California

USA: Los Angeles freeway is fully reopened after arson fire, just in time for Monday morning’s rush hour

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An elevated Los Angeles freeway closed for more than a week because of an arson fire reopened ahead of Monday morning’s commute, at least a day earlier than previously announced and weeks ahead of the original estimate.

“Welcome back, Los Angeles!” Mayor Karen Bass posted late Sunday on X, formerly known as Twitter.

USA: Anwar, Trudeau discuss ways to strengthen trade, investment

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 18 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau discussed ways to strengthen bilateral trade and investment between both countries on the sidelines of  APEC Economic Leaders Meeting here.

The meet on Friday was upon Canada’s request.

Besides trade and investment, the discussions also centered around cooperation in cybersecurity, education, trade, energy, and climate change, said Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister.

Malaysia bags investments worth US$13.5 bln in US – PM Anwar

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 18 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia has secured a total of RM63.02 billion (US$13.5 billion) in proposed investments in the United States (US) mainly from technology giants, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Friday.

Out of the total, RM8.33 billion (US$1.8 billion) investments were from the trade and investment mission to the US organised before the start of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), while the remaining investments were from the various one-on-one meetings held by Anwar here.

USA: IMF chief says Biden-Xi engagement an important signal for world to cooperate

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday this week's meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping is a badly needed signal that the world needs to cooperate more.

"It sends a signal to the rest of the world that we must find ways to cooperate on those challenges where no country on its own can succeed," Georgieva told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

USA: APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting focuses on interconnectedness, building resilient economies

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members on Friday focused on interconnectedness and building inclusive and resilient economies in their meeting in San Francisco.

"Over the last few days we've worked together to build resilient, sustainable economies. And we talked about the progress that requires partnerships," U.S. President Joe Biden said at the second-day meeting.

"Together we laid out the work we're undertaking to avert the worst impacts of climate crisis," said Biden, who chaired the meeting.

USA: Biden seizes a chance to refocus on Asia as wars rage in Europe and the Mideast

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Sometimes it can be easy to forget that President Joe Biden’s original foreign policy priority was reasserting American influence in Asia.

After all, that was before Russian tanks tried to blitz Ukraine, and before Israel and Hamas descended into a fresh round of bloody fighting. With each new crisis, it appeared that Asia was slipping further down the presidential to-do list.

USA: ChatGPT-maker OpenAI fires CEO Sam Altman, the face of the AI boom, for lack of candor with company

San Francisco, Calif (AP) —ChatGPT-maker Open AI said Friday it has pushed out its co-founder and CEO Sam Altman after a review found he was “not consistently candid in his communications” with the board of directors.

“The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI,” the artificial intelligence company said in a statement.

USA: Taiwan envoy says he’s hopeful Biden-Xi meeting will reduce tensions in the Asia-Pacific region

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The 92-year-old businessman who represented Taiwan at this week’s summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in San Francisco expressed hope Friday that the meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping should help to reduce tensions between the two superpowers and in the region.

Morris Chang, the founder of the microchip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, also suggested the meeting could help to promote economic stability and reliable supply chains.

USA: Biden and López Obrador have talked fentanyl and US-Mexico migration. They pledged solidarity

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pledged Friday to work side-by-side to confront illicit fentanyl trafficking into the U.S. and to manage the growing number of migrants traveling north to the border between their nation.

“Nothing is beyond our reach in my view if Mexico and the United States stand together and work together,” Biden said.

USA: Biden seizes a chance to refocus on Asia as wars rage in Europe and the Mideast

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Sometimes it can be easy to forget that President Joe Biden’s original foreign policy priority was reasserting American influence in Asia.

After all, that was before Russian tanks tried to blitz Ukraine, and before Israel and Hamas descended into a fresh round of bloody fighting. With each new crisis, it appeared that Asia was slipping further down the presidential to-do list.

Subscribe to California