Новости за 18.07.2017

Turkey announced a new school curriculum Tuesday that excluded Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, feeding opposition fears President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is subverting the republic's secular foundations. The chairman of a teachers' union described the changes as a huge step in the wrong direction for Turkey's schools and an attempt to avoid raising "generations who ask questions." Education Minister Ismet Yilmaz said the main elements of evolution already underpinned the science curriculum... Читать дальше...

Croatia's defense minister, Damir Krsticevic, offered to resign on Tuesday after the president said the army was too late in helping firefighters tame a fierce forest fire. The blaze, which spread over 20 km near the Adriatic city of Split, threatened the city suburbs late on Monday. The fire was largely under control on Tuesday. President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said on Tuesday during a visit to Austria that the army could have turned out faster to help the firefighters. "The size of the fire was such that every helping hand was needed... Читать дальше...

Republicans sought to regroup Tuesday after their quest to scale back the U.S. government's role in health care collapsed, leaving in place former President Barack Obama's health care law, popularly known as Obamacare. "I'm certainly disappointed. For seven years, I've been hearing 'repeal and replace' from Congress," said a visibly angry President Donald Trump. "And then when we finally get a chance to repeal and replace, they don't take advantage of it." Scorned by Republican fiscal hawks for... Читать дальше...

Since mid-May, a series of attacks on towns throughout Central African Republic have resulted in the deaths of more than 300 people and the displacement of more than 100,000. In the country's southeast, militias known as the anti-balaka attacked a mostly Muslim district in Bangassou in mid-May, leaving at least 100 people dead.   The United Nations' top humanitarian official, Stephen O'Brien, is visiting C.A.R. this week and says the U.N. mission is working to ensure people are protected, despite the violence. Читать дальше...

A majority of Peruvians would back President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski if he decides to pardon the country's imprisoned former autocratic leader, Alberto Fujimori, according to a poll by Ipsos published on Tuesday. Sixty percent of Peruvians polled said they would agree with a presidential pardon to release Fujimori from prison, but 54 percent would oppose it if he were not found to be sick enough to merit doing so for humanitarian reasons, according to the poll, which was published in the newspaper El Comercio. Читать дальше...

Another person has been identified who was at a June 2016 meeting President Donald Trump's eldest son set up on the promise that a Russian government attorney would hand him incriminating material about Trump's opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton. Ike Kaveladze, a senior vice president at the company founded by a Russian oligarch who initiated the meeting with Donald Trump Jr., was named Tuesday in U.S. media accounts as the eighth person at the meeting in Trump Tower in New York in the midst of... Читать дальше...

In 2016, Ilhan Omar made history when she was elected to Minnesota's House of Representatives, becoming the first Somali-American to win a state office in the United States. Omar had humble beginnings, as her family was uprooted from her home country as a child during Somalia's civil war in the 1990's. She came to America as a teenager after spending time in a refugee camp in Kenya. Last year when she entered the Democratic primary race against an incumbent of more than 40 years, few gave her a chance. Читать дальше...

President Donald Trump took the oath of office six months ago Thursday, vowing to rescue the country from what he said was an "American carnage" of shuttered factories and too many people trapped in poverty.   "The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action," Trump pledged in his inaugural address. What followed was one of the most tumultuous beginnings for any president in U.S. history, marked by protest, controversial tweets, weak poll numbers and an investigation into possible... Читать дальше...

Uber Technologies Inc was sued on Tuesday by disability rights groups and wheelchair users accusing the ride-sharing company of violating New York City human rights laws by failing to make enough of its vehicles accessible to disabled people. The proposed class-action complaint said Uber engaged in "pervasive and ongoing discrimination" because people in wheelchairs can use only a few dozen of its more than 58,000 vehicles in the city. Given Uber's growing popularity, this "substantially undermines"... Читать дальше...

Congress passed the "Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act" in 2012 to punish Russian human rights abusers by banning them from entering the United States. The Magnitsky Act is back in the headlines after it was reportedly on the agenda of a recently revealed meeting last June at Trump Tower in New York involving President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr., along with the elder Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. Читать дальше...

A dispute over metal detectors is escalating into a new showdown between Israel and the Muslim world over a Jerusalem shrine that has triggered major Israeli-Palestinian confrontations in the past. Israel says installing the devices at the gates to the walled compound after Palestinians launched an attack there last week is a routine security measure. Palestinians claim Israel is trying to expand control over the Muslim-run site that is also revered by Jews. Muslim worshippers have stepped up... Читать дальше...

During a joint appearance Tuesday in Budapest, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban reassured Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he stands with the Jewish state against anti-Semitism. The meeting took place amid concerns that Orban's right-wing government was stoking anti-Semitism. While standing next to Netanyahu on Tuesday, Orban sought to distance himself from comments he made last month in praise of Miklos Horthy, the Hungarian wartime leader and Hitler ally. Orban previously called Horthy ... Читать дальше...

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

The frozen remains of a Swiss couple who went missing 75 years ago in the Alps have been found on a shrinking glacier, Swiss media said on Tuesday. Marcelin and Francine Dumoulin, the parents of seven children, had gone to feed their cattle in a meadow above Chandolin in the Valais canton on August 15, 1942. "We spent our whole lives looking for them, without stopping. We thought that we could give them the funeral they deserved one day," their youngest daughter Marceline Udry-Dumoulin told the Lausanne daily Le Matin. Читать дальше...

German automaker Daimler says it is voluntarily recalling 3 million diesel cars in Europe to improve their emissions performance. The Stuttgart-based company, which makes Mercedes-Benz luxury cars, says it is taking the step to reassure drivers and strengthen confidence in diesel technology. Diesels have been under a cloud since Daimler's competitor Volkswagen admitted equipping vehicles with illegal software that meant they passed emissions tests, but then exceeded limits in everyday driving. Читать дальше...

Two of country music's biggest stars, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, whose onstage chemistry spawned hit duets like "Islands in the Stream" and "Real Love," will be making their final performance together this year. Rogers, who is retiring from touring, says his final performance with Parton will be part of an all-star farewell show to be held at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on October 25. The two have been performing together for more than 30 years since "Islands in the Stream," written by the Bee Gees... Читать дальше...

United Nations agencies report that an upsurge in violence and an alarming escalation of human rights abuses in the Central African Republic (CAR) are causing tens of thousands of people to flee across borders and thousands of others to become displaced within the country. The U.N. says the violence taking place in the CAR is on a scale that has not been seen since 2014. This is affirmed by agencies such as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, which notes more than 100,000 refugees from the... Читать дальше...

Venezuela’s foreign minister said Tuesday the country will move forward with plans to elect members of a constitutional assembly and review relations with the United States, despite sanction threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. “The constitutional assembly is happening,” Foreign Minister Samuel Moncada said on state television. He also said Venezuela is “conducting a deep review of relations with the U.S. government because we don't accept humiliation from anyone.” Trump said late Monday... Читать дальше...

Lebanon is preparing a military operation to secure a lawless section of the border with Syria, Prime Minister Saad Hariri told parliament on Tuesday. The leader of Lebanon's powerful militant group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, hinted in a speech last week that a joint operation was in the works with the Lebanese and Syrian militaries to expel Islamic State and Al-Qaida-linked militants from the Arsal region, which is home to a large number of Syrian refugees. The Lebanese military is expected... Читать дальше...

Zimbabwe's Environmental Management Agency has temporarily lifted its ban on the use of expanded polystyrene (EPS) as food packaging material to allow businesses to clear their stocks. The Agency says it has given businesses until October 17 to stop using existing containers and replace them with recyclable or biodegradable ones.  The reprieve follows an outcry from businesses last week when the government board imposed an immediate ban of EPS, also known as kaylite. Environmental Management... Читать дальше...

NATO confirmed Tuesday that Afghanistan’s vice president, Abdul Rashid Dostum, tried to return to the country overnight but that his private plane was denied permission to land in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.   Dostum, a 63-year-old ethnic Uzbek warlord, and some of his militia guards, have been under investigation for months over allegations of torturing and sexually assaulting an elderly political rival by the name of Ahmad Ishchi. The first vice president left the country for Turkey about two months ago... Читать дальше...

Every year on Nelson Mandela’s birthday, South Africans honor the man they regard as the father of the nation by doing community service — 67 minutes of it, one minute for every year of Mandela’s public service. In 2009, the United Nations declared July 18 as Nelson Mandela International Day, and asked people worldwide to do acts of service on this day. The human rights icon died in 2013, at the age of 95. His death was mourned around the world and he was eulogized by the likes of former President Barack Obama. Читать дальше...

Cake and conversation, it seems, can go only so far to mend longstanding economic rifts between the United States and China. Three months after President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, shared chocolate cake at an amiable summit in Florida, tensions between the world's two biggest economies are flaring again. Just as officials of the two nations prepare to meet Wednesday in Washington, the Trump administration is considering slapping tariffs on steel imports, a step that risks igniting a trade war. Читать дальше...

Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate, who are touring Poland, paid respect to the victims of a Nazi German concentration camp Tuesday as they were guided around the site by two Jewish survivors.   The royal couple is on a goodwill trip to Poland and Germany aimed at underscoring Britain's intention to maintain friendly relations with the European Union after it leaves the bloc.   They flew to northern Poland on Tuesday from Warsaw, where they and their children were staying at the Belvedere Palace. Читать дальше...

China notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Tuesday that it would stop accepting shipments of trash such as waste plastic and paper as part of a campaign against "foreign garbage." The import ban, which will enter into force by the end of 2017, will also cover slag from steel-making, and many kinds of waste wool, ash, cotton and yarn. "We found that large amounts of dirty wastes or even hazardous wastes are mixed in the solid waste that can be used as raw materials. This polluted China's... Читать дальше...