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Prezydent w West Point: Rosja eksportuje polityczną korupcję. Analityk: To przemówienie to przemyślany sygnał

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Dzisiaj amerykańskie przywództwo jest tak potrzebne, jak było w czasie dwóch wojen światowych i podczas zimnej wojny – mówił w czwartek prezydent Andrzej Duda do kadetów w West Point. Wskazał na Rosję jako kraj, który nie pomaga rozwiązać światowych kryzysów, za to „eksportuje polityczną korupcję”…
Prezydent mówił podczas spotkania z kadetami, że na międzynarodowej scenie są aktorzy – zarówno państwa, jak i podmioty niebędące państwami – którzy nieustannie próbują testować międzynarodowy porządek prawny. Wyzwaniem dla pokoju światowego – zaznaczył prezydent Andrzej Duda – są nieodpowiedzialne działania Korei Północnej, która otwarcie używa groźby prób jądrowych i kontynuuje wysiłki na rzecz rozwoju swych militarnych możliwości w tym zakresie.
Prezydent przywołał też zjawisko terroryzmu. Podkreślił, że tzw. Państwo Islamskie próbuje siać chaos na Bliskim Wschodzie, w Europie i w innym miejscach. Mówił też o konflikcie w Syrii, gdzie – zaznaczył – reżim od sześciu lat prowadzi wojnę przeciwko własnym obywatelom, zabijając lub zmuszając do opuszczenia swego kraju setki tysięcy z nich.
Dla mnie i dla moich rodaków największym zmartwieniem jest jednak nasze wschodnie sąsiedztwo. Mam na myśli Rosję, która złamała normy międzynarodowe i dokonała inwazji na swoich dwóch sąsiadów, Gruzję i Ukrainę – mówił prezydent. Rosję, która stara się podważyć europejską jedność, dokłada wszelkich starań, by odzyskać swoje dawne strefy wpływu. Rosję, która nie pomaga w znalezieniu rozwiązania kryzysów światowych i eksportuje polityczną korupcję – podkreślił Duda.
Zaznaczył, że przy wschodniej granicy Polski odbywają się właśnie rosyjsko-białoruskie ćwiczenia wojskowe Zapad 2017. Są one kontynuowane bez szacunku dla regulacji międzynarodowych. Nie jest tajemnicą, że w manewrach tych bierze udział o wiele więcej żołnierzy niż deklarowane 12,7 tys. – mówił Duda.
Podkreślił, że zaniżanie liczby żołnierzy faktycznie biorących udział w manewrach pozwala Rosji obejść regulacje wynikające z Dokumentu Wiedeńskiego, zgodnie z którym przy liczbie powyżej 13 tys. wymagana jest obecność obserwatorów międzynarodowych. Prezydent dodał, że poprzednie edycje manewrów Zapad – w 2009 i 2013 roku – obejmowały symulację bombardowania celów na terenie Polski za pomocą broni jądrowej. Zaznaczył, że manewry podobne do Zapad zostały też wykorzystane w przeszłości jako kamuflaż ataku na Gruzję i Ukrainę.
Prezydent ocenił, że wszystkie te zagrożenia wymagają odpowiedniej reakcji ze strony społeczności międzynarodowej. Ze względu na swój niezrównany potencjał Stany Zjednoczone muszą pozostać na czele. Dzisiaj przywództwo USA jest tak potrzebne, jak w czasie dwóch wojen światowych i zimnej wojny – oświadczył Duda.
Wyraził wdzięczność za zaangażowanie USA w polskie bezpieczeństwo. Polska jest teraz o wiele bezpieczniejszym krajem, kiedy przyjmujemy wojska amerykańskie na naszej ziemi. Po raz pierwszy od dwustu lat powitaliśmy obcokrajowców w Polsce z otwartymi ramionami – zauważył prezydent. Zapewnił, że Polska doceniając amerykańskie zaangażowanie, nie pozostaje jednak bezczynna, jeśli chodzi o działania na rzecz obronności, i robi wszystko, aby przyczynić się do wysiłków Stanów Zjednoczonych i NATO.
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Jak Polacy oceniają pracę prezydenta? Takiego wyniku Andrzej Duda jeszcze nie miał [SONDAŻ]
Jak dodał, Polska nieustannie zwiększa swe zdolności obronne poprzez budowę dobrze wyposażonej i wyszkolonej, nowoczesnej armii. Byliśmy jednym z pierwszych członków NATO, który wypełnił postanowienia szczytu NATO w Walii dotyczące przeznaczania na obronność 2 proc. PKB, a planujemy wydać jeszcze więcej, osiągając poziom 2,5 procent pod koniec następnej dekady – podkreślił prezydent.
Zaznaczył, że Polska aktywnie uczestniczy w realizacji decyzji warszawskiego szczytu NATO dotyczących wschodniej flanki Sojuszu, wysyłając oddziały na Łotwę i do Rumunii oraz patrolując niebo nad państwami bałtyckimi.
Prezydent podkreślił, że Polska popier a globalną koalicję przeciwko terroryzmowi. Jak przypomniał, wysłaliśmy do Jordanii myśliwce F-16 do przeprowadzania misji rozpoznawczych, jak również trenerów z sił specjalnych; nasza fregata uczestniczyła w misji morskiej NATO na Morzu Egejskim; utrzymujemy kontyngent w szkoleniowo-doradczej i pomocowej misji w Afganistanie (Resolute Support Mission), a także wracamy do misji szkoleniowej NATO w Iraku.
Zwrócił uwagę na zaangażowanie polityczne Polski w odbudowę globalnej architektury bezpieczeństwa. Przypomniał, że Polska została wybrana na niestałego członka Rady Bezpieczeństwa ONZ w latach 2018-2019. Przewodniczymy komisji przygotowawczej do konferencji przeglądowej stron Układu o nierozprzestrzenianiu broni jądrowej w 2020 r., w ramach której współpracujemy ściśle z USA w sprawie Korei Płn. – podkreślił prezydent.
Zaznaczył, że Polska jest zwolennikiem sankcji Unii Europejskiej wobec krajów, które łamią prawo międzynarodowe, i aktywnie uczestniczy w wysiłkach UE na rzecz rozwoju w Europy Wschodniej. Te działania zazwyczaj nie stanowią tylko nagłówków, ale pokazują naszą determinację i zaangażowanie na rzecz zapewnienia bardziej pokojowego świata – dodał Andrzej Duda.
Prezydent podkreślił, że dla Polski bardzo ważne jest bezpieczeństwo energetyczne. Rosja wykorzystuje swoje wpływy w europejskim sektorze energetycznym do manipulacji politycznych, dlatego jednym z naszych najważniejszych priorytetów jest dywersyfikacja dostaw energii – oświadczył.
Jak mówił, elementem działań dywersyfikujących jest budowa terminala LNG w Świnoujściu. Wyraził satysfakcję, że w czerwcu do Świnoujścia dotarła pierwsza dostawa amerykańskiego gazu skroplonego. Mamy nadzieję na dalszy rozwój współpracy w tej dziedzinie, ponieważ planujemy stać się regionalnym ośrodkiem dla amerykańskiego gazu i jako taki stanowić alternatywę dla regionu – powiedział prezydent.
Andrzej Duda mówił też o współpracy regionalnej Polski. Podkreślił, że naszym celem jest pełne wykorzystanie potencjału gospodarczego Europy Środkowej i Wschodniej poprzez budowę infrastruktury transportowej i energetycznej.
Poprzez projekty takie jak inicjatywa Trójmorza, która łączy 12 partnerów regionalnych, naszym celem jest osiągnięcie bardziej zrównoważonego i sprawiedliwego rozwoju w naszej części Europy – powiedział. Przypomniał, że podczas lipcowego szczytu państw Trójmorza w Warszawie obecny był też prezydent Donald Trump.
Według eksperta z Polskiego Instytutu Spraw Międzynarodowych przemówienie Andrzeja Dudy w West Point ma duże znaczenie symboliczne. Jak zauważył Andrzej Dąbrowski, jest to uczelnia, której historia łączy się z walką Polaków w amerykańskiej rewolucji, z Kościuszką i Pułaskim. Zdaniem eksperta fakt, że zwierzchnik polskich sił zbrojnych przemawiał do przyszłych i obecnych amerykańskich oficerów, którzy mogą pełnić swoją służbę również w Polsce, czy w innych krajach wschodniej flanki NATO, ma znaczenie na poziomie +meta+. Ci żołnierze będą mieli lepszy ogląd, kto jest ich sojusznikiem i do jakiego kraju jadą wykonywać swoją misję – stwierdził Dąbrowski.
To jest bardzo dobry, przemyślany i mocny sygnał dla amerykańskich sił zbrojnych, dla administracji amerykańskiej, ale też dla amerykańskiego społeczeństwa, że jesteśmy takim sojusznikiem niemalże podręcznikowym. Z perspektywy uprawiania polityki zagranicznej i wykorzystywania zdolności soft power, na jakie możemy sobie pozwolić w USA, to bardzo dobry ruch – podkreślił ekspert z PISM.
Odnosząc się do relacji polsko-amerykańskich przez pryzmat obecnej wizyty prezydenta Dudy w USA Dąbrowski zauważył, że w wystąpieniach prezydentów Polski i USA podczas środowej sesji ONZ w Nowym Jorku było widać podobny przekaz dotyczący wizji pokoju na świecie. Według eksperta w słowach Dudy i Trumpa szczególnie mocno wybrzmiała konieczność gwarantowania “prawa do wolnego i suwerennego samostanowienia o swoim losie różnych krajów”.

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Wisconsin seems a winner under GOP health care bill formula

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An inscrutably written provision in the Republican health care bill would apparently steer extra cash to Wisconsin.
An inscrutably written provision in the Republican health care bill would steer extra federal cash to Wisconsin, home state of one of the measure’s co-sponsors, according to health care analysts who’ve examined the legislation.
The language could mean “potentially hundreds of millions” of extra dollars for Wisconsin, said April Grady, a health care consultant. She and other analysts said they were not aware of other states that would benefit from the provision.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., is one of the co-sponsors of the health care overhaul that Republican leaders hope to push through the Senate next week.
The measure, the GOP’s final push to repeal much of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, would end its Medicaid expansion and subsidies for people buying private insurance and combine the money into new block grants for states. Its fate is uncertain.
The bill was chiefly written by GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, and it’s filled with provisions making some states winners and others losers. Generally, the measure would shift money from states that expanded their Medicaid programs for the poor under Obama’s statute, which tend to be run by Democrats, to the largely Republican-run states that shunned that expansion.
In a written statement provided by aides, Johnson said funding formulas to correct “the grossly unfair” distribution of money under Obama’s law needed to be changed “to reflect the unique circumstances of many states, including recognizing the innovative reforms of Wisconsin.”
The provision does not mention Wisconsin by name. But it lets some states that turned down extra federal funds to expand Medicaid to count the rejected money in a formula determining how large a state’s newly created block grant will be.
Wisconsin is among 19 states that declined to fully expand Medicaid under Obama’s law, which also provided generous federal reimbursements. Under Gov. Scott Walker, a GOP 2016 presidential contender, Wisconsin just partially expanded Medicaid and agreed to accept smaller federal subsidies.
The provision in the health care bill applies to states that expanded Medicaid only up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level and had that expansion in effect this past Sept. 1.
“As far as we can tell, the only state it’s applicable to is Wisconsin,” said Robin Rudwitz, a Medicaid analyst for the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
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© Source: http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/business/article174647801.html
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Vice Media Unionizes With Writers Guild East and Editors Guild

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About 430 Vice Media employees have unionized,
About 430 Vice Media employees have unionized, with the company management agreeing to be represented through the Writers Guild of America East and the Motion Picture Editors Guild.
The decision, announced on Thursday, came after a third-party check confirmed that a majority of the company’s content creators had signed cards with the WGA East and that a majority of the company’s post-production employees had signed cards with MPEG through Local 700 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
The staff and freelance employees work on video content for Vice.com, cable channel Viceland, and Vice programming on HBO. The WGA already represents approximately 100 journalists working on written content for Vice.com in a deal that was signed in 2015.
Talks were initiated with management following a May 1 letter from the Vice Union Organizing Committee. WGA East executive director Lowell Peterson said contract negotiations will start soon.
“Vice is at the forward edge of the media industry’s transformation,” he added. “The WGAE knows it is essential for people who create content in this dynamic environment to have a seat at the table as the way the work is done — the way the content is made and distributed — continue to change. We have built a constructive relationship with Vice management and applaud the company for continuing to respect the right of its employees to engage in collective bargaining.”
MPEG president Alan Heim said, “We’re proud to welcome aboard the post-production professionals whose talents and hard work helped build Vice into the news and entertainment juggernaut it has become. These craftspeople on the cutting edge of our industry have made clear that the future of work in this business is one in which traditional union values of mutual aid and solidarity remain vital.”
The WGA East has been active in organizing digital news sites in recent years, including Huffington Post, Gawker Media, and Salon Media.

© Source: http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/vice-media-unionization-writers-guild-editors-guild-1202565117/
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Golden State Warriors, arena authority at odds over Oracle debt – Silicon Valley

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The dispute apparently arises over what the team should pay once it vacates Oracle and moves to a new arena in San Francisco in 2019, seven years before the bond’s 30-year mark. To complicate matte…
OAKLAND — Two years away from a move to San Francisco, the Golden State Warriors and the authority operating Oracle Arena are at odds over how much debt the team owes.
Coliseum authority Executive Director Scott McKibben said this week the two sides have a difference in opinion over the remaining $55 million debt and will resume talks once the 2017-18 season begins.
“Our position has been they owe the net amount,” McKibben said. “Their position has been they owe less than that.”
At the heart of the issue is a 20-year lease signed in 1996 to include upgrades to the arena, which were to be paid over 30 years. The Warriors have dutifully paid $7.5 million a year as required by the agreement and plan to do so during a two-year extension to play at Oracle inked in 2016.
The dispute apparently arises over what the team should pay once it vacates Oracle and moves to a new arena in San Francisco in 2019, seven years before the bond’s 30-year mark. To complicate matters, the 1996 deal was between the authority and the team’s previous owners.
The 20-year-old license agreement said the NBA franchise may terminate it after 2007 by “paying the authority a termination payment in an amount sufficient to retire all of the then outstanding bonds, as well as other debts associated with the Arena Project.” After the agreement expired last year, the Warriors had the option to extend it up to five years but opted for a two-year extension.
McKibben and a spokesman for the Warriors would not go into detail about how much the dollar-amount difference is, but authority board member Ignacio De La Fuente said the 1996 agreement is “clear as water.”
“They still have to pay whatever the bonds are — period,” De La Fuente said.
Warriors spokesman Raymond Ridder, in a statement, said, “As we’ve always said, the Golden State Warriors will fulfill their obligations under the License Agreement.” He declined to elaborate.
Earlier this month, Oakland officials said the Warriors had not paid a bill totaling almost $816,000 for the June NBA Championship parade through downtown. Representatives from the team said they had questions about the bill, specifically how the amount due tripled from an early estimate and why the city is also now asking for $244,000 in costs from the 2015 championship parade.
Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, a former member of the Coliseum authority, said recent reports indicate the team is not hurting for money. ESPN this week reported the Warriors last season finished second in net income, taking home $91.9 million. Forbes has valued the franchise at $2.6 billion. Owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber paid $450 million for the team in 2010.
“I think it’s incredibly inappropriate for them to be threatening not to pay the full amount they owe. The people of Oakland are struggling and this is the public’s money,” Kaplan said. “I would hope they care enough about their reputation that they wouldn’t want to be seen as a deadbeat.”
The city of Oakland and Alameda County currently face $83 million in debt from renovations made to the Coliseum to lure the Raiders back to Oakland from Los Angeles in 1996. The Al Davis-led Raiders were not obligated to pay the debt.
McKibben is hoping the NFL will help extinguish the football stadium debt by using the $100 million it offered Oakland to build a new home for the Raiders.
“It would seem to me a logical next step would be for the NFL to consider that the tenant left town and left us with the mortgage,” he said.
NFL executive vice president Eric Grubman said he had no comment.
The city and county, which is facing the strong possibility of losing the Raiders, A’s and Warriors as Coliseum complex tenants, almost lost McKibben too. The executive director received an offer from former Oakland city administrator and incoming Santa Clara City Manager Deanna Santana to oversee Levi’s Stadium Authority but opted to stay in Oakland after he was given a matching counter offer.
Last week, the Coliseum authority board approved a three-year contract extension which brings McKibben’s annual salary up $50,000 a year to $300,000 and sweetened the deal with a $500-a-month car allowance.
Authority board members hope McKibben can guide the Coliseum through a major transition, with the Warriors and Raiders leaving town and the A’s saying they are focused on moving to a site by Laney College.
“We appreciate the wisdom and experience that Scott brings,” Oakland Councilman and authority board member Larry Reid said. “We remain hopeful that we can create a long-term home for the Oakland Athletics at this world class property. Our East Oakland site is unique in its development opportunities and the ease with which we can create something unique for the A’s that does not disrupt a neighborhood or the flow of Bay Area traffic. Scott can help us get there.”

© Source: http://www.siliconvalley.com/2017/09/21/golden-state-warriors-arena-authority-at-odds-over-oracle-debt/
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No kids left in rubble of quake-ravaged Mexican school

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There are no children left in the rubble of the elementary school that collapsed during Tuesday’s deadly earthquake in Mexico, the nation’s Navy said…
There are no children left in the rubble of the elementary school that collapsed during Tuesday’s deadly earthquake in Mexico, the nation’s Navy said Thursday.
Rescue work at the Enrique Rebsamen school, where at least 19 children and five adults were killed — captured international attention in part because of a 12-year-old girl who was discovered alive and who had been pinned beneath the rubble for more than 48 hours.
The condition of the girl, who has not been identified, was not immediately clear.
Worker Vladimir Navarro reported Thursday morning that rescuers were “just meters away from getting to the children,” but work was slow-going because they had to shore up what remained of the school so it would not collapse further on the five children believed to be inside.
The sight of the girl wiggling her fingers Wednesday became a symbol of the hope that drove thousands to dig through wrecked buildings looking for survivors of the magnitude-7.1 quake that killed at least 250 people.
At least 11 students have been rescued at the school.
The body of a 58-year-old woman was pulled from the debris Thursday morning, marking the school’s latest fatality.
With Post Wires

© Source: http://nypost.com/2017/09/21/no-kids-left-in-rubble-of-quake-ravaged-mexican-school/
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Facebook to release Russia ads to Congress amid pressure

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Facebook says it will release the Russia-backed, potentially illegal election ads that ran on its platform to congressional investigators.
Facebook will provide the contents of 3,000 ads bought by a Russian agency to congressional investigators.
The move Thursday comes amid growing pressure on the social network from members of Congress, who pushed it to release the ads. Facebook has already handed over the ads to federal authorities investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U. S. presidential election.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company is “actively working” with the U. S. government in its ongoing Russia investigations. Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post and live video on Thursday that he has directed his team to provide the ads, created by fake accounts linked to Russia, to Congress.
But Zuckerberg warned that Facebook is not going to be able to catch all undesirable material before it hits its social network.
“I’m not going to sit here and tell you we’re going to catch all bad content in our system. We don’t check what people say before they say it, and frankly, I don’t think our society shouldn’t want us to,” Zuckerberg said. ” If you break our community standards or the law, then you’re going to face consequences afterwards.”
He added: “We won’t catch everyone immediately, but we can make it harder to try to interfere.”
Zuckerberg hinted that the company may not provide much information publicly, saying that the ongoing federal investigation will limit what he can reveal.
“As a general rule, we are limited in what we can discuss publicly about law enforcement investigations, so we may not always be able to share our findings publicly,” he said.
The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee have been seeking to bring Facebook executives before their committee since the company first revealed the existence of the ads two weeks ago. But critics say Facebook should go further. They say the company should tell its users how they might have been influenced by outside meddlers.
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© Source: http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/business/article174654616.html
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Left in the dark: A stunned Puerto Rico seeks to rebuild

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Rescuers fanned out to reach stunned victims Thursday, and millions of Puerto Ricans faced the dispiriting prospect of weeks or even months without electricity after Hurricane Maria ravaged…
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – Rescuers fanned out to reach stunned victims Thursday, and millions of Puerto Ricans faced the dispiriting prospect of weeks or even months without electricity after Hurricane Maria ravaged the island.
Maria’s death toll across the Caribbean climbed to at least 19, nearly all of them on the hard-hit island of Dominica.
The storm slammed into Puerto Rico on Wednesday with 155 mph (249 kph) winds, the strongest hurricane to hit the U. S. territory in over 80 years.
It knocked out the entire electrical grid, destroyed homes and touched off ruinous flooding, though the full extent of the damage was still a question mark Thursday because communication with some towns was cut off.
Uprooted trees and floodwaters blocked many highways and streets across the island of 3.4 million people, creating a maze that forced drivers to go against traffic. Some people resorted to rafts and kayaks to get around. Police used loudspeakers to warn people about a 6 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew imposed by the governor.
Crumbled red roof tiles lay scattered across many roads, and residents sidestepped or ducked under dozens of black power lines. Officials were unable to say when electricity would return.
President Donald Trump approved a federal disaster declaration for the island, which got sideswiped by Hurricane Irma two weeks ago.
As of Thursday afternoon, Maria was moving off the northern coast of the Dominican Republic with winds of 120 mph (195 kph). The storm was expected to approach the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas late Thursday and early Friday. From there, it is expected to veer into the open Atlantic, no threat to the U. S. mainland.
Maria knocked down trees and power lines in the Dominican Republic. But Joel Santos, president of the country’s hotel association, said the hurricane did not damage the tourism infrastructure, even though it passed close to Punta Cana, the major resort area on the eastern tip of the island.
In the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan, towering eucalyptus trees had fallen nearly every other block over a main road dotted with popular bars, restaurants and coffee shops, some of them damaged.
Outside an apartment building, 40-year-old tourism company operator Adrian Pacheco recounted how he spent eight hours in a stairwell huddled with 100 other residents when the hurricane ripped the storm shutters off his building and wrecked three balconies.
“I think people didn’t expect the storm to reach the point that it did,” he said. “Since Irma never really happened, they thought Maria would be the same.”
The slog back to normalcy was in evidence Thursday, however, as residents removed storm shutters and lines began forming at the few restaurants with generator power. The sound of chain saws and small bulldozers could be heard across San Juan as firefighters removed trees and lifted toppled lamp posts.
Some neighbors pitched in to help clear the smaller branches, including Shawn Zimmerman, a 27-year-old student from Lewistown, Pennsylvania, who moved to Puerto Rico nearly two years ago.
“The storm didn’t bother me,” he said. “It’s the devastation. I get goosebumps. It’s going to take us a long time.”
Maria was blamed for at least 15 deaths in Dominica, two in the French Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe, and two more in Puerto Rico, including that of a man whose boat got caught in the storm off the island. Three people were rescued from the capsized vessel.
Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit cried as he spoke to a reporter on the nearby island of Antigua.
“It is a miracle there were not hundreds of deaths,” he said. He said his country is “going to need all the help the world has to offer.”
Even before Maria and Irma knocked out power to millions, Puerto Rico’s electrical grid was in sorry condition because of a lack of maintenance and a dwindling staff. The island has also been mired in a financial crisis that has resulted in tough austerity measures.
Edwin Rosario, a 79-year-old retired government worker, said the financial crisis that has sparked an exodus of nearly half a million Puerto Ricans to the U. S. mainland will only make the recovery harder.
“Only us old people are left,” he said as he scraped debris from the gutter in front of his house. “A lot of young people have already gone. … If we don’t unite, we’re not going to bounce back.”
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Trump piles economic action onto his NKorea military threats

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President Donald Trump added economic action to his fiery military threats against North Korea on Thursday, authorizing stiffer new sanctions in response to the Koreans’ nuclear weapons…
NEW YORK (AP) – President Donald Trump added economic action to his fiery military threats against North Korea on Thursday, authorizing stiffer new sanctions in response to the Koreans’ nuclear weapons advances. He said China was imposing major banking sanctions, too, but there was no immediate confirmation from the North’s most important trading partner.
Trump praised China for instructing its banks to cut off business with Pyongyang, but neither the Chinese nor Trump officials were ready to say so. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he had spoken at length Thursday with the head of China’s central bank but “I am not going to comment on confidential discussions.”
If enforced, the Chinese action Trump described could severely impede the isolated North’s ability to raise money for its missile and nuclear development. China, responsible for about 90 percent of North Korea’s trade, serves as the country’s conduit to the international banking system.
Trump’s announcement of U. S. action came as he met on the sidelines of the U. N. General Assembly with leaders from South Korea and Japan, the nations most immediately imperiled by North Korea’s threats of a missile strike. His executive order adds to a U. S.-led campaign to isolate and impoverish Kim Jong Un’s government until it halts the missile and nuclear tests that, combined with Trump’s threats, have stoked global fears of war.
The concern has intensified as Pyongyang has marched closer in recent months to achieving a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike America. The crisis has dominated the president’s debut at this week’s annual General Assembly meeting, where Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if forced to defend the United States or its allies.
“North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile development is a grave threat to peace and security in our world and it is unacceptable that others financially support this criminal, rogue regime,” Trump said Thursday as joined Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in for lunch. “Tolerance for this disgraceful practice must end now.”
The executive order significantly expands the U. S. Treasury Department’s ability to target individuals, companies and banks that finance and facilitate trade with North Korea, Trump said. He said it would also disrupt other avenues for trade that fund the North’s efforts “to develop the deadliest weapons known to humankind.”
Washington, however, is banking on Beijing’s help to get the North to stand down.
Trump commended Chinese President Xi Jinping for a “very bold” order by his nation’s central bank to stop China’s financial institutions from dealing with North Korea. Such action, if confirmed by China, would answer a longstanding request from the U. S. and its allies. They also want strict Chinese enforcement of U. N. sanctions that were tightened this month after North Korea’s most powerful nuclear test to date.
In recent months, the North also has launched a pair of intercontinental missiles believed capable of striking the continental United States and another pair that soared over Japanese territory.
Trump said the China action he described “was a somewhat unexpected move and we appreciate it.”
China remains leery of pressuring North Korea into collapse and has resisted cutting off its critical oil supplies, not wanting chaos on its border. Along with Russia, China wants the U. S. to seek dialogue with the North. American officials say the time isn’t right for any formal diplomatic process.
Several news outlets this month have reported Chinese steps to restrict banking transactions, but the government hasn’t made a formal announcement. China’s embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Thursday. Foreign Minister Wang Yi was due to address the General Assembly later.
Trump’s return to focusing on North Korea’s economy may temper international unease over his tough address Tuesday. He mocked Kim as a “Rocket Man” on a “suicide mission,” and sketched out potentially cataclysmic consequences. While Trump spoke of his own nation’s patience, he said that if “forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”
Trump’s messengers backed him up in television appearances Thursday. Vice President Mike Pence told Fox News: “We do not desire a military conflict. But the president has made it very clear, as he did at the U. N. this week, that all options are on the table and we are simply not going to tolerate a rogue regime in Pyongyang obtaining usable nuclear weapons that could be mounted on a ballistic missile and threaten the people of the United States or our allies.”
Trump’s heated language was rare for a U. S. president at the rostrum of the United Nations. But the speech was textbook Trump, dividing the globe into friends and foes and taking unflinching aim at America’s enemies. He drew a sharp rebuke from the North’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, who said, “It would be a dog’s dream if he intended to scare us with the sound of a dog barking.”
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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed reporting.
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Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ @mattpenn_99 and Lemire at http://twitter.com/ @JonLemire
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Dortmund: Eigentümer Intown hält Hochhaus-Räumung für nicht rechtens

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Der Hochhauskomplex ‘Hannibal II’ in Dortmund gehört – wie das vor einigen Wochen evakuierte Hochhaus in Wuppertal – dem Unternehmen Intown. Der Eigentümer des Gebäudes hält die Räumung für unangemessen und nicht rechtens.
Wegen schwerer Brandschutzmängel hat die Stadt Dortmund die Räumung eines riesigen Hochhauskomplexes mit knapp 800 Bewohnern gestartet. Die Menschen mussten am Donnerstagabend kurzfristig ihre Wohnungen verlassen. Die Sicherheitsmaßnahme diene dem Schutz der Mieter und sei unumgänglich, teilte die Stadt mit. Bei einem Brand in dem riesigen Komplex könne sich Rauch gefährlich schnell ausbreiten. Außerdem fehlten Rettungswege.
Die Eigentümerin des Gebäudes ist die Firma Intown GmbH, der auch das vor einigen Wochen wegen Brandschutzmängeln evakuierte Hochhaus in Wuppertal gehört. Das bestätigte eine Sprecherin des Unternehmens. Intown kritisiert das Vorgehen der Stadt Dortmund: “Erstmals heute haben wir von den detaillierten Brandschutzbedenken und baurechtlichen Themen Kenntnis erhalten und keinerlei Zeit für eine Reaktion in der Sache gehabt”, erklärte Intown-Chef Sascha Hettrich. Die Räumung sei nicht rechtens und unangemessen.
Die von der Stadt genannten Mängel hätten auch mit anderen Maßnahmen wie nur der Räumung der Tiefgarage, Brandwachen und einer Prüfung der Entrauchungsanlage vermieden werden können. Man wolle weitere Brandsachverständige hinzuziehen. “Ziel unsererseits ist die zügige Mängelbehebung und der Wiederbezug der Wohnungen durch die Mieter.”
Der Mieterverein Dortmund bezeichnete die Räumung als “dramatisch”. In dem Gebäude seien Instandhaltungsmaßnahmen vernachlässigt worden, kritisierte Geschäftsführer Rainer Stücker am Donnerstag.

© Source: http://www.rp-online.de/nrw/panorama/dortmund-eigentuemer-intown-haelt-hochhaus-raeumung-fuer-nicht-rechtens-aid-1.7098666
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Markets Right Now: Stocks fall for the first time this week

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Stocks are closing slightly lower on Wall Street, erasing the market’s gains from a day earlier.
The latest on developments in financial markets (All times local):
4 p.m.
Stocks are closing slightly lower on Wall Street, erasing the market’s gains from a day earlier.
Technology stocks fell the most Thursday. Apple lost 1.7 percent.
Supermarket operators and other consumer-focused stocks also fell. Kroger slid 2.8 percent.
“Harry Potter” publisher Scholastic sank 7 percent after reporting a disappointing quarter.
Industrial companies and banks led the gainers. General Electric rose 1.8 percent.
It was the first decline for the market this week.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 7 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,500.
The Dow Jones industrials fell 53 points, or 0.2 percent, to 22,359. The Nasdaq composite lost 33 points, or 0.5 percent, to 6,422.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.28 percent.
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11:45 a.m.
U. S. stock indexes edged lower in midday trading, wiping out modest gains from a day earlier.
Technology stocks were down the most Thursday. Apple lost 1.3 percent.
Supermarket operators and other consumer-focused stocks also fell. Kroger slid 2.2 percent.
Industrial companies and banks led the gainers.
Meal kit maker Blue Apron was up 1.8 percent after a rival company, Plated, agreed to be acquired.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 3 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,504.
The Dow Jones industrials fell 19 points, or 0.1 percent, to 22,393. The Nasdaq composite lost 22 points, or 0.4 percent, to 6,433.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.25 percent.
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9:35 a.m.
U. S. stock indexes are edging lower in early trading on Wall Street while several companies were moving on deal news.
Calgon Carbon, a maker of water and air filtration systems, soared 62 percent early Thursday after agreeing to be acquired by a Japanese company.
Ash Grove Cement jumped 75 percent after saying it would be bought by CRH, and meal kit maker Blue Apron was up 4 percent after a rival company, Plated, agreed to be acquired.
“Harry Potter” publisher Scholastic sank 10 percent after reporting a disappointing quarter.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 4 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,504.
The Dow Jones industrials fell 15 points, or 0.1 percent, to 22,395. The Nasdaq composite lost 22 points, or 0.4 percent, to 6,433.
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