Новости за 30.03.2023

Protesters threw stones at police in Kenya's capital and attackers set fire to an office run by the president's party in a western town on Thursday during a third wave of demonstrations organized by his opponents. Thousands joined marches called by opposition leader Raila Odinga against high living costs and alleged fraud in last year's vote. The government has said the vote was fair, defended its economic record and called for the protests to stop. Violence also marred Monday's protests, and the first demonstrations the Monday before that... Читать дальше...

An association of American Jews on Thursday hailed what it said was the first shipment from Pakistan of food products offloaded in Israel.     The transaction this week involved Pakistani-Jewish businessman Fishel BenKhald and three Israeli businesspeople, the American Jewish Congress said in a statement from its New York headquarters.    BenKhald lives in Karachi, the largest city in the Muslim-majority nation, where he runs a Jewish kosher certification business for food manufacturers exporting products to destinations worldwide. Читать дальше...

Astronomers witness the birth of a galaxy. Plus, damaged goods depart the International Space Station, and plans are set to seek life elsewhere in our solar system. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space.

Authorities in Montenegro say the United States and South Korea have asked the Balkan nation to extradite South Korean Terraform Lab founder Do Kwon, who is suspected in those countries of cryptocurrency fraud amounting to more than $40 billion. "Two Koreans wanted by South Korea, Do Kwon and the company’s chief financial officer, Han Chang-joon, were detained when they attempted to cross the state border with passports that are reasonably suspected of being forged," said Montenegrin Justice Minister... Читать дальше...

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

The United States and South Korea are holding some of their biggest – and most visible – military exercises in years. They are in response to North Korea’s dramatic increase in provocative missile tests. VOA’s Bill Gallo attended some of the U.S.-South Korean drills and explains what they mean for North Korea tensions moving forward. VOA footage by Kim Hyungjin and Bill Gallo. Lee Juhyun contributed.

An open letter signed by Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and other prominent high-tech experts and industry leaders is calling on the artificial intelligence industry to take a six-month pause for the development of safety protocols regarding the technology. The letter — which as of early Thursday had been signed by nearly 1,400 people — was drafted by the Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit group dedicated to “steering transformative technologies away from extreme, large-scale risks... Читать дальше...

Officials in Malawi say hope has all but disappeared for finding some 500 people who are still missing two weeks after Cyclone Freddy hit the country. Disaster management officials said Wednesday that the country will now focus on rebuilding infrastructure destroyed by the cyclone. Charles Kalemba, commissioner for the Department of Disaster Management Affairs, told reporters that the search and rescue team has ended operations in some districts, including Chiradzulu, where the government used excavators to sift through the muddy rubble. Читать дальше...

Human rights defenders have alleged that Taliban authorities in Afghanistan are increasingly targeting civil society activists and media workers critical of their curbs on women's access to education and most areas of public life. Afghan civil society sources, who did not want to be named due to safety concerns, said this week's arrest of Matiullah Wesa, a well-known education activist and founder of the PenPath community-based education support network, is part of a larger crackdown in the country. Читать дальше...

Burkina Faso’s military government suspended the international broadcaster France 24 after it had aired an excerpt of an interview with the head of a regional al-Qaida affiliate. VOA’s Salem Solomon spoke to the journalist who conducted the interview.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday pledged continuing cooperation with Tanzania as she met with the country’s president, the only female head of state in Africa, in the middle of her first official visit to the continent. Tanzania’s president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, took office when former President John Magafuli died in 2021. She is credited for rolling back some of his unpopular policies, such as his resistance to COVID-19 vaccinations, his ban on pregnant schoolgirls and his limits on freedoms of expression. Читать дальше...

Authorities in northwestern Pakistan said Thursday that a predawn militant assault on a police outpost and subsequent roadside bomb blast had killed four police officers and wounded six others. The deadly violence occurred in Lakki Marwat district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan. A provincial police statement said that militants raided a security outpost in the area, injuring six security forces. It added that a nearby police station had quickly dispatched reinforcements... Читать дальше...

The Vatican on Thursday formally repudiated the colonial-era "doctrine of discovery", used centuries ago to justify European conquests of Africa and the Americas, saying "it is not part of Catholic Church teaching." The Vatican acknowledged in a statement from its culture and human development departments that papal documents from the 15th century were used by colonial powers to give legitimacy to their actions, which included slavery. The departments specifically mentioned the papal bulls Dum Diversas (Until Different) from 1452... Читать дальше...

The International Court of Justice is due to rule Thursday in a dispute between Iran and the United States about nearly $2 billion in frozen assets. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that the assets seized by U.S. courts should be turned over to victims of a 1983 bombing at a U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut and other attacks linked to Iran. Iran has denied any involvement in the attacks and says the United States illegally froze the assets, which include $1.75 billion in bonds belonging to Iran’s central bank. Читать дальше...

Brazil's far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro returned from the United States on Thursday, greeted by hundreds of supporters at capital Brasilia's airport to welcome him back after three months. Bolsonaro, who never conceded defeat in last year's election, is expected to lead the opposition to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, officials in his PL party said. Before boarding a plane in Orlando, Bolsonaro played down his leadership role and said he will use his experience to help his party... Читать дальше...

As the world marks International Day of Zero Waste on Thursday, South Africa is taking steps to ensure that those collecting recyclables from homes and rubbish dumps register so they will be eligible for benefits such as higher payments for the items they collect. Authorities say this is necessary because the work they do contributes to the economy and helps fight against climate change. Vicky Stark reports for VOA from Cape Town, South Africa. Camera: Shadley Lombard

Russia's FSB security service said on Thursday that a reporter with the U.S. newspaper The Wall Street Journal, Evan Gershkovich, had been detained in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on suspicion of espionage, the Interfax news agency reported. In a statement quoted by Interfax, the FSB said it had "stopped the illegal activities of U.S. citizen Gershkovich Evan, born in 1991, a correspondent of the Moscow bureau of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, accredited at the Russian Foreign Ministry... Читать дальше...

As a reporter in the early 1990s, Bruce Shapiro had a “steady diet of difficult stories.” Criminal justice, police violence, interviews with Holocaust survivors and combat veterans.     He knew trauma and tragedy well and considered himself a sensitive reporter.   But when he became a victim of a violent crime, Shapiro says, “I realized that actually I didn’t understand anything.”     Shapiro was badly wounded in a mass stabbing in 1994. The incident attracted widespread media coverage, and... Читать дальше...

Experts on nuclear security policy and weapons proliferation were contacted by suspected North Korean hackers posing as Voice of America journalists, according to a threat intelligence group, which says this is part of a recent pattern of impersonating reporters from major news organizations. The online spies were attempting to gather intelligence about the stance of international officials toward the Pyongyang government of Kim Jong Un, according to a report issued by Mandiant, an American cybersecurity firm and subsidiary of Google. Читать дальше...

The governor of Kentucky said on Thursday fatalities were expected after two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters crashed during a routine training mission over the state late on Wednesday. The status of the crew members was not immediately known, the U.S. Army's Fort Campbell said in a statement to Reuters, without providing the number of people who were on board. "We’ve got some tough news out of Fort Campbell, with early reports of a helicopter crash, and fatalities are expected," governor Andy Beshear said in a post on Twitter... Читать дальше...

The U.S. has deported a North Korean businessman to China after sentencing him for multiple money laundering offenses using the American financial system to buy luxury goods for the regime in Pyongyang, according to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson.  Mun Chol Myong, a 55-year-old North Korean national, was sentenced in U.S. federal district court in Washington in January to time served of 45 months in prison for a money laundering scheme to evade U.S. and U.N. sanctions... Читать дальше...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Wednesday approved the non-prescription use of a drug that rapidly reverses the effects of overdoses of opioids, including fentanyl. VOA’s Natasha Mozgovaya has our story from Seattle, Washington.

Indonesia was stripped Wednesday of its hosting duties for the 2023 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, sending shock waves through the soccer world just weeks before the tournament was scheduled to begin. FIFA, the international soccer federation, did not spell out the reasons for its decision, saying only on its website that it decided, “due to the current circumstances, to remove Indonesia as the host of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023.” The decision followed a meeting between FIFA President Gianni Infantino... Читать дальше...

The head of the board of directors at Namibia’s national oil company has appeared in court to face charges of dealing drugs. Jennifer Comalie was arrested at the company’s offices on Monday when intelligence officers acting on a tipoff allegedly found a consignment of drugs in her official vehicle. On Tuesday she appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate Court on charges of dealing in “dangerous dependence-producing substances.” A spokesperson for the Namibian police in the Khomas region, Silas Shipandeni, confirmed the arrest to VOA. Читать дальше...

Jack Ma, one of China’s most prominent entrepreneurs, returned to China this week after traveling overseas for more than a year, in what is being interpreted as evidence of an improved climate for the nation’s private sector. He paid a visit Monday to the Yungu School, a private academy in Hangzhou funded by Ma’s Alibaba Group, which includes one of the world’s biggest online commerce companies. There, he talked about “the future of education with the campus directors” and “the challenges and opportunities”... Читать дальше...