The United States office that handles highway safety announced it would investigate complaints that brakes can malfunction on Nissan’s popular Murano SUV.

According to documents released Friday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 60 people have complained that the brakes on their cars lose pressure when trying to stop on a low-friction surface.

Some drivers reported increased stopping distances after pushing the pedal all the way to the floor. The investigation will cover upwards of 100,000 Muranos from the 2009 model year.

In a statement, Nissan said it is cooperating with the probe and encouraged any drivers experiencing brake problems to visit their local Nissan dealership.

Some drivers cited in the complaint said they replaced the anti-lock brake hydraulic control unit in their SUVs and that apparently fixed the problem.

The investigation will determine if Nissan needs to issue a recall on the vehicles. The NHTSA said the problem generally involves older, higher mileage vehicles.
…

After yet another viral video has surfaced of people being kicked off an overbooked plane. Delta Air Lines has apologized.

In a statement, the company said it was “sorry for the unfortunate experience.”

The video, posted by Brian and Brittany Schear, showed them and their two toddlers being told to exit the flight or be arrested after a dispute over a seat the Schears bought for their teenage son.

The couple posted the video on YouTube and showed Brian Schear arguing with someone aboard Delta flight 2222 before take-off from Maui to Los Angeles.

The dispute started over whether Brian Schear could use the seat he had bought for his teenage son for his toddler and if the toddler was required to use a car seat or could sit in an adult’s lap.

“You will hear them lie to me numerous times to get my son out of the seat. The end result was we were all kicked off the flight,” Schear wrote in a blurb about the incident.

“They oversold the flight. When will this all stop?”

The Schears ended up leaving the flight and stayed at a hotel before leaving the following day.

“Delta’s goal is to always work with customers in an attempt to find solutions to their travel issues. That did not happen in this case and we apologize,” Delta’s apology stated, adding it would refund their travel expenses and provide additional compensation.

The incident came about a month after another incident was captured on video showing a man who was injured when forcibly removed from a United flight. The airline announced an undisclosed settlement with that man last month.
…

The U.S. job market staged a rebound in April with employers, adding 211,000 workers to their payrolls and the unemployment rate fell to a 10-year low of 4.4 percent.

April’s employment numbers are a big improvement from March when the economy added only 98,000 jobs.

Analysts say that makes it more likely the Federal Reserve will remain on track to raise its benchmark interest rates again in June.

Job gains in April came from hospitality and leisure services, followed by health care and financial services.

Average hourly earnings grew modestly, up 2.5 percent from the previous year.

Despite volatility in March, the economy has now added an average of 185,000 jobs per month in 2017.
…

Котирування нафти еталонної північноморської марки Brent обвалилися впродовж останніх двох днів. На торгах 4 травня ціна подолала психологічно важливу позначку 50 доларів за барель і опустилася до рівня близько 48 з половиною доларів. Зранку 5 травня падіння триває, станом на 7:45 за Києвом ціна становить 47 доларів 5 центів за барель.

Аналітики пояснюють такі події на ринку невпевненістю інвесторів щодо дотримання країнами-нафтовидобувниками узгоджених у листопаді минулого року обмежень. Також учасники торгів не знають, чи продовжать члени ОПЕК і країни поза межами картелю дію своєї угоди на другу половину 2017 року.

Іншим чинником, який впливає на котирування ціни «чорного золота», є постійне зростання видобутку у США в цілому і на сланцевих родовищах цієї країни зокрема. Міністерство енергетики США раніше цього тижня повідомило, що обсяг видобутку сирої нафти в країні зростає 11 тижнів поспіль, що стало найбільш тривалим таким трендом з 2012 року. Видобуток у США зріс до 9,29 мільйона барелів на день, що є максимальним значенням із серпня 2015 року.
…

The European Union said Thursday that it’s preparing new regulations that could force a key financial market — and potentially thousands of jobs — to move away from London once Britain leaves the bloc.

The EU Commission said it will present next month new rules on the oversight of this market, the so-called clearing of euro-denominated trades.

In financial markets, clearing is the business of acting as an intermediary in a trade to reduce the risks from defaults by ensuring funds are delivered to the seller. Some 75 percent of euro-denominated interest rate derivatives are cleared in the U.K. — and tens of thousands of jobs depend on the business.

Some European authorities want this euro-clearing business to be located in a country in the EU, as the bloc is tightening its oversight of banks and financial services in the wake of the financial crisis.

When asked Thursday whether clearinghouses would be forced to leave the U.K. if they wanted to continue handling euro-denominated trades, Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said the EU was “looking at this issue.”

“Of course, in a context of Brexit we see that the situation is changing,” Dombrovskis told reporters in Brussels. “The bulk of EU-denominated derivatives are cleared in the U.K., and therefore we need to assess what implications it has for financial stability.”

While the commission did not specify what the new rules would be, it expressed concern that after Brexit a “substantial volume” of euro-denominated transactions would be cleared outside the EU, meaning they would not be subject to the bloc’s regulations and supervision.

The commission said it wants to ensure clearinghouses are subject to the “safeguards provided by the EU legal framework” in areas where they play a key role in the stability of financial markets and monetary policy.

Talks on separation

The statement comes as the EU and Britain begin two years of complex negotiations over the separation of two economies that have been intertwined for more than 40 years. A German newspaper reported Sunday that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said British Prime Minister Theresa May was in a “different galaxy” in her expectations for Brexit. May yesterday accused EU officials of making “threats” to influence next month’s general election in Britain.

Treasury chief Phillip Hammond said Britain would consider any proposed clearing regulations but that the EU must be careful not to disrupt growth and investment in the U.K. and Europe.

“London is the world’s No. 1 financial center, with high standards of financial supervision, including long-standing cooperation with EU institutions,” Hammond said. “This benefits the entire continent. We trust everyone in the negotiations will see the value in not undermining that.”

TheCityUK, which lobbies on behalf of Britain’s financial services industry, was more blunt.

“A forced relocation of euro-clearing would lead to disruption, uncertainty and fragmentation of the market,” Chief Executive Miles Celic said in a statement. “A potentially less liquid and less competitive EU market would result in higher costs for European savers and investors. This would ultimately be detrimental to people and businesses in Britain and in Europe. This is in no one’s interest and is entirely avoidable.”
…

Nancy Lopez came to the United States 18 years ago from Mexico when she was two. While undocumented, she’s an undergraduate at City College of New York and also holds down two jobs, one at school and the other at a garden center.  She pays taxes on her earnings.  

“What is a misconception,” Lopez maintains, “is that undocumented people don’t pay taxes.  The way I see it, paying taxes is the contribution to the economy and a contribution to everybody’s needs.”

Lopez is a beneficiary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama-era initiative that granted temporary protected status to some 750,000 young people who were brought to the U.S. as young children. DACA allows recipients to go to school and work in the U.S.— and is renewable every two years.

Lopez is not the only DACA taxpayer in New York State. A new study shows that DACA recipients contribute $140 million in New York state and local taxes.

“Their contributions are very substantial.  They’re a big part of the promise for the future,” said David Dyssegaard Kallick, director of the Fiscal Policy Institute Research Institute and co-author of the study.  Kallick added, “I think it’s not recognized enough that what they’re doing is, in fact, making a real contribution.”

The study, which was co-conducted by the Institute of Taxation and Economic policy, shows that the 1.3 million young people who are eligible for DACA (not all have applied), paid more than $2 billion nationally in state and local taxes in 2015. 

Taxes ≠ legal status

Undocumented immigrants pay taxes in the hopes that following the rules will weigh in their favor as they apply for permanent legal status in the U.S., even though they are not eligible for some of the benefits that taxes pay for like health insurance and pension benefits.

DACA recipient Mouhamed Kaba (28), now studying for his Master of Business Degree at NYU says he doesn’t mind paying taxes.

“It is some of the revenue the city and state depend on to do more programming for the constituency,” he said.

But he wonders what is in the tax returns that President Donald Trump has not released.

“There’s been some articles being circulated stating that the President doesn’t pay federal taxes,” he says.  “That’s kind of amusing and also alerting.”

Paying taxes does not guarantee that DACA recipients will remain legal. Trump can end the program anytime, and during the campaign, he threatened to, saying during an August speech in Phoenix that he would “immediately terminate” Obama’s “illegal executive amnesties.”

“In my head, the first thing that came to mind was that many people think we don’t pay taxes,” said Ivy Teng Lei, 26, who was brought to America by her parents 19 years ago from Macao.

Trump softens his stance

Teng Lei both works and goes to school.

“On the night of the election,” she revealed, “I broke out in hives. With a stroke of a pen my work permit can be taken away, my job security, my future, everything I own and everything I want can be taken away.”

Trump has since moderated his stance on DACA and the program remains in place, but nothing has been said that defines its status.

In 2015, according to Fiscal Policy Institute Research Institute, America’s undocumented immigrants paid an estimated $11.7 billion in state and local taxes across the 50 states. 
…

Farmers in some parts of Afghanistan are trying to revive pistachio crops as an alternative to the opium poppy crops, but they are running into problems with Taliban taking a cut to supplement its income.

“We work hard here to cultivate pistachio and benefit well,” said Ata Mohammad, a farmer in Herat province’s Karrokh district. “This crop is better than others. This is a productive and Halal [legitimate or religiously legal] crop.”

The pistachio, a hardy tree that is more like a bush, originated in Central Asia and the Middle East. While California’s crop helps the United States rank second in global production behind Iran, the nuts from traditional producers in the region are generally more coveted by connoisseurs. Herat’s crop is exported to the Gulf countries, India, Turkey and some European countries, including Germany.

The trees used to grow wild in Afghanistan and were harvested by local villagers, but fell victim to a combination of drought, war and neglect. Forests, which once covered 450,000 hectares, were cut in half, according to the Agriculture Ministry. Many trees were felled for firewood.

The country now ranks ninth in worldwide production with a small fraction of the crop. Processing plants and marketing are scarce.

The national government, along with aid agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development, have been trying to nurture a resurgence to help Afghans find a sustainable, healthy and lucrative food source and to undercut the poppy crops that yield an estimated 90 percent of the world’s heroin.

They have helped plant hundreds of thousands of seedlings, and there are plans for construction of storage facilities.

But safeguarding the pistachios has been a challenge, with the government shifting its security priorities to urban areas and leaving much of the rural area to the Taliban, which is now estimated to hold at least 40 percent of the country.

Herat Chamber of Commerce officials say most of the province’s pistachio trees are in insurgent-dominated areas. They estimate that the Taliban is making several million Afghanis — less than $100,000 from the nuts — but other estimates suggest the insurgents could be making millions of dollars a year.

The situation has led to premature harvesting that officials say has cut pistachio hectares in the province from 15,000 to 12,000, impacting the country’s reputation for quality. Herat exported only 120 tons of pistachio nuts last year.

“Unfortunately, due to insecurity and lack of government authority, the pistachio harvest is done prematurely, and it damages the agriculture and economy of Afghanistan enormously,” said Saad Khatabi, president of the Herat Chamber of Commerce.

Jilani Farhad, spokesperson for Herat’s governor, admits that insecurity exists and insurgents destroy the pistachio trees.

“God willing, the security will be ensured to safeguard pistachio tree terrains, and insurgents will be prevented from getting access to the area,” Farhad said.

Farmers elsewhere in the country have similar complaints. In Kunduz province, they say the Taliban go around the areas they control and collect one-tenth of the harvest by force. Farmers say if they pay, Taliban use the money to buy weapons, prolonging the conflict. If they don’t pay, however, there is a risk they would be killed.

Taliban fighters appeared during the harvest collection and beat those farmers who refused to pay the one-tenth of their harvest. Others also were threatened with jail time and torture if they refused to pay.
…

Заступник Генерального прокурора України Євген Єнін заявив, що очікує протягом 1,5 місяця рішення суду у Панамі щодо можливого відновлення процедури екстрадиційної перевірки у справі колишнього голови Державного агентства з питань залучення інвестицій Владислава Каськова.

Про це він сказав в ефірі «5 каналу».

«Після того, як перевірку буде відновлено, протягом 2-3 місяців панамська влада обіцяє нам остаточне рішення з цього питання (видача Каськова Україні – ред.)», – зазначив Єнін.

Наприкінці березня він повідомляв про відмову у політичному притулку Владиславові Каськову з боку панамської влади.

Восени минулого року стало відомо про затримання Каськова в Панамі.

Владислав Каськів обіймав посаду голови Держагентства з інвестицій та управління національними проектами України у 2010–2014 роках.

Наприкінці березня 2016 року його оголосили в розшук. За даними ГПУ, Каськів розшукується за злочини, передбачені статтями Кримінального кодексу України «заволодіння чужим майном шляхом зловживання  особою своїм службовим становищем, вчинене за попередньою змовою групою осіб, у особливо великих розмірах» і «службове підроблення, що спричинило тяжкі наслідки».

Як заявляв міністр внутрішніх справ Арсен Аваков, Каськів вивів із України 255 мільйонів гривень.

 
…

У Кривому Розі працівники двох шахт ПАТ «Криворізький залізорудний комбінат» – «Батьківщина» та «Тернівська», які не виходили із забою, вимагаючи підвищення зарплати, після переговорів з керівництвом підприємства піднялись на поверхню. Про це Радіо Свобода повідомив голова міської організації Незалежної профспілки гірників України Юрій Самойлов.

За його даними, генеральний директор підприємства Федір Караманиць особисто спілкувався з шахтарями, які не виходили із забою і проводили під землею збори трудових колективів. Як поінформував Юрій Самойлов, переговори завершились домовленостями щодо поетапного збільшення заробітної плати на підприємстві, починаючи з травня.

«Від травня планується підвищення заробітної плати на 20%, з серпня – ще на 30%. Також планується поступове підвищення середньої зарплати до 25 тисяч гривень для основних категорій професій. З 11 травня збереться робоча група за участі представників трудових колективів та адміністрації підприємства для розроблення графіку підвищення заробітної плати. Єдине, оскільки це стихійна акція, тому частина шахт уже провела переговори, а частина ще в процесі», – сказав Юрій Самойлов.

За словами гірників шахти «Тернівська», з якими вдалось поспілкуватись Радіо Свобода, працівники нічної зміни вже вийшли на поверхню, робота шахти впродовж дня не зупинялась.

«Робота жодної з шахт сьогодні не припинялась, гірники відчувають свою відповідальність за робочий процес. Водночас трудові колективи залишають за собою право у випадку не знаходження порозуміння з адміністрацією провести повторні збори на робочих місцях», – сказали шахтарі.

На Криворізькому залізорудному комбінаті Радіо Свобода підтвердили сам факт переговорів з робітниками, однак докладних коментарів поки не надали.

У четвер в Кривому Розі після нічної зміни не вийшли на поверхню близько 400 працівників чотирьох шах ПАТ «Криворізький залізорудний комбінат» – шахт «Батьківщина», «Гвардійська», «Тернівська» та «Жовтнева». Головна вимога, висловлена на зборах трудових колективів під землею, – підвищення оплати праці гірників до рівня 2012 року, коли їхня зарплата в перерахунку на долари США складала близько тисячі.

ПАТ «Криворізький залізорудний комбінат» – найбільше в Україні підприємство з видобутку залізної руди підземним способом.
…

Заступник Генпрокурора України Євген Єнін сподівається до кінця року на завершення суду у США щодо колишнього прем’єр-міністра Павла Лазаренка. Про це він повідомив в ефірі «5 каналу» ввечері 4 травня.

«До кінця цього року ми очікуємо рішення американського суду в справі Лазаренка, після цього ми розпочинаємо переговорний процес з американцями щодо повернення (активів – ред.)», – зазначив Єнін.

За його словами, кошти можуть бути повернуті України за півроку-рік після вироку.

Павло Лазаренко втік із України 1999 року і врешті опинився у США, де без успіху домагався притулку й натомість був засуджений більш ніж на вісім років позбавлення волі, значного штрафу і конфіскації майна за звинуваченнями, пов’язаними з відмиванням коштів. 2012 року він вийшов на волю після закінчення терміну і, за повідомленнями, отримав право на мешкання у США, де й живе з родиною – другою дружиною, своєю колишньою перекладачкою на судах у США, і їхніми трьома дітьми. Тим часом правоохоронні органи США далі продовжують з’ясовувати подробиці щодо відмитих ним коштів.

 
…

President Michel Temer’s proposal to reform Brazil’s costly social security system cleared a committee vote Wednesday, but the measure, deeply unpopular with voters, faces an uphill battle in the full Congress.

The committee voted 23-14 to approve the constitutional amendment, which would make Brazilians work longer and reduce pension benefits to plug a widening budget deficit at the root of the country’s worst recession.

Temer spokesman Alexandre Parola told reporters the vote numbers showed that “Brazilian society recognizes the urgent need for reforming the social security system.”

Presidential aides said, however, the government was not certain it had secured the two-thirds vote needed in the full chamber to approve a bill that is crucial to Temer’s efforts to recover investor confidence and restore investment and growth.

A vote in the full house planned for next week has been put back to allow the government coalition to muster the necessary 308 votes by swaying lawmakers worried about angering voters ahead of next year’s elections.

A generous system

Pension reform is a contentious issue in Brazil, which has one of the world’s most generous social security systems, allowing retirement on average at the age of 54 with almost full benefits, compared with 72 years in Mexico.

The bill sets a minimum retirement age for the first time in Brazil, at 65 for men and 62 for women.

Changes to the country’s labor laws and pension system triggered violent clashes between demonstrators and police in Brazil’s main cities Friday during the first national strike called by unions against Temer’s austerity agenda.

About 71 percent of Brazilians oppose the bill, according to a Datafolha survey Monday.

Concessions

Economists warn that the social security system is one of the main threats to Brazil’s government finances, with pension expenditures accounting for nearly half of its spending before debt payments.

Temer made concessions to ease passage of the proposal at the center of his austerity plan, raising doubts among investors about the watered-down bill’s ability to help narrow a bulging budget deficit that cost Brazil its investment-grade credit rating two years ago. Temer agreed to set a lower retirement age for women, police, teachers and rural workers and grant more generous transition rules for workers after allies balked at backing it.

Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles has said the changes will reduce the reform’s impact by 25 percent over 10 years, lowering fiscal savings to 600 billion reais ($190 billion).

Pension reform or taxes

Investors see pension reform as the only way for Brazil to shore up its finances without resorting to huge tax hikes. The Brazilian real would probably drop more than 10 percent if the scandal-plagued Congress fails to pass the bill, currency strategists estimated in a Reuters poll Wednesday.

Without the overhaul, Brazil’s aging population is expected to lift social security spending to 17.2 percent of gross domestic product by 2060, from 8.1 percent last year, according to government estimates.
…

Apple plans to create a $1 billion fund to invest in U.S. companies that perform advanced manufacturing, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said on Wednesday, the iPhone maker’s latest effort to show how it is creating U.S. jobs.

The Cupertino, California company will announce the fund’s first investment later in May, Cook said during an interview on CNBC.

Cook also said Apple plans to fund programs that could include teaching people how to write computer code to create apps, and will release more details about the effort this summer.

The announcements were the latest in a series of disclosures to highlight how Apple, the world’s largest company by market valuation, contributes to job creation in the United States.

Apple came under fire from President Donald Trump during his campaign because it makes most of its products in China.

In February during the company’s annual shareholder meeting, Cook said Apple spent $50 billion in 2016 with its U.S. suppliers, which include firms like 3M and Corning, the first time Apple has disclosed the metric.

Cook reiterated that point during the CNBC interview, along with Apple’s claim that it has created 2 million jobs in the United States, 80,000 of which are directly at Apple and the rest coming from suppliers and software developers for the company’s app ecosystem.

Apple is highlighting its U.S. presence at the same time lawmakers consider a major tax proposal by Trump that would let Apple, along with other large companies, bring back accumulated profits from overseas at potentially lower tax rates.

Ninety-three percent of Apple’s $256.8 billion cash is held overseas.

Cook, who met with lawmakers in Washington earlier this year to discuss tax policy and technology issues, said that Apple would have to borrow the cash for its U.S. manufacturing investment fund and said he was hopeful Trump administration would address the repatriation issue.

Cook stopped short of saying Apple would bring some of its cash back into the United States if Trump’s tax proposal was enacted.

“To invest in the United States, we have to borrow. This doesn’t make sense on a broad basis. So I think the administration, you saw they’re really getting this and want to bring this [cash] back. And I hope that comes to pass,” Cook said in response to a question about tax reform.
…

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin says his department is seeking to close perhaps more than 1,100 VA facilities nationwide as it develops plans to allow more veterans to receive medical care in the private sector.

At a House hearing Wednesday, Shulkin said the VA had identified more than 430 vacant buildings and 735 that he described as underutilized, costing the federal government $25 million a year.

He said the VA would work with Congress in prioritizing buildings for closure and was considering whether to follow a process the Pentagon had used in recent decades to decide which of its underused military bases to shutter, known as Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC.

“Whether BRAC is a model that we should take a look, we’re beginning that discussion with members of Congress,” Shulkin told a House appropriations subcommittee. “We want to stop supporting our use of maintenance of buildings we don’t need, and we want to reinvest that in buildings we know have capital needs.”

Aging buildings

In an internal agency document obtained by The Associated Press, the VA pointed to aging buildings it was reviewing for possible closure that would cost millions of dollars to replace. It noted that about 57 percent of all VA facilities were more than 50 years old. Of the 431 VA buildings it said were vacant, most were built 90 or more years ago, according to agency data. The VA document did not specify the locations.

While President Donald Trump’s budget blueprint calls for a 6 percent increase in VA funding, Shulkin has made clear the government’s second-largest agency with nearly 370,000 employees will have to operate more efficiently and that budget increases should not be considered a given in future years. 

The department recently announced hiring restrictions on roughly 4,000 positions despite the lifting of the federal hiring freeze and also left open the possibility of “near-term” and “long-term workforce reductions.” Shulkin is also putting together a broader proposal by fall to expand the VA’s Choice program of private-sector care.

BRAC controversial

The Pentagon’s BRAC process often stirred controversy in the past as members of Congress expressed concern about the negative economic impact of shuttering military bases and vigorously opposed closures in their districts.

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., a vice chair of the appropriations panel, told Shulkin that Congress was looking forward to working with the VA “constructively” on the issue in part by determining how excess VA buildings could be put to good community use, such as for fire-fighting, security or landscape maintenance.

“Don’t ever use the term BRAC because it brings up a lot of bad memories,” Fortenberry cautioned. “You automatically set yourself up for a lot of controversy.”
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У «Київенерго» повідомили про припинення постачання газу до 40 столичних котелень, які забезпечували гарячою водою 225 об’єктів, зокрема, 189 житлових будинків, 11 шкільних і дошкільних заходів і 2 лікувальні заклади.

За даними підприємства, причиною відімкнення є заборгованість «Київенерго» перед «Київгазом» за послуги транспортування газу, яка станом на 1 травня становила 199,2 мільйони гривень.

«Основною причиною зростання боргів за газ є збільшення заборгованості споживачів за теплову енергію, послуги централізованого опалення й гарячого водопостачання. Станом на 1 квітня борг столиці за теплоенергію становив майже 5 мільярдів гривень. Частка боргу держави перевищила 1,4 мільярда гривень, з них 1,2 мільярда – це некомпенсовані пільги й субсидії в теплопостачанні», – йдеться у повідомленні на сайті «Київенерго».

1 травня стартувала оновлена програма нарахування субсидій. Відтепер, зокрема, на субсидії можуть претендувати люди, що живуть у садових будинках, а соціальна норма для непрацездатних людей зросте.
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Україна наростила темпи заповнення газосховищ з початку травня, повідомляє речник компанії-оператора газотранспортної системи «Укртрансгаз» Максим Білявський.

За даними компанії, йдеться про 42 мільйони кубометрів газу щодня, це удвічі більше, аніж раніше.

«З початку поточного року в підземні сховища газу було закачано 0,6 мільярдів кубічних метрів блакитного палива, що у два рази більше за показники аналогічного періоду минулого року. Зокрема у квітні газосховища поповнились на 0,43 мільярдів кубів, що також у два рази більше за минулорічні показники. Станом на сьогоднішній день у вітчизняних ПСГ (підземні сховища газу – ред.) зберігається 8,478 мільярдів кубів блакитного палива, а закачування відбувається на п’ятьох сховищах», – йдеться у повідомленні прес-служби «Укртрансгазу».

За їхньою інформацією, протягом опалювального сезону зі сховищ відібрали 6,7 мільярдів кубів газу, що 21% ніж за аналогічний період минулого року.

Водночас, в «Укртрансгазі» повідомляють, що за 4 місяці зріс також транзит газу у країни Європейського союзу територією України на 23 %.

 
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Britain wants to boost trade ties with Africa after it leaves the European Union — a project some have called “Empire 2.0.”  British plans to build on historical links with its former empire could face resistance in many African countries, as exporters face years of uncertainty over future trading relations with the UK.

Britain says leaving the EU will allow it to “go global” and throw off the shackles it claims the EU has imposed on its trading ambitions. On a recent visit to Uganda, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the first stop would be Britain’s former colonies.

“We are re-entering the Commonwealth, re-entering the global economy,” he said.

That re-entry has been dubbed “Empire 2.0” in Britain. But in many former colonies, memories of British rule are at best mixed, said British Conservative party lawmaker Kwasi Kwarteng, an author on the legacy of the British Empire, and a key figure in the campaign to leave the EU.

“My own family is from West Africa, Ghana, which is a Commonwealth country and was a former colony. And people have very mixed memories of the Empire. So to try and relive that past, I think, is a completely ridiculous and forlorn exercise. But what we can do is to try and use those relationships that were forged, some of them through the Empire, and then latterly through the Commonwealth,” said Kwarteng.

The legacy of the British Empire is still debated decades after its collapse. In South Africa, statues of the colonialist Cecil Rhodes were torn down in 2015.

Despite a long list of atrocities — such as the brutal suppression of the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in the 1950s — Kwarteng believes the old links forged in Empire days will aid new trade deals.

“There’s a vast world out there, nearly 80 percent of global GDP, which is outside the EU. And a lot of GDP is taken up by Commonwealth countries,” he said.

Critics highlight that almost half of British exports go to the European Union — $288 billion worth every year. In comparison, exports to Africa total just $21.3 billion.

To boost that trade, Britain wants quick trade deals with emerging economies. But African nations should be cautious, according to Matt Grady of the charity Traidcraft, which advocates fair trade and global justice.

“African countries have indicated that their priorities are regional integration and cooperation. So now is not really the time for the UK to be trying to negotiate deals with African countries that will undermine those priorities. It will undermine their ability to develop their manufacturing and processing sectors,” he said.

Brexit poses other risks. Britain imports $9.7-billion worth of goods from Africa — including produce like coffee from Kenya or wine from South Africa.

“Producers in developing countries, they don’t know what tariffs they’re going to face to sell into Britain. Decisions are being made now for two years down the line on uncertain conditions,” said Grady.

Citing that uncertainty, the head of the African, Caribbean and Pacific group of nations said this week that a free trade deal with Britain should be delayed until at least six years after Britain’s EU exit.
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Living in large cities has its downsides, and one of them is a lack of fresh organic locally grown produce. But growing vegetables is something everyone can do and it can be done in literally a handful of soil. Two amateur gardeners in the Swedish city of Gothenburg started small, but now see gardening as a way to profitability. VOA’s George Putic reports.
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Рада виконавчих директорів Світового банку затвердила 2 травня кредит для України в розмірі 150 мільйонів доларів з метою підтримки малих і середніх підприємств, орієнтованих на експорт. Про це йдеться в повідомленні на сайті банку.

«Україна має креативний і унікальний діловий потенціалом і може виробляти високоякісну конкурентоспроможну продукцію», – заявила директор Світового банку по Україні, Білорусі та Молдові Сату Кахконен.

«Однак багато перешкод обмежують можливості України в експорті. Однією з них є нестача якісного фінансування. Доступ до довгострокових фінансів для малих і середніх підприємств допоможе країні збільшити експорт і сприятиме пожвавленню економічного зростання в Україні», – додала вона.

Очікується, що проект під назвою «Доступ до довгострокових фінансів» здійснюватиме ТОВ «Укрексімбанк», надавши субкредити банкам, які, в свою чергу, вкладуть гроші в різні малі та середні підприємства в Україні. Ці підприємства, як повідомили в Світовому банку, будуть відібрані з огляду на їхню фінансову стабільність і потенціал.

Світовий банк є одним з найбільших міжнародних партнерів України. Ця інституція надає підтримку у здійсненні енергетичних, комунальних, транспортних, соціальних проектів тощо.
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U.S. lawmakers have put the nation’s airlines on notice: Improve customer service or we will make you.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing for top airline executives to testify, and to determine how Congress might respond after a passenger was violently dragged off an overbooked United Airlines flight.

“Seize this opportunity,” committee Chairman Bill Shuster, a Pennsylvania Republican, told United CEO Oscar Munoz and other airline executives at a hearing. Otherwise, “we’re going to act and you’re not going to like it,” he said, predicting a “one-size-fits-all” solution that may serve some airlines but not all.

Munoz apologized repeatedly for the removal of David Dao, 69, who last month refused to give up his seat to make room for airline employees. The video of airport police dragging Dao from his seat went viral.

“In that moment for our customers and our company we failed, and so as CEO, at the end of the day, that is on me,” Munoz said. “This has to be a turning point.”

Munoz was joined at the hearing by United President Scott Kirby and executives from American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

American Airlines experienced its own public relations fiasco last month when a passenger video went viral, showing a woman on a plane in tears holding a child in her arms and another at her side after an encounter with a flight attendant over a baby stroller.

United and other airlines have announced policy changes regarding overbooked flights. Airlines have said they routinely overbook flights because a small percentage of passengers do not show up.
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President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to China said on Tuesday he would do everything possible to address what he called China’s “unfair and illegal” sales of underpriced steel in the world market.

“I want to do everything I can to make sure that we stop the unfair and illegal activities that we’ve seen from China in the steel industry,” the nominee, Iowa’s Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, said at his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing.
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African military expenditures have finally slowed down after more than a decade of steady increases, according to a new report on global defense spending. The main reason, the report found, is a drop in oil prices.

“The sharp decreases in oil prices has affected quite a number of African countries, namely South Sudan and Angola.  This has kind of driven almost the entire regional trend,” said Nan Tian, a researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) Arms and Military Expenditure Program, the organization that authored the report.

The SIPRI report found military spending in Africa in 2016 was down by 1.3 percent from the previous year and totaled about $37.9 billion.

Despite the drop, Africa’s military spending remains 48 percent higher than it was a decade ago.  “A few of the top spenders within these regions are generally oil economies, so the low oil prices have meant sharp cutbacks in government financing and that includes military spending,” he said.

Some of Africa’s biggest spenders in recent years have included oil-rich Angola, which has sought to modernize its air force and navy, and Algeria which has tried to preserve its stability amid the collapse of Libya and the rise of extremism in North Africa.  Both of those countries have slowed spending recently, Tian said.

Weighing spending against needs

Tian said that perhaps the most important question to ask, is whether military spending in Africa is at appropriate levels.

Ten African countries have military expenditures greater than 3 percent of their GDP. The highest are the Republic of the Congo where military expenditures totaled 7 percent of GDP in 2016, and Algeria where military spending totaled 6.7 percent of GDP.

Globally, military spending is 2.2 percent of GDP or about $227 per person.

“You have the security aspect also in Africa.  We have the opportunity costs,” Tian said.  “It is the poorest continent.  The question is: should this continent be spending?  Are they spending enough or are they spending too much on military based on their current income levels?  Should they rather be prioritizing other aspects of spending maybe health care, maybe education, maybe infrastructure?”

Not all African countries saw a decline in military spending.  According to the report, Botswana’s military spending grew by 40 percent, or about $152 million.  Botswana is regularly noted for having a long record of peace and good governance, and is undergoing a military modernization program.

Nigeria increased its military spending by 1.2 percent to $1.7 billion as it strives to defeat the radical Islamist group Boko Haram.  Similarly, Kenya and Mali increased military spending due to extremist threats in their regions.
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India-based technology company Infosys said Tuesday it will create 10,000 jobs in the United States, growing its American footprint at a time when it has become a political target in the U.S.

Infosys has been a big user of H1-B visas in the U.S., a program under which overseas firms, most often technology companies, move foreign workers to the United States after the overseas businesses declare they cannot find enough qualified U.S. workers. Critics of the visa program say the foreign firms have cost U.S. workers their jobs, however, because the foreign companies usually pay the temporary workers less than they would have had to pay American employees to do the same job.

As part of his “America First” pledge, President Donald Trump recently ordered government agencies to review the visa program. Trump said he wants to bring in the “best and brightest” foreign workers and reform immigration laws as they relate to work and border security. But one suggested reform – that companies paying the highest wages be granted the work visas – would directly affect Infosys.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which manages the visa petitions, says that about 70 percent of the 85,000 H1-B visas issued annually go to Indians, and more than half of them are working for information technology companies like Infosys, which then outsource the workers to American firms.

Infosys has been one of the biggest users of the H1-B visa program, sending more than 15,000 workers to the U.S. in the last two years, although it has trimmed its visa requests for this year. Under the program, foreign-born workers typically can be employed for three years by a sponsor company and apply to stay longer.

Infosys said it would hire the 10,000 U.S. workers over the next two years, opening four technology centers, with the first in the midwestern state of Indiana, where Vice President Mike Pence was governor before Trump tapped him as his running mate in last year’s national political campaign.

Infosys chief executive Vishal Sikka told Reuters, “The reality is, bringing in local talent and mixing that with the best of global talent in the times we are living in and the times we’re entering, is the right thing to do. It is independent of the regulations and the visas.”
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