Новости за 26.05.2023

Ahead of Turkey’s presidential runoff election on Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his main contender Kemal Kilicdaroglu are both eyeing voters who back the country’s various nationalist parties. Nationalist parties like Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Good Party (IYIP), Victory Party (ZP) and Great Unity Party (BBP) received more than 23% of the votes in the parliamentary election on May 14, which made Turkish nationalists “the winner of the election,” according to some experts. Читать дальше...

Somali diplomats said Friday that Russia had offered to help support Somalia’s armed forces in their battle against the al-Shabab terrorist group. The diplomats, who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had made the offer during talks with his Somali counterpart, Abshir Omar Jama, in Moscow. One diplomat said, “Russia was ready to provide Somalia's army with military supplies, to strengthen the government fight... Читать дальше...

Rights groups in Zimbabwe are up in arms after President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government ignored details of its own clemency order and paroled thousands of prisoners, including dangerous convicted rapists. Lawyers and rights groups say those convicted of rape should not have been released as their offenses are classified as "specified," which do not qualify for presidential pardons, according to a government clemency order issued before the pardons. Last week, government officials released 4,270... Читать дальше...

As concerns grow over increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, the nation’s financial watchdog says it’s working to ensure that companies follow the law when they’re using AI. Already, automated systems and algorithms help determine credit ratings, loan terms, bank account fees, and other aspects of our financial lives. AI also affects hiring, housing and working conditions. Ben Winters, senior counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said a joint statement... Читать дальше...

More than 30 women abducted by separatist rebels for protesting illegal taxes imposed on them have been released, the Cameroon government said Friday.  The women were taken earlier this month from Babanki, a farming village in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, along the border with Nigeria.  "We have taken the women to hospitals where they are being treated for injuries and supported psychosocially," said Simon Emil Mooh, a local government official.  The separatists were collecting monthly payments from children... Читать дальше...

A London court jailed a British man for life on Friday for traveling to Syria to join the Islamic State group nearly a decade ago.  Judge Mark Lucraft handed Shabazz Suleman, from High Wycombe northwest of London, the prison term for making his way to Syria to enlist in the terror group, which is barred by English law.  "You went to Syria in order to join IS. You understood IS was a proscribed organization in English law," the judge said as he passed sentence at London's Old Bailey criminal court. Читать дальше...

An Army veteran who stormed the U.S. Capitol in a military-style formation with fellow members of the Oath Keepers was sentenced Friday to more than eight years in prison, a day after the far-right group's founder received an 18-year prison term in the January 6, 2021, attack.  Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, Ohio, was acquitted of the seditious conspiracy charge that Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was found guilty of in November, but jurors convicted her of obstruction and conspiracy to impede... Читать дальше...

One of the Rwanda genocide's most wanted remaining suspects, accused of ordering the deaths of 2,000 people hiding in a church, denied any involvement but said Friday that he was "sorry" for the 1994 killings. On the run for two decades, Fulgence Kayishema was arrested Wednesday under a false name on a grape farm in South Africa where, according to a prosecutor, fellow refugees gave him up. Entering court for a first hearing with a Bible and a book emblazoned with "Jesus First," the 62-year-old... Читать дальше...

Two U.S. Park Police officers used excessive force against two journalists during a crackdown on racial justice protesters outside the White House almost three years ago, the U.S. Department of the Interior Inspector General said in a report publicly released Wednesday. The two journalists — known in the report not by name but as the cinematographer and the reporter — were in Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., June 1, 2020, to cover protests over the police killing of George Floyd for an Australian television network. Читать дальше...

Thirty-three supporters of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan have been handed over to the army to face trial in military courts on charges of attacking armed forces' installations, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said Friday.  The 33 accused are among the thousands detained since Khan's May 9 arrest sparked violent protests across Pakistan. Those handed over to army authorities are accused of trespassing on and vandalizing sensitive military installations, according to Sanaullah.  Khan was arrested on graft charges... Читать дальше...

The US Labor Department says the number of children employed in violation of labor laws has been on the rise since 2015. While the total number of violations is still lower than it was two decades ago, experts say the increase is troubling. For VOA News, Maxim Moskalkov has the story. Camera and video edit: Andre Sergunin and Anna Rice

A strong earthquake shook eastern Japan on Friday evening, but there was no tsunami warning, according to public broadcaster NHK. The temblor struck at 1003 GMT with a magnitude of 6.2, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. It shook buildings in Tokyo as well as surrounding prefectures, but there were no immediate reports of major damage. The epicenter was near Chiba prefecture, to the east of Tokyo, at a depth of 50 kilometers. Footage from NHK showed buildings shaking near the Narita International Airport in Chiba. Читать дальше...

After the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan in 2021, they severely limited access to education for girls. Yet a club founded in the U.S., Flowers for the Future, helps Afghan girls keep learning through Zoom meetings with U.S. students. Two students, one Afghan, one American, describe their journey with the program and what it's taught them about grit, resilience and the importance of learning. Read the essays by Mahsa Kosha and Emily Khossaravi in the Hechinger Report. (May 2023)

A Friday report by Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists calls for Afghanistan’s Taliban to be investigated for possible crimes under international law because of severe restrictions on females.   The report, the groups said, provides “a detailed legal analysis of how the Taliban’s draconian restrictions on the rights of Afghanistan’s women and girls, together with the use of imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment, could amount to the crime... Читать дальше...

The United States and South Korea are kicking off three weeks of massive military drills. The move is part of a show of force against North Korea, which has accelerated its own missile launches. More from VOA’s Bill Gallo, who reports from Pocheon, South Korea, near the demilitarized zone.

Officials in Somalia say Al-Shabab militants early Friday stormed a military base manned by African Union forces from Uganda, multiple sources said. The dawn attack took place in Bulo Marer, an agricultural town in Lower Shabelle region, about 110 kilometers south of Mogadishu. The militants detonated four to six explosions, including improvised bombs in vehicles driven by suicide bombers, three sources, including a local official and a security commander requesting anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media... Читать дальше...

Fighting in Sudan has left hundreds of thousands of Khartoum residents without running water, with some forced to risk their lives and seek it out during brief lulls in violence. After nearly six weeks of street battles between forces loyal to rival generals and with temperatures regularly topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), many inhabitants of the capital's northern suburbs are in desperate need of drinking water. On April 15, when fighting broke out between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)... Читать дальше...

Sudan's army called on Friday for reservists and retired soldiers to re-enlist, a move seemingly aimed at expanding its numbers amid a deadly conflict with a rival paramilitary and one that may fuel fighting despite a truce. The army initially said all retired soldiers and able men should arm themselves for self-defense, but later clarified this to call on former soldiers to present themselves at their nearest military base. It was not clear from the statement whether the army regarded the summons as compulsory or voluntary. Читать дальше...

The White House on Thursday released the first-ever national strategy aimed at countering antisemitism amid a rise in violence against members of the Jewish community and a gain in antisemitic beliefs among Americans. Prominent American religious advocacy groups noted that the White House strategy would placate critics who worry about conflating criticism of the Israeli state with antisemitism. The White House did this by not basing the strategy solely on the definition used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Читать дальше...

Quite possibly, since the elite U.S. investment bank has been investing millions in educational startups. Students from countries like India, Nigeria and Indonesia have long struggled to finance their U.S. degrees due to limited access to loans, but these new startups could disrupt that. For example, in just the first quarter of 2022, one startup, Prodigy Finance, reported a 98% increase in the number of Indian loan applicants. Nick Cuthbert of the PIE News breaks down the financial projections.... Читать дальше...

Even though China is South Korea's top trading partner, Seoul's tightening ties with the U.S. and other wealthy democratic countries reveal its interest in countering Beijing's economic coercion, experts say. After a monthlong diplomacy effort that included summits with the U.S. and G-7 leaders, "reducing our reliance on China" and "diversifying our trading partners will help our economy," South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said Wednesday at a hearing in Seoul. President Yoon Suk Yeol held... Читать дальше...

A prominent humanitarian group on Thursday blasted Greece over its treatment of asylum-seekers on the island of Lesbos, repeating allegations of illegal deportations back to Turkey and claiming authorities are using hunger as a weapon against some migrants.  Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said in a statement that the situation for asylum-seekers on the eastern Aegean Sea island is "continuously deteriorating."  "Many people there have been exposed to violence and have... Читать дальше...

The fighting in Sudan has destroyed hospitals and medical care in the country, and patients who fled the conflict are desperate for treatment. In the absence of medical aid, a Sudanese pharmacist who fled Sudan in recent weeks is doing what he can to help other refugees at a camp in neighboring Chad. Henry Wilkins reports from Koufrone, Chad.

Turkish voters will cast ballots in the country's presidential runoff election on May 28. Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the front-runner after narrowly scoring an outright win in the first round and securing a majority in parliament. But analysts say challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu has an outside chance if he can galvanize his voting base. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.

President Joe Biden said Thursday that negotiations with Republican lawmakers to raise the U.S. government’s borrowing limit and set future spending levels are going well, while assuring Americans the country will not default on its obligation to pay its bills. White House budget negotiators continued to talk with representatives of Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to sort out the last details of a deal, but no agreement was announced as lawmakers began to leave Washington ahead of the country’s annual Memorial Day weekend. Читать дальше...