Новости за 20.05.2017

Brazil's President Michel Temer has insisted he will not resign despite a corruption scandal that appears to implicate him through a recorded conversation. In a speech to the nation Saturday, Temer said "Brazil will not be derailed" by the corruption case. He said he would ask the country's high court to suspend the investigation against him until it could verify that the supposedly incriminating recording had not been altered. Temer contended the recording was "altered and doctored," and that... Читать дальше...

Reports Saturday from northern Syria said Islamic State extremists had executed 19 civilians, including two children, after kidnapping them from a village thought to be under the control of U.S.-backed anti-jihadist fighters. Details were sketchy, and there was no comment on the killings from U.S. officials. But the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors warfare in the country, said the killings occurred Friday between Raqqa, the IS extremists' de facto capital, and Deir Ezzor. The... Читать дальше...

Minneapolis Metro Transit police are investigating an incident shown on video in which a transit officer asks a light-rail passenger about his immigration status. The agency announced it was investigating after Minneapolis artist Ricardo Levins Morales posted video of the incident to his Facebook page on Friday. Morales says the officer was checking passenger fares, which is routine. The video shows the officer asking one passenger for identification and saying, "Are you here illegally?" Morales... Читать дальше...

An arms deal worth nearly $110 billion that Saudi Arabia and the United States signed Saturday is meant to counter Iran’s “malign” influence in the region, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. Speaking at a joint briefing in Riyadh with his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, Tillerson said the defense package was meant to help in the “long-term security of Saudi Arabia and the entire Gulf region.” The deal was signed, Tillerson said, “in the face of malign Iranian influence and Iranian-related threats... Читать дальше...

Iran has sanctioned nine more U.S.-linked businesses, organizations and people over America's sanctions over its ballistic missile program. Iran's Foreign Ministry published a new sanctions list online Saturday, which added nine targets. The sanctions means Iran could seize local assets of the companies targeted and bar its employees from the country. Those targets include Booz Allen Hamilton of McLean, Virginia; shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries of Newport News, Virginia; cyber-security firm Kingfisher Systems of Falls Church... Читать дальше...

A church in the Egyptian Nile Delta city of Tanta holds a vigil in memory of the victims of last month’s ISIS terror attack on Coptic Egyptians.

Pippa Middleton, the younger sister of Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, married millionaire hedge fund manager James Matthews on Saturday in Englefield, England. Prince William and Prince Harry were on hand for the lavish ceremony at a 12th century church in rural England. The wedding party also included William’s children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Middleton was accompanied by her father as they arrived at the church in a vintage convertible. A large number of reporters and on-lookers gathered outside the church grounds... Читать дальше...

Families of the 82 Nigerian schoolgirls released from captivity recently after being held for years by Boko Haram were reunited for the first time Saturday in the Nigerian capital Abuja. The girls are among the 276 Chibok schoolgirls abducted from their boarding school by the terrorists in 2014. They were granted freedom as part of a prisoner exchange deal between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government. Twenty-one others were freed in October, while several more girls have either been let go individually or escaped. Читать дальше...

With so-called Islamic State (IS) revenue streams drying up as it continues to lose territory in Syria and Iraq, IS is resorting to a fire sale by liquidating whatever marketable products it can, Iraqi prosecutors say. The Iraqi Higher Judicial Council said in a recent report that prosecutors’ interrogations with a group of captured IS members tell of how IS is dumping goods on Iraqi markets in hopes of making quick profits needed to continue military operations. “Confessions of this group clarified... Читать дальше...

More than 23,000 Somali students are sitting their final Secondary School exams despite recent militant threats that it will punish parents who send their children to Western-style schools and universities. Somalia’s minister of education, Abdurahman Dahir Osman, said the exams, which began Saturday, will be conducted in 77 centers across five federal states – Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Southwest, Jubaland and Benadir.  Launching the exam in Mogadishu, Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire said... Читать дальше...

At least 141 people, mostly soldiers in strongman General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army, were killed Friday during an attack on an airbase in southern Libya, according to the militia’s spokesman. Spokesman Ahmad al-Mismari told AFP the attack on the Brak al-Shati airbase was carried out by a militia loyal to the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord in Tripoli. "The soldiers were returning from a military parade. They weren't armed. Most of them were executed," he said. Other victims... Читать дальше...

Two veteran Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, who logged many hours together in failed efforts to strike a deal, said Saturday they are optimistic about President Donald Trump's Mideast bid. Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat and former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni spoke in separate interviews on the sidelines of a regional World Economic Forum meeting. Erekat remains the chief Palestinian negotiator while Livni is a leading opposition member of Israel's parliament. Trump was in Saudi Arabia on Saturday... Читать дальше...

Taliban fighters launched a three-pronged attack on parts of the central-eastern Afghan city of Ghazni overnight, driving a Humvee packed with explosives into the entrance of a district governor’s compound during the assault, police said Saturday. The assault on Ghazni, on the highway linking the capital Kabul with the southern city of Kandahar, ramps up the Taliban’s spring offensive and comes as U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis prepares to present recommendations to President Donald Trump on future troop levels in Afghanistan. Читать дальше...

A suicide bombing near the oil-rich city of Basra killed at least eight people as the Islamic State group took the fight against Iraqi forces deep into the country’s south, a military commander said Saturday.   Five civilians and three troops were killed when the bomber blew up his explosives-laden car Friday at a checkpoint north of Basra just behind a bus waiting to be cleared, said chief of the Basra Operations Command, Lt. Gen. Jamil al-Shimmari.    At least 41 others were wounded, al-Shimmari said. Читать дальше...

Iran's state television has declared incumbent President Hassan Rouhani the winner of the country's presidential election, giving him a second four-year term to see out his agenda calling for greater freedoms and outreach to the wider world. The 68-year-old has come to embody more liberal and reform-minded Iranians' hopes for greater political freedom at home and better relations with the outside world. Preliminary vote tallies earlier had Rouhani ahead with 22.8 million votes, out of 38.9 million counted so far. Читать дальше...

NAACP President Cornell William Brooks will not be returning as the leader of the nation’s oldest civil rights organization after his contract expires this summer, officials said Friday.    Brooks has been the NAACP’s leader since 2014 but will not be kept on past June 30, the end of his current term. NAACP Board Chairman Leon W. Russell and Vice Chair Derrick Johnson will lead the organization until a new president is selected.    Russell and Johnson announced what they described as a “transformational... Читать дальше...

The Pacific Rim trade ministers started their two-day meeting in Hanoi Saturday focusing on free trade and regional economic integration amid fears of growing trade protectionism. U.S Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer made his international debut at the gathering of 21 ministers from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Trans Pacific Partnership On the sidelines of the meeting, trade ministers from the remaining 11 countries involved in the Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact... Читать дальше...

Alabama’s GOP-dominated legislature redrew legislative maps Friday under court order to fix racial gerrymandering, punctuating a session rife with racial turmoil over issues such as the protection of Confederate monuments and an email that compared lawmakers to monkeys. The Senate approved new district maps Friday and sent them to the governor despite objections from black Democrats who said the new ones are still gerrymandered to maintain white GOP dominance in the conservative state. In January... Читать дальше...

A Pakistani government crackdown on social media to deter anti-military content has prompted accusations of curbing freedom of expression and victimizing political activists. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government last Sunday ordered the cybercrime department of the Federal Investigation Agency to proceed against activists "dishonoring" the national armed forces through social media. Authorities have since detained and interrogated an unspecified number of activists and seized their computers and cellphones. Читать дальше...

An American institution, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, promoted as “The Greatest Show on Earth,” is closing Sunday after 146 years. “After a lot of discussion, my family decided that with the decline in ticket sales, it was just the right business decision to close Ringling Brothers,” said Alana Feld, the executive vice president at Feld Entertainment, the owner of the iconic circus. Elephants and ticket sales Company officials cited decreasing sales after the circus... Читать дальше...

One day instead of visiting a doctor in person for health information or searching online, you could be asking for advice from a medical expert's avatar. A new app is being developed that can be used on a smartphone to ask a virtual doctor about various medical conditions and their treatments. VOA’s Deborah Block has more on this innovative technology.

The list of threats to the world's coral reef systems is long: overfishing, tourism, and the aquarium trade, for starters. Add the continuing effects of climate change, ocean warming and acidification, and it is easy to see why coral reefs around the world are at risk. Efforts to mitigate the damage are ongoing, but one group of Israeli researchers is trying to solve the problem by searching for stronger coral. VOA's Kevin Enochs reports.

Evidence of far-right extremism within the German armed forces is growing following the arrest Friday of four students at a military university in Munich. Police are trying to establish whether they have links to another soldier accused of plotting to frame refugees in a terror attack. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the allegations remain sensitive in a country where the 20th century Nazi history casts a long shadow.

About 3 million Americans will enter the job pool this year as graduation ceremonies get underway at various colleges and universities across the United States. With unemployment at a 10-year low, 2017 is shaping up to be a good year for new grads. But as Mil Arcega reports, success for many will depend on a desire to keep learning and a willingness to go where the jobs are.

President Donald Trump set off on an ambitious nine-day international trip Friday that takes him to the Middle East and Europe. Although he hoped to leave behind the political turmoil that began when he fired FBI Director James Comey, a new report raises more questions about Trump's motives for firing the FBI director. More from VOA National correspondent Jim Malone.