Новости за 17.06.2017

At least five people were killed and 12 others wounded Saturday in heavy fighting between Somali National Army soldiers and al-Shabab militants in the Bakol region of southwestern Somalia, officials said. Somali army officials told VOA that the militants had attacked a government military base in el-Lahelay village, about 20 kilometers west of Hudur, the provincial capital of the region. The militants used machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to assault the base from different directions at midday Saturday... Читать дальше...

Yemen's Saudi-backed government said on Saturday it agreed to a two-point plan advanced by the United Nations to ease suffering in the country's civil war, but the Iran-aligned Houthi movement remained sceptical. On Thursday the U.N. Security Council urged the warring parties to agree on a U.N.-brokered plan to keep the Houthi-held port of Hodeidah out of the fighting and to resume government salary payments. The U.N. has proposed that Hodeidah, a vital aid delivery point on the Red Sea where some 80 percent of Yemen's food imports arrive... Читать дальше...

Jailed Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said on Saturday he would not be a candidate for prime minister in elections due by mid-2018. Once a rising star in the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party, Anwar is seen as the greatest threat to Prime Minister Najib Razak and his coalition, after leading a three-party opposition alliance to stunning electoral gains in 2013. Anwar was convicted and jailed for sodomizing a former aide, a charge he and his supporters describe... Читать дальше...

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was set to name a former Lebanese culture minister as new U.N. envoy to Libya, ending an unusually contentious four-month search that followed U.S. rejection of his first suggestion. Guterres on Friday officially put forward Ghassan Salame, a professor of International Relations and Conflict Resolution at Sciences-Po in Paris, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Saturday. Diplomats said objections were unlikely and the U.N. Security Council will greenlight the appointment on Tuesday. Читать дальше...

The United States supports a 48-hour cease-fire declared by the Syrian army in southern Syria but says it will wait to see what happens before judging its effectiveness. "We will judge this initiative by the results, not the words," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement Saturday. "The opposition should similarly halt attacks to allow the cease-fire to endure — and hopefully be extended — and humanitarian aid to reach those in need." Earlier in the day, the Syrian army... Читать дальше...

The owner of a now-defunct mining company in Afghanistan has been indicted on charges of defrauding the U.S. government and defaulting on a loan of nearly $16 million. U.S. prosecutors said on June 16 that Azam Doost, 39, was arrested on June 13 at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.  An indictment charges Doost, who is also known as Adam Doost, Muhammad Azam Doost and Muhammad Azim, with wire fraud, false statements on loan applications and money laundering. Doost owned Equity Capital Mining LLC... Читать дальше...

Iranian forces have staged operations against dissidents they say were planning terror attacks during Ramadan in the wake of twin suicide assaults on symbolic sites in Tehran. Officials linked one group to Saudi Arabia, which it claims is trying to destabilize the country. Intelligence forces killed three members of the small Ansar al-Forqan group and arrested five others Wednesday in the southeastern city of Chabahar in Sistan and Balouchestan province, seizing seven suicide vests and a large amount of ammunition... Читать дальше...

Eighteen demonstrators were arrested Saturday in St. Paul, Minnesota, after they blocked one of the city's freeways to protest the police shooting death of a black man. The arrests came after a jury acquitted a police officer Jeronimo Yanez in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile during a traffic stop last year — a verdict that brought cries of dismay from the dead man's family and supporters in the courtroom. The protesters had been engaged in a peaceful demonstration Friday outside the Minnesota State Capitol... Читать дальше...

British Prime Minister Theresa May met at her Downing Street office Saturday with survivors of this week's deadly high-rise fire, a day after being chastised by protesters and as the death toll continued to rise. May, who is facing mounting criticism for her response to Wednesday's west London fire that killed at least 58 people, left hundreds of others homeless and dozens missing, met for 2½ hours with a delegation of family members. Details were not disclosed, but an unidentified group spokesman... Читать дальше...

A United States judge has declared a mistrial in the sexual assault trial of celebrity comedian Bill Cosby after jurors could not reach a unanimous decision about Cosby's guilt. The jury deadlocked after more than 50 hours of deliberation in Norristown, Pennsylvania, over charges that he drugged and then molested a woman in 2004. Prosecutors said immediately that they would retry the Cosby Show star, and he remains charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault. The jury seemed exasperated... Читать дальше...

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed disappointment Saturday over possible new sanctions to be levied against his country by the United States, but said it is too early to speak of “retaliatory actions.” “This will, indeed, complicate Russia-American relations. I think this is harmful,” Putin the told state-run RIA news agency. The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly this week to strengthen sanctions against Russia as punishment for its campaign to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Читать дальше...

One Afghan soldier was killed, and at least three United States soldiers and another Afghan soldier were wounded Saturday in the northern Balkh province of Afghanistan after an Afghan soldier opened fire on them in an apparent insider attack, military officials said. “We are investigating and have no reports yet of any foreign troops killed in the attack. Initial information shows three US soldiers visiting the base were wounded,” Mohammad Radmanish, a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry said. Читать дальше...

A catastrophic blaze at a London apartment tower has brought new scrutiny to a long-accepted, counterintuitive rule for people in tall buildings: If the blaze breaks out elsewhere in the structure, don't automatically run for the stairs. Stay put and wait for instructions. That's what residents of London's 24-story Grenfell Tower had been told to do, but the strategy failed early Wednesday when flames that began on a lower floor spread shockingly fast and quickly engulfed the entire building. Many residents were trapped... Читать дальше...

The UN Children's Fund warns three-quarters of a million children in Eastern Ukraine are at risk of water-borne diseases as fighting threatens to cut off their safe water supply. The United Nations estimates around 10,000 people have been killed and more than 23,500 injured since fighting in Eastern Ukraine erupted between the government and Russian-backed separatists more than three years ago. The U.N. children's fund warns an upsurge in fighting in the rebel-held territory is putting more lives at risk. Читать дальше...

Djibouti has accused Eritrea of occupying disputed territory along their border after Qatar withdrew a peacekeeping force earlier this week. Djiboutian officials say Eritrean troops took control of Dumeira Mountain and Dumeira Island on Wednesday, a day after Qatar removed 450 soldiers who had controlled the territories for the past seven years. Qatar did not give a reason for the move, which came after Eritrea and Djibouti sided with Saudi Arabia in an ongoing diplomatic dispute between Qatar and its larger neighbor. Читать дальше...

President Donald Trump is picking simple over swanky this weekend.  Nearly five months into his presidency, Trump is heading to Camp David, the government-owned retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains, for the first time. A frequent weekend traveler, Trump has favored his palatial residences in Florida and New Jersey over the wooded hideaway used by many presidents for a break from Washington.   No one expects the luxury-loving leader to make this a regular thing. After all, Trump told foreign... Читать дальше...

U.S. farm groups criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to retreat from his predecessor’s opening toward Cuba, saying it could derail huge increases in farm exports that totaled $221 million last year. A trade delegation from Minnesota, one of the largest U.S. agriculture states, vowed to carry on with its planned visit to Cuba next week.  “We’re going to continue to beat the drum and let them (the Trump administration) know that trade is good for agriculture,” said Kevin Paap, a farmer in the delegation. Читать дальше...

The key to success for ride-hailing providers like Uber is keeping drivers happy so they run their app, ensuring that enough cars respond to passenger demand. Estonia upstart Taxify is hoping to win over drivers and take on Uber Technologies Inc., the industry leader, by offering a larger share of the profit. Upstarts across the world, such as Lyft Inc. and Ola, are trying to catch Uber in the on-demand car-ride market by securing brand loyalty. But Uber has gathered critical mass and reached... Читать дальше...

Jurors have been unable to reach a verdict in the trial of comedian Bill Cosby, who is charged with three counts of sexual assault, in a courtroom near Philadelphia. The seven men and five women of the jury said they were deadlocked Thursday, and Judge Steven O’Neill ordered them to continue deliberations, rejecting calls by the defense for a mistrial. By late Friday, they had not reached a verdict. A conviction could send the 79-year-old entertainer to prison for decades. At issue is whether... Читать дальше...

John Avildsen, the director of two iconic films, Rocky and The Karate Kid, has died. Avildsen, who was 81, died Friday in Los Angeles from pancreatic cancer, his family said. The Rocky movies Avildsen told the Baltimore Sun newspaper last year that at first he had no interest in directing Rocky, a movie, released in 1976, about a struggling boxer. He said, however, when he read the second or third page of the script when Rocky is “talking to his turtles, Cuff and Link. I was charmed by it,... Читать дальше...

The United States is pushing El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — together known as the Northern Triangle states — to do more to halt illegal migration, drug trafficking and corruption, in a shared partnership with Washington. VOA State Department Correspondent Nike Ching reports from Miami.

Jurors are still unable to reach a verdict in the trial of comedian Bill Cosby, who is charged with three counts of sexual assault. The trial near Philadelphia entered its fifth day of deliberations Friday, and the judge rejected calls by the defense for a mistrial. VOA's Mike O'Sullivan reports that a conviction could send the 79-year-old entertainer to prison for decades.

It's a challenge many Muslims in America are facing this year. Ramadan falls in the summer, and the fast can last between 16 and 20 hours day. Those long hours drove Dr. Imran Posner, a psychiatrist in Philadelphia, to create a food supplement that helps curb hunger during Ramadan. Anne Budianto reports from Philadelphia.

Algae blooms are a part of California summers, but something in the water is different this year, and it's making the local wildlife sick. VOA's Kevin Enochs reports.

President Donald Trump on Friday announced a partial rollback of his predecessor's actions that were meant to normalize relations with Cuba, following more than a half-century of isolation by the United States. But as VOA's Bill Gallo reports, the move was less drastic than many expected.