Євро здешевшав на 39 копійок, свідчать дані на сайті Національного банку України.

19 серпня його офіційна вартість становитиме 27 гривень 84 копійки.

Вартість долара знизиться з 25 гривень 32 копійок до 25 гривень 14 копійок.

На 1 серпня НБУ встановив найвищий за останні три з половиною роки курс гривні до долара – 25,02 за одиницю американської валюти.
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Thirty years ago, the Iron Curtain dividing Europe lifted.  

Next week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel travels to Hungary to commemorate the anniversary of a peace protest on the border with Austria that helped pave the way for the mass flight of East German citizens to the West. The Berlin Wall was torn down three months later, and 1989 went down as an era-changing year that ended the three-decade-long Soviet occupation of the countries of Central Europe.

The commemoration on Aug. 19 will include an ecumenical service in the Lutheran church of Sopron, and is to be held near where 600 East Germans plowed through the border gates to enter the West. Hungarian authorities had announced the border would be opened symbolically later for three hours, but the crowd was too impatient to wait for freedom — and in no mood to receive it as a gift from increasingly superannuated Communist bosses. 

Three years later, political scientist Francis Fukuyama published his triumphalist book The End of History and the Last Man, celebrating the ascendency of Western-style liberal democracy. Humanity, he argued, was reaching “not just … the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.”

But history did not end in 1989. 

Hungary only ‘partly free’

For some, the awkward pairing next week of Germany’s Merkel and Hungary’s authoritarian-inclined prime minister, Viktor Orban, will be symbolic of the return of history, of a new, unfolding east-west cleavage. The pair will be celebrating the rebirth of democracy, but Orban has been accused of backsliding on democracy by systematically dismantling the Western-style institutions his country has struggled to establish since the crumbling of Communism. 

This year, Freedom House, a U.S.-based research group, described Hungary as only “partly free,” the first time it has withheld from a European Union member state the designation “free.” It has accused Orban’s government of having “moved to institute policies that hamper the operations of opposition groups, journalists, universities, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) whose perspectives it finds unfavorable.”

Hungary’s firebrand populist, an anti-Communist liberal-turned-conservative who’s enjoying a burgeoning friendship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, has remained undeterred in shaping what he likes to call an “illiberal democracy.”His warming relationship with Putin is seen by some as an alliance between two emblematic nationalistic strongmen.

Other populist leaders in the Central European states of Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have also been accused of seeking to erode democratic checks and balances, of curbing judicial independence, politicizing the civil service and seeking to expand state control over the media and civil society, prompting protests and liberal outrage at their linking of Christianity with patriotism.

Their current populist governments have been the strongest critics of the migrant policies coming out of Brussels, refusing to accept migrants under an EU burden-sharing refugee resettlement plan. They have strained and bellyached at the restrictions and strictures placed on them by EU membership and what they see as an overbearing Brussels.

Growing EU divisions

All four members of the so-called Visegrad group of nations have been labeled in some ways as “flawed” democracies by rights monitors as their governments surf a powerful wave of Central European populism that they hope will reshape the regional bloc by reducing the power of EU institutions and returning it to national governments. The drumbeat of populism has been heard in the neighboring former Communist states in the Balkans and the Baltics.

Their clashes are seen by some liberal critics as tempting geopolitical fate. “It’s hard to deny that divisions between so-called old and new [EU] member states are growing,” according to Jakub Wisniewski, a Polish political analyst and director of the Slovakia-based GlobSec Policy Institute, a research organization. 

He places the political differences now between east and west as having their origins in the past. “Central Europe is still markedly different from the rest of the EU — politically, economically and, most of all, culturally,” he argues.

National electorates in Central Europe are “more conservative, and more preoccupied with health care and local corruption than melting ice-caps or #MeToo. They are also less self-assured, hence their anxieties about Muslim immigration or leftist internationalism,” he adds.

The populists of Central Europe say their critics make the mistake of equating “liberal democracy” only with versions espoused by the political left or center and that there are quite legitimate conservative and nationalist varieties, too. 

Liberal pessimists lament the rise of the nationalist populism, but optimists highlight the rambunctious politics of the region, which, this year, has seen liberal gains in electoral politics. 

In March, an environmental activist, Zuzana Caputova, became the first woman to be elected president of Slovakia. Her election followed massive anti-government street protests last year triggered by the slayings of an investigative reporter and his fiancee that led to the fall of Robert Fico’s conservative coalition government. 

Farther south, April saw nationalists defeated in the presidential election in North Macedonia and pro-European moderates winning elections in Latvia and Lithuania. Street protests have been mounted in the Czech Republic against Andrej Babis, the prime minister, who’s been charged with fraud. They have been the largest seen since 1989.

For all of the rise of nationalist populism, pollsters and analysts say the voters of Central Europe remain firm adherents to the EU.

Populists have to be careful not to push too far on the anti-EU front. Julius Horvath, an economic professor at the Central European University told VOA earlier this year, “Populations would not like a rupture with Europe.”

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Police in Portland, Oregon, are mobilizing in preparation for Saturday when far-right protesters are expected to come face-to-face with local anti-fascist counter-demonstrators. 

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler joined leaders of the city’s religious, police and business groups to warn groups “who plan on using Portland on August 17th as a platform to spread your hate.”  Those groups are “not welcome here,” he said. 

He said all of Portland’s nearly 1,000 police officers will be on duty Saturday and will be helped by the Oregon State Police and the FBI. 

Saturday’s rally is organized by a member of the Proud Boys, which has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

Expected to join them are the American Guard, Three Percenters, Oathkeepers and Daily Stormers.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Guard is a “white nationalist group,” Three Percenters and Oathkeepers are “extremist” anti-government militias, and the Daily Stormers are “neo-Nazis.”

Countering the right-wingers is Portland’s Rose City Antifa, an anti-fascist group that has called on its members to take to the streets in an opposing rally. 

Antifa in the United States have grown more visible recently and experts say antifa groups are not centrally organized, and their members may espouse a number of different causes, from politics to race relations to gay rights. But the principle that binds them — along with an unofficial uniform of black clothing and face masks — is the willingness to use violence to fight against white supremacists, which has opened them to criticism from both left and right.

At a June rally in Portland, masked antifa members beat up a conservative blogger named Andy Ngo. Video of the 30-second attack grabbed national attention.

The city’s leadership and residents are on edge ahead of the rallies. Many summer staples like music festivals and recreational events have been canceled. A 5K race has changed its course to avoid possible violence and most businesses in the area plan to close for the day. 

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Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong are calling for support from Western nations.  As Mike O’Sullivan reports from Hong Kong, demonstrators took to the streets again on Friday, as several student leaders described what they called anonymous attempts at intimidation.

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На українському міжбанківському валютному ринку 16 серпня спостерігаються різноспрямовані тенденції – після посилення гривні щодо долара США. Ця тенденція розпочалася ще на попередній сесії, але не була відбита в офіційному курсі НБУ, який на 16 серпня становить 25 гривень 32 копійки за долар.

Довідкове значення курсу, оприлюднене регулятором опівдні, склало 25 гривень 13 копійок за долар.

На міжбанку станом на 11:00 котирування становили 25 гривень 12–13,5 копійки за одиницю американської валюти, але вже до 12:00 «стали виходити основні гравці з обсягами до 1 мільйона доларів, що поступово активізує ринок», відзначають фахівці з сайту «Мінфін». Це сприяло долару, котирування підтягнулися до 25 гривень 15–18 копійок.

На 1 серпня НБУ встановив найвищий за останні три з половиною роки курс гривні до долара – 25,02 за одиницю американської валюти.
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Spaceport America is no longer just a shiny shell of hope that space tourism would one day launch from this remote spot in the New Mexico desert.

The once-empty hangar that anchors the taxpayer-financed launch and landing facility has been transformed into a custom-tailored headquarters where Virgin Galactic will run its commercial flight operations.

The interior spaces unveiled Thursday aim to connect paying customers with every aspect of the operation, providing views of the hangar and the space vehicles as well as the banks of monitors inside mission control.

Two levels within the spaceport include mission control, a preparation area for pilots and a lounge for customers and their friends and families, with each element of the fit and finish paying homage to either the desert landscape that surrounds the futuristic outpost or the promise of traveling to the edge of space.

From hotel rooms to aircraft cabins, the Virgin brand touts its designs for their focus on the customer experience. Spaceport is no different.

 A social hub includes an interactive digital walkway and a coffee bar made of Italian marble. On the upper deck, shades of white and gray speak to Virgin Galactic’s more lofty mission.

Company officials say the space is meant to create “an unparalleled experience” as customers prepare for what Virgin Galactic describes as the journey of a lifetime.

Timeline not set

Just how soon customers will file into Virgin Galactic’s newly outfitted digs for the first commercial flights to space has yet to be determined. A small number of test flights are still needed.

“We were the first company to fly a commercial space ship to space with somebody in the back who was not a pilot — first time that somebody like that has been able to get out of their seats and float around the cabin,” Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said. “So it’s happening. We have a bit more work to do before we get to commercial service.”

Billionaire Richard Branson, who is behind Virgin Galactic, and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, first pitched the plan for the spaceport nearly 15 years ago.

There were construction delays and cost overruns. Virgin Galactic’s spaceship development took far longer than expected and had a major setback when its first experimental craft broke apart during a 2014 test flight, killing the co-pilot.

Critics suggested the project was a boondoggle, but supporters argued that there were bound to be hard and sometimes costly lessons.

Democratic state Sen. George Munoz has enduring concerns about the business model for commercial, low-orbit travel for passengers.

“You can have all the money in the world and come back and say, ‘Was my 30 seconds of fame worth that risk?'” he said.

Munoz says New Mexico’s anticipated return on investment in terms of jobs and visitors is still overdue, with more than $200 million in public funds spent on Spaceport America in cooperation with Virgin Galactic as the anchor tenant.

New facility

At the facility Thursday, the carrier plane for Virgin’s rocket-powered passenger ship made a few passes and touch-and-goes over a runway.

Behind the spaceport’s signature wall of curved glass, mission control sits on the second floor with an unobstructed view of the runway and beyond.

There’s also space behind two massive sliding doors to accommodate two of Virgin Galactic’s carrier planes and a fleet of six-passenger rocket ships.

Virgin Galactic posted on social media earlier this week that its main operating base was now at the spaceport. And Branson said the wing of Virgin’s next rocket ship has been completed.

Chief Pilot Dave Mackay said the crew in the coming days will fly simulated launch missions to ensure in-flight communications and airspace coordination work as planned. The pilots also will be familiarizing themselves with New Mexico’s airspace and landmarks.

“New Mexico is on track to become one of the very few places on this beautiful planet which regularly launches humans to space,” Mackay said.

Whitesides said that once the test flights are complete, commercial operations can begin. He envisions a fundamental shift in humanity’s relationship with space, noting that fewer than 600 people ever have ventured beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.

“We’re going to be able to send way more than that to space from this facility here,” he said. “In another 15 years, I really hope that we’ve had thousands of people go.”

About 600 people have reserved a seat, according to the company, at a cost of $250,000 a ticket.

That buys them a ride on the winged rocket ship, which is dropped in flight from the carrier airplane. Once free, it fires its rocket motor to hurtle toward the boundary of space before gliding back down.

The latest test flight reached an altitude of 56 miles (90 kilometers) while traveling at three times the speed of sound.

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TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Florida legislators are moving to officially condemn white nationalism, with Democrats and Republicans alike drafting resolutions against hate-spurred violence, but the unity could be short-lived as elected officials plunge into debates over how the government should intervene to prevent more mass killings and rein in white supremacists. 
 
The condemnations come amid an outcry over a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, in which authorities believe the gunman posted a racist screed online shortly before the attack.  
  
Following the shooting, Florida Senate President Bill Galvano, a Republican, called the violence a “reminder that we have more work to do,” and he called on a legislative committee to review what can be done to address white nationalism.    

Earlier this week, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, a Democratic presidential hopeful, called for a federal “red flag” law that would allow law enforcement to take away guns from white nationalists, if a judge agrees if a person poses an imminent danger. 
 
While Galvano says he’s open to possibly expanding the Florida’s “red flag” laws, he told the Associated Press on Thursday that the two issues should be addressed separately. 
 
“Do both issues need to be considered and talked about? The answer is yes, but I don’t know if you can just merge them,” Galvano said. 
 
Since Florida’s “red flag” law went into effect in March 2018, there have been 2,434 risk protection orders reported to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which prompted the agency to suspend 595 concealed weapons licenses. The protection orders give law enforcement the authority to temporarily confiscate guns. 

Rubio’s call
 
Following the 2018 mass shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio called on Congress to follow his state’s lead in enacting a federal “red flag” law — a call that  he again made following the mass shootings in Texas and Ohio that killed 31 people. 
 
In the wake of those shootings, Florida Republicans have focused their condemnation on hate groups and their attention on keeping guns away from those with mental illness. 
 
A trio of Republican state senators began circulating a resolution on Thursday that rejects white nationalism as “hateful, dangerous and morally corrupt.” 
 
That followed a move earlier in the week by Democrats in the Florida House, who introduced legislation spurning white supremacy as “hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values that define the people of Florida and the United States.” 
 
But while both parties were united in their condemnation of race-based hate, it remains to be seen what policy changes will be enacted.  

“We can have lots of discussions about hate as it relates to white supremacy and white nationalism, but it does not get us to the solution of dealing with guns — and that’s the bottom line for any discussion that should be done,” said Sen. Audrey Gibson, the Democratic leader in the Republican-controlled state Senate. 
 
In a letter sent to Galvano on Wednesday, she said it was still too easy to access a gun in Florida. 
 
Gun-control activists are trying to place a measure on the 2020 ballot that would ban assault weapons. 

Common thread
 
“Whether the massacre unfolded in El Paso, Dayton or Las Vegas, Newtown, Parkland or Pulse, the one inescapable common thread that has bound each and every one of these horrific mass shootings is the presence of an assault weapon,” Gibson said. She said the state could do better in controlling access to guns, strengthening background checks for private gun sales and expanding the state’s “red flag” laws to allow relatives, not just law enforcement, to seek a court order when they think a family member might pose a risk. 
 
Galvano said “everything would be on the table” as his chamber begins work on strengthening laws to curb mass violence and to expand the laws enacted in response to the Parkland shootings. But when pressed, Galvano said he would leave it to legislative committees to come up with specific legislation. 
 
“In the best-case scenario, the most effective way to begin to approach the state’s role in these things is to look comprehensively — everything from law enforcement and how we’re doing it, and policy changes in funding, mental health screenings, red flags and gun safety.” 

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North Korea said Friday it will never sit down with South Korea for talks again, rejecting a vow by the South’s President Moon Jae-in to pursue dialog with Pyongyang made the previous day as he pledged to bring in unification by 2045.

The North has protested joint military drills conducted by South Korea and the United States, which kicked off last week, calling them a “rehearsal for war” and has fired several short-range missiles in recent weeks.

The loss of dialog momentum between the North and South and the stalemate in implementing a historic summit between their two leaders last year is entirely the responsibility of the South, a North Korean spokesman said in a statement.

Blaming US-Korea exercises

The spokesman repeated criticism that the joint U.S.-South Korea drills was sign of Seoul’s hostility against the North.

“As it will be clear, we have nothing more to talk about with South Korean authorities and we have no desire to sit down with them again,” the North’s spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country said.

The committee is tasked with managing the North’s relationship with the South. The rival Koreas remain technically at war under a truce ending the 1950-53 Korean War.

The comments were carried by official KCNA news agency.

Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have met three times since April last year pledging peace and cooperation but little progress has been made to improve dialog and strengthen exchange and cooperation.

Liberation Day speech

Moon said in a Liberation Day address Thursday marking Korea’s independence from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule that it was to the credit of his policy of Korean national peace that dialog with the North was still possible.

“In spite of a series of worrying actions taken by North Korea recently, the momentum for dialog remains unshaken,” Moon said.

The North’s spokesman said it was “delusional” to think that inter-Korean dialog will resume once the military drills with the United States are over.

The spokesman left open the possibility of talks with the United States, speaking of upcoming dialog between the two countries but warned it will have no place for the South.

“South Korea is poking around hoping to reap the benefits of future dialog between the North and the United States, but it will be a good idea to give up such foolishness,” the unnamed spokesman said. 

Trump and Kim have met twice since their first summit in Singapore last year and said their countries will continue talks, but little progress has been made on the North’s stated commitment to denuclearize.

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На українському міжбанківському валютному ринку зранку 15 серпня спостерігалися різноспрямовані тенденції. Станом на 11:00 сайт «Мінфін», який відстежує перебіг торгів, інформував, що «торги по долару почалися при зростанні попиту на валюту на тлі дуже стриманої пропозиції». «Почалася гра «на підвищення». Частина імпортерів вже піддалася цій тенденції і на побоюванні щодо подальшого зростання курсу активно скуповує валюту», – інформували аналітики, повідомляючи на котирування 25 гривень 39–43 копійки.

Опівдні фахівці констатували, що «на торгах по долару відбувається «перетягування канату» між найбільшими клієнтами». «Експортери притримали зранку основні свої обсяги і розігріли цим ринок. Зараз виходять з ними поступово, щоб не збити котирування», – йшлося в повідомленні. Станом на 13:00 стало очевидно, що втримати вигідний для них рівень експортери не змогли – котирування склали 25 гривень 25–28 копійок.

На 12:00 довідковий курс Нацбанку зареєстрований на позначці 25 гривень 37 копійок за долар. Це на 12 копійок більше за офіційний курс на 15і серпня.

На 1 серпня НБУ встановив найвищий за останні три з половиною роки курс гривні до долара – 25,02 за одиницю американської валюти.
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This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service. Behrooz Samadbeiygi contributed.

WASHINGTON — Iran has broken its silence on its detention of prominent photojournalist Nooshin Jafari, whose arrest earlier this month sparked a backlash from Iranian filmmakers and actors who have worked with her.

In a Tuesday briefing reported by Iran’s state-approved KhabarOnline news site, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said authorities had detained a person on suspicion of insulting Shia Islam’s Third Imam Husayn ibn Ali and spreading anti-government propaganda. The site said Esmaili was responding to a reporter’s question about Jafari.

Esmaili also is quoted as saying that during a search of the premises and technical equipment related to the detainee, authorities found material that was deemed improper for someone in that person’s profession. No further detail was provided in the KhabarOnline report.

Arrested in early August

Iranian officials had been silent on Jafari’s case since last week, when social media users reported that she had been arrested Aug. 3 and circulated an image of a judiciary document saying authorities had searched her home on the same date, confiscating her mobile phone, memory drives and cameras.

In a report published Monday, U.S.-based media rights group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) confirmed the authenticity of the document and said Jafari had been detained outside her home as she left for work.

The photojournalist had not had any contact with her family one week after her detention, according to her sister Shahrzad Jafari in an interview published Saturday by Iran’s Ensaf News, a site supportive of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Before the judiciary’s announcement of the allegations against Jafari, pro-government social media users had shared unsubstantiated accusations that she was behind a Farsi-language Twitter account whose content they deemed insulting to Islam for mocking historical Islamic religious figures.

The account, @YaarDabestaani, meaning “School Friend,” was created in 2017 and features a profile image of a woman who resembles Jafari but whose identity is unknown. It also displays London as the location of the account holder.

In her interview with Ensaf News, Shahrzad Jafari said her sister had “nothing to do” with the @YaarDabestaani account.

Acclaimed photographer

The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) reported that Nooshin Jafari began working for Iran’s reformist Etemad newspaper in 2006 as a photojournalist focusing on theater and cinema photography. CHRI also has said authorities arrested her once before in February 2010 while she was employed by the newspaper, but it was not clear how long she had been detained on that occasion.

Jafari later won acclaim for her photographic contributions to independent Iranian films, including a national award for 2016’s Lantouri, a drama about a female social activist who becomes a victim of an acid attack.

Several Iranian film industry figures who have worked with Jafari posted social media messages in support of her last week, as news emerged of her arrest.

View this post on Instagram

? نوشین جعفری عکاس چند فیلمم از جمله «لانتوری» و «مجبوریم» است. در طول همکاری با او جز روحیه حرفه ای و مسئولیت پذیری ندیده ام. او برای فیلم «لانتوری» در دومین جشن عکاسان سینمای ایران خانه سینما برنده تندیس بهترین عکاس سال شد. نوشین جعفری پنج روز است که بازداشت شده و هیچ تماسی با خانواده اش نداشته است. امیدوارم سوتفاهمات زود حل شود. #نوشین_جعفری

A post shared by Reza Dormishian (@rezadormishian) on Aug 8, 2019 at 8:05am PDT

Reza Dormishian, who directed Lantouri, posted a photo of Jafari on his Instagram page and a message saying, “While working with her, I have seen nothing but professional spirit and responsibility … I hope the misunderstandings (regarding her detention) are resolved soon.”

View this post on Instagram

سالهاست که می شناسمت.سالهاست که تلاش و پشتکار و کارت رو دیدم و می شناسم.دختر خوش قلب و مهربان، چشم انتظارتم و نگران رفیق درجه یک.امیدوارم زود بیای نونوش قشنگ من?❤️

A post shared by هانيه توسلى (@haniehtavassoli) on Aug 8, 2019 at 7:39am PDT

Actress targeted

Award-winning Iranian actress Hanieh Tavassoli also expressed sympathy for Jafari on Instagram, writing that she has known the photojournalist for years and long admired her “hard work and perseverance.” Tavassoli posted the message next to a photo of herself with Jafari.

Tavassoli became the target of punitive government action herself this week.

An Iranian distributor for Tavassoli’s latest move, The Original Idea, told Iran’s state-run ILNA news agency that state television has demanded her images and voice be removed from trailers of the film. In a Wednesday report, ILNA quoted the public relations director of Khane-ye Film (House of Cinema) Payam Nikfard as saying the network threatened not to broadcast the trailers unless the changes were made.

The ILNA report did not cite a reason for state television’s punitive measure against Tavassoli. But VOA sister network Radio Farda reported that in recent days, hundreds of Iranian social media users have said they believe Iranian intelligence agencies are seeking to suppress celebrities seen as dissidents.

In a Tuesday statement sent to VOA Persian, British nonprofit group Index on Censorship, which advocates for free speech worldwide, said Jafari’s arrest is “yet another indication of how limited media freedom is in Iran.” It called on Tehran to release her immediately.

Iran ranked a lowly 170 out of 180 nations in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index published by Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders, also known as RSF.

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Guatemala’s President-elect Alejandro Giammattei says he wants to change an immigration agreement between his country and the United States because Guatemala does not have the resources to care for asylum-seekers from other countries. The deal made in July between the outgoing administration of President Jimmy Morales and U.S. President Donald Trump would require migrants from other countries who cross into Guatemala to apply for asylum from there. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
 

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Immigration raids in the U.S. led to the apprehension of more than 1,500 undocumented immigrants at job sites last year. They are among about 250,000 immigrants deported in 2018 by the Trump administration. On average about 15 employers per year face criminal charges for hiring undocumented workers. As VOA’s Brian Padden reports, advocates and opponents of tighter immigration restrictions argue that raids do little to deter illegal immigration as long as employers are not held accountable. 
 

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