Новости за 09.08.2017

In dense Chinese forests populated by dinosaurs 160 million years ago, two furry critters resembling flying squirrels glided from tree to tree, showing that even in such a perilous neighborhood early mammals had succeeded in going airborne. Scientists on Wednesday announced the discovery of fossils of two Jurassic Period gliding mammals so well-preserved and complete that they show the wing-like skin membranes the creatures employed while gliding effortlessly between trees. The two species, Maiopatagium... Читать дальше...

The Boss is coming to Broadway — but he's ditching the E Street Band. Bruce Springsteen said Wednesday on his website he plans to make his Broadway debut onstage this fall at the Walter Kerr Theatre in a solo show in which he performs songs from his career, interspersed with readings of his best-selling memoir "Born to Run." "Springsteen on Broadway" begins previews October 3 ahead of an October 12 opening at the intimate 960-seat venue. The eight-week run is expected to play through November 26. Читать дальше...

The head of Brazil's National Development Bank is publicly disputing President Michel Temer's claim that Latin America's largest economy is on the road to recovery. Paulo Rabello de Castro said Wednesday during a foreign trade summit in Rio de Janeiro that "things are not OK" with the economy and Brazil still needs to address the fallout from its recent, bruising recession. He also said corruption scandals have hurt the country's industries. Rabello de Castro's rebuke was extraordinary because... Читать дальше...

The State Department has expelled two diplomats from the Cuban Embassy in Washington following a series of unexplained incidents in Cuba that left U.S. officials there with physical symptoms. Two State Department officials said Wednesday that the Cubans were asked to leave the U.S. on May 23 after Americans in Cuba “reported incidents which have caused a variety of physical symptoms,” causing them to leave the island. The officials would not say what the symptoms were or provide details about the incidents. Читать дальше...

On Saturday, August 5, the U.N. Security Council unanimously increased international pressure on North Korea, imposing the toughest sanctions to date on the rogue nation to compel it to stop pursuing nuclear and ballistic weapons.   The negotiations took several weeks and were, at times, difficult. Not unusual when it comes to working out targeted sanctions against Pyongyang. Negotiations on the previous two sanctions resolutions took about three months each.   The United States led the discussions along with China, the North’s main ally.

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani appointed two women vice presidents on Wednesday, but made no changes to an all-male list of cabinet ministers criticized by reformists for its lack of female representation. Massoumeh Ebtekar, head of the Department of Environment in Rouhani's first term, was appointed vice president for women and family affairs while Laya Joneidi was named vice president for legal affairs. Another woman, Shahindokht Molaverdi, was made the president's assistant for civil rights. Читать дальше...

Up to 50 migrants from Somalia and Ethiopia were "deliberately drowned" when a smuggler forced them into the sea off Yemen's coast, the U.N. migration agency said Wednesday, calling the drownings "shocking and inhumane." International Organization for Migration staffers found the shallow graves of 29 of the migrants on a beach in Shabwa during a routine patrol, the agency's statement said. The dead were buried by those who survived. At least 22 migrants remained missing, the IOM said. The passengers' average age was around 16... Читать дальше...

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Wednesday that North Korea risks annihilation if it starts a war, and he told Pyongyang it must end its pursuit of nuclear weaponry. Mattis said North Korea "should cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people." The reclusive communist nation, he added, "must choose to stop isolating itself and stand down its pursuit of nuclear weapons." Mattis, whose remarks came in a statement, warned that... Читать дальше...

An artist tired of seeing hateful tweets ignored by Twitter has managed to get the social network to remove or hide some of them — by spray-painting the offending posts in front of the company's German headquarters. Shahak Shapira said he reported some 300 tweets containing possible illegal content to Twitter over a period of about six months but the social networking site ignored him. This occurred at a time when Twitter was arguing against tough new legislation in Germany, insisting it was already... Читать дальше...

As North Korea and the United States up the rhetoric over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, long-held taboos are being broken in neighboring Japan, the only country to have suffered nuclear bombardment at the end of World War II. VOA's Henry Ridgwell reports from Tokyo.

Polish President Andrzej Duda has blocked the appointment of new generals, in a fresh sign of tension between the head of state and the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party that originally backed him. Duda cited problems with a proposed new command system under government reform plans as his reason on Tuesday for blocking the appointments. His move came two weeks after he unexpectedly vetoed two controversial bills intended to reform the judicial system. A source close to Duda's administration... Читать дальше...

Italy on Wednesday gave permission to a Spanish humanitarian organization to dock and disembark migrants in Sicily after three days of arguments with Malta over who should take in the rescued men. The dispute underscores Italy's continued isolation within the European Union in dealing with the flow of 600,000 migrants from North Africa - mostly Libya - since 2014. With elections looming next year, Italy's center-left government is seeking more help from EU partners, including the tiny island state of Malta... Читать дальше...

Well-known Mexican soccer star Rafael Marquez Alvarez is one of 22 people sanctioned Wednesday by the U.S. Treasury Department for alleged connections to a Mexican narcotics organization. The Treasury announced that it would sanction 42 Mexican entities – including a casino, several bars and restaurants, and a music production company – for providing support to longtime Mexican drug kingpin Raul Flores Hernandez. "Raul Flores Hernandez has operated for decades because of his longstanding relationships... Читать дальше...

A study proclaims a newly named species the heavyweight champion of all dinosaurs, making the scary Tyrannosaurus rex look like a munchkin. At 76 tons (69 metric tons), the plant-eating behemoth was as heavy as a space shuttle. The dinosaur's fossils were found in southern Argentina in 2012. Researchers who examined and dated them said the long-necked creature was the biggest of a group of large dinosaurs called titanosaurs. "There was one small part of the family that went crazy on size,"... Читать дальше...

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has imposed sanctions on eight more Venezuelan officials in retaliation for helping to create a new legislative body that is expanding the power of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The sanctions were announced Wednesday by the U.S. Treasury Department. They will freeze the U.S. assets of the targeted officials, including the brother of deceased Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. The sanctions will also prohibit the Venezuelan officials from traveling... Читать дальше...

Qatar announced on Wednesday a program to allow visa-free entry for citizens of 80 countries to encourage air transport and tourism amid a two-month boycott imposed on the Gulf state by its neighbors. Nationals from dozens of countries in Europe and elsewhere including India, Lebanon, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States will now receive tourist visas on arrival to the gas-rich country which hosts the soccer World Cup in 2022. "The visa exemption scheme will make Qatar the most open country in the region," Hassan al-Ibrahim... Читать дальше...

Zimbabwe's cash-strapped government plans to build a $1 billion university named after 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe, the higher education minister said on Wednesday, a move that was quickly criticized by the opposition as a waste of resources. Jonathan Moyo, Higher and Tertiary Education Minister, said the Robert Gabriel Mugabe University would focus on science and technology and have an institute focusing on research and "transformative and revolutionary leadership." "Cabinet has approved... Читать дальше...

The exchange of threats and harsh rhetoric between North Korea and Donald Trump has rattled many investors. Stock prices fell in Asia, Europe and the United States, while demand rose for safe-haven investments like gold. Key stock indexes in Hong Kong, Germany, and France were down by one percent or more. U.S. stocks were down as much as four-tenths of a percent in Wednesday's mid-day trading. Before Tuesday's angry exchange of words, U.S. stocks had been setting a series of record highs. Demand for gold... Читать дальше...

Five transgender members of the U.S. military, including Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, sued President Donald Trump on Wednesday, challenging his ban on transgender people serving in the armed forces. Trump said on Twitter on July 26 that the U.S. government "will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity" in the military, a reversal of Pentagon policy that the lawsuit said was made without consulting senior military commanders. The surprise announcement, citing health care costs and unit disruption... Читать дальше...

Abu Ghazi stood smoking a cigarette outside what used to be his home in Mosul's Old City, where only the sound of the footsteps of a few soldiers on patrol and twisted pieces of metal and fabric flapping in the wind disturb the eerie silence. "They should just bulldoze the whole thing and start over," he said, gazing at the rows of collapsed buildings with their contents strewn across the upturned streets. "There's no saving it now, not like this." Hundreds of yards away on Wednesday, Federal... Читать дальше...

Shaka Ssali discusses the Kenya presidential elections with Vincent Makori, VOA, Managing Editor, Anchor of Africa 54, Claude Gatebuke, Executive Director of African Great Lakes Action Network, Professor Kingsley Moghalu, Former Deputy Governor of the Nigerian Central Bank and Professor at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and with John Aristotle Phillips, CEO Aristotle, Inc.

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

They have come from all over the United States, piling out of taxis, pushing strollers and pulling luggage, to the end of a country road in the north woods.   Where the pavement stops, they pick up small children and lead older ones wearing Mickey Mouse backpacks around a “road closed” sign, threading bushes, crossing a ditch, and filing past another sign in French and English that says “No pedestrians.” Then they are arrested.   Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, migrants who came to the U.S. Читать дальше...

Israel's ruling Likud Party kicked off a rally on Wednesday in support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in what it hopes will be a show of force by the beleaguered Israeli leader as he battles a slew of corruption allegations.   Likud leaders were putting heavy pressure on party activists to attend the rally on Wednesday evening in Tel Aviv. Hundreds of supporters packed a Tel Aviv convention center ahead of Netanyahu's expected speech. Some supporters held signs and chanted "Bibi, King of Israel," using the prime minister's nickname. Читать дальше...

The U.N. Security Council for the first time is linking conflict to the threat of famine facing more than 20 million people in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and northeast Nigeria. The council said in a presidential statement Wednesday that it "deplores" that some unnamed parties have blocked vital food and humanitarian aid getting to people in the four countries. Council members stressed that conflicts and violence "have devastating humanitarian consequences ... and are therefore a major cause of famine" in the four countries. Читать дальше...