Новости за 06.09.2017

Hollywood's famous archeologist Indiana Jones has nothing on Mark Fairchild.  The film character and the religion professor both teach at a university in Indiana.  Like Jones, Fairchild travels to far-off places in search of Biblical antiquities and doesn’t like snakes.  In fact, his students call him Indiana Mark.  And like the hero of five adventure movies, Fairchild is also a film star, of sorts, in a new documentary by two of his former students. Matt Whitney says when he and his friend... Читать дальше...

Hurricane Irma, still heading for the U.S., already has caused more than 1,000 flight cancellations, raised orange juice prices and prompted investors to sell the stocks of cruise ship companies, insurance firms, and travel companies, even before economists could finish adding up the cost of Hurricane Harvey, which recently slammed Houston, Texas. Wednesday, the U.S. central bank said Harvey caused "broad disruptions to economic activity" along the Gulf Coast, including closed refineries, flooded workplaces... Читать дальше...

The government of Somalia is defending a controversial decision to hand over a prominent Ogaden rebel leader to authorities in Ethiopia. The transfer of Abdikarin Sheikh Muse, a top member of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), has sparked a social media uproar and protests against the government by nationalist politicians. Small demonstrations took place in Mogadishu on Monday and at Kenya's Dadaab camp for Somali refugees on Tuesday. Muse, who is in his sixties, was detained by security... Читать дальше...

A suicide bomber blew himself up just outside the U.S.-controlled Bagram military airbase in Afghanistan, causing "a small number of casualties," Afghan and U.S. officials said. The attack occurred Wednesday evening at an entrance to the airbase, located in Parwan province about 60 kilometers north of Kabul, and was being investigated, said a U.S. military statement. "The casualties are being treated at Bagram medical facilities," the statement added, without further details. The Taliban swiftly took credit for the violence... Читать дальше...

U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed with Democratic congressional leaders to increase the nation's debt ceiling and extend the federal government's funding through mid-December, a deal that included relief funding for victims of Hurricane Harvey. The agreement was reached Wednesday at a White House meeting with a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers. While conservative Republicans are opposed to linking storm relief to a debt limit bill, Democratic congressional leaders have said they... Читать дальше...

Whether it be meddling in a U.S. presidential election or accessing the fingerprints of some 6 million federal workers, American officials are warning a cyberattack on the United States may be met with more than a retaliatory cyberstrike. Instead, nation states, terrorists and other adversaries attacking the U.S. though cyberspace likely will face "real world" consequences under a doctrine being developed by President Donald Trump. "I think what we'll do on the deterrence side is end up figuring... Читать дальше...

The Trump Administration has imposed sanctions on two senior members of South Sudan's government and the country's former army chief. The measure Wednesday freezes any assets that Information Minister Michael Makuei Leuth, deputy defense chief Malek Reuben and former army chief Paul Malong have under U.S. jurisdiction.  The three are also barred from entering the United States. The U.S. also imposed sanctions on three South Sudanese companies by owned or controlled by Reuben. The State Department... Читать дальше...

Like the film character Indiana Jones, Mark Fairchild is a professor at a university in Indiana. He travels to far off places in search of Biblical antiquities and doesn’t like snakes. That’s why his students call him Indiana Mark. It’s also one of the reasons he’s the focus of a new documentary. Erika Celeste reports from Huntington, Indiana.

U.S. President Donald Trump says he is confident Congress will act to protect 800,000 young undocumented immigrants from being deported, even after he moved to end the program that kept them from being returned to their home countries. "Congress, I really believe, wants to take care of this situation," Trump said aboard Air Force One before heading to North Dakota for a speech about tax reform.  "I really believe it, even very conservative members of Congress." Trump said he told congressional... Читать дальше...

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

This week on Straight Talk Africa host Shaka Ssali examines the Kenyan election re-run challenges. Shaka is joined by Vincent Makori, a Kenyan and host of Africa 54, who has been covering elections in his country of origin for years, Anita Ragan, a fellow Kenyan and energy consultant and John Aristotle Phillips of Aristotle Inc. an expert in political campaigning.

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have pushed further into the heart of Islamic State's self-proclaimed capital Raqqa, seizing control of the Old Raqqa and Daraiya neighborhoods in central parts of the capital. VOA’s Mahmoud Bali reports.

India's Supreme Court has granted a 13-year-old rape victim in Mumbai permission to terminate her pregnancy. The girl, who was 32 weeks pregnant, needed the court's assent Wednesday as Indian law only allows abortions after 20 weeks if the mother's life is in danger. The case was heard so late in the girl's pregnancy because her parents only discovered she was pregnant at 29 weeks, when they took her to the doctor for obesity treatments, having noted that she had gained a lot of weight. The girl... Читать дальше...

Egyptian activists accuse the government of using the fight against terrorism as cover to lock up political opponents and human rights workers. Egyptian authorities deny wrongdoing, but overflowing prisons and harsh treatment have led critics to compare conditions to those that led to the Arab Spring in 2011.

One of China’s biggest textile mills is planning its first North American factory in a small town in the southern U.S. state of Arkansas. Forrest City, located near the Mississippi River, is where the Chinese textile giant Shandong Ruyi plans a $410 million investment to spin yarn at a factory where local workers once built Japanese televisions. Mayor Larry Bryant says the company is already working on training at the local community college. "I think everybody is happy," Bryant said. "Everybody is waiting. Читать дальше...

European judges Wednesday rejected an attempt by Hungary and Slovakia to block mandatory quotas of resettled refugees from Greece and Italy. European Union officials welcomed the ruling and called on member states to speed up the resettlement process – seen as a key part of the bloc’s response to the crisis, which has seen millions of asylum seekers arrive on the continent over the past three years. Henry Ridgwell reports.

New Lisbon resident Madonna has been extolling the delights of living in the Portuguese capital, the most illustrious of a growing number of foreigners in the newly-fashionable city. "I used to be a basket case but now I live in Lisbon," she wrote on Instagram on Sunday under a photo of baskets hanging from the ceiling of an old Portuguese kitchen. Local media say she has bought a 7.5 million-euro ($9 million) estate in the mountains of Sintra, outside Lisbon, and will continue to stay at the Pestana Palace hotel... Читать дальше...

United States Senator Bob Menendez, a Democrat, is in a federal courthouse Wednesday in New Jersey for the beginning of his corruption trial. Menendez is accused of taking bribes from a wealthy donor in exchange for supporting the donor’s business interests in Congress. This is the first time since the so-called Abscam scandal in 1981 that a sitting U.S. senator will go on trial for bribery. Prosecutors say Menendez took bribes, including luxury vacations and hundreds of thousands of dollars in political donations, from Dr. Читать дальше...

Catalan lawmakers were voting Wednesday on a bill that will allow regional authorities to officially call an Oct. 1 referendum on a split from Spain, making concrete a years-long defiance of central authorities, who insist the referendum as illegal. In an effort to rein in one of the country's deepest political crises in recent years, Spain's conservative government threatened to challenge the Catalan parliament's decision to allow the vote at the country's top court. The public prosecutor's office... Читать дальше...

Denmark's Prince Henrik, the husband of Queen Margrethe, has been diagnosed with dementia, a condition that has affected his behavior and judgement, the palace said Wednesday. The announcement came weeks after the 83-year-old announced he did not want to be buried next to his wife, saying he was unhappy he had never been acknowledged as her equal. "Following a longer diagnostic process and lately a series of examinations during late summer, a specialist team ... has now concluded that his Royal... Читать дальше...

Angola's first new president in decades has a big job ahead of him: He inherits a nation mired in recession, plagued with corruption, and home to some of the worst income inequality seen anywhere in the world. Worse still, the falling price of oil — the nation's main cash cow — means that president-elect Joao Lourenco has limited means to dig his nation out of this difficult situation. He also starts this historic epoch in Angolan history with a credibility issue, after four of the five opposition parties challenged the official results... Читать дальше...

Pope Francis headed to Colombia on Wednesday to try to help heal the wounds of Latin America's longest-running armed conflict, bolstered by a new cease-fire with a holdout rebel group but fully aware of the fragility of the country's peace process. During a deeply symbolic five-day visit starting Wednesday, Francis is expected to press Colombian leaders to address the social and economic disparities that fueled five decades of armed rebellion, while encouraging ordinary Colombians to balance their need for justice with forgiveness. Читать дальше...

U.S. President Donald Trump told British Prime Minister Theresa May that opening discussions with North Korea is not currently the best option to address the country's growing nuclear weapons program. "Now is not the time to talk to North Korea," Trump was quoted as saying in a White House readout highlighting his Tuesday discussion with May. Trump said, "All options remain open to defend the United States and its allies against North Korean aggression." The two leaders vowed to continue to increase... Читать дальше...

Thousands of people in Togo took to the streets Wednesday to demand presidential term limits as anger grows in the small West African nation over the 50-year-rule of the Gnassingbe family.   Internet service was down and phone connections were sporadic, but that didn't stop the scheduled demonstrations aimed at preventing President Faure Gnassingbe from running for a fourth term in 2020 elections.   Security forces killed at least two people and injured several others during similar demonstrations in August, Amnesty International said. Читать дальше...

U.S. President Donald Trump is making a new push Wednesday for a tax overhaul, visiting the midwestern state of North Dakota to call for lower corporate and individual tax rates. Trump is pressing Congress to approve tax reforms in the coming months, with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin predicting that changes can be completed by the end of the year. But tax legislation is one of several complicated issues Congress is facing and Republican and Democratic lawmakers have sharply divergent ideas... Читать дальше...