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1,100 Experts Call for Time to Rebuild Notre Dame Well

Over 1,100 French and international architects and heritage experts have called on French President Emmanuel Macron to take the necessary time to ensure good reconstruction work on the fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral.

In a column published by French newspaper Le Figaro Monday, they urge Macron to “let historians and experts have the time for diagnosis before deciding on the future of the monument.”

They call for a well-considered, thoughtful and ethical approach and warn against a “political agenda” based on speed.

France’s government last week presented a bill aimed at speeding up the reconstruction of Notre Dame that would allow workers to skip some ordinary renovation procedures.

 

Macron has set a goal of rebuilding the cathedral in just five years, which some experts consider simply impossible to achieve.

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Scandinavian Airlines Strike in 4th Day, Affecting Thousands

A strike among pilots at Scandinavian Airlines has entered its fourth day with the carrier being forced to cancel 1,213 flights Monday and Tuesday, affecting some 110,000 passengers.

The flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden says more than 170,000 passengers have been affected since the open-ended strike started Friday.

The strike began after the collapse of pay negotiations with the SAS Pilot Group, which represents 95% of the company’s pilots in the three countries.

There is no sign of when talks might resume on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Jacob Pedersen, an analyst with Denmark’s Sydbank, says the pilots want their share of company earnings after the carrier posted a profit in the past four years following a cost saving program that started in 2012.

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Slovak Court Rejects Ban on Parliamentary Far-Right Party

Slovakia’s Supreme Court has dismissed a request by the country’s prosecutor general to ban a far-right party that has 14 seats in the country’s parliament.

In his request filed two years ago, Jaromir Cizna said the far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia is an extremist group whose activities violate the country’s constitution.

But the court ruled Monday the prosecutor general failed to provide enough evidence for the ban.

The verdict is final.

The party openly admires the Nazi puppet state that the country was during World War II. Party members use Nazi salutes, blame Roma for crime in deprived areas, consider NATO a terror group and want the country out of the alliance and the European Union.

If granted, it would have been the first ban on a parliamentary party.

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Socialists Score Spanish Election Victory

Spain’s governing Socialist party won the most votes in elections held Sunday but fell short of an overall majority in a highly fragmented outcome in which the conservative vote split three ways. Surging far right and centrist groups seriously undercut what was until now the main opposition, the Popular Party.

“The Socialist party has won the elections. The future has won and the past has lost,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told supporters outside his party headquarters in Madrid. He hinted at a possible governing arrangement with center-right parties, which have been bitter rivals leading up to the election.

With more than half the votes counted, the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) is headed to a victory with an estimated 28% of the popular vote, giving it an estimated 123 seats in the 350-seat parliament, which is 40 more than it had. But the Popular Party (PP), which received less than 17% of votes, is losing almost half its seats, dropping from 120 to 65.

The centrist Ciudadanos party, which is barely 1 percentage point behind the Popular Party, has increased its representation to 57 seats. The far right Vox Party, however, fared worse than expected, receiving about 10% of the votes, giving them about 25 seats — its first in parliament.

The far left Unidos Podemos also did poorly, with its projected parliamentary representation dropping, from 70 to 42.

“The mood of the country indicates a swing towards the center” political analyst Ramon Peralta, a law professor at the Complutense University of Madrid. “The three-way division of the right clearly hurt PP, with many of its votes going to Vox.”

Peralta projects a possible coalition between PSOE and Ciudadanos, despite bitter rhetoric exchanged between their leaders during the campaign, in which Ciudadanos candidate Albert Rivera called the prime minister a traitor for negotiating with Catalan separatists and vowed not to support a new mandate for the socialists.

The results, however, give no hope for a conservative dream coalition between PP, Ciudadanos and Vox, which had been openly discussed by the leaders of the three parties.

The numbers also show that Prime Minister Sanchez could continue with his current governing arrangement, counting on the parliamentary support of Podemos, Catalan secessionists and Basque nationalists, which also have increased their representation in the national parliament.

VOX leader Santiago Abascal defiantly told supporters outside his party headquarters in Madrid, “Spain may be worse off after the elections, but Vox will be in the parliament for the first time, and there will be 24 deputies that fight to defend Spain’s unity and basic values.”

PP had little to celebrate. “Things have gone very badly,” PP spokesman and congressional candidate Javier Fernandez Lasquetty told VOA.

“We are paying a very high price for a fragmented right,” he said.

Ciudadanos leader Rivera, whose party almost overtook PP, told supporters his centrist option “keeps growing.” However, he discounted any possible deal with Sanchez.

Analysts say Sanchez is more likely to look to his right for parliamentary support, as the far left Podemos party no longer seems a viable partner after losing half its seats.

The Catalan leftist separatist party ERC, led by secessionist President Quim Torra, gained support over more-moderate parties in Catalonia, making any parliamentary coalition with Spain’s central government difficult to sustain.

The Basque Nationalist Party and the radical separatist Bildu, composed of some former supporters of the terror group ETA, also increased their representation in parliament, each gaining a seat.

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Імовірність «цукрової коми» в кримськотатарського активіста Бекірова зростає щодня – Супрун

Імовірність «цукрової коми» в кримськотатарського активіста Едема Бекірова зростає щодня, заявила в. о. міністра охорони здоров’я Уляна Супрун у Twitter-і із посиланням на його родичів.

«Важко хворий український політв’язень Едем Бекіров більше ніж тиждень не отримує медикаментів. Він незаконно утримується Росією у СІЗО Сімферополя. За словами родичів Едема, імовірність «цукрової коми» зростає щодня», – написала Супрун.

Уповноважена Верховної Ради України з прав людини Людмила Денісова раніше направила звернення до російської колеги Тетяни Москалькової про стан здоров’я кримськотатарського активіста Едема Бекірова. У нього виникла алергічна реакція через ін’єкцію інсуліну, призначеного йому після медичного обстеження.

Житель селища Новоолексіївка Херсонської області Едем Бекіров був затриманий російськими силовиками на в’їзді в анексований Крим вранці 12 грудня 2018 року. Він їхав до Криму для відвідин матері та родичів. Підконтрольний Кремлю Київський районний суд Сімферополя заарештував Бекірова.

Адвокат Олексій Ладін повідомив, що активіста підозрюють у «зберіганні і передачі вибухових речовин і боєприпасів». Бекіров неодноразово заявляв про свою невинуватість.

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Twitter Terror: Arrests Prompt Concern Over Online Extremism

A few months after he turned 17 — and more than two years before he was arrested — Vincent Vetromile recast himself as an online revolutionary.

Offline, in this suburb of Rochester, New York, Vetromile was finishing requirements for promotion to Eagle Scout in a troop that met at a local church. He enrolled at Monroe Community College, taking classes to become a heating and air conditioning technician. On weekends, he spent hours in the driveway with his father, a Navy veteran, working on cars.

On social media, though, the teenager spoke in world-worn tones about the need to “reclaim our nation at any cost.” Eventually he subbed out the grinning selfie in his Twitter profile, replacing it with the image of a colonial militiaman shouldering an AR-15 rifle. And he traded his name for a handle: “Standing on the Edge.”

That edge became apparent in Vetromile’s posts, including many interactions over the last two years with accounts that praised the Confederacy, warned of looming gun confiscation and declared Muslims to be a threat.

In 2016, he sent the first of more than 70 replies to tweets from a fiery account with 140,000 followers, run by a man billing himself as Donald Trump’s biggest Canadian supporter. The final exchange came late last year.

“Islamic Take Over Has Begun: Muslim No-Go Zones Are Springing Up Across America. Lock and load America!” the Canadian tweeted on December 12, with a video and a map highlighting nine states with Muslim enclaves.

“The places listed are too vague,” Vetromile replied. “If there were specific locations like ‘north of X street in the town of Y, in the state of Z’ we could go there and do something about it.”

Weeks later, police arrested Vetromile and three friends, charging them with plotting to attack a Muslim settlement in rural New York. And with extremism on the rise across the U.S., this town of neatly kept Cape Cods confronted difficult questions about ideology and young people — and technology’s role in bringing them together.

The reality of the plot Vetromile and his friends are charged with hatching is, in some ways, both less and more than what was feared when they were arrested in January.

Prosecutors say there is no indication that the four — Vetromile, 19; Brian Colaneri, 20; Andrew Crysel, 18; and a 16-year-old The Associated Press isn’t naming because of his age — had set an imminent or specific date for an attack. Reports they had an arsenal of 23 guns are misleading; the weapons belonged to parents or other relatives.

Prosecutors allege the four discussed using those guns, along with explosive devices investigators say were made by the 16-year-old, in an attack on the community of Islamberg.

Residents of the settlement in Delaware County, New York — mostly African-American Muslims who relocated from Brooklyn in the 1980s — have been harassed for years by right-wing activists who have called it a terrorist training camp. A Tennessee man, Robert Doggart , was convicted in 2017 of plotting to burn down Islamberg’s mosque and other buildings.

But there are few clues so far to explain how four with little experience beyond their high school years might have come up with the idea to attack the community. All have pleaded not guilty, and several defense attorneys, back in court Friday, are arguing there was no plan to actually carry out any attack, chalking it up to talk among buddies. Lawyers for the four did not return calls, and parents or other relatives declined interviews.

“I don’t know where the exposure came from, if they were exposed to it from other kids at school, through social media,” said Matthew Schwartz, the Monroe County assistant district attorney prosecuting the case. “I have no idea if their parents subscribe to any of these ideologies.”

Well beyond upstate New York, the spread of extremist ideology online has sparked growing concern. Google and Facebook executives went before the House Judiciary Committee this month to answer questions about their platforms’ role in feeding hate crime and white nationalism. Twitter announced new rules last fall prohibiting the use of “dehumanizing language” that risks “normalizing serious violence.”

But experts said the problem goes beyond language, pointing to algorithms used by search engines and social media platforms to prioritize content and spotlight likeminded accounts.

“Once you indicate an inclination, the machine learns,” said Jessie Daniels, a professor of sociology at New York’s Hunter College who studies the online contagion of alt-right ideology. “That’s exactly what’s happening on all these platforms … and it just sends some people down a terrible rabbit hole.”

She and others point to Dylann Roof, who in 2015 murdered nine worshippers at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina. In writings found afterward, Roof recalled how his interest in the shooting of black teenager Trayvon Martin had prompted a Google search for the term “black on white crime.” The first site the search engine pointed him to was run by a racist group promoting the idea that such crime is common, and as he learned more, Roof wrote, that eventually drove his decision to attack the congregation.

In the Rochester-area case, electronic messages between two of those arrested, seen by the AP, along with papers filed in the case suggest doubts divided the group.

“I honestly see him being a terrorist,” one of those arrested, Crysel, told his friend Colaneri in an exchange last December on Discord, a messaging platform popular with gamers that has also gained notoriety for its embrace by some followers of the alt-right.

“He also has a very odd obsession with pipe bombs,” Colaneri replied. “Like it’s borderline creepy.”

It is not clear from the message fragment seen which of the others they were referencing. What is clear, though, is the long thread of frustration in Vetromile’s online posts — and the way those posts link him to an enduring conspiracy theory.

A few years ago, Vetromile’s posts on Twitter and Instagram touched on subjects like video games and English class.

He made the honor roll as an 11th-grader but sometime thereafter was suspended and never returned, according to former classmates and others. The school district, citing federal law on student records, declined to provide details.

Ron Gerth, who lives across the street from the family, recalled Vetromile as a boy roaming the neighborhood with a friend, pitching residents on a leaf-raking service: “Just a normal, everyday kid wanting to make some money, and he figured a way to do it.” More recently, Gerth said, Vetromile seemed shy and withdrawn, never uttering more than a word or two if greeted on the street.

Vetromile and suspect Andrew Crysel earned the rank of Eagle in Boy Scout Troop 240, where the 16-year-old was also a member. None ever warranted concern, said Steve Tyler, an adult leader.

“Every kid’s going to have their own sort of geekiness,” Tyler said, “but nothing that would ever be considered a trigger or a warning sign that would make us feel unsafe.”

Crysel and the fourth suspect, Colaneri, have been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a milder form of autism, their families have said. Friends described Colaneri as socially awkward and largely disinterested in politics. “He asked, if we’re going to build a wall around the Gulf of Mexico, how are people going to go to the beach?” said Rachael Lee, the aunt of Colaneri’s girlfriend.

Vetromile attended community college with Colaneri before dropping out in 2017. By then, he was fully engaged in online conversations about immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, gun rights and Trump. Over time, his statements became increasingly militant.

“We need a revolution now!” he tweeted in January, replying to a thread warning of a coming “war” over gun ownership.

Vetromile directed some of his strongest statements at Muslims. Tweets from the Canadian account, belonging to one Mike Allen, seemed to push that button.

In July 2017, Allen tweeted “Somali Muslims take over Tennessee town and force absolute HELL on terrified Christians.” Vetromile replied: ”@realDonaldTrump please do something about this!”

A few months later, Allen tweeted: “Czech politicians vote to let citizens carry guns, shoot Muslim terrorists on sight.” Vetromile’s response: “We need this here!”

Allen’s posts netted hundreds of replies a day, and there’s no sign he read Vetromile’s responses. But others did, including the young man’s reply to the December post about Muslim “no-go zones.”

That tweet included a video interview with Martin Mawyer, whose Christian Action Network made a 2009 documentary alleging that Islamberg and other settlements were terrorist training camps. Mawyer linked the settlements, which follow the teachings of a controversial Pakistani cleric, to a group called Jamaat al-Fuqra that drew scrutiny from law enforcement in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1993, Colorado prosecutors won convictions of four al-Fuqra members in a racketeering case that included charges of fraud, arson and murder.

Police and analysts have repeatedly said Islamberg does not threaten violence. Nevertheless, the allegations of Mawyer’s group continue to circulate widely online and in conservative media.

Replying to questions by email, Mawyer said his organization has used only legal means to try to shut down the operator of the settlements.

“Vigilante violence is always the wrong way to solve social or personal problems,” he said. “Christian Action Network had no role, whatsoever, in inciting any plots.”

Online, though, Vetromile reacted with consternation to the video of Mawyer: “But this video just says ‘upstate NY and California’ and that’s too big of an area to search for terrorists,” he wrote.

Other followers replied with suggestions. “Doesn’t the video state Red House, Virginia as the place?” one asked. Virginia was too far, Vetromile replied, particularly since the map with the tweet showed an enclave in his own state.

When another follower offered a suggestion, Vetromile signed off: “Eh worth a look. Thanks.”

The exchange ended without a word from the Canadian account, whose tweet started it.

Three months before the December exchange on Twitter, the four suspects started using a Discord channel dubbed ”#leaders-only” to discuss weapons and how they would use them in an attack, prosecutors allege. Vetromile set up the channel, one of the defense attorneys contends, but prosecutors say they don’t consider any one of the four a leader.

In November, the conversation expanded to a second channel: ”#militia-soldiers-wanted.”

At some point last fall the 16-year-old made a grenade — “on a whim to satisfy his own curiosity,” his lawyer said in a court filing that claims the teen never told the other suspects. That filing also contends the boy told Vetromile that forming a militia was “stupid.”

But other court records contradict those assertions. Another teen, who is not among the accused, told prosecutors that the 16-year-old showed him what looked like a pipe bomb last fall and then said that Vetromile had asked for prototypes. “Let me show you what Vinnie gave me,” the young suspect allegedly said during another conversation, before leaving the room and returning with black explosive powder.

In January, the 16-year-old was in the school cafeteria when he showed a photo to a classmate of one of his fellow suspects, wearing some kind of tactical vest. He made a comment like, “He looks like the next school shooter, doesn’t he?” according to Greece Police Chief Patrick Phelan. The other student reported the incident, and questioning by police led to the arrests and charges of conspiracy to commit terrorism.

The allegations have jarred a region where political differences are the norm. Rochester, roughly half white and half black and other minorities, votes heavily Democratic. Neighboring Greece, which is 87 percent white, leans conservative. Town officials went to the Supreme Court to win a 2014 ruling allowing them to start public meetings with a chaplain’s prayer.

The arrests dismayed Bob Lonsberry, a conservative talk radio host in Rochester, who said he checked Twitter to confirm Vetromile didn’t follow his feed. But looking at the accounts Vetromile did follow convinced him that politics on social media had crossed a dangerous line.

“The people up here, even the hillbillies like me, we would go down with our guns and stand outside the front gate of Islamberg to protect them,” Lonsberry said. “It’s an aberration. But … aberrations, like a cancer, pop up for a reason.”


Online, it can be hard to know what is true and who is real. Mike Allen, though, is no bot.

“He seems addicted to getting followers,” said Allen’s adult son, Chris, when told about the arrest of one of the thousands attuned to his father’s Twitter feed. Allen himself called back a few days later, leaving a brief message with no return number.

But a few weeks ago, Allen welcomed in a reporter who knocked on the door of his home, located less than an hour from the Peace Bridge linking upstate New York to Ontario, Canada.

“I really don’t believe in regulation of the free marketplace of ideas,” said Allen, a retired real estate executive, explaining his approach to social media. “If somebody wants to put bulls— on Facebook or Twitter, it’s no worse than me selling a bad hamburger, you know what I mean? Buyer beware.”

Sinking back in a white leather armchair, Allen, 69, talked about his longtime passion for politics. After a liver transplant stole much of his stamina a few years ago, he filled downtime by tweeting about subjects like interest rates.

When Trump announced his candidacy for president in 2015, in a speech memorable for labeling many Mexican immigrants as criminals, Allen said he was determined to help get the billionaire elected. He began posting voraciously, usually finding material on conservative blogs and Facebook feeds and crafting posts to stir reaction.

Soon his account was gaining up to 4,000 followers a week.

Allen said he had hoped to monetize his feed somehow. But suspicions that Twitter “shadow-banning” was capping gains in followers made him consider closing the account. That was before he was shown some of his tweets and the replies they drew from Vetromile — and told the 19-year-old was among the suspects charged with plotting to attack Islamberg.

“And they got caught? Good,” Allen said. “We’re not supposed to go around shooting people we don’t like. That’s why we have video games.”

Allen’s own likes and dislikes are complicated. He said he strongly opposes taking in refugees for humanitarian reasons, arguing only immigrants with needed skills be admitted. He also recounted befriending a Muslim engineer in Pakistan through a physics blog and urging him to move to Canada.

Shown one of his tweets from last year — claiming Czech officials had urged people to shoot Muslims — Allen shook his head.

“That’s not a good tweet,” he said quietly. “It’s inciting.”

Allen said he rarely read replies to his posts — and never noticed Vetromile’s.

“If I’d have seen anybody talking violence, I would have banned them,” he said.

He turned to his wife, Kim, preparing dinner across the kitchen counter. Maybe he should stop tweeting, he told her. But couldn’t he continue until Trump was reelected?

“We have a saying, ‘Oh, it must be true, I read it on the internet,’” Allen said, before showing his visitor out. “The internet is phony. It’s not there. Only kids live in it and old guys, you know what I mean? People with time on their hands.”

The next day, Allen shut down his account, and the long narrative he spun all but vanished.

 

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Socialists Poised to Win Election

Spain’s ruling Socialist party appears poised to win the country’s third election in four years.

The Socialists, the party of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, were projected to win 123 of 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies, with more than 70 percent of the vote counted.

According to Spain’s Interior Ministry, roughly 75% of all eligible voters cast their ballots Sunday.

Spain saw high voter turnout in elections that were believed to be wide open. The race pits Socialists against four other main parties, including the new far-right Vox Party that is aligned with other far-right movements that have emerged across Europe.

With no one party expected to win a majority Sunday, speculation has centered on which of Spain’s top five parties will join together after the vote to create a governing coalition. A close election could result in weeks of political bargaining that could include smaller parties favoring Catalan independence  a hugely polarizing topic in Spain.

Analysts warn of the possibility of a deadlocked parliament and a second election.

Friday, Prime Minister Sanchez, who is up for re-election, said he is open to the possibility of a coalition with the left-wing United We Can Party, raising the possibility for a center-left governing deal.

On the political right, the conservative Popular Party has splintered into three main groups, with the new Vox Party making inroads with the electorate. The third right-leaning group, Citizens, says it will only join a governing coalition with the Popular Party.

The Popular Party has alternated in office with the Socialist Party since Spain’s return to democracy in the 1970s.

Leaders on both the left and the center-right have urged voters to keep the far-right at bay.

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Українські військові візьмуть участь у навчаннях НАТО в Естонії

Українські військові візьмуть участь у навчаннях НАТО «Весняний шторм» в Естонії, повідомив естонський Головний штаб армії оборони.

Навчання триватимуть з 29 квітня до 17 травня. У них візьмуть участь військові зі США, Бельгії, Грузії, Канади, Латвії, Литви, Польщі, Франції, Німеччини, Фінляндії, України, Великої Британії та Естонії.

Військові хочуть перевірити синхронізованість планів битви, співпрацю між різними рівнями командування та готовність підрозділів виконувати бойові завдання.

Північноатлантичний альянс посилив співпрацю з Україною після анексії Росією Криму та початку збройного конфлікту на Донбасі навесні 2014 року.

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В Україні до 2 травня припинили видавати біометричні документи

В Україні до 8:00 2 травня припинили видавати біометричні документи, повідомило підприємство «Паспортний сервіс».

Компанія пояснила перерву «технічними причинами»: у цей період будуть проведені регламентні роботи з технічного обслуговування серверного та телекомунікаційного обладнання міграційної служби.

Водночас оформлення довідок про несудимість, страхування та апостилювання здійснюватиметься в штатному режимі.

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Коломойський заявив, що давав поради Зеленському, але рідко

Український олігарх Ігор Коломойський, який нині проживає в Ізраїлі, заявив, що допомагав Володимиру Зеленському – переможцю виборів президента України – порадами і готовий продовжувати це робити.

Коломойський дав інтерв’ю російському телеканалу НТВ. За його словами, його поради Зеленському не були «масовим явищем», і за останні півроку він давав їх шоумену, який став політиком, «один-два рази». Коломойський зазначив, що готовий «іноді консультувати» майбутнього президента України, але при цьому не шукає місця в його команді.

Опоненти Зеленського стверджували, що той є кандидатом, пов’язаним з Коломойським. Суперник Зеленського на виборах Петро Порошенко прямо називав його «маріонеткою Коломойського». Його прихильники звертали увагу на те, що шоу Зеленського «Вечірній квартал» і серіал «Слуга народу» виходять на телеканалі Коломойського «1+1», а в штабі Зеленського працює колишній юрист олігарха Андрій Богдан. Сам Зеленський стверджує, що у нього тільки ділові стосунки з бізнесменом, а на його політичну діяльність Коломойський не впливає.

Коломойський також заявив, що після офіційного оголошення результатів президентський виборів він повернеться на Україну.

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Зеленський відповів Путіну: українці не захочуть стати «новою нафтою» для влади Росії

Він порадив російській владі не витрачати даремно час, «намагаючись спокусити громадян України паспортами РФ»

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Spaniards Head to Polls, Result Too Close to Predict

Spain heads to the polls Sunday for its most divisive and open-ended election in decades, set to result in a fragmented parliament in which the far-right will get a sizeable presence for the first time since the country’s return to democracy.

After a tense campaign dominated by emotive issues, notably national identity and gender equality, the likelihood that any coalition deal will take weeks or months to be brokered will feed into a broader mood of political uncertainty across Europe.

At least five parties from across the political spectrum have a chance of being in government and they could struggle to agree on a deal between them, meaning a repeat election is one of several possible outcomes.

A few things are clear, however, based on opinion polls and conversations with party insiders. No single party will get a majority; the Socialist party of outgoing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is leading the race; and there will be lawmakers from the far-right Vox party.

Beyond that, the result is too close to call.

​Third election in four years

Voting starts at 9 am (0700 GMT) and ends at 8 pm in mainland Spain for what will be the country’s third national election in four years, each of which has brought a further dislocation of the political landscape.

It is uncertain if Sanchez will manage to stay in office and how many allies he would need to gather together in order to do so.

If, in addition to far-left anti-austerity party Podemos and other small parties, Sanchez also needs the support of Catalan separatist lawmakers, talks will be long and their outcome unclear.

Opinion polls, which ended Monday, have suggested it will be harder for a right wing split between three parties — the center-right Ciudadanos, conservative People’s Party and Vox — to clinch a majority, but this scenario is within polls’ margin of error and cannot be ruled out.

​Known unknowns

With the trauma of military dictatorship under Francisco Franco, who died in 1975, still fresh in the memory for its older generation, Spain had long been seen as resistant to the wave of nationalist, populist parties spreading across much of Europe.

But this time Vox will get seats, boosted by voter discontent with traditional parties, its focus on widespread anger at Catalonia’s independence drive, and non-mainstream views that include opposing a law on gender violence it says discriminates against men.

One of several unknowns is how big an entry Vox will make in parliament’s lower house, with opinion polls having given a wide range of forecasts and struggled to pin down the party’s voter base.

The high number of undecided voters, in some surveys as many as 4 in 10, has also complicated the task of predicting the outcome, as have the intricacies of a complex electoral system under which 52 constituencies elect 350 lawmakers.

Voters in the depopulating rural heartlands, many of whom are old and may well feel little direct connection to the country’s young, male, urban political elite, are of particular importance.

They proportionally elect more lawmakers than the inhabitants of big cities, but at the same time the cut-off point for parliamentary representation there is trickier to reach, making the outcome harder to predict the more parties there are.

An opinion poll will be published at 8 p.m., and results will trickle in through the evening with almost all votes counted by midnight. In the past two elections, the 8 p.m. polls failed to give an accurate picture of the eventual outcome.

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Poll: Brexit Pushes Support for Scottish Independence to 49%

Support for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom has risen to its highest point in the past four years, largely driven by voters who want to remain in the European Union, according to a poll published Saturday.

As the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) meets for its two-day spring conference, the YouGov poll showed support for secession had risen to 49 percent from 45 percent in the last YouGov poll carried out for The Times in June 2018. 

The SNP is preparing a new independence push after it was defeated in a 2014 referendum by concerns about the economy. 

The party’s proposal for an independent Scotland to continue using the pound in a currency union with Britain was perceived as a particular weakness. 

On Saturday, the SNP leadership proposed that if the country voted for independence, it should use Britain’s pound until a Scottish currency meeting six economic tests could be introduced. Delegates rejected that in favor of a more pressing time frame and formulation urging preparations to introduce a new currency “as soon as practicable after Independence Day,” preserving the six economic tests. 

Scots rejected independence, 55 percent to 45 percent, in a 2014 referendum. Then the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in a 2016 referendum, but among its four nations, Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay, feeding political tension. 

Britain is mired in political chaos and it is still unclear when or even whether it will leave the EU. 

YouGov also found that 53 percent of Scots thought there should not be another referendum on independence within the next five years. Scotland’s first minister, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, is pushing for one before 2021, when the current Scottish parliamentary term ends. 

YouGov polled 1,029 adults in Scotland following a new guideline on independence set out by Sturgeon on Wednesday. 

The poll also showed voters moving away from both the Conservatives and the Labour Party north of the English border. 

The Scottish Conservatives, part of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party, are set to lose their only representative in the European Parliament in next month’s election as 40 percent of those who backed them two years ago switched to Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party. 

“These patterns represent a clear warning to the Unionist camp that the pursuit of Brexit might yet produce a majority for independence,” professor John Curtice, Britain’s leading polling expert, wrote in a column for The Times.

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French Police, Protesters Clash in Strasbourg

French police fired tear gas to push back protesters who tried to march toward the European Parliament building in Strasbourg on Saturday, the 24th consecutive weekend of protests against President Emmanuel 

Macron’s policies. 

The “yellow vest” protesters were back on the streets across France two days after the president outlined policy proposals including tax cuts worth around 5 billion euros ($5.58 billion) in response to the protests. 

Around 2,000 demonstrators gathered near European Union institutions in Strasbourg, with organizers hoping to make the protest international by marching to the parliament building a month ahead of EU-wide parliamentary elections. 

Previous yellow vest protests in the eastern city have mostly been peaceful. But concerned about the violence and destruction of public buildings that have marked some yellow vest demonstrations in other parts of the country, authorities had banned protests and barricaded the neighborhood where the parliament and other EU institutions are located. 

Police fired several canisters of tear gas to push back the demonstrators, a Reuters witness said. French television showed some hooded protesters throwing stones and other objects back at the police. 

Turnout falls

The Interior Ministry said around 23,600 protesters took part in marches across the country, including 2,600 in Paris, compared with around 28,000 a week earlier. That was the second-lowest turnout since the protests started in November. 

The protests, named after motorists’ high-visibility yellow jackets, began over fuel tax increases but morphed into a sometimes violent revolt against politicians and a government they see as out of touch. 

Many in the grass-roots movement, which lacks a leadership structure, have said Macron’s proposals this week did not go far enough and lacked details. 

Saturday’s protests in Paris, which has seen some of the worst violence in past demonstrations, was jointly organized with the leftist trade union confederation CGT and was mostly calm. Protesters also gathered in Lyon and Bordeaux. 

Protester numbers have dwindled from highs of over 300,000 nationwide at the peak in November to below 30,000 in recent weeks, according to government estimates. 

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Путін: потенційна виплата пенсій українцям з Донбасу «не критична» для російського бюджету

Президент Росії Володимир Путін заявив, що виплата пенсій громадянам України в разі отримання ними російських паспортів за спрощеною процедурою не позначиться на соціальних обов’язках Москви перед власними громадянами.

Так він відповів під час прес-конференції в Пекіні на питання журналіста про ймовірне отримання українськими громадянами і російської, і української пенсій в разі отримання ними російського паспорту.

«В обговоренні цієї теми передусім, особливо з точки зору страшилок для російського бюджету і наших бюджетників… оці страшилки вкидаються, безумовно, тими людьми чи політичними силами, які не хочуть, щоб Росія якось підтримувала людей, які проживають на Донбасі», – сказав Путін.

Читайте також: Паспортний наступ на Донбасі: навіщо Росії нові громадяни з «ЛДНР»

Він додав, що «серйозного навантаження» для російського бюджету і ризиків для виплат російським пенсіонерам не буде.

«Ми все порахували: і кількість можливих претендентів на наші паспорти, і кількість пенсіонерів із цього числа. Це приблизно третина з того контингенту, який, як ми припускаємо, може претендувати на наше громадянство. Там достатньо літнє населення на цих територіях сьогодні лишилося. Дійсно, наступного року і в наступні роки може сягнути цифри близько ста мільярдів. Це не в один рік, а протягом кількох років. Це для нас не є чимось критичним, що може поставити під питання виконання наших обов’язків перед російськими пенсіонерами. Такого точно не буде», – запевнив президент Росії.

Читайте також: Кулеба про видачу російських паспортів українцям: Росія хоче подальшої ескалації та хаотизації України

Він також додав, що рівень пенсій в Україні «майже втричі менший», ніж у Росії, не уточнивши, чи означає ця різниця також і різницю в купівельній спроможності. На думку Путіна, російські пенсіонери не вбачатимуть несправедливості в можливій ситуації, коли люди з Донбасу отримають право на російську пенсію.

«Якщо мати на увазі, що люди ще й живуть під кулями, і в них снаряди розриваються час від часу в городах, то я думаю, що й наші пенсіонери, багато хто з яких ще пам’ятають часи Великої Вітчизняної війни (Другої світової війни – ред.), розуміючи, в яких умовах живуть сьогодні люди, не будуть думати, що в даному випадку ми маємо справу з якоюсь соціальною несправедливістю», – припустив Путін.

27 квітня президент Росії Володимир Путін заявив у Пекіні, що Кремль розглядає можливість видачі російських паспортів за спрощеною процедурою усім українцям.

Указ, за яким жителі контрольованих підтримуваними Росією бойовиками районів на сході України зможуть у спрощеному порядку отримувати громадянство Росії, президент Росії Володимир Путін підписав 24 квітня.

Це рішення різко розкритикувала Україна і її західні союзники.

Зокрема, США назвали це рішення Путіна «вкрай провокаційною акцією», яка підриває суверенітет і територіальну цілісність України.

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У Москві заарештували колишнього депутата Верховної Ради від Партії регіонів – ЗМІ

Суд у Москві заарештував українського підприємця і політика Павла Климця, якого звинувачують у даванні хабара в особливо великих розмірах. Про це повідомило російське видання «Коммерсантъ», згодом інформацію підтвердило українське інформаційне агентство «УНІАН».

Джерела «Коммерсанта» стверджують, що незадовго до арешту Климцю пропонували віддати або задешево продати свій бізнес на окупованій території українського Донбасу. За даними «Коммерсанта», він приїхав до Росії, щоб обговорити свої активи на окупованій бойовиками території України.

Читайте також: Хто такий Андрій Портнов і чому він хоче повернутися в Україну?

Климець був депутатом Верховної Ради 5-го і 6-го скликань, загалом з 2007 по 2012 рік. Обидва рази обирався за списками Партії регіонів і входив до парламентської фракції цієї політичної сили.

Станом на зараз українська онлайн-версія журналу Forbes оцінює статки Климця у 34 мільйони доларів. У 2013 році видання вносило його до списку 20 найбагатших дончан року.

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«Агов, ЄС!»: євродепутатка Гармс закликала відреагувати на слова Путіна про видачу паспортів українцям

Депутатка Європейського парламенту Ребекка Гармс закликала Європейський союз до реакції на останні заяви президента Росії Володимира Путіна щодо видачі російських паспортів громадянам України за спрощеною процедурою.

Емоційне повідомлення політикиня опублікувала в своєму Twitter.

«Агов, ЄС! Після кількох критичних заяв щодо паспортизації для Донбасу (краще, ніж нічого) ви бачите, як Путін продовжує свою ескалацію. Федеріка Моґеріні, Жан-Клод Юнкер, Гейко Маас – порушите це питання на засіданні Ради безпеки? Чи знову українцям доведеться виявляти ініціативу?» – спитала Гармс.

Вона позначила у своєму дописі Верховну представницю ЄС із зовнішньої політики Моґеріні, президента Європейської комісії Юнкера та міністра закордонних справ рідної Німеччини Гейко Мааса.

27 квітня президент Росії Володимир Путін заявив у Пекіні, що Кремль розглядає можливість видачі російських паспортів за спрощеною процедурою усім українцям.

Указ, за яким жителі контрольованих підтримуваними Росією бойовиками районів на сході України зможуть у спрощеному порядку отримувати громадянство Росії, президент Росії Володимир Путін підписав 24 квітня.

Це рішення різко розкритикувала Україна і її західні союзники.

Зокрема, США назвали це рішення Путіна «вкрай провокаційною акцією», яка підриває суверенітет і територіальну цілісність України.

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Українські суди потребують реформи – Філарет про рішення суду припинити перейменування УПЦ (МП)

«Наші суди треба реформувати, щоб вони були справедливими судами, а не прилаштовувалися до тих чи інших політичних сил» – почесний патріарх ПЦУ

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Death Toll in East Ukraine Coal Mine Blast Climbs to 17

The death toll from a coal mine blast in a separatist eastern region of Ukraine rose to 17 on Saturday, rebel authorities said.

The gas blast on Thursday ripped through the mine in Yurievka village in the self-proclaimed republic of Luhansk, which broke away from Kyiv in 2014 and is run by Moscow-backed rebels.

“The tragedy took the life of 17 miners,” Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the unrecognized Luhansk republic, said on Twitter.

He added that the bodies of all the miners that died have been recovered.

Earlier the death toll accounted to 13, with another four people missing.

Pasechnik called the explosion at the Skhidkarbon mine a “terrible tragedy” and declared April 29 a day of mourning.

Russia’s emergency situations ministry sent mine rescuers to the separatist territory after it requested help, it said in a statement.

The Luhansk news agency said the mine was closed in 2014 due to the conflict between Kyiv’s forces and the Russia-backed separatists, but was reopened in 2018.  

Most of Ukraine’s coal is produced in its eastern region, where the ongoing fighting has cost some 13,000 lives.

Kyiv has tried to boost the operations of other pits under its control in the west of the country.

 

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Кривавий путін погрожує роздавати паспорти громадянам України, а Зеленський розважається на пляжі

Путін заявив, що розглядає варіант видачі паспортів за спрощеною процедурою усім українцям, а новообраний президент України Володимир Зеленський розповів на своїй сторінці у мережі, що полетів на вихідні на фестиваль до міста Бодрум у Туреччині.

Рішення поїхати до Туреччини розкритикувала частина соратників чинного президента України Петра Порошенка. Зокрема, перший заступник голови Верховної Ради України Ірина Геращенко написала на своїй сторінці у мережі, що Порошенко протягом останніх п’ятьох років мав лише кілька днів відпустки і не мав вихідних.

«Сподіваюся, сьогодні всі пам’ятають, що влаштували Порошенку і його родині опоненти і ЗМІ, коли він «посмів» після років без вихідних на кілька днів за власні кошти поїхати на відпочинок», – заявила Геращенко. Мова йде про поїздку президента та його сім’ї на Мальдіви в січні 2018 року, про що розповідали журналісти.

Чому нещасні українці завжди між поганим і ще гіршим завжди вибирають друге?

Правда України

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Putin: Moscow Mulling Citizenship Offer for All Ukrainians

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his administration is considering a plan to ease the process of granting Russian citizenship to all Ukrainians, not only those in war-torn parts of eastern Ukraine.

Putin made the remark on April 27 at an infrastructure development summit in Beijing.

On April 24, Putin announced a presidential decree that eases the process of granting Russian citizenship to anyone living in parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions that are under the control of Russia-backed separatists.

That decree drew a swift and angry response from Kyiv, the United States, Britain, the European Union, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the international organization tasked with monitoring compliance with the 2015 Minsk agreements on eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Putin’s decree “is actually about the Kremlin’s preparations for the next step of aggression against our state – the annexation of the Ukrainian Donbas or the creation of a Russian enclave in Ukraine.”

The OSCE said in a statement on April 25 that its chairmanship “believes that this unilateral measure could undermine the efforts for a peaceful resolution of the crisis in and around Ukraine.”

It said it was reiterating its “call for a sustainable, full and permanent cease-fire and its firm support for the work of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, which plays an essential role in reducing tensions on the ground, and in fostering peace, stability and security.”

In a joint statement on April 25, France and Germany – the European guarantors of the Minsk agreements – said Putin’s decree “goes against the spirit and aims” of the Minsk process, which aims to establish a stable cease-fire in the conflict in parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region and then proceed to a political settlement.

“This is the opposite of the urgently necessary contribution toward deescalation,” the statement said.

European Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said the decree was “another attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty by Russia.”

“We expect Russia to refrain from actions that are against the Minsk agreements and impede the full reintegration of the nongovernment-controlled areas into Ukraine,” she said.

Ukraine’s foreign minister called Putin’s decree a form of “aggression and interference” in Kyiv’s affairs, while a Western diplomat told RFE/RL it was a “highly provocative step” that would undermine the situation in the war-ravaged region known as the Donbas.

The U.S. State Department also criticized Russia’s move, saying Moscow “through this highly provocative action, is intensifying its assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Critics point to other frozen conflicts in former Soviet republics where Russia has granted citizenship to residents of separatist-held territory in order to choreograph demographic changes over time and justify future military operations.

In 2002, the Kremlin began granting Russian citizenship to residents of Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia – a policy that helped raise the number of Russian passport holders there from about 20 percent to more than 85 percent of the population.

Then, when Russia went to war against Georgia in August 2008, the Kremlin justified its deployment of Russian military forces in Abkhazia and South Ossetia by saying those forces were needed to protect Russia citizens in the separatist regions.

Russian media reports say Russia also has issued its passports to nearly half of the residents of Moldova’s Moscow-backed breakaway region of Transdniester.

That policy has raised concerns in Chisinau that the Kremlin may use a similar argument of defending its citizens in order to justify future Russian military operations in Transdniester.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian, Georgian, and Moldovan Services, Reuters, and AP

 

 

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Остаточно припинено випуск банкнот номіналом 500 євро

26 квітня остаточно припинено випуск банкноти номіналом в 500 євро.

У цей день закінчився термін, відпущений центробанкам Німеччини і Австрії, де цих купюр найбільше в обороті, для припинення їх випуску. Решта 17 країн єврозони перестали друкувати 500-єврові банкноти ще в січні.

Банкноти залишаються законним платіжним засобом і не будуть примусово вилучатися з обігу.

Рішення припинити випуск банкноту 500 євро було прийняте в 2016 році. Причина в тому, що їх часто використовували в незаконних цілях, для відмивання грошей, хабарництва і навіть фінансування тероризму. Так, мільйон євро готівкою в таких банкнотах важить лише 2 кілограми 200 грамів, в той час як мільйон доларів США у 100-доларових банкнотах майже в шість разів важче.

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Vigil in Cyprus for 7 Missing Women, Girls; Suspect in Custody 

Hundreds of people turned up for a protest vigil outside Cyprus’ presidential palace Friday to mourn seven women and girls who police say a military officer confessed to killing and to question if authorities failed to adequately investigate when foreign workers were reported missing.

The protest’s organizer used a bullhorn to read out the victims’ names as well as those of other missing women, and others at the memorial shouted “Where are they?” in response. Some participants held placards decrying “sexist, misogynist and racist” attitudes about women who work as housekeepers or in low-paying service jobs.

​‘What everybody wants is justice’

In a poignant moment, a group of tearful Filipino women held lighted candles and bowed their heads in prayer for the three women and one child of Filipino descent who are believed to be among the victims. A 35-year-old Cypriot National Guard captain is in custody facing multiple homicide charges.

“I felt obliged to do something for these women, all the missing women, all the killed women,” protest organizer Maria Mappouridou said. “I think deep down, all that we want, what everybody wants, is justice.”

Federation of Filipino Organizations in Cyprus chair Ester Beatty said she hoped the event, and the tragedy of the deaths, raise public awareness about migrant workers.

“Right now, it’s really difficult for us to accept what has happened, what is going on. Beatty said. “We still need a lot of answers.”

Cases go back years

Beatty’s group held a silent prayer vigil last Sunday, a week after the discovery of a Filipino woman’s body in an abandoned mineshaft triggered the investigation that led to the captain’s arrest. Police identified her as Mary Rose Tiburcio, 38.

Tiburcio and her 6-year-old daughter had been missing since May of last year. Investigators zeroed in on the captain as a suspect and arrested him after scouring Tiburcio’s online messages.

While investigating her death and searching for Tiburcio’s daughter, police found another body in the flooded mineshaft 32 kilometers (20 miles) west of the capital, Nicosia. Cypriot media have identified the victim as 28-year-old Arian Palanas Lozano, also from the Philippines.

Investigators now think the missing 6-year-old was killed, too. On Thursday, the suspect told them while under questioning about four more victims and gave directions to a military firing range.

The body of a woman, who according to the suspect was of Nepalese or Indian descent, was found buried there.

From the suspect’s statements and information from the investigation, Cypriot police think the other three victims they know about so far are a 31-year-old Filipino woman who has been missing since December 2017, Maricar Valtez Arquiola, and a Romanian mother and daughter.

Cypriot media identified the mother as Livia Florentina Bunea, 36, and her 8-year-old daughter as Elena Natalia Bunea. The two are believed to have been missing since September 2016.

Cyprus horrified

Police said the suspect will appear in court Saturday for another custody hearing. He can’t be named because he hasn’t been charged with any crimes yet.

The scale of the ones he allegedly committed has horrified people in Cyprus, a small nation with a population of just more than a million people where multiple slayings are rare.

President Nicos Anastasiades said Friday that he shared the public’s revulsion at “murders that appear to have selectively targeted foreign women who are in our country to work.”

“Such instincts are contrary to our culture’s traditions and values,” Anastasiades said in a statement from China, where he was on an official visit.

As the president spoke, investigators intensified the search for bodies of victims at the firing range, a reservoir and a man-made lake near the abandoned copper pyrite mine.

Five British law enforcement officials, including a coroner, a psychiatrist and investigators who specialize in multiple homicides, were coming to Cyprus to help with the investigation.

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У Криму захист оскаржив вироки двох фігурантів «справи Веджіє Кашка»

Захист оскаржив вироки російського суду в анексованому Криму фігурантові «справа Веджіє Кашка», кримськотатарському активісту Асану Чапуху, повідомив адвокат Чапуха Айдер Азаматов.

За словами Азаматова, апеляційну скаргу направили до судової колегії з кримінальних справ підконтрольного Кремлю Верховного суду Криму.

 

Як з’ясував проект Радіо Свобода Крим.Реалії, таку ж скаргу подали на вирок Руслана Трубача. Щодо решти фігурантів цієї справи, Бекіра Дегермеджи та Казима Аметова, апеляція готується.

17 квітня Київський районний суд Києва виніс вирок фігурантам «справи Веджіє Кашка», яких звинуватили у вимаганні коштів. Руслана Трубача, Бекіра Дегерменджі та Казима Аметова засудили до трьох років умовного ув’язнення з трирічним випробувальним терміном. Асан Чапух отримав вирок у вигляді 3,5 років умовно, також із трирічним випробувальним терміном.

До розгляду апеляції всі фігуранти справи перебувають під домашнім арештом.

Читайте також: Суд в окупованому Криму залишив кримськотатарського активіста Бекірова під арештом

Ніхто з засуджених не визнав своєї провини.

23 листопада 2017 року Сімферополі російські силовики затримали групу кримських татар – Казима Аметова, Асана Чапуха, Руслана Трубача і Бекіра Дегерменджи за підозрою у буцімто вимаганні коштів у громадянина Туреччини Юсуфа Айтана. При затриманні російськими силовиками стало зле ветеранці кримськотатарського національного руху Веджіє Кашка. Пізніше жінка померла.

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Голова КСУ прокоментував лист із вимогою його відставки

Голова Конституційного суду Станіслав Шевчук в ефірі Радіо Свобода прокоментував лист, оприлюднений трьома суддями КСУ, в якому вони вимагали його відставки.

За словами Шевчука, автори листа не вперше критикували його роботу.

«Ці колеги постійно пишуть листи вже п’ять років, попереднім головам суду, мені. Там є певна критика, певні, на їхній погляд, порушення, але з цим ми розберемося всередині», – сказав Шевчук.

Він назвав подібні випадки «нормальним робочим процесом», хоча висловив подив через публічний виступ своїх колег.

Читайте також: Голова КСУ відповів на звинувачення Порошенка в «переорієнтації» та намірі скасувати декларування

«Я просто здивований, що ця критика вийшла назовні. В нас є свої методи, свої способи. Треба чути один одного, допомагати один одному, бо ми один орган, і на нас дуже уважно дивиться суспільство», – вважає голова КСУ.

Він додав, що давав пояснення з приводу звинувачень суддів.

У березні 2019 року троє суддів Конституційного суду України – Микола Мельник, Сергій Сас та Ігор Сліденко – звернулися до своїх колег iз листом, в якому виступили за відставку очільника КСУ Станіслава Шевчука.

Витяги з листа також оприлюднили кілька видань, зокрема «Дзеркало тижня».

На думку авторів листа, «подальше перебування Станіслава Шевчука на посаді голови КСУ призведе до повного розвалу суду та руйнації конституційного правосуддя».

Шевчук очолює КСУ з лютого 2018 року.

Повну версію інтерв’ю зі Станіславом Шевчуком дивіться на YouTube-каналі Радіо Свобода.


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Окружний суд припинив конкурс на посаду судді ЄСПЛ від України

Окружний адміністративний суд Києва ухвалив рішення, згідно з яким заборонив Конкурсній комісії з добору судді Європейського суду з прав людини від України проводити конкурс. Про таке рішення повідомляє прес-служба суду.

Своєю ухвалою суд частково задовольнив заяву позивача про забезпечення позову. Згідно з нею, Конкурсна комісія з добору кандидатів на обрання суддею ЄСПЛ від України не має права приймати документи від охочих взяти участь, проводити тестування та співбесіди, відбирати кандидатів та оприлюднювати їхній список на сайті Адміністрації президента.

Суд також заборонив голові Комісії Наталії Кузнецовій подавати список кандидатів до Міністерства закордонних справ для подальшої передачі Раді Європи.

«Суд, ухвалюючи рішення про задоволення заяви про забезпечення позову, виходив з того, що відповідна процедура щодо проведення Конкурсу не відповідає міжнародним стандартам, які регламентують її проведення. Зокрема, суд взяв до уваги позицію позивача, що визначені комісією строки для проведення конкурсу порушують рекомендації Парламентської асамблеї Ради Європи», – мовиться в роз’ясненні прес-служби.

Читайте також: Росія заявляє, що питання ЄСПЛ у справі Сенцова виходять за межі компетенції суду – ЗМІ

Позивач у повідомленні не називається. Українська Гельсінська спілка з прав людини повідомила, що Окружний адміністративний суд задовольнив саме її позов.

У Спілці вважають, що відбір судді проводиться з грубим порушенням процедури, «а саме із порушеннями принципу публічності, прозорості, відкритості та своєчасності, що звужує можливості проведення об’єктивного і незалежного конкурсного відбору та фактично унеможливлює обрання кандидата на посаду судді Європейського суду з прав людини від України у необхідний строк».

Заступник міністра юстиції Іван Ліщина напередодні заявив, що Конкурсна комісія з відбору суддів до ЄСПЛ зібралася 19 квітня і оголосила прийом документів від кандидатів до 27 квітня. Це, на його думку, залишає кандидатам замало часу для того, щоб подати документи, а отже, порушує вимоги Ради Європи.

З квітня 2010 року посаду судді ЄСПЛ від України обіймає Ганна Юдківська. Термін повноважень судді Європейського суду з прав людини складає дев’ять років.

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UK Opposition Leader Corbyn Turns Down Invite to Trump State Dinner

The leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said on Friday he had turned down an invitation to a state dinner which will be part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Britain in June.

“Theresa May should not be rolling out the red carpet for a state visit to honor a president who rips up vital international treaties, backs climate change denial and uses racist and misogynist rhetoric,” Corbyn said in a statement.

He said maintaining the relationship with the United States did not require “the pomp and ceremony of a state visit” and he said he would welcome a meeting with Trump “to discuss all matters of interest.”

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Russian Agent Butina Sentenced in US Court

A U.S. federal judge has sentenced a Russian gun rights proponent to 18 months in prison for conspiring with a senior Russian official to infiltrate the National Rifle Association (NRA) and influence U.S. conservative activists and Republican politicians to benefit the Kremlin.

Maria Butina, a former graduate student at American University in Washington, pleaded guilty in December. A U.S. district court judge in Washington said Friday Butina will get credit for the nine months she served, but will  be deported immediately after serving her sentence.

Butina pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to act as a foreign agent. Her attorneys have requested a sentence of time served and deportation to Russia after cooperating with prosecutors. Prosecutors have also asked the court to deport Butina, who has been in jail since her arrest last July, and to impose an 18-month jail sentence.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr has said Butina should be deported to Russia without serving her sentence.

Butina is the first Russian national convicted of trying to influence U.S. policy toward Russia before the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Butina said in her plea documents her work was performed under the direction of Alexander Torshin, a former Kremlin official who heads a small Russian gun rights group. In 2013, she began to establish contacts with the NRA, one of the most powerful U.S. lobbying groups with strong ties to the Republican politicians, including President Donald Trump.

The 30-year-old also said she worked with an American political operative to develop unauthorized lines of communications with U.S. political influencers.

Prosecutors said in a court filing Butina was “keenly aware that portions of her work” were reported to “the wider Russian government,” but that she was “not a trained intelligence officer” and “not a spy in the traditional sense.”

Her attorneys wrote in an April 19 sentencing request that Butina acted with hopes of improving U.S.-Russia relations and that she “has done everything she could to atone for her mistakes through cooperation and substantial assistance.”

 

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