Five civilians were injured when a military projectile launched by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis hit a village in Saudi Arabia’s southern Jizan region, state media reported on Saturday.State news agency SPA quoted a civil defense spokesman as saying three cars were damaged in the border village and that the five civilians suffered minor injuries from shrapnel.There was no confirmation of the attack by the Houthi group, which has been battling a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen for more than five years. The group has fired missiles and drones towards Saudi cities, most of which have been intercepted.The coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the Saudi-backed government from power in the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014. 
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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Saturday he cannot take any action on a U.S. declaration that all U.N. sanctions on Iran had been reimposed because “there would appear to be uncertainty” on the issue.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last month that he triggered a 30-day process at the council leading to the return of U.N. sanctions on Iran on Saturday evening that would also stop a conventional arms embargo on Tehran from expiring on October 18.But 13 of the 15 Security Council members say Washington’s move is void because Pompeo used a mechanism agreed under a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which the United States quit in 2018.”There would appear to be uncertainty whether or not the process … was indeed initiated and concomitantly whether or not the (sanctions) terminations … continue in effect,” Guterres wrote in a letter to the council, seen by Reuters.”It is not for the Secretary-General to proceed as if no such uncertainty exists,” he said.U.N. officials provide administrative and technical support to the Security Council to implement its sanctions regimes and Guterres appoints independent experts to monitor implementation.He said that “pending clarification” of the status of the Iran sanctions, he would not take any action to provide that support.Washington argues it triggered the return of sanctions — known as “snapback” — because a U.N. resolution that enshrines the pact still names it as a participant. Diplomats say few countries are likely to reimpose the measures lifted under the 2015 deal that aimed to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.”If U.N. Member States fail to fulfill their obligations to implement these sanctions, the United States is prepared to use our domestic authorities to impose consequences for those failures,” Pompeo said in a statement on Saturday.He said that in the coming days Washington would announce additional measures to strengthen the implementation of the U.N. sanctions and “hold violators accountable.” The United States is trying to push Iran to negotiate a new deal with Washington.Russia’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy responded on Twitter, “We all clearly said in August that U.S. claims to trigger snapback are illegitimate. Is Washington deaf?”Longtime U.S. allies Britain, France and Germany told the council on Friday that U.N. sanctions relief for Iran would continue and that any decision or action taken to reimpose U.N. sanctions “would be incapable of legal effect.”Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi said on Twitter on Saturday, “U.S. illegal and false ‘deadline’ has come and gone … Swimming against international currents will only bring it more isolation.” 
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An iconic New Orleans eatery, K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen, is no more, one of countless economic casualties of a pandemic that has flattened businesses across America.“We hung on as long as we could,” co-owner Brenda Prudhomme told VOA, “but we had no choice but to shut down.”Closing K-Paul’s was no easy choice. The restaurant had been a local favorite in the heart of the city’s legendary French Quarter since her aunt and uncle opened its doors 40 years ago. Her uncle was Paul Prudhomme, a nationally recognized celebrity chef credited with popularizing Creole and Cajun cuisines through his best-selling cookbooks and beloved television shows.“K-Paul’s means so much to us, and to the customers who have been dining here for decades,” Prudhomme said. “But when something like a global pandemic happens and the government doesn’t do enough to help small businesses, we’re only left with horrible choices.”Months of negotiations in Congress have stalemated on a new round of economic stimulus that would provide additional relief to struggling Americans. The most recent attempt failed in the Senate earlier this month as Democrats pushed for more expansive benefits while Republicans sought a more limited package. Both sides have blamed each other for the impasse. Many view Congress as unlikely to pass anything before the November election.Congress’ inability to forge an agreement is having far-reaching consequences for tens of millions of Americans who received federal help earlier this year that has run out.Round 1 not enoughWhen the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the United States in February and March, the nation’s economy appeared headed toward an unprecedented collapse. By April, the U.S. unemployment rate had reached 14.7%, the highest rate since the Great Depression.In late March, Congress passed the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act. The massive expenditure provided a substantial financial boost for many struggling Americans, including a $600 weekly supplement of unemployment benefits and one-time stimulus checks of up to $1,200 for middle- and lower-income earners.Those payments ceased in July, severing an important economic lifeline for New Orleans, where the hospitality and tourism industries, both hit hard by the pandemic, employ about 20% of the local workforce.Kevin Caldwell found that initial infusion of revenue a lifesaver for his family. Before COVID-19, he bartended at a popular music club while his wife worked at a well-known restaurant.“I’ve been in the service industry for decades,” Caldwell said, “and I know live music is going to be one of the last things allowed back at the end of this crisis. It’s beyond our control, so we just have to wait and hope we get some support.”In the first few months of the pandemic, Caldwell said he and his wife were both receiving $847 in unemployment insurance per week thanks to the CARES Act. When the supplement expired, their weekly unemployment insurance checks dropped to $247.“We’re not in a personal crisis yet, but we’re getting close,” Caldwell said. “Pretty soon we’re not going to be able to afford our health insurance, and that’s not ideal during a pandemic.”Waiting for Round 2The CARES Act wasn’t meant to help only struggling individuals. Initiatives like the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) were funded to assist businesses affected by the pandemic by helping them retain and pay employees, and to survive revenue losses.Businesses that qualified for a PPP loan, for example, were awarded enough funding to pay their workforce their salary for about 10 weeks. Many economists believe it could be 2022 or even 2023 before the U.S. economy fully recovers.“We received help from those programs,” Prudhomme said, “but it’s really just a shot in the arm. Spring revenue is huge in New Orleans, because the summers get pretty dead here. Now we lost spring, summer and were going to miss the fall, too. The funding we got wasn’t enough to sustain us. We were hoping for a second round, but it never came.”Joe Frisard with his dogs, Robert and Bruno. Frisard is a freelancer in New Orleans. He rents out a portion of his home through Airbnb, but the coronavirus pandemic has cut his income by more than 40%. (Photo Courtesy Joe Frisard)Another New Orleanian, Joe Frisard, has experienced similar challenges. He is a self-employed freelancer, with income streams as diverse as videography, restaurant work, and renting part of his home on Airbnb. He received a $1,200 stimulus check, as well as some assistance from the EIDL program, but said neither is sufficient during a pandemic that drags on and on.“I’ve lost 40% of my income during COVID, but all my bills are still there,” he said. “During the spring, with all the New Orleans festivals, I could make as much as $4,000 per month renting out a room in my home. Because of coronavirus, my total from mid-March to May wasn’t even $1,000 combined.”Frisard said he felt he could last five months before he had to start pulling money from his retirement fund. But he’s angry because he thinks politicians should be doing more to help Americans navigate a crisis this rare and severe.“I’m lucky to even have money saved,” he acknowledged. “A lot of people don’t have that. People are going homeless. They can’t pay for food. And somehow Congress isn’t able to pass another stimulus? They’re playing politics with peoples’ lives and it’s not moral.”Kevin Caldwell said he’s watching what both parties do as debates around additional support for struggling Americans and businesses continue because it’s an issue that is hitting close to home for him, as well as for most Americans. It’s also an issue he feels should factor into November presidential contest as well as congressional elections.“It affects me, it affects my wife, it affects the company at which I work, it affects my co-workers, and it affects most New Orleanians in some way,” he said. “So, yeah, I’m keeping a close eye on it. And what each party does will directly affect how I vote this November.” 
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President Donald Trump said he would nominate a woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”I will be putting forth a nominee next week. It will be a woman,” Trump said Saturday at a campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina. “I think it should be a woman because I actually like women much more than men.”As Trump spoke, supporters chanted: “Fill that seat.”Earlier, he praised two women as possible choices for the U.S. Supreme Court: conservatives he had elevated to federal appeals courts.Trump, with a chance to nominate a third justice to a lifetime appointment, named Amy Coney Barrett of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Barbara Lagoa of the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit as possible nominees.Ginsburg’s death on Friday from cancer after 27 years on the court handed Trump, who is seeking re-election on November 3, the opportunity to expand its conservative majority to 6-3.Any nomination would require approval in the Senate, where Trump’s Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. 
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Opposition from top political figures in Libya’s U.N.-backed government in Tripoli to a deal announced Friday to resume the country’s oil production appears to have put the agreement on hold, at least for the moment.The deal between eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar and the Tripoli government’s deputy prime minister, Ahmed Maitiq, prompted negative reaction from Maitiq’s allies.A news conference at which Maitiq was to explain the oil production agreement ended abruptly when when supporters of a Tripoli militia prevented him from speaking. Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV reported that partisans of Islamist Interior Minister Fathi Bashaga blocked both the deal and the media event.The foreign minister of the interim government in eastern Libya, Abdul Hadi al Hwiej, told Arab media that he thought Turkey was responsible for torpedoing the oil deal. The agreement included a stipulation that no oil money would be used to fund mercenaries or agreements with Ankara.FILE – Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar is pictured at the Parliament in Athens.Haftar had insisted in a televised speech Friday that the deal include strict provisions about what oil export revenue could be used for.He said the decision to resume production and export of oil must include needed precautions to guarantee that revenue be fairly distributed, that it be used to improve Libyans’ standard of living, and that it not be plundered or used to support terrorism.Haftar’s spokesman, Colonel Ahmed Almasmary, said Friday at a news conference that the oil deal would “guarantee a fair distribution of Libya’s oil revenues between the country’s east, west and south.”Turkish media reported that Osama Juweili, a military commander loyal to the Tripoli government, rejected the deal, calling for a “clear response from the [Tripoli government’s] presidency council.”Arab media reported that Tripoli-based Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, who recently announced his intention to step down by the end of October, rejected the deal made by his deputy, Maitiq.Libya analyst Aya Burweila, a visiting lecturer at the Hellenic National Defense College, told VOA that Friday’s deal was a “breakthrough for conflict resolution” since “traditionally antagonistic parties” from both east and west “cooperated” to make it, but that “a minority of spoilers and actors, who have profited from the staggering corruption and lack of transparency in Libya, are up in arms over the agreement.”
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COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are approaching 200,000 as Minnesota, South Dakota and other U.S. states grapple with surges in infections and rising death tolls.The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported Saturday afternoon that there were 30.6 million COVID-19 cases worldwide with more than 950,000 deaths.The U.S. had more coronavirus infections than any country, the Johns Hopkins center said, with more than 6.7 million, followed by India with upward of 5.3 million and Brazil with nearly 4.5 million.The U.S. also led the world in COVID-19 deaths, with more than 199,000, Johns Hopkins said.FILE – An ad offering free flu shots is seen in Brooklyn, New York, Aug. 21, 2020.Meanwhile, American health officials warned the public to get flu shots this year to avoid having to deal with COVID-19 and the flu simultaneously.Both are highly contagious, and they have similar symptoms. The flu, however, is seasonal, while COVID-19 does not appear to have a timeline as it snakes around the world.While there is no COVID vaccine yet, flu shots have been available for decades.The only way to determine if someone has one or both of the illnesses is through laboratory tests.’Very tough year’Gary Simon, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at George Washington University in Washington, told The Washington Post the prospect of trying to beat back both diseases was making 2020 “a very tough year.”European countries announced new coronavirus restrictions Friday, one day after the World Health Organization warned infections have started to spread again across the continent at “alarming rates.”In Spain, which has more cases than any other European country with more than 640,000, the regional government of Madrid ordered a lockdown effective Monday in some poorer areas after a spike in infections there. While movement in the area will be restricted, people will still be allowed to go to work.Authorities in Nice, France, banned gatherings of more than 10 in public spaces and cut bar operating hours, after new restrictions were imposed earlier this week in Bordeaux and Marseilles.Britain said it was considering a new national lockdown after cases nearly doubled to 6,000 a day in the latest reporting week. British Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said another lockdown should be a last resort but that the government would do whatever was necessary to contain the virus.People protest against the government’s decision to close beaches during the three-week nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sept 19, 2020.Israel began a second lockdown Friday because of a sharp jump in the number of coronavirus cases.The three-week-long restrictions come just as the country begins a Jewish holiday period.Israelis are allowed to travel no more than 500 meters from their houses, with few exceptions.’Red’ IranIn Iran, a senior Iranian official said the country should be on “red alert” after it reported 3,049 new cases Friday, the highest daily gain since early June.“The color classification doesn’t make any sense anymore,” Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi said in an interview with Reuters. “We no longer have orange and yellow. The entire country is red.”Canada decided to extend the closure of its U.S. border to nonessential travel until October 21, after seeing an increase in infections in recent weeks. Canadian Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Friday that such decisions would continue to be based on public health advice to protect Canada’s citizens. The closing was first announced March 18 and has been extended each month since.
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President Donald Trump on Saturday urged the Republican-run Senate to consider “without delay” his upcoming nomination to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg just six weeks before the election.The White House was making preparations to select a nominee for the seat held by Ginsburg, who spent her final years on the bench as the unquestioned leader of the court’s liberal wing.Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, vowed on Friday night, hours after Ginsburg’s death, to call a vote for whomever Trump nominated. Democrats said Republicans should follow the precedent they set in 2016 by not considering a Supreme Court choice in the run-up to an election.Trump made his view clear in a tweet Saturday: “We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices. We have this obligation, without delay!”.@GOP We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices. We have this obligation, without delay!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2020Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said any vote should come after the Nov. 3 election. “Voters should pick the president and the president should pick the justice to consider,” Biden said.The impending clash over the vacant seat — when to fill it and with whom — is sure to significantly affect the stretch run of the presidential race, further stirring passions in a nation already reeling from the pandemic that has killed nearly 200,000 people, left millions unemployed and heightened partisan tensions and anger.McConnell, who sets the calendar in the Senate and has made judicial appointments his priority, declared unequivocally in a statement that Trump’s nominee would receive a confirmation vote in the chamber. In 2016, McConnell refused to consider President Barack Obama’s choice for the high court months ahead of the election, eventually preventing a vote.As the nation learned of Ginsburg’s death, Trump was unaware, speaking for more than an hour and a half at a Minnesota rally without mentioning it. He huddled with aides after stepping off stage but acted surprised when he spoke with reporters moments later, saying he did not know she had died.Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg Dies at 87Ginsburg, a stalwart liberal and the second woman to serve on the court, died Friday from complications with cancer The president told reporters that Ginsburg was “an amazing woman who led an amazing life.” Aides had worried how the Minnesota crowd would react if Trump mentioned her death from the stage, according to a White House official not authorized to publicly discuss private deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.But Trump had noted in his rally speech that the next presidential term could offer him as many as four appointments to the nine-member court, whose members are confirmed for life. “This is going to be the most important election in the history of our country and we have to get it right,” he added.A confirmation vote in the Senate is not guaranteed, even with a Republican majority. McConnell has not indicated if he bring a vote before the election.Typically it takes several months to vet and hold hearings on a Supreme Court nominee, and time is short ahead of the election. Key senators may be reluctant to cast votes so close to the election. With a slim GOP majority, 53 seats in the 100-member chamber, Trump’s choice could afford to lose only a few.McConnell did not specify the timing, but trying for confirmation in a post-election lame-duck session if Trump had lost to Biden or Republicans had lost the Senate would carry further political complications.Democrats immediate denounced McConnell’s move as hypocritical, pointing out that he refused to call hearings for Merrick Garland, Obama’s pick, 237 days before the 2016 election. The 2020 election is 46 days away.Battle Heats Up Over Justice Ginsburg’s ReplacementDeath of the liberal justice gives President Donald Trump an opportunity to add another conservative to the bench, shifting the court’s ideological balanceSenate Democratic leader Charles Schumer, in a tweet, echoed word for word what McConnell said in 2016 about the Garland nomination: “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”Trump said last month that he would “absolutely” try to fill a vacancy if one came up before the end of his first term. “I would move quickly, ” Trump said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “Why not? I mean, they would. The Democrats would if they were in this position.”Trump last week added 20 names to his list of candidates he’s pledged to choose from if he has future vacancies to fill. He contrasted his list with unnamed “radical justices” he claimed Biden would nominate who would “fundamentally transform America without a single vote of Congress.”Trump released a similar list in 2016 in a bid to win over conservative and evangelical voters who had doubts about his conservative credentials. Among those on his current list: Sens. Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton, former Solicitor General Noel Francisco and Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Chicago, long a favorite of conservatives.The average number of days to confirm a justice, according to the Congressional Research Service, is 69, which would be after the election. But some Republicans quickly noted that Ginsburg was confirmed in just 42 days.Four GOP defections could defeat a nomination, while a tie vote could be broken by Vice President Mike Pence.Among the senators to watch are Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah and others.Collins is in a tight race for her own reelection, as are several other GOP senators, including Cory Gardner in Colorado. Murkowski and Romney have been critical of Trump and protective of the institution of the Senate.Some Republicans, including Collins and Murkowski, have suggested previously that hearings should wait if a seat were to open. And because the Arizona Senate race is a special election, that seat could be filled as early as November 30 — which would narrow the window for McConnell if the Democratic candidate, Mark Kelly, hangs onto his lead.In a note to his GOP colleagues Friday night, McConnell urged them to “keep their powder dry” and not rush to declare a position on whether a Trump nominee should get a vote this year.“For those of you who are unsure how to answer, or for those inclined to oppose giving a nominee a vote, I urge you all to keep your powder dry,” McConnell wrote. “This is not the time to prematurely lock yourselves into a position you may later regret.”McConnell argued that there would be enough time to fill the vacancy and he restated his argument that the 2016 Senate precedent — in which a GOP-held Senate blocked Obama’s election-year nomination — did not establish a rule that applies to the Ginsburg case. Under McConnell, the Senate changed the confirmation rules to allow for a simple majority.Obama called for Republicans to wait, saying “a basic principle of the law – and of everyday fairness – is that we apply rules with consistency and not based on what’s convenient or advantageous in the moment.”One difference from 2016 is that, despite the vacancy resulting from Ginsburg’s death, conservatives have a working majority of five justices on a range of issues. When Antonin Scalia died four years ago, the court was divided between four liberals and four conservatives.The next pick could shape important decisions, including on abortion rights, as well as any legal challenges that may stem from the 2020 election. The 2018 hearings on Trump’s second pick, now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh, turned into a bitter partisan battle after sexual assault allegations were made.Biden has promised to nominate a Black woman to the high court if given the chance. He has said he’s also working on a list of potential nominees, but the campaign has given no indication that it will release names before the election. 
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Thousands of demonstrators defied police warnings and occupied a historic field in Thailand’s capital on Saturday to support the demands of a student-led protest movement for new elections and reform of the monarchy.Organizers predicted that as many as 50,000 people would take part in the two-day protest in an area of Bangkok historically associated with political protests. A march is planned for Sunday.The early arrivals at Sanam Luang, a large field that has hosted major political demonstrations for decades, were a disparate batch, several with their own flags. An LGBTQ contingent waved their iconic rainbow banners, while red flags sprouted across the area, representing Thailand’s Red Shirt political movement, which battled the country’s military in Bangkok’s streets 10 years ago.By the time the main speakers took the stage in the evening, Associated Press reporters estimated that around 20,000 people were present. People were still arriving as the nighttime program continued.At least 8,000 police officers reportedly were deployed for the event, which attracted the usual scores of food and souvenir vendors.  “The people who came here today came here peacefully and are really calling for democracy,” said Panupong Jadnok, one of the protest leaders. “The police have called in several companies of officers. I believe they can make sure the people are safe.”Demonstrators wore face masks but ignored a Thursday night plea from Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to cancel the event, which he said risked spreading the coronavirus and derailing the recovery of Thailand’s battered economy.The core demands declared by the protesters in July were the dissolution of parliament with fresh elections, a new constitution and an end to intimidation of political activists. They have held a series of rallies since then.They believe that Prayuth, who as then-army commander led a 2014 coup toppling an elected government, was returned to power unfairly in last year’s general election because the laws had been changed to favor a pro-military party. A constitution promulgated under military rule is likewise undemocratic, they charge.The activists raised the stakes dramatically at an Aug. 10 rally by issuing a 10-point manifesto calling for reforming the monarchy. Their demands seek to limit the king’s powers, establish tighter controls on palace finances and allow open discussion of the monarchy.Their boldness was virtually unprecedented, as the monarchy is considered sacrosanct in Thailand. A lese majeste law calls for a prison sentence of three to 15 years for anyone found guilty of defaming the royal institution.The students are too young to have been caught up in the sometimes violent partisan political battles that roiled Thailand a decade ago, Kevin Hewison, a University of North Carolina professor emeritus and a veteran Thai studies scholar, said in an email interview.“This is why they look and act differently and why they are so confounding for the regime,” Hewison said. “What the regime and its supporters see is relatively well-off kids turned against them and this confounds them.”The appearance of the Red Shirts, besides boosting the protesters’ numbers, links the new movement to the political battling that Thailand endured for a large part of the last two decades. The Red Shirts were a movement of mostly poor rural Thais who supported populist billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra after the army ousted him in a 2006 coup. Thaksin was opposed by the country’s traditional royalist establishment.The sometimes violent subsequent struggle between Thaksin’s supporters and foes left Thai society polarized. Thaksin, who now lives in exile overseas, noted on Twitter on Saturday that it was the anniversary of his fall from power and posed the rhetorical question of how the nation had fared since then.“If we had a good government, a democratic government, our politics, our education and our healthcare system would be better than this,” said protester Amorn Panurang. “This is our dream. And we hope that our dream would come true.”Arrests for earlier actions on charges including sedition have failed to faze the young activists. They had been denied permission to enter the Thammasat University campus and Sanam Luang on Saturday, but when they pushed, the authorities retreated, even though police warned them that they were breaking the law.Students launched the protest movement in February with rallies at universities around the country in reaction to a court ruling that dissolved the popular Future Forward Party and banned its leaders from political activity for 10 years.The party won the third-highest number of seats in last year’s general election with an anti-establishment stance that attracted younger voters, and it is widely seen as being targeted for its popularity and for being critical of the government and the military.Public protests were suspended in March when Thailand had its first major outbreak of the coronavirus and the government declared a state of emergency to cope with the crisis. The emergency decree is still in effect, but critics allege that it is used to curb dissent.Royalists have expressed shock at the students’ talk about the monarchy, but actual blowback so far has been minor, with only halfhearted organizing efforts by mostly older royalists. 
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Співпраця з Міжнародним валютним фондом є обов’язковою для України у 2021 році, повідомив міністр фінансів України Сергій Марченко в інтерв’ю Радіо Свобода.

Водночас він не володіє даними, що наступний транш МВФ може надійти в грудні. Про це говорив голова комітету Верховної Ради з питань фінансів Данило Гетманцев.

«Я не знаю, звідки голова комітету має таку інформацію. Я такою інформацією як міністр фінансів і людина, яка в уряді відповідає за перемовини з МВФ, не володію», – сказав Марченко в ефірі програми «Суботнє інтерв’ю».

За його словами, уряд вважає, що одним з джерел покриття дефіциту бюджету у нас є зовнішні запозичення.

«Це співпраця з МВФ, з нашими міжнародними  партнерами. Це обов’язкова умова для наступного року. Тобто ми не розглядаємо інших варіантів. Самостійно ми поки що не готові фінансувати дефіцит бюджету. Тому це буде притік валюти, який дозволить нам профінансувати дефіцит», – заявив Марченко.

Прем’єра інтерв’ю на ютубі запланована на 18:00 19 вересня

7 травня після багатомісячних переговорів із Україною щодо трирічної програми розширеного фінансування МВФ урешті відмовився від неї і запропонував вужчу програму stand-by через «безпрецедентну невизначеність щодо економічних і фінансових перспектив і необхідність зосередити політичні пріоритети на короткостроковому стримуванні й стабілізації» в Україні.

9 червня Рада директорів Міжнародного валютного фонду схвалила 18-місячну програму співпраці з Україною на п’ять мільярдів доларів, яка буде виконана в разі виконання Україною низки умов. Перший транш у 2,1 мільярда доларів Україна отримала вже 12 червня.
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Український уряд виключає можливість дефолту, повідомив міністр фінансів України Сергій Марченко в інтерв’ю Радіо Свобода.

«Виключається… Я простий наведу приклад. Ви живете на майданчику із сусідами. Ви прийшли до них одного разу і кажете: позичте мені гроші – мені потрібно купити холодильник. Сусіди скинулися – ви купили холодильник», – сказав Марченко в ефірі програми «Суботнє інтерв’ю».

І через якийсь час ви не можете віддати всю суму й пропонуєте віддати половину, продовжує міністр.

«Сусіди кажуть: ти ж наш сусід, добре, вибачимо. І Аргентина так робила 9 разів. Як ви думаєте, чи можна 9 разів обманювати своїх сусідів? Це нормальна практика? Я вважаю, що навіть один раз, якщо ви так зробите, наступного разу вам просто двері не відкриють», – додав Марченко.

Він вважає, що це не та практика, яку варто копіювати і про яку варто говорити.

«Коли про це кажуть шановні народні депутати, то у мене волосся стає дибки. Думаю: добре, це можна зробити раз, а потім забудьте про все інше років на 5. Вам не буде ніхто довіряти. Ми це вже проходили, до речі», – зазначив міністр фінансів.

У травні 2019 року, незабаром після інавгурації президента України Володимира Зеленського, український бізнесмен Ігор Коломойський в інтерв’ю виданню Financial Times заявив, що Україні слід оголосити дефолт. Він зазначив, що Аргентина багато разів зазнавала дефолту, але її борги були реструктуровані і у країни «все нормально».
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The death of liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg gives President Donald Trump an opportunity to add another conservative to the bench and shift the powerful high court’s ideological balance further to the right.With a super-majority on the bench, wide-ranging issues could be impacted. Trump’s other Supreme Court appointments – conservative jurists Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — had succeeded other Republican-appointed justices. Now, with the death of Ginsburg, Trump can do something no other president has accomplished in a generation: replace a liberal justice with a conservative jurist.  The last time this opportunity presented itself was when Republican President George H. W. Bush nominated conservative judge Clarence Thomas in 1991 to replace liberal icon Thurgood Marshall on the court.   
 
Appointed to the Supreme Court in 1993, Ginsburg, who died at her home in Washington Friday at the age of 87 after five bouts with cancer, was the oldest and longest serving liberal justice on the nine-member Supreme Court.  
 
For months, as Ginsburg’s health deteriorated, liberals worried that her death would enable Trump to nominate a replacement ahead of the November election regardless of whether voters decide to re-elect Trump for a second term.
   
For many liberals, their worst fears have been realized.  “The next nominee is all but guaranteed to be well to the right” of Kavanaugh and Gorsuch, Trump’s two choices to the high court, said Gabe Roth, executive director of the left leaning Fix the Court.
 
A lifelong champion of women’s rights, Ginsburg served as a federal judge from 1980 to 1993 when President Bill Clinton nominated her to the Supreme Court to become only the second woman in history to serve on the bench. Before her career as a federal jurist, Ginsburg made a mark as a women’s rights advocate at the American Civil Liberties Union in 1970s, leading high-profile litigation against gender discrimination.  
“I have four daughters, and I told them just now that this woman singlehandedly established rights for women as equal human beings,” said Kimberly Wehle, a professor of law at the University of Baltimore.  “Of course, there are many, many women and men that contribute to that. But in terms of how the law was shaped, it was her work as a lawyer and of course as a Supreme Court justice.” 
 
Known for speaking her mind, she famously clashed with Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, calling him a “faker,” prompting the real estate mogul to call on her to resign.  
 
In a statement issued late Friday, Trump praised Ginsburg as a “fighter,” saying her legal opinions “inspired all Americans, and generations of great legal minds.”  Flowers and tributes are seen as people gather in front of the U.S. Supreme Court following the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in Washington, Sept. 19, 2020.With Ginsburg’s passing, the Supreme Court is ideologically divided between five conservatives – including the two Trump nominees – and three liberals. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts has sometimes served as a swing vote.   
 
The addition of a sixth conservative justice would strengthen what conservatives have long viewed as a tenuous hold over the court.
    
“It makes a big difference whether you have six conservative-leaning justices on the court or five conservative justices on the court,” John Malcolm, Vice President for the Institute for Constitutional Government at the conservative Heritage Foundation.   
 
The Heritage Foundation and the conservative Federalist Society have both advised the White House on Trump’s judicial nominees.    
 
Gorsuch and Kavanaugh — while solidly conservative — have occasionally broken ranks and voted with the court’s liberal wing on key issues.   Trump, who campaigned on appointing conservative judges four years ago and takes pride on his judicial appointment record, recently released a list of 20 potential Supreme Court nominees, describing them as jurists in the mold of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and current conservative justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.  
 
Among the front runners on Trump’s list are Amy Coney Barrett, Amul Thapar and Thomas Hardiman, all currently appeals court judges.   
 
If Trump decides to replace Ginsburg with another woman, Barrett will likely be considered the front runner, Malcolm said.  
 
Barrett, 48, was appointed to the federal court of appeals for the seventh circuit in 2017.   
 
Malcolm described her as a believer in textualism and originalism – constitutional interpretation theories championed by conservatives.
 
“I would say the same thing about just about everybody on the president’s list,” Malcolm said.  
 
Wehle, who is the author of a book about the U.S. Constitution, said the appointment of another conservative justice could affect a host of contentious issues: abortion rights, immigration, health care, the separation of church and state and others.  
 
“It takes two thirds of a majority of both houses of Congress and ratification by three quarters of the states to amend the Constitution through the will of the people,” Wehle said.  “But it only takes five lifelong members of the United States Supreme Court to effectively amend the Constitution in a decision.”  
 
The prospects are good that Trump will prevail in appointing a conservative to succeed Ginsburg, even if he loses to Democrat Joe Biden in the Nov. 3 election. With the help of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Trump could try to push through a nomination before the election or – more likely – during the lame duck session of Congress after the election.
 
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A former football player in Australia has been awarded a landmark $1 million insurance payment for brain damage he says was caused by the concussions he suffered when he was a professional athlete.  
 
Former Australian Football League player Shaun Smith said it was a “fluke” that he had included disablement in his insurance policy 25 years ago.
 
MLC Insurance found Friday that Smith had a “total and permanent disablement” because of the concussions suffered during his athletic career.  
 
The 51-year-old Smith says he is not able to work and has mental health issues.
 
He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation he is “happy” that the ramifications of receiving concussions “have finally been recognized.”
 
While Smith’s payout paves the way for similar payouts for other athletes, the payments will not be available to them if they did not include disablement in their insurance policies.  
 
Analysts say the MLC finding, however, may lead former athletes to file class action suits.  
 
The U.S. National Football League paid out $1 billion to a group of retired players who said they had suffered brain damage as a result of the concussions they received when they were in the league. 
 
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