Новости за 03.04.2017

It was a mesmerizing moment in Venezuela's fast-moving political crisis. Towards the end of a dry and detailed speech on her office's annual report, the country's bespectacled Attorney General Luisa Ortega paused, cleared her throat - and delivered a bombshell. "I consider it a historic and unavoidable duty," she began, before denouncing two Supreme Court sentences that annulled the opposition-led congress and took Venezuela deeper into authoritarian rule. Hitherto known as a stalwart ally of the ruling Socialists... Читать дальше...

Two landmark corruption trials and the first hurdle for a crucial pension reform mean that April could make or break Brazilian President Michel Temer's presidency, or bring it to an abrupt end. A Supreme Court judge is due to lift the seal on plea bargain testimony that could lead to the dismissal of five ministers. Temer's reform of Brazil's social security system - key to his plans to restore fiscal discipline - also faces a first vote in committee by mid-April. But it is a case before the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE)... Читать дальше...

Amenia's ruling party won slightly less than 50 percent of the vote in a parliamentary election, officials said on Monday. Sunday's vote, which was the nation's first since the former Soviet republic changed its constitution to expand power of parliament and the prime minister's office, allowed President Serzh Sargsyan's Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) to claim a majority of seats. HHK claimed 49 percent of the vote, with businessman Gagik Tsarukian's opposition coalition trailing with 27 percent... Читать дальше...

The International Monetary Fund urged Ukraine on Monday to raise the pension age and do more to tackle corruption after announcing the payout of $1 billion in new aid to the war-torn country. The IMF is propping up Ukraine's economy with a $17.5 billion bailout, helping it climb out of recession following the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and the outbreak of a Russian-backed separatist insurgency in its industrial east. Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko and the government cheered... Читать дальше...

After Iraq’s rapid response forces freed the Agidad neighborhood in Mosul from Islamic State in recent days, soldiers found a house where IS outfitted vehicles for suicide attacks and tortured prisoners. VOA’s Kawa Omar reports.

European Council President Donald Tusk said in Macedonia on Monday he hoped the country's leaders would avoid fueling ethnic tensions and focus on advancing towards EU membership instead. The Balkan state, with a Slav majority and a large ethnic Albanian minority, has been without a government since December, when inconclusive elections led to feuding over the influence of ethnic Albanians in a proposed coalition administration. Tusk met President Gjorge Ivanov on Monday to discuss ways out... Читать дальше...

South Africa's Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa called for his countrymen to get rid of "greedy'' and "corrupt'' people, in remarks seen as an attack on President Jacob Zuma.   Ramaphosa was speaking after Jacob Zuma fired widely respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan in a cabinet reshuffle last week in which he purged other political opponents.   "What you are required to do as citizens of this country is to support the efforts that are going to be made by those that are going to make sure... Читать дальше...

Britain's exit process from the European Union only formally began last week, but already London is engaged in a heated dispute with Brussels and Spain over the future sovereignty of its overseas territory of Gibraltar. The mountainous outcrop on the southern tip of Spain known as "The Rock" was ceded to Britain by Madrid 300 years ago and has been an occasional source of tension ever since. In its negotiating guidelines published last week, the European Union said any deal struck between the bloc and Britain won't apply to Gibraltar... Читать дальше...

Many of California's immigrants are believed to be undocumented, making them subject to President Trump's executive orders on immigration. Those orders expand the scope of who can be labeled as a "criminal," subjecting more people to possible deportation. But California state law protects undocumented immigrants who have not committed serious crimes. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee reports the conflicting directives raises concerns among local law enforcement circles.

Last week's court ruling allowing home use of marijuana has sent South Africa buzzing about the possibility that cannabis will now be widely legal in the Rainbow Nation. To which pro-marijuana activist Julian Stobbs says: Chill. Friday’s ruling from the Western Cape province High Court does apply across the nation, but the decision is really more about privacy than it is about pot. The ruling struck down part of an old law that prohibits private and personal use of marijuana. The ruling still... Читать дальше...

Thousands of civilians have been fleeing Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State terror group in Syria, in the past few days as airstrikes on the city intensify — a foretaste of when the battle to oust the militants from the besieged city starts in earnest.  But the composition of the force to mount the final assault on the Sunni Arab city appears to be undecided, as does how the city will be governed after IS militants have been expelled. Will it be the U.S.-backed Kurdish dominated Syrian Democratic Forces... Читать дальше...

A new method could turn seawater into drinking water for millions around the world without access to clean water. Researchers at the University of Manchester in England say they’ve successfully used graphene-oxide membranes to filter common salts from seawater, turning it into drinking water more affordably than current desalination techniques. Graphene-oxide membranes have already been shown to be effective at filtering small nanoparticles, organic molecules and large salts, but they had not... Читать дальше...

In early September 1930, the Blackfeet Nation of Montana hosted a historic Indian Sign Language Grand Council, gathering leaders of a dozen North American Nations and language groups. The three-day council held was organized by Hugh L. Scott, a 77-year-old U.S. Army General who had spent a good portion of his career in the American West, where he observed and learned what users called Hand Talk, and what is today more broadly known as Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL). With $5,000 in federal funding... Читать дальше...

The effects of the 2008 financial crisis are still being felt, says the International Monetary Fund's Managing Director Christine Lagarde.  She cites a new IMF study showing global productivity has slowed to 0.3 percent over the last decade, lower than the pre-crisis average of about 1 percent growth per year. Had productivity growth followed pre-crisis trends, Lagarde says the overall GDP in advanced economies would be about 5 percent higher. Lagarde attributes the slowdown in labor productivity ... Читать дальше...

A Senate panel approved Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch Monday, sending President Trump’s pick to the full Senate where a ferocious battle looms that could forever alter how the chamber fulfills its constitutionally-mandated role of advice and consent. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-9, with all Republicans backing Gorsuch and all Democrats opposing the conservative federal appellate judge. “Judge Gorsuch is eminently qualified,” said the committee's chairman, Senator Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican. Читать дальше...

Britain's exit process from the European Union only formally began last week, but already London is engaged in a heated dispute with Brussels and Spain over the future sovereignty of its overseas territory of Gibraltar. One prominent Brexit supporter has even said that Britain is prepared to go to war over the issue — though Britain's prime minister Monday played down this possibility. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.

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

Paraguay's lower house is delaying a vote on an amendment that would allow presidents to stand for re-election to give President Horacio Cartes' call for dialogue a chance after violent protests over a closed-door Senate vote. Supporters of Cartes, a former soft-drink and tobacco businessman, want him to be able to seek a second term. Late on Sunday, Cortes called on different political factions to meet and discuss ways to reduce tensions in the South American country of 6.8 million after an appeal from Pope Francis. Читать дальше...

A key U.S. lawmaker says he will try to force President Donald Trump's former national security adviser to repay "tens of thousands of dollars" to Russian and Turkish interests he represented in recent years even as he came to play a prominent role in Trump's election campaign. Michael Flynn, a retired U.S. Army general, held the top White House security post for just 24 days before Trump ousted him in February after Flynn lied to Vice President Mike Pence and others about his contacts with the... Читать дальше...

With Turkey's referendum on whether to extend the country's presidential powers less than two weeks away, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned his campaign toward the Kurdish minority. The move is widely seen as involving a difficult political balancing act for the president, but if successful could bring victory in the hard-fought campaign. Saturday, Erdogan took his referendum campaign to Diyarbakir, the center of Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast. Last year, fighting between... Читать дальше...

Lawmakers in Afghanistan have called for stoning to death of a fellow parliament member for stating the country's long border with Pakistan is an international boundary. Afghan commentators and newspaper editorials have also slammed the parliament member for speaking against "the national interest," with some demanding Abdul Latif Pedram's ouster from Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of parliament, for committing treason. "You chant 'God is Great' through this microphone and I will stone him to... Читать дальше...

The United States has carried out about 20 additional strikes in Yemen against al-Qaida militants since the middle of last week, a Pentagon spokesman said on Monday. Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters that since February 28, the United States has carried out more than 70 strikes against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) "militants, infrastructure, fighting positions and equipment.”

France is increasing security at public transport locations in Paris after an explosion killed at least nine people in a St. Petersburg metro tunnel on Monday, the Interior Ministry said. "Following the events in the St. Petersburg metro, and as a precautionary measure, Interior Minister Matthias Fekl has decided to redeploy security means in public transport across the Paris region," the ministry said in a statement. "Amid an extremely high terrorism threat, the government continues to take... Читать дальше...

Activists say an Iranian-American who has been serving an 18-year prison sentence for “collaboration with a hostile government” has been released on bail.   Hadi Ghaemi, the executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, said on Monday that San Diego resident Robin Shahini is out of prison.   Ghaemi says Shahini was freed on bail of 2 billion rials, which is about $62,000. It's unclear whether Shahini can leave the country.   Iranian officials and state media did not report on Shahini receiving bail. Читать дальше...

Two weeks ago a minor water crisis hit Pakistan. The flow in rivers fell below agricultural requirements. Then temperatures rose, glaciers melted, and river flows increased threefold, evading a disaster. “Had the temperatures not increased for another 10-15 days, we wouldn’t have been able to give the required amount of water to the provinces,” said Mohammad Khalid Rana, the Indus Water Regulatory Authority spokesman.   That would have meant a delay in planting crops like cotton, sugarcane, and rice. Читать дальше...