By Canadian Press

10 Things to Know for Today

Jan 17, 2020 | 3:20 AM

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

1. POLITICAL STAKES HIGH AS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL LOOMS The trial, only the third such undertaking in U.S. history, is unfolding at the start of the election year, a time of deep political division in the nation.

2. ‘PRESIDENT TRUMP KNEW EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING ON’ Lev Parnas, a close associate of Rudy Giuliani, claims Trump was directly involved in the effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. When asked if Parnas was lying, Giuliani said “I’m not responding yet.”

3. WHO CALLED TRUMP A ‘CLOWN’ Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says the U.S. president only pretends to support the Iranian people but will “push a poisonous dagger” into their backs.

4. TRUMP CAMPAIGN TRIES ROBUST OUTREACH The president’s surrogates are fanning out across the country as part of an aggressive effort to stretch his appeal beyond the base of working-class white voters who propelled him to victory in 2016.

new mayor

Spring Mayoral by-election called in Ladysmith

11h ago

holiday check stops

Nanaimo motorists shine during province-wide crackdown

14h ago

targeted job action

Striking Nanaimo postal workers disrupt Purolator operations

18h ago

5. ROYAL RIFT WILL SHRINK BRITISH MONARCHY Buckingham Palace is changing with the scandal surrounding Prince Andrew, and with Prince Harry’s decision to break away, leaving fewer senior royals working to support Queen Elizabeth II.

6. ‘I KNEW I WAS BEING ASSAULTED’ Evelyn Yang, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, says she was sexually assaulted by an obstetrician while she was pregnant with the couple’s first child.

7. WORLD’S BIGGEST YEARLY HUMAN MIGRATION BEGINS As the Lunar New Year approaches, Beijing estimates that 3 billion trips will be made by Chinese travellers.

8. RAIL TECHNOLOGY COULD CUT TRAIN CREWS A $15 billion automatic railroad braking system will bolster the industry’s argument for just one crew member in most locomotives, raising safety concerns by labour groups.

9. MARA ON THE MOVE The five-decade-old Asian elephant will soon leave her obsolete enclosure at an Argentine zoo to be moved to a special sanctuary in neighbouring Brazil.

10. WHAT EMINEM IS ADVOCATING FOR The Detroit rapper again drops a surprise album, releasing “Music to Be Murdered By,” along with a video that calls for changes to gun laws.

The Associated Press