Новости за 27.04.2017

Ghana's finance minister says investors were optimistic in meetings with senior government officials who accompanied Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia to the World Bank spring meetings in Washington. In an interview with VOA, Ken Ofori-Atta said investors detected a new energy, and a sense of hope in a team that is focused on getting Ghana out of its current predicament. He also said that with a new government in place, the world is ready to see Ghana shine again in a much more stable West Africa. Читать дальше...

The site where a U.S. Air Force plane dropped "the mother of all bombs" against Islamic State in Afghanistan is a field of rubble. Villagers were told to leave the area before the bomb dropped on April 13, killing at least 95 Islamic State fighters. VOA's Jalal Mirzad reports.

U.S. President Donald Trump's tougher stance on immigration enforcement has led to an increase in non-criminal arrests, but not an unprecedented one. Trump's January 25 executive order “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States” changed the rules governing immigration by opening the door to arrest immigrants whose only crime was being undocumented. In the last two years of his term, President Barack Obama had largely confined immigrant arrests to those who had committed a serious crime. Читать дальше...

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

No bones? No problem! Scientists say they've figured out a way to extract tiny traces of ancient human DNA from dirt in caves that lack skeletal remains. The technique could be valuable for reconstructing human evolutionary history, according to the study published Thursday in the journal Science. That's because fossilized bones, currently the main source of ancient DNA, are scarce even at sites where circumstantial evidence points to a prehistoric human presence. "There are many caves where... Читать дальше...

A bipartisan panel of experts on Egypt-U.S. relations is urging Congress to rethink its annual $1.5 billion aid package to Cairo as the country fails to improve its human rights record. The experts argued Egypt, under President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, is a military-run state, with no respect for human rights and rampant with government-sponsored anti-Americanism. The scholars made their comments at a recent hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Michele Dunne, director of the Middle... Читать дальше...

Tensions between Russia and the West over security in Europe, the Middle East and Asia have surfaced at an annual defense conference in Moscow. Major flashpoints include the situation in Syria and NATO expansion. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gave a stark warning about the expanding threat of terrorism and conflict across the globe at the opening Wednesday of the two-day Moscow Conference on International Security. "The situation in the world is not becoming more stable or predictable, rather the opposite," he said. Читать дальше...

A new crossing point intended to encourage Cyprus' hoped-for reunification is nearing completion two years after the delay-plagued project was announced, Greek and Turkish Cypriot officials were told Thursday. The Deryneia crossing, located near the east coast of Cyprus, was hailed as another important milestone in helping to build trust between the ethnically divided island's breakaway Turkish Cypriots in the north and Greek Cypriots living in the internationally recognized south. Greek Cypriot... Читать дальше...

The common stereotype has teens glued to their phones 24-7. But nearly 60 percent of teens in the U.S. have actually taken a break from social media - the bulk of them voluntarily, a new survey found. The poll, from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, surveyed teens aged 13 to 17 and found that most value the feeling of connection with friends and family that social media provides. A much smaller number associate it with negative emotions, such as being overwhelmed or needing to always show their best selves. Читать дальше...

Taking a break from his morning jog on Nice's seaside boulevard, the Promenade des Anglais, 62-year-old Dominique Eche gets tears in his eyes when he recalls being around the corner when an Islamic State attack killed 86 people there last Bastille Day. The sports coach's children jumped down to the beach below to avoid the truck that ploughed into the crowd, and he says it is important to him to keep jogging there to show life goes on. But when he thinks about the presidential election and far-right... Читать дальше...

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley ratcheted up her rhetoric against Russia on Thursday, saying more pressure needs to be put on Moscow to stop the war in Syria. "Many of you said we need to put pressure on the Syrian regime; that's actually not the case. We need to put pressure on Russia," Haley told her counterparts on the 15-nation Security Council. The council was holding its monthly meeting on the humanitarian situation in Syria, where U.N. aid chief Stephen O'Brien told them... Читать дальше...

Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin says the decision to challenge President Donald Trump’s travel ban has its roots in World War II. While the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor painfully underscored the need to focus on national security, the decision to isolate Americans based on their status as immigrants still stands as a national embarrassment. “One of the things that people remember from that time is the internment of Japanese Americans, German Americans and Italian Americans based... Читать дальше...

U.S. President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, took more than $500,000 from Turkey and tens of thousands of dollars from Russian interests after being warned in 2014, when he retired as an Army lieutenant general, not to accept payments from foreign governments, new documents show. "We have no evidence, zilch, that he obtained permission from the secretary of the Army and the secretary of state to accept any foreign government payments as required by law," Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland... Читать дальше...

This is the Top Five Countdown! We’re hangin’ with the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart, for the week ending April 29, 2017. It turns out that lighting does strike twice in the same place, because we get a Top Five debut for the second consecutive week. Number 5: The Chainsmokers & Coldplay "Something Just Like This" Let’s start in fifth place, where The Chainsmokers and Coldplay hold with “Something Just Like This.” Coldplay just grabbed two nominations for this year’s Ivor Novello Awards. Читать дальше...

When people from across the globe gather on May 3 to recognize World Press Freedom Day in Jakarta, Indonesia, the recipient of the top prize won’t be there.  He will be spending his 16th year in a secret prison in Eritrea. The awardee, Dawit Isaak, is an Eritrean-born Swedish journalist and author who worked at Setit, one of Eritrea’s now-defunct independent newspapers.  He was arrested during a government crackdown in September 2001 that shut down newspapers and jailed journalists. Isaak has... Читать дальше...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's referendum victory to extend his powers was bittersweet.   For the first time he lost in Turkey's main cities, including Istanbul, which has been his electoral power base since 1994.  In the aftermath of his narrow win he has ordered a party investigation into the vote.  The drop in support coincides with an economic slowdown, an ominous sign given the president is facing crucial polls in two years. Erdogan’s unprecedented electoral successes were largely achieved in a period of economic boom... Читать дальше...

A Burkina Faso court has postponed the start of the trial of ex-president Blaise Compaoré and his former Cabinet. The accused are being tried for their alleged role in the violent crackdown on the 2014 uprising that ultimately ended Compaoré’s nearly three decades in power. The much-anticipated trial of former president Blaise Compaoré and almost his entire former Cabinet was supposed to start Thursday. But instead, it was adjourned before it even began.   According to sources within the Ministry of Justice, there was a scheduling conflict.

South Africans gathered Thursday to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the country's first post-apartheid elections, but the annual Freedom Day celebrations were mixed with demonstrations calling for President Jacob Zuma to step down. Zuma addressed the main gathering of supporters in his home province of Kwazulu Natal. "This day must be the day on which we are happy to contribute more in building South Africa," he said. "Happy Freedom Day to you all." Speaking in Zulu, Zuma criticized opposition parties... Читать дальше...

Fernando Villavicencio knows all too well the risks confronting journalists who expose information that others want to suppress.   The Ecuadoran journalist – convicted of defaming President Rafael Correa under the country’s harsh communications law – has spent parts of the past few years in hiding rather than submit to prison. He already has paid nearly $50,000 in fines. He faces current charges, and a pretrial detention order, for allegedly disseminating private emails of Correa and another official. Читать дальше...

London police have arrested a man on suspicion of terrorism for possessing weapons near Britain's Houses of Parliament and Prime Minister Theresa May's official residence. The Metropolitan Police department said knives were recovered and there was "no immediate threat" to the public. Police said the man was in his late 20's and was arrested "as part of an ongoing operation" and is being detained under the Terrorism Act. No one was injured in the incident in which armed police converged on the area. Читать дальше...

Digital rights activists shocked by disappearance of bloggers writing about Balochistan

A Tennessee sheriff accused of deleting atheists' comments on a county Facebook page, a school chief who dismissed a teacher who stepped on the American flag in class, and the U.S. Senate for a bill targeting speech on college campuses are among the winners of the Jefferson Muzzles — satiric awards bestowed annually by a free-speech group. The Charlottesville, Virginia-based Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression on Thursday announced its eight winners of its 25th edition of the Muzzles... Читать дальше...

NASA's Cassini spacecraft sailed into uncharted territory Wednesday between the planet Saturn and the rings that encircle it, and emerged Thursday unscathed. The Cassini craft is the first and only spacecraft to ever venture into the gap between Saturn and its rings. It sent back its first signal early Thursday morning, about 20 hours after the crossing took place. "I am delighted to report that Cassini shot through the gap just as we planned and has come out the other side in excellent shape,"... Читать дальше...

To understand why it is so difficult to defend computers from even moderately capable hackers, consider the case of the security flaw officially known as CVE-2017-0199. The bug was unusually dangerous but of a common genre: it was in Microsoft software, could allow a hacker to seize control of a personal computer with little trace, and was fixed April 11 in Microsoft's regular monthly security update. But it had traveled a rocky, nine-month journey from discovery to resolution, which cyber security experts say is an unusually long time. Читать дальше...

The European Union says it is taking legal action against Hungary over a new law that could force the closure of a foreign-owned university. The Central European University in Budapest was founded by American-Hungarian billionaire George Soros after the fall of Communism.  Hungary’s government wants to impose tough new conditions on its continued operations. The new law requires all foreign-owned universities in Hungary to have a campus in the country where they are certified.  U.S.-certified CEU does not have a campus in the United States.