An exiled Chinese businessman with ties to former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon has been arrested on federal charges of defrauding his online followers out of more than $1 billion, the Justice Department announced  Wednesday.

Ho Wan Kwok, also known as Miles Guo and Guo Wengui, was arrested earlier Wednesday in New York and was to make his first court appearance later in the day. Kwok fled to the United States in 2015.  

The charges against Kwok stem from an alleged conspiracy to solicit investments in various entities and programs from thousands of people on social media.

“Kwok is charged with lining his pockets with the money he stole, including buying himself, and his close relatives, a 50,000-square-foot mansion, a $3.5 million Ferrari, and even two $36,000 mattresses, and financing a $37 million luxury yacht,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

As part of the investigation of Kwok, the Justice Department seized about $634 million from 21 different bank accounts and a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster, Williams said.

A 12-count indictment unsealed Wednesday charged Kwok with wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.

Kwok’s alleged financier, Kin Ming Je, is also charged with obstruction of justice. Je, a dual citizen of Hong Kong and Britain, remains at large.

The indictment accused Kwok of lying to his online followers and promising outsized profits in return for investing in four ventures known as GTV Media Group, Himalaya Farm Alliance, G|CLUBS and the Himalaya Exchange.

“The indictment today alleges the defendants were behind an elaborate scheme that defrauded thousands of individuals of over $1 billion,” FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll said in a statement. “Fraudulent investment scams make victims out of innocent people, ultimately harming the public’s confidence in the integrity of financial systems.”

Kwok and Bannon are longtime associates. Bannon was arrested on a yacht owned by Kwok off the coast of Connecticut in 2020. He was charged in connection with stealing money from a fundraising campaign for a project known as “We Build the Wall.”
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Florida is the fastest-growing state in America for the first time since 1957, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The population in the southeastern state, which is known for its warm weather and sandy beaches, now tops 22 million.

“I hate being cold,” says Kathy Bonini, 42, who grew up in Pennsylvania but moved to Florida in 2011. “Everybody loves sunshine and palm trees.”

Nancy Sikes-Kline, mayor of the Florida port city of St. Augustine, agrees.

“You know, we call ourselves ‘the sunshine state’ and I think that that makes a big difference,” Sikes-Kline says when asked why people relocate to her state. “I think, at the very core, it’s just this wonderful weather that we have. The sunshine.”

Florida is known for attracting older, retired Americans. But more than 700,000 people of all ages moved to the state between April 1, 2020, and July 1, 2022. That was during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when many remote workers could live wherever they wanted.

Economist Sean Snaith says there are factors other than the weather that draw people to Florida, including a robust labor market and the fact that, unlike most U.S. states, Florida has no state income tax.

“Depending on where folks are moving from, that might be an extra 8, 9, 10% of your pay that you get to keep that previously went to pay state taxes or other local taxes,” says Snaith, an economics professor at the University of Central Florida and director of UCF’s Institute for Economic Forecasting.

An analysis of Census data shows that people within the United States who move to Florida most frequently come from New York, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and California.

“Time to kind of get out of California with the wildfires and the high cost of living,” says Florida resident Aaron Dan, 36, who moved from the West Coast in May 2021, during the pandemic. Dan, who works in real estate, sees more opportunities for land development and commercial leasing in Florida.

“You can get a lot more for your dollar around here, lower taxes, obviously,” he says. So, I think just the cost of living is very attractive as well as the opportunity for growth.”

Even before the pandemic, nearly two-thirds of the people who lived in Florida came from out of state. One-fifth of those transplants relocated from a foreign country.

“We’ve had a lot of international in-migration to the state, from a variety of locations. You know, it’s not just one or two countries, it’s Central America and South America, the Caribbean,” he says. “People want to move to the United States, in general, and Florida tends to get a larger chunk of those immigrants.”

But population growth can make life in the Sunshine State more expensive. The average price of a home in Florida rose 14% in the past year, compared with the national average of 8.7%, according to Zillow, a real estate marketplace company.

“Florida is kind of a cheap place to buy a house and to live. That’s become less the case,” Snaith says. “So that is making life difficult in terms of affordability. And that’s one of the problems that Florida is going to be grappling with here, I think, for some time to come.”

Realtor Sharon Wooten is a Florida native. Over time, she’s seen orange groves give way to housing developments.

“It’s changed a lot. The farmland is gone. … I think if we take care of our natural resources, and we don’t grow too fast, it’s OK. And, I think, if we are choosy about what comes in. A lot of these developments are very, very nice and they take care of these developments and everything they do is top notch,” she says. “As long as it’s good growth, it’s OK. You know, it’s brought in a lot of opportunities for people in this area that they may not have ever had.”

Wooten says the increased development has had a positive impact on daily life for some.

“My mother and my grandmother have had opportunities to shop and go to plays and restaurants and things that they didn’t have before,” she says. “So, it’s just sort of opened up a new world to them.”

Snaith says that, as far as the economy is concerned, population growth is “nothing but good news.”

“Every new household that moves to Florida needs a place to live, they need food, they need medical care, their children, if they have them, need schooling, and they clothe them. They need all the things that consumers buy,” Snaith says. “So, you know, population growth is one side of the coin. The flip side of that same coin is economic growth…. The more people you have in any regional economy, the more economic activity they will generate.”

Florida is the third-most-populous state in the country. People have been moving there since the 1950s, when air-conditioning first became commonplace, and that influx shows no signs of letting up.

“Unless there’s some sort of a dramatic change to, you know, the environment, politically, economically,” Snaith says, “I just don’t see any kind of factor that would take us off this course that the state’s been on for a long time.”
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Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating says the nation’s agreement to buy and develop a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines in cooperation with Britain and the United States is “the worst deal in all history.” 

Keating attacked the three-nation agreement between Australia, Britain and the United States Wednesday during a speech at the National Press Club in Sydney.   

The multi-decade deal, which could cost Australia as much as $245 billion, was announced Monday by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, British counterpart Rishi Sunak and U.S. President Joe Biden in San Diego under a new trilateral defense partnership known by the acronym AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom and United States). 

The agreement will see American and British nuclear-powered submarines rotating into Australian waters as soon as 2027. By the early 2030s, Australia will buy at least three — and as many as five — U.S.-built nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarines designed to hunt and attack other subs. And the three nations will work together to develop a new nuclear attack submarine — a project that could take two decades. 

Keating dismissed the idea that China poses a military threat to Australia, and said it was “rubbish” that a small fleet of nuclear-powered submarines could defend the country from a Chinese naval fleet. He said Australia could simply sink the fleet “with planes and missiles.” 

The former prime minister, who served in the post from 1991 to 1996, said the nuclear submarine deal is the worst international decision made by a Labor Party government since World War I, when it failed to impose compulsory military service.   

In addition to the new submarine fleet, the AUKUS partnership  will allow the three countries to share information and expertise more easily in key technological areas such artificial intelligence, cybertechnology, quantum technologies, underwater systems and long-range strike capabilities. 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press. 
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In his first stop on a two-country visit to Africa, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

The trip is part of an effort to deepen U.S. engagement with the continent. U.S.-Ethiopia relations have been strained in the past two years due to a brutal civil war that left an estimated 500,000 civilians dead due to violence, starvation and lack of medical attention. Thousands more were displaced.

Blinken is scheduled to meet with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Wednesday. He is also expected to meet with Tigrayan officials.

His trip will focus on the implementation of a peace deal brokered last November that ended hostilities in the country’s northern Tigray region.

Sarah Yager, Washington director at Human Rights Watch, said that Abiy is hoping to secure economic aid and a pledge of “normalized relations” from Blinken, although the country is still not at peace.

“There is a cessation of hostilities agreement, which has, in fact, brought some relief to the suffering of the people of Ethiopia. Particularly in the north, in the Tigray region,” Yager told VOA. “Some aid can get through, communications are flowing, fuel prices are down, food prices are down, all of this is very positive.”

In January, Tigrayan forces said they began handing over tanks and heavy weapons as part of the peace deal.

But despite gains made since the peace deal, human rights advocates say there’s more work ahead.

“It is not all sunshine and roses,” Yager added. “There are still abuses happening throughout, not just the Tigray region, but in other parts of the country.”

Kate Hixon, Africa advocacy director at Amnesty International USA, argued that Blinken should center all his engagements with the government of Ethiopia around human rights.

“There still needs to be improved access throughout the country for humanitarian actors and human rights monitors,” Hixon said. “We also still need to see more commitment on justice and accountability and would really like for Secretary Blinken to push that.”

Earlier this year, France and Germany’s foreign ministers visited Ethiopia, touring a warehouse stocked with humanitarian aid and holding talks with leaders. They called for establishing a transitional justice mechanism to punish human rights abuses committed during the conflict, saying there can be no reconciliation without accountability.

“Ethiopia has been backsliding on democracy and freedoms across the country, and abuses are still continuing in some of those same places where the worst suffering has happened. So, we are seeing detentions, killings, sexual violence,” Yager said. “These things are still ongoing and so that’s why we want to see Secretary Blinken deliver some tough messages about accountability when he is there.”

In February, the government of Ethiopia announced that there is a resolution to terminate the mandate of an International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, a body tasked to investigate crimes committed during the war.

Although the government of Ethiopia has made efforts domestically to investigate human rights abuses, Hixon said the government should also allow international efforts.

“All parties to the war have committed unspeakable abuses including mass extrajudicial killings, sexual violence against women and girls,” she told VOA. “There has been an accountability deficit that has really permeated the conflict. And the commission is one way to make sure that there is documentation of some of these abuses and potential for accountability down the road.”

The U.S., Hixon added, should support independent civil society efforts to document atrocities.

“We are asking that Blinken make clear that they have support or that the commission has the U.S. support and that they expect the government of Ethiopia to continue to engage with this commission and give unfettered access in the country,” she told VOA.

Blinken will head to Niger on March 16 and become the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit the country. He plans to meet with President Mohamed Bazoum and Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou in Niamey and focus on counterterrorism efforts in the region.
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The Webb Space Telescope has captured the rare and fleeting phase of a star on the cusp of death.

NASA released the picture Tuesday at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas.

The observation was among the first made by Webb following its launch in late 2021. Its infrared eyes observed all the gas and dust flung into space by a huge, hot star 15,000 light years away. A light year is about 5.8 trillion miles.

Shimmering in purple like a cherry blossom, the cast-off material once comprised the star’s outer layer. The Hubble Space Telescope snapped a shot of the same transitioning star a few decades ago, but it appeared more like a fireball without the delicate details.

Such a transformation occurs only with some stars and normally is the last step before they explode, going supernova, according to scientists.

“We’ve never seen it like that before. It’s really exciting,” said Macarena Garcia Marin, a European Space Agency scientist who is part of the project.

This star in the constellation Sagittarius, officially known as WR 124, is 30 times as massive as our sun and already has shed enough material to account for 10 suns, according to NASA.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting Ethiopia and Niger this week as the Biden administration accelerates a push to engage with Africa to counter China’s growing influence on the continent, the State Department said. 

Blinken is visiting Addis Ababa and will travel to Niamey later in the week to discuss the peace deal that ended hostilities in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region and counterterrorism efforts aimed at Islamic extremists in Niger and the Sahel more broadly. 

His trip will be the fourth high-profile visit to Africa this year by top members of the Biden administration. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and first lady Jill Biden have already gone there. 

Blinken plans to meet with both Ethiopian and Tigrayan officials in Addis Ababa and will be the first secretary of state ever to visit Niger, which has hosted U.S. military operations targeting Islamic State affiliates in the area. 

In discussions with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Tigrayan officials, the State Department said Blinken would focus on “implementation of the cessation of hostilities agreement to advance peace and promote transitional justice in northern Ethiopia.” 

The Tigray conflict led the U.S. to suspend some preferential trade agreements with Ethiopia, which the country is eager to have restored. But the top U.S. diplomat for Africa said Friday that a full normalization of relations will depend on more action from Addis Ababa, particularly after the “earth-shattering” Tigray conflict. 

“What we’re looking to do is refashion our engagement with Ethiopia,” said Molly Phee, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs. “We would like to be able to have a partnership that is commensurate with their size and influence and with our interest and commitment to Africa.” 

“But to put that relationship in a forward trajectory we will continue to need steps by Ethiopia to help break the cycle of ethnic/political violence that has set the country back for so many decades,” she said. 

The conflict in Tigray erupted a year after Abiy received the Nobel Peace Prize for making peace with longtime rival Eritrea. The Ethiopian and Eritrean governments saw the Tigray regional leaders, who had long dominated Ethiopia’s government before Abiy took office, as a common threat. 

An estimated 500,000 civilians were killed in the two-year conflict that ended with a peace agreement signed in South Africa in November. U.S. officials mediated in that deal. 

The conflict cut off the Tigray region of more than 5 million people, with humanitarian aid often blocked and basic services severed while health workers pleaded for the simplest of medical supplies.

In a meeting with the Addis Ababa-based African Union Commission chair, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Blinken will also try to blunt both Chinese and Russian attempts to win support from African nations over Russia’s war with Ukraine; a topic that has raised considerable concerns amongst formerly colonized states. 
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The U.S. military says a Russian fighter jet collided Tuesday with a U.S. intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance drone operating within international airspace over the Black Sea, causing the drone to crash.
A U.S. military official told VOA the unmanned U.S. MQ-9 has not yet been recovered.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the United States is summoning the Russian ambassador over the incident.

“We are engaging directly with the Russians, again at senior levels, to convey our strong objections to this unsafe, unprofessional intercept, which caused the downing of the unmanned U.S. aircraft.”

He added that U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy “has conveyed a strong message to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

U.S. President Joe Biden was briefed about the incident, according to White House spokesman John Kirby.

“If the message [from Russia] is that they want to deter or dissuade us from flying and operating in international airspace over the Black Sea then that message will fail because that is not going to happen,” Kirby told VOA. 

“We are going to continue to fly and operate in international airspace over international waters. The Black Sea belongs to no one nation and we’re going to continue to do what we need to do for our own national security interests in that part of the world.”

According to U.S. European Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in Europe, two Russian Su-27 aircraft “dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner.”

“One of the Russian Su-27 aircraft struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters. … This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional,” EUCOM added.

U.S. Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, commander, U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, said in a press release that the collision had “nearly caused both aircraft to crash.”

EUCOM called on Russian forces to act “professionally and safely,” while warning that these types of acts are “dangerous and could lead to miscalculation and unintended escalation.”

Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.
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