Many international students hope to launch careers in the US. Their pathways may dim under Trump
Zeng said he has been rethinking his plans because of the Trump administration's pledge to aggressively revoke the visas of Chinese students. Having completed a masters degree in science and management, he is thinking about moving to Europe. Or going home to China.
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CTV News
37 minutes ago
- CTV News
Bolivia's presidential vote headed for first-ever runoff between centrist, right-wing candidates
LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivians were headed for an unprecedented runoff presidential election following a vote Sunday in which a dark horse centrist, Senator Rodrigo Paz, drew more votes than the right-wing front-runners, although not enough to secure an outright victory, according to early results. Paz, a moderate who has sought to soften the edges of the opposition's push for tough austerity to rescue Bolivia from economic collapse, will face off against right-wing former President Jorge 'Tuto' Quiroga, who finished second, on Oct. 19. With over 91% of the ballots counted Sunday, Paz had received 32.8% of the votes cast. Quiroga had 26.4%. Candidates needed to surpass 50%, or 40% with a 10-point margin of victory, to avoid a runoff. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below. LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) -- After a lackluster campaign overshadowed by a looming economic collapse, millions of Bolivians voted on Sunday for a new president and parliament in elections that could see a right-wing government elected for the first time in over two decades. The vote, which could spell the end of the Andean nation's long-dominant leftist party, is one of the most consequential for Bolivia in recent times -- and one of the most unpredictable. Ballot stations closed at 4 p.m. local time. Private exit polls, released as vote counting was still underway late Sunday, gave dark-horse centrist candidate Rodrigo Paz a surprise lead over the right-wing front-runners. In the run-up to Sunday, a remarkable 30% or so of voters remained undecided. Polls consistently showed the two leading right-wing candidates, multimillionaire business owner Samuel Doria Medina and former President Jorge Fernando 'Tuto' Quiroga, locked in a virtual dead heat. 'The economy is a disaster right now, so all I could bring myself to do was vote for change,' said Eileen Mirabal, a 30-year-old psychologist and Doria Medina supporter displaying her ink-stained thumb outside a polling station in the country's capital of La Paz. Voting is mandatory in Bolivia, where some 7.9 million Bolivians are eligible to vote. 'I have rarely, if ever, seen a situational tinderbox with as many sparks ready to ignite,' said Daniel Lansberg-Rodriguez, founding partner of New York-based Aurora Macro Strategies firm. Bolivia could follow rightward trend The election marks a watershed moment for the Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party, whose founder, charismatic ex-President Evo Morales, rose to power as part of the 'pink tide' of leftist leaders that swept into office across Latin America during the commodities boom of the early 2000s. Now shattered by infighting, the party is battling for its survival in Sunday's elections. The outcome will determine whether Bolivia -- a nation of 12 million people with the largest lithium reserves on Earth -- follows a growing trend in Latin America, where right-wing leaders like Argentina's libertarian Javier Milei, Ecuador's strongman Daniel Noboa and El Salvador's conservative populist Nayib Bukele have surged in popularity. A right-wing government in Bolivia could trigger a major geopolitical realignment for a country now allied with Venezuela's socialist-inspired government and world powers such as China, Russia and Iran. Bolivians bitter as they vote for the `lesser evil' Bolivians waiting to vote at polling stations across La Paz, the country's capital, expressed confused, cynical and bitter emotions -- fed by an annual inflation rate of more than 16%, a scarcity of fuel and absence of hope for swift improvement. Several said they were voting for 'el menos peor,' the lesser evil. The right-wing opposition candidates bill the race as a chance to chart a new destiny for Bolivia. But both front-runners, Doria Medina and Quiroga, have served in past neoliberal governments and ran for president three times before -- losing at least twice to Morales. 'People were waiting for a new, popular candidate, and in this, the opposition failed us,' said Ronaldo Olorio, a 50-year-old farmer from the coca-growing Yungas region and former Morales supporter. 'My vote is one of anger, of discontent. I don't like Doria Medina or Quiroga. But I have to vote for one of the two.' An election day ban on the use of all but authorized vehicles left the normally bustling streets of La Paz and neighboring El Alto deserted on Sunday, reflecting the somber mood. The government also imposed a dry law forbidding the sale of alcohol and reported arresting hundreds of violators. Right-wing contenders vow to restore U.S. relations Doria Medina and Quiroga have praised the Trump administration and vowed to restore ties with the United States -- ruptured in 2008 when Morales expelled the American ambassador. They also have expressed interest in doing business with Israel, which has no diplomatic relations with Bolivia, and called for foreign private companies to develop Bolivia's abundant natural resources. After storming to office in 2006, Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous president, nationalized the nation's oil and gas industry, using the profits to reduce poverty, expand infrastructure and improve the lives of the rural poor. After three consecutive presidential terms, as well as a contentious bid for an unprecedented fourth in 2019 that set off popular unrest and led to his ouster, Morales has been barred from this race by Bolivia's constitutional court. His ally-turned-rival, President Luis Arce, withdrew from the race due to his plummeting popularity and nominated a senior minister, Eduardo del Castillo, to be candidate for the MAS party. Del Castillo was heckled by angry voters Sunday while casting his ballot in Bolivia's conservative business hub of Santa Cruz. 'Why don't you line up like we do for diesel?' some yelled. As the MAS party splintered, Andronico Rodriguez, the 36-year-old president of the Senate who hails from the same union of coca farmers as Morales, launched his bid. Tensions run high in Morales' stronghold Rather than back the leftist candidate once considered his heir, Morales has branded Rodriguez a traitor. From his political stronghold in Bolivia's tropical region of Chapare, Morales has urged his supporters to deface their ballots in protest over his disqualification. The long-serving leader has been holed up in Chapare for months, evading an arrest warrant on charges related to his sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. Authorities have been warning that violence could erupt there as Morales' fervent supporters mobilize against elections. The president of Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Oscar Hassenteufel, said the day passed peacefully with 'some isolated incidents that have not affected the vote.' In one of those incidents, a dynamite stick was tossed outside the polling station where Rodriguez planned to vote, said prosecutor Juan Carlos Campero. It exploded a few hours before the candidate's arrival, injuring one person, he told reporters. In another, Rodriguez was met with a barrage of bottles and rocks from Morales' supporters as he cast his ballot. The young candidate emerged unscathed, leaving without a word as the crowd shouted, 'Get out!' Nearby Morales slipped his null-and-void ballot into the box, surrounded by coca-growing union activists who formed a human chain to protect him from arrest. He flashed a rare smile as supporters showered him in white confetti. 'I'm convinced that if there's no fraud, the null vote will win,' he said after voting. Conservative candidates say austerity needed Doria Medina and Quiroga have warned of the need for a painful fiscal adjustment, including the elimination of Bolivia's food and fuel subsidies, to save the nation from insolvency. Some analysts caution this risks sparking social unrest. 'A victory for either right-wing candidate could have grave repercussions for Bolivia's Indigenous and impoverished communities,' said Kathryn Ledebur, director of the Andean Information Network, a Bolivian research group. 'Both candidates could bolster security forces and right-wing para-state groups, paving the way for violent crackdowns on protests expected to erupt over the foreign exploitation of lithium and drastic austerity measures.' If, as is widely expected, no presidential candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, or 40% of the vote with a lead of 10 percentage points, the top two candidates will compete in a runoff on Oct. 19 for the first time since Bolivia's 1982 return to democracy. All 130 seats in Bolivia's Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Parliament, are also up for grabs, along with 36 in the Senate, the upper house. Isabel Debre, The Associated Press
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
Bolivia's presidential vote headed for first-ever runoff between centrist, right-wing candidates
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivians were headed for an unprecedented runoff presidential election following a vote Sunday in which a dark horse centrist, Senator Rodrigo Paz, drew more votes than the right-wing front-runners, although not enough to secure an outright victory, according to early results. Paz, a moderate who has sought to soften the edges of the opposition's push for tough austerity to rescue Bolivia from economic collapse, will face off against right-wing former President Jorge 'Tuto' Quiroga, who finished second, on Oct. 19.
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
B.C. canola growers brace for new Chinese tariffs as harvest approaches
B.C. canola farmers are staring down millions in losses after China slapped new anti-dumping duties on Canadian canola just weeks before harvest begins. The retaliatory 75.8 per cent tariff on canola seed is the latest volley in the ongoing trade fight between the two countries. While farmers brace for the hit, experts are asking whether Canada's own 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) are worth the cost, and if they should be scrapped in hopes China will reverse its canola tariff. Ernest Wiebe, who farms 800 acres of canola in Montney near Fort St. John, B.C., says producers are feeling discouraged by a recent drop in price for their crops. The price per bushel had been $15 to $16 earlier this year, but it's since dropped to about $12.50 to $13.20 a bushel, Wiebe said. And it's a long way off from the highs of $27 a bushel seen in 2022. "With all the uncertainty and stress of tariffs, and anti-dumping duties, we have seen a significant slide in our prices," he said. Doing the math A price drop by about $3 per bushel can wipe out between $120 and $180 an acre, depending on yield, according to Wiebe, who sits on the board of the Canadian Canola Growers Association. For the roughly 290 producers in the Peace Region, who seed up to 110,000 acres a year and grow 95 per cent of B.C.'s canola, that's a massive hit. Most of the crop is bound for China, where it's crushed and processed into cooking oil. Meanwhile, input costs keep climbing. Fertilizer alone is up $200 a metric ton this year, Wiebe said, on top of higher bills for land, fuel, equipment, and taxes. The growing price gap could mean tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, in losses for the average farmer, and millions for B.C.'s economy. WATCH | Canola farmers brace for tariff impact: Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola have farmers bracing for the worst 3 days ago A new Chinese tariff of over 75 per cent on Canadian canola seed takes effect today, effectively closing Canada's biggest export market for the product. The tariffs are an escalation in a mounting trade dispute between the two countries. "Overall, farmers [are] incredibly discouraged, and looking at it and going, 'Well, how are we going to make this all work?'" said Wiebe. B.C. growers are hoping for an average or slightly above-average crop this year. But a very dry May followed by late June rains has delayed maturity, raising the risk that bad weather — possibly even snow — could interfere with harvest. Pressure on Ottawa Werner Antweiler, an associate professor at University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business, says he is worried about farmers suffering the consequences of "arbitrary" Canadian tariffs. The canola tariffs came after Canada's 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese EVs, and Antweiler says the EV tariffs weren't based on a proper investigation under World Trade Organization (WTO) principles. "We should definitely revisit this issue and, in that way, also maybe reduce the countervailing duties that we now see on canola exports." Stuart Smyth, a professor of agriculture and resource economics at the University of Saskatchewan, believes China's new tariffs are a strategic move to push down international canola prices before China buys large volumes at a discount. Similar tariffs in 2019 and 2020 cost the canola industry $2.3 billion, he said. "If this stays in for six or eight months, we could be looking at billions of dollars in costs," Smyth told CBC Radio West host Sarah Penton. China claims Canada is dumping canola below the cost of production, which the federal government denies. Smyth says Canada doesn't subsidize crops like other countries do, nor does it promote exports with subsidies. Canada and China are challenging each other at the WTO, and while Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government is working with industry to find solutions, Smyth doesn't expect much of a response. He believes Carney is prioritizing the steel, aluminum, and auto sectors to save jobs in southern Ontario, where there's a high density of voters. "The federal government has been very reserved on reaching out to China, having consultations, or even trying to set up discussions with them," Smyth said. Farmers running out of time Wiebe says the federal government needs to strike a deal with China soon, even if that means walking back its EV tariffs. "If that could be resolved, and the tariffs, or the anti-dumping duty in this case, lifted, I believe our canola price would probably jump $2 to $3 a bushel probably within the next week." Some may pivot from canola if profitability keeps sliding, Wiebe said, but planting other crops like wheat or oats has risks of its own. Flooding those markets could only end up driving down those prices too. "We're price takers," he said. "We can only sell at what the market offers."
