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Was censure an alternative to Trump's impeachment?
Summary
A retrospective on the Ukraine-linked impeachment debate in the US Senate and a deadly flare-up in Idlib, as reported in the days up to 4 February 2020.
Could censure have replaced impeachment? On 4 February 2020, that question hung over the US Senate, after a proposal made the previous day, 3 February.
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin asked his colleagues to consider censuring Donald Trump as an alternative to impeachment. The proposal concerned Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate domestic political rivals, the conduct at the centre of the impeachment trial. Manchin was considered friendly with the White House.
A separate crisis in Idlib
On the same day, 3 February, a different conflict drew attention to the region. In north-western Syria's Idlib Governorate, Syrian Army shelling killed Turkish military personnel, and Turkish forces retaliated. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said five Turkish soldiers and three civilian personnel were killed and nine others were injured. He also said the Russians needed to stand aside.
A pro-opposition war monitor said the Turkish response killed 13 Syrian soldiers, which Syria denied. The Russian Ministry of Defence said Turkey had moved troops inside the de-escalation zone without notifying the Russian side.
The two stories were unrelated, but both were part of the news picture as 4 February began.
