Новости за 23.11.2017

Americans are celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday with parades, charity work and meals with family and friends.

Some Republicans are hoping lawmakers will soon wrap up investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election that have dragged on for most of the year. But with new details in the probe emerging almost daily, that seems unlikely. Three congressional committees are investigating Russian interference and whether President Donald Trump's campaign was in any way involved. The panels have obtained thousands of pages of documents from Trump's campaign and other officials, and have done dozens of interviews. Читать дальше...

Amid concerns about Russian hacking and online influence, Russian technology firm NtechLab has won a prize awarded by the United States intelligence community. VOA’s Moscow Bureau visited NtechLab to ask its general director about the award, the technology, and concerns about privacy.

Amid concerns about Russian hacking and online influence, Russian technology firm NtechLab has won a prize awarded by the United States intelligence community. VOA’s Moscow Bureau visited NtechLab to ask its general director about the award, the technology, and concerns about privacy.

On Reporters' Roundtable join host and journalist Douglas Mpuga, along with a lively panel of journalists, who analyze the week’s major developments in Africa.

President Donald Trump praised U.S. troops Thursday and thanked them for their service, while noting what he sees as his own personal accomplishments as president, in a Thanksgiving Day message to service members around the world. "It's an honor to speak with you and to give God thanks for the blessings of freedom and for the heroes who have the courage that you do to defend us and defend freedom," Trump said via video teleconference. The president, who is spending the holiday weekend at his private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida... Читать дальше...

Residents of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, talk to VOA about their hopes and concerns for their country's future after the resignation of longtime President Robert Mugabe who spent 37 years in power.

On a day that marked both the return of Lebanon's vanished Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Lebanon's Independence celebrations, supporters of the Sunni politician were out in force. But with his resignation - made in Saudi Arabia amid suspicions he had been forced into it - now put on hold following a meeting with Lebanon's president, joy at his return was tempered with uncertainty. John Owens reports from Beirut.

A suicide blast in eastern Afghanistan killed at least 8 people Thursday and wounded 16 others. Officials said the explosion in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province, ripped through a crowd outside the residence of a former district police commander. A provincial government spokesman, Attaullah Khogyani, said the victims were supporters of the commander and demanded his reinstatement. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the bombing. The attack came hours after Khogyani... Читать дальше...

The Bollywood film Padmavati, a period epic depicting the story of a 14th century Hindu queen and a Muslim ruler, was one of the year’s most awaited movies. But the film’s producers have indefinitely delayed its release amid fierce protests and violent threats by right-wing Hindu groups who charge the movie distorts history and depicts a romantic scene between Muslim king Alauddin Khilji and Padmavati, the Hindu queen, who historians say is fictional. A regional legislator of the ruling Bharatiya... Читать дальше...

Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace Mugabe have been granted immunity from prosecution. An official in the ruling ZANU-PF party and a Harare journalist confirmed the development to VOA's Zimbabwe service on Thursday. Mugabe has been negotiating terms of his retirement with Zimbabwean generals and political leaders who forced him to step down Tuesday after 37 years in power. The military took over state institutions after Mugabe, who is 93, fired vice president Emmerson... Читать дальше...

Myanmar and Bangladesh have signed an agreement for the return home of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh to escape violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state, according to officials from both countries. Myint Kyaing, a permanent secretary with Myanmar's ministry of labor, immigration and population, is quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying, "We are ready to take them back as soon as possible after Bangladesh sends the forms back to us," referring to registration forms the Rohingya must complete ahead of repatriation. Читать дальше...

Wolves were once so plentiful in the abundant forests that would become Oregon that the earliest settlers gathered from far and wide to discuss how to kill them.   Those "wolf meetings"in the 1840s, spawned by a common interest, eventually led to the formation of the Oregon territory, the precursor for statehood in 1859.   Today, Oregon’s statehood is secure, but the future of its wolf population once more hangs in the balance. Wolves have returned after decades, and this time, humans are having... Читать дальше...

Cuba said its foreign minister met with his North Korean counterpart in Havana on Wednesday and both rejected the United States' "unilateral and arbitrary" demands while expressing concern about escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula. North Korea is searching for support amid unprecedented pressure from the United States and the international community to cease its nuclear weapons and missile programs. The country, which has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland... Читать дальше...

An Istanbul court ruled Wednesday that Amnesty International's Turkey director should remain in jail. The anti-terror case includes 10 other human rights defenders and is drawing increasing international condemnation. The decision by the Istanbul court to continue detaining Taner Kilic pending trial on charges of seeking to overthrow the government has drawn swift condemnation by human rights defenders. The case has become an international focal point of growing concern over the prosecution of human rights activists in Turkey. Читать дальше...

Iraqi military officials say government forces launched an operation Thursday to clear the last Islamic State fighters from positions in the desert bordering Syria. In a statement, the military said troops from the Iraqi army and Shi'ite Popular Mobilization Forces were taking part in the campaign to flush out militants hiding in a large section of border land. The Reuters news agency quoted Army Colonel Salah Kareem as saying the objective is to prevent remaining IS groups from disappearing... Читать дальше...

Zimbabwe’s incoming president returned to the country Wednesday to loud cheers after spending about two weeks in exile following his dismissal by then-President Robert Mugabe. Emmerson Mnangagwa will be sworn in this Friday. In a speech that lasted fewer than 15 minutes, the 71-year-old leader adopted a reconciliatory tone. “Today we are witnessing the unfolding of a new unfolding democracy. I appeal to all genuine Zimbabweans to come; we work together," he said. " No one is more important than the other. Читать дальше...

Two years ago, VOA's team visited the Achin district in the Nangarhar province of eastern Afghanistan when it was a stronghold if the Islamic State in Afghanistan. They found evidence of human rights abuses that forced many in the local population to flee. Since then, Afghan security forces, helped by the United States and NATO, have cleared much of the area. VOA Correspondent Ayesha Tanzeem went back to see what life after IS is like. Here's what she found.

The former face of China’s “Great Firewall,” Lu Wei, has become the first “tiger” to come under the Communist Party’s corruption investigation since President Xi Jinping began his second term last month. Analysts say the graft probe into Lu’s corruption practices is widely believed to be legitimate and long overdue. But Lu’s downfall has highlighted the simmering discontent among the country’s netizens, many of whom have been frustrated with tougher internet regulations imposed by him. It has also made a mockery of so-called Xi Praise... Читать дальше...

Australia on Thursday called on the United States to build a strong presence in Asia and bolster ties with “like-minded” partners while warning against China’s rising influence. A more insular United States would be detrimental to the liberal nature of the world’s “rules-based order,” the government said in a 115-page foreign policy white paper. “Australia believes that international challenges can only be tackled effectively when the world’s wealthiest, most innovative and most powerful country... Читать дальше...

Search and rescue operations continued Thursday for three sailors still missing after a U.S. Navy transport plane crashed Wednesday into the western Pacific Ocean. The Navy said the twin-propeller C2-A Greyhound aircraft plummeted into the sea about 925 kilometers (575 miles) southeast of Okinawa while it was on a routine mission taking passengers and cargo from a U.S. base in Japan to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier. It said eight of the 11 people aboard were rescued about 40 minutes... Читать дальше...

When Gonzalo Perez bought the Castlewood Restaurant last December, it was one of the few outposts among the nearby corn and soybean fields hungry farmers could depend as a place to dine out. It could become much more than that for Perez. “It’s my lottery ticket,” he told VOA. That’s because one of the largest economic development projects in the United States is moving in… right next door. Taiwanese company Foxconn plans to build a massive flat screen manufacturing and technology facility in nearby Mount Pleasant... Читать дальше...

Lys Isma was brought to the U.S. illegally as a 9-month-old baby when her parents moved from Haiti. But she says she never felt undocumented. “I didn’t have memories about living anywhere else,” Isma said. Isma has been receiving protection under the security program known as TPS, or Temporary Protected Status, since she was 15. TPS has allowed Haitians, who were in the U.S., to legally live and work after the 2010 earthquake that devastated the island nation. Almost 60,000 Haitians are TPS holders. Читать дальше...

A startup is making fuel from waste coffee grounds to power some of London's buses. VOA's Steve Baragona reports.

This weekend, TV viewers across America will again be watching advertisements sponsored by major tobacco companies, but quite different from the ones pulled from the airwaves nearly 50 years ago. Instead of attractive people enjoying a smoke, these ads will lay out in plain text and narration the dangers of using tobacco. VOA's George Putic reports.