Новости за 05.09.2023

Rights groups in Zimbabwe say they are concerned about the arrests of two human rights lawyers Monday night. Police arrested Douglas Coltart and Tapiwa Muchineripi of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights after they asked police not to interview two of their clients who were hospitalized. The clients, opposition activists Womberaishe Nhende and Sonele Mukhuhlani of Citizens Coalition for Change, said that they were abducted, tortured and drugged on Saturday by people they suspected were state agents. Читать дальше...

A panel of three U.S. judges in the southern state of Alabama ruled Tuesday that the state legislature for a second time discriminated against Black citizens in the way it redrew congressional district lines for the 2024 elections. The panel said lawmakers refused to obey an edict giving Black voters a reasonable chance of choosing the winner of a second seat in Alabama’s seven-member delegation in the House of Representatives. The three-judge panel said it would now appoint a special master to redraw the congressional district lines... Читать дальше...

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

News reports from Iran say authorities have arrested the uncle of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Iranian woman whose death in police custody last year sparked months of anti-government protests. Safa Aeli was detained Tuesday at his residence in Saqqez and taken to an undisclosed location, the reports said. Sources cited by Kurdish news agency Kurdpa said security forces entered the home without presenting a judicial order. The arrest comes ahead of the September 16 anniversary of the death of Amini... Читать дальше...

Rising tension in Ethiopia's Amhara region from sporadic fighting between the federal government and local militia groups, known as Fano, is causing shortages of goods and reducing health care services. Towns across the Amhara region have come to a standstill following the fighting.  A health worker in Dembecha town, in the West Gojjam Zone, said federal troops had initially camped at the town's hospital for days, making it difficult for staff to provide health services. The worker said the troops eventually left the hospital... Читать дальше...

The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) has suspended Gabon's membership during an extraordinary summit in Djibloho, Equatorial Guinea, and condemned the use of force to resolve political conflicts. One week after a coup ousted Gabon's president, Ali Bongo, little has been said about him and he hasn't been seen since a video in which he was pleading for international help. Monday's extraordinary summit was held under the presidency of Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Читать дальше...

The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill has forbidden the use of “race, sex, color and ethnicity” in admissions, in response to a Supreme Court decision that banned affirmative action there and at Harvard. However, the school will be free for all applicants whose families make less than $80,000. The Associated Press has the story. (July 2023)

Thousands of Burning Man attendees readied to make their "exodus" on Monday as the counter-culture arts festival in the Nevada desert ends in a sea of drying mud instead of a party around its flaming effigy namesake, Reuters reported. Rain over the weekend turned the once hard-packed ground to pudding. One person died at the event in the Black Rock Desert, authorities said on Sunday, providing few details.

Researchers at Oregon State University have developed a process that uses polluted water to produce hydrogen while purifying the water at the same time. VOA’s Julie Taboh reports on advances in the fossil fuel alternative.

Two executives of a Swedish oil exploration and production company went on trial Tuesday in Stockholm for securing the company's operations in Sudan through their alleged complicity in war crimes 20 years ago. Swedish prosecutors claim that former Lundin Oil chairman Ian Lundin and the company's former CEO, Alex Schneiter, supported the Sudanese government of former dictator Omar al-Bashir, who was toppled in an April 2019 popular uprising. The two executives are accused of creating "the necessary... Читать дальше...

The foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey agreed on Tuesday to revive high-level contacts between their countries and seek "new approaches" to problems as part of efforts to improve ties between the two NATO allies who are at loggerheads over a string of decades-old disputes. Discussions between Greece's Giorgos Gerapetritis and Turkey's Hakan Fidan were held in a more friendly climate triggered by Greece sending assistance to Turkey following a devastating earthquake earlier this year, and Turkey... Читать дальше...

The government of new Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin was sworn into office Tuesday by King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Prime Minister Srettha pledged that this will be “a government for the people” in his inaugural address delivered in Bangkok shortly after he and his 33 cabinet ministers were sworn in. He said he would formally unveil his policy agenda next Monday. The 61-year-old real estate tycoon was elected by Thai lawmakers on August 22 after his nomination by the Pheu Thai party, the latest... Читать дальше...

Decommissioned in 1945, the Old City Hall Station remains the ‘jewel in the crown’ for NY transit system

Southeast Asian leaders decided that Myanmar won't take over the rotating leadership of their regional bloc as scheduled in 2026, Asian diplomats and a leader said Tuesday, in the latest blow to efforts by its ruling generals to gain international recognition after violently seizing power in 2021. Western governments led by the United States have condemned the Myanmar army's ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically elected government in 2021 and have demanded her immediate release from yearslong detention along with other officials. Читать дальше...

Hong Kong’s high court is urging the Chinese territory’s legislature to create an “alternative legal framework” that would recognize same-sex partnerships. The Court of Final Appeal ruled Tuesday on a lawsuit filed by pro-democracy activist Jimmy Sham, who has been seeking to have his 2013 marriage to a same-sex partner in New York legally recognized, but has been rejected by two lower courts. The high court refused to recognize full marriage equality for homosexual couples but said the government... Читать дальше...

Americana storyteller Lauren Calve has released her first full-length album “Shift” last week.  The debut album includes 3 singles that Calve released earlier this summer – “Shift”, “Everything at the Same Time” and “Subtle Alchemy.”

The bloody political crisis in Myanmar and China’s increasing aggressiveness are overshadowing the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that opened Tuesday in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Indonesian President Joko Widodo told his fellow leaders in the 10-member regional bloc that ASEAN “has agreed not to be a proxy” to any power, and said they “must become captains of our own ship to achieve peace.” ASEAN has been stymied in its attempts to resolve the crisis in Myanmar,... Читать дальше...

South Korea plans to waive visa processing fees for Chinese tourists through the end of December and increase flights between the two countries, weeks after China lifted its overall ban on group tours to South Korea for the first time in six years. The measures announced Monday are part of efforts officials of both countries said would “reinforce economic cooperation” and warm up people-to-people ties. Nationals from People’s Republic of China (PRC) still need a tourist visa for South Korea, but... Читать дальше...

Despite improving living standards in India as the economy grows briskly, more than half a billion people struggled to afford food in the past year, while the numbers of those finding it difficult to get by have nearly tripled since 2016, according to a Gallup survey released Tuesday.   That contrasting picture is highlighted in the poll, "Indians See Brighter Economic Future but Feel the Pinch Now." In the world's fastest-growing economy, optimism was higher when compared to other major economies like the United States, Japan or Germany. Читать дальше...

When the NFL season kicks off this week, Kentucky residents and visitors — for the first time — will be able to legally place sports bets on something other than horse racing. When they do, some of that money will also fund the state's first-ever program for people with gambling problems. Since the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for legalized sports betting five years ago, nearly three-fourths of the states have moved swiftly to allow it. State funding for problem gambling services has not kept pace... Читать дальше...

Zheng Qinwen routed last year's U.S. Open runner-up Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-4 on Monday to move into the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows for her deepest run ever in a Grand Slam tournament. Zheng, who is seeded No. 23, becomes the first Chinese player to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open since Wang Qiang in 2019. She did it by overpowering the fifth-seeded Tunisian with an aggressive baseline game that produced 21 winners. "I feel just super happy and excited to play in a big stadium and have... Читать дальше...

Pakistan's caretaker prime minister said Monday that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will invest $25 billion each in his cash-strapped country within five years. Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar told a group of Islamabad-based foreign journalists late Monday that different sectors, such as mines and minerals, agriculture, defense production and information technology, would receive the investment. He did not elaborate. Economic revival The prime minister said that the Saudi and UAE investments... Читать дальше...

Clashes erupted in an immigrant neighborhood in Sweden's third largest city after an anti-Muslim protester set fire to a copy of the Quran, police said Monday. Police in Malmo said they were pelted with rocks and dozens of cars were set on fire, including in an underground garage, and described the events that started Sunday and lasted overnight as "a violent riot." The clashes started after an anti-Islam activist, Salwan Momika, burned a copy of the Quran on Sunday and an angry mob tried to stop him, police said. Читать дальше...

Gabon’s military leader is sworn into office as the country’s interim president. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits Russian in hopes of revitalizing the Black Sea grain deal. And, harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to reduce discrimination and abuse.

The United Arab Emirates has set up a federal entity to regulate gaming, and it hired veterans of the U.S. gambling industry to lead it, state news agency WAM said.  Yearslong speculation that the UAE would allow gambling — illegal across the conservative Gulf region — was put to rest when it was announced that Ras Al Khaimah, one of the UAE's seven emirates, was set to open a roughly $3.9 billion Wynn Resort featuring a casino.  The moves to allow gambling in the UAE are against a backdrop... Читать дальше...