U.S. prosecutors on Wednesday announced charges against three men alleged to be behind an international video piracy ring, as law enforcement authorities around the world took down dozens of servers being used to store and distribute copyrighted movies and television shows.The enterprise, known as the Sparks Group, fraudulently obtained copyrighted DVDs and Blu-Ray discs from wholesale distributors and disseminated them online before their release dates, according to indictments unsealed Tuesday in New York.Operating from 2011 to 2020, the group caused tens of millions of dollars in losses to major movie production studios, according to the indictments.The alleged leaders were identified as Umar Ahmad, George Bridi and Jonatan Correa.Ahmad, a citizen of Norway, remains at large.  Bridi, a British national, was arrested Sunday in Cyprus.  The U.S. is seeking his extradition. Correa was arrested Tuesday in the U.S. state of Kansas.The three men were each charged with one count of copyright infringement conspiracy. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Bridi faces two additional charges.The case underscores how far video piracy has come from the days when fraudsters bootlegged movies in theaters and then sold cheap, low-quality copies on the streets of New York, officials said.“The movies and TV shows allegedly stolen by these defendants not only represent a body of work ripped off from those who spent years developing their craft and working their way to stardom, but deprives the studios and actors of the fruits of their labor,” Inspector-in-Charge Philip R. Bartlett of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said in a statement.Once the copyrighted DVDs and Blu-Ray discs were obtained from distributors in New York and New Jersey, the men allegedly used specialized software to crack their copyright protections and to reproduce them for easy copying and distribution over the internet.“The group allegedly circumvented copyright protections on nearly every movie released by major production studios, as well as television shows, and distributed them by way of a worldwide network of servers,” acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement.
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Правоохоронці розслідують кримінальне провадження щодо 9 мільярдів гривень, зібраних через фонд банку «Аркада», повідомив міністр внутрішніх справ України Арсен Аваков.

«Ми маємо конструктивну позицію міської влади, пропозиції від інвесторів, тому я думаю що питання банку буде вирішено і вкладники ні по фінансовій, ні по інвестиційно-будівельній лініях не постраждають. Наразі потрібен аудит, тому що ми неодноразово ловили виконавця на маніпулюванні цифрами та звітністю. Залучені інвестори плюс контроль держорганів і специфічні повноваження Фонду гарантування вкладів фізичних осіб дадуть нам можливість вибудувати систему так, щоб спочатку задовольнити наявні контрактні позиції, а потім додаткові інвестори, які прийдуть, змогли завершити це будівництво, не покладаючи проблеми на вкладників», – сказав Аваков.

Раніше цього тижня Національний банк України повідомив, що вніс банк «Аркада» до категорії неплатоспроможних.

Нацбанк вказав, що проблеми в банку з капіталом відбулися через втрату основного активу – будівлі головного офісу та земельної ділянки за адресою вул. Ольгинська, 3 у Києві.

Національний банк України заявив, що понад 90% вкладників «Аркади» (понад 5 тисяч людей) отримають вклади в повному обсязі, оскільки розмір їх вкладів не перевищує гарантовану Фондом гарантування вкладів фізичних осіб суму в 200 тисяч гривень.

Клієнти із більшими обсягами вкладів отримають їх у межах суми, гарантованої Фондом гарантування вкладів фізичних осіб. Загалом Фонд забезпечить виплати гарантованої суми вкладникам в обсязі 285 мільйонів гривень, наголосили в НБУ.

«Зазначаємо, що виведення АТ АКБ «АРКАДА» з ринку не пов’язане із затримкою введення забудовниками в експлуатацію будинків ЖК «Еврика» та ЖК «Патріотика», – додали в Нацбанку.

Банк «Аркада» зареєстрований 23 червня 1993 року. Там наразі не коментували рішення НБУ.
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Кабінет міністрів України з 1 вересня підвищив посадові оклади за всіма тарифними розрядами у зв’язку з підвищенням мінімальної заробітної плати в країні до 5 тисяч гривень, або на 227 гривень. Відповідне рішення ухвалене на засіданні уряду 26 серпня.

Щоб зберегти розрив між першим тарифним розрядом і мінімальною заробітною платою в 44,5%, Кабмін збільшив ставку за цим розрядом на 123 грн – до 2 225 гривень.

Крім того, Кабмін підвищив посадові оклади за всіма тарифними розрядами, виходячи з нового розміру посадового окладу співробітника першого тарифного розряду.

Раніше цього тижня Верховна Рада ухвалила закон №3963, який передбачає збільшення мінімальної зарплатні в Україні з 1 вересня на 277 гривень – до 5 тисяч гривень на місяць. За цей документ проголосували 326 депутатів.
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Dig through the billions of dollars of COVID-19 aid in Singapore, and one finds benefits for not just those living on the island, but also possibly for other nations in need of ideas to recover from the pandemic. Hanim Zainuddin, for instance, usually spends her work hours donning a green sarong and crisscrossing the skies as a flight attendant. After flights were grounded, however, she noticed that more of her coworkers were switching over to health care work, helping in non-medical functions at the hospital. Zainuddin opted to join them, becoming one of 500 aviation workers who made the switch under a state program to adapt work under the pandemic.  The Singapore strategy goes beyond just surviving the COVID-19-induced recession, to also set itself up for a stronger economy on the other side. Besides spending unprecedented funds on relief, the government is spending to retrain workers and help companies adjust their businesses. “As our labor movement puts it, we cannot protect every job, but we will protect every worker,” Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said last week. “For those of you who have fallen on hard times, we will continue to support you and walk this journey with you.” Heng was announcing S$8 billion in new aid, including for startups, training, and repurposing businesses. Singapore, dominated by a single party, has long blended capitalism with state intervention in the economy.  While some businesses have gone under because of COVID-19, Heng encouraged companies to change their focus if needed to survive, such as by switching to sectors he identified as having growth potential: health care, artificial intelligence, supply chain digitization, smart commerce, and sustainability. Heng pointed to companies that changed their products, such as one that made factory equipment but now makes ventilators and X-ray components, as well as companies that changed their approach, such as a clothes store chain that doubled down on its online shop. Singapore’s other strategy is to subsidize industries that are less able to adjust. With the borders mostly closed, the Southeast Asian nation is giving out S$320 million in tourism credits for locals to travel domestically.  The latest aid money will help those who are hardest hit, according to Soh Pui Ming, the head of tax at the consulting firm Ernst & Young Solutions LLP in Singapore.  “Reopening the economy while controlling the spread of the pandemic is a tricky balancing act,” Soh said. “Recognizing that some sectors and groups have recovered more swiftly than others, this round of support measures target those that are hardest-hit and in greatest need, while demonstrating financial prudence and not tapping into past reserves.”  The S$8 billion is in addition to the close to S$100 billion the government has already appropriated this year in response to COVID-19, which required dipping into official reserves, a rare action. The rich city-state, which depends greatly on international trade, went into an economic recession in the second quarter of the year, when gross domestic product decreased by 41% compared with the first quarter. 
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Donald Trump may have redefined what is possible when it comes to the United States’ relationship with North Korea, whether it was threatening to “totally destroy” the country or becoming the first sitting U.S. president to meet and later claim he “fell in love” with its leader. But U.S.-North Korea diplomacy could soon become more conventional. Joe Biden, Trump’s challenger in the November presidential election, has promised a more traditional approach to North Korea. He’s also signaled a return to a more antagonistic relationship. During the campaign, Biden has repeatedly referred to Kim Jong Un as a “dictator,” a “thug,” and a “tyrant.” North Korea has shot back, calling Biden an “imbecile” and a “fool of low IQ.”  Though Biden didn’t directly mention North Korea in his nomination acceptance speech last week, the Democratic nominee said if elected he would ensure the “days of cozying up to dictators” are over.  Instead, Biden says he would tighten sanctions on North Korea and work with allies, as well as China, to pressure Pyongyang to make concessions on its nuclear program. Strategic patience redux? For many analysts, Biden’s ideas about North Korea sound familiar. As vice president, Biden helped oversee former President Barack Obama’s policy of “strategic patience,” which attempted to gradually apply economic and military pressure until Pyongyang was ready to negotiate. While Biden doesn’t use the phrase “strategic patience” to describe his North Korea plans, his administration may end up with a policy of “strategic patience by default” if it doesn’t offer “some kind of unilateral opening gesture to compel the North Koreans back to negotiations,” says Jenny Town, a North Korea specialist with the Washington D.C.-based Stimson Center.  But if his campaign comments are any indication, Biden is not interested in meeting Kim anytime soon. Biden In this file photo taken on June 30, 2019, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un (L) and US President Donald Trump shake hands during a meeting on the south side of the Military Demarcation Line that divides North and South Korea.Instead, in an article earlier this year Biden People watch a TV showing a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, July 31, 2019.In the view of one senior South Korean Blue House official who spoke to VOA last year, a return to “strategic patience” is impractical, in large part because North Korea already has the nuclear weapons it has long sought. “Strategic patience — what would we be waiting for?” asked the South Korean official. A growing number of nuclear policy analysts believe the United States, rather than pushing for denuclearization that may never happen, should instead focus on reducing North Korea’s nuclear arsenal and ensuring Pyongyang doesn’t use it. But there are no signs either Biden or Trump plan to formally embrace an arms control or deterrence approach to North Korea. Doing so would essentially amount to recognizing North Korea as a nuclear power, setting what many see as a dangerous precedent for global nuclear non-proliferation efforts.  What will North Korea do?  In the end, much will likely depend on how North Korea acts.  At the beginning of 2020, Kim warned he no longer feels constrained by his moratorium on long-range missile or nuclear tests and threatened to soon show off a new “strategic weapon.”  But since those comments, North Korea has had to deal with the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, devastating floods during a worse than usual monsoon season, and sanctions that continue to hold back its economy.  Although state media have vaguely hinted at a provocation timed for the U.S. election, Kim may be reluctant to do anything that upsets the chances for diplomacy. In July, Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s increasingly powerful sister, said her country has “no intention of threatening the United States…if they don’t touch us and hurt us.”  “We are not saying we are not going to denuclearize,” she said. “But we cannot denuclearize now.” 
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The federal agency that processes U.S. visas has announced it will avoid furloughing 70% of its staff next week but warned visa applicants to expect a long wait time.  “Averting this furlough comes at a severe operational cost that will increase backlogs and wait times across the board, with no guarantee we can avoid future furloughs, said Joseph Edlow, deputy director for policy at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). “A return to normal operating procedures requires congressional intervention to sustain the agency through fiscal year 2021,” he added. Although the agency said it expects to continue functioning for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends on September 30, “aggressive” spending cuts, including a reduction in the number of contract workers, will impact all its operations. Among other things, USCIS handles work permits, asylum requests, green card applications and naturalizations. USCIS is unlike most federal agencies because it receives funds mostly from fee collection. The coronavirus pandemic cut that income by 50% because there were fewer applications. Congress turned down its appeal for emergency funds in May, saying USCIS has all the money it needs for the rest of the fiscal year.  Last month, the agency announced it will increase fees as of October 2.Increase in US Immigration Fees AnnouncedCost of online naturalization applications is increasing from $640 to $1,160; there will also be a $50 fee for asylum-seekers 
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U.S. first lady Melania Trump is telling American voters Tuesday night why they should re-elect her husband, President Donald Trump, delivering a key address at the Republican National Convention from the White House Rose Garden she recently redesigned. The first lady, an émigré from Slovenia and now a naturalized U.S. citizen, has been an infrequent participant in the U.S. political scene and has rarely accompanied her husband to political rallies. But an aide to Melania Trump, chief of staff Stephanie Grisham, said in advance of the first lady’s nationally televised address that, “Every word in this speech is from her.” Other key speakers are set to voice their support for the president as well, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has prompted a controversy by speaking to the Republican convention on Trump’s behalf from Israel while he is on a diplomatic mission to the Jewish state. Typically, the top U.S. diplomat has not played a role in U.S. elections and has been viewed as apolitically representing the United States in overseas relations rather than the political party of the president who appointed him or her.  A handful of opposition Democrats have assailed Pompeo for breaking the tradition of staying out of the presidential race, and Rep. Joaquin Castro, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, announced he would lead “a full investigation.” Trump was formally nominated on Monday to face former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden in the November 3 presidential election.  On the second night of the convention, two more of the U.S. leader’s four adult children will speak. Eric Trump, an executive with the Trump Organization, the president’s New York-based global real estate and golf resort company, and Tiffany Trump, a recent law school graduate, plan to urge voters that their father deserves another four-year term.Production staffers help Tiffany Trump pre-record a speech for the Republican National Convention in Washington, Aug. 25, 2020.Tiffany Trump declared, “My father built a thriving economy once and he’ll do it again. My father does not run away from challenges. He dreams big dreams for our country.” Other Republicans set to endorse Trump include Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, a couple of state elected officials and rank-and-file party members who want to see him re-elected. One speaker, Mary Ann Mendoza, the mother of an Arizona police officer killed by an undocumented immigrant who was driving drunk, was pulled from the night’s roster of those supporting Trump after she encouraged her Twitter followers to read through a QAnon believer’s convoluted conspiracy theory about a Jewish plot to control the world. She deleted the tweet and apologized. Aides said the president will make a handful of appearances during the evening. At the outset of Tuesday’s event, he pardoned a bank robber who since his imprisonment has worked to help inmates rejoin life on the outside. On Monday, as the mostly virtual convention opened, Trump lauded several health care workers at the White House. The front-line caregivers had treated people who had contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus that has swept the U.S. He also met with a half-dozen people who had been freed from overseas captivity through the diplomatic efforts of his administration. Trump often has predicted the coronavirus will disappear, but as the election nears, Republicans have sought to portray the president as in control of leading the government’s effort to find a vaccine to inoculate people against the infectious disease. An Associated Press poll this week showed that only 31% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the fight against the virus. “We have to make this China virus go away,” Trump told the health care group Monday night in the East Room of the White House. None of the group was wearing a face mask or socially distancing from the others as health experts have advised.   Biden has attacked Trump’s claims that he was a “wartime president” in the fight against the virus. The Democrat, in his presidential nomination acceptance speech last week, said the president’s actions were unforgivable and a failure of leadership. For Trump, the four days of the Republican convention are crucial. They are a chance, through saturation television coverage, for him to convince enough American voters that he deserves another White House term.  He has 10 weeks to make his case before Election Day, but the polls show Biden leading by an average of 7.6 percentage points, according to an aggregation of polls by the Real Clear Politics website. However, Biden’s edge is a bit thinner in several key battleground states that could once again prove decisive in the election. Only two U.S. presidents have lost reelection contests after a single term in office in the past four decades, Jimmy Carter in 1980 and George H.W. Bush in 1992.  
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