Новости за 15.08.2017

President Donald Trump on Tuesday vigorously defended what many say was a weak initial statement condemning Saturday's deadly racial violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, saying there is enough guilt and blame on both sides. Trump's critics say it took him two days to use the words neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists when condemning the riots that left a young woman and two Virginia state policemen dead and dozens hurt. Standing in New York City's Trump Tower while reporters' questions echoed throughout the lobby... Читать дальше...

Since April, Boko Haram has carried out more than 100 attacks in Nigeria's northeastern city of Maiduguri. Efforts are underway to secure the city, including the relocation of military chiefs to Maiduguri, and to tighten security at the university after staff abductions and repeated suicide bombings. In the past week, the Nigerian military has carried out a cordon-and-search operation for fleeing Boko Haram members. The head of the operation said more than 30 houses were searched, based on information... Читать дальше...

North Korea has achieved great advancements in its missile capabilities over the past two years, fueled in part by what appear to be Soviet-style engines acquired from illicit networks in Russia and Ukraine, according to a report published Monday. After a number of failed intermediate-range missile launches in 2016, North Korea has made mysteriously large steps in its development of missiles. New evidence appears to show the country illicitly obtained technology for its Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-12 rockets from the European black market... Читать дальше...

U.N. observers on Tuesday removed the last of more than 8,000 guns once carried by the guerrillas of Colombia's largest rebel army and collected at 26 demobilization sites around the South American nation under a historic peace deal. Rebels agreed to disarm as part of the pact reached with the government last year, and some of the weapons will be smelted and transformed into statues commemorating the end to Latin America's longest-running armed conflict. “This puts the country on the path to a new future,” Jean Arnault... Читать дальше...

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday praised Argentine President Mauricio Macri's "bold reform agenda" during a visit to that country, calling Macri's efforts to transform Argentina's economy an "inspiration." Days after local primary elections that were seen as a boost for Macri's pro-business agenda, Pence said Argentina should serve as a model for the region. "Argentina in many ways is an inspiration, across this hemisphere and across the wider world," Pence said during a joint news conference... Читать дальше...

Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region, beleaguered for years by terrorism and lawlessness, has seen a decline in militant activities during the past few months as the result of government counterinsurgency operations, a recent security report says.   FATA Research Center (FRC), a non-governmental organization based in the capital of Pakistan, observed a decline of 19 percent in violent incidents during the second quarter of 2017 in the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the border with Afghanistan. Читать дальше...

Pint by frothy pint, a hoppy revolution is brewing in Russia. This new generation of craft brewers began sprouting in the vodka capital of the world as foreign beers became too expensive and beer fans sought alternatives to mass-produced lagers. From juicy IPAs to velvety stouts and lip-smacking sours, beers served at breweries that opened in recent years in cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg offer visitors and locals alike the styles popularized in the last two decades by the craft beer boom... Читать дальше...

On a blistering hot afternoon, Zainab Omar Ali methodically sorts through freshly picked bunches of kale on her farm in Alimao village in northeast Kenya. "I managed to sell most of my batch at the market this morning," she said with satisfaction. "I'll try to sell the remaining fresh ones tomorrow, and cook the rest at home." Near her farm in Wajir County, women buzz around four greenhouses made of dark shade nets, watering vegetable plots and removing weeds. Omar Ali and other women in this... Читать дальше...

Sandy Cook, a 70-year-old former schoolteacher, bent low in front of the slate "Freedom of Speech Wall" outside Charlottesville City Hall on Monday and wrote a message: "Resist with courage, dignity and purpose." Her plea was one of dozens etched in chalk on the 16.5 meter (54-foot) wall following this weekend's violent clashes in the Virginia city. "This city is not racist" and "Unity over evil," read two other messages. As Charlottesville reeled from the killing of a woman during a white-nationalist rally... Читать дальше...

From defiant lawsuits to reversing policies, U.S. cities and counties are zeroing in on their immigration rules to avoid losing millions in public safety dollars that the White House has threatened to withhold amid a high-stakes clash over sanctuary policies. President Donald Trump has made it a top priority to revoke federal dollars from so-called sanctuary cities, broadly defined as places that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Trump says he believes such cities and counties are providing a haven for criminal activity.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the corporate chief executives who quit his advisory manufacturing council were "leaving out of embarrassment" for manufacturing products outside the U.S. Trump told reporters in the lobby of New York City's Trump Tower that the CEOs were not taking the issue of domestic production seriously. He said he had been lecturing them on what he said was the need to bring manufacturing back to the United States. Kenneth Frazier, the chief executive of Merck Pharmaceuticals... Читать дальше...

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

The United States accused Islamic State insurgents on Tuesday of carrying out a reign of violence targeting religious minorities and opposition ethnic groups, even as they have been losing control of large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Islamic State "is clearly responsible for genocide ... and crimes against humanity." Tillerson, speaking as he released the State Department's annual report on religious freedom in 199 countries and territories around the globe... Читать дальше...

At least 300 people are confirmed dead a day after mudslides and heavy flooding struck Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. Authorities say they expect the death toll to rise as search teams, military personnel and distraught relatives continue digging through the mud, looking for people buried or swept away in the disaster. Kelvin Lewis, a reporter for VOA's English to Africa service, said the searchers have little hope of finding more survivors. "They are still doing excavation work, because of a lot of buildings are still covered. Читать дальше...

Kenyans continue to wait in suspense for a statement by opposition leader Raila Odinga, who has rejected the results of the presidential contest, announced Friday.  He claims the election was rigged. Odinga and his NASA coalition were scheduled to announce their next move Tuesday. But they instead released a statement postponing his remarks to Wednesday, given what they called the “urgency, complexity and delicate nature” of the issues being considered.   The electoral commission announced on... Читать дальше...

A six-month-old girl has died in Kenya, her doctor told Reuters on Tuesday, after her parents said she was teargassed and clubbed by police in a security crackdown after last week's disputed election. Samantha Pendo was asleep in her mother's arms when police forced their way into their home and beat her and her parents as they searched for protesters, her parents said. "She remained in coma throughout. She never improved one bit," said Dr. Sam Oula at the Aga Khan Hospital in the western city of Kisumu. Читать дальше...

In a rare visit, the head of Iran’s armed forces is in Turkey. The two neighbors have found themselves increasing rivals in Iraq and Syria, but both sides are trying to find common ground. The chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, Major General Mohammad-Hossein Baqeri, arrived in Ankara, leading a high-ranking military and political delegation, for three days of talks. It is the first visit by Iran’s chief of staff since the 1979 Iranian revolution. Regional rivalries Former Turkish ambassador... Читать дальше...

Investigators are working to identify and charge protesters who toppled a nearly century-old Confederate statue in front of a North Carolina government building, the sheriff said Tuesday. Durham County Sheriff Mike Andrews issued a statement that investigators are using video footage to identify those responsible for toppling the statue during a rally Monday night. Law enforcement officers took video throughout the protest but didn't intervene as protesters brought out a ladder, climbed up to... Читать дальше...

Alabama Sen. Luther Strange on Tuesday looked to support from President Donald Trump to help carry him to the victory — or at least a runoff — in the Alabama Senate Republican primary, while his GOP rivals continued to batter him as the candidate of the so-called Washington establishment.   Alabama voters go to the polls Tuesday to select party nominees in the closely watched Senate race for the seat that belonged to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The race will test both the reach of Trump and... Читать дальше...

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has ordered his army to conduct a "comprehensive" drill late this month in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat last week of a possible military action in the South American country. "We must prepare ourselves so that no one dares to touch a single piece of sacred land of Venezuela," that it’s "never touched by an imperialist Yankee boot," Maduro said in an address broadcast Monday on national television and radio. Venezuela’s military maneuvers are scheduled for August 26 and 27. Читать дальше...

Food insecurity in the Somali region of Ethiopia has worsened, putting 700,000 people on the verge of starvation, according to Oxfam International. The humanitarian organization says that about 8.5 million people across the country face a high risk of hunger, a 30 percent increase since the beginning of the year. Food shortages and hunger have led to displacement and negative coping mechanisms such as increases in child labor, early marriage and school dropouts, according to a recent joint report... Читать дальше...

University of Rhode Island and Harvard University professors are collaborating through a new research center to study chemicals that have contaminated water at sites nationwide. The chemicals, called perfluorinated chemicals, have been linked to cancer and other illnesses but aren't regulated in drinking water. Water has been contaminated near sites of industrial facilities and U.S. military bases. URI announced Tuesday that it received a five-year, $8 million grant from the National Institute... Читать дальше...

Hillary Clinton's pastor has acknowledged he plagiarized part of the prayer commentary he sent her the day after she lost the presidential election, a devotional that is at the heart of a book he published Tuesday. The Rev. Bill Shillady said in a statement he was "stunned" to learn that his devotional, "Sunday is Coming," was so similar to an earlier blog post by the Rev. Matt Deuel of Mission Point Community Church in Warsaw, Indiana. Shillady said he has apologized to Deuel and will credit the Indiana pastor in future editions of the book... Читать дальше...

Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for a Libyan National Army (LNA) commander accused over the alleged execution of dozens of prisoners. Prosecutors at the world's permanent war crimes court are seeking Mahmoud al-Werfalli's hand-over to face charges of murder during the armed conflict in Libya. According to the ICC, Werfalli is alleged to have directly committed and to have ordered the commission of murder as a war crime during seven incidents... Читать дальше...

Immediately after a jury determined that Taylor Swift had been groped by a radio station host before a concert in Denver, the singer-songwriter turned to one of her closest allies - her mother - and later said she hoped the verdict would inspire other victims of sexual assault.   Swift hugged her crying mother after the six-woman, two-man jury said in U.S. District Court on Monday that former Denver DJ David Mueller had groped the pop star during a photo op four years ago. Per Swift's request,... Читать дальше...