У МВС Німеччини заявили про розслідування кібератаки на урядові комп’ютерні мережі, відмовившись прокоментувати повідомлення у ЗМІ, що за цим можуть стояти російські хакери.
Представник прес-служби МВС 28 лютого заявив, що основні урядові відомства вжили заходів для розслідування злому та захисту даних.
«Атаку ізольовано, ситуація перебуває під контролем федеральної адміністрації», – сказав представник прес-служби.
Німецькі ЗМІ сьогодні раніше повідомили, що російська хакерська група, відома як Fancy Bears, проникла в комп’ютерні мережі іноземних і безпекових відомств країни і викрала дані.
Інформаційне агентство dpa з посилалося на неназвані джерела вказало, що злом хакерської групи APT28 (Fancy Bears) був виявлений у грудні, а втручання в мережуі, ймовірно, тривало близько року.
Американська розвідка звинувачує Fancy Bears у втручанні в американські вибори в 2016 році і співпраці з Кремлем. Москва підтримку хакерів неодноразово заперечувала.
Західні уряди і експерти в галузі безпеки раніше називали цю хакерську групу ймовірними винуватцями нападу на мережу парламенту Німеччини в 2015 році. ЇЇ також звинувачують в зломі комп’ютерних систем НАТО і урядів у Східній Європі.
your ad hereA company’s value is often tied to the message it portrays to customers. But what happens when other companies try to take advantage of your brand?
Take the Philadelphia Eagles, for instance. The American football team wants to exclusively own the phrase: “Philly Special.” That was the trick play that helped them win the Super Bowl, and the Philly Special is, by far, the most talked-about play of the Super Bowl.
Watch the play here:
It is a gutsy move. In football-speak, it is a direct-snap reverse pass to quarterback Nick Foles, who usually throws the ball. But the coach gives the OK, and Foles tells his teammates the plan in the huddle.
The team lines up, Foles runs up the field. Tight end Trey Burton throws the football, and Foles catches it in the end zone for a touchdown.
“Play of the century”
Now, the phrase, ‘Philly Special,’ has turned into a city-wide phenomena. Bakeries are making Philly Special pastries. Some people are getting the words or even a sketch of the play tattooed on themselves.
And stores, like Ashley Peel’s Philadelphia Independents, cannot keep enough Philly Special T-shirts in stock.
“It’s the ‘Nick Foles play of the century,’ as I’m dubbing it from the Super Bowl,” Peel said. “It has a layout of the [specifics] from the play. We just got it in and we’re almost already sold out of it. It’s definitely moving well.”
It’s moving well, even as several entrepreneurs are competing to be awarded a trademark — in other words, exclusive rights — to the phrase. Many of the businesses filed their own trademark applications ahead of the Eagles.
“I do have a client that’s applied for the mark, ‘Philly Special,’” said Philadelphia-based lawyer Nancy Rubner Frandsen.
She filed a trademark application on behalf of a company called Whalehead Associates. She can’t comment too much about the application without violating attorney-client privilege, but admits the phrase goes beyond a football play.
“Obviously it brings everyone together, it was our Super Bowl championship that brought it all about,” she said. “It’s got the term ‘Philly’ in it — from the trademark standpoint, it would be deemed to be descriptive. But then you combine it with the term, ‘Special,’ and it could make a very unique trademark.”
Some of the other businesses that want to trademark the term include a sandwich maker, a gift shop manufacturer … and the Philadelphia Eagles. The team was actually the last to file a trademark application. Even so, experts say, it’s likely the rights will be awarded to the Eagles.
Newsjacking
“This particular term, ideally, should belong to the Eagles,” said Dr. Jay Sinha, an associate marketing professor at Temple University in Philadelphia.
He added the phenomenon around ‘Philly Special’ is not the first time there’s been a rush to trademark a term after a big event, like the Super Bowl. And it’s even got a name: ‘newsjacking.’
“The term, newsjacking, means where a company rides or takes advantage of some event happening in current affairs and uses it for their own commercial purposes, especially for marketing in branding,” Sinha said.
For example, think of famous movie lines, like: ‘May the force be with you,’ from “Stars Wars.” When sequels are released, other companies often try to take advantage of the film’s popularity for marketing purposes, like an ice cream shop that posts a sign reading, ‘May the swirl be with you.’
“If there’s anything which is relevant in popular culture as well as the news, companies like to ride on it,” Sinah said.
In this case, it likely will be several months before the U.S. Patent Office announces who will be awarded the rights to the now famous phrase. By then, though, another Super Bowl will be approaching and the excitement of the Philly Special could be fading.
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Two major U.S. retailers changed their gun sales policies Wednesday in the fallout over a Florida high school massacre.
Walmart, the country’s biggest retailer, announced it is raising the age restriction for buying guns and ammunition to 21.
“We take seriously our obligation to be a responsible seller,” it said in a statement.
Walmart is also dropping toys and other items that resemble assault-style weapons from its website. The retail giant stopped selling assault-style guns in 2015 and does not sell handguns except for its stores in Alaska.
Earlier Wednesday, Dick’s Sporting Goods announced it would no longer sell assault-style rifles or any gun to anyone younger than 21.
The chain went one step further and urged Congress to ban assault-style weapons and raise the minimum age.
The alleged Parkland high school shooter, Nikolas Cruz, used an AR-15.
Dick’s says Cruz had bought a shotgun at one of its stores after going though all the proper procedures, but stressed it was not the exact weapon or the type allegedly used in the Feb. 14 massacre.
Both Walmart and Dick’s say they are committed to serving sportsmen, hunters, and the majority of gun owners whom they call law-abiding citizens.
WATCH: Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO: ‘We Don’t Want to be a Part of This Story’
The mass shooting of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School has had an impact on the corporate world, which is seemingly taking a close look at nationwide polls that overwhelmingly favor tighter gun laws.
More than a dozen major companies are ending discounts for members of the National Rifle Association (NRA). They include Delta Airlines, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, MetLife Insurance and Best Western Hotels.
President Donald Trump, who has been a huge supporter of the NRA and whose campaign was a recipient of millions of dollars in NRA funds, said earlier this week that sometimes you just have to fight the NRA.
At a discussion on gun safety with U.S. lawmakers Wednesday, he also accused Republican politicians who have given tepid support for stronger gun laws of being “afraid” of the powerful pro-gun lobby group.
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Двадцять чотири мільйони євро гуманітарної допомоги для тих, хто постраждав від війни на Донбасі, 28 лютого на своєму щотижневому засіданні вирішила виділити Єврокомісія, повідомляє кореспондент Радіо Свобода.
«Європейська комісія оголошує сьогодні про 24 мільйони євро, які спрямовані на гуманітарну допомогу для вирішення потреб людей, які постраждали від конфлікту на сході України», – повідомив вищий виконавчий орган співдружності.
«Чотири роки конфлікту спричинили величезне навантаження на цивільне населення на сході України. Не можна не бачити того, що на порозі Європейського союзу стоїть гуманітарна криза. Підтримка всіх тих, хто цього потребує і де б вони не перебували, є пріоритетом для ЄС. Наша нова програма допомоги надасть необхідну допомогу, зокрема, продовольство, охорону здоров’я та освіту для дітей», – заявив євромісар із гуманітарної допомоги та кризового менеджменту Христос Стиліанідес.
Єврокомісія зауважує, що це нове фінансування допоможе вирішити основні потреби найуразливіших груп населення, що мешкають вздовж лінії розмежування, включно із районами, які не перебувають під контролем уряду України. Це допоможе і тим, хто втік із районів конфлікту до сусідніх країн.
ЄС разом зі своїми державами-членами є найбільшим донором гуманітарної допомоги, швидкої відбудови та розвитку України.
Від початку конфлікту в 2014 році надав Україні понад 677 мільйонів євро.
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Комітет Верховної Ради України з питань правової політики і правосуддя рекомендує парламенту ухвалити в першому читанні законопроект про антикорупційний суд, оголосив у сесійній залі спікер Андрій Парубій.
За його словами, це дає змогу вже 1 березня перейти до розгляду документа.
У парламенті зареєстровані чотири законопроекти про антикорупційний суд, один із них – президентський. Крім того, зареєстрований супутній законопроект про внесення змін до закону «Про судоустрій і статус суддів» у зв’язку з ухваленням закону «Про вищий антикорупційний суд».
Раніше Міжнародний валютний фонд наголошував на важливості невідкладного схвалення закону про антикорупційний суд в Україні, і «щоб при цьому під час його розгляду в парламенті були враховані поправки, необхідні для приведення остаточного тексту закону в повну відповідність із передбаченими програмою зобов’язаннями і рекомендаціями Венеціанської комісії Ради Європи».
Створення антикорупційного суду передбачає закон про судоустрій і статус суддів, у 2016 році. Проте до цього часу не схвалений спеціальний закон щодо такого суду.
У грудні 2017 року президент вніс до Верховної Ради України законопроект про Вищий антикорупційний суд. Згідно з документом, на посаду судді Вищого антикорупційного суду претендент обирається на конкурсі, ним може бути призначений громадянин України у віці не менше ніж 35 років, зі стажем роботи на посаді судді не менш ніж 5 років, з науковим ступенем у сфері права чи пропрацювавши в науковій галузі щонайменше 7 років, з адвокатським досвідом.
Проте низка антикорупційних організацій закликали президента України Петра Порошенка відкликати цей законопроект і доопрацювати його, заявляючи, що окремі положення документа не відповідають рекомендаціям Венеціанської комісії.
У січні представник президента України в парламенті Ірина Луценко (фракція «Блок Петра Порошенка») заявила, що законопроект про Антикорупційний суд зазнає змін після першого читання у парламенті, в ньому врахують рекомендації Венеціанської комісії і Міжнародного валютного фонду. Вона висловила сподівання, що суд зможе розпочати роботу за півроку.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday rebels in the eastern Ghouta area of Syria are blocking aid deliveries and preventing people from leaving during what Russia has called a daily “humanitarian pause” in its military operations.
The Russian plan is meant to give a five-hour window for people to get help or get out of the rebel-held area that pro-government forces have besieged since 2013.
Syrian state media also blamed opposition fighters for hindering evacuations for a second consecutive day. No civilians have yet left the area, which is home to about 400,000 people.
Rebels rejected the accusations during the first day of the limited truce on Tuesday, which included the two sides exchanging blame for continuing violence.
Mohammed Alloush, head of the largest insurgent group in eastern Ghouta, called for Russia to stop its aerial attacks on the rebels and honor a nationwide 30-day cease-fire resolution it voted for at the U.N. Security Council last week.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported more fighting Wednesday in eastern Ghouta.
“There are some very bad actors involved on the ground, notably the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, but also a number of the rebel groups and others who have taken refuge within populated areas like the eastern Ghouta suburbs,” said David Mack, a former ambassador and scholar at the Washington-based Middle East Institute.
Mack told VOA the Syrian government is taking advantage of the Russian plan in order to continue its efforts to oust opposition fighters from one of their last remaining strongholds.
United Nations officials have expressed concern about the humanitarian situation while insisting aid deliveries be allowed to reach those in need.
“The U.N. is ready to immediately support life-saving aid convoys and to support medical evacuations,” the U.N. humanitarian office said Wednesday. “But the fighting must stop and approvals from all parties to deliver must be granted.”
More than 550 civilians, almost a quarter of them children, have been killed in the last two weeks during the Russian and Syrian attacks on eastern Ghouta, one of the most violent episodes in Syria’s seven-year civil war.
In Washington, a top U.S. commander, General Joe Votel, who heads the military’s Central Command, accused Russia of playing an “incredibly destabilizing” role in Syria.
“Diplomatically and militarily, Moscow plays both arsonist and firefighter, fueling tensions among all parties in Syria,” Votel told the House Armed Services Committee.
“Moscow continues to advocate for alternate diplomatic initiatives to Western-led political negotiations in Syria and Afghan-led peace processes in Afghanistan, attempting to thwart the U.N.’s role and limit the advance of American influence,” Votel said.
Victor Beattie contributed to this report.
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«Діяльність парламенту і уряду повинна здійснюватися державною мовою» – президент Казахстану
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The walkway leading onto the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is lined with flowers and photographs, memorials to the 17 students and teachers killed in a Valentine’s Day massacre that forever altered their lives and thrust them into the center of the nation’s gun debate.
Alexis Grogan, a 15-year-old sophomore, planned to wear a Stoneman Douglas color — maroon — on the first day back to class Wednesday, plus sneakers that say “MSD Strong, be positive, be passionate, be proud to be an eagle” and “2/14/18” in honor of those who died.
She feels nervous, like it might be too soon to go on as usual without slain friends like Luke Hoyer, who sat two seats behind her in Spanish. Still, the support from her fellow students, and their fight to strengthen gun control laws have buoyed her spirits.
“I am so proud of how the kids at my school have been fighting because we all want change to happen and, as we see the progression, it really shows us that people do care and they do hear what we have to say,” Grogan said in a text message.
Keeping the pressure on
The Douglas students return to school after a whirlwind of political activism that has reignited the nation’s gun and school-safety debate. Douglas sophomore Charlotte Dixon said some of her friends are having a hard time returning to classes. But like Grogan, they are encouraged by the attention to gun laws their actions have brought.
“I’m so glad that people are stepping forward and talking about it keeping it relevant … because it shouldn’t happen to anyone ever again,” Dixon said.
On Tuesday, relatives of the Stoneman Douglas victims kept up the pressure in Florida’s capital with emotional testimony during a legislative hearing to discuss passing a bill that would, among other things, raise the age limit to buy long guns from 18 to 21. The bill also would create a program that allows teachers who receive law-enforcement training and are deputized by the local sheriff’s office to carry concealed weapons in the classroom, if also approved by the school district. The school’s superintendent has spoken out firmly against that measure.
The House Appropriations Committee’s 23-6 vote in favor of the bill Tuesday followed more than four hours of emotional discussion with the parents of some of the 17 killed, and nearly two weeks of activism by students on social media and in televised debates.
Gov. Rick Scott, who met with officials in Miami-Dade County on Tuesday, said at a news conference that he hopes a gun and school-safety bill is passed before Florida’s annual legislative session ends March 9. He had proposed measures that overlap with the Legislature’s plan but did not include arming teachers. However, he declined to say Tuesday whether he would veto the sweeping package if it included that provision.
The Senate’s version of the school-safety bill was approved by a second committee on a 13-7 vote Tuesday evening. Sen. Bill Galvano, who is designated to become the next Senate president and is ushering through the bill, said the earliest it will be considered by the full Senate is Friday.
Marion Hammer, a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association and Unified Sportsmen of Florida, told the House Appropriations Committee that she supports tightening school security and keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, but not the House bill’s gun-ownership restrictions, which she later said would not have stopped the Parkland shooting.
“Part of what we need to do is make people understand that guns are not the problem,” she said after the hearing. “So passing more laws dealing with guns as a solution to a problem that exists within the enforcement of laws is just kind of silly.”
Max Schachter, father of 14-year-old victim Alex Schachter, said the bill the House committee eventually approved doesn’t go far enough, but could have saved his son.
“If we would have had these measures in place, I would not have had to bury my son next to his mother a week and a half ago. … I’m pleading for your help. I’m willing to compromise. Are you?” he asked.
Personal memorials
Outside the school on Tuesday, people tied poems to the chain-link fence surrounding the school, and dropped off red, heart-shaped balloons. The building where the shooting occurred was cordoned off, and people signed photographs of the fallen.
Junior Sidney Fischer, 17, was in a Holocaust history class when the shooter aimed his gun at the window and shot into the room. Two students in his classroom died. He’s planning to wear swim goggles on his first day back Wednesday to honor his friend Nicholas Dworet, who was an accomplished swimmer.
“Obviously our school will never be the same, but I think once we get back into our normal routine people will shift back into a comfortable state,” Fischer said.
He’s planning to ride to school with a friend — just like they did before the shooting.
“I’m actually not too scared of going back tomorrow,” he said. “There is this sort of looming thought that someone will try to perform another shooting but I’m sure our school will be riddled with security.”
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Президент Афганістану Ашраф Гані запропонував визнати «Талібан» законною політичною групою в межах процесу, який може сприяти поновленню мирних переговорів.
Гані заявив про це 28 лютого на конференції країн та організацій, включених у так званий Кабульський процес.
«Лідери талібів і всі члени, це рішення у ваших руках. ПРийміть мир, прийдіть за стіл переговорів і розпочнімо розбудовувати країну разом», – сказав президент Афганістану.
Гані запропонував бойовикам припинення вогню, звільнення в’язнів, паспорти, офіс у Кабулі або іншому узгодженому місці, а також скасування санкцій. Він також заявив, що готовий розпочати перегляд конституції в межах угоди з «Талібаном».
Підтримуваний Заходом уряд у Кабулі намагається перемогти «Талібан» та інші угруповання бойовиків після виведення більшої частини військ НАТО в 2014 році. Афганський уряд і таліби провели мирні переговори у 2015 році, але вони завершилися безрезультатно. Війна в Афганістані триває вже понад 16 років.
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The United States says China’s proposal to abolish presidential term limits — a move that could make Xi Jinping president for life — is an internal matter for Beijing. VOA’s Bill Gallo reports from Washington.
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A street outside the Russian embassy in Washington has been renamed after Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition leader killed three years ago in Moscow. VOA’s Elizabeth Cherneff has more.
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Growth in China’s manufacturing sector in February cooled to the weakest in more than 11/2 years, raising concerns of a sharper-than-expected slowdown in the world’s second biggest economy this year as regulators tighten the screws on financial risks.
The weakness was driven by disruption to business activity by the Lunar New Year holidays and curbs to factory output from tougher pollution rules, but there are worries of a bigger loss in momentum.
“Although a recovery looks possible in the short-run as the anti-pollution campaign winds down, the risk is still that the economy fares worse this year than is generally expected,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China Economist at Capital Economics.
Index raises concern
The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released Wednesday fell to 50.3 in February, from 51.3 in January. But it remained above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis, the 19th straight month of expansion.
The drop may raise some concerns for China’s leaders as they prepare for the start of the National People’s Congress (NPC) next week where Beijing will unveil its economic targets for this year.
Globally, solid demand has kept many export-reliant economies humming over the past year or so, though a move toward tighter policy in advanced nations could cut into growth this year.
The latest PMI’s subindex of new export orders fell to 49.0, the lowest in at least a year, as the yuan currency appreciated against the dollar.
Chen Zhongtao, an official with China Logistics Information Center (CLIC), said that “13.6 percent of firms reported concerns over the appreciating Chinese currency and greater currency fluctuations,” the highest number of companies to do so since March 2017.
CLIC said in a statement that export sluggishness is expected to continue this year as steel firms are more reluctant to ship goods in the face of rising global protectionism.
Lunar New Year effect
The index for output stood at 50.7, down from 53.5 in January as the Lunar New Year holidays disrupted factory activities, the statistics bureau said. Total new orders also expanded much slower in February.
Raw material input prices fell for the second consecutive month to the lowest since July 2017, indicating cost pressure from price rises on manufacturing firms is easing.
“I think besides the Lunar New Year factor, the stricter pollution measures in the north before the National People’s Congress might have weighed on activities as well,” said Betty Wang, Senior China Economist at ANZ.
Wang expects momentum to pick up in the months ahead as the pollution crackdown tapers off.
Still, there are signs that China may continue with the pollution crackdown, with top steelmaking city of Tangshan proposing new restrictions on production once the current curbs expire in March.
The weeklong Lunar New Year holidays, which fell in February this year but January in 2017, tend to distort data early in the year.
Many factories and offices start to scale back operations ahead of time before shutting for the entire holiday or longer, while some manufacturers front-load shipments or replenish inventories ahead of the break.
Moderating growth in 2018
Boosted by government infrastructure spending, a resilient property market and unexpected strength in exports, China’s manufacturing and industrial firms helped the economy post better-than-expected growth of 6.9 percent in 2017.
A sister survey showed activity in China’s service sector slowed to lowest since October last year in February. The official non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 54.4 from 55.3 in January.
The services sector accounts for more than half of China’s economy, with rising wages giving Chinese consumers more spending clout.
Chinese policymakers are counting on growth in services and consumption to rebalance their economic growth model from its heavy reliance on investment and exports.
Economists polled by Reuters expected China’s economic growth will moderate to around 6.5 percent this year as the property market cools and as authorities press ahead with a clamp down on riskier financial activity that is driving up borrowing costs.
Analysts and financial markets are widely expecting the government to announce a 2018 growth target of around 6.5 percent at the NPC, the same as last year.
A composite PMI covering both the manufacturing and services activity stood at 52.9 in February, down from January’s reading of 54.6.
“Looking ahead, we think growth is likely to fall short of expectations this year, with many underestimating the headwinds from slower credit growth and a cooling property sector,” Capital Economics’ Evans-Pritchard said.
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The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday recommended raising import duties on Chinese-made aluminum foil it said is being sold at unfairly low prices due to improper subsidies to producers.
The ruling was praised by the Aluminum Association, a trade group that pressed the case and said cheap imports were threatening thousands of jobs.
Beijing faces complaints from the United States, European Union and other trading partners that a flood of Chinese aluminum, steel and other exports are being sold at unfairly low prices, threatening jobs abroad.
The Commerce Department said it concluded Chinese exporters were selling aluminum foil at 49 to 106 percent below fair value and were receiving unfair subsidies of 17 to 81 percent of the goods’ value.
Importers will have to post cash bonds to pay potentially higher duties while the recommendation goes to the U.S. International Trade Commission for a final decision, said a Commerce statement.
China’s Ministry of Commerce complained Washington was harming Chinese exporters and said Beijing was ready to take unspecified “necessary measures” to defend its interests.
Beijing has accused Trump’s government of disrupting global trade regulation by taking action under U.S. law instead of through the World Trade Organization.
“China will take necessary measures to defend its interests in response to the wrong practice of the United States,” said a Commerce Ministry official, Wang Hejun, in a statement.
The Trump administration earlier raised duties on Chinese-made washing machines, solar modules and some aluminum and steel products to offset what it said were improper subsidies.
The American Chamber of Commerce in China says Chinese officials have warned of possible unspecified retaliation if Washington took excessive steps in trade disputes.
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Український режисер Олег Сенцов, як і раніше, перебуває в колонії російського міста Лабитнангі, його нікуди не перевозили, заявив «Крим.Реалії» із посиланням на адміністрацію закладу адвокат Сенцова Дмитро Дінзе.
«Я зв’язався з офіційними представниками колонії. Вони мені сказали, що Сенцов нікуди не перевозився й перебуває зараз у колонії», – сказав адвокат.
Вдень 27 лютого стало відомо, що на лист на адресу Сенцова за останнім відомим місцем перебування ув’язненого (колонія), відправник отримав відповідь про те, що «одержувач не перебуває в цій установі».
В українських ЗМІ з’явилась інформація про можливий швидкий обмін режисера Олега Сенцова й журналіста Романа Сущенка на ув’язнених в Україні. Офіційного підтвердження такої інформації немає.
Представник України в гуманітарній підгрупі Тристоронньої контактної групи, перший віце-спікер Верховної Ради Ірина Геращенко заперечувала наміри обміняти засуджених у Росії громадян України Романа Сущенка й Олега Сенцова на колишніх українських військовослужбовців Олександра Баранова й Максима Одинцова.
Перед цим адвокат засуджених у Києві колишніх українських військовослужбовців Баранова й Одинцова Валентин Рибін заявив, що найближчим часом може відбутися обмін на ув’язнених у Росії українців.
Українського режисера Олега Сенцова затримали представники російських спецслужб у Криму в травні 2014 року за звинуваченнями в організації терактів на півострові. У серпні 2015 року російський Північно-Кавказький окружний військовий суд у Ростові-на-Дону засудив Сенцова до 20 років колонії суворого режиму за звинуваченням у терористичній діяльності на території Криму. Він не визнав свою провину. Правозахисний центр «Меморіал» вніс Сенцова до списку політв’язнів.
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Лідер Північної Кореї Кім Чен Ин і його покійний батько Кім Чен Ір використовували фальшиві бразильські паспорти для відвідування західних країн у 1990-х роках, повідомили агентству Reuters п’ять провідних джерел безпеки в Західній Європі.
Агенція Reuters також оприлюднила фотокопію бразильського паспорта, виданого лідеру Північної Кореї Кім Чен Ину.
«Вони використовували ці бразильські паспорти, які чітко демонструють фотографії Кім Чен Ина та Кім Чен Іра, щоб спробувати отримати візи від іноземних посольств», – цитує агенція своє джерело.
«Це показує бажання подорожувати і вказує на спроби правлячої сім’ї побудувати можливий маршрут втечі», – заявив співрозмовник агенції.
Посольство Північної Кореї в Бразилії відмовилося це коментувати.
Міністерство закордонних справ Бразилії повідомило, що проводиться розслідування.
Бразильське джерело агентства зазначило, що два паспорти, про які йде мова, є законними документами, вони були випущені на бланках від консульств.
Проте невідомо, чи були візи в цих паспортах.
У грудні 2011 року у віці 69 років помер тодішній північнокорейський лідер Кім Чен Ір. Це призвело до успадкування влади в Пхеньяні наймолодшим з трьох його синів – Кім Чен Ином, якому на той час було 26 років. Кім Чен Ин був проголошений спадкоємцем ще у 2009 році.
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Дзеркальну версію проекту «Закону про співробітництво з Україною з питань кібербезпеки» внесла до Сенату США група американських сенаторів, повідомляє на сторінці у Facebook посольство України у США.
«Двопартійна група американських сенаторів на чолі з демократом Шерродом Брауном та республіканцем Патриком Туумі представила на розгляд Сенату дзеркальну версію проекту «Закону про співпрацю з Україною з питань кібербезпеки», схваленого Палатою представників 7 лютого цього року. Документ спрямований на надання допомоги Україні в удосконаленні власної стратегії кібербезпеки, зокрема, що стосується посилення захисту комп’ютерних мереж органів державної влади, зменшення залежності України від російських інформаційних та комунікаційних технологій», – йдеться в повідомленні.
Для набрання чинності документ має бути підтриманий Сенатом і підписаний президентом США, зазначили в посольстві.
Раніше українські дипломати в США повідомляли, що Палата представників Конгресу США 404 голосами 7 лютого схвалила законопроект про підтримку кібербезпеки України в умовах російської агресії. Повідомлялося, що співавторами документа стали конгресмен-демократ Брендан Бойл та конгресмен-республіканець Браян Фітцпатрик.
5 жовтня 2017 року Верховна Рада ухвалила закон про основні засади забезпечення кібербезпеки України. Він визначає основні об’єкти кіберзахисту, які в сукупності складають критичну інфраструктуру, принципи забезпечення кібербезпеки і нацсистему кібербезпеки. 7 листопада документ підписав президент України Петро Порошенко. Закон набере чинності 9 травня 2018 року.
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U.S. President Donald Trump has reached an agreement with the Boeing Co to provide two Air Force One planes for $3.9 billion, the White House said on Tuesday.
“President Trump has reached an informal deal with Boeing on a fixed-price contract for the new Air Force One Program,” Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley told Reuters. He said the contract will save taxpayers more than $1.4 billion, but those savings could not be independently confirmed.
Trump has said Boeing’s costs to build replacements for Air Force One aircraft – one of the most visible symbols of the U.S. presidency – were too high and urged the federal government in a tweet to “Cancel order!”
The Boeing 747-8s are designed to be an airborne White House able to fly in worst-case security scenarios, such as nuclear war, and are modified with military avionics, advanced communications and a self-defense system.
“President Trump negotiated a good deal on behalf of the American people,” Boeing said in a news release.
U.S. aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia said the White House was engaging in “political theater.”
“There’s no evidence of a discount,” said Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at Teal Group.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon released Air Force budget documents for fiscal year 2019 disclosing the $3.9 billion cost for the two-aircraft program. The same 2018 budget document, not adjusted for inflation, showed the price at $3.6 billion.
Boeing would only have so much room to offer discounts given the high proportion of supplier content on Air Force One, from refrigerators to missile warning systems, Aboulafia said by phone.
The big U.S. defense contractor said the deal includes work to develop and build two planes, including unique items such as a communications package, internal and external stairs, large galleys and other equipment.
The “informal deal” will need to be codified in a formal contract with comprehensive, complex terms and conditions said Franklin Turner, a partner specializing in government contracts at law firm McCarter & English, suggesting a final deal was still a ways off.
Boeing stock was up 1.4 percent at $368.54, trading at an all-time high.
your ad hereFederal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, pledging to “strike a balance” between the risk of an overheating economy and the need to keep growth on track, told U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday that the central bank would stick with gradual interest rate increases despite the added stimulus of tax cuts and government spending.
Fed policymakers anticipate three rate increases this year, and Powell gave no indication in prepared remarks to the House Financial Services Committee that the pace needs to quicken even as the “tailwinds” of government stimulus and a stronger world economy propel the U.S. recovery.
“The [Federal Open Market Committee] will continue to strike a balance between avoiding an overheating economy and bringing … price inflation to 2 percent on a sustained basis,” Powell said in prepared remarks for his first monetary policy testimony to Congress as Fed chief.
“Some of the headwinds the U.S. economy faced in previous years have turned into tailwinds,” Powell said, noting recent fiscal policy shifts and the global economic recovery. Still, “inflation remains below our 2 percent longer-run objective. In the (FOMC‘s) view, further gradual rate increases in the federal funds rate will best promote attainment of both of our objectives.”
The testimony sent Powell’s first signal as Fed chief that the massive tax overhaul and government spending plan launched by the Trump administration will not prompt any immediate shift to a faster pace of rate increases. “Gradual” has been the operative word since the Fed began raising rates under Powell’s predecessor, Janet Yellen, in late 2015.
The Fed is expected to approve its first rate increase of 2018 at the next policy meeting in March, when it will also provide fresh economic projections and Powell will hold his first press conference.
“This is a continuation of where this Fed was under Chair Yellen,” said Robert Albertson, principal and chief strategist at Sandler O‘Neill & Partners in New York.
“They are normalizing, they are not tightening … The surprises, if we are going to see them, are going to be after more data comes out in the next month or two,” and accounts for things like the tax cuts and whether business investment spending continues higher, he said.
Market reaction was muted. U.S. stocks were trading slightly lower while the dollar .DXY was stronger against a basket of currencies. Prices of U.S. Treasuries were mixed.
Valuation pressures
Powell’s appearance before the House panel is his first as Fed chief. He used his prepared remarks to strike notes likely to be welcomed by the Republican majority on the panel – including promises of “transparency” and a nod to the monetary policy rules some of them favor.
“I am committed to clearly explaining what we are doing and why we are doing it,” Powell said.
But in his remarks and in a monetary policy report issued to Congress by the Fed last week he also stuck close to a safe script, mentioning none of the new initiatives that some of his colleagues have pushed for, such as a review of the Fed’s system for managing inflation.
That report acknowledged “valuation pressures” in parts of the economy, and noted the recent return of volatility in stock markets.
Though rising long-term interest rates and recent equity market volatility have tightened financial conditions, Powell said, “we do not see these developments as weighing heavily on the outlook for economic activity, the labor market and inflation.”
Rather, “the robust job market should continue to support growth in household incomes and consumer spending, solid economic growth among our trading partners should lead to further gains in U.S. exports, and upbeat business sentiment and strong sales growth will likely continue to boost business investment,” he said.
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Анастасія Вашукевич, більш відома з розслідування російського опозиціонера Олексія Навального як Настя Рибка, звернулася за допомогою до «американських спецслужб». У прямому ефірі в Instagram вона заявила про готовність розповісти певні подробиці втручання Росії у вибори президента США, якщо їй допоможуть із звільненням з-під арешту в Таїланді.
Рибка назвала себе «свідком і єдиною відсутньою ланкою» в зв’язках Кремля з виборами в США.
8 лютого російський опозиційний політик Олексій Навальний опублікував розслідування, в якому стверджується, що в серпні 2016 року заступник голови уряду Росії Сергій Приходько провів кілька днів на яхті Дерипаски біля берегів Норвегії разом із «дівчатами з ескорт-агентств». Це стало відомо з Instagram і книжки однієї з цих дівчат – Насті Рибки. Навальний вважає «хабарем» те, що Дерипаска «катає на власній яхті чиновника найвищого рангу».
Дерипаска і Приходько назвали розслідування Навального «провокацією». Представник Дерипаски заявив, що бізнесмен не робив нічого протизаконного і буде захищати свої честь і гідність, в тому числі в суді.
Після публікації розслідування Олег Дерипаска подав до суду на Настю Рибку (Анастасію Вашукевич) через розміщення в соціальних мережах його приватних знімків, інформації про його приватне життя і аудіозаписів його розмов. Позов мільярдера почнуть розглядати 1 березня.
26 лютого стало відомо, що Вашукевич і її приятеля Олександра Кирилова, відомого як Алекс Леслі, затримані в Таїланді за незаконне проведення «секс-тренінгу». Пізніше їх відпустили під заставу, але тут же заарештували співробітники таїландської міграційної служби. Рибка стверджує, що раніше до неї в поліцію приходили співробітники Інтерполу, нібито заявили, що її «дуже хочуть бачити в Москві».
your ad hereWhite House communications director Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump’s longest-running aides, appeared Tuesday before a congressional panel probing his campaign’s links to Russia, but it is not clear how many questions she was willing to answer.
The House Intelligence Committee is meeting behind closed doors with Hicks, who first worked for the Trump family as a public relations spokeswoman for Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, to promote her clothing business before later joining Trump’s campaign on his successful 2016 run for the White House.
The congressional panel has sparred in recent weeks with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon over the scope of questions he would answer about the weeks after Trump won the election before taking office and then events that occurred after Trump assumed power 13 months ago.
The White House did not invoke executive privilege against his testimony, but worked to limit the scope of questions he would answer to a prepared list of queries.
It has not been disclosed what line of questions the 29-year-old Hicks will face. Her earlier appearance in January before the same committee was scuttled in a dispute over what questions she would answer.
One point of Tuesday’s inquiry is likely to focus on her role in helping draft a misleading statement on Air Force One last year about a June 2016 meeting that Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and then-campaign manager Paul Manafort held with a Russian lawyer in Trump Tower in the midst of the campaign. The younger Trump set up the meeting believing he would get incriminating information about Democrat Hillary Clinton, Trump’s opponent, but the mid-2017 statement about the gathering said it was about Americans’ adoptions of Russian children.
Congressman Michael Conaway, a Texas Republican who who is running the panel’s Russia investigation, said Monday that he “would not be surprised” if Hicks refuses to answer certain questions on grounds that Trump may eventually want to invoke executive privilege to keep secret conversations he had with her.
Trump almost daily attacks the investigations into Russia’s meddling in the election that was aimed at helping him defeat Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state.
On Tuesday, hours before Hicks was set for questioning, Trump said on Twitter, “WITCH HUNT,” in all capital letters. He quoted several analysts who say they see no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia or that he obstructed justice in trying to curb the FBI’s Russia investigation by firing former FBI director James Comey, who at the time was leading the agency’s Russia probe.
Trump’s ouster of Comey last May led to the appointment of another former FBI director, Robert Mueller, as the special counsel to continue the Russia investigation.
Mueller has secured guilty pleas from Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and former foreign affairs adviser George Papadopoulos for lying to investigators about their Russia contacts. One-time Trump campaign aide Rick Gates pleaded guilty last week to financial fraud and lying to investigators in connection with his lobbying efforts for the Moscow-backed government in Ukraine that predated his role in the U.S. political race.
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U.S. President Donald Trump has named Republican digital strategist Brad Parscale to be the campaign manager of his 2020 re-election bid.
An official statement referred to Parscale as an “amazing talent, selected based on record of success.” Over the past year, the 42-year-old Parscale has been helping run a pro-Trump outside group called America First Action.
While Trump offers his views on issues large and small on Twitter, Parscale used the social media outlet Facebook to target rural voters during Trump’s successful 2016 campaign for the White House.
Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a top White House adviser, said Parscale “was essential in bringing a disciplined technology and data-driven approach to how the 2016 campaign was run.”
Trump, within hours of being inaugurated 13 months ago, said he would run for re-election for a second four-year term.
The U.S. leader has maintained a campaign office in Trump Tower, the New York skyscraper where he has a home and served as his 2016 campaign headquarters. He has been raising millions of dollars in a joint effort for his re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee.
Numerous Democrats have been eyeing the possibility of running against Trump, but most have held back on making any announcements of their intentions until after next November’s congressional elections.
A third of the Senate seats and the entire 435-member House of Representatives are up for election, with the results giving Washington politicians a reading on voter sentiment two years ahead of the next presidential contest in November 2020.
your ad hereU.S. President Donald Trump will meet with senators and Cabinet officials on Tuesday to discuss ways to lower the cost of the nation’s biofuels policy to oil refiners, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The meeting reflects rising concern in the White House over the current state of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, a law requiring refiners to mix biofuels such as corn-based ethanol into their fuel, after a Pennsylvania refiner blamed the regulation for its recent bankruptcy.
The meeting will include Republican Senators Ted Cruz of Texas, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst of corn state Iowa, along with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, according to the sources.
The meeting will also include White House legislative director Marc Short, who will seek to ensure any agreement can be achieved through executive orders and regulatory actions defensible in court, the sources said.
Representatives for those officials, and the White House, declined to comment.
U.S. farm groups urged Trump in a letter on Monday not to weaken the RFS, calling it a critical engine of rural jobs. “Any action that seeks to weaken the RFS for the benefit of a handful of refiners will, by extension, be borne on the backs of our farmers,” according to the letter.
Under the RFS, refiners must earn or purchase biofuel blending credits called RINs to prove to the federal government that enough biofuels are being blended into their gasoline and diesel to comply with the policy.
As biofuels volumes quotas have increased over the years, however, so have prices for the credits – meaning refiners that buy them instead of acquire them by blending fuels themselves are facing rising costs.
Oil refiner Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), which employs more than 1,000 people in a key electoral state, declared bankruptcy last month and blamed the regulation for its demise. Reuters reported other factors may also have played a role in the company’s bankruptcy, including the withdrawal of more than $590 million in dividend-style payments from the company by its investor owners.
Two of the sources familiar with the agenda of the Tuesday meeting said at least four options aimed at reducing the cost of RINs to refiners like PES will be considered — though they noted the effort would be constrained by political and legal realities that have derailed previous reform efforts.
Prices of RINs tumbled by nearly 20 percent in the past week on expectations of a regulatory tweak.
One idea would be to count U.S. ethanol exports toward annual biofuels volumes mandates that are currently focused purely on domestic usage, an idea the sources said had been studied by Agriculture Secretary Perdue who now favors it.
Another idea would be to place a cap on the price of a RIN.
Senator Cruz late last year suggested capping RIN prices at 10 cents each, far below the current value of over 60 cents, in a move that was roundly rejected by biofuels advocates.
The meeting will also consider measures to remove speculation from the RIN market, potentially by limiting RIN transactions to those directly involved in generating and consuming them: blenders and refiners, the sources said.
Any plan would also likely include a concession to the ethanol industry, they said, such as a waiver to allow gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol to be sold year round. Sales of high-ethanol blends are currently restricted in the summer due to concerns over smog.
The meeting could also look at solutions focused more directly on refiner PES — like waiving its current RIN obligation valued at about $350 million, the sources said. But any such move would likely draw a backlash from other refiners who have no hope of receiving such a waiver.
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A leading Slovak newspaper says organized crime may have been involved in the shooting death of an investigative journalist that shocked Slovakia.
The bodies of 27-year-old Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend Martina Kusnirova were found Sunday evening in their house in the town of Velka Maca, east of the capital, Bratislava.
In an interview with the Sme daily on Tuesday, Slovakia-based Canadian journalist Tom Nicholson said he was in touch with Kuciak before his death and that he was working on a story about possible Italian mafia involvement in frauds linked to EU subsidies in eastern Slovakia. Nicholson said he was ready to testify.
Kuciak’s was the first murder of a journalist in Slovakia. The government is offering 1 million euros ($1.23 million) to anyone who helps the authorities find the people responsible.
your ad hereThe Turkish government said Tuesday the release of the former leader of a Syrian Kurdish political party by a Czech court was “a clear support for terror.”
Prague’s Municipal Court decided Tuesday to release former Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party leader Salih Muslim despite Turkey’s request for his extradition.
Turkey has accused the former PYD leader with disrupting the state and aggravated murder. He was detained in the Czech capital of Prague Saturday following a Turkish request for his arrest.
Turkey considers the PYD a terrorist group associated with outlawed Kurdish rebels fighting within the country’s borders. Earlier this month, the Turkish government placed Muslim on its most-wanted list and announced a $1 million reward for his capture.
Turkish government spokesman Bekir Bozdag said the ruling violated international law and predicted it would adversely affect Turkish-Czech relations.
The PYD is the the most influential political Kurdish force in northern Syria and Muslim has maintained clout within the party, even after resigning as co-chair last year.
Turkey launched a military offensive into northern Syria in late January in an effort to push the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, from the enclave of Afrin. The YPG is a U.S.-supported Syrian Kurdish militia group and the armed unit of the PYD.
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