Category: Євросоюз

A team from the International Monetary Fund met on Monday with opposition candidate Alberto Fernandez, the front-runner for October’s presidential election, according to a spokesman for Fernandez. A three-man IMF team sat down with three representatives from Fernandez’s center-left “Frente de Todos” coalition as well as the candidate himself, according to a statement from Fernandez’s office. Fernandez, a critic of Argentina’s $57 billion IMF standby agreement negotiated in 2018 by pro-reform President Mauricio Macri, has pledged to “rework” the program if elected, with his advisers telling Treasury Minister Hernan Lacunza last week he would seek an “alternative economic model” to …

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It might not be obvious at the supermarket, but the banana industry is fighting to protect the most popular variety of the fruit from a destructive fungus. A disease that ravages banana crops has made its long-dreaded arrival in Latin America, the biggest exporter of the crop. That’s reigniting worries about the global market’s dependence on a single type of banana, the Cavendish, which is known for its durability in shipping. For years, scientists have said big banana companies like Chiquita and Dole would eventually need to find new banana varieties as the disease spread in countries in Asia and elsewhere. Then this month, the fungus was confirmed in Colombia, …

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Stock markets in Asia traded down Monday as investors processed the latest round of reciprocal tariffs imposed by the United States and China. The slump hit major markets in Japan, China and Hong Kong. China’s top trade negotiator Vice Premier Liu He said Monday that China is willing to negotiate with the United States to end the ongoing trade battle, and that China opposes “the escalation of the trade war.” His comments follow those Sunday from Trump, who said he had “second thoughts” about the rising tariffs the two countries have imposed on each other’s goods.  But the White House …

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Nigeria’s agency for combating human trafficking is repatriating and re-settling women who have been subjected to forced labor and prostitution after being smuggled into Europe on false promises of working at well-paying jobs.  Thousands of Nigerian women have been trafficked in recent years, though some were lucky enough to be able to return to their country.   For 35-year-old Beatrice, it was an offer she couldn’t resist.  A job, the traffickers told her in 2013, on a large Italian farm. She took the bait, thinking she could help pull her father and mother out of poverty by working abroad. Instead, after …

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Nigeria’s agency for combating human trafficking is repatriating and re-settling women who have been subjected to forced labor and prostitution after being smuggled into Europe on false promises of working at well-paying jobs.  Thousands of Nigerian women have been trafficked in recent years, though some were lucky enough to be able to return to their country.  Timothy Obiezu takes a closer look at the story of some human trafficking victims who are now back in Nigeria rebuilding their lives. …

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Opera legend Placido Domingo was greeted with a standing ovation in Salzburg, Austria, at his first appearance on stage since nine women accused him of sexual harassment dating back three decades. Even before he sang a single note, Domingo was greeted with a thunderous applause that grew to a crescendo until most of the house was on its feet. “Wonderful public, good performance all,” the Spanish-born singer said as he signed autographs after the performance of Verdi’s tragic opera Luisa Miller.  “I mean, so much love from the public.” The Associated Press reported last week that nine women accused Domingo …

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Africans and African Americans participating in events marking 400 years since the start of slavery in the United States say everyone must work harder to unite societies divided along racial and economic lines. VOA reporter Kennes Bwire reports from Norfolk, Virginia, where people gathered Saturday to observe the anniversary of the beginning of more than two centuries of slavery in English-speaking America.  *For more on the anniversary, check out our Special Page. …

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SAINT-JEAN-DE-LUZ, FRANCE – U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau touted their trilateral trade agreement in their meeting at the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France. “Quite frankly, around the table there’s a lot of people wanting to make trade deals with each other,” Trudeau said, adding that the U.S. and Canada have a deal that’s “good for our workers, good for our citizens, good for the middle class.” My focus at the #G7 is working with our allies to strengthen the middle class – not just in Canada but around the world as well. …

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The leaders of the world’s major industrialized countries are holding their annual summit.  The Group of Seven, or G-7, is meeting in Biarritz, France.  U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on French wine, one of the most iconic industries of the host country, ahead of the summit has added to the tension among the leaders who remain at odds over issues ranging from climate change, how to deal with China and Iran, whether to bring Russia back into the fold, and Britain’s exit from the European Union.  With these deep divisions, consensus seems unlikely. After Sunday’s first session …

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U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France but did not announce they have reached a trade deal. “We’re working on one and we’re fairly close,” said Trump. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who has been leading the negotiations with Japan added, “We’ve worked very intensively and probably as a result of this meeting will be able to come to agreement on core principle.” Prior to the Trump-Abe meeting, Lighthizer held talks with Japan’s Economic Revitalization Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in Washington. Japanese media have reported that a …

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One in a series on Generation Z. Over the next 10 years, Generation Z will grow in size and racial diversity to tip today’s minority population into a majority. Gen Z is the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in U.S. history, with 48% of Gen Z being nonwhite, according to Pew Research Center. The implications of this demographic change are a political shift to the left, changes in education and other social changes, said William Frey, senior fellow and demographer at the Brookings Institution. “The fact that white children under 15 have already become a minority in their age …

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Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen whom Russia accuses of being a spy, will remain in custody while Russian authorities continue their investigation of the former U.S. Marine. Whelan, his family and the United States believe the charges are baseless. Yulia Savchenko reports from Moscow. …

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Syrian state media report that government forces now control all of northern Hama province for the first time since 2012 and that they have encircled a Turkish military monitoring post in the town of Morek. Turkish President Erdogan says that he will discuss the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin when they meet next week. Supporters of the Syrian government in the country’s fourth largest city of Hama shot fireworks into the air overnight, following news by state media that the Syrian military had captured all of northern Hama province for the first time since 2012. A Syrian Army spokesman …

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India’s former finance minister, Arun Jaitley, died Saturday in a New Delhi hospital months after he stepped away from the job due to deteriorating health. A close associate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the 66-year-old Jaitley was credited with steering landmark economic reform that helped create a single market in India for the first time since the country’s independence in 1947.   It was also under his watch that Modi announced his controversial decision to scrap 86 percent of India’s currency.   One of Modi’s most articulate ministers in parliament who was often called upon to defend the government, the …

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Migrants fleeing poverty and the threat of violence have found themselves caught up in fast-shifting U.S. immigration and asylum laws. Under a recently expanded U.S. program, some of those who arrived at a port of entry or were detained upon crossing into the U.S. are forced to await their immigration hearings in Mexico. As a result, migrant families and individuals have found themselves stranded with few resources, second-hand information from acquaintances, and fear for their lives — especially in a Mexican city like Nuevo Laredo known for cartel activity. VOA’s Ramon Taylor and Victoria Macchi report on the widespread confusion …

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Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, a stronghold of Islamic State’s Khursan branch, was hit with more than a dozen bomb blasts recently, wounding more than 120 people, including 30 children. Among those children was Basharyar, who fled Afghanistan with his family years ago to neighboring Pakistan. VOA’s Zia Urahman Hasrat reports from Nangarhar. …

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Comedian Dave Chappelle plans to host a special block party and benefit concert in Ohio for those affected by the recent mass shooting. Chappelle will be among national and local entertainers planned for the main stage at the “Gem City Shine” event in Dayton Sunday. WDTN-TV reports the City of Dayton along with the Downtown Dayton Partnership and the Chamber of Commerce will help organize the tribute. The organizers say the event will be an effort to reclaim the entertainment district after 24-year-old Connor Betts’ 32-second rampage in front of Ned Peppers that killed nine people and left dozens injured …

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The Rolling Stones have rocked stages around the world in their more than 50-year career. But now their influence has gone into space after NASA’s Mars InSight Mission named a rock on the planet after the band. Slightly larger than a golf ball, the “Rolling Stones Rock” is said to have rolled about 3 feet (1 meter), spurred by the InSight spacecraft’s thrusters during touchdown on Mars in November, NASA said. “In images taken by InSight the next day, several divots in the orange-red soil can be seen trailing Rolling Stones Rock,” it said. “It’s the farthest NASA has seen …

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Hong Kong is gearing up for more protests as some demonstrators made plans to again to target the airport this weekend. Hong Kong police said Friday that the city’s high court had extended an order restricting protests at the airport. “Any person who unlawfully or willfully obstructs or interferes with the normal operation of the airport” is liable to face criminal charges, said Foo Yat-ting, the senior superintendent of Hong Kong Police Force’s Kowloon East Region. Hong Kong’s Airport Authority also published a half-page notice in newspapers urging people to “love Hong Kong” and not to block the airport. Protesters …

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