political challengers, Trump said he wanted Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to go after Biden, the leader in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination next year.
Trump ramped up his effort to shape the public narrative just as the first major witness in the impeachment probe arrived in Congress to provide testimony on allegations that the White House illicitly sought political help from Ukraine for the 2020 election.
Former US special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker was caught up earlier this year in the efforts by Trump and Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden and Biden's son Hunter, who had business ties to a Ukraine gas tycoon.
Bernie Sanders 'up and about', will be in next Democratic presidential debate
US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is "up and about" after being treated for a blocked artery and will participate in the fourth Democratic debate on Oct 15, his wife Jane Sanders said on Thursday.
Sanders, 78, was taken to a hospital on Tuesday while in Las Vegas for campaign events and had two stents inserted to clear the blockage.
He is not expected to need additional medical procedures and should be discharged and head home to Vermont by the end of the weekend, his wife said.
EU, Ireland sceptical of a Brexit breakthrough after Johnson's offer
The European Union and Ireland said on Thursday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit proposals were unlikely to yield a deal, with Dublin bluntly warning that Britain was heading towards a no-deal exit unless it made more concessions.
The European Union said it fully backed Ireland and that while it was open to discussions, it was still unconvinced about Johnson's plan - cast by British officials as the final offer to avert a no-deal Brexit on Oct 31.
Just 28 days before the United Kingdom is due to leave the EU, both sides are positioning themselves to avoid blame for a delay or a disorderly no-deal Brexit.
Vaping-linked lung injury kills 18, sickens 1,000 in US
The number of patients suffering from probable lung injury cases associated with e-cigarette use has surged to 1,080, US health authorities said on Thursday, while the death toll from the outbreak now stands at 18.
"Unfortunately, this may be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the escalating health threat this outbreak poses to the American public, particularly youth and young adults," said Robert Redfield, director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency added that the increase of 275 cases since last week was a combination of new patients becoming ill in the past two weeks and recent reporting of previously identified patients.
US police, theatres brace for violence as Joker opens amid controversy
As it prepared to roll out its new movie Joker, Warner Bros faced protests from the families of mass-shooting victims, pundit criticism that the film could inspire violence, a warning from a theatre chain, and even comments from its director that he was fuelled by resentment for liberal Hollywood.
And that was before the New York Police Department decided to deploy undercover cops to screenings.
Joker, the new Joaquin Phoenix movie about a marginalised middle-aged white man who finds salvation in violence, hits US theatres on Thursday night.
