A gun rally in a state south of Washington, DC, had officials on high alert as they worried about violence between gun rights advocates and anti-gun forces.  Tens of thousands turned out for the annual lobbying day at the Virginia State Capitol in support of the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.  VOA’s Carolyn Presutti takes us to the streets of Richmond, Virginia to show us what it looked and sounded like.
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The number of people infected with a new strain of coronavirus in China tripled over the weekend and is spreading from Wuhan to other major cities. The new cases of pneumonia-like illness caused by the virus has been detected in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Scientists have also confirmed that the virus can be spread from human to human, which is bad news for China as it prepares for the Spring Holiday which is the busiest travel season. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more.
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With China poised to increase purchases of U.S. agricultural goods this year as part of a Phase 1 China trade deal, the U.S. Agriculture Secretary said Monday there is no need for a third year of trade-related aid for farmers.Farmers have increasingly relied on aid from the U.S. government to survive during the past two years as exports have lagged throughout the U.S.-China trade war. But USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue said China will soon begin buying U.S. farm goods to meet the $40 billion in agricultural purchase agreements it made, alleviating growers’ need for more aid.China, which typically buys the bulk of its U.S. agriculture products during the fall and early winter, will likely change the timing of its purchases, Perdue said.”If China is going to achieve that, and we believe they are, we think they have to buy earlier than the traditional export season from the United States,” said Perdue, speaking at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention.FILE – U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue speaks to reporters during a visit to Decatur, Ill., Aug. 28, 2019.His remarks came one day after U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the convention, promising farmers that the deal will be good for them.Washington and Beijing signed the pact on Jan. 15, though tariffs on major U.S. farm exports have not been removed and structural economic differences were not addressed.Perdue said the third tranche of a $16 billion aid package announced in May will be paid to farmers “imminently,” but that they should not expect a 2020 aid package.China bought roughly 60% of U.S. soybean exports before the trade war and also was a major buyer of sorghum, dairy and pork.Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said Chinese firms will buy American products, “based on market conditions,” raising doubts that the country will meet its commitments under the pact.Growers are used to dealing with seasonality in the export program and could afford to wait without fresh trade aid, said Lane Osswald, 44, a farmer from Eldorado, Ohio.”Everyone is prepared for the South American harvest to hit the market every year,” Osswald said.Soybean futures have dropped 1.3% since the trade deal was signed.The China deal, and the recent passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, will allow farmers to prosper, Perdue said.Trump gained support among American farm families at the end of 2019, Reuters/Ipsos poll data showed, as he touted the trade deal ahead of its signing. Farmers broadly voted for Trump in 2016.
 
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Pakistan hosted high-level talks with the United States on Monday to review steps Islamabad has taken to choke funding sources to terrorist groups.The two sides, officials say, also discussed ways to increase bilateral trade.U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Alice Wells led her delegation in meetings with senior Pakistani officials at the ministries of interior and commerce to formally begin her four-day visit amid warming relations.Meanwhile, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry has announced that Prime Minister Imran Khan will hold a bilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the three-day World Economic Forum in Davos starting Tuesday. This would be the third interaction between the two leaders since their White House meeting in July 2019.FILE – President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Oval Office of the White House, July 22, 2019.Wells’ discussions in Islamabad come ahead of next month’s meeting of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which monitors global money laundering and terror financing, where Pakistan’s efforts will be assessed.The FATF meeting, hosted by China, will decide whether Islamabad remains on a so-called “gray list” of countries lacking adequate mechanisms to counter terrorism funding.A Pakistani statement said senior Interior Ministry officials briefed the U.S. delegation about “significant progress” the government has made on “legislative and administrative matters” to ensure compliance with an action plan FATF has outlined for Pakistan. Wells “applauded the progress,” it added.Pakistani officials have been urging the United States, a key FATF member, to help Islamabad exit the gray list.  In October, the FATF asked Pakistan to address all issues identified in the action plan by February 2020. Failure to do so could lead to a downgrade to the agency’s blacklist, placing tough sanctions on the country’s banking system.Trade talksEarlier, the U.S. delegation held extensive talks with top officials at the Commerce Ministry.”The U.S. is eager to increase the trade potential between our two nations,” noted Abdul Razak Dawood, head of the ministry, after his meeting with the U.S. delegation. “Ms. Wells is of the opinion that agriculture is one sector where immediate progress can be made.”He said Wells appreciated the role of several prominent U.S. companies who had worked “very successfully” in Pakistan for a long time.After her talks with Dawood and his delegation, Wells tweeted that both countries “share the goal of increasing bilateral trade.” She praised Pakistan’s economic reforms, saying, “They are making it a more attractive environment” for U.S. businesses.#USPAK share goal of increasing bilateral trade. #Pakistan’s econ reforms are making it more attractive environment for US biz, moving⬆️28 slots in @WorldBank’s Ease of Doing Business ranks in 2019. Glad to meet Commerce Advisor Abdul @Razak_Dawood to discuss this progress. AGW— State_SCA (@State_SCA) January 20, 2020The progress in traditionally turbulent U.S.-Pakistan relations stemmed mainly from Islamabad’s cooperation in facilitating Washington’s peace talks with Taliban insurgents aimed at bringing an end to the 18-year-old war in neighboring Afghanistan.Last month, the Trump administration announced it would soon resume International Military Education and Training (IMET) programs for young Pakistani army officers.The Pakistani government welcomed the move as another step underscoring the growing partnership with the U.S.A State Department spokesperson noted in remarks emailed to VOA prior to Wells’ visit that there is much room to grow the current $6.6 billion annual bilateral trade relationship. The Trump administration sees the U.S.-Pakistan relationship as one of potential, she added.”We have made clear that fulfilling that potential requires progress on our joint efforts to bring stability to Afghanistan, and on Pakistan taking sustained and irreversible action against the militant groups and terrorist groups that destabilize the region from its soil,” the spokesperson stressed.The IMET was a part of U.S. security assistance for Pakistan worth some $2 billion that Trump suspended in January 2018 to press Islamabad to crack down on militant groups on its soil and help in Afghan peace-building efforts. The overall security assistance remains suspended, however.
 
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Міжнародний валютний фонд прогнозує помірне зростання зростання світової економіки у 2020 році, ідеться в оприлюдненому 20 січня World Economic Outlook. Фахівці МВФ очікують, що цього року світова економіка зросте на 3,3%, а 2021-го – на 3,4% (зростання у 2019 році склало 2,9%, вважають експерти).

Новий прогноз дещо песимістичніший, ніж оприлюднений три місяці тому, в жовтні 2019 року. Причиною незначного перегляду оцінок у бік зниження стала стурбованість щодо меншого зростання економіки Індії та кількох інших економік, що розвиваються. Серед позитивних моментів фахівці відзначають укладення першої частини торговельної угоди між США і Китаєм та зменшення ризиків виходу Великої Британії з Євросоюзу без угоди.

Що ж до країн Східної та Центральної Європи, то в МВФ очікують зростання їхніх економік у середньому на 2,5 відсотка у 2020 і 2021 роках – порівняно з 1,8 відсотка в 2019-му. Фахівці відзначають, що «умови фінансування стають менш обмежувальними».

За попередніми оцінками, у 2019 році економіка України відновлювалася дещо швидше, ніж у країнах-сусідах по регіону, зростання склало 3,5%, що є найвищим показником від початку економічної кризи 2008 року.
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State officials and U.S. hate-monitoring groups are warning about the potential for violence ahead of a gun-rights rally in Virginia that’s expected to draw a mix of militias, firearms advocates and white supremacists to Richmond.Citing credible threats of violence, Gov. Ralph Northam declared a temporary state of emergency days ahead of Monday’s rally, banning all weapons, including guns, from Capitol Square.Demonstrators are seen during a pro-gun rally, Jan. 20, 2020, in Richmond, Va.Virginia’s solicitor general last week said law enforcement had identified “credible evidence” armed out-of-state groups planned to come to Virginia with the possible intention of participating in a “violent insurrection.”
Online, threats of violence have been “rampant” among anti-government and far-right groups, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks white supremacists and other extremists. Conspiracy theories and other misinformation have also proliferated.
Organizers of an annual vigil at the Capitol for the victims of gun violence said Friday they have canceled their event this year because of fears of “armed insurrectionists.”
Meanwhile, the gun-rights group that has planned the event is urging peace.A look at some of the groups involved:Virginia Citizens Defense League
The Virginia Citizens Defense League, an influential grassroots gun-rights organization with a long record in the state, has been the leading force behind Monday’s rally.
Each year on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday the group holds a lobby day, typically attended by several hundred gun enthusiasts who rally and meet with lawmakers to discuss legislation.
But this year’s event is expected to draw an enormous crowd.
The VCDL has donated over $200,000 to state lawmakers since 2002, records show. The group has emphasized the rally is intended to be peaceful and urged members not to bring long guns, saying they would be a “distraction.”
“The eyes of the nation and the world are on Virginia and VCDL right now and we must show them that gun owners are not the problem,” the group wrote in a recent email to its members.
The group’s president, Philip Van Cleave, has been in the national spotlight before. In 2018, Van Cleave was duped into participating in Sacha Baron Cohen’s ambush chat show, where he advocated for arming children.Gun Owners of America
The influential pro-gun group Gun Owners of America describes itself as the only “no-compromise” gun lobby in Washington and enjoys a loyal following.
Founded in 1975 by a California state lawmaker, Gun Owners of America joined the VCDL to seek an injunction against enforcement of Gov. Ralph Northam’s executive order banning guns from the Capitol Square. The state Supreme Court upheld the ban late Friday.
On its website, the group has urged its members to attend Monday’s rally.
Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association, the country’s best known gun-rights organization, has distanced itself from Monday’s rally and instead held a lobby day last week.
Hundreds of people attended the event, where the NRA handed out unloaded 30-round gun magazines. A spokeswoman for the group headquartered in northern Virginia said the magazines were meant as a “morale booster” for the NRA members who showed up to urge lawmakers to reject the gun control measures proposed by Northam and Democratic lawmakers.Oath Keepers
Former U.S. Army paratrooper Stewart Rhodes formed The Oath Keepers in 2009, and the group has become one of the nation’s largest anti-government organizations, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
In 2014, Oath Keepers members joined an armed standoff between federal officials and Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy over grazing rights on government land.
Later that year and in 2015, members patrolled the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, amid protests over the police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown. They wore camouflage body armor and openly carried rifles.
The group urged its members in a post on its website to attend Monday’s rally and said it was sending trainers to Virginia to organize and train “armed posses and militia.””It is NOT just about one day at a rally. It’s about organizing and training up Virginians in each town and county to make their Second Amendment Sanctuary Counties truly strong, united, and capable of actually defending their lives, liberty, and property,” the group’s website says.Three Percenter Movement
The Three Percenters are a loosely organized movement that formed in 2008, according to the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish civil rights organization that tracks extremist groups.
On its website, the right-wing group says it isn’t an anti-government militia but “we will defend ourselves when necessary.”
The Three Percenters derives its name from the belief that just 3% of the colonists rose up to fight the British. They have vowed to resist any government that infringes on the U.S. Constitution.
The Oregon Three Percenters joined an armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in 2016. Dozens of people occupied the remote refuge for more than a month to protest federal control of Western lands. The group also took part in a violent right-wing rally in Portland last year.White supremacists
J.J. MacNab, a fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, said she didn’t expect large numbers of white supremacists. But MacNab said she thinks those who do attend will try to capitalize on the large expected crowd for a moment in the limelight.
 
“It’s going to be a big event — they want to be part of it. They’re desperate to do Charlottesville 2.0,” she said, referring to the 2017 rally that descended into violence.
Last week, authorities arrested at least seven men they linked to a violent white supremacist group known as The Base. Three of the men were planning to attend the rally in Richmond, according to an official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss an active investigation.   
 
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Looking for consistency in American politics is often a long and futile pursuit. But nowhere is that more evident than in the views of key figures in the Senate impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump that starts in earnest on Tuesday.
 
The line of demarcation — a then-and-now compilation of quotes — is a look-back and a look-now at two presidential impeachments.
 
One occurred in 1999 when then-President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, faced impeachment over a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and his lying about the affair in sworn testimony. Trump, a Republican, now faces allegations he abused the presidency by pressing Ukraine to open investigations to benefit himself politically, and obstructed congressional efforts to review his actions.FILE – Former independent counsel Kenneth Starr signs a copy of his recent book “Contempt: A Memoir of the Clinton Investigation” at the University of New Mexico School of Law in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jan. 23, 2019. Starr prosecutor
 
Clinton’s main accuser was independent counsel Kenneth Starr, whose wide-ranging investigation of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair led to the president’s impeachment and eventual acquittal in a Senate trial. Two decades ago, some critics considered Starr’s probe overreaching, a crusade to prosecute a moral failing to throw Clinton out of office.
 
Back then, Trump sympathized with Clinton’s fate.
 
“I mean, can you imagine those evenings when he’s just being lambasted by this crazy Ken Starr, who is a total wacko? There’s the guy. I mean he is totally off his rocker.”
 
Fast forward to Trump in the White House. Last week, he named Starr to his Senate trial legal team.
 ‘Narrowly voted impeachment’
 
Congressman Jerrold Nadler, one of the key Democratic lawmakers who led the effort to impeach Trump, will help prosecute the case against Trump as one of the House impeachment managers.FILE – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Congressman Jerrold Nadler is surrounded by reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 15, 2020.During Clinton’s impeachment, Nadler said, “There must never be a narrowly voted impeachment or an impeachment substantially supported by one of our major political parties and largely opposed by the other. Such an impeachment would lack legitimacy, would produce divisiveness and bitterness in our politics for years to come, and will call into question the very legitimacy of our political institutions.”
 
In December, Nadler chaired the House Judiciary Committee that drafted the two articles of impeachment against Trump.
 
When the full House approved the impeachment allegations, not a single Republican lawmaker voted for them. Trump was impeached exclusively with the votes of Democrats.
 Impeachment support
 
California Congressman Adam Schiff is the lead House manager pursuing Trump’s conviction in the Senate and removal from office. He took a different view of impeachment when he first ran in 2000, a year after Clinton was acquitted.FILE – House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff arrives for a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 15, 2019. Schiff’s Republican opponent was a leading antagonist against Clinton as the impeachment drama played out in Washington. Schiff’s campaign literature hammered away at two-term Congressman Jim Rogan for supporting impeachment.
 ‘Pre-opinion’
 
Sen. Chuck Schumer, now the Senate Democratic leader and a key political foe of Trump, has loudly castigated Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell for coordinating legal strategy defending Trump with his White House lawyers.
 
“Let the American people hear it loud and clear,” Schumer told the Senate, “the Republican leader said, proudly, ‘I’m not an impartial juror. I’m not impartial about this at all.’ That is an astonishing admission of partisanship.”
 
As senators, who will be jurors, were sworn in last week, they pledged to administer “impartial justice” in considering the case against Trump.
 
Two decades ago, as Clinton faced his impeachment trial, Schumer said, “We have a pre-opinion.” He said it was “not like a jury box (in a criminal trial) in the sense that people will call us and lobby us. You can’t do that with a juror. The standard is different. It’s supposed to be a little bit judicial and a little bit legislative-political. That’s how it’s been.”FILE – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 14, 2020.’Legitimate’ investigation
 
As for McConnell, two decades ago he described the allegations against Clinton as “grave.””The investigation is legitimate and ascertaining the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the unqualified, unevasive truth is absolutely critical,” he said back then.Now, McConnell is leading the fight against Democrats’ calls for testimony from key Trump aides in the White House with knowledge of Trump’s Ukraine actions.
 ‘Unfit for office’In the heat of the 2016 presidential campaign, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham called Trump a “kook,” “crazy” and “unfit for office.” In turn, Trump called Graham “one of the dumbest human beings I’ve ever seen.”
 
Four years later, Graham is one of Trump’s staunchest defenders in the Senate and calling for his quick acquittal.
 
Graham ridicules Trump’s impeachment as “a partisan railroad job. It’s the first impeachment in history where there’s no allegation of a crime by the president,” Graham said.
 
“The best thing for the American people is to end this crap as quickly as possible.” 
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Національний банк України за підсумками торгів на міжбанківському валютному ринку встановив на 21 січня офіційний курс 24 гривні 33 копійки за долар США. Це на вісім копійок більше за курс на 20 січня.

Як інформує Finance.ua, торги на міжбанку завершилися на рівні 24 гривні 30–34 копійки за долар, це вище за рівень відкриття сесії (24,27–24,30), але нижче від максимальних значень упродовж дня (24,345–24,385).

Фахівці сайту «Мінфін» відзначають, що на перебіг торгів впливало відзначення у США дня Мартіна Лютера Кінга, тому угоди укладалися на умовах TOM (тобто реальні зарахування за такими угодами відбуваються на наступний день). Через це обсяги угод були незначними, а Нацбанк не виходив на ринок у публічному форматі аукціону.

Національний банк України з 13 грудня 2019 року встановив облікову ставку на рівні 13,5%, знизивши її одразу на 2%. Також регулятор збільшив обсяг щоденного викупу валюти на міжбанку до 50 мільйонів доларів з попереднього рівня 30 мільйонів доларів.
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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that Japan will form a space defense unit to protect itself from potential threats as rivals develop missiles and other technology and the new unit will work closely with its American counterpart recently launched by President Donald Trump.The Space Domain Mission Unit will start in April as part of Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force, Abe said in a policy speech marking the start of the year’s parliamentary session.
He said Japan must also defend itself from threats in cyberspace and from electromagnetic interference against Japanese satellites. Concerns are growing that China and Russia are seeking ways to interfere, disable or destroy satellites.
 
“We will drastically bolster capability and system in order to secure superiority” in those areas, Abe said.
The space unit will be added to an existing air base at Fuchu in the western suburbs of Tokyo, where about 20 people will be staffed ahead of a full launch in 2022. The role of the space unit is to conduct satellite-based navigation and communications for other troops in the field, rather than being on the ground.
Abe’s Cabinet in December approved 50.6 billion yen ($460 million) budget in space-related projects, pending parliamentary approval.
 
The unit will cooperate with the U.S. Space Command that Trump established in August, as well as Japan’s space exploration agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Underscoring the need to step up cyber security, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. revealed Monday that it had suffered a cyber attack last June that may have compromised personal and corporate data involving thousands of its job applicants, employees and retirees. Mitsubishi said there was no breach of sensitive data in the company’s operations involving defense, space, transportation, electric power and other businesses sectors. It promised to enhance security measures and monitoring.
Abe has pushed for Japan’s Self-Defense Force to expand its international role and capability by bolstering cooperation and weapons compatibility with the U.S., as it increasingly works alongside American troops and as it grows concerned about the increasing capabilities of China and North Korea.PM Abe says Japan will form a space defense unit to protect itself from potential threats as rivals develop missiles and other technology and the new unit will work closely with its American counterpart recently launched by President Trump.Abe, in marking Sunday’s 60th anniversary of the signing of Japan-U.S. security treaty, vowed to bolster Japan’s capability and cooperation with the U.S., including in the areas of space and cyber security.
He said he is determined to settle Japan’s “unfortunate past” with North Korea, as he hopes to “sum up” his country’s postwar legacies before his term expires next year.
He reiterated his intention to hold talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un without the conditions he had demanded in the past — denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and resolving the decades-old issue of abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korea.Part of Abe’s plan while in office is to achieve his long-cherished goal of revising Japan’s U.S.-drafted constitution that prohibits use of force in settling international disputes. Despite Abe’s push, chances are fading for the revision due to a lack of public interest and the opposition’s focus on other controversial issues such as Japan’s recent dispatch of naval troops to Middle East and questionable public record-keeping at Abe’s annual cherry blossom-viewing parties.In a sign of a thaw in Japan’s recently tense relations with South Korea, Abe said he planned to cooperate closely with South Korea in dealing with a harsh security environment in northeast Asia.Abe, however, repeated his demand that South Korea resolve the issue of compensation for the former Korean laborers during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule. “I hope [South Korea] to keep its promise between the two countries and build future-oriented bilateral relations,” he said.    
 
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