Новости за 10.06.2017

U.S. President Donald Trump will visit NATO ally Poland before he heads to Germany for the Group of 20 (G-20) summit in July, the White House announced. "The visit will reaffirm America's steadfast commitment to one of our closest European allies and emphasize the administration's priority of strengthening NATO's collective defense," the White House said in a statement late Friday. Trump will deliver a major speech during the visit, and attend the Three Seas Initiative summit as a symbol of Washington's... Читать дальше...

President Donald Trump is preparing to announce new policies toward Cuba that most likely will roll back parts of former President Barack Obama's efforts to normalize relations with the island nation, according to a senior administration official and other sources. The official said presidential aides were finalizing their review of U.S.-Cuba relations and were expected to send recommendations to Trump and his national security team in the coming days. Plans are under way for Trump to announce the new Cuba policy on Friday in Miami. Читать дальше...

“At first, I didn’t want to take off the veil at the checkpoint,” said Dhoa, 32, cuddling her infant daughter to her chest. “But then after soldiers told me to remove it a few times, I thought: Why bother wearing it at all?” Since Iraqi forces recaptured this part of Mosul in November, the military has encouraged women not to wear veils that cover their faces because Islamic State militants are hiding among them dressed as women. Less than two weeks ago, the ban became official, and soldiers... Читать дальше...

Danger lurks at Dracula's castle.   Romanian authorities have closed a 13th-century fortress connected to Vlad the Impaler after a mother bear and her cubs were found roaming in the area.   The citadel, atop a mountain in central Romania, can be reached only by climbing 1,480 steps. It was shut in late May "for the safety of visitors," its website said Saturday.   Local prefect Emilian Dragnea says the Environment Ministry had agreed to capture the four bears and relocate them elsewhere. Authorities... Читать дальше...

Adam West, the actor who played the title role in the kitschy 1960's "Batman" television series, has died at age 88, Variety reported on Saturday, citing a family statement. West, who was so closely identified with his tongue-in-cheek portrayal of the cartoon superhero that he had trouble landing other roles when the show ended, died on Friday evening after a struggle with leukemia, his representative told Variety. His representatives did not immediately return calls or emails seeking comment.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Bahrain's Foreign Minister that the dispute between Qatar and other Arab states should be resolved by the end of the holy month of Ramadan, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday. In a joint news conference with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Khalifa, Cavusoglu said Turkey would continue its efforts to resolve the dispute, as Qatar faces isolation imposed by fellow Arab states over its alleged support for terrorism. Читать дальше...

A boat belonging to a Spanish aid organization has rescued 391 migrants attempting the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea.   Laura Lanuza, spokeswoman for Spain's Proactiva Open Arms aid group, says that its ship Golfo Azzurro on Saturday took on board 243 migrants from two smugglers' boats it intercepted in international waters off the coast of Libya.   Lanuza says the migrants included one baby, a pregnant woman and several children.   The aid boat also saved another 148 migrants... Читать дальше...

Ethiopia's government is warning it will run out of emergency food aid starting next month as the number of drought victims in the East African country has reached 7.8 million. An international delegation visited one of the worst-affected areas Friday near the border with Somalia, which suffers from widespread drought as well. Several hundred people lined the dusty road to meet the officials at the remote airstrip, while rail-thin camels and goats roamed in the bushes. Animal carcasses littered the ground. Читать дальше...

A Turkish court has formally arrested Amnesty  International's chairman in the country pending trial on charges of membership in a terror organization, Turkey's official Anadolu news agency said Saturday. The rights group called it a "mockery of justice.'' Taner Kilic was arrested in the western province of Izmir along with five other attorneys who are accused of using ByLock, an encrypted mobile messaging application. Kilic was detained on Tuesday and arrested late Friday. ByLock is allegedly... Читать дальше...

Iran voiced its opposition on Saturday to an announcement by Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region that it will organise a vote on independence later this year. "Iran's principal position is to support the territorial integrity of Iraq," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said. "The Kurdistan region is part of the Iraqi republic and unilateral decisions outside the national and legal framework, especially the Iraqi constitution... can only lead to new problems." Iraqi Kurdish leaders announced... Читать дальше...

An anti-terrorism court in central Pakistan on Saturday sentenced a man, aged 30, to death for posting blasphemous content on social media. The judge conducted the judicial proceedings in the high-security prison in the city of Bahawalpur, prosecutor Mohammad Shafiq Qureshi told VOA. The prosecutor explained that the court found Taimoor Raza guilty of using Facebook and WhatsApp to “disseminate" or "upload" hate material, including "offensive pictures and comments” against Prophet Mohammad and his companions. Читать дальше...

U.S.-backed Syrian forces have advanced into opposite sides of Islamic State's so-called Syrian capital of Raqqa, the forces and a war monitor said on Saturday. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a group of Kurdish and Arab militias supported by a U.S.-led coalition, began to attack Raqqa on Tuesday after a months-long campaign to cut it off. The U.S.-led coalition estimates that Raqqa, which Islamic State seized from Syrian rebels in 2014 during their lightning advance in Syria and Iraq, is defended by 3,000-4,000 jihadists. Читать дальше...

The Great British public has spoken. But as journalist Ian Hislop quipped Friday on a television comedy show, “no one knows what they said.” Hardly had the votes been counted in Britain’s indecisive election, in which no party got an outright parliamentary majority, than politicians took to airwaves and tapped away on Twitter to spin what the result meant. And crucially they debated whether the voters had rejected Brexit — or at least Prime Minister Theresa May’s hard version of a break with the European Union... Читать дальше...

The U.S. military confirmed Saturday that overnight joint counter-Taliban operations in southern Afghanistan have killed and wounded Afghan security forces, but gave no casualty toll. The confirmation followed local media reports that said airstrikes conducted late Friday in the insurgent-held Nad Ali district of embattled Helmand province killed at least eight local forces and wounded many more. An investigation is underway to determine circumstances that led to the “unfortunate” incident,”... Читать дальше...

Did President Donald Trump break the law when he allegedly asked then-FBI Director James Comey in February to stop his investigation of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn? The question is at the heart of a legal debate a day after Comey disclosed during closely watched congressional testimony that Trump asked him to end his investigation of Flynn’s suspected ties to Russia. In riveting detail, Comey recounted that after a February 14 counter-intelligence briefing at the White House... Читать дальше...

The U.S. Department of Justice Friday called for the dismissal of a lawsuit alleging President Donald Trump violated the constitution by accepting foreign payments at his hotels. The lawsuit, filed in January, said Trump violates the Constitution’s “emoluments” clause, which bars him from accepting gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval, by maintaining ownership over his business empire despite ceding day-to-day control to his sons. In a filing in Manhattan federal court Friday... Читать дальше...

U2 turned their first headlining appearance at a U.S. music festival into Bono-roo.   The Irish rockers performed a two-hour set Friday night at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, as part of their world tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of their Grammy-winning The Joshua Tree album.   They played the full album, as well as some of their other hits, including New Year’s Day and Beautiful Day, to tens of thousands of music fans.   Toward the end of the performance... Читать дальше...

Marches against Islamic law were planned Saturday in more than two dozen cities across the United States, but scholars and others say the protesters are stoking unfounded fears and promoting a distorted and prejudiced view of the religion.    The group organizing the rallies, ACT for America, claims Shariah “is incompatible with Western democracy and the freedoms it affords.”  What is Shariah? But most Muslims don’t want to replace U.S. law with Islamic law, known as Shariah, and only “radical extremist groups” would call for that... Читать дальше...

Thirteen Philippine marines were killed in fierce fighting with Muslim militants who have laid siege to southern Marawi city for nearly a month in the biggest single-day loss for government forces, the military said Saturday.    The marines were conducting a house-to-house search for militants allied with the Islamic State group who are still occupying parts of Marawi when the battle erupted Friday, said Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, spokesman for the Philippine army’s 1st Infantry Division.    He... Читать дальше...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday she assumed Britain would stick to its plan for leaving the European Union after the country’s election upset, and that she wanted to work quickly on talks over Brexit. British voters failed to deliver a widely expected parliamentary majority for the Conservative party in Thursday’s general election, dealing a major blow to Prime Minister Theresa May just days ahead of difficult Brexit talks with the EU. Speaking during a visit to Mexico City, Merkel said Germany was ready for the Brexit talks... Читать дальше...

Kosovars vote Sunday to choose the new 120-seat parliament that will face some seemingly intractable problems.   There is the thorny issue of the border demarcation deal with Montenegro that brought down the previous government; the continuation of fraught talks with Serbia, which denies Kosovo’s existence as a state; and potential war crimes trials of some senior political leaders.   Nineteen political parties, five coalitions and two citizens’ initiatives, all promising to break the isolation and secure growth, have nominated candidates. Читать дальше...

Thousands of people from around the world packed Israel’s streets of Tel Aviv for the city’s annual Gay Pride march, one of many festivals for gay rights taking place this weekend. The festival is billed as the largest event of its kind in the deeply conservative Middle East. Israeli police estimated that more than 100,000 people participated Friday with many coming from other countries. The annual parade featured floats and dancers with this year’s theme being “Bisexuality Visibility.” ... Читать дальше...

U.S. special forces are helping the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to end a siege of the southern town of Marawi by militants allied to Islamic State, a U.S. embassy spokesperson in Manila told Reuters Saturday. The seizure of Marawi by hundreds of fighters who have sworn allegiance to Islamic State, including dozens from neighboring countries and the Middle East, has fueled concern that the ultra-radical group is gaining a foothold in Southeast Asia. “At the request of the government of the Philippines... Читать дальше...

Every springtime in the United States, boys don tuxedos or suits and girls wear elegant gowns on one special night. For decades, the high school prom has been a major moment in the teenage experience. While movies portray the evening as a night of magic and romance, the reality can be quite different. Jesusemen Oni followed a couple of high school students to their prom for an inside look at this decades-old tradition.

World Ocean Day, earlier this month, is an annual focus on the threats to our watery planet. It's a long list: overfishing, climate change, algae blooms and plastic. Plastic is everywhere, on the surface, in the deep and along the shorelines. But, in India, a dedicated group of fishermen turned conservationists is doing its part to help solve that problem. VOA's Kevin Enochs reports.