After the country reported its deadliest day of the coronavirus outbreak since May, the nation’s top infectious disease expert says he is not pleased with the way things are going in the United States.“We certainly are not where I hope we would be, we are in the middle of very serious historic pandemic,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said at a National Geographic panel discussion Thursday.Even though President Donald Trump said this week he expects the outbreak to be in “good shape … in a very short period of time,” Fauci said the number of cases will continue to rise unless federal and state governments can work together.That’s the thing that I’m concerned about because I believe we can, we have within our power to be able to get that down,” he said.There has been no single coordinated strategy from Washington and states on how to fight the outbreak. Some states have mask mandates and are continuing restrictions, while others do not require masks in public places and have eased the rules on social gatherings.Some states are seeing the number of cases rise while such hot spots as Arizona, California and Florida are improving and are “having now, less deaths, less hospitalizations, less cases,” Fauci said.Fauci has said that the coronavirus will likely never go away but that health officials can work to bring it down to “low levels.”World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says governments must “do it all” – test, isolate and treat patients, and trace and quarantine all the people with whom they had contact.A backhoe places the coffin containing the body of Marina Salazar, 75, who died from COVID-19 complications, into her tomb at a cemetery in Carabayllo, Lima, Peru, Aug. 13, 2020.Wednesday’s 1,500 deaths was the highest single day total in the U.S. since May. The U.S., with 5.2 million cases and 167,000 deaths, leads the world by far in both categories.Other experts are warning that unless world leaders take more action to contain it, the coronavirus could be just as or even deadlier than the 1918 flu pandemic, which is believed to have killed 50 million people worldwide.A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open looked at New York City.It says even when doctors take into account the technology, lifesaving drugs and information that did not exist 100 years ago, the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases during the first two months of the outbreak was “substantially greater” than the peak of the 1918 epidemic.“If insufficiently treated, SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) may have comparable or greater mortality than 1918 H1N1 influenza virus infection,” Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Jeremy Faust writes.New appsThree more states – Alabama, North Dakota and Wyoming – are launching apps to warn people about potential exposure to COVID-19, Reuters reports.Virginia is the first state to implement the technology, and other states are testing apps and plan to introduce them in the coming weeks.Users who download the apps on their smartphones get a map of the state and dots where the most cases are clustered, so travelers and others can avoid those areas.In GermanyThe premier of Germany’s Bavaria state is apologizing for problems with a data entry system that meant about 900 people who tested positive for COVID-19 were never told about it.Nearly 44,000 people who traveled to Bavaria about two weeks ago have been waiting for their test results. Officials believe about 900 tests were positive.“It is really extremely galling. We can only apologize,” Bavarian leader Markus Soeder told reporters. He promised to fix the problems by adding more staff to the testing centers. The Bavarian state health minister has offered to resign.Soeder has been touted as a possible successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel.Dental careMeanwhile, dentists are angry with the WHO’s recommendation that people put off routine checkups in areas where the coronavirus appears to be spreading.”Dentists have been experts in infection control for over 20 years due to the HIV-AIDS scare,” California Dental Association president Dr. Richard Nagy said. “So we’re used to preparing our offices for infection disease control. We really increased our knowledge of airborne base pathogens and prepare their offices in terms of enhanced PPE enhanced training for our staff,” he explained.The American Dental Association says it “strongly disagrees” with the WHO and says doctors and hygienists can work safely with the appropriate equipment.Many U.S. medical practices immediately perform temperature checks on all patients who walk through their doors and limit the number of people allowed inside the offices at the same time.  
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Thirteen former U.S. officials from Republican and Democratic administrations Wednesday sent an open letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in accusing his government of “undermining North Korea’s human rights movement.”Describing themselves as “deeply troubled” by a government-led campaign “aimed at undermining the North Korea human rights movement by targeting all the major organizations that work to help rescue, educate, protect and/or improve the lives of North Koreans,” the ex-officials called on Moon to instead “promote human rights for North Koreans.”On Tuesday, South Korea’s Unification Ministry began inspecting 25 defector-run NGOs, criticizing their failure to file necessary documentation, and announced a registration-compliance review of 64 others.The massive probe coincides with Moon administration efforts to jump-start dialogue and economic projects with Pyongyang, which remains under strict international embargoes because of its nuclear weapons program.The Unification Ministry recently canceled corporate licenses of two defector groups that were sending propaganda leaflets into the North. Without a license, the groups can’t apply for tax exemptions or hold fundraisers.Moon under fireSignatories of the open letter — including Richard Allen, national security adviser for Ronald Reagan, and Robert Joseph, former undersecretary of state for arms control and international security under George W. Bush — have served every U.S. president since Richard Nixon. They called the sweeping probe “a chilling form of intimidation, as they were all clearly targeted simply for their North Korea human rights work.”“The tendency of this South Korean government led by President Moon to appease North Korea, really seems to have gotten out of control,” signatory Christian Whiton, a State Department senior adviser for strategic communication during the Trump administration, told VOA Wednesday.”You would expect the South Korean government to speak up for the human rights of North Koreans and protect North Koreans who make it to the South, and they seem to be doing the opposite,” Whiton added. “They seem to be hurting North Koreans and those who help North Korean defectors in efforts to appease North Korea and get something out of Kim Jong Un and his government.”Signatory Roberta Cohen, former deputy assistant secretary of state for human rights, told VOA: “It’s important for them to know that their actions in South Korea have consequences — that the friends of South Korea abroad believe they’ve gone too far.”Here [in the U.S.], there is really a bipartisan view that this is a mistake,” she added.Speaking with VOA on Thursday, former special envoy for North Korea human rights Robert King, who also signed the letter, said “there is a legitimate concern to make sure the funds are being spent well, but doing this office inspection immediately after other things that have taken place … the whole thing has a flavor of a witch hunt.”South Korea’s prioritiesA source close to Moon told VOA Wednesday that the “Unification Ministry’s office inspection is a regular procedure to guarantee transparent management of relevant organizations, and the ministry will continue communications with organizations as needed.”The source spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly describe Seoul’s view on the issue.The South Korean government has repeatedly denied its recent actions are in response to North Korea’s threats to damage inter-Korean ties. North Korea in June threatened to cut off ties with Seoul over the propaganda leaflets. It also blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in the border city of Kaesong in an apparent show of anger.King said: “I think the Moon Jae-in administration is getting very concerned that the time of his term of office is beginning to run out. They’re anxious to make an agreement to do something with the North. They’re willing to abandon the principles of human rights.”South Korea is seeking measures to improve relations with the North, which turned sour after the second U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi collapsed in February 2019. The Unification Ministry is set to approve an inter-Korean barter trade of South Korea’s sugar for North Korea’s liquor, bypassing U.N. sanctions banning cash transfers to North Korea. Seoul also announced a plan last week to provide $10 million in food aid to North Korea through the World Food Program.Hwanyong Kim contributed reporting from Seoul. Some information is from Reuters.
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Група компаній DCH, яка належить великому українському бізнесмену з Харкова Олександру Ярославському, претендує на більш ніж 25% акцій підприємства «Мотор Січ», про що вона домовилася зі своїм китайським партнером, компанією Skyrizon. Про це пресслужба DCH 13 серпня заявила в коментарі Радіо Свобода.

На початку серпня китайський покупець акцій «Мотор Січі», компанія Skyrizon, та українська група компаній DCH зробили синхронні заяви про те, що стали партнерами в питанні розвитку та концентрації акцій «Мотор Січі», головного українського виробника авіадвигунів та деталей до них.

«Основна умова (співпраці з китайським інвестором – ред.) – спільна робота з розвитку ПАТ «Мотор Січ», в межах якої DCН реалізує свої економічні інтереси, включаючи зміцнення глобальних конкурентних позицій української економіки», – зауважує пресслужба групи компаній Олександра Ярославського у коментарі Радіо Свобода.

Окрім того, в DCH закликають Антимонопольний комітет України зняти арешт з акцій «Мотор Січі», які купив китайський інвестор 3 роки тому.

«Ми сподіваємося, що це відбудеться якнайшвидше, враховуючи, що арешти було накладено з численними процесуальними порушеннями. Китайським інвесторам компанії «Мотор Січ» про це добре відомо, тому збереження арештів є хибним кроком, який веде Україну в якості відповідача до міжнародних інституцій судового захисту прав інвесторів», –говорять у групі компаній Ярославського, відповідаючи Радіо Свобода.

Раніше експерти, опитані Радіо Свобода, вказували на ризик перенесення українського виробництва авіадивгунів до Китаю, а також попереджали про можливе погіршення взаємин України та США через продаж цього активу китайцям.

У групі DCH ризик згортання виробництва в Україні спростовують.

«В межах домовленості з китайськими партнерами DCH виступає гарантом збереження в Україні виробничих потужностей, технологій і робочих місць компанії «Мотор Січ». На території КНР вже існує спільне підприємство за участю «Мотор Січ». Тому перенесення чи дублювання виробництва не передбачається, йдеться про розвиток і модернізацію всієї виробничої системи «Мотор Січ» і просування її продукції на цільових ринках», – відповіла група компаній DCH Радіо Свобода.

ПАТ «Мотор Січ» – один із найбільших світових виробників двигунів для авіаційної техніки, а також промислових газотурбінних установок. Компанія постачає продукцію більш ніж у 100 країн світу. Коли стало відомо про продаж більш ніж половини акцій компанії китайським інвесторам, це викликало занепокоєння США, на тлі погіршення американсько-китайських відносин.

Акції підприємства «Мотор Січ», продані китайським інвесторам, перебувають під арештом із квітня 2018 року за клопотанням слідчого СБУ з метою збереження речових доказів у порушеній у липні 2017 року кримінальній справі. До цього китайські інвестори мали домовленість про спільну концентрацію акцій компанії з державним концерном «Укроборонпром»: він мав отримати близько 25% акцій, китайський інвестор – сконцентрувати понад 50%. Наразі українська та китайська сторони називають ту угоду неактуальною.

Між тим, 4 серпня 2020 року китайська компанія Skyrizon відкликала з Антимонопольного комітету заявку на концентрацію активів, яку вона раніше подавала разом із ДК «Укроборонпром». Того ж дня китайська Skyrizon і українська DCH домовилися про співпрацю і подали нову спільну заявку про намір сконцентрувати активи «Мотор Січі» до Антимонопольного комітету України.
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Turkey is seeking to save its vital tourism sector amid the coronavirus pandemic, but the easing of restrictions as part of the government’s return to normalcy is leading to a surge in infections. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul on the government’s difficult balancing act.
Camera: Berke Bas 
 
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U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he is opposed to Democratic demands for billions of dollars in new spending for the U.S. Postal Service because it would ease the path for mail-in voting in the November national election that he has claimed without evidence would lead to massive fraud and rig the vote against him.Trump told the Fox Business Network, “Now they need that money in order to make the post office work, so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. But if they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting, because they’re not equipped to have it.”Trump said, “The items are ($25 billion) for the post office and the $3.5 billion for mail-in voting. If we don’t make the deal, that means they can’t have the money, that means they can’t have universal mail-in voting. It just can’t happen.”The White House negotiations with opposition Democratic lawmakers have included discussions over the Postal Service funding, along with a broader package of aid for jobless workers, American families, businesses and state and local governments affected by the unabated coronavirus pandemic in the United States.But the talks collapsed a week ago over the postal funding and the extent of other coronavirus aid, with Democrats calling for more spending and Republicans less. Efforts to resume the talks failed on Wednesday.In March, the Republican Trump voiced another reason he is opposed to increased mail-in voting – that it would lead to more votes for Democrats.He said then that it would lead to “levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”Trump has repeatedly voiced his opposition to mail-in voting, claiming it is rife with fraud, although instances of corruption in U.S. voting have been rare. He did relent a week ago, saying mail-in voting was fine in the southeastern state of Florida because it has been overseen recently by two Republican governors who support him. At the same time, his campaign sued to block expanded mail-voting in the western state of Nevada run by a Democratic governor who has been a sharp Trump critic.  Five of the 50 U.S. states already conduct their elections almost entirely by mail. Numerous state governments have moved swiftly this year to make it easier to vote by mail to ease the fears of voters not wanting to contract the coronavirus by heading to polling places across the country where they would come face to face with other people.   Democrats have attacked Trump for trying to curb the new aid for the Postal Service.Democratic Senator Chris Coons told MSNBC, “I initially was hopeful this wasn’t an intentional effort to throw the election. I am gravely concerned given the recent changes in the leadership of the Postal Service that we’ve seen by the postmaster general, who I’ll remind you was a major Trump campaign contributor.”New Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who has donated $2.7 million to Trump and other Republicans since 2017, has ordered cuts in overtime pay for postal workers in an effort to trim the agency’s chronic financial losses, but critics say it has resulted in slower mail deliveries.Aside from the possible issue of fraud, expanded mail-in voting has led to delayed vote counts in numerous U.S. states this year in Democratic and Republican primary elections, sometimes leaving the outcomes in doubt for weeks.Voters by the thousands have requested mail-in ballots, way more than in past elections, rather than go to polling stations in government buildings, schools, churches, fire stations and other places in the midst of the pandemic.  Because of the likely vast increase in mail-in voting, numerous U.S. political analysts have warned that the vote count in the November 3 national election could be delayed well past Election Day, possibly leaving the outcome of Trump’s contest against Democratic candidate Joe Biden in limbo for days or weeks.
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As the first African American and South Asian woman on a major party ticket, California Senator Kamala Harris brings unprecedented diversity to the contest. VOA’s Brian Padden reports that the senator and former state attorney general also brings ample experience in elected office, meeting 77-year-old presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s criteria that she be ready to serve as president, if the need arises.
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Довідковий курс гривні, який Національний банк встановив опівдні 13 серпня, становить 27 гривень 42 копійок щодо долара. Це на понад 10 копійок менше за вартість долара за офіційним курсом 13 серпня – 27,5266 гривні.

Напередодні, 12 серпня, долар офіційно коштував 27 гривень 59 копійок.

За даними сайту «Мінфін», торги на міжбанківському ринку почалися вранці з позначки 27,47-50 гривні за долар. До обіду курс знизився до 27,39-41 гривні.

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У широкому коридорі 26,5–27 гривень за долар національна валюта перебувала понад два місяці – від кінця квітня до початку липня. Зроблена 1 липня заява ексголови НБУ Якова Смолія про відставку через політичний тиск на нього спричинила зростання котирувань до 27 гривень 20 копійок за долар і навіть вище.

Упродовж кількох торгових сесій ситуація стабілізувалася, але після призначення головою НБУ Кирила Шевченка девальвація національної валюти прискорилася.
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