Новости за 13.07.2023

Texas began Thursday to roll out what will become a floating barrier on the Rio Grande in the latest escalation of Governor Greg Abbott's multibillion-dollar effort to secure the U.S. border with Mexico. But even before the huge, orange buoys were unloaded from the four semitrailers that had hauled them to the border city of Eagle Pass, there were concerns about this part of Abbott's unprecedented challenge to federal authority over immigration enforcement. Migrant advocates voiced concerns about drowning risks... Читать дальше...

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday welcomed the opening of a new Huawei Innovation Center in Johannesburg, praising the Chinese company for its “confidence in the South African economy and its potential.” Ramaphosa said that adopting Huawei’s new technologies would help Africa “leapfrog into the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” Huawei was sanctioned in the United States in 2019 by then-President Donald Trump over concerns that Beijing was trying to monopolize networks and possibly use them for espionage. Читать дальше...

Afghan women owning and working at beauty salons gathered in Kabul over a two-day period this week to protest a recent decision by the Taliban to shut down their businesses. Saying the move will force their women-led households into poverty, the protesters appealed to Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, who reportedly resides in the southern Kandahar province, shuns appearing in public and does not meet women.   Akhundzada's decree to close all women's beauty parlors within a month marks... Читать дальше...

Religious leaders in Malawi led street protests Thursday against same-sex marriage, as a Dutch citizen and a transgender Malawian challenge laws in Malawi's High Court against same-sex relations. Hundreds of people in Malawi's commercial capital, Blantyre, gathered Thursday to protest what they call the potential legalization of same-sex marriage in the country. The protesters came from both of the country's major religions — Christianity and Islam. Archbishop Thomas Luke Msusa led the protests in Blantyre. Читать дальше...

Religious minorities are once again the focus of terrorist attacks in northwestern region of Pakistan. The outlawed terrorist organization Daesh has claimed responsibility for two recent attacks on Sikhs in Peshawar in which one person was injured and the other killed. VOA’s Nazar ul Islam files this report from Peshawar, Pakistan, in which he takes us inside a Sikh community. Bezhan Hamdard narrates

UNHCR, the U.N.'s refugee agency, has expressed concern about reports that Ghana's armed forces this week deported hundreds of asylum-seekers who were fleeing an insurgency in neighboring Burkina Faso. Ghana's military said it only expels illegal immigrants and suspected terrorists, but an activist who made a recording of the forced deportations says the move involved mostly women and children seeking refuge from the violence.  The widely circulated video on microblogging site Twitter showed... Читать дальше...

We take a closer look at the growing threat of Fentanyl. Highly addictive, cheap, and potentially lethal, this synthetic opioid is responsible for a dramatic spike in overdose deaths across the United States. How are communities, healthcare professionals, and law enforcement responding to this new danger? This week on The Inside Story, The Fentanyl Threat.

Egypt is seeking ways to make an elusive cease-fire hold in the bloody Sudan conflict that has killed thousands and forced Sudan’s residents into at least six neighboring countries as refugees. Regional states worry that the ongoing conflict will destabilize them, as well. Leaders from Sudan's seven key neighbors met Thursday in Cairo at the behest of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who is hoping to prevent the three-month-old crisis from worsening and spilling into other regional states. Читать дальше...

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

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was in Zimbabwe Thursday, wrapping up a three-nation Africa visit that also took him to Kenya and Uganda. While in Uganda, Raisi said the West was promoting homosexuality in order to end what he called the “generation of human beings.” Raisi's visit came after Uganda in May signed a law with harsh punishments for homosexuality, including the death penalty.  During his one-day visit to Uganda this week, Raisi, speaking through an interpreter, described homosexuality... Читать дальше...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan heads to the Arab Gulf States next week in his latest effort to improve ties across the region after years of tensions. Earlier this month, Turkey restored full diplomatic relations with Egypt, and rapprochement efforts continue with Israel. For VOA, Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.

Rights groups in Kenya are campaigning for refugees married to Kenyans to obtain citizenship. The Kenyan Constitution allows foreign nationals married to Kenyans to register for citizenship after seven years of marriage. But they must have residency status to apply, and this policy locks out refugees. Juma Majanga reports from the Dadaab refugee camps

The gunman who killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 is eligible for the death penalty, a federal jury announced Thursday, setting the stage for further evidence and testimony on whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison.  The government is seeking capital punishment for Robert Bowers, who raged against Jewish people online before storming the Tree of Life synagogue with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons in the nation's deadliest antisemitic attack. The jury agreed with prosecutors that Bowers ... Читать дальше...

Former Mozambican Finance Minister Manuel Chang is set to be arraigned in a U.S. court Thursday following his extradition to the United States on corruption charges. His case triggered a financial crisis in Mozambique and a warrant for his arrest. Chang was put on a U.S. plane Tuesday and flown from South Africa to New York, where he will face charges of fraud and money laundering. He was wanted for his alleged role in a $2 billion graft scandal that plunged Mozambique into financial crisis.... Читать дальше...

The U.S. Secret Service said on Thursday it had concluded its investigation into cocaine found at the White House and said it had been unable to identify a suspect. The cocaine was found in a cubby hole in a West Wing entry area where visitors place electronics and other belongings before going on tours, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters previously.  In its statement on Thursday, the Secret Service said it was unable to obtain fingerprints from the package that held the cocaine... Читать дальше...

Some homeowners looking to switch out their heating and cooling systems are turning to home geothermal — also known as ground source — heat pumps. It's a technology that relies on a simple physical fact: Dig several feet below Earth's surface, in the coldest winter or the hottest summer, and the temperature will be around 55 degrees. Geothermal takes advantage of that constant temperature by pushing water with some antifreeze through a loop of flexible pipe that runs deep underground. The water gets circulated by a heat pump system... Читать дальше...

Telangana Today looks at athletic scholarships in the U.S. and offers international students a guide to finding and getting them. "Athletic scholarships in the United States offer opportunities for talented student-athletes to fund their education while pursuing their sports careers," the story notes. (June 2023)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said he and his Polish counterpart had agreed at a summit in Warsaw on Thursday on a plan for Poland to buy additional South Korean weapons.  The two countries last year reached a $13.7 billion arms deal, Seoul's biggest ever, which included supplies of South Korean rocket launchers and fighter jets to Poland.   "We agreed on Poland's plan to introduce additional South Korean weapons," Yoon said during a joint news conference, without giving further details. Читать дальше...

Ending a nine-decade run, Venezuela’s Radio Caracas Radio aired its last broadcast June 30. Media analysts are warning that the closure of RCR, one of the country's oldest stations, along with the shuttering of dozens of other media outlets, is limiting public access to information. From Caracas, Venezuela, Adriana Nunez Rabascall has the story, narrated by Veronica Villafañe.

Pakistan said Thursday the International Monetary Fund had transferred $1.2 billion to its central bank as the first tranche of a $3 billion bailout program for the cash-starved nation. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar made the televised announcement a day after the global lender's executive board approved the much-awaited program to help Pakistan address its short-term acute balance of payments crisis and avert a potential default. The IMF said Wednesday that the remaining $1.8 billion would be phased in over the program's duration... Читать дальше...

Pro-democracy leader Pita Limjaroenrat failed to gain enough votes to become Thailand’s 30th prime minister, as appointed senators refused to back him over a proposed reform of the controversial royal defamation law. Only 324 lawmakers from the combined chambers of the National Assembly voted for Pita on the first ballot, 52 short of the majority he needed to become prime minister. He has several days to try to persuade conservative rivals to back him, or convince some of the 199 abstentions... Читать дальше...

It is possible to end AIDS by 2030 if countries demonstrate the political will to invest in prevention and treatment and adopt non-discriminatory laws, the United Nations said on Thursday. In 2022, an estimated 39 million people around the world were living with HIV, according to UNAIDS, the United Nations AIDS program. HIV can progress to AIDS if left untreated. "We have a solution if we follow the leadership of countries that have forged strong political commitment to put people first and invest... Читать дальше...

Egypt launched an attempt to mediate between Sudan's warring factions on Thursday at a regional summit, the latest in a series of international efforts to prevent a prolonged civil war and the deepening of a humanitarian crisis. Fighting between Sudan's army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces broke out in the capital Khartoum in April, and has spread westward to the fragile Darfur and Kordofan regions. More than 1,000 civilians have been killed and 3 million people have been displaced, including 700,000 to neighboring countries... Читать дальше...

Sweden’s highest court Thursday blocked the extradition of two men wanted by Turkey for alleged involvement with a group Turkey blames for a 2016 coup attempt. The Swedish court said the men, who are refugees, faced the risk of persecution if they were to be sent to Turkey. Turkey says the men are part of a group led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, which Turkey considers a terrorist organization. The Swedish court also said the allegation that the men downloaded a mobile application that... Читать дальше...

The inflation rate in the United States fell sharply to 3% year-over-year in June, according to data released by the Department of Labor on Wednesday, signaling that efforts by the Federal Reserve to rein in soaring prices appear to have been effective. The lower-than-expected report found that between May and June, prices increased by just 0.2%. The annual rate was a full percentage point below the 4% rate measured just a month ago, and far below the 9% rate that consumers were facing as recently as last summer. Читать дальше...