Новости за 28.06.2017

This year’s World Food Prize, a quarter million dollars - was awarded to African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina. The former Nigerian Minister of Agriculture spoke to VOA’s Mariama Diallo from the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan on the immense challenges he says are facing the continent.

French President Emmanuel Macron will address a parliamentary session for both houses next Monday, a rare event that opponents said signaled his intent to concentrate power in the presidency. Such a joint session of parliament is known as a Congress and takes place at Versailles, the sumptuous palace of France's former monarchy built outside Paris by Louis XIV — the "Sun King" — to symbolize absolute power. Macron's aides say he wants to set the tone and the direction of his five-year mandate... Читать дальше...

A new cyber virus spread from Ukraine to wreak havoc around the globe on Wednesday, crippling thousands of computers, disrupting ports from Mumbai to Los Angeles and halting production at a chocolate factory in Australia. The virus is believed to have first taken hold on Tuesday in Ukraine where it silently infected computers after users downloaded a popular tax accounting package or visited a local news site, national police and international cyber experts said. More than a day after it first struck... Читать дальше...

Moscow is preparing retaliatory measures to Washington's decision to seize two Russian diplomatic compounds in the United States in 2016, Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman said Wednesday. In December, the U.S. seized two Russian diplomatic compounds as then-President Barack Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russians over what he said was their involvement in hacking to interfere in the U.S. presidential election campaign. Moscow, which denies such allegations, did not retaliate immediately... Читать дальше...

A former top diplomat in Republican U.S. president George W. Bush’s administration criticized President Donald Trump for being “unwilling to act against Russia” in retaliation for the Kremlin’s interference in last year’s election. Nicholas Burns, who served as undersecretary of state for political affairs in the Bush administration, told lawmakers, “I find it dismaying and objectionable that President Trump continues to deny the undeniable fact that Russia launched a major cyber attack against the United States... Читать дальше...

The U.N.'s disarmament chief warned Wednesday that terrorists and non-state actors are using the so-called dark web to seek the tools to make and deliver weapons of mass destruction. "The global reach and anonymity of the dark web provides non-state actors with new marketplaces to acquire dual-use equipment and materials," U.N. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council. The dark web is a part of the internet that requires special software... Читать дальше...

The FBI interviewed several U.S. employees of Moscow-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab this week as part of an agency probe of the company's operations, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents visited the homes of Kaspersky employees late Tuesday in multiple U.S. cities, though no search warrants were served, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the FBI probe. The news followed... Читать дальше...

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has been accused of a violating a law limiting government employees' political activity by voicing support for a South Carolina congressional candidate. In a letter sent Tuesday to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, accused the former South Carolina governor of violating the Hatch Act when she retweeted one of President Donald Trump's Twitter messages earlier this month supporting Republican Ralph Norman. Читать дальше...

Senior officials from the departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security labored Wednesday to finalize rules for visitors from six mostly Muslim nations who hope to avoid the Trump administration's revived travel ban and come to the United States. The deliberations came as U.S. embassies and consulates awaited instructions on how to implement this week's Supreme Court order that partially reinstated the ban after it was blocked by lower courts. The administration has given itself a Thursday deadline for implementing the scaled-back ban... Читать дальше...

The United Arab Emirates has transferred terrorism suspects from Yemen to a secret prison in Assab, Eritrea, according to former detainees and Yemeni officials. The facility on the Red Sea coast is part of a regional network of prisons in which torture and abuse are rampant, independent investigations by the Associated Press and Human Rights Watch have revealed. Kristine Beckerle, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, says the UAE and its Yemeni partners view the prisoners as "high-value terrorism... Читать дальше...

South Sudan is recalling its top diplomats from seven countries, but says the recalls have nothing to do with the country's economic crisis. The crisis, sparked by three and a half years of civil war, has left South Sudan's government strapped for cash, and most of the country's envoys around the world have not received salaries for up to six months. A letter dated June 14, signed by Minister for Foreign Affairs Deng Alor, gave 60 days' notice to ambassadors in Britain, Sudan and Uganda, as well as the heads of missions in Germany... Читать дальше...

You could hear the music long before you reached Glen Echo Park, where Washington, D.C., area residents were celebrating the arts on a sunny weekend day. Music, dancing, storytelling and crafts were just a few of the activities at the 37th annual Glen Echo Folk Festival, which showcased the diverse traditions and cultures that make up the Washington metropolitan area. Something for everyone Musicians offered a variety of folk music while visitors of all ages sang or clapped along.  A few... Читать дальше...

President Donald Trump voiced optimism Wednesday that fractious Republican senators would be able to reach agreement to overhaul national health care policies, but he concedes it will be "very tough." "I think we’re going to get at least very close, and I think we’re gonna get it over the line," Trump said. He offered his assessment the day after Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell dropped plans to vote this week on a Republican proposal to dismantle much of the seven-year-old U.S. law popularly known as Obamacare ... Читать дальше...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump are expected to meet in some format at next month's G-20 summit in Germany. Speaking Wednesday at a news conference in the Russian city of Krasnodar, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he would "assume" the meeting will take place. "Given that the two presidents will be in the same town at the same time, same building, even the same room. It wouldn't be normal if they didn't talk," Lavrov told reporters. If Trump and Putin meet at the conference... Читать дальше...

Venezuela’s high court justices declared themselves under “terrorist” threat Wednesday, a day after an allegedly stolen police helicopter dropped several grenades on the Supreme Court building and fired shots at Interior Ministry offices. "We declare that the Supreme Court, the magistrates, and other judges of the country are under the threat of terrorism,” said the court’s president, Maikel Moreno, according to the Associated Press. “Because of that we will ask to take measures to guarantee the... Читать дальше...

A worker with blood dripping from his head marked a low point in the tense, grinding life at a southeastern China factory used by Ivanka Trump and other fashion brands. An angry manager had hit him with the sharp end of a high-heeled shoe. Workers from the factory, including one current and two former employees who spoke to The Associated Press, reported overtime that stretched past midnight, steep production quotas and crude verbal abuse at Ganzhou Huajian International Shoe City Co. They said beatings were not unheard of... Читать дальше...

The United States is boosting security measures for all foreign airlines flying into American airports, but is not, for now, expanding a ban on carry-on laptop computers. "Make no mistake — our enemies are constantly working to find new methods for disguising explosives, recruiting insiders and hijacking aircraft," Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Wednesday. Kelly said the new measures, both seen and unseen by travelers, would be phased in over the next few months. Passengers can expect more overall screening... Читать дальше...

Both chambers of Congress are readying legislation to bar Americans from traveling to North Korea after the death of a U.S. citizen held by Pyongyang and amid the continued detention of three others. "There's no question we shouldn't have people on a willy-nilly basis going to North Korea," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, said Wednesday. "We should have a travel ban, and we're working on legislation right now." "We need to protect Americans and... Читать дальше...

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

Britain's Conservative minority government faced its first test in Parliament since the June 8 election on Wednesday — an opposition demand for an end to public spending cuts. The main opposition Labour Party called for a pay raise for public-sector workers, whose salaries have been capped during seven years of austerity, and an end to cuts to police and firefighting budgets. Labour's proposal came after several days of debate on last week's Queen's Speech, which laid out government plans for the next two years. Читать дальше...

Shaka Ssali discusses VOA Africa initiatives with Voice of America Director Amanda Bennett and Negussie Mengesha, VOA’s Africa Division Director, on their recent trip to Africa.

The first-ever deaf woman leader of a U.S. university for deaf students is touring Africa, hoping to learn and to teach institutions here how to provide for hearing-impaired students. In South Africa, an estimated one-fifth of the disabled population is hard of hearing. Anita Powell shares a portion of her interview with Gallaudet University President Roberta Cordano.

Kenya’s ruling Jubilee coalition and main opposition coalition have launched their campaign platforms for the August elections. Launching their campaign pledges the ruling Jubilee party and opposition coalition National Super Alliance have promised to transform the country and Kenyan’s lives. Both sides pledged to improve education, health, infrastructure to foster economic growth, and to create jobs for millions of Kenyan youth. They also promise to fight corruption. The Jubilee party led... Читать дальше...

Holding placards that read "Not in My Name," thousands of citizens demonstrated Wednesday in cities across India to protest recent attacks by mobs and cow vigilante groups on Muslims and lower caste Hindus. The protests were held amid growing concerns over rising intolerance and criticism that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government is not doing enough to rein in the attacks, usually sparked by suspicion of cow smuggling or the eating of beef. Wednesday's citizens campaign... Читать дальше...

Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told a congressional panel Wednesday that the United States is now taking a more assertive role at the world body to hold North Korea, Syria, Venezuela and other authoritative regimes accountable. "Our friends and our rivals know that America has once again found its voice at the United Nations," Haley told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "The international community is now very clear about what the U.S. is for and what the U.S. is against." Haley... Читать дальше...