Category: Євросоюз

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 …

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The city of San Francisco and nearby Santa Clara County sued President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday, seeking to block a new rule that would drastically reduce legal immigration by denying visas to poor migrants. Some experts say the new rule could cut legal immigration in half by denying visas and permanent residency to hundreds of thousands of people if they fail to meet high enough income standards or if they receive public assistance such as welfare, food stamps, public housing or Medicaid. “This illegal rule is just another attempt to vilify immigrants,” San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said …

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Kamala Harris is on the move. During the course of a five-day sprint across Iowa that included 17 stops across 11 counties, the Democratic presidential candidate ordered tacos from a tacqueria in Storm Lake, sampled a pork chop at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, called bingo at a senior center in Muscatine and toured the Coyote Run farm in Lacona. The Associated Press interviewed Harris on her bus, which blared her name in bold, vibrant colors as she traveled through a state that she repeatedly said has “made me a better candidate.” Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, …

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Kidnapping of aid workers has become “big business” as militants often work with crime networks to carry out abductions, a senior United Nations official and former hostage said on Tuesday. Vincent Cochetel, who was held captive in Chechnya in 1998, said countries must bring kidnappers to justice to stem a steep increase in attacks, which are undermining aid operations. “We need to absolutely get the perpetrators to court,” Cochetel, who works for the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, adding that it was usually possible to trace many of those involved. “These people can be tried any …

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Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido warned President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday that any attempts to bring forward parliamentary elections would end in “disaster” for the government. Elections to renew the National Assembly, the only branch of government under opposition control, are set for December 2020. But the Constituent Assembly, a rival body created by the Maduro regime and given extraordinary powers superseding the National Assembly, has hinted at the possibility of ordering early elections. Such a maneuver could threaten the opposition’s hold on the National Assembly and with it Guaido’s claim as head of the legislature to be the country’s …

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A longtime human rights lawyer who is running for Tunisia’s presidency as the country’s first gay candidate says he is receiving threats from radical Islamist groups. Mounir Baatour, founder of the Tunisian Liberal Party, recently announced his candidacy for president, vowing to bring about justice and equality in the Muslim-majority, North African nation.  “I have received a number of threats after my announcement, especially through social media,” Baatour told VOA in an interview. “Many of these threats are from extremist individuals. But no political parties have responded negatively to my announcement.” Baatour, 48, said his campaign focuses on employment, equal …

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Libyan officials say the fighting around Tripoli has resumed, following a two-day truce observed during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. The officials said on Tuesday that the self-styled Libyan National Army led by commander Khalifa Hifter carried out airstrikes overnight on the southern outskirts of Tripoli.   They say the militias allied to the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli also shelled Hifter’s forces in the area. On Saturday, both sides had accepted a U.N.-proposed truce during Eid al-Adha, which began Sunday.   The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.   Hifter’s …

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Amid revelations about the circumstances around Jeffrey Epstein’s death , federal authorities have intensified parallel inquiries into what went wrong at the Manhattan jail where he was behind bars and who now may face charges for assisting or enabling him in what authorities say was his rampant sexual abuse of underage girls. One of the new details provided by people familiar with the Metropolitan Correctional Center was that one of Epstein’s guards the night he died in his cell wasn’t a regular correctional officer. Serene Gregg, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3148, told The Washington Post …

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Trying to hold support in the manufacturing towns that helped him win the White House in 2016, President Donald Trump is showcasing growing efforts to capitalize on western Pennsylvania’s natural gas deposits by turning gas into plastics.  Trump will be in Monaca, about 40 minutes north of Pittsburgh, on Tuesday to tour Shell’s soon-to-be completed Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex. The facility, which critics claim will become the largest air polluter in western Pennsylvania, is being built in an area hungry for investment.   The focus is part of a continued push by the Trump administration to increase the economy’s dependence on …

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Workers are preparing to decontaminate some Paris streets surrounding the Notre Dame Cathedral that have been tested with high levels of lead following the April blaze that damaged the landmark. High fences blocked Parisians and tourists from several streets and a bridge around the monument on Tuesday. The culture ministry said workers plan to use two decontamination techniques. One involves spreading a gel on public benches, street lights and other fixtures to absorb the lead, letting it dry for several days before removing it. Another method will feature high pressure water jets with chemical agents. The cleanup work inside Notre …

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 Suzanne Sataline contributed to this report from Hong Kong. All departing flights from Hong Kong’s international airport have been cancelled for a second straight day Tuesday after pro-democracy demonstrators once again took over the facility’s main terminal. The decision by the airport authority came just minutes after it suspended all passenger check-in services after protesters blocked passengers from entering their departure gates, and advised the general public not to come to the airport.   The departure board shows all flights leaving Hong Kong canceled, Aug. 12, 2019. The airport was already struggling to return to normal after reopening a day …

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Catholic authorities in Mexico said that Cardinal Sergio Obeso Rivera has died at the age of 86. The Episcopal Conference of Mexico said Monday that the cardinal from Veracruz state spent 65 years as a priest and was president of the conference for three terms. The Episcopal Conference is the leadership council of the Catholic Church in Mexico. It added that Obeso Rivera was instrumental in improving ties between Mexico and the Vatican in the 1980s. He also participated in peace negotiations with the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in 1996.    The Episcopal Conference did not mention a cause …

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Apple is giving a first look at its upcoming web television series that is centered on a behind-the-scenes view of early morning TV news. The company posted a teaser Monday of “The Morning Show.” It stars Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell and is set to debut will debut this fall on AppleTV+. Apple’s new original video subscription service will feature original shows, movies and documentaries without ads and will be available on demand. …

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Bill Cosby’s lawyers will fight to overturn his sexual assault conviction Monday as the 82-year-old comedian serves a three- to 10-year prison term in Pennsylvania. Cosby was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the(hash)MeToo era. He insists the sexual encounter with a young woman seeking career advice was consensual. A jury last year found Cosby drugged and molested her at his suburban Philadelphia estate in 2004. Defense lawyers contend the trial judge erred in letting five other accusers testify to bolster the prosecution’s case. A three-judge Superior Court panel will hear arguments Monday but is not expected to rule …

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The Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates met in Mecca Monday with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman over the latest developments in Yemen. Yemen’s southern separatists have seized control of the southern capital, Aden, from the internationally recognized government of President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi, but say they will continue to work with the Saudi-led coalition.  Arab media showed the UAE’s Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Zayed meeting with the Saudi King as the Crown Prince looked on. The visit coincided with the capture of government buildings in the southern Yemeni capital, Aden, by the country’s southern …

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U.S. President Donald Trump wants to see a successful British exit from the European Union that Washington will support with a U.S.-UK free trade agreement, national security adviser John Bolton told British officials on Monday. As Britain prepares to leave the European Union on Oct. 31, its biggest geopolitical shift since World War II, many diplomats expect London to become increasingly reliant on the United States. Bolton, in London for two days of talks with British officials, is seeking an improved U.S.-British relationship with Prime Minister Boris Johnson after sometimes tense ties between Trump and Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May. A …

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Gold medal fencer Race Imboden says he has no regrets about getting down on one knee instead of standing before the U.S. flag at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. Imboden is one of two U.S. athletes facing sanctions from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee for their acts of protest at the medal ceremonies. African American hammer thrower Gwen Berry raised a clenched fist while the “Star Spangled Banner” played during her team’s gold medal ceremony on Saturday. Imboden told CNN television Sunday that the two mass shootings last week in El Paso and Dayton while he was …

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Two French charities pulled another 81 migrants from the waters off Libya Sunday, bringing the number of those it rescued at sea since Friday to 211. Doctors Without Borders and SOS Mediterranean jointly operate the Norwegian-flagged rescue ship Ocean Viking. Most of those it picked up over the past three days are Sudanese men, including the 81 rescued from a flimsy rubber dinghy Sunday. Witnesses on the Ocean Viking say the men on the raft waved and cheered when they saw the ship approaching. “We’re the only ones in the area, the Libyan coast guard doesn’t respond,” SOS Mediterranean rescue …

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Voters in Guatemala went to the polls on Sunday to choose the central American country’s next president, who will be under immense pressure from the United States to implement a controversial migration pact. Both candidates — former first lady Sandra Torres and conservative Alejandro Giammattei — have avoided committing to strong positions over the pact, which would permit the United States to send most Honduran and Salvadoran asylum seekers who passed through Guatemala back to the poor, crime-stricken country. As they cast their ballots, Torres and Giammattei urged voters to turn out and reiterated their pledges to fight unemployment, improve …

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The issue of gun violence has been dominating U.S. political debate in the wake of mass shootings last weekend in Texas and Ohio.  While members of Congress are on their August recess, Democratic presidential candidates are calling for action and Republican President Donald Trump is promising more rigorous screening of gun buyers.  VOA’s Mike O’Sullivan reports. …

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