Trilateral meeting of the Ukrainian government, creditors and the IMF ended in the US

Trilateral meeting in Washington between the Special Committee of creditors of Ukraine, representatives of the Ukrainian government and the International Monetary Fund ended on Tuesday evening. Key agreement was not reached; however, the parties agreed their positions on the issue of restructuring the state debt of Ukraine.

The main objective of this meeting was not originally intended to achieve any of the key agreements between Ukraine and the creditors. The talks were of a technical nature and sides compared economic indicators and forecasts for Ukraine, in particular, "the ability of the Ukrainian side to pay its debts."

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Fifty Countries Sign the Articles of Agreement for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Fifty Countries Sign the Articles of Agreement for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Representatives from 57 Prospective Founding Members (PFMs) of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) gathered on June 29, 2015 in Beijing at a Signing Ceremony of the Bank's Articles of Agreement at the Great Hall of the People.

50 PFMs signed the Articles, including: Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Luxembourg, Maldives, Malta, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. The Articles remain open for signing by the remaining 7 Prospective Founding Members until the end of 2015.

2 years after spying flap, Obama and Brazil's Rousseff declare end to chapter of tense ties

By JOSH LEDERMAN, Associated Press

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff speaks as President Barack Obama listens during their joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, June 30, 2015. The president and visiting Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff sought Tuesday to cast their nations as "natural partners" collaborating closely on critical issues like climate and regional diplomacy, glossing over recent tensions over spying that have strained relations between the U.S. and Brazil.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two years after revelations about U.S. spying frayed ties between their countries, President Barack Obama and visiting Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff publicly closed that chapter Tuesday, declaring that the relationship between the U.S. and Brazil is on an upward swing.

Embryos and the law (Legal prophylactics)

IN 2010 Jacob Szafranski and Karla Dunston decided to undergo in vitro fertilisation (IVF) to create and freeze embryos together. After the couple broke up, Mr Szafranski sued Ms Dunston to prevent her from using their three frozen embryos. Ms Dunston, rendered infertile from chemotherapy treatments, filed a counterclaim seeking sole custody and control over the embryos so that she may one day have children.

This month an Illinois state appeals-court affirmed a circuit-court ruling in favour of Ms Dunston. Because the couple never signed a contract specifying who controlled the embryos, the court found Mr Szafranski agreed to allow Ms Dunston to have his child when he provided his sperm to fertilise her egg. 

Common Personal Injury Questions

If I get injured in an accident, how long do I have to make a claim?

The time you have to file a lawsuit will vary from state to state depending on their statute of limitations. Most states allow for claims to be made within 2 years of the injury, however, you should be sure to check your individual states rule or consult with a local attorney. If you’re debating whether or not to pursue a claim now or later down the road it will generally be to your benefit to file sooner than later as it’s typically easier to collect evidence and prove damages before too much time has passed.

What do I need to start the personal injury claim process?

Whether you’ve been in an accident or if you’ve slipped and fell, you need to take care of yourself; but if you’re considering filing a claim there are some steps you can take to simplify the process. First, save all your documents and keep records of your own because you’ll need evidence if you ever file suit. Everything from doctor’s bills, lost wages, contact information of witnesses, and pictures or descriptions of the scene can help you argue your case. Once you have everything gathered you’ll need to decide whether to hire an attorney or to proceed ahead on your own—either way, having all your documents in order beforehand will help you as you move forward.

Groysman: decentralization reform will trigger most of reforms in Ukraine

Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Groysman has said that the draft law on introduction of decentralization amendments into the Constitution of Ukraine would be submitted for the consideration by the Head of state.

Once the President submits the draft constitutional amendments for parliamentary consideration, the Verkhovna Rada will have two weeks to eye, support or reject them. The Head of the Verkhovna Rada called on the deputies to unite and take responsibility.

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Ukraine to see the opening of the first Center providing administrative services of the new model - technical and professional

The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has signed a memorandum with the local authorities of Odesa region and non-governmental charitable organization that envisages the establishment in Odesa of Center for providing administrative services of the new format in the shortest possible time, where Ukrainians will be able to get quickly and without bribes the whole list of administrative services provided by the judiciary and local authorities.

According to Justice Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Petrenko, a pilot project, which the Ministry of Justice will implement together with the local authorities and representatives of NGOs, provides for the establishment of a center, at which a regular Ukrainian will receive service from a state employee and not the requirement to give a bribe.

"Odesa will see the opening of the first in Ukraine the most technical and professional center of administrative services. A Ukrainian citizen will be able to relax here and get quality service, and will not face the red tape, queues and arrogance. This will be the model that has to work across the country," the Justice Minister noted.

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Parliament permits arrest of Court of Appeals chairman

The Verkhovna Rada approved the appeal of the Prosecutor General to detain and arrest chairman of Kyiv's Court of Appeals Anton Chernushenko.

In turn, 276 deputies voted for his detention. 273 MPs voted for the decision to arrest the Court of Appeals chairman.

As reported earlier, on June 24, the Prosecutor General's Office reported Chernushenko was suspected of committing serious criminal offenses. Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin initiated that he should be removed by the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine from performing his duties and appealed to the parliament with a request for permission to arrest Chernushenko.

The initiator of the document is MP Ruslan Knyazevich, who is chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Policy and Justice.

Average monthly wages and salaries of women and men by type of economic activity in 2015

(UAH)

Type of activity	Average accrued wages of a staff member
	female				male
	1 quarter	1 half-year	9 months	year	1 quarter	1 half-year	9 months
Total	3122				4238
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	2458				2762
of which agriculture	2378				2592
Manufacturing	3434				4688
Construction	2807				2993
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	3534				4508
Transportation and warehousing, postal and courier activities	3341				4351
of which:
transportation	3802				3924

Divided U.S. Supreme Court upholds Oklahoma lethal injection process

The Supreme Court on Monday found that a lethal injection drug used by Oklahoma does not violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment, a ruling that provoked a caustic debate among the justices about the death penalty in America.

The 5-4 ruling, with the court's five conservatives in the majority, prompted liberal Justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg to say for the first time they believe capital punishment as currently practiced may be unconstitutional. They are the only members of the court to have expressed such views.

The decision was a defeat for death penalty foes and for the three death row inmates who challenged the use of a sedative called midazolam as part of Oklahoma's lethal injection process, saying it cannot achieve the level of unconsciousness required for surgery, making it unsuitable for executions.

Радник Яресько пояснив різницю між Україною та Грецією

Igor Sikorsky

1889 (Kyiv, Ukraine) – 1972 (Easton, CT, United States)

Sikorsky was a Ukrainian-American aviation pioneer in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

He designed and flew the world’s first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft in 1913, and the first airliner, Ilya Muromets, in 1914. In 1939, Sikorsky designed and flew the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the first viable American helicopter, which pioneered the rotor configuration used by most helicopters today. 

Sikorsky modified the design and created the Sikorsky R-4, which became the world’s first mass-produced helicopter in 1942.

Additionally, after immigrating to the United States in 1919, Sikorsky founded the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in 1923 and developed the first of Pan American Airways’ ocean-conquering flying boat airliners in the 1930s.

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Athens Is Being Blackmailed

Greece’s creditors hope that by unleashing chaos, they can bring the country to its knees ahead of Sunday's referendum. Greeks must not give in.

If the Greek government thinks it should hold a referendum, it should hold a referendum. Maybe it would even be the right measure to let the Greek people decide whether they’re ready to accept what needs to be done.” Fine words from Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, on May 11. Yet on June 26, when prime minister Alexis Tsipras duly announced a referendum on whether the Greek government should accept its creditors’ highly unsatisfactory final offer, Schäuble and other eurozone finance ministers reacted very differently. They cut off negotiations with Athens, sabotaged the referendum, and set Greece on a course for capital controls, default, and potentially even euro exit. Democracy? What’s that?

The Ministry of Finance statement on negotiations with the ad hoc Creditors Committee

The Ministry of Finance regrets that for the last three months the members of the ad hoc Creditors Committee have consistently refused to enter direct negotiations with Ukraine under standard confidentiality terms. 

Concerns about the impact of receiving confidential information on their trading activities has been used as an excuse not to meet with the Ukrainian representatives, including Minister Jaresko, to negotiate the terms of a debt operation that meets the three targets in Ukraine’s IMF program.

In addition, and despite previous statements to the contrary, the proposal by the ad hoc Creditors Committee does not meet the three criteria agreed with the IMF. That proposal includes utilizing $8 billion from the international reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine for no consideration. This measure has been strongly rejected by the IMF in their statement of 12 June 2015. 

Situation in Ukraine's eastern regions. Map

The situation in eastern Ukraine remains tense. Despite the declared ceasefire, Russian-backed terrorists continue to fire at Ukrainian army positions and settlements in Donbas.

The map reflecting the situation in Donbas as of 12.00 on June 29 has been released by the information and analytical center of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council.

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The Next Few Days Have the Potential to Transform Greece and Europe

Neil Irwin

As it turns out, the Greek crisis ends not with a bang, but with a referendum.

It has been easy to ignore the doings in Greece for the last few years, with the perpetual series of summits in Brussels that never seem to resolve anything. But it’s time to pay attention. These next few days are shaping up to become a transformational moment in the 60-year project of building a unified Europe. We just don’t yet know what sort of transformation it will be.

The immediate headlines that got us to this point are these: After an intractable series of negotiations over a bailout extension with Greece’s creditors, the nation’s left-wing government left the table Friday and said it would hold a referendum on July 5. Greek leaders think the offer on the table from European governments and the International Monetary Fund is lousy, requiring still more pension cuts and tax increases in a depressed economy, and intend to throw to voters the question of whether to accept it.

Why Ukrainians Are Speaking More Ukrainian

It’s been 16 months since the first Ukrainian soldier was shot by Russian troops in soon-to-be occupied Crimea. Since then, Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine has presented the country’s Russian-speaking population with some tricky questions about identity. 

“I’m afraid of speaking Russian now, because Putin might want to protect me” — that became the frequently repeated joke last year after the Russian president made it clear he considered Russian-speakers in Ukraine to be endangered by Kiev’s new government.

Now many Russian speakers in Ukraine — who live primarily in the country’s east and in large cities — are demonstratively turning to Ukrainian as a badge of self-identification. A concise tutorial on how to switch from Russian to Ukrainian, written by a Kiev blogger, has earned thousands of shares and reposts.

5 конституційних уроків від Мазепи-Орлика для Порошенка-Гройсмана

Микола Томенко

Народний депутат України

Історія української Конституції підказує дуже багато уроків для сьогоднішньої конституційної дискусії. Зокрема, як відомо, документ, що зветься Конституцією Пилипа Орлика, насправді був документом колективним і виник після аналізу помилок та поразки гетьмана Івана Мазепи і його команди під Полтавою у червні 1709 року.

Мазепа і Орлик прекрасно розуміли, що прості люди, які проживають в містечках і селах, сім'ї військових тощо занадто затиснуті великою кількістю податків, не мають достатніх прав і вольностей, а тим більше – знають про корупцію в оточенні тодішньої влади. Окрім того, швидка геополітична зміна курсу Івана Мазепи від стратегічного партнерства з Росією до стратегічного партнерства зі Швецією зокрема та Європою загалом не була донесена та роз'яснена широкому загалу.

Щоб отримати довіру українського суспільства, фактично, і були сформульовані статті основного закону, які би давали можливість, перш за все, простим людям переглянути ставлення до тодішньої влади (гетьмана і його команди) та, відповідно, заручитися її підтримкою. Отже, багато статей Конституції, які ми позначаємо як демократичні, справедливі і такі, що випередили у часі багато норм європейських конституцій, з'явилися ще 5 квітня 1710 року.

One of the prosecutors of Lviv region was arrested for drunk driving

In Lviv, community activists and crew television Espresso helped detain a local official. Drunk official from the regional prosecutor's office violated the driving rules of the road and running away from guards.

We will do everything to ensure security of the state

Ukraine has never had such a great authority and support in the international arena. We are doing everything to ensure security of the state, the President said commenting on the decision made by the EU Council of Foreign Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe this week.

Speaking of the anniversary of the Association Agreement in the course of the interview to "Inter" TV channel, the President emphasized that a year ago not only the Agreement was signed, but also the decision on sanctions against Russia was made by the EU after the unprecedented speech of the Ukrainian President at the session of the EU Council. "It would be impossible without the Association Agreement," the President noted reminding the decision to prolong sanctions against Russia until the end of 2015 made by the EU Council of Foreign Ministers this week.

What exactly does 'one' mean? Court of Appeal passes judgement on thorny ,

What is the meaning of one? It’s a question that has occupied the minds of the greatest thinkers such as Philo of Alexandria, who believed that the numeral one was God’s number and so the basis of all other numbers.

Two millennia later, in the august surroundings of the Royal Courts of Justice in London, three judges in the Court of Appeal last week also deliberated on the meaning of one. They came to the conclusion that one does not necessarily mean one at all – because it can actually include anything greater than or equal to a half and less than one-and-a-half.

In a patent dispute between two pharmaceutical giants arguing over who owns the royalty rights to a lucrative wound-dressing solution, their lordships sat in judgment over an issue that would have tested the mettle of the finest mathematical logicians; and in the process coined a new legal definition of “one”.