Colombian media outlets say that former President Alvaro Uribe is self-quarantining with the coronavirus Thursday. The local media reported Wednesday that Uribe was infected with the virus, a day after the Supreme Court ordered that he be placed on house arrest. The court is investigating if Uribe was involved in a plot to bribe witnesses in a case involving former members of paramilitary death squads. Uribe, one of the most influential politicians in Colombia, is said to be in good health with no symptoms of the virus at his ranch in Córdoba. Bogotá’s El Tiempo newspaper says Uribe is expressing concern for his wife’s well-being, with their sons Jerónimo and Tomás also infected with the coronavirus. The status of the couple’s sons is unclear.   Colombia has confirmed more than 345,700 cases of the coronavirus and more than 11,000 deaths. 
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NBA team owners will contribute $300 million over the next decade to establish a charitable foundation dedicated to economic empowerment in the Black community, the league announced Wednesday.The NBA Foundation, launched in partnership with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), will see all 30 club owners contribute a collective $30 million annually for 10 years in initial funding to support racial equality and social justice.”The creation of this foundation is an important step in developing more opportunities for the Black community,” NBPA president Chris Paul said. “I’m proud of our league and our players for their commitment to this long-term fight for equality and justice, and I know we will continue to find ways to keep pushing for meaningful institutional change.”The move follows worldwide protests after the death George Floyd last May while in police custody.NBA players are wearing messages of support for cultural issues on jerseys as they finish their season while “Black Lives Matter” is written upon all courts where games are played.The foundation mission will be to drive economic empowerment for Black communities through employment and career advancement, boosting access and backing for high school, college-aged and career-ready Black men and women.It will also assist national and local organizations that provide skills training, mentorship, coaching and personal development in NBA communities across the United States and Canada.Part of the foundation’s mission regarding employment will be on obtaining a first job, securing employment after high school or college and career advancement once employed.”All NBA team governors recognize our unique position to effect change and we are committed to supporting and empowering young Black men and women in each of our team markets as well as communities across the US and Canada,” said NBA board of governors chairman Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of the ownership group for the reigning NBA champion Toronto Raptors.Four NBA club owners, three players and executives from the NBPA and a member of the league office will serve on the foundation board of directors.”We’re dedicated to using the collective resources of the 30 teams, the players and the league to drive meaningful economic opportunities for Black Americans,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.”We believe that through focused programs in our team markets and nationally, together with clear and specific performance measures, we can advance our shared goals of creating substantial economic mobility within the Black community.” 
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ПАТ «Мотор Січ» – один із найбільших світових виробників двигунів для авіаційної техніки
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A history professor who has correctly predicted the outcome of every U.S. presidential election since 1984 says Democrat Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States.Appearing in a FILE – Allan Lichtman of American University in Washington, D.C., is pictured at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, May 24, 2011.Six for TrumpTrump has the advantage in six keys. They include the president’s incumbency, no serious Republican primary challengers, no major foreign military failures, and what Lichtman says is Biden’s lack of charisma.Although Lichtman is predicting a close election, a CNN roundup of the latest polls showed Biden winning by a landslide. A Fox News poll found the election a bit closer, but with Biden winning.But no matter whether a voter is a Republican or a Democrat, Lichtman said, citizen participation is essential.”It’s up to you, the voter, to decide the future of our democracy,” he said. “So, get out and vote. Vote in person. Vote by mail.”Lichtman has correctly called every presidential election since Republican Ronald Reagan defeated Democrat Walter Mondale in 1984.He forecast Al Gore, a Democrat, beating Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and stands by his prediction. Gore barely won the popular vote, but the Supreme Court ruled in Bush’s favor after a long dispute over inconclusive ballots cast in Florida.
 
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The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday asked a federal judge to block California’s net neutrality law, arguing that federal law preempts the state statute.In October, a U.S. appeals court largely upheld the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) repeal of landmark U.S. net neutrality rules. In 2018, California agreed not to enforce its own state net neutrality law until a final court decision on the FCC repeal.The Trump FCC in 2017 voted 3-2 to toss out Obama-era rules prohibiting internet service providers from blocking or throttling traffic, or offering paid fast lanes. The California law would reinstate those prohibitions in the state.The U.S. government is seeking a preliminary injunction to block California from being able to enforce its law.The California attorney general’s office said it is reviewing the Justice Department’s filing “and look forward to defending California’s state net neutrality protections.”The 2017 FCC 3-2 vote was applauded by internet service providers (ISPs), as it gave them sweeping powers to recast how Americans use the internet, as long as they disclose changes. The new rules took effect in June 2018, but service providers have yet to change how users access the internet.The California law was applauded by large tech companies and consumer groups that had championed the level playing field of net neutrality.The appeals court, in its October decision, also ruled the FCC had overstepped its legal authority when it expressly declared states cannot pass their own net neutrality laws.The Justice Department said despite that ruling that it still believes California’s net neutrality law is preempted by federal law. A decision on the Justice Department action is not expected before mid-October, according to a court schedule. 
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На українському міжбанківському валютному ринку гривня за одну сесію 5 серпня відіграла майже тижневе падіння проти долара. За даними Finance.ua, торги завершилися на рівні 27 гривень 65–67 копійок за долар, це майже дорівнює котируванням, зафіксованим минулої середи, 29 липня, – 27 гривень 62,5–64,5 копійки за долар.

Упродовж усієї сесії 5 серпня національна валюта посилювалася – зі стартового рівня 27 гривень 76–79 копійок за долар. Почалося це зростання гривні ще 4 серпня, коли значення сягали 27 гривень 85–88 копійок за долар.

«Виходив НБУ. Купив близько 20 мільйонів доларів по 27,67. Це утримує котирування від подальшого просідання», – відзначали станом на 14:00 експерти сайту «Мінфін», які відстежують перебіг торгів.

Наразі фахівці не мають однозначного пояснення причин зростання національної валюти.

Національний банк України встановив на 6 серпня курс 27 гривень 70 копійок за долар, це одразу на 12 копійок менше за офіційний курс на 5 серпня.

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.

Після призначення головою НБУ Кирила Шевченка девальвація національної валюти прискорилася. Впродовж кількох останніх сесій регулятор показав учасникам ринку нові орієнтири – НБУ продав минулого тижня понад 300 мільйонів доларів за курсом дещо нижче від 28 гривень за долар. Нижній параметр нового коридору міжбанківський ринок знаходить переважно без активної участі Нацбанку.
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Ammonium nitrate, which Lebanese authorities have said caused the devastating Beirut blast, is an odorless crystalline substance commonly used as a fertilizer and has caused numerous industrial explosions over the decades.These notably include one at a Texas fertilizer plant in 2013 that killed 15 and was ruled deliberate, and a North Korean railway blast that left 161 dead in 2004.When combined with fuel oils, ammonium nitrate creates a potent explosive widely used in the construction industry, but also by insurgent groups such as the Taliban for improvised explosives.Two tons of it were used to create the bomb in the 1995 Oklahoma City attack that destroyed a federal building, leaving 168 people dead.Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab said 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored for years in a Beirut portside warehouse had exploded, killing dozens of people and causing widespread damage to the capital.Ammonium nitrate was among the chemicals stored in a warehouse in China’s northern city of Tianjin that ignited in 2015, triggering a blast that killed at least 165 people and caused over $1 billion in damages.Charred remains of a warehouse and new cars are left burned after an explosion at a warehouse in northeastern China’s Tianjin municipality, Aug. 13, 2015.An investigation found improper storage of the chemicals was to blame.In agriculture, ammonium nitrate fertilizer is applied in granule form and quickly dissolves under moisture, allowing nitrogen — which is key to plant growth — to be released into the soil.However, under normal storage conditions and without very high heat, it is difficult to ignite ammonium nitrate, Jimmie Oxley, a chemistry professor at the University of Rhode Island, told AFP.”If you look at the video (of the Beirut explosion), you saw the black smoke, you saw the red smoke — that was an incomplete reaction,” she said.”I am assuming that there was a small explosion that instigated the reaction of the ammonium nitrate — whether that small explosion was an accident or something on purpose I haven’t heard yet.”That is because ammonium nitrate is an oxidizer — it intensifies combustion and allows other substances to ignite more readily, but is not itself very combustible.For these reasons, there are generally very strict rules about where it can be stored: for example, it must be kept away from fuels and sources of heat.In fact, many countries in the European Union require that calcium carbonate to be added to ammonium nitrate to create calcium ammonium nitrate, which is safer.In the United States, regulations were tightened significantly after the Oklahoma City attack. Under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, for example, facilities that store more than 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) of ammonium nitrate are subject to inspections.Despite its dangers, Oxley said legitimate uses of ammonium nitrate in agriculture and construction have made it indispensable.”We wouldn’t have this modern world without explosives, and we wouldn’t feed the population we have today without ammonium nitrate fertilizer,” she said.”We need ammonium nitrate, we just need to pay good attention to what we’re doing with it.”
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India has banned some mobile apps of Chinese companies such as Xiaomi Corp and Baidu Inc, three sources told Reuters on Wednesday, in New Delhi’s latest move to hit Chinese companies following a border clash between the neighbors.
 
India in June outlawed 59 Chinese apps for threatening the country’s “sovereignty and integrity,” including ByteDance’s video-sharing app TikTok, Alibaba’s UC Browser and Xiaomi’s Mi Community app.
 
Another ban was imposed in recent weeks on about 47 apps which mostly contained clones, or simply different versions, of the already banned apps, the sources said.
 
Unlike its June move, the government did not make its latest decision public, but there are a few new apps that have made it to that list, including Xiaomi’s Mi Browser Pro and Baidu’s search apps, the sources said.
 
It wasn’t immediately clear how many new apps have been affected.
 
India’s IT Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi did not respond to a request for comment. China has previously criticized India’s decision to ban the apps.
 
A spokesman for Xiaomi in India said the company was trying to understand the development and will take appropriate measures. Baidu declined to comment.
 
A ban on the Mi Browser, which comes pre-loaded on most Xiaomi smartphones, could potentially mean the Chinese firm will need to stop installing it on new devices it sells in India.
 
Xiaomi is India’s No.1 smartphone seller with close to 90 million users, according to Hong Kong-based tech researcher Counterpoint.
 
The bans are part of India’s moves to counter China’s dominant presence in the country’s internet services market following a border clash in June between the two nuclear-armed neighbors in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.
 
India has also made approval processes more stringent for Chinese companies wanting to invest in the country, and also tightened norms for Chinese companies wanting to participate in government tenders.
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