Новости за 06.08.2023

The Amazon rainforest is a massive area, twice the size of India and sprawling across eight countries and one territory. It's a crucial carbon sink for the climate, has about 20% of the world’s freshwater reserves and boasts astounding biodiversity, including 16,000 known tree species. But governments have historically viewed it as an area to be colonized and exploited, with little regard for sustainability or the rights of its Indigenous peoples. Now, as those governments seek to clamp down on a Wild West atmosphere of resource extraction... Читать дальше...

Iraq on Sunday called on the United States and Britain to extradite former officials accused of facilitating the theft of $2.5 billion in public funds in one of the country's biggest-ever corruption cases. Iraq's judiciary issued arrest warrants at the beginning of March for four men, including a former finance minister and staff members of former Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, who Baghdad says all live outside the country. Haider Hanoun, the head of the Iraqi Commission for Integrity, called... Читать дальше...

Members of former President Donald Trump’s legal team say they will oppose federal prosecutors’ requests to limit what they share publicly about Trump’s latest indictment. The case appears to be growing thornier, but global reactions are coming in slowly. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias talked to political analysts as to why that might be.

Calls are growing for Donald Trump's criminal trials to be broadcast live, as the United States grapples with the prospect of seeing a former -- and possibly future -- president in the dock. Lawyers and politicians are lining up to urge that cameras be allowed inside the courtroom, particularly when the one-time reality TV star faces a jury on charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election. "Given the historic nature of the charges brought forth in these cases, it is hard to... Читать дальше...

Nicole Leger always thought of the burn pits at military bases in Afghanistan as more like campfires than health hazards. Ordered to dispose of sensitive documents, she would toss the paperwork into the flames while catching up with fellow soldiers, moments of quiet bonding that provided a respite from her riskier work as a hastily trained medic for the U.S. Army. “We really didn’t see that it was dangerous at the time,” she said. “It was just part of the mission. So, we had to get it done.” But then her sinus problems began... Читать дальше...

Greta Gerwig should be feeling closer to fine these days. In just three weeks in theaters, "Barbie" is set to sail past $1 billion in global ticket sales, breaking a record for female directors that was previously held by Patty Jenkins, who helmed "Wonder Woman." "Barbie," which Gerwig directed and co-wrote, added another $53 million from 4,178 North American locations this weekend according to studio estimates on Sunday. The Margot Robbie-led and produced film has been comfortably seated in first... Читать дальше...

Nigeria’s unreliable power grid is not only slowing down the country’s economic growth, but health workers say it can lead to unwanted hospital shutdowns at night. But one startup is giving hospitals hope. Alhassan Bala has this report, narrated by Haruna Shehu.

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

A lawyer for former U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday rejected the premise of a federal indictment alleging that Trump fraudulently tried to overturn his 2020 reelection loss. The lawyer said Trump’s efforts in trying to keep Congress from certifying that Democrat Joe Biden had defeated Trump amounted to constitutionally protected free speech. Trump lawyer John Lauro appeared on five news talk shows, previewing his defense against the charges filed last week by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith. Читать дальше...

The supreme leader of Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban has labeled cross-border attacks, including those on Pakistan, as “haram” or forbidden under Islam. Senior Taliban leaders communicated the “diktat” or decree from Hibatullah Akhundzada to Pakistani officials during recent bilateral talks to underscore their determination not to allow anyone to threaten other countries from Afghan soil, highly placed official sources in Islamabad told VOA. The issue figured prominently during the three-day meetings Asif Durrani... Читать дальше...

Dozens of migrants were dramatically rescued by Italy as they foundered in the sea or clung to a rocky reef Sunday after three boats launched by smugglers from northern Africa shipwrecked in rough waters in separate incidents over the weekend. Survivors said some 30 fellow migrants were missing from capsized vessels. In a particularly risky operation, two helicopters battled strong winds to pluck to safety, one by one, migrants stranded for nearly two days on a steep, rocky reef of tiny Lampedusa island. Читать дальше...

Juan Branco, a French lawyer for Senegalese opposition politician Ousmane Sonko, is in custody in Dakar on terrorism, conspiracy and public order charges, among others, his lawyer told Reuters on Sunday. He was arrested in Mauritania and extradited to Senegal on Saturday, his lawyer said. Branco is part of the team defending Sonko, who was detained in late July. Sonko was charged with plotting an insurrection, criminal conspiracy and other offenses, two months after his trial for rape sparked deadly riots across Senegal. Читать дальше...

Six members of Syrian regime forces were killed Sunday in attacks on government positions in the conflict-torn country's northwest, the last main bastion of armed opposition, a war monitor said. "Six regime forces, including two officers, were killed and two others wounded" in three attacks by jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The attacks targeted regime positions in Latakia province, said the Britain-based group which... Читать дальше...

A military court in the Gaza Strip on Sunday sentenced seven people to death by hanging for "collaboration" with Israel, the coastal enclave's interior ministry said. The court also sentenced seven others to "life imprisonment with hard labour," which in Gaza amounts to 25 years, the ministry said in a statement. Palestinian militant group Hamas controls Gaza, and the military court there has regularly issued death sentences for people found guilty of "collaboration" with Israel. Under Palestinian law... Читать дальше...

The death toll from a train derailment in southern Pakistan rose to 30, with the number of injured to 60, and rescue operations were underway, officials said Sunday.  Ten cars of a Rawalpindi-bound train got derailed, and some overturned, near the Pakistani town of Nawabshah trapping many passengers, said senior railway officer Mahmoodur Rehman Lakho.  Senior police officer, Abid Baloch — present at the scene of the accident— said that so far 30 bodies have been recovered while more than 60 people were injured, some critically. Читать дальше...

Thailand has banned a forthcoming book on the country’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn, claiming it mocks the monarchy, a topic of growing political friction in a nation with one of the toughest royal defamation laws in the world. Rights groups have joined the book’s exiled Thai editor, a vocal critic of Thailand’s monarchy and conservative political elite, in panning the move as an affront to the free speech and expression rights the country claims to uphold. The government announced its ban on the order and import of the book... Читать дальше...

The Maldives Supreme Court confirmed on Sunday that jailed former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom is barred for the country's September presidential election. The ruling is another setback for the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), which declared Yameen its candidate before his December conviction for corruption and money laundering over kickbacks from a private company while he was president. The party last week challenged the Election Commission's block on his candidacy because he is serving an 11-year jail sentence... Читать дальше...

Heavy rains in Paris have led to the cancellation on Sunday of a swimming event in the River Seine that was to be a test for next year’s Summer Olympics, but Games organizers say the waterway will be better prepared in 2024. The Open Water Swimming World Cup event was canceled because “the water quality in the Seine has remained below acceptable standards for safeguarding swimmers’ health,” French Swimming Federation (FFN) said in a statement Sunday. Water quality falls below acceptable standards... Читать дальше...

The deadline has arrived Sunday for Niger's military junta to reinstate the country's ousted president, but the West Africa regional bloc that has threatened a military intervention faces prominent appeals to pursue more peaceful means. Neighboring Nigeria's Senate on Saturday pushed back against the plan by the regional bloc known as ECOWAS, urging Nigeria's president, the bloc's current chair, to explore options other than the use of force. ECOWAS can still move ahead, as final decisions are taken by consensus by member states... Читать дальше...

Thousands of tourists spill onto a boardwalk in Alaska's capital city every day from cruise ships towering over downtown. Vendors hawk shoreside trips and rows of buses stand ready to whisk visitors away, with many headed for the area's crown jewel: the Mendenhall Glacier. A craggy expanse of gray, white and blue, the glacier gets swarmed by sightseeing helicopters and attracts visitors by kayak, canoe and foot. So many come to see the glacier and Juneau's other wonders that the city's immediate... Читать дальше...

The blockbuster movie “Oppenheimer” focuses on the work of American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in the development of the atomic bomb. To prepare for the film, director Christopher Nolan reportedly did some heavy research into quantum physics, a study whose revolutionary benefits expanded into many fields after World War II, researchers say. Quantum physics “is the study of matter and energy at the most fundamental level,” as described in an article on the California Institute of Technology’s website. Читать дальше...

The Philippine military on Sunday condemned a Chinese coast guard ship's "excessive and offensive" use of a water cannon to block a Philippine supply boat from delivering new troops, food, water and fuel to a Philippine-occupied shoal in the disputed South China Sea. The tense confrontation Saturday at the Second Thomas Shoal was the latest flare-up in the long-seething territorial conflicts involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. The disputes in the South China Sea... Читать дальше...

Rain continued to pelt northeastern China in the wake of Typhoon Doksuri on Saturday, as authorities reported more fatalities and missing people while evacuating thousands more. Six people died and four went missing in the city of Shulan in Jilin province, which has seen five straight days of rainfall, according to state media. Over 18,900 people were evacuated from the city of more than 700,000, according to the local disaster relief agency. State news agency China News Service showed images... Читать дальше...

An earthquake in eastern China before dawn Sunday knocked down houses and injured at least 21 people, according to state media, but no deaths were reported. The magnitude 5.5 quake occurred near the city of Dezhou, about 300 kilometers south of Beijing, the Chinese capital, at 2:33 a.m., according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude at 5.4. The quake caused 126 homes to collapse and injured 21 people, government broadcaster China Central Television and other news outlets reported. Читать дальше...

Netherlands advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women's World Cup on Sunday with a 2-0 win over South Africa. Jill Roord and Lineth Beerensteyn scored in each half at the Sydney Football Stadium to secure the 2019 runners-up a place in the last eight. But South Africa, one of the surprise teams of the tournament, gave the Dutch a scare, forcing goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar into a string of saves to keep Thembi Kgatlana at bay. Netherlands lost to the U.S. team in the World Cup final four... Читать дальше...