Розділ: Повідомлення
Зеленський про Ліну Костенко в день уродин: «Ваші сила й талант не перестають захоплювати»
У різних рейтингах відомих людей України Ліна Костенко зазвичай посідає одне з чільних місць
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By Gromada | 03/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Полоненого на Донбасі українця Матюшенка відправляють «на яму» за «неправильну стрижку» – дружина
«Про полонених зараз стали значно менше говорити», каже Тетяна Матюшенко
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By Gromada | 03/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
США в ОБСЄ попереджають про нові спроби Росії зняти з себе відповідальність за ескалацію на Донбасі
«Ми не сприймемо і не ігноруватимемо постійні спроби Росії відмежуватися від конфлікту, за який вона несе одноосібну відповідальність»
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By Gromada | 03/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
US Envoy Contrasts Biden’s Criticism of Iran’s Poor Human Rights Record with Trump Approach
The Biden administration is contrasting its criticisms of Iran’s poor human rights record from those made by former President Donald Trump, with a senior official saying the U.S. is trying to make its Iran critiques more credible by stressing a need to also solve rights problems at home.“President Joe Biden has made clear … that human rights are going to be a priority in Iran and in the region as a whole,” said U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley in a Wednesday interview with VOA Persian at the State Department. “And I think we have restored a more principled approach in which we push for the respect of human rights throughout the world, including, by the way, in the United States.”Prior to Malley’s interview, the Biden administration had issued eight public statements about Iran’s human rights record since taking office on Jan. 20, with the toughest being a March 9 announcement of sanctions against two interrogators of Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for allegedly violating the rights of anti-government protesters in 2019 and 2020.The Trump administration had frequently been vocal about Iran’s poor rights record during its four-year term and sanctioned multiple Iranian government-linked individuals and entities for alleged human rights abuses.In an echo of Trump’s approach, Malley told VOA the Biden administration has tried to “shine a spotlight on Iran [and] the struggle of courageous activists” such as jailed Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh. A U.S. official in Geneva had mentioned Sotoudeh in a March 9 statement to the U.N. Human Rights Council urging Iran to end its “systematic use of an arbitrary and unfair justice system to detain and impose sentences against human rights defenders.”In another message similar to that of the Trump administration, Malley said U.S. officials were putting a “huge emphasis” on trying to bring home Iranian American dual citizens seen as unjustly detained in or prevented from leaving Iran. He named businessman Siamak Namazi, who was arrested in October 2015; Siamak’s father and former U.N. official Baquer Namazi, who was detained in February 2016 and has been on a medical furlough from prison since 2018; and environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, who was arrested in January 2018.Malley said the U.S. also will continue to seek the return of the remains of retired FBI agent Robert “Bob” Levinson, who disappeared in Iran after being abducted in 2007 and later died in captivity according to U.S. intelligence assessments.“It is unconscionable that … the Iranian government would use the lives of individuals as pawns in a political game to try to extract benefit,” Malley said. “This is not something [where] you sign an agreement and that’s enough. What you need to do is push and make sure that there’s pressure, and make sure that the Iranian people themselves know that the United States is standing with them in that fight.”Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 3 MB480p | 4 MB540p | 4 MB1080p | 17 MBOriginal | 34 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioUS Envoy Talks Human RightsIn an effort to contrast his message from that of the previous administration, Malley said the U.S. views the human rights fight as one involving not just Iran but other countries.“And it’s [involving] the U.S. trying to restore its own faith with its commitments back at home, commitments on democracy, on the respect of human rights,” he said. “One of the first decisions President Biden made was to lift the travel ban on Muslims and Africans to try to restore the U.S. to a stronger position in terms of being able to argue for universal human rights everywhere.”Biden repealed the Trump travel ban on Iran and 12 other nations within hours of being sworn in. He said the visa restrictions on citizens of those nations, seven of them predominantly Muslim states in the Middle East and Africa, were inconsistent with a U.S. tradition of welcoming people of all faiths and undermined national security.Trump had said the bans were justified by concerns about foreign terrorist entry to the United States and about the ability of U.S. authorities to screen visa applicants from nations afflicted by terrorism.Malley’s human rights comments drew mixed reactions from U.S. analysts and policy advocates contacted by VOA Persian.Barbara Slavin of the Atlantic Council welcomed the U.S. envoy’s position. “The Trump administration approach was riddled with double standards, condemning Iran vociferously while ignoring or soft-peddling egregious abuses by countries ‘friendlier’ to the United States such as Saudi Arabia. I thought it was important that he admitted that the U.S. record is hardly perfect in this regard,” she said.National Iranian American Council policy director Ryan Costello said the Biden administration should not only speak out “more evenly” on human rights abuses in the Middle East and the world but also ease Trump-imposed Iran sanctions that he said, “have hurt ordinary Iranians and contributed to the securitized political environment in Iran.” Biden has offered to ease those sanctions if Iran first resumes compliance with a 2015 deal in which it promised world powers to curb nuclear activities that could be weaponized, in return for sanctions relief.Alireza Nader of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said he does not believe Biden will achieve any human rights improvements in Iran without maintaining the Trump-era sanctions that were part of the former president’s “maximum pressure” campaign against the Islamist-ruled nation. “The Iranian people want the Islamic Republic gone and an easing of pressure only helps the regime,” he said.Iran International senior analyst Jason Brodsky said the newly defined U.S. human rights approach to Iran is unlikely to influence an Iranian supreme leader who has gone to great lengths to ensure the survival of Iran’s ruling system. “A U.S. universal and self-critical policy by itself won’t change that calculus, and the international community needs to understand that dynamic,” Brodsky said.This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service.
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By Polityk | 03/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Lawmakers Confirm Former Ambassador as US Spy Chief
Another key piece of U.S. President Joe Biden’s team moved into place Thursday, with lawmakers in the Senate confirming former Ambassador William Burns to lead the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).Senators skipped a roll-call vote and approved Burns by unanimous consent, just hours after a hold on the nomination had been lifted.Burns earned praise from both Democrats and Republicans following his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, with committee chairman Senator Mark Warner calling the bipartisan support a “testament to the nominee’s unquestioned qualifications.”JUST IN: Praise & congratulations for newly confirmed @CIA Director William Burns from @ODNIgov Director Avril HainesThe Senate confirmed the 64yo former ambassador by unanimous consent earlier after a weeks-long hold on his nomination was lifted pic.twitter.com/Tj8fUngFvY— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) March 18, 2021But Burns hit a roadblock earlier this month when Senator Ted Cruz put a hold on the nomination, citing objections to the Biden administration’s handling of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline.Cruz lifted the hold Thursday after Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement warning countries participating in the Russian project risked U.S. sanctions.In light of the Secretary’s strong declaration, I’m following through on my commitment to lift the NS2-related holds I have placed on William Burns & Brian McKeon, the President’s nominees for director of the CIA & Deputy Secretary of State for Management & Resources.— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) March 18, 2021With Thursday’s Senate confirmation, the 64-year-old Burns becomes the first career diplomat to lead to the U.S. spy agency.Former intelligence officials have said he will have to quickly take on several challenges, including concerns about morale within the agency stemming from complaints that intelligence products were politicized under former President Donald Trump.”Politics must stop where intelligence work begins,” Burns told lawmakers during his confirmation hearing last month, promising a return to the credo of “speaking truth to power.”Biden “said he wants the agency to give it to him straight, and I pledged to do just that, and to defend those who do the same,” Burns added.As for external challenges, former officials and lawmakers have said Burns’ decades of experience as a diplomat, including stints in Russia and the Middle East, should serve him well.Burns, though, told lawmakers his top priority will be countering China, telling lawmakers that Beijing’s “aggressive, undisguised ambition and assertiveness” is a “very sharp wake-up call.”Burns has also warned the spy agency must be wary of underestimating Russia, Iran, and a host of other adversaries.Former intelligence officials say the list is long.“CIA cannot take its eye off the ball on terrorism, or the serious challenges presented by Russia and Iran,” Larry Pfeiffer, a former CIA chief of staff, told VOA. “It also needs to work with the broader IC [intelligence community] and its customers to determine the appropriate level of CIA support to the increasingly important challenges of global health, climate change, and cyber.”“And, of course, this will have to take place in a period of, at best, zero growth in budget,” he added.
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By Polityk | 03/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
US House Approves Immigration Bills for Dreamers, Farm Workers
The House voted Thursday to open a gateway to citizenship for young Dreamers, migrant farm workers and immigrants who’ve fled war or natural disasters, giving Democrats wins in the year’s first votes on an issue that once again faces an uphill climb to make progress in the Senate.On a near party-line 228-197 vote, lawmakers approved one bill offering legal status to around 2 million Dreamers, brought to the U.S. illegally as children, and hundreds of thousands of migrants admitted for humanitarian reasons from a dozen troubled countries.They then voted 247-174 for a second measure creating similar protections for 1 million farm workers who have worked in the U.S. illegally; the government estimates they comprise half the nation’s agricultural laborers.Both bills hit a wall of opposition from Republicans insistent that any immigration legislation bolster security at the Mexican border, which waves of migrants have tried to breach in recent weeks. The party has accused congressional Democrats of ignoring that problem and President Joe Biden of fueling it by erasing former President Donald Trump’s restrictive policies, even though that surge began while Trump was still in office.While Dreamers win wide public support and migrant farm workers are a backbone of the agriculture industry, both House bills face gloomy prospects in the evenly split Senate. That chamber’s 50 Democrats will need at least 10 Republican supporters to break Republican filibusters.The outlook was even grimmer for Biden’s more ambitious goal of legislation making citizenship possible for all 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally, easing visa restrictions, improving border security technology and spending billions in Central America to ease problems that prompt people to leave.’They’re so much of our country’Congress has deadlocked over immigration for years, and the issue once again seemed headed toward becoming political ammunition. Republicans could use it to rally conservative voters in upcoming elections, while Democrats could add it to a stack of House-passed measures languishing in the Senate to build support for abolishing that chamber’s bill-killing filibusters.Democrats said their measures were aimed not at border security but at addressing groups of immigrants who deserve to be helped.”They’re so much of our country,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of Dreamers, who like many immigrants have held frontline jobs during the pandemic. “These immigrant communities strengthen, enrich and ennoble our nation, and they must be allowed to stay.”Neither House measure would directly affect those trying to cross the boundary from Mexico. But Republicans criticized them for lacking border security provisions and turned the debate into an opportunity to lambast Biden, who has ridden a wave of popularity since taking office and won passage of a massive COVID-19 relief package.”It is a Biden border crisis, and it is spinning out of control,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.While the number of migrants caught trying to cross the border from Mexico has been rising since April, the 100,441 people encountered last month was the highest figure since March 2019. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has said the number is tracking toward a 20-year high.Democrats were making that problem worse, Republicans said, with bills they said entice smugglers to sneak more immigrants into the U.S. and provide amnesty to immigrants who break laws to enter and live in the country.”We don’t know who these people are, we don’t know what their intentions are,” Rep. Jody Hice, Republican of Georgia, said of immigrant farm workers who might seek legal status. He added, “It’s frightening, it’s irresponsible, it’s endangering American lives.”Getting green cardsDuring earlier debate on the Dreamers’ bill, Democrats said Republicans were going too far.”Sometimes I stand in this chamber and I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone, listening to a number of my Republican colleagues espouse white supremacist ideology to denigrate our Dreamers,” said Rep. Mondaire Jones, a Democrat from New York.Nine largely moderate Republicans joined all Democrats in backing the Dreamers bill.White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that Biden supports both bills as “critical milestones toward much needed relief for the millions of individuals who call the United States home.”The Dreamer bill would grant conditional legal status for 10 years to many immigrants up to age 18 who were brought into the U.S. illegally before this year. They’d have to graduate from high school or have equivalent educational credentials, not have serious criminal records and meet other conditions.To attain legal permanent residence, often called a green card, they’d have to obtain a higher education degree, serve in the military or be employed for at least three years. Like all others with green cards, they could then apply for citizenship after five years.The measure would also grant green cards to an estimated 400,000 immigrants with temporary protected status, which allows temporary residence to people who have fled violence or natural disasters in a dozen countries.The other bill would let immigrant farm workers who’ve worked in the country illegally over the past two years — along their spouses and children — get certified agriculture worker status. That would let them remain in the U.S. for renewable 5½-year periods.To earn green cards, they would have to pay a $1,000 fine and work for up to an additional eight years, depending on how long they’ve already held farm jobs.The legislation would also cap wage increases, streamline the process for employers to get H-2A visas that let immigrants work legally on farm jobs and phase in a mandatory system for electronically verifying that agriculture workers are in the U.S. legally.
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By Polityk | 03/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
US, China Diplomats Meeting in Alaska
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are meeting Thursday in Anchorage, Alaska, in what will be the first bilateral meeting between Chinese and American officials since June.Ahead of the meeting, Blinken was in South Korea, where he said China has a shared interest in seeing North Korea end its nuclear weapons program.“China has a critical role to play in working to convince North Korea to pursue denuclearization,” Blinken said. “Virtually all of North Korea’s economic relationships, its trade, are with or goes through China, so it has tremendous influence.”U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to soon unveil its official policy toward North Korea, which Blinken said would include input from both South Korea and Japan.Focus on North KoreaBlinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met jointly with South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Chung Eui-yong and National Defense Minister Suh Wook on Thursday, as the two sides concluded talks in Seoul largely focused on security threats posed by North Korea.“We are committed to the denuclearization of North Korea, reducing the threat that DPRK poses to the United States and our allies, and improving the lives of all Koreans, including the people of North Korea, who continue to suffer widespread and systematic abuses there,” Blinken said during a press event, using the abbreviation for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.South Korean President Moon Jae-in poses for a photo with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during their meeting at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, March 18, 2021.South Korea hosts roughly 28,000 American soldiers, and during a ceremony this week, the two countries signed an agreement on the cost of stationing these forces, which had been a source of friction between Seoul and Washington during the final years of the Trump administration.Austin, a retired U.S. Army general, said the alliance remained “ironclad.”“The United States remains fully committed to the defense of the Republic of Korea, using the full range of U.S. capabilities, including our extended deterrent,” Austin said, using the formal name for South Korea.The American officials are representing the Biden administration during its first Cabinet-level overseas trip, which included meetings in Tokyo earlier this week. However, the stop in South Korea came after four years of often frayed relations between Washington and Seoul that the new U.S. president appears eager to repair, analysts said.Hee-jin Koo, a research fellow with the Korean Peninsula Future Forum in Seoul, said the trip to the region by Blinken and Austin was a “turning point” for the United States and its allies.’A reconnection’The secretaries’ visits could improve ties between Seoul and Tokyo, but also mend fences between the White House and South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, who Koo said was sometimes “left out” of the Trump administration’s North Korean engagement.”So, it is a reconnection between the U.S. administration and the Moon administration,” Koo told VOA News.But even under new U.S. leadership, there are still differing views on how best to re-engage Pyongyang that the allies will need to resolve, Koo added.“South Korea is rather torn currently. It is trying to do a balancing act between trying to restore frayed inter-Korean relations, as well as enhancing its U.S.-South Korea alliance,” she said.Washington says it has tried to open a dialogue with North Korea, reaching out to its U.N. mission in New York as well as through other channels, and has received no response.FILE – North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui attends the welcome ceremony of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un (not pictured) at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, March 1, 2019.However, in a statement carried by Pyongyang’s official Korea Central News Agency on Thursday, First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said that despite those attempts, her government intended to “disregard” Washington’s overtures.“No DPRK-U.S. contact and dialogue of any kind can be possible unless the U.S. rolls back its hostile policy towards the DPRK,” Choe wrote.”In order for a dialogue to be made, an atmosphere for both parties to exchange words on an equal basis must be created,” Choe said.Military exercisesChoe also criticized U.S.-South Korean military exercises that began this month, as well as remarks that Blinken made while in Tokyo, where he said Washington was considering new “pressure measures” against Pyongyang.Koo, the analyst, said Pyongyang might be signaling that it wants higher-level contact, just as it received during the Trump administration.“What it wants is to have a status quo, also an easing of the current sanctions, which has actually pinched North Korea’s economy, especially amid the pandemic,” she said.
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By Polityk | 03/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
В уряді розповіли, скільки звернень щодо гендерної дискримінації надходить на «гарячу лінію»
В уряді зазначили, що у 2021 році на «гарячу лінію» надійшло два звернення щодо дискримінації за ознакою статі
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By Gromada | 03/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Стало відомо, скільки штрафів сплатили в Україні за порушення карантину
За 2020 рік суди застосували до порушників штрафи на загальну суму 51 743 571 гривню
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By Gromada | 03/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
US, South Korea Talks Focus on North Korea Security Threats
Top U.S. and South Korean foreign policy and defense officials have concluded talks in Seoul largely focused on security threats posed by North Korea.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin met jointly with South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Chung Eui-yong and Minister of National Defense Suh Wook on Thursday.“We are committed to the denuclearization of North Korea, reducing the threat that DPRK poses to the United States and our allies, and improving the lives of all Koreans, including the people of North Korea, who continue to suffer, widespread and systematic abuses there,” Blinken said during a press event, using the abbreviation for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.South Korea hosts roughly 28,000 American soldiers, and during a ceremony this week, the two countries signed an agreement over the cost of stationing these forces, which had been a source of friction between Seoul and Washington during the final years of the Trump administration.Secretary Austin, a retired U.S. Army general, said the alliance remains “ironclad.”“The United States remains fully committed to the defense of the Republic of (South) Korea, using the full range of U.S. capabilities including our extended deterrent,” Austin said.The American officials are representing the Biden administration during its first Cabinet-level overseas trip, which included meetings in Tokyo earlier this week. But the stop in South Korea comes after four years of an often-frayed relations between Washington and Seoul that the new U.S. president appears eager to repair, analysts say.Hee-jin Koo, a research fellow with the Korean Peninsula Future Forum in Seoul, said the trip to the region by Blinken and Austin is a “turning point” for the United States and its allies.The secretaries’ visits could improve ties between Seoul and Tokyo but also mend fences between the White House and South Korea’s president, Moon Jae – which Koo says was sometimes “left out” of the Trump administration’s North Korean engagement.“So it is a reconnection between the U.S. administration and the Moon administration,” Koo told VOA.But even under new U.S. leadership, there are still differing views on how best to re-engage Pyongyang that the allies will need to resolve, Koo added.“South Korea is rather torn currently, it is trying to do a balancing act between trying to restore frayed inter-Korean relations as well as enhancing its U.S.-South Korea alliance,” she said.Washington says it has tried to open-up dialogue with North Korea, reaching out to its Mission to the United Nations in New York as well as through other back channels and has received no response.But, in a statement carried by Pyongyang’s official Korea Central News Agency on Thursday, First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui said that despite those attempts, her government intends to “disregard” Washington’s overtures.“No DPRK-U.S. contact and dialogue of any kind can be possible unless the U.S. rolls back its hostile policy towards the DPRK,” Choe wrote. “In order for a dialogue to be made, an atmosphere for both parties to exchange words on an equal basis must be created.”Choe also criticized joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises that began earlier this month as well as remarks that Secretary Blinken made while in Tokyo, where he said that Washington is considering new “pressure measures” against Pyongyang.Koo, the analyst, said Pyongyang might be signaling that it wants higher-level contact, like it received during the Trump administration.“What it wants is to have a status quo, also an easing of the current sanctions. Which has actually pinched North Korea’s economy especially amid the pandemic,” she said.The Biden administration is expected to soon unveil its official policy toward North Korea.Blinken said the strategy will include input from both South Korea and Japan. But he said China also has a shared interest in seeing North Korea end its nuclear weapons program.“China has a critical role to play in working to convince North Korea to pursue denuclearization,” Blinken said. “Virtually all of North Korea’s economic relationships, it’s trade, are with or goes through China, so it has tremendous influence.”From Seoul, the secretary of state will travel to Anchorage, Alaska, where later Thursday he will meet with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi. It will be the first bilateral meeting between Chinese and American officials since June.
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By Polityk | 03/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
«Укрзалізниця» заявила, що не обмежує рух поїздів через Київ та Львів
«За можливості та наявності місць провідники та стюарди «Укрзалізниці» проводитимуть розсадку пасажирів у вагоні на більшу дистанцію один від одного»
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By Gromada | 03/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Португалія: суд може заслухати нову свідкиню у справі про вбивство Гоменюка
В лютому в Португалії почався суд над інспекторами SEF через побиття українця, яке призвело до його смерті
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By Gromada | 03/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
US, South Korea Reaffirm Stance on Noth Korea
Top U.S. and South Korean foreign policy and defense officials have concluded talks in Seoul largely focused on security threats posed by North Korea.U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin met jointly with South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Chung Eui-yong and Minister of National Defense Suh Wook on Thursday.“We are committed to the denuclearization of North Korea, reducing the threat that DPRK poses to the United States and our allies, and improving the lives of all Koreans, including the people of North Korea, who continue to suffer, widespread and systematic abuses there,” Blinken said during a press event, using the abbreviation for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.South Korea hosts roughly 28,000 American soldiers, and during a ceremony this week, the two countries signed an agreement over the cost of stationing these forces, which had been a source of friction between Seoul and Washington during the final years of the Trump administration.Secretary Austin, a retired U.S. Army general, said the alliance remains “ironclad.”“The United States remains fully committed to the defense of the Republic of (South) Korea, using the full range of U.S. capabilities including our extended deterrent,” Austin said.The American officials are representing the Biden administration during its first Cabinet-level overseas trip, which included meetings in Tokyo earlier this week. But the stop in South Korea comes after four years of an often-frayed relations between Washington and Seoul that the new U.S. president appears eager to repair, analysts say.Hee-jin Koo, a research fellow with the Korean Peninsula Future Forum in Seoul, said the trip to the region by Blinken and Austin is a “turning point” for the United States and its allies.The secretaries’ visits could improve ties between Seoul and Tokyo but also mend fences between the White House and South Korea’s president, Moon Jae – which Koo says was sometimes “left out” of the Trump administration’s North Korean engagement.“So it is a reconnection between the U.S. administration and the Moon administration,” Koo told VOA.But even under new U.S. leadership, there are still differing views on how best to re-engage Pyongyang that the allies will need to resolve, Koo added.“South Korea is rather torn currently, it is trying to do a balancing act between trying to restore frayed inter-Korean relations as well as enhancing its U.S.-South Korea alliance,” she said.Washington says it has tried to open-up dialogue with North Korea, reaching out to its Mission to the United Nations in New York as well as through other back channels and has received no response.But, in a statement carried by Pyongyang’s official Korea Central News Agency on Thursday, First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui said that despite those attempts, her government intends to “disregard” Washington’s overtures.“No DPRK-U.S. contact and dialogue of any kind can be possible unless the U.S. rolls back its hostile policy towards the DPRK,” Choe wrote. “In order for a dialogue to be made, an atmosphere for both parties to exchange words on an equal basis must be created.”Choe also criticized joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises that began earlier this month as well as remarks that Secretary Blinken made while in Tokyo, where he said that Washington is considering new “pressure measures” against Pyongyang.Koo, the analyst, said Pyongyang might be signaling that it wants higher-level contact, like it received during the Trump administration.“What it wants is to have a status quo, also an easing of the current sanctions. Which has actually pinched North Korea’s economy especially amid the pandemic,” she said.The Biden administration is expected to soon unveil its official policy toward North Korea.Blinken said the strategy will include input from both South Korea and Japan. But he said China also has a shared interest in seeing North Korea end its nuclear weapons program.“China has a critical role to play in working to convince North Korea to pursue denuclearization,” Blinken said. “Virtually all of North Korea’s economic relationships, it’s trade, are with or goes through China, so it has tremendous influence.”From Seoul, the secretary of state will travel to Anchorage, Alaska, where later Thursday he will meet with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi. It will be the first bilateral meeting between Chinese and American officials since June.
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By Polityk | 03/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Iranian Proxy Attacks on Americans ‘Not Helping Climate in US’ for Reviving Iran Talks, US Envoy Says
U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley has indicated that recent attacks by Iranian proxies on U.S. forces in Iraq are making it tougher for the Biden administration to build domestic support for its new diplomatic initiative to resolve U.S.-Iran tensions.U.S. troops and bases in Iraq have come under rocket attack several times since last month, causing multiple casualties, including the death of an American civilian contractor and wounding of a U.S. military service member.U.S. forces responded to the first of the attacks, on an airbase housing U.S. troops in the city of Irbil on Feb. 16, by striking Iran-backed militants in eastern Syria nine days later. U.S. news site Politico cited unnamed U.S. defense officials as saying they suspected an Iranian proxy militia also was responsible for a March 3 rocket attack on western Iraq’s Al-Asad airbase that also houses American forces.In a Wednesday interview with VOA Persian at the State Department, his first with VOA since taking office in January, Malley was asked whether he thought the attacks were part of an Iranian campaign to pressure President Joe Biden into easing sanctions imposed on Tehran by the previous administration of Donald Trump.“It’s not really helping the climate in the U.S. to have Iranian allies take shots at Americans in Iraq or elsewhere, and the U.S. will respond as it has responded and it will continue to respond,” Malley said.Biden campaigned on a pledge to revive diplomacy with Iran and ease Trump’s sanctions if it resumes full compliance with a 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Under the deal, Tehran promised world powers to curb its nuclear activities that could be weaponized in return for relief from international sanctions.Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, saying it did not do enough to stop objectionable Iranian behavior, and unilaterally tightened U.S. sanctions aimed at achieving that goal. Iran retaliated a year later by starting to violate the deal’s nuclear curbs, reducing the amount of time it would need to develop nuclear weapons to what U.S. officials have said is several months. Tehran has long denied seeking to weaponize what it calls a civilian nuclear program.Biden, who was inaugurated in January, faced calls last week from both opposition Republicans and his fellow Democrats in the U.S. Congress to take a tougher approach toward Iran. Referring to what they said were “escalating attacks on U.S. and coalition personnel in Iraq” and Iran’s recent JCPOA violations, the 12 Democrat and 12 Republican members of the House of Representatives wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying the Biden administration “should make use of existing leverage to sharpen the choices available to Tehran.”Speaking to VOA, Malley reiterated the administration’s desire for talks with Iran about returning the U.S. to compliance with the JCPOA if Iran does the same and expressed hope that would happen soon. He suggested recent actions by Iran and its proxies are not helping the U.S. diplomatic initiative to move faster.“If … these are [Iranian] tactics aimed at speeding things up, it’s hard to see how that is going to work,” Malley said.In a separate interview with BBC Persian on Wednesday, Malley said that if Iran does not want to enter into direct talks with the U.S., the two sides could negotiate through a third party.Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in an interview with Politico published Wednesday, reiterated Tehran’s promise to resume compliance with the JCPOA “immediately” only if the U.S. first takes steps to ease the sanctions. He also warned that if Washington continues to demand that Tehran make the first move, Iran will take unspecified “new steps” away from the nuclear deal.The Biden administration has said any U.S. return to the JCPOA would be followed by negotiations aimed at strengthening the nuclear deal to resolve U.S. concerns about Iran’s other activities, including its missile program and support for Islamist militants engaged in long-running conflicts with the U.S. and its regional allies. U.S. officials have not specified how they would persuade Iran to enter such negotiations and what kind of new deal would be produced.“The JCPOA has shown that it is fragile, and we believe it can be strengthened with a follow-on deal. And we will press Iran and try to convince Iran that it’s in their interest as well to get a follow-on deal,” Malley said. “Of course, Iran will have issues that it will want to bring to the table,” he acknowledged.Zarif, speaking to Politico, said Iran will consider discussing nonnuclear issues if the U.S. “passes the test” of JCPOA compliance.“But the United States miserably failed, not only during the Trump administration but even during the past two months of the Biden administration,” he said.The top Iranian diplomat also expressed doubt that the U.S. would be prepared to discuss issues such as U.S. arms sales to Iran’s regional rivals.“Are the U.S. and its Western allies prepared to stop that? That’s a very lucrative market and I don’t think President Biden wants to do that,” Zarif said.In January, the Biden administration announced a freeze on Trump-approved U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and a review of those the former president approved for the United Arab Emirates.U.S. officials told national media that the arms sales reviews were not unusual for a new administration and said many of the transactions are likely to go forward eventually.This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service. Click here for the original Persian version of the story.
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By Polityk | 03/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Укрзалізниця перетворила «Лижний експрес» на «Бойківський» і продовжила його курсування на літо
«Йдемо назустріч розвитку внутрішнього туризму й запроваджуємо курсування швидкісного поїзда Інтерсіті+ № 745 Київ – Славське навесні та влітку», – повідомили в УЗ
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By Gromada | 03/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
«Порушує права людини і норми права» – МінТОТ про «закон» угруповання «ДНР» щодо перетину лінії розмежування
«Закон» передбачає дозвільну систему перетину та необхідність оформлення спеціальної «перепустки»
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By Gromada | 03/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Biden Wants to Restore Senate’s Talking Filibuster
President Joe Biden says he wants the U.S. Senate, where he served for 36 years, to make it harder but not impossible to block legislation through a tactic unique to the chamber known as the filibuster.A week ago, Biden won the first major legislative victory of his presidency, passage of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief deal, under legislative rules that allowed that particular bill to be approved on a simple majority vote — solely with the votes of Biden’s Democratic colleagues over uniform Republican opposition.While a simple majority always suffices in the House of Representatives, most bills can pass the 100-member Senate only with a 60-vote supermajority. The Senate’s current political split of 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats requires Biden to win support from 10 Republicans to pass major legislation going forward.With the filibuster in place allowing Republicans to block Senate votes, Biden would have difficulty passing much of his agenda, such as national standards for voting rights, a $15-an-hour national minimum wage and tougher anti-pollution rules.Both sides have used tacticAs a result, many Senate Democrats are calling for elimination of the filibuster, the legislative tactic that lawmakers of both parties have used when in the minority to prevent the chamber from proceeding to a final vote on legislative proposals.Biden has long said he is opposed to getting rid of the filibuster, a distinctive difference between the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.But on Tuesday, Biden said in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopolous that he realizes he faces a quandary in preserving the use of the filibuster in the Senate or advancing his legislative agenda.President Joe Biden sits next to a bowl of shamrocks as he has a virtual meeting with Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheal Martin on St. Patrick’s Day, in the Oval Office of the White House, March 17, 2021, in Washington.The solution, according to Biden, is to force opponents of a bill to speak for hours or even days on the Senate floor. Currently, a senator need only object to proceeding to a vote to trigger the 60-vote threshold, a tactic that was once rare but has become the norm in recent years.“Here’s the choice,” Biden said. “I don’t think you have to eliminate the filibuster. You have to do what it used to be when I first got to the Senate back in the old days when … you had to stand up and command the floor, and you had to keep talking along. You couldn’t call for, you know — no one could say, you know, ‘Quorum call.’ Once you stopped talking, you lost that and someone could move in and say, ‘I move the question of … .’ So, you’ve got to work for the filibuster.”Stephanopoulos asked, “So you’re for that reform? You’re for bringing back the talking filibuster?”“I am,” Biden replied.Not working wellThe president said that as it stands now, “democracy’s having a hard time functioning” with the frequent declarations of a filibuster, minus the talkathons of yesteryear.Whether the Senate adopts any reforms is an open question. At least two of the 50 Democratic senators — Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — say they are opposed to abandoning the filibuster, although Manchin says he is open to reforms that would make it more difficult to employ the tactic to block legislation.FILE – In this image from video, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky speaks on the Senate floor, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Feb. 13, 2021.Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell warned Democrats in an opinion article in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday against elimination of the filibuster to approve a liberal agenda of laws and promised that if they did, Republicans would retaliate with passage of their favored measures when they again are in control.As it stands now, Democrats, voting as a unified bloc along with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris, can pass some measures on a 51-50 vote. Doing away with the filibuster — and the 60-vote supermajority required on many measures — would clear the path for Democrats to take total control of legislation they uniformly favor.McConnell said Democrats should think twice before proceeding on that path.’Scorched-earth Senate’“Nobody serving in this chamber can even begin to imagine what a completely scorched-earth Senate would look like” without the filibuster, McConnell said. “None of us have served one minute in the Senate that was completely drained of comity and consent.”McConnell quoted “one of my colleagues” from a 2017 speech as saying, “The legislative filibuster is the most important distinction between the Senate and the House. Without the 60-vote threshold for legislation, the Senate becomes a majoritarian institution, just like the House, much more subject to the winds of short-term electoral change. No senator would like to see that happen.”He identified the speaker as Senator Chuck Schumer, now the Democratic majority leader, who is under pressure from some of his colleagues for filibuster reform to advance Biden’s agenda.
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By Polityk | 03/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
North Korea Says US Attempt to Initiate Contact is ‘Cheap Trick’
A top North Korean diplomat acknowledged Thursday that the United States had recently tried to initiate contact but blasted the attempts as a “cheap trick” that would never be answered until Washington dropped hostile policies.The statement by Choe Son Hui, first vice minister of foreign affairs for North Korea, is the first formal rejection of tentative approaches by the new U.S. administration under President Joe Biden, who took office in January.It came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting South Korea alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a first overseas trip by top-level members of Biden’s administration.The attempts at contact were made by sending e-mails and telephone messages via various routes, including by a third country, Choe said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA.She called the attempts at contact a “cheap trick” for gaining time and building up public opinion.”What has been heard from the U.S. since the emergence of the new regime is only lunatic theory of ‘threat from North Korea’ and groundless rhetoric about ‘complete denuclearization,’ Choe said.The White House said earlier this month it had reached out to North Korea, but received no response, and did not elaborate.Speaking in Seoul on Wednesday, Blinken accused North Korea of committing “systemic and widespread abuses” against its own people and said the United States and its allies were committed to the denuclearization of North Korea.Blinken and Austin are due to continue meetings with South Korean leaders on Thursday, before flying to Alaska for the administration’s first talks with Chinese officials, where the North Korea standoff is expected to be discussed.Talks aimed at reducing tensions with North Korea and persuading it to give up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles have been stalled since 2019, after a series of historic summits between then-U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.Choe criticized the United States for continuing military drills, and for maintaining sanctions aimed at pressuring Pyongyang.No dialogue would be possible until the United States rolled back its hostile policy toward North Korea and both parties were able to exchange words on an equal basis, she said.
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By Polityk | 03/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Суд звільнив з-під варти двох колишніх бійців «Торнадо» – адвокат
За словами адвоката, суд обрав для Микити Куста та Максима Глєбова запобіжний захід у вигляді домашнього арешту
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By Gromada | 03/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Учні 4-х та 9-х класів звільнені цьогоріч від проходження ДПА – Міносвіти
ДПА – це оцінка результатів навчання учнів за ключовими предметами у школі
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By Gromada | 03/17/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
В Україні торік зареєстрували 178 злочинів з мотивів расової, національної чи релігійної нетерпимості – ОГП
В Офісі генпрокурора додали, що у 2020 році до суду скерували шість кримінальних проваджень за фактом цих злочинів
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By Gromada | 03/17/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
A 51st US State? Advocates See Possibility for Washington DC
Though Washington is the seat of U.S. political power, its residents have no voting rights in Congress nor rights of full home rule because of its unique status as the federal capital. But advocates for making Washington, D.C. a state say they see more potential than ever, as VOA’s Carol Guensburg reports. Camera: Betty Ayoub
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By Polityk | 03/17/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Офіс омбудсмена: за 2 місяці на порушення закону про мову скаржились близько тисячі разів
Найбільше повідомлень, звернень та скарг надійшло з Києва та Київської області (368)
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By Gromada | 03/17/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Укрзалізниця планує призначити понад 30 літніх поїздів цього року
«Зважаючи на реалії сьогодення, ми очікуємо на збільшення кількості внутрішніх туристів і активно готуємося», – сказав Олександр Перцовський
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By Gromada | 03/17/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Biden Seeks Return to Normal, Both in Life and Presidency
U.S. President Joe Biden is touring the country to pitch his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package as he seeks to help Americans return to normalcy, both in life and in how they view the presidency. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara looks at how Biden’s crisis communication style compares to his predecessor’s.
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By Polityk | 03/17/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
В Україні починають діяти нові штрафи за порушення ПДР
У Міністерстві внутрішніх справ висловили сподівання, що цей закон допоможе знизити смертність на дорогах
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By Gromada | 03/17/2021 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
