Розділ: Повідомлення
HRW закликає Україну повернути жінок і дітей, утримуваних у Сирії
За даними правозахисників, щодо жодної з утримуваних жінок не висунули обвинувачень у будь-якому злочині
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By Gromada | 04/13/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
ЦГЗ: в Україні існують високі ризики поширення поліомієліту
У ВООЗ зазначають, що розповсюдження вірусу припиниться, якщо в країні буде вакциновано понад 95 відсотків людей
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By Gromada | 04/13/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Понад чверть наявних захисних споруд в Україні не готова до використання – ДСНС
«11 % захисних споруд визнано готовими, 63 % – обмежено готовими та 26 % –не готовими»
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By Gromada | 04/13/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
«Укрзалізниця» скасувала три поїзди на Західну Україну
«Укрзалізниця» скасувала поїзди Київ – Ужгород Ужгород – Херсон та Київ – Рахів
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By Gromada | 04/13/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
US State Department Names Former Ambassador as First Chief Diversity Officer
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday named Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley as the State Department’s first chief diversity officer, a position created to make the U.S. diplomatic corps more representative. The appointment is part of the Biden administration’s efforts to put diversity, equity and racial justice at the top of the national agenda after nationwide protests against police brutality and racial bias last year. Introducing Abercrombie-Winstanley, Blinken said the department and the country were at a “moment of reckoning” on racial equality, referring to the Black Lives Matter movement and attacks against Asian Americans. Abercrombie-Winstanley, a career diplomat since 1985 who served as U.S. ambassador to Malta, will report directly to Blinken, he said. Promoting diversity inclusion was the job of every department official, but the new officer would hold department leadership accountable on that score, Blinken said. The lack of diversity at the highest levels of the department was alarming, he added, but could be traced through its history and seen in the portraits of former secretaries that line the corridor to his office. “It’s hard not to notice that almost every one of the secretaries along the hallway is a white man,” Blinken said. With 76,000 employees globally, racial and ethnic minorities are underrepresented at the department, particularly in senior ranks, according to an independent federal watchdog report released last year. Abercrombie-Winstanley is Black. “The truth is this problem is as old as the department itself. It’s systemic,” Blinken said. “It goes deeper than any one institution or any one administration, and it’s perpetuated by policies, practices and people to this day.”
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By Polityk | 04/13/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden Seeks Billions While the Chips Are Down
U.S. President Joe Biden is linking his $2 trillion infrastructure spending plan to alleviating a critical shortage of semiconductors. “Chips, like the one I have here — these chips, these wafers are batteries, broadband —it’s all infrastructure,” Biden said in the White House Roosevelt Room on Monday during a virtual meeting with leaders of some of the country’s biggest companies hurt by a global shortage of semiconductors. The goal of the meeting, according to the president, was to figure out how to “strengthen our domestic semiconductor industry and secure the American supply chain.” Earlier, White House press secretary Jen Psaki, speaking to reporters, said, “This isn’t a meeting where we expect a decision or an announcement to come out of, but part of our ongoing engagement and discussion about how to best address this issue over the long term, but also over the short term.” A shortage of semiconductors, commonly known as chips, has significantly slowed U.S. auto manufacturing, with General Motors, Ford and other carmakers temporarily shuttering some factories or reducing production. President Joe Biden participates virtually in the CEO Summit on Semiconductor and Supply Chain Resilience in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, April 12, 2021.The White House meeting on “semiconductor and supply chain resilience,” was led by national security adviser Jake Sullivan, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Among the 19 executives participating were the bosses of Alphabet/Google, aircraft maker Northrup Grumman and automakers General Motors and Ford, as well as Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, key companies in the semiconductor industry. The coronavirus pandemic had prompted automakers to cancel their chip contracts, meaning when they wanted to ramp up production again, they did not have adequate supplies. “When it looked like the economy was going into a great depression these automakers thought sales were going to be bad for the year and they cut their contracts. But the problem is when they did that, they freed up a ton of capacity at the semiconductor labs to produce other chips,” said Scott Lincicome, Cato Institute senior fellow in economic studies. The chip shortage, while quite serious, is thus only temporary, Lincicome said. The White House, in its infrastructure plan, wants lawmakers to approve $50 billion for a new Commerce Department office to support production of critical goods and another $50 billion to boost semiconductor manufacturing and research. “I’m very concerned that it’s just a slush fund for corporate welfare,” said Lincicome, who suggests the U.S. government, instead, “should invest in bleeding edge research and development.” The short-term issue of a shortage of semiconductors for the automotive industry should not be confused with the “larger, existential problem that the United States does not produce enough of its own chips,” according to Roslyn Layton, the co-founder of China Tech Threat. The United States should aim to produce domestically at least half of its own chips in the major categories, said Layton, explaining there should also be greater scrutiny of American companies selling high-end semiconductor manufacturing equipment to Chinese military-linked fabricators, which “violates U.S. and international law.” The United States “has accelerated its decline in manufacturing and advanced technology with weak enforcement of export controls. This is something that the next leader of Bureau of Industry and Security at the Department of Commerce needs to tighten,” Layton said. During the virtual meeting, Biden told the corporate executives he had received a letter on Monday from a bipartisan group of 23 senators and 42 House members expressing support of the “Chips for America” program. The letter, said the president, notes China’s communist party “aggressively plans to reorient and dominate the semiconductor supply chain” and how much money Beijing is pouring into being able to achieve that. “But I’ve been saying for some time now, China, and the rest of the world is not waiting. And there’s no reason why Americans should wait,” Biden said.
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By Polityk | 04/13/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden Lobbying Bipartisan Lawmakers for Infrastructure Spending
U.S. President Joe Biden is meeting Monday with a bipartisan group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers to push for adoption of his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan to repair the country’s aging and deteriorating roads and bridges, add to its broadband internet system and revitalize several sectors of the American economy.There appears to be wide support for Biden’s plan for traditional infrastructure spending, fixing the country’s crumbling roads and bridges. But Republican lawmakers are balking at his description of infrastructure to include spending for in-home care for older people, child care, health care facilities for veterans and other programs throughout the country.In addition, Republicans have taken aim at Biden’s call for a 33% tax increase on corporations to pay for the plan, from 21% to 28% on pretax profits. Biden Budget Proposal Would Dramatically Shift US Spending PrioritiesEducation, jobs, environment and health care get big boosts while defense spending remains steadyThe White House is beginning an all-out campaign to try to show lawmakers and voters the extent of the country’s infrastructure needs.It released a state-by-state breakdown of the extent of the disrepair, saying, for example, 1,703 bridges need repair in New York state and 11,700 kilometers in highways are in poor condition.The analysis showed that California’s drinking water infrastructure needs $51 billion in repairs over the next 20 years, while in the largely rural western state of Wyoming, more than a quarter of the population live in areas without minimally acceptable broadband internet connections. There is a roughly four-in-10 chance that a public transit vehicle in the midwestern state of Indiana might be ready for the scrapyard, while schools in the eastern state of Pennsylvania need $1.4 billion for maintenance and upgrades.The Biden administration is hoping that the list will resonate with ordinary Americans in what they encounter in their lives. The White House is painting a picture of dire needs for one of the world’s wealthiest countries, suggesting that too many roadways and bridges are unsafe, while noting that increasingly extreme weather events have contributed to the deterioration. WATCH: Michelle Quinn’s video report Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 7 MB480p | 10 MB540p | 13 MB720p | 28 MB1080p | 55 MBOriginal | 67 MB Embed” />Copy Download Audio”We don’t have a lot of work to do to persuade the American people that U.S. infrastructure needs major improvement,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Fox News Channel’s “Fox News Sunday” show. “The American people already know it.”Overall, Biden’s plan would modernize more than 32,000 kilometers in roadways.Among those meeting with Biden Monday is one of the critics of his infrastructure plan, Mississippi Republican Senator Roger Wicker.”This is a massive social welfare spending program combined with a massive tax increase on small business job creators,” Wicker said on ABC’s “This Week” show on Sunday. “I can’t think of a worse thing to do.” Three other Republicans are joining the White House meeting — Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska, and Congressmen Garret Graves of Louisiana and Don Young of Alaska. Democrats on the list are Senators Maria Cantwell of Washington and Alex Padilla of California, along with Congressmen Donald Payne of New Jersey and David Price of North Carolina.
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By Polityk | 04/13/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
У Києві почали вимикати опалення – КМДА
На повне згортання розгалуженої системи теплопостачання столиці, яка налічує більше ніж 2,7 тисячі кілометрів теплових мереж, необхідно близько п’яти днів, додали в КМДА
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By Gromada | 04/12/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Синоптики прогнозують «бурхливу» погоду на поточний тиждень
З 14 квітня у західних областях очікується похолодання
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By Gromada | 04/12/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Biden Officials Signal Willingness to Compromise on $2 Trillion Infrastructure Plan
Lawmakers return to Washington this week, with U.S. President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure package topping their agenda. Michelle Quinn reports.
Video editor: Mary Cieslak
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By Polityk | 04/12/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Київський метрополітен підрахує недоотримані доходи після завершення локдауну
У перший день цьогорічного локдауну столичною підземкою скористалися 151 тисяча пасажирів, тоді як у 2020 році середньодобовий пасажиропотік становив мільйон осіб
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By Gromada | 04/12/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Українцям пропонують відправити «меседж у космос»
Всеукраїнська акція «Меседж у космос» триватиме з 12 по 19 квітня 2021 року
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By Gromada | 04/12/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Lawmakers to Discuss Biden’s $2 Trillion Infrastructure Plan
Lawmakers return to Washington this week, with U.S. President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure package topping their agenda. Michelle Quinn reports.
Video editor: Mary Cieslak
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By Polityk | 04/12/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Міністр культури закликає розслідувати, хто дав дозвіл на знищення історичного будинку в Києві
Ткаченко назвав «варварством» рішення знести будинок з більш ніж 120-річною історією в Києві
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By Gromada | 04/12/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
В Україні за тиждень спостерігалися пікові навантаження на службу екстреної меддопомоги – МОЗ
МОЗ заявляє про високий рівень госпіталізації
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By Gromada | 04/12/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Lawmakers Take Up Biden’s $2 Trillion Infrastructure Plan
Lawmakers return to Washington this week, with U.S. President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure package topping their agenda. Michelle Quinn reports.
Video editor: Mary Cieslak
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By Polityk | 04/12/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Засудженому в Криму Коломійцю знову подовжили термін у ШІЗО
«Буду уточнювати причину», – розповіла дружина політв’язня
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By Gromada | 04/11/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Медіа оприлюднили нові записи бойовиків про збитий на Донбасі рейс MH17
Ці записи розмов між фігурантами розслідування про катастрофу MH17 раніше не оприлюднювалися
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By Gromada | 04/11/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
US Defense Secretary to Visit Israel, Germany, NATO Headquarters, UK
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will travel to Israel, Germany, NATO headquarters in Belgium and Britain starting on Saturday, the Pentagon said in a statement.“Secretary Austin will meet with his counterparts and other senior officials to discuss the importance of international defense relationships and reinforce the United States’ commitment to deterrence and defense, burden sharing, and enduring trans-Atlantic security,” said the statement released on Thursday.
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By Polityk | 04/11/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
В ОРДЛО утримують до 300 заручників – Арестович
Йдеться про полонених, утримуваних у різних локаціях на окупованій частині Донбасу, в тому числі на території колишнього заводу «Ізоляція»
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By Gromada | 04/11/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Iran Launches Advanced Centrifuges Marking Its National Nuclear Day
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani oversaw on live television Saturday the launch of advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium, a key component for nuclear weapons, while reiterating his country’s commitment to nuclear non-proliferation.Rouhani’s conflicting messages came as the country observed National Nuclear Technology Day, during which he was seen on state television ordering the injection of uranium gas into nearly 200 centrifuges and tests on other devices at the underground Natanz nuclear plant.“Once again, I stress that all our nuclear activities are peaceful and for non-military purposes,” Rouhani said during the ceremony at which more than 130 advances in its nuclear industry over the past year were unveiled, primarily in medicine, energy and agriculture.Rouhani’s actions may have been Iran’s latest in a series of breaches of the 2015 nuclear deal Iran reached with world powers.
The U.S. and Iran have agreed to a second round of indirect talks in Vienna next week to try to bring each other back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, but Iran has insisted that all U.S. sanctions against it be lifted and the U.S. warned that such a demand may lead to an impasse.A senior U.S. State Department official who spoke to reporters on Friday said the indirect talks would resume in the middle of next week in the Austrian capital. U.S. and Iranian diplomats concluded an initial round of meetings earlier in the day, with mediators from the European Union delivering messages between the two sides. The talks began Tuesday with Iran meeting Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia, the five other remaining signatories of the 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and those five world powers meeting separately with the U.S. delegation nearby.The JCPOA called for Iran to freeze nuclear activities that could be weaponized in return for sanctions relief from world powers. The U.S. withdrew in 2018 and began unilaterally ratcheting up sanctions on Iran under then-President Donald Trump, who criticized the deal negotiated by his predecessor as not doing enough to stop objectionable Iranian behavior. Iran retaliated a year later by exceeding the JCPOA’s nuclear activity limits.The U.S. official described this week’s talks as productive, businesslike and constructive. The official said, however, that EU mediators going back and forth between two hotels carrying messages between the U.S. and Iranian teams was cumbersome.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 11 MB480p | 16 MB540p | 22 MB720p | 45 MB1080p | 86 MBOriginal | 97 MB Embed” />Copy Download Audio“We exchanged ideas about the principles that would guide any sanctions lifting on the U.S. side,” the official said. The U.S. side did not present a list of specific sanctions that could be lifted, and the Iranian side did not present a list of nuclear steps it would be willing to take to reverse JCPOA violations, the official added.“All sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA and are inconsistent with the benefits that Iran expects from the JCPOA, we are prepared to lift,” the official said, adding that a question remained about whether Iran is serious about reciprocating the U.S. offer.Iran’s lead delegate to the talks, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, was quoted on Friday by Iranian state news site Press TV as saying Tehran will “only come back to full compliance with the agreement after the U.S. lifts sanctions imposed, reimposed or relabeled following the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA.” He said Iran also will want to verify the lifting of those sanctions.The U.S. official rejected that demand, saying the Biden administration sees at least some of Trump’s sanctions as “legitimate.”“Under the [2015] deal, the U.S. retains the right to impose sanctions for non-nuclear reasons whether it is terrorism or human rights violations or interference with our elections et cetera,” the official said. If Iran insists that all sanctions be removed in order to reach a deal it will lead to an impasse, the official added.Despite the U.S. and Iran appearing to remain far apart, Press TV said Tehran views the talks as moving in the right direction and said the next Vienna meeting will take place Wednesday.Iran observers interviewed by VOA Persian in recent days expressed a mixture of optimism and pessimism about the prospects for an eventual deal to revive the JCPOA and ease long running U.S.-Iran tensions.Speaking in the Austrian capital on Wednesday, University of Vienna politics professor Heinz Gärtner said the U.S. feels a sense of urgency to get an agreement before Iran holds a June presidential election whose winner could take a tougher stance toward the U.S., albeit only with the permission of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in key decision-making.Gärtner said Iran’s outgoing President Hassan Rouhani, whose government negotiated and entered the JCPOA in 2015, also has an incentive to bring sanctions relief to his people again and thereby avoid leaving office with his reputation marred by a failed agreement.“The main bulk of the relief will have to go to the population, otherwise there will be unrest. And that’s not what the Iranian government will want,” he said.However, a U.S.-Iranian agreement that leads only to the lifting of some U.S. sanctions on Iranian energy exports is unlikely to give Iran the economic relief that it wants, said Farhad Alavi, an Iranian American attorney specializing in international sanctions.In a Tuesday appearance on a TV program about the Vienna talks, Alavi said that if the U.S. maintains sanctions on Iran’s financial sector and Tehran remains blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force — a global financial watchdog — the practical impact of sanctions relief will be “minimal.”Foundation for Defense of Democracies analyst Bradley Bowman said in a Monday interview that it would be a mistake for the U.S. to provide sanctions relief to Iran as part of a mutual return to compliance with what he said was a flawed original deal that enabled Iran to continue perceived malign activities.”Tehran remains the world’s leading state sponsor and exporter of terrorism. They have the largest ballistic missile arsenal in the Middle East. They continue to target via proxies Americans in the region and our partners and allies,” Bowman said. “I see no evidence of a strategic decision by Tehran to change course and live at peace with its neighbors.”This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service.
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By Polityk | 04/10/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
195 пожеж і 125 га вигорілих площ – ДСНС про охоплені вогнем минулої доби відкриті території
За спалювання сухої трави та листя законом передбачений шраф до 153 тисяч гривень, а за підпал з тяжкими наслідками для природи може загрожувати 5 років в’язниці
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By Gromada | 04/10/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Найближчими днями в Україні очікується тепла і суха погода
У Києві в неділю без опадів, температура вночі 0-2°, вдень 12-14° тепла
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By Gromada | 04/10/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Group to Study More Justices, Term Limits for Supreme Court
U.S. President Joe Biden has ordered a study on overhauling the Supreme Court, creating a bipartisan commission Friday that will spend the next six months examining the politically incendiary issues of expanding the court and instituting term limits for justices, among other issues.In launching the review, Biden fulfilled a campaign promise made amid pressure from activists and Democrats to realign the Supreme Court after its composition tilted sharply to the right during President Donald Trump’s term. Trump nominated three justices to the high court, including conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was confirmed to replace the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg just days before last year’s presidential election. That gave conservatives a 6-3 split with liberals on the court.During the campaign, Biden repeatedly sidestepped questions on expanding the court. A former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden has asserted that the system of judicial nominations is “getting out of whack,” but has not said if he supports adding seats or making other changes to the current system of lifetime appointments, such as imposing term limits.The 36-member commission, composed largely of academics, was instructed to spend 180 days (about 6 months) studying proposed changes, holding public meetings and completing a report. But it was not charged with making a recommendation under the White House order that created it.The panel will be led by Bob Bauer, who served as White House counsel for former President Barack Obama, and Cristina Rodriguez, a Yale Law School professor who served in the Office of Legal Counsel for Obama. Other prominent members include Walter Dellinger, a former top Supreme Court lawyer for the government during the Clinton administration; Harvard law professor Lawrence Tribe, who has supported the idea of expanding the court and Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.Conflict over courtThe makeup of the Supreme Court, always a hot-button issue, ignited again in 2016 when Democrats declared that Republicans gained an unfair advantage by blocking Obama’s nomination of then-Judge Merrick Garland, now Biden’s attorney general, to fill the seat left empty by the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, refused to even hold hearings on filling the vacancy, even though it was more than six months until the next presidential election.In the wake of McConnell’s power play, some progressives have viewed adding seats to the court or setting term limits as a way to offset the influence of any one president on its makeup. Conservatives, in turn, have denounced such ideas as “court-packing” similar to the failed effort by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s.Biden pledged to create the commission during an October television interview. Its launch comes amid speculation as to whether he will be able to put his own stamp on the court if liberal Justice Stephen Breyer retires. If that were to happen, Biden has promised to nominate the first Black woman to the court.The 82-year-old Breyer is the court’s oldest member and the senior member of its three-justice liberal wing. A number of progressive groups have urged Breyer to retire while Democrats still control the Senate and the confirmation process.Earlier this week, Breyer himself warned liberal advocates of making substantial changes to the court, including expanding the number of justices. Breyer said in a speech Tuesday that advocates should think “long and hard” about what they are proposing. Politically driven change could diminish the trust Americans place in the court, Breyer said.White House press secretary Jen Psaki, asked Friday what the president makes of the call for Breyer to step aside, said that Biden “believes that is a decision for Justice Breyer to make.” And she said the president will wait for the commission to finish its work before weighing in about the size of the court.The Supreme Court has had nine members since just after the Civil War. Any effort to alter it would be explosive, particularly at a moment when Congress is nearly evenly divided. Changing the number of justices would require congressional approval.Some on the left slammed the commission’s creation. Brian Fallon, executive director of Demand Justice, a liberal advocacy group that supports expanding the court and term limits for justices, said in a statement that: “A commission made up mostly of academics, that includes far-right voices and is not tasked with making formal recommendations, is unlikely to meaningfully advance the ball on Court reform.”But others seemed willing to give it a chance. “With five justices appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote, it’s crucial that we consider every option for wresting back political control of the Supreme Court,” said Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, a liberal judicial advocacy group. “President Biden’s commission demonstrates a strong commitment to studying this situation and taking action.”There was concern among some conservatives. Mike Davis of the conservative Article III Project called the news of the commission’s creation “alarming” in a statement, adding that “there is real danger in President Biden giving credibility to the idea of court packing; he is playing with fire and threatening the constitutional foundation of this country.”
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By Polityk | 04/10/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
US: Indirect Talks with Iran to Resume in Vienna But Demand to Lift All Sanctions May Cause ‘Impasse’
The U.S. and Iran have agreed to a second round of indirect talks in Vienna next week to try to bring each other back into compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal, but Iran has insisted that all U.S. sanctions against it be lifted and the U.S. warned that such a demand may lead to an impasse.A senior U.S. State Department official who spoke to reporters on Friday said the indirect talks would resume in the middle of next week in the Austrian capital. U.S. and Iranian diplomats concluded an initial round of meetings earlier in the day, with mediators from the European Union delivering messages between the two sides. The talks began Tuesday with Iran meeting Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia, the five other remaining signatories of the 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and those five world powers meeting separately with the U.S. delegation nearby.The JCPOA called for Iran to freeze nuclear activities that could be weaponized in return for sanctions relief from world powers. The U.S. withdrew in 2018 and began unilaterally ratcheting up sanctions on Iran under then-President Donald Trump, who criticized the deal negotiated by his predecessor as not doing enough to stop objectionable Iranian behavior. Iran retaliated a year later by exceeding the JCPOA’s nuclear activity limits.The U.S. official described this week’s talks as productive, businesslike and constructive. The official said, however, that EU mediators going back and forth between two hotels carrying messages between the U.S. and Iranian teams was cumbersome.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 11 MB480p | 16 MB540p | 22 MB720p | 45 MB1080p | 86 MBOriginal | 97 MB Embed” />Copy Download Audio“We exchanged ideas about the principles that would guide any sanctions lifting on the U.S. side,” the official said. The U.S. side did not present a list of specific sanctions that could be lifted, and the Iranian side did not present a list of nuclear steps it would be willing to take to reverse JCPOA violations, the official added.“All sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA and are inconsistent with the benefits that Iran expects from the JCPOA, we are prepared to lift,” the official said, adding that a question remained about whether Iran is serious about reciprocating the U.S. offer.Iran’s lead delegate to the talks, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, was quoted on Friday by Iranian state news site Press TV as saying Tehran will “only come back to full compliance with the agreement after the U.S. lifts sanctions imposed, reimposed or relabeled following the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA.” He said Iran also will want to verify the lifting of those sanctions.The U.S. official rejected that demand, saying the Biden administration sees at least some of Trump’s sanctions as “legitimate.”“Under the [2015] deal, the U.S. retains the right to impose sanctions for non-nuclear reasons whether it is terrorism or human rights violations or interference with our elections et cetera,” the official said. If Iran insists that all sanctions be removed in order to reach a deal it will lead to an impasse, the official added.Despite the U.S. and Iran appearing to remain far apart, Press TV said Tehran views the talks as moving in the right direction and said the next Vienna meeting will take place Wednesday.Iran observers interviewed by VOA Persian in recent days expressed a mixture of optimism and pessimism about the prospects for an eventual deal to revive the JCPOA and ease long running U.S.-Iran tensions.Speaking in the Austrian capital on Wednesday, University of Vienna politics professor Heinz Gärtner said the U.S. feels a sense of urgency to get an agreement before Iran holds a June presidential election whose winner could take a tougher stance toward the U.S., albeit only with the permission of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in key decision-making.Gärtner said Iran’s outgoing President Hassan Rouhani, whose government negotiated and entered the JCPOA in 2015, also has an incentive to bring sanctions relief to his people again and thereby avoid leaving office with his reputation marred by a failed agreement.“The main bulk of the relief will have to go to the population, otherwise there will be unrest. And that’s not what the Iranian government will want,” he said.However, a U.S.-Iranian agreement that leads only to the lifting of some U.S. sanctions on Iranian energy exports is unlikely to give Iran the economic relief that it wants, said Farhad Alavi, an Iranian American attorney specializing in international sanctions.In a Tuesday appearance on a TV program about the Vienna talks, Alavi said that if the U.S. maintains sanctions on Iran’s financial sector and Tehran remains blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force — a global financial watchdog — the practical impact of sanctions relief will be “minimal.”Foundation for Defense of Democracies analyst Bradley Bowman said in a Monday interview that it would be a mistake for the U.S. to provide sanctions relief to Iran as part of a mutual return to compliance with what he said was a flawed original deal that enabled Iran to continue perceived malign activities.”Tehran remains the world’s leading state sponsor and exporter of terrorism. They have the largest ballistic missile arsenal in the Middle East. They continue to target via proxies Americans in the region and our partners and allies,” Bowman said. “I see no evidence of a strategic decision by Tehran to change course and live at peace with its neighbors.”This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service.
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By Polityk | 04/10/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
White House Border Coordinator Jacobson Leaving Role at End of Month
White House border coordinator Roberta Jacobson is leaving her job at the end of April, the White House said on Friday, a surprise move that solidified Vice President Kamala Harris’ control over U.S. diplomatic efforts in Central America.While the White House insisted Jacobson’s departure was planned, the announcement still was unexpected as she had been engaged in media interviews in the hours leading up to her announcement and had shown no sign of planning to step down.”Consistent with her commitment at the outset to serve in the administration’s first 100 days, Ambassador Jacobson will retire from her role as coordinator at the end of this month,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.The statement made no mention of a replacement for the role, saying only that Harris had been asked by President Joe Biden to lead the administration’s work with Mexico and the “Northern Triangle” countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.Biden named Harris on March 24 to lead U.S. efforts with the region to try to stem the flow of migration to the United States. The White House has stressed that Harris’ top chore is the diplomatic angle, not border security itself, a job led by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.Diplomatic efforts remain a challenge as the Biden administration tries to focus on the root causes of migration. White House spokesperson Jen Psaki confirmed on Friday that El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele refused to meet visiting U.S. envoy Ricardo Zuniga this week but said he had constructive meetings with other officials in his trip to the region.Jacobson told The New York Times on Friday that she supported the decision for Harris to engage in diplomatic talks with the region.”Nobody could be more delighted to see the vice president take on that role. It didn’t have anything to do with my decision,” she said.The New York Times said that Jacobson, in a separate interview two weeks ago, had talked expansively about her plans to travel to Central America as part of her job.She told Reuters on Friday that the United States was considering a conditional cash transfer program for the Northern Triangle, to help address economic woes.The White House has struggled to contain the flow of migrants across the U.S. southern border with Mexico, creating an early challenge for Biden. It has sent a mixed message to the region, saying that the border is closed but unaccompanied children will be provided shelter.Sullivan said Jacobson, the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, had launched renewed diplomatic efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle nations and helped the Biden administration’s “commitment to reenergizing the U.S. immigration system.”
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By Polityk | 04/10/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
