Новости за 15.03.2023

Stock markets in Europe and the U.S. tumbled Wednesday as investors worried about the stability of global banking systems in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of two American banks. Major stock indexes in London, Paris and Frankfurt all plunged by more than 3% while three key U.S. indexes — the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 key stocks, the broader S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index — also dropped, although by 1% or less in late-day trading. Asian markets increased, mirroring... Читать дальше...

Arrested for her journalism, kept in dire conditions in a small prison cell, and now stripped of her Nicaraguan citizenship, Lucia Pineda Ubau has endured a lot. Pineda suspects prison guards drugged her food and kept her in solitary confinement to break her will while she was in prison in 2019. “I felt sick,” she said. “My thoughts were not clear.” At one point, she was forced to stay in her cell for more than two weeks, surrounded by her own excrement after being denied access to a toilet. Читать дальше...

An exiled Chinese businessman with ties to former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon has been arrested on federal charges of defrauding his online followers out of more than $1 billion, the Justice Department announced  Wednesday. Ho Wan Kwok, also known as Miles Guo and Guo Wengui, was arrested earlier Wednesday in New York and was to make his first court appearance later in the day. Kwok fled to the United States in 2015.     The charges against Kwok stem from an alleged conspiracy to solicit... Читать дальше...

Syria’s rebel-controlled Idlib province, hit hard by February's quakes, is looking to rebuild its shattered education infrastructure. Repairing and replacing destroyed schools is only part of the problem, with many children traumatized. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. Camera: Mouneb Taim, Moawia Atrash, Ahmad Fallaha

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

Trash, several thousand tons of it, is overflowing in normally elegant Paris, spilling into the capital’s streets and sidewalks, choking bike lanes, attracting rats and triggering a nasty political battle. France’s uncollected garbage has become the most visible — and smelliest — manifestation of public outrage over a highly controversial bill to boost the retirement age from 62 to 64, which may face a key vote in parliament as early as Thursday. “It’s really too bad, we’re one of the most visited... Читать дальше...

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen on Wednesday as part of his one-day working visit to the country. During brief remarks made at the start of their official meeting, Blinken sounded optimistic about the November peace deal signed between the Ethiopian federal government and Tigrayan forces. "It's very, very good to be back in Africa, especially to be in Ethiopia at, I think, a very important moment, a moment of... Читать дальше...

Middle Eastern analysts are divided on the news of the surprise diplomatic rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran brokered by China. Some view the development as potentially positive for Lebanon and perhaps Yemen, where Tehran exerts great influence, but other observers are cautious, with some speculating that Iran is simply trying to alleviate the current pressure it is facing. Generally, Middle East analysts welcome the news of the resumption of diplomatic ties between volatile rivals Saudi... Читать дальше...

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses, truck drivers, grocery clerks and other essential workers were hailed as heroes. "Now we are vilifying them … and this has long-term ramifications for our well-being," said Manuela Tomei, International Labor Organization assistant director-general for governance, rights, and dialogue. "The work that these persons perform is absolutely essential for families and societies to function," she said, speaking Wednesday in Geneva. "So, the non-availability... Читать дальше...

At least 3,000 people have been displaced in fresh fighting along the Nigerian-Cameroonian border, according to forces battling Boko Haram militants. Refugees at Minawao, a camp on Cameroon's northern border with Nigeria, say the number of people seeking humanitarian assistance in the camp increases by the day. Isaac Luka, president of Nigerian refugees at Minawao, said the current influx caused by hunger and gun battles is making living conditions that were already bad in the camp even worse. Читать дальше...

Opposition supporters in Senegal are planning a second day of protests Wednesday against what they say are “dictatorial” practices by President Macky Sall, which his government denies. They also accuse Sall’s government of arbitrary arrests and his seeking an unconstitutional third term in next year’s elections. More than 10,000 people hit the streets of Senegal’s capital Tuesday for the first day of protests. Opposition supporters adorned in Senegal flag-themed regalia streamed onto a field late... Читать дальше...

A military court in Somalia has ordered the executions of three al-Shabab militants it said pretended to be a doctor and soldiers to carry out bombings and shootings. The military appeals court in Mogadishu ordered the executions carried out Wednesday of three men it said were al-Shabab militants who disguised themselves to carry out deadly attacks in the city. The court said 38-year-old Mohamed Abdi Nur Jirow used fake names and titles, including calling himself “Dr. Fanah” and claiming to be a a neurologist. Читать дальше...

Every month, young girls in Ghana are forced to miss school days due to menstruation. But a schoolteacher is working to find a solution by providing reusable sanitary pads. Hamza Adams visited a school in Afari, Ghana, and has this story narrated by Salem Solomon.

A Myanmar delegation is visiting Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh this week to verify a few hundred potential returnees for a pilot repatriation project, though a Bangladeshi official said it was unclear when they would be going home. Nearly one million Rohingya Muslim refugees are living in camps in the border district of Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, most having fled a military-led crackdown in Myanmar in 2017. Bangladesh's Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner in Cox's Bazar, Mohammed Mizanur Rahman... Читать дальше...

Britain’s finance minister lays out his budget plan Wednesday while workers in a range of sectors strike to call attention to disparities in wage gains and inflation. Jeremy Hunt is set to go before parliament and announce how he intends to boost economic growth in Britain. Hunt has dismissed calls for tax cuts and has already announced $6.1 billion in new defense spending as well as more funding for childcare. The government has also rejected demands from public sector workers for higher pay to cope with a rise in the cost of living... Читать дальше...

More people than ever are moving to Florida, making it the fastest-growing state in America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The population in the nation’s third-largest state now tops 22 million people. Florida is known for its hot weather, and once air-conditioning became more common in the 1950s, its population exploded. VOA’s Dora Mekouar [meh-kwar] has more from Orlando, Florida. Camera: Adam Greenbaum

China's Foreign Ministry has accused Australia of breaching global rules on the spread of nuclear weapons, following the announcement Monday of details of nuclear-powered submarines under the trilateral AUKUS security accord among Australia, the United States and Britain.      China has accused this AUKUS alliance of embarking on a “path of error and danger.”    Monday, the leaders of the United States, Britain and Australia announced a deal on nuclear-powered attack submarines that will also... Читать дальше...

President Xiomara Castro of Honduras says her country will seek to establish formal diplomatic relations with China.    President Castro announced on her Twitter account that she had instructed Foreign Affairs Minister Eduardo Reina to begin negotiations with Beijing about opening official relations with the world’s second-largest economy.  The move could threaten Honduras’s formal relations with Taiwan, the self-ruled island off the southeast coast of China. Communist-run China considers Taiwan... Читать дальше...

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday issued an executive order directing federal agencies to step up enforcement of a bipartisan gun control law he signed nine months ago that expands background checks for gun buyers and strengthens rules allowing the temporary removal of firearms from a potentially dangerous person. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.

In his first stop on a two-country visit to Africa, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. The trip is part of an effort to deepen U.S. engagement with the continent. U.S.-Ethiopia relations have been strained in the past two years due to a brutal civil war that left an estimated 500,000 civilians dead due to violence, starvation and lack of medical attention. Thousands more were displaced. Blinken is scheduled to meet with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Wednesday. Читать дальше...

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting Ethiopia and Niger this week. In the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, he will focus on implementing the peace deal from last November that ended hostilities in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region after a brutal two-year conflict that left an estimated 500,000 civilians killed. VOA's Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. Salem Solomon contributed.

March marks the ninth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Many Crimean Tatars had to leave their home after Russian forces overran the peninsula — among them Ernest Suleimanov and his family. They fled to Warsaw where they opened a restaurant named "Crimea" right in front of the Russian embassy in Poland. For VOA from Warsaw, Lesia Bakalets has their story. Videographer: Daniil Batushchak

They are perhaps the two most feared words for regulators of the financial industry: Bank run. And that is what happened last week when depositors, during a single day, withdrew $42 billion from California-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), leaving it with a negative cash balance of a billion dollars. “This was the first Twitter-fueled bank run,” is how Republican Representative Patrick McHenry, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, described the tsunami of withdrawals. Depositors... Читать дальше...

A $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed against Fox News, the most-watched cable television network in the United States, and its parent company, Fox Corp., will go to trial next month in a case that has enormous implications for the media conglomerate and journalism in general. In the days and weeks that followed the 2020 presidential election, conservative news organizations, including Fox News, repeatedly aired claims that the election results were fraudulent. Several conservative and far-right networks... Читать дальше...

From 5G infrastructure to mobile phones and more, Chinese technologies are used in many parts of the world. It’s part of China’s Digital Silk Road initiative, which is getting mixed reviews: welcomed by some countries, while others are assessing the potential risks of Chinese technology. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee explains. Camera: Henry Ridgwell, Adam Greenbaum