Новости за 20.08.2023

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are scheduled to visit Maui Monday to assess the impact of wildfires that reduced parts of Hawaii's second largest island to smoldering ash. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more on the devastation and how some residents are coping.

The DC superhero film “Blue Beetle” led weekend ticket sales with a modest $25.4 million opening, according to studio estimates Sunday, dethroning “Barbie” from the top spot after a record-setting run that left movie theaters colored pink for a month. The “Barbie” phenomenon is far from over. Greta Gerwig’s film, which earlier this week became the highest grossing Warner Bros. release ever domestically, nearly managed to stay No. 1 again with $21.5 million in its fifth weekend. It's up to $567.3... Читать дальше...

Authorities in Pakistan have arrested at least 170 people after a mob of Muslims attacked churches and homes belonging to the Christian community in the city of Jaranwala in the most populous province Punjab. The attack came as allegations of desecration of the Quran by two Christian men emerged Wednesday, August 16. Police have arrested the two accused. But as residents return to scenes of devastation and authorities ramp up efforts to return normalcy, some victims of the attacks say they may never feel safe again. Читать дальше...

President Arif Alvi of Pakistan said Sunday that he has refused to sign into law two bills that critics say would undermine dissent and enhance authorities' power to prosecute people for acts against the military and national security. "As God is my witness, I did not sign [the] Official Secrets Amendment Bill 2023 & Pakistan Army Amendment Bill 2023 as I disagreed with these laws," Alvi wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.   The Pakistani parliament passed the bills... Читать дальше...

Greek authorities Sunday evacuated another five villages near the northeastern border with Turkey where a large summer wildfire that has already destroyed several homes over the weekend drew dangerously close. There were no reports of serious injuries to firefighters or residents from the forest blaze near the town of Alexandroupolis, that forced the evacuation of another eight villages Saturday. Strong winds whipped on the flames, and civil protection authorities warned of an “extreme” fire risk Monday in the region around the capital... Читать дальше...

Inside a temporary morgue near the Maui County coroner's office, a team of specialists – including forensic pathologists, X-ray technicians, fingerprint experts and forensic dentists – labor 12 hours a day to identify the charred remains of the victims of this month's cataclysmic wildfire. They are members of the federal Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team program, or DMORT, deployed when a mass fatality incident overwhelms local authorities. The team's breadth of experience underscores the difficulty of the task it faces. Читать дальше...

It’s mid-afternoon in late summer and a fresh North Sea breeze blows through the vines at Kullabergs Vingård, a vineyard and winery at the vanguard of producers seeking to redefine what Swedish wine can be. Scandinavia isn't exactly what connoisseurs would define as prime wine country and commercial vineyards are still tiny compared to France, Italy or Spain. But with climate change making for warmer and longer growing seasons, and new varieties of grapes adapted to this landscape, the bouquet of Swedish wines is maturing nicely. Читать дальше...

Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft has crashed into the moon. “The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the moon,” Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said Sunday. On Saturday, the agency said it had a problem with the craft and lost contact with it. The unmanned robot lander was set to land on the moon’s south pole Monday, ahead of an Indian craft scheduled to land on the south pole later this week. Scientists are eager... Читать дальше...

Improved weather conditions helped firefighters make advances overnight in their battle to tame a wildfire raging out of control for the past five days on the tourist island of Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, authorities said Sunday.  “The night was very difficult but thanks to the work of the firefighters, the results have been very positive” Tenerife governor, Rosa Dávila said at a news conference early Sunday.  The Canary Islands emergency services said in a tweet on the social media platform X... Читать дальше...

Ecuador is holding a special election Sunday to pick a new president, with police and soldiers on guard against unprecedented violence, including the assassination of a candidate this month. Front-runners include an ally of exiled former President Rafael Correa and a millionaire with a security background promising to be tough on crime. Authorities have deployed more than 100,000 police and soldiers to protect the vote against more violence. Some Ecuadorians still said they would not even leave home for the election... Читать дальше...

Guatemalans head to the polls Sunday to cast their vote in a presidential run-off election that many hope will reverse democratic backsliding under recent administrations. Recent polls have predicted Bernardo Arevalo, a progressive candidate running on an anti-graft message, will trounce establishment figure and former first lady Sandra Torres. That outcome could usher in a new era after widespread allegations of corruption and creeping authoritarianism in recent years. Guatemala's new president... Читать дальше...

The United States, Japan and Australia are planning a joint navy drill in the South China Sea off the western Philippines this week to underscore their commitment to the rule of law in the region after a recent show of Chinese aggression in the disputed waters, Filipino security officials said Sunday. On Aug. 5, Chinese coast guard ships used water cannons against Philippine vessels in the contested waterway where disputes have long been regarded as a potential flashpoint and have become a fault... Читать дальше...

A bus in Pakistan caught fire after hitting a van parked on the shoulder of an intercity highway in eastern Punjab province, killing at least 18 people and injuring 13 others, police and rescue officials said Sunday. The accident occurred early Sunday near Pindi Bhattian, where the Islamabad-bound bus hit a van parked on the shoulder of the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway, senior police officer Fahad Ahmed said. The van was carrying fuel drums, which caused an inferno that engulfed the bus, Ahmed said. Читать дальше...

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a brief visit to the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant on Sunday to highlight the safety of an impending release of treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, a divisive plan that his government wants to start soon despite protests at home and abroad. His trip comes hours after he returned home Saturday from a summit with U.S. and South Korean leaders at the American presidential retreat of Camp David. Before leaving Washington on Friday... Читать дальше...

Kim Cuevas-Reyes, a 38-year-old cellphone store owner, snuck into Lahaina last Friday to see the remnants of her home with her own eyes. She took backroads and walked. What she saw stunned her. "When you step into the house, it's like an inch or two of ash. There is nothing," she said, adding that she hopes to stay and rebuild her home and destroyed business and is in touch with the insurance company. More than 3,000 buildings in Lahaina were damaged by fire, smoke or both. Insured property losses alone already total some $3.2 billion... Читать дальше...

Indian police intervened to stop a meeting of prominent activists, academics and politicians discussing global issues ahead of a summit of the Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations that will be hosted in New Delhi next month, the meeting's organizers said Sunday. Nearly 400 participants had spent two days debating the G20 agenda and key issues that affect much of the world's population, including food security, climate change, labor rights, natural resources and rising inequality. ... Читать дальше...

Inside a jail cell at Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico, Albertyn Pino's only plan was to finish the six-month sentence for public intoxication, along with other charges, and to return to her abusive boyfriend. That's when she was offered a lifeline: An invitation to the tribe's Healing to Wellness Court. She would be released early if she agreed to attend alcohol treatment and counseling sessions, secure a bed at a shelter, get a job, undergo drug testing and regularly check in with a judge. Pino... Читать дальше...

The language is stark: People in torched areas of Maui should not try to filter their own drinking water because there is no "way to make it safe," Maui County posted on its Instagram account this week. The message reached Anne Rillero and her husband, Arnie, in Kula, who were eating yet another meal of frozen pizza. The couple feels incredibly lucky they and their home survived the fires that raced across Maui in recent days, wiping most of Lahaina off the map. The number of confirmed fatalities was raised on Friday to 114 people. Читать дальше...

An American-owned oil tanker long suspected of carrying sanctioned Iranian crude oil began offloading its cargo near Texas late Saturday, tracking data showed, even as Tehran has threatened to target shipping in the Persian Gulf over it. The fate of the cargo aboard the Suez Rajan has become mired in the wider tensions between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic, even as Tehran and Washington work toward a trade of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets in South Korea for the release of five Iranian-Americans held in Tehran. Читать дальше...

Hurricane Hilary roared toward Mexico's Baja California peninsula late Saturday as a downgraded but still dangerous Category 1 hurricane likely to bring "catastrophic" flooding to the region and cross into the southwestern U.S. as a tropical storm. The National Weather Center in Miami said in the most recent advisory at 9 p.m. that the maximum sustained wind speed is 145 kph and the storm was about 281 kilometers south of Punta Eugenia, Mexico, and 855 kilometers from San Diego, California. Meteorologists warned that despite weakening... Читать дальше...

Hurricane Hilary roared toward Mexico's Baja California peninsula late Saturday as a downgraded but still dangerous Category 2 hurricane that bringing heavy rain likely to mean "catastrophic" flooding to the region and cross into the Southwest U.S. as a tropical storm. Meteorologists warned that despite the hurricane's weakening, the storm's speed had accelerated Saturday, and they urged people to finish their preparations by sundown. By Sunday, one expert said, it would be too late. Forecasters... Читать дальше...

Thousands of fans in Syria's last opposition bastion have packed into a stadium for the frenzied final of a football cup — an escape valve amid years of conflict and misery. "I'm really happy today," said Mohammed al-Zeer, 28, from the northwestern city of Idlib. "Between the war and the destruction and explosions and the problems," events like a football match are "a great joy." Syria's rebel-held Idlib region is home to about 3 million people, around half of them displaced from other parts of the country. Читать дальше...

Firefighters battling a vast wildfire on Tenerife are facing another difficult night after severe weather conditions worsened the blaze, forcing thousands to flee their homes on the Spanish holiday island, regional officials said.  The huge blaze that broke out late Tuesday in a mountainous northeastern area of the island quickly morphed into the Canary Islands' biggest-ever fire.  "It is a devastating fire … a fire on a completely different scale, a scale that the Canary Islands has never experienced before," said Rosa Davila... Читать дальше...

Firefighters battling wildfires in western Canada received help from reinforcements and milder weather Saturday, after the nation's worst fire season on record destroyed structures, fouled the air with thick smoke, and prompted evacuation orders for tens of thousands of residents.  Flames were being held at bay 15 kilometers (9 miles) from Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, and weary firefighters had a reprieve around Kelowna in British Columbia. But the firefighters were nowhere close to declaring victory... Читать дальше...

Large wildfires are ravaging northeastern Greece near the border with Turkey. Local authorities have evacuated residents from eight villages where out-of-control flames have reportedly damaged homes and other property. So far, no deaths or injuries have been reported.   Strong winds have fueled the fires by the village of Melia east of the city of Alexandroupolis, scorching farmland.   More than 130 firefighters, 14 water-dropping planes and three helicopters are struggling to contain the blaze... Читать дальше...