Новости за 11.07.2023

Humanity has etched its way into Earth's geology, atmosphere and biology with such strength and permanence that a team of scientists figures we have shifted into a new geologic epoch — one of our own creation. It's called the Anthropocene. A geologic task force recommends marking this new epoch's start in the deep, pristine Crawford Lake outside Toronto, Canada, with a “golden spike.” The start of the human epoch is sometime around 1950 to 1954. The specific date will be determined soon, probably... Читать дальше...

Archeologists resumed digging Tuesday at the remote site of a former Native American boarding school in central Nebraska, searching for the remains of children who died there decades ago.  The search for a hidden cemetery near the former Genoa Indian Industrial School in Nebraska gained renewed interest after the discovery of hundreds of children's remains at other Native American boarding school sites across the United States and Canada since 2021, said Dave Williams, the state's archeologist, whose team is digging at the site. Читать дальше...

Russia has vetoed the continuation of a U.N. aid operation that is a lifeline to more than four million Syrians living in areas outside of government control and signaled its readiness on Tuesday to completely shutter the nine-year-old aid operation. "Now Moscow must answer to the international community — and you have to answer to the Syrian people," U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after Russia voted against a nine-month extension of the authorization that lets humanitarian aid flow from Turkey into northwest Syria... Читать дальше...

In a rare moment of international accord, dozens of nations attending a debate at the U.N. Human Rights Council on the alarming rise of religious hatred condemned the lack of tolerance for the beliefs of others, which they said has led to the incitement of discrimination, hostility and violence. The debate was triggered by the June 28 burning of a Quran by an Iraqi refugee outside a mosque in Stockholm, Sweden. The act, which coincided with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, was widely condemned by Islamic and other nations around the world. Читать дальше...

U.S. intelligence officials involved with closely monitoring Iran's rapidly expanding nuclear program assess that Tehran continues to stop short of producing nuclear weapons, though they caution there are still reasons for concern. The conclusions, part of an unclassified report released Monday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, are in line with recent public statements by top U.S. intelligence and military officials — all of whom warned it will not take long for Iran's nuclear... Читать дальше...

A passenger plane on a domestic flight crash-landed at Mogadishu's international airport on Tuesday. All 30 passengers and four crew members survived, the Somali Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement. The E-120 aircraft, operated by local airline company Halla Airlines, was flying from Garowe in Somalia's Puntland region to Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport. The incident occurred at 12:23 p.m. Mogadishu time. "There was no fatality from the accident except minor injuries," the SCAA said in a brief statement. Читать дальше...

A German lawmaker, who serves as the political sponsor of jailed Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, says she will continue to work for his release because the charges against him cannot be proven. Salehi was jailed in connection with anti-government protests that erupted in 2022. Ye-One Rhie spoke to VOA’s Persian service after an Iranian court this week sentenced Salehi to six years and three months in prison. He had been convicted of “corruption on Earth,” a charge punishable by death. Rhie... Читать дальше...

Cameroon's anglophone rebels have torched truckloads of cocoa that were bound for French-speaking towns as farmers protest a ban of exports to Nigeria. Cocoa farmers have blocked hundreds of tons of the beans from leaving their farms and are staging daily street action after the government cracked down on cocoa and other cash-crop smuggling by banning exports to neighboring Nigeria. Cameroon's farmers say they can get nearly double the price for cocoa in Nigeria, where they don't face threats from separatists. Читать дальше...

Former U.S. President Donald Trump is asking a federal judge to delay his trial on a 37-count indictment that alleges he illegally took classified documents with him to his oceanside Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida when his presidency ended and then conspired with an aide, Walt Nauta, to keep government investigators from retrieving them. Prosecutors had already asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for a delay until December 11, four months beyond the initial August 14 date she set, to give both sides more time to prepare. Читать дальше...

All six people on board a helicopter carrying Mexican tourists were killed when it crashed Tuesday near Mount Everest in Nepal, authorities said. The helicopter crashed in the Lamajura area. All the bodies were recovered and flown out of the area, said Basanta Bhattarai, the chief government administrator in the area. The five tourists were Mexican nationals and the pilot was Nepalese, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a statement. The Mexicans included two men and three women. ... Читать дальше...

The Teen Mag has a guide for international students considering applying to U.S. schools. The article says it "aims to provide a comprehensive overview of key considerations for international students applying to U.S. universities." Topics covered include scholarships, safety on campus and immigration and visa regulations. Read it here. (June 2023)

Zimbabwe's government has welcomed the lifting of an 18-month ban by FIFA, football's governing sports body, which will allow the country's team to compete internationally again.  FIFA banned Zimbabwe from international matches in February 2022. The governing body acted after the government in Harare tried to take control of the Zimbabwe Football Association, on the grounds it had failed to account for some funds and did not investigate alleged cases of sexual abuse toward female players by football officials. Читать дальше...

After an anonymous TikToker created a song using artificial intelligence that fooled many into thinking it was made by pop stars, experts say the music industry will have to decide how to handle AI music. Deana Mitchell has the story

Five athletes of Russian nationality are listed as Syrians at the Arab Sports Games, thereby violating international sports rules.

U.S. tech titan Mark Zuckerberg has plunged into a high-stakes game of brinkmanship with the European Union by withholding his new Threads app from users in Europe, but analysts say he will struggle to win the fight. Threads, billed as the killer of Twitter, a platform that has tumbled into chaos under the leadership of mercurial tycoon Elon Musk, has added more than 100 million users in its first week in app stores. But Zuckerberg's firm Meta said it could not be released in Europe because of... Читать дальше...

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ms. Lauryn Hill and Megan Thee Stallion will headline this year’s Global Citizen Festival as the anti-poverty nonprofit looks to focus attention on increasing inequality for girls and young women around the world. Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans said the Sept. 23 event at New York’s Central Park will be the centerpiece of his group’s campaign to encourage supporters, especially those in Gen Z, to take action on gender inequality, climate change and other issues. Studies show... Читать дальше...

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will kick off his Africa tour a day late on Wednesday, the foreign ministry in Nairobi said after he failed to appear at a press event. The rare visit to Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe marks the latest diplomatic effort by the Islamic Republic to forge new alliances and ease its international isolation. The three-day trip will be the first by an Iranian president to Africa in 11 years. Raisi was scheduled to hold a press conference with Kenyan President William Ruto on Tuesday morning... Читать дальше...

Global demand for all forms of energy is forecast to rise by 23% through 2045, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais told a Nigerian oil and gas conference on Tuesday. Oil executives and officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have repeatedly made the case for continued investment in oil, warning that prices will otherwise spike higher. Al Ghais also said calls to limit or stop funding new oil projects were unrealistic and unwise. He acknowledged, however... Читать дальше...

Israeli protesters blocked highways leading to Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv at the start of countrywide demonstrations Tuesday against the government's planned judicial overhaul that has divided the nation. The demonstrations came the morning after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's parliamentary coalition gave initial approval to a bill to limit the Supreme Court's oversight powers, pressing forward with contentious proposed changes to the judiciary despite widespread opposition. The legislation... Читать дальше...

The world's biggest social media platforms are facing an Australian Senate inquiry Tuesday to explain how they're tackling the threat of foreign interference. The domestic spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, has said that espionage and foreign interference are now the main security threats to Australia, ahead of terrorism. Federal lawmakers in Canberra are investigating the risk posed to Australia’s democracy by foreign interference on social media. A Senate inquiry Tuesday is asking Meta... Читать дальше...

The Taliban Tuesday ordered the suspension of all Swedish activities in Afghanistan because of the public burning of the Quran, Islam's holy book, at a protest in Sweden last month.  The June 28 authorized protest saw an Iraqi national resident in Stockholm tear and burn a copy of the Quran outside the capital's largest mosque as Muslims celebrated Eid al-Adha worldwide. The incident sparked outrage and condemnation in Islamic countries. "The Islamic Emirate suspends Sweden's activities in Afghanistan... Читать дальше...

The United Nations food agency says thousands of people are crossing the border into the central African nation of Chad from neighboring Sudan to escape the nearly three-month-old violence that the world body’s humanitarian chief has described as a civil war “of the most brutal kind.” The World Food Programme said in a statement Tuesday that 20,000 people from Sudan’s Darfur region have arrived in the small Chadian border town of Adre in the last week alone. The agency said many of the people... Читать дальше...

Australia has become the newest member of the Climate Club alliance, a grouping of countries taking a more ambitious approach to tackling global warming.  The Climate Club was formed in 2022 by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.  It is supported by some of the world’s most advanced economies, including Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as Argentina, Chile, Denmark, Indonesia, Colombia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore and Uruguay. ... Читать дальше...

India will launch a mission to the moon later this week hoping to become the fourth country to land a craft on the lunar surface.     So far only three countries — the United States, Russia and China — have achieved what is called a "soft landing" on the moon in which vehicles touch down without damage.   The mission marks the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) second attempt to land a rover on the moon — a previous effort nearly four years ago failed.     The spacecraft called Chandrayaan-3... Читать дальше...

Spanish authorities rescued 86 people Monday from a boat near the Canary Islands that appeared to be from Senegal, after an aid group reported that three boats from the African country went missing with 300 people aboard.  Spain's Maritime Rescue Service said it could not confirm that the rescued boat was one of the three reported missing but told The Associated Press that the vessel was a multi-colored, 20-meter-long (65-foot-long) canoe of the type known in Senegal as a pirogue.  Eighty... Читать дальше...