Новости за 21.07.2017

About 30 youngsters were on a golf course, practicing their swing on a hot Saturday morning in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. The students were as young as 3 and as old as 16. For nearly a year, they've come out every Saturday to Abuja's IBB International Golf and Country Club to learn the rules of the game. Uloma Mbuko guided them with a watchful eye. "Princess, I want to see you hold your swing," she said to one of them.   Mbuko walked up and down the line of students. She is the lead instructor... Читать дальше...

The Russian lawyer who met Donald Trump Jr. during the 2016 campaign has represented a military unit operated by Russia's intelligence agency, according to court filings obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.   The filings from 2011 and 2012 show that Natalia Veselnitskaya represented Military Unit 55002 — run by the FSB, Russia's main intelligence agency — in a dispute over property rights. The court ruled in favor of the Federal Property Agency, which sought to regain ownership of a building occupied by the military unit. Читать дальше...

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says he will never visit the United States while he is in office, and adds that he has "seen America and it's lousy." Duterte delivered his latest verbal attack on the United States after he was asked in a news conference Friday to react to an American lawmaker's threat to lead a protest if Duterte accepts President Donald Trump's invitation to visit the White House. Duterte asked, "What makes that guy think I'm going to America?" He added: "There will never... Читать дальше...

Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza has invited people who fled the country during violent political unrest two years ago to return home. Nkurunziza extended the invitation Thursday during a visit to Tanzania, his first trip outside Burundi since a coup attempt on May 13, 2015. The U.N. refugee agency says Tanzania currently hosts more than 240,000 Burundians, most of them living in camps near the two countries' shared border. Nkurunziza met with Tanzanian President John Magufuli in the Ngara district. Читать дальше...

Whether Kenya's elections next month turn deadly violent, like the 2007 vote, or remain mostly peaceful, like the 2013 poll, international monitors will be on the ground to see whether the final outcome is trustworthy and fair. With political tensions running high, it's too early to tell how the August 8 elections might go. But Marietje Schaake, the head of the 2017 European Union Election Observation Mission to Kenya, says the voters she's met with ardently hope there will be no election drama this time around. Читать дальше...

President Donald Trump was expected to sign an executive order Friday authorizing a comprehensive review of the U.S. manufacturing sector to help ensure the security of the nation, according to White House officials. White House National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro told reporters Friday industrial supply chains will also be reviewed in the effort to address possible industrial vulnerabilities that may have been created as a result of U.S. factory closings. Administration officials say... Читать дальше...

A Kenyan court sentenced three men to death Wednesday for stripping and sexually assaulting a woman they believed was dressed too provocatively. The incident three years ago sparked nationwide outrage. On Nov. 17, 2014, hundreds of Kenyan women — and some men — took to the streets in Nairobi to protest the assault after a video of the attack surfaced online. The hashtag #MydressMychoice trended on social media in Kenya. On Wednesday, Nairobi Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi issued death sentences against attackers Edward Gitau... Читать дальше...

A counterinsurgency airstrike Friday in southern Afghanistan killed a number of government forces, including senior officers, sources told VOA. The friendly fire incident happened in the Gereshk district of Helmand province, where fighting had raged since Taliban insurgents staged a major assault on government outposts a day earlier. Provincial Governor Hayatullah Hayat told VOA Afghan that U.S. forces were bombing insurgent positions in the district when a newly restored outpost in the Sarband area was hit. Читать дальше...

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

The U.S. Constitution grants the president broad authority to pardon those accused or convicted of federal crimes; but, does it allow the president to pardon himself? Nobody really knows for sure. The question has become relevant following reports Donald Trump and his legal team have been discussing the limits of the president's pardoning power, including whether Trump has the power to pardon himself. The internal White House discussion reportedly is part of an effort to undercut the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller... Читать дальше...

As Vice President Mike Pence prepares to visit Montenegro for talks with Western Balkan leaders, a senior State Department official says U.S. engagement in the region remains strong. The comments by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, Hoyt Brian Yee, come amid concerns that deep cuts in the proposed State Department budget could diminish Washington’s role in fragile democracies exposed to Russian interference. On issues where U.S. and Russian interests align in the region... Читать дальше...

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe lashed out Friday against factions in his party angling to take over from him, saying they have no backing. The 93-year-old spoke at a rally in Lupane, about 600 kilometers southwest of Harare - as part of his effort to recruit young people to support him in next year's elections. It was the first time Mugabe spoke in public since returning from Singapore, where he went earlier this month to seek medical treatment for the third time this year.  Mugabe did not mention his health in his speech. Читать дальше...

A top U.S. counterterrorism official says despite claims and rumors, there is nothing to indicate the leader of the Islamic State terror group is dead. In recent weeks, Russia, Syria, Iran and a Syrian human rights organization claimed IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdai had been killed; but, National Counterterrorism Center Director Nick Rasmussen said Friday there is no evidence to support such claims. "I've seen nothing that would lead me to believe that the leader of ISIS has been removed from... Читать дальше...

President Trump said he intends to nominate John Bass as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. The longtime diplomat has been the American ambassador to Turkey since 2014. In announcing the nomination, a White House statement said over the past decade the ambassador has supported "efforts to mobilize allies and marshal resources to combat terrorism and instability in Iraq, Syria and Southwest Asia." Bass has served at six U.S. missions overseas since becoming a diplomat in 1988. He joins Alice Wells... Читать дальше...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan starts a two-day tour of Gulf states Sunday in an effort to resolve a crisis involving Qatar, and four Arab states accusing the small peninsular nation of supporting terrorism. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have severed relations with Qatar. They are enforcing a land and sea embargo, accusing the oil-rich nation of supporting extremist groups and destabilizing the region, allegations Qatar has denied. “Turkey is trying to contribute... Читать дальше...

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has resigned. Sources quoted in media reports say his decision to step down is linked to the appointment of new White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci. They say President Trump's spokesman offered his resignation shortly after Scaramucci, a New York financier, was named. At a press conference Friday afternoon, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders read a statement on behalf of Trump in which the president thanked Spicer for his service. Читать дальше...

Late Chinese Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo’s supporters abroad and at home have vowed to exert the maximum amount of pressure on China to free his widow, Liu Xia, whose whereabouts remain a mystery a week after her husband’s death. “If they [China] don’t let Liu Xia go, where I’m going to be campaigning for relentlessly is for every country on earth, every democracy, to rename the streets of all Chinese embassies into Liu Xiaobo Plaza,” said Jared Genser, a U.S. lawyer who represents the couple. ... Читать дальше...

MOSUL AFTERMATH Iraqi forces re-take the city of Mosul from militants, but now comes the hard part - getting a million people displaced by the protracted fight out of refugee camps, and back to their homes. VOA Kurdish Service journalist Khalid Fatah and VOA National Security correspondent Jeff Seldin in Washington talk about the Iraqi Army’s defeat of Islamic State militants in Mosul, and what might happen next for the one million people who have been displaced by the conflict.

VENEZUELA CRISIS Amid daily street protests in Caracas, Venezuela moves forward with plans to elect a special assembly for a new constitution. VOA Spanish Service broadcaster Celia Mendoza in New York, and Spanish Service reporter Alvaro Algarra in Caracas discuss the unrest in Venezuela, and the Maduro government’s plan to go ahead with an election for members of an assembly to enact changes to Venezuela’s constitution.

CONGRESS HEALTHCARE Republican lawmakers are in turmoil here in Washington -- after their quest to scale back the U.S. government’s role in health care collapsed -- again, this week. The republican majority's failure to pass its version of a health care bill is a major defeat for president Donald Trump and it's a defeat that has emboldened minority democrats. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone, and Congressional correspondent Kathryn Gypson about the ongoing effort on Capitol Hill to repeal and... Читать дальше...

Mosul Aftermath 0:57, Venezuela Crisis 11:09, Congress Healthcare 21:27

Burundi is counting on U.S. law enforcement officials to find six teenagers who went missing after a robotics competition in Washington, an official with the east African country's embassy said on Friday. The teens, aged 16 to 18, were last seen on Tuesday after the FIRST Global Robotics Challenge, and two have since been spotted crossing the border into Canada, according to Washington, D.C., police. "We have been in touch with the Metropolitan Police Department; they told us that they are doing... Читать дальше...

At least two Palestinians were killed Friday in east Jerusalem after neighborhood clashes broke out Friday over a disputed Jerusalem holy place sacred to Muslims and Jews.  Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli police near the Mosque of al-Aqsa in Jerusalem’s Old City, the site Jews call the Temple Mount. Palestinian leaders called for a day of rage to protest Israel’s installation of metal detectors at the holy place, after three Arab gunmen killed two Israeli policemen at the site a week ago. Читать дальше...

White Zimbabwean commercial farmers who were driven off their land during President Robert Mugabe's controversial land seizures are disputing claims by the finance minister that they got $134 million in compensation last year. Zimbabwe grabbed world headlines in 2000 when supporters of 93-year-old Mugabe invaded white-owned farms and evicted their owners, often violently. Mugabe defended the seizures as necessary to redress colonial exploitation. Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa told parliament... Читать дальше...

Tanzania's President John Magufuli has threatened to close down all gold mines in the country if mining companies delay talks with his government aimed at resolving allegations of tax evasion. The announcement by Magufuli, nicknamed "the Bulldozer" for his forceful leadership style, marks a further escalation of a dispute with foreign companies like Acacia Mining over export revenues. "We have asked them to come for talks ... they have agreed to come. But if they delay those talks, I will close... Читать дальше...