Category: Новини

усі новини

Влада, Новини, Україна

Україна перебуває на передовій інформаційної війни – посол Йованович

Посол США у Києві Марі Йованович заявляє, що Україна перебуває на передовій інформаційної війни, а українські журналісти – в авангарді цієї битви. Про це вона сказала 27 квітня у Києві на міжнародній медіаконференції, де взяли участь представники регіональних ЗМІ країни.

Йованович закликала українських журналістів у своїй роботі «спиратися на факти й бути об’єктивними».

«Ми вважаємо, що подальший рух України на шляху реформ – найкращий спосіб урятувати її суверенітет, урятувати від зовнішніх загроз, російської агресії. Але це нелегко. Багато викликів, одна з найбільших проблем – поширення дезінформації. Тому дуже важливо, щоб Україна мала такі ЗМІ, яким довіряють, які можуть вести боротьбу з дезінформацією, яка стала зброєю», – зазначила посол США в Україні.

Міжнародна медіаконференція, присвячена 15-річчю Програми партнерства в галузі мас-медіа в Україні (UMPP), відбулась у Києві 27 квітня за участі представників українських міністерств і регіональних ЗМІ. Організаторами конференції виступили IREX (Україна) і посольство США в Україні.

У березні 2017 року понад 90 політиків, політичних експертів і громадських активістів із різних країн підписали відкритий лист на адресу керівника європейської дипломатії Федеріки Моґеріні, в якому закликали «сприймати всерйоз загрозу з боку російської дезінформації».

У листі, ініціатором якого є чеська громадська організація «Європейські цінності», йдеться про те, що «агресивні дії Кремля є безпрецедентними для сучасної епохи», а також міститься заклик потроїти ресурси нового відділу Європейської служби зовнішньої дії, що займається розвінчанням російської пропаганди й фейкових новин.
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Влада, Новини, Україна

Угорські митники затримали контрабандний бурштин і сигарети з України – Луценко

Генеральний прокурор України Юрій Луценко повідомляє про затримання митниками Угорщини у транспорті, який виїхав з України, контрабанду – понад 125 тисяч пачок сигарет і 916 кілограмів бурштину-сирцю.

«Слідчим прокуратури Закарпатської області повідомлено про підозру у вчиненні кримінального правопорушення, передбаченого ч.2 ст.364 КК України головному державному інспектору МП «Тиса» Берчі В.В., який проводив митне оформлення транспортного засобу, йому вручено клопотання про обрання запобіжного заходу у вигляді тримання під вартою», – написав Луценко 27 квітня у Facebook.

За поданням прокуратури керівництво посту та відділу «Тиса» відсторонене від служби. 
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Влада, Новини, Україна

У Черкасах арештували депутата облради від Радикальної партії

Придніпровський райсуд Черкас обрав депутату обласної ради від Радикальної партії запобіжний захід у вигляді тримання під вартою з можливістю внесення застави у 3 мільйони гривень.

«27 квітня у Придніпровському районному суді Черкас задоволено клопотання прокуратури Черкаської області про обрання депутату обласної ради, який незаконно заволодів цілісним майновим комплексом державного підприємства вартістю майже 55 мільйонів гривень, запобіжного заходу у вигляді взяття під варту. Слідчим суддею вказаній вище особі обрано запобіжний захід у вигляді тримання під вартою строком на два місяці, з можливістю внесення застави в розмірі 3 мільйони гривень», – повідомили у прокуратурі Черкащини.

25 квітня прокуратура Черкаської області повідомили про підозру у розкраданні держмайна в особливо великих розмірах колишньому директору державного підприємства «Хліб України» у місті Тальне, депутату Черкаської облради.

Ім’я підозрюваного не називають.
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

Boris Johnson Says UK Likely to Strike Syria if Asked by US

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Thursday that the U.K. will probably join the United States in further military action against Syria if asked to do so, whether or not Parliament gets a vote on it.

 

Johnson said it would be “very difficult to say no” if the U.S. sought British help for a military mission against the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

 

British lawmakers in 2013 rejected a request by then-Prime Minister David Cameron to authorize U.K. airstrikes in response to Assad’s use of chemical weapons. Britain is part of an international coalition targeting the Islamic State group in Syria, but has not taken military action against Assad.

 

Asked if Parliament would be asked to approve any new military deployment ahead of time, Johnson said “I think it would be very difficult for us to say no. How exactly we were able to implement that would be for the government, for the prime minister.”

 

Parliament will be dissolved next week ahead of Britain’s June 8 election, so lawmakers would not be able to vote on a request for military assistance before then.

 

President Donald Trump ordered a cruise missile attack against a Syrian air base earlier this month in response to Assad’s apparent use of a banned nerve agent against a rebel-controlled area.

 

U.S. officials have said further attacks are likely if Assad uses chemical weapons again.

 

Johnson’s remarks appeared intended to signal to voters that the Conservative government is tough on security and defense. He contrasted the stance to that of opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, a foreign-policy dove who wants Britain to give up its nuclear weapons.

 

Writing in The Sun newspaper, Johnson called Corbyn “a mutton-headed old mugwump” with “no grasp of the need for this country to be strong in the world.”

 

Corbyn said he would not be “reduced to personal name-calling,” and said the priority for Syria was finding a political solution to the conflict.

 

“We approach this in a responsible, serious way — I leave that kind of language to others,” he said.

 

 
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Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

White House Backs Off as Lawmakers Work to Avert Shutdown

Lawmakers are nearing agreement on sweeping spending legislation to keep the lights on in government, after the White House backed off a threat to withhold payments that help lower-income Americans pay their medical bills.

 

It was the latest concession by the White House, which had earlier dropped a demand for money for President Donald Trump’s border wall. Even with Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress and the White House, the Trump administration is learning that Democrats retain significant leverage when their votes are needed on must-pass legislation.

 

A temporary funding bill expires Friday at midnight, and GOP leaders late Wednesday unveiled another short-term spending bill to prevent a government shutdown this weekend, something Republicans are determined to avoid.

 

There appears little chance of that as lawmakers worked to resolve final stumbling blocks on issues like the environment, though a short-term extension of existing funding levels is likely.

 

“The fundamental issue is keeping the government open, that’s our focus,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., a top member of the vote-counting team in the House.

 

At the same time, House Republicans had a breakthrough on their moribund health care legislation as a key group of conservatives, the House Freedom Caucus, announced it would support a revised version of the bill. Freedom Caucus opposition was a key ingredient in the legislation’s collapse a month ago, a humiliating episode for Republicans that called into question their ability to govern given that they’ve been promising for seven years to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

 

Yet whether the Freedom Caucus support would be enough remained uncertain. One key moderate, GOP Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, dismissed the Freedom Caucus about-face as “a matter of blame-shifting and face-saving” for a bill going nowhere. Even if the legislation passes the House it will face major hurdles in the Senate and is certain to be extensively revised if it survives at all.

 

The changes in the bill would let states escape requirements under Obama’s health care law that insurers charge healthy and seriously ill customers the same rates, and cover a list of specified services like maternity care. Conservatives embraced the revisions as a way to lower people’s health care expenses, but moderates saw them as diminishing coverage.

 

Despite some optimism among House leaders for a quick vote on the health bill, the outcome was difficult to predict. The White House has been exerting intense pressure on House GOP leaders to deliver any tangible legislative accomplishments ahead of Trump’s 100-day mark, something that has yet to occur aside from Senate confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

 

The massive spending measure, which would wrap together 11 unfinished spending bills into a single “omnibus” bill, represents the first real bipartisan legislation of Trump’s presidency.

 

Democratic votes are needed to pass the measure over tea party opposition in the House and to provide enough support to clear a filibuster hurdle in the Senate, which has led negotiators to strip away controversial policy riders and ignore an $18 billion roster of unpopular spending cuts submitted by White House budget director Mick Mulvaney.

 

The outlines of a potential agreement remained fuzzy, but aides familiar with the talks said Trump would emerge with border security funding that’s unrelated to the wall and a $15 billion down payment for military readiness accounts on top of $578 billion in already-negotiated Pentagon funding. Democrats won funding for medical research, Pell Grants and foreign aid.

 

But negotiators rejected Trump’s demands for $1 billion to begin construction of his promised wall along the length of the 2,000-mile (3218.54-kilometer) U.S.-Mexico border. And after a dispute between Mulvaney and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the administration agreed to keep funding cost-sharing payments under Obamacare that go to reimburse health insurers for reducing deductibles and co-payments for lower-income people.

 

___

 

Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor and Alan Fram contributed to this report.

 

AP-WF-04-27-17 0724GMT

 
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Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Not Just a Boys’ Club: Women Hooking Into Fishing Industry

“At the beginning of my fishing career, all the world told me that the trade was for men,” says Chrifa Nimri, “but now all my colleagues respect and call me captain.”

The 69-year-old Tunisian fisherwoman is one of a very small female minority in a very male-dominated profession – commercial fishing.

Around the world, the dangerous work of hauling in the catch at sea is overwhelmingly performed by men. But if you expand the definition of fishing to include processers and marketers of seafood, workers in small-scale and artisanal fisheries, and collectors of clams and other shellfish, women account for a substantial part of the global industry.

No women on board

Sara Skamser has worked in or around commercial fishing for nearly her entire adult life. In her early 20s, she arrived on the Oregon coast and collected her first paychecks salmon fishing and crabbing in local waters. Then Skamser asked for jobs on bigger boats home-ported in Newport — better pay and bigger adventure and all. But, she recalls, none of those skippers would hire her.

“No. They said no.” She mimics them. “’Uh, I know you could do the job. Gosh, you’re probably stronger than me. Uhhh, but I don’t think my wife would like it.’ Or, ‘Uhhh. I would feel terrible if you got hurt on my boat.'”

This was in the early 1980s. To this day in the Pacific Northwest, women hold fewer than 4 percent of the commercial fishery licenses issued by the U.S. states. Elsewhere in the world, social norms helped to keep the gender disparity in place. For example, in Mexico, Peru, Senegal and Vietnam, which all have major marine fisheries, 4 percent or fewer of the workers on fishing boats are women.

Changes on shore

But pull back the lens a little bit and there’s evidence of change. Skamser provided one of many oral histories that formed the basis of a research project on the role of women in the northwestern U.S. commercial fishing industry. Grad student Sarah Calhoun and Professor Flaxen Conway of Oregon State University along with the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center researcher Suzanne Russell in Seattle analyzed the results, which were published in the journal Marine Policy.

Conway, a sociologist, says they found women are playing a larger role on the regulatory and business side.

“I think if you look at the scientists, you look at the processing, you look at the marketing. … Once you broaden that out to fisheries in general, then I would absolutely say there are more women in science positions and management positions than there have been in my career, in my 27-year-long career.”

“We’re seeing an increase on the business side more so than ever before,” added social scientist Russell. “Women always worked the business side of things, but now with the complexity and all the reporting, trading and bycatch requirements, it’s pretty intense.”

One of Conway’s takeaways was that the traditional, behind-the-scenes role of a fisherman’s wife has become an increasingly complex and critical job. “Whether it’s regulation, safety, marketing, research, it’s all caring for that fishing family business and making those products get to the table that we enjoy.”

An international look

A separate research team cast a wider net – examining women’s contributions to the fishing industry in Mexico, Peru, Senegal, South Africa and Vietnam. Sarah Harper of the University of British Columbia led that study, whose results appeared in the latest edition of the journal Coastal Management.

“In terms of going out on fishing boats, I think it is still predominantly male-dominated. But certainly when we look at some of the small scale fisheries, the collection of shellfish and fish from shore, women are much more involved and definitely underestimated and undercounted in this area.”

Harper says subsistence fishing by women to feed their families is easily overlooked. So, she says, is who goes crabbing in Vietnam or fishing from boats in lagoons.

When harvest by women is overlooked, Harper says that makes it harder for governments to accurately gauge the pressure on a seafood resource and sustainably manage a fishery.

“When you’re looking at managing fisheries and potentially trying to rebuild fisheries and implement conservation measures, you really need to know who is fishing and where.  If there are fisheries that only men are focused on in certain regions and we’re only focused on those, we’re not getting the whole picture.”

Harper says she is encouraged to see United Nations bodies take an interest in gender equality in fisheries and be more gender-inclusive when making policy and management recommendations.

Hooking new opportunities

Sara Skamser is still involved in the industry, but not on a fishing vessel. She makes her voice heard on several local advisory boards, and founded a successful fishing net and gear company called Foulweather Trawl with her husband in Oregon. She also deals with some of the fishermen who wouldn’t hire her decades ago.

“Bottom line of all of that is that I invoice those people now and occasionally there’s a large invoice. I just look at ’em. I give them the look. Like, ‘Uh, huh. Probably should’ve hired me. You would’ve gotten that for free,'” she says with a chuckle.

There are online forums dedicated to women in fishing and elevating their profile.  One in particular on Facebook called “Chix Who Fish” celebrates victories such as getting a boot maker and a foul weather gear maker to add product lines tailored to the shapes of women’s bodies.

American “chicks” who fish have no use for gender-neutral titles by the way, according to Flaxen Conway. “They don’t want to be called a woman fisherman. They just want to be called a fisherman.”
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

After Whirlpool Battle, Le Pen and Macron Clash 0ver Fish

After “the battle of Whirlpool,” when Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron both went hunting for France’s blue-collar vote at a threatened home appliance factory, the presidential candidates clashed over fish in a return to more traditional campaigning on Thursday.

The anti-European Union far-right populist Le Pen was up before dawn to cruise aboard a fishing trawler on the Mediterranean. The sea trip was her latest television-friendly effort to portray herself as the candidate of France’s workers against the centrist former banker and finance minister Macron, whom she paints as the candidate of the financial, political and pro-EU elite.

 

Macron had a scheduled television appearance on Thursday evening.

 

“My grandfather was a fisherman, so I am in my element,” Le Pen said after her pre-dawn voyage aboard the Grace of God 2 trawler.

 

She said France will take back control of its maritime policies if she is elected in the second-round vote on May 7. She again tore into Macron’s more economically liberal program. Macron fired back on Twitter, saying her proposals to take France out of the EU would sink France’s fishing industry.

 

“Have a nice trip. Europe’s exit she proposes, it’s the end of French fishing. Think about it,” he tweeted.

 

With her sea voyage, Le Pen continued to hammer home the blue-collar theme she sought ownership of Wednesday with her surprise visit to the threatened Whirlpool clothes-dryer factory in northern France.

 

That wily campaign maneuver put Macron on the defensive and prompted him to also meet angry Whirlpool workers later that same day.

 

On Thursday, newspapers and commentators debated which of the two candidates scored the most points in the remarkable Whirlpool drama that highlighted their clash of styles and was broadcast live on French news channels.

 

“War is declared,” ran the front-page headline Thursday of the daily Liberation.

 

Former presidential candidate Francois Bayrou  — a Macron ally — awarded victory to the centrist, saying Macron showed courage by spending over an hour trying to reason with workers at the plant in Amiens.

 

Bayrou, speaking Thursday on BFM television, said Macron’s impromptu visit — his attempt to take back the initiative after Le Pen stole his thunder by popping up before him earlier in the day at the Whirlpool factory gates — could have been “very bad for him.”

 

Macron was whistled and booed when he first arrived, in chaotic scenes. But he stood his ground, patiently and at times passionately debating workers in often heated exchanges about how to stop French jobs from moving abroad.

 

“Arriving to whistles, he [Macron] left shaking hands” and showed his character, Bayrou said.
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

Merkel Urges Britain Against Illusions About EU Rights

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Britons Thursday not to delude themselves that they would continue to enjoy EU rights after Brexit and insisted the bloc would only agree on future ties with London after they have nailed down a deal to leave.

Striking a firm tone in a speech to the Bundestag lower house of parliament before a weekend summit on Brexit, Merkel also said talks on Britain’s financial obligations to the EU would have to be addressed early on in the talks.

“A third state, and that’s what Britain will be, cannot and will not have at its disposal the same rights … as members of the European Union,” Merkel, the EU’s most influential leader, told lawmakers.

“I must say this clearly here because I get the feeling that some people in Britain still have illusions — that would be wasted time,” she said, to loud applause from lawmakers.

Divorce comes first

Arguing that the Brexit talks would only really get going after Britain’s June 8 parliamentary election, Merkel stressed several times that all 27 remaining EU members agreed that the divorce settlement must be sorted out first.

“We can only do an agreement on the future relationship with Britain when all questions about its exit have been cleared up satisfactorily,” she said.

Merkel, a conservative who will seek a fourth term as German chancellor in an election September 24, said one priority would be to protect the interests of EU citizens living in Britain, including 100,000 Germans.

She said she was ready to make “a fair offer” to Britons in Germany if it was reciprocal.

EU ready for talks

Merkel also said the talks would require a lot of effort in the next two years but expressed confidence that the EU side was ready.

“In terms of substance and organization, we are very well prepared,” she said. 
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Влада, Новини, Україна

У Польщі за присутності представника влади розібрали пам’ятник воїнам УПА

У селі Грушовичі в Підкарпатському воєводстві Польщі 26 квітня розібрали пам’ятник воїнам УПА, споруджений на місцевому цвинтарі 23 роки тому.

Село Грушовичі знаходиться поряд із містом Перемишль, де є чимала українська громада. Як повідомляє перемишльський інтернет-сайт portalprzemyski.pl, монумент, встановлений місцевими українцями, демонтували діячі польських націоналістичних організацій.

Під час процесу руйнування пам’ятника на цвинтарі був присутній війт громади, на території якої розміщене грушовицьке кладовище. Пам’ятник зруйнували за дозволом місцевої влади як «нелегально встановлений». Молодики, вбрані у чорні футболки із зображеною на них«антибандерівською» символікою, зняли з аркоподібного монумента металевий тризуб, а сам пам’ятникрозібрали на фрагменти. Діячі націоналістичних організацій, яких цитує перемишльський сайт, обіцяють продовжити демонтаж «нелегальних об’єктів, присвячених УПА». 

Протест з приводу демонтажу пам’ятника на кладовищі у Грушовичах висловило Об’єднання українців Польщі. У своїй заяві організація навзвала подію в селі Грушовичі «черговою антиукраїнською провокацією». Об’єднання українців Польщі наголошує на тому, що демонтаж українського монумента здійснено за два дні до 70-річчя операції «Вісла». Центральні заходи, присвячені цій сумній даті відбуватимуться в Перемишлі з 28 квітня до 1 травня, тож не виключено, що польські радикали прагнуть спровокувати якийсь конфлікт із українською громадою. 

Об’єднання українців Польщі закликало польський уряд до рішучої реакції на антиукраїнську провокацію та до протидії приниженню національної гідності українців. 

Упродовж кількох останніх років пам’ятник воїнам УПА в Грушовичах неодноразово пошкоджували та осквернювали – обливали фарбою, обписували вульгарними та антиукраїнськими написами. Інформація про ці акти вандалізму миттєво з’являлася на інтернет-сайтах проросійських сепаратистів на Донбасі. 
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Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

White House: US Not Withdrawing From NAFTA Now

After reports that President Donald Trump was considering an executive order to withdraw the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement, the White House said Wednesday that Trump agreed not to take such action after phone calls with the leaders of Canada and Mexico.

Since launching his bid for president, Trump has repeatedly criticized the nation’s trade deals, especially NAFTA, saying the agreement signed in 1994 has been a “disaster” and allowed many U.S. jobs to shift to Mexico.

“President Trump agreed to not terminate NAFTA at this time, and the leaders agreed to proceed swiftly, according to their required internal procedures, to enable renegotiation of the NAFTA deal to the benefit of all three countries,” the White House said.

The statement further said Trump is honored to work with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, and that he believes the renegotiation process will make the three countries stronger.

A Mexican government statement confirmed the phone call between Trump and Peña Nieto, saying the leaders agreed on the convenience of maintaining NAFTA and working with Canada to bring about successful negotiations for the benefit of the three nations.

Earlier Wednesday, a Canadian foreign ministry spokesman said Canada is “ready to come to the table at any time.”

Trump targeted Canada this week for what he said was unfair trade practices, and ordered a new 20 percent tariff on Canadian lumber exports.

Many Mexican officials have called NAFTA a disappointment, saying it has brought slow economic growth despite increased investment in factories and industry.

 
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Влада, Новини, Україна

Суд відпустив під домашній арешт директора «СхідГЗК» Сорокіна

Солом’янський суд відпустив під домашній арешт генерального директора державного підприємства «Східний гірничо-збагачувальний комбінат» Олександра Сорокіна.

Як повідомляє кореспондент Радіо Свобода, суд зобов’язав його носити електронний браслет, не має права покидати своє житло на Дніпропетровщині у нічний час, не може спілкуватися з іншими фігурантами справи, зокрема з Миколою Мартиненком і Сергієм Переломою. Також Сорокін має здати паспорти Державній міграційній службі. 

20 квітня детективи НАБУ і прокурори САП затримали двох осіб – колишнього депутата Верховної Ради Миколу Мартиненка та першого заступника голови правління НАК «Нафтогаз України» Сергія Перелому. Їх підозрюють у скоєнні злочинів за ч. 1 ст. 255 (створення злочинної організації) і ч. 5 ст. 191 (привласнення, розтрата майна або заволодіння ним шляхом зловживання службовим становищем) Кримінального кодексу України у рамках справи про розтрату коштів державного підприємства «СхідГЗК». Обидва заперечують свою провину.

22 квітня суд у Києві відпустив Мартиненка і Перелому на поруки. Спеціалізована антикорупційна прокуратура має намір оскаржувати це рішення.

23 квітня НАБУ повідомило про підозру гендиректору «СхідГЗК» Олександру Сорокіну у справі Мартиненка.
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Влада, Новини, Україна

Суд розглядає продовження запобіжного заходу для Насірова (трансляція)

Солом’янський районний суд Києва ввечері 26 квітня розпочав розгляд продовження запобіжного заходу щодо голови Державної фіскальної служби Романа Насірова.

Як повідомляє кореспондент, справу розглядає суддя Вікторія Кицюк, а не Олександр Бобровник як раніше. Бобровник, як повідомляв прокурор, захворів.

Суд пропонував перенести розгляд на 9 ранку четверга. Але адвокати наполягали на розгляді справи зараз, мотивуючи це тим, що у Насірова завтра зранку операція.

Детективи НАБУ на початку березня затримали Насірова і повідомили йому про підозру у зловживанні владою та службовим становищем. Слідство вважає, що Роман Насіров протягом 2015–2016 років, діючи в інтересах депутата Верховної Ради Олександра Онищенка, надав керівникам регіональних і територіальних органів ДФС незаконну вказівку ухвалювати безпідставні рішення про розстрочення податкового боргу трьом компаніям. Такими рішеннями державі завдано збитків на суму майже 2 мільярди гривень. Захист Насірова і він сам ці звинувачення заперечують.

Суд протягом кількох днів обирав Насірову запобіжний захід, 7 березня суд обрав запобіжний захід – тримання під вартою терміном 60 діб з можливістю внесення застави 100 мільйонів гривень, хоча антикорупційна прокуратура просила встановити грошову заставу у розмірі 2 мільярди гривень. Ввечері 16 березня Насіров вийшов із СІЗО в Києві після того, як за нього внесли заставу в 100 мільйонів гривень.

Насіров був призначений головою Державної фіскальної служби у травні 2015 року, до цього він був народним депутатом, він пройшов до Верховної Ради за списками партії «Блок Петра Порошенка».​
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Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

India’s Planned Investment in Sri Lanka’s Trincomalee Port Gets a Push

India’s plans to invest in a strategic port in Sri Lanka as a counterbalance to China’s massive infrastructure investments in the Indian Ocean island country got a push Wednesday as Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited New Delhi.

China’s development of the key Hambantota port in Sri Lanka, which is a gateway to crucial shipping lanes, has raised concerns in New Delhi about Beijing’s widening naval influence in its neighborhood.

In New Delhi, India and Sri Lanka signed a memorandum of understanding on economic cooperation and expressed commitment to its implementation. Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Gopal Baglay, tweeted that it signaled “deepening economic collaboration.”

The specific deal to develop the World War II oil storage facility in the eastern port of Trincomalee, South Asia’s deepest natural harbor, is expected to be signed next month when Modi visits Colombo.

Although India’s planned investment in energy infrastructure in Trincomalee will be far more modest compared to Beijing’s ambitious Hambantota project, analysts say it will enable New Delhi to secure a foothold and ensure that no other country uses the harbor for military purposes.

While Colombo has assured India that Hambantota will be used only for commercial activity, its potential use as a naval base worries New Delhi. Those worries have intensified since a Chinese submarine docked briefly in Colombo port in 2014.

India has long fretted about China’s expanding foothold in the Indian Ocean region through infrastructure projects in countries such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

“We find that India is now getting more and more strategically encircled by economic infrastructure projects,” according to Vijay Sakhuja, Director of the National Maritime Foundation in New Delhi.

Besides Hambantota port in Sri Lanka, he points to China’s building of Gwadar port in Pakistan. Warning that these projects, built to facilitate trade, also have a strategic element, he says, “We should not be surprised by frequent PLA [People’s Liberation Army] navy presence in the Indian Ocean, particularly in Gwadar, which will cause some discomfort to the naval planners in New Delhi.”

For Sri Lanka, India’s planned investment in the energy project in Trincomalee will help counterbalance the massive infrastructure deals signed with China by the former government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had leaned heavily toward Beijing.

“The spin off of that [project] is balancing what is perceived as predominant Chinese influence as far as the economy is concerned,” said Paikiasothy Saravanumuttu at the Center for Policy Alternatives in Colombo.

The new government is trying to move away from the heavy dependance on Beijing for foreign investment. During a recent visit to Tokyo, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe sought Japanese investment for the Colombo and Trincomalee ports.

 
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

South African Court Declares Nuclear Plan with Russia Unlawful

A South African pact with Russia’s Rosatom to build nuclear reactors was deemed unlawful by a High Court on Wednesday, casting fresh doubt over the country’s energy plans.

Operator of Africa’s only nuclear power station, Eskom wants to add 9,600 megawatts (MW) of nuclear capacity — equivalent to up to 10 nuclear reactors — to help wean the economy off of polluting coal in what could one of the world’s biggest nuclear contracts in decades.

South Africa and Russia signed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) in 2014 that sealed a cooperation pact between state-owned nuclear group Rosatom and state-owned utility Eskom.

Judge Lee Bozalek said any request for information to kickstart the procurement process was set aside as was the cooperation pact. The deal had included a favorable tax regime for Russia and placed heavy financial obligations on South Africa, Bozalek said.

“Seen as a whole, the Russian IGA stands well outside the category of a broad nuclear cooperation agreement, and at the very least, sets the parties well on their way to a binding, exclusive agreement in relation to the procurement of new reactor plants from that particular country,” Bozalek said.

The Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute (SAFCEI) and Earthlife Africa-Johannesburg had jointly filed the court application to stop the nuclear program.

“There are no more secret deals and everything has to be done in the open,” said SAFCEI spokeswoman Liz McDaid.

It was not immediately clear whether the government would appeal the ruling. The Department of Energy declined to comment.

The government has downplayed the agreement with Russia, saying it was not a final contract and that an open tender process would still be conducted.

The head of South African nuclear state agency Necsa said last year that Rosatom is not the frontrunner and that the tender would be open to all bidders.

Eskom Chief Nuclear Officer Dave Nicholls said: “We haven’t been through the judgement yet so we can’t comment.”

Rosatom officials in Moscow were not available for immediate comment.

An official at Rosatom’s regional office in Johannesburg said the company “could not comment on legal disputes between South African entities that do not directly involve us.”

Nuclear option

After the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima led many countries to cut back nuclear programs, South Africa is one of the few still considering a major new reactor project and the tender is eagerly awaited by manufacturers from South Korea, France, the United States and China.

 

With U.S. firm Westinghouse in Chapter 11 proceedings and France’s Areva being restructured, Rosatom’s two main competitors are hamstrung by financial difficulties, boosting the Russian firm’s chances.

China has little experience building reactors abroad and Korea’s KEPCO has only one major foreign reactor contract, in the United Arab Emirates.

France, which built South Africa’s two existing reactors, is keen to stay in the race and utility EDF – which is taking over Areva’s reactor manufacturing unit – said last month it would respond to the South Africa’s “request for information.”

With Eskom set to decommission 34 gigawatts of coal-fired power generation over the next 20 years and a lack of large-scale hydro or natural gas plans, nuclear is the best alternative, Eskom’s Nicholls said in an opinion piece in the Sunday Times.

Some economists, however, have questioned whether the country’s ailing economy can afford a nuclear building program they estimate could cost around 1 trillion rand ($76 billion).

Rating agencies S&P Global and Fitch downgraded South Africa’s credit to junk this month over the firing of finance minister Pravin Gordhan, saying the move risked changes to government policy.

Some pundits say Gordhan was axed partly because he resisted pressured by a faction allied to President Jacob Zuma, which criticised Gordhan’s plans to block spending on nuclear expansion.

New Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba has said nuclear expansion will only be pursued if it is affordable.

“This is most probably just another bump in the road and nothing is going to derail the nuclear program,” said Travis Hough, business unit leader for energy & environment at consultancy Frost & Sullivan Africa.
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

Turkish Warplanes Kill 6 Kurdish Militants in Northern Iraq: Army

Turkish warplanes hit Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq on Wednesday and killed six militants, the military said, in a second day of cross-border raids.

A military statement said the air strikes targeted the Zap region, the Turkish name for a river which flows across the Turkish-Iraqi border and is known as Zab in Iraq.

The air strikes hit “two hiding places and one shelter, and killed six separatist terrorist organization militants who were understood to be preparing an attack,” the statement said.

The raids were part of a widening campaign against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has also hit other Kurdish fighters inside Iraq – apparently by accident.

On Tuesday, Turkish planes bombed Kurdish targets in Iraq’s Sinjar region and northeast Syria, killing about 70 militants inside the two neighboring states, according to a Turkish military statement.

The United States expressed “deep concern” over those air strikes and said they were not authorized by the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.

Five members of the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces, which are also deployed in Sinjar, were killed. Kurdish authorities who run their own autonomous region in north Iraq enjoy good relation with Turkey and, like Ankara, oppose the presence of a PKK affiliate in Sinjar.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday told Reuters that he would not allow Sinjar to become a PKK base, adding that Ankara informed its partners including the United States, Russia and Iraqi Kurdish authorities ahead of the operation.

On Wednesday, Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu said the parties were informed through both military and diplomatic channels.

Turkey had passed on information to the United States and Russian military attaches in Ankara, Muftuoglu said, and Turkish army chief Hulusi Akar also held a telephone conversation with his U.S. and Russian counterparts.

The Combined Air Operations Center in Qatar, responsible for providing command and air control in regions including Iraq and Syria, was also informed in advance, Muftuoglu said.

Designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, the PKK has waged a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state for Kurdish autonomy. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict, most of them Kurds.

The army also reported on Wednesday cross-border mortar fire from two areas inside Syria — one believed to be under the control of Syrian government forces and the other by Kurdish YPG militants. It said there were no casualties, and it retaliated.

 
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

EU Launches Legal Action Over New Hungarian Education Law

The European Union has launched legal action against Hungary over a new higher education law that critics say is aimed at shutting down a university founded by billionaire philanthropist George Soros.

 

European Commission President Valdis Dombrovskis said Wednesday that the EU’s executive arm has sent a “letter of formal notice” to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government, which is a first step in legal action.

 

Dombrovskis said the move is based on “an in-depth legal assessment.”

 

The Commission believes the law could infringe on European rights to provide services, but also on academic freedoms and the right to an education.

 

The Hungarian government will have one month to respond, and based on Budapest’s reaction, the Commission will consider what steps to take next.

 

The higher education law was approved earlier this month. The president of the Soros-backed Central European University says it means that his campus in Budapest might not be able to accept new students after Jan. 1.

“My institution has a gun pointed to its head,” CEU President Michael Ignatieff said Tuesday as he sought support at the European Parliament.

 

Orban says the CEU is “cheating” because it issues diplomas accepted both in the United States and in Hungary, where it has been operating since 1993. The university is accredited in New York state but has no campus there.

 

Orban says this gives it an unfair advantage over other Hungarian universities, but has denied that he wants to shut it down.

 

The Hungarian leader will face his critics in the European Parliament later Wednesday as EU lawmakers debate concerns about his country, including a “Let’s Stop Brussels” campaign aimed at highlighting what he says is an EU power grab.

 

Given the legal action, a showdown seems likely between Orban and Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans, who will address lawmakers just before him.

 
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Влада, Новини, Україна

В Одесі невідомий «замінував» будівлю міськради, сесію вирішили не зупиняти

В Одесі правоохоронці перевіряють інформацію про мінування будівлі міської ради на Думській площі. Повідомлення надійшло до поліції об 11:30, повідомляє прес-служба регіонального поліцейського управління.

26 квітня в міськраді відбувалася чергова сесія. В переліку питань, які розглядали депутати, – земельні, передає кореспондент Радіо Свобода. Мер Геннадій Труханов поставив на голосування питання про припинення засідання через повідомлення про «замінування». Але 57 депутатів з 61 зареєстрованого в сесійній залі проголосували за продовження роботи сесії.

Депутати проводили засідання, поки будівлю і прилеглу територію обстежували поліцейські.

Про результати перевірки в поліції поки що не інформували.

25 квітня через анонімне телефонне повідомлення про замінування з одеського Таїровського кладовища було евакуйовано близько п’яти тисяч людей. Територію (близько 150 гектарів) протягом кількох годин перевіряли поліцейські, вибухотехніки, рятувальники. Вибухонебезпечних предметів не знайшли. 

Також напередодні «телефонний хуліган» повідомив про «замінування» будівлі одного з факультетів Одеського національного університету імені Мечникова.

24 квітня подібну інформацію поліція перевіряла на Одеському залізничному вокзалі і в Малиновському районному суді.

У переддень святкових і жалобних дат у травні (2 травня – третя річниця масових заворушень, в яких загинули 48 людей) управління Служби безпеки України в Одеській області звернулося до громадян із закликом бути пильними. Відомство просить одеситів «інформувати про підозрілі предмети і залишені без нагляду транспортні засоби».

19 квітня в Києві начальник апарату голови СБУ Олександр Ткачук заявив, що співробітники Служби безпеки України запобігли «фейковій демонстрації» в Одесі. За його словами, «планом-максимумом» російських спецслужб в «акції на міжнаціональному підґрунті» перед Великоднем був напад «українських псевдонаціоналістів» на мирну ходу «етнічних болгар».
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Влада, Новини, Україна

Родича померлого президента Узбекистану перевели під домашній арешт у Києві

Родича померлого президента Узбекистану Іслама Карімова перевели з СІЗО під домашній арешт у Києві, де його затримали в січні.

Прокуратура столиці України 24 квітня заявила, що Акбаралі Абдуллаєв був переведений під домашній арешт 21 квітня.

Абдуллаєва, який є племінником вдови Карімова Тетяни Карімової, в Ташкенті звинувачують у розтраті і фінансовому шахрайстві в 2014 році.

Наразі триває розгляд питання про його екстрадицію до Узбекистану.

Абдуллаєва затримали після прибуття в аеропорт «Жуляни» в Києві в січні. Про те, коли і як він залишив Узбекистан, наразі невідомо.
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Влада, Новини, Україна

Порошенко: введення в експлуатацію конфайнменту на ЧАЕС планується на листопад

Президент України Петро Порошенко заявляє, що новий безпечний конфайнмент над четвертим енергоблоком Чорнобильської АЕС планують ввести в експлуатацію в листопаді 2017 року. Про це голова держави сказав 26 квітня під час заходів у зв’язку з черговою річницею аварії на Чорнобильській атомній електростанції за участю президента Білорусі Олександра Лукашенка.

«30 листопада 2016 року ми урочисто завершили перший етап процедури насування конфайнменту на старий саркофаг у штатне положення на четвертий енергоблок, а в листопаді 2017 року плануємо введення цього конфайнменту в експлуатацію», – сказав він.

Порошенко подякував міжнародним партнерам України за допомогу в спорудженні конфайнменту і нагадав, що термін його експлуатації становить 100 років.

У листопаді минулого року на Чорнобильській АЕС завершили насувати арку нового безпечного конфайнменту на об’єкт «Укриття» четвертого енергоблоку, що був зруйнований під час ядерної катастрофи 26 квітня 1986 року. Встановлення нового укриття дало змогу перейти до робіт із демонтажу конструкцій, вилучення і подальшої утилізації паливовмісних і радіоактивних матеріалів.

Будівництво арки розпочалося у 2012 році.

 

 

 
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Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Romania: Hundreds of Taxis, Buses Protest Uber

Some 200 taxis and buses have parked outside the government offices in Romania’s capital, Bucharest, demanding that Uber and other online taxi services be outlawed in the country. 

 

Transport in the already crowded city was disrupted Wednesday morning as the protest, scheduled to last until the evening, got underway.

 

Drivers arrived early and parked their yellow taxis and blew vuvuzela horns in protest. Some met Premier Sorin Grindeanu to present their demands.

 

Bogdan Dinca, a transport union leader, told The Associated Press that they want the government to approve an emergency ordinance “to eradicate the piracy” they accuse Uber of. The ordinance awaits final approval by the prime minister. 

 

The Confederation of Licensed Transport Operators says it wants “online technology platforms that provide unauthorized taxi services to be outlawed,” to protect licensed carriers. 

 

Uber says it is a ride-sharing service with transparent costs and its drivers pay taxes. It says some 250,000 clients have used its services in the Romanian capital and other major cities in the past two years.
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Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Canada Increasingly Draws Trump’s Ire

President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Tuesday said they did not fear a trade war with Canada after American punitive action on lumber and milk.

“They have a tremendous surplus with the United States,” Trump said, adding “people don’t realize Canada’s been very rough on the United States. … They’ve outsmarted our politicians for many years.”

Trump added that he wanted “a very big tax” on Canadian lumber and timber.

He made the comments at a meeting with American farmers where he signed an executive order aimed at helping agriculture and rural areas.   

Trump also talked to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tuesday. Trudeau “refuted the baseless allegations by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the decision to impose unfair duties,” according to a summary of the call released by Trudeau’s office.

“The prime minister stressed that the government of Canada will vigorously defend the interests of the Canadian softwood industry, as we have successfully done in all past lumber disputes with the U.S.,” the statement said.

The Canadian dollar fell to a 14-month low against the greenback after the United States imposed preliminary tariffs averaging 20 percent — more than $1 billion of countervailing duties — on imported Canadian softwood.

Earlier in the day, Trump vowed moves to protect the American dairy industry.

On Tuesday morning, he tweeted: “Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch!”

Against NAFTA

Trump, since his time campaigning for the presidency, has voiced his strong displeasure with the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but until now he has vented most of his ire southward, toward Mexico.

Ross, speaking to reporters on the White House podium, would not explicitly characterize the actions on lumber and dairy as the opening shots on renegotiating NAFTA, but he did say: “Everything relates to everything else when you’re trying to negotiate.”

He described Canada as “generally a good neighbor,” asserting that its allegedly unfair trade practices regarding lumber and dairy were not very neighborly.

 

Asked on Tuesday in Kitchener, Ontario, about the U.S. trade actions and the fate of NAFTA, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau replied, “Standing up for Canada is my job, whether it’s softwood or software.”

Trudeau added, “Any two countries are going to have issues that will be irritants to the relationship and, quite frankly, having a good, constructive, working relationship allows us to work through those irritants.”

Some other Canadians were less diplomatic in their reactions.

“In Canada, the perception is that we’re always very nice,” said Unifor President Jerry Dias, representing forestry workers across the country. “But we can’t get trampled by this guy [Trump].”

‘Ignore, do not engage’

The majority of Canadians, including the prime minister and his colleagues, “understand that President Trump is prone to making ill-informed, off-the-cuff and arbitrary comments about a host of domestic and foreign policy issues,” Donald Abelson, the chairman of the political science department at the University of Western Ontario in London, told VOA.

“Canada will likely respond to Trump’s Tuesday tweet in a manner similar to how a competent parent responds to a child’s temper tantrum — ignore, do not engage,” added Abelson, who is also director of the school’s Canada-U.S. Institute.  

Other Canadians displayed wry humor — a traditional reaction to irritations from south of the border (at least since the last U.S. invasion during the War of 1812), considering the asymmetry of power.   

The president’s messages prompted immediate puns on Canadian social media, with tweets referencing “sacred cows” and calling the American trade action on dairy “udderly stupid” and “cheesy,” Sparkle Hayter, veteran Canadian journalist and author, told VOA.

The dairy dispute goes back decades. Currently, there is an overproduction of milk, according to dairy farmers on both sides of the border.

The U.S.-Canada lumber squabble is rooted in a couple of centuries of history.

 

 

In response to the proposed tariff on softwood lumber, “Canada to strike back by charging duties on exported Cdn actors,” tweeted the account of 22 Minutes, a satirical news program on national public broadcaster CBC.

Cows are No. 1

The Twitter account also noted the U.S. president “tweeted about Canadian dairy industry first thing this morning, so on his list of priorities: 1. Canadian Cows. 2. North Korea.”  

Trump’s attention on Canada comes amid indications he is pivoting away — at least temporarily — from the southern border and his quest to quickly fund his border wall with Mexico.

“We have plenty of time” to complete the wall during his first term, Trump assured reporters Tuesday afternoon.  

The presidential desire for border protection might find a better reception to the north, considering the comments from some Canadians.

 

“Some [in Canada] would like to separate from the U.S., like literally,” by digging a two-mile moat at the border “and filling it with beavers and mosquitoes,” quipped Hayter from her home province of Alberta.   

But many Canadians see themselves confronting a cross-border creature bigger than a beaver.

“Sleeping with an elephant” is how the late Pierre Trudeau, the current Canadian prime minister’s father, once characterized relations with the United States, “affected by every twitch and grunt.”
…

Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Trump Set to Call for Big US Corporate Tax Cut

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to call for a sharp reduction in the nation’s corporate tax rate, the highest among the world’s industrialized countries.

Trump is planning to unveil his tax plans Wednesday, with aides saying he will ask Congress to slash the current 35 percent rate down to 15 percent, a pledge he first made during last year’s presidential election campaign.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the U.S. has been “uncompetitive” against other countries in attracting new businesses, “largely because of our rates.”

U.S. lawmakers have for years vowed to adopt broad tax reforms, but the efforts have foundered. Congress has been unable to reconcile competing demands to eliminate tax breaks for some corporate and individual interests and raise taxes on others.

Trump’s tax plans are likely to face months of hearings and debate in Congress, where his Republican colleagues have their own ideas on how the tax code ought to be reshaped. Some lawmakers have expressed concerns that Trump’s call for a big corporate tax cut would balloon the nearly $20 trillion in long-term debt the U.S. has accumulated if there are not corresponding measures to raise more revenue.

U.S. Treasury chief Steven Mnuchin said Monday, “The tax reform will pay for itself with economic growth” that would boost tax revenues. Mnuchin called for tax simplification as well, saying U.S. reforms ideally would let taxpayers file their annual tax returns on a “large postcard.”

The U.S. economy, the world’s largest, grew at a tepid 1.6 percent pace last year, a figure Trump is hoping to boost to 3 percent a year, which the United States has not reached since 2005.

Tax experts say the 35 percent U.S. corporate tax rate is the highest among the world’s 35 industrialized nations, although U.S. corporations rarely pay that much because they are permitted to deduct their business expenses from their revenues before paying the amount they owe.

When the 35 percent rate is added to the average state corporate tax rate, the figure reaches 38.9 percent, which ranks third in the world among 188 countries surveyed by the Washington-based Tax Foundation. The U.S. figure trails only that of the United Arab Emirates at 55 percent and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico at 39 percent.
…

Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Jobs, Homes at Stake in US-Canada Trade Squabble

Canadian officials say a new tariff imposed by the Trump administration will raise the cost of new homes in the United States by $1,000 each, and shut 150,000 Americans out of home ownership. Washington’s decision also puts “thousands” of U.S. homebuilding jobs at risk, according to Canada’s ministers of natural resources and foreign affairs.

The comments follow preliminary action by the U.S. Commerce Department to impose a 20 percent tariff on $5.77 billion worth of soft wood imports from Canada to the United States. The wood is a key ingredient of family homes.

U.S. officials allege that Canada unfairly subsidizes exported wood. Subsidies could make the product cheaper, making it difficult for U.S. companies to compete on price.

Canada “strongly disagrees” with the decision to impose this “unfair and punitive” tax, says Canada’s resources minister, Jim Carr. Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, says Canada will take the issue to court, where the United States has lost similar cases in the past. 

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says this has been “a bad week” in U.S.-Canadian trade relations, noting an additional dispute over Canadian milk exports.

While the dispute over wood tariffs might raise the cost of new homes in the United States, a report published Tuesday by the Census Bureau shows sales of newly-constructed homes jumped upward by 5.8 percent last month. If sales continue at that pace for a year, 621,000 homes would change hands. Prices also rose.

A separate report from a business group called the Conference Board showed consumer confidence declined in April. Economists at Wells Fargo say that despite the drop, consumer confidence remains near a 12-year high. Experts watch consumer confidence for clues about consumer spending, which drives 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.
…

Влада, Новини, Україна

Ляшко на допиті лаяв детективів і прокурорів нецензурними словами – САП

Депутата від «Радикальної партії» Олега Ляшка викликали до Національного антикорупційного бюро з метою встановлення або спростування законності набутого ним майна, повідомили у Facebook представники Спеціалізованої антикорупційної прокуратури.

За їхніми словами, депутат «вів себе зухвало та зверхньо по відношенню до детективів та прокурорів, обзиваючи їх нецензурними словами».

Національне антикорупційне бюро провело допит голови фракції «Радикальної партії» Олега Ляшка у справі щодо незаконного збагачення, заявив сам депутат цього дня раніше. За його словами, допит тривав 4 години, питали «про все на світі».

Спеціалізована антикорупційна прокуратура передала до Національного антикорупційного бюро справу щодо незаконного збагачення лідера Радикальної партії Олега Ляшка, повідомив 24 квітня директор НАБУ Артем Ситник.

У березні програма «Наші гроші» повідомляла, що Олег Ляшко за останній рік нібито придбав нерухомості приблизно на 20 мільйонів гривень.

24 квітня у НАБУ повідомили, що передали до САП остаточну підозру в справі голови ЦВК Михайла Охендовського.
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

Voices From Around the World Rate Trump’s First 100 Days

It was the most stunning political victory of the 21st century, one that brought shocked concern in many parts of the world and cheers in others. One uncontroversial certainty was that it would cause reverberations around the globe.

 

Donald Trump campaigned on an “America First” platform, but has found himself as president drawn into thorny geopolitical complexities aplenty in the first 100 days of his administration. Relations with Russia plummeted to “an all-time low,” as Trump himself described it, in the wake of the U.S. missile strikes on the Syrian government’s airfield in response to a deadly chemical attack. The administration’s Syria policy and how to handle President Bashar al-Assad seesawed.

 

A window of opportunity appeared with China after Trump hosted President Xi Jinping for a summit at his Florida estate, but tensions on the Korean Peninsula soared over North Korea’s nuclear program. Mexico showed consternation and agitation over the president’s planned border wall, but gave no sign it would pay for the structure as Trump had repeatedly promised voters.

 

Trump’s travel ban rocked refugees and asylum-seekers in several Muslim-majority nations, though it was blocked by federal courts at home. There were echoes of darker U.S.-Iran days, but nothing yet that would derail the landmark nuclear deal, as the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict continued to simmer.

 

Associated Press journalists in North Korea, Syria, Iran, Somalia, Israel, the West Bank, Russia, Germany and Mexico have gauged the global temperature by asking people five questions:

Do you feel more secure under a Trump presidency, or in danger?

 

Yuliya Konyakhina, Moscow: “I have a feeling that the world became more dangerous in general, not because Trump got elected, but in general it (the world) became more dangerous. When I go down to a metro I have sort of thoughts that something bad can happen.”

 

Shahrzad Ebrahimi, Tehran, Iran: “[The world] is 100 percent a more dangerous place. The U.S. threats to the world had been lessened during [Barack] Obama’s presidency and policies of that country were based on moving toward peace for at least eight years. But as soon as Trump took office, demonstrations began against him and the situations in Syria, Palestine, bombings, military and war threats all got worse. The more he sticks with his current policies, the more insecure and non-peaceful the world, especially the Middle East, will become. As you can see, now he is exchanging verbal blows with North Korea. Sometimes one can assume that this situation can even trigger a third world war.”  

 

Kim Hyang Byol, Pyongyang, North Korea: “It’s coming to 100 days since Trump became president, but we don’t care who the president is. The problem is whether they’re going to stop their hostile policy against North Korea, and whether they will do anything to help us reunify our country.”

 

Rustam Magamedov, Moscow: “[Trump is] agent provocateur, but in reality, he is just a good showman, as they say in the U.S. The fact that he became a president is rather scary, because he can start a war. It seems like that he is already moving toward the Korean borders. I think it is dangerous, first of all for Russia, because as a president and politician he is a bad person, a bad politician who has little understanding of politics.

 

Dan Mirkin, Tel Aviv, Israel: “Yeah, well maybe a little bit more dangerous. But I think that the steps that he took should have been taken a long time ago. And if it became more dangerous, then it’s not only because of Trump. Although, he has other drawbacks.”

 

Is the Trump administration more bark than bite?

 

Diane Lallouz, Tel Aviv: “It’s true that Donald Trump has a loud bark and you can say it’s more bark than bite. But, not really. It’s enough that he takes a few actions as opposed to not doing anything. He talks a lot, sometimes way too much and right off the sleeve without actually thinking about it and that may be a problem. But, at least the world knows that Donald Trump is going to take action when required.”

 

Raya Sauerbrun, Tel Aviv: “If it’s barking or if it’s doing, at least it shows that it’s doing something.  If it will sustain for a long time, we don’t know.”

 

Mohamed Shire, Mogadishu, Somalia: “This might be a new step; this might be a new strategy. We probably have to wait and see, but I think the United States administration needs to be very careful in just getting involved in Somalia without having a clear strategy and program that they align with the current Somali government.”

 

Yadollah Sobhani, Tehran: “Trump comes out with a lot of hype at first but eventually backs down from some of his stances on issues such as Russia, Middle East, Syria and so on. His inconsistent actions have proven that his bark is worse than his bite and he should not be taken very seriously.”

 

Majed Mokheiber, Damascus, Syria: “This is why we cannot predict whether there will be stability or more military security. In addition to that, we see that there are military tension spots around the world in other areas such as North Korea … that frankly may lead to a big explosion and a world war.”

 

Juan Pablo Bolanos, Mexico City: “I think it’s a bit of both. On the issue of sending Mexicans back, it is being fulfilled by the guy, Trump, and on the issue of building the wall, I definitely think he will not achieve it.”

Has Trump changed your views about America?

Ra So Yon, Pyongyang, North Korea: “After Trump became president, there has been no improvement in America’s image. If America doesn’t stop its aggression against us and pressure on us, then we’ll never have any good image of America; it will only get worse. We’ll never be surprised, whatever America does. And we’re not expecting any surprises from Trump.”

 

Yuri (no last name given), Moscow: “Nothing actually had changed, for real. Nothing had changed in Russian-American relations. They aren’t our friends or enemies. Geopolitical enemies, maybe, that’s it.”

 

Margret Machner, Berlin: “My trust at the moment is a lot less than it was earlier. One had the feeling that America was a strong, safe partner and I do not believe this anymore.”

 

Dan Mirkin, Tel Aviv: “I think that the U.S. remains the beacon of democracy because the U.S. itself is much more than its president. The president can be less or more of a beacon. But, America is a beacon.”

 

Hamza Abu Maria, Hebron, West Bank: “I’m about 30 years old, and since I grew up and started to understand and follow news, I don’t think the United States up until today was a beacon of democracy. If it was truly democratic, then from a long time ago they would have done justice to the Palestinian people.”

 

Mohammad Ali, Damascus: “We should never bet on any American administration, either Republican or Democrat. It’s the same front, supposedly to fight terrorism, but they didn’t do any of that. Instead they carried out an aggression against a sovereign state, which is Syria. They attacked Syria and they attacked the air base of a sovereign state and a member of the Arab League.”

 

Deqo Salaad, Mogadishu: “The U.S. was once both the beacon of democracy and human rights, but nowadays, a big change has happened as we can see more segregation committed by President Trump, especially when he said he was going to ban Muslims coming to the U.S. And with that, he has damaged the reputation of the U.S. of being the beacon of democracy and human rights in this world that the U.S. government promoted for ages now.”

 

Are we now living in a “post-truth” world?

 

Diane Lallouz, Tel Aviv: “I don’t think that we’re existing in a post-truth world and I don’t think that the way we consume information has anything to do with Trump. Actually over the last several decades we are getting information more and more on social media, so people are getting small amounts of information. Not too much real knowledge and that’s part of the problem. People are making judgments based on tiny amounts of truth or half-truth or non-truths, and it’s impossible to know, by the social media, what is really true. Is Trump the cause of this? I don’t think so. I think Trump is just a part of the picture that we live in today.”

 

Dan Mirkin, Tel Aviv: “I don’t think it affects the way that I consume information but it certainly changes the way in which the information is delivered, and the fact of alternative truth, alternative facts is a new invention, so we have to apply filters more than before.”

 

Mahmoud Draghmeh, Nablus, West Bank: “The world is far from the truth, despite the fact the technological development helped the news to reach. But I think that there is a distance from the truth, because the media, with all my respect to the different media outlets, everyone adopts his idea and exports it to the world.”

 

What has surprised you about President Trump?

 

Ute Hubner, Berlin: “I find he is very honest – more honest than I thought in the sense that a lot isn’t pushed under the table. He says it like it is, while here in our case so much is said and talked about that “everything is fine, wonderful and all is good,” while we know that the reality is more often than not something else.”

 

Fatmeh (full name not given) Damascus: “Trump increased problems in the Arab world and the first proof is the strike on Syria. This has increased problems and confusion. He didn’t do anything against terrorism; he only increased it. There is nothing new. His policy has been to oppress people, especially the Arab people. We didn’t see anything new.”

 

Yadollah Sobhani, Tehran: “What shocked me most from Trump was a sudden shift in his policies toward Russia from a friendly position to a clash. I did not expect such instability in a politician’s behavior.”

Payam Mosleh, Tehran: “What scared me most was the classification of human beings (under Trump’s proposed Muslim ban). I think history has taught and shown us enough times that separating people from each other has never done anyone any good. Building walls either in Berlin or America has no results and is disastrous.”

 

Mahdieh Gharib, Tehran: “What surprised me most was preventing Iranians from entering the United States or even barring those Iranians who were U.S. residents and had temporarily left that country. Bombing Syria was the second thing that surprised me.”

 

Shimon Abitbol, Tel Aviv: “He’s playing too much golf. That’s the only thing I’m surprised by. I mean, how can he have so much time to play so much golf?
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

Britain Records First Coal-free Day Since Industrial Revolution

Britain, where the Industrial Revolution began more than 200 years ago, has recorded its first full day without using coal power. The milestone was achieved Friday, following years of investment in renewable energy — a trend being replicated in some other European countries, and even in developing nations. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

LVMH to Consolidate Hold on Dior in Multibillion-euro Deal

The magnate behind LVMH is to incorporate Christian Dior into his luxury goods empire in a multibillion-dollar deal.

 

It’s the latest business coup for businessman Bernard Arnault, who has expanded his LVMH empire to include dozens of leading luxury brands — from high-end champagne and whiskies, to exclusive Vuitton handbags, Kenzo and Givenchy perfumes and Bulgari and TAG Heuer watches. Dior Couture, launched in 1946 and seen as the pinnacle of Paris style, would be a starring jewel in his empire.

 

Shares in Christian Dior and LVMH Moet Hennessy — Louis Vuitton rose after Tuesday’s long-awaited deal. The public offers values Dior at 260 euros per share. Shares in Dior spiked 12 percent to 253.95 euros by early afternoon trading Tuesday, while LVMH shares were up 4.3 percent at 223.95 euros.

 

According to the announcement, LVMH, which already owned Christian Dior cosmetics and perfumes, would buy Christian Dior Couture, its fashion business, for 6.5 billion euros ($7.1 billion). In addition, the Arnault Family Group is making a public offer for the Christian Dior shares it doesn’t currently hold.

 

The hope is that combining Dior’s entities under one roof and simplifying internal activities, savings will be generated.

 

The statement says the boards of both companies approved the transactions on Monday. The proposed deal will still need regulatory approval and consultations with workers. The companies also hope to issue the public offer in June, and finalize the purchase of Dior Couture in the second half of this year.

 

The companies laid out their hope that Dior’s fashion revenues and profit, which have risen in recent years, will be a  “source of growth” for LVMH, particularly with development in the U.S., China and Japan.

 
…

Влада, Новини, Україна

У НАЗК є питання майже до всіх міністрів щодо їхніх е-декларацій – Радецький

Перевіряючи електронні декларації членів Кабміну за 2015 рік, Національне агентство України із запобігання корупції ще не отримало повної інформації від компетентних державних органів та пояснень від самих міністрів, повідомив в ефірі Радіо Свобода заступник голови НАЗК Руслан Радецький.

«НАЗК не отримало повний пакет інформації по даних суб’єктах перевірки і НАЗК не отримало пояснення від суб’єктів декларування по низці рухомого і нерухомого майна», – зазначив Руслан Радецький.

Він нагадав, що перевірка не здійснюється автоматично, як це передбачалося раніше, а декларації перевіряють в ручному режимі.

«Ми робимо запит до компетентних органів державної влади, просимо надати ту чи іншу інформацію, яка б підтвердила інформацію, яку вніс суб’єкт в е-декларацію. Такі запити ми зробили. Наприклад, по одному міністру не надійшло біля п’яти відповідей від компетентних органів», – розповів Руслан Радецький.

На уточнююче запитання, щодо яких міністрів ще не надійшла інформація, Радецький відповів: «По міністру Насалику не надійшло, по Авакову не надійшло, по Кутовому… У нас не тільки по цих особах, у нас фактично по всіх 23 суб’єктах перевірки декларацій є питання. І всі вони повідомлені, що нам необхідно надати пояснення. На сьогодні деякі міністри і віце-прем’єр-міністри надали в письмовій формі пояснення, деякі ще не надали».

У понеділок НАЗК продовжило на місяць термін перевірки електронних декларацій членів уряду. 

Перевірка е-декларацій за 2015 рік почався у січні цього року. Згідно з нормами, перевірка має тривати 60 днів і в разі необхідності може бути продовжена ще на 30 днів. 
…

Влада, Новини, Україна

Суд продовжив арешт 5 екс-«беркутівців», обвинувачених у вбивствах майданівців

Святошинський районний суд Києва вкотре подовжив термін тримання під вартою п’ятьох колишніх бійців спецпідрозділу «Беркут», обвинувачених у вбивствах активістів Євромайдану в лютому 2014 року.

Згідно з рішенням суду від 25 квітня, екс-«беркутівці» Сергій Зінченко, Павло Аброськін, Сергій Тамтура, Олег Янішевський та Олександр Маринченко перебуватимуть під варто ще 60 діб.

Наступне засідання суду має відбутися 16 травня.

Згідно з попереднім рішенням суду, екс-«беркутівці» мали перебувати під арештом до 30 квітня.

У травні 2016 року Святошинський суд розпочав розгляд по суті справи проти п’яти колишніх беркутівців: Павла Аброськіна, Сергія Зінченка, Олександра Маринченка, Сергія Тамтури та Олега Янішевського. Їх обвинувачують у розстрілі активістів Майдану на вулиці Інститутській у Києві в лютому 2014 року. П’ятьом колишнім беркутівцям інкримінують перевищення службових повноважень, незаконне поводження зі зброєю, умисне вбивство та заподіяння тілесних ушкоджень активістам Майдану. Колишні бійці спецпідрозділу «Беркут» не визнають власної вини за жодним із пунктів.

Усього, як повідомляв прокурор Генеральної прокуратури України Яніс Сімонов, вдалось ідентифікувати 25 правоохоронців, які стріляли на Інститутській. 20 із них зараз у розшуку.

У лютому 2016 року суд об’єднав кримінальні провадження щодо колишніх працівників спецпідрозділу «Беркут» Олександра Маринченка, Сергія Тамтури, Олега Янішевського, обвинувачуваних у розстрілі 48 активістів Євромайдану, з провадженням щодо Сергія Зінченка і Павла Аброськіна, яких обвинувачували в убивстві 39 майданівців 20 лютого 2014 року на вулиці Інститутській.

За даними Генпрокуратури, всього під час Євромайдану потерпіли 2,5 тисячі людей, 104 з них загинули. Згодом загиблих учасників акцій протесту почали називати Небесною сотнею.

За даними Міністерства внутрішніх справ, від 18 лютого по 2 березня 2014 року під час виконання службових обов’язків у центрі Києва загинули також 17 силовиків.
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Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

US Senator Calls for ‘True Reciprocity’ in US-China Trade and Diplomacy

U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan on Monday called on both the American and Chinese governments to exercise “true reciprocity” in relations, including trade and diplomacy. 

 

The Republican senator from Alaska, in a speech concerning Chinese outbound investment, and in an interview with VOA afterward, said China has been aggressively buying companies in key sectors such as robotics, biotech, advanced machineries, software, entertainment and media “throughout America and Western Europe. But if you’re an American firm, or a firm from Germany, and you want to go to China and buy Chinese companies in those same sectors, you would be told ‘no;’ you would be prohibited.”

 

Making “true reciprocity” US policy

 

Sullivan’s proposed “true reciprocity” is rather simple and straightforward: “If Chinese companies want to invest in America’s biotech sector, then American companies should be able to invest in China’s biotech sector. It’s simple, it’s fair, it’s what China has said it wants to do but it doesn’t do, and we need to be much more serious about implementing it.”

 

Should China continue to ignore Washington’s calls for equal treatment and a level playing field, Sullivan says he is prepared to introduce legislation aiming at closing what he identifies as China’s “credibility gap,” and making sure that “true reciprocity” becomes official U.S. policy.

 

The Alaska Republican, who serves on both the Senate’s Commerce and Armed Services Committees, called on the U.S. government to reject “Middle Kingdom diplomatic practices” that fail to grant U.S. diplomats the same level of access Chinese diplomats receive in Washington. 

 

“Middle kingdom” diplomatic practices

 

Quoting from a study done by the New York-based Asia Society, Sullivan said “for a number of years, the U.S. ambassador in Beijing was only getting deputy minister level access while we, of course, give higher access to Chinese ambassadors here in Washington.”He called the solution to such unequal diplomatic treatments “a no brainer.” 

“If our ambassador in Beijing only gets deputy minister level access, then that’s what we should provide China’s ambassador in Washington, period. Middle Kingdom diplomatic practices should be firmly and aggressively rejected by the U.S. government everywhere,” Sullivan said.

 

He agreed that his proposed “true reciprocity” ought to also include issues such as granting journalists visas and access in both countries.

 

Growing domestic consensus

 

Sullivan said “there’s growing domestic consensus” in the United States that America’s strategic interests, including strategic economic interests, outweigh the market price of individual transactions, while acknowledging that each individual American businessman or woman naturally want the highest return for their individual product.

“The broader strategic interest of having a strong U.S. economy, and signaling to the next biggest economy in the world, China, that you need to play by the rules we play by, is also very important; and in my view, that importance strategically overrides the interest of the ability of American firms to sell to Chinese investment funds.”

Senator Dan Sullivan: China needs to play by rules we play by

 

Geo-economics

 

Daniel Twining, counselor and director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and an associate of the U.S. National Intelligence Council, thinks the U.S. economic power so far has not been sufficiently utilized to advance the nation’s overall strategic, political and economic interests. 

 

“The U.S. is used to this traditional foreign policy tool kit that involves the armed forces, the diplomatic corps and development (foreign aid), but there’s really a fourth link here, which is our economic statecraft,” he told VOA.

 

Twining said other major powers, including China, appear to be much more adept at what he called “geo-economics,” using trade and investment “quite actively” and “quite smartly” to advance overall national interests.“It may be smart for us to think more about our economic strategies in the world,” including acknowledging and adopting strategies accordingly based on the fact that “market forces are not working everywhere, including in an economy like China that is still somewhat closed or controlled in some respects.”

Daniel Twining: Market forces are not working everywhere

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Forgoing short-term profit

 

A newly released report by Baker McKenzie put Chinese worldwide outbound investment at $200 billion in 2016, nearly half of which targeted assets in North America and Europe. 

 

According to Robert Shapiro, chairman of Sonecon and former U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, the primary goal of China’s overseas investments does not lie in short-term profit but rather in gaining strategic advantage, and that means not necessarily in gaining immediate economic return.

Robert Shapiro: China playing the long game

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