Новости за 19.04.2017

As the assault on the Islamic State capital of Raqqa is delayed, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces say their focus is on first isolating the Syrian city from the outside. Mahmoud Bali reports.

Survivors of 1981's El Mozote massacre are closer than ever to justice after the reopening of an investigation begun more than a quarter-century ago into the army-led killing of about 1,000 people, casting light on a horrific symbol of the unaccountability for atrocities in El Salvador's civil war. The killings went unpunished because of an amnesty law that from 1993 prohibited prosecution of crimes from the war, which between 1980 and 1992 claimed 75,000 lives and led to over 8,000 disappearances. Читать дальше...

A two-day-old baby boy cries as his parents take seats in a Cameroonian military truck in the border town of Fotokol.  They were being transported home to the Nigerian village of Gamboru Ngala. In northern Cameroon, the military says some 7,000 Nigerian refugees have gone back to their towns and villages in the past month as part of a voluntary repatriation program. However, Cameroon continues to face accusations that refugees have also been forcibly removed. Many refugees fled their homes in... Читать дальше...

The United Nations and the African Union took a step toward increasing cooperation and coordination between their organizations Wednesday, signing a Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security. The agreement is intended to boost cooperation in preventing and responding to conflict in Africa. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters at a joint news conference with African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat that it would enhance cooperation at all levels. Читать дальше...

Egyptian-American charity worker Aya Hijazi was released from prison after nearly three years of detention, her lawyer said Wednesday. The lawyer, Taher Abol Nasr, told the Associated Press that Hijazi was released late Tuesday, two days after a court acquitted her of charges of child abuse that were widely dismissed as bogus by human rights groups and U.S. officials. Hijazi, a dual national, and her husband had established a foundation to aid street children in 2013, but were arrested along with six others in 2014. Читать дальше...

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague has rejected Kyiv's call to impose provisional measures against Russia for its support of rebels in eastern Ukraine, while acknowledging Kyiv has a case against Moscow for discrimination in Russia-annexed Crimea. "At this stage of the proceedings, Ukraine has not put before the court evidence which affords a sufficient basis to find it plausible that these elements are present," said Presiding Judge Ronny Abraham. "Therefore, the court concludes... Читать дальше...

Albania's parliament voted for a new president without casting a single ballot on Wednesday, convening and then closing the first of five election rounds in less than 10 minutes because no candidate came forward to run. The bizarre non-election went ahead despite a boycott by the opposition Democratic Party, which quit parliament two months ago and has since insisted Tirana first needs to name a technocratic government. To ensure that the ceremonial figure of president is a compromise figure... Читать дальше...

Julia Roberts was named People magazine's world's most beautiful woman for a record 5th time on Wednesday, but the actress said she thought her best years were yet to come. Roberts, 49, was first given the annual honor in 1991, a year after she skyrocketed to fame in the romantic comedy "Pretty Woman." She was also named most beautiful woman in 2000, 2005 and 2010. "I'm very flattered," Roberts told People magazine, adding "I think I'm currently peaking." The actress, who won an Oscar in 2001... Читать дальше...

Earlier in April he was spotted in the northern countryside of the central Syrian province of Hama, where the forces of President Bashar al-Assad have been battling a surprise rebel offensive and reportedly sustaining high casualties. On Monday, according to local news reports, General Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran's elite Quds Force, a special forces branch of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was in Kirkuk, 1,000 kilometers from Hama, trying to broker a deal between... Читать дальше...

Their heads held high and chests puffed out, nearly 100 Haitian men in camouflage fatigues do jumping jacks or march around an abandoned U.N. compound on a recent morning. But after a few drills, they seek shelter from the blazing sun in the absence of anything else to do. As U.N. military peacekeepers prepare for a full exit from this Caribbean nation, this small engineering corps is the first wave of Haiti's efforts to try to revive a military force 22 years after a national army was disbanded. Читать дальше...

Plans to release new music by Prince on Friday's one-year anniversary of the singer's death have been hit with a lawsuit claiming the works were stolen by his former sound engineer. The six-song EP "Deliverance," was due to go on sale on Friday and would mark the first in a series of planned posthumous releases of material by Prince from the large vault of discarded or unfinished material he reportedly left behind. According to a statement from independent record company Rogue Music Alliance (RMA)... Читать дальше...

Two Islamist opposition parties in Algeria have posted faceless portraits of female candidates for May's legislative election, upsetting state authorities which have ordered them to show the faces or be barred from the ballot. The dispute reflects fear among many Algerians of any revival of political Islam in a country that balances religious conservatism with searing memories of its 1990s war against armed Islamist groups that killed 200,000 people. The ultra-conservative Salafi strain of Islam... Читать дальше...

The U.S. sought to assure allies Wednesday that the USS Carl Vinson naval strike group is indeed headed to the northern Pacific as a deterrent to North Korea's nuclear weapons program. But this came after days of misleading statements that the aircraft carrier and other ships had already been headed there. "We're sending an armada, very powerful," President Donald Trump declared April 11, three days after the strike group left Singapore. Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command... Читать дальше...

Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush will spend at least another day at a Houston hospital where he is under observation while recovering from his second bout of pneumonia in three months, his spokesman said on Wednesday. Bush, 92, was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital on Friday for a cough that was later diagnosed as a mild case of pneumonia, family spokesman Jim McGrath said. "Mr. Bush had a good night's rest, and his spirits are high," McGrath said in a statement. "Although he will not be discharged today... Читать дальше...

The Ugandan military says it is ending its manhunt for fugitive warlord Joseph Kony after years of chasing him and bands of loyal fighters across Central Africa. A military spokesman, Brigadier General Richard Karemire, told a reporter for VOA's Swahili service Wednesday that the search for Kony has been suspended.   Ugandan newspapers report the first batch of soldiers have returned from the Central African Republic, where the soldiers searching for Kony have been based. The U.S. military... Читать дальше...

At least 11 people were killed and 20 are missing after a landslide hit several neighborhoods in Manizales, Colombia, the government said on Wednesday, the second deadly landslide in the country this month. Recent heavy rains have endangered residents in dozens of provincial towns, where makeshift construction on the slopes of the Andes makes neighborhoods particularly susceptible to landslides and flooding. The landslide in Manizales, capital of Caldas province west of Bogota, followed a similar disaster in Mocoa... Читать дальше...

Twenty-First Century Fox has decided to part ways with star cable news host Bill O'Reilly following allegations of sexual harassment, the company said Wednesday. "After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill O'Reilly have agreed that Bill O'Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel," the company said in a statement. O'Reilly said in an April 1 statement that he had been unfairly targeted because of his public prominence. Marc Kasowitz, O'Reilly's lawyer... Читать дальше...

The Brazilian government on Wednesday agreed to lower the minimum retirement age for police officers in its pension reform proposal, a day after members of their unions stormed Congress to protest the controversial bill. In the reform draft, congressman Arthur Maia, a government ally in charge of making changes to the original proposal, reduced the minimum retirement age for police to 55 from 60. After he revealed the details of his proposal on Tuesday, hundreds of police unions dressed in black... Читать дальше...

Shaka Ssali discusses the International Monetary Fund / World Bank Spring Meetings with Albert Zeufack, Ph.D., Africa Chief Economist, at the World Bank, Eric LeCompte, Executive Director, at the Jubilee USA Network, and with Reverend Aniedi Okure, Executive Director, at the Africa Faith and Justice Network.

The International Monetary Fund said President Trump's plans to cut regulations and taxes might encourage companies to make risky investments of the kind that preceded the financial crisis in 2008. The comment came Wednesday in the newest edition of the IMF's Global Financial Stability Report, which also said the financial system has gotten more stable in recent months, as economic growth strengthened and interest rates rose, which helped banks. Trump's proposals are intended to boost investment... Читать дальше...

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

Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz will not seek re-election or run for any other office next year. "After long consultation with my family and prayerful consideration, I have decided I will not be a candidate for any office in 2018," the Utah Congressman wrote Wednesday on Facebook. Chaffetz, who had been mentioned a candidate for Senate or governor, quickly rose to prominence after relentlessly investigating Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton before... Читать дальше...

Richard Rodrigue stood in the back of a banquet hall, watching his blond-haired, blue-eyed daughter mingle among her high school classmates. These teenagers speak dozens of languages, and hail from a dozen African nations. They fled brutal civil war, famine, oppressive regimes to find themselves here, at an ordinary high school pre-prom fete in this once-dying New England mill town, revived by an influx of some 7,500 immigrants over the last 16 years. Rodrigue smiled and waved at his daughter, proud she is a part of it... Читать дальше...

The hits, they just keep coming! News was made in February when astronomers found seven potential earth-like planets orbiting the red dwarf star Trappist-1. Wednesday, another red dwarf star is making headlines with the announcement of a 'super earth' found orbiting around the small red star LHS 1140. Super Earth?                 VOA spoke with Jason Dittmann, from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, about the find. He is the lead author of the paper laying out the new findings... Читать дальше...

Emirates Airline, the world's biggest international air carrier by traffic, said Wednesday it is cutting flights to five U.S. cities because of a drop in demand since President Donald Trump sought to curb immigration from several Muslim-majority countries and imposed restrictions on passengers carrying electronic devices on flights to the United States.   The Dubai-based carrier said that over the last three months, as Trump assumed power in Washington, it has seen "a significant deterioration"... Читать дальше...