Політика

Members of the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity met this week in Washington to establish concrete projects for economic development
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«Причетними до розкрадань коштів виявилися службовці квартирно-експлуатаційних підрозділів спільно з представниками комерційних структур»
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«Діти разом зі своїми рідними проживали на ТОТ – у Донецькій, Запорізькій та Херсонській областях»
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U.S. President Joe Biden faces physical and political isolation as he deals with COVID and as more Democrats urge him to step aside as the party’s nominee. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports.
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До ремонтних робіт, за інформацією мера, залучені всі бригади аварійних служб «Інфоксводоканалу», які працюватимуть цілодобово
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Though America has seen a number of political parties throughout its history, the two-party system of Democrats and Republicans still dominates the political process.
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LOS ANGELES — Bob Newhart, who fled the tedium of an accounting job to become a master of stammering, deadpan humor as a standup comedian and later as a U.S. television sitcom star, died on Thursday at the age of 94, his publicist said.

Newhart died at his home in Los Angeles after a series of short illnesses, said his longtime publicist, Jerry Digney.

Newhart had two hit shows — first playing a psychologist on “The Bob Newhart Show” from 1972 to 1978, and then portraying a Vermont innkeeper on “Newhart” from 1982 through 1990. In both shows he relied on a bland, cardigan-clad everyman character who is confounded by the oddball people around him.

Newhart was nominated for Emmy Awards nine times, beginning in 1962 for writing on his short-lived variety show, but he did not win until 2013 when he was given the award for a guest appearance on “The Big Bang Theory.”

Newhart’s career began in the late 1950s, with a comedy routine in which he played straight man to an unheard voice on the other end of a telephone call. Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers duo called Newhart “a one-man comedy team” because of his dialogues with invisible partners.

His 1960 live album, “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart,” was a big hit that was also highly influential. It became the first comedy album to top the charts and earned him three Grammy awards.

Newhart’s characters had a trademark stammer, which he said was not an act but the way he really talked. He said a TV producer once asked him to cut down on the stammer because it was making the shows run too long.

“‘No,’ I told him. ‘That stammer bought me a house in Beverly Hills,'” Newhart wrote in his memoir, “I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This!”

He ended his “Newhart” show in 1990 with an episode regarded as one of the most unique in the annals of U.S. television. In the last scene of the series, he awakens in bed with his wife from the first series after “dreaming” his life in the second series.

Newhart sprung from an era of angry, edgy standup comics such as Lenny Bruce, Shelley Berman and Mort Sahl, but his act was subtly subversive, without the profanity or shock used by his contemporaries.

He exploited his hesitant, bashful ordinariness to skewer society in his own fashion — including sketches about how a publicity agent would “handle” Abraham Lincoln or one featuring an inept official on the phone with a frantic man trying to defuse a bomb.

In the late 1950s, Newhart had a boring accounting job — in which he claimed that his credo was “that’s close enough” — and began writing comedy sketches with a colleague as a diversion.

Those led to radio performances and eventually a record deal with Warner Bros.

“Probably the best advice I ever got in my life was from the head of the accounting department, Mr. Hutchinson, I believe, at the Glidden Company in Chicago, and he told me, ‘You really aren’t cut out for accounting,'” Newhart told an interviewer.

Before winning an Emmy in 2013, Newhart had been nominated three times for his acting on “Newhart,” once for writing on his 1961 variety show and twice for appearances on other shows. He also was a frequent guest on variety shows and talk shows.

He appeared in several movies, including “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,” “Catch-22” and “Elf.”

In 2002, he was awarded the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Asked by the New York Times in 2019 whether he felt 90 years old, Newhart said, “My mind doesn’t. I can’t turn it off.”

Newhart was introduced by comedian Buddy Hackett to his future wife, Virginia, whom he married in 1964. The Newharts had four children.
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Уряд розбудовує розгалужену систему спецмережі телерадіомовлення на прикордонних територіях, яка блокуватиме російську пропаганду
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WASHINGTON — The United States issued Yemen-related counterterrorism sanctions on Thursday targeting individuals and entities linked to Houthi financial facilitator Sa’id al-Jamal.

The Treasury Department said the actions affected a dozen people and vessels, including Indonesia-based Malaysian and Singaporean national Mohammad Roslan Bin Ahmad and China-based Chinese national Zhuang Liang, “who have facilitated illicit shipments and engaged in money laundering for the network.”
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Діти поїхали «в різні центри за профілем хвороби», підтвердив Радіо Свобода очільник львівського «Охматдиту» Роман Кизима
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Вночі проти 18 липня військово-морські сили РФ проводили навчання із захисту акваторії озера Донузлав, які «завдяки дронам СБУ стали провалом»
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State Department — The United States called China’s decision to suspend nascent arms-control talks with Washington “unfortunate,” noting that China has opted not to engage in efforts to manage strategic risks and prevent costly arms races.

“We think this approach undermines strategic stability. It increases the risk of arms race dynamics. We have made efforts to bolster the defense of our allies and partners in the Indo Pacific, and we will continue to make those efforts in the face of Chinese threats to their security,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters during a briefing on Wednesday.

The Chinese foreign ministry announced on Wednesday that Beijing has decided to hold off on discussions with the U.S. regarding a new round of consultations on arms control and non-proliferation. 

This decision is a protest against Washington’s arms sales to Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy that Beijing claims as its territory.

“China has chosen to follow Russia’s lead in asserting that engagement on arms control can’t proceed when there are other challenges in the bilateral relationship,” Miller added.

On November 6, 2023, officials from the U.S. and China convened for a new strategic risk reduction discussion at the State Department. 

Leading the U.S. delegation was Mallory Stewart, assistant secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence and Stability (ADS). The Chinese delegation was headed by Sun Xiaobo, director general for arms control at China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with other civilian officials also in attendance.

The U.S. has proposed three measures to China aimed at reducing strategic risks related to missile launches or potential missile launches. These include establishing a strategic crisis hotline between their respective Strategic Commands, implementing space deconfliction measures, and adopting missile launch notifications, a practice observed by China with Russia.

China’s decision to halt the new round of strategic risk reduction talks was described as not a significant loss to the U.S., as Chinese officials did not propose any initiatives during the November discussions, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The source also noted that similar talks between the U.S. and China under previous administrations had yielded no tangible results.

“China stands ready to maintain communication with the U.S. on international arms control issues in line with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Wednesday. 

“But the U.S. must respect China’s core interests and create necessary conditions for dialogue and exchange,” he said.

Some former U.S. intelligence officials doubt the effectiveness of ongoing government-to-government engagements and exchanges. They argue that Beijing’s recent suspension of risk reduction talks in response to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan serves as a convenient pretext for China to persist with its internal nuclear arms buildup and external proliferation.

James Fanell, a retired U.S. Navy captain and former director of intelligence and information operations for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, commented that “talks can and will be held when the Chinese Communist Party changes its nefarious actions and destabilizing behavior.”

In a report mandated by Congress last October, the Pentagon revealed that China was developing its nuclear arsenal more quickly than the U.S. had previously estimated.

As of May 2023, China had more than 500 operational nuclear warheads, with projections indicating they could exceed 1,000 by 2030.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the United States currently has about 3,700 nuclear warheads, fewer than Russia’s estimated 4,500.

The U.S. switched its diplomatic recognition from the government in Taipei to the government in Beijing in 1979.

Since then, the U.S. policy has maintained that differences between the two sides should be settled peacefully and in accordance with the will of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The United States acknowledges but has never endorsed Beijing’s sovereignty claim over Taiwan.

Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse.
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