Новости за 07.08.2017

As Venezuela's political crisis spins further out of control, many are looking to the military to see if its once-unflinching loyalty to the socialist revolution might be fraying.   On Sunday morning, Venezuelans awoke to news that a small group of armed men tried to take over a major military base in the central city of Valencia after a long-mutinous national guard captain appeared in a video calling for rebellion.   The government said what it described as a "terrorist attack'' led mostly by... Читать дальше...

Former war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte says she is resigning from the U.N.'s independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria, decrying Security Council inaction to hold criminals accountable in the war-battered country where "everyone is bad." In comments published Sunday by the Swiss magazine Blick, Del Ponte expressed frustration about the commission and criticized President Bashar Assad's government, the Syrian opposition and the international community overall. "We have had absolutely no... Читать дальше...

For more than a decade, Shamil Zhumatov has photographed spacecraft taking off from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome. After dozens of launches, he says the challenge is to find new and better ways of taking pictures. The Soyuz spacecraft which blasted off on July 28 carried NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, Russia's Sergey Ryazanskiy, and Italy's Paolo Nespoli to the International Space Station. "Most launches lately have taken place in during the daytime, and this one was special, happening on the edge of day and night... Читать дальше...

You’re in Nepal. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake has just struck your village and you must rescue the survivors.   This is “After Days,” a video game based on the real-life Nepal earthquake that killed almost 9,000 people in 2015. Minseok Do was showing the game at the recent Games for Change festival in New York City. The games on display were a far cry from "Mario Brothers" and "Call of Duty." These developers featured titles that tackled civic and social issues. Public consciousness about civic... Читать дальше...

As President Donald Trump recently stood beside the Lebanese prime minister praising his government for standing up to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militants were busy demonstrating just how wrong he was. They were clearing the country's eastern frontier from al-Qaida fighters in a sweeping offensive and negotiating a complex prisoner deal with the group. Far from being an ally in the fight against Hezbollah, the Lebanese government headed by Saad Hariri is based on a partnership with the Shiite group... Читать дальше...

Afghan authorities are tightening security in the central area of Kabul housing foreign embassies and government offices after a string of suicide attacks that have caused hundreds of casualties and hit confidence in the Western-backed government. Two months after a truck bomb killed at least 150 people on May 31 in the biggest such attack since the U.S.-led campaign to oust the Taliban in 2001, a series of scanners and cameras have appeared at intersections around the heart of the capital. "In this security plan... Читать дальше...

The Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in suburban Minneapolis, like other U.S. mosques, occasionally receives threatening calls and emails. But leaders say they're more frightened after a weekend attack in which an explosive shattered windows and damaged a room as worshippers prepared for morning prayers.   "We feel like it's much deeper and scarier than like something random,'' Mohamed Omar, the center's executive director, said Sunday. "It's so scary.''   No one was hurt in the blast, which happened... Читать дальше...

Burned-out homes in this dry landscape have become a symbol of the tensions around Tuesday's presidential election as Kenyans prepare for the possibility of yet more deadly violence.   For more than a year now, farms and homes in Laikipia County have been under siege.   Farmer Martin Evans inspects one blackened home, the result of an invasion by semi-nomadic herders who say a widespread drought is making them desperate to find grazing land for their animals.   The severe drought affects half... Читать дальше...

A voice in your ear at the touch of a hand? The Orii ring allows people to take phone calls, handle text messages and interact with a phone's digital assistant, all by transferring sound to a user's ear through bone conduction. The ring, designed by Hong Kong-based start-up Origami Labs, was inspired by Peter Wong, the visually impaired father of the firm's co-founder Kevin Wong. "As a visual-impaired person, I rely on the software on the smartphone to read the icons, the texts to me," said Peter Wong... Читать дальше...

The Myanmar government's inquiry into violence in northern Rakhine state last year that forced tens of thousands of Muslim Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh and led to U.N. accusations of crimes against humanity by the army has concluded that no such crimes happened. Speaking at the release of the Rakhine Investigative Commission's final report, Vice President Myint Swe - a former general - told reporters Sunday that "there is no evidence of crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing as the Office... Читать дальше...