Новости за 20.06.2017

The Pentagon has confirmed the death of one of Islamic State’s leading ideologues in a coalition strike late last month. Turki al-Binali, the terror group's so-called “Grand Mufti,” or chief cleric, was killed May 31 in an airstrike in Mayadin, Syria, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters Tuesday. Al-Binali was central in recruiting foreign fighters to Islamic State and was a close confidante of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “He provided propaganda to incite murder and other atrocities,” Davis said. Читать дальше...

This U.N. World Refugee Day sees Turkey designated for the third consecutive year as the country that hosts the most refugees.While Ankara continues to stand by its policy of welcoming refugees, tensions within the country appear to be on the rise. On Sunday, a factory dispute involving the factory owner and Syrian employees triggered rising hostilities between Syrians and Turks, along with violence that raged into the night in a suburb of the western city of Sakarya. 3 million Syrians in Turkey... Читать дальше...

Sanctions against the Russians will remain in place until “they are out of eastern Ukraine,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday as the Ukrainian president visited the White House.    “We’re going to continue to have sanctions on Russia, and we believe that is part of Ukraine, and so therefore those sanctions will remain," said Spicer.   Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko, declared himself satisfied with the outcome of White House talks on Tuesday, characterizing the United States as the “most reliable... Читать дальше...

The U.N. Security Council is calling on Eritrea and Djibouti to peacefully resolve a land dispute along their border. Djibouti accused Eritrea of deploying troops to occupy the contested area, known as Ras Doumeira, after a contingent of 450 Qatari peacekeepers departed last week. If true, the move could threaten a return to war for the first time since the countries fought over the land in 2008. In a news conference Monday, Sacha Sergio Llorenty Soliz, the permanent representative of the president of the U.N. Security Council... Читать дальше...

Just how extensively Russia penetrated state election systems across America last year and how to prevent a repeat will be the focus of an extensive public hearing by the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday. "We're trying to focus on all aspects — the aggressive nature of Russia's attempt to hack all the way down to the state level," the committee's chairman, Republican Richard Burr of North Carolina, told VOA. The panel will hear from cybersecurity and counterintelligence officials at the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security... Читать дальше...

Belgian troops shot a suspected "terrorist" bomber in Brussels Central Station on Tuesday but there were no other casualties and the situation was brought under control after people were evacuated, officials said. Federal prosecutor Eric Van Der Sypt told reporters some three hours after the incident that a small blast was being treated as a "terrorist attack." He said it was still unclear if the man was dead and his identity was still unknown. The suspect was still inside the station, he added. Читать дальше...

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, marking World Refugee Day on Tuesday, expressed concern that opportunities for refugee resettlement in richer countries have decreased. "This is particularly worrying, especially when associated to forms of political populism, xenophobia, racism in which refugees become a target," he said at a news conference in New York. "Many times being accused of being part of a terror threat, when refugees are not terrorists, they are the first victim of terror. They are fleeing terror. Читать дальше...

As Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) advance toward Raqqa’s downtown, the U.S.-led coalition is intensifying its bombing of Islamic State's targets to pave the way for SDF forces to fully capture IS’s de-facto capital. VOA’s Mahmoud Bali reports.

A new approach to foreign investment and aid in Africa by the world’s richest nations is being called for by Germany's chancellor, before she hosts a meeting of the world's 20 wealthiest nations next month. The so-called "Merkel plan" calls for more investment in Africa, as a way of stemming African migration to Europe.   This week, German Foreign Minister Gerd Muller said he fears 100 million African refugees might come to Germany if nothing is done.   So, Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed... Читать дальше...

Researchers have developed a questionnaire for aid groups working with teenage Syrian refugees that measures resilience – the ability to overcome challenges.  Aid groups, including Mercy Corps, are using it to identify obstacles to resilience, and factors that increase self-confidence. “Access to peers, access to mentors, family, education?  What is helping young people overcome adversity?” said Matt Streng, Mercy Corps’ Director of Youth, Gender and Girls.  With that information, his group is adapting its programs that build teamwork... Читать дальше...

The nearly one million South Sudanese refugees in Uganda face shortages of food, water and medical care, but they have also brought with them the trauma of the war they fled. Aid agencies are struggling to meet the need for counseling for survivors of gender-based violence. She was attacked in South Sudan six months ago, but she is still afraid to answer the door. VOA met this 35-year-old woman at the Pagirinya refugee settlement in Uganda. She spoke through a translator.   She said she doesn't know if it was government soldiers or rebels. Читать дальше...

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports the planet Earth is experiencing another exceptionally warm year with record-breaking temperatures occurring in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the United States. At least 60 people have been killed in the devastating forest fires in central Portugal. The World Meteorological Organization says one of the factors contributing to these run-away wildfires are very high temperatures that have exceeded 40 degrees Celsius. Extremely high... Читать дальше...

A senior United Nations official says famine has been averted in Somalia for now. He warns food shortages still loom and could result in a catastrophic situation if international support wanes. The United Nations reports Somalia, for now, has averted the worst but that the country remains fragile and famine continues to stalk its people. The World Food Program (WFP) country director in Somalia, Laurent Bukera, says 3.2 million people are in trouble. He says some 350,000 children are malnourished, including 70,000 severely malnourished. Читать дальше...

It has a tough reputation, but for one entrepreneur Beirut’s Ouzai neighborhood is the perfect canvas upon which to paint dreams of a better Lebanon. Having left the area as a child and made his money working across the globe, Ayad Nasser has returned to Lebanon to create a place he has named "Ouzville". And whether it is internationally renowned graffiti artists painting the walls, or local youngsters inspired to pick up paintbrushes and contribute their own efforts, Nasser’s ambitions go well beyond adding a splash of color. Читать дальше...

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

On June 5, Saudi Arabia and its allies, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of funding extremist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic State. In response, Qatar said it was the victim of a policy of “domination and control” by its larger neighbor and that Saudi Arabia was, in fact, the one responsible for backing extremism. So what is the truth? Fundamentalist strains of Islam, including Saudi-born Salafism and Wahhabism... Читать дальше...

The sun had set, about 200 people had arrived, and evening prayers were about to start.   Members of the Bait-ur-Rehman Mosque in Silver Spring, Maryland, welcomed visitors Thursday evening for an iftar dinner during the holiest time in the Islamic calendar, when the faithful observe Ramadan fasting from sunrise to sunset.   Muslims, Christians, Jews, Quakers, Buddhists, and Sikhs were in the room listening to each other and sharing the meaning of fasting.   One by one they spoke. First came a pastor... Читать дальше...

It’s so hot in the southwestern United States that flights out of Phoenix, Arizona are being cancelled because of the extreme heat. Temperatures on Tuesday were expected to reach 49C, which is too hot for some planes to operate. American Airlines said it was going to cancel 38 flights leaving from Phoenix’s Sky Harbor airport during the hottest part of the day from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Most of the cancelled flights were shorter distance, regional flights because of the smaller planes they utilize. Читать дальше...

A United States fighter jet shot down an armed pro-Syrian regime drone just after midnight Tuesday morning, as the drone advanced on coalition forces in southern Syria, military officials said. The U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle shot down the Iranian-made drone as it approached an established coalition combat outpost near At Tanf, along the Syrian border with Iraq, where the U.S. is training local fighters to fight the Islamic State. Coalition forces shot down a similar pro-regime drone near the same location earlier this month... Читать дальше...

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports the cholera outbreak in Yemen has spread to practically every part of the war-torn country.  Suspected cases of cholera and acute watery diarrhea now top 170,000, with 1,170 deaths. WHO reports cholera has spread to 20 of Yemen’s 22 governorates in just two months. Spokesman Tarik Jasarevic says aid agencies are scaling up their operation and refining their response.   He says it is not possible to cover the country at all times, so WHO and the United... Читать дальше...

In reality, the “hotline” wasn’t a red phone. It may well have been a lifesaver, though, when it was established on this day, June 20, 1963, between the United States government and the former Soviet Union. Its purpose? To lessen via nearly instantaneous communication the threat of an accidental nuclear war. The need became frighteningly obvious during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. The United States had discovered that the Soviets were building missile sites in Cuba capable of firing missiles with nuclear warheads. Читать дальше...

U.S. data shows that the number of Venezuelans seeking asylum in the United States is accelerating as the oil-rich economy crashes and bloody, anti-government protests roil the nation. The most recent data from Citizenship and Immigration Services show 8,301 Venezuelans requested asylum in the first three months of 2017. That compares to 3,507 in the first quarter of 2016 and puts the country on pace to surpass last year's record of 18,155 requests. Even before the latest crackdown on anti-government protests... Читать дальше...

A man who died last year when his semi-autonomous Tesla Model S collided with a truck kept his hands off the steering wheel and apparently did not respond to automated warnings from the car to take the wheel, according to over 500 documents released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Monday. The report found that over the “vast majority” of the 37-minute trip Joshua Brown, a former Navy SEAL, was not holding the steering wheel. He only did so for 25 seconds, the NTSB said. The report... Читать дальше...

The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday criticized a Russian law banning homosexual "propaganda." The law, which effectively bans most public mentions of homosexuality, was introduced at regional levels in 2003 and 2006 and at the federal level in 2013. Nikolay Bayev, Aleksey Kiselev, and Nikolay Alekseyev filed a complaint against the law to the European high court. They were found guilty of administrative offenses and fined after staging demonstrations between 2009 and 2012. During the protests... Читать дальше...

Israel's prime minister says ground has been broken for a new West Bank settlement, the first in about two decades, to replace one demolished this year as President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy arrives in the region. Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he has the "privilege"' of building the new settlement.   Netanyahu had vowed to build the settlement to replace Amona, dismantled in February after an Israeli Supreme Court ruling.   On the campaign trail, Trump indicated he would be more sympathetic to settlements than his predecessor. Читать дальше...