IMF: Global Economy Healthy, Still Needs Low Interest Rates

The world economy is the healthiest it’s been in years but could still use a little help from low-interest rates and higher government spending from countries that can afford it, the International Monetary Fund says. 

 

“There was a strong consensus that the global outlook is strengthening,” said Agustin Carstens, governor of the Bank of Mexico and outgoing chair of the IMF’s policy committee. “This does not mean we are declaring victory just yet.” 

 

The 189-member IMF and its sister agency, the World Bank, wrapped up three days of meetings Saturday. 

Broad recovery, risks

The IMF expects the global economy to grow 3.6 percent this year, up from 3.2 percent in 2016. And three-quarters of the global economy is growing, making this the broadest recovery in a decade. 

 

But IMF and World Bank officials pointed to risks that could derail global growth. Geopolitical risks are rising, including a confrontation between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program. The income gap between rich and poor is growing, fueling political discontent with the free trade and global cooperation that the IMF and World Bank promote. 

 

So in a communique Saturday, the IMF’s policy committee called on world central banks to protect the fragile global recovery by keeping interest rates down in countries where inflation is too low and economies are performing below potential. 

 

IMF officials have also urged some countries with healthy finances, such as Germany and South Korea, to make investments that will spur growth. 

 

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde appealed to countries to enact reforms that will make their economies more efficient and spread prosperity to those who have been left behind. Specifically, Lagarde argued that countries could improve their economies and reduce inequality by putting more women to work, improving their access to credit and narrowing their pay gap with men. 

On Saturday, Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and a White House adviser, appeared with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim to launch a World Bank initiative to support women entrepreneurs. The World Bank fund has raised $350 million, which is designed to allow the World Bank to deploy at least $1 billion in capital to finance women-owned businesses. 

 

Ivanka Trump told the audience that she wanted to “spend a lot of time offering any value that I can as a mentor.” 

 

Adjusting to Trump

The World Bank and IMF delegates are still adjusting to the Trump administration, which is skeptical of international organizations and contemptuous of free trade agreements. This week, the United States pulled out of UNESCO, the United Nations’ cultural agency. It is has balked at providing additional capital to the World Bank unless the anti-poverty agency rethinks the way it distributes loans. It has scrapped an Asia-Pacific trade deal and is threatening to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. 

 

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he carried in his pocket a list of all the G-20 nations and the size of the trade balances the United States has with each of those nations. With most of the G-20 countries, the United States is running a trade deficit.

 

In a speech Saturday to the IMF policy group, Mnuchin said he wanted to see the IMF be a more “forceful advocate” for strong global growth by taking a harder look at countries that abuse world trade rules. 

Tesla Fires Hundreds of Workers After Annual Reviews

Tesla Motors fired hundreds of workers after completing its annual performance reviews, even though the electric automaker is trying to ramp up production to meet the demand for its new Model 3 sedan.

The Palo Alto, California-based company confirmed the cuts in a Saturday statement, but didn’t disclose how many of its 33,000 workers were jettisoned. The San Jose Mercury News interviewed multiple former and current Tesla employees who estimated 400 to 700 workers lost their jobs.

The housecleaning swept out workers in administrative and sales jobs, in addition to Tesla’s manufacturing operations.

An unspecified number of workers received bonuses and promotions following their reviews, according to the company.

Tesla is under pressure to deliver its Model 3 sedan to a waiting list of more than 450,000 customers. The company so far has been lagging its own production targets after making just 260 of the vehicles in its last quarter.

Including other models, Tesla expects to make about 100,000 cars this year. CEO Elon Musk is aiming to increase production by five-fold next year, a goal that probably will have to be met to support Tesla’s market value of $59 billion, more than Ford Motor Co.

Unlike Ford, Tesla hasn’t posted an annual profit yet.

Despite the mass firings, Tesla is still looking to hire hundreds more workers.

Minority Residents, Massachusetts City Head to Federal Court

In May, 13 Asian and Hispanic residents of Lowell, Massachusetts, filed a voting rights lawsuit against the city government, alleging the at-large electoral system, in which the winner takes all, dilutes the minority vote and discriminates against the candidates from community of color running for office.

The plaintiffs asked the federal court to rule that the city’s electoral system “violates Section 2 the Voting Rights Act” and for “the adoption of at least one district-based seat.”

The first hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for Tuesday before the U.S. District Court in Boston. Lowell’s City Council filed a motion to dismiss in its first response to the residents’ lawsuit on Sept. 15.

At the Tuesday hearing, the judge will decide whether to allow the suit to move forward. If it does, Lowell will be going to trial against some of its residents.

“We’re not surprised” by the city’s response, said Oren Sellstrom, litigation director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice.

Lowell prides itself as being a diverse city, but “it remains to be seen” whether the city wants to “reflect diversity in the hall of power,” Sellstrom said.

City officials said they could not discuss the lawsuit because the issue is still in executive session.

Voting Rights Act

The Voting Rights Act signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in August 1965 is considered one of the most significant pieces of civil rights legislation ever enacted in the United States.

The Lowell citizens’ lawsuit is based on the section of that law that specifically prohibits state and local governments from using voting systems that result in discrimination against racial or ethnic minorities.

This is important in Lowell because altogether the minority populations of the former mill town come close — 49.2 percent — to being the majority. Of the minority population, Asian-Americans form the largest minority group, about 21 percent, a cohort that includes more than 30,000 Cambodians.

Since 1999, only four Asian and Hispanic candidates have been elected to the Lowell City Council, which is currently all white. No non-white candidates have ever been elected to the school committee, Lowell’s version of a school board.

Changes possible

No matter how the judge decides, the City Council will be looking at the possibility of changing the city’s form of government, which includes the voting system. There have been two public discussion sessions on the issue since August.

“It is better for us and the citizen to have a district representation with a combination of at-large councilor, and it is better for the public to elect the mayor,” said James Leary, a city councilor and one of the three councilors leading the ad hoc subcommittee on the charter review that was formed in June.

In the next few months, after organizing several public sessions across the city, the committee is expected to make recommendations to the City Council on changing or keeping the current form of government.

After reviewing the committee’s recommendation, the City Council will make a decision on which direction to take. Before anything changes in Lowell, though, residents will be faced with a ballot measure in November 2018 using the current system.

Trump Won States Most Affected by End to Health Care Subsidies

President Donald Trump’s decision to end a provision of the Affordable Care Act that was benefiting roughly 6 million Americans helps fulfill a campaign promise, but it also risks harming some of the very people who helped him win the presidency.

Nearly 70 percent of those benefiting from the so-called cost-sharing subsidies live in states Trump won last November, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. The number underscores the political risk for Trump and his party, which could end up owning the blame for increased costs and chaos in the insurance marketplace.

The subsidies are paid to insurers by the federal government to help lower consumers’ deductibles and co-pays. People who benefit will continue receiving the discounts because insurers are obligated by law to provide them. But to make up for the lost federal funding, health insurers will have to raise premiums substantially, potentially putting coverage out of reach for many consumers.

Some insurers may decide to bail out of markets altogether.

“I woke up, really, in horror,” said Alice Thompson, 62, an environmental consultant from the Milwaukee area who purchases insurance on Wisconsin’s federally run health insurance exchange.

Thompson, who spoke with reporters on a call organized by a health care advocacy group, said she expects to pay 30 percent to 50 percent more per year for her monthly premium, potentially more than her mortgage payment. Officials in Wisconsin, a state that went for a Republican presidential candidate for the first time in decades last fall, assumed the federal subsidy would end when they approved premium rate increases averaging 36 percent for the coming year.

An estimated 4 million people were benefiting from the cost-sharing payments in the 30 states Trump carried, according to an analysis of 2017 enrollment data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Of the 10 states with the highest percentage of consumers benefiting from cost-sharing, all but one — Massachusetts — went for Trump.

Kentucky, for example

Kentucky embraced former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act under its last governor, a Democrat, and posted some of the largest gains in getting its residents insured. Its new governor, a Republican, favors the GOP stance to replace it with something else.

Roughly half of the estimated 71,000 Kentuckians buying health insurance on the federal exchange were benefiting from the cost-sharing subsidies Trump just ended. Despite the gains from Obama’s law, the state went for Trump last fall even as he vowed to repeal it.

Consumers such as Marsha Clark fear what will happen in the years ahead, as insurers raise premiums on everyone to make up for the end of the federal money that helped lower deductibles and co-pays.

“I’m stressed out about the insurance, stressed out about the overall economy, and I’m very stressed out about our president,” said Clark, a 61-year-old real estate broker who lives in a small town about an hour’s drive south of Louisville. She pays $1,108 a month for health insurance purchased on the exchange.

While she earns too much to benefit from the cost-sharing subsidy, she is worried that monthly premiums will rise so high in the future that it will make insurance unaffordable.

Most beneficiaries in Florida

Sherry Riggs has a similar fear. The Fort Pierce, Florida, barber benefits from the deductible and co-pay discounts, as do more than 1 million other Floridians, the highest number of cost-sharing beneficiaries of any state.

She had bypass surgery following a heart attack last year and pays $10 a visit to see her cardiologist and only a few dollars for the medications she takes twice a day.

Her monthly premium is heavily subsidized by the federal government, but she worries about the cost soaring in the future. Florida, another state that swung for Trump, has approved rate increases averaging 45 percent.

“Probably for some people it would be a death sentence,” she said. “I think it’s kind of a tragic decision on the president’s part. It scares me because I don’t think I’ll be able to afford it next year.”

Double-digit premium increases

Rates were rising in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s decision. Insurance regulators in Arkansas, another state that went for Trump, approved premium increases Friday ranging from 14 percent to nearly 25 percent for plans offered through the insurance marketplace. Had federal cost-sharing been retained, the premiums would have risen by no more than 10 percent.

In Mississippi, another state Trump won, an estimated 80 percent of consumers who buy coverage on the insurance exchange benefit from the deductible and co-pay discounts, the highest percentage of any state. Premiums there will increase by 47 percent next year, after regulators assumed Trump would end the cost-sharing payments.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has estimated the loss of the subsidies would result in a 12 percent to 15 percent increase in premiums, while the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has put the figure at 20 percent. Experts say the political instability over Trump’s effort to undermine Obama’s health care law could prompt more insurers to leave markets, reducing competition and driving up prices.

Trump’s move concerned some Republicans, worried the party will be blamed for the effects on consumers and insurance markets.

“I think the president is ill-advised to take this course of action, because we, at the end of the day, will own this,” Republican Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania said Friday on CNN. “We, the Republican Party, will own this.”

Dent is not running for re-election.

GOP support

In announcing his decision, Trump argued the subsidies were payouts to insurance companies, and the government could not legally continue to make them. The subsidies have been the subject of an ongoing legal battle because the health care law failed to include a congressional appropriation, which is required before federal money can be spent.

The subsidies will cost about $7 billion this year.

Many Republicans praised Trump’s action, saying Obama’s law has led to a spike in insurance costs for those who have to buy policies on the individual market.

Among them is Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, a state Trump won. An estimated 78,000 Arizonans were benefiting from the federal subsidies for deductibles and co-pays.

“While his actions do not take the place of real legislative repeal and revitalization of free-market health care, he is doing everything possible to save Americans from crippling health care costs and decreasing quality of care,” Biggs said.

Federal Attorneys: Trump May Block Critics on Twitter

President Donald Trump can block his critics from following him on Twitter without violating the First Amendment despite a lawsuit’s claims that it violates the Constitution to do so, government lawyers say.

Trial attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington submitted papers late Friday to a New York federal judge, saying a lawsuit challenging Trump over the issue should be thrown out.

“The president uses the account for his speech, not as a forum for the private speech of others,” the lawyers wrote. “And his decision to block certain users allows him to choose the information he consumes and the individuals with whom he interacts — expressive choices that public officials retain the right to make, even when those choices are made on the basis of viewpoint.”

Not a state action

They say the president’s decision to stop some individuals from following him on his 8-year-old @realdonaldtrump account, which has more than 40 million followers, is not state action. Public officials, they add, sometimes announce a new policy initiative or make statements about public policy on the campaign trail or in meetings with leaders of a political party.

“The fact that an official chooses to make such an announcement in an unofficial setting does not retroactively convert into state action the decision about which members of the public to allow into the event,” the lawyers said.

The lawyers said his Twitter account “is not a right conferred by the presidency,” but rather is a private platform run by a private company.

In a warning that ruling against Trump might threaten the constitutional separation of powers, the lawyers wrote that “courts are prohibited from enjoining the discretionary conduct of the president.”

Institute responds

The lawsuit was filed in July by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and seven people rejected by Trump after criticizing the president.

Jameel Jaffer, the institute’s director, said Trump’s lawyers were wrong in their legal analysis and to accept their statement that the courts had no say over the issue could have “far-reaching and intolerable” implications.

“The president isn’t above the law,” Jaffer said in a statement.

Katie Fallow, a senior staff attorney with the institute, said the argument by government lawyers that Trump’s Twitter feed is a personal account “is not defensible given that the president routinely uses it for official purposes and both the president and his aides have publicly described the account as official.”

Reality of NAFTA Talks Sets in After Tough US Demands

Negotiators from Canada and Mexico grappled Saturday with U.S. demands to drastically alter the North American Free Trade Agreement, as talks over renewal of the pact vilified by President Donald Trump ran through a fourth straight day.

Some downcast participants said the demands, unveiled this week in line with Trump’s “America First” agenda, have increased the odds of NAFTA’s demise. At the very least, they could make it impossible to reach a deal renewing the treaty before a year-end deadline.

“The atmosphere is complicated,” one trade official told reporters, adding that his fears about some “pretty harsh, pretty horrible” demands from the U.S. side of the negotiating table were coming true.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks were confidential, the official added the U.S. stance “has a clear protectionist bias, a bias that is trying to eradicate, minimize, eliminate the mechanisms that existed in NAFTA in the last 20 years.”

Trump, who blamed NAFTA for shifting U.S. manufacturing jobs to Mexico during his election campaign last year, has repeatedly vowed to scrap the treaty unless it can be renegotiated on more favorable terms.

Turning back the clock

At the midpoint of seven scheduled negotiating rounds, many of the U.S. proposals appear aimed at turning back the clock on changes in the global economy since NAFTA took effect 23 years ago. Collapse of the deal could reverberate well beyond North America, where trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico has more than quadrupled since 1994.

Former Mexican Trade Minister Jaime Serra, who was responsible for negotiating the original trade pact, said there was no economic logic to the U.S. demands.

“Issues are being put on the table that are practically absurd,” he told Reuters. “I don’t know if these are poison pills, or whether it’s a negotiating position, or whether they really believe they’re putting forward sensible things.”

Some officials from NAFTA governments said they knew all along the negotiations would be tough, but vowed to soldier on through the three remaining scheduled rounds of talks.

“We said from the beginning that this was never going to be easy,” Canadian Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told CBC radio. “We want to be at the table, be constructive, offering alternative proposals.”

One of the U.S. proposals unveiled this week would require that 50 percent of the value of all NAFTA-produced cars, trucks and large engines come from the United States, people briefed on the negotiations said.

The same proposal calls for a sharp increase in NAFTA’s regional automotive content requirement, boosting it to 85 percent from the current 62.5 percent. The existing level is already the highest local content requirement of any trading bloc in the world.

Sunset clause

Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s call for a so-called NAFTA sunset clause would effectively trigger a renegotiation of the pact every five years.

Serra said the U.S. content requirements would distort NAFTA trade with “pure protectionism” while the sunset clause would choke off investment decisions with uncertainty.

U.S. negotiators also want to end a trade dispute settlement system that has deterred U.S. anti-dumping cases while erecting new protective barriers for seasonal fruit and vegetable growers. And though Canada and Mexico had sought more access to U.S. government procurement contracts, they were met this week with a proposal that would effectively grant them less.

Even before the current round of negotiations got underway in a suburban Washington hotel, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said NAFTA was “lopsided” in favor of Mexico and Canada and needed major changes to rebalance it.

“The president has vowed to bring jobs and investment back to the United States,” Lighthizer said. “We will do no less.”

One of Lighthizer’s predecessors, Robert Zoellick, said he thought there was a 50-50 chance Trump would quit NAFTA.

“He’s trying to go back to make trade agreements fix the bilateral trade deficit. I don’t believe he can be successful in doing that,” Zoellick, now non-executive chairman of AllianceBernstein, told a banking conference in Washington on Saturday.

Порошенко доручив виплатити премії військовим у зоні АТО

Президент України Петро Порошенко доручив Міноборони на додаток до стандартного забезпечення виплатити премії до Дня захисника України військовим, які виконують завдання на сході України.

«Я віддав наказ міністру оборони Степану Полтораку до Дня захисника на додаток до стандартного забезпечення виплатити святкові премії військовослужбовцям, які зараз виконують завдання на сході України. Прошу, щоб уже в жовтні мій наказ було виконано», – сказав під час поїздки на Житомирщину Петро Порошенко.

Він уточнив, що розмір виплат залежатиме від лінії фронту, на якій служить військовослужбовець.

«Це має бути на першій лінії – не менше трьох тисяч гривень, а на другій та третій лініях – не менше тисячі», – додав Порошенко.

У серпні президент заявляв про рішення збільшити доплати військовослужбовцям у зоні АТО також в залежності від місця несення служби.

Збройний конфлікт на сході України почався навесні 2014 року після російської анексії Криму. Україна і Захід звинувачують Росію у збройній підтримці сепаратистів. Кремль відкидає ці звинувачення і заявляє, що на Донбасі можуть перебувати хіба що російські «добровольці». За останніми даними ООН, внаслідок конфлікту загинули понад 10 тисяч людей.

Суд заарештував підозрюваних у нападі на першого заступника голови Одеської облради – прокуратура

Суд в Одесі заарештував підозрюваних у замаху на першого заступника голови Одеської облради Олега Радковського. Про це йдеться в повідомленні Прокуратури Одеської області на сторінці у Facebook.

«За клопотанням прокуратури області 14 жовтня Київським районним судом міста Одеси заарештовано двох підозрюваних у замаху на вбивство заступника голови Одеської обласної ради Олега Радковського», – йдеться в повідомленні.

За даними прокуратури, силовики провели у справі понад 30 санкціонованих обшуків і вилучили зброю, яка за висновками фахівців, є знаряддям вчинення злочину.

13 жовтня у поліції повідомили про затримання 23-річного мешканця Одеси та 27-річного жителя Херсонщини, яких підозрюють у замаху на першого заступника голови Одеської обласної ради, колишнього народного депутата від БЮТ, бізнесмена Олега Радковського. У нього стріляли з автомобіля в центрі Одеси 4 жовтня. Радковський якраз виходив з ресторану. В результаті чоловік зазнав вогнепальних поранень у спину і руку та був госпіталізований.

За даними поліції, розпочато кримінальне провадження за статтею про замах на умисне вбивство.

Штаб: бойовики стріляли 12 разів, втрат серед українських військових немає

Штаб української воєнної операції на Донбасі заявляє, що підтримувані Росією бойовики від початку доби і до 18-ї години суботи 12 разів відкривали вогонь у напрямку українських військ. Як йдеться в повідомленні штабу на сторінці у Facebook, унаслідок бойових дій втрат серед українських військових немає. 

«День захисника України та Покрови Пресвятої Богородиці не пройшов спокійно у районі проведення АТО», – заявили у штабі і додали, що бойовики упродовж дня активізувалися на приморському напрямку.

Згідно з повідомленням, обстріли сьогодні тривали біля Талаківки, Гнутова, Павлополя, Новоолександрівки, Попасної, Авдіївки. 

«Сили АТО 10 разів, вогнем у відповідь примушували ворога дотримуватися режиму тиші», – додали у штабі.

Раніше сьогодні у прес-центрі штабу АТО повідомили про 21 випадок порушення режиму перемир’я за минулу добу з боку підтримуваних Росією бойовиків.

В угрупованні «ДНР» звинуватили українських військових у 29 обстрілах за минулу добу, луганські сепаратисти заявили, що українська сторона напередодні 9 разів стріляла в бік підконтрольних угрупованню «ЛНР» територій».

Черговий режим припинення вогню, про який заявила 23 серпня Тристороння контактна група, мав почати діяти з 25 серпня, напередодні початку шкільного року, і стати постійним. Про перші його порушення сторони заявили вже через кілька хвилин після настання часу перемир’я.

У Києві відбувається хода на честь Української повстанської армії (трансляція)

У Києві відбувається анонсована націоналістичними організаціями хода на честь 75-річчя Української повстанської армії.

Активісти збираються у парку Шевченка, де хочуть провести віче, після чого мають намір пройти маршем центром Києва через майдан Незалежності до Подолу, де на Контрактовій площі планується святковий концерт.

«Правий сектор», ВО «Свобода» та «Національний корпус» та інших організацій раніше оголосили, що на «Марші слави» очікується участь близько 20 тисяч активістів.

Радіо Свобода веде пряму трансляцію з місця події.

Як повідомляє агентство УНН, правопорядок на вулицях української столиці під час урочистостей та громадських акцій забезпечують близько 5 тисяч силовиків.

14 жовтня в Україні святкують одразу три свята: День захисника України, Покрови Пресвятої Богородиці та і 75-ту річницю створення УПА. 14 жовтня увійшло до українського календаря як День захисника України із 2014-го року. Водночас указ, що встановлював Днем захисника Вітчизни 23 лютого, визнали таким, що втратив чинність.

В аеропорту «Бориспіль» затримали азербайджанського опозиційного журналіста

Азербайджанського журналіста Фікрета Гусейнова (Гусейнлі), який тепер вимушено мешкає у Нідерландах, затримали в аеропорту «Бориспіль» вранці 14 жовтня, повідомила у коментарі Радіо Свобода виконавча директорка Інституту масової інформації та представниця від України в міжнародній організації «Репортери без кордонів» Оксана Романюк.

«Він приїхав в Україну у якійсь приватній справі, для зустрічі з друзями. Але виявилось, що влада Азербайджану подала його у розшук. І згідно з процедурою, його затримали в аеропорту. Я знаю, що одне із того, що йому інкримінують – це незаконний перетин кордону Азербайджану 2008-го року. Якщо я не помиляюсь, це тоді, коли він виїжджав із Азербайджану. Станом на зараз він перебуває у СІЗО, і наскільки мені відомо, готується депортація», – розповіла вона.

У Державній прикордонної службі підтвердили Радіо Свобода інформацію про затримання Гусейнова, бо той перебував у розшуку «Інтерполу». За словами речника Держприкордонслужби Олега Слободяна, його передали до Нацполіції. 

У поліції Київщини, у свою чергу, зазначили, що зараз чоловіка мають доправити до ізолятора тимчасового утримання (не до СІЗО), а у понеділок, ймовірно, має відбутись судове засідання справі про його можливу екстрадицію.  

Фікрет Гусейов покинув Азербайджан 10 років тому, після того, як його викрали і жорстоко побили. Викрадачів не знайдено.

Як повідомляють колеги журналіста, Фікрат Гусейнов вже отримав  громадянство Нідерландів і співпрацює із опозиційним телеканалом «Туран», що транслюється з-за кордону.

За «Світовим індексом свободи преси» 2017 року організації захисту прав журналістів «Репортери без кордонів», Азербайджан обійняв 162-е місце зі 180 досліджених країн чи територій.

 

Kerry on Trump Nuclear Deal: ‘Reckless Abandonment of Facts’

John Kerry, the former U.S. Secretary of State, had harsh criticism for President Donald Trump’s decision not to certify that Iran is in compliance with the nuclear deal signed by six world powers in 2015.  

Kerry said the decision is a “reckless abandonment of facts in favor of ego and ideology.” Kerry, who negotiated the deal, added that Trump “weakens our hand, alienates us from our allies, empowers Iranian hardliners, makes it harder to resolve North Korea and risks moving us closer to military conflict.”

Iran’s president said Friday the nuclear deal it signed with six world powers in 2015 could not be revoked.   

In a nationally televised speech following Trump’s remarks, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged all signatories to the agreement to honor their commitments. He called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) “an outstanding achievement” in international diplomacy and said Iran would continue to comply with it.

 

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not be the first to withdraw from the deal. But if its rights and interests in the deal are not respected, it will stop implementing all its commitments and will resume its peaceful nuclear program without any restrictions” Rouhani said.

 

The Iranian leader also hit back at Trump’s characterization of Iran as a “dictatorship” and “rogue regime,” calling the American president a “liar” and a “dictator.”

 

“Today the U.S. is more isolated than ever against the nuclear deal, isolated than any other time in its plots against [the] people of Iran,” Rouhani said.

He rejected Trump’s remarks listing Tehran’s support for international terrorism, calling the examples “baseless accusations” and adding that the “Iranian nation does not expect anything else from you.”

Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the U.S. House, said the president’s decision was “a grave mistake” that threatens U.S. security and credibility.  

She said Trump ignored “the overwhelming consensus of nuclear scientists, national security experts, generals and his own Cabinet, including, reportedly, his secretary of defense and secretary of state.”

EU reaction

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the Iran agreement “has shown for the first time that it is possible to prevent war by negotiations and, above all, to prevent a country from arming itself with nuclear weapons.” Gabriel added, ” We need such examples, for example, to convince countries like North Korea , but perhaps also others, that it is possible to create security without obtaining nuclear weapons.”  

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said, “It is not in the hands of any president of any country in the world to terminate an agreement of this sort.  She said, ” The president of the United States has many powers (but) not this one.”

 

She noted the multilateral agreement was unanimously endorsed by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231.

 

The EU foreign policy chief noted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has verified eight times that Iran is meeting all its nuclear-related commitments in line with the “comprehensive and strict” monitoring system.

 

IAEA Director Yukiya Amano released a statement, saying Iran is already subject to the world’s most robust nuclear verification regime and is implementing the deal’s requirements.

In a joint statement British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said they are concerned by the possible implications of Trump’s decision not to recertify the Iran nuclear deal.

 

“Preserving the JCPOA is in our shared national security interest. The nuclear deal was the culmination of 13 years of diplomacy and was a major step toward ensuring that Iran’s nuclear program was not diverted for military purposes,” the European leaders said in the statement.

Sees opportunity

Asked if he was confident he could get the Europeans to renegotiate the Iran deal, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday he thinks there is a real opportunity to address all the threats that are posed by Iran.

“I fully expect that our allies and friends in Europe and in the region are going to be very supportive in efforts undertaken to deal with Iran’s threats,” Tillerson told reporters.

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow is committed to supporting the Iran nuclear deal.

Ahead of Trump’s remarks, the Kremlin warned that if the United States abandons the Iran nuclear deal, Tehran would be likely to quit it as well. Russia is a signatory to the JCPOA, along with the United States, Iran, Britain, Germany and France.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying also voiced support for the Iran nuclear deal Friday.

“China’s position on the Iranian nuclear issue has been consistent. The JCPOA has played a key role in upholding international nuclear non-proliferation regime and the peace and stability of the Middle East region,” she said. “We hope that all relevant parties will continue to uphold and implement the JCPOA.”

Praise for Trump’s tough stance on Iran came from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who released a video statement.

 

“I congratulate President Trump for his courageous decision today. He boldly confronted Iran’s terrorist regime,” Netanyahu said.  The Israeli leader has long been one of the deal’s fiercest opponents.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain also expressed their strong support for Trump’s shift in policy toward Iran.

The Saudi Press Agency said Riyadh praised Trump’s “vision” and commitment to work with U.S. allies in the region in order to face common challenges, particularly “Iran’s aggressive policies and actions.”

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said he backs Trump’s decision, describing the Obama administration deal as “fatally flawed.”

Nobel winner

 

But the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, strongly criticized Trump’s decision.

 

The group’s executive director, Beatrice Fihn, said Trump’s “attempt to disrupt” the Iran deal, despite Tehran’s compliance, is a reminder of the “immense nuclear danger now facing the world” and the  “urgent need” to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.

 

“In a time with great global tension, with increasing threats of nuclear war, the U.S. president is igniting new conflict rather than working to reduce the risk of nuclear war,” Fihn said.

 

 

У Києві відкрили виставку до 75-річчя створення УПА

У Києві 14 жовтня відкрили вуличну виставку «УПА: відповідь нескореного народу. Антирадянський фронт», яка присвячена 75-річчю створення Української повстанської армії.

Як зазначив на відкритті виставки директор Українського інституту національної пам’яті Володимир В’ятрович, УПА була єдиною армією, яка ставила за мету захист українців та оборону України, і її вояки виконували цю місію, попри чисельну перевагу супротивників.

«Високий дух і патріотизм, вмотивованість вояків УПА, з одного боку, та підтримка їх з боку українців – з другого, змусила обох окупантів (і нацистів, і комуністів) відмовитись від частини своїх планів щодо «використання» місцевого населення та вдатись до лукавої пропаганди, представляючи себе захисниками України», – заявив В’ятрович.

Нинішня виставка розміщена біля Національного музею історії України. Вона складається з двох частин: перша – копії фотографій по тему боротьби УПА з нацизмом, друга – присвячена боротьбі вояків УПА проти комунізму та Радянської влади. В основі експозиції – фотодокументи з архівів, які містяться, серед іншого, в архіві СБУ.

Також у рамках відзначення 75-річчя від створення УПА у Національному музеї історії України представили конверти з ювілейними марками.

Українська повстанська армія (УПА) діяла на території України у 1942-1953 роках, своїм завданням її вояки ставили звільнення України від нацистських та радянських окупантів і створення незалежної української держави.

Obamas Choose Artists to Paint Official Portraits

The United States’ National Portrait Gallery has announced that two up-and-coming African-American artists, Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, have been selected to paint the official portraits of former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.

The Smithsonian Institution, parent organization of the National Portrait Gallery, said Friday that President Obama had specifically requested to be painted by Wiley, 40, whose portraits of young black men have made a sharp impact on the art world.

Wiley places his young models in poses reminiscent of famous court painters of previous centuries, such as Diego Velazquez, Peter Paul Rubens, and Hans Holbein. He paints many of his subjects larger than life, using gauzy realism and vivid colors to arrest the viewer’s attention.

Wiley, born in Los Angeles, California, has been considered a successful artist for more than a decade.

His images replace the white subjects of his forbears with handsome young African-American men and women in front of decorative backdrops that resemble wallpaper. Some of the backdrops contain designs that overlap the figure in the portrait, raising questions about whether the subject has power over his environment or is trapped by it.

​Some of Wiley’s subjects are famous, such as rapper-turned-actor LL Cool J, whose portrait shows him seated, larger than life, coolly aloof as he gazes down on his audience in front of a vibrant red and green damask pattern.

In recent years Wiley has conducted what he calls his World Stage project, painting subjects from a variety of far-flung places, such as China, Jamaica, Haiti, Sri Lanka and Brazil. His paintings place people of color in settings where they radiate power, beauty and grace equal to the light-skinned subjects who for centuries were the focus of similar portraits.

First lady’​s portrait

Michelle Obama chose Sherald, winner of the National Portrait Gallery’s annual portraiture competition in 2016, to paint her portrait as first lady.

Sherald is a 44-year-old African-American woman from Baltimore, Maryland, scene of protests in 2015 over the death while in police custody of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American man.

With racial tensions still running high in her hometown, Sherald’s portraits, like Wiley’s, focus on her African-American subjects in a way that emphasizes grace, dignity and each person’s unique features.

Sherald’s work is full of poised energy. Some of her images look almost flat, like cutouts, but the faces and bodies of her subjects look as though they were asked to stop and pose in the middle of a movement, a thought or a breath.

The painting for which Sherald won the National Portrait Gallery is called “Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance)” and features a young black woman dressed in a navy blue dress, white gloves and a striking red hat, holding an oversized white teacup and saucer. The subject looks graceful and relaxed while her eyes bore into the viewer in an unspoken challenge.

The work of both artists examines and challenges ideas about black identity, a prominent concept in the legacy of the nation’s first African-American presidential couple.

National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery and the White House work together at the conclusion of each presidency to commission two official sets of portraits, with one set for display at the White House and one at the National Portrait Gallery. Both collections are in Washington, D.C.

In a statement Friday, Director Kim Sajet said the National Portrait Gallery “is absolutely delighted that Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald have agreed to create the official portraits of our former president and first lady.”

Sajet noted that both artists have been very successful, but more importantly, she said, “they make art that reflects the power and potential of portraiture in the 21st century.”

The portraits are expected to be unveiled in early 2018.

Winemaker Vows to Rebuild After Losing Battle With Wildfire

Throughout Northern California, where wildfires have raged for almost a week, killing at least 36 people and destroying about 6,000 buildings, residents are taking stock of what they have and what they have lost.

Many are feeling lucky to have survived with their lives. The fire’s path of destruction lacked rhyme or reason, destroying an entire winery in one case but leaving patio furniture outside the tasting room untouched.

Pierre Birebent, who has been a winemaker at the Signorello Estate for the past 20 years, said he feels lucky.

WATCH: Winemakers Vow to Rebuild Destroyed Winery

When the fire came to his winery on the Silverado Trail, the main artery of Napa’s Wine Country, Birebent grabbed a hose and tried to fight the flames himself. One of the winery’s owners, who was in the residence above the winery, had fled after alerting the staff to the fire.

Birebent lost the battle to save the winery, the tasting room, an office and the residence. 

“It was like fighting a giant,” he said.

​Damage unknown

It’s too early to know the extent of the damage to Northern California’s wine industry. Fires still burn around the hillsides, and pickers hurry to get the grapes off the vine before they are damaged by smoke, a condition known as “smoke taint.”

At Signorello, employees reported for work Friday, their first chance to see the damage.

Ray Signorello, the winery proprietor, went into Napa to rent temporary office space. He planned to keep the business going and rebuild.

“We can continue somewhat business as usual,” Signorello said.

“Our house is gone,” said Jo Dayoan, allocation director at the winery. “Our soul is not. We are family.”

Much to be thankful for

For Birebent, there are many things to be thankful for, among them, the 30-year-old vineyards, which didn’t burn.

“This is very important because it takes five years to plant the vineyard to get the first crop,” Birebent said.

Also spared by the fire was a warehouse where Signorello stored its 2016 vintage, as well as the last of the 2017 cabernet sauvignon grapes, which had been harvested just days before the fire and sat fermenting in 14 tanks at the edge of the parking lot.

But whether the wine inside the tanks is drinkable remains to be seen. Workers cleared leaves and ash from the outside of the tanks.

The wine from each of the tanks will be tasted and tested at a laboratory. The tanks hold 80 percent of the winery’s 2017 reds, which Birebent said was worth millions.

“It was so hot, we don’t know if the wine is still good or no,” he said.

As they take stock of the damage, the winemaker and the staff here are thinking about rebuilding, even as others continue to face wildfire dangers. The winery workers say they are lucky even as they stand in its ruins.

Будапешт відверто заграється – МЗС України про акцію «Самовизначення для Закарпаття»

У МЗС України висловлюють протест через проведену у Будапешті під посольством України акцію «Самовизначення для Закарпаття».

«Здається, що Будапешт, попри наш для багатьох оглядачів занадто вже конструктивний дипломатичний підхід – відверто заграється», – зазначив директор Департаменту політики і комунікацій МЗС України Олексій Макєєв у Facebook.

«Рішуче протестуватимемо та очікуємо, що влада Угорщини невідкладно відмежується від цих ганебних закликів», – додав він. 

Посол України в Угорщині Любов Непоп повідомила 13 жовтня, що у Будапешті під посольством України організували акцію «Самовизначення для Закарпаття».

«Акція під посольством України у Будапешті, протест проти якої висловило МЗС України, адже організатори з самого початку заявили, що вони виступають за: «самовизначення Закарпаття і свободу русинським, польським, болгарським, румунським, вірменським національним громадам, які проживають на території нинішньої України», висловлюють протест проти «варварства путчистів, які захопили у полон Україну і разом з нею угорських національних братів», – зазначила Непоп.

За її словами, у відповідь на протест України угорська сторона повідомила про право на мирне зібрання і висловлення протестів, під час яких учасники вільно висловлюють свої думки, та про право на донесення спільно сформульованої позиції.

«Переконана, що використання цих прав не виправдовує напису на спині учасника акції: «Закарпаття за законом належить Угорщині. Самовизначення для всіх пригнічених націй, примушених жити в Україні»… І для повноти картинки – офіційний прапор каталонської автономії», – зазначила Любов Непоп. 

12 жовтня Парламентська асамблея Ради Європи за підсумками термінових дебатів щодо ухвалення в Україні закону «Про освіту», ухвалила резолюцію з рекомендаціями для України.

У рішенні ПАРЄ засуджує те, що Верховна Рада України ухвалила закон про освіту, зокрема норму про мову освіти, без консультацій із представниками національних меншин. ПАРЄ просить владу України забезпечити виконання висновків Венеціанської комісії повною мірою. Під час дебатів члени різних делегацій критикували Київ за те, що закон направили на розгляд комісії вже після його ухвалення.

Український закон «Про освіту» набрав чинності 28 вересня. Норма закону щодо мови освіти, державної, викликала критику в деяких колах і в Україні (зокрема, її критикував голова Закарпатської ОДА Геннадій Москаль), і за кордоном. У МЗС Угорщини пообіцяли блокувати кроки на шляху євроінтеграції України через закон про освіту; в Києві такі заяви Будапешта назвали «істеричними». Крім того, з критикою закону виступали Румунія, Болгарія, Греція, Польща і Росія, а також президент Молдови.

Міністр освіти України Лілія Гриневич наголошувала, що закон не позбавить меншин права на освіту рідними мовами. Вона зазначала, що закон гарантує національним меншинам вивчення їхніх мов. Проте вона додала, що представники меншин в Україні повинні вільно володіти українською, щоб досягти успіху в Україні. Гриневич також заявила, що мовну статтю закону «Про освіту» буде уточнено в законі «Про загальну середню освіту».

Президент України Петро Порошенко, який підписав закон, при цьому закликав Міністерство закордонних справ і Міністерство освіти України провести необхідні консультації з європейськими партнерами, в тому числі з Радою Європи. Він також заявив, що мовна стаття закону «Про освіту» відповідає європейським практикам.

Раніше в МОН повідомили, що статтю 7 Закону «Про освіту», яка викликала стурбованість у кількох державах-сусідах України, уже надіслали на розгляд Венеціанської комісії.

Transcript of Trump Speech on Iran Nuclear Deal

THE WHITE HOUSE

 

Office of the Press Secretary

________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release                            October 13, 2017

 

 

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP

ON IRAN STRATEGY

 

Diplomatic Reception Room

 

 

 

12:53 P.M. EDT

 

 

     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  My fellow Americans:  As President of the United States, my highest obligation is to ensure the safety and security of the American people.  

 

History has shown that the longer we ignore a threat, the more dangerous that threat becomes.  For this reason, upon taking office, I’ve ordered a complete strategic review of our policy toward the rogue regime in Iran.  That review is now complete.

 

Today, I am announcing our strategy, along with several major steps we are taking to confront the Iranian regime’s hostile actions and to ensure that Iran never, and I mean never, acquires a nuclear weapon.  

 

Our policy is based on a clear-eyed assessment of the Iranian dictatorship, its sponsorship of terrorism, and its continuing aggression in the Middle East and all around the world.

 

Iran is under the control of a fanatical regime that seized power in 1979 and forced a proud people to submit to its extremist rule.  This radical regime has raided the wealth of one of the world’s oldest and most vibrant nations, and spread death, destruction, and chaos all around the globe.

 

Beginning in 1979, agents of the Iranian regime illegally seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held more than 60 Americans hostage during the 444 days of the crisis.  The Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah twice bombed our embassy in Lebanon — once in 1983 and again in 1984.  Another Iranian-supported bombing killed 241 Americans — service members they were, in their barracks in Beirut in 1983.

 

In 1996, the regime directed another bombing of American military housing in Saudi Arabia, murdering 19 Americans in cold blood.

 

Iranian proxies provided training to operatives who were later involved in al Qaeda’s bombing of the American embassies in Kenya, Tanzania, and two years later, killing 224 people, and wounding more than 4,000 others.

 

The regime harbored high-level terrorists in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, including Osama bin Laden’s son.  In Iraq and Afghanistan, groups supported by Iran have killed hundreds of American military personnel.

 

The Iranian dictatorship’s aggression continues to this day.  The regime remains the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, and provides assistance to al Qaeda, the Taliban, Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terrorist networks.  It develops, deploys, and proliferates missiles that threaten American troops and our allies.  It harasses American ships and threatens freedom of navigation in the Arabian Gulf and in the Red Sea.  It imprisons Americans on false charges.  And it launches cyberattacks against our critical infrastructure, financial system, and military.

 

The United States is far from the only target of the Iranian dictatorship’s long campaign of bloodshed.  The regime violently suppresses its own citizens; it shot unarmed student protestors in the street during the Green Revolution.  

 

This regime has fueled sectarian violence in Iraq, and vicious civil wars in Yemen and Syria.  In Syria, the Iranian regime has supported the atrocities of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and condoned Assad’s use of chemical weapons against helpless civilians, including many, many children.

 

Given the regime’s murderous past and present, we should not take lightly its sinister vision for the future.  The regime’s two favorite chants are “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”

 

Realizing the gravity of the situation, the United States and the United Nations Security Council sought, over many years, to stop Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons with a wide array of strong economic sanctions.

 

But the previous administration lifted these sanctions, just before what would have been the total collapse of the Iranian regime, through the deeply controversial 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.  This deal is known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.

 

As I have said many times, the Iran Deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.  The same mindset that produced this deal is responsible for years of terrible trade deals that have sacrificed so many millions of jobs in our country to the benefit of other countries.  We need negotiators who will much more strongly represent America’s interest.

 

The nuclear deal threw Iran’s dictatorship a political and economic lifeline, providing urgently needed relief from the intense domestic pressure the sanctions had created.  It also gave the regime an immediate financial boost and over $100 billion dollars its government could use to fund terrorism.

 

The regime also received a massive cash settlement of $1.7 billion from the United States, a large portion of which was physically loaded onto an airplane and flown into Iran.  Just imagine the sight of those huge piles of money being hauled off by the Iranians waiting at the airport for the cash.  I wonder where all that money went.

 

Worst of all, the deal allows Iran to continue developing certain elements of its nuclear program.  And importantly, in just a few years, as key restrictions disappear, Iran can sprint towards a rapid nuclear weapons breakout.  In other words, we got weak inspections in exchange for no more than a purely short-term and temporary delay in Iran’s path to nuclear weapons.

 

What is the purpose of a deal that, at best, only delays Iran’s nuclear capability for a short period of time?  This, as President of the United States, is unacceptable.  In other countries, they think in terms of 100-year intervals, not just a few years at a time.  

 

The saddest part of the deal for the United States is that all of the money was paid up front, which is unheard of, rather than at the end of the deal when they have shown they’ve played by the rules.  But what’s done is done, and that’s why we are where we are.  

 

The Iranian regime has committed multiple violations of the agreement.  For example, on two separate occasions, they have exceeded the limit of 130 metric tons of heavy water.  Until recently, the Iranian regime has also failed to meet our expectations in its operation of advanced centrifuges.   

 

The Iranian regime has also intimidated international inspectors into not using the full inspection authorities that the agreement calls for.  

 

Iranian officials and military leaders have repeatedly claimed they will not allow inspectors onto military sites, even though the international community suspects some of those sites were part of Iran’s clandestine nuclear weapons program.

 

There are also many people who believe that Iran is dealing with North Korea.  I am going to instruct our intelligence agencies to do a thorough analysis and report back their findings beyond what they have already reviewed.

 

By its own terms, the Iran Deal was supposed to contribute to “regional and international peace and security.”  And yet, while the United States adheres to our commitment under the deal, the Iranian regime continues to fuel conflict, terror, and turmoil throughout the Middle East and beyond.  Importantly, Iran is not living up to the spirit of the deal.

 

So today, in recognition of the increasing menace posed by Iran, and after extensive consultations with our allies, I am announcing a new strategy to address the full range of Iran’s destructive actions.

 

First, we will work with our allies to counter the regime’s destabilizing activity and support for terrorist proxies in the region.

 

Second, we will place additional sanctions on the regime to block their financing of terror.

 

Third, we will address the regime’s proliferation of missiles and weapons that threaten its neighbors, global trade, and freedom of navigation.

 

And finally, we will deny the regime all paths to a nuclear weapon.

 

Today, I am also announcing several major steps my administration is taking in pursuit of this strategy.  

 

The execution of our strategy begins with the long-overdue step of imposing tough sanctions on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.  The Revolutionary Guard is the Iranian Supreme Leader’s corrupt personal terror force and militia.  It has hijacked large portions of Iran’s economy and seized massive religious endowments to fund war and terror abroad.  This includes arming the Syrian dictator, supplying proxies and partners with missiles and weapons to attack civilians in the region, and even plotting to bomb a popular restaurant right here in Washington, D.C.

 

I am authorizing the Treasury Department to further sanction the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for its support for terrorism and to apply sanctions to its officials, agents, and affiliates.  I urge our allies to join us in taking strong actions to curb Iran’s continued dangerous and destabilizing behavior, including thorough sanctions outside the Iran Deal that target the regime’s ballistic missile program, in support for terrorism, and all of its destructive activities, of which there are many.  

 

Finally, on the grave matter of Iran’s nuclear program: Since the signing of the nuclear agreement, the regime’s dangerous aggression has only escalated.  At the same time, it has received massive sanctions relief while continuing to develop its missiles program.  Iran has also entered into lucrative business contracts with other parties to the agreement.

 

When the agreement was finalized in 2015, Congress passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act to ensure that Congress’s voice would be heard on the deal.  Among other conditions, this law requires the President, or his designee, to certify that the suspension of sanctions under the deal is “appropriate and proportionate” to measure — and other measures taken by Iran to terminate its illicit nuclear program.  Based on the factual record I have put forward, I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification.

 

We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror, and the very real threat of Iran’s nuclear breakout.

 

That is why I am directing my administration to work closely with Congress and our allies to address the deal’s many serious flaws so that the Iranian regime can never threaten the world with nuclear weapons.  These include the deal’s sunset clauses that, in just a few years, will eliminate key restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program.

 

The flaws in the deal also include insufficient enforcement and near total silence on Iran’s missile programs.  Congress has already begun the work to address these problems.  Key House and Senate leaders are drafting legislation that would amend the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act to strengthen enforcement, prevent Iran from developing an inter- — this is so totally important — an intercontinental ballistic missile, and make all restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activity permanent under U.S. law.  So important.  I support these initiatives.  

 

However, in the event we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated.  It is under continuous review, and our participation can be cancelled by me, as President, at any time.

 

As we have seen in North Korea, the longer we ignore a threat, the worse that threat becomes.  It is why we are determined that the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism will never obtain nuclear weapons.

 

In this effort, we stand in total solidarity with the Iranian regime’s longest-suffering victims: its own people.  The citizens of Iran have paid a heavy price for the violence and extremism of their leaders.  The Iranian people long to — and they just are longing, to reclaim their country’s proud history, its culture, its civilization, its cooperation with its neighbors.

 

We hope that these new measures directed at the Iranian dictatorship will compel the government to reevaluate its pursuit of terror at the expense of its people.

 

We hope that our actions today will help bring about a future of peace, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East –- a future where sovereign nations respect each other and their own citizens.

 

We pray for a future where young children — American and Iranian, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish — can grow up in a world free from violence, hatred, and terror.

 

And, until that blessed day comes, we will do what we must to keep America safe.

 

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.  Thank you.

Parents of Freed Afghanistan Hostage Angry at son-in-law

The parents of an American woman freed with her family after five years of captivity say they are elated, but also angry at their son-in law for taking their daughter to Afghanistan.

“Taking your pregnant wife to a very dangerous place, to me, and the kind of person I am, is unconscionable,” Caitlan Coleman’s father, Jim, told ABC News.

Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle were rescued Wednesday, five years after they had been abducted by a Taliban-linked extremist network while in Afghanistan as part of a multi-nation backpacking trip. She was pregnant at the time and had three children in captivity.

Two Pakistani security officials say the family left by plane from Islamabad on Friday. The officials did not say where the family was headed, but Boyle’s family has said the couple’s plan is to return to Canada. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with official protocol.

Caitlan Coleman is from Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, and Boyle is Canadian.

Coleman’s mother, Lynda, said the opportunity to finally speak to her daughter after she was freed was “incredible.”

“I’ve been waiting to hear that voice for so long. And then to hear her voice and have it sound exactly like the last time I talked to her,” she said.

Pakistan’s foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said the Pakistani raid that led to the family’s rescue was based on a tip from U.S. intelligence and shows that Pakistan will act against a “common enemy” when Washington shares information.

U.S. officials have long accused Pakistan of ignoring groups like the Haqqani network, which was holding the family.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump, who previously warned Pakistan to stop harboring militants, praised Pakistan for its willingness to “do more to provide security in the region.”

The operation appeared to have unfolded quickly and ended with what some described as a dangerous raid, a shootout and a captor’s final, terrifying threat to “kill the hostage.” Boyle told his parents that he, his wife and their children were intercepted by Pakistani forces while being transported in the back or trunk of their captors’ car and that some of his captors were killed. He suffered only a shrapnel wound, his family said.

U.S. officials did not confirm those details.

A U.S. military official said that a military hostage team had flown to Pakistan Wednesday prepared to fly the family out. The team did a preliminary health assessment and had a transport plane ready to go, but sometime after daybreak Thursday, as the family members were walking to the plane, Boyle said he did not want to board, the official said.

Boyle’s father said his son did not want to board the plane because it was headed to Bagram Air Base and that the family wanted to return directly to North America. Another U.S. official said Boyle was nervous about being in “custody” given his family ties.

He was once married to Zaynab Khadr, the older sister of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr and the daughter of a senior al-Qaida financier. Her father, the late Ahmed Said Khadr, and the family stayed with Osama bin Laden briefly when Omar Khadr was a boy.

The Canadian-born Omar Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops following a firefight and was taken to the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Officials had discounted any link between that background and Boyle’s capture, with one official describing it in 2014 as a “horrible coincidence.”

The U.S. Justice Department said neither Boyle nor Coleman is wanted for any federal crime.

The couple told U.S. officials and their families they wanted to fly commercially to Canada. The U.S. officials were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the release and spoke on condition of anonymity.

U.S. officials call the Haqqani group a terrorist organization and have targeted its leaders with drone strikes. But the group also operates like a criminal network. Unlike the Islamic State group, it does not typically execute Western hostages, preferring to ransom them for cash.

The Haqqani network had previously demanded the release of Anas Haqqani, a son of the founder of the group, in exchange for turning over the American-Canadian family. In one of the videos released by their captors, Boyle implored the Afghan government not to execute Taliban prisoners, or he and his wife would be killed.

U.S. officials have said that several other Americans are being held by militant groups in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

They include Kevin King, 60, a teacher at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul who was abducted in August 2016, and Paul Overby, an author in his 70s who had traveled to the region several times but disappeared in eastern Afghanistan in mid-2014.

US Has Ramped Up Some Sanctions, Dropped Others, Since Iran Nuclear Deal

U.S. President Donald Trump will strike a blow against the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement in defiance of international support for it on Friday, choosing not to certify that Tehran is complying with the deal in a major reversal of U.S. policy.

Trump’s decision to decertify the nuclear deal will not withdraw the United States from the agreement, which was negotiated by the United States and other world powers during the administration of former President Barack Obama.

Under the agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the United States suspended nuclear-related sanctions against Iran. Even so, it has moved forward with restrictions on an increasing number of people and companies.

Following are details of the changes in U.S. sanctions against Iran since the deal was implemented in January 2016:

Sanctions imposed since deal was reached

In at least five separate actions, the Trump administration has placed sanctions on more than 70 Iranian and non-Iranian people and companies that it says support Iran’s ballistic missile program or other activities, such as cyber attacks.

Typically, the designation means blocking any assets the people and companies might have in the United States. Those targeted cannot access the U.S. financial system or deal with U.S. companies and are subject to secondary sanctions, meaning the United States could blacklist foreign companies and individuals who deal with them.

In 2016, former President Barack Obama’s administration also announced at least two sets of sanctions involving Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Most targets of the sanctions are Iranian, but they also include companies and entities based in China, Lebanon, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates, as well as individuals from Britain and China.

Sanctions suspended under nuclear deal

The most significant nuclear-related U.S. sanctions suspended under the deal were those that had prevented non-U.S. entities from buying oil from Iran in most circumstances, or investing in its petroleum sector.

Washington also lifted regulations that threatened sanctions against U.S. activities of foreign companies, entities and individuals who engaged in a range of transactions with Iran.

Most sanctions involving Americans and U.S. companies remained in place.

As part of the deal, the U.S. government allowed companies to seek licenses to sell commercial aircraft and spare parts to Iran, which ordered 100 airliners from Airbus SE and 80 from Boeing Co.

The deal ended all United Nations sanctions resolutions on Iran passed between 2006 and 2010. The European Union lifted its nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions, including those applying to banking, insurance, and oil and gas products and related technology.

 

Україна не отримала відповіді від Сербії щодо участі її громадян у конфлікті на Донбасі – посол

Посол України в Сербії Олександр Александрович заявляє, що українська сторона інформувала Белград про участь сербських громадян у конфлікті на сході України на боці підтримуваних Росією бойовиків, але реакції сербської сторони на це не отримала.

«Ми посилали інформацію урядові Сербії, але, на жаль, не отримали відповіді», – сказав посол.

Президент Сербії Александар Вучич заявив, що не розуміє зауважень українського посла.

Вучич заявив, що Україна є дружньою для Сербії країною, і додав, що сербські суди ухвалили вердикти щодо осіб, які воювали за кордоном. «Не знаю, що ще ми маємо зробити. Жодна людина не має дозволу державних органів Сербії брати участь у воєнних діях за кордоном, на Донбасі, у Криму чи в будь-якій частині конфлікту між Росією і Україною», – сказав Вучич.

Служба безпеки України 11 жовтня заявила, що лише на території, підконтрольній угрупованню «ЛНР», від початку конфлікту на Донбасі воювали більш як 300 громадян Сербії.

«Ми уже надсилали до цієї країни дані щодо бойовиків, які воювали проти українського війська на Донбасі», – заявив голова Служби безпеки України Василь Грицак.

За словами голови СБУ, більшість із цього сербського підрозділу дислокувалася в районі Алчевська. «Ми маємо конкретні адреси і дуже багато прізвищ», – сказав Грицак.

Він нагадав, що в 2014 році в Сербії ухвалили закон, згідно з яким громадяни цієї країни мають притягуватися до відповідальності за участь у збройному конфлікті на Донбасі, «як тільки до них дотягнуться руки правосуддя Сербії».

НБУ заборонив банкам вести операції з російськими купюрами із анексованим Кримом

Національний банк України заборонив фінансовим установам країни здійснювати касові, зокрема валютно-обмінні, операції з банкнотами і монетами Центрального банку Росії із зображенням об’єктів, розташованих на окупованій Росією території України або текстів, що стосуються окупації, повідомляє прес-служба НБУ.

Згідно з постановою НБУ від 13 жовтня, заборона поширюється також на операції, які здійснюються при купівлі/продажу готівкової іноземної валюти між банками.

Також фінансовим установам і «Укрпошті» забороняється під час здійснення переказів приймати чи видавати такі купюри.

12 жовтня Центральний банк Росії представив нову банкноту номіналом 200 рублів, присвячену анексованому Криму. На банкноті розміщені символи Севастополя: на лицьовій стороні – зображення пам’ятника затопленим кораблям, на зворотному – Херсонес Таврійський.

Верховна Рада України офіційно оголосила 20 лютого 2014 року початком тимчасової окупації Криму і Севастополя Росією. 7 жовтня 2015 року президент України Петро Порошенко підписав закон про це. Міжнародні організації визнали окупацію і анексію Криму незаконними і засудили дії Росії. Країни Заходу запровадили низку економічних санкцій. Росія заперечує окупацію півострова і називає це «відновленням історичної справедливості».

 

Global Economy: Growth Gathering Momentum, but Where’s the Inflation?

The euro zone economy may be building up an impressive head of steam that shows no signs of cooling, but what policymakers at the European Central Bank really want – higher inflation – is still largely absent.

Industrial output in the bloc rose faster than anyone polled by Reuters expected in August, according to data on Thursday which followed a slew of forecast-beating releases and after the International Monetary Fund upgraded its outlook for global growth.

“Although the industrial sector only accounts for a quarter of GDP it has been the euro zone’s most cyclical sector historically, and so is an important indicator of the economy’s wider health,” said Christian Jaccarini at CEBR.

“With the economy gathering momentum, the European Central Bank should feel confident about starting to taper its asset purchase program at the beginning of next year.”

The economy is performing stronger than at any time since the global financial crisis so speculation the ECB will soon begin scaling back its massive stimulus program has been rife.

Policymakers at the Bank will announce on Oct. 26 a six-month extension to its asset purchase program but will cut how much it buys each month to 40 billion euros from January, a September Reuters poll predicted.  

Five people with direct knowledge of discussions told Reuters the ECB is homing in on extending its stimulus for nine months at the next meeting while scaling it back.

Yet the ECB’s key focus is inflation and numbers due on Tuesday will probably confirm prices only rose 1.5 percent in September on a year ago, still a lot weaker than the just below 2 percent rate-setters would like.

According to Reuters polls taken throughout 2017, which have been correct about how low it would remain this year, inflation won’t hit that ECB target for years.

“There is likely to be only a limited pick-up in inflationary pressures, meaning that interest rate hikes can be kept on hold until 2019 – later than markets seem to expect,” economists at Capital Economics wrote.

British dilemma

Across the Atlantic, U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers have already begun tightening but had a prolonged debate about the prospects of a pickup in inflation and slowing the path of future interest rate rises if it did not, according to minutes of the central bank’s last policy meeting.

“Many participants expressed concern that the low inflation readings this year might reflect… the influence of developments that could prove more persistent, and it was noted that some patience in removing policy accommodation while assessing trends in inflation was warranted,” the Fed said in the minutes.

Britain, however, has the opposite problem.

Since the vote in June 2016 to leave the European Union, the pound has lost around 13 percent of its value against the dollar, driving up the costs of imports and caused inflation to run well above the 2 percent the Bank of England would like it at.

In the referendum’s aftermath the Bank cut 25 basis points from borrowing costs, taking them to a record low 0.25 percent, hoping to stave off a predicted economic meltdown after the leave vote.

That meltdown never happened and Britain’s economy was one of the best performers last year although growth has since slowed sharply.

Still, at its November meeting the BoE will raise interest rates for the first time in a decade, according to economists in a recent Reuters poll taken after a barrage of hawkish rhetoric from BoE policymakers. However, most of them also said raising rates now would be a policy mistake.  

“On the strength of the MPC’s rhetoric and current market expectations, we continue to look for a November hike. But this assumes no significant downside surprises in the inflation and wage data next week,” said Allan Monks at JPMorgan.

“If the MPC is minded to back out of tightening in November – in response to the data or the Brexit process – we would expect at least some hint of this in any commentary between now and the next meeting on Nov. 2.”

Britain’s economy shows little sign of breaking out of its lethargy and it is “extraordinary” the BoE is considering raising interest rates, the British Chambers of Commerce said on Friday.

“We’d caution against an earlier than required tightening in monetary policy, which could hit both business and consumer confidence and weaken overall UK growth,” said Suren Thiru, BCC head of economics.

Divorce talks have this week ended in deadlock over a British refusal to clarify how much it will pay on leaving, EU negotiator Michel Barnier said on Thursday.

But EU leaders could hand beleaguered British Prime Minister Theresa May an olive branch in Brexit negotiations next week by launching their own internal preparations for a transition to a new relationship with Britain, giving her some hope.

 

China’s Imports From North Korea Fall Nearly 38 Percent in September

China’s imports from North Korea fell 37.9 percent in September from a year earlier, marking the seventh consecutive month of decline, the customs office said Friday.

China-U.S. ties have been strained by President Donald Trump’s criticism of China’s trade practices and by demands that Beijing do more to pressure North Korea over Pyongyan’s nuclear and missile programmes.

China’s exports to North Korea in September dropped 6.7 percent from a year ago, a spokesman for the General Administration of Customs told a briefing, adding no seafood imports from North Korea were recorded last month.

China’s imports from North Korea fell 16.7 percent on-year to $1.48 billion in Jannuary-September, while exports to North Korea rose 20.9 percent to $2.55 billion in the same period.

That created a trade surplus with North Korea at $1.07 billion in the first nine months of this year.

California Wildfires Threaten Wine Country’s Lifeblood: Tourism

The wildfires burning through Northern California are sending visitors packing, threatening the $2 billion-plus spent annually by tourists on wine tours, fine food, limousine rides and much more, business leaders said.

At the Inn on First bed and breakfast in the famous wine town of Napa, co-owner Jamie Cherry was encouraging callers to postpone rather than cancel visits, as wildfires burned largely unchecked across the region.

“People are canceling as far as November already,” Cherry said. “It’s going to be devastating in terms of financial loss for everybody.”

The fast-moving fires have killed at least 26 people and left hundreds missing in an area less than an hour’s drive from San Francisco.

With hundreds of wineries, expensive restaurants and bucolic rolling scenery, the wine country of Sonoma and Napa counties is a major draw for visitors. Limousines and buses clog parking lots at weekends as visitors sip Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignons in towns known for their mix of rural and cosmopolitan vibes.

Now, with at least 13 burned wineries, shuttered tasting rooms and thick smoke in the air from nearly two dozen fires that have charred more than 190,000 acres across the state, it is unclear how quickly the region can lure back tourists.

‘We’d go back’

Napa Valley welcomed 3.5 million visitors last year, with overnight guests spending on average $402 per day, according to Visit Napa Valley, the region’s tourism marketing group.

“There is a good amount of infrastructure that has burned down, homes have burned down, wineries have burned. There are restaurants that are not going to open quickly,” said Clay Gregory of Visit Napa Valley.

On Thursday, tasting rooms remained closed and the famous Napa Valley Wine Train, which ferries tourists through the vineyards, said it planned to reopen Sunday.

Dozens of limousines and tour buses, their polish dulled by a film of ash, sat in a parking lot and warehouse on the outskirts of Napa. The company’s owner, Michael Graham, said the business had just hit peak demand of 100 reservations a day, but since the fires that had slumped to two.

Graham remains hopeful, however, citing tourism’s quick recovery after the 6.0 earthquake that hit Napa in 2014: “People were out wine-tasting the same day.”

Graham said the region was still largely intact, with vast swathes of countryside untouched by fire.

“It’s just smoky. As soon as they get this contained it will be back to business as usual,” he said.

Others agreed the effect of the fires on tourism would be short-lived.

Roseanne Rosen has fond memories of the trip with her husband to wine country that she just finished ahead of the fires. The couple from Kansas City has been coming for the last decade and has no plans to abandon that tradition.

“It’s one of our favorite destinations and I don’t see that changing,” Rosen said by telephone. “Once people are open and ready for business, we’d go back in an instant.”

How to Rebuild Puerto Rico: Rubio Asks Trump for Expert Panel

Senator Marco Rubio said on Thursday he has urged U.S. President Donald Trump to create a high-level task force to provide ideas and advice for helping Puerto Rico to rebuild after Hurricane Maria, and that the president was receptive to the idea.

Rubio, a Republican from Florida who has been deeply involved in discussions over the response, told Reuters in a telephone interview that the task force could be a sounding board for Trump “as we move beyond the initial recovery phase to the broader long-term recovery phase.”

While the idea was not yet a “concrete plan,” Rubio said he suggested that Trump consider drawing upon experts in business and finance who understand the politics of the U.S. territory and the mainland.

Trump ‘seemed to like the idea’

Rubio said he spoke with Trump on Sunday: “He seemed to like the idea, and said they would follow up and see what that would look like.”

Hurricane Maria, which slammed into Puerto Rico three weeks ago, killed at least 43 people and left much of the Caribbean island without electricity or safe drinking water.

The emergency response and subsequent rebuilding effort is

expected to run into the tens of billions of dollars.

Prior to the hurricane, Puerto Rico had already been struggling with a $72 billion debt to creditors, a flight of residents to the U.S. mainland and aging infrastructure, including a decrepit power grid that was incapacitated by the storm.

Economy ‘shut down’

In a 30-minute interview, Rubio, who visited Puerto Rico on Sept. 25 to survey hurricane damage, said the island’s economy was “shut down” and that Washington faced the difficult task of figuring out how to provide emergency supplies and to move into full-blown rebuilding mode.

“They’re basically three weeks now living in the 19th century. They’re not going to continue to do that,” Rubio said of Puerto Rican residents, who are likely to continue to flee to the mainland United States unless conditions improve.

 

Fear, Frustration for Those Near California Fire Evacuation Zone

As the sun rose on another day of battling wildfires in Northern California, smoke and haze filled the skies.

People are on the move in cars stuffed with belongings. They are either fleeing from a newly announced evacuation zone or returning to a neighborhood that may have been spared, trying to get back to their homes.

But they are also at the mercy of the wind.

​Waiting and hoping

For four days, Daniel Montez, a resident of Sonoma, California, has waited at a roadblock hoping to be allowed to go to the property where he works and where his two cows, three calves, 25 goats, a horse and pony, and two llamas live.

“I just worry about the animals being safe,” said Montez, who has evacuated from his own home in Sonoma.

Throughout the Sonoma countryside, small fires are ever-present and, in many areas, continue to grow, threatening new areas, homes, buildings and lives.

On Thursday, authorities reported that the death toll from the massive Northern California fire continued to rise.

‘Different when it’s your home’

People in Sonoma have learned the difference between an advisory to evacuate and a mandatory evacuation. After first rushing out of her home, Kristi Zurauskas returned and chose to stay.

After seeing other disasters around the country, such as the hurricanes in Texas and Florida, Zurauskas had told herself, “I would leave. I would leave in a second.”

Now? “There’s something different when it’s your home,” she said.

​A thank you

Dressed in a white bathrobe, Jesa Crawford was heading out of Sonoma for the fourth time, her car packed with her belongings.

At each police check, she was trying to hand out bottles of wine to firefighters and police to thank them for their hard work.

“If they don’t want to drink it here, if they want to bring it home to their families, it’s a huge, huge thank you for coming to save us,” she said. “If it wasn’t for them, everything would be gone.”