Новости за 17.12.2017

Interpol has canceled the Red Corner Notice it issued on the request of the Indian government against controversial Islamic scholar Zakir Naik, citing insufficient evidence against Naik. But India’s National Investigative Agency (NIA) said it will file a fresh request. Naik has been accused of hate speech, promoting terrorism and money laundering, and investigations against him are underway in India. Naik, who is currently in Malaysia where he has permanent residence, denies these charges.  In a video message after the Interpol decision... Читать дальше...

Hundreds of protesters clashed with police in Ukraine Sunday while trying to storm Kyiv's October Palace following a rally against President Petro Poroshenko. The crowd, which was dispersed with tear gas fired by police, is the latest in support of opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili, who was released from custody last week after having been detained and accused of trying to stage a Russia-sponsored coup. No serious injuries were reported from the demonstration, and the situation was relatively calm after nightfall. Читать дальше...

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

An employee of Britain's embassy in Lebanon was found murdered Sunday. The body of Rebecca Dykes was reportedly found on the side of the road. Police sources told the British media that Dykes appeared to have been raped before she was killed but that the crime did not appear to be politically motivated. A statement from Dykes' family said they were "devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca." "We are doing all we can to understand what happened. We request that the media respect our... Читать дальше...

The United Nations is calling on all parties in the Afghan conflict to facilitate health workers in conducting Monday’s urgent polio vaccination campaign in a volatile southern district with the highest number of polio virus cases of any district in the world. U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator Toby Lanzer warned Sunday the situation in Shahwalikot district in Kandahar province puts hundreds of thousands of children at risk. He said a polio vaccination campaign throughout the district is more urgent... Читать дальше...

The Kremlin said Sunday that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency provided Russian authorities with information that thwarted a series of Islamic State bombings planned in St. Petersburg. The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Donald Trump to thank him for the CIA information. Russia said the information was significant enough for its FSB security service to track down suspects who were planning suicide bomb attacks on Saturday on the two-century-old Kazan Cathedral and other sites. Читать дальше...

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that Turkey hopes to open an embassy to a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem in the future.. "Because it is under occupation we can't just go there and open an embassy," Erdogan said in a speech to his ruling party in the city of Karaman. "But, inshallah [God willing] those days are near and... we will officially open our embassy there," he said, without giving any precise timeframe. The comments come just days after Erdogan hosted a summit... Читать дальше...

U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller is defending the legality of the collection of tens of thousands of emails from Donald Trump's presidential transition team, even though Trump officials only learned last week that a government agency had turned over the emails months ago. The emails in question came from the computers of 13 senior Trump transition officials and cover the period from the time Trump was elected in early November 2016 to when he took office Jan. 20, 2017. The messages include... Читать дальше...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday told reporters he's not considering firing Robert, even as his lawyers accused the special counsel of illegally collecting tens of thousands of emails from Trump's presidential transition team. "No. I am not," Trump said when asked if he was considering such a move. Of the emails, Trump said, "I can't imagine there's anything on them, frankly. Because, as we said, there's no collusion." The emails in question came from the computers of 13 senior Trump transition... Читать дальше...

The U.N. refugee agency is mounting a multi-million dollar operation aimed at keeping thousands of Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh warm during the winter ahead. The U.N refugee agency reports on Sunday it will start distributing the first of nearly 200,000 items of warm clothing to help recently arrived Rohingya refugees weather the colder climate ahead. More than 646,000 Rohingya, fleeing persecution and violence in Myanmar, have arrived in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh since the end of August. Читать дальше...

A court to try alleged war criminals in South Sudan's conflict was one step closer to reality Friday, the fourth anniversary of the day hostilities began. South Sudan’s Council of Ministers and the African Union agreed last week to the contents of a document that defines the roles of the so-called "hybrid" court, according to Elizabeth Deng, a Nairobi-based researcher for Amnesty International.   “This is the document that would specify the criminal jurisdiction of the court, that would define... Читать дальше...

Thousands of delegates prepared Sunday to vote for the next leader of South Africa's ruling ANC party, a vote widely seen as a decisive moment in the country's post-apartheid politics. Nearly 5,000 members of the African National Congress party prepared to vote in Johannesburg on a successor to party leader and President Jacob Zuma, who is stepping down amid numerous corruption scandals. But Zuma will remain South Africa's president before nation-wide elections in 2019. Two figures are officially... Читать дальше...

The multinational joint task force fighting the Boko Haram insurgency in Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria says it will hold some 200 former terrorists until Cameroon can construct a rehabilitation center where they will be socially integrated before returning to their communities. The ex-terrorists are currently at the barracks of the multinational joint task force in Mora, on Cameroon's northern border with Nigeria. Soldiers of the Mora camp of the Multinational Joint Task Force fighting Boko Haram... Читать дальше...

Controversy is swirling around the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World.  This new non-profit organization has come under intense criticism from health agencies and anti-tobacco campaigners who accuse it of acting as a smoke-screen for Big Tobacco, a charge vigorously denied by the foundation’s president.   Derek Yach, who created and heads the foundation, was one of the architects of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which came into force February 27, 2005.... Читать дальше...

Taliban insurgents have killed at least 14 Afghan troops and injured several others in a pre-dawn attack in southern Helmand province. Officials said Sunday insurgents stormed police outposts around the provincial capital of Lashkargah, but security forces repelled the attack and ensuing fierce clashes inflicted heavy casualties on the Taliban. A Taliban spokesman claimed the attack and gave a much higher death toll for government forces. Later, a suicide bomber in neighboring Kandahar province... Читать дальше...

Iran on Sunday criticized French President Emmanuel Macron over his tough stance toward Tehran and said Paris would soon lose its international credibility if it "blindly follows" U.S. President Donald Trump. Tensions between Iran and France have risen in recent months after Macron said Tehran should be less aggressive in the Middle East, citing in particular its involvement in Syria's civil war. Macron, unlike Trump, has reaffirmed his country's commitment to the deal Iran signed in 2015 with... Читать дальше...

Jordan's most influential businessman, the Palestinian billionaire Sabih al-Masri, returned to his home in Riydah after being detained by Saudi authorities and is expected to be allowed to leave the country soon, sources close to the family said on Sunday. Masri's detention, which follows the biggest purge of the Saudi kingdom's affluent elite in its modern history, has sent shockwaves through business circles in Jordan and the Palestinian territories, where the billionaire has major investments. Читать дальше...

Eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar, whose forces control parts of the country, said on Sunday he would listen to the "will of free Libyan people", in the strongest indication so far that he might run in elections expected next year. Haftar styles himself as a strongman capable of ending the chaos that has gripped Libya since the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. His comments, made at a military graduation ceremony, recall those of Egypt's General Abdel Fattah al-Sissi when he... Читать дальше...

Eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar, whose forces control parts of the country, said on Sunday he would listen to the "will of free Libyan people", in the strongest indication so far that he might run in elections expected next year. Haftar styles himself as a strongman capable of ending the chaos that has gripped Libya since the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. His comments, made at a military graduation ceremony, recall those of Egypt's General Abdel Fattah al-Sissi when he... Читать дальше...

French President Emmanuel Macron celebrates his 40th birthday this weekend on the grounds of a former royal palace, in what some opponents called another tactless show of wealth. Rivals have branded former investment banker Macron “president of the rich” for policies such as the scrapping of a wealth tax and cutting the housing benefit, moves the president framed as reforms to boost investment and social mobility. Macron is staying with his wife, Brigitte, in a guesthouse close to the Chateau de Chambord... Читать дальше...

China announced on Sunday a five-year plan to convert northern Chinese cities to clean heating this winter through to 2021, state media reported, amid a deepening heating crisis. An unprecedented government campaign to switch millions of households and thousands of businesses from coal to natural gas in northern China this winter has backfired. Severe natural gas shortages have sent prices soaring nationwide, hitting businesses and residents across China’s industrial heartland. The plan was jointly announced by 10 government agencies... Читать дальше...

Egypt reopened on Saturday an ancient library that holds thousands of centuries-old religious and historical manuscripts at the famed St. Catherine Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in South Sinai. The inauguration ceremony, attended by Egyptian and Western officials, comes after three years of restoration work on the eastern side of the library that houses the world’s second largest collection of early codices and manuscripts, outnumbered only by the Vatican Library, according to Monk Damyanos, the monastery’s archbishop. Читать дальше...

A trio of U.S. and Japanese astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut blasted off from Kazakhstan on Sunday for a two-day trip to the International Space Station, a NASA TV broadcast showed. Commander Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and flight engineers Norishige Kanai of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Scott Tingle of NASA lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 1:21 p.m. local time (0721 GMT/0221 EST). The crew will gradually approach the station, which orbits about 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth, for two days before docking. Читать дальше...

A bomb-and-gun attack is reportedly underway against a church in highly secured part of southwestern Pakistan city of Quetta. Initial reports say that several gunmen stormed the place of worship of the minority Christian community in the central part of the city where Sunday morning service was underway. Pakistani security forces have surrounded the site and are trying to enter the church, but heavily armed assailants are firing at them with automatic weapons from inside.

Three heavily armed suicide bombers attacked a crowded church Sunday in Quetta, southwestern Pakistan, killing at least eight worshipers from the minority Christian community. Officials and doctors said women and children were among the victims of the attack on the Bethel Memorial Methodist Church, located in a highly secured central part of the city. Witnesses said two of the assailants wanted to enter the main hall where around 400 worshipers were attending Sunday service, but police guards at the main gate engaged the attackers... Читать дальше...