У МЗС Франції розкритикували скасування Австралією великого контракту на покупку французьких підводних човнів
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Документ, як пояснюють у адміністрації, вперше презентує опис подальшого розвитку безпекового середовища до 2030 року
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French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday celebrated the 40th anniversary of France’s Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) — “high-speed train” — system, by unveiling a more efficient and environmentally friendly next-generation train.
During a ceremony at the Gare de Lyon rail station in Paris, Macron hailed the history of the original TGV, inaugurated at the same station by then-French President François Mitterrand.
That first French bullet train first joined Paris to Lyon and then eventually connected the rest of the country, with high-speed tracks now extending to Strasbourg and Bordeaux and trains that travel at speeds of 350 kph. In 2007, a TGV reached a record 574.8 kph, a mark that still stands.
On Friday, Macron dropped the curtain — actually, a large French flag — on the next generation of high-speed train, the TGV M, which the French president described as a “formidable symbol” … which is going to recapture spaces and win back the hearts of the French.”
Macron announced a $7.7 billion plan to redevelop and revitalize the TGV network and the state-run rail company SNCF, including new lines serving cities such as Nice and Toulouse, as well as lines serving smaller communities. He said the plan also includes improving rail freight service.
The new, streamlined version of the TGV will carry more passengers — up to 740 passengers from 600 — and move between cities at a top speed of 320 kph while consuming 20% less electricity.
Increasing train use is also part of France’s plan to reduce emissions in the country.
Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and AFP.
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Президент Росії зазначив, що всі заражені хворіють легко і без серйозних ускладнень
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Журналісти «Схем» проаналізували діяльність «Харківобленерго» та виявили низку прикладів, які показують, як там можуть заробляти у нечесний спосіб
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Коли таліби керували Афганістаном у 1996-2001 роках, дівчатам не дозволяли відвідувати школу
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Turkish authorities have detained hundreds of unregistered refugees – including many Afghans – in Istanbul. The crackdown comes as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government faces growing public pressure to stop any surge of Afghans who arrive in Turkey following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. For VOA, Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
Producer: Henry Hernandez
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The tourism industry in Turkey has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, and until recently several wildfires. Several sites, however, have again started to attract local and international visitors. VOA’s Arif Aslan reports from Van, Turkey, in a story narrated by Sirwan Kajjo.
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With China’s new restrictions on minors playing online games, the global gaming industry wonders what’s next. Michelle Quinn reports.
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Радянські війська увійшли на територію Польщі через 17 днів після нападу нацистської Німеччини на цю країну
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12 із 17 міністрів і державних секретарів в уряді складають жінки
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На своїй сторінці у фейсбуці посол поширила проєкт оборонного бюджету США на 2022 рік, де пропонується збільшити допомогу Україні на 50 мільйонів доларів
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У Росії сьогодні почалися вибори депутатів Державної думи
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France has suspended 3,000 health care workers who were not inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine by a government-mandated Sept. 15 deadline.
“Several dozens” of the country’s 2.7 million health workers, Health Minister Olivier Veran said Thursday, opted to resign rather than receive the inoculation against the coronavirus.
Tens of thousands health workers were unvaccinated in July when President Emmanuel Macron announced the Sept. 15 deadline to have at least one shot of a vaccine.
Veran said most suspended employees worked in support services, while few doctors and nurses were among the suspended.
Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said early Friday that France has reported more than 7 million COVID cases and more than 116,000 COVID deaths.
In the U.S. state of Idaho, hospitals have begun rationing care “because the massive increase of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization in all areas of the state has exhausted existing resources,” the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare said in a statement Thursday.
“The situation is dire – we don’t have enough resources to adequately treat the patients in our hospitals, whether you are there for COVID-19 or a heart attack or because of a car accident,” DHW Director Dave Jeppesen said in a statement.
The best way to end the rationing “is for more people to get vaccinated,” Jeppesen said.“It dramatically reduces your chances of having to go to the hospital if you do get sick from COVID-19.”
The Intenational Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and the World Trade Organization have met with the major COVID vaccine manufacturers to devise strategies to improve vaccine access for low- and middle-income countries.
The goal of the coalition is to vaccinate at least 40% of people in every country by the end of this year and at least 60% by mid-2022.
WHO said the 2021 target is “a critical milestone to end the pandemic and for global economic recovery.”
your ad hereTaiwan’s government called on the European Union to quickly begin trade talks after the bloc pledged to seek a trade deal with the tech-heavyweight island, something Taipei has long angled for.
The EU included Taiwan on its list of trade partners for a potential bilateral investment agreement in 2015, the year before President Tsai Ing-wen first became Taiwan’s president but has not held talks with Taiwan on the issue since then.
Responding to the EU’s newly announced strategy to boost its presence in the Indo-Pacific, including seeking a trade deal with Taiwan, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday talks should start soon. The European Parliament has already given its backing to an EU trade deal with Taiwan.
“We call on the European Union to initiate the pre-negotiation work of impact assessment, public consultation and scope definition for a Bilateral Investment Agreement with Taiwan as soon as possible in accordance with the resolutions of the European Parliament,” it said.
“As a like-minded partner of the EU’s with core values such as democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law, Taiwan will continue to strengthen cooperation in the supply chain reorganization of semiconductors and other related strategic industries, digital economy, green energy, and post-epidemic economic recovery.”
EU member states and the EU itself have no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan due to objections from China, which considers the island one of its provinces with no right to the trappings of statehood, so any investment deal could be tricky politically for the EU.
But the EU’s relations with China have worsened.
In May, the European Parliament halted ratification of a new investment pact with China until Beijing lifts sanctions on EU politicians, deepening a dispute in Sino-European relations and denying EU companies greater access to the world’s second-largest economy.
The EU has also been looking to boost cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductors, as a chip shortage roils supply chains and shuts some auto production lines, including in Europe.
your ad hereОсновний день голосування буде в неділю, 19 вересня
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На фінансування сектору безпеки і оборони України закладено 5,95% від ВВП
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Ukraine and the United States will start joint military exercises in western Ukraine next week, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Thursday, days after Belarus and Russia staged large-scale drills that raised neighboring countries’ concerns.
The “Zapad-2021” war games ran on Russia’s and Belarus’ western flanks, including sites close to the European Union’s borders, and alarmed Ukraine and some NATO countries.
Ukraine said the “Rapid Trident 2021” exercises would involve 6,000 troops from 15 countries — Ukraine, the United States and other NATO members — and would last until Oct. 1.
“The main goal is to prepare for joint actions as part of a multinational force during coalition operations,” it said in a statement.
Ukraine views the military exercises with Western partners as an important step on the path to NATO, believing that membership in the alliance would strengthen the country’s resistance to Russian aggression.
Kyiv’s relations with Moscow deteriorated in 2014 after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine and backed pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s Donbass region. The seven-year war with separatists killed more than 13,000 people.
Ukraine’s relations with Belarus also have worsened since Kyiv called the 2020 presidential election in Belarus neither free nor fair and condemned violence against protesters.
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Russians in the Far East began voting in a three-day parliamentary election in which vocal Kremlin critics have been barred from running following a historic crackdown on the opposition.
Parliamentary and local polls in the world’s largest country spread over 11 time zones began at 8 a.m. Friday. So as Muscovites prepared to go to bed, residents of the Far Eastern Chukotka and Kamchatka regions were gearing up to cast their ballots.
“Let’s go!” Ella Pamfilova, the head of the Central Election Commission, said in a live broadcast. “We are so excited!”
The run-up to the parliamentary polls has been marred by an unprecedented crackdown on Kremlin critics and independent media, with President Vladimir Putin’s top foe Alexey Navalny jailed in January and his organizations subsequently outlawed.
With many voters frustrated by falling incomes and not planning to cast their ballots, Putin urged Russians to elect a “strong” parliament.
“I’m counting on your responsible, balanced and patriotic civic position,” Putin said in a video address.
The 68-year-old Russian leader is currently isolating after the Kremlin announced this week an outbreak of coronavirus cases among his inner circle. He said Thursday that “dozens” had tested positive.
In a message from prison, Navalny called on Russians to cast aside apathy and vote pro-Kremlin candidates out of power.
“Are you not interested in trying?” he said in a message posted on Instagram, adding that even in prison he remained optimistic and urged Russians to do the same.
“I really do not think that I cannot change anything,” said the 45-year-old, who barely survived a nerve agent poisoning he has blamed on the Kremlin.
The opposition politician’s allies have been barred from running, and his team has promoted Navalny’s tactical voting project app, urging supporters to back candidates best positioned to beat Putin’s United Russia candidates.
A majority of the 225 alternative parliament candidates named by Navalny’s allies are running on the Communist Party’s list.
The media regulator has blocked dozens of websites linked to Navalny, including the tactical voting website, and has also piled pressure on Google and Apple to remove Navalny’s app from their stores.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has claimed that developers of Navalny’s app have ties to the Pentagon, and last week Moscow summoned U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan over interference of U.S. tech giants in the polls.
Recent surveys by state-run pollster VTsIOM showed fewer than 30% of Russians planning to vote for the ruling party, down from 40% to 45% in the weeks ahead of the last parliamentary election in 2016.
But United Russia is expected to retain its two-thirds majority in the Duma, enough to change the constitution as it did last year with reforms allowing Putin to extend his rule to 2036.
The vote is being held both online and in person, in a move officials said is aimed at limiting voters’ potential exposure to the coronavirus.
The opposition says that voting over several days gives officials greater opportunities to fix elections.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said in August that it would not be sending observers to Russia for the parliamentary election because of a limit on the number of observers imposed by Moscow.
Campaigning was lackluster, and critics said the vote was little more than a rubber-stamping of Putin’s allies.
Andrei Kolesnikov, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said that the Kremlin needed a pliant legislature ahead of 2024 when Putin’s current term ends.
Widespread claims of voter fraud during parliamentary elections in 2011 sparked major demonstrations, but political observers were not expecting protests this time.
“Once the Duma elections are over, protests are unlikely, since the opposition and civil society are demoralized,” Kolesnikov wrote. “The regime crackdown will intensify.”
Besides United Russia, 13 more parties are running in the elections.
A total of 225 of the State Duma’s 450 members are elected through party lists, while the rest are selected in single-member districts.
More than 108 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots in Russia, and another 2 million Russians can vote abroad.
Russian passport holders from Ukraine’s two breakaway regions can take part in the vote.
Russians are also voting in local polls in dozens of regions, including regional assembly and gubernatorial elections.
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Sir Clive Sinclair, the British inventor who pioneered the pocket calculator and affordable home computers, died Thursday at age 81.
He died at his home in London a decade after being diagnosed with cancer, U.K. media said, prompting tributes from many who fondly recalled their first experience of computing in the early 1980s.
He was still working on inventions last week “because that was what he loved doing,” his daughter Belinda Sinclair told the BBC. “He was inventive and imaginative, and for him, it was exciting and an adventure. It was his passion.”
Sinclair’s groundbreaking products included the first portable electronic calculator in 1972.
The Sinclair ZX80, which was launched in 1980 and sold for less than £100 at the time, brought home computing to the masses in Britain and beyond.
Other early home computers such as the Apple II cost far more, and Sinclair’s company was the first in the world to sell more than a million machines.
Follow-up models included the ZX Spectrum in 1982, which boasted superior power and a more user-friendly interface, turbocharging the revolution in gaming and programming at home.
British movie director Edgar Wright, whose latest film, Last Night in Soho, premiered in Venice this month, paid tribute to Sinclair on Twitter.
“For someone whose first glimpses of a brave new world were the terrifying graphics of 3D Monster Maze on the ZX81, I’d like to salute tech pioneer Sir Clive Sinclair,” he said. “He made 21st century dreams feel possible. Will bash away on the rubber keys of a Spectrum in your honour. RIP.”
Tom Watson, former deputy leader of Britain’s opposition Labor Party, tweeted: “This man changed the course of my life.
“And arguably, the digital age for us in the UK started with the Sinclair ZX80, when thousands of kids learnt to code using 1k of RAM. For us, the Spectrum was like a Rolls-Royce with 48k.”
However, not all of Sinclair’s inventions were a runaway success.
The Sinclair C5, a battery-powered tricycle touted as the future of eco-friendly transport, became an expensive flop after it was launched in 1985.
But in retrospect, it was ahead of its time, given today’s attention on climate change and the vogue for electric vehicles.
“You cannot exaggerate Sir Clive Sinclair’s influence on the world,” gaming journalist and presenter Dominik Diamond tweeted. “And if we’d all stopped laughing long enough to buy a C5, he’d probably have saved the environment.”
Born in 1940, Sinclair left school at 17, becoming a technical writer creating specialist manuals.
At 22, he formed his first company, making mail-order radio kits, including what was then the world’s smallest transistor radio.
Other ventures included digital watches and an early version of a flat-screen television.
He was knighted in 1983.
Ironically, in a 2013 interview with the BBC, Sinclair revealed that he did not use computers.
“I don’t like distraction,” he explained. “If I had a computer, I’d start thinking I could change this, I could change that, and I don’t want to. My wife very kindly looks after that for me.”
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Санкції стосуються п’яти прибічників «Аль-Каїди» з Туреччини, які надають угрупованню фінансові послуги та допомогу в організації поїздок
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«Реформа ВРП – це історична можливість створити ефективну та чесну судову систему, яку українці вимагають і на яку заслуговують»
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Єреван стверджує, що Азербайджан протягом десятиліть «піддавав вірмен расовій дискримінації»
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