Archive Month: September 2020

Старі банкноти та 25-копійкові монети перестануть бути платіжним засобом в Україні о 23:59 30 вересня. Про таке рішення Національний банк України повідомив раніше цього місяця.

«По-перше, монети номіналом 25 копійок та усі банкноти гривні старих зразків, уведені в обіг до 2003 року, перестають бути засобом платежу під час здійснення розрахунків готівкою та будуть вилучені з обігу з 1 жовтня 2020 року. По-друге, Національний банк буде активніше виводити з обігу паперові банкноти 1 і 2 гривні і монети 1 гривня зразка 1996 року, замінюючи їх на відповідні обігові монети зразка 2018 року», – розповіли в НБУ.

Регулятор повідомив, що громадяни зможуть без обмежень та безкоштовно обміняти монети номіналом 25 копійок та старі банкноти, уведені в обіг до 2003 року, на монети та банкноти інших номіналів і зразків упродовж наступних трьох років.

До 30 вересня 2021 року це можна буде зробити в усіх українських банках. Після цього і до 30 вересня 2022 року старі монети та банкноти прийматимуть НБУ, «Ощадбанк», «Приватбанк», «Райффайзен Банк Аваль» та ПУМБ.
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Many Americans are mourning the death of Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  Makeshift memorials to the popular liberal justice have sprung up all over the country.  One of them at the site of a  large mural dedicated to the justice in September 2019. Anush Avetisyan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.VIDEOGRAPHER: Andrey Degtyarev
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Національний банк України встановив на 1 жовтня курс 28 гривень 31 копійка за долар, це на 1 копійку більше за офіційний курс на останній день вересня.

Регулятор не встиг повноцінно відбити тенденції міжбанківського валютного ринку, де всю другу половину дня 30 вересня національна валюта посилювалася. Станом на 16:25, за даними Finance.ua, котирування впали до 28 гривень 28–30 копійок за долар.

Ще в середині серпня долар оцінювався на міжбанку дешевше більш як на гривню, 17 серпня торги завершилися на рівні 27 гривень 23,5–25,5 копійки за одиницю американської валюти.
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At least 13 United Nations member states still criminalize transgender people, while others use morality and indecency laws to crack down on the trans community, a report showed on Wednesday.Nigeria, Oman and Lebanon are among the nations with explicit anti-trans laws, according to the latest Trans Legal Mapping Report by LGBT+ rights group ILGA World.The research details trans legislation and policies in 143 U.N. member states and 19 other jurisdictions.Many other countries apply “seemingly innocuous” regulations covering offenses such as “public nuisance, indecency, morality [and] loitering” to police trans communities, the report said.However, at least 96 U.N. member states now have provisions for legal gender recognition, according to the research.Violations of trans rights occurred across the world, said ILGA World’s director of programs Julia Ehrt.”Some of the more shining nations when it comes to legal gender recognition are based in the global south, such as Argentina,” she added.Eight years ago, Argentina joined a handful of countries that let trans people change their gender on official identity documents without physical or psychological tests.In Britain, there has been a ferocious debate in recent years over reforming the 2004 Gender Recognition Act, pitting some feminists against parts of the trans community.The British government launched a consultation two years ago on overhauling the law to allow “self-ID” in England and Wales — a reform opponents said could allow predatory men access to women-only spaces such as toilets.”In the UK, the debate is particularly fierce when you compare it with other debates in European states and I think [it] has, in a certain way, been exported to many of the other Commonwealth countries,” Ehrt said.The report also highlighted some positive developments for trans people over the past two years.Nine countries have taken steps to make it easier for people to change their name and gender classification on official documents such as birth certificates since 2018.British lawmaker Crispin Blunt, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global LGBT+ Rights, said the government’s decision to scrap the “self-ID” proposal meant it was “a particularly wretched time in the UK.””Britain continues to claim global leadership on LGBT+ rights but has just decided not to update its own processes,” Blunt said.”Now 25 nations, with more to follow, show us a better example of how to respect the basic human rights of trans and gender diverse people,” he added.
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Need to pay for some groceries? No problem, just wave your palm. That could be the new mode of payment at Amazon Go stores if current trials of its new technology in Seattle, Washington, are successful.   The technology, known as Amazon One, is a “free, contactless service that lets you use your palm to pay, enter or identify yourself,” according to its website. The product, which is undergoing trials at two Go stores in Seattle, will allow customers to enter their credit card details and cell phone number and scan their palm or palms for distinct details such as “surface area, lines and ridges as well as subcutaneous features such as vein patterns” on a biometric device. The individual palm details are then used to create a customer’s unique palm signature, and Amazon is counting on that to protect customer information. The e-commerce company assures customers that the Amazon One device does not store information. “We treat your palm signature just like other highly sensitive personal data and keep it safe using best-in-class technical and physical security controls,” according to the website.  Once sign-up is complete, customers can purchase goods and services with their palm prints by hovering over the payment device. It will also allow customers to use their palms as a form of ID, which allows them to enter Go stores without a code. If customers change their minds about using the service, Amazon says it will completely delete their information. “Amazon will permanently delete your palm signature from Amazon’s systems after completion of any remaining transactions,” the website says. “Your Amazon One ID will also be automatically deleted if you do not interact with an Amazon One device for two years.” Amazon says it hopes to replicate the technology in all of its Go stores after its pilot use in Seattle and that it looks forward to other retailers signing up for the service.  
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Chinese-owned video sharing platform TikTok says it is creating a guide “to protect against misinformation” during the 2020 U.S. elections. In a blog post Tuesday, the company said its guide would connect “100 million Americans with trusted information about the elections from the National Association of Secretaries of State, BallotReady, SignVote, and more.” “Our The U.S. head office of TikTok is seen in Culver City, California, Sept. 15, 2020.TikTok, which is especially popular with younger people, is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. TikTok has sought to alleviate U.S. concerns over privacy issues by forming a partnership with two U.S. companies, Oracle and WalMart. The deal has not been finalized, and there have been conflicting statements among the parties about how much of the new venture each company would own.  The Trump administration was moving forward to ban TikTok from app stores, but on Sunday, a judge blocked an order to prevent app stores from distributing it.  The judge gave lawyers for TikTok and the administration until Wednesday to meet and propose a schedule for further proceedings in the case.   
 
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At last year’s Latin Grammy Awards, popular reggaeton and Latin trap musicians such as J Balvin, Bad Bunny and Ozuna were dismissed in the show’s top categories. This year, they dominate.
Balvin scored a whopping 13 nominations for the 2020 Latin Grammys, including two nominations for album of the year and two for record of the year. The Latin Academy announced Tuesday that Bad Bunny and Ozuna are behind Balvin with nine and eight nominations, respectively.
Balvin has a chance to win his first album of the year prize — a category with 10 contenders — thanks to his fifth solo album “Colores” and “Oasis,” his collaborative project with Bad Bunny. Other nominees include Bad Bunny’s sophomore release “YHLQMDLG” as well as albums from Ricky Martin, Carlos Vives, Jesse & Joy, Kany García, Natalia Lafourcade, Camilo and Fito Paez.
For record of the year, which also has 10 nominees, contenders include popular hip-hop-flavored Latin songs that have dominated the Latin music charts and earned hundreds of millions plays on streaming services, with some even reaching the billion-mark on YouTube, including Karol G and Nicki Minaj’s global hit “Tusa” and “China” by Anuel AA, Daddy Yankee, Karol G, Ozuna and Balvin. Other nominees include Balvin’s “Rojo” and Bad Bunny’s “Vete.”
“Tusa” is the sole Latin trap nominee in the song of the year category, where 11 tracks are in contention. It’s a departure for Karol G, who didn’t receive a single nomination last year and was part of the group of uber-successful Latin trap and reggaeton artists who were dissed in top categories like album, song and record of the year.
This year, the Colombian performer who was named best new artist in 2018 has four nominations, including two shared with Minaj. Karol G’s fiance, Puerto Rican rapper-singer Anuel AA, marked a major breakthrough this year as a first-time nominee. He scored seven nominations, including a bid for best new artist.
“Over the last year, we continued engaging in discussions with our members to improve the awards process and actively encouraged diverse Latin music creators to join and participate,” Latin Academy President and CEO Gabriel Abaroa Jr. said in a statement, calling this year’s nominees “a group that reflects the constant evolution of Latin music.”
As a result of last year’s debacle social media exploded as Latin artists posted images of the Grammy logo with a large red “X” across it, with words on the image reading in Spanish: “Without reggaeton, there’s no Latin Grammys.” Balvin even skipped the live show and Bad Bunny, who won best urban music album during the telecast, told the audience: “With all due respect, reggaeton is part of the Latin culture.”
To honor Latin rap and reggaeton performers, the Latin Grammys added new categories this year, including best reggaeton performance and best rap/hip-hop song.
Balvin’s 13 nominations includes several categories where he will compete with himself: Outside of album and record of the year, he’s a double nominee in the best urban music album, best urban fusion/performance and best reggaeton performance categories. Ozuna and Bad Bunny will also compete with themselves in several categories.
Others who scored multiple nominations include Juanes, Martin, Alejandro Sanz, Camilo, Carlos Vives, Kany García and Residente, the most decorated winner in the history of Latin Grammys. Rosalía, who won album of the year last year and became the first solo female performer to win the top honor since Shakira’s triumph in 2006, earned four nominations this year.
Apart from Minaj’s two nominations, other popular American artists who will compete for awards include rapper Travis Scott (best short form music video for “TKN” with Rosalía); jazz master Chick Corea and his Spanish Heart Band (best Latin jazz/jazz album for “Antidote”); DJ-producer Diplo (best urban song for “Rave de Favela” ); and rapper Tyga (best reggaeton performance for “Loco Contigo” with DJ Snake and Balvin). Justin Bieber’s right-hand songwriter, Jason Boyd aka Poo Bear, earned an album of the year nomination for his work on Jesse & Joy’s “Aire (Versión Día).”
The 21st annual Latin Grammy Awards will air live on Nov. 19 on Univision. The nominees in the 53 categories were selected from more than 18,000 entries. Songs and albums released between June 1, 2019 through May 31, 2020 were eligible for nomination.
 
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Three countries, three musical traditions, one shared dream. Slavalachia is a cross-cultural collaboration of folk musicians from Belarus, Ukraine and the Appalachian region of the US. The project was meant to be just about the music, but then reality got in the way. Mariia Prus has the story.
Camera: Kostiantyn Golubchik  
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На українському міжбанківському валютному ринку в другій половині сесії 29 вересня поновилося зростання попиту на долар, що відбилося на котируваннях. Аналітики сайту «Мінфін» вказують на вихід на ринок із купівлею долара «Сітібанку», який діє в інтересах західних інвесторів.

За даними Finance.ua, станом на 15:55 котирування сягнули 28 гривень 31,5–33,5 копійки за долар (це на 4,5 копійки вище від рівня закриття торгів 28 вересня).

Національний банк України лише частково відбив тенденції другої частини сесії. Офіційний курс на 30 вересня регулятор установив на рівні 28 гривень 30 копійок за долар – на 1 копійку менше за попередній курс.

Ще в середині серпня долар оцінювався на міжбанку дешевше більш як на гривню, 17 серпня торги завершилися на рівні 27 гривень 23,5–25,5 копійки за одиницю американської валюти.
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Група «Нафтогаз» у жовтні збереже ціни газу для збутових компаній і населення на вересневому рівні, повідомляє пресслужба компанії.

«Цінові пропозиції в жовтні залишаться незмінними як для оптових покупців (трейдерів, газзбутів) ТОВ «Газопостачальна компанія «Нафтогаз Трейдинг», так і для для побутових клієнтів ТОВ «Газопостачальна компанія «Нафтогаз України», – йдеться в повідомленні.

«Таким чином, ГК «Нафтогаз Трейдинг» у жовтні постачатиме газ оптовим споживачам, що вже уклали договори, за ціною вересневого ресурсу. Для роздрібних клієнтів ГК «Нафтогаз України» зберігаються вересневі ціни — «Місячний» (4,7 грн/куб. м з ПДВ, без вартості доставки (розподілу) і «Річний» (5,24 грн/куб. м з ПДВ, без вартості доставки (розподілу)», – додали у «Нафтогазі».

Наприкінці серпня «Нафтогаз України» повідомив, що вереснева ціна на природний газ для потреб населення у тарифі «Місячний» становить 4 гривні 70 копійок за кубометр із ПДВ, без вартості розподілу (доставки). Ціна на серпень для населення складала за цим тарифом 3 гривні 24 копійки, тобто зростання сягнуло 45%.

 
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Facebook’s deletion of accounts targeting the Philippines from bases in China shows that the U.S. internet giant wants a better reputation in Southeast Asia after letting things slide in the past, say analysts who follow the case. On September 22, Facebook said it had removed 155 of its own accounts and six Instagram accounts for violating an internal policy against “foreign or government interference which is coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign or government entity.” The accounts originated in China and focused “primarily on the Philippines and Southeast Asia more broadly” as well as on the United States, Facebook says. Facebook’s move will endear it to Filipinos, who use the service so fervently that it has become a de facto official homepage for businesses and government agencies but who also worry that it has become too permissive, scholars say.    For Facebook, “it’s more from a kind of a PR point of view – I do this at a particular time, somehow, it’s seen as positive and I can say, ‘look, I have done this,’” said James Gomez, regional director at the Bangkok-based think tank Asia Center. Operators of the deleted accounts had posted in Chinese, English and Tagalog about naval activity in the South China Sea as well as Philippine politics and tried to cover up their identities, Facebook said.  China and the Philippines dispute sovereignty over a tract of the sea that’s rich in fisheries as well as undersea energy reserves. China has the upper hand militarily, frustrating officials in Manila and fanning debate there over whether the Philippines should ask Washington for more help. The connection to Facebook goes back to 2015, when the California-based service joined domestic mobile service provider Smart Communications to offer an app that allowed free access to 24 heavily used mobile sites.The thumbs-up Like logo is shown on a sign at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., April 14, 2020. Facebook’s long-awaited oversight board is set to launch in October 2020.But Facebook has made eyes roll in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries by allowing relatively unfettered access by politicians, hate-speech spreaders and purveyors of fake news, Gomez said.   “We would welcome that there is self-governance on the part of Facebook,” said Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Metro Manila-based advocacy group Institute for Political and Electoral Reform. “There was a lot of that [problematic material] in the past up till now.”’ Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte maintains an “online army” that was reportedly paid to pack Facebook with supportive material in the name of “grassroots activists”, Southeast Asian news outlet New Mandala reported in 2017, a year after Duterte took office.   Filipinos are starting now to eye the 2022 presidential election, motivating Facebook to clean up so it can avoid criticism, said Eduardo Araral, a Filipino and associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s public policy school.  Some of the shuttered accounts carried “content supportive of President Rodrigo Duterte and Sara Duterte’s potential run in the 2022 Presidential election,” Facebook said, referring to the current leader’s daughter. Presidents can serve just one term in the Philippines. “They have to be active in showing Facebook is no longer used or can no longer be used as a platform for inauthentic behavior,” Araral said. Duterte has pursued friendship with China despite the maritime dispute, but common Filipinos remain leery of Beijing’s designs for the surrounding seas. About 74 million people use Facebook in the Philippines, where the total population stands near 109 million. Facebook’s statement says 276,000 accounts followed one or more or 11 deleted Facebook Pages belonging to businesses. The service took down those pages along with the 155 non-business accounts. Facebook said that about 5,500 people followed one of more of the closed-down Instagram accounts. Facebook has removed accounts in Singapore and Myanmar as well, as both countries approached political milestones, Gomez said.  In 2018, for example, a U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights mission found that Facebook had helped spread “hate” speech against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar that has struggled to get along with the country’s government. Facebook took down a page authored by senior Myanmar military officials — a long-time nemesis of the Rohingya — after the U.N. findings appeared. 
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Зустріч лідерів «Групи 20» цього року матиме місце у віртуальному форматі. Вона призначена на 20-21 листопада поточного року. Про це йдеться у спільній заяві G20

Головуватиме на саміті король Саудівської Аравії Сальман бен Абдель Азіз Аль Сауд.

«Майбутній саміт G20 буде зосереджений на захисті життя людей і відновленні економічного зростання. Для цього будуть розглянуті вразливі місця, які розкрилися під час пандемії, і закладені основи для світлого майбутнього», – мовиться у заяві.

Станом на 28 вересня у світі підтвердили понад 33 мільйона випадків COVID-19, померли майже 998 тисяч пацієнтів, одужали – майже 23 мільйона.
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There are all kinds of apps that rate the air quality of your home inside and outside. But one young programmer has created one that has taken off in his native Macedonia. Now it’s also expanding worldwide. VOA`s Jane Bojadzievski reports.
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A U.S. federal judge has temporarily halted a Trump administration order to ban the popular video app TikTok from U.S. app stores. The ban was due to go into effect at the end of the day Sunday by order of the U.S. Commerce Department, the latest move targeting what administration officials have said are security concerns with Chinese companies. The judge gave lawyers for TikTok and the administration until Wednesday to meet and propose a schedule for further proceedings in the case.  TikTok lawyers argued at a Sunday hearing that banning the app would infringe on the free speech rights of its users, while also bringing irreparable harm to the company’s business. “We will continue defending our rights for the benefit of our community and employees,” the company said in a statement welcoming the judge’s decision. The U.S. head office of TikTok is seen in Culver City, California, Sept. 15, 2020.The Commerce Department said after the ruling that an executive order President Donald Trump issued in August outlining concerns that TikTok collects a wide range of data that could end up in the hands of the Chinese government “is fully consistent with the law and promotes legitimate national security interests.”   The statement said the government is complying with the injunction but intends to “vigorously defend” the executive order and its implementation from legal challenges. The Trump administration also sought to shut another popular app, WeChat, out of U.S. app stores, before a judge issued an injunction a week ago stopping that ban as well.   China has rejected the U.S. allegations that the apps present security concerns, while accusing the United States of bullying Chinese companies. The Justice Department asked Friday for the WeChat ban to be allowed to go into effect while that legal case plays out, arguing that allowing the app to continue to be available to U.S. users will cause the country harm. TikTok has sought to alleviate U.S. concerns by forming a partnership with two U.S. companies, Oracle and WalMart.  The deal has not been finalized, and there have been conflicting statements among the parties about how much of the new venture each would own. Trump initially said he gave his blessing to the arrangement, before stating it would not go forward if TikTok’s parent company had any ownership stake in the new company. TikTok said after Sunday’s ruling that it will “maintain our ongoing dialogue with the government to turn our proposal, which the President gave his preliminary approval to last weekend, into an agreement.” 
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Lawyers for TikTok pleaded with a U.S. federal judge on Sunday to delay the Trump administration’s ban of the popular video sharing program from app stores set to take effect at the end of the day, arguing the move would infringe on First Amendment rights and do irreparable harm to the business.The 90-minute hearing came after President Donald Trump declared this summer that TikTok was a threat to national security and that it either sold its U.S. operations to U.S. companies or the app would be barred from the country.TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is scrambling to firm up a deal tentatively struck a week ago in which it would partner with tech company Oracle and retailer Walmart and that would get the blessing of the Chinese and American governments. In the meantime, it is fighting to keep the app available in the United States.The ban on new downloads of TikTok, which has about 100 million users in the U.S, was delayed once by the government. A more comprehensive ban is scheduled for November, about a week after the presidential election. Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said he would make a decision by late Sunday, leaving TikTok’s fate hanging.In arguments to Nichols, TikTok lawyer John Hall said that TikTok is more than an app but rather is a “modern day version of a town square.””If that prohibition goes into effect at midnight, the consequences immediately are grave,'” Hall said. “It would be no different than the government locking the doors to a public forum, roping off that town square” at a time when a free exchange of ideas is necessary heading into a polarized election.  TikTok lawyers also argued that a ban on the app would stop tens of thousands of potential viewers and content creators every month and hurt its ability to hire new talent. In addition, Hall argued that a ban would prevent existing users from automatically receiving security updates, eroding national security.  Justice Department lawyer Daniel Schwei sought to undercut TikTok lawyers’ argument, saying that Chinese companies are not purely private and are subject to intrusive laws compelling their cooperation with intelligence agencies. The Justice Department has also argued that economic regulations of this nature generally are not subject to First Amendment scrutiny. Plaintiffs can’t claim a First Amendment right in hosting TikTok itself as a platform for others’ speech because merely hosting a platform is not an exercise of the First Amendment, the Justice Department contends.  “This is the most immediate national security threat,” Schwei argued. “It is a threat today. It is a risk today and therefore it deserves to be addressed today even while other things are ongoing and playing out.”Schwei also argued that TikTok lawyers failed to prove it would suffer irreparable business harm.The Justice Department laid out its objections to TikTok’s motion for a temporary injunction in a brief under seal, but it was unsealed in redacted form to protect confidential business information.Trump set the process in motion with executive orders in August that declared TikTok and another Chinese app, WeChat, as threats to national security. The White House says the video service is a security risk because the personal information of its millions of U.S. users could be handed over to Chinese authorities.Trump has said he would approve a proposed deal in which Oracle and Walmart could initially own a combined 20% of a new U.S. entity, TikTok Global. Trump also said he could retract his approval if Oracle doesn’t have “total control.”The two sides of the TikTok deal have also appeared at odds over the corporate structure of TikTok Global. ByteDance said last week that it will still own 80% of the U.S. entity after a financing round. Oracle, meanwhile, put out a statement saying that Americans “will be the majority and ByteDance will have no ownership in TikTok Global.”Chinese media have criticized the deal as bullying and extortion, suggesting that the Chinese government is not happy with the arrangement. ByteDance said Thursday it has applied for a Chinese technology export license after Beijing tightened control over exports last month in an effort to gain leverage over Washington’s attempt to force an outright sale of TikTok to U.S. owners.  China’s foreign ministry has said the government will “take necessary measures” to safeguard its companies but gave no indication what steps it can take to affect TikTok’s fate in the United States.TikTok is suing the U.S. government over Trump’s Aug. 6 executive order, saying it is unlawful. So are resulting Commerce Department prohibitions that aim to kick TikTok out of U.S. app stores and, in November, essentially shut it down in the U.S., it claimed.The Chinese firm said the president doesn’t have the authority to take these actions under the national security law he cited, that the ban violates TikTok’s First Amendment speech rights and Fifth Amendment due-process rights, and that there’s no authority for the restrictions because they are not based on a national emergency.
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