The lease to the Washington, D.C., hotel run by Donald Trump’s family company while he was president, a symbol of his power to Republican politicians who gathered there and of corruption to his critics, has been sold to a Miami-based investor fund.

The Trump Organization said Wednesday that it had completed the sale of a long-term lease of the Trump International Hotel to CGI Merchant Group of Miami for what it described as a record price per room for the city. Sources close to the deal demanding anonymity to discuss the private transaction have said that the price was $375 million, handing the Trump family business perhaps as much as $100 million in profit.

The new owners plan to remove the Trump name from the facade and rebrand the hotel a Waldorf Astoria. The Associated Press reported earlier this year that the group of investors includes former Yankee slugger Alexander Rodriguez.

Many hotel brokers, owners and consultants did not expect the 263-room hotel down the street from the White House to fetch such a high price. The hotel lost more than $70 million during the four years of Trump’s presidency, including in each year before pandemic shutdowns.

The high price, equivalent to more than $1.4 million a room, has drawn scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers. The U.S. House Oversight Committee earlier this month requested documents from CGI listing all of its investors.

The hotel was a magnet for lobbyists, diplomats and others seeking to curry favor with the president. Democrats said it it sullied the reputation the presidency, pitted his financial interest against public interest and possibly broke the law. Several lawsuits challenging his ownership were unsuccessful.

The hotel is the former Old Post Office building, and its still formally owned by the federal government. The Trump Organization won rights to fix up the building and run it as a hotel in paying the government annual rent and cut of profit.
…

The United States has joined the Vatican in expressing concern after Hong Kong police arrested a prominent Catholic cardinal and other pro-democracy activists on national security charges.

Cardinal Joseph Zen, 90, former bishop of Hong Kong, was arrested Wednesday on charges of collusion with foreign forces.  He is a fierce critic of the Beijing government. Zen was later released on bail.

“We’re increasingly troubled by steps in Hong Kong to pressure and eliminate civil society” and concerned by the clampdown in Hong Kong against those who “speak out both in the media, in religious circles and in academia,” said Kurt Campbell, White House National Security Council coordinator for the Indo-Pacific.

White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also weighed in.

“Freedom of expression is critical to prosperous and secure societies,” Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One. “We call on PRC and Hong Kong authorities to cease targeting Hong Kong advocates and to immediately release those who have been unjustly detained and charged, like the Cardinal Joseph Zen … and others arrested today.”

At the Vatican, spokesperson Matteo Bruni said in a statement that “the Holy See has learned with concern of the news of the arrest of Cardinal Zen and is following the developments of the situation with extreme attention.”

A Hong Kong government spokesperson told VOA a statement would be provided as soon as it was available.

Freedom of speech and assembly in Hong Kong have been eroded as the Beijing government has exerted greater control over the former British colony in recent years, say critics.

In a recent report, the State Department denounced actions by Chinese authorities that eliminated the ability of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy opposition to play a meaningful role in the city’s governance and effectively criminalized peaceful political expression critical of the central and local governments.

In a seminar to preview the upcoming special summit between the U.S. and Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Campbell said the U.S. would continue to have “dialogue and conversations with the interested parties including Great Britain” about the status of Hong Kong.

The senior U.S. official also laid out Washington’s goal for a free and open Indo-Pacific region, including stability in the Taiwan Strait.

“The United States wants to take steps to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” said Campbell. “We are not seeking to take provocative actions. We want clarity about the desire to deter steps that would be provocative and we believe it’s critical for other countries to both publicly and privately underscore that what has taken place in Ukraine must never happen in Asia.”
…

The U.S. set another record for drug overdose deaths last year with more than 107,000 fatalities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Wednesday. 

The provisional 2021 total represents a 15% jump from the previous record in 2020, and means there is roughly one overdose death in the country every 5 minutes.

While drugs like opioid painkillers, other opioids and heroin cause many deaths, fentanyl is the leading killer, causing 71,000 deaths last year, which was a 23% jump from the year before.

Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, called the latest numbers “truly staggering.”

Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. have been rising for more than two decades.

“It is unacceptable that we are losing a life to overdose every five minutes around the clock,” said Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. 

“That is why [U.S.] President [Joe] Biden’s new National Drug Control Strategy signals a new era of drug policy centered on individuals and communities, focusing specifically on the actions we must take right now to reduce overdoses and save lives,” he said. “Those actions include expanding access to high impact harm reduction tools like naloxone, quickly connecting more people to treatment, disrupting and dismantling drug trafficking operations, and improving data to systems that drive the Nation’s drug policy.”

One reason fentanyl is responsible for so many deaths is that it is cheap and often mixed into other drugs without the buyer’s knowledge.

“The net effect is that we have many more people, including those who use drugs occasionally and even adolescents, exposed to these potent substances that can cause someone to overdose even with a relatively small exposure,” Volkow said in a statement.

Methamphetamine caused 32,856 overdose deaths, cocaine in 24,538 deaths, and prescription pain medications in 13,503 deaths in 2021.

COVID-19 lockdowns had an impact on overdose deaths as they made getting treatment more difficult for drug users.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press.
…

U.S. consumer price growth slowed sharply in April as gasoline prices eased off record highs, suggesting that inflation has probably peaked, though it is likely to stay hot for a while and keep the Federal Reserve’s foot on the brakes to cool demand.

The consumer price index rose 0.3% last month, the smallest gain since last August, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. That stood in sharp contrast to the 1.2% month-to-month surge in the CPI in March, which was the largest advance since September 2005.

But the deceleration in the CPI is probably temporary. Gasoline prices, which accounted for most of the pull back in the monthly inflation rate, are rising again and were about $4.161 per gallon early this week after dipping below $4 in April, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine is the main catalyst for the surge in gasoline prices. The war has also driven up global good prices.

Inflation was already a problem before Moscow’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine because of stretched global supply chains as economies emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic after governments around the world injected large amounts of money in pandemic relief and central banks slashed interest rates.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday acknowledged the pain that high inflation was inflicting on American families and said bringing prices down “is my top domestic priority.”

The Fed last week raised its policy interest rate by half a percentage point, the biggest hike in 22 years, and said it would begin trimming its bond holdings next month. The U.S. central bank started raising rates in March.

In the 12 months through April, the CPI increased 8.3%. While that was the first deceleration in the annual CPI since last August, it marked the seventh straight month of increases in excess of 6%. The CPI shot up 8.5% in March, the largest year-on-year gain since December 1981.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer prices gaining 0.2% in April and rising 8.1% year-on-year.

While monthly inflation will likely pickup, annual readings are likely to subside further as last year’s large increases fall out of the calculation, but remaining above the Fed’s 2% target at least through 2023.

China’s zero tolerance COVID-19 policy is seen putting more strain on global supply chains, driving up goods prices. Prices for services like air travel and hotel accommodation are also seen keeping inflation elevated amid both strong demand over the summer and a shortage of workers.

Solid gains in rents, airline fares and new motor vehicle prices boosted underlying inflation last month.

Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the CPI picked up 0.6% after rising 0.3% in March. The so-called core CPI increased 6.2% in the 12-months through April. That followed a 6.5% jump in March, which was largest gain since August 1982.
…

COVID-19 relief, including money for global pandemic response, is removed from Ukraine package
…

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on an aid package worth more than $40 billion for Ukraine on Tuesday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, as Congress races to avoid an interruption in defense assistance and boost the government in Kyiv. 

The legislation is expected to pass the House and head to the Senate within the coming days, as Washington increases its support for Ukraine without sending troops to help fend off Russian troops who invaded on Feb. 24. 

Biden asked Congress to approve an additional $33 billion in aid for Ukraine late last month, but lawmakers decided to add more military and humanitarian aid. 

“Time is of the essence – and we cannot afford to wait,” Pelosi said in a letter to House members. “This package, which builds on the robust support already secured by Congress, will be pivotal in helping Ukraine defend not only its nation but democracy for the world.” 

After sending the letter, Pelosi met with President Joe Biden at the White House to discuss her recent visit to Ukraine. The president had demanded that Congress get the bill to him quickly. 

Many lawmakers – Biden’s fellow Democrats as well as opposition Republicans – have said they back the Ukraine aid. Democrats narrowly control Congress, but the bill will need Republican votes to get through the Senate. 

Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, met with both Democratic and Republican senators at their weekly party lunches on Tuesday. 

“It was a very heartfelt and easy to understand message: Their people are dying, they’re running out of supplies and ammunition. They need our help quickly. Thank you for all our help. Please. Speed it up,” Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said. 

The package includes $6 billion for security assistance, including training, equipment, weapons and support; $8.7 billion to replenish stocks of U.S. equipment sent to Ukraine, and $3.9 billion for European Command operations. 

In addition to that spending, the legislation authorizes an additional $11 billion in Presidential Drawdown Authority, in which the president can authorize the transfer of articles and services from U.S. stocks without congressional approval in response to an emergency. Biden had asked for $5 billion. 

And it authorizes $4 billion in Foreign Military Financing to provide support for Ukraine and other countries affected by the crisis. 

The United States has already rushed billions of dollars’ worth of armaments to Ukraine since Russia invaded, including howitzers, anti-aircraft Stinger systems, anti-tank Javelin missiles, ammunition and recently disclosed “Ghost” drones. Read full story 

The new aid package also includes humanitarian aid – $5 billion to address food insecurity globally due to the Ukraine crisis and nearly $9 billion for an economic support fund to provide budget support for Ukraine.
…

California’s drought is worsening and yet residents used more water in March than any month since 2015, defying pleas for conservation from Gov. Gavin Newsom and other authorities, state officials announced Tuesday.

Water usage jumped nearly 19% in March compared to 2020, which was one of the driest months on record. Newsom last summer asked residents to voluntarily cut water use by 15% compared to 2020. He encouraged people to water their yards less often, run dishwashers less and install more efficient appliances.

The state’s conservation rate gradually increased, aided by some intense fall and early winter storms that reduced water demand. But the first three months of 2022 have been some of the driest ever recorded. Water use increased slightly in January and February before exploding in March when compared to 2020 figures.

Since July, the state has cut its overall water use by just 3.7%.

Newsom responded to the news by pledging to spend an extra $26 million on water conservation programs, in addition to the $190 million he proposed in January. In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced residents and businesses would have to reduce outdoor landscape watering from three days per week to two. Irrigation makes up 35% of the city’s water use.

A series of April storms have improved things slightly since March. Still, most of the state’s reservoirs are well below their historic averages. Those reservoirs rely on melting snow to fill up for the dry summer months, but the statewide snowpack was at just 27% of its historic average as of April 1.

 
…