Новости за 28.10.2017

The Iraqi Kurdish parliament will meet Sunday to redistribute powers away from President Massoud Barzani, who is under pressure to step down following an independence referendum last month. The parliament had already decided to halt Barzani's governmental activities and, on Saturday, said it would read out a statement from Barzani during the upcoming meeting. Despite securing an overwhelming "yes" vote in the independence referendum, Barzani finds himself in a tough position after Iraqi federal... Читать дальше...

Kenyan police used tear gas Saturday to disperse election protesters in the impoverished Nairobi district of Kawangware, one day after a fire burned hundreds of businesses, and after men armed with machetes and sticks looted stores and homes. Young men, many of whom back opposition leader Raila Odinga, heckled police and ran for cover to escape the gas. Of the violence, Odinga supporter Paul Maumo said, "I don't see this ending soon," and charged the national election commission of orchestrating a fraudulent vote. Читать дальше...

A U.S. federal grand jury has approved the first charges in an investigation of Russian influence on U.S. elections, according to several major news outlets. The grand jury's action, resulting from the probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller, was first reported by CNN on Friday evening. It quoted sources as saying anyone who was charged could be taken into custody as soon as Monday. The exact charges were unclear. Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and NBC News subsequently issued similar reports. Читать дальше...

Hundreds of people have attended an opposition-organized anticorruption rally in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku. The protest Saturday was organized by the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) -- an umbrella group of Azerbaijani opposition forces, under the slogan "No To Robbery." Activists from the Popular Front Party, People's Democratic Party, National Statehood Party, Musavat Party youth organization, Muslim Union, and NIDA movement attended the rally. The rally held in the Mehsul stadium... Читать дальше...

The long-serving mayor of the Turkish capital, Ankara, has resigned after pressure from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In the last few weeks, Erdogan has forced out of office six mayors belonging to his ruling AKP party as part of efforts to revitalize the party ahead of looming elections. Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek's resignation followed weeks of intense pressure by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, culminating in the president publicly warning the mayor of severe consequences if he did not quit. Читать дальше...

Myanmar police said Saturday they have detained two foreign journalists who are employed by Turkish state media for flying a drone over parliament grounds in the capital of Nay Pyi Taw. Their detention comes amid heightened tension between Myanmar and Turkey, which has criticized the Southeast Asian country for its treatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused Myanmar in September of committing genocide against the Rohingya, a charge Myanmar denies. The journalists... Читать дальше...

At least 20 people, including a Somali politician, were killed Saturday in a pair of car bomb explosions in Somalia's capital, two weeks after a huge bomb killed more than 350 people in the city. Madobe Nunow, interior minister of Southwest state in Somalia, was among the dead, officials said. More than 40 people were injured in the two explosions in Mogadishu. The first blast occurred at the popular Nasa Hablod Two hotel, which al-Shabab gunmen stormed after detonating a car filled with explosives at the hotel's gate. Читать дальше...

At least 10 people, including some officials, were killed Saturday in a pair of car bomb explosions in Somalia's capital, two weeks after a huge bomb killed more than 350 people in the city. The first blast occurred at the popular Nasa Hablod Two hotel, which al-Shabab gunmen stormed after detonating a car filled with explosives at the hotel's gate. Somali officials said at least three gunmen were still inside, exchanging gunfire with security forces. Ayan abdi Ahmed, who was inside the hotel when the car bomb exploded... Читать дальше...

Two car bombs exploded Saturday in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, killing unknown numbers of people. Witnesses said gunmen stormed Nasa-Hablod hotel after detonating a car filled with explosives at the entrance. Initial reports say at least 10 people were killed in the first explosion and 6 others were injured. Witnesses said gunmen are fighting inside. Security forces cordoned off the area. A local reporter told VOA he saw nine dead people. The reporter said ambulances transported bodies and wounded people from the scene. Читать дальше...

Catalonia’s deposed President Carles Puigdemont vowed on Saturday to keep fighting for independence after the Spanish central government ordered him to accept his cabinet’s dismissal. The Spanish region of Catalonia, which once enjoyed a considerable amount of autonomy, is now under the direct control of Madrid. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dissolved Catalonia's parliament, just hours after the regional body voted Friday in favor of independence from Spain. In addition to dismissing the regional parliament... Читать дальше...

Parliamentary elections were held in Iceland Saturday as the nation tries to overcome a political scandal that has provoked anger among voters. Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, a member of the center-right Independence Party, called the election last month after a member of the three-party center-right coalition resigned over a legal conflict involving his father. The political landscape on the island has also been rattled by the implication of several politicians and members of the financial... Читать дальше...

A French court has sentenced Equatorial Guinea's vice-president, Teodorin Obiang, to a three-year suspended jail term Friday for embezzling and laundering his country’s money to acquire luxury properties and other assets in France. Teodorin Obiang is the son of Equatorial Guinea's president, Teodoro Obiang. Teodorin Obiang was handed a suspended fine of $35 million. The court also ordered that his properties and assets in France be seized. This includes a 101-room, $123-million mansion near the Champs-Elysees... Читать дальше...

A senior Afghan government official has disappeared in neighboring Pakistan, where he was seeking medical treatment in a private capacity, officials revealed Saturday. The deputy governor of the eastern Kunar province, Qazi Muhammad Nabi, was in Peshawar before being “abducted”, his relatives informed the Afghan consulate in the northwestern Pakistani city. No one has claimed responsibility for the alleged kidnapping. Local police say they have launched an investigation after receiving information... Читать дальше...

Australian indigenous leaders say a government decision not to establish an official "voice" in parliament representing Aboriginal peoples is a “kick in the guts.”  Delegates at a landmark First Nation summit in May called on the Australian government to set up an indigenous body to guide and shape policy towards the country’s most disadvantaged people.  Indigenous leaders wanted a constitutionally enshrined "voice" in parliament to help establish a path to a treaty between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. Читать дальше...

The U.N. children’s fund warns potentially life-threatening malnutrition is soaring among Rohingya refugee children who have fled to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh to escape violence and abuse in Myanmar.  The U.N. children’s fund does not know the extent of acute malnutrition among Rohingya child refugees.  So, UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado says a nutrition survey is underway that will provide vital data when it is completed in November. “What we already know is that the combination of malnutrition... Читать дальше...

A U.S. service member was killed and six others wounded in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan’s Logar province late Friday. NATO’s Resolute Support Mission office said the crash was “not the result of enemy action.”   “We have full accountability of all personnel and the crash site has been secured,” according to a press release circulated Saturday.   General John Nicholson, commander of the RS forces, expressed his “heartfelt sympathies” to the families of victims.   Earlier, the Taliban... Читать дальше...

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein accuses the Syrian government of denying food and medical supplies to hundreds of thousands of civilians besieged in Eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of the capital Damascus.  Eastern Ghouta has been under siege by Syrian Government forces for more than four years.  At least 350,000 civilians are trapped there without access to life-saving aid.   UN human rights chief, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein calls the refusal to allow badly needed... Читать дальше...

Police say they believe sparks from welding equipment caused a deadly blaze in a fireworks factory near Indonesia's capital this week that killed 48 people. "The witnesses' testimonies and forensic test revealed the cause of the fire was the welding equipment sparks which spread to the fireworks material," said Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono.   The factory owner and the company's operations manager have been detained by police.  The whereabouts of the welder was not immediately clear. The men are suspected of negligence. Читать дальше...

Kenyans who boycotted a repeat presidential election voiced relief Saturday after authorities indefinitely delayed further attempts to hold the vote in some opposition areas because of the risk of violence. But while the election board’s decision stemmed the prospect of more clashes, it also posed a new question: Can President Uhuru Kenyatta be declared winner of a vote in which ballots were not cast in 20 of Kenya’s 290 constituencies? Two days after polling in the rest of the country, voting... Читать дальше...

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Saturday appointed his foreign minister as acting prime minister as he tried to stem the fallout of a citizenship crisis that has cost his government its parliamentary majority. Turnbull delayed until Monday a long-planned trip to Israel and held an emergency Cabinet meeting to shore up support after Australia’s High Court ruled Friday that his deputy, Barnaby Joyce, and four other lawmakers should be expelled from parliament because they held dual nationality. Читать дальше...

The Spanish region of Catalonia that once enjoyed a considerable amount of autonomy is now under the direct control of Madrid. The Spanish prime minister dissolved Catalonia’s parliament, just hours after the regional body voted Friday in favor of independence from Spain. In addition to dismissing parliament, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has called for snap Catalan elections Dec. 21 and has stripped Catalonia’s most senior police officials of their powers. ​Resolution to secede The resolution... Читать дальше...

Spain has taken direct control of Catalonia and sacked the region’s defiant separatist government by publishing special measures overnight in an official gazette online.   The move early Saturday came after separatist Catalan lawmakers passed a declaration of independence on Friday.   Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who now replaces Catalan President Carles Puigdemont as the top decision-maker in the northeastern region, has dissolved the regional parliament and called a new regional election Dec. Читать дальше...

Things are weird, as usual, in Key West. A pair of Vikings push a stroller full of stuffed chimps down Duval Street. A man with a ponytail swallows a steel sword. People dressed only in body paint and glitter wander and jiggle from bar to bar. Fantasy Fest, one of Key West’s major tourist draws of the year, is in full swing. And that’s a relief for Florida Keys business owners trying to weather the economic storm that hit after Hurricane Irma battered the middle stretch of the tourism-dependent island chain. Читать дальше...

An Afghan official says at least nine police officers have been killed in separate attacks by Taliban insurgents on police checkpoints in eastern Ghazni province. Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial governor, says two police checkpoints came under attack by Taliban fighters in the early hours Saturday, also wounding two police. He said six insurgents were killed and nine others were wounded in the battle, which lasted almost an hour. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, according to their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. Читать дальше...

A passenger bus heading toward Nepal’s capital has veered off a key highway early Saturday, killing at least 14 people and injuring 15, police said. The bus drove off the highway early Saturday and plunged into the Trishuli River, which is known for fast currents, said police official Dhruba Raj Raut. The bodies were pulled from the site about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of the capital, Kathmandu. It wasn’t clear how many people were aboard the bus, and rescuers were searching for more possible survivors despite the strong current. Читать дальше...