Новости за 19.07.2023

The U.S. has suspended funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese research laboratory at the center of the debate over the origins of the coronavirus that has killed nearly 7 million people worldwide.    The lab has not received any U.S. funding since 2020, but for months the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been reviewing its operations, concluding that the institute “is not compliant with federal regulations and is not presently responsible.”    The funding cutoff... Читать дальше...

CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pardoned rights researcher Patrick Zaki a day after he was handed a three-year prison term on charges of spreading false news in a case that drew new attention to Egypt's crackdown on dissent.  Zaki had been studying in Italy before his detention during a trip home in 2020 over a news article in which he documented life as a Coptic Christian in Egypt.   He will return to Italy on Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a... Читать дальше...

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ended a Persian Gulf trip aimed at securing investments by signing agreements worth more than $50 billion in the United Arab Emirates, Emirati state media said Wednesday.  His tour, which also included stops in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, saw Erdogan preside over the signing of lucrative deals to boost the ailing Turkish economy.  Turkey is battling a currency collapse and soaring inflation that have battered its economy.  Ankara has recently repaired relations... Читать дальше...

The killings of two journalists in one week in Mexico has renewed calls for the country’s media community to be given better protection. The most recent attack took place Saturday in Acapulco, Guerrero state, when Nelson Matus, the director of news website Lo Real de Guerrero, was fatally shot outside a store. The previous Saturday, the body of missing journalist Luis Martín Sanchez was found in Tepic, the capital of Nayarit state. The prosecutor’s office said the body of Sanchez, who worked... Читать дальше...

People who have a particular genetic variant are twice as likely to never feel sick when they contract COVID-19, researchers said Wednesday, offering the first potential explanation for the lucky group dubbed the "super dodgers." Those who have two copies of the variant are eight times more likely to never get any symptoms from COVID-19, according to the study in the journal Nature. Previous research has suggested that at least 20% of the millions of infections during the pandemic were asymptomatic. Читать дальше...

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said more work was needed to iron out agreements with China on major issues after three days of talks in Beijing aimed at rebuilding trust between the world's two biggest greenhouse gas emitters.  "We — our team and the United States administration — came to Beijing in order to unstick what has been stuck since almost last August," Kerry told reporters late on Wednesday.  Climate talks were suspended last year following the visit of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan... Читать дальше...

South Africans marked Nelson Mandela International Day to honor the anti-apartheid hero and late president's birthday on July 18. But almost 10 years after Mandela's death, the events stand in stark contrast to the socio-economic segregation and corruption that still haunt South Africa. Vicky Stark reports from Cape Town, South Africa. Camera and video editing by Shadley Lombard.

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

Fuel stations in Malawi's economic capital, Blantyre, are running on empty after a fresh, nationwide fuel shortage this week. Long lines of motorists are waiting for hours, sometimes overnight, in hopes of fueling their vehicles, while public transport fares have doubled. Malawi's energy regulator says the country has depleted its fuel reserves, largely due to a lack of foreign currency. The problem became apparent July 16 when motorists started to scramble for gasoline, though diesel still was readily available. Читать дальше...

Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Citizens Coalition for Change, has turned to door-to-door campaigning ahead of next month’s election, saying police are turning down its applications for public rallies. The police acknowledge refusing to authorize a number of opposition rallies but say they are also turning down requests to rally from the ruling party. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare. Camera: Blessing  Chigwenhembe

Tayba Hatimy studied and practiced dentistry for seven years before she realized her real passion was caring for the environment. Since then, she has founded a garbage collection app that helps people in Mombasa, Kenya reduce garbage along the coast. Saida Swaleh has the story. (Camera: Moses Baya )

Petroleum fuel consumption has dropped by nearly a third in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, since President Bola Tinubu in May scrapped an expensive fuel subsidy. Authorities are looking to promote alternative fuels, including converting engines to run on compressed natural gas and expanding electric vehicle charging stations. Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja, Nigeria. Video editor: Bakhtiyar Zamanov

The Pakistani Taliban released an online magazine geared toward women this week. The third of its kind in six years, the magazine comes at a time when the militant group formally known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, is staging a resurgence with near-daily deadly attacks on Pakistani security forces. Titled Banat-E-Khadeejatul Kubra, which means Daughters of Khadeejatul Kubra, the 36-page Urdu-language magazine released July 16 is named after Khadeeja, the first wife of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Читать дальше...

Foreign students educated in the United States are often bright, hardworking and eager to land a job. But the backlog for U.S. work visas has created an opportunity for other countries to snag talented workers. Britain, Canada and Australia offer streamlined visas for graduates with in-demand skills or prestigious degrees. As one immigration lawyer in London put it: “We are the beneficiaries of the failures of the U.S. system.” Jon Marcus of The Hechinger Report has more. (June 2023)

Fire planes and ground crews from several European countries are heading to Greece where wildfires have intensified as relentless heat wave conditions are keeping much of southern Europe above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Three firefighting teams from Poland, Romania and Slovakia are due in Greece on Thursday, while Israel has pledged two firefighting aircraft, adding to the four planes from Italy and France already operating outside Athens. New evacuations were ordered on Wednesday as wildfires raged near the Greek capital.

Childhood immunization has rebounded following a significant decline during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, but at an uneven rate with too many children in low-income countries still missing out on the life-saving products, according to a joint World Health Organization-UNICEF report. The agencies say that four million more children were immunized against killer diseases in 2022 compared to the previous year. “Last year, we rang alarm bells at the historic backsliding that we saw across countries... Читать дальше...

Taliban forces in Afghanistan fired shots into the air and used fire hoses Wednesday to forcefully disperse dozens of women staging protests in Kabul over a recent nationwide ban on beauty salons. Witnesses said the incident happened as around 30 female owners and workers gathered outside their beauty parlors in a central part of the capital to demand the Taliban reverse the ban. Protesters accused security forces of beating them with batons and snatching mobile phones from some of them to stop them from filming the violence. Читать дальше...

Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming part of our social media world on our cellphones and computers. Text, images, audio and video are becoming easier for anyone to create using new generative AI tools. As AI-generated materials become more pervasive, it's getting harder to tell the difference between what is real and what has been manipulated. "It's one of the challenges over the next decade," said Kristian Hammond, a professor of computer science who focuses on artificial intelligence at Northwestern University. Читать дальше...

China’s top diplomat said the United States needs the “diplomatic wisdom” embodied by Henry Kissinger during a visit with the former U.S secretary of state Wednesday in Beijing. Wang Yi praised Kissinger’s role in normalizing bilateral relations between Beijing and Washington in the 1970s, describing the 100-year-old former diplomat as “an old friend” who “played an irreplaceable role in enhancing understanding between the two countries,” according to a statement issued by China’s foreign ministry. Читать дальше...

Beijing has scored significant diplomatic gains in the Indo-Pacific lately, but one country in the western Pacific so far has said no. "The most important thing is we have shared values; we believe in freedom and democracy," said Surangel W. Whipps Jr., president of the Republic of Palau, when asked how he justifies turning down attractive offers from Beijing in favor of sticking with the United States and its Indo-Pacific allies. "It's important that our citizens understand we're part of the... Читать дальше...

Chinese livestreamers have set their sights on TikTok shoppers in the U.S. and Europe, hawking everything from bags and apparel to crystals with their eyes on a potentially lucrative market, despite uncertainties over the platform's future in the U.S. and elsewhere. In China, where livestreaming ecommerce is forecast to reach 4.9 trillion yuan ($676 billion) by the year's end, popular hosts like "Lipstick King" Austin Li rack up tens of millions of dollars in sales during a single livestream. Читать дальше...

The Women’s soccer World Cup kicks off in New Zealand and Australia Thursday. More than a million tickets have already been sold for the 64 games. FIFA, the sport’s international governing body, believes it will be the most-watched women’s soccer tournament. Thirty-two nations will take part in the World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. In 1991, when the event was first held, there were just 12 teams. The United States is the defending champion and hopes to become the first team to win the trophy three times in a row. Читать дальше...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking to lower food prices and boost competition by joining with 31 states and Washington, D.C., to target price fixing and other anticompetitive behavior in the food and agriculture sectors.  The USDA on Wednesday said it would coordinate with the bipartisan group of attorneys general on antitrust enforcement amid concerns about industry practices.  Farmers and ranchers have for decades complained of poor prices and unfair contracts from the biggest... Читать дальше...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen this week said that if the Biden administration issues expected new rules limiting outbound U.S. investment in China, they will not be highly disruptive to trade between the two countries, and will focus on national security concerns. "We are looking carefully at outbound investment controls, and they would serve as a complement to the export controls that we have in place, to make sure that we've covered all the channels by which technologies can be transferred... Читать дальше...

Iran, largely shunned by western tourists, is making a push to attract visitors from wealthy Gulf Arab states and other nearby countries to boost its sanctions-hit economy.   The Islamic republic is also drawing more visitors from Russia and China to its ancient sites that date back to the Persian empire and the fabled Silk Road, industry figures say. Iran's Beijing-brokered diplomatic thaw this year with Saudi Arabia paved the way for direct flights, and Tehran is also seeking closer ties with other countries from Egypt to Morocco. Читать дальше...