Новости за 21.09.2017

Somalia's government rebuked its three semiautonomous regions  Thursday for cutting ties with Qatar, saying it was determined to stay neutral in the Gulf nation's dispute with other Arab states. The region of Galmudug issued a statement Wednesday saying it stood with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the regional row, following similar declarations last month by the regions of Puntland and Hirshabelle. Somalia's federal government responded by saying only it had the authority to speak on foreign affairs. Читать дальше...

U.S. President Donald Trump praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a friend who gets "high marks" for "running a very difficult part of the world." Trump's effusive praise for the Turkish leader came on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday despite tensions between the two countries over the conduct of Turkish security officials toward American protesters. Hours before Trump met Erdogan for talks, Erdogan supporters punched and kicked three protesters who interrupted his speech at a New York hotel. Читать дальше...

In camps across northern Iraq, people forced from their homes by Islamic State militants are using their phones to track what is happening to their properties, according to researchers who say returning home is crucial for building a safe future in the war-torn nation. More than three million Iraqis have been driven from their homes, land and farms, according to the United Nations, many of them by armed groups like Islamic State (IS). As pro-government forces intensify the fight against IS, clearing... Читать дальше...

Twenty strangers have gathered in the dining room of a New York City apartment as a woman with long dark curly hair putters around the kitchen, putting a package of meat in the fridge, sauteing pine nuts.  They settle into chairs, and she begins to speak. "Since I came back,” she tells them, “I make kubah, again and again, as if I want to close a hole in my soul." Welcome to Off Off-Broadway, and the one-woman play "Oh My Sweet Land."  It is a harrowing story of a Syrian-American woman who follows her Syrian lover to the Middle East... Читать дальше...

Facebook said on Thursday it plans to share with U.S. congressional investigators some 3,000 political ads that it says Russia-based operatives ran on Facebook in the months before and after last year's U.S. presidential election. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, who has been under pressure to do more to prevent the use of Facebook for election manipulation, said in a live broadcast on Facebook that he supported the investigation by the U.S. Congress. Zuckerberg laid out nine steps that he... Читать дальше...

U.S. President Donald Trump heads to the southern state of Alabama Friday to campaign for an embattled Republican senator whose defeat could spell trouble for establishment Republican lawmakers seeking reelection next year and add new tensions to the party’s already fractious Senate caucus. “Looking forward to Friday night in the Great State of Alabama,” Trump tweeted Wednesday, then underscored his support for Senator Luther Strange, who in February was named to fill the seat of former Senator Jeff Sessions... Читать дальше...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take advantage of his government's majority in Parliament and push through long-pending legislation giving women more power, according to the country's main opposition leader, Sonia Gandhi. In the world's largest democracy, women hold only 12 percent of seats in the lower and upper houses of Parliament combined, compared with the global average of 23 percent, said the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The Women's Reservation Bill — which provides for... Читать дальше...

Police have rescued a dozen trafficked girls in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad and arrested more than 20 members of a major network selling brides to wealthy men in the Gulf. Omanis, Qataris, hotel owners, brokers and qazis - who perform Islamic marriages - were arrested in Wednesday's crackdown, which a campaigner said could help stem the trade. "Innocent Muslim girls are dragged into the trap of marriage to wealthy sheikhs of Arab countries," Mahendar Reddy, Hyderabad police commissioner, said in a statement. Читать дальше...

Some plant-eating dinosaurs apparently liked a side order of crabs to go with their usual salad. Scientists said Thursday that fossilized dung thought to have come from herbivorous duck-billed dinosaurs that inhabited southern Utah 75 million years ago contained pieces of crustacean shells along with vestiges of vegetation. The discovery provides the strongest evidence to date that some large herbivorous dinosaurs sometimes strayed from a purely vegetarian diet, said University of Colorado paleontologist Karen Chin... Читать дальше...

For the first time in more than 60 years, the Mormon church-owned Brigham Young University will sell caffeinated soft drinks on campus. BYU, the largest private religious university in the U.S., announced the decision Thursday by posting a picture of a can of Coca-Cola on Twitter and just two words: “It’s happening.’’ Dean Wright, the school’s director of dining services, said the decision to allow caffeinated soda on campus was a response to student demand. Caffeinated soft drinks will also... Читать дальше...

Ukraine's Petro Poroshenko met U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday and said afterwards that they had a shared vision on a “new level” of defense cooperation, but not whether this included the U.S. provision of defensive weapons to Ukraine. The United States is reviewing whether to send weapons to Ukraine to help it defend itself, an option that previous U.S. president Barack Obama vetoed and which is opposed by Russia. After meeting Trump in New York, President Poroshenko told a televised briefing... Читать дальше...

African National Congress (ANC) MP Makhosi Khoza, a strident critic of scandal-plagued President Jacob Zuma, quit South Africa's ruling party on Thursday, labelling Nelson Mandela's 105-year-old liberation movement "alien and corrupt." The 47-year-old Zulu linguistics expert, an ANC supporter since the age of 12, denounced Zuma in July as a "dishonorable and disgraceful leader" due to the litany of scandals he has attracted during his eight years in power. Her comments earned her death threats and a provincial party disciplinary hearing... Читать дальше...

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again — especially if a baby is watching. A new study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says children about 15 months old can become more persistent in pursuing a goal if they've just seen an adult struggle at a task before succeeding. In the research, that happened even though the babies had to solve a different problem than the grown-ups did. The children tried their own tasks after watching a woman solve two challenges. Some... Читать дальше...

Rescue teams in central Mexico continued to work Thursday to reach those still trapped inside the dozens of buildings that fell during a massive earthquake Tuesday that killed more than 230 people. One search in Mexico City took place at a school where workers spotted a girl Wednesday buried in debris and were able to confirm she was still alive by asking her to move her hand. That rescue effort took on a heightened sense of urgency Thursday as the threat of aftershocks increased the possibility... Читать дальше...

Rival Tuareg groups said on Thursday they had signed a peace deal in northern Mali, raising hopes of an end to years of fighting and broken ceasefires. Senior members of the separatist CMA and their pro-government opponents known as the Platform said they had settled their differences in the arid region, which is still reeling from a 2012 Islamist insurgency. Past deals have fizzled as goodwill faded - though observers said they were optimistic, as the pact had been signed in Bamako on Wednesday... Читать дальше...

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

The United States is increasing aid to Yemen, South Sudan, Nigeria, and Somalia to help millions affected by food insecurity and violence. An additional $575 million in humanitarian assistance will be provided to the four countries, U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Mark Green announced at the U.N. General Assembly. “With this new funding, the United States is providing emergency food and nutrition assistance, life-saving medical care, improved sanitation, emergency shelter... Читать дальше...

Part of a sprawling park in the center of Washington, D.C., earlier this week got transformed into a sea of green, red, yellow and white — colors of the Kurdish flag. Close to 2,000 people, primarily members from the Kurdish diaspora from all over North America, congregated just blocks from the White House Sunday to show their support for an independence referendum set to be held in Iraqi Kurdistan on September 25. The vote, not sanctioned by Iraq’s central government and not supported by the United States... Читать дальше...

American and Russia military leaders held an unprecedented, face-to-face meeting in recent days to discuss the increasing tensions around the Islamic State stronghold of Deir el-Zour, Syria, a coalition spokesman said Thursday. U.S. Army Col. Ryan Dillon, the spokesman for the U.S.-led counter-Islamic State coalition, told reporters via video conference from Baghdad that the discussion between generals from both countries lasted more than an hour. Dillon added that the coalition and Russian officers... Читать дальше...

A United Nations AIDS group announced Thursday that producers of generic AIDS drugs would begin making low-cost pills for African AIDS patients, with the financial backing of Bill Gates's charitable foundation. The Gates Foundation will guarantee a minimum number of pill sales, and in turn, drug makers Mylan Laboratories and Aurobindo Pharma agreed to cap the price of treatment at $75 per patient, per year. The reduced-price AIDS drugs will be available for purchase by public sector organizations next year... Читать дальше...

Fergie says even though she and husband Josh Duhamel are splitting up, they’re still “great friends” who love one another and their young son. The singer talked about her marriage at a screening Wednesday for her new visual album, “Double Dutchess,” at iPic Theaters Fulton Market in New York. She told The Associated Press “the important thing is we’re a family” with 4-year-old Axl and “there’s so much love” that they share. She says her new songs are about “a lot of different relationships,”... Читать дальше...

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is confident she has paved the way for the country to hold free and fair elections next month and for future leaders to maintain peace in the country. In an exclusive interview with VOA Africa division's Peter Clottey, Sirleaf said that institutions are in place to ensure the country remains peaceful through and after the transition. "We've established democracy," she said Wednesday, noting that she held elections even for positions within her own party during her 12 years as president. Читать дальше...

It might seem odd to review the new Apple TV streaming device — one specifically designed to display super-sharp video known as 4K — without actually owning a 4K TV. But in a way, that's the point. Most people still don't have 4K TVs, so the new Apple TV model doesn't offer them much. But if you're an Apple fan and already have 4K, the choice is clear. The new Apple TV 4K is out Friday starting at $179, or $30 more than the regular model. It's a small difference compared with the price of your TV. Читать дальше...

Pakistan says Indian shelling across the disputed Kashmir frontier has killed at least four civilians, including two women. The deadly incident took place in a remote village in the Charwa sector, the military reported Thursday evening. Pakistani forces responded, targeting Indian posts from where fire on the civilian population originated, it added. New Delhi has not yet responded to Pakistan's allegations. The two nuclear-armed rival nations routinely engage in clashes along the Line of Control... Читать дальше...

Uganda's ruling National Resistance Movement was expected to introduce a motion in parliament Thursday to scrap the Constitution's presidential age limit of 75 years old. The plan, however, has met with protests in the capital and fierce resistance from opposition lawmakers. At Makerere University, students in red gowns came out of their residence halls Thursday morning, blowing vuvuzelas and whistles and chanting in the Luganda language, "Don't touch it." By "it," they mean the Constitution. Читать дальше...