Новости за 15.03.2017

The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to confirm former Republican senator Dan Coats to be President Donald Trump's director of national intelligence and to approve Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster as his national security adviser. The vote was 85-12 to confirm Coats, who also served as ambassador to Germany under former President George W. Bush. Fifty-one votes were required for confirmation. The only Republican who voted against Coats was Senator Rand Paul, one of the Senate's leading privacy advocates... Читать дальше...

Opposition activists with whistles and horns tried to spoil Prime Minister Viktor Orban's speech on Wednesday commemorating Hungary's 1848 revolution against the Habsburgs. Speaking outside the National Museum, Orban again took aim at the European Union bureaucracy in Brussels and international financial powers, saying they were not concerned about Hungary's past and future and that the country needs to be protected from migration. Several hundred protesters, many of them supporters of the small opposition party Egyutt (Together)... Читать дальше...

Ukraine will impose sanctions on the Ukrainian subsidiaries of Russian state-owned banks, the central bank said Wednesday, part of a wider crackdown over increased tensions in eastern separatist regions. The restrictions will ban the banks from taking money out of Ukraine, Kateryna Rozhkova, a deputy central bank chief, told journalists in a briefing. Five Russian state-owned banks are present in Ukraine with a combined market share of 8.6 percent and liabilities of 36 billion hryvnia  ($1.3 billion). Читать дальше...

A late-season snowstorm forced two federal lawmakers from different sides of the U.S. political divide to embark on a multi-state road trip, and they are broadcasting it live on social media. The two Texas congressmen, Republican Will Hurd and Democrat Beto O'Rourke, were both visiting their home districts this week and found that their flights back to Washington had been canceled because of a winter storm in the area. So the two decided to rent a car and make the 24-hour drive together from San Antonio back to the nation's capital. Читать дальше...

Ranch owners in Kenya’s Laikipia County, a plateau and home to some of the largest ranches and conservancies in the country, are living in constant fear following a several attacks by armed pastoralists.   According to witnesses, cattle herders equipped with AK-47 rifles, spears and poisoned arrows have been moving around the county, targeting fenced-in properties. The attackers have destroyed homes, maimed animals and burned lodges.   The attacks have escalated in recent months, leaving at least... Читать дальше...

Turkey's European Union affairs minister, Omer Celik, further ratcheted up tensions with the bloc Wednesday, saying Turkey has fulfilled the obligations of its refugee agreement and sees no reason to maintain the deal, contending Brussels has failed to keep its promises. Under last year's deal, Turkey agreed to step up security of its borders and accept migrants who entered EU countries illegally from its territory. The agreement helped slow the massive exodus of migrants into Europe. Ankara... Читать дальше...

Mining for Salt

Two disabled Syrian refugees who embarked on an extraordinary journey to escape IS terrorists have had an emotional reunion with family members in Germany. As Henry Ridgwell reports, while this incredible story has a happy ending, thousands of other vulnerable refugees remain stranded in southern Europe.

Representatives of the Holy See say the Catholic Church plans to actively lobby local churches and parishes around the world to do more to protect and assist thousands of unaccompanied migrant and refugee children at risk of exploitation and abuse. At the bidding of Pope Francis, a new section devoted to achieving a more vigorous response to the protection and assistance needs of refugees and migrants was established at the Vatican early this year.   International Catholic Migration Commission... Читать дальше...

In a new report presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council, a top U.N. official warned that conditions in South Sudan have gone from bad to worse in the last few months, and urged the council to launch a new investigation into potential human rights violations. Yasmin Sooka, chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, also said a hybrid court, agreed to in a 2015 peace agreement, should be operational by the end of this year. During a regular session of the Human Rights Council Tuesday... Читать дальше...

"We used to go to movies in Dawasa,” says Issa, 33, a gas station attendant on the road to Mosul. “We liked Van Damme, Jackie Chan. There were Indian movies.” Now a pitted urban wasteland, Dawasa was once a center of nightlife in Mosul, with popular restaurants, coffee shops, billiards halls and cinemas. But residents say those days were gone long even before Islamic State militants took over in 2014, with constant car bombings in the years prior. Now, Dawasa's main thoroughfare is deserted,... Читать дальше...

Researchers have found that a less strenuous form of exercise known as whole-body vibration may work just as well as regular exercise in helping to control diabetes. WBV, as it's called, could also benefit people who find it difficult to exercise.   Scientists say WBV transmits energy through the body when someone is standing, sitting or lying on a gently vibrating device, causing muscles to contract and relax many times each second.   The effect may be to strengthen and increase muscle mass... Читать дальше...

Colombian Vice President German Vargas Lleras has announced he will step down on Wednesday, fueling speculation that he will run in presidential elections next year. President Juan Manuel Santos nominated former national police chief General Oscar Naranjo as Vargas' successor, stating he wanted Naranjo to strengthen security and the drive to stamp out coca cultivation. Vargas, a member of the center-right Cambio Radical party, has said he has not decided whether to run for president, but Wednesday... Читать дальше...

Seventeen Republican U.S. congressmen have introduced a resolution calling on the House of Representatives to seek "economically viable" ways to combat global warming, setting the stage for a potential clash with President Donald Trump's administration. Trump has repeatedly expressed doubt about climate change and at one point said it was a hoax. Last week, his new environmental chief Scott Pruitt said carbon dioxide emissions are not a chief contributor to global warming. Rep. Ryan Costello... Читать дальше...

U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabian Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have agreed to explore ways to "further strengthen" strategic relations between the two countries, signaling a thawing of ties that cooled under President Barack Obama's administration after it reached a 2015 nuclear agreement with regional rival Iran. The White House said Wednesday that the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to stability in the Middle East, which is confronted with Iran's nuclear ambitions and conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen.

Amid rapid urbanization, the HIV epidemic and increasing rates of non-communicable diseases, people in sub-Saharan Africa are especially vulnerable to kidney disease. Medical experts are meeting in Cameroon to examine ways of reducing the rising incidents of chronic kidney disease. A dialysis machine at the hemodialysis center in Cameroon's capital city, Yaounde, extracts blood from kidney patients, then filters and measures it before it is returned to the body. Among the hundreds of dialysis patients at at the center is Ngalla Priscilia. Читать дальше...

Vogue launched its newest international edition this month, targeting a niche audience in the Middle East that is fashion conscious, style-driven and wealthy. If its debut is anything to go by, the magazine promises to be bold, representative and deferential. The 22nd international edition of Vogue featured on its cover American supermodel Gigi Hadid, whose father is Palestinian, wearing an embellished, mesh veil covering half her face. With one eye peering out from beneath the veil, the magazine's... Читать дальше...

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Authorities in Puerto Rico say they have detained up to 30 migrants from the Dominican Republic in waters near the U.S. territory. Police said Wednesday that the migrants were found aboard a boat near the tiny Puerto Rican island of Desecheo. Thousands of Dominican migrants try to cross the dangerous Mona Passage every year in an attempt to land in Puerto Rico.

McDonald's has started testing mobile order-and-pay after acknowledging the ordering process in its restaurants can be "stressful." The company says it will gather feedback from the test before launching the option nationally toward the end of the year. It says mobile order-and-pay is now available at 29 stores in Monterey and Salinas, California, and will expand to 51 more locations in Spokane, Washington, next week. The rollout comes as customers increasingly seek out convenience through options like online ordering or delivery. Читать дальше...

It is tempting, says Godfrey Nwosu, to blame Nigeria’s rising food prices on something as simple as a drought that has battered the Lake Chad basin and sent crop yields tumbling across the region. If only it were that simple, Nwosu says. As the head of an organization that promotes Nigerian farming, he would be fielding endless calls from young upstarts eager to plant maize and cassava. Nwosu isn’t, however, and says he worries that the environmental shocks are only a starting point to this ongoing food crisis. Читать дальше...

Multiple Twitter accounts were hacked Wednesday to include tweets branding the Netherlands and Germany as "Nazi" and disseminating pro-Turkish government messages. The messages, in Turkish, are part of an escalation of tensions between Turkey and Europe ahead of a Turkish referendum on expanding presidential powers. Using the hashtags #Nazialmanya (NaziGermany) or #Nazihollanda (NaziHolland), hackers infiltrated hundreds of accounts of politicians, high-profile CEOs, publishers, government agencies and NGOs. Читать дальше...

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators Wednesday introduced legislation which calls for an increase in the number of visas available to Afghans who helped U.S. forces in positions such as interpreters. The bill calls for an extra 2,500 Special Immigrant Visas specifically for Afghans who assisted the U.S. military, often risking their lives. "This legislation would ensure the continuation of this vital Special Immigrant Visa program, and send a clear message that America will not turn its back on... Читать дальше...