Новости за 16.05.2017

Nigerians celebrated last week as 82 of the Chibok schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram were released and returned to the capital, Abuja. A total of 103 girls have been released since the kidnapping more than three years ago. Despite the joy, questions remain about the fate of the 113 girls still being held captive. Additionally, some are questioning the ethics and long-term implications of the negotiating tactics used by the Nigerian government. Talks to free the girls date back several years. Читать дальше...

Pregnant women who come down with the flu are at greater risk of illness requiring hospitalization. A new study found that in resource-poor countries, flu vaccination reduced the risk of illness to mother and baby.   An estimated 40 percent of the world’s population lives in subtropical and tropical zones, where influenza sometimes circulates year-round. Yet influenza vaccine is rarely used. Mark Steinhoff is director of the Global Health Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Ohio. He said the influenza virus... Читать дальше...

After breaking the story about the systemic torture and extrajudicial killings of gay men by Chechen security officials in an unofficial prison outside Grozny, Elena Milashina of the Russian-language Novaya Gazeta newspaper has been forced into hiding. Faced with a fatwa by Chechen clerics who have vowed to kill the reporter along with any journalists associated with her publication, Milashina recently agreed to speak with VOA from an undisclosed location via Skype. Like her late colleague Anna Politkovskaya... Читать дальше...

The U.S. Senate's top Democrat called on the White House on Tuesday to provide a transcript of President Donald Trump's meeting last week with Russian officials, in which the president himself has acknowledged sharing sensitive intelligence. The president took to Twitter early Tuesday, asserting he has "the absolute right" to share intelligence with Russia for humanitarian reasons and to pressure Moscow to "step up their fight" against Islamic State. The tweets did not reassure the Senate Intelligence Committee's top Democrat... Читать дальше...

Longtime late-night host David Letterman has been honored with the nation's top prize for comedy. The Kennedy Center announced Tuesday that the 70-year-old Letterman is this year's recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. He is the 20th humorist to receive the annual prize, which began in 1998. Last fall, he delivered a warm tribute on stage at the Kennedy Center as his frequent guest, Bill Murray, accepted the award. Letterman hosted more than 6,000 episodes of late-night television... Читать дальше...

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

Despite his jokes that he'll never get asked back, Jimmy Kimmel is set to host the Oscars once more. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday said Kimmel will return for the 90th Oscars with producers Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd, the team behind this year's ceremony.   Ratings for the 89th Oscars this past February were the lowest since 2008 with 32.9 million viewers tuning in, even with the drama of the envelope gaffe in which Faye Dunaway, reading an incorrect card, announced "La La Land" as the best picture winner. Читать дальше...

A pregnant 10-year-old girl in northern India will be allowed to have a late-term abortion, a local court announced Tuesday. The girl, who is about five months pregnant and reports being raped repeatedly by her stepfather, appealed for a termination. Indian law does not permit abortions after 20 weeks unless doctors can prove that the mother's life is at risk. The decision was made after a local court accepted the recommendation of doctors at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in the state of Haryana. Читать дальше...

After more than a year of wreaking havoc across western and southern Africa, fall armyworms have now been reported in most countries in eastern Africa, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Burundi.   Timothy Mbaya is a 25-year-old farmer from western Kenya. He says 75 percent of his maize crop was destroyed by a fall armyworm infestation in April.   “There’s nothing we could do, because the worms were eating indiscriminately in patches, in groups, so I had to do away with the crops and seek alternative crops to plant. Читать дальше...

North Korean claims that its newly-tested ballistic missile can carry a nuclear warhead appear to explain a subtle but significant shift in the way U.S. intelligence views Pyongyang.   Top officials, who once described North Korea as a “second tier” adversary with more intent than capability, now refer to it as an “increasingly grave” threat bent on demonstrating that the United States will soon be within its military reach.   “We have assessed this as a very significant, potentially existential... Читать дальше...

How does a leading neo-Nazi website that has railed against Hispanic immigrants expand its audience beyond a loyal base of U.S. white supremacists? By publishing a Spanish-language edition, of course.   The Daily Stormer — infamous for orchestrating internet harassment campaigns by its "Troll Army" of readers — recently launched El Daily Stormer as a "news portal" tailoring its racist, anti-Semitic content for readers in Spain and Latin America.   Andrew Auernheimer, a notorious computer hacker... Читать дальше...

Princess Mako, the granddaughter of Japan's emperor, is getting married to an ocean lover who can ski, play the violin and cook, according to public broadcaster NHK TV. The Imperial Household Agency declined to confirm the report Tuesday. Kei Komuro, the man who won the princess' heart, was a fellow student at International Christian University in Tokyo, where Mako, 25, also graduated, NHK said. They met at a restaurant in Tokyo's Shibuya about five years ago at a party to talk about studying abroad... Читать дальше...

A week after President Donald Trump sparked anger in Turkey by authorizing the arming of Syrian Kurds, he welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the White House on Tuesday. The two leaders are holding talks expected to focus on that dispute, as well as the wider conflict in Syria. The U.S. sees the Kurdish force, the YPG, as a key part in the fight against Islamic State and the effort to oust the militants from their de facto capital in Raqqa. But Turkey considers the YPG terrorists... Читать дальше...

Bill Cosby says he doesn't expect to testify at his Pennsylvania sexual assault trial.   The comedian spoke to Sirius radio host Michael Smerconish in an interview being broadcast Tuesday.   Smerconish says he agreed to air an uncut, 82-minute conversation between Cosby and his daughters in exchange for the interview.   Cosby says his lawyers won't let him speak about the criminal case. But he says he has "never, never" lost the support of his wife.   Daughter Ensa Cosby says she believes... Читать дальше...

Authorities were searching Tuesday in the Bahamas for a small overdue plane with four people from New York aboard, including two children.   The U.S. Coast Guard says the twin-engine MU-2B was east of the island of Eleuthera on Monday when air traffic control in Miami lost radar and radio contact with the plane. It was en route from Puerto Rico and never made it to its destination of Titusville, along the northeastern coast of Florida.   The people on board the plane were identified as Nathan Ulrich and Jennifer Blumin of New York... Читать дальше...

Thailand backed off a threat to block Facebook on Tuesday, instead providing the social media site with court orders to remove content that the government deems illegal. Thailand made the threat last week as it wanted Facebook to block more than 130 posts it considers a threat to national security or in violation of the country's lese majeste law, which makes insults to the monarchy punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Thailand's military government has made prosecuting royal insults a priority... Читать дальше...

A regional drought has displaced more than half a million people in Somalia and left the country at risk of famine. A cholera outbreak is further complicating relief efforts, in particular in the southern part of the country where some villages remain under al-Shabab control. Bay Regional Hospital, the biggest in the southwest federal state, is filled with patients suffering from stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. Cholera has sickened more than 40,000 people in Somalia since December. More than half of the cases have been in this state. Читать дальше...

China appears to be laying the groundwork for the mass collection of DNA samples from residents of a restive, largely Muslim region that's been under a security crackdown, rights observers and independent experts said Tuesday. Police in western China's Xinjiang region confirmed to The Associated Press that they are in the process of purchasing at least $8.7 million in equipment to analyze DNA samples. Observers from Human Rights Watch said they've seen evidence of almost $3 million in additional purchases related to DNA testing. Читать дальше...

Get ready for more rabbit ears, dog noses and funny hats to show up in your Facebook feed. Facebook’s Instagram service is launching face filters in an effort to keep up with rival, Snap Inc.’s Snapchat. “From math equations swirling around your head to furry koala ears that move and twitch, you can transform into a variety of characters that make you smile or laugh,” the company wrote on its blog. The new features will also include the ability to manipulate video, allowing users to play them in reverse. Читать дальше...

Ukraine ordered the blocking of access to a number of Russian websites Tuesday in the latest round of sanctions since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. President Petro Poroshenko's office announced the decree, which he signed a day earlier, banning operations of popular Russian websites, such as search engine Yandex, for three years. The listed websites were still functioning in Ukraine Tuesday, and it is unclear how and when the government plans to block them. The Ukrainian government cited security concerns... Читать дальше...

It's a sure sign that summer is on its way: Former President George H.W. Bush and wife Barbara are back in Maine.   A spokesman confirms they arrived at Walker's Point on Monday, less than a month after the former president was released from a hospital in Texas.   Officials said last month that the 92-year-old Bush was treated for a mild case of pneumonia and chronic bronchitis, but that it wouldn't interfere with his summer plans.   Bush, the nation's 41st president, has spent every summer in Kennebunkport... Читать дальше...

U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said Tuesday that information about terrorism and threats to international aviation that President Donald Trump shared with Russian diplomats last week was “wholly appropriate” and did not compromise U.S. intelligence sources. McMaster stood by his account from the day before, that the premise of U.S. news accounts was false that Trump had divulged highly classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Moscow’s ambassador to the U.S.... Читать дальше...

The rock band Bon Jovi surprised graduates and guests at Fairleigh Dickinson University's commencement exercises Tuesday by putting on an impromptu performance.   Fairleigh Dickinson won a nationwide contest to bring the New Jersey-based band to play their graduation by generating the most interest on social media.   Jon Bon Jovi, who was born and raised in Sayreville, New Jersey, spoke to the graduates before the band performed "Reunion," a song about a class gathering years later to share memories of their lives. Читать дальше...

Federal authorities say a Panamanian detainee at a south Georgia immigration detention center appears to have killed himself. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a news release that 27-year-old Jean Jimenez-Joseph was found unresponsive with a sheet around his neck in his cell at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin early Monday and attempts to revive him failed. He was pronounced dead at a hospital in Americus at 2:15 a.m. ICE says the preliminary cause of death was ruled "self-inflicted... Читать дальше...

Gunmen suspected to be al-Shabab Islamic extremists killed an administrative chief in an attack in Kenya's north that left two police reservists missing, an official said Tuesday. The attack took place in Omar Jillo in Mandera county on Monday night, Regional Coordinator Mohamud Saleh said. The county borders Somalia, where al-Shabab is based. Omar Jillo is among several towns in the area under dusk-to-dawn curfew over insecurity caused by the al-Qaida-linked extremists.   A police report seen... Читать дальше...