Новости за 06.03.2017

Armed groups surrounded Timbuktu on Monday, the defense ministry said, preventing Malian interim authorities from being installed there under a peace pact meant to end years of lawlessness. The return of state authority to the city was supposed to fill a vacuum that has turned northern Mali into a launch pad for jihadi attacks across the vast region bordering on the Sahara Desert. Banks, schools and shops were shuttered and the city's streets nearly deserted, barring patrols by U.N. peacekeepers... Читать дальше...

European regulators on Monday cleared Hungary to expand its Paks nuclear plant, approving a project that will extend Russia's influence over the energy policy of a state that has actively promoted its interests within the EU. Budapest signed a 12 billion euros ($12.7 billion) deal for two new reactors with Russia in 2014, to be built by state atomic energy corporation Rosatom. After a lengthy probe, European Union state aid regulators said on Monday that government measures within the plan would... Читать дальше...

A push by Poland's Eurosceptic government to remove fellow-countryman Donald Tusk from one of the top jobs in the European Union failed to win any public support on Monday as EU foreign ministers met to discuss it in Brussels. But Poland, which is also at loggerheads with Brussels over climate change, migration and its treatment of judges and the media, was signaling it would not budge — possibly setting the stage for a showdown at a summit of EU leaders on Thursday. Tusk's first term expires... Читать дальше...

In Kenya, a judge ruled Monday that a government program to install a monitoring system on mobile phone networks will remain suspended until the end of May. That is when the court will hear arguments in a case filed by an activist last month that challenges the program, alleging it is a vehicle for mass surveillance. Kenyan media reported in February the Communications Authority of Kenya had written to the country's three top mobile service providers to request access to their computer systems in order to install a device management system. Читать дальше...

A government official says police in Nepal have opened fire on protesters who were attempting to disrupt a political rally, killing at least three. Many others on both sides were reportedly injured. Home Ministry official Bal Krishna Panthi said police first tried to disperse the protesters with bamboo batons and tear gas before firing their guns. He said three people were fatally shot. Panthi said 33 police officers were injured in the clash, but could not say how protesters were hurt. The... Читать дальше...

Live from Los Angeles, it's La La Land live! Lionsgate announced Monday that "La La Land In Concert: A Live-to-Film Celebration" will come to the Hollywood Bowl on May 26-27. The live shows will be conducted by composer Justin Hurwitz, who won two Academy Awards last month for his work on the movie's music. The show will include a 100-piece symphony orchestra, choir and jazz ensemble, along with the film's original vocal recordings from Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and John Legend. The movie will play along while the musicians perform. Читать дальше...

Slovenia's president said Monday his invitation to host a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin still stands despite the talk of the Kremlin's meddling in the American elections. Borut Pahor told The Associated Press that a "tradition" of first meetings between U.S. and Russian presidents in the small Alpine state shouldn't be discarded — and Slovenia is also the U.S. first lady's native land. In June 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush and Putin had... Читать дальше...

Sixty-six years ago today, the famed espionage trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg opened in a federal court in New York. The couple stood accused of selling nuclear secrets to the Russians at the height of the Cold War. A series of developments after the end of the World War II created the belief the Soviet Communists were working toward global domination and that the Soviet Union posed a threat to the United States.  Perhaps the most alarming took place in August 1949, when the Soviets conducted... Читать дальше...

Violence is the biggest challenge facing women around the world as progress in gender equality is erratic and at times a baffling contradiction, said the top official at U.N. Women ahead of International Women's Day. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of U.N. Women, said despite decades of pushing for equal rights, no one nation could call itself gender equal with countries making advances in some areas yet backsliding in others. Mlambo-Ngcuka described the global gender pay gap of 24 percent as "the biggest robber" of women. Читать дальше...

A look at the best news photos from around the world.

In Malawi, the head of the former ruling party is expected in court Tuesday on allegations he fraudulently granted citizenship documents to more than 50 foreigners in 2013 when he was minister of home affairs.  Uladi Mussa surrendered himself Monday at the office of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, or ACB, in the capital Lilongwe. “So since he came in today, this morning, to hand himself, our investigators have just sent him to the police station for safe custody," said Egrita Ndala, an ACB spokesperson... Читать дальше...

Thai veterinarians on Monday removed 915 coins from a 25-year-old sea turtle which had been swallowing items thrown into her pool for good luck, eventually limiting her ability to swim. The coins and other objects removed from the turtle named Omsin — piggy bank in Thai — weighed 5 kg (11 lb). The turtle itself weighed 59 kg (130 lb). The green sea turtle, living at a conservation center in Sriracha, Chonburi, east of the Thai capital of Bangkok, had been finding it hard to swim normally because of the weight. Читать дальше...

North Korea fired missiles off its east coast. Malaysia and North Korea trade barbs as they expel envoys. Plus, South Korea’s Lotte shopping centers face closures in China. VOA’s Steve Miller has your Asia news, in a minute.

Young adults who spend a lot of time looking for social connections on social media could instead find themselves feeling socially isolated, a new study suggests. Researchers looked at the social media habits of 1,787 American adults aged 19 to 32, asking them how much they used 11 popular social media sites, including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and LinkedIn, among others. After controlling for various demographic factors, they found that people who used social media more... Читать дальше...

Q: Who is subject to the suspension of entry under the Executive Order (EO)? Foreign nationals from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen, who are outside the U.S. who do not have a valid visa on the effective date of this order are not eligible to enter the U.S. while the temporary suspension remains in effect. Q: Will in-transit travelers within the scope of the EO be denied entry into the U.S.? Those individuals who are traveling on valid visas and arrive at a U.S. port of entry will still be permitted to seek entry into the U.

The Supreme Court has passed a case of a transgendered high school student on bathroom access back to a lower court without ruling. The case was sent back Monday to the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in state of Virginia, the same court that last year ruled in favor of the student. High school student Gavin Grimm had sued the Gloucester County School Board for the right to use the public school's boys bathroom.  Grimm, who was born female, but identifies as male, argued the... Читать дальше...

On March 6, 2007, African Union peacekeepers deployed in Mogadishu to help protect the Somali government, then facing a fierce onslaught from Islamist militias.  A full decade later, the AU troops remain the main source of protection for the government and they still patrol major roads linking the Somali capital to the regions, to the dismay of Somali Defense Minister Abdulkadir Sheikh Ali Dini. "First of all, I regret that Somali problems brought foreign troops into the country," he said. "I... Читать дальше...

European leaders are pursuing a new tack in their bid to dissuade the Trump administration from pulling out of the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change. Withdraw and miss out on economic and commercial opportunities in clean growth, the Europeans are warning Washington policy makers. In back channel discussions, the Europeans are emphasizing a lower carbon future is now inevitable and a United States that’s not fully on board will lose out in terms of energy innovation and clean energy job creation. Читать дальше...

Afghan officials say a month-long military operation, backed by American air power, has killed at least 250 Islamic State militants in an eastern province bordering Pakistan. A regional military spokesman spoke to VOA at the conclusion of the anti-IS offensive that focused on the Kot and Deh Bala districts of Nangarhar, where the fatalities occurred. Several villages in the area have now been cleared of Daesh (IS) fighters, according to the spokesman, using an Arabic acronym for the Middle East-based jihadist group. Читать дальше...

As China’s economy slows to growth rates unseen in more than 25 years, the country is under increasing pressure to create jobs. Coastal cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and the capital of Beijing have long been magnets for those seeking better jobs and higher wages, areas such as China’s northeast Rust Belt are struggling to find ways to keep talent at home. VOA’s Bill Ide visited Shenyang, the capital of northeastern Liaoning Province and has more.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a new executive order Monday, barring travelers from six countries to the United States for three months, and all refugees for four months, after federal appeals judges blocked a similar order from implementation last month. "This executive order is a vital measure for strengthening our national security," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said at press conference announcing the new ban. "It is the president's solemn duty to protect the American people." The... Читать дальше...

Iranian vessels came within 550 meters of a U.S. Navy ship Saturday in the Strait of Hormuz, in what a Navy official told VOA was an “unprofessional and unsafe” encounter that forced the U.S. ship to change direction. Iranian Revolutionary Guard attack craft surged in front of the USNS Invincible surveillance ship and sat in the water, forcing the American ship and other vessels to go around, the Navy official told VOA. “It is not safe to do something like that,” the Navy official said.  “Just... Читать дальше...

Two high-profile Vietnamese women are working outside official government channels to obtain better treatment for the Vietnamese woman accused in the alleged assassination of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "I do not want to see a Vietnamese woman without the necessary protection of the law," Le Hoai Anh, a Ho Chi Minh City businesswoman whose HAL Group distributes beauty products and spa systems, told VOA by telephone of her efforts to help Doan Thi Huong. According to social media posts... Читать дальше...

Indian police have raided brothels guarded by dogs in the southern state of Telangana, arresting 35 people on charges of sex trafficking girls as young as 13, investigators said Monday. Thirty women and girls were rescued in the overnight raids on March 1 and 2 in Medak district, in what police described as a "breakthrough" in cracking sex trafficking networks. "The brothels were guarded by big dogs, including Great Danes and Dobermans, making access very difficult," said Soumya Mishra of the Telangana criminal investigations department. Читать дальше...

A United Nations court has referred Turkey to the Security Council for failing to release a judge imprisoned for suspected involvement in last year's failed coup. The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) had given Turkey until February 14 to release Aydin Sefa Akay, a Turkish national who was due to hear a request for the case of a Rwandan genocide convict to be reopened. "The government of Turkey has failed to comply with its obligations," Judge Theodor Meron said in a written ruling Monday. Читать дальше...