Daily: 06/10/2022

Officials Warn of Cholera Outbreak in Mariupol

Ukrainian and international officials are warning of a possible cholera outbreak in the Russian occupied besieged city of Mariupol.

Britain’s Defense Intelligence agency, from its Twitter account Friday, said Russia is having trouble supplying basic services to the territories it is occupying, including sanitation, safe drinking water and medical supplies. They said there have been isolated cases of cholera already reported in the city.

Those reports reinforce comments made earlier in the week by an aide to Mariupol’s mayor made on Ukrainian television. Petro Andryushchenko said the humanitarian situation in Mariupol is getting worse every day. He said drinking water had been contaminated by decomposing garbage and corpses, increasing the risk of a cholera outbreak.

His specific claims could not be independently verified, but the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Europe regional director, Hans Kluge, speaking at a news briefing last month in Kyiv, issued a warning about the potential for a cholera outbreak in occupied areas, where water and sanitation infrastructure is damaged or destroyed.

At that same briefing, WHO’s emergencies coordinator for Europe described Mariupol’s hygienic situation as a “a huge hazard” and said they received “information that there are swamps actually in the streets, and the sewage water and drinking water are getting mixed.”

The WHO says cholera is an extremely serious disease caused by eating or drinking food or water that is contaminated with the Vibrio cholerae bacterium. It can cause severe acute watery diarrhea with severe dehydration. It affects both children and adults and can kill within hours if untreated.

Russian forces bombarded Mariupol for weeks, and Ukrainian officials estimate 90% of the city was destroyed.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.

your ad here

British Plan to Fly Asylum-Seekers to Rwanda Faces Last-Minute Legal Challenge

Refugee support groups have launched a legal case against the British government to block a flight scheduled next week that would take hundreds of asylum-seekers for processing in Rwanda. As Henry Ridgwell reports from London, the United Nations has also criticized the policy.

your ad here

Німеччина вимагає від Сербії долучитися до санкцій проти Росії – Вучич

Сербський президент заявив, що вимога була висловлена «рішуче й гостро»

your ad here

У Нідерландах відбулось останнє засідання у справі MH17, вирок буде за кілька місяців

Оголошення вироку очікується у листопаді або грудні 2022 року

your ad here

У Раді заблокували роботу депутату Ковальову, який підтримав окупантів Херсонщини – джерело

Олексій Ковальов виключений із фракції «Слуга народу» після того, як він поїхав на окуповану частину Херсонщини і заявив про намір співпрацювати з окупаційною владою

your ad here

Turkish Media Groups Voice Concern Over Draft Disinformation Bill

A years-old piece of draft legislation that seeks to criminalize the spread of disinformation is moving toward a vote in the Turkish parliament. The bill is being met with deep concern by media rights groups across the country.

If passed, the so-called “disinformation” law put forward by ruling majority parliamentarians would carry a sentence of up to three years in prison for the spread of fake new or disinformation as defined by government officials.

Newly drafted proposals are laid out across 40 articles, including some that would target social media users and regulate digital media. If passed, the bill would consider digital media outlets as conventional media and subject them to the same rights and regulations as print and broadcast outlets, including the eligibility to apply for press cards and provisions around access to state advertising revenue.

Skeptics of the proposed law say the bill could be used to pressure digital media before the upcoming elections in Turkey. The next presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for June 2023, but the opposition parties are calling for snap elections, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected.

“We are concerned that if this bill becomes law before the elections, it will be used as a tool of silencing,” Faruk Eren, head of the press union of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey, told VOA. “There are vague terms such as ‘fake news and false news’ in the bill. The government already calls every news that disturbs it [a] ‘lie’ or ‘unfounded.’ Now they will try to silence the digital media by using this law.”

The proposal’s signatories, however, say that the bill is needed to protect people from “slander, insults, smears, defamation, hatred and discrimination.” They also argue that such regulations on disinformation are enforced by Western countries, including the United States and European countries.

“Similar regulations are being implemented in Europe,” Mahir Unal, parliamentary group deputy chairman for Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), said in a nationally televised interview.

Turkey already has a poor record for media rights, ranking 149 out of 180 countries on the Reporters Without Borders’s (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, where No. 1 is freest. In the report, Paris-based RSF describes Turkey as a country in which “all possible means are used to undermine critics.”

More press cards, more potential violations

Some observers call parts of the bill a step in the right direction for press freedoms in Turkey, such as granting digital reporters eligibility to apply for press cards, which have been a controversial issue in Turkey.

RSF and the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists say the Turkish government has politicized the press card issuance process — which has been run by the presidential communications directorate since 2018 — and discriminated against independent journalists.

“One of the most important regulations in this proposal is considering digital media as conventional media and enabling them to apply for press cards,” Mustafa Gokhan Teksen, an Ankara-based lawyer, told VOA. “This would provide the opportunity of job security for journalists in digital media.”

On the other hand, Teksen said other articles in the bill propose new offenses in the Turkish penal code.

Yaman Akdeniz, a cyberlaw professor at Istanbul Bilgi University, thinks that subjecting digital and conventional media to the same guidelines looks good on paper but, in reality, it comes with specific punitive regulations.

“Not only will decisions to block access and remove content be sent to news websites, but also there will be applications like rebuttal in the press law,” Akdeniz told VOA.

Another section seen as troubling by media rights analysts is Article 29, which allows for jail sentences of up to three years for those who “disseminate misleading information to the public” that disturbs public order and “creates fear and panic.”

The proposed article includes language referring to Turkey’s foreign and domestic security, along with issues of public order and health.

Akdeniz is concerned that Article 29 defines the violations too broadly, such that the language could be exploited against dissidents, media outlets and journalists if the bill becomes the law.

“We are entering a period where we will see more self-censorship due to the expansion of a pre-existing environment of fear with vague definitions,” Akdeniz said. “We will see that investigation of crime will be opened against media outlets because of their coverage, and journalists will be prosecuted for disinformation crimes.”

Social media

The bill also recommends restrictions and penalties for social media companies and individual users deemed to have spread disinformation, with expanded sentences for those who do so anonymously.

Under Article 34, social media companies will be required to appoint representatives holding Turkish citizenship and residing in the country. The representatives will be required to follow legally binding content removal requests and hand over personal data about users. Failure to do could result in “bans, fines and even prison sentences for international companies.”

Akdeniz says that a separate social media law passed in 2020 paved the way for Article 34.

“Back then, [critics of the law warned] social media platforms, ‘Don’t open offices in Turkey; if you give [the Turkish government] an inch, it will take a yard.’ Now, this looks like it is happening,” Akdeniz said.

If the bill becomes the law, Akdeniz said, “social media platforms that do not comply with these regulations would be punished” and possibly face state-backed bandwidth restrictions.

Article 22 covers access to state advertising revenue, including the Press Advertising Agency’s powers to issue penalties and control the appeals process.

Critics say a proposal in Article 22 that allows advertising penalties to be issued without trial, regardless of the appeals process, is particularly threatening for opposition newspapers.

The proposed bill, which passed parliament’s digital media commission with minor changes on June 2, is currently being examined by the justice commission.

The bill is expected to go up for a vote later this month.

This story originated in VOA’s Turkish Service.

your ad here

Russia, China Unveil First Road Bridge

Russia and China on Friday unveiled the first road bridge between the two countries as Moscow pivots to Asia amid its confrontation with the West over Ukraine.

The kilometer-long bridge over the Amur River links the far eastern Russian city of Blagoveshchensk with Heihe in northern China.

The construction of the bridge was completed two years ago but its inauguration was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

During a ceremony in Blagoveshchensk on Friday, the bridge opened to freight traffic, with the passage of the first trucks greeted by fireworks.

Consisting of two traffic lanes, the bridge cost around 19 billion rubles ($328 million), according to official figures. 

Once bitter foes during the Cold War, Moscow and Beijing have over the past years ramped up political and economic cooperation as both are driven by a desire to counterbalance what they see as US global dominance.

Trade between Russia and China, which share a 4,250-kilometre border, has flourished since the normalization of relations between the two giants in the late 1980s, but has always come up against the region’s lack of transport infrastructure. 

your ad here

Українські правозахисники закликають Раду якнайшвидше призначити нового омбудсмена

«В умовах воєнного стану ефективна діяльність Офісу омбудсмена надзвичайно важлива для українського суспільства»

your ad here

Спецпосланниця США: Путін отримує від Лукашенка все, що йому треба

«Хоча слід зазначити, що білоруські збройні сили наразі не воюють в Україні, головне питання тут – чи отримує Путін від Лукашенка все, що хоче і що йому потрібно. Поки виглядає, що так»

your ad here

Bloomberg: Данія і Нідерланди виступають проти статусу кандидата в ЄС для України

Водночас більшість європейських країн позитивно ставляться до заявки Києва

your ad here

Україна має одну артилерійську одиницю на 10-15 російських – ГУР

Наразі триває артилерійська війна, і Україна поступається Росії з точки зору артилерії, заявив Вадим Скібіцький

your ad here

Україна розслідує винесення бойовиками «вироку» полоненим іноземцям із ЗСУ – Венедіктова

«Україна… вживатиме всіх необхідних заходів для того, щоб усі, хто був причетний до цих протиправних дій, були притягнуті до відповідальності за них»

your ad here

Фінляндія має намір відгородитися від Росії парканами

Після початку повномасштабного вторгнення Росії на територію України раніше нейтральна Фінляндія заявила про намір приєднатися до НАТО

your ad here

Війна РФ проти України: Зеленський заявив про успіхи ЗСУ в Запорізькій та Харківській областях

«Я вдячний усім нашим захисникам, усім захисницям, завдяки яким це можливо. Завдяки яким ми витримали вже 106 днів повномасштабної війни»

your ad here

«Медуза»: Кремль хоче об’єднати захоплені українські землі в один регіон РФ

Йдеться про захоплені російською армією території в Херсонській і Запорізькій областях, а також про ОРДЛО. Перед тим на цих територіях мають пройти так звані «референдуми»

your ad here

Europe’s Central Bank to Hike Rates in July, 1st in 11 Years

The European Central Bank will raise interest rates next month for the first time in 11 years and add another hike in September, catching up with other central banks worldwide as they pivot from supporting the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic to squelching soaring inflation. 

The surprise move Thursday marks a turning point after years of extremely low interest rates but faces risks from weakening prospects for economic growth. Russia’s war in Ukraine has sent shock waves through the global economy, particularly as energy prices have soared and clobbered Europe, which relies on Russian oil and natural gas. 

“Russia’s unjustified aggression towards Ukraine continues to weigh on the economy in Europe and beyond,” bank President Christine Lagarde told reporters. The war is “disrupting trade, is leading to shortages of materials and is contributing to high energy and commodity prices.” 

The bank’s 25-member monetary policy council, which met in Amsterdam, said inflation had become a “major challenge” and that those forces had “broadened and intensified” in the 19 countries that use the euro currency. Consumer prices rose by a record 8.1% in May. The bank’s target is 2%. 

The ECB will first end its bond purchases that buoy the economy and then raise rates by a quarter-point in July. It left open the possibility that it would make a more drastic, half-percentage-point increase in September, saying that if the inflation outlook persists or deteriorates, “a larger increment will be appropriate.” 

The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its key rate by a half-point May 4 and has held out the prospect of more of those larger increases. The Bank of England has approved rate hikes four times since December. 

The bar to a half-point hike in September “has been set very low,” said Marc Ostwald, chief economist and global strategist at ADM Investor Services International. 

How far the bank will go after that is harder to tell, said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING bank. 

“Simply put, the ECB just announced the end of a long era,” Brzeski said. “Whether this will also be the start of a new era of continuously rising interest rates, however, is still far from certain.” 

The prospect of rapid increases has sent shudders through stock markets, as higher rates would raise the returns on less risky alternatives to stocks and can make credit more expensive for businesses. Lagarde said, however, that the path of increases would be “gradual but sustained” after September. 

“High inflation is a major challenge for all of us,” the bank said in a policy statement. “The governing council will make sure that inflation returns to its 2% target over the medium term.” 

By raising its benchmarks, the bank can influence what financial institutions, companies, consumers and governments have to pay to borrow the money they need. So higher rates can help cool off an overheating economy. 

But higher rates can also weigh on economic growth, making the ECB’s job a delicate balance between snuffing out high inflation and not blunting economic activity. 

The ECB slashed its growth projection for this year to 2.8% from 3.7%. It raised its outlook for inflation, saying price increases would average 6.8% this year, up from 5.1% in its March forecast. 

The bank also increased its crucial inflation forecast for 2024 — to 2.1% from 1.9%. That is significant because it indicates the bank sees inflation as above target for several years, a strong argument for more rate increases. 

The euro’s exchange rate to the dollar jumped by almost a half-cent, to $1.076, after the decision. Higher rates can increase demand for investments denominated in a currency, boosting its exchange rate. The sudden jump indicates the bank had gone further than expected in announcing rate rises. 

An ECB’s move to attack inflation has raised concerns about the impact of higher interest rates on heavily indebted governments, most notably Italy. The bank announced no new support measures that could help such countries, saying only that it would respond with flexibility if some parts of the eurozone were facing excessive borrowing costs. 

The rate hikes end an era of persistently low rates that started during the global financial crisis, which broke out in 2008. The increases will start from record lows of zero for the ECB’s lending rate to banks and minus 0.5% on overnight deposits from banks. 

your ad here

За Путіним у закордонних поїздках екскременти і сечу збирає спеціальний співробітник охорони – ЗМІ

За даними журналістів, один із охоронців Путіна з 2017 року відвозить зібраний «біоматеріал» до Росії для того, щоб приховати інформацію про стан здоров’я Путіна

your ad here

Нові західні дані про втрати РФ у війні: до 20 тисяч убитими

Російські війська втрачають особливо велику кількість живої сили та бойової техніки у нинішніх боях на заході Луганської області – в районі міст Сєвєродонецьк та Лисичанськ, пише The Guardian

your ad here

Зеленський розповів, про що говорив із Макроном

«Говорили передусім про оборонну підтримку», каже Володимир Зеленський

your ad here