US Domestic News Roundup: Trump impeachment probe; Chicago teachers' strike and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Ex-CIA spy flees from Italy to U.S. fearing for her safety: paper

A former U.S. spy, pardoned by Italy in connection with the CIA kidnapping of a terrorism suspect in Milan, has fled from Italy to the United States fearing for her safety, Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera on Sunday quoted her as saying. Sabrina de Sousa is one of 26 people convicted by Italy in absentia over the 2003 abduction of Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, but the only one to spend any time in prison for the operation, in which she denies involvement.

U.S. lawmakers hear from 'corroborating' witness in Trump impeachment probe

A senior U.S. diplomat told lawmakers on Saturday he did not know whether President Donald Trump had withheld aid for Ukraine to force an investigation of a political rival, two sources said, even as Democrats said he corroborated evidence gathered in their impeachment probe. Philip Reeker, the acting assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, spent about eight hours with the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees behind closed doors at the U.S. Capitol.

Missouri's only abortion clinic to challenge state shutdown order

The fate of Missouri's only abortion clinic is at stake on Monday, as a state arbiter hears arguments from Planned Parenthood and state officials who have threatened to close the clinic and make Missouri the sole U.S. state without legal abortion services. Planned Parenthood, the women's healthcare and abortion provider that operates the facility, sued the state health department in June for its refusal to renew the St. Louis clinic's license. The state court judge presiding over the case referred the matter to the Administrative Hearing Commission, an independent arbiter.

Firefighters get brief respite from winds fanning California wildfires

Fierce winds fanning Californian wildfires are expected to abate on Monday, giving firefighters a chance to corral blazes that have scorched swaths of the picturesque wine country in the north and neighborhoods near Los Angeles in the south. But forecasters with the National Weather Service (NWS) said high winds would return later in the week and could be the strongest so far this year in the south of the state.

In South Carolina, Democrats accuse Trump of sowing racism

Democratic presidential candidates in South Carolina on Saturday accused U.S. President Donald Trump of stoking racism as they vied for the state's black vote in its strategically important early primary. Former Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and five other Democrats participated in a forum at historically black Benedict College a day after Trump was presented an award there for his work on criminal justice, sparking outrage among candidates and temporarily prompting Senator Kamala Harris to pull out.

Trump hails death of 'depraved' Islamic State leader Baghdadi in U.S. raid

Fugitive Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died "whimpering and crying" in a raid by U.S. special forces in northwest Syria, President Donald Trump announced on Sunday, fulfilling what he called his top national security goal. Baghdadi, who had led the jihadist group since 2010, killed himself by detonating a suicide vest after fleeing into a dead-end tunnel as U.S. forces closed in, Trump said in a televised address from the White House.

World Series fans greet Trump with boos, chants

U.S. President Donald Trump was greeted with boos and a smattering of chants of "Lock him up!" when he appeared on screen at the World Series in Washington on Sunday, even as he celebrated one of the biggest wins of his administration. Trump appeared on a display screen at the Washington Nationals Park stadium between innings of the Game 5 match-up between the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros.

Long-serving former Democratic U.S. congressman John Conyers dies at age 90

John Conyers, a liberal Democrat who was the longest-serving African-American member of the U.S. House of Representatives, serving for more than half a century, died on Sunday at the age of 90. Conyers joined the House in 1965 and stepped down in 2017, after his reputation was sullied by sexual harassment accusations. The Detroit-area congressman was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Chicago teachers' strike enters another week after talks fail

About 300,000 students in Chicago will miss classes for an eighth day on Monday, as the teachers' union and public school district failed over the weekend to resolve a deadlock in contract talks over class sizes, support staff levels and pay. Each side blamed the other for the impasse in the United States' third-largest school district, where the strike began on Oct. 17, and the union, which represents the city's 25,000 teachers, has been without a contract since July 1.

Shooting at packed Texas college party leaves at least two dead

Texas police said they were seeking a gunman on Sunday who fired randomly at a Halloween homecoming party packed with hundreds of college students, leaving at least two dead and wounding about a dozen more, before fleeing amid the chaos that followed. Authorities said they believed the unidentified male suspect may have gone to the sprawling event facility where the off-campus party was held intending to shoot a particular person, and fired his handgun into the crowd afterwards.

(With inputs from agencies.)