The three major U.S. stock indexes ended lower Wednesday after a choppy trading session as investors worried that China would slow U.S. government bond purchases and that U.S. President Donald Trump would end a key trade agreement. The S&P and the Nasdaq snapped a six-day rally after Bloomberg reported that China, the world’s biggest holder of U.S. Treasuries, could slow or stop buying the government bonds. The report sent Treasury yields to a 10-month high. The S&P 500 pared some losses as yields backed away from their intraday peaks and investors digested the China report. But the index lost ground again in mid-afternoon trading after Reuters reported that Canada is increasingly convinced Trump will soon announce a U.S. exit from the North American Free Trade Agreement. It cited two unnamed government sources. “It’s a fairly light week for economic and financial data. In a week like this, political headlines can have a bigger impact than they normally would,” said Jon Mackay, investment strategist at Schroders Investment Management in New York. While Mackay said the selloff was overblown, he noted that a change to NAFTA could hurt corporate earnings. “If that news is true, you’d expect a higher dollar price and a negative impact to earnings,” Mackay said. Indexes fall The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 16.67 points, or 0.07 percent, to 25,369.13, the S&P 500 lost 3.06 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,748.23 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 10.01 points, or 0.14 percent, to 7,153.57. Investors were particularly skittish about …
7-Eleven Probe Opens New Front on Immigration
U.S. immigration agents descended on dozens of 7-Eleven stores before dawn Wednesday to open employment audits and interview workers in what officials described as the largest operation against an employer under Donald Trump’s presidency. Agents targeted about 100 stores nationwide, broadening an investigation that began with a 4-year-old case against a franchisee on New York’s Long Island. The audits could lead to criminal charges or fines over the stores’ hiring practices. The action appears to open a new front in Trump’s sharp expansion of immigration enforcement, which has already brought a 40 percent increase in deportation arrests and plans to spend billions of dollars on a border wall with Mexico. Hardliners have been pressing for a tougher stance on employers. Derek Benner, a top official at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The Associated Press that Wednesday’s operation was “the first of many” and “a harbinger of what’s to come” for employers. He said there would be more employment audits and investigations, though there is no numerical goal. “This is what we’re gearing up for this year and what you’re going to see more and more of is these large-scale compliance inspections, just for starters. From there, we will look at whether these cases warrant an administrative posture or criminal investigation,” said Benner, acting head of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, which oversees cases against employers. “It’s not going to be limited to large companies or any particular industry, big medium and small,” he said. “It’s going …
Наглядова рада «Приватбанку» призначила головою правління чеха Петра Крумханзла
Наглядова рада «Приватбанку» призначила головою правління установи чеського фахівця Петра Крумханзла та подала документи на його затвердження до Національного банку України. Про це йдеться у повідомленні на сайті «Приватбанку». Як повідомляється, до цього Петр Крумханзл був членом правління з операційних питань в Райффайзен Банку Аваль, а також членом правління з операційних питань у створеній урядом Австрії компанії з управління проблемними активами Heta Asset Resolution, де він відповідав за виділення непрацюючих активів у так званий «поганий банк», а також за визначення корпоративної стратегії, забезпечення належної інфраструктури та юридичну підтримку. Його останній досвід роботи був пов’язаний з ринком Китаю, де Петр на посаді члена правління з операційних питань Home Credit, керував усіма операціями банку, у складі якого працювало понад 85000 працівників. В липні 2017 року було оголошено, що Наглядова рада ПриватБанку обрала міжнародну рекрутингову компанію Amrop Executive Search Ukraine з хорошою репутацією, для пошуку кандидатів на посади голови Правління ПриватБанку та його заступника з фінансових питань. На засіданні 20 липня члени Наглядової ради фінансової установи задовольнили прохання тодішнього голови правління Олександра Шлапака про відставку, а виконувачем обов’язків призначили його заступницю – Галину Пахачук. 21 грудня 2016 року «Приватбанк» перейшов у державну власність, нині власником фінустанови є Міністерство фінансів. Це було частиною домовленостей із колишніми власниками фінансової установи. Упродовж червня бізнесмен, один з колишніх акціонерів «Приватбанку» Ігор Коломойський подав до суду низку позовів, направлених проти уряду, НБУ та «Приватбанку». …
Cholera Vaccination Campaign Gets Underway in Zambia
The Zambian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization are beginning a cholera vaccination campaign January 10 to help stop an outbreak of this deadly disease. Latest official figures put the number of cases at 2,672, including 63 deaths. Two rounds of immunizations are planned. At each stage, about one million people will be vaccinated against cholera. Most of those who will receive these shots live in or around the Zambian capital, Lusaka, since nearly all of the cases of this fatal disease are centered there. World Health Organization spokesman Christian Lindmeier says the WHO has helped the government plan the campaign and has trained about 500 health and community workers how to administer the vaccine. He agrees vaccination is an important measure in preventing the onset and spread of cholera. But he says access to clean water, proper sanitation and good hygiene are fundamental to stopping outbreaks entirely. He tells VOA the government is taking measures to remedy this situation. “First of all, it has deployed the military to clean up parts of the city where sanitation has been poor. It has also closed a market where sanitation was poor. It has banned street vending and also public gatherings and was delaying the start of the new school semester,” he said. Cholera, an acute diarrheal disease, can kill within hours if left untreated. People become severely dehydrated and must have their lost fluids replaced quickly if they are to survive. Lindmeier says it is critical for people to …
Гонтарева заперечує повідомлення про допомогу Януковичу у виведенні коштів за кордон – НБУ
Колишня голова Національного банку України Валерія Гонтарева заперечує інформацію, викладену в розслідуванні арабської медіакомпанії «Аль-Джазіра», щодо сприяння виведенню за кордон коштів екс-президента Віктора Януковича. Її заяву, вперше оприлюднену ще в жовтні минулого року, НБУ повторно поширив на своїй Facebook-сторінці. «Зараз деякі політики звинувачують мене у сприянні виведенню коштів «злочинною владою». Вважаю таке звинувачення нісенітницею, адже ці кошти не виводилися за кордон, а інвестувалися у внутрішній державний борг – це пряма позика державному бюджету, яку державі, у разі ухвалення закону про спецконфіскацію, не потрібно буде повертати. Принагідно хочу зауважити, що моя практична діяльність у компанії ICU головним чином була спрямована на управління активами. Я не мала стосунку безпосередньо до брокерської діяльності, про що, до речі, добре відомо усім професійним учасникам ринку», – мовиться в заяві Гонтаревої. Напередодні арабська медіакомпанія «Аль-Джазіра», що працює в Катарі, повідомила,що інвестиційна компанія ICU (група «Investment Capital Ukraine») фактично допомагала Януковичу вивести з країни 1,5 мільярда доларів у період з 2012 по 2014 рік. Якмовиться на сайті ICU, Валерія Гонтарева обіймала посаду голови ради директорів компанії з 2007-го до червня 2014-го, коли вона покинула посаду і продала свою частку. Розслідувачі телеканалу «Аль-Джазіра» оприлюднили документ, який містить 95 сторінок і, зокрема, містить рішення Краматорського районного суду, за яким було конфісковано 1,5 мільярда доларів США, що належали колишньому президентові України Віктору Януковичу та його оточенню. Водночас антикорупційна організація Transparency International Україна закликає в законному порядку опублікувати цей вирок, бо автентичність тексту вироку поки достеменно не підтверджено. У квітні 2017 року генеральний прокурор Юрій Луценко заявив, що суд у Краматорську на Донеччині схвалив …
Гривня продовжує знецінення – НБУ
Українська гривня 10 січня на міжбанківському валютному ринку втратила ще понад 12 копійок щодо долара США. За підсумками торгів Національний банк України встановив на 11 січня курс 28 гривень 32,88 копійки за долар. Як інформував упродовж торгів профільний сайт «Мінфін», сесія одразу розпочалася з падіння національної валюти. «Причина – зростання попиту на валюту на тлі стриманої пропозиції. Великі продавці явно вичікують і не поспішають реалізовувати валюту, покупці занервувались», – так фахівці інформували про перші результати торгів. Упродовж дня ситуація докорінно не змінилася: «На 16:00 зареєстровано 448 угод на суму 251,58 мільйона доларів по середньозваженому курсу 28,3288 (гривні за долар – ред.)». За підсумками торгів 9 січня Національний банк України встановив на 10 січня курс 28 гривень 20 копійок за долар. У період новорічних свят, до 3 січня включно діяв курс, встановлений на останніх торгах 2017 року – 28 гривень 6 копійок за долар. …
Disregarding Geography, Britain Hopes to Join Pacific Trade Deal
Britain is making known its hopes to one day join the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP, a free trade agreement currently being negotiated by eleven countries bordering the Pacific and the South China Sea. The British government hopes trade with fast-growing economies will make up for losses that may occur after it leaves the European Union as scheduled in 2019. On a recent trip to China, Britain Trade Minister Liam Fox tentatively suggested his country could one day join the TPP. “We don’t know what the success of the TPP is going to yet look like, because it isn’t yet negotiated. So, it would be a little bit premature for us to be wanting to sign up to something that we’re not sure what the final details will look like. However, we have said that we want to be an open, outward-looking country, and therefore it would be foolish for us to rule out any particular outcomes for the future,” Fox told reporters during the trip last week. London sits some 7,000 kilometers from any Pacific coastline. So, does geography no longer matter in 21st century trade? Not so, said Jonathan Portes, an economist and professor at Kings College London. “There has been an argument put forward that particularly as trade in services expands, and as a result of technology, it will matter considerably less in the future, and that seems to make a lot of sense. However, unfortunately, so far at least, the actual data and evidence don’t really support …
Гривня на міжбанку втратила ще 12 копійок щодо долара США
На торгах на міжбанківському валютному ринку 10 січня гривня продовжує втрачати позиції, послабившись ще на 12 копійок щодо долара США. Як інформує профільний сайт «Мінфін», сесія одразу розпочалася з падіння національної валюти. «Причина – зростання попиту на валюту на тлі стриманої пропозиції. Великі продавці явно вичікують і не поспішають реалізовувати валюту, покупці занервували», – так фахівці інформували про перші результати торгів. Упродовж дня ситуація докорінно не змінилася: «На 16:00 зареєстровано 448 угод на суму 251,58 мільйона доларів по середньозваженому курсу 28,3288 (гривні за долар – ред.)». За підсумками торгів 9 січня Національний банк України встановив на 10 січня курс 28 гривень 20 копійок за долар. У період новорічних свят, до 3 січня включно діяв курс, встановлений на останніх торгах 2017 року – 28 гривень 6 копійок за долар. …
Мітингувальники розблокували пункти пропуску на кордоні з Польщею на Львівщині, а на Волині акція триває
Мітингувальники розблокували дорогу біля пунктів пропуску «Шегині», «Рава-Руська», «Краковець» на Львівщині, повідомляє кореспондент Радіо Свобода. Водночас, поблизу пункту пропуску «Ягодин» у Волинській області акція ще триває. Кілька десятків людей, переважно мешканці прикордоння, перекрили зранку три пункти пропуску: «Рава-Руська», «Шегині», «Краковець» – та «Ягодин» на українсько-польському кордоні. Блокування не було цілковитим. Автобуси й автомобілі, в яких перебували маленькі діти чи хворі люди, пропускали одразу, а кожні 15 хвилин дозволяли проїхати кільком машинам із черги. За словами учасників акції, мітинги спричинило невдоволення людей законодавчими змінами від 1 січня цього року (закон «Про внесення змін до Податкового кодексу України та деяких законодавчих актів України щодо забезпечення збалансованості бюджетних надходжень у 2018 році), згідно з яким щодня особа без сплатити мита може перевозити в Україну товару на 50 євро і вагою до 50 кілограмів, а ввозити товарів на суму до 500 євро без мита можна лише в разі, якщо людина була відсутня в Україні понад добу і в’їжджає до країни не частіше одного разу впродовж 72 годин. Активісти збирають підписи до президента і Верховної Ради із проханням скасувати поправку у законі щодо 24 годин перебування за кордоном і зазначають: акція 10 січня – попереджувальна. За даними Асоціації платників податків, за минулий рік в Україну перевезено нерозмитнених товарів на суму 3 з половиною мільярди гривень. На переконання представника асоціації Лілії Долінської, законодавчі нововведення вплинуть, в основному, на доходи «човників», які перевозять або переносять товари через кордон для продажу. Таку ж думку висловлюють у Львівській обласній адміністрації. « Мова не йде про людей, які закуповують товари для власного …
Britain Bans Plastic Microbeads that Can Harm Marine Life
The United Kingdom is now banning the manufacturing of tiny plastic microbeads used in products such as cosmetics, toothpaste and shower gels because they could hurt marine animals. The move comes as some other countries have banned microbeads, including the United States. It is estimated that more than 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into our oceans every year. VOA’s Deborah Block has more. …
Human Antibodies Made in Cows Could Be Developed to Treat MERS
Human antibodies made in genetically engineered cows have proved safe in an early stage clinical trial, U.S. scientists said on Wednesday, and could be developed into a treatment for the fatal viral disease, MERS. MERS, or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, is a SARS-like viral infection first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012 that has caused deadly outbreaks in the Middle East as well as sporadic cases around the world. Despite more than five years of waves of infection, no effective treatment or vaccine has been developed against MERS, which has a 35 percent case fatality rate and has so far killed at least 740 people worldwide. More than 80 percent of MERS cases have been reported in Saudi Arabia, according to the World Health Organization. In research published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal on Wednesday, scientists found that human antibodies called SAB-301 generated in so-called transchromosomic cattle — animals with human DNA incorporated into their genome — were safe in healthy volunteers. The antibodies also persisted for more time than the MERS virus typically remains in the body, the study found, with antibodies still detected in bloodstream after 90 days. This points a way ahead for the antibodies — which offer immunity against an invading infection — to be tested in further trials in people infected with MERS, the researchers said. “This is the first study to show the safety and immune effects of a potential treatment for MERS,” said John Beigel at Leidos Biomedical Research, who co-led the …
Trump Administration Bars Oil Drilling Off Florida
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has caved in to pressure from the governor and is banning oil and gas drilling off the Florida coast. “I support the governor’s position that Florida is unique and its coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver,” Zinke said in a statement late Tuesday. He outright admitted that Florida’s Republican Governor Rick Scott pressured him to put the state’s waters off limits. Last week, the Trump administration proposed opening nearly all U.S. offshore waters to oil and gas drilling, reversing former Obama administration policies. The White House has said it wants to make the U.S. more energy independent. But environmental groups and Republican and Democratic governors from coastal states loudly object. They say oil and gas drilling puts marine life, beaches, and lucrative tourism at risk. The Pentagon has also expressed misgivings about drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, where naval exercises are held. The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf was the largest such disaster in U.S. history, causing billions of dollars in damage to the Gulf Coast, from Louisiana to Florida, killing more than 100,000 different marine mammals, birds, and reptiles. …
Trump Orders Plan for Mental Health Care for US Veterans
President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered the secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs to come up with a plan to improve mental health care for U.S. veterans. “They get out of the military and they had nobody to talk to, nobody to speak to. And it’s been a very sad situation,” Trump said moments before signing his executive order. Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shuklin said 20 U.S. veterans a day commit suicide. Under the president’s order, the three departments will come up with a plan to provide U.S. servicemen and women with 12 months of mental health benefits after they leave active duty. This includes suicide prevention services and a 24-hour veterans’ hotline. “We will not rest until all of America’s great veterans receive the care they’ve earned through their incredible service and sacrifice to our country,” Trump said. …
Poverty for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Could Push Children to Marry and Work
Nearly seven years into Syria’s civil war, Syrian refugees in neighboring Lebanon are becoming poorer, leaving children at risk of child labor and early marriage, aid organizations said on Tuesday. A recent survey by the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF, U.N.’s World Food Program, and refugee agency, UNHCR showed that Syrian refugees in Lebanon are more vulnerable now than they have been since the beginning of the crisis. Struggling to survive, more than three quarters of the refugees in Lebanon now live on less than $4 per day, according to the survey which was based on data collected last year. “The situation for Syrian refugees in Lebanon is actually getting worse – they are getting poorer. They are barely staying afloat,” Scott Craig, UNHCR spokesman in Lebanon, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Around 1.5 million refugees who fled Syria’s violence account for a quarter of Lebanon’s population. The Lebanese government has long avoided setting up official refugee camps. So, many Syrians live in tented settlements, languishing in poverty and facing restrictions on legal residence or work. “Child labor and early marriage are direct consequences of poverty,” Tanya Chapuisat, UNICEF spokeswoman in Lebanon said in a statement to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “We fear this (poverty) will lead to more children being married away or becoming breadwinners instead of attending school,” she said. According to UNICEF, 5 percent of Syrian refugee children between 5-17 are working, and one in five Syrian girls and women aged between 15 and 25 is married. …
Booming Indian Cities Look to Bike Sharing to Put Brakes on Congestion
A handful of Indian cities are gearing up to launch bike-sharing systems to ease traffic congestion and deadly air pollution, as urban populations surge and vehicles clog the streets. Bike-sharing systems in the southern city of Mysuru and the central city of Bhopal, both launched last June, have met with a tremendous response, officials say. About half a dozen more cities, including Bengaluru, Pune and Bhubaneswar, are now drawing up similar plans, according to the World Resources Institute (WRI), a Washington D.C.-based research organization. “Bike sharing is a viable option for Indian cities — we just need good-quality bikes, dedicated lanes and a system that is efficient,” said Chandramauli Shukla, chief executive of Bhopal Smart City Corporation. The corporation implements the federally-funded Smart Cities program to improve services like internet connectivity and public transport in 100 cities across India. With rising incomes and a large young population, passenger vehicle ownership in India has nearly tripled in the last decade, government data shows. Gridlock has become common and transit systems struggle to keep pace. Vehicle emissions account for almost a third of air pollution in India, which has nearly half the world’s 20 most polluted cities, according to the World Health Organization. Some 2.5 million people in the country die every year due to pollution. Mysuru, close to the technology hub of Bengaluru, was the first to introduce a bike-sharing program, with the state’s chief minister riding a yellow Trin Trin bike at the launch. Registered users can borrow any of …
Sudan Currency Continues Descent on Black Market Amid Unrest
Sudan’s pound currency weakened to 30.5 pounds to the U.S. dollar on Tuesday from about 29.5 pounds a day earlier, traders said, continuing its fall amid protests over bread prices and an acute shortage of hard currency. Street protests broke out across the northeastern African country after bread prices doubled in recent days, following a government announcement late last month that it was eliminating subsidies in its 2018 budget as part of austerity measures. This month Sudan devalued its pound currency to 18 per U.S. dollar from 6.7 pounds to the dollar previously. Hard currency remains scarce in the formal banking system however, forcing importers to resort to an increasingly expensive black market. “The dollar is rising on a daily basis and there is a strong appetite to buy at any price given its scarcity on the market,” one black market trader told Reuters. The government has ruled out a market-determined exchange rate and the black market rate for pounds has been steadily weakening against the dollar since late last month, when the devaluation was announced. “I expect the dollar price to continue to increase in the coming days because companies and importers are buying dollars in large quantities since the beginning of the year because the banks are not meeting their hard currency needs,” another black market trader said. …
Using ‘Digital Lego,’ Communities Redesign India’s Slums
When urban designer Trupti Vaitla asked residents of a Mumbai slum what new features they’d like to see in their dilapidated public space, she was surprised by one popular answer: a patch of grass. The Lotus Garden is the only open area for about 200,000 people who live in cramped and squalid tenements abutting the city’s biggest landfill. The municipal corporation had done little for its upkeep and it was littered with trash. Three years ago, Vaitla and her team were tasked with transforming it into a space that people would actually use. They expected residents to suggest elements like lighting, elaborate landscaping and a gym. The team didn’t expect such enthusiasm for a simple lawn. “But they were excited to be involved, and for them, a patch of green was really important – a small oasis in their otherwise drab and congested world,” said Vaitla, chief executive of Mumbai Environmental Social Network (MESN). Vaitla’s team, backed by funding from United Nations Habitat, which promotes sustainable urban development, spent months cleaning up Lotus Garden. They installed lights and water, planted shrubs and grass, and built an open-air gym. From the very first day, residents including women and children who had earlier avoided the space, swarmed in, Vaitla said. The appetite for areas like the Lotus Garden is not surprising. In Mumbai, with its population of 18 million and counting, soaring real estate prices and relentless construction, public spaces are shrinking. “In a crowded slum, these spaces are particularly relevant, as …
In Kenya, Struggling Potato Growers Ink a New Deal
Sitting on a rickety bench at his home in Kipipiri, in central Kenya, Samuel Macharia pulls a piece of paper from his pocket and proudly points to the signature at the bottom. “This paper means I get paid on time for my potatoes, even when the weather is bad,” he said. The precious document is a farming contract Macharia signed in March with the East African Potato Consortium. It says he will sell at least two tons of potatoes to food processors each harvesting season for the next two years. “Thanks to this contract I can earn up to 22,000 Kenyan shillings ($213) per season,” he said. Recurring drought and sudden cold spells have affected the quality of potatoes and other staples across Kenya. Peris Mukami, a farmer from Timau village, in Meru County, said her potato yields had declined by over 10 percent in the past two years because “it is either too cold or too hot.” “The cold damages potato vines with frostbite while heat makes them wilt,” she explained. To try to fight back, Kenyan potato farmers such as Macharia are increasingly turning to production contracts with food processors — a system known as contract farming — through the East African Potato Consortium. By working with the consortium, they get access to seeds that better stand up to harsher conditions, as well as better fertilizers. They also get a guaranteed price for their crop, as long as they produce good-quality potatoes on time, said Wachira Kaguongo, head …
Scientists: Warming Oceans Could Scupper Marine Food System
Failure to rein in global temperature rises could cause the marine food web to collapse, devastating the livelihoods of tens of millions of people who rely on fisheries for food and income, scientists have warned. Warming oceans restrict vital energy flows between different species in the marine ecosystem, reducing the amount of food available for bigger animals — mostly fish — at the top of the marine food web, according to a study in the journal PLOS Biology published Tuesday. This could have “serious implications” for fish stocks, said Ivan Nagelkerken, a professor of marine ecology at Australia’s University of Adelaide and one of the study’s authors. Globally, about 56.5 million people were engaged in fisheries and aquaculture in 2015, according to the latest data from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In addition, almost a fifth of animal protein consumed by 3.2 billion people in 2015 comes from fish, FAO said. The Adelaide scientists set up 12 large tanks, each holding 1,800 liters of water, in a temperature-controlled room to replicate complex marine food webs, and test the effects of ocean acidification and warming over six months. Plant productivity increased under warmer temperatures but this was mainly due to an expansion of bacteria which fish do not eat, Nagelkerken said in a phone interview. The findings show that the 2015 Paris agreement on curbing global warming must be met “to safeguard our oceans from collapse, loss of biodiversity and less fishery productivity.” Under the landmark agreement, world …
Study: Honeybees’ Attraction to Fungicide ‘Unsettling’ for Food Output
Honeybees are attracted to a fungicide used in agriculture with “unsettling implications” for global food production, a scientist said Tuesday. Tests carried out by a team from the University of Illinois showed bees preferred to collect sugar syrup laced with the fungicide chlorothalonil over sugar syrup alone. The finding follows other studies linking fungicides to a worldwide plunge in honeybee and wild bee populations that are crucial for pollinating crops. “Bees are kind of like humans in that they sometimes like things that aren’t necessarily good for them,” said University of Illinois entomology professor May Berenbaum, who led the research. She said fungicides were bad news for bees because they could exacerbate the toxicity of pesticides and kill off beneficial fungi in hives. Her team set up two feeding stations in an enclosure allowing the bees to choose sugar syrup laced with a test chemical or without. The chemicals included three fungicides and two herbicides at various concentrations. The researchers were taken aback to find the bees choosing one of the fungicides. Expanation for contamination “It was a surprise when they actually liked them,” Berenbaum told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone, adding that it could explain why fungicide contamination in hives was so common. “This is not anything that anyone had even thought about before, so we need to readjust our focus because there certainly could be implications for agriculture,” she said. However, she said the bees actively avoided a second tested fungicide and were neutral about a third. …
На міжбанківському валютному ринку попит переважає пропозицію
Торги на міжбанківському валютному ринку 9 січня тривають поблизу курсу, встановленого Національним банком України наприкінці минулого тижня – 28 гривень 20 копійок за долар США. Як інформує профільний сайт «Мінфін», сесія розпочалася зі зростання національної валюти, оскільки пропозиція переважала попит, і гривня посилилася до рівня 28,14 за долар. Але основні гравці вийшли на ринок лише опівдні, попит відчутно зріс, і курс поповз угору. «На 12:00 зареєстровано 124 угоди на суму 64,04 мільйона доларів посередньозваженому курсу 28,1811», – ідеться в повідомленні. За підсумками торгів 5 січня Національний банк України встановив на 9 січня курс 28 гривень 20 копійок за долар. У період новорічних свят, до 3 січня включно діяв курс, встановлений на останніх торгах 2017 року – 28 гривень 6 копійок за долар. …
Novel Ways to Keep New Year Fitness Resolutions
One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight and get fit. Faith Lapidus takes a look at how some people are trying to keep that commitment. …
2017 Most Expensive Year for Natural Disasters
2017 was the costliest year on record for natural disasters in the United States, according to scientists. Sixteen disasters caused an estimated $306 billion in damage. VOA’s Steve Baragona reports. …
Ecuador to Probe Legality of Debt Under Ex-president Correa
Ecuador’s comptroller’s office on Monday announced it will open an audit of debt contracted in the last five years of the government of former President Rafael Correa to determine the legality of the operations and the use of the funds. The move follows a report by the comptroller’s office revealing that some documentation relating to debt operations had been declared secret and that official reports on public debt had excluded some of the operations. President Lenin Moreno, a former Correa protege, since his election last year been has criticized the ex-president’s handling of the economy and is seeking to unwind some Correa-era reforms. Correa says such efforts constitute a “coup” by Moreno. A team of economists, lawyers and businessmen will analyze debt operations carried out between January 2012 and May 2017 and will present recommendations in April. Comptroller Pablo Celi said Correa and former Finance Ministry officials had been notified about investigation. Shortly after taking office last May, Moreno said that total public debt was $42 billion dollars, plus additional liabilities including some associated with payments to oil services companies. I have just learned of a supposed preliminary report on the audit of the debt and a commission that includes several haters of the (Citizen’s Revolution),” Correa said via Twitter, referring to his political movement. During a later speech in the city of Guayaquil he described the probe as “persecution.” The former president is leading a campaign for the “No” vote in a Feb. 4 referendum on constitutional reforms include …