US House impeaches President Donald Trump for 'incitement of insurrection' at Capitol
Washington: The US House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump by 232 to 197 votes for his role in last week's Capitol Hill riot, making him the first president in American history to be impeached twice.
Ten Republican Congressmen voted in favour of an article of impeachment on Wednesday that charged Trump with a count of "incitement of insurrection" for his actions on January 6, when he delivered a speech inciting his supporters to storm the US Capitol, an action that temporarily halted the counting of Electoral College votes and resulted in the deaths of five individuals, including an officer of the US Capitol Police.
Four Congressmen did not vote. All four Indian-American House members Ami Bera, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Pramila Jayapal voted in favour of the impeachment.
The impeachment now moves to the Senate, which will conduct a trial and a voting to remove the president from office. The Senate is adjourned till January 19, a day before the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States.
"We know that the President of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion, against our common country. He must go," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, participating in the impeachment debate.
"He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love. Since the presidential election in November an election the President lost he has repeatedly held about lied about the outcome, sowed self-serving doubt about democracy and unconstitutionally sought to influence state officials to repeal reality. And then, came that day of fire we all experienced," she said.
Pelosi asserted that the President must be impeached. "I believe, the President must be convicted by the Senate, a constitutional remedy that will ensure that the republic will be safe from this man who is so resolutely determined to tear down the things that we hold dear and that hold us together," she added.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the actions of the President of the United States demanded an urgent and clear action by the Congress.
"He ought to be removed. And we have that opportunity to do so. Is there little time left? Yes. But it is never too late to do the right thing," Hoyer said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not yet announced the dates for the trial. In a statement, he said a trial is unlikely before Biden becomes the president of the country.
Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow said he would vote to remove the president. The Democrats need 17 Republican votes to impeach Trump in the Senate.
"Last week, our nation experienced a deadly insurrection at the US Capitol inspired and encouraged by the current President of the United States. Our country cannot heal and move forward without accountability and justice. When the article of impeachment comes before the Senate, I intend to support removing Donald Trump from office," Stabenow said.
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll climbs to 13; body of last missing person recovered
Jabalpur (PTI): The bodies of a five-year-old boy and his uncle were recovered from Bargi Dam in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district on Sunday morning, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy to 13, police said.
The boat, around 20 years old and operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening.
"The bodies of Mayuram (5) and his uncle Kamraj (around 50), an employee of the Ordnance Factory in Khamaria, were found floating and were fished out of the dam," Bargi Sub Divisional Officer of Police Anjul Ayank Mishra told PTI over the phone.
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All 13 missing persons identified have now been accounted for, he said, adding the bodies were sent to a government hospital for postmortem.
Teams comprising around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, along with personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, were involved in the search operation, the police said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the vessel, 28 were rescued after the incident, according to the police.
The CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat, though the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far, they said.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the incident and dismissed three crew members. It also banned the operation of similar vessels in the state.
