Новости за 17.09.2017

Beijing will suspend construction of major public projects in the city this winter in an effort to improve the capital's notorious air quality, official media said on Sunday, citing the municipal commission of housing and urban-rural development. All construction of road and water projects, as well as demolition of housing, will be banned from Nov. 15 to March 15 within the city's six major districts and surrounding suburbs, said the Xinhua report. The period spans the four months when heating... Читать дальше...

President Donald Trump took another swing at Hillary Clinton in the latest sign that his campaign fury hasn't faded, retweeting a mock video that shows him smacking a golf ball that - in the next frame - seemingly strikes her in the back before she stumbles and falls down while boarding a plane.   Trump retweeted the brief video on his official Twitter account early Sunday, which appears to be a doctored version of news footage from 2011 that shows the then-secretary of state falling after climbing the airplane stairs. Читать дальше...

The future of health care in America has been resuscitated again as a driving political issue in Washington. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports, two new plans at opposite ends of the ideological spectrum were unveiled last week to replace current federal law, the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.

The mass of warm water known as "the blob'' that heated up the North Pacific Ocean has dissipated, but scientists are still seeing the lingering effects of those unusually warm sea surface temperatures on Pacific Northwest salmon and steelhead.   Federal research surveys this summer caught among the lowest numbers of juvenile coho and Chinook salmon in 20 years, suggesting that many fish did not survive their first months at sea. Scientists warn that salmon fisheries may face hard times in the next few years. Читать дальше...

Scandal-hit Brazilian construction company Odebrecht said on Sunday it has sold its 33 percent stake in a massive subway project in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires, but vowed to keep working in the country. Odebrecht is involved in a sprawling corruption saga and has already paid $3.5 billion in settlements in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland, embroiling politicians across Latin America. "Present for 30 continuous years, Odebrecht plans to continue contributing to the development of Argentina in an ethical... Читать дальше...

One of President Vladimir Putin's top allies said on Sunday she saw no logic in deploying U.N. peacekeepers along the border between Russia and Ukraine, something Kyiv and Washington favor. Putin this month suggested armed U.N. peacekeepers be deployed to eastern Ukraine to help protect ceasefire monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to help end a conflict between Ukrainian troops and Russia-backed separatists, which has killed more than 10,000 people since 2014. Читать дальше...

Spanish authorities on Sunday pursued efforts to block an independence vote in Catalonia, seizing campaign materials as the chief prosecutor said jailing the region's top politician could not be ruled out. The government in the northeastern region is intent on holding a referendum on October 1 that will ask voters whether they support secession from Spain, a ballot Madrid has declared illegal. In a raid on a warehouse in the province of Barcelona on Sunday, police confiscated around 1.3 million... Читать дальше...

Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, marking a formal return to Italy's political stage, laid out his policy priorities on Sunday for the forthcoming election, portraying himself as a pro-European moderate. Speaking at a meeting of his Forza Italia (Go Italy) party, Berlusconi said he wanted to lead the group into the national ballot, which is expected by next March, promising hefty tax cuts if the center-right regained power. Subsumed by sex scandals and legal woes, Berlusconi largely vanished... Читать дальше...

American television's biggest stars are walking the red carpet Sunday in Los Angeles, posing for photos and interviews before the 69th annual Emmy awards presentation. Late-night talk show personality Stephen Colbert will host the award show, which is sure to get political this year.  Colbert, who's Late Show often pokes fun at President Donald Trump and his administration, said "the biggest television star of the last year was Donald Trump" during an interview last week. Additionally, comedy show Saturday Night Live... Читать дальше...

Following days of talks Egyptian mediators have gotten rival Palestinian factions to agree to reconcile, although Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah group is insisting rival Hamas implement the conditions it has agreed to before taking the next step. Efforts to resolve a decade-old schism between the two main Palestinian factions appears to be coming closer to fruition, after Egyptian mediators succeeded in convincing the Islamist Hamas group, which controls Gaza to agree to dissolve... Читать дальше...

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

Missouri Governor Eric Greitens warned Sunday that his administration will deal harshly with those responsible for violent protests in St. Louis over the death of a black man. A small band of protesters began breaking windows and throwing objects at police late Saturday during the second night of protests over the acquittal of a white police officer charged with murder in the man's death. More demonstrations were expected later Sunday. At least nine people were arrested during Saturday's violence... Читать дальше...

The al-Shabab militant group has claimed responsibility for the killing of a senior intelligence officer and his bodyguard in a drive-by shooting in southern Mogadishu. Mohamud Moallim Hassan Qoley was fatally injured in the Midday shooting Sunday in Dharkaynlay district, officials said. Qoley was chief of intelligence at Mogadishu’s Kahda area, one of the capital’s 17 districts. “There were two bodyguards with him, the shooting came from a car that was hiding in an alleyway, one of the bodyguards died on the spot... Читать дальше...

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the United States is considering closing its embassy in Cuba following a number of "health attacks" on American diplomats there. "We have it under evaluation and it is a very serious issue with respect to the harm some individuals have suffered," Tillerson said on the CBS show "Face the Nation." At least 21 Americans have suffered what the State Department calls "incidents" that have lead to a variety of symptoms, including hearing loss, concussions, headaches... Читать дальше...

Britain eased its terrorist threat level Sunday from "critical" to "severe" after police arrested a second suspect in the bombing of a subway train in London. Home Secretary Amber Rudd said the second arrest was an indication that "good progress" was being made int the investigation of Friday's attack that injured 30 people, all but one of whom have now been released from hospitals. The "severe" threat level indicates British authorities now believe another attack is highly likely, while the... Читать дальше...

Four young female U.S. tourists were attacked with acid Sunday in the French city of Marseille by a woman who has been arrested, the Marseille prosecutor's office said. Two of the tourists were injured in the face in the attack in the city's main Saint Charles train station and one of them has a possible eye injury, a spokeswoman for the Marseille prosecutor's office told The Associated Press in a phone call. She said all four of the tourists, who are in their 20s, have been hospitalized, two of them for shock. Читать дальше...

Iran will not be subject to "bullying" by the United States in regards to a 2015 nuclear deal that president Trump has threatened to scrap, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday. "The Iranian nation is standing firm and any wrong move by the domineering regime regarding the [nuclear accord] will face the reaction of the Islamic Republic," Khamenei said in an address to police officers. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani left Sunday for the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where... Читать дальше...

Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga Sunday said the coalition he leads will hold nationwide campaigns to urge reforms of the electoral commission before the fresh presidential elections next month. Odinga has maintained that the electoral commission must be reformed or he will not participate in the new election ordered by the Supreme Court when it nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election in August. One of the reforms he wants is the removal of a dozen top officials he accuses of electoral fraud. Читать дальше...

Kuwait will expel North Korea's ambassador to the Gulf country along with four other diplomats, sources said Sunday. North Korea's diplomatic presence in the oil-rich state will be reduced to a chargé d'affaires and three diplomats, diplomatic sources told news agencies on the condition of anonymity. The announcement comes two days after North Korea launched another missile over Japan, and less than a week after the United Nations imposed additional sanctions on Pyongyang for conducting its sixth nuclear test. Читать дальше...

Stuck in a refugee camp on the Greek island of Chios with poor internet and little credit, Abrar Hassan, like many others, was unaware that the tech world had been falling all over itself to help him. More importantly, he was unaware of his rights and how best to prepare for the asylum interviews that would determine whether the 19-year-old, who fled a murderous family feud in Pakistan, had a future in Europe. There has been an explosion of digital software applications, hackathons and websites... Читать дальше...

The militant group Hamas that rules Gaza moved Sunday to end its decade-long political and territorial split with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, agreeing to dissolve its administrative body and hold general elections. With the Gaza economy in shambles and electricity typically on only four hours a day in the Mediterranean coastal enclave, Hamas said it would immediately allow the Abbas-led "unity government" to assume control. The joint government was formed three years ago... Читать дальше...

New York police and a host of federal agencies are preparing for the annual traffic and security nightmare known as the United Nations General Assembly, featuring a week of speeches by U.S. President Donald Trump and a parade of other dignitaries. The meeting of the world's top leaders and diplomats, scheduled to begin on Tuesday, will bring street closures, thousands of police officers and hundreds of protesters to midtown Manhattan, an area already plagued with gridlock on an average weekday. Читать дальше...

A French journalist held for 51 days on terror charges in Turkey has returned to Paris. Free-lance journalist Loup Bureau was met by his parents Sunday at Charles de Gaulle airport, according to the campaign group Reporters Without Borders. Bureau said his release came as "a bit of a surprise", as he saw no signs pointing to his release Friday, a day after French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian met with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. Bureau was detained July 26th on the... Читать дальше...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India's biggest dam on Sunday, ignoring warnings from environment groups that hundreds of thousands of people will lose their livelihoods. The controversial Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river in the country's western state of Gujarat that will provide power and water to three big states was dedicated to the people of India by Narendra Modi. The project has been beset by controversies since the laying of the foundation stone by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961. Читать дальше...

Congo's Kasai region is the latest deadly hotspot in the vast Central African country that has had violent rebellions for decades. Once again, children are among the most vulnerable victims. Well over 1 million people have fled the fighting that began a year ago when Congo's military killed the regional tribal leader of the Kamwina Nsapu militia. More than 3,300 people in the region have died, according to estimates by the Catholic church. The United Nations has counted more than 80 mass graves. Читать дальше...