Jordan’s high and rising public debt has worried the International Monetary Fund and prompted a downgrade from Standard & Poor’s. So the government is planning a blast of austerity by year-end. Tax hikes and subsidy cuts —- likely to be highly unpopular —- are on the agenda as the country’s debt to GDP ratio has reached a record 95 percent, from 71 percent in 2011. “Postponing problems might increase the popularity of the government but would be a crime against the nation,” Prime Minister Hani Mulki told a group of parliamentarians this week. After an IMF standby arrangement that brought some fiscal stability, Jordan agreed last year to a more ambitious three-year program of long-delayed structural reforms to cut public debt to 77 percent of GDP by 2021. The debt is at least in part due to successive governments adopting an expansionist fiscal policy characterized by job creation in the bloated public sector, and by lavish subsidies for bread and other staple goods. It also hiked spending on welfare and public sector pay in a move to ensure stability in the aftermath of the “Arab Spring” protests in the region in 2011. But the economy has slowed, battered by the turmoil in neighboring Syria and Iraq. The economic strains reduced local revenue and foreign aid, forcing Jordan to borrow heavily externally and also resort to more domestic financing. Although there has been some progress this year with improving remittances, tourism and some rebound in exports, there has been no pickup …
Уряд призначив нового голову Держінспекції ядерного регулювання і звільнив виконувача обов’язків голови Держгеокадастру
Кабінет міністрів призначив Григорія Плачкова головою Державної інспекції ядерного регулювання та звільнив із посади голови Державної служби України з питань геодезії, картографії та кадастру Олега Цвяха. Плачков очолив Державну інспекцію ядерного регулювання замість виконувача обов’язків голови відомства Бориса Столярчука. А той, як повідомлялося, був призначений після того, як попередній керівник інспекції Сергій Божко помер 6 лютого цього року. Як заявив під час засідання уряду прем’єр-міністр Володимир Гройсман, він також буде наполягати на проведенні перевірки діяльності голови Держгеокадастру. «Ми говорили про Держгеокадастр. Є нарікання й на Укртрансінспекцію від бізнесу: то дозволи якісь не видають, то вимагають щось за дозволи. Є нарікання на інспекцію з праці: замість того, щоб займатись безпекою праці реально і детінізацією, вони невідомо чим займаються, ходять, доять бізнес», – сказав він. Володимир Гройсман заявив про відсторонення від служби виконувача обов’язків голови Держгеокадастру Олега Цвяха 24 жовтня в ході засідання Ради регіонального розвитку. Державний земельний кадастр – це державна геоінформаційна система відомостей про землі, розташовані в межах державного кордону України, їхнє цільове призначення і обмеження у використанні. Кадастр містить дані про кількісну та якісну характеристику земель, їх оцінку, розподіл між власниками та користувачами. Держгеокадастр, серед іншого, забезпечує раціональне використання земель. …
«Укрзалізниця» хоче оновити електрички і з наступного року запровадити електронні квитки на потяги в ЄС
Компанія «Укрзалізниця» має намір запровадити електронний квиток на регіональні потяги та запустити електронний сервіс для купівлі квитків у країни Європейського союзу із 2018 року, заявив на засіданні уряду виконувач обов’язків голови правління Євген Кравцов. «Планується, що впродовж наступного року ми зможемо запустити велику кількість нових електронних сервісів. Це онлайн-продаж квитків на всі сполучення з ЄС, це впровадження електронного квитка на всіх регіональних потягах, це онлайн-бронювання додаткових послуг, котрі сьогодні надає «Укрзалізниця» і котрі ми недостатньо просуваємо. Також дуже важливо – це інтероперабельність у пасажирському господарстві з іншими видами сполучень. Перш за все – це автобусні трансфери. Плануємо запустити єдиний квиток із автобусним трансфером для української залізниці», – сказав він. Окрім того, за словами Кравцова, наступного року «Укрзалізниця» планує пілотний проект щодо приміських потягів у київському вузлі. «Це має бути сполучення модернізованими електричками з інтервалом руху потягів у 20–25 хвилин на найбільш пріоритетних напрямках приміського сполучення – Ірпінь, Буча, Немішаєве, Бровари», – зазначив чиновник. На переконання Кравцова, це має дозволити розвантажити автошляхи і покращити ситуацію людям, які їздять до столиці на роботу із передмість і сусідніх населених пунктів. 18 січня Кабінет міністрів вивів «Укрзалізницю» з підпорядкування Міністерства інфраструктури і передав в управління уряду. 18 жовтня міністр інфраструктури Володимир Омелян заявив, що Київський апеляційний адміністративний суд підтвердив незаконність передачі ПАТ «Укрзалізниця» з підпорядкування Мінінфраструктури до Мінекономрозвитку. За його словами, апеляційні скарги Кабміну і Мінекономрозвитку суд залишив без задоволення. …
Україна піднялася в рейтингу Світового банку Doing Business – Порошенко
Україна поліпшила свої позиції в рейтингу легкості ведення бізнесу за версією Світового банку Doing Business на чотири позиції і піднялася на 76-е місце з загалом 190. Про це повідомив президент України Петро Порошенко у своєму Twitter 24 жовтня. Офіційно рейтинг легкості ведення бізнесу від Світового банку Doing Business 2018 буде оприлюднений 31 жовтня. Мінекономрозвитку прогнозувало, що Україна може піднятися в рейтингу легкості ведення бізнесу від Світового банку Doing Business 2018 на 10 позицій – до 70-го місця, що потенційно може приносити до країни щороку додатково мільярд доларів інвестицій. …
A Look Back At America’s Decades-Long War On Drugs
The United States is suffering through an unprecedented, deadly wave of opioid and prescription drug overdoses. The drug crisis comes nearly 50 years after the government declared a “War on Drugs.” VOA’s Chris Simkins looks back at the War on Drugs and how experts say mistakes of the past cannot be repeated in this new battle against opioid drug abuse. …
Individualized Approach in Fighting Tumors
Doctors in the U.S. are increasingly employing a new approach when treating tumors, thanks to the new technology of genomic sequencing. It allows them to look at each patient and his or her cancer as an individual, and develop a customized therapy. The new approach is showing some promising results. VOA’s George Putic reports. …
Study: Arctic Sea Ice May Be Shrinking Faster Than Thought
Arctic sea ice may be thinning faster than predicted because salty snow on the surface of the ice skews the accuracy of satellite measurements, a new study from the University of Calgary said on Tuesday. The report from the Canadian university’s Cryosphere Climate Research Group published in the academic journal Geophysical Research Letters found satellite estimates for the thickness of seasonal sea ice have been overestimated by up to 25 percent. That means the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free much sooner than some scientific predictions, which forecast sea ice will first disappear completely during summer months between 2040 and 2050, according to lead author Vishnu Nandan. Ice-free summers in the Arctic Ocean would impact global weather patterns by increasing the magnitude and frequency of major storms, and alter the Arctic marine ecosystem, making it harder for animals like polar bears to hunt. There are a wide range of projections as to when Arctic sea ice will start disappearing in summertime as a result of warming global temperatures, and the University of Calgary study calls into question satellite measurements provided so far. “The problem is, microwave measurements from satellites don’t penetrate the salty snow very well, so the satellite is not measuring the proper sea ice freeboard and the satellite readings overestimate the thickness of the ice,” Nandan said. The sea ice freeboard refers to ice that can be seen above sea level and co-researcher John Yackel said, “Our results suggest that snow salinity should be considered in all future estimates …
China Turning Pakistan Port Into Regional Giant
An unprecedented Chinese financial and construction effort is rapidly developing Pakistan’s strategically located Arabian Sea port of Gwadar into one of the world’s largest transit and transshipment cargo facilities. The deep water port lies at the convergence of three of the most commercially important regions of the world, the oil-rich Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. Beijing is developing Gwadar as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, known as CPEC. The two countries launched the 15-year joint mega project in 2015 when President Xi Jinping visited Islamabad. Under the cooperation deal construction or improvement of highways, railways, pipelines, power plants, communications and industrial zones is underway in Pakistan with an initially estimated Chinese investment of $46 billion. The aim is to link Gwadar to landlocked western China, including its Muslim-majority Xinjiang region, giving it access to a shorter and secure route through Pakistan to global trade. The port will also provide the shortest route to landlocked Central Asian countries, including Afghanistan, through transit trade and offering transshipment facilities. Chinese fuel imports and trading cargo will be loaded on trucks and ferried to and from Xinjiang through the Karakoram Highway, snaking past snow-caped peaks in northern Pakistan. ‘Qualitative change’ Gwadar will be able to handle about one million tons of cargo annually by the end of the year. Officials anticipate that with expansion plans under way, the port will become South Asia’s biggest shipping center within five years, with a yearly capacity of handling 13-million tons of cargo. And by …
US Workforce to Add 11.5 Million Jobs by 2026
The U.S. economy is expected add another 11.5 million jobs by 2026, as an aging population and longer life spans raise the need for health care providers. The total U.S. workforce is expected to grow to 167.6 million people. Tuesday’s projections come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which says job growth will accelerate slightly from its current pace, but it will not return to the brisk gains seen the over previous decades. The BLS updates its job outlook every two years as new information becomes available. The percentage of the workforce over age 55 will rise to nearly one-quarter in 2026, a sharp increase from the less than 17 percent back in 2006. People in their 50s and 60s may retire, which is one reason experts expect workforce participation rates (the percentage of working age people who have jobs or are seeking work) to decline. Over the decade, nine out of 10 new jobs will be in the services sector, particularly health care. Employment by companies that produce goods is expected to grow at a meager one-tenth of one percent a year, with a gain of just 219,000 jobs by 2026. The workforce is expected to become more diverse as Asian and Hispanic parts of the U.S. population grow more quickly than average. Whoever is in the workforce will find additional education important, as two out of three jobs in the fastest-growing areas require at least some post-secondary education and training. And the whole economy is predicted to …
Not So Cold Duck? Man Keeps Looking for Bird Thought Extinct
Hope is the thing with feathers, poet Emily Dickinson wrote. For Richard Thorns, the feathers are pink. Thorns’ hope? To prove that a colorful duck is not extinct. This week, he launches a seventh expedition into the inaccessible wilds of Myanmar to search for the pink-headed duck that hasn’t been seen alive since 1949, and that was in India. No one has seen the bird alive in Myanmar in more than a century. Thorns, a British writer who quit his shop clerk job 20 years ago after reading about the pink-headed duck in the book “Vanishing Birds,” has spent $20,000 of his own money on previous fruitless trips. His birder brother called him mad. “I could have had a lot of nice things,” the 53-year-old said. “I don’t want nice things. I want to see a pink-headed duck.” This time, he is backed by the Global Wildlife Conservation group, which launched a hunt for “lost species” — 25 quirky and elusive plants and animals beginning with the duck. A sports optic company and cheesemaking company are also helping pay. Thorns and three others plan to head to the wetlands north of the vast Indawgyi Lake during the rainy season where they believe they have a better chance of spotting the duck. And Thorn thinks he has a secret weapon: elephants. He used canoes in the past and thinks he probably spooked the shy birds. Now he plans to bring elephants stomping through the wetlands. …
Almost To The End Of Polio
Nearly 30 years ago, 1,000 children a day were paralyzed by the polio virus. So far this year, 11 children have been diagnosed with polio, thanks to a global effort to wipe out the polio virus. The effort has produced amazing results, but as VOA’s Carol Pearson reports, those behind it say it’s not time yet to celebrate. …
Demand for Hawking Thesis Shuts Down Cambridge University Website
When Britain’s Cambridge University put physicist Stephen Hawking’s 1966 thesis on line for the first time Monday, the university’s website collapsed. Professor Hawking’s “Properties of Expanding Universes” has been the most requested item in the university’s library. To meet the demand, and with Hawking’s encouragement, Cambridge made it available on line. About 60,000 people sought to access it, causing the system to periodically shut down throughout the day Monday. Hawking is the world’s best-known physicist and expert on the cosmos. His landmark 1988 work “A Brief History of Time” has sold more than 10 million copies. With his thesis now available for anyone to read, Hawking said he hopes to “inspire people around the world to look up at the stars and not down at their feet, to wonder about our place in the universe and to try and make sense of the cosmos.” …
Brighten Your Mood with a Rainbow of Food
A chocolate bar may make you feel better when you’re down, but a cup of yogurt or a handful of cashews might be a better choice. “I think about our body in some ways like a car engine,” says therapist Leslie Korn. “We need to give it the right fuel. And each of us have a need for a particular combination of proteins, and carbohydrates and fats.” Korn has been treating people for trauma and depression for more than 40 years. She noticed that when her patients changed their diet and began eating foods like dark chocolate, sweet potatoes, eggs and cherries, they had much more success in lifting their depression and decreasing their pain. She turned her observations into a book: The Good Mood Kitchen. It contains recipes and nutrition tips that can help put you in a good mood. Fat for the brain Fats, she explains, are not the nemesis many diets have made them out to be. We need fats in our diet because our brain is made up of fat. “It’s made up of chemicals that talk to each other and that are lubricated by the fat in order to communicate across the synapses, and contribute to our ability to focus, to apply attention and to lift our mood. Indeed, there is some very good research going on in the military looking at the role of Omega 3 fatty acids for not only treatment of depression and anxiety, but also for suicide prevention.” …
Amazon Says It Received 238 Proposals for 2nd Headquarters
Amazon said Monday that it received 238 proposals from cities and regions in the United States, Canada and Mexico hoping to be the home of the company’s second headquarters. The online retailer kicked off its hunt for a second home base in September, promising to bring 50,000 new jobs and spend more than $5 billion on construction. Proposals were due last week, and Amazon made clear that tax breaks and grants would be a big deciding factor on where it chooses to land. Amazon.com Inc. said the proposals came from 43 U.S. states as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, three Mexican states and six Canadian provinces. In a tweet, the company said it was “excited to review each of them.” Besides looking for financial incentives, Amazon had stipulated that it was seeking to be near a metropolitan area with more than a million people; be able to attract top technical talent; be within 45 minutes of an international airport; have direct access to mass transit; and be able to expand that headquarters to as much as 8 million square feet in the next decade. Generous tax breaks and other incentives can erode a city’s tax base. For the winner, it could be worth it, since an Amazon headquarters could draw other tech businesses and their well-educated, highly paid employees. The seven U.S. states that Amazon said did not apply were: Arkansas, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming. Ahead of the deadline, some cities turned to …
Israel’s Water Worries Return After 4 Years of Drought
It was a source of national pride — technology and discipline besting a crippling lack of water. But four years of drought have overtaxed Israel’s unmatched array of desalination and wastewater treatment plants, choking its most fertile regions and catching the government off-guard. “No one imagined we would face a sequence of arid years like this, because it never happened before,” said Uri Schor, spokesman for Israel’s Water Authority. The Sea of Galilee, technically a lake near the border with Syria, is forecast to hit its lowest level ever before winter rains come, despite the fact that pumping there was massively reduced. Underground aquifers, the other main freshwater source, are nearing levels that will turn them salty. How to cope with the crisis is becoming an increasingly touchy subject in Israel. Proposed cuts to water use for the coming year, more than 50 percent in some areas, prompted vehement opposition from farmers, who already face tough restrictions and would have been the hardest hit. The government quickly backtracked. In the Middle East, one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change, water is also the subject of wider tensions. Intense pressure on already scarce water resources could lead to an increase in migration and the risk of conflict, the World Bank has warned. Syria and Jordan depend on some of the same water sources as Israel, which as added to tensions in the past. Palestinians have long complained of inadequate access to water, which is mostly under Israeli control in …
Sierra Leone to Auction Multi-Million Dollar Diamond to Benefit Poor
Sierra Leone hopes to raise millions of dollars for development projects by auctioning a huge uncut diamond, believed to be one of the world’s largest, in New York in December. It will be the government’s second attempt to sell the 709-carat gem, known as the “Peace Diamond”, after it rejected the highest bid of $7.8 million at an initial auction in New York in May. Over half of the proceeds from the sale will be used to fund clean water, electricity, education and health projects in Sierra Leone, and particularly in the village of Koryardu, in the Kono region in eastern Sierra Leone, where the diamond was discovered. “There’s a reason God gave these diamonds to the poorest people in the world and made the richest people want them. This is Tikun Olam [Hebrew for correcting the world], this is making the world a better place,” Martin Rapaport, chairman of Rapaport Group, a network of diamond companies which will manage the auction, told Reuters. The diamond, which the auctioneers described as the 14th largest in the world, was unearthed in Koryardu in March by a Christian pastor who gave it to the government. Diamonds fuelled a decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone, ending in 2002, in which rebels forced civilians to mine the stones and bought weapons with the proceeds, leading to the term “blood diamonds.” …
Low Inflation Could Slow Fed, but Fiscal Stimulus Unnecessary
The U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in December and twice next year, according to a Reuters poll of economists, who now worry that the central bank will slow its tightening because of expectations that inflation will remain low. Most respondents expected the nation’s economy to determine future rate hikes, but a change in regime at the Fed could also affect monetary policy. U.S. President Donald Trump could decide this week whether to reappoint Fed Chair Janet Yellen, whose term ends in February, since he has concluded interviews with five candidates for that post. “There is a greater-than-usual degree of uncertainty around monetary policy next year, with the Fed’s leadership up in the air,” wrote RBC economist Josh Nye. A Reuters poll of economists published last week showed Fed Board Governor Jerome Powell getting the top job, although most said reappointing Yellen would be the best option. Still, a vast majority of the more than 100 economists in the latest poll expect rate hikes to depend largely on how the U.S. economy performs. “Despite intense speculation about the next Fed chair, the path of policy rates is still likely to be driven primarily by the data, regardless of who is nominated,” said Christian Keller, head of economics research at Barclays. Forty of the 50 economists who answered an extra question also said the U.S. economy, which is on a steady growth path, did not need a big fiscal stimulus in the form of sweeping tax cuts. The dollar rose …
Taiwan Steps up Asia Business to Reduce Dependence on China
Taiwan is offering visa waivers and setting up overseas investment offices across a swathe of countries to its south, the latest moves to deepen a rebalancing of economic relations away from political foe China. Officials in Taipei hope to foster more tourism, trade and higher education links with 18 countries covering most of South and Southeast Asia plus Australia and New Zealand. Stronger ties in theory would reduce the role of China, which is Taiwan’s top trading partner now, as the two sides struggle over political differences. In the latest phase of Taiwan’s effort, called the New Southbound Policy, Philippine citizens may visit Taiwan visa-free for 14 days during a trial period that starts next month and ends in July. Taiwan offered waivers to citizens of Brunei and Thailand in August 2016. Those efforts complement new investment offices, growth in the number of university students in Taiwan and more Taiwanese development aid. “The purpose of the New Southbound Policy is for us to hold a more advantageous position in international society,” Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said in a National Day speech earlier this month. “I also want to use this opportunity to tell our friends from around the world that faced with a rapidly changing Asia-Pacific region. Taiwan is ready to play a more important role in shaping regional prosperity and stability.” Shaky relations with China Tsai announced the New Southbound Policy after taking office in May 2016 to rebalance relations for Taiwan’s $529 billion economy. Taiwanese business people traditionally …
US Launches War Against Opioid And Heroin Addiction
The United States is in the middle of an unprecedented opioid overdose epidemic. The abuse of prescription opioids along with the illicit use of heroin killed nearly 60-thousand people last year. Every day 91 Americans die from prescription opioid related overdoses. VOA’s Chris Simkins has more on the story. …
Orange Is the New White? Unique Amber Wine Creates Buzz
The sloping vineyards of New York’s Finger Lakes region known for producing golden-hued rieslings and chardonnays also are offering a splash of orange wine. The color comes not from citrus fruit, but by fermenting white wine grapes with their skins on before pressing – a practice that mirrors the way red wines are made. Lighter than reds and earthier than whites, orange wines have created a buzz in trendier quarters. And winemakers reviving the ancient practice like how the “skin-fermented” wines introduce more complex flavors to the bottle. “Pretty outgoing characteristics. Very spicy, peppery. A lot of tea flavors, too, come through,” winemaker Vinny Aliperti said, taking a break from harvest duties at Atwater Estate Vineyards on Seneca Lake. “They’re more thoughtful wines. They’re more meditative.” Atwater is among a few wineries encircling these glacier-carved lakes that have added orange to their mix of whites and reds. The practice dates back thousands of years, when winemakers in the Caucasus, a region located at the border of Europe and Asia, would ferment wine in buried clay jars. It has been revitalized in recent decades by vintners in Italy, California and elsewhere looking to connect wine to its roots or to conjure new tastes from the grapes. Or both. Clay jars are optional. Aliperti has been experimenting with skin fermenting for years, first by blending a bit into traditional chardonnays to change up the flavor and more recently with full-on orange wines. This fall, he fermented Vignoles …
South African Bakery Slices Prices and Sees Sales Skyrocket
A bakery in a low-income area of Johannesburg slashed prices of its popular bread, with unexpected results. What started as a way to help feed the community became a recipe for success as the bakery has a lot more business than ever. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports. ((NARRATOR)) …
Mugabe Removed as WHO Goodwill Ambassador
The World Health Organization rescinded Sunday its appointment of Zimbabwe’s longtime President Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador. “I have listened carefully to all who have expressed their concerns, and heard the different issues that they have raised. I have also consulted with the Government of Zimbabwe and we have concluded that this decision is in the best interests of the World Health Organization,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. Tedros, who became head of the WHO in July, had announced his appointment of Mugabe two days earlier during a conference in Uruguay, saying that Zimbabwe could “influence his peers in his region” and praising the country’s commitment to providing health care for all. But over two dozen organizations quickly released a statement slamming the decision, saying health officials were “shocked and deeply concerned” — citing Mugabe’s record of human rights abuses and claiming that the country’s healthcare system has collapsed under his nearly 30-year rule. The United States called the appointment of Mugabe by WHO’s first African leader “disappointing.” The United States has maintained sanctions on Zimbabwe since 2003, citing the leader’s use use of millions of dollars to travel abroad, human rights abuses, and accusations of electoral fraud. …
Pakistan Still Struggles to Enforce Laws Against Early Marriage
Despite laws banning child marriage, rights groups in Pakistan say the problem continues, partly because of a desire to follow tradition, and partly because of poverty. No matter the reason, development experts say early marriage hurts the education and health prospects for girls. Sahar Majid brings us this report by Saman Khan from VOA’s Urdu service in Lahore. …
Helping Autistic Children Fit in by Educating Their Peers
Autistic children often have social difficulties. They tend to linger on the edges of social groups at school and have fewer friendships than those without the condition. But that can change, if their classmates understand them and give them a chance. As Faiza Elmasry tells us, an Australian mother wrote and illustrated a children’s book to help kids do that. Faith Lapidus narrates. …