Category: Євросоюз

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar has rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assertions that she and fellow lawmaker Rashida Tlaib had no intention of meeting with Israeli officials before Netanyahu barred them from visiting Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank next week. Omar posted her Israeli itinerary on Twitter Friday, which included meeting with Jewish and Arab members of Israel’s parliament and Israeli security officials. Let’s be clear: the goal of our trip was to witness firsthand what is happening on the ground in Palestine and hear from stakeholders —our job as Members of Congress. But since we were unable to …

READ MORE

SINGAPORE/WASHINGTON — The U.S. Commerce Department is expected to extend a reprieve given to Huawei Technologies that permits the Chinese firm to buy supplies from U.S. companies so that it can service existing customers, two sources familiar with the situation said. The “temporary general license” will be extended for Huawei for 90 days, the sources said. Commerce initially allowed Huawei to purchase some American-made goods in May shortly after blacklisting the company in a move aimed at minimizing disruption for its customers, many of which operate networks in rural America. An extension will renew an agreement set to lapse Aug. …

READ MORE

President Donald Trump is warning U.S. voters that the economy could crash if he is turned out of office next year. His warning came this week as he sought to reassure supporters in New Hampshire about the state of economy amid signs of a possible recession on the horizon, something analysts say could cripple his re-election hopes next year. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.   …

READ MORE

As Hong Kong braces for more mass protests, Trump administration officials are watching events carefully, but also sending mixed messages to China about fears of a potential violent crackdown by Beijing. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from the State Department.   …

READ MORE

Lawmakers in the United States have long been wary of Chinese telecom giant Huawei. They say the corporation is unlike most tech companies because it effectively acts as a spying tool for Beijing. Recently, Huawei installed security cameras around Uganda’s capital, Kampala.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more in this report narrated by Jeff Custer.   …

READ MORE

Two suspicious objects that prompted an evacuation of a major lower Manhattan subway station during the morning commute Friday are not explosives, police said. The bomb squad cleared the items found at the Fulton Street station, New York Police Department Counterterrorism Chief James Waters said on Twitter.    Waters posted photos of the objects, which looked like pressure cookers or crockpots.    “The suspicion is that they were placed there to suggest that they were electronic devices and possible bombs,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on WCBS-AM after the all clear was given.    The devices were found at the line …

READ MORE

Indian government officials say restrictions imposed on the Indian-controlled Kashmir region will be “lifted gradually.” The Indian Supreme Court heard petitions Friday from Kashmir Times editor Anuradha Bhasin challenging the curbs imposed 12 days ago on Kashmir by India. A lawyer for Bhasin told the panel, according to the Deccan Chronicle newspaper, that communication systems need to be restored as soon as possible so journalists can do their jobs in the region that is claimed by both India and Pakistan.   On Thursday, Pakistan said three of its soldiers were killed in clashes with India across the disputed Kashmir border, …

READ MORE

Israel has reversed its decision to bar a visit to Israel by a U.S. congresswoman. The interior ministry said Friday it will allow Representative Rashida Tlaib to visit on “humanitarian” grounds to see her Palestinian grandmother. Israel said Thursday it would not allow Tlaib and Rep Ilhan Omar to enter the country, setting off a new round of controversy in the debate over U.S. support for its ally in the Middle East. Omar was not mentioned in Israel’s announcement Friday.   Israel Reverses Decision on Barring US Congresswomen video player. Embed Copy The two Democratic lawmakers have been vocal critics …

READ MORE

Australia is offering vulnerable South Pacific nations $340 million to help them deal with the effects of climate change. The announcement came ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Scott Morrison to Tuvalu for the Pacific Islands Forum this week, where Australia’s reliance on fossil fuels was a dominant issue. Australia wants to help its Pacific neighbors invest in renewable energy and make their roads, hospitals and schools able to withstand extreme weather events. But Morrison met resistance in Tuvalu at a meeting of Pacific leaders. They have been urging Australia to phase out the use of coal that generates …

READ MORE

Zimbabwe’s deteriorating economy is forcing many families to put their children to work to put food on the table. Child rights activists say an increasing number of children are selling things on the street to supplement family income. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare for VOA.   …

READ MORE

The U.N. children’s fund reports the number of children orphaned by Ebola or separated from their parents because of the disease in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has more than doubled since April. Since the epidemic was declared more than one year ago, aid agencies have registered 1,380 children who have lost one or both parents to Ebola. During the same period, nearly 2,470 children have been separated from parents undergoing treatment for the disease or isolated because they have come in contact with an infected person. World Health Organization figures put the number of Ebola cases at 2,831, including …

READ MORE

…

READ MORE

Americans spent more at retail stores and restaurants in July, a sign that concerns over weakening economic growth and a persistent trade war that have roiled financial markets have yet to dampen consumer confidence. Retail sales rose a healthy 0.7% last month after a 0.3% gain in June, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Online retailers, grocery stores, clothing retailers and electronics and appliance stores all reported strong gains.   Consumer spending, the primary driver of the U.S. economy, appears healthy even as other sectors of the economy, such as business investment, have weakened amid growing uncertainty over the U.S.-China trade …

READ MORE

When U.S. economists and stock market analysts ponder whether an economically debilitating recession is on the horizon, they often look to an arcane piece of data: whether a yield curve inversion of interest rates on government bonds is occurring. It’s called an inverted yield curve. Specifically, they look at the interest rates for two- and 10-year U.S. Treasury notes. Typically, interest rates on longer-term government bonds are higher than those for shorter periods of time. But when that interest rate phenomenon is reversed, as occurred Wednesday, it can be a sign that investors have worries about the immediate state of …

READ MORE

Women sewing blue jeans for Levi’s, Wrangler, Lee and The Children’s Place faced sexual harassment and gender-based violence and some were coerced into having sex with supervisors to keep their jobs in African factories, labor rights groups say. In response to the revelations, the brands have agreed to bring in outside oversight and enforcement for more than 10,000 workers at five Lesotho factories, according to a report from the Washington-based Worker Rights Consortium released on Thursday.   The labor rights group investigated Taiwan-based Nien Hsing Textile factories in Lesotho a poor, mountainous kingdom encircled by South Africa _ after hearing …

READ MORE

Thousands of women from across Brazil marched through the capital Wednesday, demanding better working conditions on farms and protesting against right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.    “We are working from sun to sun, rain to rain, just to be able to bring food to the table,” one woman said, while another appealed to the government “to have mercy and do the original land reform for working people who want a piece of land to work with, raise their children and grandchildren.”    The women also marched against Bolsonaro, who has been long accused of making racist and sexist comments. His cuts to education funding …

READ MORE

Botswana is battling an influx of illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe, as the Zimbabwean government struggles to overcome a deep economic crisis. But authorities in Botswana appear to be losing the battle, as those who are deported are soon back in the country. Prosper Kandanhamo and Thomas Gundani left Zimbabwe and entered Botswana illegally because of the moribund economy in their homeland. “I came to Botswana because back home in Zimbabwe, there are no job opportunities,” Kandanhamo said. The two are among the many illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe who line the streets of Gaborone looking for odd jobs. Not so welcome …

READ MORE

This story originated in VOA’s Albanian Service.  TIRANA, ALBANIA – Press freedom advocates and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Albania are fighting a government-proposed defamation law that, critics say, would grant the country’s top media regulator too much power. According to the latest version of the draft law, Albania’s Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA) could impose fines nearing $10,000 on online media outlets that are accused of damaging a person’s reputation or infringing on their privacy before the outlets can elect to have the case heard in a court of law. In most countries, such adjudicatory …

READ MORE

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI – Twenty opposition politicians are raising the stakes in their drive to impeach Haitian President Jovenel Moise by demanding documents that they say will prove he has routinely violated the constitution.    The legislators believe the 33 documents, which were formally requested Aug. 7, contain evidence of illegal contracts, misuse of government funds and the appointment of ineligible and corrupt officials.   Haitian opposition Deputy Jean Marcel Lumerant. (M. Vilme/VOA) “To the people saying the president did not violate the constitution, we will soon show them how he did, and we’re asking the people to stay mobilized,” Deputy Jean Marcel Lumerant told VOA Creole.    The documents being sought include:    — …

READ MORE

Operations at the Hong Kong Airport returned to normal Wednesday after a judge granted an interim order to limit anti-government protests that crippled one of the world’s busiest air hubs for two days and sparked frantic clashes between demonstrators and riot police.    The order will limit demonstrations to designated areas, an attempt to suppress two days of seething crowds whose sheer size led the government and airlines to send home most employees and cancel nearly all flights leaving and entering the Chinese territory. That decision turned the airport into a frustrated campground, with stranded travelers unsure when they’d be …

READ MORE