Російська журналістка і правозахисниця Зоя Свєтова звернулася до президента Франції Емманюеля Макрона з проханням посприяти у звільненні українського кінорежисера Олега Сенцова, засудженого в Росії.
У листі до Макрона, опублікованому 26 лютого французькою газетою Liberation, Свєтова пише, що не було ніяких терактів в Криму, як і не було жодного пам’ятника Леніну, в підриві якого російський суд звинуватив Олега Сенцова.
Звернення російської правозахисниці з’явилося у зв’язку з проведенням сьогодні в Парижі заходу на підтримку українського кінорежисера, яку організувала група «Нові дисиденти». На акцію з демонстрацією фільму «Суд: Російська держава проти Олега Сенцова» запросили французьких та інших іноземних діячів культури та кіно.
Олег Сенцов разом з Олександром Кольченком були затримані російськими спецслужбами в анексованому Криму в травні 2014 року. Їх звинувачують в організації терактів на півострові.
У серпні 2015 року суд у російському Ростові-на-Дону засудив Сенцова до 20 років колонії суворого режиму за звинуваченням у терористичній діяльності на території Криму. Кольченко отримав 10 років колонії. Обвинувачені провину не визнали.
Сенцов і Кольченко визнані правозахисним рухом «Меморіал» політичними в’язнями.
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Президент України Петро Порошенко відповідним указом відзначив за участь в АТО державними нагородами 108 воїнів, серед яких 43 посмертно і 62 – поранених, інформує сайт президентської адміністрації 26 лютого.
«Бійці відзначені орденами «Богдана Хмельницького» та «За мужність» III ступеня, медалями «За військову службу Україні» та «Захиснику Вітчизни», – йдеться в повідомленні.
Повідомляється також, що нагороджені двоє співробітників МВС, представлені до нагороди посмертно, та один поранений військовослужбовець Нацгвардії.
Раніше в інтерв’ю Радіо Свобода начальник Генерального штабу ЗСУ Віктор Муженко заявив, що від початку бойових дій у Збройних силах України 50 людей отримали генеральське звання.
Збройний конфлікт на сході України почався навесні 2014 року після російської анексії Криму. За даними ООН, за час конфлікту загинули понад 10 тисяч людей. Україна і Захід звинувачують Росію у підтримці сепаратистів на Донбасі, Москва ці звинувачення відкидає і заявляє, що на непідконтрольних Києві територіях можуть бути хіба що російські «добровольці».
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Міністр юстиції Ірану Аліреза Авейї планує виступити 26 лютого на 37-й щорічній сесії Ради ООН з прав людини ООН, хоча перебуває під санкціями Євросоюзу та Швейцарії, яка приймає форум.
Сесія, під час якої відбудеться триденний саміт лідерів близько 100 країн та міжнародних організацій, розпочнеться 26 лютого і триватиме до 23 березня у Палаці націй у Женеві.
Критики висловили обурення планованим виступом іранського міністра. ЄС та Швейцарія запровадили фінансові санкції щодо Авейї, стверджуючи, що як колишній провідний прокурор Ірану він «відповідає за порушення прав людини, свавільні арешти, відмову у правах ув’язнених та зростання кількості страт».
«Дозвіл Авейї звернутися до Ради з прав людини є ганебним, це буде знущанням із ООН та її механізмів у галузі прав людини», – заявив член базованої в парижі Національної ради опору Ірану Шахін Гобаді.
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After a 10-day break, members of Congress are returning to work under hefty pressure to respond to the outcry over gun violence. But no plan appears ready to take off despite a long list of proposals, including many from President Donald Trump.
Republican leaders have kept quiet for days as Trump tossed out ideas, including raising the minimum age to purchase assault-style weapons and arming teachers, though on Saturday the president tweeted that the latter was “Up to states.”
Their silence has left little indication whether they are ready to rally their ranks behind any one of the president’s ideas, dust off another proposal or do nothing. The most likely legislative option is bolstering the federal background check system for gun purchases, but it’s bogged down after being linked with a less popular measure to expand gun rights.
The halting start reflects firm GOP opposition to any bill that would curb access to guns and risk antagonizing gun advocates in their party. Before the Feb. 14 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people, Republicans had no intention of reviving the polarizing and politically risky gun debate during an already difficult election year that could endanger their congressional majority.
“There’s no magic bill that’s going to stop the next thing from happening when so many laws are already on the books that weren’t being enforced, that were broken,” said Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the third-ranking House GOP leader, when asked about solutions. “The breakdowns that happen, this is what drives people nuts,” said Scalise, who suffered life-threatening injuries when a gunman opened fire on lawmakers’ baseball team practice last year.
Under tough public questioning from shooting survivors, Trump has set high expectations for action.
“I think we’re going to have a great bill put forward very soon having to do with background checks, having to do with getting rid of certain things and keeping other things, and perhaps we’ll do something on age,” Trump said in a Fox News Channel interview Saturday night. He added: “We are drawing up strong legislation right now having to do with background checks, mental illness. I think you will have tremendous support. It’s time. It’s time.”
Trump’s early ideas were met with mixed reactions from his party. His talk of allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons into classrooms was rejected by at least one Republican, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., both spoke to Trump on Friday. Their offices declined comment on the conversations or legislative strategy.
Some Republicans backed up Trump’s apparent endorsement of raising the age minimum for buying some weapons.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said he would support raising the age limit to buy a semi-automatic weapon like the one used in Florida. Rubio also supports lifting the age for rifle purchases. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., a longtime NRA member, wrote in The New York Times that he now supports an assault-weapons ban.
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said he expects to talk soon with Trump, who has said he wants tougher background checks, as Toomey revives the bill he proposed earlier with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to expand presale checks for firearms purchases online and at gun shows.
First introduced after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 in Connecticut, the measure has twice been rejected by the Senate. Some Democrats in GOP-leaning states joined with Republicans to defeat the measure. Toomey’s office said he is seeking to build bipartisan support after the latest shooting.
“Our president can play a huge and, in fact, probably decisive role in this. So I intend to give this another shot,” Toomey said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
The Senate more likely will turn to a bipartisan bill from Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., to strengthen FBI background checks — a response to a shooting last November in which a gunman killed more than two dozen people at a Texas church.
That bill would penalize federal agencies that don’t properly report required records and reward states that comply by providing them with federal grant preferences. It was drafted after the Air Force acknowledged that it failed to report the Texas gunman’s domestic violence conviction to the National Criminal Information Center database.
The House passed it last year, but only after GOP leaders added an unrelated measure pushed by the National Rifle Association. That measure expands gun rights by making it easier for gun owners to carry concealed weapons across state lines.
The package also included a provision directing the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to review “bump-stock” devices like the one used during the shooting at a Las Vegas music festival that left 58 people dead and hundreds injured.
Murphy told The Associated Press he was invited to discuss gun issues with the White House and he was interested in hearing the president’s ideas. He said he did not expect the Florida shooting to lead to a major breakthrough in Congress for those who’ve long pushed for tighter gun laws.
“There’s not going to be a turning point politically,” he said. Rather, it’s about “slowly and methodically” building a political movement.
Senate Democrats say any attempt to combine the background checks and concealed-carry measures is doomed to fail.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he was skeptical Trump would follow through on proposals such as comprehensive background checks that the NRA opposes.
“The real test of President Trump and the Republican Congress is not words and empathy, but action,” Schumer said in a statement. He noted that Trump has a tendency to change his mind on this and other issues, reminding that the president has called for tougher gun laws only to back away when confronted by resistance from gun owners. The NRA’s independent expenditure arm poured tens of millions into Trump’s 2016 campaign.
“Will President Trump and the Republicans finally buck the NRA and get something done?” Schumer asked. “I hope this time will be different.”
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Всесвітня антидопінгова агенція (ВАДА) виступила пізно ввечері 25 лютого із заявою, в якій підтримала рішення Міжнародного олімпійського комітету не відновлювати повноваження Олімпійського комітету Росії (ОКР) на церемонії закриття Олімпійських ігор у Пхьончхані.
ВАДА нагадує, що умовою відновлення ОКР в олімпійській родині була відсутність нових порушень з боку членів делегації олімпійських атлетів із Росії (ОАР).
«Російська антидопінгова агенція (РУСАДА) все ще не відповідає вимогам Всесвітнього антидопінгового кодексу, оскільки вона все ще не виконала критеріїв Дорожньої карти відповідності, затвердженої після доведення існування в Росії систематичного маніпулювання процесом допінгового контролю», – ідеться в заяві.
Міжнародний олімпійський комітет (МОК) проголосував 25 лютого на підтримку заборони російським атлетам марширувати під своїм національним прапором під час церемонії закриття Олімпіади у Пхьончхані.
Спочатку вважалося, що МОК відновить повноваження Олімпійського комітету Росії, і російські атлети зможуть пройти на закриття Олімпіади під національним прапором, навіть після того, як російського керлінгіста Олександра Крушельницького спіймали на допінгу і позбавили через це «бронзи». Але після цього ще одна російська атлетка, бобслеїстка Надія Сергеєва також не пройшла тест на допінг і була дискваліфікована 24 лютого.
На зимовій Олімпіаді в Південній Кореї російські атлети були позбавлені права змагатися під прапором своєї країни. Міжнародний олімпійський комітет 5 грудня 2017 року відсторонив збірну Росії від участі в зимовій Олімпіаді-2018 року після того, як два розслідування підтвердили, що Кремль організував систему застосування допінгу в спорті. Російським спортсменам, які довели, що не застосовували допінг, дозволили змагатися під нейтральним прапором. У результаті було зареєстровано 169 російських атлетів для участі в Олімпіаді-2018.
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After researching digital currencies for work last year, personal finance writer J.R.
Duren hopped on his own crypto-rollercoaster.
Duren bought $5 worth of litecoin in November, and eventually purchased $400 more, mostly with his credit card. In just a few months, he experienced a rally, a crash and a recovery, with the adrenaline highs and lows that come along.
“At first, I was freaking out,” Duren said about watching his portfolio plunge 40 percent at one point. “The precipitous drop came as a shock.”
The 39-year-old Floridian is part of the new class of crypto-investors who do not necessarily think bitcoin will replace the U.S. dollar, or that blockchain will revolutionize modern finance or that dentists should have their own currency.
Dubbed by longtime crypto-investors as “the noobs” — online lingo for “newbies” — they are ordinary investors hopping onto the latest trend, often with little understanding of how cryptocurrencies work or why they exist.
“There has been a big shift in the type of investors we have seen in crypto over the past year,” said Angela Walch, a fellow at the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies. “It’s shifted from a small group of techies to average Joes. I overhear conversations about cryptocurrencies everywhere, in coffee shops and airports.”
Walch and other experts cited parallels to the late-1990s, when retail investors jumped into stocks like Pets.com, a short-lived online seller of pet supplies, only to watch their wealth evaporate when the dot-com bubble burst.
Bitcoin is the best-known virtual currency but there are now more than 1,500 to choose from, according to market data website CoinMarketCap, ranging from popular coins like ether and ripple to obscure coins like dentacoin, the one intended for dentists.
Exactly how many “noobs” bought into the craze last year is unclear because each transaction is pseudonymous, meaning it is linked to a unique digital address, and few exchanges collect or share detailed information about their users.
A variety of consumer-friendly websites have made investing much easier, and online forums are now filled with posts from ordinary retail investors who were rarely spotted on the cryptocurrency pages of social news hub Reddit before.
Reuters interviewed eight people who recently made their first foray into digital currency investing. Many were motivated by a fear of missing out on profits during what seemed like a never-ending rally last year.
One bitcoin was worth almost $20,000 in December, up around 1,900 percent from the start of 2017. As of Friday afternoon it was worth about $10,000 after having fallen as much as 70 percent from its peak. Other coins made even bigger gains and experienced equally dizzying drops over that time frame.
“There was that two-month period last year where all the virtual currencies kept going and up and I had a couple of friends that had invested and they had made five-figure returns,” said Michael Brown, a research analyst in New Jersey, who said he bought around $1,000 worth of ether in December.
“I got swept by the media frenzy,” he said. “You never hear stories of people losing money.”
In the weeks after Brown invested, his holdings soared as much as 75 percent and tumbled as much as 59 percent.
Buy and ‘Hodl’
Investors who got into bitcoin before its 2013 crash like to refer to themselves as “OGs,” short for “original gangsters.”
They tend to shrug off the recent downturn, arguing that cryptocurrencies will be worth much more in the future.
“As crashes go, this is one of the biggest,” said Xavier Levenfiche, who first invested in cryptocurrencies in 2011.
“But, in the grand scheme of things, it’s a hiccup on the road to greatness.”
Spooked by the sudden fall but not willing to book a loss, many investors are embracing a mantra known as “HODL.” The term stems from a misspelled post on an online forum during the cryptocurrency crash in 2013, when a user wrote he was “hodling” his bitcoin, instead of “holding.”
Mike Gnitecki, for instance, bought one bitcoin at around $18,000 in December and was sitting on a 43 percent decline as of Friday, waiting for a recovery.
“I view it as having been a fun side investment similar to a gamble,” said Gnitecki, a paramedic from Texas. “Clearly I lost some money on this particular gamble.”
Duren, the personal finance writer, is also holding onto his litecoin for now, though he regrets having spent $33 on credit card and exchange fees for a $405 investment.
Some retail investors who went big into cryptocurrencies for the first time during the rally last year remain positive.
Didi Taihuttu announced in October that he and his family had sold everything they owned — including their business, home, cars and toys — to move to a “digital nomad” camp in Thailand.
In an interview, Taihuttu said he has no regrets. The crypto-day-trader’s portfolio is in the black, and he predicts one bitcoin will be worth between $30,000 and $50,000 by year-end.
His backup plan is to write a book and perhaps make a movie about his family’s experience.
“We are not it in it to become bitcoin millionaires,” Taihuttu said.
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U.S. lawmakers return to Washington this week facing heightened pressure to address gun violence in America after yet another mass shooting that claimed 17 lives at a Florida high school. VOA’s Michael Bowman has this report
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At least four people were hospitalized in critical condition after an explosion in Leicester, England Sunday destroyed a convenience store and a home.
Police said there was no immediate indication the explosion was linked to terrorism butdeclared it a “major incident.”
The explosion happened just after 7 pm local time and Leicester police initially asked the public to stay away from the road and urged the news media and everyone else not to speculate about the cause.
“The cause of the explosion will be the subject of a joint investigation by the police and Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service,” the police department said.
Police said a number of other buildings were damaged and homes and businesses in the area had been evacuated.
The city’s fire department said it sent six fire engines after the reports of a large explosion and a building collapse.
Pictures of the blast showed flames shooting up from the rubble where the building once stood, while neighbors frantically tried to get close to the site to help.
Leicester is about 177 kilometers north of London.
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