Новости за 21.03.2017

A U.S. drone airstrike in southeastern Afghanistan has killed a Pakistani militant commander accused of involvement in several deadly attacks, Pakistani media reported. Qari Mohammad Yasin, also known as Ustad Aslam, and three other militants were targeted by a U.S. unmanned aircraft that struck his car on Sunday in the Afghan province of Paktika bordering Pakistan, according to Pakistani security sources.   U.S. officials did not respond to a VOA request seeking comment. The Pentagon routinely... Читать дальше...

Republicans Tuesday barely acknowledged the "big gray cloud" House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes said now hangs over the White House after FBI Director James Comey's revelation his agency is investigating ties between Russia and President Donald Trump's campaign. Comey's blunt debunking of Trump's claim accusing former President Barack Obama of conducting surveillance on him during the 2016 election was barely mentioned by House Republicans on Capitol Hill. They declined to comment while leaving a meeting with Trump... Читать дальше...

Belarus' president said Tuesday that about 20 militants have been arrested for seeking to fuel unrest in the ex-Soviet nation, a statement that comes amid mounting social protests. Alexander Lukashenko said the militants were preparing an "armed provocation," adding that they had undergone training in neighboring Ukraine and received money from EU members Poland and Lithuania. "There are people who want to destabilize the situation in the country," he said. "They need to raise a mutiny. Their... Читать дальше...

The Global Coalition to Counter Islamic State was formed in September 2014 with the expressed aim of degrading and defeating Islamic State. The threat: According to the U.S. State Department, IS presents a global terrorist threat. It has recruited thousands of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria from around the globe and has leveraged technology to spread its violent extremist ideology and to incite terrorist acts. The coalition: The coalition consists of 68 nations. Russia, China and Iran are not members... Читать дальше...

A rare poll of Cuban public opinion has found that most of the island's citizens approve of normal relations with the United States and large majorities want more tourists to visit and the expansion of private business ownership. In a poll of 840 people taken in Cuba late last year by the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago, 55 percent said that normal relations with the U.S. would be mostly good for the country. "I'd love for the two peoples to be even closer," Rebecca Tamayo... Читать дальше...

After keeping a very low public profile in his first couple of months on the job, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be in the spotlight Wednesday and Thursday at a gathering in Washington aimed at countering the Islamic State terror group.   This will be the first full meeting since 2014 of foreign ministers and senior officials from the 68 countries and international organizations in the U.S.-led coalition that is fighting IS. The State Department said the goal of the conference was to... Читать дальше...

The outgoing United Nations undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations said Tuesday that he expects to see the first wave of a regional protection force to arrive in South Sudan within the next few weeks. "We are sparing no effort in speeding up, and in the next few weeks you will see the first vanguard of the regional force being deployed here in Juba. And I think that will be a very important signal to know that things are moving ahead," Herve Ladsous said. Ladsous, who is in Juba on... Читать дальше...

A U.S. aircraft carrier passed through a strategic waterway separating Iran from U.S.-backed Arab states on Tuesday for the first time since President Donald Trump took office two months ago. Nearly 20 smaller Iranian boats looked on as the USS George H.W. Bush approached the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz. About one-fifth of the world's oil passes through the Strait and there are occasional incidents in the area involving U.S. and Iranian military vessels. Years of mutual animosity eased... Читать дальше...

Environmental activists who tried to disrupt some oil pipeline operations in four states to protest the Dakota Access pipeline say they aren't responsible for any recent attacks on that pipeline. Dakota Access developer Energy Transfer Partners said in court documents Monday that there have been “coordinated physical attacks” along the $3.8 billion pipeline that will carry oil from North Dakota to Illinois. Company officials haven't responded to AP requests for more details. Jay O'Hara with the... Читать дальше...

The United Nations said Tuesday that nearly three months after a political agreement was signed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, its implementation remains stalled, threatening security and stability.   “As long as political dialogue remains in a stalemate, the tensions risk mounting,” Maman Sidikou, the head of the U.N. mission in DRC, MONUSCO, warned Security Council members.   A bleak report from the U.N. secretary-general chronicles spreading violence – including in previously stable areas... Читать дальше...

Zimbabwe received higher than normal rainfall this year, but as the world marks this year's World Water Day, there is not much cause to celebrate. A civic organization that fights for the right to water says a low percentage of Zimbabweans has access to clean water. The United Nations says it is making efforts to ensure the precious resource props up the country's backbone — agriculture. For the first time in two years, Zimbabwe has received an above normal amount of rain; but, with that came an outbreak of typhoid in January... Читать дальше...

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

"This legislation will not fix everything that ails our health care system, but it moves us decisively in the right direction.” Those were the words of then-President Barack Obama just after the U.S. House of Representatives voted 219-212 to overhaul the nation's health care system seven years ago this week. “This is what change looks like,” Obama added. From President Harry Truman in 1948 to President Bill Clinton in 1993, making healthcare affordable to all Americans had been a struggle. Читать дальше...

Authorities in South Dakota and Iowa on Tuesday confirmed incidents of vandalism against the Dakota Access oil pipeline in which someone burned a hole through an empty section of pipe. Texas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners said in court documents Monday that there have been "recent coordinated physical attacks along the pipeline that pose threats to life, physical safety and the environment." The company didn't provide further details, including the locations of the attacks, and... Читать дальше...

The United Nations reports humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan are deteriorating, with children at great risk of dying at an early age from lack of health care and proper nutrition.   The United Nations reports 9.3 million people in Afghanistan will need humanitarian assistance this year.  The world body has appealed for $550 million to support 5.6 million of the most vulnerable people. U.N. Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs spokesman Jens Laerke says this is nearly one third... Читать дальше...

Twitter suspended more than 376,000 accounts in the second half of 2016, most of which it said were promoting terrorism. Most of the accounts, 74 percent, were removed by proprietary software, the company said in its latest transparency report. The software reportedly determines a terrorism related account through how it behaves, rather than what it posts, saying the accounts have “distinctive behavior.” Two percent of the accounts were suspended by various government requests, according to Twitter. Читать дальше...

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Tuesday he would confront anyone trying to interfere in Iran's May presidential election, in which conservative hardliners will seek to defeat moderate President Hassan Rouhani. Khamenei referred to major street unrest after the disputed 2009 presidential election as an overt attempt to manipulate the outcome, but said there had been other cases of attempted interference including in the 2013 vote won by Rouhani. Khamenei, a hardliner who has the... Читать дальше...

Pakistan’s National Assembly voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to reinstate military courts in the country for two years, after a two months lapse.   The courts were first introduced for two years in January 2015 to expedite the cases of hardcore terrorists after Pakistani Taliban attacked an army school in Peshawar killing more than 140 people, mostly children. Almost all of the country’s political parties who voted for the constitutional amendment, including the ruling PML-N party, acknowledged... Читать дальше...

Bangladesh has proposed moving an influx of refugees from Myanmar to an isolated island that only emerged from the sea 11 years ago, partially floods at high tide and disappears completely for three months during the annual monsoon season. Local officials say extensive time – likely years -- and work would be required, at significant expense, to make Thengar Char habitable. The only regular residents now are a handful of water buffalo, though pirates and other criminals reportedly make use of it occasionally. Читать дальше...

Churches across the United States have formed a grassroots movement to oppose the Trump administration’s immigration policies and to offer sanctuary to undocumented immigrants threatened with immediate deportation.  More than 800 churches and some synagogues have declared themselves sanctuaries and are taking other measures to stop the deportation of immigrants who are in the country illegally.   All Souls Church Unitarian, located in the heart of Washington D.C.’s immigrant community, declared... Читать дальше...

If much of the United States was transfixed by the Congressional testimony of two of America’s top intelligence officials on allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. elections, the Kremlin claimed it had better things to do. “We have many concerns in the Kremlin and following that [debate] isn’t one of them,” said Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “New information we’re not hearing and doubtfully will hear,” said Peskov, who went on to compare the hearings to a “broken record” being played ad nauseam. Читать дальше...

Hundreds of relatives of those killed on Sept. 11 have sued Saudi Arabia, joining many others who have tried to hold the kingdom responsible for the attacks. Like other recent actions, the lawsuit filed Monday capitalizes on last year's decision by Congress to let victims sue Saudi Arabia. It seeks unspecified damages. Earlier attempts to hold Saudi Arabia responsible over the past 15 years have failed. Fifteen of the 19 attackers who hijacked planes to carry out the attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania were Saudis. Читать дальше...

French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux resigned Tuesday over allegations that he hired his daughters for multiple parliamentary aide positions for which they did not do all the work. The presidential palace promptly announced that Matthias Fekl had been picked to replace Le Roux. The girls were still in high school when the first of the contracts began, and they continued working for him throughout their university studies, but reports say that the daughters did not do all of the work for which they were paid. Читать дальше...

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly says his department will not detain undocumented immigrants at "sensitive locations" such as churches. His comments last week came as congregations across the United States have mounted a grassroots movement to oppose the Trump administration’s immigration policies and to offer sanctuary to illegal immigrants threatened with immediate deportation. VOA’s Bill Rodgers visited one church at the heart of Washington’s immigrant community.

Britain said Tuesday that it would ban passengers from carrying laptops and other large electronic devices on flights into the country from six Middle Eastern nations, following a similar measure announced by the U.S. The new British directive will block carry-on electronics larger than 16 centimeters in length, 9.3 centimeters in width and with a depth of over 1.5 centimeters on direct flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. "Direct flights to the UK from these... Читать дальше...