Новости за 23.02.2023

Harvey Weinstein, the onetime Hollywood titan who came to epitomize a culture of pervasive sexual misconduct by powerful men that ignited the #MeToo movement, was sentenced Thursday to 16 years in prison for the 2013 rape of an actress in Los Angeles.   Weinstein was sentenced in a Los Angeles courtroom, where a jury in December found him guilty of rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by a foreign object.   The charges stemmed from an assault on a former model and actress, identified in court as Jane Doe 1... Читать дальше...

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg toured the wreckage Thursday of this month's Ohio train derailment and toxic spill, and he urged freight rail companies not to stand in the way of tougher safety regulations.  In a preliminary report, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the train engineer applied brakes as soon as an alarm rang on February 3 to warn of an overheated axle on the Norfolk Southern train.  It said "defect detectors" showed the axle starting to heat up about 48 kilometers from the derailment site... Читать дальше...

The number of migrant encounters at the United States-Mexico border dropped nearly 40% — from a record of about 252,000 in December 2022 to about 156,000 in January — according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CBP credits the decrease to a parole program that began on January 5 for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, the four countries that had the highest numbers of migrants trying to cross into the U.S. during the preceding months. The program is designed to decrease unauthorized migration... Читать дальше...

U.S. first lady Jill Biden was visibly moved during a visit to an informal settlement near Namibia’s capital Thursday, where she spent the better part of an hour listening to young beneficiaries of U.S.-funded programs describe their challenges and triumphs in a nation that ranks as one of the world’s most unequal societies. As a sudden afternoon storm beat down on the metal roofs of the hastily constructed Katutura neighborhood, Biden listened intently as teens and young adults described their work with the local Hope Initiatives program... Читать дальше...

The number of U.S. mass killings linked to extremism over the past decade was at least three times higher than the total from any other 10-year period since the 1970s, according to a report by the Anti-Defamation League.  The report, provided to The Associated Press ahead of its public release Thursday, also found that all extremist killings identified in 2022 were linked to right-wing extremism, with an especially high number linked to white supremacy. They include a racist mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo... Читать дальше...

Afghanistan has a higher maternal mortality rate than all its six neighbors combined, according to a World Health Organization report released Thursday, and experts say the maternal health crisis is feared to get worse. The landlocked country’s 620 fatalties per 100,000 live births is the highest in Asia, where most developing countries have made steady progress in improving maternal health care. Despite the country's improved maternal mortality rates between 2001 and 2021 — prior to international... Читать дальше...

A federal judge on Thursday handed singer R. Kelly a 20-year prison sentence for his convictions of child pornography and the enticement of minors for sex but said he will serve nearly all of the sentence simultaneously with a 30-year sentence imposed last year on racketeering charges.  U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber also ordered that Kelly serve one year in prison following his New York sentence.  The central question going into the sentencing in Kelly's hometown of Chicago was whether... Читать дальше...

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

Federal wildlife officials on Wednesday announced a proposal to classify one of two dwindling California spotted owl populations as endangered after a lawsuit by conservation groups required the government to reassess a Trump administration decision not to protect the brown and white birds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed that California spotted owls that have their habitats in coastal and Southern California be protected under the Endangered Species Act. That population "does not... Читать дальше...

A new report by four leading United Nations agencies and the World Bank estimates every two minutes, one woman dies during pregnancy or childbirth, mostly from preventable causes. The report, “Trends in maternal mortality 2000 to 2020,” was produced by WHO, UNICEF, and the UNFPA, along with the World Bank Group and UNDESA/Population Division. Health officials say the data presented in the report should be a wakeup call for world leaders to take action to end maternal deaths by investing in health... Читать дальше...

Methamphetamine use in Thailand jumped 30% last year, new research shows, amid a production boom of the illicit drug in next door Myanmar flooding the region with ever-cheaper supplies. To cope with the surge, Thailand’s Public Health Ministry is pushing for tough new rules that could see anyone caught with more than one meth tablet prosecuted as a drug dealer, a move academics and social workers say would not help and could make the problem worse. According to a nationwide survey on drug use led by Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University... Читать дальше...

Zimbabweans living on the border with Zambia are increasingly taking advantage of their neighbor's superior health care. But Zambian officials say they are also draining resources as nearly one-third of patients in some clinics and hospitals are Zimbabweans. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Lusaka, Zambia. VOA footage by Blessing Chigwenhembe.

The head of South Africa's embattled state power company, Eskom, is leaving his job earlier than planned, after accusing high level officials of corruption. The CEO's departure came the same day South Africa's finance minister announced a massive bailout for the debt-ridden company amid record power cuts.  Eskom’s CEO, Andre de Ruyter, has been "released" from his job "with immediate effect," the company said Thursday in a statement.  De Ruyter submitted his resignation late last year, saying... Читать дальше...

Overdose deaths from the drug fentanyl have communities across the United States scrambling to respond. In Washington state, librarians are becoming unlikely first responders in this latest wave of the US opioid crisis. Natasha Mozgovaya has our story

People generate more than 50 million tons of electronic waste every year, including copiers, televisions, and computers. Laptops are part of the problem, but engineers at Dell Technologies are working on a new approach to help keep them out of landfills. Tina Trinh reports. Camera: Deana Mitchell

Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said Thursday they had reopened a busy border crossing with Pakistan after four days of closure that saw thousands of travelers and trade convoys, with many carrying food items, stranded on either side. Pakistani officials said, without elaborating, they were still completing “administrative requirements” to restore all movements through the Torkham point of transit. The reopening came a day after a high-level Pakistani delegation visited the Afghan capital... Читать дальше...

U.S. first lady Jill Biden is due to speak Thursday at a state luncheon with Namibia's President Hage Geingob and first lady Monica Geingos at the Namibian presidential residence, the second day of her visit to the country. Biden is also due to go Thursday to a U.S.-funded project in the capital, Windhoek, that focuses on empowering women and children and ensuring access to economic opportunities and health resources. After arriving in the country on Wednesday, Biden said Namibia was chosen because of its vibrancy. Читать дальше...

When a South Korean court this week delivered the country's biggest legal victory for marriage equality, Kim Yong-min was immediately aware of how much – and how little – the ruling meant for LGBT rights. No one questioned the symbolic significance of Tuesday's verdict, which found 32-year-old Kim must be allowed coverage as a dependent under his partner's national health insurance plan. It was the first time a South Korean court has ever recognized any right for same-sex couples. On the other hand... Читать дальше...

Israel’s military said Thursday it carried out airstrikes against targets linked to Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip in response to a series of rockets fired hours earlier at Israeli territory. The Israeli Defense Forces said the airstrikes focused on a weapons manufacturing site and a military compound. Israel’s air defenses intercepted five of the six rockets fired from Gaza, with one landing in an open area in southern Israel. The cross-border attacks followed an Israeli raid Wednesday... Читать дальше...

Residents along the Turkey-Syria border were just beginning to return home to inspect the damage from the massive Feb. 6 earthquake when another tremor struck this week, said Myanmar psychology student Aung Naing Shwe, who is in the region serving as a humanitarian aid volunteer. “It went on for what felt like 10 minutes,” Aung said in a Zoom interview with VOA from Hatay, the city hit hardest by the earlier quake. “We looked on in shock as we saw debris caused by collapsed structures, women... Читать дальше...

The man who shot dead Grammy-winning rapper Nipsey Hussle on a Los Angeles street in 2019 was jailed for at least 60 years Wednesday. Eric Holder had not denied killing Hussle -- a fast-rising star whose death sent shockwaves through the music world -- but his lawyers argued it was an impulsive crime that took place in the "heat of passion." But a jury last year found Holder had acted with premeditation as he fired at Hussle at least 10 times following a dispute between the two men over claims the assailant was "snitching" to the police. Читать дальше...

Afghanistan's Taliban-led administration has set up a consortium of companies — including some in Russia, Iran and Pakistan — to create an investment plan focusing on power, mining and infrastructure, the acting commerce minister said Wednesday. The consortium includes 14 Afghan businessmen, and the ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with foreign companies that would send delegates to Kabul to look into projects worth up to $1 billion, Nooruddin Azizi told Reuters. Afghanistan's economy... Читать дальше...

To address the relatively high cost of health care in Africa, a Kenyan mobile application lets users pay for medical services by selling their personal data through blockchain technology. Officials say Snark Health's Hippocratic Coins have attracted more than 300 doctors and 4,000 users.  Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi, Kenya. Camera: Jimmy Makhulo.

A U.S.-based search-and-rescue team is back home, having deployed to Turkey after the country suffered devastating earthquakes earlier this month. Begum Donmez Ersoz reports on the specialized team from Fairfax County, Virginia, and the lifesaving duties it performed. Camera: Tezcan Taskiran.

Around the world, prominent women are leaving their jobs to pursue other interests and focus on other priorities. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has the story.