USA

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Despite U.S. tariffs on China's exports to the United States, it appears, at least so far, that multinational firms, including those based in the United States, continue to find China an "attractive environment for new investment," U.S. economist Nicholas Lardy said Tuesday.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- The UN envoy for Afghanistan on Tuesday voiced support for the relative Afghan parties to conduct a "credible and inclusive" presidential election slated for later this month.

Tadamichi Yamamoto, the special representative of the secretary general for Afghanistan, described the election as "another step in strengthening the foundation of a representative democratic political system" in the country.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Historically black colleges and universities with a religious affiliation will no longer be restricted from accessing federal funding for capital projects, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday.

Trump said federal law had restricted more than 40 faith-based HBCUs and seminaries from fully tapping a program that provides federal loan guarantees for their construction projects.

WASHINGTON (AP) — John Bolton was in Mongolia.

More than 1,200 miles away, President Donald Trump orchestrated an image for the world’s front pages by becoming the first U.S. president to set foot in North Korea, shaking hands with Kim Jong Un on the north side of the demilitarized zone.

The distance was telling.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A draft plan from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi leaked Tuesday would overhaul how Medicare pays for prescription drugs, by negotiating prices for costly medications, curbing annual price hikes, and limiting what seniors pay out of their own pockets.

With President Donald Trump highly interested in a deal on prescription drugs, the ambitious plan appeared to be Pelosi laying down a marker that represents what House Democrats would want to see happen.

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The Trump administration is ready to open a tent court on the border to help handle tens of thousands of cases of asylum seekers forced to wait in Mexico, with hearings held entirely by videoconference.

The court, or “soft-sided” facility as U.S. officials call it, is scheduled to begin operations Monday in Laredo, Texas. Another is expected to open soon in Brownsville in the Rio Grande Valley, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. said Tuesday that he is asking the FBI to investigate what he called a “criminal” smear campaign orchestrated against him by several disgruntled former board members and employees.

Falwell told The Associated Press he has evidence that the group improperly shared emails belonging to the university with reporters in an attempt to discredit him. He said the “attempted coup” was partially motivated by his ardent backing of President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The proportion of Americans without health insurance edged up in 2018 — the first evidence from the government that coverage gains under President Barack Obama’s health care law might be eroding under President Donald Trump.

The Census Bureau also said in an annual report Tuesday that household income rose last year at its slowest pace in four years and finally matched its previous peak set in 1999. Median household income increased 0.9% in 2018 to an inflation-adjusted $63,179, from $62,626 in 2017.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Conservative Republican Dan Bishop won a special election Tuesday for an open House seat in North Carolina, averting a demoralizing Democratic capture of a district the GOP has held for nearly six decades. But his narrow victory didn’t erase questions about whether President Donald Trump and his party’s congressional candidates face troubling headwinds approaching 2020.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday abruptly forced out John Bolton, his hawkish national security adviser with whom he had strong disagreements on Iran, Afghanistan and a cascade of other global challenges.