Новости за 09.04.2017

U.S. President Donald Trump went to one of his golf courses on the Florida Atlantic coast Sunday for a second consecutive day, following an eventful week that included his much-scrutinized summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, during which he ordered cruise missiles launched at a Syrian airbase. White House officials were tight-lipped about the president’s activities Saturday and Sunday, which were known to have included time on the golf course and a long phone call, the second in a span of four days... Читать дальше...

U.S. President Donald Trump is continuing to shuffle the ranks of his top national security advisers. Trump aides confirmed Sunday that deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland, who worked for three previous Republican presidents, is expected to leave Trump's staff soon, likely to be named as the U.S. ambassador to Singapore. The 65-year-old McFarland came into the White House as an aide to Trump's first national security adviser, retired Army General Michael Flynn. Trump ousted Flynn... Читать дальше...

Washington is looking for further insight into the Trump administration’s thinking on Syria after U.S. airstrikes targeting a Syrian base from which chemical attacks had been launched. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports, in a televised interview Sunday, America’s ambassador to the United Nations did not rule out further military action against forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, but other officials say destroying Islamic State is the foremost goal.

Iraq’s prominent Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down to help find a political solution to the Syrian crisis. "It is fair for Bashar al-Assad to step down to help the country avoid the menace of war and dominance of terrorists,” al-Sadr said in a statement Saturday. The statement came just days after the United States launched missile strikes on a Syrian airbase in response to a Syrian chemical weapons attack that killed and injured scores of civilians. Читать дальше...

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

U.S. President Donald Trump has asked officials to give him options for removing the threat of a nuclear-armed North Korea, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said Sunday. As a U.S. Navy strike group steamed toward the Korean Peninsula to send a message to North Korea, McMaster told Fox News, "This is a rogue regime that is now a nuclear-capable regime. ... So the president has asked us to be prepared to give him a full range of options to remove that threat to the American people and our... Читать дальше...

Christians are celebrating Palm Sunday, marking the beginning of Easter Holy Week. Priests in festive robes led a colorful Palm Sunday procession at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem’s Old City. They were followed by pilgrims waving palm and olive branches in a fragrant cloud of incense. The celebrants marched around the ancient stone tomb where tradition says Jesus rose from the dead. Palm Sunday marks Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on a donkey 2,000 years ago. It is the beginning of Holy Week... Читать дальше...

Ugandan police detained an academic who has been critical online of what she calls "despotic family rule" in this East African country. Stella Nyanzi, a research fellow at Uganda's Makerere University, was arrested Friday for violating a law against misusing computers, police spokesman Asan Kasingye said Sunday. Nyanzi would be charged this week with the offenses of cyber harassment and offensive communication, he said. Nyanzi is popular on Facebook for her relentless criticisms of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni... Читать дальше...

Pakistan says that Russia-sponsored international talks on Afghanistan must involve the United States for bringing peace to the war-riven country, because Washington is the “biggest stakeholder” there. Moscow plans to host this week (April 14) a new expanded round of multi-nation “consultations” it has recently launched with the stated goals of developing a “regional approach” for promoting Afghan security and a government-led national reconciliation with the Taliban. But the U.S. administration... Читать дальше...

The new Somali army chief, General Ahmed Mohamed Jimale Irfid, has survived an assassination attempt after a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle near his convoy close to the Somali Defense Ministry in Mogadishu, witnesses said. Witnesses and officials told VOA reporter Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulle that nine people were killed in the explosion. Most of the victims were said to be civilians who were passengers of a vehicle passing by. The army chief had just attended a ceremony at the Ministry where... Читать дальше...

Swedish authorities have arrested second person in connection with Friday's truck attack in Stockholm that killed four people and wounded 15 others. There were no immediate details about the additional suspect and how that person is connected to the 39-year-old Uzbek national suspected of ramming a stolen truck into an upscale shopping hub The suspected terrorist was previously known to Swedish intelligence services, but authorities say he was not a part of any ongoing investigations. ... Читать дальше...

A Lebanese registered ship hijacked off the cast of war-torn Somalia has been freed, says a shipping expert. The pirates who boarded the ship Saturday abandoned it Sunday before naval forces rescued the ship, Mohamed Abdirahman, former director of Puntland's marine forces, told The Associated Press.   The pirates were unable to take the crew hostage because they locked themselves in a safe room said Abdirahman. No pirates were arrested and international naval forces are now escorting the ship, he said. Читать дальше...

Security forces have clashed with Islamic extremists for the third consecutive day in a Palestinian camp in Lebanon. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Sunday that at least two people have been killed since the clashes began.   Ambulances are rushing the wounded to hospitals near the Ein el-Hilweh camp as the sounds of rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire echo from inside. Sidon's government hospital was struck by a rocket, and Lebanese authorities have closed the main highway connecting the port city to southern Lebanon. Читать дальше...

Pope Francis, who is scheduled to visit Egypt later this month, decried Sunday's blast at a Coptic Church in Egypt's Nile Delta that killed 21 worshippers and wounded dozens more.   At the end of his Palm Sunday Mass, the leader of the world's Roman Catholic Church said, " I pray for the dead and the victims. May the Lord convert the hearts of people who sow terror, violence and death and even the hearts of those who produce and traffic in weapons." Earlier, in his homily, Francis denounced the suffering in the world today. Читать дальше...

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is suggesting if President Donald Trump needs to carry out more military attacks on Syria, he will. "He will not stop here," Ambassador Nikki Haley told CNN on Sunday.  "If he needs to do more, he will." But Haley and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gave mixed signals on the priority of removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power. "There's not any sort of option where a political solution is going to happen with Assad at the head of the regime," Haley said. Читать дальше...

Chinese navy ship supported by an Indian navy helicopter thwarted an attack on a Tuvalu-flagged merchant ship by suspected Somali pirates, India’s defense ministry said Sunday. The OS 35 was reported to be under attack Saturday. “An Indian Navy helicopter undertook aerial reconnaissance of the merchant vessel at night, and at sunrise, to sanitize the upper decks of the merchant ship and ascertain the location of pirates, if still on board,” the defense ministry said in a statement. “Subsequently... Читать дальше...

A bomb exploded in a church north of Cairo that was packed with Palm Sunday worshippers, killing at least 13 people and wounding 25 others, officials said.   The attack in the Nile Delta town of Tanta was the latest in a series of assaults on Egypt’s Christian minority, which makes up around 10 percent of the population and has been repeatedly targeted by Islamic extremists. It comes just weeks before Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Egypt.   CBC TV showed footage from inside the church, where... Читать дальше...

A horde of foreign fun-runners took to the streets of Pyongyang Sunday for an annual marathon that has become one of the North Korean capital’s most popular tourist events.   Officially called the Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon, the race became an instant hit with tourists looking to run in possibly the world’s most exotic locale when it was opened up to amateur foreign runners in 2014.   Like everything else in North Korea, the race has a political backdrop. Part of April 15 festivities First held in 1981... Читать дальше...

Insurgents have killed at least 13 Afghan security forces in separate attacks, officials said Sunday, as the country struggles to contain a long-running Taliban insurgency and combat a growing threat from a local Islamic State affiliate.   Munir Ahmad Farhad, spokesman for the governor of the northern Balkh province, said a roadside bomb killed nine security forces and wounded several others Saturday night in the Chimtal district, where they were waging an ongoing operation against the Taliban. Читать дальше...

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has said it is up to the Tibetan people to decide whether the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue and that China cannot decide on his successor. He said he will organize a conference to discuss the issue of the next Dalai Lama before the end of this year. The Buddhist monk spoke Saturday at a news conference during a visit to the northeast Indian town of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh state, which borders China. His weeklong visit has sparked anger in Beijing... Читать дальше...

Chuck Berry fans are getting their chance to pay their respects to the rock ’n’ roll visionary, roughly three weeks after his death at age 90 near his hometown of St. Louis.   Fans of the legend behind such classics as Johnny B. Goode, Sweet Little Sixteen and Roll Over Beethoven can file past his casket Sunday at The Pageant, a St. Louis club where he frequently performed. The public viewing will be followed by a private service for family and friends, including those in the music industry.   Charles Edward Anderson Berry... Читать дальше...

Six suspected Islamic militants killed in a standoff with police were planning to attack police officers in Indonesia’s East Java province to seek revenge for the arrest of a radical leader, authorities said Sunday.   The men were cornered in a village in Tuban district Saturday after attempting to shoot a traffic police officer who was approaching them when he saw their car stopped along the roadside, said national police spokesman Rikwanto.   The six refused appeals to surrender during a standoff... Читать дальше...

Norwegian police set off a controlled explosion of a “bomblike device” found in central Oslo Saturday, a suspect is being held in custody, and the security police are investigating, authorities said. A Reuters reporter described a loud bang shortly after the arrival of Oslo’s bomb squad. “The noise from the blast was louder than our explosives themselves would cause,” a police spokesman said, while adding that further investigation would be conducted at the scene. The device had appeared to... Читать дальше...

The U.S. military carried out air strikes against the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday. President Donald Trump has made it clear the strikes were a retaliation for Assad's suspected use of chemical weapons April 4, which left about 100 dead, including women and children. But why were the use of chemical weapons a so-called "red line" for Trump? VOA's Bill Gallo examines.

Most people have likely heard about the dangers of microplastics, the particles less than 5 millimeters in size that deteriorate from larger plastic pieces that have entered the oceans. Scientists are beginning to realize the effect this plastic is having on all kinds of sea life, from the smallest to the largest, and even those that live in the deepest darkest parts of the Mariana Trench. VOA's Kevin Enochs has details.