Новости за 07.03.2023

The war in Tigray is over but the trauma lingers. Tsega Fitsum is a volunteer teacher at the Mai Weyni school in the Tigray regional capital, Mekelle. She says that when school resumed soon after the cease-fire in November of last year, her students' minds were still focused on the conflict.  "They used to be inclined to draw guns instead of writing alphabets and numbers," she told VOA. "But now, we say 'The war has stopped. There is peace and there is no fear, and they should work freely.' When we tell them that... Читать дальше...

The deteriorating economic situation in Iraqi Kurdistan has prompted many Syrian men living there with their families as refugees to migrate to Europe. This has created unique challenges for the community, especially for the women and children that are left behind for the time-being. VOA’s Sirwan Kajjo reports from Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The United Nations Refugee Agency is calling for urgent support to help tens of thousands of Somalis who fled fighting in a disputed border town in Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland. The refugee agency is seeking urgent support for an estimated 100,000 Somalis who have fled to Ethiopia’s Somali region. The Somalis were displaced by fighting in the town of Las Anod, the center of a conflict between the breakaway Somaliland region and locals who want to be governed by Somalia. The support... Читать дальше...

U.S. National Security Agency director Paul Nakasone on Tuesday expressed concern about Chinese-owned video app TikTok's data collection and potential to facilitate broad influence operations. In response to a lawmaker's question about any concerns he has on the influence of TikTok on American children, Nakasone told a Senate hearing, "TikTok concerns me for a number of different reasons." Nakasone said his concerns include "the data that they have." "Secondly is the algorithm and the control of who has the algorithm," Nakasone added. Читать дальше...

Secondhand clothing is a huge business in Kenya where an estimated 900 million pieces of used clothes are sent every year, mainly from Europe and the United States. But merchants say most of the pieces wind up in the trash, and a Dutch-led environmental report says nearly a third of the imports have plastics that never decompose and contribute to environmental pollution. Juma Majanga reports from Nairobi, Kenya. Camera: Amos Wangwa

A top Chinese official has told Hong Kong to "nip in the bud" any potential risks that might threaten national security and be vigilant of "destructive forces lurking in society," according to the city's Beijing-appointed leader. On his return to Hong Kong after political meetings in the Chinese capital, Chief Executive John Lee said late Monday that China's top official in charge of Hong Kong affairs, Xia Baolong, told him to be on high alert for national security risks. China has used a harsh... Читать дальше...

Officials in Somalia say an al-Shabab attack on a military base in the south of the country has been "repulsed.”   The deputy president of Jubaland state, Mohamud Sayid Aden, told VOA Somali that al-Shabab militants used explosives and armed fighters to attack Janaa Cabdalle, 60 kilometers west of Kismayo.   “This morning the Khawarij (deviants) attacked Janaa Cabdalle base, a strategic base which was captured from them before,” he said, using a term for al-Shabab militants.   “As is the hallmark... Читать дальше...

A road trip to Mexico for cosmetic surgery ended with two Americans dead — and two others found alive in a rural area near the Gulf Coast — after a violent shootout and abduction that was captured on video, officials said Tuesday.  The surviving Americans were back on U.S. soil after being sped to the border near Brownsville, the southernmost tip of Texas, in a convoy of ambulances and SUVs escorted by Mexican military Humvees and National Guard trucks with mounted machine guns.  A relative of... Читать дальше...

Nearly sixty years after one of the world's worst nuclear accidents, Spain has asked the United States to clean up tens of thousands of cubic meters of radioactive soil and end a controversial chapter of the Cold War. Madrid hopes that improved relations with Washington may make the U.S. honor a promise made in 2015 to cart off the contaminated soil. In 1966, a B-52 bomber lost four hydrogen bombs after it collided with a refueling aircraft over the village of Palomares in southern Spain. While the hydrogen bombs did not explode... Читать дальше...

Tourism officials in Cameroon are meeting to revamp the country’s most important wildlife reserve, Waza National Park, which has suffered from terrorism, poaching, and deforestation.  The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on Cameroon’s northern border with Chad and Nigeria that used to attract thousands of visitors per year.  Officials say Boko Haram terrorists scared off most tourists while poachers and illegal loggers continue to wreak havoc on the park.  Moki Edwin Kindzeka reports from Yaoundé, Cameroon. Читать дальше...

Your voice is uniquely yours, but what would happen if you lost it? It’s a reality for some, and while text-to-speech technologies have allowed the voiceless to express themselves, the results can sound robotic. But new technologies are now enabling users to sound more like themselves. Tina Trinh reports.

Since the start of the year, the West Bank has seen an intensifying cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. The half a million Jewish settlers in the West Bank want the Israeli government to do more to stop Palestinian attacks. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem. Video by Ricki Rosen and Agencies

Britain's government will set out details for a new law barring the entry of asylum seekers to the UK in small boats, a proposal that some refugee charities say could be impractical and criminalize the efforts of thousands of genuine refugees. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping boat arrivals one of his five key priorities after the number of migrants arriving on the south coast of England soared to more than 45,000 last year, with around 90% applying for asylum. The new legislation... Читать дальше...

Lebanon has regained U.N. voting rights after paying dues for 2022 and 2023, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, after the country, which is in deep financial crisis, lost its rights at the world body for the second time in three years. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a Jan. 17 letter, listed Lebanon along with Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, South Sudan and Venezuela as countries that had lost their U.N. General Assembly vote. Guterres said Lebanon needed to pay a minimum of... Читать дальше...

Like many Venezuelans, Carmen Mendoza has learned to get by with a patchwork of different income streams in different currencies - her pension, renting out a property, and roughly $150 per month her two daughters send from Spain. But it is no longer enough. Resurgent inflation is devouring the income of Venezuelans — even the relatively privileged ones like Mendoza who have access to U.S. dollars. That is leaving them hungry and struggling to buy food and medicine, they told Reuters. "Neither dollars or bolivars are enough. Читать дальше...

Many states have enacted or contemplated limits or outright bans on transgender medical treatment, with conservative U.S. lawmakers saying they are worried about young people later regretting irreversible body-altering treatment. But just how common is regret? And how many youth change their appearances with hormones or surgery only to later change their minds and detransition? Here’s a look at some of the issues involved. What is transgender medical treatment? Guidelines call for thorough... Читать дальше...

Media reports say U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan during her scheduled visit to the United States in the coming weeks.  President Tsai will arrive in California in April and will give a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Center near Los Angeles ahead of her scheduled trip to Central America. The reports did not say if McCarthy, who represents a district in California, will meet with Tsai at the Reagan Library.  McCarthy had expressed an... Читать дальше...

An Israeli airstrike knocked the airport in Aleppo, Syria out of service early Tuesday, Syrian state media reported.  The SANA news agency cited a military source saying the Israeli attack came from the Mediterranean Sea, west of Latakia, and that it “caused material damage” to the airport.  There was no comment from the Israeli military, which rarely discusses individual strikes against targets in Syria.    Israel has acknowledged targeting sites linked to militant groups allied with Iran... Читать дальше...

Vice President Kamala Harris says the United States is working to mitigate the impacts of climate change because competition for diminishing resources can lead to instability. She spoke about drought and climate change in the Western U.S. state of Colorado. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns has our story.

The White House is considering restarting the detention of migrant families caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, four current and former U.S. officials told Reuters, which would reverse a move to end the practice.  The Biden administration also is weighing reviving immigration arrests of migrant families within the United States who have been ordered deported, two of the officials said.  "It's all on the table," said one of the officials, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Читать дальше...

Mexican authorities found 103 unaccompanied minors mostly from Guatemala inside an abandoned truck trailer in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, the government said on Monday, in one of the biggest recent discoveries of migrant children traveling through Mexico.  In addition to the 103 children, authorities found 212 adults from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Ecuador in the trailer, the National Migration Institute (INM) said in a statement. Another 28 migrants traveling as families from... Читать дальше...

The Italian health minister's proposals to extend a smoking ban include the outdoor areas of bars and parks, according to details reported by local media, drawing the ire of right-wing Cabinet colleagues who labeled him a "communist."  Minister Orazio Schillaci, a technocrat with no party affiliation, said in January he would crackdown on smoking, including e-cigarettes, which are being widely used by teenagers.  The new rules will include the outside areas of bars and at public transport stops, La Stampa newspaper reported on Monday. Читать дальше...

A group of attorneys general from 45 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., demanded Monday that social media app TikTok produce materials as part of an investigation into its effect on young users’ mental health.    “We know that social media is taking a devastating toll on young people’s mental health and well-being, and through our investigation we are getting a clearer sense of TikTok’s role,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.    The investigation began last year when eight states... Читать дальше...

Conservationists welcomed an agreement over the weekend on a long-touted global treaty to protect the ocean and promote the sustainable use of resources such as its oil, fish and other sea life. Participants in negotiations say this will positively affect struggling fishers in Africa and the Global South. Henry Wilkins reports from Port Sudan, Sudan.

All eyes will be on Hollywood Sunday when the Academy Awards, or Oscars, will honor the best in filmmaking. From Los Angeles, Mike O’Sullivan has a preview.