National / International News

Latvian rescue services have picked up dozens of people trapped on ice floes that wind drove out to the Bay of Riga.

Indian mothers are more likely to get more prenatal care when they're having a boy, health economists say. These small decisions about iron supplements and tetanus shots can have a profound effect on a girl's life, the researchers argue.

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The housing recovery is well on its way, economists say, and Americans are becoming more comfortable spending on things like remodeling, moving, gardening and furniture. One economist expects increased housing wealth to boost consumer spending by $100 billion this year.

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A U.S. attorney said "good corporate citizens" have an obligation curb the sale of illegal drugs. UPS, the government said, was aware some of its customers were ordering controlled substances illegally.

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This model was hailed as a success in Somalia and is now being marshaled to fight rebels in the eastern Congo. It involves Western nations providing financial support to African troops who do the peacekeeping. But why are African countries so silent about their casualty figures?

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At least three people have been killed and dozens are missing after a multi-storey building collapsed in the Tanzanian commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.

Victims of crime are being put under extreme duress, leading to injustices, due to a lack of awareness of the Victims' Code by those working in the justice system, a watchdog warns.

Two Libyans are arrested over claims they sexually assaulted two British aid workers near the eastern city of Benghazi, officials say.

US President Barack Obama appeals for increased private investment in infrastructure, saying it will create jobs and boost the US economy.

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses," reads a plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty, but these days we might want to add "your rich and well-heeled." The U.S. government has been issuing a growing number of so-called EB-5 visas, which grant residency to immigrants who invest at least half a million dollars in the U.S. and create or save no less than 10 jobs.

Meet EB-5 visa holder Runhao Zeng, who goes by Philip. Zeng is a finance major at UCLA and one of about 1,500 foreign nationals who got an EB-5 visa in 2011.  

He got the visa because his dad, a wealthy Chinese businessman in the precious metals industry, was able to plunk down a $500,000 investment in Brooklyn's new Barclay's Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets.

"In an investment there is always risk, but that risk is pretty minimum because we know that the Nets have been a pretty good team," Zeng says.

The catch is that in exchange for visas, the Zengs' investment must satisfy a government review that it created or saved 10 American jobs.

Last year the number of EB-5 visa holders grew to 3,600. This year, it's predicted to be closer to 10,000.

Recipients are mostly businessmen and entrepreneurs. Zeng says those are exactly the kind of people the United States needs to revive its tepid economy.

"From an American point of view, I think it's a good policy, because think about it, you have to put $500,000 away for five years," says Zeng. "I mean your family has to be in really good standing in society."

So people like Zeng get a U.S. visa, businesses can access capital, projects get launched, jobs are created. What's not to like?

"Well, the first concern is that we shouldn't be selling U.S. citizenship, because that's what we're doing, secondly, if we are going to sell U.S. citizenship let's at least charge more for it," says Mark Krirkorian, the director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a DC think tank which favors tighter immigration controls. "That's ridiculous. I mean, that's banana republic level of policy."

Krirkorian says if we are going to be selling green cards, the cost should more like $10 million, and it should go directly to the treasury, not developers.

But cities across the country don't necessarily see it that way. Over the past couple years publicly funded economic development offices have opened in communities specifically to attract foreign investment to local projects…and the carrot?

"The visa is everything, the visa is the carrot," says Tim Nowak, head of the Gateway to the Midwest Investment Center, which opened this week in St. Louis.

Nowak says the EB-5 program has filled the void left behind by tighter lending standards at banks. On top of that, the interest rates paid to EB-5 investors is often much lower than what banks charge.

"So, the project wins because it's cheaper money, and the investor wins because their ultimate return is their permanent residency here in the United States."

Since it was established 20 years ago, federal officials say, the EB-5 program has attracted $2.2 billion in investment, but that's less than one percent of the total pool of direct foreign investment in the U.S. today.

The medical director of the NHS defends the suspension of child heart surgery at Leeds General Infirmary while a safety review is carried out.

Officials say the Department of Justice is reconsidering criminal charges in an incident that killed two teenagers.

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"Cyro," under development at Virginia Tech, looks and moves like a jellyfish. Researchers say it could be used for studying the oceans and cleaning up oil spills.

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Every year thousands of people make a pilgrimage down the state highway toward the Catholic shrine in Chimayo, N.M. They gather there to pray for forgiveness and healing.

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At least three people are killed and dozens more trapped after a multi-storey building collapses in the main Tanzanian city, Dar es Salaam, rescuers say.

The man allegedly provided fake documentation and 42,000 pounds of Muenster cheese was loaded onto his truck.

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The outgoing editor of The Archers, Vanessa Whitburn, says she was "cyber-bullied" by listeners over some of the BBC Radio 4 show's storylines.

Security for this year's Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race is stepped up, with the Royal Marines lending support.

The Central African Republic's new leader says his government will look into mining contracts signed with South African and Chinese companies.

The sand is pumped underground along with water and other chemicals to extract oil and natural gas trapped deep in rock. But researchers found that air samples taken at some drilling sites contained high enough levels of very fine silica particles to be dangerous to workers.

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