Understanding the G20 and Expectations for the Upcoming Summit

CensorBiz Бізнес, Новини, Статті, Суспільство 0 Comment

Established in 1999, the group of 20 – also known as G20 – is an informal gathering between heads of state from 20 of the world’s largest economies. While the annual summit has traditionally focused on economic cooperation, the agenda has since expanded to include talks on how to respond to climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and most recently Russia’s war against Ukraine. How do these summits work and what can we expect from the upcoming September meeting in India?
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У Мексиці зняли федеральну заборону на аборти

SocNet Новини, Політика, Суспільство 0 Comment

Верховний суд Мексики скасував усі федеральні покарання за аборти та зобов’язав національну службу охорони здоров’я надавати цю послугу всім охочим. Згідно з рішенням суду, криміналізація абортів є неконституційною, оскільки вона «порушує права жінок і людей, здатних до зачаття».

Як передає агенція Associated Press, Національний інститут у справах жінок Мексики назвав ухвалу суду «великим кроком» на шляху до гендерної рівності і заявив про «день перемоги та справедливості для мексиканських жінок». У свою чергу, противники абортів пообіцяли продовжити боротьбу за право на життя для «зачатих дітей».

Попри скасування федеральної заборони, на регіональному рівні вони залишаються. Наразі аборти все ще криміналізовані у 20 штатах Мексики, у 12 регіонах кримінальне переслідування за переривання вагітності припинене.

У Латинській Америці спостерігається так звана «зелена хвиля» через колір бандан, які носять захисниці своїх прав. Активістки вже досягли розширення прав на аборт в Аргентині, Колумбії та Еквадорі.
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US Lawmakers Have 10 Working Days to Keep the Government Open

PolitCens Новини, Політика, Суспільство 0 Comment

US lawmakers face a long list of priorities as they return to work this week after their monthlong August recess. With battles looming over U.S. aid to Ukraine and a possible impeachment of President Joe Biden, the top concern remains funding the U.S. government to keep it from shutting down on Oct. 1. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more.
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Prosecutors Seeking New Indictment for Hunter Biden

PolitCens Новини, Політика, Суспільство 0 Comment

Federal prosecutors plan to seek a grand jury indictment of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter before the end of the month, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

The filing came in a gun possession case in which Hunter Biden was accused of having a firearm while being a drug user, though prosecutors did not name exactly which charges they will seek. He has also been under investigation by federal prosecutors for his business dealings.

Prosecutors under U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, newly named a special counsel in the case, said they expect an indictment before Sept. 29.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers, though, argued that prosecutors are barred from filing additional charges under an agreement the two sides previously reached in the gun case. It contains an immunity clause against federal prosecutions for some other potential crimes. Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said Hunter Biden has kept to the terms of the deal, including regular visits by the probation office.

“We expect a fair resolution of the sprawling, five-year investigation into Mr. Biden that was based on the evidence and the law, not outside political pressure, and we’ll do what is necessary on behalf of Mr. Biden to achieve that,” he said in a statement.

Prosecutors have said that the gun agreement is dead along with the rest of the plea agreement that called for Hunter Biden to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses. It fell apart after U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika raised questions about it during a court appearance in July.

The Justice Department did not have immediate comment.

News of a possible new indictment comes as House Republicans are preparing for a likely impeachment inquiry of President Biden over unsubstantiated claims that he played a role in his son’s foreign business affairs during his time as vice president.

“If you look at all the information we have been able to gather so far, it is a natural step forward that you would have to go to an impeachment inquiry,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox News recently.

The younger Biden has been the target of congressional investigations since Republicans gained control of the House in January, with lawmakers obtaining thousands of pages of financial records from various members of the Biden family through subpoenas to the Treasury Department and various financial institutions. Three powerful House committees are now pursuing several lines of inquiry related to the president and his son.

And while Republicans have sought to connect Hunter Biden’s financial affairs directly to his father, they have failed to produce evidence that the president directly participated in his son’s work, though he sometimes had dinner with Hunter Biden’s clients or said hello to them on calls.

In recent months, Republicans have also shifted their focus to delving into the Justice Department’s investigation of Hunter Biden after whistleblower testimony claimed he has received special treatment throughout the yearslong case.

Hunter Biden was charged in June with two misdemeanor crimes of failure to pay more than $100,000 in taxes from over $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018. He had been expected to plead guilty in July, after he made an agreement with prosecutors, who were planning to recommend two years of probation. The case fell apart during the hearing after Noreika, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, raised multiple concerns about the specifics of the deal and her role in the proceedings.

If prosecutors file a new gun possession charge, it could run into court challenges. A federal appeals court in Louisiana ruled against the ban on gun possession by drug users last month, citing a 2022 gun ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.

News of another indictment comes after U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland named Weiss a special counsel, giving him broad authority to investigate and report out his findings and intensifying the investigation into the president’s son ahead of the 2024 election.

The White House Counsel’s office referred questions to Hunter Biden’s personal attorneys. 
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Цього місяця готується 12-й оборонний пакет допомоги Україні від Данії – із зустрічі Зеленського і Фредеріксен

SocNet Новини, Політика, Суспільство 0 Comment

Фредеріксен: «Наша підтримка надовго, це зобов’язання на довгий час. Ми зобов’язані вам за вашу неймовірну боротьбу. Ваша боротьба – це наша боротьба»
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US Business Delegation Makes Rare Visit To Taliban-Run Afghanistan

CensorBiz Бізнес, Новини, Статті, Суспільство 0 Comment

An American private sector delegation opened meetings in Afghanistan with officials and local counterparts Wednesday in the first interaction since the Taliban seized power from a U.S.-backed government two years ago.

Jeffrey Grieco, president of the Afghan American Chamber of Commerce, or AACC, in the United States, is leading the delegation.

Addressing a televised meeting in Kabul of business representatives that Greico co-hosted with Taliban Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdul Ghani Baradar, he said the U.S. government backs the visit.

U.S. officials did not immediately comment on Greico’s assertion.

The American businessman credited the de facto Afghan authorities for establishing peace in the country, saying they have also “greatly eliminated” corruption. “It’s not all gone, but it’s mostly gone.”

He said his team is seeking to elevate private sector activities and explore ways to ease hardships facing Afghans over the past two years.

“The next year is going to be equally hard as the donors are reducing funding for Afghanistan, both humanitarian food security and other funding, at a key moment when Afghanistan needs funding for humanitarian purposes,” he said.

On Tuesday, the U.N. World Food Program announced that a “massive funding shortfall” had forced it to cut rations for 10 million people in the country this year, warning that time is running out to avert catastrophe in Afghanistan.

“The private sector can be a powerful agent of change and an agent of support when a country like Afghanistan is suffering,” Grieco said at the event, where local women business leaders were also in attendance.

“We think that business is the way to increase knowledge and increase more program activities for the core in Afghanistan, and you are great examples for us,” he told the Afghan female participants.

Barader said in his keynote speech that his government had established nationwide “comprehensive security” and “straightforward investment regulations” to attract domestic and foreign investments in Afghanistan.

The Taliban deputy prime minister cited several mining contracts signed in Kabul last month with Asian and European investors, including some from China, Turkey, Iran and Britain, worth almost $6.5 billion.

Grieco pledged to work closely with Bradar’s office to promote business-to-business ties, stressing the need for the Taliban to ensure security and protection of investment assets.

“What we saw and heard this week is that the Emirate government is ready for a market-based economic system for Afghanistan,” Grieco said, using the official title of the Taliban administration, the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”

“The last [Afghan] government didn’t even understand what a market-based economic system is,” he said.

The president of the U.S.-based AACC said his team has been working in Washington with banking sector representatives to help facilitate the return of Afghanistan’s frozen foreign exchange reserves of about $9 billion.

Grieco explained to the audience that the funds are in the U.S. central bank and European countries. He noted that the money cannot be returned to Afghanistan’s central bank for the time being due to economic sanctions on the Taliban.

“We need the Afghan Bankers’ Association to work tougher now to figure out how to approach the return of the commercial bank assets because there has been a change in our government’s thinking in the last few months,” Grieco said. “They are now willing to consider the return of those assets.”

While speaking to the Kabul gathering, Arthur Groom, a longtime international gemstone investor in Afghanistan, said that while some U.S. investors left the country after the Taliban takeover, his company stayed.

“We need to change some minds … because all I have heard here in many meetings is that it’s not safe here, women are not happy here, and the kids aren’t going to the schools, it’s dirty here. It’s completely opposite from what I saw,” Groom said.

Groom said his investment in Afghanistan aims to bring technology into the country to modernize the mining sector and teach modern technology in gem-cutting to enable locals, including the government, to benefit from their natural resources.

The Taliban reclaimed power in August 2021 as the U.S.-led NATO troops withdrew from the country after almost 20 years of war with the then-Taliban insurgents.

The new fundamentalist authorities have since imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law, known as Sharia, banning girls from schools beyond the sixth grade, barring many women from workplaces, including those working for aid agencies, and prohibiting their entry into public parks, gyms and bathhouses.

The restrictions have deterred the international community from recognizing the Taliban government. However, Afghanistan’s neighbors and many regional countries have retained or reopened their embassies in Kabul following the power shift two years ago.

The Taliban said they had established peace in Afghanistan and almost eliminated illicit narcotics production to address international concerns, arguing that their policies align with Afghan culture and Islam.

“The rest is our internal matter, and no one should interfere in it like we don’t interfere in other countries’ affairs,” Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said last week in a speech in Kabul in response to criticism of their treatment of Afghan women and other alleged human rights abuses.
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