Новости за 20.03.2017

A Russian man accused of helping develop and distribute malicious software designed to steal personal financial information pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of computer fraud. Mark Vartanyan, 29, who's known to have used the online alias "Kolypto," was arrested in Norway in October 2014 and was extradited to the U.S. in December. He entered a guilty plea in federal court in Atlanta after reaching a deal to cooperate with federal prosecutors, who have agreed not to seek more than five years in prison. Читать дальше...

Rights groups say a prominent activist in the United Arab Emirates has been detained after a lengthy search of his apartment. Amnesty International says Ahmed Mansoor was detained Monday in the emirate of Ajman after an overnight raid by 12 security officials who confiscated electronic devices and did not inform his wife where he was being taken. Several rights groups, including Amnesty, are calling for his immediate release. Mansoor received the prestigious Martin Ennals Award last year for bringing attention to arbitrary arrests... Читать дальше...

Uruguay will soon pull its soldiers out of a United Nations stabilization mission in Haiti that began operations in 2004 and is facing sharp cutbacks, the leader of the South American country announced Monday. President Tabare Vazquez said at a public event that his country's troop contributions to the Haiti mission will end this month and the roughly 250 Uruguayan peacekeepers will return home in early April. The country had as many as 1,000 forces deployed in Haiti at the height of the mission. Читать дальше...

Three men of Lebanese origin and allegedly linked to an attack claimed by so-called Islamic State on a German Christmas market were arrested at a Turkish airport heading to Europe, Turkish media reported Monday. The Turkish daily Milliyet said the suspects were German citizens of Lebanese origin and were stopped by anti-terror police at Istanbul's main Ataturk Airport after authorities received "intelligence tips" that the men were headed to Europe with a terror plan.   The reports do not specify how the men are connected to Anis Amri... Читать дальше...

Pakistan and India, after a gap of nearly two years, have revived talks on a World Bank-mediated treaty that regulates sharing of the Indus river and its tributaries between the nuclear-armed rivals. The two-day meeting of the Indus Water Commission began Monday in Islamabad and officials said the discussions focused on designs of three controversial hydropower projects India plans to build on the Chenab River. Pakistan believes the planned Pakal Dul, Lower Kalnai and Miyar power generation facilities violate the 1960 Indus Water Treaty... Читать дальше...

While Donald Trump's political fortunes were rising, his net worth was dropping to a mere $3.5 billion, or roughly a third of what he claimed during his successful campaign for the U.S. presidency, according to the latest Forbes list of the world's billionaires. Trump tumbled more than 100 spots to No. 544 on the magazine's 31st annual list, largely because of the impact of the slumping New York real estate market on his holdings. "Midtown Manhattan real estate is down; therefore, so is Donald... Читать дальше...

The World Bank reports Africa will receive the bulk of the $75 billion the International Development Association, or IDA, will spend to finance life-saving and life-changing operations over the next three years mainly in 30 of the world’s poorest, most fragile countries. The IDA is a part of the World Bank which supports anti-poverty programs in the most poor developing countries through long-term, no interest loans. The World Bank reports the African region will receive $45 billion of the $75 billion allocated for development purposes. Читать дальше...

A group of celebrities led by Hollywood actor Ben Stiller has joined a social media campaign to send food and water to Somalia through Turkish Airlines. Last weekend, the group raised more than $1 million online in less than 24 hours. Stiller said in a Twitter message posted Monday that the money has been used to purchase 60 tons of food that the airline will fly to Somalia next week.  Somali diaspora youth groups have been spearheading a similar movement online, following warnings from the U.N.... Читать дальше...

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

Turkish security forces carried out mass arrests of pro-Kurdish activists in the run-up to Tuesday's Nowruz celebrations, which mark the start of the Kurdish new year. Nearly 1,000 activists have been arrested in a week-long nationwide sweep by Turkish security forces. Authorities say the detentions are aimed at preventing possible attacks by the PKK Kurdish insurgent group, which has been fighting the Turkish state for greater minority rights. Turkey considers the PKK a terrorist organization. Читать дальше...

The four children of undocumented farm worker Lucia de la Cruz dive into the bushes on their way home from school when they see anybody who might be an immigration agent. "They live in fear," De la Cruz said, afraid they will be deported on the way to or from school in Homestead, Florida. Her children no longer want to attend classes. "It's like a ghost that can separate us. I'm the only one left because their father was already deported," De la Cruz said. She wants her children to grow up in the U.S.... Читать дальше...

Malaysia is gunning for a revamp of its aging naval fleet, as countries in the region prepare to face threats from the influx of Islamic State (IS) militants fleeing Mosul, and from rising tensions in the South China Sea. Defense spending in the Asia Pacific region is expected to hit $250 billion from 2016-20, IHS Janes Defence Weekly said in December, and Malaysia intends to improve on its capabilities alongside other states in the hotly contested South China Sea, even as its defense budget narrows. Читать дальше...

An 18-year-old female novice singer and a 23-year old barber-turned-rapper are the unlikely finalists of a televised talent contest providing Afghans a welcome distraction from the daily bloodshed in their country. The two are vying to become the next "Afghan Star." This year's season is the most tradition-breaking yet in a deeply conservative country where the Taliban once outlawed music and Western-style popular culture is widely frowned upon. Originally due to be broadcast live, the final... Читать дальше...

A plane that was carrying more than 20 people has crashed in the South Sudanese city of Wau, causing some injuries, but reportedly no deaths. South Supreme Airlines, which operated the plane, said all 21 people on board were safely evacuated after the plane crashed Monday while attempting to land. It said some of the passengers are receiving treatment at Wau Hospital. An aircraft engineer at the Wau airport, Paul Charles, said the plane tried to land in bad weather and hit a damaged truck on the side of the runway. Читать дальше...

Tanzania has announced a plan to send 500 doctors to Kenya after a doctors' strike paralyzed health services in the neighboring country for months. Kenyan doctors, however, say the government should not hire any foreign doctors but instead employ the more than 1,000 trained physicians who are unemployed. Tanzanian President John Magufuli announced the plan to dispatch the doctors after a recent meeting in Dar es Salaam with a visiting Kenyan delegation that included Kenya's health cabinet secretary, Cleopa Mailu. Читать дальше...

A 59.60-carat diamond known as "The Pink Star" is returning to auction next month and could fetch a record $60 million, three years since it was sold for even more - only for the buyer to pull out of the deal. The diamond was presented by Sotheby's in London ahead of the auction in Hong Kong on April 4. In November 2013, a Geneva auction of the stone fetched a world record $83 million but the buyer, New York-based diamond cutter Isaac Wolf, could not pay up and defaulted. However, after some... Читать дальше...

President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, federal appellate Judge Neil Gorsuch, made clear his conservative leanings by speaking out against judicial activism Monday during the first day of confirmation hearings before a sharply divided Senate panel. “It’s for this body, the people’s representatives [in Congress] to make new laws,” Gorsuch said. “If judges were just secret legislators, declaring not what the law is but what they would like it to be, the very idea of a government by the people... Читать дальше...

Israel's multi-tier air defense missile system will be fully operational early next month with the deployment of the David's Sling interceptor, a senior Israeli air force officer said on Monday. David's Sling, designed to shoot down rockets fired from 100 to 200 kilometers away, will be the final piece of a shield that already includes short-range Iron Dome and long-range Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 missiles. "In the next two weeks we will declare operational the David's Sling and at that time we will... Читать дальше...

As the U.S. government proposes severe cuts in foreign aid, Africa and its neighbors are experiencing a massive hunger crisis, with 20 million people facing possible starvation in Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen. Aid officials say the proposed cuts would have a deep and disastrous impact in those countries and others. The United States is the largest single donor to the United Nations’ World Food Program, contributing just over $2 billion last year. In dire times like these, says WFP East Africa spokeswoman Challiss McDonough... Читать дальше...

The head of the Federal Communications Commission told the U.S. Congress that he did not agree with President Donald Trump's comments that certain media outlets are an "enemy" of the people and would act independently of the White House on media-related matters. In a letter released on Monday, Republican chairman Ajit Pai, tapped by Trump in January to head the body that regulates broadcast television, radio and other media outlets, told Senate Democrats in response to a series of questions that... Читать дальше...

The young Palestinian women don baseball caps on top of their Islamic headscarves and field tennis balls with fabric gloves, giving a decidedly local feel to the great American pastime. They are trying to bring baseball to the Gaza Strip, an effort that is still in its early innings. The players, who work out on a small soccer pitch in a southern Gaza town, admit they are still trying to understand the rules of the complicated sport. With pitches lobbed underhand, the game they play is closer to softball. Читать дальше...

A new law designed to protect the marital rights of Pakistan’s minority Hindu community is also expected to help prevent what Hindu activists say are forced conversions to Islam of teenaged Hindu girls.   The law makes it illegal for Hindus to marry before they turn 18. According to journalist and rights activist Jai Prakash Moorani, that takes away the incentive for forcefully converting underage girls.   “If those who are forcing these girls to convert cannot marry them, then they won’t have an interest in converting them,” Moorani said. Читать дальше...

Authorities say a man who drove to a security checkpoint near the White House in a stolen car was arrested after stating "there's a bomb in the trunk." A police report says 29-year-old Sean Patrick Keoughan of Roanoke, Virginia, got out of the car at the checkpoint Saturday and was clasping something in his hand when he made the threat. The report says that while he was being taken to the ground he stated: "This is a test." He was arrested for making a false bomb threat and for unauthorized use of a vehicle. Читать дальше...

The Iraqi Kurdish government has placed dozens of Islamic State (IS) members’ families in the Qorato refugee camp in Kirkuk, but they are kept separated from people who were victimized by IS. VOA’s Dilshad Anwar reports.

They sat on either end of the congressmen's couch, one a Jewish healthcare executive whose parents fled Germany in 1936, the other the Kashmiri Muslim chairman of a well-known American furniture chain. The men, Stanley Bergman and Farooq Kathwari, came to draw attention to an outbreak of hate crimes. But Bergman and Kathwari hoped their joint appearance would also send a broader message: that U.S. Jews and Muslims could put aside differences and work together. "What drove us was the growing prejudice... Читать дальше...