Новости за 05.07.2017

At least 26 people were dead or hospitalized after a shootout in the northern Mexican border state of Chihuahua on Wednesday, the state attorney general's office said, as drug violence surges in one of Mexico's bloodiest years on record. The shootout took place near the mountainous community of Las Varas, in the heart of one of Mexico's drug trafficking regions, and it involved two armed groups. It was unclear how many of the victims were dead and how many were alive at hospitals, spokesman Felix Gonzalez told Reuters. Читать дальше...

A novel class of personalized cancer vaccines, tailored to the tumors of individual patients, kept disease in check in two early-stage clinical trials, pointing to a new way to help the immune system fight back. Although so-called immunotherapy drugs from the likes of Merck & Co, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Roche are starting to revolutionize cancer care, they still only work for a limited number of patients. By adding a personalized cancer vaccine, scientists believe it should be possible to... Читать дальше...

Stem cell tourism involving patients who travel to developing countries for treatment with unproven and potentially risky therapies should be more tightly regulated, international health experts said Wednesday. With hundreds of medical centers around the world claiming to be able to repair damaged tissue in conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, tackling unscrupulous advertising of such procedures is crucial, the experts said. These therapies are advertised directly to patients with the promise of a cure... Читать дальше...

The global economic recovery "remains on track," according to the International Monetary Fund, but other experts say advanced economies are in for a period of slow growth. The IMF study is published as leaders from the G-20, the world's major economies, are gathering in Hamburg, Germany to discuss growth, trade and other issues. The global lender urges nations to "work together" on economic issues because "there is no time for standing still." The study's authors say the U.S. economy hit a "soft patch" earlier this year... Читать дальше...

Dozens of pro-government activists charged into Venezuela's opposition-controlled legislature Wednesday, leading to a brawl in which several lawmakers were injured, according to VOA correspondent Alvaro Algarro and other witnesses. The National Assembly convened a session to commemorate Venezuelan Independence Day when stick-wielding supporters of President Nicolas Maduro dressed in red stormed the interior gardens of the capitol building. Algarro said the Maduro supporters, known as colectivos... Читать дальше...

A series of meetings between Hamas and senior officials in Cairo in recent weeks points to improving ties between Egypt and the Islamist Palestinian movement, with implications for Gaza, Palestinian politics and the wider region. For much of the last decade, Egypt has joined Israel in enforcing a land, sea and air blockade of the Gaza Strip, a move to punish Hamas and its armed wing, which seized the territory in 2007 and has controlled it since. The situation has worsened in the past month as Israel... Читать дальше...

A new lawsuit brought by 114 Iraqi nationals, who are in detention and scheduled for imminent deportation from the United States, invokes the international treaty against torture - and could have far-reaching consequences for thousands of other foreign nationals.   The Iraqis, who have all been accused of or convicted of various crimes, are not appealing their deportation orders per se, but are asking for the right to contest those orders in court on the grounds that returning to Iraq would place them in mortal danger. Читать дальше...

Uzbekistan has no plans to rejoin a post-Soviet security bloc led by Russia, Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov said on Wednesday, indicating the country's policy would remain the same despite a leadership change. A former Soviet republic of 31 million, run by strongman president Islam Karimov from 1989 until his death last September, Uzbekistan has had a rocky relationship with Moscow, and by extension the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). It suspended its membership in the... Читать дальше...

Ever since she was born in this squalid camp for displaced members of Myanmar's ethnic Rohingya minority, Rosmaida Bibi has struggled to do something most of the world's children do effortlessly: grow. Frail and severely malnourished, Rosmaida is 4 - but she's barely the size of a 1-year-old. A tiny girl with big brown eyes, she wobbles unsteadily when she walks. Bones protrude through the flimsy skin of her chest. And while other kids her age chatter incessantly, Rosmaida is listless, only able to speak a handful of first words... Читать дальше...

EU lawmakers called for a suspension of Turkey's membership talks with the European Union on Wednesday, saying President Tayyip Erdogan's crackdown on opponents meant Ankara did not meet the bloc's democratic criteria. A vote on the proposal is expected to pass comfortably on Thursday, given support from the biggest parties, but the parliament has limited influence on the issue. The European Commission and EU governments have so far ignored calls for a formal suspension of a process already effectively in limbo. Читать дальше...

Russia, Turkey, and Iran failed to agree on de-escalation zones in Syria during peace talks conducted in Kazakhstan, diplomats said Wednesday. Russia and Iran, which support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, had agreed to work with Turkey, which backs the rebels, to establish four "de-escalation" zones in the war-torn country. The three hope to reach a consensus by the end of August, when they will reconvene in Astana. Wednesday's failure is a setback for Moscow, the organizer of the peace talks... Читать дальше...

The intercontinental ballistic missile North Korea successfully tested this week is "not one we have seen before," the U.S. Defense Department said Wednesday, describing its immediate threat to the United States as "limited." Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said, "We have still not seen a number of things that would indicate a full-up-threat." He noted that in a successful test last month, a U.S.-based missile interceptor knocked down a simulated incoming North Korean ICBM. Davis said the... Читать дальше...

Almost a year after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Brazilian organizers are asking for help from the International Olympic Committee to satisfy creditors who are still owed about 130 million reals ($40 million). Mario Andrada, a spokesman for the Rio organizing committee, said Brazilian Olympic Committee President Carlos Nuzman would meet officials next week at IOC offices in Switzerland. "The IOC might help us gain leverage, might help us in this dialogue with the government," Andrada said. However... Читать дальше...

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday described as "authoritarian delirium" plans by the ruling parties in the northeastern Catalonia region to declare independence from Spain within 48 hours of a promised referendum Oct. 1, if voters say "yes." Rajoy told a business meeting that Spaniards and Catalans could rest assured that the "confrontational' gestures of the pro-independence parties will never win over the democratic state. He was speaking a day after Catalonia's governing parties... Читать дальше...

Turning bad fruit into good business

Haiti plans to start recruiting for a small, newly reformed army, the defense minister said Tuesday, while critics questioned the need for such a force in a poor country with a history of military coups. The government expects to recruit fewer than 500 soldiers, whose duties will include rebuilding after natural disasters and monitoring borders for smuggled contraband, Defense Minister Herve Denis told Reuters in an interview. "I was planning to recruit 500 in the first recruitment but now, because of budget problems... Читать дальше...

Shaka Ssali discusses the African Diaspora with Adetola Kayode, Lagos TV Broadcast Journalist & Hubert Humphrey Fellow at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and with Charles Nana, a businessman from Cameroon who in 2016 ran for the U.S. Senate seat, in Alabama.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will make his first official visit to Ukraine next week after accompanying President Donald Trump at the G-20 summit, the State Department said in a statement Wednesday. Tillerson will meet with Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko and "young reformers" from both the government and civil society on July 9. "The Secretary will reaffirm America’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, while encouraging the government of Ukraine to continue... Читать дальше...

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

Shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Chadian-native Djimet Dogo was dining with his three kids - ages five, eight, and 12 - at a Taco Bell restaurant in Springfield, Oregon, a northwestern U.S. town of 60,000 two hours south of the city of Portland.   Unprompted, a man Dogo described as white and in his 70s walked up to him and his family.   “[He] said, ‘You know what I like about black people? When they smile, you see a white thing in their face,’ and just walked away.” A cashier, he says, came over in a hurry. Читать дальше...

A new report finds flourishing tourism in Africa is putting millions of people to work and adding billions of dollars to national economies. The UN Conference on Trade and Development’s annual Economic Development in Africa Report projects continued robust growth in tourism in the coming years. Growth figures in Africa’s tourism sector are impressive. The World Travel and Tourism Council projects the total contribution of tourism to Africa’s Gross Domestic Product will amount to $296 billion by 2026. Читать дальше...

Colombian officials say a United Nations contractor was released by dissident FARC rebels Wednesday after he was taken captive two months ago. "We are very grateful for the decision to release him unharmed. He is in good health," the director of the U.N. Information Center in Bogota, Helene Papper said. "We are currently making all the logistical arrangements to transfer him to Bogota," Papper said of the former hostage, identified by the French news agency as Harley Lopez, a Colombian national. Читать дальше...

Suicide bombings continue to climb in northern Cameroon with deadly attacks in the communities of Fomeka, Mora and Kerawa near Cameroon's border with Nigeria reported since Saturday. Cameroonian military officials and the governor of the Far North region tell VOA the attacks killed at least 20 people, including nine suicide bombers. Mabuwah Isaac, who heads the self-defense group in the village of Kerawa, told VOA at least 100 residents have fled since the attack there on Saturday. He said... Читать дальше...

A team of Afghan girls who were denied visas to come to the U.S. for a robotics contest aren't letting that roadblock stop them. Instead, they sent their homemade robot to Washington to compete without them.  The six Afghan teenagers are members of the first-ever Afghan robotics team.   They were chosen among talented girls from 10 schools in western Herat province to participate in the upcoming Global Challenge robotics contest in Washington. The girls twice made the dangerous journey to the... Читать дальше...

Qatar's foreign minister blamed Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for leading the embargo against the Gulf state in a speech on Wednesday, the same day the group of nations that cut ties with Qatar met in Cairo to plot their next move. "We believe that this entire campaign is merely driven by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and these are the countries that we need to engage to find out what are the real problems and what are the real grievances," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman... Читать дальше...