Новости за 24.06.2023

The sleek, polished dark blue 1978 Cadillac Seville eased slowly out of a showroom near Iran's capital, its driver carefully inserting the 8-track tape that came with it to blast the sounds of a time long since passed.  The Sevilles, once assembled in Iran, represented the height of luxury in the country just before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. General Motors had partnered with an Iranian firm to build the sedans, selling them for two-and-a-half times the price in America at the zenith of the country's oil wealth. Читать дальше...

A Colorado school is creating a "zen den" for troubled students. A soccer coach in Pittsburgh goes out of her way to relieve pressure on players. A Chicago community group equips a van for mobile mental health help, and a Los Angeles school trains students to counsel peers.  Each effort to tackle youth mental health issues has been featured on a local CBS newscast recently, examples of a movement toward "solutions journalism."  The idea is that reporters need to be more than the bearer of bad news. Читать дальше...

A pod of killer whales bumped one of the boats in an endurance sailing race as it approached the Strait of Gibraltar, the latest encounter in what researchers say is a growing trend of sometimes-aggressive interactions with Iberian orcas. The 15-minute run-in with at least three of the giant mammals forced the crew competing in The Ocean Race on Thursday to drop its sails and raise a clatter in an attempt to scare off the approaching orcas. No one was injured, but Team JAJO skipper Jelmer van Beek... Читать дальше...

A bridge that crosses the Yellowstone River in Montana has collapsed, causing portions of a freight train that was traveling over it to plunge into the water below.  There was no immediate word from authorities on whether anyone was injured. Officials at the Montana Rail Link could not be reached immediately Saturday for comment.  Numerous tank cars were partially submerged in the river early Saturday and railroad crews were at the scene near the town of Columbus, about 64 kilometers west of Billings. Читать дальше...

Thousands of paddlers descended on Hong Kong on Saturday to take part in the financial hub's International Dragon Boat competition, held for the first time in more than four years after they were halted due to anti-government protests and COVID-19.  The two-day event, organized by Hong Kong's tourism board and the Hong Kong China Dragon Boat Association, drew more than 4,000 paddlers from 160 teams including from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and internationally, its tourism body said.  "It's a great place to come back to... Читать дальше...

Activists and politicians are marking the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned a nationwide right to abortion by both bashing and celebrating it. Rallies on both sides were scheduled for Saturday in Washington and across the country. In a statement, President Joe Biden pledged to protect access and decried the court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The court's conservative majority on June 24, 2022, overturned the Roe v. Wade decision... Читать дальше...

British police said Saturday they had charged an Egyptian man accused of masterminding the smuggling of migrants across the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to Europe, following an international investigation.  Officers from the U.K.'s National Crime Agency arrested Ahmed Ramadan Mohamad Eibd, 40, near his west London home on Wednesday, after a probe which also involved Italy's prosecutors, coast guard and financial crimes investigators.  Eibd appeared in a west London magistrates' court early Saturday... Читать дальше...

Pakistan said Saturday that "unprovoked" cross-border shelling by India had killed at least two civilians and "critically" injured another inside the Pakistan-administered part of the disputed Kashmir region.    The alleged incident comes more than two years after the nuclear-armed rival South Asian nations agreed to fully adhere to a 2003 cease-fire along their de facto Kashmir frontier, the Line of Control.     A Pakistani military statement said the Indian army Saturday "opened indiscriminate... Читать дальше...

A Palestinian assailant opened fire at an Israeli military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Saturday before being shot and killed, Israeli police said, the latest incident in months of escalating violence.  The Palestinian gunman approached Israeli troops stationed at the Qalandiya checkpoint outside Jerusalem early in the morning, pulled out an M16 rifle and opened fire, the Israeli police said.  Israeli security forces said they shot back, killing the suspected assailant. According to the Israeli rescue service... Читать дальше...

Here's a summary of Uyghur-related news around the world from the past week: Fast Retailing, Inditex and Skechers Face Lawsuit Over Xinjiang Human Rights Abuses Apparel firm Uniqlo's parent company, Fast Retailing, along with Zara-owner Inditex and Skechers are facing a lawsuit filed by the European Uyghur Institute in Paris, accusing them of human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region. The institute alleges the companies are involved in surveillance and camp construction and benefiting from forced labor. Читать дальше...

Chinese police arrested four people on Saturday linked to a restaurant explosion that killed dozens, state media reported.  At least 31 people were killed and seven others injured when a gas explosion ripped through a barbecue restaurant in the northwestern city of Yinchuan on Wednesday.  It happened on the eve of the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday when many in China go out and socialize with friends.  The suspects included the restaurant owner, two shareholders and the manager, state news agency Xinhua reported. Читать дальше...

Tropical Storm Cindy formed behind Tropical Storm Bret, in the first case of two storms in the tropical Atlantic in June since record keeping began in 1851, forecasters said Friday.  The historic event signals an early and aggressive start to the Atlantic hurricane season that began June 1 and usually peaks from mid-August to mid-October. Some forecasters blamed unusually high sea temperatures for the rare development.  “The Atlantic is awfully warm this year,” said Kerry Emanuel, a meteorologist... Читать дальше...

The Scottish National Party (SNP) will fight the next general election in the United Kingdom with independence "front and center" of its campaign, First Minister Humza Yousaf said on Saturday.  Addressing a conference of Scotland's governing party in the city of Dundee, Yousaf vowed he would seek fresh negotiations with the U.K. government about independence if the SNP wins the most Scottish seats in the election expected next year.   "Let me be clear, if the SNP does win this election, then the people will have spoken," he said. Читать дальше...

Muslim pilgrims streamed into the holy city of Mecca on Friday ahead of the start of Hajj next week, as the annual pilgrimage returns to its monumental scale after three years of heavy restrictions because of the coronavirus pandemic.  Saudi officials say close to 1.5 million foreign pilgrims have arrived in the country so far, the vast majority by air. More are expected, and hundreds of thousands of Saudis and others living in Saudi Arabia will also join them when the pilgrimage officially begins on Monday. Читать дальше...

Last summer's flooding in Pakistan killed at least 1,700 people, destroyed millions of homes, wiped out swaths of farmland, and caused billions of dollars in economic losses. All in a matter of months. At one point, a third of the country was underwater. Pakistani leaders and many scientists worldwide blame climate change for the unusually early and heavy monsoon rains. A year on, the country hasn't fully recovered. The aftermath runs the length of the country; survivors living in makeshift huts where their homes used to be... Читать дальше...

At Tyler Malek's ice cream parlors, one cook's trash is another chef's frosty treat. The head ice cream maker at the Portland, Oregon-based Salt & Straw uses the whey leftover from yogurt makers in upstate New York to make his lemon curd flavor. For chocolate barley milk, he mixes in the remnants of rice and grains from beer brewing to give it a light and creamy taste. "Instead of calling this food waste, we need to call it wasted food and start decreasing how much wasting we're doing," Malek said. Читать дальше...

Just a dot on the horizon at first, the bug-like and surprisingly quiet electrically-powered craft buzzes over Paris and its traffic snarls, treating its doubtless awestruck passenger to privileged vistas of the Eiffel Tower and the city's signature zinc-grey rooftops before landing him or her with a gentle downward hover. And thus, if all goes to plan, could a new page in aviation history be written. After years of dreamy and not always credible talk of skies filled with flying, nonpolluting electric taxis... Читать дальше...

Eleven passengers were injured while evacuating an aborted Cathay Pacific flight Saturday morning at Hong Kong International Airport. Public broadcaster RTHK reported that one of the plane’s tires overheated and burst, prompting the evacuation via five of the plane’s escape slides. The Los Angeles-bound flight was carrying 293 passengers and 17 crew members. Later Saturday, Cathay said nine of the 11 injured passengers who were treated at hospitals had been discharged.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has opened an investigation into the implosion of the Titan, the underwater sea vessel that imploded with five people onboard as it was traveling to the wreckage of the Titanic, the British ocean liner that sank in the North Atlantic in 1912 after striking an iceberg. The submersible vessel was the property of OceanGate Expeditions, a U.S.-based company. Its support ship, Polar Prince, however, is a Canadian-flagged ship. “The Transportation Safety Board... Читать дальше...

Nigeria's state security service has warned the public of possible terrorist attacks on houses of worship ahead of the June 29 Islamic celebration of Eid-al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice. The Department of State Services says operations this week against armed men recovered improvised explosive devices, indicating plans to launch attacks before and during festivities. The security advisory was contained in a statement released by Nigeria’s secret police Thursday evening. It's the first such warning by the Department of State Services... Читать дальше...

Newly declassified intelligence on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic appears to cast doubt on theories that the outbreak that killed millions around the world began at a research laboratory in Wuhan, China. A report issued late Friday by U.S. intelligence agencies and shared with members of Congress said that despite concerns about biosafety measures at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), and despite its history of work with coronaviruses, there is no intelligence that indicates COVID-19 was present in the lab before the outbreak. Читать дальше...

U.S. special counsel Jack Smith on Friday asked a federal judge to delay the start of former President Donald Trump's trial on charges of willful retention of classified government records and obstruction of justice until December 11, a court filing showed.  On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon set an initial trial date of August 14.  But Smith, in the filing, said the August date "would deny counsel for the defendant or the attorney for the government the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation."  Trump... Читать дальше...

Iranian American activists who staged a rare sit-in outside the State Department to oppose potential U.S. monetary incentives to Iran to slow the progress of the Iranian nuclear program say they are optimistic about a dialogue they started with the Biden administration. In a statement sent to VOA on Friday, the nonpartisan and nonprofit National Solidarity Group for Iran (NSGIRAN) said it is “optimistic that the State Department has opened a channel of communication with us, and hopeful that hearing... Читать дальше...

How reporters were expected to behave while in China covering U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip was spelled out in advance: The Chinese side did not want anyone shouting questions. Ahead of covering the camera sprays of Blinken’s meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday, U.S. journalists were told that if any member of the U.S. traveling press decided to shout questions, they would be kicked out of the media availability immediately. They could also end up being denied... Читать дальше...

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently visited Beijing, where he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and expressed support for China's treatment of Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang. His endorsement of China's policies and denial of the mistreatment of Muslims in Xinjiang drew criticism from politicians and rights activists. During their meeting Wednesday, in which Abbas sought economic aid, he and Xi issued a joint statement in which Abbas endorsed China's domestic and foreign policies... Читать дальше...