In a sprawling California congressional district that includes some of the nation’s richest farmland and part of one of its poorest cities, a first-time candidate, a Cambodian-American woman, is taking on a well-entrenched Democrat, a white man. Neither reflects the 16th District’s majority, the 58 percent of residents who identify as Hispanic or Latino. Slightly more than 25 percent identify as white, like Rep. Jim Costa, the Democratic incumbent, and only 8.6 percent are Asian, like Elizabeth Heng, the Republican challenger. Blacks and others make up the remaining chunk of voters. Republican Heng, 33, a graduate of Fresno public schools, Stanford and Yale universities, aims to flip the district, long dependably Democratic.  “I truly believe that we need new voices with fresh perspective to fight for our community,” said Heng in an interview with VOA Khmer. Although this is her first run for an elected position, Heng is the first …

U.S. President Donald Trump has not “set in stone” any decisions on escalating tariffs on Chinese goods and may withdraw some duties if there are promising policy discussions with China, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Wednesday. Kudlow said on CNBC that the meeting agenda between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of November in Buenos Aires has not yet been worked out, but “we may have a very good meeting in Argentina with President Xi.” Asked about whether Trump would proceed with tariffs if the meeting fails to ease trade tensions, Kudlow said: “I would say nothing is set in stone right now. By the way, the president on one of the cable shows, did say – it didn’t get picked up – that if some kind of amicable deal with China were to happen, then a lot of tariffs might be pulled back.” …

Japan’s central government resumed work at a disputed U.S. military base relocation site on Okinawa Thursday even though residents see the project as an undemocratic imposition on the small southern island. An early stage of landfill work at Henoko on Okinawa’s east coast began Thursday morning, following the central government’s decision this week to reverse Okinawa’s earlier ban on landfill work at the site, said Satoshi Shirakata, a spokesman at the Okinawa Defense Bureau overseeing the project. Construction workers were setting up floats using a crane to mark the designated landfill area, making it off-limits to the public, as protesters gathered in paddle boats nearby and dozens of other demonstrators gathered outside a nearby U.S. base to protest.​ Official: Troops burdensome “It’s outrageous,” Okinawa’s Deputy Gov. Kiichiro Janaha told reporters in the prefectural capital of Naha, according to NHK television. “The central government is not considering Okinawa’s feelings at all.” …

President Donald Trump on Wednesday kicked off his final campaign rally blitz before the midterm elections by accusing the media of sowing division and stoking fears about illegal immigration. Trump’s rally in Estero, just outside Fort Myers, was the first of 11 events he will hold across eight battlefield states over the next six days as he tries to bolster Republican turnout and counter Democratic enthusiasm heading into Election Day, which will determine whether the GOP retains control of Congress. The president continued the grievance-airing that has long been a fixture of his rallies, seizing on news reports about protests during his Tuesday visit to Pittsburgh, where he paid his respects to the 11 people killed at a synagogue in the worst anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. Media and caravan He said any protests there were small and far away from him, and he called reporting to the contrary “fake …

The National Rifle Association, long seen as a kingmaker in Republican politics, is taking a lower profile in this year’s high-stakes midterm campaign, a sign of the shifting dynamics of the gun debate as the GOP fights to maintain its grip on Congress. The NRA has put $11 million into midterm races this year, less than half what it spent four years ago in a campaign that gave Republicans full control of Congress. This year’s totals are also far below the $54 million the group spent in 2016 on both the presidential and congressional races. The shift comes as spending to support tougher gun control measures has surged. Everytown for Gun Safety, a group founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, pledged $30 million for this year’s election, and has continued to put new money into competitive races in the final days. A political action committee formed by …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday the United States was engaged in a “multipronged effort … to convince China to behave like a normal nation on commerce” and respect international law after Washington indicted 10 Chinese nationals in the stealing aviation secrets. Speaking in a radio interview, Pompeo called China’s behavior in stealing intellectual property “inappropriate” and “not consistent with being a superpower or a leader in the world.” “Stealing another country’s intellectual property, something China’s been engaged in to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, is just something China has to figure out a way to stop,” he told the Brian Kilmeade Show. Biggest national security challenge Pompeo also told the Laura Ingraham radio show that over the long term, China was probably the biggest national security challenge facing the United States and the Trump administration was pushing back “on all fronts.” “Where the semiconductor …

The U.S. government is monitoring for possible foreign interference in Tuesday’s congressional elections and is prepared to sanction any company or individual involved in such activity, a senior intelligence official said Wednesday. “We remain concerned about interference coming from Russia, China and Iran,” the official said in a phone briefing with reporters to discuss federal government plans to help secure the Nov. 6 elections. The official provided no details about specific threats of foreign influence during the call, but said the intelligence community is prepared to identify individuals who meddle in the voting process. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election in a bid to bolster support for Donald Trump and have more recently accused Moscow of seeking to influence the outcome of next week’s congressional elections. Russia has denied the allegations. While speaking at the United Nations last month, Trump accused China of …