Новости за 14.06.2023

A Guatemalan court on Wednesday sentenced Jose Zamora, a well-known journalist whose work has criticized successive governments, to six years in prison for money laundering in a case rights groups have branded an attack on free speech.  Zamora was also issued a fine of about $38,300, the court said. He was absolved of charges of blackmail and influence peddling, of which he had also been accused.  Zamora, 66, has said the case against him is a political persecution by President Alejandro Giammattei... Читать дальше...

The long hunt for extraterrestrials just got a big boost. Scientists have discovered that phosphorus, a key building block of life, lies in the ocean beneath the icy surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The finding was based on a review of data collected by NASA's Cassini probe, and it was published Wednesday in the prestigious journal Nature. Cassini started exploring Saturn and its rings and moons in 2004, before burning up in the gas giant's atmosphere when its mission ended in 2017. "This... Читать дальше...

The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday after having raised it 10 straight times to combat high inflation. But in a surprise move, the Fed signaled it may raise rates twice more this year, beginning as soon as next month. The Fed's move to leave its benchmark rate at about 5.1%, its highest level in 16 years, suggests that it believes the much higher borrowing rates have made some progress in taming inflation. But top Fed officials want to take time to more fully assess... Читать дальше...

Three Kosovo police officers were detained by Serbian forces on Wednesday but officials from Kosovo and Serbia gave different locations for the arrest, accusing each other of crossing the border illegally. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti demanded the release of the three officers. He said they had been arrested 300 meters inside Kosovan territory, near the border with Serbia. "The entry of Serbian forces into the territory of Kosovo is aggression and aimed at escalation and destabilization," Kurti wrote on his Facebook page. Читать дальше...

Eight Kenyan police officers were killed when their vehicle was blown up by an improvised explosive device in a suspected attack by Somalia-based jihadi group al-Shabab, police said. The incident took place on Tuesday in Garissa County in eastern Kenya, a region on the border with Somalia, where al-Shabab has been waging a bloody insurgency against the fragile government in Mogadishu for more than 15 years. "We lost eight police officers in this attack," North Eastern Regional Commissioner John Otieno said. Читать дальше...

Canada is freezing ties with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, or AIIB, while it probes allegations it is dominated by the Chinese Communist Party, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Wednesday. Freeland said she did not rule out any outcome of the investigation, a clear hint that Ottawa could pull out of a bank it officially joined in March 2018. The bank's global communications director, a Canadian, said on Wednesday he had resigned and criticized the bank as "dominated... Читать дальше...

Egypt has been struggling to cope with a new wave of refugees from Africa after the latest round of conflicts erupted in Sudan and Ethiopia. The UNHCR appears to be having difficulties dealing with the large numbers of refugees and Egyptian authorities slapped a visa requirement on Sudanese refugees trying to enter the country several days ago. Scores of recently arrived Sudanese refugees gather outside the UNHCR building in Cairo's normally quiet suburb of Zamalek. A refugee charity organization... Читать дальше...

Chinese authorities are cracking down on political and fraud cases driven by deepfakes, created with face- and voice-changing software that tricks targets into believing they are video chatting with a loved one or another trusted person. How good are the deepfakes? Good enough to trick an executive at a Fuzhou tech company in Fujian province who almost lost $600,000 to a person he thought was a friend claiming to need a quick cash infusion. The entire transaction took less than 10 minutes from... Читать дальше...

China said Wednesday that it established a "strategic partnership" with the Palestinian Authority during a visit to Beijing by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The announcement marked another step in China's campaign to gain political and economic influence in the Middle East, where it is competing with the United States. China is seeking energy resources and markets for its military and civilian exports while also promoting its version of authoritarian government as part of joint challenge... Читать дальше...

President Joe Biden is dispatching White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to Tokyo this week for talks with his counterparts from Japan, Philippines and South Korea.  Sullivan will also take part in "the first-ever trilateral meeting of the Japanese, Philippine, and U.S. national security advisers" while in Japan, the White House National Security Council said in a statement Tuesday.  The White House offered scant details about Sullivan's two-day visit that begins Thursday, saying... Читать дальше...

Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp's co-founder, is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday during his visit to China, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The meeting will mark Xi's first meeting with a foreign private entrepreneur in recent years. The people said the encounter may be a one-on-one meeting. A third source confirmed they would meet, without providing details. The sources did not say what the two might discuss. Gates tweeted on Wednesday that he had landed in Beijing... Читать дальше...

The Graduate Records Exam, or GRE, is now less than two hours long and has no writing section. Scores will also be released faster. The changes come as many schools are making the test optional, in what the academic journal Science dubbed “GRExit.” Stephanie Saul of The New York Times describes the new format, and how admissions are changing as the pandemic eases and the Supreme Court reconsiders affirmative action. (June 2023)

Calls for countries in the East and Horn of Africa to address the needs of the millions of displaced people in the region came Tuesday at the start of a four-day ministerial conference being held by the Inter-governmental authority (IGAD) in the Ugandan capital. Hilary Onek, Uganda's Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, called on ministers to examine and address the wide range of factors that are forcing people from their homes. These factors, he said, include not only material issues but political ones. Читать дальше...

The coastal regions of India and Pakistan were on high alert Wednesday with tens of thousands of people being evacuated a day ahead of a cyclone's expected landfall. The India Meteorological Department said Cyclone Biparjoy was packing sustained winds of up to 145 kilometers per hour (90 mph) and was projected to make landfall near Jakhau port in the Kutch district of India's Gujarat state on Thursday. Residents living within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of the coast in Gujarat were evacuated, and... Читать дальше...

Israel and China have developed close relations over more than 30 years. But American pressure on Israel has Israel pulling back from those ties. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem. Camera: Ricki Rosen

From cleaning cow sheds to hitting fastballs, Dennis Kasumba, an 18-year-old catcher from Uganda, is turning his American baseball dream into reality. VOA’s Arzouma Kompaore, caught up with Kasumba in Frederick, Maryland and has this story.

In America, there are about 1,600 programs in 13 states and Washington, D.C that offer dual-language classes. Students in Vietnamese language programs in California and Virginia are ending the school year with high hopes for the future. For VOA Titi Tran reports

Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was honored Wednesday with a state funeral in Milan's Duomo cathedral and a day of national mourning, as his legacy — positive or negative — was being hotly debated among Italians.  Thousands of people outside the Duomo and within erupted in applause as a sign of respect as Berlusconi's flower-draped casket was hoisted out of the hearse and into the cathedral. His children and companion teared up as the casket was placed in front of the altar.  Most Italians identify Berlusconi... Читать дальше...

Six percent of all maternal deaths around the world are caused by obstructed labor, according to the World Health Organization. That’s when a baby can’t move through the birth canal. It can also lead to obstetric fistula, a condition that can have a long-term impact on a woman’s health, especially in developing countries. Reporter Idd Uwesu has more from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in this report narrated by Omary Kaseko. Video:

Illicit vendors of the chemicals used to make the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl are exploiting mainstream online platforms to advertise their products and allegedly smuggle them into the United States. VOA's Veronica Balderas Iglesias investigated how they operate. Contributor: Adrianna Gao Zhang

For generations, Italian food has reigned as America's favorite ethnic cuisine. And while that’s still technically the case overall, younger Americans’ taste buds are threatening to upend Italian dominance of the U.S. ethnic food chain. Millennials, people between the ages of 27 and 42, are the first generation to say they prefer Mexican food to Italian. And Gen Z, those who are 8 to 23 years old, have an even deeper craving for tacos and other Mexican foods, according to a recent report. “This was the first time that we have ever seen... Читать дальше...

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to China Friday, a trip that was rescheduled from February after a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew through U.S. airspace. But expectations are low that Blinken’s trip will be able to reset the two countries’ fraught relationship. Blinken is the first secretary of state to visit Beijing since 2018. Tuesday night, Blinken spoke by phone with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. In a tweet, Blinken said he and Qin “discussed ongoing efforts... Читать дальше...

After arriving in the U.S., refugees face many challenges. A main one is finding jobs and building new careers. Emma’s Torch, a nonprofit organization in Brooklyn, New York and Washington D.C., is helping refugees, asylees and survivors of human trafficking take the next step with their culinary training program and job placement help. Directed by: Aaron Fedor, Kathleen McLaughlin Produced by: Aaron Fedor, Kathleen McLaughlin Camera: Kyle Dubiel

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to China later this week, a trip that was rescheduled from February after a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew through US airspace. VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching reports expectations are low that Blinken’s trip will be able to reset the two countries’ fraught relationship

Lebanon's parliament on Wednesday failed for a 12th time to elect a new president, extending a power vacuum in a country that has been struggling with an economic crisis for nearly three years. A first round of voting saw Jihad Azour, a former finance minister and senior International Monetary Fund official, lead with 59 votes but fall short of the two-thirds majority needed to win in the opening round in the 128-member body. In second place was Suleiman Frangieh, the candidate backed by the militant group Hezbollah and its allies... Читать дальше...