Новости за 29.04.2023

A former U.S. national security adviser called for deeper interaction between the United States and Taiwan during a visit Saturday to the self-ruled island, which has seen increasing military threats from China. John Bolton, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2024, said at a pro-Taiwan independence event in Taipei that national security teams from both sides must develop contingency plans on how to respond to actions Beijing might take, warning it would be too late once an attack occurs. Читать дальше...

Hundreds of Americans fleeing two weeks of deadly fighting in Sudan reached the east African nation's port Saturday in the first U.S.-run evacuation, completing a dangerous land journey under escort of armed drones. American unmanned aircraft, which have been keeping an eye on overland evacuation routes for days, provided armed overwatch for a bus convoy carrying 200 to 300 Americans more than 800 kilometers to Port Sudan, a place of relative safety, U.S. officials said. The U.S., which had none... Читать дальше...

Iran's supreme leader and president both slammed the United States' presence in the Middle East, as Tehran hosted the president of neighboring Iraq for wide-ranging talks Saturday.  Decades-old arch enemies the United States and Iran have vied for influence in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.  Both helped Iraq defeat the Islamic State group, and the U.S. still has 2,500 noncombat troops in the country to provide it with advice and training.  Some 900 U.S. troops remain in Syria... Читать дальше...

Four thousand Iranian petrochemical workers on strike over pay and conditions in an energy-producing region of the country's south will be sacked and replaced, state media reported. The employees in Bushehr province have demanded salary increases and improved conditions for accommodation and transport, an official in charge of the Islamic republic's oil and gas sector in the region was quoted Friday by state news agency IRNA. "In eight petrochemical projects of this region, a number of seasonal... Читать дальше...

An accountant working on a high-profile corruption case was killed along with his son by unknown gunmen while traveling on one of South Africa's main highways. A government health department employee who warned of illegal dealings worth nearly $50 million was shot 12 times in the driveway of her home.  The slayings and other cases have anti-corruption groups urging South African authorities to provide far better protection for whistleblowers. They also have fueled outrage over widespread graft linked to government contracts... Читать дальше...

A Texas man went next door with a rifle and fatally shot five of his neighbors, including an 8-year-old boy, after they asked him to stop firing rounds in his yard because they were trying to sleep, authorities said Saturday.  The suspect, identified as 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza, remained at large more than 18 hours after the shooting and authorities warned that he might still be armed. The attack happened just before midnight Friday near the town of Cleveland, north of Houston, on a street... Читать дальше...

By comparing the genetic blueprints of an array of animals, scientists are gaining new insights into our own species and all we share with other creatures.  One of the most striking revelations is that certain passages in the instructions for life have persisted across evolutionary time, representing a through line that binds all mammals – including us.  The findings come from the Zoonomia Project, an international effort that offers clues about human traits and diseases, animal abilities like... Читать дальше...

The U.S. Army on Friday said it was grounding its aviation units until they receive further training. All Army aviators are grounded “except for those participating in critical missions,” the Army said in a statement. The move comes after two helicopters collided in Alaska earlier this week, killing three soldiers and injuring a fourth. In March, nine soldiers were killed in Kentucky when two Army Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopters crashed during a nighttime training exercise. The... Читать дальше...

Every decision Assata Salim makes for her young son is important. Amid a spike in mass killings, questions of safety were at the top of her mind when choosing a school. Next on her checklist was the school's culture. Salim and her 6-year-old, Cho'Zen Waters, are Black. In Georgia, where they live, public schools are prohibited from teaching divisive concepts, including the idea that one race is better than another or that states are fundamentally racist. To Salim, the new rules mean public schools might not affirm Cho'Zen's African roots... Читать дальше...

While a clear majority of Americans still drink alcohol, many others choose to skip it.. As the US marks April as Alcohol Awareness month, the nondrinkers in Washington can head to a perfect bar, called Binge Bar – Washington’s first booze-free bar. Karina Bafradzhian has the story. Video: David Gogokhia

The Kenyan government has evacuated citizens from troubled Sudan, but with a shaky cease-fire set to expire at midnight Sunday, the parents of Kenyan students who are stuck are appealing to Nairobi to speed up the departure process. Ahmed Hussein reports from Wajir County where more of the students are from.

Various polls show that American voters, including Democrats, do not want President Joe Biden to run again in 2024, citing his age as one of the primary reasons. Yet he is almost certain to be the Democratic nominee, and the party appears to have little doubt he will win again. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara explains the reason behind their confidence.

An unprecedented bilateral nuclear declaration that Washington and Seoul just announced may not be enough to assuage South Koreans' worries about a U.S. pledge to protect them from North Korea's nuclear attacks as it was designed to do, according to experts. U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol presented the Washington Declaration on Wednesday at a post-summit news conference. With it, the U.S. agreed to "make every effort to consult with the ROK on any possible nuclear... Читать дальше...

Strikes by air, tanks and artillery rocked Sudan's capital, Khartoum, and the adjacent city of Bahri on Friday, witnesses said, mocking a 72-hour truce extension announced by the army and a rival paramilitary force.  Hundreds have been killed and tens of thousands have fled for their lives in a power struggle between the army and Rapid Support Forces that erupted on April 15 and disabled an internationally backed transition toward democratic elections.   The fighting has also reawakened a two-decade-old... Читать дальше...

U.S. intelligence agencies pushing lawmakers to reauthorize a controversial set of surveillance tools are hoping to get a boost from a new report showing fewer U.S. citizens and residents are getting swept up in the agencies' collection efforts. The just-released report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence found that even as U.S. intelligence agencies are making greater use of collection authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the number of U.S. persons — citizens or legal residents ... Читать дальше...

Barely five weeks after the last bout of heavy rain and snow in California's historically wet winter, firefighters battled the state's first large wildfire of the year Friday in rugged foothills east of Los Angeles. The Nob fire has scorched about 81 hectares of brush and grass in the San Bernardino National Forest since erupting on Wednesday, with 25% of the blaze's perimeter contained by Thursday night, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The blaze posed no immediate threat to populated areas... Читать дальше...

Influential Iranian Sunni Muslim cleric Abdul Hamid Ismaeelzehi, known as Molavi Abdul Hamid, criticized Iran’s supreme leader during his Friday sermon in Zahedan City and said that holding a referendum to solve problems would not be needed if the authorities instead listened to the voice of the people. Molavi Abdul Hamid said Friday that every government in the world, Islamic or non-Islamic, must be with the people, and no one can survive by force of arms. While he did not actually name Ali Khamenei... Читать дальше...

Canada and the United States have agreed to trace guns that are intercepted at the border, a move meant to enhance efforts to stop the smuggling of handguns to the north from the world's biggest private firearm market, officials from both countries said Friday. Canada's Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said they signed four agreements in Ottawa aimed at addressing cross-border crime, including one featuring increased tracing of firearms. Читать дальше...

The United States needs to speed up its diplomatic efforts in the Pacific island region in the face of Chinese competition, a U.S. diplomat said Friday, adding that he was sure President Joe Biden would be warmly welcomed there if he decided to visit. Joseph Yun, a special presidential envoy who leads efforts to renegotiate U.S. agreements with three Pacific island states, was asked at a U.S. think tank about reports that Biden would make a brief stop in Papua New Guinea (PNG) on May 22 and the response from officials there. Читать дальше...

Four Kurdish journalists appeared in court in Turkey this week, accused of having ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). JinNews reporter Beritan Canozer, journalist Remzi Akkaya, Mesopotamia News Agency (MA) editor Abdurrahman Gok, and MA reporter Mehmet Sah Oruc were taken into custody in coordinated dawn raids Tuesday, in which Turkish police detained at least 128 people in 21 cities. Among those detained are 10 journalists, a lawyer representing arrested Kurdish journalists in other court cases... Читать дальше...

Iran's top diplomat visited Lebanon's border with Israel on Friday where he expressed support for the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group in its struggle against their common enemy: Israel.  Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian began his visit to Lebanon on Wednesday, meeting top officials and expressing Tehran's readiness to help build power stations to try to end the Mediterranean country's prevailing electricity crisis.  Lebanon is in the throes of the worst economic crisis in its modern history... Читать дальше...

The discovery of DNA's double helix structure 70 years ago opened up a world of new science — and also sparked disputes over who contributed what and who deserves credit. Much of the controversy comes from a central idea: that James Watson and Francis Crick — the first to figure out DNA's shape — stole data from a scientist named Rosalind Franklin. Now, two historians are suggesting that while parts of that story are accurate — Watson and Crick did rely on research from Franklin and her lab without permission ... Читать дальше...

For the third time in less than three decades, Uzbekistan is asking citizens to vote on the country's constitution. After becoming independent in 1991, the country held votes in 1995 and 2002 focused on changing the presidential term and creating a bicameral parliament. The latest ballot, set for Sunday, would introduce a new constitution. VOA interviews with political and civil society leaders revealed a mixed outlook, with many citizens and observers suspecting ulterior motives, although some... Читать дальше...

Millions of Sudanese face acute hunger, increased health risks, and death from recoverable injuries because United Nations agencies have been forced to suspend their lifesaving activities in Sudan, where fighting has it made it too dangerous for them to operate. Sudan and its neighbors had suffered decades of deprivation, hardship and conflict. Before fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Response Forces two weeks ago, Sudan already hosted more than 4 million forcibly displaced people. Читать дальше...

Scholars and historical institutions from around the world are coming to the defense of a Polish researcher who is under fire from her country’s authorities after contending that Poles could have done more to help Jews during the Holocaust.  Barbara Engelking said in a TV interview last week that Polish Jews felt disappointed in Poles during World War II, referring to what she described as “widespread blackmailing” of Jews by Poles during the Nazi German occupation.  Since then, the historian... Читать дальше...