Новости за 26.08.2017

Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Israeli attorney general's home Saturday to demand he indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges. The weekly vigils have become the vanguard of a grass-roots protest movement against Netanyahu's alleged financial misdeeds and illicit ties to executives in media, international business and Hollywood. Netanyahu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and called the accusations against him a witch hunt orchestrated by a hostile media. Читать дальше...

In a surprise announcement on Saturday, Iraqi officials said they are hours or days away from recapturing Tal Afar from Islamic State militants after less than a week of battle. VOA’s Heather Murdock is on the scene with the Iraqi forces' Golden Division in Tal Afar.

A man who assaulted police officers with a four-foot sword outside Queen Elizabeth's Buckingham Palace residence shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) was being questioned by counterterrorism police on Saturday. Two unarmed officers suffered slight cuts as they detained the man, who drove at a police van on Friday evening, then took the sword from the front passenger foot-well of his car, London's Metropolitan Police said. It was too early to say what the man was planning to do, said Commander Dean Haydon... Читать дальше...

Indian security forces in the Kashmir Valley shot dead two militants after an hours-long gun battle for control of a government compound in which eight policemen were also killed, the state's top police official said. The shootout ensued after the militants stormed into the police camp in Pulwama, a town in southern Kashmir, early on Saturday, SP Vaid, the director general of Jammu and Kashmir police, told reporters in Srinagar. A search of the camp was continuing, he said. In a statement to local newspapers... Читать дальше...

The way Bana Umar tells it, VOA and other broadcasters helped convince him to leave Boko Haram. Until the night of August 18, Umar was a fighter for the Islamist radical group, living at a camp in the vast Sambisa Forest, one of the group's long-time strongholds in northeastern Nigeria. The experience was certainly exciting. Umar says he served as a bodyguard for a commander, Abu Geidam, who he describes as very close to Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram's best known leader. And he saw action across Nigeria's Borno State. Читать дальше...

The EU’s commissioner for migration says Brussels may withhold development aid and impose trade and visa restrictions on migrant-source countries in Africa and Asia to force them to take back failed asylum-seekers. In an interview with Britain’s The Times published Saturday, Dimitris Avramopoulos said EU chiefs “are considering stopping funding of major development projects. We invested in these regions to create opportunities and keep people there.” He said countries which failed to cooperate... Читать дальше...

South Africa's first online auction of rhino horn ends Friday, and thousands of bidders reportedly have shown interest. The three-day online auction was the first of its kind since South Africa banned the domestic trade in rhino horn in 2009. Hundreds of horns weighing 500 kilograms were for sale. John Hume, the rhino breeder selling his stock, told VOA the rhinos were tranquilized before their horns were harvested. To participate in the auction, bidders were required to put down about $7,000 as a deposit. Читать дальше...

As dawn breaks, the sun edges over the expansive jagged mountains of Ladakh - a remote Buddhist ex-kingdom in the Indian Himalayas bordering Tibet - to reveal a world where time appears to have stood still. The chant of monks in a centuries-old monastery can be heard in the distance. Villagers slowly emerge from whitewashed stone cottages to tend to their wheat and barley fields, and ready their goats to search for pasture. Complete with its picture-perfect temples precariously perched atop rocky mountain outcrops... Читать дальше...

President Donald Trump spared former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio the prospect of serving jail time in granting the first pardon of his turbulent tenure, wiping away the lawman's recent federal conviction stemming from his immigration patrols that focused on Latinos. The White House said 85-year-old Arpaio was a "worthy candidate" for the pardon, citing his "life's work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration." Trump granted the pardon less than a month after a... Читать дальше...

Iraqi forces have dislodged Islamic State from 70 percent of Tal Afar, a stronghold of the militants in northwestern Iraq, including its central citadel neighborhood, officials and military commanders said on Saturday. "Seventy percent of the city has been liberated.... God willing, the remaining part will be liberated soon," Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said at a news conference with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and French Defence Minister Florence Parly, in Baghdad. Читать дальше...

Afghan officials raised the death toll from a suicide attack on a Shi'ite mosque in Kabul Friday to at least 28 people.More than 50 others were wounded during Friday prayers. Women, children and two police officers were among the victims. Mourners gathered Saturday to bury the dead inside the mosque compound. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Two of four attackers blew themselves up at the gate of the Imam Zaman mosque and the others were shot dead by Afghan security forces. Читать дальше...

The millions of followers of the flashy Indian guru consider him the embodiment of God on Earth. So when he was convicted of rape Friday, tens of thousands of supporters responded with fury, setting off riots that left more than two dozen dead and buses, trains and buildings set on fire. Police said calm was restored on Saturday. When he appears in a "darshan," or audience, once a week at his ashram in Haryana state's Sirsa town, the guru of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, who calls himself Saint Dr. Читать дальше...

China has banned new business ventures with North Korea, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement late Friday. The action is in line with the United Nations Security Council sanctions passed earlier this month. The statement released on ministry’s website said that effective immediately, new joint venture enterprises, new wholly owned businesses and the expansion of existing entities involving North Korean individuals or companies are prohibited in China. The ministry also said it... Читать дальше...

The Somalian army says its forces, supported by U.S. troops, mistakenly shot dead 10 Somalis, including three children, during an operation near the town of Bariire early Friday morning. General Ahmed Jimale Irfid, the Somalia army chief who spoke to VOA exclusively from Mogadishu confirmed that 10 civilians including children and elderly people were killed during a joint raid at a farm in Bariire town, about 55 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu. “It was not a deliberate action. It was an accident... Читать дальше...

"Privacy Supreme," "Supreme Court Gives India a Private Life" screamed banner headlines after India's top court ruled that privacy is a fundamental right, overturning a 63-year-old verdict. Jubilant lawyers and commentators said the unanimous nine-bench ruling would have far reaching implications on civil rights, ranging from the way personal data is handled to gay rights in the world's largest democracy. The ruling is seen as a setback to what some feared could be the emergence of a "surveillance... Читать дальше...

From power grids, to major corporations, nothing in the world is immune to cyberattacks. The reason, said cyber security experts, is the growing dependence on the internet.   “The internet is becoming more and more integrated into our lives every single day, and we as citizens and we as corporations and governments are becoming more interconnected and using the internet as part of that backbone of communication and collaboration. This means that there’s increased attack surface for those who wish to be malicious,” said Jonathan Homer... Читать дальше...

Hurricane Harvey has settled over southeast Texas, dumping rain and lashing the state's Gulf Coast with damaging winds. The storm made landfall Friday night as a Category 4 with 130 mph (209 kph) winds. It gradually weakened over the next several hours and by early Saturday, the National Hurricane Center said it back to a Category 2 — still sustaining winds of 110 mph (185 kph) as of 3 a.m. Early damage reports from Gulf Coast cities included collapsed roofs and walls. One community transported... Читать дальше...

A new device, developed by an Israeli start-up, could make routine visits to the doctor's office a thing of the past. Faith Lapidus reports.

In spite of many attempts to replace it with a more suitable material, asphalt concrete remains the best and cheapest material for paving roads. Vulnerable to heat, ice, ultraviolet light and mechanical stress, it has a relatively short lifespan and has to be repaired or replaced at regular intervals. Swiss engineers say they may have found a formula for asphalt with self-healing properties VOA’s George Putic reports.

Reports of cyberattacks against companies and governments around the world seem to be appearing in the headlines more frequently this year. Cyber security experts explain why the risk of being hacked is now greater, who is doing the hacking and what can be done to prevent or minimize the damage. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details.

The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the IUCN. Threats come on land and sea. Thousands of turtles die every year in fishing nets, and their eggs are considered a delicacy. But on one protected beach in Mexico, the Olive Ridley turtles are swarming. VOA's Kevin Enochs reports.

A U.S. Black Hawk helicopter crashed off the coast of Yemen on Friday during a training mission and a search was under way for one U.S. service member, the U.S. military said. U.S. Central Command said in a statement that five other service members aboard the aircraft had been rescued after the crash, which took place about 20 miles (32 km) off the southern coast of Yemen at 7 p.m. (16000 GMT). A U.S. official told Reuters that the cause of the crash was under investigation. "When the incident... Читать дальше...

Thailand's former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has fled to Dubai, senior members of her party said on Saturday, a day after she failed to show up for a negligence ruling in which she faced up to 10 years in prison. Sources in her Puea Thai Party said the former prime minister left Thailand last week and flew via Singapore to Dubai where her brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a 2008 jail sentence for corruption, has a home. "We heard... Читать дальше...

Government security forces in the Philippines city of Marawi have been fighting for the past three months to rout militants suspected of ties to the Islamic State (IS) militant group in the region. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte in May declared the country's restive south under martial rule for 60 days – which, in July, was extended through the end of the year -- after an attempt by security forces to capture an IS-linked militant leader failed. That set off clashes that left the city under siege. Читать дальше...

The night after a series of coordinated attacks by Rohingya insurgents in northern Rakhine State, frightened residents of one area found themselves trapped by attackers’ land mines, and those evacuated from another area gathered in a nearby town patrolled by the army and police. Authorities said police posts came under attack in the early hours Friday by an estimated 150 insurgents armed with guns and homemade explosives. The attackers were believed to be Muslim, a minority in Rakhine State, where... Читать дальше...