Кабінет міністрів працює над тим, щоб платіжки за газ та його доставку об’єднати в один документ, але остаточне рішення має ухвалити регулятор. Про це заявив у Верховній Раді прем’єр-міністр України Олексій Гончарук.

«Дві платіжки – це правильний крок, але дійсно, правильніше було б, щоб людина отримувала одночасно їх і одним документом. Тобто правильно розділити ці послуги, але одночасно організувати платіжки за них в один документ. Ми зараз над цим працюємо», – зазначив прем’єр

Він додав, що рішення про розділення платіжок ухвалила Національна комісія, що здійснює державне регулювання у сфері енергетики та комунальних послуг.

Розділення платіжок відбулося в рамках реформи на газовому ринку, яка передбачає відокремлення послуг.
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Національний банк України опівдні оприлюднив довідкове значення курсу 24 гривні 52 копійки за долар, це на 6 копійок менше за офіційний курс на 7 лютого.

Як інформує Finance.ua, на українському міжбанківському валютному ринку станом на 13:10 котирування склали 24 гривні 52–55 копійок за долар.

«Попит і пропозиція у хиткій рівновазі. НБУ не виходив на ринок. Йдуть операції по лотах до 1 мільйона доларів», – відзначають експерти сайту «Мінфін».

Регулятор уперше за багато сесій є лише спостерігачем. Наприкінці січня і на початку лютого НБУ спершу продавав долари, не дозволяючи послаблення української валюти понад 25 гривень за долар, згодом викуповував надлишок пропозиції американської валюти, опираючись надмірному зміцненню гривні. Таким чином Нацбанк позначив коридор, який бачить на найближчий час – не нижче 24,5 гривні і не вище 25 гривень за долар.

Національний банк України знизив облікову ставку на 2,5% – до 11% з 31 січня 2020 року. «Національний банк продовжує пом’якшення монетарної політики, щоб забезпечити інфляцію на рівні цілі 5% та підтримати стійке економічне зростання», – заявили в НБУ.

Наступне засідання правління Національного банку України з питань монетарної політики відбудеться 12 березня 

Облікова ставка є одним із інструментів, за допомогою якого Нацбанк встановлює для комерційних банків орієнтир щодо вартості кредитів і депозитів. Опосередковано цей параметр впливає і на функціонування валютного ринку, регулюючи приплив валюти від нерезидентів.
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Heavy rains lashed parts of eastern Australian Friday, causing some flooding in Sydney and bringing relief to firefighters still dealing with dozens of bush fires in parts of New South Wales state.The state’s Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said he was optimistic the rain will help extinguish some blazes over the coming days. He said there were still 42 fires burning in the state, with 17 of those not contained.“The rain is good for business and farms as well as being really good for quenching some of these fires we’ve been dealing with for many, many months,” he told Australia’s ABC TV network.“We don’t want to see lots of widespread damage and disruption from flooding, but it is certainly a welcome change to the relentless campaign of hot, dry weather,” he added.Heavy rain also drenched parts of Queensland state.
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The final results from the Democratic Party’s tumultuous Iowa caucuses were released late Thursday.  The top two candidates have almost the same number of state delegates after Monday’s caucuses.Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, won 26.2% of the delegates to the state’s Democratic Party convention, while Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders earned 26.1%. However, Sanders leads in the popular vote.The state convention will determine how many of Iowa’s 41 delegates to the national democratic convention each candidate will get.Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez called for a recanvass earlier Thursday after technical problems ruined plans to produce accurate and timely vote counts. A recanvass would mean reviewing the math worksheets of each caucus site.However, Troy Price, the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, said a recanvass would be initiated only if a candidate requests one, a scenario that seems unlikely at this point. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., gestures while speaking during a news conference at his New Hampshire headquarters, Feb. 6, 2020 in Manchester, N.H.“We’ve got enough of Iowa,” Sanders said Thursday at a CNN town hall. “I think we should move on to New Hampshire,” the site of the next Democratic campaign.Buttigieg said he would “leave it to the party” to determine if there should be a recanvass.Sen. Elizabeth Warner, who came in third in the caucuses, said “I’m focused on moving forward.”Former Vice President Joe Biden said coming in fourth was a “gut punch” for his campaign, but added that he is not “going anywhere.” He led most of the voter polls even before declaring his candidacy.Senator Amy Klobuchar followed Biden for fifth place.Precinct captain Carl Voss of Des Moines displays the Iowa Democratic Party caucus reporting app on his phone outside of the Iowa Democratic Party headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, Feb. 4, 2020.Mobile app failsThe voting chaos of the caucuses stemmed mostly from the failure of a mobile app the Iowa Democratic Party used to count and verify the results. It took nearly an entire day to report even a single vote from Monday’s caucuses because of what party officials said was a coding error and vote inconsistencies being reported on the app specially designed for vote counting throughout the rural state.When it became apparent that the app was failing, precincts tried to phone in their results, but were placed on hold for hours, in some cases. Somehow, the telephone number used to call in the votes became public and party officials said the lines were jammed with people intent on messing up the vote counting process.It was an awkward kickoff for the Democratic Party as it tries to determine who will be its candidate to try to unseat Donald Trump in November’s presidential election. The results underscore a sharp ideological divide within the party.The youthful Buttigieg, 38, represents the moderate wing of the Democratic Party and is the first openly gay Democratic presidential candidate. Sanders, 78, is a self-declared democratic socialist who endorses universal medical coverage while eliminating private insurance. Buttigieg backs government-run health insurance while letting people keep their private coverage.Sanders would provide all students with free four-year college education and cancel outstanding student debt. Buttigieg would limit free college to low-income families while looking for other ways to reduce debt.But both support the “Green New Deal” to combat global warming, favor decriminalizing illegal immigration, vow to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, and favor bringing home U.S. troops from Afghanistan.Can caucuses survive?The chaos and confusion surrounding Monday’s caucuses bring questions whether Iowa can continue to be relied on to be the first state in the nation to officially choose presidential candidates. Iowa’s population is 91% white, and some Democratic analysts say the state hardly reflects the national Democratic base, which includes a large percentage of minorities.But the state’s three leading Republicans, senators Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst, and Gov. Kim Reynolds, defended Iowa’s role in picking presidential nominees for both Democrats and Republicans. They said they were confident “that every last vote will be counted, and every last voice heard” in the Democratic contest.
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A public memorial service for Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others killed in a helicopter crash is planned for Feb. 24 at Staples Center, a person with knowledge of the details told The Associated Press on Thursday.The arena is where Bryant starred for the Los Angeles Lakers for two decades and the date 2/24 corresponds with the No. 24 jersey he wore and the No. 2 worn by his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna.No official announcement about the memorial has been made. The person who provided the information to the AP is knowledgeable about the planning and spoke only on condition of anonymity. The Los Angeles Times was first to report the event, citing two anonymous sources with knowledge of the planning.FILE – Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna are honored along with all of the helicopter crash victims before the NFL Super Bowl game between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs in Miami Gardens, Fla., Feb. 2, 2020.Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has said a memorial would be held but his office had no immediate comment, nor did the Lakers or Staples Center.Staples has played host to other memorials, including for Michael Jackson and, last year, for rapper Nipsey Hussle.Bryant was killed Jan. 26 when the helicopter carrying him, his daughter and the others crashed into a mountainside in Calabasas while flying to a girls basketball tournament at his Mamba Sports Academy. Gianna’s team was coached by Bryant and was playing in the tournament.No cause for the crash has been determined, though a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board is expected soon.A basketball game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Memphis Grizzlies is scheduled for Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the Staples Center, according to the arena’s website.A public memorial for Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife, Keri, and daughter Alyssa will be held Feb. 10 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Also killed in the crash were Bryant friends Christina Mauser, Sarah Chester and her daughter Payton.
 
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The number of coronavirus cases reported in Indonesia and Thailand is well below what scientists would expect, given how closely connected the countries are to the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. That raises concerns that the virus may be spreading undetected in those countries, potentially adding fuel to the epidemic that has so far killed over 600 people and sickened over 31,000.   “Indonesia has reported zero cases, and you would expect to have seen several already,” said epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, co-author of a Immigration officers wearing protective suits prepare immigration for Thai nationals evacuated from China’s Wuhan province, the center of the coronavirus epidemic, at the U-Tapao airport in Rayong province, Thailand, Feb. 4, 2020.Going undetected?Health systems in Indonesia and Thailand may not be catching cases, Lipsitch said, which could create problems for the rest of the world.  “Undetected cases in any country will potentially seed epidemics in those countries,” he added, which can spread beyond their borders. Lipsitch’s group’s research is one of FILE – Students line up to sanitize their hands to avoid the contact of coronavirus before their morning class at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Jan. 28, 2020.Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia are screening travelers from China at the border.   “Indonesia is doing what is possible to be prepared for and defend against the novel coronavirus,” the World Health Organization’s Indonesia representative, Dr. Navaratnasamy Paranietharan, told the Sydney Morning Herald.However, he added, “there is still more work to do in the areas of surveillance and active case detection.” ‘Beef things up’These countries are not the only places with shortcomings in their public health systems, said epidemiologist Art Reingold at the University of California-Berkeley’s School of Public Health. “I wouldn’t want people to think everyone else is doing a great job. We need to beef things up in a lot of places,” he added, and not just in the developing world. “We think we’re doing a good job,” he said. “People think they’re doing a good job in France or whatever, but I don’t think we can afford to make that assumption.” While some countries start to cut connections with China in hopes of keeping out the disease, Mores said, those measures may not help if the virus is spreading under the radar in countries that don’t. “There’s certainly plenty of places, especially in the developing world, that are not going to be able to shut down their economies because of this coronavirus outbreak,” he said. “And the danger there is that those countries are even more susceptible” because of weaker public health systems.   And that puts the world at risk, Mores added. 
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There was a noticeable shift in the U.S. political landscape this week. President Donald Trump finally emerged from the battle over impeachment with rising poll numbers, while the Democratic Party presidential race was in disarray over a major election failure in Iowa. All of a sudden, Trump’s reelection prospects appear more favorable than at any time during his presidency. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more on the political fallout from the impeachment saga and what it may mean for the November election.
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U.S. President Donald Trump’s recently announced Middle East peace plan calls for Israel to keep control over all of Jerusalem, with its Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites. The plan envisions the capital of the Palestinian state in outlying suburban neighborhoods of Jerusalem such as Abu Dis, which is technically in the West Bank. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Abu Dis.
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Germs are everywhere. How can you reduce the risk of viral infection? Here are some simple steps you can take to protect yourself. 
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Human rights groups have strongly criticized Italy for extending a deal with Libya that facilitates the return of migrants to detention centers, where these migrants say torture and rape are commonplace. The European Union has sent hundreds of millions of dollars to Libya to boost its coastguard capabilities and clamp down on human smuggling – but critics say the money is ending up with criminal gangs. More from Henry Ridgwell
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