усі новини
Russian authorities are searching for those responsible for a blast that tore through a St. Petersburg subway car Monday, killing 11 people and injuring many others. Investigators are looking into terrorism as a possible cause though no group has yet claimed responsibility.
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The presidents of Russia and Belarus said on Monday they had resolved all disputes over energy, signaling a rapprochement at a time when both leaders are grappling with street protests and the threat of new Western sanctions hangs over Minsk.
At a meeting in St. Petersburg, held while the Russian city was reeling from a deadly bombing on a metro train, Russia agreed to refinance Belarus’ debt while Belarus will pay back more than $720 million in arrears for gas supplies.
According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, Russia will also renew oil supplies to Belarus of 24 million tons a year and Russia’s Gazprom will give Belarus discounts on gas supplies in 2018 and 2019.
It is an abrupt departure from their recent squabbles and suggests Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko is moving his country back towards Moscow’s orbit after a period of courting closer ties with the West.
“Today we have no differences remaining. We will move ahead, we will strengthen our relations within the framework of the union state,” President Vladimir Putin said at a joint news conference.
Putin said their two governments would implement the two leaders’ agreement within the next 10 days, and that a “road map” had been agreed for energy cooperation up to 2020.
Russia and Belarus are traditional allies but relations became strained after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014, a move Lukashenko described as a “bad precedent.”
Russia cut the subsidies it uses to keep its one-time Soviet vassal afloat, worsening an economic downturn in Belarus that fueled a wave of unrest against Lukashenko, who has ruled the ex-Soviet state for nearly a quarter of a century.
Lukashenko’s blunt suppression of street demonstrations has threatened to undo his efforts to court the West and risks the return of European Union sanctions that were mostly lifted just over a year ago.
The Russian authorities have also cracked down on street protests that broke out in March against corruption.
“We see what’s happening around us, and we just want to preserve the stability of Russia and Belarus,” said Lukashenko.
“There are too few quiet, calm spots on the planet still left. So we agreed on joint measures to preserve the security of our states.”
At least 10 people were killed and more than 20 were injured when an explosion tore through a train carriage in a St. Petersburg metro tunnel in what authorities called a probable terrorist attack.
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced steps on Monday to prevent the fraudulent use of H1B visas, used by employers to bring in specialized foreign workers temporarily, which appeared to fall short of President Donald Trump’s campaign promises to overhaul the program.
Trump had promised to end the lottery system for H1B visas, which gives each applicant an equal chance at 65,000 positions each year.
Lobbyists for businesses who rely on H1B visas, commonly used by the tech sector, had expected Trump to upend the lottery in favor of a system that prioritized workers who are highly skilled and would be highly paid in the United States.
The lottery for fiscal year 2018 opened on Monday without changes.
The start of the lottery was seen by those watching the issue as the unofficial deadline for the Trump administration to enact H1B visa reform, and the failure to meet that deadline signals that Trump’s promised overhaul of the system may be off the table or long delayed.
“More oversight is a good start, but employers can still use the program legally to depress wages and replace American workers. That falls short of the promises President Trump made to protect American workers,” said Peter Robbio, a spokesman for Numbers USA, a Washington-based group that advocates for limiting immigration into the United States.
The White House could not immediately be reached for comment.
In keeping with the practice of former President Barack Obama’s administration, employers and foreign workers will enter a lottery system where 65,000 workers are permitted to enter the United States to work. An extra 20,000 H1B visas are reserved for workers with advanced degrees.
Last year, the lottery remained open less than a week before the program reached its cap.
Tech companies rely on the program to bring in workers with special skills and have lobbied for an expansion of the number of H1B visas awarded.
Proponents of limiting legal immigration, including Trump’s senior adviser Stephen Miller, have argued the program gives jobs that Americans could fill to foreign workers at a less expensive cost.
The measures announced by DHS on Monday focus on site visits by U.S. authorities to employers who use H1B visas.
In future site visits, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agents will investigate incidents where an employer’s basic business information cannot be validated; businesses that have a high ratio of H1B employees compared with U.S. workers; and employers petitioning for H1B workers who work off-site.
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Bulgaria’s largest party, the center-right GERB, expects to form a government with three nationalist parties by late April and return Boiko Boriskov to power as prime minister, a senior party official said on Monday.
Borisov’s GERB won 95 seats in the general election on March 26, beating its leftist Socialist rivals, but it failed to gain an outright 121-seat majority in parliament.
His resignation late last year triggered the early election.
GERB has told the third-placed United Patriots (UP), a nationalist alliance of three parties, that the prime minister’s post will not be subject of their coalition negotiations.
“The prime minister of the next government that will be formed I suppose by the end of this month … will be Boiko Borisov”, said Vladislav Goranov, an MP and member of GERB’s political negotiating team. “There’s no doubt about that.”
Goranov’s comments to reporters came after one of the nationalist leaders had suggested that Borisov, 57, should not lead the next government.
Borisov quit as premier after a GERB-backed candidate lost a presidential election in November to Rumen Radev, a Russia-friendly ally of the Socialists. Bulgaria is currently being run by a caretaker administration.
The UP alliance campaigned to boost low living standards and double the minimum monthly state pensions, now at 160 levs ($87.25) – the lowest in the European Union.
Analysts say such demands, coupled with GERB’s plans to double teachers’ wages within four years, may boost public spending and pose risks to Bulgaria’s currency peg to the euro.
But Goranov, a former finance minister likely to get the same post in the next government, told reporters he was not worried for state coffers.
A coalition with the nationalists would have just one seat above the majority threshold of 121 seats and Goranov said GERB would also seek support of smaller, populist grouping of businessman Veselin Mareshki.
Bulgaria’s polls suggested the country would continue with its fiscal and economic policies but was unlikely to break a pattern of unstable governments that have hindered structural reforms, Fitch rating agency said last week.
The timing for inter-party negotiations has yet to be set.
GERB has not ruled out leading a minority government, but Goranov called such an option “extreme.”
(1$= 1.8338 leva)
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Президент України Петро Порошенко в телефонній розмові подякував директорові-розпоряднику Міжнародного валютного фонду Крістін Лаґард «за її особистий внесок у позитивне рішення» МВФ про надання Україні чергового траншу позики, повідомила прес-служба голови держави.
«Крістін Лаґард підтвердила підтримку зусиль влади для забезпечення макрофінансової стабільності держави і подальшого прогресу України на шляху необхідних реформ. Окремо директор-розпорядник МВФ відзначила високопрофесійну роботу голови Національного банку України Валерії Гонтаревої та її внесок у результативну співпрацю з міжнародними фінансовими організаціями», – мовиться в повідомленні.
Раніше в понеділок Міжнародний валютний фонд повідомив, що схвалив надання Україні чергового траншу позики на суму близько 1 мільярда доларів. Рада директорів МВФ завершила третій перегляд програми співпраці з Україною, що дало змогу надати цей транш, мовиться в повідомленні.
Як заявив перший заступник директора-розпорядника МВФ, нині виконувач обов’язків голови Ради директорів Дейвід Ліптон, економіка України засвідчує ознаки оздоровлення: повертається економічне зростання, інфляцію знизили, міжнародні резерви подвоїлися. «Цим поступом Україна завдячує рішучій політиці влади, зокрема макроекономічній», – заявив чільний керівник МВФ і додав: ця стабілізація дає підстави сподіватися на подальше економічне зростання.
При цьому він зазначив, що для досягнення швидшого і стійкішого зростання необхідне прискорене впровадження реформ для поліпшення бізнес-середовища та залучення інвестицій. «Початком має стати приватизація і розвиток ринку земель сільськогосподарського призначення. Боротьба з корупцією має бути рішучішою, оскільки, навіть зі створенням нових інститутів боротьби з корупцією, конкретні результати поки що не досягнуті», – наголосив представник фонду.
Похваливши Національний банк України за успішне ведення монетарної політики в дуже складний період, високо оцінивши разючий поступ в оздоровленні банківської системи, зокрема недавню націоналізацію «Приватбанку», в МВФ нагадали Україні про необхідність подальших структурних реформ. На першому місці тут назвали всеосяжну пенсійну реформу, зокрема щодо підвищення пенсійного віку, яку, за словами МВФ, Україна не може дозволити собі відкладати далі.
Програму співпраці МВФ із Україною, що передбачає надання кількома траншами протягом чотирьох років позики на загальну суму близько 17,5 мільярдів доларів на підтримку економічної програми українського уряду, схвалили в березні 2015 року. Наразі, разом із нинішнім траншем, МВФ надав Україні за цією програмою близько 8 мільярдів 380 мільйонів доларів. Метою програми є відновлення економіки України, відновлення її незалежності від зовнішніх джерел, зміцнення державних фінансів, утримання фінансової стабільності і підтримка економічного зростання шляхом структурних і управлінських реформ за одночасного захисту найменш вразливих верств.
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Президент України Петро Порошенко запропонував кандидатуру народного депутата Ірини Луценко (фракція «Блок Петра Порошенка») на посаду свого представника у Верховній Раді України, повідомили в адміністрації голови держави.
«Ірина Луценко попрацює Артуром Герасимовим», – написав у фейсбуці завідувач відділу головного департаменту інформаційної політики адміністрації президента України Володимир Горковенко.
Народний депутат Артур Герасимов (фракція «Блоку Петра Порошенка»), обраний раніше в понеділок головою фракції, дотепер був представником президента в парламенті.
Як сказав він журналістам, Ірина Луценко, нині заступник голови фракції, стала, згідно з указом президента, першою жінкою-представником голови держави в парламенті. На сайті президента указу про це призначення наразі немає.
Сама Ірина Луценко заявила, що вважає за честь представляти позицію президента у Верховній Раді, і назвала своїм завданням на цій посаді консолідувати всі сили в парламенті для того, щоб започатковані в Україні реформи «пройшли точку неповернення». Крім того, додала Луценко, вона залишається заступником голови фракції «Блоку Петра Порошенка».
Артур Герасимов, який залишив посаду представника президента, замінив на посаді голови фракції Ігоря Гринева, який раніше вирішив скласти ці повноваження, залишившись депутатом.
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The effects of the 2008 financial crisis are still being felt, says the International Monetary Fund’s Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
She cites a new IMF study showing global productivity has slowed to 0.3 percent over the last decade, lower than the pre-crisis average of about 1 percent growth per year. Had productivity growth followed pre-crisis trends, Lagarde says the overall GDP in advanced economies would be about 5 percent higher.
Lagarde attributes the slowdown in labor productivity — the amount of goods and services produced by an average worker per hour — to three major headwinds: an aging global population, the slowdown in international trade, and the lasting impact of the 2008 financial meltdown.
The slowdown has been particularly abrupt in continental Europe, where five Eurozone member countries — Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Cyprus — required various emergency bailouts after being unable to refinance their sovereign debt.
Lagarde says strong policy actions, such as government-backed innovation, may be required to reverse the slowdown. For example, she says ramping up research and development by 40 percent could increase the gross domestic output (GDP) in advanced economies by as much as 5 percent, significantly improving demand at the same time in developing economies.
But to be effective, Lagarde says governments must provide clear signals about future economic policy and boost investment in education, worker training and infrastructure.
Lagarde made her comments Monday at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute in Washington, just two weeks before the World Bank and IMF annual spring meeting, at which member countries discuss challenges facing the global economy and ways to ensure financial stability around the world.
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Головою фракції «Блок Петра Порошенка» обрали Артура Герасимова.
Як повідомляє прес-служба політичної сили, його обрали на засіданні фракції практично одноголосно: проти – 0 голосів, утрималися – 3, в тому числі сам Артур Герасимов.
Про те, що нинішній голова президентської фракції Ігор Гринів йде з цієї посади, заявив його заступник Сергій Березенко 23 березня ввечері на телеканалі «24». Сам Гринів цю заяву не коментував. За словами Березенка, Гринів має намір сконцентруватися на роботі радника президента України зі стратегічних питань.
The governing body of track and field has been hacked by Fancy Bears, the group that previously attacked the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The IAAF said Monday it believes the hack “has compromised athletes’ Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) applications stored on IAAF servers” during an unauthorized remote access to its network on February 21.
TUEs are permissions for athletes to take substances that would normally be banned, and are used by athletes around the world.
“Our first priority is to the athletes who have provided the IAAF with information that they believed would be secure and confidential,” IAAF President Sebastian Coe said. “They have our sincerest apologies and our total commitment to continue to do everything in our power to remedy the situation.”
The IAAF said it had been in contact with athletes who have applied for TUEs since 2012.
Context Information Security, a British security company, said in a statement released by the IAAF that it discovered the attack.
“In January 2017, the IAAF contacted Context Information Security to conduct a proactive and thorough technical investigation across its systems, which led to the discovery of a sophisticated intrusion,” the company said. “Throughout the investigation, the IAAF have understood the importance and impact of the attack and have provided us comprehensive assistance.”
WADA has previously said Fancy Bears originate from Russia, citing information from law enforcement agencies.
Russian officials have denied any links with Fancy Bears, but have praised the group’s previous publications, which they say undermined Western countries’ criticism of widespread use of banned substances by Russians. The IAAF banned Russia’s team from competing internationally in 2015 after investigations by WADA found evidence of state-sponsored doping.
Fancy Bears began posting medical records of Olympians online last year, with U.S. and British athletes making up a large proportion of those targeted. Only selected records were released, and no Russians with TUEs were named, even though records show dozens of TUEs had been granted there in recent years.
As of Monday, Fancy Bears’ website contained no mention of IAAF information.
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At least 10 people have been killed in an explosion in a metro station in the Russian city of St. Petersburg.
Russian media reported that the blast took place at the Sennaya Square metro station in the city’s center.
President Vladimir Putin arrived in St. Petersburg on Monday to speak at an annual media forum sponsored by a Kremlin-backed political movement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin was informed about the explosion.
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Babies cry more in Britain, Canada, Italy and Netherlands than in other countries, while newborns in Denmark, Germany and Japan cry and fuss the least, researchers said on Monday.
In research looking at how much babies around the world cry in their first three months, psychologists from Britain have created the first universal charts for normal amounts of crying during that period.
“Babies are already very different in how much they cry in the first weeks of life,” said Dieter Wolker, who led the study at Warwick University.
“We may learn more from looking at cultures where there is less crying — [including] whether this may be due to parenting or other factors relating to pregnancy experiences or genetics.”
The highest levels of colic — defined as crying more than three hours a day for at least three days a week — were found in babies in Britain, Canada and Italy, while the lowest colic rates were found in Denmark and Germany.
On average, the study found, babies cry for around two hours a day in the first two weeks. They then cry a little more in the following few weeks until they peak at around two hours 15 minutes a day at six weeks. This then reduces to an average of one hour 10 minutes by the time they are 12 weeks old.
But there are wide variations, with some babies crying as little as 30 minutes a day, and others more than five hours.
The research, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, was a meta-analysis of studies covering some 8,700 babies in countries including Germany, Denmark, Japan, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and Britain.
Wolker said the new crying chart would help health workers reassure parents whether their baby is crying within a normal range in the first three months, or may need extra support.
Japanese big manufacturers’ business confidence improved for a second straight quarter to hit a one-and-a-half year high in March, a closely watched central bank survey showed, a sign the benefits of an export-driven economic recovery were broadening.
Service-sector sentiment improved for the first time in six quarters and companies remained upbeat on their capital expenditure plans, the Bank of Japan’s “tankan” survey showed, offering hope the economic recovery will gather momentum in coming months.
The data, which will be among factors the BOJ will scrutinize at its next rate review on April 26-27, reinforces a dominant market view the central bank’s next policy move would be to reduce rather than expand monetary stimulus.
“The tankan showed a balanced improvement in corporate sentiment at manufacturers and service-sector firms,” said Yuichiro Nagai, an economist at Barclays Securities. “Overall, the results support the BOJ’s rosy view on the economy.”
The headline index measuring big manufacturers’ business sentiment rose to plus 12 in March from plus 10 three months ago, the tankan showed on Monday, falling slightly short of market forecasts but marking the highest reading since December 2015.
The index gauging big non-manufacturers’ sentiment improved 2 points from plus 20, rising for the first time in six quarters and hitting the highest level since March 2016, the survey showed.
Brexit, Trump cloud outlook
Big manufacturers and non-manufacturers expect business conditions to deteriorate slightly in the coming three months, as risks to global trade such as Britain’s decision to leave the European Union and U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist statements cloud the outlook.
Still, the survey found big firms plan to increase capital spending by 0.6 percent in the fiscal year ending in March 2018, compared with a median market forecast for a 0.1 percent drop.
“There has been talk about the risks of protectionism, but so far Japanese companies are not taking any specific steps related to this,” said Norio Miyagawa, senior economist at Mizuho Securities.
“This tankan will reinforce expectations that the BOJ is on hold for the time being. We certainly don’t see the need to ease or tighten policy,” he said.
Signs of life
Japan’s economy has shown signs of life in recent months, with exports and factory output benefiting from a recovery in global demand.
With inflation expected to accelerate later this year, a growing number of analysts now predict the BOJ’s next move would be to start scaling back its massive monetary stimulus.
The tankan’s sentiment indexes are derived by subtracting the number of respondents who say conditions are poor from those who say they are good. A positive reading means optimists outnumber pessimists.
Підконтрольний Кремлю Залізничний районний суд Сімферополя 3 квітня розгляне справу кримського журналіста, автора Радiо Свобода Миколи Семени. Захист клопотав про забезпечення доступності й гласності судового процесу, суд 20 березня переніс слухання на два тижні. Перед початком слухань Семена заявив журналістам, що не визнає провини.
Також він зазначив, що у нього «не було ні найменшого наміру закликати до порушення територіальної цілісності Росії», в чому його звинувачують. За словами Семени, його матеріали містили «заклик не до порушення територіальної цілісності Російської Федерації, оскільки її порушила сама Рада Федерації Росії, приєднавши до себе територію Криму». «А це заклик до відновлення цілісності і Російської Федерації, і України як сусідніх держав», – сказав журналіст Микола Семена.
Справа стосовно Миколи Семени була порушена навесні минулого року. За версією звинувачення, журналіст порушив російське законодавство в статті про блокаду Криму з української сторони. Сам Семена наполягає, що реалізовував своє право на «свободу вираження поглядів».
Захист Миколи Семени, Міжнародна і Європейська федерації журналістів, а також офіс представника ОБСЄ з питань свободи слова закликали ФСБ Росії випустити журналіста з Криму на лікування, але позитивної відповіді вони не отримали.
Міністерство закордонних справ України висловило стурбованість переслідуванням громадян України в анексованому Криму і закликало припинити тиск, зокрема і на Миколу Семену.
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Training for the Boston Marathon has left Tommy Race feeling spent. His bank account, too: Race’s Boston adventure will cost about $2,000.
“It’s a lot of money, but it’s also a vacation,” said Race, a high school math teacher from Bellingham, Washington. “For a runner like myself, I’d much rather throw down money to run Boston than go to Cancun or Europe or some other travel destination.”
Race (yes, that’s his real name) has plenty of company. Thirty-thousand athletes from 94 countries will participate in this month’s 121st running of America’s most venerable footrace, and organizers say they’ll pump $192 million into the local economy.
That’s the equivalent of $311 for every man, woman and child living in the city of Boston.
Sports industry experts say Boston’s payout is part of a lucrative global trend that’s been playing out in Chicago, New York, London and other cities that stage major marathons drawing competitors and spectators from around the world.
“People want to be a part of something that Olympians run in,” said Rich Harshbarger, CEO of Running USA, a nonprofit group that promotes the sport.
“You’re not going to be able to run the bases at Fenway. But at a big marathon, you get to line up and have the same experience that the pros do,” he said.
It’s an affluent bunch: Running USA’s latest national survey, done in 2015, found that more than seven in 10 marathon runners earn more than $75,000 a year, and most are college graduates.
Many in the field for the Boston Marathon on April 17 will bring their families along. Another 10,000 runners will descend on Boston for a sister 5K race, swelling not only the size of the crowds but the amount spent on hotels, restaurants, transportation and a weekend running expo hawking expensive gear and swag.
“Nearly everyone involved … will patronize local businesses,” said Tom Grilk, CEO of the Boston Athletic Association, which manages the marathon.
Included in the $192.2 million projection is $30 million that runners will raise to benefit dozens of charities.
And the Boston Marathon’s economic impact is steadily growing. Last year’s race generated $188.8 million, and the 2015 race brought in $182 million, the Association said.
Patrick Moscaritolo, president and CEO of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau, calls race weekend “an extraordinary kick start” for the tourist season.
Other races that are part of the World Marathon Majors – a series that includes Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York City and Tokyo – have an even bigger haul.
The TCS New York City Marathon says its economic impact in 2014, the most recent year for which figures were available, was $415 million. The Bank of America Chicago Marathon had an estimated $277 million impact in 2015, organizers say.
Getting to the start line is expensive, “but it’s worth every penny,” said Malinda Ann Hill, bereavement coordinator for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who’s running her first Boston together with her twin sister.
After 12 attempts to qualify, Hill doesn’t care what it costs.
“My twin won’t total it up, though,” she said. “She doesn’t want to know.”
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France’s polling commission has issued a warning over a Russian news report suggesting conservative candidate Francois Fillon leads the race for the presidency — something which contradicts the findings of mainstream opinion pollsters.
The cautionary note from the watchdog on pre-election polling followed allegations in February by aides of centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron that he was a target of “fake news” put out by Russian media including the Sputnik news agency.
Macron takes a hard line on European Union sanctions imposed on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis, whereas Fillon has said they are totally ineffective, creating a “cold war” climate that needs to be reversed.
Almost all media in France are drawing on polls that have shown since mid-February that Fillon, a former prime minister, is trailing in third place behind Macron and far right leader Marine Le Pen for the April 23 first round. Third place would mean Fillon’s elimination from the May 7 runoff.
State-run Sputnik carried different findings in a report on March 29 under the headline: “2017 presidential elections: the return of Fillon at the head of the polls.”
It quoted Moscow-based Brand Analytics, an online audience research firm, as saying that its study based on an analysis of French social media put Fillon out in front.
In a statement, France’s polling commission said the study could not be described as representative of public opinion and Sputnik had improperly called it a “poll”, as defined by law in France.
“It is imperative that publication of this type of survey be treated with caution so that public opinion is aware of its non-representative nature,” it said.
Brand Analytics’ track record either for political polling or for commercial internet audience measurement outside of Russia and former Soviet territory is unknown.
Sputnik published an earlier online survey by the firm from mid-February which also showed Fillon with a strong lead over Macron and Le Pen at a time when other polls showed Macron’s candidacy beginning to surge with Fillon in third place.
Neither Sputnik in Moscow, nor the company, responded immediately to emailed requests for comment on Sunday.
US intelligence warns
Richard Burr, head of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee which is investigating the Russian hacking during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, said last week that the Kremlin was trying to interfere in the French vote.
The Kremlin denied in February that it was behind media and internet attacks on Macron’s campaign. Russia has a strong interest in the outcome of the French election since Macron has suggested imposing further sanctions on Moscow if it does not implement its side of a deal to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.
Fillon, once the frontrunner for the Elysee before he was hit by a scandal surrounding payments of public funds to his wife and children, dismissed as “fantasy” concerns of Russian interference in the election. Speaking last Friday, Fillon said he would seek a better balance in relations with a country that was nevertheless “dangerous.”
Richard Ferrand, the head of Macron’s En Marche! (Onwards!) party, said in February that Sputnik and another Russian state-run outlet Russia Today were spreading ‘fake news’ with the aim of swinging public opinion against Macron.
In February, Sputnik announced it would publish weekly French election polls using representative sampling from three mainstream polling firms — IFOP, Ipsos and OpinionWay — alongside an analysis of social media posts in France from Brand Analytics for which it did not disclose its survey methodology.
Separately, Sputnik carried a news report last Friday about Macron supporters being awarded state decorations when he had been a high-level functionary at the Elysee and economy minister in the Socialist government, suggesting this could amount to influence peddling.
It offered no proof that Macron had organized the decorations, which were sometimes awarded by other ministers. In several instances, it cited awards made by the economy ministry, without mentioning that Arnaud Montebourg, Macron’s predecessor, was minister at the time.
The Sputnik report contrasted Macron’s alleged action with a judicial inquiry into an award made when Fillon was prime minister to a billionaire friend who owned a cultural magazine where Fillon’s wife drew a salary.
Greeted by tens of thousands of faithful, Pope Frances on Sunday visited Italy’s northern Emilia Romagna region that has largely rebuilt from pair of deadly quakes five years ago, an example meant to give hope to central Italy, which is still reeling from more devastating temblors last year.
Francis’ first stop was the quake-damaged Duomo cathedral of Carpi, where he laid a bouquet of white flowers at the foot of a statue of the Madonna inside. After years of restoration, the cathedral reopened just last weekend.
“There are those who remain buried in the rubble of life,” the pope said in his homily before an estimated 20,000 gathered in the piazza outside the cathedral for an open-air Mass. “And there are those, like you, who with the help of God rise from the rubble to rebuild.”
Another 50,000 people watched the Mass on large screens throughout the city of 70,000.
During his daylong visit, the pope also will meet with families who lost loved ones in the quake and hold a discussion with priests, nuns and seminarians.
The Emilia Romagna model of rebuilding after the magnitude-6.1 and magnitude-5.8 quakes that killed 28 people in 2012 has often been cited as exemplary. It included bringing together politicians, entrepreneurs and bishops to decide common priorities.
The papal visit was meant to give a sign of gratitude for the rebuilding, the archbishop of Carpi, Monsignor Francesco Cavina, told the Italian Bishops’ Conference television TV2000. But he said it’s also “a sign of hope that rebuilding is possible for the people of central Italy, who unfortunately suffered what we did much more dramatically.”
A magnitude-6.1 quake on Aug. 24 in Italy’s central regions of Umbria, Abruzzo and Marche killed nearly 300 people, toppled thousands of buildings including churches, historic buildings and museums, and rendered many town centers uninhabitable. It was followed by a series of quakes in October, including the strongest in Italy in nearly four decades at magnitude 6.6, that toppled and damaged a higher number of structures, but didn’t provoke further deaths since the most vulnerable areas had already been evacuated.
Authorities have estimated the damage from the 2016 central Italian quakes at more than 23.5 billion euros ($25 billion), compared with 13.5 billion euros from the 2012 Emilia Romagna temblors.
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Russian police arrested about two dozen protesters Sunday in Moscow, a week after more than 1,000 others were detained during a large-scale rally organized by a leading critic of President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian state news agency Tass reports that Sunday’s arrests were made while protesters tried to conduct unauthorized marches toward the Kremlin from two public squares in Moscow.
Police had blocked off Pushkin Square, a traditional gathering place for demonstrators. Authorities also blocked access to several Internet websites the government said promoted “a planned illegal anti-government protest” in or near Moscow’s Red Square.
The protests were organized by prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. He and hundreds of others anti-corruption demonstrators demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev were detained last week.
Some critics of the Kremlin portray Putin as an overseer of a corrupt government that has awarded select friends and associates with vast sums of wealth.
The protests are occurring a year before a Russian presidential election in which Putin is expected to seek a fourth term. Navalny would like to run against the heavily-favored Putin, despite a questionable conviction on fraud charges that would technically disqualify him.
Last week’s protests were the largest opposition rallies Russia has seen in several years.
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Iraq’s oil minister said on Sunday that his country plans to increase daily crude oil production to 5 million barrels by the end of this year, up from the current rate of about 4.4 million barrels per day, to secure sorely needed cash for its ailing economy.
Iraq, where oil revenues make up nearly 95 percent of the budget, has been reeling under an economic crisis since 2014, when oil prices began their descent from a high of above $100 a barrel. The Islamic State group’s onslaught, starting in 2014, has exacerbated the situation — forcing Iraq to divert much of its resources to a long and costly war.
Addressing an energy conference in Baghdad, Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi didn’t give details on which of the country’s oil fields would supply the increased output.
Late last year, Iraq joined a deal by OPEC and non-OPEC members to lower production for six months by 1.8 million barrels a day in order to prop up global oil prices. The mutual production decrease began on Jan. 1. Iraq’s share in the deal is to reduce output by 210,000 barrels a day to 4.351 million barrels.
“There are positive elements in that deal and we achieved a lot of its targets,” al-Luaibi told reporters on the sideline of the conference. “Work and cooperation are underway … to reach the 1.8 [million barrels a day] reduction,” he added, without divulging whether Iraq is going to support an extension to that deal.
OPEC Secretary-General, Mohammed Barkindo, said the compliance among the participants was 86 percent in January and 94 percent in February. Barkindo told reporters that OPEC members would consider whether to extend the production decrease agreement at a meeting next month.
The deal propped up the crude price to around $50 per barrel.
Iraq holds the world’s fourth-largest oil reserves. This year, it added 10 billion barrels, bringing its total reserves up to 153.1 billion barrels.
Al-Luaibi also said that more 15 billion barrels are planned to be added by 2018.
Iraq’s 2017 budget stands at about 100.67 trillion Iraqi dinars, or nearly $85.17 billion, running with a deficit of 21.65 trillion dinars, or about $18.32 billion. That’s based on an estimated oil price of $42 per barrel and daily export capacity of 3.75 million barrels.
Iraq is also grappling with a major humanitarian crisis. The U.N. estimates that more than 3 million people have been forced from their homes since 2014. It also faces growing dissatisfaction among residents of areas recaptured from IS who have had their properties demolished and suffer from scarce public services.
Кілер екс-депутата Держдуми Росії Дениса Вороненкова Павло Паршов незадовго до вбивства побував в окупованому Донецьку – про це заявив генеральний прокурор України Юрій Луценко в інтерв’ю німецькому виданню Bild.
«Шостого березня вбивця перебував на тимчасово окупованій території, в місті Донецьку. Це дало президенту і мені підстави підозрювати, що за цим стоїть Росія. Нацгвардійцям, в тому числі, колишнім, заборонено перебувати в цьому районі. Ми обшукали квартиру, де вбивця зупинився з двома іншими людьми», – зазначив Луценко.
«Я не кажу, що кілер був російським агентом. Але він міг бути ним протягом кількох років служби у Національній гвардії. Коли ми заарештуємо спільників, знатимемо більше», – додав він.
Раніше Юрій Луценко заявляв про серйозний прогрес слідства у справі Вороненкова.
Дениса Вороненкова вбили 23 березня в центрі Києва. За даними поліції, у результаті стрілянини також був поранений його охоронець і нападник, який пізніше помер від поранень.
Президент Петро Порошенко назвав убивство Вороненкова «актом державного тероризму з боку Росії».
Денис Вороненков, який у грудні 2016 року разом зі своєю дружиною, також колишнім депутатом російської Держдуми Марією Максаковою, переїхав до України, 14 лютого повідомив про отримання українського громадянства. В Україні колишній російський депутат раніше дав свідчення у справі про державну зраду щодо екс-президента Віктора Януковича.
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«Шостого березня вбивця перебував на тимчасово окупованій території, в місті Донецьку» – генпрокурор
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За даними штабу АТО, обстріли велися з мінометів, БМП, гранатометів різних систем, великокаліберних кулеметів, а поблизу Водяного був застосований протитанковий ракетний комплекс
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Investors are plowing ever more into ethical funds to back their views on issues such as global warming and gender equality, but such investments can be confusingly similar to standard funds, except for higher fees and “green halo” marketing.
The $23 trillion “sustainable, responsible and impact” (SRI) investment sector has received a rush of money since the Paris climate agreement and, more recently, in protest against U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to slash environmental regulations.
Europe is the dominant region for such investments, with $12.04 trillion, followed by the United States, with $8.72 trillion, while Asia lags some way behind.
U.S. investors have poured $1.8 billion into actively managed U.S. equity funds in the socially responsible category from November to January, according to Lipper data, while other funds saw a net outflow of $133 billion.
Even in fossil-fuel-rich Australia and New Zealand, SRI investment rose from $148 billion to $516 billion between 2014 and 2016, and from $729 billion to $1.09 trillion in oil-rich Canada, according to the Global Sustainable Investment Review released Monday.
Gavin Goodhand, a portfolio manager at Sydney-based Altius Asset Management, said the company’s sustainable bond fund tripled shortly after the 2015 climate accord, where nearly 200 countries signed up to measures designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
“The Paris conference was the line in the sand for many of our retail customers, particularly the millennial generation, who want to do the right thing for the environment,” Goodhand said.
Green funds may be not so green
Governments are also tapping the trend, selling green bonds to fund projects such as wind farms or low-carbon transport, with Poland, France and Nigeria making their debut this year.
Some managers, however, are skeptical.
“While environmental, social and governance factors should always factor into investment decisions, this is largely a marketing exercise,” said Steve Goldman, a global portfolio manager at Sydney-based Kapstream Capital, which has A$10 billion ($7.6 billion) of fixed-income assets.
Goldman said Kapstream did not have a responsible investment fund because its clients had not asked for it.
The bond market does not have commonly agreed standards or criteria for what constitutes a green bond, and there is no guarantee the proceeds go to the low-carbon project as claimed.
There are similar concerns over equity products.
Stuart Palmer, head of ethics research at Australian Ethical Investment, said there was a danger that some marketing departments would “greenwash” their products to lure investors into funds that were little different to standard products.
Higher fees
There are no agreed definitions on what is considered ethical, sustainable and socially responsible, but ethical investors are typically expected to cough up higher fees.
For example, retail investors pay more than a third higher fees for the sustainability and ethical funds at Sydney-based BT Investment Management (BTIM) than for its standard share fund equivalent.
The three funds hold six or seven of their top-weighted stocks in common, including major banks Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Westpac Banking Corp, National Australia Bank and miner BHP Billiton , according to December filings.
A BT spokeswoman did not return requests for comment.
Due diligence difficult
For investors, it can be a minefield.
“I find it difficult as a consumer to do the due diligence I would like to do because even the ethical funds are not always totally transparent about what they define as ethical,” said retail investor Meraiah Foley, a Sydney academic.
“One of the ethical funds I have invests very heavily in retail banks in Australia, and those banks themselves may be underwriting projects that the fund itself would not invest in.”
There is also no standard practice on what to do when an existing fund stock breaches a manager’s policies. Some investment managers will sell, but others argue they can influence behavior by retaining their shareholding.
“We believe in engagement rather than divestment,” said Sam Sicilia, chief financial officer at the A$22 billion pension fund Hostplus. “When you sell a share in a ‘bad’ company, it’s a transfer of ownership and does nothing to the company that’s causing the issue, so divestment does not really work.”
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At least 18 people, including three children, were injured when a bonfire effigy exploded at a town carnival outside Paris, officials said Saturday.
Organizers had poured gasoline on a wooden figure of a man, preparing for a bonfire that normally concludes the annual town carnival in Villepinte, north of the capital. Emergency workers said the effigy exploded when it was ignited by remote control, showering chunks of burning wood and splinters onto a crowd of several hundred people.
Five of those injured were in serious condition, authorities said, but no one’s life was in danger. Most victims suffered burns.
Officials said there was no indication that the incident involved arson or terrorism, but the explosion and flames did cause momentary panic.
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Armenians vote Sunday in elections that will determine who guides the country through its planned transition to a parliamentary system of government next year.
Campaigns waged by by the nine parties and alliances seeking seats in parliament have focused mostly on the economic difficulties in the South Caucasus nation of 3 million.
Opinion polls point to a close race for the top spot between President Serzh Sarkisian’s ruling Republican Party of Armenia and a former coalition partner, the center-right Tsarukian Alliance led by pro-Russia tycoon Gagik Tarukian.
Under constitutional changes approved in a 2015 referendum, the Armenian prime minister’s office will become more powerful while the presidency is to become a largely ceremonial post elected by parliament.
Final term
Those changes are due to take place when Sarkisian’s second and final term ends in 2018. Critics charge that they were designed to allow him to stay in power beyond the presidency’s two-term limit.
Sarkisian denies that. But if the ruling party wins enough votes to control a parliamentary majority, either alone or in a coalition, he could continue to exercise executive power as prime minister.
He also could maintain clout by staying on as leader of his party, or he could exert influence through a handpicked successor.
Of the other eight parties or political blocs contesting the election, the Republican Party’s chief challenger is the Tsarukian Alliance.
Before breaking away and branding itself as an opposition force, Tsarukian had been a coalition partner of the Republican Party.
It was not clear ahead of the election whether Tsarukian would be willing to form a coalition again with Sarkisian’s party if, as the opinion polls suggest, neither wins enough votes to govern on its own.
Ruling coalition
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation, a smaller party currently in the ruling coalition with the Republicans, could help Sarkisian’s party form a majority coalition is Tsarukian is unwilling to do so.
Polls left it uncertain whether that party will get enough votes to be represented in parliament.
To win parliamentary seats, a party must win at least 5 percent of the vote and an alliance of parties must win at least 7 percent.
The right-wing conservative ORO Alliance, a bloc formed by three former cabinet ministers, could clear the threshold and win parliamentary seats.
That alliance takes an even harder line than Sarkisian’s Republicans on negotiations with Baku toward a settlement on the long-running conflict over Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Polls suggested three other political forces also have a chance to win parliamentary seats.
One is the Congress — PPA Party Alliance of former President Levon Ter-Petrosian, which puts an emphasis on making land-for-peace concessions with Baku in order to reach a settlement on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Another is the Armenian Renaissance Party, led by former parliament speaker and former security council chief Artur Baghdasarian.
Heavy election coverage
Baghdasarian owns the private television channel TV3, which has given heavy coverage to his party’s election campaign.
Polls suggest the centrist opposition Way Out Alliance, which has positioned itself as more pro-Western than its rivals, also was close to crossing the 7 percent barrier it needs to win parliamentary seats.
Opinion polls suggest that two smaller parties – the Communists and the pro-Western Free Democrats – are unlikely to win parliamentary seats.
Days ahead of the vote, the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan issued a joint statement with the European Union, Germany and the United Kingdom expressing concerns about allegations of irregularities since the campaign formally began on March 5.
The March 29 statement said diplomats were “aware of and concerned by” what it said were allegations of “voter intimidation, attempts to buy votes, and the systemic use of administrative resources to aid certain competing parties.”
In its interim report on March 7, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)’s observation mission also noted allegations of “widespread vote-buying” and “the prevalent perception” of “pressure and intimidation of voters.”
The OSCE mission also said that Armenia’s major commercial television stations “are financed by business and political groups and are perceived as being strongly associated with the government, as is public TV.”
The report said journalists had complained to monitors about “interference into editorial autonomy” and the “discouragement of critical reporting of the government on television.”
Focus on daily life
The main focus of the campaign has been social and economic issues affecting day-to-day life in the former Soviet republic.
Two political forces, Nikol Pashinian’s Way Out and the Free Democrats Party, have sought to position themselves as more pro-Western than their rivals.
Political analysts say that’s because public anger over Armenia’s economic problems is even stronger now than in 2015, when thousands of demonstrators blocked a central boulevard in Yerevan to protest planned electricity-price hikes.
For many, law wages, high inflation, joblessness, and corruption have eclipsed the question of whether Armenia should remain within the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union or seek closer integration with Europe.
Russian weapons deliveries to Baku had been the topic of heated debate after an escalation of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh last year.
But in the parliamentary campaign, most political forces steered clear of those issues and the question of whether Armenia is more secure with Russia as its ally.
RFE/RL correspondent Ron Synovitz in Prague and Suren Musayelyan in Yerevan contributed to this report.
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Acclaimed Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, whose work focused on war atrocities and denounced anti-Semitism and tyrannical dictators, has died. He was 84.
Ginny Hensley, a spokeswoman for Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa, confirmed Yevtushenko’s death. Roger Blais, provost at the University of Tulsa, where Yevtushenko was a longtime faculty member, said he was told Yevtushenko had died Saturday morning.
“He died a few minutes ago surrounded by relatives and close friends,” his widow, Maria Novikova, was quoted as saying by the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. She said he’d died peacefully in his sleep of heart failure.
Yevtushenko gained notoriety in the former Soviet Union while in his 20s, with poetry denouncing Josef Stalin. He gained international acclaim as a young revolutionary with “Babi Yar,” the unflinching 1961 poem that told of the slaughter of nearly 34,000 Jews by the Nazis and denounced the anti-Semitism that had spread throughout the Soviet Union.
Heard by huge crowds
At the height of his fame, Yevtushenko read his works in packed soccer stadiums and arenas, including to a crowd of 200,000 in 1991 that came to listen during a failed coup attempt in Russia. He also attracted large audiences on tours of the West.
With his tall, rangy body, chiseled visage and declaratory style, he was a compelling presence on stages when reading his works.
“He’s more like a rock star than some sort of bespectacled, quiet poet,” said former University of Tulsa President Robert Donaldson, who specialized in Soviet policy during his academic years at Harvard.
Until “Babi Yar” was published, the history of the massacre was shrouded in the fog of the Cold War.
“I don’t call it political poetry, I call it human rights poetry, the poetry which defends human conscience as the greatest spiritual value,” Yevtushenko, who had been splitting his time between Oklahoma and Moscow, said during a 2007 interview with The Associated Press at his home in Tulsa.
Yevtushenko said he wrote the poem after visiting the site of the mass killings in Kyiv, Ukraine, and searching for something memorializing what happened there — a sign, a tombstone, some kind of historical marker — but finding nothing.
“I was so shocked. I was absolutely shocked when I saw it, that people didn’t keep a memory about it,” he said.
It took him two hours to write the poem that begins, “No monument stands over Babi Yar. A drop sheer as a crude gravestone. I am afraid.”
Native of Zima
Yevtushenko was born in the Siberian town of Zima, a name that translates to winter. He rose to prominence during Nikita Khrushchev’s rule.
His poetry was outspoken and drew on the passion for poetry that is characteristic of Russia, where poetry is more widely revered than in the West. Some considered it risky, though others said he was only a showpiece dissident whose public views never went beyond the limits of what officials would permit.
Dissident exile poet Joseph Brodsky was especially critical, saying, “He throws stones only in directions that are officially sanctioned and approved.” Brodsky resigned from the American Academy of Arts and Letters when Yevtushenko was made an honorary member.
Donaldson invited Yevtushenko to teach at the university in 1992.
“I like very much the University of Tulsa,” Yevtushenko said in a 1995 interview with the AP. “My students are sons of ranchers, even cowboys, oil engineers. They are different people, but they are very gifted. They are closer to Mother Nature than the big city. They are more sensitive.”
He was also touched after the 1995 bombing of a federal government building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. He recalled one woman in his class who lost a relative in the blast, then commented that Russian women must have endured such suffering all their lives.
“This was the greatest compliment for me,” he said.
Blais, the university provost, said Yevtushenko remained an active professor at the time of his death. His poetry classes were perennially popular and featured football players and teenagers from small towns reading from the stage.
“He had a hard time giving bad grades to students because he liked the students so much,” Blais said.
Lauded in Russia
Yevtushenko’s death inspired tributes from his homeland.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on the Russian social media site Vkontakte: “He knew how to find the key to the souls of people, to find surprisingly accurate words that were in harmony with many.”
A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said the poet’s legacy would remain “part of Russian culture.”
Natalia Solzhenitsyna, widow of the novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, said on Russian state television that Yevtushenko “lived by his own formula.”
“A poet in Russia is more than a poet,” she said. “And he really was more than a poet — he was a citizen with a pronounced civic position.”
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Квартира в центрі Києва, яку депутат Верховної Ради Сергій Лещенко придбав у 2016 році, упродовж останніх місяців подешевшала більш як на два мільйони гривень. Це випливає з декларації, яку народний обранець заповнив на сайті Національного агентства з питань запобігання корупції.
Датою набуття права на квартиру вказано 6 вересня 2016 року, вартість на дату набуття становила 7 мільйонів 550 тисяч гривень, а за останньою оцінкою – 5 мільйонів 296 тисяч гривень.
Крім того, Лещенко володіє квартирою в Києві площею 60 квадратних метрів та 33% квартири в Києві площею 74,6 квадратних метра. Також він має право безоплатного користування кімнатою в Києві площею 24 квадратних метри.
Його співмешканка Анастасія Топольська (у декларації вказана як «особи, які спільно проживають, але не перебувають у шлюбі») орендує квартиру в Києві площею 78 квадратних метрів. Вона також володіє земельною ділянкою площею 800 квадратних метрів та половиною будинку площею 96 квадратних метрів у населеному пункті Фащівка, розташованому в контрольованому сепаратистами Антрацитівському районі Луганської області.
Найбільшою сумою у графі «Доходи, у тому числі подарунки» значиться позика в сумі 3 мільйони 770 тисяч гривень, отримана від громадянки України Олени Притули.
У вересні 2016 року стало відомо, що Сергій Лещенко придбав квартиру у новобудові в історичному центрі Києва площею 192 квадратні метри за 7,5 мільйонів гривень (понад 300 тисяч доларів). Лещенко пояснив, що частина суми, витраченої на придбання квартири, – це його заощадження як колишнього співвласника «Української правди», решта – позика. Депутат пояснив, що кошти, сплачені за квартиру, є чесно заробленими, і придбання квартири не порушило вимог антикорупційного законодавства України.
У грудні минулого року Національне агентство з питань запобігання корупції направило до суду протокол про перевищення максимального розміру подарунка, отриманого Лещенком як народним депутатом. Йдеться про «знижку», яку він нібито отримав у процесі придбання квартири в центрі Києва. Водночас адвокат Лещенка Дмитро Гненний стверджує, що ніякої знижки Лещенко не отримував, і суд має закрити провадження в справі у зв’язку з відсутністю в діях Лещенка правопорушення
У НАЗК вважають, що у купівлі квартири депутатом Лещенком є адміністративне порушення, передбачене частиною 1 статті 172-5 Кодексу України про адміністративні правопорушення.
Печерський районний суд Києва 15 лютого закрив адміністративне провадження щодо депутата Верховної Ради від фракції «Блок Петра Порошенка» Сергія Лещенка «за відсутністю складу адміністративного правопорушення». Генеральна прокуратура України в лютому заявила, що оскаржить рішення суду.
Сергій Лещенко, який написав низку матеріалів про корупцію у найвищих ешелонах влади для видання «Українська правда», у 2014 році був обраний народним депутатом за партійними списками «Блоку Петра Порошенка».
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Прем’єр-міністр України Володимир Гройсман пообіцяв звернутися до регуляторного органу з вимогою переглянути рішення про встановлення абонентської плати за газ. Про це він написав у Facebook.
«Вчора я пообіцяв розібратися з абонплатою за газ, провести ретельні розрахунки і подивитися, як це вплине на оплату за газ для кожного українського громадянина. Збільшення дійсно є і становить у середньому в розрахунках від 1,3 до 3 разів, особливо це стосується тих, хто живе у багатоквартирних будинках», – вказав голова уряду й назвав це «неприпустимим».
31 березня на зустрічі з представниками регіональних засобів інформації Гройсман заявляв, що «згідно з ухваленим законом про ринок газу та згідно з Кодексом транспортних мереж, нам з 1 квітня треба розмежувати ціну газу та вартість його транспортування і постачання». Вын стверджував, що «це призвело до зменшення ціни газу на 800 гривень», і «розщеплення платежу жодним чином не позначиться на отримувачах субсидій».
Національна комісія, що здійснює державне регулювання у сферах енергетики та комунальних послуг, наприкінці березня затвердила щомісячну абонплату за газ, яка стягуватиметься з 1 квітня.
Відтепер українці щомісяця платитимуть певну суму, яка не залежатиме від споживання газу. Абонплата вираховуватиметься залежно від приєднаної потужності (газового лічильника) кожного споживача.
Відповідно до рішення НКРЕКП кожен споживач платитиме за газ як за товар (4942 гривні за тисячу кубометрів плюс гранична торгівельна націнка газопостачальної компанії, яка становить 3,2%), окремо нараховується плата за користування приєднаними потужностями. Витрати «Укртрансгазу» на транспортування газу складатимуть 23% тарифу.
У НКРЕКП стверджують, що «методологія, за якою визначено тарифи, розроблена з урахуванням досвіду країн ЄС та погоджена з усіма зацікавленими органами виконавчої влади».
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Національне агентство з питань запобігання корупції розпочало перевірку декларацій, поданих президентом України та іншими високопосадовцями держави. Про це повідомив сьогодні заступник голови НАЗК Руслан Радецький в ефірі телеканалу «112 Україна».
«Ми розпочали перевірку щодо президента, прем’єр-міністра. Далі – віце-прем’єри, міністри», – сказав він, уточнивши, що йдеться про першу категорію посадових осіб відповідно до статті 50 закону «Про запобігання корупції».
Раніше Руслан Радецький заявляв про перевірку в плановому порядку декларацій 24 вищих посадових осіб, і що результати їх перевірки стануть відомі наприкінці квітня.
Загалом, за словами Руслана Радецького, НАЗК на сьогодні проводить близько 3-х тисяч перевірок.
«Це спеціальні перевірки, повні перевірки за повідомленнями викривачів, ЗМІ, громадян, громадських організацій та правоохоронних органів», – сказав Радецький. За його словами, оцінка другого етапу е-декларування буде надана в понеділок, 3 квітня.
Друга хвиля електронного декларування закінчилася 31 березня. За умисне неподання декларації передбачена як адміністративна, так і кримінальна відповідальність. Утім, у зв’язку з перебоями в роботі реєстру в НАЗК вирішили, що посадові не нестимуть відповідальності за декларації, не подані до 1 квітня, якщо встигнуть зробити це до 1 травня.
За даними офіційного сайту НАЗК, за період із 1 січня по 31 березня 2017 року подано 842 090 щорічних декларацій.
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Чотирьох із шести активістів білоруської організації «Молодий фронт», затриманих у справі «Білого легіону», відпустили із СІЗО у Мінську.
Як повідомляє білоруська служба Радіо Свобода, після полудня вийшов активіст Володимир Яроменок, перед тим про звільнення ще трьох – Дмитра Кременецького, Романа Васильєва та Артема Левчанки – повідомив активіст Білоруської асоціації журналістів Борис Гарецький.
22 березня білоруські силовики затримали 26 активістів «Молодого фронту» та колишнього «Білого легіону» за підозрою в організації масових заворушень. Десятьом із них пред’явили офіційне обвинувачення – навчання чи інша підготовка осіб до участі у масових заворушеннях або фінансування такої діяльності.
Загалом, як повідомлялось раніше, станом на 22 березня у тюрмах Білорусі перебувало близько ста лідерів опозиції, активістів та учасників протестів під загальною назвою «Марші недармоїдів».
Незареєстрована організація «Білий легіон» була заснована на початку 1990-х років членами молодіжного крила ліквідованого Білоруського об’єднання військових, однак на початку 2000-х оголосила про припинення свої діяльності через «відсутність суспільної необхідності в бойовій організації націоналістів, так як небезпеки суверенітету Республіки Білорусь більше не існує».
Молодіжна організація «Молодий фронт» діє в Білорусі з 1997-го. Як йдеться на сайті об’єднання, активісти «Молодого фронту» брали участь, зокрема, у низці опозиційних акцій проти політики теперішнього президента країни Олександра Лукашенка.
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The Trump administration escalated its criticism of Moscow Friday, with two of its most senior officials denouncing Russia’s treatment of Ukraine and reiterating a vow to maintain U.S. sanctions.
In his first visit to a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson accused Russia of “aggression” in Ukraine and told his counterparts that their alliance is “fundamental to countering both nonviolent, but at times violent, Russian agitation” in the region.
He also said U.S. sanctions against Moscow will remain in effect until it “reverses the actions” that triggered them. Washington imposed the sanctions in response to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and expanded them after Moscow began providing military aid to pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Tillerson’s previous language on Russia had been more conciliatory. After his first meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a Group of 20 major economies meeting in Bonn in February, Tillerson said the U.S. wants to find “new common ground” with Russia and “expects” it to honor commitments to de-escalate violence in Ukraine as part of the 2015 Minsk agreement.
U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, whose role is subordinate to Tillerson, similarly criticized Russian “aggression” and vowed to keep U.S. sanctions in place in remarks to the U.N. Security Council February 2.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis also fired a verbal attack at Russia Friday. Echoing language he used in February, Mattis told reporters in London that Russian “violations” of international law are now a “matter of record — from what happened with Crimea to other aspects of their behavior in mucking around inside other people’s elections” — a likely reference to U.S. allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign.
Senior Russian lawmaker Alexey Pushkov was not amused by the U.S. verbal assaults. In a Friday tweet, he said the new U.S. administration “sounds like the old one — Mattis is indistinguishable from (former Defense Secretary Ash) Carter, Tillerson is talking about ‘Russian aggression.’ (Barack) Obama and (Hillary) Clinton must be happy.”
Bloomberg reported that Tillerson’s tough language on Russia was well-received by NATO officials.
But NATO’s previous secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, told VOA Persian that he believes the Trump administration should go further. After speaking at a Hudson Institute forum in Washington Thursday, Rasmussen said the U.S. should “strengthen” its sanctions in response to what he called Russia’s continued destabilization of eastern Ukraine.
Watch: Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on US Sanctions
Tillerson and Mattis made no reference in their new remarks to Russia’s plans for more weapons sales to Iran, a nation the Trump administration has warned against threatening the U.S. or its Middle East allies.
A Russian lawmaker who heads the upper house of parliament’s defense and security committee, Viktor Ozerov, visited Iran last November and told reporters that Tehran was in talks to buy $10 billion worth of Russian military hardware. Ozerov said any Russian deliveries of conventional weapons to Iran likely will have to wait until 2020 when U.N. restrictions on arms sales to Tehran expire.
Moscow had taken a major step to boost military cooperation with Tehran before Ozerov’s announcement, delivering an S-300 advanced air defense system to Iran last year.
U.S. officials responded to the Russian-Iranian weapons talks with alarm, according to The Washington Free Beacon news site. It quoted State Department officials as saying they had long been working behind the scenes to persuade Moscow not to sell weapons to Iran.
Former NATO deputy secretary general Alexander Vershbow, who also spoke at Thursday’s Washington forum, told VOA Persian he does not think U.S. sanctions alone can stop Russia from arming Iran.
Watch: Former NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow on US Sanctions and Russia
“To be effective, the U.S. would have to adopt a unified sanctions approach with Europe,” Vershbow said. “While some sanctions imposed on Russia because of Ukraine may cover the Russian defense as well as financial sectors, targeting additional sanctions against Moscow specifically because of Iran may not be an easy issue for agreement with Europe, given its desire not to harm the Iran nuclear deal.”
Iran agreed to curb activities that could produce nuclear weapons as part of a 2015 deal with world powers, who agreed to ease sanctions against Tehran in return.
This report was produced in collaboration with VOA’s Persian Service.
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