Category: Євросоюз

This interview originated in VOA’s Horn of Africa service. VOA Africa Division’s Thierry Kaore, Andrea Tadic and Salem Solomon contributed to the story. Editor’s note: Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde gave an interview to Solomon Abate of the Voice of America’s Horn of Africa service, in New York. She spoke in Amharic and English. These highlights are from their conversation in English and have been edited for brevity and clarity. Sahle-Work Zewde was elected president of Ethiopia by the country’s members of parliament in October 2018.  She became the first woman to hold this position in the country’s history. Sahle-Work previously …

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In the United States, if your parents attended a college or university, there is a good chance that you will, too. But your chances are reduced if you come from a family with financial needs, a community with limited educational resources or have no one to follow as an example. Helping those attain a college education is the motivation behind “nudging” or nudge theory, a way of changing people’s behavior through suggestion and support. Popularized in the 2008 book “Nudge,” the concept was a project of a legal expert and an economist with the University of Chicago. Nudging includes emailing …

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For many homeless people, finding shelter sometimes isn’t nearly as important as finding a meal. Providing food is the main mission of Manna House, a charity organization, where homeless and underprivileged people get breakfast and other services for free. Nilofar Mughal is giving a view from the inside of Manna House located in Baltimore in the state of Maryland.   …

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President Donald Trump told two Russian officials in a 2017 meeting that he was not concerned about Moscow’s meddling in the U.S. election, which prompted White House officials to limit access to the remarks, the Washington Post reported Friday. A summary of Trump’s Oval Office meeting with Russia’s foreign minister and its ambassador to the U.S. was limited to a few officials in an attempt to keep the president’s comments from being disclosed publicly, the Post said, citing former officials with knowledge of the matter. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Whistleblower …

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Afghans headed to the polls Saturday to elect a new president amid high security and Taliban threats to disrupt the elections, with the rebels warning citizens to stay home or risk being hurt. Still at some polling stations in the capital voters lined up even before the centers opened, while in others election workers had yet to arrive by poll opening time. Imam Baksh, who works as a security guard, said he wasn’t worried about his safety as he stood waiting to mark his ballot, wondering who he would vote for. “All of them have been so disappointing for our …

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The following reporters contributed to this report: Matiado Vilme, Yves Manuel, Dieuline Gedeus in Port-au-Prince, Jaudelet Junior Saint Vil in Fort Liberte, Innocente Desgranges in Petit Goave, Socrate Ameyes Jean Pierre, James Dorvil, Alexandre Joram in Miragoane, Junior Racine in St. Marc, Hernst Eliscar in Les Cayes WASHINGTON, PORT-au-PRINCE, GONAIVES, FORT LIBERTE, PETIT  GOAVE, MIRAGOANE, ST. MARC, LES CAYES – Haiti’s latest protests began with explosions when hundreds of Cite Soleil residents, a slum notorious for gang activity, drug dealing and kidnapping, attacked the local UDMO security force headquarters. They looted, carrying out furniture and other materials, then set fire …

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General Joseph Dunford, the nation’s top general as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is leaving office next week.  As the top military adviser to the president, he will be remembered for his handling of the ISIS crisis, his tenure during the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and his efforts to strengthen the military amid growing tensions with Russia and China. Dunford led the U.S. military under two very different presidents, garnering respect from both sides of the political aisle — and from military experts. “I think General Dunford has been one of the best chairmen we’ve ever had, and …

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Egyptian security forces completely sealed off Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the so-called Arab Spring uprising in 2011, to prevent possible protests on Friday against the country’s president. The closures come amid a harsh security clampdown following rare demonstrations in several cities last weekend, all of which were broken up by police. Lawyers say over 2,000 people have been arrested since then. Egypt’s general prosecutor claims his office has questioned no more than 1,000 people over the latest protests Street demonstrations have been almost completely silenced the past years by draconian measures imposed under President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, a former …

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Sri Lanka’s cricket team begins play in Lahore Friday, the first time since 2009 that a foreign team will undertake a two-week tour of Pakistan. Security is extremely tight for the match, and the Sri Lanka team is basically confined to their hotel except for practices and matches. Sri Lanka’s team bus was attacked in Lahore as it arrived for a match ten years ago.  The ambush killed eight people and injured several players. Since then Pakistan’s team has toured other countries, but few international matches have been played in the country. A number of Sri Lanka’s top players withdrew …

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More than 300 captives, most of them children and many in chains, have been rescued from a building in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, a police spokesman said on Friday. All the children seen by a Reuters reporter at the scene were boys aged from around five to their late teens. Some had their ankles manacled together and others were chained by their legs to large metal hubcaps. Police said the building housed an Islamic school and that seven people had been arrested in the raid on Thursday. It was not clear how long the children had been held …

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A Cambodian court has charged seven top opposition politicians with plotting armed rebellion for planning to return from self-imposed exile to seek a government change through mass peaceful protests. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court also warned that anyone who supported the plans of the Cambodia National Rescue Party to oust the government would also be risking a long prison term. The court’s announcement is the latest salvo in a political battle that has heated up after opposition leader Sam Rainsy announced plans to return from more than three years of exile on Nov. 9 to seek a “restoration of democracy.” …

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The UN Human Rights Council on Friday voted to send a team of investigators to probe alleged violations, including extrajudicial executions and torture, in crisis-wracked Venezuela. A resolution tabled by more than a dozen countries from Latin America and elsewhere was adopted by the 47-member council with 19 votes in favor, seven opposed and 21 abstaining. It called for the UN’s top rights body to “dispatch urgently an independent international fact-finding mission” to Venezuela. The mission, the text said, should “investigate extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment”. “Venezuelans, men and women, …

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States has concluded that the Syrian government used chemical weapons in an attack in May. Speaking in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday, Pompeo said U.S. officials had determined that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government had used chlorine in the attack on opposition forces in Idlib province on May 19.   He said the U.S. would provide an additional $4.5 million to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to fund investigations into other instances of suspected Syrian chemical weapons use. Pompeo also called on …

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Arab leaders have reasserted their rejection of any attempt by Israel to annex Palestinian land in the aftermath of Israel’s election.  Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and President Barham Saleh of Iraq meeting at the United Nations this week say they refuse possible Israel’s annexation designs on the Jordan Valley and the area north of the Dead Sea.  Saudi Arabia and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council likewise have condemned any such potential move by Israel.   Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the only way to ensure peace in the region, the leaders of Jordan, Egypt and …

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began the task of forming a new coalition government Thursday after inconclusive elections Sept. 17. The move comes even though Netanyahu’s Likud party obtained one seat less than challenger Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party in the election. Likud won 32 seats to Blue and White’s 33. President Reuven Rivlin gave Netanyahu the first chance to form the government Wednesday, deeming Netanyahu the one with the best odds of success. Rivlin made the decision after talks on a unity government between the two parties foundered. Such an arrangement would involve some kind of power-sharing or …

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The U.N. nuclear monitoring agency says Iran has begun using advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium, a violation of a landmark agreement with world powers. An International Atomic Energy Agency report, obtained by the French news agency and Reuters, said technologically advanced centrifuges at Iran’s Natanz facility “were accumulating or had been prepared to accumulate enriched uranium.” The report also says Iran intends to use more of the advanced centrifuges than previously disclosed. The developments breach a landmark deal world powers reached in 2015 that places limitations on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The accord only allows Iran …

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A Los Angeles businessman was sentenced Thursday to four months in prison for paying $400,000 to get his son into Georgetown University as a fake tennis recruit. Stephen Semprevivo, 53, pleaded guilty in May to fraud and conspiracy. He is the third parent to be sentenced in a sweeping college admissions scandal that has ensnared dozens of wealthy mothers and fathers. Authorities say Semprevivo conspired with admissions consultant William “Rick” Singer to get his son into Georgetown as a tennis recruit, even though he did not play the sport competitively. His son was admitted to Georgetown in 2016 but was …

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British car production increased by an annual 3.3% in August, the first rise in 15 months, helped by several factories having moved their summertime shutdowns to April in preparation for the original Brexit date, an industry body said Thursday. MW, Peugeot, Honda and Jaguar Land Rover all closed factories ranging from a few days to four weeks in April over concerns that Britain’s scheduled departure from the European Union in March could lead to disruption, including delays to the arrival of parts. The move led to a 44.5% decline in output in April, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers …

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Commercial fisheries in seven U.S. states have suffered from catastrophic failures and disasters over the past two years, making them eligible for federal aid, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.    Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross blamed the problems in part on extreme flooding in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico.    Other fishing operations in Alaska, California, Georgia and South Carolina have also been affected by natural disasters and other conditions.    “Fishing is the cornerstone of countless coastal economies and has been a way of life for generations of Americans,” Ross said.    Ross said fisheries that …

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Amazon on Wednesday unveiled a cornucopia of new gadgets as it extended the reach of Alexa from automobiles and homes essentially into people’s heads.    Amazon digital aide Alexa vies with Google Assistant software to be at the heart of smart homes where lights, security systems, televisions and more are controlled with spoken commands.    While the Seattle-based technology titan has worked with partners to get Alexa built into 85,000 devices, it also expanded the lineup of hardware it creates itself: Echo Frames are eyeglass frames with microphones built in to listen for commands, plus speakers that channel audio directly …

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