Новости за 25.03.2023

A drive by the hard-right coalition government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to enact sweeping changes to Israel's judiciary has sparked domestic uproar and alarm among the country's Western allies. What is the government's problem with the judiciary? Critics of the Supreme Court, including many in the coalition government, say the bench is left-leaning and elitist and has become too interventionist in the political sphere, while often putting minority rights before national interests. Читать дальше...

ISeveral people were injured Saturday following clashes between French police and protesters opposed to a large water reservoir for farm irrigation, despite a ban on gatherings in the area.  Police fired tear gas to repel some protesters who threw fireworks and other projectiles as they crossed fields to approach the construction area in the western rural district of Sainte-Soline. At least three police vehicles were set alight, television footage showed.  Two protesters were seriously hurt,... Читать дальше...

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Saturday the government is aware of reports of two U.S. citizens missing in Haiti, after media outlets said a Florida couple had been kidnapped. Abigail Toussaint and Jean-Dickens Toussaint, both 33, were taken near capital Port-au-Prince and have been held for days, according to an online petition started by a woman who said she is a relative of the couple. The couple was on a trip to visit family and attend a festival when they were kidnapped during a bus ride, the relative said, according to CNN.

The prison sentences for two defendants who were convicted in Kenya’s Garissa University terror attacks have been lowered by a court. High Court Justice Cecilia Githua has acquitted Hassan Edin Hassan and Mohamed Abdi Abikar of the crime of being members of the al-Shabab militant group, but she upheld the convictions of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act. The action lowers their prison sentences from 41 years to 25-and-a-half years. Nairobi-based security analyst Richard Tuya says the ruling is a blow in the fight against terrorism. Читать дальше...

The release of Paul Rusesabagina from a Rwandan prison late Friday was the result of months of negotiations between Washington and Kigali, with both eager to draw a line under what they described as an "irritant" to their relationship. Two U.S. officials — one from President Joe Biden's administration and a Congressional aide — said no concrete concessions were made to secure the release of Rusesabagina, a U.S. permanent resident made famous by the 2004 film 'Hotel Rwanda,' about his role saving Tutsis during the 1994 genocide. Читать дальше...

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday he had been disqualified from parliament because he has been asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi tough questions about his relationship with Gautam Adani, founder of the Adani conglomerate. Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party responded saying Gandhi had been punished under the law for a defamatory comment he made in 2019 and it had nothing to do with the Adani issue. Gandhi, a former president of India’s main opposition Congress party who is still its main leader... Читать дальше...

The bodies of two people were found Friday on a freight train in Texas after someone telephoned officials to let them know that there were people on board who were in distress. It was not immediately clear who made the phone call. Officials discovered the bodies and 13 people inside a shipping container when they stopped the train in Uvalde County, Texas, near the town of Knippa. At least five of the people were in critical condition. All the people, many of them dehydrated, were thought to be migrants. Читать дальше...

An explosion at a chocolate factory in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, Friday killed two people. Eight people were injured in the blast, authorities said. Nine people are missing. The source of the explosion at the R.M. Palmer Company was not immediately clear, according to officials. One building was completely destroyed in the blast, while another was damaged. West Reading Borough Mayor Samantha Kaag said the explosion was so strong that one building was moved “four feet forward.” Palmer opened for business in 1948... Читать дальше...

“Many in the Mississippi Delta need your prayer and God's protection tonight,” Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves posted on Twitter Friday, as a tornado ripped through the Southern U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. At least seven people have died, authorities say and many more have been injured. Some may be trapped under the rubble caused by the tornado that traveled at as much as 70 miles per hour. Search and rescue teams have been dispatched to the areas.

The discovery of major lithium deposits is being seen as a mixed blessing in India's troubled Kashmir region, where hopes for a major economic boost are tempered by fears of human displacement and damage to the territory's fragile ecology. The finding of the lithium, key to the manufacture of batteries used in electric cars and other electronic devices, is likely very good news for India as a whole, promising to save the country billions of dollars as it seeks to move its economy away from fossil fuels. Читать дальше...

In the densely forested mountains of central Puerto Rico, nonprofit Casa Pueblo has captured the world's attention for its efforts to turn the municipality of Adjuntas into the island-commonwealth’s first solar town. Residents call it an "energy insurrection" in their battle with the effects of climate change. Founded in 1980, the nonprofit was launched to confront mining exploitation in the region. The nonprofit’s struggle continued for more than a decade, until the government ultimately banned open-pit mining in 1995. Читать дальше...

Despite the Myanmar army's denials, survivors and witnesses recently told VOA that during raids on their villages, soldiers used “systematic tactical force” to suppress resistance from villagers, including burning down houses, torture, rape, and mass killings. According to witnesses, Tar Taing village in Sagaing township was raided by junta troops in early March, leaving 17 local people dead, all brutally tortured and killed. Pro-junta media outlets described the victims, who were shot in the back of the head... Читать дальше...

China’s special envoy to Myanmar held a third round of meetings in four months last week with several of Myanmar's most powerful armed rebel groups, some of them battling the military for control of the borderland area two years after the coup that brought the military to power. The ethnic armed organizations, or EAOs, have semi- or fully autonomous enclaves in Myanmar’s northeast, which borders Yunnan for 2,000 kilometers, and they have formed an alliance called the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee. Читать дальше...

U.S. President Joe Biden said the United States would respond "forcefully" to protect Americans after the U.S. military said it carried out airstrikes in eastern Syria in response to a suspected Iranian-backed attack. Speaking during a state visit to Canada on Friday, Biden said the United States "does not seek conflict with Iran but is prepared to act forcefully to protect our people." "That's exactly what happened last night," he added. The U.S. military said it carried out multiple "precision"... Читать дальше...

A dual Haitian Chilean citizen pleaded guilty in a U.S. court on Friday to three charges involving his role in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, gunned down in his home in 2021.  According to court documents, Rodolphe Jaar is one of 11 defendants in the case, which includes businessmen accused of helping obtain vehicles and firearms from Florida and former Colombian soldiers accused of killing Moise in his bedroom.  According to a plea statement Jaar signed Friday, he provided personnel and funds to kidnap Moise... Читать дальше...

Paul Rusesabagina has been released from a Rwandan prison, according to U.S. officials, after the Rwandan government commuted his prison sentence following diplomatic efforts by the United States. Rusesabagina, once a hotel manager in Rwanda's capital, Kigali, is credited with saving hundreds of lives during the country's 1994 genocide. His actions inspired the Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda. U.S. officials say Rusesabagina was released from prison shortly before midnight Friday and was taken to... Читать дальше...

The Islamic State group killed 15 people foraging for desert truffles in conflict-ravaged central Syria by cutting their throats, while 40 others are missing, a war monitor said Friday. Since February, at least 150 people, most of them civilians, have been killed by IS attacks targeting truffle hunters or by landmines left by the extremists, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Syria's desert truffles fetch high prices in a country battered by 12 years of war and a crushing economic crisis. Читать дальше...

As Japan lifts its post-war military restraints, perhaps nowhere is feeling the change more than the remote island of Yonaguni. Located not far from Taiwan, the tiny Japanese island is slowly being transformed into a military outpost. The concern of many residents is being caught in conflict between China and the self-governing island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own. VOA’s Bill Gallo visited Yonaguni and shares this report.

The shooting deaths of two drivers with the U.N.'s World Food Program in South Sudan last week underscored the country’s status as one of the deadliest for aid workers. But aid workers say help is needed now more than ever as the World Bank estimates more than 9 million people will need assistance this year. Since the beginning of the year, there have been close to 20 attacks on humanitarian aid workers, according to the World Food Program country director in South Sudan, Mary Ellan. She said the... Читать дальше...

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris arrives in Ghana Sunday as part of a three-nation Africa tour aimed at strengthening U.S. relations on the continent. Although Ghana and America have a close friendship dating back to 1957, China is now a far larger trading partner with Ghana than the U.S. Kent Mensah reports from Accra on how Harris’ trip could impact U.S. trade with Ghana. Camera: Nneka Chile

A U.S. ban of Chinese-owned TikTok, the country's most popular social media for young people, seems increasingly inevitable a day after the grilling of its CEO by Washington lawmakers from across the political divide.  But the Biden administration will have to move carefully in denying 150 million Americans their favorite platform over its links to China, especially after a previous effort by then-President Donald Trump was struck down by a U.S. court.  TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew endured a barrage... Читать дальше...