North America

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The National Weather Service issued advisories Saturday along the California-Nevada line ahead of an early winter storm that could bring more than a foot (30 centimeters) of snow to the upper elevations of the Sierra and winds gusting up to 100 mph (160 kph) over ridgetops.

The winter weather advisories, in effect from 4 p.m. Saturday through 4 a.m. Sunday, stretched from the Lake Tahoe area near Reno to south of Yosemite National Park, including Mammoth Lakes, California.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s first-in-the-nation law that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs in favor of an emphasis on addiction treatment is facing strong headwinds in the progressive state after an explosion of public drug use fueled by the proliferation of fentanyl and a surge in deaths from opioids, including those of children.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 18 (APP): Pakistan, on behalf of a group of 17 countries, called on the United Nations to “urgently” establish a mechanism to ensure the protection of Palestinian civilians being subjected to relentless bombardment in Gaza by the Israeli military and to intensify efforts to promote a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota’s 2021 legislative redistricting plan violates the rights of two Native American tribes because it dilutes their voting strength, a federal judge ruled Friday.

U.S. District Chief Judge Peter Welte said the redrawn legislative districts violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The ruling came months after a trial held in June in Fargo. The decision could lead to another surprise special session of the Legislature.