Two firefighters were rescued, Saturday, August 22, after a fast-moving fire trapped them in the Point Reyes National Seashore, about 50 kilometers north of San Francisco. (REUTERS)
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U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday he would nominate Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Homeland Security Department, to serve permanently in the position.
“I am pleased to inform the American Public that Acting Secretary Chad Wolf will be nominated to be the Secretary of Homeland Security,” Trump tweeted. “Chad has done an outstanding job and we greatly appreciate his service!”I am pleased to inform the American Public that Acting Secretary Chad Wolf will be nominated to be the Secretary of Homeland Security. Chad has done an outstanding job and we greatly appreciate his service!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2020Wolf has served as a temporary secretary for almost one year.
“I am honored to be nominated by President Trump to lead the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security in safeguarding the American people,” Wolf said in a statement. “As the Homeland faces evolving threats from natural disasters, violent opportunists, malign cyber actors, and transnational criminal organizations, the mission of DHS is as critical as ever.”
Wolf was appointed acting DHS secretary in November 2019, a month after predecessor Kevin McAleenan stepped down from his six-month stint as acting head. McAleenan took over in April 2019 when former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned after a disagreement over U.S.-Mexico border policy.
Trump’s announcement Tuesday came less than two weeks after a government watchdog said both Wolf and McAleenan were improperly appointed to their positions.In an Aug. 14 report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the men were ineligible to serve because the DHS did not follow the chain of succession laid out in federal law after Nielsen left. The GAO provides nonpartisan information to Congress.
The DHS requested that the GAO rescind the nonbinding decision, calling it “fundamentally erroneous,” but the government watchdog refused.
“DHS has not demonstrated that our prior decision contains errors of either fact or law, nor has DHS presented information not previously considered that warrants reversal or modification of our decision,” wrote GAO General Counsel Thomas Armstrong. 
In addition to his disputed position as Acting DHS Secretary, Wolf has been under fire for the recent deployment of federal officers to U.S. cities embroiled in protests against racism and police brutality.Wolf is the fifth official to serve as Acting DHS Secretary under Trump. His nomination, which requires Senate confirmation, faces significant opposition. Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for vice president, is on the Senate committee that would hold Wolf’s hearing.
Wolf will travel Thursday to Texas to celebrate the completion of 483 kilometers (300 miles) of the border wall.
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Національний банк України вніс банк «Аркада» до категорії неплатоспроможних.

«Правління Національного банку України прийняло рішення про віднесення АТ АКБ «АРКАДА» до категорії неплатоспроможних у зв’язку зі зменшенням нормативів капіталу менше ніж до однієї третини від мінімального встановленого рівня. Рішення прийняте з метою захисту інтересів вкладників та кредиторів банку», – розповіли в регуляторі.

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

«У 2019 році АТ АКБ «АРКАДА» надав зазначену нерухомість як заставу за кредитом, залученим пов’язаною з банком компанією-забудовником. На момент укладання кредитного договору оціночна вартість будівлі становила понад 620 млн грн (майже 27% від усіх активів банку). Кредитор через несвоєчасне обслуговування боргу забудовником переоформив на себе право власності на цю будівлю», – розповів НБУ.

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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Russia announced this month it had won the global race to develop the first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. But that self-proclaimed victory – and plans to ramp up production – come amid lingering questions about the safety and effectiveness of the Russian drug. From Moscow, Charles Maynes reports.PRODUCER: Henry Hernandez
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Officials with the World Health Organization (WHO) are downplaying a confirmed case of a Hong Kong man who became reinfected with COVID-19, saying chances of that happening on regular basis are slim.University of Hong Kong scientists announced the development Monday, saying the virus strains that infected the man more than four months apart were different.Speaking to reporters virtually Tuesday from Geneva, WHO spokeswoman Dr. Margaret Harris said it was important the event was documented and confirmed. There had been previous anecdotal reports of reinfection that could have been just a problem with testing.Harris noted this is the first confirmed case of COVID reinfection in more than 23 million cases, and if it were more of a regular occurrence, there would have been more cases before now.She said the case is significant, though, in terms of what it means for people’s immunity to the virus. “This is why we have got a lot of research groups actually tracking people, measuring antibodies, trying to understand how long the immune protection lasts.”Harris said people should understand the natural immune protection that develops after a person has a virus is not the same as the immune protection that a vaccine provides. 
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Верховна Рада ратифікувала меморандум і кредитну угоду з Європейським союзом про надання Україні макрофінансової допомоги до 1,2 мільярда євро. За відповідний законопроєкт проголосували 248 народних депутатів.

«Вдячні парламентаріям за підтримку. Це рішення дозволить Україні вже зараз отримати перший транш у сумі 600 мільйонів євро», – прокоментував рішення прем’єр-міністр України Денис Шмигаль у своєму Telegram-каналі.

Також парламент схвалив фінансову угоду між Україною та Європейським інвестиційним банком (ЄІБ) на 50 мільйонів євро (без ПДВ) на фінансування окремих дорожніх проєктів.

Міністр інфраструктури Владислав Криклій повідомив, що загальний обсяг фінансування становитиме 100 мільйонів євро, із них 50 мільйонів – кошти ЄІБ, ще 50 – грантові кошти ЄС.

У квітні Офіс президента повідомляв, що Європейський союз вирішив надати Україні 1,2 мільярда євро для протидії коронавірусу.

Європарламент 15 травня затвердив виплату 3 мільярдів євро допомоги країнам-сусідам та партнерам ЄС для боротьби з наслідками пандемії. Кредити будуть надані протягом року 10-ти країнам, серед яких Україна, яка отримає 1,2 мільярда євро.

 
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Національний банк України 25 червня опівдні оприлюднив довідкове значення курсу 27 гривень 45 копійок за долар, це на 6 копійок більше від офіційного курсу на сьогодні. Зазвичай офіційний курс, який з’являється на сайті регулятора близько 16:00, мало відрізняється від довідкового значення, оскільки основна частина торгів відбувається саме в першій половині дня.

На міжбанківському валютному ринку коливання є незначними з частими змінами тренду. Станом на 12:35 за Києвом котирування становили 27 гривень 44–46 копійок, це майже не відрізняється від рівня початку торгів (27,43–46), свідчать дані Finance.ua.

«Хиткою» називають рівновагу на валютному ринку експерти сайту «Мінфін», які відстежують перебіг сесії.
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After a spate of killings in Nigeria’s Southern Kaduna state, Christian villages upset with a lack of security began standing up to Muslim attackers by establishing their own patrols. The lightly trained guards, armed with whistles and sticks, staff strategic spots to keep watch and announce any unusual movement in their communities. Timothy Obiezu reports from Kaduna State.Camera: Emeka Gibson 
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U.S. first lady Melania Trump delivers the keynote address Tuesday from the White House Rose Garden as Republicans hold the second night of their national nominating convention.Organizers say the theme for Tuesday is “Land of Promise,” with other prominent speakers scheduled to include Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Senator Rand Paul, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and two of President Donald Trump’s children, Eric and Tiffany.The convention began Monday night with Trump taking center stage and immediately signaling that defending his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis is paramount in winning a second term.Trump was shown in the nationally televised event greeting health care workers at the White House who – against the views of many Americans — praised his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.Donald Trump Jr., speaks as he tapes his speech for the first day of the Republican National Convention from the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, Aug. 24, 2020.His oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., described his father’s Democratic opponent in the November 3 election, former Vice President Joe Biden, as “the Loch Ness monster of the swamp,” a reference to the federal government, and a threat to U.S. democracy.The younger Trump called Democrats the party of “rioting, looting and vandalism” during protests against racial injustice in the U.S.For President Trump, the four days of the Republican convention are crucial, a chance through saturation television coverage for him to convince enough American voters that he deserves another four-year term when national polls often show President Donald Trump speaks during the first day of the Republican National Convention Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, in Charlotte, N.C. (Travis Dove/The New York Times via AP, Pool)Earlier in the day, the more than 300 delegates who gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the business portion of the convention renominated Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for a second four-year term, with the U.S. leader appearing shortly after that to thank the party stalwarts. Trump called the November 3 vote “the most important election in the history of our country.”He contended that the only way Democrats could defeat him is through a rigged election using mail-in-ballots sent to voters.Trump’s visits with the health workers and the freed prisoners marked the first of four straight evenings he plans to speak to the mostly virtual convention, with the focus shifting from Charlotte to Washington, and culminating Thursday with his renomination acceptance speech at the White House.Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the lone Black Republican in the U.S. Senate, and Nikki Haley, an Indian American and a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, also spoke on his behalf.Democrats last week conducted their convention entirely virtually, with a collection of taped and live presentations, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.Republican delegates in Charlotte were subject to regular temperature checks and daily testing for COVID-19. All were required to be tested before they left their states, and throughout Monday’s events they were wearing devices to enable contact tracing. A total of 336 delegates gathered at the convention to renominate Trump.The size of the Republican gathering is downscaled from past conventions, just not as much as the Democrats’ conclave. Gone at both party conventions are the thousands of delegates who have crammed into arenas and stadiums at quadrennial gatherings in years past.Biden, as he accepted his party’s presidential nomination last week, contended that Trump had created a “season of darkness in America” in which he had failed to control the unrelenting pandemic while millions of workers have lost their jobs. “We will choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, fairness over privilege,” Biden said.Trump claimed that “the Democrats held the darkest and angriest and gloomiest convention in American history.” He accused them of “attacking America as racist and a horrible country that must be redeemed.”
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