Новости за 19.02.2023

On the back seat of Marilyn Bragg's car are her late husband's five guns. "I don't want that at home, I don't even know how to shoot," said the Houston, Texas, retiree before handing them over to the authorities. In this American state, bruised by shootings, initiatives are multiplying to offer residents a chance to get rid of their pistols, rifles, and semi-automatic weapons, in complete safety. "I have grandchildren, I don't want them to have access to that," Bragg said as a long line of cars winds its way to an arms dump site. Читать дальше...

The Taliban said Sunday they were working to turn former foreign military bases in Afghanistan into special business and trade centers to promote “economic growth and development” in the war-ravaged country. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban deputy prime minister for economic affairs, chaired a meeting in the capital, Kabul, and directed relevant officials to move ahead with the plans, his office said. “Following a thorough discussion, it was decided that the Ministry of Industry and Commerce... Читать дальше...

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

West African leaders have maintained sanctions imposed on three military-ruled countries in the volatile Sahel region and dented hopes of a return to the regional bloc, according to a statement seen by AFP on Sunday. Junta-led Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso are suspended from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) after undergoing military coups since 2020. ECOWAS leaders met on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa to review the sanctions and discuss the progress... Читать дальше...

The head of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group accused of widespread human rights abuses, said on Sunday he was committed to intergrating the force into a reformed national armed forces. RSF commander General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, joined Sudan's leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in a coup in 2021 that ended a ruling partnership between the military and pro-democracy groups and plunged the country into political and economic turmoil. The RSF is Sudan's largest paramilitary group. Читать дальше...

North Korea said Sunday its latest intercontinental ballistic missile test was meant to further bolster its “fatal” nuclear attack capacity and threatened additional powerful steps over upcoming military drills between the United States and South Korea. The United States responded by flying long-range supersonic bombers in a show of force later Sunday for separate joint exercises with South Korean and Japanese warplanes. Saturday’s ICBM test, the North’s first missile test since Jan. 1, signals... Читать дальше...

Andrew Lloyd Webber, the English composer who created the scores for blockbuster musicals such as "Cats,'' "The Phantom of the Opera'' and "Evita,'' has written the anthem for King Charles III's coronation, adapting a piece of church music that encourages singers to make a "joyful noise." The work by Webber is one of a dozen new pieces Charles commissioned for the grand occasion taking place May 6 at Westminster Abbey. It includes words adapted from Psalm 98 and is scored specifically for the abbey's choir and organ. Читать дальше...

Thousands of Japanese fans on Sunday bade farewell to four beloved pandas which will be returned to China this week, with some visitors shedding tears. Visitors flocked to Tokyo's Ueno Zoo to catch a last glimpse of Xiang Xiang, who has been a massive draw for the park since her birth in 2017, and to a park in western Wakayama region for the other three pandas. In Tokyo, the final viewing of Xiang Xiang, the zoo's first baby panda since 1988, was limited to 2,600 visitors who won a lucky lottery ticket... Читать дальше...

International Energy Agency (IEA) head Fatih Birol has warned of possible energy shortages next winter as relatively little new liquefied natural gas (LNG) is coming to the market while China's consumption is set to rise this year. European governments made many correct decisions over the last year to ensure energy supply, such as building more LNG terminals to replace pipeline deliveries of Russian gas, Birol told Reuters on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday. But they also got lucky... Читать дальше...

The career of Boris Beecker, whose thunderous delivery earned him the nickname "Boom Boom" as a young tennis player, took him from the greatest heights of sporting achievement aged 17 to prison at 54, and he is unsure if it could have gone any other way. "It's very difficult to win Wimbledon at 17," the German former tennis champion said ahead of the premiere on Sunday at the Berlin Film Festival of a documentary on his life. "You have to be a bit crazy to cross the line and do things nobody... Читать дальше...

Israel launched an airstrike on the Syrian capital Sunday, according to SANA, the Syrian news agency. SANA reported five people were killed and 15 were wounded. The rocket strike hit Damascus' Kafr Sousa neighborhood, near a security complex. Several residential buildings were hit in the strike. Israel has not commented on the strike.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that Iran was responsible for a reported attack on an oil tanker last week.  An attack on the Liberian-flagged Campo Square was confirmed on Saturday by the ship's captain, who said it was lightly damaged by an airborne object on Feb. 10 while sailing through the Arabian Sea. Shipping databases linked the tanker to Zodiac Maritime, which is controlled by Israeli shipping magnate Eyal Ofer. "Last week Iran again attacked an oil tanker... Читать дальше...

Half of Americans in a recent survey indicated they believe national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public to adopt a particular point of view through their reporting. The survey, released Wednesday by Gallup and the Knight Foundation, goes beyond others that have shown a low level of trust in the media to the startling point where many believe there is an intent to deceive. Asked whether they agreed with the statement that national news organizations do not intend to mislead, 50% said they disagreed. Читать дальше...

Long before the pandemic shut down Hong Kong’s vibrant retail sector, traders from China crossed the border to purchase everything from cosmetics to cars tax-free for profitable reselling upon returning home, where buyers worried about the quality of locally available products. The brisk parallel import trade, which included some Hong Kong residents taking goods into China, survived protests by Hong Kong residents who felt it caused shortages of in-demand items such as baby formula and increased prices. Читать дальше...

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Saturday that African countries are being denied needed debt relief, noting that because of a lack of financial support, the African continent is facing a very difficult situation. Speaking at a news conference held at African Union headquarters after the opening of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Guterres said in order to draw on the continent’s potential, a series of challenges must first be overcome. “A dysfunctional and unfair... Читать дальше...

North Korea has confirmed that the intercontinental ballistic missile it fired Saturday was the Hwasong-15, which it said was part of a “surprise” exercise to test its war readiness with a “mobile and mighty counterattack.” According to a Sunday morning report by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, a mock “emergency firepower combat standby order” was issued at dawn Saturday. Guided by North Korea’s Missile General Bureau, the “high angle” ICBM launch was conducted at Pyongyang International Airport by afternoon, it said. Читать дальше...

A couple and their son were pulled alive from under a collapsed apartment building more than 12 days after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake ravaged parts of Turkey and Syria, although the child later died at a hospital, Turkish state media reported Saturday. A foreign search team from Kyrgyzstan rescued Samir Muhammed Accar, 49, his wife, Ragda, 40, and their 12-year-old son while digging through the rubble of the apartment building in the southern Turkish city of Antakya, the state-run Anadolu news agency said. Читать дальше...

When Microsoft's nascent Bing chatbot turns testy or even threatening, it’s likely because it essentially mimics what it learned from online conversations, analysts and academics said. Tales of disturbing exchanges with the artificial intelligence chatbot, including it issuing threats and speaking of desires to steal nuclear code, create a deadly virus, or to be alive, have gone viral this week. "I think this is basically mimicking conversations that it's seen online," Graham Neubig, an associate... Читать дальше...

The little-noticed program that led to a Chinese spy balloon drifting across the United States this month has been discussed in China’s state-controlled media for more than a decade in articles extolling its potential military applications. The reports, dating back to at least 2011, focus on how best to exploit what is known as “near space” – that portion of the atmosphere that is too high for traditional aircraft to fly but too low for a satellite to remain in orbit. Those early articles may offer... Читать дальше...

As his bulldozer claws at the rubble of buildings destroyed by this month's earthquake, operator Akin Bozkurt consoles himself that by finding bodies he gives family members the chance to have a funeral for loved ones and a grave where they can mourn. "Would you pray to find a dead body?" he asked. "We do...to deliver the body to the family." Bozkurt, 42, traveled to Kahramanmaras, the southern Turkish city closest to the epicenter of the devastating quake 12 days ago from his hometown of Kayseri... Читать дальше...

A Farsi-language satellite news channel based in London and long critical of Iran's theocratic government said Saturday it had moved its broadcasts to Washington "to protect the safety of its journalists" after being targeted by Tehran. The targeting of Iran International comes as Tehran also has long harassed members of the BBC's Persian service for their reporting on the country. However, the threats against Farsi-language networks broadcasting abroad have grown exponentially as they cover the... Читать дальше...

More than 46,000 people have been killed in the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria and the toll is expected to soar, with some 345,000 apartments in Turkey known to have been destroyed, and many people still missing. As Turkey attempts to manage its worst modern disaster, concerns were growing for the victims of the tragedy in Syria, with the World Food Program pressuring authorities in the northwest to stop blocking access to the area as it seeks to help hundreds of thousands of people ravaged by earthquakes. Читать дальше...