Новости за 07.01.2023

Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has called on young al-Shabab fighters he says are “brainwashed” to surrender to the government amid ongoing military offensives against the group. Speaking at a mosque in the country’s capital Friday, Mohamud, who last year after his election for second term declared an “all-out war” against the Islamist insurgents, also called on the al-Shabab fighters to denounce the terrorist ideology before it is too late. His remarks came after the militants carried... Читать дальше...

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Saturday his government was ready to provide whatever support was needed to residents of Western Australia state as record-breaking floods isolated far-flung communities there. The crisis in Kimberley — an area almost three times the size of the United Kingdom — was sparked this week by severe weather system Ellie, a former tropical cyclone that brought heavy rain to the vast region. Among the worst-hit locations was Fitzroy Crossing, a town of... Читать дальше...

The European Union said it was "appalled" after Iran executed two men Saturday for killing a paramilitary force member during protests sparked by a young woman's death in custody.   "The EU is appalled by the execution of Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini arrested and sentenced to death in connection with the ongoing protests in Iran," the spokesperson for EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.   "This is yet another sign of the Iranian authorities' violent... Читать дальше...

China on Saturday marked the first day of "chun yun," the 40-day period of Lunar New Year travel known pre-pandemic as the world's largest annual migration of people, bracing for a huge increase in travelers and the spread of COVID-19 infections. This Lunar New Year public holiday, which officially begins January 21, will be the first since 2020 without domestic travel restrictions. Over the last month China has seen the dramatic dismantling of its "zero-COVID" regime following historic protests... Читать дальше...

A U.S. appeals court Friday struck down a rule the Trump administration had adopted following a 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting that banned "bump stocks," devices that allow people to rapidly fire multiple rounds from semiautomatic guns. In a 13-3 decision, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that despite "tremendous" public pressure to impose a ban, it was up to the U.S. Congress rather than the president to take action. While the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms... Читать дальше...

For the 37,000 inhabitants of the Gurez Valley in Indian-administered Kashmir, winter is a time to get out or hunker down. Nestled high in the Himalayas, the valley has only one road link to the outside world and that is closed by deep snow for almost six months of the year, leaving the residents no way in or out except by helicopter for medical and other emergencies. More than half the residents — about 20,000 this year — chose to leave. For the rest, winter means settling into their homes in... Читать дальше...

Hong Kongers, worried about the possible influx of mutant strains of COVID-19 when the border with China reopens this weekend, have laid bare pharmacy shelves once stocked with nonprescription drugs for alleviating symptoms. The panic purchasing of medicines prior to the Sunday reopening has prompted many pharmacies to impose quotas on the purchase of over-the-counter medicines for cold and fever, pain relief and diarrhea. The situation in Hong Kong mirrors that in China, where authorities are... Читать дальше...

A 6-year-old boy shot his teacher Friday in the classroom in the southern U.S. state of Virginia, police said. The first grader was taken into custody after the shooting at the Richneck Elementary School in Newport News. Police Chief Steve Drew said the handgun shooting was not accidental and the teacher, a woman in her 30s, had suffered life-threatening injuries. No children were injured in the incident. How the boy obtained the gun was not immediately clear. The elementary school will be closed Monday.

Iran executed two men by hanging Saturday, according to a statement from the country’s judiciary. The men were identified as Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hossein. They were hanged, the judiciary said, for killing a paramilitary official during nationwide protests following the death of a young women who had been detained for wearing her headscarf improperly. Saturday’s hangings bring to four the number of protesters executed since the protests began in September.

It took 15 tries and five days, but California Congressman Kevin McCarthy has been elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. After the 14th ballot there was a move to adjourn until Monday, but that vote also failed after Republicans changed tactics and decided on a 15th effort to elect a new leader. A band of 20 right-wing lawmakers had blocked McCarthy on previous ballots because they believe he is not conservative enough. In an unusual confrontation, McCarthy had exchanged words... Читать дальше...

The U.S. House of Representatives has failed on a 14th ballot to elect a new speaker. A band of 20 right-wing lawmakers has successfully blocked California Congressman Kevin McCarthy over four days of voting from becoming speaker because they believe he is not conservative enough. McCarthy gained backing earlier Friday from 15 of the holdouts, coming up just a few votes short of the majority he needs to win the speakership. He must receive 218 votes to win the job, if all 434 current members of the House vote. Читать дальше...

Utility crews in Northern California worked to restore power to tens of thousands of homes Friday following two days of fierce winds and torrential rain, even as the region braced for another onslaught of stormy weather heading into the weekend. The next bout of heavy showers and gusty winds was expected to sweep the northwestern corner of California late Friday and spread southward into the San Francisco Bay Area and central coast through Saturday and Sunday, the National Weather Service said. Читать дальше...

A senior State Department official is leading a U.S. delegation to three Western Balkan nations in the coming days following weeks of ethnic tensions in the region. Counselor of the United States Department of State Derek Chollet and the U.S. delegation will be traveling to Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia. The border between Kosovo and Serbia is open again after roadblocks by protesting Serbs led authorities to close border crossings between Kosovo and Serbia, as authorities worried the tensions could turn violent. Читать дальше...

Mali's junta leader Friday pardoned all 49 Ivorian soldiers whose arrest in July triggered a bitter diplomatic row, a government spokesperson said, just a week after the courts sentenced them. "Colonel Assimi Goita... granted a pardon with full remission of sentences to the 49 Ivorians convicted by the Malian justice system," said a statement from government spokesperson Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, the minister for territorial administration and decentralization. On Dec. 30, 46 soldiers were sentenced to 20 years in prison... Читать дальше...

Kenyan police said Friday that they had arrested a suspect in the killing of an LGBTQ rights campaigner whose body was discovered stuffed in a metal trunk, a grisly crime that has sparked national outrage. Edwin Chiloba, a 25-year-old fashion designer and model, was found dead by the roadside earlier this week about 40 kilometers (25 miles) outside the Rift Valley town of Eldoret, media reports said. "We have a suspect in custody, and we are investigating his role in this murder," said Peter Kimulwo... Читать дальше...

The operation to detain Ovidio Guzman, the son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, unleashed firefights that turned the northern city of Culiacan into a war zone with 30 dead, authorities said Friday. In a blow-by-blow description of the battles Thursday that killed 10 military personnel and 19 suspected members of the Sinaloa drug cartel, Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said cartel gunmen opened fire on troops with a half-dozen .50-caliber machine guns. The army responded... Читать дальше...

South Sudan’s national security service has detained six journalists who work for the country’s national broadcaster, SSBC, the country’s press union said. Patrick Oyet, who heads the Union of Journalists of South Sudan, said five journalists were detained Tuesday and one on Wednesday. The arrest appears to be connected to a video of President Salva Kiir, according to Oyet and media rights groups. The footage, shared widely on social media in December, appeared to show Kiir urinate on himself while at an official engagement... Читать дальше...

China’s foreign ministry pushed back Friday against international reactions and criticism regarding its recent surge in COVID-19 cases, saying the situation was “predictable and under control.” There has been growing international concern about China’s COVID surge, which followed the government’s move last month to suddenly lift pandemic restrictions that had been among the strictest in the world. The United States this week joined Britain, France, Canada, South Korea, Spain and Qatar in imposing... Читать дальше...

The Islamist Taliban joined British critics Friday to denounce Prince Harry for admitting to being responsible for the killing of 25 people in Afghanistan while serving as a military helicopter pilot there. The British prince made the disclosures in his upcoming memoir, Spare, claiming the army had trained him to view members of the then-insurgent Taliban not “as people” but instead as “chess pieces” to be removed from the board. Taliban foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi slammed Harry’s revelations. Читать дальше...