Off-duty officer won't be charged in deadly Costco shooting

An off-duty Los Angeles police officer will not be charged for fatally shooting a mentally ill man who had attacked him and his young son from behind in a California Costco, prosecutors said Wednesday. In announcing a grand jury's findings, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said Officer Salvador Sanchez believed he had been shot in the head and a shooter was on the loose when he and his son were knocked to the ground in the unprovoked assault. Hestrin said his office would not bring its own charges against Sanchez in the wake of the grand jury decision.

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Meghan Markle shares emotional group hug with young women in Cape Town: 'You guys are going to make me cry'

Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle had an adorable moment with young women outside of mothers2mothers in Cape Town.

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Former police force partner of Guyger confirms sexual relationship

The police force partner of former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger acknowledged that they had a sexual relationship and exchanged sexually explicit text messages and photos the day she shot Botham Jean in his apartment.

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Beijing opens glitzy airport ahead of China's 70th anniversary

A futuristic airport that resembles a giant starfish opened in Beijing Wednesday, as China unveils another massive infrastructure project just days before it celebrates 70 years of Communist Party rule. Located 46 kilometres (29 miles) south of Tiananmen Square, Beijing Daxing International Airport will operate at full capacity in 2040, with eight runways and the potential to receive 100 million passengers per year. The airport was opened by President Xi Jinping, but had an immediate hitch when its maiden commercial flight -- an A380 superjumbo heading to the southern city of Guangzhou -- was delayed by nearly 30 minutes.

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The Latest: Netanyahu tapped to form new government

The office of Israel's president says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been given the difficult task of forming a new government. Wednesday's decision came after President Reuven Rivlin's attempts to broker a unity government between Netanyahu and his chief rival, Benny Gantz, failed. Rivlin and Netanyahu were to give statements later Wednesday.

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Tropical Storm Karen is expected to loop-de-loop back towards the Bahamas after soaking Puerto Rico

Tropical Storm Karen may loop around in the Atlantic, heading back towards the Bahamas, after hitting Puerto Rico with serious rain on Tuesday.

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Hong Kong Protests Threaten Billionaires' Ties With Beijing

(Bloomberg) -- Less than a decade ago, Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, was granted an exclusive audience with China’s then-President Hu Jintao, a rare honor. State television lauded the September 2010 meeting, saying Hu lavished praise on the tycoon for contributing to the city’s prosperity and stability.These days, as Hong Kong reels from months of violent demonstrations, China’s government is weaving a much harsher narrative around the billionaires who dominate the business and politics of the city. In recent weeks, it’s linked them to the rising inequality it blames for the social unrest, a new stance that threatens the close ties Hong Kong dynasties have forged with Beijing.While most of Hong Kong’s wealthiest families have sprawling property holdings, they also dominate industries from telecommunications to retail, giving them outsize influence. The 20 Hong Kong tycoons tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index -- including moguls like Li and property magnate Lee Shau Kee -- have a combined net worth of more than $200 billion. So any shift in China’s posture toward those wealthy families has the potential in coming years to ripple through the city’s $360 billion economy.In a scathing article posted on social media earlier this month, China’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the nation’s most powerful law-enforcement body, lashed out at Hong Kong’s property tycoons for “hoarding land and grabbing money.” Next, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, said the government should take away land from Hong Kong developers through compulsory acquisition.“It is very clear that Beijing’s attitude toward Hong Kong’s property tycoons has changed,” said Joseph Wong, who was secretary for commerce, industry and technology under the city’s former leader, or chief executive, Donald Tsang.China appears to be encouraging state-backed enterprises to expand in Hong Kong, a special administrative region, and, over the coming years, these companies likely will play a leading role in industries the tycoons have controlled, Wong said.China Mobile Ltd., the mainland’s biggest carrier, has increased its subscriber base in Hong Kong by more than 50% since 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. Mainland developers, including China Resources Land Ltd., bought almost 60% of the residential land sold by Hong Kong’s government in the first half of this year.Representatives at family holding companies of Li and Lee didn’t respond to requests for comment.While much of their power comes from these informal relationships, members of the wealthiest families in Hong Kong also have official positions, including on the election committee of about 1,200 people that selects the city’s leader. Hong Kong business people sit on the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body that meets once a year in Beijing.Chinese leaders were friendly toward the tycoons when the mainland economy was opening up because they wanted to encourage them to invest across the border, said Ding Yifan, a former senior government researcher who now teaches world economy at Beijing Foreign Studies University.“Now that things have hit the fan, they realize there are many things quite unfair in Hong Kong,” he said. “Of course they need to deal with these problems.”Hong Kong’s protests erupted in June in response to a proposed bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. They’ve continued even after that legislation was shelved, with protesters making other demands, including universal suffrage and an investigation into police actions toward demonstrators.China’s office for Hong Kong and Macau affairs this month said it would support Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, in efforts to address social problems such as the housing shortage, the large wealth gap and the difficulty in upward social mobility. Hong Kong has the world’s least affordable housing.At the end of July, about half of Hong Kong’s new apartments for sale came from five of its largest developers -- including the Li family’s CK Asset Holdings Ltd.; Henderson Land Development Co. of the Lee family; and Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., controlled by the Kwok family -- according to an analysis of data from realtor Centaline Property Agency.Meanwhile, half of the city’s mobile-phone users subscribe to providers controlled by the Li and Kwok families, according to government data and earnings reports. In some industries, the wealthiest Hong Kong Chinese families share power with dynasties that are a holdover from the British.The Li family’s AS Watson Group and Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd., linked to the Keswick family, control 70% of the supermarkets, according to data from Euromonitor International. Representatives for the Kwok and Keswick family businesses declined to comment.Beijing’s priority has shifted toward pursuing social equality, said Li Xiaobing, a professor at Nankai University in Tianjin who has written on Chinese regional politics. “The central government wishes tycoons to contribute more to society,” Li said. That shift has come as China searches for answers to end Hong Kong’s protests.In recent weeks, several tycoons, including real-estate and casino magnate Lui Che-woo, have attempted to show Beijing their loyalty by issuing statements or placing newspaper advertisements condemning violence and pledging full support to the government.Li earlier this month called for the government to “have mercy” on Hong Kong’s young people and for the youth to show more understanding. But China’s highest law-enforcement body lashed out, accusing Li of encouraging crime. The 91-year-old billionaire then said his remarks were misinterpreted.Hong Kong’s billionaire families long hedged their risks because they knew their political and economic favors wouldn’t last forever, said Joseph Fan, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who studies family-run businesses.Some tycoons, in recent years, sold their businesses to mainland firms. In 2018, former city Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa’s family sold its stake in a shipping line to state-owned Cosco Shipping Holdings Co. That year, the real-estate arm of Li’s business group sold its stake in an office tower, The Center, for about $5 billion to a consortium controlled by mainland companies.Michael Tien, a pro-Beijing lawmaker in Hong Kong and a deputy to China’s National People’s Congress, expects more mainland firms to play leading roles in Hong Kong industries traditionally controlled by tycoons.“In the long run, we all know that the future belongs to mainland Chinese capital,” he said.\--With assistance from Dandan Li.To contact the reporters on this story: Shirley Zhao in Hong Kong at xzhao306@bloomberg.net;Bruce Einhorn in Hong Kong at beinhorn1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Sam Nagarajan at samnagarajan@bloomberg.net, Anjali Cordeiro, Michael TigheFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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Texas to execute man convicted of stabbing wife, stepsons to death in 2007

A 45-year-old man convicted of stabbing his wife and two stepsons to death and sexually assaulting his two stepdaughters in their home in 2007 saying he believed his spouse was poisoning him is scheduled to be executed in Texas on Wednesday. Robert Sparks is set to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. (2300 GMT) at the state's death chamber in Huntsville. A Dallas jury convicted Sparks of capital murder in 2008 in the deaths of his wife Chare Agnew and his two stepsons Harold, 9, and Raekwon, 10.

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Rouhani at UN demands Saudis end war in Yemen

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday demanded that Saudi Arabia end its offensive in Yemen after an attack in the oil-rich kingdom which Washington blamed on Tehran. "The security of Saudi Arabia will be guaranteed with the termination of aggression in Yemen, rather than by inviting foreigners," he told the UN General Assembly. Saudi Arabia is leading an air campaign aimed at defeating Iranian-backed Huthi rebels who control much of Yemen, contributing to a humanitarian crisis in which thousands of civilians have died and millions are on the brink of starvation.

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11-year-old boy drives stolen car 200 miles for Snapchat meetup: South Carolina police

The boy told Charleston police that he had driven his brother's car from Simpsonville, North Carolina, about 200 miles away.

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Greta Thunberg turns Trump's attack back on him

“A very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future,” the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist’s bio now reads.

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China extends pollution curbs ahead of National Day celebrations

The heavy industrial city of Xuzhou in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu will shut local factories on Thursday as part of efforts to reduce smog ahead of the country's National Day celebrations next week, the local government said.

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Busts of leaders a hit in China's porcelain capital ahead of key anniversary

Chinese ceramic artist Feng Chengren works alongside the country's top leaders in his shop in eastern China. Their smooth faces, lightly tanned by the soil of nearby riverbanks, smile benignly at lines of customers.

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Elated, Furious, Wary: Impeachment Divides Voters, Like Everything Trump

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Trump to Ukraine: Such a Shame if Anything Happened to Your Nice Country

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Trump was preparing for impeachment 'weeks' before Ukraine scandal; now he wants to go 'nuclear' on Biden

Even before the Democrats announced plans for an impeachment inquiry on Tuesday, the White House and President Trump’s campaign were preparing a counterattack.

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Meghan Markle just wore the 'perfect work shirt' and it's super affordable

Just because Meghan Markle is English royalty doesn't mean she always breaks the bank when it comes to her wardrobe.

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The US's top spy agency referred the Trump whistleblower complaint to the DOJ for criminal investigation. The DOJ decided not to investigate.

There was concern that a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could amount to a campaign finance violation.

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Male model arrested in widely publicized Thai sex case

Police in Thailand on Wednesday arrested a male model accused of taking an unconscious woman home, boasting online about his sexual exploits, and leaving her lifeless body in the lobby of his building. Police brought charges of illegal detention leading to death, abduction with intent of committing an indecent act and molestation against 24-year-old Ratchadech Wongtabut in a case that has riveted the attention of the public and press. The victim, Thitima Noraphanpiphat, 25, made a living as a "pretty," the term for young women normally hired for events such as auto shows to pose seductively with products they are promoting.

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US patience with Iran not inexhaustible, warns Saudi Arabia

Saudi minister says military response to attack on oil facilities still being considered ‘When push comes to shove there comes a point when even America’s patience runs out,’ said the Saudi foreign affairs minister, Adel al-Jubeir. Photograph: Amr Nabil/APSaudi Arabia has said that US patience with Iran is not inexhaustible and warned military options are still being considered following the attack on the Aramco oil facilities earlier this month.The Saudi foreign affairs minister, Adel al-Jubeir, also said the UN-commissioned report into the origins of the attack will be available fairly soon, and described the EU’s Monday statement ascribing responsibility to Iran as “very significant”.His remarks suggest Saudi Arabia is still putting private pressure on Donald Trump’s administration not to limit his response to the 14 September attack to further sanctions and the deployment of additional troops to defend the oil facilities.Jubeir said: “We want to mobilise international support, and we want to look at a whole list of options – diplomatic options, economic options and military options – and then make the decision.”Speaking on the margins of the UN general assembly in New York, he said: “This action will have consequences and Iran must know this.”He added: “When push comes to shove there comes a point when even America’s patience runs out – and Iran must be aware of that.”The attacks temporarily knocked out over 5 per cent of global oil production and caused petroleum prices to rise.Also at the UN, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said he was hoping for a breakthrough with Iran over the possibility of reopening talks in the coming hours, but the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, denied he was willing to drop his demand that US sanctions are lifted before talks can begin.Macron told the general assembly: “I am not naive at all and I don’t believe in miracles. I believe it takes courage to build peace and that is why it is important for the United States, Iran and the signatories of the agreement to show this courage.”But Jubeir set out a series of tough conditions for renegotiating the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, including fresh restrictions on its nuclear program after 2025, a 24/7 inspection regime all over the country and restrictions on its ballistic missile program.The demand, he said was “no nukes, no missiles and no terrorism”, adding: “The Europeans were coming round to this being the objective. We believe appeasement does not work with Iran. We believe that when Europeans did not take a strong position after the attacks on the pipelines and oil field in Shaybah (in August), this emboldened and encouraged Iran.”Although Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attacks on the Abqaiq and Khurais facilities, Riyadh, Washington and the EU have laid the blame on Iran.The US said it had expected Monday’s statement by the UK, France and Germany, stating that Iran was behind the attack, because European and US investigators are examining weapons fragments together in Saudi Arabia.“I really appreciate that our allies … have come forward and recognised publicly the truth,” the US assistant secretary of state for the near east, David Schenker, told journalists.“This did not come as a major surprise. The Brits and the French are on the ground with us with the Saudis and the UN, part of the investigative team in Saudi Arabia,” Schenker said. “We have been transparent in terms of chain of custody … of all the equipment that we now have from the attack. And we’re exploiting it together.“Even before we have finished this investigation, the evidence that is emerging is incontrovertible.”The US has been insistent that it would not carry out a retaliatory strike, but would beef up Saudi defences and increase other forms of pressure on Iran.Trump on Tuesday called on other nations to join the US in pressuring Iran after the attacks, but said there was still a path to peace.

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Meghan Markle shares 'Cinderella moment' with teenager in South Africa: Watch!

Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle made light of a potentially awkward situation during an engagement in Cape Town.

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Beijing opens glitzy airport ahead of China's 70th anniversary

A futuristic airport that resembles a giant starfish opened in Beijing Wednesday, as China unveils another massive infrastructure project just days before it celebrates 70 years of Communist Party rule. Located 46 kilometres (29 miles) south of Tiananmen Square, Beijing Daxing International Airport will operate at full capacity in 2040, with eight runways and the potential to receive 100 million passengers per year. The airport was opened by President Xi Jinping, but had an immediate hitch when its maiden commercial flight -- an A380 superjumbo heading to the southern city of Guangzhou -- was delayed by nearly 30 minutes.

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'I would like you to do us a favour though': The one sentence that could bring Trump down

The memorandum of the phone call between Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on 25 July that triggered an impeachment investigation into the incumbent of the White House has only served to convince his opponents they were right to do so.Mr Trump is adamant that he has done no wrong and there is no explicit quid pro quo in the document released of the call, but Democrat presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has called it a “smoking gun”.

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