US Domestic News Roundup: Donor faces new charge for obstructing justice; Foreign policy muscles in 2020 Democrats race after Iran strike and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Trump inauguration donor faces new charge for obstructing justice

A Los Angeles businessman who pleaded guilty last year to campaign finance violations and other charges was hit with a new charge on Tuesday for allegedly obstructing a probe into his donation to President Donald Trump's 2017 inauguration. Imaad Zuberi, a big donor to both Democratic and Republican politicians, had been under investigation for allegedly concealing the real source of a $900,000 donation to the inauguration in violation of the law.

Biden, Sanders flex foreign policy muscles in 2020 U.S. Democratic race after Iran strike

U.S. Democratic presidential front-runners Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have seized on the killing of an Iranian military commander to tout their own leadership as the best antidote to what they call the reckless actions of President Donald Trump. Biden blamed Trump on Tuesday for an "avoidable" rise in Iranian hostility that he said dated to the Republican president's decision in 2018 to abandon a nuclear agreement with Iran signed when Biden was vice president.

U.S. implements plan to send Mexican asylum seekers to Guatemala

Mexicans seeking asylum in the United States could be sent to Guatemala under a bilateral agreement signed by the Central American nation last year, according to documents sent to U.S. asylum officers in recent days and seen by Reuters. In a Jan. 4 email, field office staff at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) were told Mexican nationals will be included in the populations "amenable" to the agreement with Guatemala.

Ex-con who claimed to be missing boy to plead guilty in Ohio: documents

A former convict who drew national attention last year when he claimed to be an Illinois teen who went missing in 2011 after his mother killed herself has agreed to plead guilty, court papers showed. Brian Rini, 24, of Medina, Ohio, was charged in federal court in Cincinnati in April with lying to federal agents after he told authorities in Newport, Kentucky, that he was missing teen Timmothy Pitzen and that he had escaped from an eight-year ordeal at the hands of sex traffickers.

Top Senate Republican says has votes for impeachment trial rules: CNN

U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told colleagues on Tuesday he has the votes to push ahead with rules for an impeachment of trial of President Donald Trump that would postpone any decision on potential witnesses, CNN reported. McConnell reportedly made the remarks to fellow Republican senators in a closed luncheon. CNN cited an unnamed official as its source for its report.

U.S. delays ban on licenses for bomb-grade uranium exports for two years

The U.S. Energy Department has waived a ban on licenses for the export of weapons-grade uranium for making medical isotopes, which critics said raises proliferation risks and undermines companies that are converting to safer materials. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said in a letter to the top members of the U.S. House of Representatives energy committee that his department had determined that global supplies of a substance made from highly enriched uranium, or HEU, that is used to make medical isotopes were not sufficient to meet the needs of U.S. patients.

'Apprentice' contestant's lawsuit against Trump goes to top New York court

New York state's highest court will consider whether U.S. President Donald Trump must face a defamation lawsuit by a former contestant on "The Apprentice," in a showdown that could help determine whether Trump can be sued while in the White House. The Appellate Division in Manhattan, an intermediate-level court, on Tuesday granted Trump permission to ask the state Court of Appeals to review whether its 3-2 decision last March allowing Summer Zervos to sue him was correct.

Judge threatens Harvey Weinstein with jail for texting in court

Harvey Weinstein's rape trial took a dramatic turn on Tuesday as the judge threatened to revoke his bail and jail the former film producer after catching him using his cellphone just as jury selection got underway. "Is this really the way you want to end up in jail for the rest of your life, by texting and violating a court order?" state Judge James Burke asked the 67-year-old defendant, visibly angry.

Taskforce formed to probe source of mysterious drones over Colorado

The night-time drone flights over parts of rural Colorado and Nebraska that have baffled investigators will now be the subject of a multi-agency task force, federal and state authorities announced on Monday. The drones, or unmanned aircraft systems, have been sighted in northeast Colorado and southwest Nebraska over the past three weeks, tending to appear after sundown and fly in formation in a grid pattern over the remote areas. They have been sighted mostly over Colorado.

Senate Republicans close ranks on rules for Trump impeachment trial

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday he had enough support from his fellow Republicans to set the rules for President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, dealing a blow to Democrats' efforts to call new witnesses against the president. Democrats want at least three White House officials and Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton to testify at the trial in the Republican-controlled Senate about the president's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political rival.