Daily: 02/14/2019

CБУ обіцяє перевірити заяву Мангера про причетність генерала Доценка до вбивства Гандзюк

Служба безпеки України обіцяє перевірити заяву голови Херсонської обласної ради Владислава Мангера про причетність генерала спецслужби Данила Доценка до вбивства активістки Катерини Гандзюк. Водночас в СБУ заявляють, що підозрюваний в організації вбивства Мангер намагається цією заявою дискредитувати спецслужбу.

Як ідеться в повідомленні СБУ у Facebook, під час досудового розслідування не було отримано жодних даних про причетність до злочину щодо Гандзюк будь-якого співробітника СБУ. Сам Мангер із заявою про вчинення злочину щодо Гандзюк Доценком не звертався, відзначають у спецслужбі.

«Твердження Мангера, які він нічим не обґрунтував, є його наміром дискредитувати Службу безпеки України, слідчі якої здійснюють досудове розслідування у кримінальному провадженні за фактом умисного вбивства Гандзюк», – вказано в повідомленні СБУ.

Голова Херсонської облради Владислав Мангер заявив на суді в Києві 13 лютого, що вбивство активістки Катерини Гандзюк замовив генерал СБУ Данило Доценко.

«Доценко не раз заявляв мені особисто, що ненавидить «Батьківщину» і нашого лідера Юлію Тимошенко. І зробить все для знищення партії в регіоні… На мою думку, Доценко ініціював напад на Гандзюк для дискредитації «Батьківщини», – зазначив Мангер і додав, що після цієї заяви боїться за своє життя.

Суд обирає Мангеру запобіжний захід. Прокурори вимагають арештувати його до 3 березня без можливості вийти під заставу.

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White House Upbeat on Beijing Trade Talks

A top White House economic adviser is expressing confidence in the current U.S.-China trade negotiations in Beijing.

“The vibe in Beijing is good,” National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told reporters Thursday at the White House. 

Kudlow provided few details but said the U.S. delegation led by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is “covering all ground” ahead of their expected meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorrow.

“That’s a very good sign and they’re just soldiering on, so I like that story,” Kudlow said, “And I will stay with the phrase, the vibe is good.”

Negotiators are working to strike a deal by March 1, to avoid a rise in U.S. tariffs on $200 million worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent. President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that if talks are seeing signs of progress, that deadline could be pushed back.

When asked Thursday if there would be an extension, Kudlow said, “No such decision has been made so far.”

Analyst William Reinsch, a former president of the National Foreign Trade Council and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says the talks are complicated by the three main areas under negotiation.

“Market access, which I think is well on the way to completion. Some Chinese offers on intellectual property, which I think they are not going to offer what we want. … And some compliance in enforcement matters,” he said.

Reinsch told VOA’s Mandarin service that U.S. negotiators are specifically seeking ways to hold China accountable for the commitments it makes in any deal.

Munich Security Conference

While American and Chinese negotiators continue talks in Beijing, both countries are setting up for another potential faceoff in Europe.

The U.S. and China are sending large delegations to Friday’s Munich Security Conference in Germany, a high-level conference on international security policy. Vice President Mike Pence leads the U.S. delegation while Politburo member Yang Jiechi will be the most senior Chinese official.

Yang Jiechi is heading the largest-ever Chinese delegation to the conference traditionally attended by the U.S. and its European allies. He is pushing back against Washington’s campaign pressing Europe to exclude Chinese tech giant Huawei from taking part in constructing 5G mobile networks in the region.

U.S. officials say allowing the Chinese company to build the next generation of wireless communications in Europe will enhance the Chinese government’s surveillance powers, threatening European security.

Although the technology behind 5G is complex, Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former assistant secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department, said the decisions for European countries is simple.

“Given the nature of modern telecommunication, countries do have to make a choice whether or not that Huawei, given its ownership relationship with the Chinese government, can it be trusted to provide their future communication systems.”

Both Pence and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned allies in Poland and other Central European countries this week on the dangers of closer ties with Beijing and collaboration with Chinese firms. In Budapest, Hungary, on Monday, Pompeo said American companies might scale back European operations if countries continue to do business with Huawei.

Huawei has repeatedly denied its products could be used for espionage.

U.S. prosecutors have filed charges against Huawei including bank fraud, violating sanctions against Iran, and stealing trade secrets. The company refuted these accusations and rejected charges against its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is currently on bail in Canada following her arrest in December.

This year’s Munich Security Conference topics include the “great power competition” between the United States, China and Russia. Conference organizers have listed U.S.-China tensions as one of their top 10 security issues of 2019.

VOA’s Mandarin Service reporter Jingxun Li contributed to this report.

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Аеропорти Будапешта й Таллінна почали писати Kyiv замість Kiev

А у представництві ЄС в Україні заявили, що і Євросоюз починає використовувати назву столиці України англійською Kyiv, а не Kiev

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Feeling Unwelcome, Amazon Ditches Plans For New York Hub

Amazon.com Inc abruptly scrapped plans to build a major outpost in New York that could have created 25,000 jobs, blaming opposition from local leaders upset by the nearly $3 billion in incentives promised by state and city politicians.

The company said Thursday it did not see consistently “positive, collaborative” relationships with state and local officials. Opponents of the project feared congestion and higher rents in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, and objected to handing billions in incentives to a company run by Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man.

State Senator Michael Gianaris, who represents Queens and was a vocal critic of the deal, told a news conference Thursday that the Amazon subsidies were unnecessary.

“This was a shakedown, pure and simple,” he said.

Amazon’s sudden pullout from New York City prompted finger pointing by Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo, the politicians who crafted the deal. Cuomo angrily blamed the loss on local politicians while de Blasio blamed Amazon.

Cuomo said in a statement that a small group of politicians had “put their own narrow political interests” above those of New Yorkers.

The year-long search for its so-called HQ2 culminated in Amazon picking Northern Virginia and New York after hundreds of municipalities, from Newark, N.J., to Indianapolis competed for the coveted tax dollars and high-wage jobs the project promised.

Amazon said it would not conduct a new headquarters search and would focus on growing at other existing and planned offices. The company already has more than 5,000 employees in New York City and plans to continue to hire there, Amazon said Thursday.

A Siena College Poll conducted earlier this month found 56 percent of registered voters in New York supported the Amazon deal, while 36 percent opposed it.

City shakedown?

Some New Yorkers mounted protests after the deal was announced, angered by the $2.8 billion in incentives promised to Amazon and fearing further gentrification in a neighborhood once favored by artists looking for cheap studio space.

U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a critic of the project and a self-described democratic socialist whose district spans parts of Queens and the Bronx, cheered the reversal by the world’s third most valuable public company.

“Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazon’s corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world,” she wrote on Twitter.

People briefed on the decision said Amazon had made the decision early Thursday amid rising concerns about the small vocal minority. The people said Amazon will not shift any of the planned jobs to Tennessee — where an operations hub is planned — or Virginia, but plans to grow its existing network of locations.

Amazon had not acquired land for the project, making it easy to scrap its plans, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday.

Lost opportunity?

In a statement, de Blasio blamed Amazon for failing to address local criticism.

“We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world,” he said. “Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity.”

Some long-time residents in Long Island City, which sits across the East River from midtown Manhattan’s skyscrapers, feared being forced out by rising rents and untenable pressure on already overburdened subway and sewage systems. High-rise towers have sprouted across the neighborhood in recent years.

“This is a stunning development, with Amazon essentially giving in to vocal critics,” said Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com. The about-turn could spook other companies thinking about expanding in New York, he added.

Alphabet Inc’s Google has avoided competitions between cities for offices, and its growing presence in lower Manhattan has met with little serious blowback.

Google said in December it plans to invest more than $1 billion on a new campus in New York to double its current headcount of more than 7,000 people.

“I think the [Amazon] PR event turned out to be a mistake,” said Jason Benowitz, senior portfolio manager at the Roosevelt Investment Group, who owns Amazon shares.

Shares of Amazon fell 1 percent.

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EU Lawmakers Urge Saudi Arabia to End women’s Guardianship System

The European Parliament urged Saudi Arabia on Thursday to abolish its male guardianship system, under which women have to seek permission from their guardian on issues such as getting married, saying it and other rules reduce women to second-class citizens.

Parliamentarians also expressed concern over “government web services” that allow male guardians to track women when they cross borders. A Saudi application called Absher notifies men when women travel.

Although male guardianship has been chipped away at over the years it remains in force. Under the system, every Saudi women is assigned a male relative — often a father or husband but sometimes an uncle, brother or even a son — whose approval is needed if she is to marry, obtain a passport and travel abroad. In their resolution, approved by more than two thirds of the assembly, EU lawmakers urged the Saudi government to immediately abolish the system.

Current rules in the kingdom effectively make women “second-class citizens,” the document said. EU states should continue pressuring Riyadh on improving women conditions and human rights, lawmakers said.

Resolutions by the parliament are not binding but can influence decisions made by EU governments and EU institutions. The resolution passed a day after the EU executive commission added Saudi Arabia to its blacklist of countries that pose a threat because of lax controls on money laundering and terrorism financing.

The bloc’s relations with Saudi Arabia have cooled since the murder of Washington-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate on October 2.

Despite reforms introduced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that have reduced discrimination, such as the lifting of the driving ban for women, lawmakers said “the Saudi political and social system remains discriminatory.”

They urged the release from Saudi prisons of women’s rights defenders, including some who were arrested after campaigning to end the ban on women driving.

Lawmakers also called for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, where it is still applied to punish non-violent offenses, such as drug smuggling, treason, adultery and apostasy, they said.

The EU parliament passed a resolution in October urging an international investigation into Khashoggi’s killing and called on EU states to stop the sale of weapons to the kingdom.

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Tensions Surfacing at Trilateral Summit on Syria

Tensions appear to be surfacing between Russia and Turkey just hours into a three-way summit on the Syrian conflict being hosted in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

According to Kremlin spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Russia has told Turkey it lacked authorization to create a “safe zone” inside Syria without the express consent of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“The question of the presence of a military contingent acting on the authority of a third country on the territory of a sovereign country, and especially Syria, must be decided directly by Damascus,” she told reporters during a press conference. “That’s our base position.”

While Russia and Iran, whose president also is participating in the summit, are close allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad—Turkey, like the United States, which already is beginning to withdraw equipment from the country as part of a recently announced troop withdrawal—supports differing Syrian rebel factions.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has long insisted that Syria’s territorial integrity will be compromised so long as U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG militants, whom Ankara considers terrorists, remain in the area.

All three countries have made efforts to coordinate military forces on the ground, but contradictory military objectives—and competition for natural resources in Syria’s oil-rich northern regions, has created friction between Moscow and Ankara in particular.

President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement of a U.S. troop withdrawal has been welcomed by Russia, Turkey, Iran and Syria, though the sudden shift has left Astana trio leaders unclear about how to reconfigure their objectives in the absence of U.S. forces.

Some high level U.S. officials have anticipated that diplomatic differences between Ankara and Moscow could undermine progress at the summit.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday the three presidents would discuss the formation of a committee that would be tasked with drafting a postwar constitution for Syria.

Lavrov did not discuss whether Syrian officials would be involved in that process.

Pete Cobus is VOA’s acting Moscow correspondent.

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Мережа Facebook вилучила десятки акаунтів перед виборами в Молдові

Соціальна мережа Facebook повідомила, що вилучила 168 облікових записів, 28 сторінок і вісім облікових записів Instagram зі своїх медіа-платформ. Як ідеться в повідомленні, ці акаунти і сторінки були «залучені до скоординованої неавтентичної поведінки, спрямованої на людей у Молдові» перед парламентськими виборами 24 лютого.

«Хоча люди, які стоять за цією діяльністю, намагалися приховати свою ідентичність, наш аналіз виявив, що частина цієї діяльності пов’язана зі співробітниками уряду Молдови», – заявив керівник відділу кібербезпеки Facebook Натаніел Ґлейхер 14 лютого. 

«Враховуючи майбутні вибори в Молдові, ми хотіли дати людям інформацію про дії, які ми зробили, і факти, які ми знаємо сьогодні», – додав він.

За словами Ґлейхера, адміністратори сторінок і власники облікових записів публікували записи про місцеві новини і політичні питання, зокрема, включаючи теми російської або англійської мови навчання чи «возз’єднання з Румунією».

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ФСБ Росії відмовилася передати Україні поранених моряків для лікування

Федеральна служба безпеки Росії відмовилася задовольнити клопотання про передачу Україні або будь-якій іншій країні трьох українських моряків, поранених під час затримання в Керченській протоці, для обстеження та лікування. Про це на сторінці у Facebook повідомив адвокат одного із заарештованих українців Сергій Бадамшин.

За його словами, сторона захисту просила відповідного дозволу для Андрія Ейдера, Василя Сороки і Андрія Артеменка.

«Наразі вирішується питання про обстеження поранених в цивільних медичних закладах міста Москви», – додав адвокат.

Напередодні віце-президент Європейського інституту омбудсмена Ніна Карпачова теж повідомляла, що готується три клопотання в Управління охорони здоров’я Москви для того, щоб по кожному із поранених українських моряків було ухвалене рішення, в який профільний медичний заклад Москви можна було б їх вивезти. Карпачова у СІЗО «Лефортово» відвідала із уповноваженою з прав людини в Росії Тетяною Москальковою українських бранців і заявила, що стан поранених моряків викликає «серйозне занепокоєння».

25 листопада російські прикордонники у Керченській протоці відкрили вогонь по трьох українських кораблях і захопили їх і екіпажі. Підконтрольні Кремлю суди в Криму заарештували 24 моряків. Троє з них зазнали поранень. Зараз вони перебувають у Москві. Українська влада визнає їх військовополоненими, як то визначає міжнародне право.

Країни Заходу засудили дії Росії. В Євросоюзі закликали до «стриманості і деескалації», а генеральний секретар НАТО Єнс Столтенберґ оприлюднив заяву з вимогою до Росії звільнити військовополонених і захоплені кораблі.

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В анексованому Криму чергові обшуки: силовики прийшли до кількох кримських татар

У будинках кількох кримських татар в селищі міського типу Октябрське Красногвардійського району анексованого Криму проходять обшуки, повідомляють активісти об’єднання «Кримська солідарність».

«У будинку Емірусеїнова Решата і його сина Рустема – вул. Робоча, 125. У будинку Арсена Абхаїрова – вул. Абденанова, 15. І в будинку Абдулганієва Іззета і його сина Ескендера – вул. Заводська, 16», – йдеться в повідомленні.

Матері Арсена Абхаїрова стало зле, їй викликали швидку, додали активісти.

Повідомляється, що Ескендера Абдулганієва і Арсена Абхаїрова відвезли в управління ФСБ Росії в Сімферополі.

Як передає «Кримська солідарність», Решат Емірусеїнов – активний учасник кримськотатарського руху. У серпні 2017 року виступив з одиночним пікетом на підтримку Сервера Караметова, на його плакаті було написано: «Путін, наші діти не терористи і не екстремісти». Пізніше став відвідувати зустрічі «Кримської солідарності», «в ході яких відкрито виступав з позицією незгоди з тиском на кримських татар в Криму».

Офіційних повідомлень про обшуки від російських силовиків немає.

Після російської анексії в Криму почастішали масові обшуки у незалежних журналістів, громадських активістів, діячів кримськотатарського національного руху, членів Меджлісу, а також кримських мусульман, підозрюваних у зв’язках із забороненою в Росії організацією «Хізб ут-Тахрір».

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Judge Finds Manafort Lied to Investigators in Russia Probe

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort intentionally lied to investigators and a federal grand jury in the special counsel’s Russia probe, a judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s decision was another loss for Manafort, a once-wealthy political consultant who rose to lead Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and now faces years in prison in two criminal cases brought in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. 

The four-page ruling hurts Manafort’s chance of receiving a reduced sentence, though Jackson said she would decide the exact impact during his sentencing next month. It also resolves a dispute that had provided new insight into how Mueller views Manafort’s actions as part of the broader probe of Russian election interference and any possible coordination with Trump associates.

Manafort’s mystery man

Prosecutors have made clear that they remain deeply interested in Manafort’s interactions with a man the FBI says has ties to Russian intelligence. But it’s unclear exactly what has drawn their attention and whether it relates to election interference because much of the dispute has played out in secret court hearings and blacked out court filings.

In her ruling Wednesday, Jackson provided few new details as she found there was sufficient evidence to say Manafort broke the terms of his plea agreement by lying about three of five matters that prosecutors had singled out. The ruling was largely a rejection of Manafort’s attorneys’ argument that he hadn’t intentionally misled investigators but rather forgot some details until his memory was refreshed.

The judge found that Manafort did mislead the FBI, prosecutors and a federal grand jury about his interactions with Konstantin Kilimnik, the co-defendant who the FBI says has ties to Russian intelligence. Prosecutors had accused Manafort of lying about several discussions the two men had including about a possible peace plan to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Crimea.

During a sealed hearing last week, Mueller prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said one of the discussions — an Aug. 2, 2016, meeting at the Grand Havana Club cigar bar in New York — went to the “larger view of what we think is going on” and what “we think the motive here is.”

“This goes, I think, very much to the heart of what the Special Counsel’s Office is investigating,” Weissmann said, according to a redacted transcript of the hearing. He added: “That meeting and what happened at that meeting is of significance to the special counsel.”

Meeting with Gates

The meeting occurred while Manafort was still in a high-ranking role in the Trump campaign. Rick Gates, Manafort’s longtime deputy and also a Trump campaign aide, attended. And prosecutors say the three men left separately so as not to draw attention to their meeting.

Weissmann said investigators were also interested in several other meetings between Kilimnik and Manafort including when Kilimnik traveled to Washington for Trump’s inauguration in January 2017. And Manafort’s attorneys accidentally revealed weeks ago that prosecutors believe Manafort shared polling data with Kilimnik during the 2016 presidential campaign.

On Wednesday, Jackson found that in addition to his interactions with Kilimnik, there was sufficient evidence that Manafort had lied about a payment to a law firm representing him and about an undisclosed Justice Department investigation.

But she found there wasn’t enough evidence to back up two other allegations. The judge said prosecutors failed to show Manafort intentionally lied about Kilimnik’s role in witness tampering or about Manafort’s contacts with the Trump administration in 2017 and 2018.

Waiting on Russian

Kilimnik, who lives in Russia, was charged alongside Manafort with conspiracy and obstruction of justice. He has yet to appear in a U.S. court to face the charges.Manafort’s sentencing is set for March 13. He faces up to five years in prison on two felony charges stemming from illegal lobbying he performed on behalf of Ukrainian political interests.

Separately, he faces the possibility of a decade in prison in a federal case in Virginia where he was convicted last year of tax and bank fraud crimes. Sentencing in that case was delayed pending Jackson’s ruling in the plea-deal dispute. 

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Judge: Manafort Lied in Russia Probe, Breached Plea Deal 

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Paul Manafort intentionally lied to investigators and a federal grand jury in the Russia probe.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said in an order that there was sufficient evidence that Manafort lied in breach of his plea agreement.

The decision hurts Manafort’s chance of receiving a reduced sentence next month.

Manafort was accused of lying about several matters, including his discussions with a longtime associate the FBI says has ties to Russian intelligence. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors have said the discussions between Manafort and Konstantin Kilimnik about a Ukrainian peace plan go to the “heart” of the Mueller probe.

Manafort was also accused of lying about sharing polling data with Kilimnik during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Manafort remains jailed while he awaits sentencing.  

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US Taxpayers Face Bitter Surprise After Trump’s Tax Cuts

Some taxpayers are getting a bitter surprise this year as their usual annual tax refunds have shrunk — or turned into tax bills — even though President Donald Trump loudly promised them largest tax cut “in American history.”

And with tax season under way, thousands of unhappy taxpayers have been venting their displeasure on Twitter, using hashtags like #GOPTaxscam, and some threatened not to vote for Trump again.

“Lowest refund I have ever had and I am 50 yrs old. No wall and now this tax reform sucks too!!” a woman going by “Speziale-Matheny” wrote from the crucial political swing state of Florida. “Starting to doubt Trump. I voted for him and trusted him too.”

During the year, American wage earners see a portion of each paycheck withheld as income tax, and many then receive a refund the following year if they have overpaid the federal government. That cash boost is eagerly awaited each year, and used to help pay off debt or make large purchases.

But the 2017 tax overhaul — which Republicans promoted as a boon to the middle class — meant many workers paid less in taxes during the year reducing the amount withheld, a change which may have gone unnoticed.

And the reform also cut some popular deductions, sometimes resulting in thinner refunds or even unexpected tax bills.

Early data from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service show that refunds so far this year are 8.4 percent lower than 2018 payouts on average, falling to $1,865 from $2,035.

However, many millions more taxpayers will be filing tax returns by the annual April 15 deadline, meaning this figure could change.

Mark Mazur, assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy under former President Barack Obama, told AFP the negative reaction was “understandable.”

“People focused on the amount of the refund but that’s not the same as their tax liability, the amount of tax they pay for the year,” he said.

Because of lower withholding during the year, some taxpayers have in effect already seen the benefit of the tax cut in their higher paychecks, said Mazur, who is vice president at the Urban Institute.

About five percent of taxpayers — 7.5 million people — will in fact see a tax increase, while about 80 percent should pay less, he said.

‘Angry, disappointed and betrayed’

The IRS on Wednesday said taxpayers who suddenly found they owe taxes could pay their bill in installments and apply for a waiver of penalties normally imposed for failing to pay by the deadline.

“The IRS understands there were many changes that affected people last year, and the new penalty waiver will help taxpayers who inadvertently had too little tax withheld,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in a statement.

A key change of the 2017 tax reform is it limited federal deductions for certain state and local taxes like real estate taxes. As a result, many homeowners in states with higher property taxes will owe more to the federal government.

Neil Frankel, a New York accountant, told AFP people were feeling “angry, disappointed and betrayed.”

“I sympathize with them. The new tax law’s withholding tables were incorrect and misleading. A complete shenanigan,” he added.

“Since my clients are mostly professionals, I don’t really hear any screaming,” he said. “However, I do hear long diatribes on hatred for the U.S. government.”

Last year, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin invited taxpayers to use an online calculator to estimate their tax payments, to determine if they should modify their withholding amount.

‘Misleading’ reports

This week, the Treasury Department said media reports on the lower refunds were “misleading.”

“Refunds are consistent with 2017 levels and down slightly from 2018 based on a small, initial sample from only a few days of data,” the department said on Twitter.

But, Mazur said, perception is key: When the administration of former President George W. Bush cut taxes in 2001, it mailed out checks directly.

“Taxpayers remembered that they got that check,” he said.

Under Obama, however, a tax cut showed up as smaller withholdings and fatter checks during each pay cycle.

“Most Americans when they were surveyed didn’t think they got a tax cut from Obama,” he said.

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Ex-Vatican Prelate Convicted of Corruption in Smuggling  Case

Italian news agency ANSA says a monsignor who had worked years as a Vatican accountant has been convicted of corruption in connection with a failed cash-smuggling plot

Italian news agency ANSA says a monsignor who had worked as a senior Vatican accountant has been convicted of corruption in connection with a failed cash-smuggling plot. 

ANSA said a Rome appeals court Wednesday convicted the Rev. Nunzio Scarano of corruption and sentenced him to three years in prison.

In 2016, a lower court had acquitted Scarano, who had worked for years at a Vatican office that handled Holy See investments. Italian prosecutors in 2013 accused him of plotting to smuggle 20 million euros ($26 million) into Italy from Switzerland aboard an Italian government plane. 

Scarano’s lawyer has said friends asked the monsignor to help them recover funds given to a broker to invest. But the alleged scheme never was realized, purportedly when the broker reneged on the arrangement.

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With Armored Vehicles and Snipers, US Seeks to Deter Russia

With the Russian border little more than an hour away, the desolate grey sky burst open with an explosion of fire and a plume of smoke. If the scene evoked the Cold War, it was intentional.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo trekked Wednesday to the Polish town of Orzysz to witness NATO live-fire exercises in an unmistakable sign to Warsaw that the United States has its eye on Russia.

Pompeo walked through drizzling rain with senior Polish officials over frozen soil and patches of snow to a reviewing stand as several hundred troops stood at attention.

Pompeo, a West Point graduate who served as a U.S. Army cavalry officer in Germany when Poland was on the other side of the Iron Curtain, said little had changed except, he joked, that back then he was listening to cassette tapes of Van Halen.

The U.S. top diplomat likened Orzysz, around 70 kilometers (45 miles) from Russia’s Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad, to divided Germany’s infamous Fulda Gap — where NATO feared that Soviet tanks could penetrate its defenses.

“Today, the gap in which we stand occupies the same priority focus for NATO commanders that the Fulda Gap did back then — once again because of Russian aggression,” Pompeo said in reference to the so-called Suwalki Gap.

He said that the concern was not theoretical, denouncing Russian President Vladimir Putin for the 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula and ongoing support for separatists in Ukraine, as well as Moscow’s war a decade earlier with Georgia.

“We take seriously those concerns that Russia may one day try to open a front along a line right here,” Pompeo said.

Simulated battle

Pompeo then advanced with senior Polish officials including Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz to observe exercises by troops from the five countries at the base — the United States, Poland, Britain, Croatia and Romania.

Amid startling shots from rocket launchers, 20 troops sprinted from a corner for a display of hand-to-hand combat, simulating punching and kicking one another as if in the throes of battle.

Pompeo watched with a smile as Bradley armored vehicles rolled by and a dozen soldiers jumped out before him and squatted with their rifles, shooting metallic targets in the shape of enemy bodies.

A Polish officer provided a running, dispassionate narrative in precise English, explaining, “The snipers wait patiently for the enemy soldier to present the opportunity for the perfect shot.”

Wooing the US

Putin has accused the United States of trying to contain Russia and has pledged to boost Moscow’s own military, including by deploying nuclear-capable Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has voiced admiration for Putin and mused that NATO — which considers an attack on any of its 30 members an attack on all — cheats the United States out of money.

Believing a permanent U.S. presence would be the ultimate deterrent, Poland has offered to contribute to building a US base — which it has cheekily suggested could be called Fort Trump.

Asked about a troop increase, Pompeo said the United States was “taking a look at it.”

NATO promised Russia in 1997 not to station significant forces in the former eastern bloc. As tensions have grown however, the alliance has instead rotated troops through front-line countries.

Poland offered an additional sweetener on Wednesday. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, also in the country, said Warsaw would buy $414 million worth of U.S. mobile rocket launchers — good news for the transaction-minded Trump.

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Роботодавець Магнітського засудив Лондон за відсутність санкцій за «актом Магнітського»

На відміну від інших країн, які схвалили «акт Магнітського», лише Велика Британія не запровадила санкції стосовно порушників прав людини в Росії. Про це на слуханнях у Палаті громад британського парламенту заявив засновник фонду Hermitage Capital Вільям Браудер.

Велика Британія схвалила «поправки Магнітського» навесні 2018 року. За словами бізнесмена, Лондон пояснив відмову застосовувати санкції законодавством Євросоюзу. Однак такі країни-члени ЄС, як Латвія, Литва та Естонія запровадили обмеження для росіян, повідомив Браудер.

Бізнесмен також сказав, що деякі члени парламенту Великої Британії лобіюють інтереси росіян. Це є однією з причин, що вказують на небажання влади запроваджувати санкції. В ході засідання Браудер нагадав, що відомий британський політик Ґреґорі Баркер домігся скасування санкцій США відносно декількох компаній російського бізнесмена Олега Дерипаски.

Браудер також закликав Лондон координувати політику санкцій зі США і Канадою.

«Акт Магнітського» був розроблений у 2012 році в США. Документ визначав коло осіб, причетних до загибелі в слідчому ізоляторі юриста фонду Hermitage Capital Сергія Магнітського і запровадив заборону на в’їзд до США і фінансові санкції щодо ряду російських чиновників. Пізніше свої «акти Магнітського» схвалили Канада і країни Балтії.

Велика Британія схвалила першу частину «акту Магнітського» в 2017 році. Документ передбачає заморожування активвів тих, хто причетний до порушень прав людини. Британська «поправка Магнітського» була включена в законопроект із боротьби з відмиванням грошей після отруєння в березні 2018 року колишнього офіцера ГРУ Сергія Скрипаля та його дочки.

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