Новости за 07.08.2023

There's no shaking it. Your chances of winning the lottery are extremely slim. After no big winner Friday night, the Mega Millions jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.55 billion. If someone wins it all on Tuesday, when the next Mega Millions drawing takes place, the prize would be one of the largest in U.S. lottery history. But don't plan on entering a new tax bracket anytime soon. The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot — no matter the size — stand at about 1 in 302.6 million. Because of the almost impossible chance of winning big... Читать дальше...

Around 20 people were killed in a suspected terror attack in Burkina Faso, security and local sources told Agence France-Presse on Monday. The Sunday attack in the Centre-East region near the Togolese border killed "around 20 people, mostly traders," a security source told AFP, while a trader put the toll at 25, and another said there were a dozen wounded. More than 16,000 civilians, troops and police have died in terror attacks, according to an NGO count, including more than 5,000 since the start of this year. Читать дальше...

In the days since the coup in Niger that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, journalists have faced threats or attacks, and access to broadcasts from two French outlets has been cut. Journalists from at least four news outlets have been threatened or physically attacked and some have reported having equipment damaged, according to media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, or RSF. Separately, on August 3, the signals of French international news broadcasters Radio France Internationale and France 24 were blocked inside Niger. Читать дальше...

Police records show that for the past five years suicide cases in Malawi have jumped from 128 in 2018 to 292 last year.    Police statistics given to VOA show that the current suicide rate is at 11.6 per 100,000 people, higher than the global average of 10.5 per 100,000.  Peter Kalaya, a spokesperson for the Malawi Police Service, said the records show that more youths are committing suicide than older persons.  “And what topped the list are issues to do with disagreement in relationships such as marital problems. Читать дальше...

Several thousand people — their faces covered to conceal their identities — marched through Haiti's capital on Monday demanding protection from violent gangs that are pillaging neighborhoods in the capital Port-au-Prince and beyond. Haitians' daily lives have been disrupted by incessant gang violence that has worsened poverty across the country as it awaits a decision from the U.N. Security Council over a potential deployment of an international armed force. "We want security!" the crowd chanted... Читать дальше...

The European Union and NATO began sending urgent aid Monday to Slovenia after severe flooding over the weekend affecting two-thirds of the small European country killed at least six people and left hundreds homeless. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke by phone with Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob on Monday, expressing his sympathy and NATO's strong solidarity with Slovenia, a NATO statement said. "I express my deepest condolences to the people of Slovenia for the loss of life... Читать дальше...

A small group of asylum-seekers has been moved onto a barge moored in southern England as the U.K. government tries to cut the cost of sheltering people seeking protection in the country, British news media reported Monday. The asylum-seekers were transferred to the Bibby Stockholm, a floating hostel that will ultimately house up to 500 men, from other sites around the country. More were expected to arrive later Monday as authorities seek to reduce the number of asylum-seekers housed in expensive... Читать дальше...

Military officials in Cameroon say they have found a mass grave near the border with Nigeria containing the bodies of nine civilians, including five government officials, who were abducted by rebels in June 2021. Government troops were led to the mass grave by a separatist fighter who participated in the killing, but surrendered and joined a disarmament and demobilization center.  Cameroon's military says government troops exhumed the bodies from the mass grave, located about 20 kilometers from Ekondo Titi... Читать дальше...

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said definitively that rival Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, an acknowledgement the Florida governor made after years of equivocating answers. "Of course he lost," DeSantis said an interview with NBC News posted Monday. "Joe Biden's the president." DeSantis has often sidestepped questions about whether he believes the 2020 election results were legitimate. But in recent days he has started publicly questioning the lies that Trump and his allies have made about the election's legitimacy. Читать дальше...

Tou Thao, the last former Minneapolis police officer convicted in state court for his role in the killing of George Floyd, was sentenced Monday to 4 years and 9 months — even as he denied wrongdoing.  Thao had testified that he merely served as a "human traffic cone" when he held back concerned bystanders who gathered as former Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd's neck for 9 1/2 minutes while the Black man pleaded for his life on May 25, 2020.  A bystander video captured Floyd's... Читать дальше...

Spain's conservative People's Party said on Monday it believed it could break a political deadlock and form a government after the hard-right Vox hinted it will not insist on being part of a coalition in exchange for its support. Vox on Sunday said its 33 lawmakers would "support a majority" for the right-wing bloc in the Spanish parliament's lower house to stop the Socialists (PSOE) making pacts with Catalan and Basque separatists and forging what the hard-right party has described as "a government... Читать дальше...

K-pop star Suga, songwriter and rapper for the boy band supergroup BTS, has begun the enlistment process for mandatory military service, the band's label said on Monday, making him the third band member to go off to perform the military duty. "We would like to inform our fans that SUGA has initiated the military enlistment process by applying for the termination of his enlistment postponement," Big Hit Music said in a statement. All able-bodied South Korean men ages 18-28 must serve in the military for about two years. Читать дальше...

The contours of the debate at the heart of the Federal Reserve's policy decision next month came into clearer view on Monday as officials outlined the case for and against another interest rate hike. "The debate is really about: Do we need to do another rate increase? Or not? ... I think we're pretty close to what a peak rate would be," New York Fed President John Williams said in an interview with the New York Times in which he voiced some confidence that underlying inflation was on a downward path. Читать дальше...

According to a recent report, U.S. colleges are most interested in international students from India, with 57% prioritizing undergraduate outreach there. Outreach to Vietnam, South Korea and Brazil are next. For graduate students, India is again in first place, but China, Nigeria and Vietnam are also attracting strong interest. As U.S. enrollments decline, colleges are looking abroad — there were more than 900,000 international students in the U.S. in 2022. Read the report from Julie Baer and... Читать дальше...

Hundreds of volunteers are fighting illiteracy in the province of Manica, in Mozambique. They are creating reading camps that teach children to read in Portuguese. Andre Baptista reports, in this story narrated by Barbara Santos.

Fueled by election gains, Democrats in Minnesota and Michigan this year enacted far-reaching policy changes that party leaders in other states are looking to as a potential roadmap for what they could swiftly achieve with similar control. Gun safety packages, expanded voting rights, free meals for all students, and increased protections for abortion rights and LGTBQ+ people were just some of pent-up policy proposals that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law... Читать дальше...

Maryland-based trio, Pressing Strings just released their new album, “And I For You” last month.  The album includes their infectious radio single, “Your Love.”   This is the band’s first album to feature all 3 members sharing the singing and helping with the harmonies.  Border Crossings host Larry London interviewed Jordan Sokel from the band.

Washington has never been a particularly friendly place for Donald Trump. And after pleading not guilty to federal charges that he had tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election, Trump was quick to show that the feeling was mutual. “It was also very sad driving through Washington, D.C., and seeing the filth and the decay and all of the broken buildings and walls and the graffiti,” he said on the tarmac of Reagan National Airport in Virginia, just a few kilometers away. “This is not the place that I left. Читать дальше...

Japan is this week marking the anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, which killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and brought an end to World War II. Japan’s postwar constitution curtailed its armed forces and renounced war as a right of the nation. But as Henry Ridgwell reports from Hiroshima, growing threats from neighboring China and North Korea have a prompted a radical change of course.

Angola's police have allegedly killed over a dozen activists since January, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Monday, urging government to swiftly probe reports of abuse and rights violations. The country's law enforcement authorities have also been accused of the arbitrary arrests and detention of hundreds, the NGO said in a statement. Angolan law enforcement authorities including police, state security and intelligence services "have been implicated in unlawful killings of at least 15 people," HRW said. Читать дальше...

Torrential rains have destroyed more than 450 homes in Sudan's north, state media reported Monday, validating concerns voiced by aid groups that the wet season would compound the war-torn country's woes. Changing weather patterns saw Sudan's Northern State buffeted with heavy rain, causing damage to at least 464 houses, state-run SUNA news agency said. It described the vast region bordering Egypt and Libya as "a desert area that rarely received rain in the past, but has been witnessing devastating... Читать дальше...

Thailand's populist Pheu Thai party announced on Monday it was forming an alliance with the Bhumjaithai party and was open to other parties joining in to form a government nearly three months after elections. Pheu Thai, led by the billionaire Shinawatra family, won the second-largest share of votes in the May election and last week stepped up to try and form a government after winner Move Forward's attempts were blocked twice in parliament. "Pheu Thai and Bhumjaithai party will form the government... Читать дальше...

England won without star Lauren James, who was ejected with a red card, to beat Nigeria on penalty kicks Monday and advance to the quarterfinals at the Women’s World Cup. The round of 16 match ended 0-0 after regulation and extra time, giving Nigeria a chance to win a knockout match at the Women’s World Cup for the first time in nine trips to the global tournament. But European champion England won the shootout 4-2, missing only one attempt. England became the title favorite after the... Читать дальше...

Lebanon is sending two helicopters to join Greek and Jordanian aircraft in helping European Union member Cyprus fight a blaze that has scorched miles of mountainous terrain, an official said Monday. Cyprus Foreign Ministry spokesman Theodoros Gotsis told The Associated Press that neighboring Lebanon is expected to send a pair of choppers as the wildfire continues to reignite on several fronts. Two Greek Canadair aircraft have been dispatched to help douse the fire in the mountains about 17 kilometers north of the coastal town of Limassol. Читать дальше...

Four Iranians have been killed and at least 11 people injured when several buildings collapsed in the capital of Tehran, local media reported.