На українському міжбанківському валютному ринку різко подешевшав американський долар. Як інформує Finance.ua, станом на 12:20 котирування становили 24 гривні 85–88 копійок за долар. Посилення гривні розпочалося ще 3 лютого, але в понеділок торги завершилися на рівні понад 25 гривень за долар.

Як інформують експерти сайту «Мінфін», 3 лютого Нацбанк фактично розгорнув тренд, продаючи долари спершу по 25 гривень 15 копійок, а згодом – по 25 гривень 12 копійок. На торгах 4 лютого регулятор уже купував долари, позначивши рівень, нижче якого не має наміру опускати американську валюту – 24 гривні 85 копійок.

Національний банк України встановив опівдні довідкове значення курсу 24 гривні 86 копійок за долар, це на 22 копійки менше за офіційний курс на 4 лютого.

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.
…

North Korea’s already tenuous economic lifelines to the outside world are now nearly severed as it seals its borders with China and Russia to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
Already one of the most closed-off countries in the world, North Korea has stopped airline flights and train service with its neighbors, established weeks-long mandatory quarantines for recently arrived foreigners, suspended international tourism, and imposed a near-complete lockdown on cross-border travel.The shutdowns could hurt leader Kim Jong Un’s efforts to make good on his promise to jumpstart North Korea’s economy.Those efforts have been undermined by a lack of progress in denuclearisation talks with the United States, which has led the way in imposing international sanctions on North Korea.”They’re keeping the cargo out and they’re keeping the Chinese out; nobody can go in or out,” said one source with firsthand knowledge of the situation at the China-North Korea border.Kang Mi-jin, a North Korean defector in Seoul who reports for the Daily NK website, also confirmed that the border appears to have been almost entirely shut down since at least Jan. 30.”The Ministry of People’s Armed Forces ordered all guard posts to bar smuggling as well,” she said. “People, freight, nothing can come in or go out.”Pyongyang has reportedly asked Beijing not to repatriate North Korean defectors detained in China, according to one South Korean pastor who works with refugees.According to the source with knowledge of the situation at the border, North Koreans who work in restaurants and elsewhere in China, violating United Nations sanctions, are in “virtual captivity” in their homes under instructions from authorities back in North Korea.North Korea is typically adept at implementing public health interventions and acted “swiftly and decisively” to try to stop the disease from entering the country, but sanctions restrictions could make it difficult for them to get medical supplies, said Harvard Medical School’s Kee Park, who has worked on health care projects in North Korea.”Their actions, very costly in terms of revenue from tourists and trade as well as administratively for quarantining people, reflect their concerns regarding their health system’s capacity to handle an outbreak,” Park said.China lifeline 
The efforts — which appear to have been successful in preventing any cases in North Korea so far — mean North Korea has severed or drastically restricted the economic ties it relies on.”There could be a huge impact not just on the North’s market economy, but also on the entire economy of the country,” Kang said. “North Korea promotes localization, but even for products — candies, crackers, or clothing — manufactured in the country, the raw materials come from China.”Upcoming North Korean political holidays, which usually include gifts of sweets and crackers for children, may be more less festive than usual if the country’s supplies of sugar, flour, and other ingredients are scarce, she said.There are already signs that prevention measures could lead to the cancellation of military parades and other mass celebrations at least through February, which includes a commemoration of the North Korean army and former leader Kim Jong Il’s birthday.The extent of the economic risk to North Korea largely depends on the duration of the lockdown and how sweeping the restrictions are, said Artyom Lukin, a professor at Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok.”If the lockdown continues for several months and longer, this will certainly have a considerable negative impact on North Korea,” he said.There are no official numbers on the size of North Korea’s economy, but South Korea’s Bank of Korea estimated that in 2018 the country’s economy shrank for a second straight year, while its international trade fell 48.4 per cent in value.Since then, China and Russia have more publicly called for sanctions to be lifted, border trade picked up, and there were signs that North Korea’s economy may have been on a relative rebound.A recent report by a South Korean trade association found China’s proportion of the North’s overall external trade rose to 91.8 percent last year, compared with 17.3 percent in 2001.Thousands of Chinese tourists provided an additional economic lifeline.The crisis could weaken North Korea’s position in its standoff with the United States over denuclearisation talks, and could lead Pyongyang to try to offset its greater economic vulnerability by making provocative moves such as resuming long-range missile launches or nuclear tests, Lukin said.”If the coronavirus situation is not resolved quickly, it is going to make life much more difficult for North Korea in 2020,” Lukin said.
…

A military investigative judge charged a Lebanese-American man with murder and torture of Lebanese citizens on Tuesday, crimes he allegedly committed during Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon, judicial officials said. The accusations could carry a death sentence.
Amer Fakhoury has confessed to working as a senior warden at Khiam Prison, which was run by an Israel-backed Lebanese militia. Fakhoury was detained after returning to his native Lebanon from the U.S. in September. However, he’s undergoing cancer treatment, and it remains unclear if he’ll be able to stand trial.
The judge, Najat Abu Shakra, referred Fakhoury to a military court where he will be tried, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. No date was set for the tribunal.
The officials said Abu Shakra charged Fakhoury with “murder and attempted murder of prisoners inside Khiam Prison as well as kidnapping and torture.” The prison, run by the so-called South Lebanon Army, was abandoned after Israeli forces pulled out of southern Lebanon in 2000, ending an 18-year occupation.
Human rights groups have said in the past that Khiam Prison was a site of torture and detention without trial. Israel denies the allegations.
Lebanon and Israel have been officially at war since Israel’s creation in 1948. Lebanon bans it citizens from traveling to Israel or have contact with Israelis.
The judge dropped charges of dealing with and visiting Israel because two decades have passed since the incidents, making them outdated, the officials said.
The charges by the investigative judge were separate from a lawsuit against Fakhoury filed by former inmates at Khiam Prison. He’s being questioned in that case about alleged atrocities. The questioning was supposed to take place on Monday, but was postponed until Feb. 17 because Fakhoury is undergoing chemotherapy.
Fakhoury’s family said doctors have said his condition is life threatening. In addition to an infection and a bleeding disorder, doctors believe he’s developed an aggressive form of lymphoma.
Hundreds of former Lebanese members of the SLA militia had fled to Israel, fearing reprisals if they remained in Lebanon. Others stayed and faced trial, receiving lenient sentences. 
…

Democrats in the state of Iowa began the 2020 presidential primary campaign Monday with its presidential caucus voting.  But the Iowa Democratic Party said the official results were delayed for hours due to what was described as “quality checks.”  The Democratic contenders did address their supporters in Iowa despite the glitch, as we hear from VOA National correspondent Jim Malone.
…

The vaunted Iowa caucuses — the first test of the Democratic presidential candidates’ strength in challenging President Donald Trump in the 2020 election — hit an embarrassing roadblock late Monday when the state Democratic party was unable to report even a single vote hours after the polls had closed.State party officials attributed the delay to what they called a “reporting issue” and said an app that precinct officials were supposed to use to submit results had not been hacked.WATCH: Results delayedSorry, but your player cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
Iowa Caucus – Events and Days Spent in IowaBut in a contest that is important for its status in setting the tone of the campaign and assessing the viability of the candidates in a crowded field, the lack of any official sense of winners or losers meant top performers did not have the usual ability to claim victory and subsequent momentum heading into the New Hampshire primary next week. Several of the candidates flew from Iowa to New Hampshire early Tuesday to begin campaigning there without knowing the Iowa results.”The history of the caucuses is that the candidate that does better than expected is often the one that gets attention and a real boost in votes in later states. But, of course, if we don’t know how they did, we don’t know who did better than expected and who did worse than expected,” David Redlawsk, professor of political science at the University of Delaware, said. “So in that sense, New Hampshire is only eight days away, even if we get some results from Iowa, they may be eclipsed very quickly.”Redlawsk told VOA that Democrats face the challenge of figuring what direction they want to take their party, whether it’s behind a center-left candidate, such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, or a more centrist candidate, such as former Vice President Joe Biden.”It means the battle continues without any clear direction so far on which way it’s going, and I think that’s tough for Democrats, who will have to unite ultimately in running against Trump for the fall election,” he said.The 2016 race featured a delay in declaring a winner as Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton battled in a close race. Clinton ended up winning 49.9% to 49.6%, with Sanders complaining, but not seeking a recount. At the time, however, he said, “We need improvement by which the process is determined.”Iowa Caucus – Demographics – ReligionIowa Caucus – Demographics – IncomeLate Monday night, Sanders tried to sound philosophical in a speech to his supporters, who were eagerly awaiting the caucus results: “At some point, those results will be announced, and when they are, I think I will do very very well in Iowa.”Meanwhile, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota told her supporters: “We know there’s delays, but we know one thing, we are punching above our weight.”Regardless of how the Iowa results turn out, the state party has been sorely humiliated and the controversy surrounding the faulty vote count after months of intensive campaigning and vast spending by the candidates will raise questions about the efficacy of the first-in-the-nation caucus.More than 100,000 Democrats poured into about 1,680 precinct caucuses throughout Iowa Monday evening, from tiny churches and community centers and college gymnasiums in rural areas to large arenas in heavily populated urban areas like Des Moines, rallying behind their choice of 11 candidates and seeking to deliver enough votes to help their favorites qualify for precious delegates.It was a night of American democracy in action, with voters spending the better part of a winter evening clustering in groups of supporters for Sanders, Biden, Klobuchar, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and others in hopes of achieving “viability” to qualify for delegates.Voters showed their preferences by raising their hands or gathering in groups of like-minded supporters of the candidates.The goal in the caucus is to reach what is called the “viability threshold” — the 15% of support needed to move on to the second round. Backers of any candidate who fails to meet that 15% are given a chance to throw their support behind their second choice at each caucus — a process that includes cajoling, horse-trading and seduction before a final statewide count is tallied and a winner declared.Iowans living outside the state, in such places as Florida, Arizona, and even overseas in Paris and Scotland, earlier made their choices in the first-ever satellite caucus.Iowa Caucus – Demographics – Race – Iowa vs USIowa Caucus – Demographics – EmploymentBut the bulk of Monday’s contest took place in the U.S. heartland in the state of Iowa itself — a predominantly white state with less than 1% of the country’s population that is hardly reflective of the nation’s growing racial and ethnic diversity. But as is custom, the contest is first on the political calendar during the quadrennial campaign to win a four-year term in the White House.Statewide polls of Democratic voters going into Monday’s Iowa caucuses showed a tight contest at the top between Sanders, a self-declared Democratic socialist, and Biden, a longtime fixture in Washington political circles who is making his third run for the party’s presidential nomination.The political surveys show two other challengers running close behind the front pair, Warren, a one-time Harvard law professor, and Buttigieg, a political centrist and the only gay candidate in the race, with Klobuchar of the neighboring state of Minnesota in fifth.Preliminary results from an entry poll conducted by Edison Media Research showed about 30% of caucus participants made their decision about which candidate to support in the past few days, and that those late-deciders gravitated toward Biden and Buttigieg.Sanders led among younger voters, those under age 45, while Biden was the choice for older voters.Iowa Caucus – Demographics – EducationIowa Caucus – Demographics – AgeThe Edison poll found that 60% of caucus-goers said they wanted a candidate who can defeat Trump. About 40% labeled health care as their top issue, with 20% picking climate change and another 20% income inequality.Trump’s incumbent status means he has little major challenge for his party’s nomination, but Republicans did have their own caucus with the president projected to romp to victory with 97% or more of the vote over former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld.Despite all the attention it gets, the Iowa caucus has not always been a reliable harbinger of who will win the Democratic Party nomination.Bill Clinton had a notoriously poor showing in the 1992 caucus with less than 3% support and wound up winning the White House that November.Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the 2016 Republican caucus, but Trump was the eventual nominee.Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said Iowans believe the purpose of the caucus is to narrow the large field of candidates so the rest of the country has few choices but good choices for the primaries to come. The northeastern state of New Hampshire votes next week, with the southern state of South Carolina and the western state of Nevada voting later in February.
…

As Iowa’s Democrats entered their party’s caucuses on Monday, defeating President Donald Trump in November’s election was at the top of their minds when considering which candidate to support for the party’s 2020 presidential nomination, according to preliminary findings by the National Election Pool (NEP). The NEP, a consortium of news organizations including Reuters that runs election-day polling through Edison Research, found most caucusgoers were simply looking for a winner instead of someone who agrees with them on the issues. Here are some highlights from the entrance poll based on interviews with 745 Iowa Democrats as they headed into the caucuses: — Six in 10 caucusgoers said they were looking for a Democratic nominee who they think can beat Trump. About four in 10 said they wanted a nominee who agrees with them on major issues. — Three in 10 said they were attending the Iowa caucuses for the first time, which appeared to be below that of 2016. Four years ago, 44% of people attending the Iowa caucuses said they were doing so for the first time. In 2008, 57% said they were new to the Iowa caucuses. — Nearly a third of Democrats said before entering the caucuses that they had picked their candidate in the last few days. That appeared to be higher than the share of late deciders in 2016. Four years ago, 16% of caucusgoers said they had made their choice in the last month or earlier. — Health care was the issue that mattered most to Iowa caucusgoers. About four in 10 said that was the issue they cared most about when thinking about picking a nominee. Two in 10 said it was the climate, another two in 10 said it was income inequality and one in 10 said it was foreign policy. — The entrance poll also asked Democrats about which candidate they were supporting for the nomination. The selections were not predictive of the outcome, however, given that many Democrats would change their preferences if their chosen candidate did not win enough support in the caucuses. Edison, a Somerville, New Jersey-based exit polling firm, has been providing election-day poll data to a consortium of news organizations through the National Election Pool since 2004. 
…

Iowa? Who cares. On the day the 2020 presidential election kicked off with the Iowa caucuses, Michael Bloomberg was half a continent and a leap of faith away in California, where the Democratic candidate sought to bring attention to a campaign that has forsworn early voting states and anchored its ambitions to California, Texas and other delegate-rich battlegrounds to come. The billionaire former New York City mayor flew Monday to California with with a retinue of reporters and TV cameras in tow, to remind voters that their election, like Iowa’s, was underway. Early voting in the nation’s most populous state began Monday for the March 3 primary election. It was Bloomberg’s fourth trip to the state as a candidate. His first stop was at a coffee shop in Sacramento, the state capital, where in somewhat rambling remarks he encouraged supporters to get out and vote. Later appearances were scheduled with Latino voters in the heart of the farm belt in Fresno, and in Compton, the Los Angeles-area city known as the West Coast capital of hip-hop, where he planned to launch a national bus tour for surrogates and supporters. Joe Biden says democracy begins in Iowa, but Bloomberg told supporters the path to the White House runs through California. ‘We are going to win’I'm not running against the other Democratic candidates, I'm running against Donald Trump,'' Bloomberg said at the low-key appearance in Sacramento, speaking on a stage with a U.S. flag backdrop andVote early” posters. We are going to win this.'' In the crowd was retiree Ruth Holton-Hodson, a Democrat from Sacramento, who is leaning toward Bloomberg as the most likely choice to defeat Trump. But she said she worries his skip-Iowa plan could alienate voters, who would see a wealthy candidate making his own rules. I think it will turn people off,” she said. College student Myles Hammond, 22, attends a Mike Bloomberg event, Feb. 3, 2020 in Sacramento, Calif.Nearby, wearing an I like Mike sweatshirt, Colorado student Myles Hammond, said he was wavering in his decision, but was closely focused on Bloomberg and Bernie Sanders. Hammond, who was in Sacramento for a graduate school interview, said he was drawn to the former mayor’s push for gun control but also liked Sanders’ strong connection with young voters. However, he worries the Vermont senator’s progressive agenda might drive off middle-ground voters. I don't know if it would push some independent voters away,'' Hammond said of Sanders. He wasn't sure if Bloomberg's unusual strategy of skipping Iowa would work but said he might havea better chancefocusing on a large state like California. Bloomberg's trip amounted to a carefully planned sideshow to the crescendo of campaigning in Iowa, where the crowded and shifting Democratic field headed toward an uncertain finish in Monday's caucuses. Not unprecedentedIt's unusual, but not unprecedented, for a candidate to turn away from Iowa, the time-honored launching pad for presidential candidates. It's similar to a presidential campaign strategy deployed in 2008 by another former New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani, who was an early dropout in a year when John McCain become the eventual Republican nominee. The day of campaigning provided a window into Bloomberg's broader strategy. Financed by his unrivaled personal wealth, he's largely going his own way to secure the nomination to challenge President Donald Trump. But, in embracing his conspicuous absence in Iowa, it highlighted the risk: how to stay relevant when you are competing outside the usual playing field of tradition-bound early contests like Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. In his remarks, Bloomberg said he was planning to enter Iowa when he began considering a presidential run, then decided not to become a candidate. When he reconsidered and got in the raceit was too late to get inthe Iowa contest. No presidential contest awards more delegates than the state of California, the Democratic fortress that is home to 1-in-8 Americans. Iowa's caucuses have 41 delegates at stake, but California will award more than 400. In other words, go big. Torrent of TV adsAs a candidate, Bloomberg has gone from curio to competitor with an unmatched torrent of TV ads, paired with traditional retail campaigning, that appears to have pushed him up in presidential polling. Still, he remains unknown to many voters. But in one sign he is gaining traction, he attracted the attention of Trump, who mocked Bloomberg's height in an interview with Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity and accused the former mayor of making a special request for a box to stand on if he qualifies for future presidential debates. Bloomberg's campaign denied the claim. Bloomberg campaign spokeswoman Julie Wood said Trump was apathological liar who lies about everything: his fake hair, his obesity, and his spray-on tan,” she said. The two rival campaigns ran dueling, multimillion-dollar ads during Sunday night’s Super Bowl, with both spending an estimated $10 million for 60 seconds of air time, which Trump used to purchase two 30-second spots. 
…

U.S. House Democrats prosecuting the impeachment case against President Donald Trump and his defense team offered forceful closing arguments Monday at his Senate trial, even as his acquittal remains all but certain.Congressman Adam Schiff, the lead House manager prosecuting Trump on two articles of impeachment, passionately implored the 100 members of the Senate acting as jurors, “We have proven Donald Trump guilty. Now, do impartial justice and convict him.”Schiff asked the majority bloc of 53 Republicans, “Is there one among you who will say, ‘Enough’?” Schiff said Trump should be removed from office for his request last July to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to launch an investigation into one of Trump’s chief 2020 Democratic rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden, while at the same time blocking release of $391 million in military aid Kyiv wanted to fight pro-Russian separatists.House impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., speaks during closing arguments in the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Feb. 3, 2020, in this image from video.But Trump’s lawyers called for his exoneration when the Senate votes late Wednesday afternoon on whether to remove the country’s 45th president from office. White House counsel Pat Cipollone told senators there was no evidence of Trump wrongdoing, and that rather than ousting Trump from office, the only solution was “to leave it to the voters” to decide his fate.Despite the arguments, the impeachment outcome seems preordained, with 67 votes needed for conviction, and no Republican calling for his ouster nine months ahead of the November presidential election.Congresswoman Val Demings, another of the House lawmakers prosecuting Trump, contended that Trump perpetrated “a grave abuse of power unparalleled in American history.”House impeachment manager Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., speaks during closing arguments in the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol, Feb. 3, 2020, in this image from video.She said that when Trump asked Zelenskiy for the investigation of Biden and his son Hunter’s work for a Ukrainian natural gas company, “the president was not focused on corruption,” but rather looking to help himself politically on the assumption that Biden would be his opponent in next November’s national election.Demings said that Trump then blocked key aides from cooperating with House impeachment investigators and refused to turn over White House documents about his Ukraine-related actions.”That’s what guilty people do,” Demings argued.But Trump defense attorney Kenneth Starr called the House impeachment investigation of Trump “a rush to judgment,” said it was unfairly conducted, and added that the Senate “shouldn’t reward the prosecutors.” He said that to convict Trump would be to tell Trump’s 2016 voters, “Your vote in the last election is hereby null and void.”Personal attorney to President Donald Trump, Jay Sekulow, speaks during closing arguments in the impeachment trial against Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol, Feb. 3, 2020, in this image from video.Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow added, “This entire campaign of impeachment … was a partisan effort” targeting Trump. He said House Democrats “have cheapened the power of impeachment and, unfortunately, the country is not better for that.”But another House impeachment manager, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, said that if Trump is not removed from office for his conduct, it would deal “a death blow” to the possibility of impeachment of U.S. presidents in the future as laid out in the U.S. Constitution. Jeffries said behavior such as Trump’s “would become the new normal.”The Wednesday vote will be on two articles of impeachment against Trump — that he abused the power of the presidency with the Ukraine request, and obstructed congressional review of his actions. With Trump’s exoneration all but assured, the only question on the outcome appears to be whether any Democrats will vote to clear Trump, or possibly a Republican vote to convict him.Trump’s lawyers, and the president himself, argue he did nothing wrong, and that his actions did not rise to the level of an impeachable offense. Trump has long described his call to Zelenskiy as “perfect.”As the Democrats’ arguments played out in the Senate, Trump resumed his broadsides on Twitter against his impeachment.”I hope Republicans & the American people realize that the totally partisan Impeachment Hoax is exactly that, a Hoax,” he tweeted.I hope Republicans & the American people realize that the totally partisan Impeachment Hoax is exacty that, a Hoax. Read the Transcripts, listen to what the President & Foreign Minister of Ukraine said (“No Pressure”). Nothing will ever satisfy the Do Nothing, Radical Left Dems!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Alexander, who provided a key vote late last week against the Democrats’ effort to call Trump aides as witnesses in the impeachment trial, told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” show that it was “crossing the line” for Trump to ask for the Biden investigations.”I think he shouldn’t have done it. I think it was wrong,” Alexander said.”If the president was upset with what the Bidens were doing in Ukraine, he should’ve called the (U.S.) attorney general,” Alexander said. Asked why Trump didn’t then, Alexander said, “Maybe he didn’t know to do it.”Alexander added, “I think what he did is a long way from treason, bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors,” the U.S. Constitution threshold for an impeachable offense requiring removal from office. “I don’t think it’s the kind of inappropriate action that the framers would expect the Senate to substitute its judgment for the people in picking a president.”He said voters in next November’s national election, when Trump is running for a second term in the White House, should decide his fate.”You know, it struck me, really for the first time early last week, that we’re not just being asked to remove the president from office,” Alexander said, “We’re saying, ‘Tell him he can’t run in the 2020 election.'”As the heart of the case against Trump ended Friday, another Republican, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska said, “Let me be clear, Lamar speaks for lots and lots of us.”Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, walks on Capitol Hill, Feb. 3, 2020.Ernst told CNN that Trump’s request to Ukraine was “not what I would have done. He maybe did it in the wrong manner. He knows now he needs to go through the proper channels,” such as the U.S. Justice Department, if he sees the need for an overseas investigation.Nonetheless, she concluded, “Does it come to the point of removing a president? I don’t think it does.”Vote against calling witnessesThe key 51–49 vote against calling witnesses in the trial came Friday over Democratic objections. Democrats wanted to hear testimony from Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton, whom Trump ousted from his White House position last September. Bolton reportedly says in a forthcoming book that Trump told him directly last August that he wanted the Biden investigations before he would release the military aid, a direct contradiction of Trump’s claim there was no reciprocal quid pro quo deal with Ukraine, the defense assistance in exchange for the Biden investigations. Trump denied Bolton’s claim.Trump released the aid in September after a 55-day delay without Zelenskiy opening the Biden investigations — proof, Republicans say, he had no quid pro quo deal with Ukraine.
 
…

U.S. President Donald Trump added six countries to his administration’s travel ban on Jan. 31 — Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar (Burma), Kyrgyzstan, Tanzania and Sudan.  The amended executive order, which takes effect Feb. 21, still maintains restrictions on some citizens from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, along with Venezuela and North Korea. Chad was previously subject to travel restrictions, but has since been removed from the list.The Trump administration said the expanded list is vital to U.S. national security and ensures countries meet security standards.  What do these restrictions mean to citizens of the newly added countries?Travel restrictions affect each country differently. Trump’s proclamation bars most citizens of Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar (Burma) and Kyrgyzstan from obtaining immigrant visas that can lead to permanent U.S. residence, also known as green cards that allow people to work and live in the United States. Immigrant visas include people who are sponsored by family members, employers or are part of the diversity visa program, sometimes referred to as the green card lottery.Citizens of Sudan and Tanzania are not allowed to participate in the diversity visa program, in which a limited number of visas are available each year for citizens of countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. In the most recent lottery, the diversity visa program distributed 55,000 visas among six geographic regions. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the new travel restrictions were imposed on six countries that “failed to meet a series of security criteria” and do not “comply with the established identity-management and information-sharing criteria” or are part of a recalcitrant country list — nations that refuse to take back their nationals when the U.S. wants to deport them.Though citizens of Myanmar (Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan and Nigeria are barred from getting standard immigrant visas, some may qualify for a special immigrant visa given to those who have provided assistance to the U.S. government.Can travelers get waivers to the travel ban?Yes. Applicants can apply for a waiver, a process already established under Trump’s existing ban. However, a federal lawsuit is challenging the waiver process, alleging it is difficult to navigate.What about non-immigrant visas?People traveling to the U.S. for a temporary stay will be unaffected, including people with tourist or business visas, or those seeking medical treatment.How does the expanded list compare to those nations originally placed on the travel ban?North Korea and Syria nationals are currently banned of all immigrant and non-immigrant visas. Iranian citizens are not allowed to receive immigrant or non-immigrant visas except student and exchange visitor visas. Libya and Yemen are suspended from getting immigrant and tourist visas.Somali nationals are banned from receiving immigrant visas and certain Venezuelan government officials are not permitted to receive tourist visas.What has been the impact of the travel ban?Since taking office, Trump has issued three versions of his travel ban. The previous two versions were temporary. The current ban has no expiration date and has been challenged in federal courts, with immigrant advocates saying it amounts to a Muslim ban, a charge the administration denies. After much litigation, on June 26, 2018, a version of the ban was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Immigrant rights groups say travel restrictions also affect families already living in the U.S.“Since many people seeking immigrant visas are trying to reunite with U.S. citizen family, U.S. families and communities will suffer from the ban, not just nationals of these countries,” according to Grace Meng, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.Is Congress doing anything?  Immigrant advocates have called on Congress to ratify the No Ban Act to rescind the travel restrictions. The bill, introduced in Congress in April 2019, would limit the president’s authority to suspend or restrict aliens from entering the United States. The new travel restrictions take effect Feb. 21, but those who are in transit to the U.S. on that date or have received U.S. visas will be exempted. Those who have not received visas will be subject to the restrictions but can be considered for waivers. 
…