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Ukraine Deepens Probe Against Burisma Founder to Embezzlement of State Funds

United Nations Expresses Concerns About Deteriorating Situation at Hong Kong Campus

The United Nations is calling on Hong Kong authorities to address the humanitarian crisis in the city’s Polytechnic University (PolyU). Rubert Colville, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the situation at the university was “clearly deteriorating” and urged the local authorities to “facilitate a peaceful solution,” according to a Nov. 19 press briefing. Intense clashes between police and protesters at PolyU began this weekend. On Sunday, the police surrounded the school and sealed off any exits preventing protesters from leaving. People were also prevented from entering, aside from medics and special mediators who arrived at the scene. Following the police barraging the campus with tear gas and projectiles, hundreds have either fled or voluntarily surrendered to the police. On Nov. 20 morning, John Lee, Hong Kong’s…

Ukraine's prosecutor-general Ruslan Ryaboshapka speaks to reporters during a press conference in Kiev on October 4, 2019. (SERGEI CHUZAVKOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Set in the backdrop of the House impeachment inquiry, Ukrainian officials have said they would deepen its investigation into the founder of Burisma Holdings to include the embezzlement of state funds.

Prosecutor General Ruslan Ryaboshapka said in an announcement Wednesday that Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky is suspected in the “theft of government funds on an especially large scale,” but did not provide more details, Reuters reported.

Allegations of corruption at Bursima are at the center of the House-led impeachment inquiry. Democrats have accused President Donald Trump of pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who sat on the board of Burisma until earlier this year. Trump, Ukrainian officials, and other White House officials have denied allegations of quid pro quo or bribery.

According to reports, Zlochevsky’s whereabouts are unknown to Ukrainian authorities. That means that investigation is effectively on hold, Ryaboshapka told reporters.

Ryaboshapka made no mention of the Bidens.

However, three Ukrainian lawmakers unveiled a document Wednesday showing Zlochevsky was suspected of using his position as Ukraine’s minister of ecology and natural resources to embezzle more than $30 million, the news agency reported. He was the minister of ecology from 2010 until 2012.

Former Vice President Joe Biden (L) with his son Hunter (R) at the Duke Georgetown NCAA college basketball game in Washington on Jan. 30, 2010. (Nick Wass/AP Photo) Former Vice President Joe Biden (L) with his son Hunter at the Duke Georgetown NCAA college basketball game in Washington on Jan. 30, 2010. (Nick Wass/AP Photo)

“Currently we are reviewing the criminal cases that have been previously pursued by the Prosecutor General’s Office,” Ryaboshapka had previously stated in October, reported the Kyiv Post. “The sphere you’re talking about features Zlochevsky, (tycoon Serhiy) Kurchenko and other people and companies—there are about 15 such cases.”

Ryaboshapka noted that the prosecutor’s office is “reviewing all cases that were closed or split or were under investigation in order to make decisions in cases when there were violations of procedure.”

Meanwhile, about a week ago, Ukrainian foreign minister Vadym Prystaiko said that U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland “never” linked aid to Ukrainian investigations into the 2016 elections or Biden.

“Ambassador Sondland did not tell us, and certainly did not tell me, about a connection between the assistance and the investigations. You should ask him,” Prystaiko said about Sondland, reported Reuters on Nov. 14.

“I have never seen a direct relationship between investigations and security assistance,” Prystaiko also remarked. “Yes, the investigations were mentioned, you know, in the conversation of the presidents. But there was no clear connection between these events.”

Zelensky also denied that Trump tried to pressure him during the July 25 phone call. He also denied any blackmail attempts.

“There was no blackmail,” Zelensky told reporters last month in Kyiv. “It wasn’t a subject of our talk.”

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Israel Heads Toward Unprecedented Third Election Within a Year

JERUSALEM—Israeli kingmaker politician Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday refused to endorse a candidate for prime minister, blaming both the contenders engaged in a tense standoff that has paralyzed Israeli politics and pushing the country toward a likely third election in less than a year. Lieberman’s comments came ahead of a midnight deadline for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rival, Benny Gantz, to form a coalition. Without Lieberman, Gantz appears unable to secure the required majority in parliament to be prime minister. If Israel is forced into a third election, it would be entering uncharted waters, with opinion polls already predicting a very similar deadlock. But a new campaign could benefit the embattled Netanyahu, who is expected to be indicted on corruption charges in the coming weeks. Netanyahu would be best-positioned to fight…