Новости за 21.01.2023

Plainclothes security officers in Tunisia detained a prominent critic of President Kais Saied in the early hours of Saturday after a military court ruling, his lawyer told Agence France-Presse. Seifeddine Makhlouf had been found guilty of insulting police during a standoff at Tunis airport in March 2021. Makhlouf, head of Islamist nationalist party Al-Karama, shouted "down with the coup" and "long live Tunisia" before being bundled into a car, according to a Facebook video posted by the lawyer. Читать дальше...

At least six people were injured Saturday in two blasts in Jammu, the principal Indian city in a region disputed by neighboring Pakistan, police said, ahead of the arrival of Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on a cross-country march. The blasts hit Jammu's transport yard in the Narwal area, said regional police chief Mukesh Singh, as security has been heightened with Gandhi's march expected to reach the city Monday. Thousands have joined his march against "hate and division," which aims... Читать дальше...

Thousands of people packed into central Madrid Saturday to protest the Socialist government and accuse it of undermining the constitution, in a rally backed by rightist parties. Protesters massed in the Plaza de Cibeles in front of City Hall, waved Spanish flags, called on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to resign and shouted out "traitor." More than 100 groups - including the conservative opposition Popular Party, center-right Ciudadanos and the far-right Vox - called the rally under the slogan "For Spain... Читать дальше...

The World Food Program and Madagascar government have launched an innovative green energy project to help rural communities develop their economies and withstand climate shocks.  Madagascar is famous for its flora and fauna, as well as its inclement weather. The northern and central parts of the country are subject to cyclonic rains while drought conditions prevail in the south.   The World Food Program reports more than 2.2 million people in the southern regions suffer from food insecurity leading... Читать дальше...

The government of Cameroon and some separatist factions in the English-speaking regions of the country have agreed to begin a process aimed at resolving a conflict that has killed over 6,000 people, Canada's foreign ministry said. "Canada welcomes the agreement by the parties to enter a process to reach a comprehensive, peaceful and political resolution of the conflict," foreign minister M Mélanie Joly, said in a statement on Friday. The statement said Canada had accepted a mandate to facilitate... Читать дальше...

Turkey has canceled the Swedish defense minister’s planned visit to Ankara because the Nordic country has given permission to protesters to hold an anti-Turkey demonstration outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.  Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said there was “no point” to Swedish Defense Minister’s Pål Jonson’s January 27 trip because Sweden has not taken any steps to block the “disgusting” anti-Turkey demonstrations in Sweden.  Sweden is seeking to become a NATO member.  Turkey, a NATO member... Читать дальше...

An Israeli civilian shot dead a Palestinian on Saturday at a settler farm in the occupied West Bank after an attempted stabbing, the military said, the latest incident as violence surges in the territory. An assailant tried to knife an Israeli civilian during the "attempted stabbing attack" at Sde Efraim farm northwest of Ramallah, it said. "The terrorist was neutralized," the army added, confirming to AFP that a civilian shot dead the Palestinian. No one else was wounded in the incident, the army statement said. Читать дальше...

Britain’s prime minister has been fined for not wearing a seat belt while taping a social media clip in the back of a car in northwest England. When Rishi Sunak uploaded the video to Instagram, his error was widely noticed. Viewers complained to Lancashire police. Lancashire police said Friday, “After looking into this matter, we have today issued a 42-year-old man from London with a conditional offer of fixed penalty.” A Sunak spokesperson said the prime minister has apologized for his “brief... Читать дальше...

Every Lunar New Year without fail, Kat Lieu's mother would make her steamed nian gao, which is a sweet rice — or mochi — cake. It was a tasty tradition of having dessert for breakfast. The Seattle-based author of the "Modern Asian Baking at Home" cookbook and founder of the Subtle Asian Baking online group switches things up for her 9-year-old son. He gets mochi waffles made with bright green pandan the first morning of the new year. "This year again I'm going to make the waffles," said Lieu, who is half Chinese and half Vietnamese. Читать дальше...

When her husband didn’t call as expected one night last August, Syeda knew something was wrong. Syed Fawad Ali Shah, a Pakistani journalist living in exile in Malaysia, never missed their daily call. But despite Syeda’s efforts to find answers, it has been five months since she's heard from her husband. Syeda’s pleas for answers from Malaysian and Pakistani authorities have largely been met with silence. “This is mental torture,” she told VOA, asking that we use only her first name. The last... Читать дальше...

Entrepreneurial young Egyptians are helping combat their country's plastic waste problem by recycling junk-food wrappers, water bottles and similar garbage that usually ends up in landfills or the Nile River At a factory on the outskirts of Cairo, run by their startup TileGreen, noisy machines gobble up huge amounts of plastic scraps of all colors, shred them and turn them into a thick liquid. The sludge — made from all kinds of plastic, even single-use shopping bags — is then molded into dark... Читать дальше...

Indonesia’s Ministry of Manpower said Thursday that PT Gunbuster Nickel Industry, a China-owned nickel smelting facility in Indonesia, needs to revisit the contract work and wage system that led to dissatisfaction among the company’s Indonesian workers. Two workers, one Chinese and one Indonesian, were killed in a protest last weekend at the company’s smelter in North Morowali. A December accident at the site left two Indonesian workers dead. During the protests, dozens of dormitories were torched, and equipment was damaged. Читать дальше...

A BBC documentary that looks into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s role during communal riots that wracked the western Indian state of Gujarat in 2002 has been criticized by the Indian government as a “propaganda piece” while the broadcaster has said its two-part series was “rigorously researched.” The BBC says India: the Modi Question “examines the tensions between India's Hindu majority and Muslim minority and explores the politics of Mr. Modi in relation to those tensions." The first part was broadcast in Britain on Tuesday... Читать дальше...

When Aida Ghajar saw a tweet that a young woman was in a coma after being taken into custody by Tehran’s morality police, the IranWire reporter immediately contacted her sources to try to verify the information. Within hours, she had a name: Mahsa Amini. Her contact also provided the phone number of someone inside the hospital. Ghajar confirmed the name with two others, then called the number. It was Kiarash, Mahsa’s brother, on the line. "I’ve had his voice in my head for the past four months,” Ghajar told VOA. Читать дальше...

At least 28 people were killed in an avalanche in the city of Nyingchi in the southwestern region of Tibet, the official Xinhua news agency reported late Friday. Rescue work at the scene is over, Xinhua said. Local authorities have sent a total of 1,348 people and 236 equipment sets to help excavate a rescue passage of 7.5 kilometers, Xinhua said. Fifty-three survivors were found, five of whom were seriously injured, Global Times reported, citing a local government official in the western Chinese region. Читать дальше...

Pakistani women studying medicine in Afghanistan have been affected by the Taliban decision to ban women from universities. VOA’s Munaza Shaheed spoke to some of them.

From New York to Los Angeles, hate crimes continued to rise in major American cities last year, with preliminary police data showing that at least six metropolitan areas recorded levels not seen since the 1990s. That's according to a new report by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino. The unpublished report, based on data from 20 police departments, was exclusively shared with Voice of America and comes months before the FBI is due to release its annual hate crime report for 2022. Читать дальше...

A Uyghur rights group’s legal challenge against the British government for not investigating the import of cotton produced in the Chinese region of Xinjiang was dismissed by a London court Friday. The World Uyghur Congress, an international organization of exiled Uyghur groups, had taken legal action at London's High Court against Britain's Home Office, tax authority HMRC and the National Crime Agency. Judge Ian Dove said in a written ruling that he had dismissed the WUC’s case. Rights groups... Читать дальше...

VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara speaks with National Security Council spokesman John Kirby about the significance of administration actions against the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company.

U.S. officials say a National Guard member in the Southwestern U.S. state of Texas shot and injured a migrant who was trying to escape from immigration authorities. Federal officials say the shooting, which was first reported jointly by The Texas Tribune and the Military Times, took place early Monday in Abram, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley. According to the joint report, border agents found four migrants in an abandoned house before dawn Monday. Three of the migrants surrendered, but a fourth... Читать дальше...

The number of migrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in January plummeted amid a seasonal slowdown and implementation of new restrictions imposed by U.S. President Joe Biden, a tenuous reprieve as he grapples with record crossings. U.S. Border Patrol agents have arrested an average of about 4,000 migrants per day in January, three U.S. officials told Reuters this week. That's down from an average of around 7,400 per day during the week before Christmas, one of the officials said. Читать дальше...

The first North Korean national ever to be extradited to the United States has been sentenced for money laundering. Businessman Mun Chol Myong was sentenced Friday in federal district court in Washington to time served of 45 months in prison. A resident of Malaysia, Mun was extradited to the U.S. in early 2021 following his arrest by Malaysian authorities in 2019 and an unsuccessful battle to block his extradition. The 55-year-old businessman was accused by U.S. prosecutors of taking part in... Читать дальше...

A new study has found that Germany could save almost three times more carbon dioxide emissions than previously thought by introducing a speed limit on its highways, increasing pressure on Berlin to reconsider the politically sensitive issue. Data from the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) published on Thursday show a speed limit of 120 kilometers per hour on motorways in Germany, where there are currently no speed restrictions, could cut total CO2 emissions from passenger cars and light commercial... Читать дальше...

The World Health Organization says there is no evidence that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines increase the risk of strokes in older people. WHO officials say there is no basis to the recent concerns raised by the media and science communities about the safety of the mRNA booster shots. They say the concerns, which are related to one U.S. data system that monitors safety, presented misinformation about deaths related to COVID-19 infection. Kate O’Brien, WHO director of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals... Читать дальше...