Новости за 25.05.2023

As Zimbabwe prepares for general elections, journalists are hoping to avoid a repeat of the harassment and attacks they’ve faced while trying to cover past elections. Borrowing a strategy successfully tried in Lesotho, Zimbabwean journalists met with top officials of the ruling Zanu-PF party this week to try to reach mutual understandings before campaigning starts. The journalists are also scheduled to meet with the political opposition and government entities like the army and police. Years or even weeks ago... Читать дальше...

A car crashed Thursday into the gates of Downing Street in central London, where the British prime minister's home and offices are located, setting off a rapid, intense security response at one of London's most-fortified sites.  No one was injured, and police said they were not treating the incident as terror related. Police arrested a man on suspicion of criminal damage and dangerous driving, and local officers, rather than counterterrorism detectives, were handling the investigation.  Prime... Читать дальше...

The Supreme Court on Thursday sharply limited the federal government's authority to police water pollution into certain wetlands, the second decision in as many years in which a conservative majority narrowed the reach of environmental regulations. The outcome could threaten efforts to control flooding on the Mississippi River and protect the Chesapeake Bay, among many projects, wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh, breaking with the other five conservatives. The justices boosted property rights over... Читать дальше...

Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the anti-government Oath Keepers militia, and a former top lieutenant were sentenced on Thursday to 18 and more than 15 years in prison respectively for their roles in the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.    The sentences are the longest so far in connection with the January 6 attack by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Prosecutors wanted 25 years for Rhodes and 21 years for Kelly Meggs, the leader of the militia's Florida chapter. Читать дальше...

Among a small number of ambassadors who remain in Kabul, Wang Yu, Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan, appears the busiest. This week, Wang met with three Taliban ministers, two of whom are particularly shunned by Western diplomats — Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister who has a $10 million terrorism bounty over his head from the United States, and Nida Mohammad Nadem, the higher education minister who has closed universities for Afghan girls. Like his counterpart in Kabul, Sayed Muhayuddin Sadaat... Читать дальше...

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

An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan handed over 16 supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan to the army Thursday for prosecution in military tribunals for their alleged roles in violent protests sparked by his recent short-lived arrest. The court in the eastern city of Lahore ruled the charges against the suspects "are exclusively liable to be inquired, investigated and triable by the military authorities in court martial." It directed city jail authorities "to hand over the custody of the... Читать дальше...

Delegates from across the African continent gathered in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, Thursday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the creation of the Organization of African Unity, the alliance that later became the African Union. In a statement, the AU said the ceremony — held at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa — commemorates May 25, 1963, when the heads of state from 32 independent African states gathered in the city to sign the charter that created the OAU, which the AU said was the first post-independence continental institution. Читать дальше...

A move by Vietnam to make all social media users verify their identity is a way to curb one of the few remaining spaces for criticism and independent journalism, analysts say. Vietnam's Ministry of Information earlier in May announced an amendment to the Telecommunications Law that will require foreign and local social media networks to confirm the identities of their users. Those who refuse or fail to comply could find their accounts blocked. The ministry said the change — which if approved would go into effect later in 2023 ... Читать дальше...

Greek authorities have been caught on film apparently forcing asylum seekers into a life raft and abandoning them at sea. Human rights groups have long accused Athens of such practices. Greece denies carrying out so-called pushbacks and says it has launched an investigation into the video. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.

The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia argued openly in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday in exchanges that underlined the extent of their differences over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. At a meeting in Moscow, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan raised the issue of the Lachin corridor, the road which links Armenia to the Armenian-populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh inside Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani activists in mid-December began obstructing the road, which Pashinyan... Читать дальше...

Steve Bannon, a one-time advisor to Donald Trump, is set to go on trial on May 27, 2024, on criminal charges over a push to fund the former U.S. president's signature wall along the U.S. southern border, a New York judge said in a court hearing on Thursday. New York state prosecutors in Manhattan accuse Bannon of defrauding donors who contributed more than $15 million to the "We Build the Wall" fundraising drive. According to the indictment, Bannon concealed his role in diverting hundreds of thousands... Читать дальше...

Teachers from 115 schools in the Mozambican province of Manica are creating their own teaching material using cardboard, plastic gallon jugs, and bags made from raffia leaves, offered by the community. They say they’re saving money by replacing expensive conventional teaching material while helping the environment, in this story narrated by Barbara Santos.

Art from across Africa is on display in a newly renovated gallery at the Denver Art Museum in the U.S. state of Colorado. VOA’s Scott Stearns shows us what is on display.

The top Chinese and U.S. business and trade officials are set to meet Thursday in Washington, Beijing announced, in what is an infrequent direct conversation between leaders of the world's two biggest economies. Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao is set to meet with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Wang's ministry confirmed, although Washington has not commented on the talks. While U.S. President Joe Biden met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Bali last November... Читать дальше...

A Nepali climber who scaled Mount Everest for a record 28th time this week, the most by any mountaineer, said on Thursday he had no immediate plans to hang up his climbing boots.  Kami Rita Sherpa, 53, who reached the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) summit of the world's highest mountain on Tuesday, returned to the Nepali capital of Kathmandu to a hero's welcome. He was surrounded by friends and family after flying by helicopter from Lukla, gateway to Everest climbs.  "If my health permits I'll continue... Читать дальше...

South Korean and U.S. forces began live-fire exercises simulating a "full-scale attack" from North Korea on Thursday in what they said were the biggest such drills to demonstrate their "overwhelming" military capability against the North's threats. Howitzers pounded into a mountainside in Pocheon near the fortified border with North Korea, while battle tanks maneuvered and fired their guns at targets, sending smoke, dust and shockwaves across the valley. Some 2,500 troops from the South and the United States took part in the exercises... Читать дальше...

The U.S. economy grew at a lackluster 1.3% annual rate from January through March as businesses wary of an economic slowdown trimmed their inventories, the government said Thursday in a slight upgrade from its initial estimate. The government had previously estimated that the economy grew at a 1.1% annual rate last quarter. The Commerce Department's revised measure of growth in the nation's gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — marked a deceleration from... Читать дальше...

A handful of the more than 2,000 political prisoners recently freed by Myanmar’s post-coup junta have told VOA they remain under military surveillance and are afraid of being rearrested. The junta released 2,153 prisoners May 3, who had been sentenced under Section 505 (A) of the Penal Code, which criminalizes “causing fear, spreading false news, or agitating directly or indirectly criminal offences against government employee." The prisoners were released on the condition that each "serve... Читать дальше...

The world must rapidly ditch fossil fuels and end "the senseless war against creation", Pope Francis said on Thursday, in a fresh plea over climate change that called on people to repent for their "ecological sins." Francis has made the protection of the environment a cornerstone of his pontificate, noting in his landmark 2015 "Laudato Si" (Praised Be) encyclical that the planet was "beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth." In a message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation... Читать дальше...

Iran on Thursday unveiled a new liquid-fueled ballistic missile. State media said the missile has a range of 2,000 kilometers with a 1,500-kilogram warhead. State television showed what it said was a successful test launch of the missile. Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said the missile could be readied for launch in a short period of time. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

The game of Ultimate Frisbee has no referees and isn't governed by the official association for U.S. college sports. But it is intensely competitive, and students from Australia, China and elsewhere travel to the U.S. to play for the best schools. Andrew Smith of VOA Learning English reports on how college athletics can forge international friendships outside the classroom. (May 2023)

A court sentenced four Hong Kong students for their role in a prevented bomb plot.  The four previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause an explosion after police thwarted their plot and arrested them in July 2021.  The alleged targets included court buildings.  Judge Alex Lee said the oldest defendant in the group, 21-year-old Alexander Au, was more culpable in the plot, given his involvement in renting a hotel room and carrying out reconnaissance of targeted buildings.  Au was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison. Читать дальше...

Bangladesh will take steps to tackle and prevent unlawful practices or interference in its elections, authorities said on Thursday, a day after the United States threatened curbs on citizens of the South Asian nation who undermine them.  Concern flared after accusations of vote-rigging and the targeting of the political opposition marred national elections in 2014 and 2018, charges denied by the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the United... Читать дальше...

Beijing's restrictions on American chipmaker Micron in retaliation to sweeping US chip curbs mark a major step up in its response to Washington's pressure and could open the door for further measures in the geopolitical standoff, analysts say.    But they warned President Xi Jinping's ability to raise the stakes will be limited as he battles to re-energize the world's number two economy while it struggles to recover from years of zero-Covid-imposed inertia.    China on Sunday banned the use of... Читать дальше...