The jury in former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial began deliberations on Tuesday on charges that could send him to prison for life, in a case that has become a milestone for the #MeToo movement.The Manhattan jury of seven men and five women began their discussions after the judge hearing the case warned Weinstein’s lead defense lawyer, Donna Rotunno, against talking to the press  until jurors have reached a verdict.The warning came two days after the attorney wrote an opinion piece about the case in Newsweek magazine.“I would caution you about the tentacles of your public relations juggernaut,” Justice James Burke told Rotunno. Rotunno told Burke that the opinion piece, published on Saturday and titled “Jurors in my client Harvey Weinstein’s case must look past the headlines,” was not intended to address the jury directly.”This is an op-ed about the jury system as a whole, about the criminal justice system as a whole,” she said.Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi asked Burke to revoke Weinstein’s bail and jail him, saying he must have approved the Newsweek opinion piece, which she said “borders on tampering with the jury.” The judge did not act on the request.Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and raping Jessica Mann, a onetime aspiring actress, in 2013. Weinstein faces life in prison if convicted on the most serious charge, predatory sexual assault.A unanimous verdict is needed for a conviction.Since 2017, more than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct. Weinstein, who was behind films including “The English Patient” and “Shakespeare in Love,” has denied the allegations and said any sexual encounters were consensual.The allegations fueled the #MeToo movement, in which women have accused powerful men in business, entertainment, media and politics of sexual misconduct.After deliberating for less than an hour, the jury sent a note asking for clarification of their legal instructions, which Burke provided.Later in the afternoon, they requested exhibits, including a blueprint of the apartment where Weinstein allegedly assaulted Haleyi and a 2017 email he sent to a private investigator with a list of women highlighted as “red flags.”The list included Annabella Sciorra, who testified that Weinstein entered her apartment one winter night in 1993 or 1994 and raped her. The accusation is too old to be charged as a separate crime, but it could act as an aggravating factor to support a charge of predatory sexual assault.Prosecutors have said the email is evidence that Weinstein tried to prevent Sciorra and other accusers from going public with their accusations.Last week, jurors heard closing arguments from lawyers on both sides. Defense attorney Rotunno argued that the encounters had been consensual, pointing to friendly communications from the women to Weinstein after they were allegedly assaulted.She assailed the credibility of the accusers and urged the jury to put aside their emotions and use common sense in evaluating the evidence.Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi urged jurors to convict Weinstein, saying the once-powerful producer used his position in the film industry to prey on women and that those who testified against him had no reason to lie.
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The federal judge in the Roger Stone trial is refusing to postpone sentencing while President Donald Trump says the conviction of his close friend and confidant should be thrown out.Judge Amy Berman Jackson said during a conference call Tuesday with Stone and his lawyers that the sentencing will take place Thursday as planned.But Jackson appeared to say that she could put off an order for Stone to begin his sentence after Stone’s lawyers requested a new trial.That request came after Trump tweeted his belief last week that the foreperson on the Stone jury was “unambiguously” biased — an opinion he re-tweeted Tuesday when a Fox News commentator also said Stone deserved a new trial.FILE – Roger Stone, former campaign adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, arrives for the continuation of his trial on charges of lying to Congress, obstructing justice and witness tampering, at U.S. District Court in Washington, Nov. 15, 2019.”Madam foreperson, your (sic) a lawyer, you have a duty, an affirmative obligation to reveal to us when we selected you the existence of these tweets in which you were so harshly negative about the president and the people who support him,” Trump said in his own tweet.”Pretty obvious he should get a new trial. I think almost any judge in the country would order a new trial. I’m not so sure about Judge Jackson, though,” he added.When reporters asked Trump if he plans to pardon Stone, he replied that he “hadn’t given it any thought … but I think he’s been treated very unfairly.”Trump said Tuesday he chose not to get involved in the Stone case, but said he is allowed to be “totally involved,” if he wanted to, claiming he is “the chief law enforcement officer of the country.”Allegations of political influence Trump’s very public comments about the Stone case and his open criticism of a federal judge are at the center of allegations of political influence into what has historically been an independent Justice Department.The controversy blossomed in full last week when U.S. Attorney General William Barr and other top Justice Department officials overruled their own prosecutors and recommended a lighter prison sentence for Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice stemming from the 2016 Russian election meddling probe.Prosecutors in the case had recommended seven to nine years prison time for Stone — a recommendation based on sentencing guidelines for such crimes.FILE – U.S. Attorney General William Barr at the Department of Justice in Washington, Jan. 13, 2020.But the Justice Department recommended a lighter sentence after Trump complained in a tweet that the seven to nine years would be “horrible” and “unfair.”Three prosecutors in the Stone case withdrew, and a fourth quit the department altogether.A national association of federal judges will hold an emergency meeting Wednesday, the head of the organization told VOA.District court Judge Cynthia Rufe, president of the Federal Judges Association, said the judges are “concerned about the attacks on individual judges” and that will be the main issue to be discussed.Rufe declined to give any more details, but said the jurists “could not wait” until their spring meeting. She says the Federal Judges Association has no interest in getting involved in the Stone case, but does support Jackson.”We are supportive of any federal judge who does what is required,” she said.Former President Barack Obama appointed Jackson, and Trump has been notoriously critical of nearly every major decision and policy made by his predecessor. Trump also complained last week about Jackson’s decision to jail former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in solitary confinement and not to try to prosecute former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.Criticism of BarrTrump congratulated Barr last week for “taking charge” of the Stone case. Both deny that Trump asked Barr to intervene. Barr is scheduled to appear before the House Judiciary Committee next month.More than 2,000 former Justice Department officials have called on Barr to resign, saying his handling of the Stone case “openly and repeatedly flouted” the independence of the judicial branch.Barr told ABC News last week that Trump’s tweets “make it impossible for him to do his job,” saying he will not be “bullied or influenced by anybody, whether it’s Congress, a newspaper editorial board, or the president.”Trump acknowledged Tuesday that he does make Barr’s job “harder,” but calls him a man of “great integrity” who is up against people who “don’t want to see good things happen.”VOA’s Mary Motta contributed to this report.
 
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The worst locust outbreak that parts of East Africa have seen in 70 years has reached South Sudan, a country where roughly half the population already faces hunger after years of civil war, officials announced Tuesday.Around 2,000 locusts were spotted inside the country, Agriculture Minister Onyoti Adigo told reporters. Authorities will try to control the outbreak, he added.The locusts have been seen in Eastern Equatoria state near the borders with Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. All have been affected by the outbreak that has been influenced by the changing climate in the region.The situation in those three countries “remains extremely alarming,” the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said in its latest Locust Watch update Monday. Locusts also have reached Sudan, Eritrea, Tanzania and more recently Uganda.The soil in South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria has a sandy nature that allows the locusts to lay eggs easily, said Meshack Malo, country representative with the FAO.At this stage “if we are not able to deal with them … it will be a problem,” he said.South Sudan is even less prepared than other countries in the region for a locust outbreak, and its people are arguably more vulnerable. More than 5 million people are severely food insecure, the U.N. humanitarian office says in its latest assessment, and some 860,000 children are malnourished.Five years of civil war shattered South Sudan’s economy, and lingering insecurity since a 2018 peace deal continues to endanger humanitarians trying to distribute aid. Another local aid worker was shot and killed last week, the U.N. said Tuesday.The locusts have traveled across the region in swarms the size of major cities. Experts say their only effective control is aerial spraying with pesticides, but U.N. and local authorities have said more aircraft and pesticides are required. A handful of planes have been active in Kenya and Ethiopia.The U.N. has said $76 million is needed immediately. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a visit to Ethiopia said the U.S. would donate another $8 million to the effort. That follows an earlier $800,000.The number of overall locusts could grow up to 500 times by June, when drier weather begins, experts have said. Until then, the fear is that more rains in the coming weeks will bring fresh vegetation to feed a new generation of the voracious insects.South Sudanese ministers called for a collective regional response to the outbreak that threatens to devastate crops and pasturage.
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Ціна на газ знизиться в лютому, повідомив міністр енергетики та захисту довкілля Олексій Оржель.

«У лютому, у березні, влітку – буде рекордно менша ціна на газ, адже нам вдалося стабілізувати ситуацію на ринку газу», – сказав Оржель, не уточнивши, наскільки знизиться ціна на газ.

У січні ціна на газ для населення знизилася на 15 відсотків порівняно з груднем. Споживачі заплатять 5580 гривень за тисячу кубометрів з ПДВ без транспортування.

У Міністерстві енергетики повідомили, що вартість газу визначатиметься щомісячно та залежатиме від щоденної середньоарифметичної ціни природного газу на нідерландському газовому хабі. Механізм діятиме до 1 травня 2020 року. Тоді ціна на газ має стати ринковою.

Міністерство стверджує, що зміна погоджена з Міжнародним валютним фондом та не вплине на співпрацю України з міжнародними партнерами.
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Фонд державного майна України планує цьогоріч приватизувати більш ніж 500 державних підприємств. Про це, як передає УНІАН, заявив голова ФДМ Дмитро Сенниченко.

«Серед них (держпідприємств – ред.) будуть малі об’єкти, нерухомість і так звані brown fields, тобто непрацюючі об’єкти», – сказав Сенниченко на зустрічі з представниками німецьких компаній. Повідомляється, що в зустрічі взяв участь спецуповноважений уряду Німеччини з питань підтримки процесу приватизації в Україні Райнер Бомба. 

Очікується, що фонд планує приватизувати п’ятірку таких об’єктів як готелі «Дніпро» і «Президент», «Об’єднану гірничо-хімічну компанію», Одеський припортовий завод та завод «Електроважмаш».

Голова Фонду держмайна зазначив, що заплановані на приватизацію і сільськогосподарські підприємства, але поки не зрозуміла процедура їхньої передачі через очікуваний запуск ринку землі.

У 2019 році Україна заробила на приватизації 536,5 мільйона гривень замість запланованих 17,1 мільярда. У 2020 році уряд хоче отримати від приватизації 12 мільярдів гривень.
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A Turkish court on Tuesday ruled to acquit businessman Osman Kavala and eight other defendants over their alleged role in Gezi Park protests in 2013, in a case that had drawn strong criticism from Western allies and human rights groups.Applause erupted in the courtroom and some people cried in disbelief when the decision was announced. A guilty verdict had been widely expected in the case, widely regarded as a test of justice in Turkey.Philanthropist Kavala was ordered to be released after more than two years in jail. The European Court of Human Rights in December called for his immediate release, saying there was a lack of reasonable suspicion that he had committed an offence.Kavala and two other defendants had been facing life sentences without parole, while the other defendants were accused of aiding them in attempting to overthrow the government by organizing the protests.The case of seven further defendants, who are abroad and were being tried in absentia, was separated but arrest warrants for them were lifted. One lawyer said they were also expected to be acquitted.Kavala had been accused of attempting to overthrow the government by organizing and funding protests against then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Kavala denied the allegations.The protests began in Istanbul’s Gezi Park and spread nationwide over several months.Critics of Erdogan’s government have questioned the independence of Turkish courts, especially since a crackdown following a failed coup in 2016. Erdogan and his ruling AK Party say the judiciary makes independent decisions.
 
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As some of the negative effects of life lived online become more apparent, “digital wellness” groups are promoting ways to maintain healthy lifestyles. Deana Mitchell reports 
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The Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy in a U.S. federal court Tuesday in a move it says will allow it to compensate men who were abused as boys while taking part in its programs.The group has faced a surge in lawsuits in recent years as multiple states enacted changes to laws allowing those victimized as kids to bring legal action later in life.Several thousand men accuse scoutmasters and other leaders of molestation, with many of their cases dating back to the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.Paul Mones, a lawyer representing many people suing the group, said in a series of Tuesday tweets that the Boy Scouts deliberately concealed sexual abuse for decades and “made their decision to protect their reputation over the safety of innocent children.”It is not clear how large an eventual settlement could be if the Boy Scouts and victims are able to reach an agreement.”The BSA cares deeply about all victims of abuse and sincerely apologizes to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting,” President and Chief Executive Officer Roger Mosby said in a statement.  “We are outraged that there have been times when individuals took advantage of our programs to harm innocent children.”The group says the bankruptcy filing involves only its national organization and not the individual chapters spread throughout the country that will continue carrying their meetings and activities.
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The European Union has approved a trade agreement with Vietnam, disproving skeptics who thought the EU’s divorce with Britain and Vietnam human rights concerns would delay the vote.Members of the EU Parliament last week voted 401 to 192 in favor of ratifying the agreement, which would roll back almost all import tariffs between the bloc and Vietnam. The EU is looking for new economic tailwinds amid concerns with other partners: the British exit from the union threatens commerce, while U.S. President Donald Trump has turned his attention from the China trade war to issue more tariffs against the European Union this month. The vote was also welcomed as good news by Vietnam, which worries its economy will be hurt by the U.S.-China trade war and the spread of the new coronavirus.“History shows that isolation does not change a country,”  said Bernd Lange, chair of the EU Parliament trade committee and vice chair of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. “That is why Parliament voted in favor of this trade agreement with Vietnam. With it, we strengthen the role of the EU in Vietnam and the region, ensuring that our voice has more weight than before.”The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement would be Europe’s second in Southeast Asia, after one with Singapore. Its decreased tariffs are expected to increase Vietnamese exports of seafood, textiles, and wood products to the EU, and EU exports of beverages, machinery, and drugs to Vietnam.A cobblestone street is seen in Brussels, the seat of the European Union, which Vietnam is awaiting to finalize a trade agreement. (VOA/Ha Nguyen)This is Europe’s “most ambitious trade agreement with a developing country,” said the German Business Association of Vietnam in an email.The agreement is considered ambitious because it is meant to hold parties to a higher environmental and social standard than merely decreasing tariffs for companies. Vietnam’s one-party state promised to certify that timber isn’t illegally logged before it’s exported, for instance. It also promised to allow labor unions independent of the government.However Emmanuel Maurel, a member of the European Parliament from France, doesn’t believe Vietnam will keep its promise. He also criticized the trade agreement as benefiting not the average citizen but a small fraction of companies that will find it easier to offshore jobs.“There are losers on the Vietnamese side and there are losers on the European side,” he said.Vietnam has not ratified the agreement. Its parliament meets two times a year, so its next chance to vote on the agreement will be in May.Negotiations dragged on for the agreement, which many had expected would have been finalized years ago. Delays included the 2017 inauguration of Trump, who withdrew from the Trans Pacific Partnership, another trade agreement that included Vietnam. Because Vietnam wanted to implement the TPP and the EU agreement at the same time, it postponed the latter deal until more recently.However now Vietnam has welcomed the European Union’s favorable vote this month and looks set to emulate it.“This is a meaningful result for Vietnam and the EU, two comprehensive strategic partners,” Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, said.
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