Новости за 13.04.2023

Myanmar’s opposition envoy to the United Nations appealed Thursday for international action to protect civilians in his country after the military junta carried out deadly airstrikes this week on villagers in northwest Myanmar. “On behalf of the people of Myanmar, I again call for the international community, especially the U.N. Security Council, to take decisive actions to save lives of the people of Myanmar, to end the military impunity and to prevent further destabilization of the region,” Kyaw Moe Tun told reporters on Thursday. Читать дальше...

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center on Thursday issued an El Nino watch for the next six months, a climate pattern that is likely to play a role in this year's Atlantic hurricane season.  In a statement, NOAA said the indications are favorable — a 62% chance — for an El Nino pattern to form sometime from May to July. The pattern is characterized by warmer ocean temperatures and higher than normal precipitation in the central to eastern Pacific Ocean. Читать дальше...

Ghana has become the first country to approve a new malaria vaccine described as a "world changer" by scientists who developed it at the University of Oxford. The mosquito-spread parasitic disease kills more than 600,000 people every year. The majority are children in sub-Saharan Africa. A statement issued Wednesday by Oxford University says its new malaria vaccine called R21 has secured regulatory approval by Ghanaian officials for use in the age group at highest risk of death from malaria — children age 5-to-36 months. Читать дальше...

Botswana's wildlife authorities say four rhinoceroses were shot, and two of them died, in a heavily guarded sanctuary, although their horns were not removed. The shootings at the sanctuary in central Botswana came after the government de-horned and relocated most of the rhinos further inland to discourage poachers. The permanent secretary at the environment and tourism ministry, Thato Raphaka, said the shooting took place at the protected Khama Rhino Sanctuary recently. Raphaka said the two carcasses... Читать дальше...

NASA opens the door to its Mars simulator. Plus, a private spaceflight contender gets knocked out, and the hooves of a beloved children’s character return to British soil. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting Vietnam later this week. Blinken's first trip to Hanoi as the top U.S. diplomat comes as the two countries are eyeing an upgrade in bilateral ties to a strategic partnership. Blinken will also break ground on a new U.S. Embassy compound. State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching has more from Hanoi, Vietnam.

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

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday it has referred 17 additional unruly airline passengers to the FBI for criminal prosecution. The cases of unruly behavior include a widely reported incident in March in which a man attempted to open an aircraft emergency exit door during flight and used a makeshift weapon to assault a flight attendant. The FAA reports that most of the cases involve assaults against flight attendants and other passengers, and they date from July 2022 to March 2023. Читать дальше...

The Berlin Zoo celebrated the 66th birthday of Fatou, the world’s oldest-known living gorilla, with a special dinner that included fruit, vegetables and a watermelon with her age carved into it. Fatou, a Western lowland gorilla, enjoyed her birthday meal Thursday as zoo visitors snapped pictures. Her keeper, Ruben Gralki, said her species would live 45 to 50 years in nature. While zoo animals tend to live longer, he said that reaching an age beyond 60 years is a special feat. The zoo said in... Читать дальше...

U.S. News & World Report publishes the most influential college rankings in the U.S. But last year, Yale Law School – the No. 1 legal program in the country for years – chose not to participate. Twelve of the top 14 law schools followed suit, though most still made it into this year’s rankings despite not submitting data. Now, both undergraduate and graduate programs are deciding whether rankings make sense for them. This panel discussion, featuring the dean of Yale Law, the CEO of U.S. News & World Report and a high school student... Читать дальше...

It's been more than half-a-century since humans last set foot on the moon, but that's about to change. This week on The Inside Story - The Artemis Generation Episode 87

The Biden administration is seeking to allow immigrants illegally brought to the United States as children greater access to health insurance through federal programs, the White House said on Thursday. The proposal would allow participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, to access to health insurance under Medicaid and Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges, it said.   "Health care should be a right. I've worked hard to get more Americans health insurance than ever before," President Joe Biden said on Twitter... Читать дальше...

The White House announced Thursday $300 million for nine bridge projects in rural and urban areas of the United States, as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure law passed last year. In a statement, the White House said in all, the bridges “serve over 230,000 vehicles combined per day, and the investments will save taxpayers time and money by reducing congestion and making long-overdue improvements.” To highlight the various projects, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the Arland D. Читать дальше...

Transcript The Inside Story: The Artemis Generation Episode 87 – April13, 2023     Show Open:   Shanna DeLeon, Orion Program Office Software Manager:   This is the largest mission that NASA has taken on.       Unidentified Narrator:   Humans last stepped foot on the moon in 1972 during NASA’s Apollo program.   More than fifty years later, that’s about to change.       Branelle Rodriguez, NASA Orion Program Integration Manager:   Apollo had a sister, Artemis... Читать дальше...

A court in Peru sentenced the country's former military intelligence chief to 12 years in prison on Thursday over his role in the 1988 murder of a journalist. Daniel Urresti was found to have been complicit in the killing of Hugo Bustios, a reporter for weekly magazine Caretas, the court ruled. Bustios was killed during a plain-clothed military patrol in the Andean region of Ayacucho. Urresti was part of the patrol, which took place in the epicenter of an armed conflict, but he maintained his innocence throughout the trial. Читать дальше...

Alexei Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition politician, is grappling with a mystery ailment in jail that could be some sort of slow acting poison and has lost 8 kg in weight in just over two weeks, his spokeswoman said. An ambulance was called for Navalny overnight on Friday to Saturday to the maximum-security IK-6 penal colony at Melekhovo, about 250 km (115 miles) east of Moscow, where he is being held. Kira Yarmysh, his spokeswoman, said in a video clip on Twitter accompanied by disturbing background music. Читать дальше...

Villagers in southern Cameroon are complaining about the destruction of farmland by wild elephants in areas bordering Gabon and Equatorial Guinea and are calling on authorities to help.  Villagers say elephants have chased people away and made it impossible for farmers on both sides of the border to plant this season's crops. Officials blame farmers for occupying the elephants' habitat, provoking human-wildlife conflict. Officials on Cameroon's southern border with Gabon and Equatorial Guinea... Читать дальше...

Russia may be willing to discuss a potential prisoner swap involving jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich with the U.S. after a court delivers its verdict, a top Russian diplomat said Thursday. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state news agency Tass that talks about a possible exchange could take place through a dedicated channel that Russian and U.S. security agencies established for such purposes. "We have a working channel that was used in the past to achieve concrete agreements... Читать дальше...

The first image of a black hole captured four years ago revealed a fuzzy, fiery doughnut-shaped object. Now, researchers have used artificial intelligence to give that cosmic beauty shot a touch-up. The updated picture, published Thursday in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, keeps the original shape, but with a skinnier ring and a sharper resolution. The image released in 2019 gave a peek at the enormous black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy, 53 million light-years from Earth. A light-year... Читать дальше...

Many college graduates aspire to work in government because of the stability, benefits and sense of purpose. But at least six states have tried to reduce the importance of a college degree in getting a job, arguing that the requirements are a burden on poorer applicants and result in turning away many gifted ones – all amidst a labor shortage. New Jersey, one of the wealthiest and most populous states, is just the latest. Read the story from Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech for The Hill. (April 2023)

Qatar and Bahrain announced late Wednesday that they had agreed to end a long-running diplomatic feud and re-establish relations. Bahrain in 2017 joined Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in imposing a diplomatic blockade on Qatar. The countries' rivalry goes back even further, however, and Bahrain is the last to renew ties. Agreement on the reconciliation was reached in talks at the Gulf Cooperation Council headquarters in Saudi Arabia, Qatar's foreign ministry said. The neighbors... Читать дальше...

Uzbekistan is hosting a conference Thursday of foreign ministers of regional countries, including Russia and China, to review the situation and cooperation with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The event in the Uzbek city of Samarkand comes as the United Nations reviews its presence in the strife-torn South Asian nation after the radical Taliban barred female staff from working for the world body, the latest in a series of curbs placed on Afghan women. Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is... Читать дальше...

Japan is planning to establish a new framework to provide defense aid to “like-minded” countries, a move analysts say highlights Tokyo’s intention to play a more active role in regional security amid the growth of Chinese influence. Tokyo’s move to establish an Overseas Security Assistance (OSA) program is Japan’s first departure from its own restrictions that banned the government from using international aid for military purposes. The OSA will provide nonlethal material and equipment, as well as assistance for infrastructure development... Читать дальше...

Two human rights groups said in a report issued Thursday that Iran executed at least 582 prisoners last year, the country’s highest level since 2015.  Norway-based Iran Human Rights and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty said the number of executions had risen 75% compared to the previous year.  The groups said in their report that Iran uses the death penalty as a way to intimidate and oppress people in order to maintain power.  The report said about half of the executions were for murder charges. Читать дальше...

Jury selection begins Thursday in the defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News and its parent company. Dominion sued the cable news network Fox News in 2021, seeking $1.6 billion for what it said was damage done to the company by Fox News promoting what it knew were false claims by former U.S. President Donald Trump that Dominion voting machines were used to rig the 2020 against him. Fox News has denied committing defamation and said it was merely reporting on Trump’s... Читать дальше...