Category: Євросоюз

A large array of international players, including corporate giants in the United States and China, have profited from South Sudan’s long civil war, according to a report by a Washington-based watchdog group.    The Sentry, which reports on links between corruption and mass atrocities in Africa, charged in its report released Thursday  in London that several business owners and corporate entities engaged in widespread, government-sanctioned corruption, leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese during the civil war.    “Dar Petroleum, a multinational oil consortium led by the China National Petroleum Corporation, is not just a passive …

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More than 150 world leaders are preparing to attend the U.N. Sustainable Development Summit in New York beginning Sept. 25, with the aim of agreeing on a new agenda to tackle global poverty. But a new report warns that African children are being left further and further behind and will make up more than half of the world’s poor by 2030. As Henry Ridgwell reports from London, the report authors are critical of both African governments and the international community for failing to adequately tackle the problem.   …

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The American Dream is many things to many people. For the Savchuk family who came to the U.S. from Ukraine more than 15 years ago, achieving their dream meant opening a small business and making a decent living. VOA’s Iryna Matviichuk met with the family and saw their dream come true.   …

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Israelis went to the polls again this week, but unofficial results show another deadlock. Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud Party nor challenger Benny Gantz of the Blue and White party can form a governing coalition. Many in Israel say the two large parties must unite despite their differences. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem.   …

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U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered additional sanctions against Iran after receiving reports that Tehran is most likely responsible for Saturday’s attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities. The president said Wednesday that he had directed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to stiffen existing sanctions. He also named his fourth national security adviser  Wednesday. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.   …

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Three former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Co. have been acquitted in Tokyo District Court on criminal charges related to the 2011 meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant in northeastern Japan. Prosecutors had accused former TEPCO chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata and former vice presidents Sakae Muto and Ichiro Takekuro of professional negligence for failing to act on studies that showed Fukushima could be at risk from the threat of a tsunami. The trio was also accused of causing the deaths of more than 40 people who died after having been forced to evacuate the area near the plant. …

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Iran has been suspended from international judo competitions because it boycotts bouts with Israeli athletes. Less than a month after world champion Saeid Mollaei walked off the Iranian team in protest at the boycott policy, the International Judo Federation said Wednesday that Iran is suspended ahead of a full hearing. Iran’s judo federation is accused of discriminating against Israeli athletes and breaking rules over manipulating competition results. “The IJF Executive Committee considered that such a conduct is intolerable,” the federation said. Mollaei has said he was repeatedly ordered by Iranian officials to lose matches or withdraw from competitions, including last …

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It’s a common sight in Los Angeles. Thousands of people living in tents on sidewalks, sometimes with trash piled outside their makeshift shelters, conditions that breed typhus and other diseases.  Analysts say the problem is complex, has been decades in the making and that a response requires coordination at many levels of government. President Donald Trump and his White House Council of Economic Advisers have recently weighed in, and Trump, on a flight to California for political fundraisers on Tuesday, said California’s largest cities are destroying themselves through an inadequate response to the problem. On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom and local …

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A multi-pronged attack is under way on the Afghanistan national electronic ID distribution centrt in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. An explosion at the front gate of the compound cleared the way for multiple attackers to enter the compound Wednesday afternoon, according to Ataullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor. Special forces surrounded the compound soon after and fighting continues. So far they have rescued at least 12 employees. An employee of the distribution center Naveen, Hasan Zeb, told VOA that he was wounded in the initial explosion along with some colleagues. According to Khogyani, 10 people were wounded …

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The British government was back at the country’s Supreme Court on Wednesday, arguing that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament just weeks before the country is set to leave the European Union was neither improper nor illegal. It’s the second day of a historic three-day hearing that pits the powers of Britain’s legislature against those of its executive as the country’s scheduled Brexit date of Oct. 31 looms over the U.K. economy and its political landscape. Government lawyer James Eadie argued that a lower court was right to rule that Johnson’s suspension of Parliament was a matter of …

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In the United States, the growing political divide along ethnic lines, along with President Donald Trump’s racially charged rhetoric, are renewing debate over what it means to be an American.   The growing divide and rising ethnic tensions come amid a time of rapid demographic change in the country.  White European-Americans are projected to lose their majority status by 2045, to be eclipsed by the growing populations of Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans.   “Demographic shifts are certainly fueling animosity but it’s more about, in essence, white people feeling they’re losing control of their country,” said Andre Perry, …

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The United States filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who in 2013 leaked secret documents about U.S. telephone and Internet surveillance, saying his new book violates non-disclosure agreements. The Justice Department said Snowden published his memoir, “Permanent Record,” without submitting it to intelligence agencies for review, adding that speeches given by Snowden also violated nondisclosure agreements. The United States is seeking all proceeds earned by Snowden for the book, the Justice Department said. The lawsuit also names the “corporate entities” behind the book’s publication as nominal defendants. Is NSA Leaker Edward Snowden …

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Corey Lewandowski, President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager and close confidant, on Tuesday stoutly defended his former boss and lashed out at Democrats during testimony to a U.S. congressional panel considering whether to impeach Trump. “We as a nation would be better served if elected officials like you concentrated your efforts to combat the true crises facing our country as opposed to going down rabbit holes like this hearing,” Lewandowski said in his opening remarks to the Democratic-led House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. The White House on Monday told Lewandowski not to discuss conversations he had with Trump after he …

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Older Americans aren’t moving as much as they used to.  The migration rate of people over 55 has dropped steadily over the past two decades from a high of 6% in 1996, to 4.3% between 2017 and 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  Moving rates for Baby Boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 — have rebounded a bit since the Great Recession of 2007-2009, but they remain slightly below pre-recession rates. “The idea is if the economy’s not so good, they may just want to stay working for a little bit more before they retire,” says demographer …

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Prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong urged U.S. lawmakers Tuesday to support human rights and democracy in the semiautonomous Chinese territory, declaring, “The stakes have never been higher.” Wong’s appeal for U.S. support came during testimony at a hearing in Washington before the Congressional Executive Commission on China to review developments in Hong Kong and China’s role in the political crisis there. Wong was joined by Hong Kong celebrity activist Denise Ho, who warned that an erosion of the city’s unique status would embolden China if the U.S. does not put pressure on Beijing and support U.S. legislation aimed at …

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A year after failing to meet its enlistment goal for the first time in 13 years, the U.S. Army is now on track to meet a lower 2019 target after revamping its recruitment effort. Army leaders tell The Associated Press that they expect to sign up more than 68,000 active duty soldiers for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, as the largest branch of the U.S. military increasingly turns to social media and other new online methods to find potential recruits.   Last year, the Army brought in about 70,000 new active duty recruits, well below the 76,500 it …

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An innovative boat that saves energy by rising out of the water on hydrofoil wings underwent testing on the Seine river in Paris on Monday as its backers seek to obtain a license to operate a taxi service on the river. The SeaBubbles craft is powered by electric motors and its hydrofoil wings reduce the drag on the hull in the water, making it more energy efficient than conventional boats. SeaBubbles co-founder Alain Thebault said the boat, which carries four passengers and one pilot, has green credentials as it is noise free and produces no pollution. The Bubbles water taxi …

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More than 450,000 people have signed up for a chance to receive $1,000 per month from U.S. presidential candidate Andrew Yang. During last week’s debate, the Democrat announced that he will pick 10 families to receive the money for a year from his campaign funds.    Since he made the announcement last Thursday, Yang’s campaign has raised more than $1 million and collected more than 450,000 email addresses from people who entered the online raffle. Yang’s surprise announcement was aimed at drawing attention to the main platform of his campaign — to provide a universal basic income of $1,000 a …

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A panel of U.N. experts warns the failure of South Sudan’s warring factions to implement last year’s peace accord risks plunging the country into full-scale war once again. The report by the three-member Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan shows no improvements since South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar signed a peace accord aimed at ending the country’s six-year civil war. The chair of the commission, Yasmin Sooka, said more than six million people are going hungry, 1.3 million children under five are acutely malnourished, and millions more are stunted, affecting their health and mental …

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Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini should easily defeat a no-confidence vote on Tuesday, but his government is being increasingly damaged by revelations about the reach of the main suspect in the 2018 murder of a journalist into state offices. The murder of investigative reporter Jan Kuciak, who uncovered fraud cases involving politically connected businessmen, and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova shone a spotlight on corruption in the central European country, sparking the biggest protests since the end of communism in 1989 that shook the political scene. Five people have been charged with the killings and are awaiting trial, including high-profile businessman …

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