Category: Світ

2 US Senators to Defy Republican Leader on Mueller Protections

Two U.S. senators, defying opposition from top Republicans, vowed on Wednesday to push for action on a bipartisan measure that would protect a federal investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election. Republican Senator Jeff Flake and Democratic Senator Chris Coons said they would take to the Senate floor at around 4:15 p.m. EST, …

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Experts: Cancellation of US-N. Korea Meeting Suggests Snag in Talks

The abrupt cancellation of high-level talks between the United States and North Korea suggests denuclearization negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have hit a snag, experts said.  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was scheduled to meet with Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the North Korean Central Committee, in New York City last week. However, the meeting …

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Texas Restores Keller Lesson; Other Curriculum Changes Loom

Bowing to public criticism, the Texas Board of Education voted Tuesday to restore Helen Keller to the state’s history curriculum — but board members were still mulling scrapping lessons on Hillary Clinton while preserving hot-button instruction about how Moses influenced the nation’s Founding Fathers and how the states’ rights issue helped cause the Civil War.  …

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‘Megafire’ That Torched Town Now Common in California 

Paradise, California had long prepared for wildfires but only in its worst nightmares did it imagine the kind of “megafire” that last week destroyed most of the town and killed at least 42 people. Born of tinder dry conditions and erratic winds, the “Camp Fire” was the latest California megafire, a huge blaze that burns …

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US VP Pence Seeks ‘Update’ on Trade Talks with Japan

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday that he was looking forward to an “update” on talks about a bilateral trade agreement that President Donald Trump hopes will cut Tokyo’s trade surplus with Washington. Pence, who is in Tokyo at the start of a broader Asian visit, also said …

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Fewer Foreign Students Apply to US Universities

The U.S. still attracts record numbers of international students, but the sticker shock of college tuition and negative political rhetoric is slowing down the robust rate of application seen over the past decade. The U.S. remains the top destination in the world for more than 1 million visiting students — hosting more than double the …

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US Acting AG Will Consult With Ethics Officials on Possible Recusals

Acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker will consult with ethics officials about any matters that could require him to recuse himself, the Justice Department said on Monday, after critics called on him to step aside from overseeing a Special Counsel probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. “Acting AG Matt Whitaker is fully committed …

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Forecasters Warn Dry, Windy Conditions Could Fuel California Fires

As deadly wildfires burned at multiple sites in the western U.S. state of California, forecasters warned the dry, windy conditions fueling the fires will be in place through at least Tuesday. Thousands of fire personnel are trying to contain the Camp Fire burning north of the state capital, Sacramento, which began last week and has …

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Europe’s Calculations Shift on Trump Second Term

Calculations are shifting in European capitals on whether Donald Trump is likely to serve a second term as U.S. president. The consensus in Europe ahead of last week’s midterm elections was that he would most likely serve only one term in the White House, but the expanded Republican majority in the Senate is prompting a …

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US-bound Migrants Reach Central Mexican City of Irapuato 

Migrants from Central American countries are moving on toward the United States, sometimes with the help of drivers traveling north.  A caravan arrived Sunday in Irapuato, an agricultural city about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Queretaro, where the group had spent Saturday night.  Although Mexican law enforcement is not providing transportation for the caravan, police …

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US-Backed Syrian Fighters Resume Offensive Against IS

U.S.-backed Syrian fighters resumed their ground offensive Sunday against the Islamic State group in the last territories controlled by the extremists in eastern Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces said in a statement that the decision to resume the fighting came after threats from Turkey against the Kurdish-led force dropped due to diplomatic activities.   The …

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US Remembers its Veterans

The United States is observing Veterans Day on Sunday, the annual day it stops to remember the millions of men and women who have served in the country’s armed forces, often at the sacrifice of their own lives. President Donald Trump, in Paris, said on Twitter, “On this Veterans Day — the 100th Anniversary of …

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Democrats Vow to Protect Mueller’s Russia Investigation

Key U.S. Democratic lawmakers vowed Sunday they would try to protect the investigation of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign’s links to Russia from interference by his new acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, who often attacked the probe before Trump named him to oversee it. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he would attempt to attach …

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California Wildfires, Nov. 10, 2018

A blaze that started Thursday outside the hilly town of Paradise has grown and killed at least 11 people and destroyed more than 6,700 buildings, almost all of them homes, making it California’s most destructive wildfire since record-keeping began. But crews have made gains and the fire is partially contained, officials said Saturday. Wildfires are …

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US, EU Denounce Dissolution of Sri Lanka Parliament

Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to dissolve parliament, worsening an already major political crisis, has drawn criticism from Western powers, including the United States and the European Union. Sirisena dissolved parliament on Friday night, only five days before it was due to reconvene. A new cabinet he installed was in danger of losing a …

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2 Dead in Southern California’s Woolsey Fire, Bringing Death Toll to 11

California officials say they have found two people dead in Malibu as fire roared through the area, and two arrests have been made for looting in neighboring Ventura County. The announcement Saturday brings to 11 the number of people who have died in this current batch of wildfires: the Woolsey and smaller Hill Fire in …

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California Wildfire Toll: 9 Lives, Thousands of Homes, Buildings

Law enforcement authorities in Northern California said late Friday nine people have died in a wildfire, one of three in the state that have leveled more than 6,400 homes and forced widespread evacuations. The Butte County Sheriff’s office said the victims were mostly found dead in cars or outside their vehicles as they attempted to …

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US to Halt Refueling of Coalition Aircraft in Yemen War

The United States is halting refueling of aircraft from the Saudi-led coalition engaged in Yemen, Saudi Arabia said Saturday, a move that would end one of the most divisive aspects of U.S. assistance to the Saudi war effort.  Saudi Arabia, in a statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), said it had decided …

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Russian Billionaire Gets More Time to Cut Aluminum Company Holdings

The U.S. Treasury Department has again extended a deadline for Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska to reduce his holdings in the aluminum company Rusal before sanctions take effect.  The Treasury Department said Friday that licenses allowing Rusal to continue doing business would be extended from Dec. 12 to Jan. 7.  The department said in April that it would impose sanctions on Deripaska and several companies …

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California Governor-Elect: Gun Culture Has Become ‘Normalized’

“I don’t want prayers.I don’t want thoughts,” said a mother whose son died this week when a lone gunman opened fire in a bar in California. Susan Schmidt-Orfanos’ son Telemachus had already survived the onslaught of another lone gunman at a music festival in Las Vegas last year.This week, he went to the Borderline Bar …

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Trump to Attend WWI Centenary in Paris, as France Warns of Threats to Europe

U.S. President Donald Trump departs early Friday for his trip to France where he and dozens of other world leaders will mark the centenary of the Armistice, which brought an end to the fighting in World War I. His trip comes as relations between the United States and many of its allies remain tense. French …

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Trump to Attend WWI Centenary in Paris, as France Warns of Threats to Europe

U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to France this weekend along with dozens of other world leaders for ceremonies to mark the centenary of the armistice that brought an end to the fighting in World War I. As Henry Ridgwell reports, relations between America and U.S. allies are tense, and France has warned that the …

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Divided US Congress to Test Bipartisanship — Again

Despite numerous areas of potential conflict, a politically divided and ideologically polarized U.S. Congress may find limited areas of cooperation between the two chambers and President Donald Trump beginning in January, according to political observers. “Divided government is common in American politics — we have it more than we have a united government,” political analyst …

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Acting US Attorney General Has Echoed Trump’s Criticism of Russia Probe

Matthew Whitaker, appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump as the acting attorney general and now overseeing the investigation of Trump’s 2016 campaign links to Russia, has often echoed the president’s verbal attacks on the probe. The 49-year-old Whitaker joined the Justice Department last year as chief of staff to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions after often …

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Sudan Says Ready to Work With US to Get Off Terror Blacklist

Sudan on Thursday welcomed a U.S. announcement that Washington was willing to remove Khartoum from its blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism and said it was ready to cooperate. The U.S. State Department Wednesday said Washington was prepared to “initiate the process of rescinding Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism” if Khartoum undertakes …

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Trump: ‘No Rush’ to Drop Sanctions Against North Korea

President Donald Trump says he is in “no rush” to finalize a deal with North Korea and remove sanctions. “I would love to take the sanctions off, but they have to be responsive too. It’s a two-way street,” Trump said during a lengthy White House news conference Wednesday. He told reporters he has made more …

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