Year: 2019

The U.N. General Assembly designated Oct. 31 as World Cities Day.  This year’s theme focuses on innovations and better life for future generations.  Part of that involves ranking cities on their livability.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi looks at why Karachi, Pakistan,  ranks near the bottom. …

A rocket struck near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone on Wednesday, killing at least one Iraqi guard. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for firing into the heavily fortified area of the Iraqi capital, home to government buildings and Western embassies. The rocket fire came as tens of thousands of people massed in central Baghdad for another night of anti-government protests that began a week ago. Students take part in an anti-government protest in Basra, Iraq, Oct. 30, 2019. Officials said at least two people were killed and more than 100 wounded earlier Wednesday. Doctors said most of those hurt were hit in the head by tear gas canisters fired by security police. The Iraqi Human Rights Commission said more than 100 people have been killed and thousands have been wounded in cities across the country in the latest round of demonstrations demanding the government resign. Nearly 150 died in marches earlier this month. Students and other protesters are angry at alleged corruption, a slow economy and poor government services despite Iraq’s oil wealth. A move in parliament to approve a bill to cancel privileges and bonuses for senior politicians, including the president, prime minister and Cabinet ministers, has done little to calm the marchers. The United States, the United Nations and Amnesty International have called for restraint by both sides. …

School districts and parents revived litigation Wednesday that accuses the state of failing to provide a sound education to vulnerable children from minority communities, non-English speaking households, impoverished families and students with disabilities. Two groups of plaintiffs filed motions in state district court to ensure compliance with a district judge’s ruling that found lawmakers and state education officials were failing their constitutional obligations to ensure an adequate education. Since that ruling, the Democrat-led Legislature and first-year Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham have authorized a nearly half-billion dollar increase in annual spending on public education. They raised teacher salaries, channeled money toward at-risk students and extended academic calendars. Gail Evans, a lead attorney at the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty that represents parents of public-school children and school districts from suburban Rio Rancho to the rural town of Cuba, said much of the new state spending has been soaked up by mandated teacher salary increases, while administrative requirements hobbled efforts to extend the school year at many schools. The center says the state did not come up with a transformative education plan to truly help vulnerable student groups — and that a court-ordered plan is needed. “We’re concerned about these ongoing half-measures,” she said. “They are clearly not in compliance with their constitutional obligation.” In a statement, Public Education Secretary Ryan Stewart said the state is rolling out major investments aimed at “closing the opportunity gap between at-risk students and their peers,” describing extended learning programs that extend the school …

A lawsuit Wednesday accused the Trump administration of preventing Americans from bringing their foreign spouses and parents to live with them in the United States by requiring those immigrants to prove they can afford health care before they get visas. Seven U.S. citizens and a nonprofit organization filed the federal lawsuit in Portland, Oregon, over the rule that’s set to take effect Sunday. It applies to people seeking immigrant visas from abroad, not those already in the country, and doesn’t affect asylum-seekers, refugees or children.    “Congress makes laws, the president executes them. This is an egregious attempt to supersede and overturn congressional will, not only in the immigration realm but in the health care realm,” said Jesse Bless, director of federal litigation at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, who helped file the case.    The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.    The rule is the Trump administration’s latest effort to limit immigrant access to public programs while trying to move the country away from a family-based immigration system and into a merit-based system.  Regulatory changes   Earlier this year, the administration made sweeping changes to regulations that would deny green cards to immigrants who use some forms of public assistance, but the courts have blocked that measure.    Under the government’s visa rule, the required insurance can be bought individually or provided by an employer and it can be short-term coverage or catastrophic.     Medicaid doesn’t count, and an immigrant can’t get a …

In a merger deal that appears to be heading for approval, Fiat Chrysler stands to gain electric vehicle technology while PSA Peugeot Citroen could benefit from a badly needed dealership network to reach its goal of selling vehicles in the U.S. The Wall Street Journal, citing sources it did not identify, reported Wednesday that the PSA board has approved the deal, which would create the world’s fourth-largest automaker with a combined market value of around $50 billion. Neither company would comment. Experts say the two automakers would be able to share car, SUV and commercial vehicle designs, helping each other fill weaknesses and share costs that will make them a strong global player. “We view the combination of these two companies as reasonable given global competition, high capital intensity, and industry disruption from electrified powertrain as well as autonomous technologies,” Morningstar analyst Richard Hilgert wrote in a note to investors. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles confirmed Wednesday that it’s in talks with French rival PSA in its second try this year to reshape the global auto industry at a time of heightened uncertainty for the business. The talks started after a merger with France’s Renault collapsed earlier this year. FCA for years has been looking for a partner to share huge capital costs to develop future technologies. The timing of any deal is unclear, but the Peugeot board was meeting Wednesday, said a person close to the discussions on condition of anonymity. Here are four areas that could be crucial to the …

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 a standstill at the Los Angeles Oceanwide Plaza. “The skylines are no longer filled with cranes, really supplied by Chinese investments coming over here in the downtown region,” said Stephen Cheung, president of World Trade Center Los Angeles and executive vice president of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.   “What we’re worried about [is] the construction that’s already here that cannot be finished because of the financing situations,” Cheung said. Construction work stalled The billion-dollar Oceanwide Plaza is located in a prized location near the Los Angeles convention center and the complex where the Lakers and Clippers play basketball. Construction stalled in January for the condo, hotel and retail space, and Cheung said he has seen very little …

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, the experts believe. “The summit itself is very cautious,” said Carl Thayer, emeritus professor of politics at The University of New South Wales in Australia. “I expect a boilerplate, ‘freedom of navigation, settle matters peacefully.’” Spirit of cooperation despite hostilities ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam dispute with Beijing’s Communist leadership parts of the South China Sea, a 3.5 million-square-kilometer waterway that’s rich in fisheries and fossil fuel reserves. China has taken a lead over the past decade by landfilling small islets for military use. A Chinese survey ship spent months this year in waters where Vietnam is looking fuel under the sea. Chinese coast guard ships patrolled Malaysian-claimed waters for 258 days over the year ending in …

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 she is divorcing. Papadopoulos, meanwhile, was a key figure in the FBI’s Russia probe into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. The FBI’s counterintelligence investigation that later became the Mueller probe was triggered, in part, from a tip from an Australian diplomat who had communicated with Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos told the diplomat, Alexander Downer, in May 2016 that Russia had thousands of stolen emails that would be potentially damaging to Hillary Clinton. His lawyers have sought a pardon from the president, though Papadopoulos contends that’s unlikely to come to fruition. In the last few months, he’s been working on a working on a documentary series with his wife about their interactions with the special counsel’s team. He’s also on the …

The United States and 22 other countries at the United Nations pushed China on Tuesday to stop detaining ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims, prompting China’s U.N. envoy to warn it was not “helpful” for trade talks between Beijing and Washington. China has been widely condemned for setting up complexes in remote Xinjiang that it describes as “vocational training centers” to stamp out extremism and give people new skills. The United Nations says at least 1 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims have been detained. “It’s hard to imagine that on the one hand you are trying to seek to have a trade deal, on the other hand you are making use of any issues, especially human rights issues, to blame the others,” China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun told reporters. He said there was “progress” in the trade talks. But he said of the U.S. criticism of China at the United Nations: “I do not think its helpful for having a good solution to the issue of trade talks.” U.S. and Chinese negotiators are working to complete the text of an interim trade agreement for U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile on Nov. 16-17. A U.S. administration official said on Tuesday it might not be completed in time for signing in Chile, but that does not mean the accord is falling apart. When asked if the statement criticizing China could affect trade talks, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. …

Twenty years after first toying with the idea, German film director Roland Emmerich brings his World War II drama “Midway” to cinemas next month, focusing on the 1942 Battle of Midway. Known for big-budget disaster movies filled with special effects like “Independence Day” and “Godzilla,” Emmerich long wanted to recount the giant air and sea battle in the Pacific during which U.S. forces defeated an attacking Japanese fleet. The June 4-7 1942 clash, the subject of a 1976 film starring Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda, took place six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which had catapulted the United States into the conflict. But a new studio deal, financing and the 2001 release of romantic war drama “Pearl Harbor” put Emmerich’s version project on hold, he told Reuters in an interview. “I chose another war movie, I did ‘The Patriot’ but it (‘Midway’) never left my mind,” the 63-year-old said referring to his 2000 film set during the American Revolutionary War. “All of a sudden ‘Pearl Harbor’ was there so I had to wait.” “Midway” was rekindled several years ago when work on a script began. The film focuses on real-life U.S. Navy bomber pilot Richard ‘Dick’ Best, played by British actor Ed Skrein, and Emmerich said he worked with the U.S. Navy to make the movie, having to convince some officials about the production. “I had to talk to the admiral who was running Pearl Harbor, all the different places there … and he was very dismissive. …

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 base in the Americas then largely abandoned it in the 1990s. But observers of Cuban and Russian foreign policy say there is a significant warming between the former partners prompted in part by the Trump administration’s reversal of President Barack Obama’s opening to Cuba. Cuba and Russia are also heavily supporting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom the U.S. has been trying to overthrow. “We did make huge mistakes in the 1990s while turning our backs on Cuba. That time is definitely over, and I’m absolutely sure that our relations deserve better attention from Russia,” said Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament. “They deserve more investments from Russia both in …

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 U.S. government’s support of Ukraine.” Vindman is the first White House official who listened in on that call to testify as the impeachment inquiry reaches deeper into the Trump administration and Democrats prepare for the next, public phase of the probe. He’s also the first current White House official to appear before the impeachment panels. The inquiry is looking into Trump’s call, in which he asked Zelenskiy for a “favor” — to investigate Democrats — that Democrats say was a quid pro quo that could be an impeachable offense. Full House to Vote on Trump Impeachment Inquiry House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she wants to ‘eliminate any doubts’ about the process The 20-year military officer will testify that he first …

  WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Iran of seeking means to launch missiles at Israel from Yemen, where Tehran supports Houthi rebels. Netanyahu made the remark during a visit by a U.S. delegation, including presidential adviser Jared Kushner and U.S. secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin. Netanyahu is calling for tougher sanctions against Iran. Netanyahu spoke of Iran’s threat to Israel at an event in Jerusalem on Monday, coinciding with the visit of high U.S. officials. “Iran wants to develop precision-guided missiles that can hit any target in Israel within five to 10 meters. Iran wants to use Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen as bases to attack Israel with statistical missiles and precision-guided missiles. That is a great, great danger. To ward off this danger, we have to do two things. First we must unite, because in the face of danger, we unite,” he said. But at a meeting Sunday between Israel’s longtime leader and his chief political rival Benny Gantz, unity remained elusive. Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin has tasked Gantz with trying to form a government after Netanyahu failed to do so after two inconclusive elections this year. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin deliver joint statements during their meeting in Jerusalem, Oct. 28, 2019. Both Netanyahu and Gantz met with visiting U.S. officials on Monday. Netanyahu called for more U.S. sanctions against Iran. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the economic sanctions have worked so far and more will …

A “solidarity conference” has raised around 120 million euros ($133 million) in fresh money to help Venezuelans fleeing their crisis-wracked country, and in particular to assist neighboring communities struggling to host them, the European Union announced Tuesday.    About 4.5 million people have fled Venezuela in recent years to escape low wages, failing basic services and a lack of security. If departures continue at the same rate, the numbers are set to surpass as early as next year the 5.6 million who have left war-torn Syria since 2011.   Most people are being hosted in neighboring countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.   Announcing the new funds, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the 120 million-euro effort “is quite remarkable” given that the two-day meeting was aimed at raising awareness about the plight of Latin America’s biggest exodus in recent memory and was not a donor conference.   Mogherini urged the international community to put the plight of Venezuelans at the top of its agenda, and not to give in to donor fatigue.   “It’s the best investment we can do,” she told reporters. “If we had invested a little bit, to support the Syrian migrant crisis, or other migrant crises, early in the process, we would have not only saved lives but also saved money.”   The South American nation of roughly 30 million people is gripped by a deepening political and economic crisis. People live in fear of anything from violent street protests to a massive power failure. 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 Supt. Eddie Johnson listens to a question as he responds to remarks made by President Donald Trump at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Convention, Oct. 28, 2019, in Chicago. “More than anyone else he should be here, because maybe he could maybe learn something,” Trump said, claiming Johnson puts the needs of illegal immigrants above the needs of the law-abiding residents of Chicago. “Those are his values and frankly those values to me are a disgrace,” Trump said, vowing to never to give priority to the needs of illegal immigrants. “I want Eddie Johnson to change his values and to change them fast.” Chicago’s police department had no immediate comment on Trump’s remarks. Johnson’s decision to skip Trump’s …