Caution, Cancellations, Protests as Concerns Grow on China’s Belt and Road

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Concerns about debt diplomacy on China's expansive infrastructure megaproject — the Belt and Road — have become an increasing source of debate from Asia to Africa and the Middle East. In recent weeks, more than $30 billion in projects have been scrapped and other loans and investments are under review.   Public opposition is also testing the resolve of ruling authorities from Hanoi to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, as concerns about Chinese investment build. In late August, Malaysia's newly elected Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad canceled more than $20 billion in Belt and Road projects for railway and pipelines, and Pakistan lopped another $2 billion off plans for a railway following a decision late last year to cancel a $14 billion dam project, citing financial concerns. Nepal canceled its dam project last month…
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US Budget Deficit Hits Six-Year High

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The U.S. government's budget deficit hit $779 billion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, while spending increased and tax revenues remained nearly flat, the Treasury said Monday. It was the biggest deficit since 2012, and $113 billion more than the figure a year ago. The 2018 deficit amounted to 3.9 percent of the country's more than $18 trillion annual economy, up from 3.5 percent last year. The government's deficit spending boosted the country's long-term debt figure to more than $21 trillion, forcing the government to pay an extra $65 billion last year in interest on money the government has had to borrow to run its programs. In all, government spending rose by $127 billion last year, while tax collections increased by $14 billion. The Treasury said the annual…
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Zimbabwe’s Government Says Worst of its Economic Woes is Over

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Zimbabwe's government says the country is emerging from a recent economic meltdown that saw shops run out of goods and motorists spend long hours in lines at gas stations. Economists say Zimbabwe's crisis is not over, as people have no confidence in the currency or in President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government. For weeks now, there have been long and winding queues at most fuel stations in Zimbabwe, as the precious liquid has been in short supply. Lameck Mauriri is one of those now tired of the situation. "We are really striving but things are tough to everyone," said Mauriri. "I do not know how those in rural areas, how they are surviving, especially if in Harare it is like this. We are sleeping in fuel queues. There is not fuel, there…
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Why More Americans Are Moving to Smaller Cities

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More Americans are moving to smaller cities in search of a better quality of life. They're leaving places like Los Angeles, Chicago and New York for mid-sized cities such as Phoenix, Las Vegas and Dallas, according to an analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau. A huge draw for these second-tier cities is that the cost of housing consumes a much smaller chunk of people's salaries. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than half of the people who move do so for housing-related reasons. They're looking for a new or better home, cheaper housing, or to buy a home rather than rent. It costs about $4,100 a month to rent a place in Manhattan. That's almost two-thirds of New York City's median household income of $83,500. Buying a…
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Sears Files for Chapter 11 Amid Plunging Sales, Massive Debt

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Sears has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, buckling under its massive debt load and staggering losses.  Sears once dominated the American retail landscape. But the big question is whether the shrunken version of itself can be viable or will it be forced to go out of business, closing the final chapter for an iconic name that originated more than a century ago. Holdings will also close 142 unprofitable stores near the end of the year. Liquidation sales at these stores are expected to begin shortly. This is in addition to the previously announced closure of 46 unprofitable stores that is expected to be completed by November 2018. The company, which started out as a mail order catalog in the 1880s, has been on a slow march toward extinction as…
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World Oil Prices Help Vietnam Expand an Already Fast-Growing Economy

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An increase in world oil prices is helping Vietnam earn money that will quicken its already fast economic growth and may help the country build new infrastructure. The only red light: higher fuel prices among Vietnam's consumers. Vietnam, though not a major oil-producing nation like much of the Middle East, has counted energy-related commodities as its fifth highest source of exports. The industry is largely state-owned, including energy supplier PetroVietnam, with $3.1 billion in annual sales. Much of Vietnam’s energy comes from under the seas off its east and south coasts. If crude oil prices hold at an average $65 per barrel this year, above last year’s average of US$60, economic growth will exceed the 6.7 percent target set by the legislature, the Communist Party of Vietnam’s website said last…
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Artificial Intelligence Can Help Fight Global Hunger

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A world without hunger by 2030 is the theme of this year's World Food Day, and the goal of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. Events around the world on October 16th will promote awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure food security and nutritious diets for all. Advances in technology and artificial intelligence can help feed the world. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee explains. ...
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Using CT Scans to Predict Heart Attacks

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One of the joys of computer algorithms and machine learning is their ability to extract new data from old technologies. Doctors at the University of London in Oxford for instance have figured out a way to take regular CT heart scans and predict heart problems years in advance. VOA's Kevin Enochs reports. ...
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Facebook: Hackers Accessed 29M Accounts – Fewer Than Thought

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Facebook says hackers accessed data from 29 million accounts as part of the security breach disclosed two weeks ago, fewer than the 50 million it initially believed were affected. The hackers accessed name, email addresses or phone numbers from these accounts, according to Facebook. For 14 million of them, hackers got even more data, such as hometown, birthdate, the last 10 places they checked into or the 15 most recent searches.   An additional 1 million accounts were affected, but hackers didn't get any information from them.   Facebook isn't giving a breakdown of where these users are, but says the breach was "fairly broad." It plans to send messages to people whose accounts were hacked.   Facebook said third-party apps and Facebook apps like WhatsApp and Instagram were unaffected…
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Global Stocks Climb Following Two Days of Sharp Losses

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World stocks are climbing Friday after two days of sharp losses. Major U.S. stock indexes are up more than 1 percent, but they're still on track for their biggest one-week loss since late March. Technology and internet companies were some of the hardest hit over the last two days and they led the market higher Friday. Apple climbed 2.7 percent to $220.18. Consumer-focused companies also rallied, as Amazon jumped 3.8 percent to $1,783.96 and Netflix surged 4.7 percent to $336.30. The S&P 500 index climbed 37 points, or 1.4 percent, to 2,766 at 9:45 a.m. Eastern time. The benchmark index tumbled 5.3 percent over the past two days and as of Thursday it had fallen for six consecutive days. The S&P is down 5.6 percent from its latest record high,…
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‘Winter Is Coming’: Indonesia Warns World Finance Leaders Over Trade War

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Just in case any of the global central bankers and finance ministers gathered in Indonesia missed the message delivered repeatedly this week, the host nation said it again Friday: Everyone stands to lose if trade wars are allowed to escalate. Indonesian President Joko Widodo didn't mention the United States or China, the world's two largest economies, but it was clear who he was talking about in an address to the plenary session of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings on the island of Bali.   WATCH: IMF Urges US and China to De-escalate Tariff Wars "Lately it feels like the relations among the major economies are becoming more and more like Game of Thrones," Widodo said in a speech peppered with references to the HBO series about dynasties…
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Russia Space Agency: Astronauts Will Likely Fly in Spring

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The head of Russia’s space agency said Friday that two astronauts who survived the midair failure of a Russian rocket would fly again and would provisionally travel to the International Space Station (ISS) in spring of next year. Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, was speaking a day after Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin and American Nick Hague made a dramatic emergency landing in Kazakhstan after the failure of the Soyuz rocket carrying them to the orbital ISS. Rogozin Friday posted a picture on Twitter of himself next to the two astronauts and said they had now arrived in Moscow. Both men escaped unscathed and feel fine, Roscosmos has said. The mishap occurred as the first and second stages of a Russian rocket separated shortly after the launch…
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US-Russian Space Crew Makes Emergency Landing After Rocket Problem

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A U.S. astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut made an emergency return to earth Thursday shortly after launching on what was supposed to be a mission to the International Space Station. Rescuers reached American Nick Hague and Russian Alexei Ovchinin after their emergency landing in Kazakhstan. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb recently sat down with Hague to talk about his future in space, a future now up in the air after his unexpected fall to Earth. ...
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Facebook Deletes Hundreds of Pages, Accounts for Spreading Fake News

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Facebook announced Thursday that it had deleted over 800 mostly U.S.-based pages and accounts that were posting politically oriented spam and engaging in "inauthentic behavior."  The social media giant declined a request from VOA News to name the 559 pages and 251 accounts. Nation in Distress, a pro-President Donald Trump page identified by The Washington Post as being among the banned, had over 3 million followers. Facebook said that many of the pages and accounts had posted political clickbait across multiple fake accounts to drive users to their websites, where they were often targeted with ads.  "Many used the same techniques to make their content appear more popular on Facebook than it really was," Facebook said on its news blog. "Others were ad farms using Facebook to mislead people into thinking that…
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Musk Rejects Report on Succession at Tesla

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Elon Musk replied with a tweet saying "This is incorrect" after the Financial Times reported that outgoing Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. Chief Executive James Murdoch was the lead candidate to replace him as Tesla Inc. chairman. Tesla has until Nov. 13 to appoint an independent chairman of the board, part of settlements reached last month between Tesla, Musk and U.S. regulators after Musk tweeted in August that he had secured funding to take the electric car maker private. The SEC settlement capped months of debate and some investor calls for stronger oversight of Musk, whose recent erratic public behavior raised concerns about his ability to steer the money-losing company through a rocky phase of growth. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which said Musk's tweeted statements about going private were fraudulent, allowed the billionaire to retain his role as CEO while requiring he…
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WHO Cracks Down on Illicit Sale of Tobacco

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Parties to a new global treaty to combat the illicit sale of tobacco products have taken the first steps toward cracking down on this multi-billion dollar trade.  At a three-day meeting at the headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva they have outlined a plan to shut down the lucrative black market trade in tobacco. A global tobacco treaty (Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products) entered into force on September 25, with 48 countries joining the new protocol, which is part of the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC).  Two-thirds of the parties have enacted or strengthened national legislation aimed at tackling illicit trade in tobacco products. Parties attending the meeting have set up a working group to create a monitoring system to track and trace…
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Top Trump Economic Adviser Denies President Is Pressuring Fed

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One of Donald Trump's top economic advisers says the president is not trying to improperly influence the U.S. central bank. The director of the National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, spoke to the television network CNBC a day after Trump said the U.S. Federal Reserve is "loco" (crazy) for raising interest rates. On Thursday, Trump continued his attacks on the central bank, calling the Fed "out of control," but denied he has plans to fire Fed Chair Jay Powell.  Kudlow said, "We all know the Fed is independent. The president is not dictating policy to the Fed."   The Federal Reserve slashed the benchmark interest rate nearly to zero in an emergency, temporary effort to boost economic growth hurt by a severe recession 10 years ago. Since then, the economy has stopped shrinking…
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Singapore Airlines Launches Longest Commercial Flight

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The world's longest commercial flight, a 19-hour journey from Singapore to New York, took off Thursday from Changi Airport. The Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900ULR will touch down at Newark Liberty International Airport early Friday after traveling 15,350 kilometers. Singapore Airlines previously flew the same route, but abandoned it in 2013 due to high oil prices and the gas-guzzling four-engine aircraft used.  Singapore Airlines is offering no coach seats, instead stocking the plane with 67 business-class spots and 94 premium economy. Shortly before takeoff, premium economy tickets were going for more than $2,100. The Airbus A350-900ULR ("Ultra Long Range") is a new two-engine plane with far greater range and fuel capacity than other commercial airliners. In addition, it has several features that aid passenger comfort during the trip, like hospital-grade air…
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For the Next Big Thing in Tech, Look to … Africa?

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From a young age, Phatwa Senene knew he wanted to be an inventor. He got his start at age 11, he said, when he attached a DC motor to a fan. He then attached the fan to a drill and proceeded to drill holes into his bedroom wall. His invention worked, he said: The fan blew away the dust from the drilling. “That was my first invention that I can recall,” he said, laughing. “My mom didn’t like it at all.” He nearly hit a figurative wall years later, when he tried to go to university, but found he couldn’t afford it. His family was poor, he said, and he grew up in a Johannesburg township. But the now-33-year-old plowed ahead, coming up with innovative inventions, like a data-collecting, 3D-printed…
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Reagan Back on Campaign Trail — as Hologram

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A characteristic twinkle in his eye, Ronald Reagan waves to a crowd from aboard a rail car in a hologram revealed Wednesday at the late president’s namesake library in Southern California. “We think we made a good beginning, but you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” the digital resurrection of the nation’s 40th president says in his steady voice as a flurry of balloons falls in front of him. Reagan, who died in 2004 at age 93, was speaking about the nation’s future during a 1984 campaign stop but easily could have been referencing the technology that brought him back to life in 2018. The audio used is edited from his real remarks. ​'A stunning experience' “We wanted to make President Reagan as lifelike as possible,” said John Heubusch, executive director of…
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Canada Prepares for Legalized Marijuana

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Mat Beren and his friends used to drive by the vast greenhouses of southern British Columbia and joke about how much weed they could grow there. Years later, it's no joke. The tomato and pepper plants that once filled some of those greenhouses have been replaced with a new cash crop: marijuana. Beren and other formerly illicit growers are helping cultivate it. The buyers no longer are unlawful dealers or dubious medical dispensaries; it's the Canadian government. On Oct. 17, Canada becomes the second and largest country with a legal national marijuana marketplace. Uruguay launched legal sales last year, after several years of planning. It's a profound social shift promised by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and fueled by a desire to bring the black market into a regulated, taxed…
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Dow Drops 800-Plus Points as US Stocks Dip Sharply

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U.S. stocks posted their worst loss since February on Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average finishing the day down more than 800 points. The losses were widespread as bond yields remained high after steep increases last week. Companies that have been the biggest winners on the market the last few years, including technology companies and retailers, suffered steep declines. The Dow gave up nearly 828 points, or 3.15 percent, to 25,600. The Nasdaq composite, which has a high concentration of technology stocks, tumbled 316 points, or 4.1 percent, to 7,422. The S&P 500 index sank 95 points, or 3.3 percent, to 2,786, its fifth straight drop. That hasn't happened since right before the 2016 presidential election. Every one of the 11 S&P 500 sectors finished down for the day. Microsoft dropped 5.4 percent to…
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Google’s Waze Expands Carpooling Service Throughout US

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Google will begin offering its pay-to-carpool service throughout the U.S., an effort to reduce the commute-time congestion that its popular Waze navigation app is designed to avoid. The expansion announced Wednesday builds upon a carpooling system that Waze began testing two years ago in northern California and Israel before gradually extending it into Brazil and parts of 12 other states. Now it will be available to anyone in the U.S. Drivers willing to give someone a ride for a small fee to cover some of their costs for gas and other expenses need only Waze’s app on their phone. Anyone willing to pay a few bucks to hitch a ride will need to install a different Waze app focused on carpooling. About 1.3 million drivers and passengers have signed up…
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US Treasury Issues New Rules on Foreign Investments

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The Treasury Department has issued new rules on foreign investments into American companies that will give the government more power to block foreign transactions on national security grounds. The rules represent the latest escalation in an intensifying economic conflict between the United States and China. It will implement a program for tougher reviews of foreign acquisitions that Congress approved this summer. The new regulations will require foreign investors to alert a Treasury-led interagency committee to all deals that would give the foreign investors access to critical technology covering 27 industries, including semiconductors, telecommunications and defense. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the new rules will "address specific risks to U.S. critical technology." ...
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Zimbabwe’s Dingy Trains Mirror Economic Decline

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Dark, dirty and slow, Zimbabwe's trains, like much else in the impoverished southern African country, have seen better days. Once the preferred mode of transport for most Zimbabweans, the state-run rail service mirrors the decline in the country's economic fortunes during the last two decades under the leadership of former President Robert Mugabe. Gilbert Mthinzima Ndlovu, a veteran of Zimbabwe's 1970s independence war and a security guard at the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) for 35 years, yearns for the old days when trains were full and arrived on time. "Times are different now as we have few passengers," the off-duty Ndlovu told Reuters as he rested in a badly lit first class cabin during the journey from the capital Harare to his home in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city. Now…
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US Prosecutors: China Corruption Case Grows Stronger

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Last month, Patrick Ho, a former Hong Kong official fighting foreign bribery charges in New York, thought he had finally received a break. In a dramatic move in the high-profile bribery case, prosecutors on Sept. 14 dropped all criminal charges against Cheikh Gadio, a former Senegalese foreign minister they had accused of helping Ho bribe African officials. Arguing that the government's move undermined its case against Ho, Ho's lawyers urged a federal judge in New York to release their client from a federal jail.  But the presiding judge, Loretta Preska, wasn't buying it. She dismissed the motion, Ho's fifth unsuccessful request for bail. And prosecutors said Gadio has agreed to cooperate, expressing confidence that his testimony against Ho will strengthen their case.  "(Far) from weakening the case, Gadio's testimony will…
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