Новости за 05.05.2023

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged more than $100 million Friday for Brazil's fund to protect the Amazon rainforest, at a meeting with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ahead of King Charles III's coronation. "Beyond football, there are so many interests we have in common ... [including] combating climate change," Sunak told Lula as they met at 10 Downing Street in London. "I'm delighted to announce we will be investing in your Amazon Fund, and I pay tribute to your leadership on this issue," Sunak added. Читать дальше...

The head of the International Monetary Fund is urging African countries to implement the Africa Continental Free Trade Area. Speaking Friday in Nairobi, Kristalina Georgieva said intracontinental trade could grow by 53% if steps are taken to remove trade barriers and improve logistics and transportation. Georgieva said there are many benefits to be gained from the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, or AfCFTA. But first, she said, reforms are needed to capture the full advantages, including what the IMF sees as the number one priority ... Читать дальше...

Officials in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo said Friday that torrential rains in the South Kivu province during the past week prompted flash floods that killed nearly 200 people. Local and regional officials in South Kivu's Kalehe territory, on the western side of Lake Kivu, say the rainfall caused rivers to overflow Thursday, inundating several villages. According to Agence France-Presse, a Kalehe elected official told a local radio station that at least 150 people were dead. Reuters news service... Читать дальше...

Iran has revoked the visas of four Azerbaijani diplomats, adding to tensions between the neighboring countries a month after Azerbaijan expelled four Iranian diplomats from Baku. "The Iranian side, without any reason and citing the principle of reciprocity as an excuse, declared two employees of the embassy of our country in Iran, who were evacuated in January, as well as two employees of the consulate general, persona non grata," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told VOA. The move comes after... Читать дальше...

The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Friday she is stepping down from that position effective June 30. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who along with Dr. Anthony Fauci, was one of the faces of U.S. President Joe Biden's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, reportedly announced she was stepping down at a CDC staff meeting.  Biden confirmed the announcement in a statement Friday praising Walensky for saving lives through "her steadfast and unwavering focus on... Читать дальше...

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

Philippines authorities say they rescued more than 1,000 human trafficking victims from across Asia during a raid Thursday night and Friday.  Police say the victims were forced to work up to 18 hours a day perpetrating cryptocurrency scams. It allegedly happened in a compound in Mabalacat, about a two-hour drive from the country's capital, Manila. "They met the people they scammed on Facebook and dating apps," Captain Michelle Sabino of the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group told VOA. Читать дальше...

Ethiopia's Human Rights Commission has denounced security measures against protesters in the Amhara region this week that it said led to the deaths of civilians. The government-established commission, which is monitoring operations in the region, reported civilian deaths, though it did not specify how many people were killed. The regional director for monitoring and investigation, Alemu Meheretu, said the commission has received reports of shelling in the Amhara region’s North Shewa Zone. “There have been attacks with heavy weapons. Читать дальше...

Mali's military government on Friday set a new date for a delayed constitutional referendum meant to pave the way for presidential elections next year. The vote, initially scheduled for March 19, is the first in a series of polls meant to restore democracy in the West African country after two military takeovers since August 2020. It was delayed days before that date to give electoral management authorities more time to set up in all of Mali's 19 administrative regions. Government spokesman... Читать дальше...

China's Foreign Ministry on Friday angrily protested a Canadian intelligence report that asserted Chinese diplomats tried to intimidate a Canadian member of parliament for his criticism of Bejing. China's strong comments come after Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Thursday summoned China's ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, and said she was considering expelling the diplomat. The 2021 report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, or CSIS, first surfaced in an article this week in Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper. Читать дальше...

In 2021, two Chinese graduate students at the University of Chicago were shot to death within 11 months of each other. Campus newspaper The Chicago Maroon took a look at students' push for better safety and the school's response. (April 2023)

In the U.S. state of California, a season of withering rainstorms caused widespread flooding and did potentially billions of dollars' worth of damage. But all that water also created a springtime spectacle of flowers. Titi Mary Tran reports

The American Association of University Women estimates that about 28% of professionals in science, technology, engineering, and math, also called STEM, are women. But in one Native American community teachers are working to get girls involved in the sciences. VOA's Virginia Gunawan reports from Tucson, Arizona. Camera: Rere Wahyudi, Supriyono

America's employers added a healthy 253,000 jobs in April, evidence of a labor market that still shows surprising resilience despite rising interest rates, chronically high inflation and a banking crisis that could weaken the economy. The unemployment rate dipped to 3.4%, matching a 54-year low, the Labor Department said Friday. But the jobless rate fell in part because 43,000 people left the labor force, the first drop since November, and were no longer counted as unemployed. In its report Friday... Читать дальше...

When it comes to his country’s ties with Japan, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol wants to look to the future. But if South Korean public reaction is any indication, that may be difficult without further moves by Japan to address the past.   Yoon in March took unilateral steps to improve relations between South Korea and Japan, which had sunk to their lowest point in decades over a dispute related to Japan’s use of forced labor during its brutal 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.   Under a proposal unveiled by Yoon... Читать дальше...

Japanese media report one man was killed and buildings collapsed after a strong earthquake struck near the country’s west central coast early Friday.  The U.S. Geological Survey says the 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck at 2:42 pm Japan time about 50 kilometers off the coast of Anamizu in Ishikawa province, at a depth of 8.7 kilometers.  A report from Japan’s Meteorological Agency - which monitors earthquakes in the region – differs slightly, saying the epicenter of the quake was on land near Noto in Ishikawa province... Читать дальше...

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Friday he is frustrated that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange remains in a British prison fighting extradition to the United States. Albanese also said a historic free trade agreement with Britian will come into force within weeks. Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. in London Friday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared “enough is enough” over the continued imprisonment of Julian Assange.  He said the issue could be resolved... Читать дальше...

Britain is preparing for the coronation of King Charles III, due to take place on Saturday. Dozens of world leaders and heads of state have been invited to the historic event, while millions are expected to watch on television. The ceremony will take place at London’s Westminster Abbey, where the funeral of Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was held in September following her death at the age of 96. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, will lead the two-hour coronation service. In a break with centuries of tradition... Читать дальше...

Britain is preparing for the coronation of King Charles the third, due to take place on May 6. Dozens of world leaders and heads of state have been invited to the historic ceremony, while millions are expected to watch on television. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.

Serbian police said Friday they had arrested a suspect in the second mass shooting case in two days in Serbia. The man arrested Friday is a suspect in Thursday’s shootings that ended with the death of eight people and the wounding of 14 in a village near Belgrade. Thursday’s shooting came a day after a 13-year-old boy allegedly opened fire in a school in Belgrade, killing nine and wounding 7.   The arrest Friday of a suspect in Thursday’s shooting came after hundreds of police officers searched... Читать дальше...

The University News, the student newspaper at Saint Louis University in the U.S. state of Missouri, recently interviewed international students on their experiences at the school. Some students said that some U.S. systems, notably the health care and tax systems, were difficult to navigate. One student said she felt the school's international support services tended to be STEM-focused. (April 2023)

Intelligence officials say one of the diplomats plotted to intimidate the Hong Kong relatives of a Canadian lawmaker

A Republican megadonor paid two years of private school tuition for a child raised by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who did not disclose the payments, a lawyer who has represented Thomas and his wife acknowledged Thursday. The revelation of tuition payments made by Dallas billionaire Harlan Crow is the latest example of Crow's generosity to Thomas and his family that has raised questions about Thomas' ethics and disclosure requirements more generally. The payments, along with the earlier examples of Crow's financial ties to Thomas... Читать дальше...

A shooter killed at least eight people and wounded 13 in a drive-by attack near a town close to Belgrade late Thursday, the second such mass killing in Serbia in two days, state television reported. The attacker shot randomly at people near the town of Mladenovac, some 50 kilometers south of the capital, the RTS report said early Friday. Police were looking for a 21-year-old suspect who fled after the attack, the report said. No other details were immediately available, and police had not issued any statements. Читать дальше...