Month: October 2019

China's direct investment in the U.S. has slowed to a trickle, dropping by 80% from 2016 to 2018, according to New York-based research provider Rhodium Group.  Among the hardest-hit sectors are real estate and hospitality, with Chinese investors no longer scrambling to buy prime properties in cities such as New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Chinese real estate investment in the U.S. tripled from 2015 to 2016, reaching a record $16.5 billion. In contrast, not one real estate and hospitality investment reached more than $100 million during 2018, the Rhodium Group found.  Chinese developer Oceanwide Holdings’ U.S. footprint includes prime properties in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Construction reportedly has been suspended on one of the towers at the San Francisco Oceanwide Center, while construction has come to…

Ten Southeast Asian heads of state will hold their landmark annual meeting next week, and four are enmeshed in a maritime sovereignty dispute with their more powerful neighbor China. But the event is widely expected to produce a statement that avoids condemning Beijing. That’s because those leaders, even in Vietnam and the Philippines where frustration is running high this year after a series of incidents, hope China will eventually sign a code of conduct aimed at preventing maritime accidents and because some of the 10 countries need Chinese economic aid, scholars say. Heads of state from the 10 countries, who will convene October 31-November 4 at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, will probably issue a statement that avoids fingering China directly and instead plays up common values,…

George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign aide who was a key figure in the FBI's Russia probe, filed paperwork Tuesday to run for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Democrat Katie Hill. Papadopoulos didn't immediately comment, but on Sunday he tweeted, ``I love my state too much to see it run down by candidates like Hill. All talk, no action, and a bunch of sellouts.'' Hill, whose district covers Los Angeles County, announced her resignation on Sunday amid an ethics probe into allegations she had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. She's admitted to a consensual relationship with a campaign staff member, but denied one with a congressional staff member, which would violate U.S. House rules. She's called herself the victim of revenge porn by an abusive husband…

Former President Jimmy Carter will miss a second week teaching Sunday school as he recovers from a fall that resulted in a broken pelvis. Maranatha Baptist Church posted an update late Monday requesting prayers for the 95-year-old Carter and his family during the healing process. Carter has been teaching Sunday school for decades, and big crowds typically show up at his small church in Plains, Georgia, to hear his lessons. But Carter was injured when he fell on Oct. 21, and aides say he's recovering at home following a hospital stay. Carter is the oldest living U.S. ex-president ever, and he has fallen at least three times this year. The first fall in the spring required hip replacement surgery. Carter's niece, Kim Fuller, will substitute for him in class.  …

Over the last year Russia has sent Cuba 1,000 minibuses, 50 locomotives, tens of thousands of tourists and a promise to upgrade the island’s power grid with a multi-million dollar improvement plan. Russian-Cuban trade has more than doubled since 2013, to an expected $500 million this year, mostly in Russian exports to Cuba. And a string of high-ranking Russian officials have visited their former ally in the Caribbean, including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. On Tuesday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel lands in Moscow for meetings with officials including President Vladimir Putin, with the expectation that they will move forward on deals for more trade and cooperation. Russian-Cuban ties are far from the Cold War era of near-total Cuban dependence on the Soviet bloc, which saw this island as a forward operating…

A military officer at the National Security Council twice raised concerns over the Trump administration's push to have Ukraine investigate Democrats and Joe Biden, according to testimony the official is to deliver Tuesday in the House impeachment inquiry. Alexander Vindman, an Army lieutenant colonel who served in Iraq and, later, as a diplomat, is prepared to tell House investigators that he listened to President Donald Trump's July 25 call with new Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and reported his concerns to the NSC's lead counsel. “I was concerned by the call,” Vindman will say, according to prepared testimony obtained Monday night by The Associated Press. “I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the…

President Donald Trump used a conference of police chiefs on Monday to slam the host city as “embarrassing to us as a nation” under the leadership of its top cop, who skipped the event over disagreements with Trump’s immigration policies. Trump has frequently criticized Chicago for its crime problems and status as a sanctuary city, one of scores of cities around the country that refuse to work with federal authorities to round up people who are living in the U.S. illegally. “It’s embarrassing to us as a nation,” Trump said. “All over the world they’re talking about Chicago. Afghanistan is a safe place by comparison.” Trump also lashed out at Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, who angered Chicago’s police by skipping Trump’s first appearance in the city as president. Chicago Police…

Americans will celebrate Halloween on October 31, a tradition that dates to an ancient Celtic festival in which it was believed the dead would return to haunt the living. Chances are, many of today’s trick-or-treaters will paint their faces like skulls, borrowing from an ancient Aztec tradition falling at the same time: Dia de los Muertos — the Day of the Dead. Once little-known in the U.S., it has spread from Mexico and Central America, inserting itself into Halloween. It has become big business in America: retail chains sell Day of the Dead costumes, sugar skulls and decorative items — even keychains and ashtrays. The U.S. toymaker Mattel recently launched a Day of the Dead Barbie doll; Nike has unveiled a Day of the Dead-themed athletic shoe, an update of…

Firefighters in California battled a new blaze Monday that broke out near the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, forcing thousands of people to evacuate. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the fire has grown to 200 hectares since it ignited before dawn on Monday and has burned down at least five homes. The area is where some of the city’s most expensive homes are located.   Basketball star LeBron James, who lives in the area, said he evacuated with his family, but had difficulties finding a nearby hotel with vacancies.   "Finally found a place to accommodate us!" the Los Angeles Lakers player wrote on Twitter. "Crazy night man!"   <!--[if IE 9]><![endif]--><!--[if IE 9]><![endif]-->California Hopes Winds Driving Wildfires Subside as Crews Work on Containment200,000 evacuated, millions lose power as…

Joe Biden called it “improper” for President Donald Trump for having his daughter and son-in-law hold positions in the White House, suggesting in a CBS interview Sunday that Jared Kushner is not qualified to weigh in on the complex affairs assigned by his father-in-law. That assessment, which the Democratic presidential hopeful offered in a wide-ranging “60 Minutes” interview, ratchets up the rhetoric between Trump and Biden over each other’s adult children and family business affairs. Biden told CBS that he doesn’t like “going after” politicians’ children, but he said none of his children would hold White House posts, even as he continued to defend his son, Hunter, against Trump’s charges that the Biden’s are corrupt because of the younger Biden’s international business affairs while his father was vice president. “You…

Democratic congresswoman Katie Hill of California has resigned amid an ethics probe and revelations of an affair with a campaign staffer. In a statement Sunday, the 32-year-old freshman from the Los Angeles area says leaving the House is best for her constituents, community and country. Hill is under investigation by a congressional committee for an alleged intimate relationship with a male senior aide, which Hill denies. She has acknowledged an affair with a young female staffer. Compromising photos and purported text messages surfaced online this past week in a right-wing publication and a British tabloid. Last year, Hill won the last Republican-held House seat anchored in Los Angeles County. ...

Hong Kong's reputation as a haven for freewheeling business has steadily eroded since the territory was handed over to China from Britain in 1997. As anti-government protestors step up demands for democracy, and with demonstrations becoming more violent, however, the business environment is getting worse. High-technology professionals, bankers and financiers head the list of those wanting to go to the United States, a desire that has taken on an added sense of urgency with the level of investment required for the EB-5 U.S. investment visa, known as the "golden visa," leaping to $900,000 next month from $500,000, where it has been since 1993, as part of an effort to stem money laundering. The EB-5 visa grants a two-year conditional green card in return for investments in struggling parts of the…

A Northern California blaze forced evacuation orders and warnings for nearly all of Sonoma County stretching to the coast, with forecasts of strong winds prompting officials to start cutting electricity for millions of people in an effort to prevent more fires. Pacific Gas & Electric started shutting off power about 5 p.m. Saturday for an estimated 2.35 million people across 38 counties. About 90,000 residents were ordered to evacuate towns near the 40-square-mile (104-square-kilometer) fire. Saturday night’s evacuation order encompassed a huge swath of wine country stretching from the inland community of Healdsburg west through the Russian River Valley and to Bodega Bay on the coast, Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said. An even broader area was put under a warning for residents to get ready to leave at a…

The Jaipur Literature Festival began in the city of Jaipur, India. With 300 speakers and over 500 million visitors every year, it is the world's largest free literary festival. The festival also travels internationally. One stop is Boulder, Colorado. Shelley Schlender reports.   ...

BOSASO, Somalia / WASHINGTON / PENTAGON — A U.S. drone strike intended to hit an Islamic State (IS) hideout in Somalia’s northeastern region of Puntland mistakenly killed two frankincense collectors, according to local elders and a survivor who spoke Saturday with VOA. The Friday afternoon attack also injured another person after the drone strike hit the men, who were in the process of collecting frankincense near the remote Ameyra village in the Golis Mountain region of Somalia’s Northeastern Bari province, multiple local elders told VOA. Sa’id Abshir Mohamud, a local elder at Timishe village near the target of the strikes, told VOA Somalia about the reported civilian casualties. “Men sent to the location of the strike brought back the dead bodies of two locally known villagers who went there to collect…

Syrian troops reached a key area near Turkey's border Saturday after sending further reinforcements to the region, in what a war monitor said was its largest deployment there in years. Syrian regime forces entered the provincial borders of the town of Ras al-Ain, state news agency SANA said. The regime forces entered the area, which was taken by Turkish forces following a weeks-long offensive against Syria's Kurds. Troops also deployed along a road stretching some 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of the frontier, SANA added. Turkey and its Syrian proxies on October 9 launched a cross-border attack against Kurdish-held areas, grabbing a 120-kilometer-long (70-mile) swathe of Syrian land along the frontier. The incursion left hundreds dead and caused 300,000 people to flee their homes, in the latest humanitarian crisis in…

Russia's defense ministry on Saturday attacked U.S. plans to maintain and boost the American military presence in eastern Syria as "international state banditry" motivated by a desire to protect oil smugglers and not by real security concerns. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Friday Washington would send armored vehicles and troops to the Syrian oil fields in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of Islamic State militants. His comments came after President Donald Trump earlier this month pulled some 1,000 U.S. military personnel out of northeast Syria, a move that prompted Turkey to launch a cross-border incursion targeting the Kurdish YPG militia, a former U.S. ally against Islamic State. Trump's decision drew an angry backlash from Congress, including key Republicans who saw the pullout as a…

A supplier of election technology whose software was used in highly suspect Venezuelan balloting, faces a fresh test of its products during a decisive election this Sunday in Argentina. The company, Smartmatic, made headlines in 2017 by pulling out of Venezuela when the United States, the European Union and the Organization of American States accused the country’s leftist government of massive vote tampering. Smartmactic CEO Antonio Mujica, a Venezuelan engineer, said at the time that Venezuela’s election authorities had grossly inflated the number of voters participating in the election of a special constituent assembly that was convened to change the constitution. But government opponents had already filed a series of lawsuits, alleging major irregularities in previous elections administered by Smartmatic, which had worked with the Venezuelan government for more than…

British police arrested two more people Friday in connection with the deaths of 39 others found in the back of a container truck in southeastern England as the investigation into one of the country's worst human smuggling cases geared up. Police said the man and the woman, both 38 and from Warrington, a town in northwestern England, were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people. The 25-year-old driver of the truck remains in custody on suspicion of murder.   The new arrests came as police began the grim process of conducting post-mortem examinations of the dead. The remains of 11 people from the truck were transported by ambulance from the Port of Tilbury under police escort Thursday. Essex Police said 31 men and eight women were found…

The United States and South Korea this week held fresh negotiations over how to split the cost of the 28,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. The current deal expires at the end of the year, and U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly demanded a fivefold increase in how much Seoul pays.   Trump says South Korea and other allies are taking advantage of the U.S. He reportedly wants Seoul to pay more than five times the amount it contributes now. Analyst Shin Beom-chul said some South Koreans would see such a demand as absurd, and that it could fuel anti-U.S. sentiment.  South Korea experienced mass anti-U.S. protests as recently as the late 2000s. However, these days, it's hard to find overt displays of anti-U.S. sentiment. Polls suggest both conservative and liberal South Koreans broadly support the U.S. alliance.   FILE -…

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urged leaders to listen to the problems of their people as demonstrations multiply in cities around the world. “It is clear that there is a growing deficit of trust between people and political establishments, and rising threats to the social contract,” he told reporters Friday. He cited economic problems, political demands, discrimination and corruption as some of the issues driving protests. “People want a level playing field – including social, economic and financial systems that work for all,” Guterres said. “They want their human rights respected, and a say in the decisions that affect their lives.” Demonstrations have erupted this year in scores of countries stretching across nearly every continent. In Hong Kong, protestors have been on the streets since June, angered by a proposed bill…

When Nanticha "Lynn" Ocharoenchai organized Thailand's first climate strike in March, more than half of the 50 people who showed up at the rally in Bangkok were students at international schools and expatriates.    The same day, Ralyn "Lilly" Satidtanasarn, then age 11, and a group of fellow pupils submitted an open letter to the prime minister, calling for urgent action on climate change.    "The fact that Lilly and I can do this draws a lot from being in international schools," said Lynn, 21.    There they received classes on the environment, whereas most Thai state schools do not teach the subject, Lynn noted in an interview a week after graduating from Chulalongkorn University.   FILE - Environmental activist Greta Thunberg of Sweden addresses the Climate Action Summit at the U.N. General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters in…

Under a broad plane tree near Albania's border with Greece, Jorgji Ilia filled a battered flask from one of the Vjosa River's many springs.    ``There is nothing else better than the river,'' the retired schoolteacher said. ``The Vjosa gives beauty to our village.''    The Vjosa is temperamental and fickle, changing from translucent cobalt blue to sludge brown to emerald green, from a steady flow to a raging torrent. Nothing holds it back for more than 270 kilometers (170 miles) in its course through the forest-covered slopes of Greece's Pindus mountains to Albania's Adriatic coast.    This is one of Europe's last wild rivers. But for how long?    Albania's government has set in motion plans to dam the Vjosa and its tributaries to generate much-needed electricity for one of Europe's poorest countries, with the intent to build eight dams…

Alaska’s famed Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has joined a new global partnership billed as the World Series of long-distance sled dog racing and aimed at bringing more fans to the cold-weather sport. The Iditarod has teamed up with Norway pet food supplement company and series creator, Aker BioMarine, and other races in Minnesota, Norway and Russia for the inaugural QRILL Pet Arctic World Series, or QPAWS, next year. Logistics were still being worked out, but the series will use a joint point system over a still-undetermined time frame, GPS tracking and an online platform to follow the racing teams. Talks with potential broadcast outlets also are under way, organizers say. FILE - Defending Iditarod champion Joar Lefseth Ulsom of Norway greets fans on the trail during the ceremonial start…

Ending polio has been a long haul. The global campaign to eradicate the virus has been going on since 1988, and while it’s close, it’s not over. Sometime in 2020, Africa may be declared polio-free. But the disease is hanging on stubbornly in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and as long as it hangs on, it can spread around the globe. The effort to end polio started more than 30 years ago. It’s been a massive program that relies on global funding, countless volunteer vaccinators, negotiations with political and religious leaders and parents. Vaccinators sometimes work in conflict zones, all to save lives and prevent lifelong disability. Polio cases down 99.9% In Kenya, facts about polio and the vaccine are taught in schools. Children are even taught what to tell their parents.…

In the Nigerian city pf Maiduguri, the popular incense kaaji is a cherished, local tradition.  Kaaji, made from generations-old recipes, is used during important ceremonies such as weddings to dispel evil spirits.  But with the advance of technology and social media, the market for the incense is growing.  Chika Oduah reports from Maiduguri. ...

The World Health Organization says Zambia has reported its first local case of polio since 1995, in a 2-year-old boy paralyzed by a virus derived from the vaccine. In a report this week, WHO said the case was detected on the border with Congo, which has reported 37 cases of polio traced to the vaccine this year. The U.N. health agency said there is no established link between the Zambia case and the ongoing Congo outbreak but said increased surveillance and vaccination efforts are needed, warning that “there is a potential for international spread.” In rare cases, the live virus in oral polio vaccine can mutate into a form capable of sparking new outbreaks. Nine African countries are currently battling polio epidemics linked to the vaccine as WHO and partners…

Israel's former military chief Benny Gantz is set to receive an official mandate to form the country's next government but has few options after last month's elections left him in a near tie with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu was given the first opportunity to form a government after assembling a large right-wing bloc but announced this week that he failed to build a 61-seat majority. Gantz faces similarly steep odds, raising the possibility that Israel will hold a third election in less than a year. President Reuven Rivlin is to formally grant the mandate later Wednesday to Gantz, who will have 28 days to form a coalition. It will mark the first time in over a decade that anyone besides Netanyahu has been given the task. Still, Gantz faces…