Category: Євросоюз

Prosecutors in New York have subpoenaed eight years of President Donald Trump’s personal and corporate tax returns from his longtime accounting firm. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.’s office, which sent the subpoena last month, declined to comment Monday. Accounting firm Mazars USA said in a statement that it “will respect the legal process and fully comply with its legal obligations.” Marc Mukasey, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, said he is “evaluating the situation and will respond as appropriate.” The prosecutors are specifically interested in payments made by Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen to porn actress Stormy Daniels after …

READ MORE

Purdue Pharma, the maker of prescription painkiller OxyContin, has filed for bankruptcy protection in a U.S. court. The company is facing numerous lawsuits from local and state governments and other plaintiffs alleging it aggressively marketed dangerous, addictive painkillers that helped fuel the opioid crisis in the United States. The bankruptcy filing comes days after Purdue Pharma reached a tentative settlement with about 2,000 entities that have filed lawsuits.  The value of the settlement could reach $12 billion. But some of the states involved in the suits oppose the settlement, saying the company and the Sackler family that controls it are …

READ MORE

A new large supply transport ship will help the Beijing government ferry supplies to its holdings in the disputed South China Sea, a resource-rich waterway contested by other countries. China has alarmed the other countries since 2010 by landfilling small islets for military use. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines contest all or parts of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea with China. China claims about 90% of it. The Sansha No. 2 transport ship that passed trial in August can “cover the whole South China Sea,” Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency reports. The vessel with a displacement of  over 8,000 …

READ MORE

Members of the United Auto Workers union began a strike Monday against General Motors as the two sides remain apart on the terms of a new contract. Talks are set to resume Monday, but plants that makes cars and parts in nine states will be closed with nearly 50,000 workers off the job. Union Vice President Terry Dittes said the decision to go on strike was a last resort, but necessary. The union wants better wages and health care, as well as job security and profit sharing. General Motors says it has offered pay raises, profit sharing and good health …

READ MORE

Thirty-six people are missing after a boat sank in the Congo river on the outskirts of Kinshasa, DR Congo police said on Sunday. The vessel, which was traveling to the capital, went down overnight in Maluku commune, about 100 kilometers from the center of the city. Seventy-six people survived, police wrote on Twitter. “The cause of the accident is not yet known,” police spokesperson Colonel Pierrot-Rombaut Mwanamputu told AFP. Lake and river transport is widely used in Democratic Republic of Congo as the highway system is poor, but accidents are common, often caused by overloading and the unsafe state of …

READ MORE

Several Democratic presidential candidates on Sunday lined up to call for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the face of a new, uninvestigated, allegation of sexual impropriety when he was in college. Kavanaugh was confirmed last October after emotional hearings in the Senate over a sexual assault allegation from his high school years. The New York Times now reports that Kavanaugh faced a separate allegation from his time at Yale University and that the FBI did not investigate the claim. The latest claim mirrors one offered during his confirmation process by Deborah Ramirez, a Yale classmate who …

READ MORE

Hong Kong protesters clashed with  police Sunday. Protesters threw Molotov cocktails and bricks at police near the Legislative Council building. Police responded by firing water cannons filled with blue jets of water, a practice usually initiated to identify protesters later. Thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators were on Hong Kong’s streets Sunday. The weekend demonstrations have continued for three months despite the Hong Kong government’s promise to withdraw extradition legislation that sparked the protests. Dissenters have since broadened their demands for the direct election of their leaders and police accountability. Protesters carrying umbrellas take part in march in Hong Kong, Sept. 15, …

READ MORE

Consultations have begun in Cameroon ahead of a national dialogue ordered by president Paul Biya. Civil society groups and opposition political parties are calling for the unconditional release of Anglophone separatist leaders and other political prisoners before discussions begin. FILE – Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute visits Bamenda, Cameroon, May 10, 2019. Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute began consultations with political party leaders, civil society activists, opinion leaders, traditional rulers, lawmakers and clergy on September 11, one day after President Paul Biya called for a national dialogue to solve the separatist crisis rocking his country. Prince Ekosso, president …

READ MORE

Less than two months into its term, Thailand’s post-junta government is fending off a series of challenges to its very existence, including a brewing political storm over the Cabinet’s failure to recite the full oath of office. A general election in March returned the 2014 coup leader, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, to power to widespread criticism that his military junta had manipulated the contest in its favor. Two months later the country crowned a new king, Maha Vajiralongkorn, who has been consolidating power around the Royal Palace since the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in 2016. The country’s …

READ MORE

Promised talks this month between the United States and North Korea will give President Donald Trump yet another chance to conclude a deal with the reclusive nation, something that has eluded several of his predecessors. But after three summits and more than two years of on-and-off talks, some analysts are asking just how well Trump’s self-proclaimed prowess as a dealmaker translates to the world of diplomacy. This week, Pyongyang said it is willing to meet with Washington later in September through a message conveyed in its state media Korea Central News Agency (KCNA).  “I think the record is beginning to …

READ MORE

A group of Native American women from several tribes in Oklahoma have launched a nonprofit organization they’re calling the “Auntie Project: Native Women of Service.” Their goal is to help indigenous kids in need, beginning with child migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The idea came to them in June, after hearing that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) would move 1,400 unaccompanied migrant children to Fort Still, a U.S. Army post near Lawton, Oklahoma. This undated photo shows members of the Auntie Project: Native Women of Service, meeting in Norman, Okla. “And …

READ MORE

The flag-draped coffin had arrived, followed by black-clad family members, their heads bowed. Several dozen suited dignitaries marched in, chests puffed out. Military members stood rigid and proud. All of the pomp and circumstance one would expect at the memorial for a man hailed as an African icon was in place Saturday for the final public sendoff for Robert Mugabe. But there was just one thing missing: A crowd. Final Public Sendoff for Zimbabwe’s Mugabe Draws Light Turnout video player. Embed Copy Final Public Sendoff for Zimbabwe’s Mugabe Draws Light Turnout Because, for the man known as the father of …

READ MORE

Congo’s National Ebola Response Committee says confirmed Ebola deaths in the east of the sprawling African nation are nearing 2,000 and confirmed cases of the virus have exceeded 3,000. The committee released the latest numbers Friday after a discussion in Goma by the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church about efforts to help stem the spread of Ebola in communities. A mistrust of health workers and widespread security issues still threaten the fight against the second deadliest outbreak of Ebola in history in a region where armed groups have fought for decades over the mineral-rich land. The committee reported 3,002 …

READ MORE

While the political and economic crisis worsens in Venezuela, countries in the Western Hemisphere continue to be economically impacted by migrants seeking refuge and asylum. To help alleviate some of the burden, the United States Navy has deployed the Comfort hospital ship to assist countries like Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica. VOA’s Cristina Caicedo Smit visited the ship on one of its last stops, Trinidad and Tobago. …

READ MORE

The White House said Saturday that the son of al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden has been killed in a U.S. counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. The White House said in a statement, “The loss of Hamza bin Ladin (Laden) not only deprives al-Qaida of important leadership skills and the symbolic connection to his father, but undermines important operational activities of the group.” The younger bin Laden was described by the White House as “the high-ranking al-Qaida member” who was “responsible for planning and dealing with various terrorist groups.” Some media organizations previously reported earlier this summer Hamza bin Laden …

READ MORE

Italy has agreed to allow rescue ship Ocean Viking to disembark 82 migrants in the southern port of Lampedusa, the SOS Mediterranee charity which runs the vessel said Saturday. “The Ocean Viking just received instructions from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre of Rome to proceed to Lampedusa,” SOS Mediterranee tweeted. “An ad hoc European agreement between Italy, France, Germany, Portugal and Luxembourg has been reached to allow the landing,” said French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, referring to the division of the migrants between the five countries. “We now need to agree on a genuine temporary European mechanism.” Castaner added. The …

READ MORE

An international press freedom monitor has awarded Vietnamese journalist and blogger Pham Doan Trang a 2019 Press Freedom Prize for Impact. “Pham Doan Trang is a true heroine given the situation of press freedom in Vietnam, where journalists and bloggers who do not toe the line of the current direction of the Communist Party face extremely severe repercussions,” said Daniel Bastard, who heads the Asia-Pacific Desk of Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Trang, who has no fixed address, reports on civil rights issues in Vietnam, where she has been beaten and imprisoned twice. Two other women received awards from the group …

READ MORE

Government experts Friday backed an experimental treatment for children with peanut allergies that could become the first federally approved option for preventing life-threatening reactions. The treatment is daily capsules of peanut powder that gradually help children build up a tolerance. The outside panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted overwhelmingly in favor of the treatment from Aimmune Therapeutics. The nonbinding vote amounts to an endorsement for approval. The FDA is expected to make its final decision by January. Important option The panelists said the medication was an important option for parents and children dealing with peanut allergies. …

READ MORE

They scan social media, peer under rubble, or try to follow the smell of death to try to find family and friends.    They search amid alarming reports that 1,300 people remain listed as missing nearly two weeks after Hurricane Dorian hit the northern Bahamas.    The government, which has put the official death toll at 50, has cautioned that the list is preliminary and many could be staying in shelters and just haven’t been able to connect with loved ones.    But fears are growing that many more died when the Category 5 storm slammed into the archipelago’s northern region with winds in …

READ MORE

A woman accused of trying to help al-Qaida has pleaded guilty in Alabama to a charge of concealing terrorism financing. Federal prosecutors say Alaa Mohd Abusaad entered the plea Friday during a hearing in federal court in Tuscaloosa. Authorities arrested the one-time University of Alabama student last year. Court documents show Abusaad communicated over messaging programs with a person she didn’t know was an undercover FBI employee. A statement from prosecutors shows she gave instructions on how to send money to the mujahedeen and included the comment: “You can’t have war without weapons.” Authorities say she also put the FBI …

READ MORE