Новости за 09.11.2017

U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against al-Shabab in Somalia on Thursday, killing "several militants," according to the U.S. military. The drone strike hit targets in the Bay Region of Somalia, about 160 kilometers west of the capital, Mogadishu, Pentagon spokeswoman Audricia Harris told VOA. No civilians were killed in the strike, Harris said. According to a statement from U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), the strike occurred about 3 p.m. local time in Somalia in coordination with the Somali government. Читать дальше...

Proposed sanctions against the Myanmar military should move quickly through the U.S. Congress due to strong bipartisan support, lawmakers told VOA. The Burma Sanctions Bill in the House of Representatives and a companion bill in the Senate would apply economic pressure on military generals with the aim of ending the ongoing violence inflicted on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, also known as Burma. "This sends a very strong message to the Burmese military that we're not going to tolerate business... Читать дальше...

U.S. President Donald Trump and Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte have some things in common. Both rose to power by vowing to shake up their political establishments. They refuse to back down, no matter how hot the controversy. They attack critics with blistering insults, and they have shown a strong dislike for Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama. Now the two mavericks will meet face to face Monday amid questions about whether they will get along or something will set off a conflict between... Читать дальше...

Two Republican bills that would achieve the largest overhaul of the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years are set to be unveiled Thursday. While Senate Republicans are working out final details of their legislation, the House Republican tax-writing committee is working to approve its version after days of negotiation and last-minute changes. Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate are hoping to fulfill a self-imposed deadline of ushering the bills out of both chambers before the November 23rd... Читать дальше...

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

An Alabama woman says Roy Moore, the Republican nominee for next month's U.S. Senate election, made inappropriate advances and had sexual contact with her when she was 14, according to a Washington Post story Thursday. The Moore campaign called the report "the very definition of fake news and intentional defamation." Senior Republicans swiftly called for Moore to step aside if the allegations are shown to be true. "The allegations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore are deeply troubling," said Colorado Sen. Читать дальше...

Disguised Russian agents on Twitter rushed to deflect scandalous news about Donald Trump just before last year's presidential election while straining to refocus criticism on the mainstream media and Hillary Clinton's campaign, according to an Associated Press analysis of since-deleted accounts. Tweets by Russia-backed accounts such as "America_1st_" and "BatonRougeVoice" on October 7, 2016, actively pivoted away from news of an audio recording in which Trump made crude comments about groping women... Читать дальше...

The speaker from Catalonia's now-deposed parliament faced a judge Thursday in Spain's Supreme Court as it decides whether to charge five former leaders with sedition charges. Speaker Carme Forcadell and the others are suspected of engaging in a "concerted strategy to declare independence," prior to the October parliament vote that unilaterally declared independence from Spain. Forcadell reportedly told the court the independence vote was "declarative and symbolic"an apparent step to minimize... Читать дальше...

A Supreme Court judge in Spain had ruled Catalan parliament speaker can be released on bail, pending an investigation into her role in the push for independence. But, Carme Forcadell will remain in custody until she can post the $175,000 bail. Four other Catalan leaders were granted $29,000 bail and one was set free. Forcadell reportedly told the court the independence vote was “declarative and symbolic” – an apparent step to minimize liability if she is charged with disobeying the Constitutional Court. Читать дальше...

South Sudan’s former army chief of staff, General Paul Malong, who has been held under house arrest by the Kiir administration since May, has been freed. His wife, Lucy Ayak, told VOA's South Sudan in Focus program that Malong was released Thursday. “My husband has been released and has been allowed to go for a medical checkup in east Africa,” she said. Recently, dozens of tanks and troops were deployed along the road leading to Malong’s home in Juba after Malong refused a presidential order to release a platoon of 30 soldiers guarding him.

The U.S. Treasury Department will announce more sanctions on Thursday against top Venezuelan officials, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a U.S. Senate aide. According to the aide, the sanctions against the top members of the Venezuelan government are linked to human rights abuses and corruption, the report said. The new sanctions target several members of Venezuela's newly-appointed constituent assembly, an all-powerful body stacked with supporters of President Nicolas Maduro who were... Читать дальше...

Chilean authorities say they've denied former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson entry to the country and are sending him back to the U.S.   Chile's equivalent of the FBI said Thursday that Tyson doesn't meet requirements for entry, apparently due to his criminal record. Tyson served three years of a six-year sentence in the 1990s for raping a teenage beauty-pageant contestant. He also has been convicted of assault and cocaine possession.   The Chilean Police of Investigations also said in a tweet... Читать дальше...

President Donald Trump struck a markedly softer tone on touchy subjects like North Korea and trade with President Xi Jinping of China Thursday, and highlighted his "incredibly warm" feeling toward his counterpart. During joint statements after talks in Beijing, Trump expressed optimism the U.S. and China will resolve the North Korea nuclear crisis. "I do believe there's a solution to that, as you do," Trump said. Trump said he has "great respect" for Xi's leadership on trade and noted the U.S.... Читать дальше...

A judge in Zimbabwe has ordered that a United States citizen charged with subversion and accused of insulting the president should be freed on $1,000 bail. Martha O'Donovan also must hand over her passport and report to police twice a week. She was arrested on Friday. She has denied that she called 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe a "sick man" on Twitter. The 25-year-old O'Donovan faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the subversion charge. She also faces a charge of undermining the authority of or insulting the president... Читать дальше...

The U.S. woman charged with subversion in Zimbabwe over allegedly insulting President Robert Mugabe on Twitter was freed on $1,000 bail Friday. Martha O’Donovan did not speak to reporters as she emerged from a prison in the capital, Harare, and left in a U.S. Embassy vehicle. Her lawyers also did not make any statements. The 25-year-old New Jersey native will return to court on Wednesday. O’Donovan is accused of calling the 93-year-old Mugabe a “sick man” in a tweet including an image of the president with a catheter. Читать дальше...

European Union negotiators are readying themselves for the collapse of Prime Minister Theresa May’s government as it lurches from one crisis to another, say officials in Brussels. And Britain’s Opposition Labor Party is eagerly standing by, with its deputy leader warning Thursday that the ruling Conservative government is so fragile “random events could bring it down.” “Another Day, Another Crisis,” was the Daily Telegraph’s headline Thursday in the wake of May having to fire two key Cabinet ministers in a week ... Читать дальше...

What's Mark Zuckerberg's biggest takeaway as he wraps up a year of travel to dozens of U.S. states? The importance of local communities. To this end, Facebook's CEO is announcing a program to boost small businesses and give people technical skills on and off Facebook. The move shows how intertwined Facebook has become not just in our social lives, but in entrepreneurs' economic survival and growth. Facebook says 70 million small businesses use its service. Only 6 million of them advertise.   Called Community Boost... Читать дальше...

Syrian government forces say they have recaptured the border town of Albu Kamal, the last major Islamic State stronghold in eastern Syria. Iraqi government forces recaptured the town of al Qaim, their side of the border crossing with Syria, several days ago. A Syrian military spokesman said the army and its allies, including Lebanon's pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia, were involved in the effort to drive IS out of Albu Kamal. He said Islamic State militants fled the town after bitter fighting and... Читать дальше...

An appeals court in Mauritania has released a blogger who had been sentenced to death for an online post deemed blasphemous by authorities. The court in Nouadhibou city on Thursday sentenced Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir to two years in prison and a fine. He has already served nearly four years, so he was released.   Mkhaitir was arrested in January 2014 and charged with apostasy over a Facebook post that condemned the use of religion to justify discrimination against his caste.   It was the... Читать дальше...

Is a meeting in Vietnam between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on or off? On Thursday, it was not clear. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told Russian news agencies that the two leaders would meet Friday on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Danang. But U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson cast doubt on that, saying it is not clear whether there is enough progress on important pending issues between the two countries to merit top-level face-to-face talks. "When the two leaders meet... Читать дальше...

There’s nothing official yet, but sources close to President Donald Trump are hinting he is likely to hold talks Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific economic summit in Vietnam. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, traveling with the president on his 12-day Asian tour, kept the rumor mill going Thursday. "Clearly the leaders are going to be at the summit together. It wouldn’t be at all unusual if they ended up with some kind of a pull-aside,” he told reporters. Читать дальше...

The author of a South African book that sheds light on the unpopular president's illegal dealings has attracted anonymous death threats and spawned demands by the state security apparatus for it to be withdrawn. Unsurprisingly, that sent the book's popularity soaring in a nation plagued by high-level corruption scandals, leading it to quickly sell out and go into reprint just weeks after hitting the shelves. More than 1,000 people crowded into the mezzanine of a high end Johannesburg mall late Wednesday... Читать дальше...

Saudi Arabia has asked its citizens in Lebanon to leave the country as soon as possible. A foreign ministry source quoted Thursday by the Kingdom's official news agency said, "Due to the circumstances in the Lebanese Republic, the kingdom asks its citizens who are visiting or residing" there to leave as soon as possible. Riyadh has also discouraged its citizens from traveling to the neighbor country in the wake of Lebanon's prime minister announcing his resignation Saturday during a visit to Saudi Arabia. Читать дальше...

India's capital New Delhi is restricting car use to tackle toxic levels of air pollution, which have already forced the government to shut schools for the rest of the week. The "odd-even" scheme, which allows only odd or even license plate numbers on the roads on alternating days, will be implemented on Monday for five days. "The situation in Delhi is so bad and if the pollution can be brought down in any way, we will do it," the city's transport minister Kailash Gahlot told reporters, announcing... Читать дальше...

Sheikh Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi is a billionaire, and by most estimates, one of the richest African-born people in the world. He travels the globe managing his businesses and meeting with heads of state. But he now finds himself in the midst of an anti-corruption sweep in Saudi Arabia. He was arrested in the Saudi kingdom last Saturday, and he is one of dozens of elite detainees sleeping on mattresses on the floor of a well-guarded ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh, awaiting the next steps by Saudi authorities. Читать дальше...