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Finnish Social Democrats Score First in Advance Voting in Election

Finland’s leftist Social Democrats won first place in advance voting ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary election, with 18.9 percent of the votes, after 35.5 percent of ballots had been counted, justice ministry data showed.

The center-right National Coalition of outgoing Finance Minister Petteri Orpo came in second, with 17.2 percent of the advance ballots. The Center Party of outgoing Prime Minister Juha Sipila scored third, with 15.4 percent.

The nationalist True Finns party came in fourth, with 15.1 percent of the vote.

About 36 percent of voting-age Finns cast their votes in a seven-day advance voting period that ended on Tuesday.

The results from these votes are often skewed due to differences in voter behavior in different regions.

Public broadcaster Yle is expected to publish its forecast of the final election result at 1830 GMT.

With the top contenders running close, the final results could still show another group winning and getting the first shot at forming government.

The Finns’ strong showing further complicates coalition talks, with most party leaders ruling out any cooperation with them.

At the stake in the election is the future shape of Finland’s welfare system, a corner of its social model, which the leftist want to preserve through tax hikes and the center-right wants to see streamlined because of rising costs.

The Finns call for limits on the country’s environmental policies, arguing the nation has gone too far in addressing issues such as climate change at its own expense, as well as a revamp of its immigration stance.

With the European Parliament election less than two months away, the Finnish ballot is also being watched in Brussels.

A strong result for the Finns Party could bolster a nationalist bloc threatening to shake up EU policy-making.

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Pope Celebrates Palm Sunday Mass

Tens of thousdands gathered at St. Peter’s Square as Pope Francis celebrated Palm Sunday Mass. Palm Sunday marks the start of the holiest and one of the busiest times on the Pope’s calendar. On the day the Church also celebrated the day of the youth, the pope urged young people not to be ashamed to show their enthusiasm for Jesus.

As is tradition, Sunday Mass in Saint Peter’s Square on Palm Sunday began with Pope Francis sprinkling holy water and blessing palm fronds and olive branches for the service in front of the towering obelisk in the center of the square. The Vatican said over 40,000 people were present for the occasion.

The pope wore bright red vestments and held a braided palm as he and many cardinals and bishops took part in a long procession before he held mass at an open-air altar in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica. Palm Sunday marks the day Jesus made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

Pope Francis began his homily by saying, “Joyful acclamations at Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, followed by his humiliation. Festive cries followed by brutal torture. This two-fold mystery accompanies our entrance into Holy Week each year.”

The pope said that it was important to resist the temptations of triumphalism and remain humble. He added, “One subtle form of triumphalism is spiritual worldliness, which represents the greatest danger, the most treacherous temptation facing the Church”. The pope said that “Jesus destroyed his triumphalism by his Passion”.

On Palm Sunday, the church also marks World Youth Day. The pope called on young people not to be ashamed to show their enthusiasm for Jesus but at the same time not to fear following “him on the way to the cross.” The Vatican has announced that the next World Youth Day will be held in Portugal in 2021.

Pope Francis asked those gathered at the end of the mass to pray for peace in the Holy Land and all of the Middle East.

Like every year the pope has a busy schedule this week. On Holy Thursday he will visit the prison of Velletri, south of Rome, where he will wash the feet of 12 prisoners. On Good Friday he will lead the Way of the Cross procession at Rome’s ancient Colosseum. And, on Easter Sunday the pope will give his traditional blessing to the city and to the world.

 

 

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Assange Lawyer: Ecuador Spread Lies about WikiLeaks Founder

A lawyer representing jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says the Ecuadorian government has been spreading lies about his behavior inside its embassy in London.

Jennifer Robinson told Sky News on Sunday that Ecuador is making “pretty outrageous allegations” to justify allowing British police into its embassy Thursday in order to take Assange into custody.

Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno withdrew Assange’s political asylum this week, opening the way for his seizure by British police.

Robinson says Assange has had “a very difficult time” since Moreno came to power in 2017.

Assange is jailed in Britain for jumping bail and faces an extradition request from the United States for conspiracy. Sweden also is considering reviving a rape investigation of him.

His next court appearance is May 2 via video link.

 

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London Police Open Fire as Vehicle Rams Ukraine Embassy Car

Police in London opened fire outside the Ukrainian embassy on Saturday after a man rammed his vehicle into the ambassador’s empty parked car at least twice before being arrested, officials said.

No one was hurt in the incident, which happened early on Saturday outside the embassy building in the affluent Holland Park area of west London, and it was not being treated as terrorism, police said in a statement.

The embassy said in a statement that the ambassador’s empty official vehicle had been deliberately rammed as it sat parked in front of the building.

“The police were called immediately, and the suspect’s vehicle was blocked up,” it added.

“Nevertheless, despite the police actions, the attacker hit the ambassador’s car again. In response, the police were forced to open fire on the perpetrator’s vehicle.”

TV footage later showed a silver car slewed across the cordoned-off road with its driver’s door open and window shattered.

Police said they had been called at around 9.50 am on Saturday to reports of a car having hit several vehicles in the road.

“On arrival at the scene, a vehicle was driven at police officers,” they added in a statement. “Police firearms and Taser were discharged, the vehicle was stopped and a man, aged in his 40s, was arrested.”

The man was taken to hospital as a precaution but was not injured, they added.

 

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4 EU Nations to Take in 64 Migrants Rescued at Sea

Malta’s prime minister announced on Twitter Saturday that four European Union countries have finally come forward to take in the 64 migrants who were rescued off the coast of Libya by a German vessel ten days ago.

Joseph Muscat wrote that all 64 migrants onboard vessel Alan Kurdi will be disembarked and redistributed between Germany, France, Portugal and Luxembourg thanks to effective coordination by the EU Commission and Malta. He added that “None will remain in Malta, which cannot shoulder this burden alone.”

Officials for the German humanitarian group Sea Eye said it responded to a call made to Alarm Phone, the telephone service migrants can call if they are in distress in the Mediterranean. Sea Eye said the migrants were rescued from an overcrowded dinghy.  

Sea Eye, using a German vessel named the Alan Kurdi, said it was in the area searching for another dinghy with some 50 people on board, which issued a distress call and then disappeared.

The rescued included ten women, five children and a newborn baby.  One young woman was evacuated earlier this week after complaining of dizziness and faintness.

Jan Ribbeck, operations manager of the Alan Kurdi and who is also a doctor, said earlier this week the migrants for the most part had to sleep on deck and were not protected from the weather or the sea water.  

He said the migrants were cold, wet and did not have dry clothes to change into. He added that due to the bad weather, they had to be taken below deck. Since Sunday evening, 81 people were huddled together in a room designed for 20 people.  

Many of the migrants are suffering with seasickness, Ribbeck said.

“It leaves me speechless that Europe is not in a position to spare 81 people such ordeals,” he said as the migrants lingered on the boat waiting to find a safe port.

Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the Alan Kurdi is flying a German flag and is run by a German non-governmental organization and with a German captain and therefore it should head to Germany.

Maltese authorities were informed Tuesday morning about the shortage of water and food and a need for some clothing. Malta allowed a transport to replenish supplies on Wednesday.

Sea Eye spokesman Dominik Reisinger said the “political question about the distribution of the rescued overshadows the human rights” of those onboard.

 

 

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US-Turkish Tensions Escalate Over Russian Missile Purchase

With Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirming his commitment to buy Russian missiles in the face of renewed warnings from NATO ally the United States about sanctions, Ankara and Washington remain on a collision course. Analysts warn that with a July date looming for Ankara to take delivery of the missiles, time is running out to avert a rupture in bilateral ties.

“Turkey must choose — does it want to remain a critical partner in the most successful military alliance in history?” said David Satterfield, the U.S. nominee to be the ambassador to Turkey, speaking at a confirmation hearing Thursday before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “Or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making such reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?” 

“We tell them [journalists], ‘This is a job done, all is ready,’ ” said Erdogan. He confirmed the purchase of the S-400 missiles as he spoke to Turkish reporters Monday, while returning from Moscow after his third meeting this year with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“It’s like a slow-motion car crash. It’s even difficult now to call Turkey and the U.S. allies, so I am not very optimistic about the relationship,” said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen, who served in Washington.

Washington claims the S-400 missiles will compromise U.S.-made military defense systems used by Turkey, in particular the F-35 fighter jet. The Pentagon has warned that delivery of the F-35 planes to Turkey, which is a co-producer of the aircraft, is in jeopardy with any deployment of the Russian missiles.

The U.S. Congress is also warning that Ankara’s procurement of Russian weapons would open the door to financial sanctions, under CAATSA — the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. Under the 2017 legislation, Turkish institutions and individuals can be targeted by hefty fines.

Any U.S. fine could rock Turkey’s economy, which is in recession after last year’s collapse of the lira, triggered by the Trump administration’s decision to impose sanctions on Turkey over the detention in Turkey of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who has since been released.

“I don’t think market participants have a very good handle on how high the stakes are,” said analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners, “in the bad-case scenario of Turkey-U.S. brinkmanship in the S-400 drama.”

On Friday, the lira fell sharply amid growing investor concerns about U.S.-Turkish tensions and reports of a steep fall in Turkey’s foreign currency reserves. “I fear Erdogan has not been told by his advisers how little foreign reserves Turkey has left,” said an analyst for a foreign bank, speaking anonymously. “Turkey has very little room and time to maneuver now.”

Some analysts suggest Turkey is too important for the U.S. to crack down on. “I was speaking to American diplomats. I told them, ‘It’s America’s choice — do they want to hit Turkey with sanctions that will make an unstable Turkey, that will destabilize the rest of the region?’ ” asked international relations professor Huseyin Bagci, of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

Bagci says a lack of clarity by Washington about its intentions exacerbates the current tensions.

“The Americans are confused. What we hear from the American Pentagon, the State Department, is it [the S-400 sale] will create troubles and reduce trust and cause sanctions. But the American president has said nothing,” said Bagci.

“If [U.S. President Donald] Trump says don’t buy [the S-400 missiles],” he added, “it will carry much more political weight. However, as long as there is no statement from the American president, there will probably be no return from this deal.”

The Turkish president’s advisers routinely maintain that the only voice that counts in Washington is that of Trump. They allege dark forces are operating around the U.S. president, seeking to sour ties with Ankara.

Analysts warn that any strategy by Ankara of relying on Erdogan’s relationship with Trump is risky. “There is a danger for Ankara in miscalculating U.S. intentions,” said Selcen. “But the [U.S.] intentions are there, clearly stated, it is also true, Trump did not come out publicly on these issues.”

Berat Albayrak, Turkey’s economy czar and Erdogan’s son-in-law, is due in Washington in the coming days for a series of meetings and conferences. According to Turkish media reports, Albayrak is expected to meet high-level U.S. officials including Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser. The two men reportedly have developed a close working relationship.

“It remains to be seen whether those parties at the Pentagon [and] White House will use this visit by Mr. Albayrak as a last measure to convey once again America’s message on these issues concerning Turkey’s national security,” said Selcen. “But time is ticking, and we’re in the middle of April, and the S-400 is due to be delivered to Turkey in July. So there is not much time.” 

Some analysts warn that Washington has already run out of time. “The S-400s will be delivered; the question is not delivery,” said Bagci. “But the question is: Is it going to be used? It could be deployed to Turkish Cyprus, so it’s not in Turkey. In Turkey, every home has a guest room. So the S-400 could be like a vase in the guest room, not unused.”

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Czech Envoy: Bids Welcome From US Arms Manufacturers

As the Czech Republic moves to boost its arms spending under a proposed defense accord with Washington, its ambassador in Washington says his government hopes U.S. defense contractors will bid aggressively for his country’s business. 

 

“Obviously, our American friends are [submitting] some tenders for what we intend to buy in the next year. I wish them success,” Hynek Kmoníček told VOA in an interview this week. 

 

“Nobody says how the tender will end up, but we definitely have the intention to bring as many American military partners to our tenders as possible, because the more competitors you have, the better price you get at the end,” he said. 

   

Kmoníček said the defense agreement under negotiation is likely to resemble a pact signed several days ago between the United States and Hungary. The U.S. State Department said the Hungary deal “will facilitate greater partnerships to address shared threats and global challenges.” 

  

The Czech Republic, Kmoníček said, is a nation of just 10 million people, strategically located “on the way from Western Europe to Russia and back.” 

 

“If you look at our history, it’s not an easy history; everybody liked us, everybody occupied us,” he said in explaining his country’s reasons for pursuing the bilateral defense agreement. 

WATCH: Czech Ambassador: Our Main Defense Partner Is US

“We need friends who understand why we are who we are” and who are willing to form an alliance, he said, adding that the majority of his fellow citizens see NATO as a “seal” of their defense. 

 

Kmoníček said the Czech Republic has committed to doubling its current defense expenditures in order to reach the NATO benchmark of 2% of GDP by 2024 — a significant increase but one that enjoys popular support in his country. 

 

“If you look at the opinion of the man in the street, he knows that times have changed, that we’re not living in a world as safe as it was 20 or 25 years ago,” he said.  

WATCH: Czech Ambassador: ‘These Are Our Sons’ 

Ultimately, “what we want to know is whatever we buy for our army” provides the best protection available. “These are our sons,” and ensuring their safety is the government’s obligation, Kmoníček said.   

 

A second component of the proposed defense accord calls for the Czech Republic to work toward “full compatibility with all the other NATO equipment because you need to synchronize with your partners,” Kmoníček said. 

 

“The main defense partner for the Czech Republic is the United States, so anything new which will come in that respect is more than welcome.”  

  

The ambassador said a defense dialogue takes place between the United States and the Czech Republic once a year. He said the new bilateral agreement could be in sight by the time the next round takes place a year from now. 

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Ex-Venezuelan Intelligence Chief Arrested in Madrid for Drug Trafficking

Spanish police on Friday arrested Hugo Carvajal, a former general and close ally of the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, on drug trafficking charges on an arrest warrant issued by the United States, a police spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman would not provide further details about the charges against Carvajal. In 2008, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Carvajal for “materially assisting the narcotics trafficking activities” of Colombia’s FARC rebel group.

A court spokesman said Carvajal would appear before Spain’s High Court on Saturday. The court needs to decide within 24 hours of his arrest whether he will be jailed pending a decision on his extradition or if he will be set free.

The U.S. Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Carvajal, head of military intelligence from 2004 to 2008,denounced Chavez’ successor Nicolas Maduro in February and gave his support to Juan Guaido, who in January invoked the constitution to become Venezuela’s interim president. Guaido was later recognized by the United States and dozens of governments, but Maduro remains in office with support of the military and has denounced Guaido as a U.S. puppet.

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), in its 2008 statement, said Carvajal’s assistance to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia included protecting drug shipments from seizure by Venezuelan anti-narcotics authorities and providing them with weapons.

Carvajal also provided FARC with official Venezuelan government identification documents that allowed its members to travel to and from Venezuela, OFAC said.

In 2014, Carvajal was arrested on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba on a U.S. drug trafficking warrant, but the Dutch government accepted Venezuela’s argument that he had diplomatic immunity because he had been nominated consul to Aruba.

In an interview with the New York Times published in February, Carvajal said any dealings he had with drug traffickers resulted from his role investigating them as intelligence chief.

Carvajal said he had met with FARC members in 2001 to engage them as a government negotiator in the kidnapping of a Venezuelan businessman, a trip that had been approved by presidents in both Venezuela and Colombia.

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Продається Chrysler Prowler Roadster Candy Red в Києві!

Продається Chrysler Prowler Roadster Candy Red в Києві!

Фінальний (останній) випуск – всього 300 автомобілів було випущено в цьому кольорі!!!

Єдиний у світі хот-род, який випускався серійно! Алюмінієвий кузов і алюмінієва рама!

Без пробігу по Україні! 100% митниця в Україні! Стан нового автомобіля!

Спортивний алюмінієвий двигун 3.6 л (попередні випуски Prowler мали звичайний залізний двигун!) потужністю до 400л. с.

Автомобіль зібраний вручну на заводі Conner Avenue Assembly Plant (CAAP) в місті Detroit штат Michigan в 2002 році. Витрата: 11л/100км.

Найповніша комплектація: спорттронік, сабвуфер, AM / FM stereo, касетний плеєр, круїз-контроль, мультикермо, 20 “хромовані диски, бортовий комп’ютер на дзеркалі і т.д.

Можливий обмін. Успішно заробляє гроші в рекламі, шоу-бізнесі.

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Продається Toyota RAV4 2008 року, повний привід, автоматична коробка передач, одна власниця

Позашляховик / Кросовер, 5 дверей, 5 місць. Рідний пробіг 60 тис.км. Двигун 2л (150 л.с./110 кВт), бензин, коробка передач автомат, привід повний, колір: золотистий металік. Куплена в салоні, одна власниця, експлуатувалася дуже акуратно.

Стан автомобіля: хороший. Двигун, коробка, мости і ходова в ідеальному стані. Салон: чистий. ТО проводилось за регламентом. Не бита! Не крашена! Абсолютно все добре працює.

Комплектація: допомога при спуску, двухзонний клімат-контроль, підігрів сидінь, мульти-руль, зеркала складаються, автосвітло, омивач фар. Задні парктроніки. Вкладень не потребує. В машині не курили, не смітили. Центральний замок, подушки безпеки (Airbag), ABS, імобілайзер, сигналізація, галогенні фари, підсилювач керма, ел. склопідйомники, бортовий комп’ютер, кондиціонер, клімат-контроль, круїз-контроль, задні парктроніки, підігрів сидінь, омивач фар, підігрів дзеркал, електропакет, мультируль, мультимедіа, магнітола, акустика, CD, тоновані скла.

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На Донбасі гинуть Герої України, а до влади рвуться зе-москалі і зе-похвостичі грабіжників

Увечері 11 квітня в зоні бойових дій на Донбасі під час виконання бойового завдання на Приазов’ї зазнав поранення, несумісного з життям, старший солдат Роман Чибінєєв. Про це повідомила прес-служба базованої в Миколаєві 79-ї окремої десантно-штурмової бригади, командиром відділення в якій був солдат Чибінєєв.

«Полеглий воїн був вправним і навченим військовослужбовцем, який гідно виконував свої обов’язки, був вимогливим командиром і вірним товаришем для своїх побратимів. Влітку йому виповнилося б 30 років», – ідеться в повідомленні.

«Командування та особовий склад військової частини висловлює глибокі співчуття рідним і близьким, слова підтримки брату полеглого – колишньому військовослужбовцю бригади, Герою України Валерію Чибінєєву з приводу невимовної втрати», – вказують у 79-й бригаді.

У штабі операції Об’єднаних сил повідомили зранку 12 квітня, що минулої доби на Донбасі один український військовий загинув і ще восьмеро були поранені.

На Донбасі від 8 березня діє новий режим тиші, про який домовилися на засіданні Тристоронньої контактної групи в Мінську. Цього разу, як і раніше, перемир’я не дотримується і порушувалося відразу в перші години після проголошення.

Збройний конфлікт на Донбасі триває від 2014 року після російської окупації Криму. Україна і Захід звинувачують Росію у збройній підтримці бойовиків. Кремль відкидає ці звинувачення і заявляє, що на Донбасі можуть перебувати хіба що російські «добровольці».

За даними ООН, станом на кінець грудня 2018 року, за час конфлікту загинули близько 13 тисяч людей, майже 30 тисяч – поранені.

Правда України

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Trump: ‘I Know Nothing About WikiLeaks’; US Seeks Assange Extradition

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he has no knowledge of the website WikiLeaks, after the whistleblowing site’s founder, Julian Assange, was arrested in Britain.

The 47-year-old Australian national had been living in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012, but was ejected Thursday and taken into custody by British police.

Ecuador said Assange had broken asylum conventions by continuing to interfere in other countries’ affairs through the publishing of confidential information.

 

WATCH: Trump Denies Knowledge of WikiLeaks

Trump was questioned by reporters on the arrest Thursday.

“I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It’s not my thing,” Trump said. “I know there is something to do with Julian Assange, and I’ve been seeing what’s happened to Assange. And that would be a determination, I would imagine, mostly by the attorney general, who’s doing an excellent job. So, he’ll be making a determination.”

On the campaign trail in 2016, Trump repeatedly referred to WikiLeaks after it published hacked emails from the Democrat National Committee. He once declared, “WikiLeaks! I love WikiLeaks,” at a rally in Pennsylvania.

In 2010, WikiLeaks published a cache of more than 700,000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts from Iraq and Afghanistan, obtained by former U.S. Army soldier Chelsea Manning, then known as Bradley Manning. They detailed civilian casualties, along with details of suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Manning was prosecuted under the Espionage Act and jailed in 2010. She was released in 2017, but was jailed again in March 2019 for refusing to testify before a grand jury about WikiLeaks.

​Asylum in embassy

Assange sought asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy after facing rape charges in Sweden, which have since been dropped. He predicted then that he would face extradition to the United States.

“As WikiLeaks stands under threat, so does the freedom of expression and the health of all our societies,” Assange told a crowd of supporters from the balcony of the embassy.

The United States accuses Assange of conspiring with Manning to access classified information on Department of Defense computers and has requested his extradition from Britain.

Freedom of the Press

Freedom of the press is protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, so the precise charges against Assange will be key, said legal analyst Caroline Mala Corbin of the University of Miami School of Law.

“If you break the law while you gather information, that is not protected by the free speech clause. If, however, you publish information — even if someone else has illegally obtained it — the free speech clause does come into play,” she told VOA.

Assange supporter and prominent human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said Assange must be afforded the rights of other journalists.

“It smacks of double standards, and it has the whiff of a vendetta against WikiLeaks and against Julian Assange,” he said.

British judges will now decide whether to fulfill the U.S. extradition request.

Geoffrey Robertson, an attorney who has represented Assange in the past, said Assange could face up to 40 years in prison if he is extradited to the United States.

“I have faith in the British justice system, and I think he will argue that this is a breach of his right of freedom of speech,” Robertson said.

Assange will first face sentencing for failing to surrender to authorities on sexual assault charges in 2012.

Meanwhile, one of the Swedish women who accused Assange of rape has requested the case be reopened, further complicating the legal case against him.

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Brexit Delay Offers Britain Respite, Enrages PM’s Critics

Pro- and anti-Brexit supporters have vowed to step up their campaigns after European Union leaders have given Britain a six-month extension to Brexit, averting the immediate danger of Britain crashing out of the bloc with no deal. However, it could mean Britain having to take part in EU elections scheduled in May, and there are still few signs that lawmakers will vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, further prolonging the political chaos. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.

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Vatican Holds Spiritual Retreat for Peace in South Sudan

Pope Francis has told leaders of South Sudan that peace is possible and urged the country’s leaders to seek what unites and overcome what divides.

At the end of a two-day meeting in the Vatican, the pope shocked those present by kneeling and kissing the feet of South Sudan’s former warring leaders. 

At the end of the two-day meeting in the Vatican, originally proposed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, Pope Francis told South Sudanese leaders to recognize the enormous shared responsibility they hold for the present and future of their country. 

Those attending the meeting included South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, vice president and former rebel leader Riek Machar, and three other vice presidents.

The pope called on them to commit themselves to the building of their nation. 

The pope said, “People are wearied, exhausted by past conflicts: remember that with war, all is lost! Your people today are yearning for a better future, which can only come about through reconciliation and peace.”

The pope said this meeting was “something altogether special and in some sense unique,” as it was neither an ordinary bilateral nor diplomatic meeting between the pope and heads of state, nor an ecumenical initiative involving representatives of different Christian communities. Instead, it was a spiritual retreat. 

South Sudan’s civil war, which broke out in late 2013, has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 4 million South Sudanese from their homes. A peace deal last August has reduced but not stopped the fighting.

One of the South Sudanese religious leaders attending said these were days of intense prayer and deep reflection and of open and frank dialogue and spiritual conversation.

“The leaders leave here renewed and committed to the task of working for peace, striving for reconciliation and seeking justice for the 13 million people, the South Sudanese, whose prayer and hope they all carry.”

Pope Francis told them how he learned last September that a peace agreement for the country had been signed and congratulated political leaders for “having chosen the path of dialogue.” He urged them to implement what has been agreed on.

The pope expressed his heartfelt hope that hostilities would finally cease, that the armistice would be respected, that political and ethnic divisions would be surmounted, and that there would be a lasting peace for all those citizens who dream of beginning to build the nation.

After his speech at the end of the retreat, Pope Francis kissed the feet of the former warring leaders and told them their people are waiting for their return home, for reconciliation, and a new era of prosperity.    

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Retired Pope’s Essay on Sex Abuse Raises Eyebrows, Contradicts Pope Francis

Retired Pope Benedict XVI has published an analysis on the Catholic Church’s clergy sex abuse scandal, blaming it on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and church laws that protected priests.

The essay immediately raised eyebrows, seeming to interfere with or even contradict Pope Francis’ own efforts to confront one of the most critical issues facing the church.

One church historian called Benedict’s essay “catastrophically irresponsible,” because it conflicted with Francis’ own efforts to lead the church out of the sex abuse crisis.

Benedict in 2013 had said he planned to retire to a lifetime of penance and prayer and would leave Francis to guide the church.

U.S. church analysts said the essay, published in the German monthly Klerusblatt, was both flawed in content and problematic on universal church level, exacerbating existing divisions in the church that have emerged between supporters of Francis and Catholics nostalgic for Benedict’s doctrine-minded papacy.

In his introduction, Benedict said both the Vatican secretary of state and Francis had given him permission to publish it. The Vatican press office confirmed it was written by Benedict.

In the essay, Benedict traced the start of the clergy abuse crisis to the sexual revolution of the 1960s, citing the appearance of sex in films in his native Bavaria. He also blamed the crisis on failures of moral theology in that era, as well as church laws that gave undue protection to accused priests.

Benedict wrote that during the 1980s and 1990s, “the right to a defense [for priests] was so broad as to make a conviction nearly impossible.”

As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict reformed those laws in 2001 to make it easier to remove priests who abused children. Benedict took a hard line against clerical sex abuse as the Vatican’s conservative doctrine chief, and later as pope, defrocking hundreds of priests accused of raping and molesting children.

“Why did pedophilia reach such proportions? Ultimately, the reason is the absence of God,” he wrote.

Francis has blamed the scandal on a clerical culture in the church that raises priests above the laity.

Villanova University theologian Massimo Faggioli said the essay was thin in its analysis by effectively attributing the scandal to the sexual revolution. He said it omitted key cases, such as the Legion of Christ founder’s pedophilia, which began well before then.

“If a pope emeritus decides to stay silent, it’s one thing and can be defended. But speaking and telling a tiny part and a very personal version of the story, it’s hard to defend,” he said on twitter.

“Everything we know in the global history of the Catholic abuse crisis makes Benedict XVI’s take published yesterday very thin or worse: a caricature of what happened during in the Catholic Church during the post-Vatican II period — with all its ingenuities and some tragic mistakes,” he tweeted.

Church historian Christopher Bellitto questioned if Benedict, who turns 92 next week, was being manipulated by others. He said the essay undermined Francis’ own efforts to steer the church out of the crisis.

Bellitto said the essay omitted the critical conclusions that arose from the pope’s February sex abuse summit in Rome, including that “abusers were priests along the ideological spectrum, that the abuse predated the 1960s, that it is a global and not simply Western problem, that homosexuality is not the issue in pedophilia.”

“It is catastrophically irresponsible, because it creates a counter-narrative to how Francis is trying to move ahead based on the 2019 summit,” he said. “The essay essentially ignores what we learned there.”

David Gibson at Fordham University’s Center on Religion and Culture agreed with that assessment.

“For a retired pope to try to undo the critical work of a sitting pope and on such a crucial issue seems … bad,” he said.

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Swedish Prosecutor Receives Request to Reopen Assange Investigation

Swedish prosecutors said on Thursday they have received a formal request to reopen the rape investigation closed in 2017 involving WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, from the legal counsel representing the alleged victim.

“Following today’s media reports that Julian Assange has been arrested in London, the legal counsel in Sweden has requested that the Swedish preliminary investigation regarding rape be reopened,” the authority said.

The request has been assigned to Deputy Chief Prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson, it added.

“We will now look into the matter and determine how to proceed. We cannot pledge any time frame for when a decision will be made,” Persson said in the statement.

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Italy, France Spar Over Escalating Conflict in Libya

France and Italy wrangled on Thursday over how best to tackle renewed conflict in Libya as a bid by eastern forces under Khalifa Haftar to seize Tripoli stalled in the face of strong resistance on the capital’s southern outskirts.

The United Nations said the fighting between Haftar’s forces and troops under the internationally-backed Tripoli government had killed at least 56 people and forced 8,000 to flee their homes in the city in the last week.

A Reuters reporter heard occasional heavy gunfire and explosions as the eastern Libyan National Army (LNA) faced off with forces of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj’s government around the ex-international airport and the Ain Zara district.

Officials brought families displaced by fighting on Tripoli’s southern fringes to area schools. Red Crescent workers were heading out rations in one school as gunfire clattered in the distance.

Haftar’s push on Tripoli in Libya’s northwest is the latest turn in a cycle of factional violence and chaos in Libya dating to the 2011 uprising that overthrew veteran dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

After sweeping up from the south, LNA bogged down in Tripoli’s southern suburbs 11 km (7 miles) from the city center.

In Rome, Libya’s former colonial ruler Italy warned France, which has good relations with Haftar, to refrain from supporting any one faction after diplomats said Paris had scuttled a European Union statement calling on him to halt his offensive.

“It would be very serious if France for economic or commercial reasons had blocked an EU initiative to bring peace to Libya and would support a party that is fighting,” Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini told Radio RTL 102.5. “As minister of the interior I will not stand by and watch.”

France, which has oil assets in eastern Libya, has provided military assistance in past years to Haftar in his eastern stronghold, Libyan and French officials say. It was also a leading player in the war to unseat Gaddafi. Italy supports the U.N.-backed government of Serraj.

Italy spars with France

“Some think that the [2011 Nato-led military intervention] in Libya promoted by [then-French President Nicolas] Sarkozy was triggered more by economic and commercial interests than by humanitarian concerns,” Salvini said.

“I hope we are not seeing the same film all over again.” An EU draft statement on Wednesday said Haftar’s attack on Tripoli put civilians at risk, disrupted normalization efforts and risked an escalation with serious consequences for Libya and the wider region. That statement was sidelined by France . French diplomatic sources said Paris did not object to calls on Haftar to halt his advance, but rather had only requested amendments including mentions of the plight of migrants in Libya and the presence in anti-Haftar forces of Islamist militants designated as terrorists by the United Nations.

The latest tally of casualties from the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO) said 56 people – mainly combatants though also some civilians including two doctors and an ambulance driver – had been killed, and another 266 wounded in Tripoli.

In addition, 28 LNA soldiers had been killed and 92 wounded since the start of the offensive a week ago, according to the LNA.

The number of people forced out of their homes by fighting rose to 8,075, the U.N. migration agency IOM said.

As well as the humanitarian consequences, renewed conflict in Libya threatens to disrupt oil supplies, increase migration across the Mediterranean to Europe, scupper the U.N. peace plan for the country and encourage militants to exploit the chaos.

Libya is a main transit point for migrants who have poured into Europe in recent years, mostly by trafficking gangs.

The LNA forces swept out of their stronghold in eastern Libya to take the sparsely populated but oil-rich south earlier this year, before heading towards Tripoli, where Serraj’s U.N.-backed government sits.

Haftar was among the officers who helped Gaddafi seize power in a 1969 coup before parting ways with him later. But critics call Haftar another strongman in Gaddafi’s mold.

Haftar has resisted U.N. pressure to accept a power-sharing settlement to stabilize the country, using his leverage as a Western ally against militant Islam in North Africa.

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EU Offers May Brexit Pause to Oct. 31, Diplomats Say

European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to grant British Prime Minister Theresa May a new Brexit deadline of Oct. 31, diplomats told Reuters after French President Emmanuel Macron opposed summit efforts to give her another year.

Summit chair Donald Tusk tweeted that an extension had been agreed upon but gave no details as he went to brief May on the outcome and seek her necessary agreement to the deal.

The late-night deal means Britain will not crash out of the bloc on Friday and gives May more than the three months she had asked for to build a parliamentary majority behind the withdrawal treaty she negotiated with the EU last year.

But Macron’s push for a June Brexit, and strong opposition to other leaders’ preference for a much longer extension that might increase the chances of Britain changing its mind to stay in the bloc, meant the meeting ended up with the October compromise.

Oct. 31 would correspond to the end of the five-year mandate of the present EU Executive Commission.

Leaders would meet again in June, EU diplomats said, to assess the situation. Britain could have left by then if May succeeds in building a coalition for her deal with the Labour opposition — though there is no sign of agreement yet.

In order to continue as an EU member beyond June 1, May has agreed to organize British elections to the European Parliament on May 23, though it is still unclear if that vote will go ahead and how far it might turn into a virtual second referendum on EU membership that some hope could mean a British cancellation of Brexit.

Late-night wrangling

Other leaders had all but ruled out pitching Britain, and parts of the EU economy, into chaos on Friday. But a drive by Macron to keep London on a tight leash with an extension no longer than to June saw the emergency summit bogged down in late-night wrangling as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others argued the merits of granting up to a year.

As at a summit last month that put back Brexit for two weeks, several EU diplomats said May failed to persuade her peers that she could definitely break the paralysis of repeated failures to ratify the treaty within the coming months.

But Macron had told reporters on arrival that he was concerned that letting Britain stay in the bloc longer, notably if it takes part in elections to the European Parliament on May 23-26, posed a serious risk to the functioning of the Union.

“Nothing can be taken for granted,” the French president warned.

French officials said the EU faced “blackmail” by hard-line pro-Brexit potential successors to May, such as Boris Johnson. The thinking was that they might try to sabotage decision-making, so any longer EU membership must come with tighter commitments from Britain to play fair than were so far drafted into a summit accord.

An aide to Macron warned that France could even be ready to let Britain crash out without a treaty to avoid legal limbo and provide a transition to new trading terms: “Not everything is preferable to a no-deal. A no-deal situation is a real option.”

Laughter with Merkel

However, Merkel has urged the bloc to do all it can to avoid such disruption. She said before leaving Berlin that she favored a delay of “several months” for May, who has pledged to quit if hard-core Brexit supporters in her own Conservative Party drop objections to her “soft Brexit” and help ratify the deal.

Keen to ease tension, Merkel had broken the ice as talks began by showing May a photo montage on a tablet of both wearing similar jackets when addressing their parliaments earlier in the day. It provoked mutual laughter as other leaders joined in.

As talks wore on beyond midnight, with May patiently waiting elsewhere in the building for word on her nation’s fate, Macron rallied support for his concerns about a long extension.

May said on arrival that she did not want a long delay: “I want us to be able to leave the European Union in a smooth and orderly way as soon as possible,” she told reporters.

Her EU peers, however, are skeptical about her ability to break the deadlock soon and discussed a proposal by Tusk of a “flextension” of nine months to a year. This, some argued, could increase pressure on May’s pro-Brexit critics to back her deal rather than risk Brexit fizzling out.

EU leaders are exasperated with May’s handling of a tortuous and costly divorce that is a distraction from ensuring the bloc can hold its own against global economic challenges.

Across from the summit venue, the EU executive celebrated its part in funding a global project that produced the first picture of a black hole, prompting no shortage of ironic comments on social media about the juxtaposition.

Blogger Eliot Higgins tweeted: “We’re now more certain about what black holes look like than what Brexit looks like.”

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May to Ask EU for Brexit Delay, Macron Says No Guarantee

Just two days away from a potentially calamitous no-deal Brexit, European Union leaders were moving closer to granting the United Kingdom a new delay — possibly of up to a year — to its departure from the bloc.

British Prime Minister Theresa May headed Wednesday into an emergency EU summit, pleading for a second extension until June 30, but indicated she could accept a longer extension as many EU leaders have called for.

“What is important is that any extension enables us to leave at the point at which we ratify the withdrawal agreement,” May said as she arrived in Brussels. She added she was hopeful it could be as soon as May 22.

Most EU leaders indicated they could accept such an extension as long as Britain pledges not to use it to play an obstructionist course and undermine EU policies.

French president Emmanuel Macron was more critical, saying that no extension was guaranteed as long as there was no assurance that Britain would not upset EU policies during any transition.

“Nothing is decided,” Macron said upon arrival at the EU summit and insisted on “clarity” from May about what Britain wants, because, he said, “nothing should compromise the European project.”

According to the latest draft conclusions, Britain would be required to act “in a constructive and responsible manner throughout this unique period” of extended withdrawal, and would have to show “sincere cooperation.” It would have to act in “a manner that reflects its situation as a withdrawing member state.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU had “expectations” of Britain so that EU institutions can continue functioning “seamlessly.”

The issue came up after some British Conservative politicians threatened to become obstructionist. One of them, Mark Francois, said that if the U.K. remained in the bloc, “then in return we will become a Trojan Horse within the EU.”

If no extension materializes Wednesday, Britain would crash out of the bloc on Friday with no deal regulating the departure, unless it cancels Brexit independently. A drastic cliff-edge exit would bring huge costs to businesses and trade across the English Channel and be very cumbersome to travelers as it would likely hit airports, ports, tariff rules and standard regulations overnight.

EU countries, especially Macron’s France, have become increasingly exasperated with the political division and uncertainty in Britain about a way forward. In France, concerns have been growing about how badly a hard Brexit would hit the French economy.

Among conditions France is now setting to agree to a new delay: A “credible prospect” of some kind of solution to the British political deadlock; a promise that Britain won’t keep asking for more delays; and guarantees that Britain would not be involved in future EU decisions while its Brexit drama is playing out.

The bloc’s leaders have tried to help May over two years of negotiations, even after she missed her hand-picked Brexit departure date on March 29 because of a parliamentary revolt.

May’s future is uncertain whatever the EU decides.

She has previously said that “as prime minister” she could not agree to let Britain stay in the EU beyond June 30, and she has also promised to step down once Brexit is delivered.

Many Conservative Party lawmakers would like her to quit now and let a new leader take charge of the next stage of Brexit. But they can’t force her out until the end of the year, after she survived a no-confidence vote in December.

Every British initiative to get a deal so far has floundered. Several days of talks between May’s Conservative government and the main opposition Labour Party aimed at finding a compromise have failed to produce a breakthrough.

Labour favors a softer Brexit than the government has proposed, and wants to retain a close economic relationship with the bloc.

The two sides said they would resume their discussions after Wednesday’s EU summit.

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WikiLeaks accuses Ecuador of spying on Assange at embassy

WikiLeaks has accused the Ecuadorian government of spying on founder Julian Assange.

The group’s editor-in-chief, Kristinn Hrafnsson, told a news conference Wednesday that Assange’s meetings with lawyers and a doctor had been secretly filmed by Ecuadorian authorities.

 

Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012 and has been living there ever since.

Sweden has dropped an investigation into rape allegations against Assange, but he refuses to come out for fear of facing U.S. charges related to WikiLeaks’ publication of classified documents. He faces arrest in Britain for jumping bail.

 

Ecuadorian officials say they will comment later on Assange’s allegation that he has been spied on. Relations between Assange and his Ecuadorian hosts have soured recently.

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US Penalizes British Bank $1B in Iranian Trade Sanctions Case   

Britain’s Standard Charter Bank has agreed to more than $1 billion in fines and forfeited assets to the U.S. and New York state for violating U.S. sanctions against trade with Iran.

Federal and state prosecutors said Tuesday that between 2007 and 2011, the global financial institution processed about 9,500 financial transactions worth about $240 million through U.S. financial institutions to benefit Iranian entities.

In addition, U.S. authorities said an unnamed former bank employee in the United Arab Emirates pleaded guilty in Washington to conspiring to defraud the U.S. and to violate the trade sanctions.

Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said the case “sends a clear message to financial institutions and their employees: If you circumvent U.S. sanctions against rogue states like Iran — or assist those who do — you will pay a steep price.”

He said that “when a global bank processes transactions through the U.S. financial system, its compliance program must be up to the task of detecting and preventing sanctions violations. And when it is not, banks have an obligation to identify, report and remediate any shortcomings.”

Jessie Liu, a prosecutor in Washington, said the bank, the unnamed former employee and Mahmoud Reza Elyassi, an Iranian national and former bank customer in Dubai, “undermined the integrity of our financial system and harmed our national security by deliberately providing Iranians with coveted access to the U.S. economy.” 

Elyassi has been charged with two criminal counts linked to the conspiracy.

The indictment in the case said Elyassi and his co-conspirators used general trading companies in the UAE as fronts for a money exchange business in Iran. 

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Hungarians Start European News Agency With Pro-Orban Content

A group of Hungarian business leaders and politicians close to Prime Minister Viktor Orban have founded an international news agency in London whose coverage will focus on central and eastern Europe.

Orban’s associates have gained control over a large chunk of the Hungarian media in recent years and his Fidesz party has taken total control of state media, drawing international accusations that they are weakening freedom of speech.

However, Orban has been unable to control international news coverage, which has been far more critical of him than local media. The new agency’s early content suggests it is more sympathetic to him.

The new company, called V4NA, was registered in London by Hungary’s ambassador to the UK, Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky, on Dec. 31, 2018, according to company filings.

Last month, Arpad Habony, Orban’s main spin doctor and eminence grise, acquired a 40 percent stake in V4NA via his London political advisory firm, Danube Business Consulting Ltd. Subsequently, New Wave Media Group, owned by KESMA, a foundation that controls most of Hungary’s pro-government media, acquired a 57 percent stake from Szalay-Bobrovniczky.

Despite its huge role in the Hungarian media market, KESMA was exempted from regulatory scrutiny last year on grounds that it was a strategic national asset.

V4NA’s name reflects a focus on the Visegrad Four countries — Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. It plans more coverage of other centres in the run-up to European Parliament elections due in May.

“Our team of 50 journalists and rapid-response news teams are on location where the leading stories happen in Europe: London, Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Belgrade, Bratislava, Warsaw,” the agency says on its web site, V4NA.com.

Most of the site’s content is behind a paywall, but the selection of front-page headlines resonates with the populism of Orban, one of the fiercest critics of immigration to Europe.

“Migrant kills wife after she converts to Christianity,” says one headline from Monday. A report about Matteo Salvini, leader of Italy’s League, anti-immigrant interior minister and ally of Orban, was headlined “Salvini: Citizens should control Europe.”

“Hungarian minister on EP elections: Hungarian votes also matter” and “Immigration is a war of cultures and civilizations” were headlines that borrowed directly from Orban’s rhetoric.

In an emailed statement, V4NA said it offered a “conservative, right-wing perspective” on European news. It did not answer questions about its relations with Hungary’s government or its business plans.

KESMA did not immediately reply to Reuters’ questions.

Habony could not be reached for comment.

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Backers of Ukraine’s Rival Presidential Candidates Brawl

Police have moved in to stop a scuffle between supporters of rival candidates in Ukraine’s presidential election.

Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who stars in a widely popular TV sitcom about a schoolteacher turned president, easily beat President Petro Poroshenko in the first round on March 31. Zelenskiy garnered 30% of the vote, while Poroshenko won just under 16%, and a runoff between them is set for April 21.

Supporters of Zelenskiy and Poroshenko clashed Tuesday in front of Zelenskiy’s campaign headquarters in Kyiv, as they tried to wrest campaign posters from each other. Police quickly intervened, detaining two people.

Zelenskiy’s office said he wasn’t in the building when the brawl occurred.

Ahead of the vote, Zelenskiy and Poroshenko are to hold a debate in in Kyiv’s Olimpiskiy Stadium, Ukraine’s biggest arena.

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Неужели в Украине не найдётся патриотов, которые наконец посадят пожизненно грабителя Коломойского

Хозяйственный суд Киева рассматривает иск олигарха Игоря Коломойского о признании недействительным договора купли-продажи государством акций Приватбанка.

9 апреля суд принял к рассмотрению заявление об изменении предмета иска.

Коломойский и кипрская компания Triantal Investments Ltd. дополнили свой иск новыми требованиями к Украине о возвращении каждому из них соответствующего пакета акций Приватбанка.

До национализации Коломойскому принадлежали 41,6572% акций Приватбанка, Triantal Investments Ltd – 16,5748% акций.

Суд также отказал министерству финансов в удовлетворении ходатайств об оставлении искового заявления без рассмотрения.

Минфин ставил под сомнение процессуальную право – и дееспособность кипрской компании, а также указывал на отсутствие в исковом заявлении каких-либо доказательств наличия права собственности Коломойского на простые именные акции Приватбанка.

В декабре 2016 года правительство Украины по предложению Нацбанка и акционеров «Приватбанка», крупнейшими из которых на то время были Игорь Коломойский и Геннадий Боголюбов, принял решение о национализации «Приватбанка».

Банк перешел в государственную собственность, на его докапитализацию в целом государство потратило более 155 миллиардов гривень.

В сентябре 2018 года Окружной административный суд Киева подтвердил правомерность принятого Нацбанком решения об отнесении «Приватбанка» к категории неплатежеспособных, отклонив иск клиента банка.

Сейчас Окружной административный суд Киева рассматривает дело по иску Игоря Коломойського о национализации Приватбанка, следующее заседание назначено на 18 апреля.

Среди ряда исковых требований истец, в частности, просит суд признать противоправным и отменить решение правления НБУ об отнесении Приватбанка к категории неплатежеспособных, решение об утверждении предложения НБУ об участии государства в выведении неплатежеспособного банка из рынка, а также решение ФГВФЛ о введении временной администрации в банке и делегирование полномочий временного администратора соответствующего банка.

Правда України

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Britain’s May Seeks Brexit Delay from Merkel, Macron

British Prime Minister Theresa May meets the leaders of Germany and France on Tuesday in a last-gasp bid to keep her country from crashing out of the European Union later this week.

Her huddles with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin and President Emmanuel Macron in Paris come on the eve of another tension-packed summit in Brussels focused on the fate of the 46-year-old partnership.

May asked EU leaders on Friday to delay Brexit until June 30 to give her time to strike a compromise with the opposition that lets Britain’s hung parliament back an orderly divorce plan on the fourth attempt.

But the 27 European leaders have already signed off on one extension — the original deadline was March 29 — and have serious doubts that May will somehow break through the political gridlock now.

“We are in a very, very frustrating situation here,” said Germany’s Minister for European Affairs Michael Roth, as he and fellow EU officials arrived for Luxembourg talks on the eve of the summit.

Roth’s French counterpart Amelie de Montchalin told reporters that “we want to understand what the UK needs this extension for, and what are the political surroundings around Theresa May to have this extension”.

“And then comes the question of the conditions of what role we’d want the UK to play during this extension time,” she added.

Some in the EU are worried that if Britain accepts a long delay, its representatives could disrupt EU budget planning and reforms during indefinite Brexit talks, potentially causing more problems than a messy “no-deal Brexit”.

“We’d need a strong political reason to delay,” a diplomat from this camp said.

EU Council president Donald Tusk’s office last week floated a compromise proposal that gives Britain a “flexible” extension of up to a year — which ends earlier should some way forward emerge in London.

But a diplomatic source insisted that this was “Mr Tusk’s position, not the position of the Council”.

Merkel takes a more conciliatory approach backed by EU member Ireland — a crucial player whose politically sensitive border with Britain’s Northern Ireland is holding up May’s deal in parliament.

“I will do everything in order to prevent a no-deal Brexit,” Merkel said Friday.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Paralysis and disarray

The diplomatic disarray in Brussels is mirrored by political paralysis in London that has forced May to promise to resign as soon as she gets this first stage of Brexit over the line.

The weakened British leader had been hoping to come to Brussels with either her deal approved or some sort of alternative way forward drafted that could convince the likes of Macron.

But her talks with the opposition Labour Party have made no tangible progress and seem unlikely to find common ground before she flies to Brussels seeking a second delay in three weeks.

“The problem is that the government doesn’t seem to be moving off the original red lines,” Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Monday.

The government will instead present a plan to parliament Tuesday to outline how long it intends to delay Brexit.

This is part of legislation passed into law late Monday to force May to postpone Brexit if the only other alternative is a no-deal scenario.

May’s talks with Labour have stumbled over Corbyn’s demand that Britain join some form of European customs arrangement once the sides formally split up.

EU officials are ready to include such a promise in the outline of a future relationship, which was agreed with May alongside the withdrawal deal.

But May knows that the prospect of close post-Brexit economic relations could further fracture her government and party ahead of possible snap elections.

Almost any form of European customs arrangement would keep Britain from striking its own global trade agreement and leave one of the biggest advantages of Brexit unfulfilled.

 

 

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Assertive EU to Face Resistant China at Trade-Focused Summit

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and EU institution leaders meet in Brussels on Tuesday for an annual EU-China summit set to be overshadowed by differences over trade and investment.

After years of offering free access to its markets, the European Union has said it is losing patience with Beijing over the pace of liberalizing reforms. It also has growing concerns over state-led Chinese companies’ dominance of some EU markets and acquisitions of strategic industries.

Like the United States, many EU countries want to crack down on industrial subsidies and forced technology transfers, although prefer dialogue to the trade war Washington has triggered.

The European Commission set out a 10-point action plan last month, seeing scope for greater cooperation in fields such as climate change, but demanding greater reciprocity, such as access for EU firms to Chinese public tenders.

“The old narrative is absolutely obsolete,” Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen told Reuters.

Beijing and Brussels have been wrestling for weeks over the text of a joint declaration to be presented as the fruit of Tuesday’s summit between Li and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council chief Donald Tusk.

“China aims to have a feel-good summit, whereas we aim to have a meaningful summit, with a meaningful outcome,” Peter Berz, acting Asia director at the Commission’s trade section, told the European Parliament last week.

EU diplomats said on Monday negotiators had made some progress, but were still short of an agreed text. Talks would continue until the summit, due to start at 1 p.m.

China points to a new foreign investment law due to take effect at the start of 2020. It includes provisions to ban forced technology transfers and ensure foreign companies have access to public tenders.

EU officials say the law lacks detail and question how effective it will be in reality in protecting foreign firms.

Li wrote in a German newspaper on Monday that China wanted to work with the European Union on issues including trade and denied Beijing was trying to split the bloc by investing in eastern European states. 

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Turkish Election Board Rejects Recount Call in 31 Istanbul Districts

Turkey’s High Election Board has rejected a request by the ruling AK Party for all votes to be recounted in 31 of Istanbul’s districts, a board member said on Tuesday, in a blow to the party’s goal of a total recount in the city.

President Tayyip Erdogan, also AKP leader, said on Monday the local elections were marred by “organized crime” at ballot boxes in Istanbul, raising the possibility of re-running a March 31 vote in the city that handed a slim majority to the main opposition party.

Erdogan’s comments, his strongest challenge yet to the election process in Turkey’s largest city, briefly drove the lira down and also weighed on Turkish stocks.

The AKP’s election board representative Recep Ozel told reporters after a board meeting that the board had only agreed to a recount of 51 ballot boxes, spread across 21 of the city’s total 39 districts. Each ballot box generally contains several hundred votes.

The AK Party had also called for a full recount in the city’s Buyukcekmece district, but the board has not yet ruled on that request, Ozel said. Vote recounts are continuing in the remaining districts.

Erdogan’s AK Party has already lost the mayoralty in the capital Ankara to the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), and has appealed several stages of the count in Istanbul which showed a narrow CHP victory.

The Islamist-rooted AKP is reeling from the potential loss of both cities, which the party and its predecessors have governed for a quarter of a century. Erdogan himself rose to prominence as Istanbul mayor in the 1990s before emerging as national leader.

Erdogan said the scale of electoral irregularities his party had uncovered meant the margin of votes between Istanbul’s top two candidates, currently at less than 15,000 in a city of 10 million voters, was too narrow for the opposition to claim victory.

 

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