Новости за 10.05.2017

U.S. President Donald Trump's approval ratings among American voters are falling again. Both Quinnipiac University and Gallup on Wednesday showed approval of Trump's performance in the White House dipping after he enjoyed a slight improvement last month when he ordered a missile attack following the Syrian government's alleged chemical weapons attack on its civilians. Quinnipiac said its latest survey gives Trump a near-record negative standing, with 36 percent of those surveyed approving of... Читать дальше...

Humanitarian agencies operating in Somalia say they are concerned about reports of upcoming military offensives in the country at a time when the risk of famine still persists. The agencies made the statement Wednesday ahead of an international conference on Somalia to be held in London on Thursday. The director of the humanitarian NGO umbrella organization, Abdurahman Sharif, told VOA Somali that the “verge of a famine is not a good time to start military offensive.” “Reports of upcoming military... Читать дальше...

Tens of thousands of people rallied on Wednesday in the Czech Republic's capital and other major cities against President Milos Zeman and Finance Minister Andrej Babis. The protesters gathered at Wenceslas Square in downtown Prague demanded Babis' firing and Zeman's resignation in the latest development of the Czech political crisis. The public demonstrations follow Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka asking the president last week to get rid of the finance minister over his unexplained business dealings... Читать дальше...

Protesters seeking jobs and better housing clashed with police for the third straight day in parts of the economic hub of Johannesburg and spread to the capital Pretoria, piling pressure on a government faced with weak economic growth. Unrest dubbed "service delivery protests" has mounted, boding ill for President Jacob Zuma's administration at a time when he is under pressure over a cabinet reshuffle that triggered credit downgrades. The persistence of poverty and joblessness 23 years after the end of apartheid is also stoking the anger... Читать дальше...

General James Ajongo was sworn in Wednesday as the new SPLA army chief, a day after South Sudan President Salva Kiir fired his predecessor, General Paul Malong, with no explanation. Ajongo said he would work to implement the security arrangements stipulated in the 2015 peace agreement and strive to end the fighting. He also said he would address the increasing numbers of armed groups across South Sudan who are trying to topple Kiir's government. Amid tight security in and around the Presidential Palace... Читать дальше...

Facebook is planning to intensify its crackdown on so-called clickbait websites, saying it will begin giving lower prominence to links that lead to pages full of deceptive or annoying advertisements. The downgrade of the links was expected to take effect beginning on Wednesday on News Feed, the home page of Facebook where people go to see posts from friends and family. Facebook said it wanted to downplay links that people post to websites that have a disproportionate volume of ads relative to content... Читать дальше...

Three shepherd children in Portugal were jailed and threatened with being boiled alive in olive oil when they claimed the Virgin Mary appeared to them 100 years ago. The Catholic Church doubted their story too. From that unpromising start, the children's reported visions would go on to strengthen the faith of Portugal's persecuted Catholics and make the small farming town of Fatima one of the world's foremost pilgrimage sites, with around 6 million visitors a year. Now, the Portuguese youngsters'... Читать дальше...

President Donald Trump's dismissal of FBI Director James Comey has raised questions about the future of the agency's probe into Russian attempts to sway the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with Trump's campaign. Democrats are worried Comey's firing on Tuesday could jeopardize the ongoing FBI probe and have renewed calls for an independent investigation. Some Republicans have said that could undermine concurrent investigations underway in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Читать дальше...

Europe, Japan and Canada hope a G-7 meeting in Italy this week will give them a better picture of U.S. President Donald Trump's direction on key policies that he has yet to spell out. The official agenda for Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers in the city of Bari from Thursday to Saturday focuses on inequality, international tax rules, cybersecurity and efforts to block terrorism funding. However, many participants will be looking to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to gauge... Читать дальше...

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday rejected a resolution to revoke an Obama-era rule to limit methane emissions from oil and gas production on federal lands, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump's efforts to free the drilling industry from what he sees as excessive environmental regulation. The Congressional Review Act resolution received just 49 votes after Republican leaders scrambled for weeks to secure the 51 needed to pass it. The resolution would have revoked the rule and prevented similar regulations from being introduced. Читать дальше...

Netflix, the U.S. video-on-demand company, will not be allowed to compete at the Cannes Film Festival after this year unless it changes its policy and gives its movies a cinema release, organizers said Wednesday. The 2017 festival, which begins next week, has Netflix films in its competition for the first time, a decision that angered the French movie theater sector as the company said the films will only be streamed to subscribers and not shown in cinemas. Festival Director Thierry Fremaux had... Читать дальше...

Pizza Hut has apologized and fired an advertising firm responsible for an Israeli Facebook ad that mocked the leader of a mass Palestinian hunger strike. The ad on Pizza Hut Israel's Facebook page was deleted, and the parent company said in a statement that the post was "completely inappropriate." The ad attempted to make light of Marwan Barghouti, the imprisoned leader of the 24-day-old hunger strike. Barghouti, 58, is serving five life terms after an Israeli court convicted him of directing... Читать дальше...

President Donald Trump abruptly fired James Comey as director of the FBI in the midst of the law enforcement agency's investigation into whether Trump's presidential campaign was connected to Russian meddling in the election. In a letter to Comey, Trump said the dismissal was necessary to restore the public's trust and confidence.   Often lauded for his independence, Comey had come under intense scrutiny in recent months for his role in the agency's investigation into the email practices of Trump's opponent... Читать дальше...

France's mainstream parties of the left and right struggled on Wednesday to adjust to the new political landscape created by centrist Emmanuel Macron's victory in Sunday's presidential election that has broken their dominance of national politics. With parliamentary elections looming next month, Macron's triumph fueled power struggles between moderates and hardliners on the left, while leaders of the conservative The Republicans warned against defections to the president-elect's camp. The Socialists... Читать дальше...

On this day in 1994, Nelson Mandela defied three centuries of white-minority rule and decades of racial strife in South Africa, becoming the country’s first-ever black president. The live television coverage gripped the world as Mandela, then aged 75, addressed the nation during a moment of unparalleled history. Having survived 27 years in prison, President Mandela was not bitter during his public remarks. In fact, the anti-apartheid icon paid tribute to his predecessor, F.W. de Klerk, and adopted a tone of reconciliation. Читать дальше...

Senate Democrats on Wednesday slammed President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey and renewed demands for a special prosecutor to oversee an ongoing Russia investigation, a call that Republicans continued to resist. "I've known Jim Comey for years. We were classmates at the University of Chicago Law School," said Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. "The president's dismissal of the FBI director in the middle of a major investigation into Russian interference in our election... Читать дальше...

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

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday testified in a corruption case against him, coming face-to-face for the first time with the federal judge overseeing a mammoth probe that has upended Latin America's largest nation.  Silva's hearing was closed to the press and not broadcast live, two of the many measures taken by Judge Sergio Moro and authorities in the southeastern city of Curitiba amid concerns of sparking violence. Authorities planned to release a recording of the hearing a few hours after it ended. Читать дальше...

Shaka Ssali discusses the future of Sub-Saharan Africa’s development with Ambassador Robin Renee Sanders, Ph.D., CEO, FEEEEDS Advocacy Initiative and with Hermine Zossoungbo, International Lecturer & African Diaspora Expert.

Analysts at a liberal research institution in Washington say U.S. employers are stealing $15 billion a year from workers by failing to pay legally required minimum wages. The Economic Policy Institute says the wage theft hits nearly one-fifth of low wage workers in the 10 largest U.S. states. The study's authors say affected workers lose an average of $64 a week, or $3,300 a year out of their modest salaries. Young people, women, minorities and immigrants are often stuck in low-level jobs and... Читать дальше...

You own it, but the government needs it. Here’s the legal tool they use to take it.

It's no secret that the world's coral reefs are at risk. Pollution, dredging, overfishing and, especially, acidic, warming waters are pushing these complex ecosystems to the brink of destruction, and marine scientists and researchers have been stymied in attempts to restore their health. Saving them isn't just the right thing to do, it's a necessity if we want to keep our oceans healthy and viable. Coral reefs provide nurseries for nearly a quarter of the ocean's fisheries, help protect shorelines from storms... Читать дальше...

Yemen's planning minister says 60 percent of the country's population is in dire poverty more than two years since the Shi’ite rebels forced the country's internationally recognized government and president out of the capital.   Mohamed El-Saadi says 22 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian relief, a figure that exceeds the U.N.'s recent estimate that 19.8 million in Yemen need assistance. El-Saadi spoke during a meeting on Wednesday in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, attended by the Gulf Cooperation... Читать дальше...

U.S. President Donald Trump and new South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed in a phone call Wednesday to closely cooperate in dealing with North Korea's nuclear weapons development program. South Korean officials said that Trump, in the call on Moon's inauguration day, described issues involving Pyongyang's military ambitions as complicated, but ones that could be resolved. Trump said the U.S.-South Korean relationship, long a bulwark against North Korean threats, was strong and invited Moon to visit Washington... Читать дальше...

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