Daily: 08/28/2022

Зеленський анонсував нові візити партнерів до України на прийдешньому тижні

Президент назвав тиждень, що починається, «дуже активним»

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Угода про нерозповсюдження ядерної зброї «залишається сильною» попри позицію Росії – Держдеп США

У заблокованому Москвою документі про ДНЯЗ містилася критика російської окупації Запорізької атомної електростанції

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Austria Backs EU Cap to End ‘Madness’ of Runaway Power Prices

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer backs a European Union-wide cap on runaway electricity prices, he said in a statement issued by his office Sunday.  
Austria’s conservative-led government was initially skeptical at the idea of capping power prices, but it has warmed to the idea as they have continued to rise in line with soaring gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We must finally stop the madness that is taking place in energy markets. And that can only happen through a European solution,” the statement quoted Nehammer as saying, adding that he would seek to convince holdouts in the bloc.

“Something has to happen at last. This market will not regulate itself in its current form. I call on all the EU 27 (member states) to stand together to stop this price explosion immediately.”

Austria is heavily dependent on Russian gas particularly in industry and heating, obtaining about 80% of its supply from Russia before the war. Most of its electricity, however, comes from renewables and there is growing incomprehension among the Austrian public at the market system where gas and power prices are closely linked.

The market price for electricity must come back down and must be decoupled from gas to bring it closer to actual production costs, Nehammer said.

“We cannot let (Russian President Vladimir) Putin determine the European electricity price every day,” he added.

The Czech Republic, which holds the rotating EU presidency, will propose an extraordinary meeting of the EU Energy Council as soon as possible to deal with soaring energy prices, Czech government officials said Friday as they seek to build European support for energy price caps.

The statement by Nehammer’s office said he would push for a sustainable model that can be implemented quickly, without elaborating. It added that he had discussed the issue with his Czech and German counterparts.  

 

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За кілька днів у ЄС можуть домовитися про призупинення видачі віз для громадян Росії

Неофіційна зустріч міністрів закордонних справ країн ЄС має відбутися 30 та 31 серпня у Празі

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Туреччина звинувачує Грецію в переслідуванні турецьких літаків над Середземним морем

У Міноборони Туреччини заявили, що Греція навела на її літаки системи С-300 російського виробництва

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Popes Who Resign Are Humble, Francis Says in Central Italy Visit 

Pope Francis, who has often said he may step down in the future if bad health impedes him from leading the Catholic Church, on Sunday praised the humility of one of the few popes in history to resign willingly instead of ruling for life.

L’Aquila, a central Italian city which Francis visited briefly, is the burial place of Celestine V, who resigned as pope in 1294 after only five months to return to his life as a hermit, establishing a papal prerogative.

Pope Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pontiff in about 600 years to resign willingly, visited L’Aquila four years before stepping down. In the past, Francis has also praised Benedict’s courage.

When the Vatican announced in June Francis’ trip to L’Aquila – to inaugurate an annual “feast of forgiveness” – it fueled speculation that a conjunction of events – including the induction of new cardinals on Saturday and meetings starting on Monday on the Vatican’s new constitution – could foreshadow a resignation announcement.

However, in an interview with Reuters last month Francis, 85, laughed the idea off, saying “it never entered my mind,” while leaving open the possibility that he could step down for health reasons in the distant future.

In the homily of a Mass for thousands of people in a central square, Francis noted that in “The Divine Comedy,” Dante Alighieri condemned Celestine for having carried out what the medieval poet called “The Great Refusal.”

But Francis, who prayed silently before Celestine’s tomb, said that by relinquishing power, Celestine showed the strength that comes from humility.

“In the eyes of men, the humble are seen as weak and losers, but in reality, they are the real winners because they are the only ones who trust completely in the Lord and know His will,” Francis said.

The pope, who has been using a wheelchair and a cane for the past few months because of a knee ailment, sat through most of the Mass but read his homily in a strong voice and often went off script.

He told the crowd how the pilot of the helicopter that brought him from Rome had to circle for some time because of thick fog in the mountainous area before finding an opening in the mist. He compared this to seizing an opening from God in one’s life.

Although Francis has quashed rumors that he plans to resign anytime soon, the visit underscored the Catholic Church’s need to regulate the status of pontiffs who step down.

L’Aquila was hit by a devastating earthquake in 2009 that killed 309 people, injured several thousand, and destroyed many buildings.

At the start of Sunday’s visit, Francis donned a grey fire fighter helmet and was taken around the ruins of the city’s cathedral, which is being reconstructed.

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Dutch Police: 6 Dead after Truck Hit Community Barbecue

The death toll from an accident when a truck drove off a dike and slammed into a community barbecue in a village south of Rotterdam rose to six Sunday and police said a further seven people are in hospital, including one in critical condition. 

Three men and three women were killed, ranging in age from 28 to 75, police said. 

Police spokeswoman Mirjam Boers said the truck driver, a 46-year-old Spanish man, is suspected of causing the accident that happened early Saturday evening in the village of Nieuw-Beijerland. His identity was not released, in line with Dutch privacy laws. 

The large truck the man was driving left a small rural road and careered down the bank of the dike and plowed into the village gathering. Boers said the driver was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. 

“We are investigating what could have happened,” Boers said. 

Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima said in a tweet that they were shocked by the accident that they said caused “an unimaginable sadness in this close-knit community. The affected families are in our thoughts and we wish the injured strength on their way to as good a recovery as possible.” 

Forensic investigators worked into the night Saturday around the truck where it stopped at the bottom of the dike. Later, a crane and a tow truck hauled it back onto the road. 

Photos of the scene showed bunting hanging between trees and chairs scattered around trestle tables with plates still on them. 

Prime Minister Mark Rutte also expressed sorrow in a tweet, saying, “My thoughts go out to the victims and next of kin of this terrible drama. I wish them much strength.” 

Local Mayor Charlie Aptroot visited the scene Saturday night. 

“My condolences go out to the victims, their families, eyewitnesses and first responders,” he said in a statement. 

He added that he had spoken to many of the people at the scene and expressed “appreciation for the way in which people are there for each other.” 

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До портів України на Дунаї за добу пройшла рекордна кількість суден з 24 лютого – Мінінфраструктури

З березня через дунайські порти вдалося переправити понад 4 мільйони тонн зерна

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Лубінець звернувся до ООН через демонстрацію Росією «останків» українських військових

«Єдиною метою таких дій Росії є чергове спричинення болю родичам загиблих і зниклих»

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«Путін хоче, щоб ми пішли на поступки». Джонсон попередив Британію про «дуже важкі» наступні місяці

Прем’єр-міністр Великої Британії Борис Джонсон попереджає британців про «дуже важкі» наступні місяці через великі рахунки за електроенергію і нагадує, що за цим стоїть російський президент Володимир Путін, який хоче отримати поступки від світу.  Про це він написав у колонці виданню TheMail +.

«Наступні місяці будуть важкими, можливо, дуже важкими. Наші рахунки за електроенергію (будуть) приголомшливими. Багатьох із нас вартість опалення житла вже лякає. Та все ж я переконаний як ніколи, що ми успішно пройдемо це – і Британія вийде (з цих випробувань – ред.) більш сильною та процвітаючою. Варто пам’ятати, хто стоїть за цим глобальним зростанням цін на енергоресурси і що зараз стоїть на кону», – написав він.

Борис Джонсон нагадує, що до кінця 2021 року світ зміг відновитися після пандемії COVID-19, але ніхто не розраховував, що Путін вирішить розпочати «зловмисний, ірраціональний напад на невинну європейську країну».

«Це варварське вторгнення Путіна «налякало» енергетичні ринки…Ось чому ваш рахунок за електроенергію подвоюється. Боюся, Путін це знає, і йому це подобається. Він хоче, щоб ми пішли на поступки. Він вважає, що м’якотілим європейським політикам не вистачить духу на боротьбу – що з приходом зими ми знімемо санкції і будемо благати про російську нафту й газ. Він вірить, що ми втомимося підтримувати Україну і почнемо штовхати її до, хоч і огидної, угоди з тираном у Кремлі. Але це було би цілковитим божевіллям. У цій жорстокій боротьбі український народ повинен перемогти – і переможе. Так само і Британія», – пише Джонсон.

За його словами, з кожним місяцем позиція Путіна слабшає, а його здатність до «знущань і шантажу» зменшується.

Британський прем’єр додав, що уряд повинен і допоможе людям подолати кризу – колосальні суми уже спрямовані на те, щоб допомогти людям оплачувати рахунки.

«Наступного місяця – хто б мене не заступив – уряд оголосить про ще один величезний пакет фінансової підтримки. Варто пам’ятати, чому ми маємо право здійснювати ці платежі», – пояснив Джонсон.

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У Сербії помер історик, україніст Янко Рамач

Історик на підставі документів й народної творчості переконував, що русини є частиною українського народу

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Hungary Fireworks go on But Weather Agency Controversy Stays

An elaborate fireworks display took place Saturday under calm skies in Hungary’s capital after a postponement of the show last weekend caused controversy when it led to the firing of the country’s top meteorologists over their weather predictions.

Saturday’s event, a rescheduling of the display planned for Hungary’s national holiday a week earlier, drew tens of thousands to the Danube River in Budapest in what was billed as Europe’s largest fireworks show.

On Monday, the two top officials at Hungary’s National Meteorological Service were fired after the government committee managing holiday events postponed the show based on the weather service’s prediction of a high probability of heavy rain that evening.

While storms did strike other areas of Hungary that night, they did not hit the capital. Weather service chief Kornelia Radics, who had served since 2013, and her deputy Gyula Horvath, who has served since 2016, lost their jobs.

Gabor Valter Tolczli, a spectator at Saturday’s fireworks show, said, “I was surprised that the fireworks were postponed a week ago because there was no storm then. But today I don’t mind the postponement, because there are fewer crowds.”

He added, however, that he was “outraged that the meteorologists were fired, because you can never predict the weather 100%.”

The firings led to accusations from critics of Hungary’s nationalist government, led by autocratic Prime Minister Viktor Orban, of punitive political pressure reminiscent of Hungary’s communist past.

Academics and scientists in Hungary have long complained of pressure being exerted on independent scientific bodies and Orban’s government has been accused of corruption, nepotism and anti-democratic tendencies.

This has led to clashes with the European Union, which has withheld billions in pandemic recovery funds from Hungary over what the bloc sees as deficiencies in the Hungarian government’s adherence to basic values and the rule of law.

Hungary’s government says the firings were related to the Aug. 20 forecast but that the minister overseeing the weather service had previously been dissatisfied with its performance. In a news conference Tuesday, Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, said the service’s assessment of a high probability of extreme weather — which never came — was “the last straw.”

On Wednesday, Hungary’s government appointed Laszlo Hanyecz, the weather service’s vice president for economic affairs, as its interim head. Of 19 leading officials at the agency, Hanyecz, who is not a meteorologist, was one of only two not to sign a letter demanding the reinstatement of the fired weather chiefs.

Climate Without Borders, an international network of weather presenters, released a letter signed by 76 members from 48 countries expressing solidarity with the fired forecasters.

“As forecasters, our first mission is to protect life and property. When Hungarian meteorologists saw danger in the forecast, they did what any of us would do — warned of the risk to life,” the letter read, condemning the firings.

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In Poland, Where Coal is King, Homeowners Queue for Days to Buy Fuel

In Poland’s late summer heat, dozens of cars and trucks line up at the Lubelski Wegiel Bogdanka coal mine, as people fearful of winter shortages wait for days to stock up on heating fuel in queues reminiscent of communist times.

Artur, 57, a pensioner, drove up from Swidnik, some 30 kilometers from the mine in eastern Poland on Tuesday, hoping to buy several tons of coal for himself and his family.

“Toilets were put up today, but there’s no running water,” he said, after three nights of sleeping in his small red hatchback in a crawling queue of trucks, tractors towing trailers and private cars.

“This is beyond imagination; people are sleeping in their cars. I remember the communist times, but it didn’t cross my mind that we could return to something even worse.”

Artur’s household is one of the 3.8 million in Poland that rely on coal for heating and now face shortages and price hikes, after Poland and the European Union imposed an embargo on Russian coal following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

Poland banned purchases with an immediate effect in April, while the bloc mandated fading them out by August.

While Poland produces over 50 million tons from its own mines every year, imported coal, much of it from Russia, is a household staple because of competitive prices and the fact that Russian coal is sold in lumps more suitable for home use.

Soaring demand has forced Bogdanka and other state-controlled mines to ration sales or offer the fuel to individual buyers via online platforms, in limited amounts. Artur, who did not want to give his full name, said he had collected paperwork from his extended family in the hope of picking up all their fuel allocations at once.

The mine planned to sell fuel for some 250 households Friday and would continue sales over the weekend to cut waiting times, Dorota Choma, a representative for the Bogdanka mine told Reuters.

The limits are in place to prevent hoarding and profiteering, or even selling spots in the queue, Choma said.

Like all Polish coal mines, Bogdanka typically sells most of the coal it produces to power plants. Last year, it sold less than 1% of its output to individual clients so it lacks the logistics to sell fuel directly to retail buyers.

Lukasz Horbacz, head of the Polish Coal Merchant Chamber of Commerce, said the decline in Russian imports began in January when Moscow started using rail tracks for military transport.

“But the main reason for the shortages is the embargo that went into immediate effect. It turned the market upside down,” he told Reuters.

A spokesperson for the Weglokoks, a state-owned coal trader tasked by the government to boost imports from other countries declined to comment, while the climate ministry was not available for comment. Government officials have repeatedly said Poland would have enough fuel to meet demand.

In recent years, Poland has been the most vocal critic of EU climate policy and a staunch defender of coal that generates as much as 80% of its electricity. But coal output has steadily declined as the cost of mining at deeper levels increases.

Coal consumption has held mostly steady, prompting a gradual rise in imports. In 2021, Poland imported 12 million tons of coal, of which 8 million tons came from Russia and were used by households and small heating plants.

In July, Poland ordered two state-controlled companies to import several million tons of the fuel from other sources including Indonesia, Colombia and Africa, and introduced subsidies for homeowners facing a doubling or tripling of coal prices from last winter.

“As much as 60% of those that use coal for heating may be affected by energy poverty,” Horbacz said.

Back at Bogdanka, Piotr Maciejewski, 61, a local farmer who joined the queue Tuesday, said he was prepared for a long wait.

“My tractor stays in line, I’m going home to get some sleep,” he said.

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Верещук пояснила алгоритм рішення про обов’язкову евакуацію

Віцепрем’єр, міністр з питань реінтеграції тимчасово окупованих територій Ірина Верещук пояснила, що рішення про обов’язкову евакуацію ухвалюється у відповідь на звернення місцевих ОВА.

За її словами, саме місцева влада оцінює ситуацію у конкретному регіоні та робить висновки: чи можуть люди безпечно там проживати протягом цьогорічного осінньо-зимового періоду. Враховуються як ризики обстрілів, так і стан житлово-комунальної інфраструктури, сказала Верещук в ефірі телемарафону.

«На сьогодні небезпечними можуть бути лише окремі частини Харківської, Миколаївської та Запорізької областей. Саме з цих окремих районів, можливо, буде організована обов’язкова евакуація – така ж, як триває з Донеччини», – повідомила віцепрем’єр.

Вона зауважила: «Йдеться не про області, а лише про окремі їхні райони».

26 серпня Ірина Верещук назвала регіони, на які чекає обов’язкова евакуація – це Харківщина, Запорізька область та деякі території Миколаївської області. За її словами, від початку серпня з Донеччини евакуювали понад 10 тисяч людей.

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Мінсоцполітики передало до ООН черговий список осіб на виплату грошової допомоги

Допомога виплачується у розмірі 2220 грн на кожного члена сім’ї на місяць упродовж трьох місяців

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