Новости за 03.05.2023

U.S. law enforcement officials have charged a Russian national with running Try2Check, a network of websites that verified stolen credit card numbers for cybercriminals. The network’s four websites have been taken offline, and the State Department announced a $10 million reward for information leading to the capture of Denis Gennadievich Kulkov, the alleged mastermind of Try2Check. Kulkov is believed to live in Samara, Russia. A grand jury indictment unsealed on Wednesday charges him with access device fraud... Читать дальше...

Press freedom is under threat now more than ever, but there is still reason to be hopeful, journalists said at a Wednesday event commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of World Press Freedom Day. Reporters, press freedom experts and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken gathered at The Washington Post headquarters in the nation’s capital to discuss the most pressing challenges and threats facing journalists around the world, ranging from arrest and disinformation to physical assaults and lawfare. Читать дальше...

A top United Nations official is calling on Sudan's rival military leaders to publicly commit themselves to the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance to millions of people struggling to survive amid escalating fighting. At the end of a three-day troubleshooting visit to the region, Martin Griffiths, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said the Sudanese people face a humanitarian catastrophe. Speaking by video link from Port Sudan, Griffiths... Читать дальше...

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters in Kenya the fighting in Sudan needs to stop now, before more people die and the conflict becomes a regional one. During a visit to Kenya on Wednesday, Guterres called on the warring parties in Sudan to put the interests of the Sudanese people first.  "The Sudanese are facing a humanitarian catastrophe, hospitals destroyed, humanitarian warehouses looted, million facing food insecurity," he said. For that reason, he said, both Sudanese... Читать дальше...

For the first time, scientists have caught a star in the act of swallowing a planet — not just a nibble or bite, but one big gulp. Astronomers on Wednesday reported their observations of what appeared to be a gas giant around the size of Jupiter or bigger being eaten by its star. The sun-like star had been puffing up with old age for eons and finally got so big that it engulfed the close-orbiting planet. It's a gloomy preview of what will happen to Earth when our sun morphs into a red giant and gobbles the four inner planets. Читать дальше...

The fountain pen as a practical writing instrument has been declared obsolete numerous times. It was supposedly doomed by the innovations of the drip-free ballpoint pen and the typewriter, then the computer keyboard and now the ability to automatically render voices into text on cellphones. But the 19th-century invention has defied total extinction and is even evolving. In a warehouse in a gritty Philadelphia neighborhood, mechanical engineer Ian Schon is doing something no one else in America does... Читать дальше...

Eli Lilly and Co. said Wednesday its experimental Alzheimer's drug appeared to slow worsening of the mind-robbing disease in a large study. In the 18-month trial, people in the early stages of Alzheimer's who received infusions of donanemab showed 35% less decline in thinking skills compared with those given a dummy drug, Lilly announced in a press release. The drug is designed to target and clear away a sticky protein called beta-amyloid that builds up into brain-clogging plaques that are one hallmark of Alzheimer's. Читать дальше...

Journalist Margaret Sullivan says that when she received word that former colleague Evan Gershkovich had been detained in Russia on spy charges, “The color of the world changed.” Sullivan was in a Washington hotel room watching the news when her former editorial assistant Gershkovich appeared on television. The pair had worked together when Sullivan was the public editor at The New York Times. She is now a columnist at The Guardian. “It just really hit me hard from a personal standpoint to imagine this wonderful... Читать дальше...

Police in Zambia have surrounded the home of former President Edgar Lungu and are demanding they search it as part of a corruption probe.  A spokesman for Zambia's former ruling Patriotic Front party, Raphael Nakachinda, told VOA that police forcefully gained access to the Lusaka home of the former president.  "It's not only unconstitutional, but criminal — this government never to respect the supreme law of the land, which is the constitution, which confers the former president with immunity," Nakachinda said. Читать дальше...

Greece’s Supreme Court has barred a convicted neo-Nazi from competing in upcoming national elections. But despite that decision, the court has allowed another extreme-right, nationalist party to run, raising fears that it can soak up reactionary votes, and enter parliament. The Greek Supreme Court assembly voted nine to one to disqualify Ilias Kasidiaris and his party, called The Greeks, from the May 21 polls. It is the first time a party has been banned since the 1974 restoration of democracy, in the birthplace of democracy. Читать дальше...

Journalists in Cameroon are calling on the government to end threats against reporters, including illegal detentions, prison time, and killings. Journalists are holding conferences across the country to mark May 3 as World Press Freedom Day. They also are demanding justice for two colleagues killed this year and for at least five reporters currently imprisoned. Cameroonian journalists say they are increasingly facing oppression, threats, attacks, illegal detentions and the killing of reporters. Читать дальше...

Former Audi boss Rupert Stadler will plead guilty over the "dieselgate" vehicle emissions-cheating scandal, a German court said Wednesday, which would make him the first auto CEO to be convicted in the resulting lawsuits. Stadler will admit guilt in exchange for a suspended sentence after reaching an agreement with the Munich district court over the scandal that rocked Audi's parent company Volkswagen. German car giant VW — whose subsidiaries include Porsche, Audi, Skoda and Seat — admitted in... Читать дальше...

Heavy rain that triggered flooding and landslides in western and northern Rwanda has killed at least 109 people, the state-run broadcaster said on Wednesday, as authorities searched for survivors trapped in their homes. Muddy water flowed swiftly down an inundated road and destroyed houses in a video clip posted by the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency. "Our main priority now is to reach every house that has been damaged to ensure we can rescue any person who may be trapped," François Habitegeko, governor of Rwanda's Western Province... Читать дальше...

A 14-year-old boy shot his teacher in a Belgrade classroom Wednesday morning before opening fire on other students and security guards, killing at least eight students and one security guard, and wounding several other people police and witnesses said.  Milan Milosevic, the father of one of the pupils at the Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school, said his daughter was in the class where the gun was fired.  "She managed to escape. (The boy) ...first shot the teacher and then he started shooting randomly," Milosevic told broadcaster N1. Читать дальше...

Some 258 million people needed emergency food aid last year because of conflict, economic shocks and climate disasters, a U.N. report said Wednesday, a sharp rise from 193 million the previous year.    "More than a quarter of a billion people are now facing acute levels of hunger, and some are on the brink of starvation. That's unconscionable," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.    It was "a stinging indictment of humanity's failure to make progress... to end hunger, and achieve food... Читать дальше...

The United States and Mexico have reached agreement on a new plan to control the flow of illegal border crossings while also allowing migrants to enter the U.S. on humanitarian grounds.  The plan was announced Tuesday after a meeting between Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and U.S. Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall in Mexico City.  Under the plan, the United States will accept migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela as part of a humanitarian parole program... Читать дальше...

German police arrested dozens of people across the country on Wednesday in an investigation of the Italian 'Ndrangheta organized crime group, German public prosecutors and state police said.  The 'Ndrangheta is based in the southern region of Calabria, the toe of Italy's boot, and has surpassed Cosa Nostra to become the most powerful mafia group in the country - and one of the largest crime networks in the world.  The crackdown was part of a coordinated probe by investigators in Germany, Belgium... Читать дальше...

The growing threat of far-right extremism in Australia has prompted opposition lawmakers to propose a new law to federally criminalize the public display of Nazi symbols. Experts say Australia’s response to white nationalism is similar to that in other countries.  A parliamentary inquiry in Australia’s federal parliament Tuesday heard the Nazi salute and swastika were universally recognized symbols of mass murder and hate that have been weaponized by far-right extremists. The Australian Senate’s... Читать дальше...

For two months, Fatima Begum, 55, has mourned her daughter’s death. Her cries echo loudly, surrounded by relatives and neighbors in the Soibugh neighborhood of Budgam district on the Indian side of Kashmir. On the morning of March 7, Begum’s 28-year-old daughter Aarifa Jan left her family’s home for a computer training center located a few hundred meters away. When she failed to return that evening, the family filed a missing person report with the local police. “We were unable to reach her,... Читать дальше...

Reporters Without Borders has just released its World Press Freedom Index for 2023, and it shows that journalists around the world face an increasingly hostile environment. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias has a summary of the main findings. Jessica Jerreat and Lisa Bryant contributed to this report.

According to this year’s World Press Freedom rankings, the environment for journalism is bad in seven out of 10 countries worldwide. The yearly rankings published by Reporters Without Borders evaluates 180 countries. From Nairobi, VOA’s Mariama Diallo looks at the meaning of the rankings in Africa where analysts say journalism has become more difficult and dangerous.

As press freedoms have diminished in parts of East Africa, some journalists who fled threats at home have turned into activists, calling for stronger protections for the media. Victoria Amunga at VOA's Africa News Center in Nairobi tells the story of one such reporter who fled Somalia. Videographer: Jimmy Makhulo

Two more former Chinese football officials have been placed under investigation for corruption, adding to a growing a list of Chinese sports administrators suspected of unspecified illegal activities. The latest were former Chinese Football Association vice president Li Yuyi and ex-chairman of the Chinese Super League Company that runs the country's top-flight professional league, Ma Chengquan. Two-sentence official statements issued recently said they were suspected of "serious violations of... Читать дальше...

Concerned over its shrinking population, China is proposing new legislation to encourage ethnic Chinese around the world to relocate to China, bringing with them technical and entrepreneurial skills learned abroad.    Changes aimed at creating a more welcoming environment for millions of "the Chinese sons and daughters at home and abroad" are laid out in an April 24 report to the National People’s Congress. However, critics fear the new policy could also open a back door to increased monitoring and harassment of overseas Chinese. Читать дальше...

VOA Persian’s Roozbeh Bolhari on the economic hardships driving Iran’s surge in Labor Day protests and strikes. California State University’s Nayereh Tohidi on participating in rare online public dialogue with dissidents in Iran. Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Jonathan Schanzer on what is driving a potential Jordan-Iran reconciliation.