Новости за 04.03.2023

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday announced a gender equality law that will require more equal representation of women and men in politics, business and other spheres of public life. The Equal Representation Law will apply gender parity measures to electoral lists, the boards of directors of big companies, and governing boards of professional associations. Sanchez made the announcement during a Socialist party rally ahead of International Women's Day on March 8. It will be approved... Читать дальше...

The nearly eight-year-old U.S. deployment to Syria to combat Islamic State is still worth the risk, the top U.S. military officer said on Saturday, after an unannounced visit to a base to meet U.S. troops in the country's northeast. Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, flew to Syria to assess efforts to prevent a resurgence of the militant group and review safeguards for American forces against attacks, including from drones. While Islamic State is a shadow of the... Читать дальше...

Italy's government will hold a cabinet meeting near the southern seaside town where dozens of bodies washed ashore after a migrant ship broke up on rocks last month, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday. Speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi after meeting United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan to discuss migration flows among other topics, Meloni rejected accusations that her government had failed to act to prevent the incident. She also dismissed calls from... Читать дальше...

The director of a hospital in a disputed city in the Somaliland region says at least 145 people have been killed in more than two months of fighting between anti-government fighters and Somaliland security forces after local elders declared their intention to reunite with Somalia.  Abdimajid Sugulle, with the public hospital in Las-Anod, told The Associated Press on Saturday that more than 1,080 other people have been wounded and over 100,000 families have fled the city of Las-Anod since late December. Читать дальше...

If young people are spending so much time on social media, it stands to reason that's a good place to reach them with news. Operators of the News Movement are betting their business on that hunch. The company, which has been operating for more than a year, hopes to succeed despite journalism being littered with years of unsuccessful attempts to entice people in their 20s to become news consumers. The brainchild of former Dow Jones executives, the News Movement is using a staff of reporters with... Читать дальше...

Australia’s space industry is warning that China is increasing its satellite surveillance.  The warning comes as Australia’s Defense Space Command says it is working on a plan to acquire so-called soft-kill technology to take out enemy satellites.  In February, the United States shot down a giant Chinese balloon that it said had been spying on key military sites across America.  Beijing, however, insisted it was a civilian aircraft that had drifted off course. The diplomatic row ignited a debate... Читать дальше...

A joint U.S. and Australian law enforcement operation busted an international drug ring after intercepting 2.4 tonnes of cocaine aboard a vessel off the coast of South America that had been bound for Australia. The cocaine, linked to a Mexican drug cartel, had a street value of around A$1 billion ($677 million), and was equivalent to half of Australia's estimated annual consumption, making the seizure one of the biggest that Australian police have been involved in. Twelve suspects have been arrested and charged in the case... Читать дальше...

Indonesian rescuers and firefighters on Saturday searched for possible victims under the rubble of charred houses and buildings after a large fire broke out at a fuel storage depot in the capital, killing more than a dozen people and leaving 16 others missing. The Plumpang fuel storage station, operated by state-run oil and gas company Pertamina, is near a densely populated area in the Tanah Merah neighborhood in North Jakarta. It supplies 25% of Indonesia’s fuel needs. At least 260 firefighters... Читать дальше...

Officials in Malaysia said Saturday that nearly 40,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in southern Johor state due to heavy flooding. At least four people have died in the floods. More than 200 temporary shelters have been set up for people forced out of their homes, authorities said. Mohd Noor Saad, a Johar resident, told Reuters, “We used to always prepare for the rainy season in November and December.” “But now,” he said, “with the unpredictable weather, it seems that we are not prepared... Читать дальше...

The Hartbeespoort dam in South Africa used to be brimming with people enjoying scenic landscapes and recreational water sports. Now, the visitors are greeted to the sight of boats stuck in a sea of invasive green water hyacinth weed. The spike in Harties - as Hartbeespoort is known - can be attributed to pollution, with sewage, industrial chemicals, heavy metals and litter flowing on rivers from Johannesburg and Pretoria. "In South Africa, we are faced with highly polluted waters," said Professor Julie Coetzee... Читать дальше...

The second half-century for the world's most famous sled dog race is getting off to a rough start.  Only 33 mushers will participate in the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Saturday, the smallest field ever to take their dog teams nearly 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) over Alaska's unforgiving wilderness. This year's lineup is smaller even than that of the 34 mushers who lined up for the very first race in 1973.  The small pool of mushers is raising concerns about the future... Читать дальше...

Justin Cherry watches the woodburning fire inside his mound-shaped clay oven. He sticks his hand into the mouth of the oven to feel the heat, waiting for the clay surface inside to get hot enough to bake his homemade bread, which he makes the way it would have been done in the 1700s. Cherry is at Mount Vernon, a historical attraction in Alexandria, Virginia, which is the planation home of George Washington, who served as the first U.S. president from 1789-1797. Dressed in 18th-century garb, Cherry... Читать дальше...

China’s annual parliament, which opens Sunday, will usher in the biggest government reshuffle in a decade, as well as a sweeping organizational overhaul that will bolster the Communist Party’s control. Although Chinese President Xi Jinping has already secured a norm-breaking third term as party chief and stacked the party’s elite politburo with his allies during its twice-a-decade congress in October, the rubber-stamp National People’s Congress will formally endorse Xi as president and his allies in the government’s top echelon of power. Читать дальше...

Mohammad Hossain is one of the tens of thousands of opposition supporters who have fled “ghost” judicial cases – manufactured charges against acts of dissent, such as attacks on police and incitement of clashes – and ended up ferrying passengers around by motorbike in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, to make ends meet. Like Hossain, thousands of activists across the country, mainly of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, are fleeing such cases and many ended up in the South Asian nation’s busiest hub... Читать дальше...

Former President George W. Bush recently urged Washington lawmakers to reauthorize the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, an initiative he launched two decades ago against one of deadliest diseases at the time. VOA Senior Correspondent Mariama Diallo reports.

U.N. countries appeared Friday to be nearing an agreement on a long-awaited treaty to protect the high seas, a fragile and vital treasure that covers nearly half the planet.  After more than 15 years of informal and then formal talks, negotiators are coming to the end of two more weeks of discussions, the third "final" session in less than a year.  "I do not believe that a solution is not in sight," conference chair Rena Lee told a short plenary session Friday afternoon, calling on delegates... Читать дальше...

Walgreens says it will not start selling an abortion pill in 20 states that had warned of legal consequences if it did so. The drugstore chain's announcement Thursday signals that access to mifepristone may not expand as broadly as federal regulators intended in January, when they finalized a rule change allowing more pharmacies to provide the pill. Here's a closer look at the issue. About the abortion pill The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone in 2000 to end pregnancy when used in combination with a second drug... Читать дальше...

A large fire broke out Friday evening at a fuel storage depot in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, killing at least 17 people. Officials say the fire spread from the Plumpang fuel station, owned by state energy company Pertamina, to the nearby neighborhood of Tanah Merah in North Jakarta. Video from Indonesian broadcasters showed hundreds of people in the densely populated neighborhood running in panic, while firefighters worked to put out the flames. Officials said two of the fatalities were children... Читать дальше...

"The Red Suitcase," a short film by Iranian-born filmmaker Cyrus Neshvad, will compete for an Oscar at the Academy Awards on March 12. The director and his star tell VOA’s Mike O’Sullivan that the film looks at a young woman’s struggle to determine her own future. Camera: Mike O'Sullivan.

Protests have intensified in Greece days after the country's deadliest rail disaster, as thousands of students took to the streets in several cities and protesters clashed with police in Athens. At least 57 people — including several university students — died when a passenger train slammed into a freight carrier just before midnight Tuesday. The government has blamed human error, and a railway official faces manslaughter charges. Friday night's violence was not extensive, and the protests were otherwise peaceful. Читать дальше...

A summary of this week's Uyghur-related news from around the world: Uyghur mom imprisoned for sending children to Islamic school, report finds An investigation by Radio Free Asia found this week that Ayshemhan Abdulla, a Uyghur woman, was sentenced to 21 years in prison in 2017 in China's Xinjiang region for sending her children to a local home-based religious school. Abdulla's arrest was not likely the decision of judicial authorities but rather that of the Chinese Communist Party's political and legal committee... Читать дальше...

When Syeda received a phone call last month to say that her husband, Syed Fawad Ali Shah, was in a prison in Pakistan, she thought it was a trap. For nearly six months, Syeda had been trying to get answers after Shah abruptly disappeared from his home in Kuala Lumpur. It wasn't until January that Malaysian authorities admitted they had deported the journalist at Pakistan's request. And when Syeda — who asked to be identified only by her first name — first pressed Pakistani officials for details... Читать дальше...

Former President George W. Bush last week urged Washington lawmakers to continue to support the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), an initiative he launched two decades ago against one of deadliest diseases at the time. Bush made his initial plea before Congress at his State of the Union address in 2003, when nearly 30 million people in Africa had the AIDS virus, including 3 million children under age 15. "I ask the Congress to commit $15 billion over the next five years, including nearly $10 billion in new money... Читать дальше...

United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi arrived in Tehran Friday for talks after his agency's inspectors in Iran found uranium particles enriched to just under weapons-grade level. The visit by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency comes with the Vienna-based organization seeking Iran's increased cooperation over its nuclear activities. Grossi was greeted at the airport by Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and later met with its head, Mohammad Eslami. Читать дальше...

U.S. President Joe Biden’s doctor said Friday that a skin lesion that was removed from the president’s chest last month was a common form of skin cancer. White House physician Kevin O’Connor, who has served as Biden’s longtime doctor, said “all cancerous tissue was successfully removed” during the president’s routine physical Feb. 16. O’Conner said in a letter released Friday that a biopsy confirmed the removed lesion was a basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer that does not tend to spread quickly. Читать дальше...