Новости за 09.09.2023

Pakistan and Afghanistan's Taliban authorities have met multiple times in the last week to negotiate the reopening of their main border crossing but could not make headway, stranding many trade convoys and travelers on both sides for the fourth consecutive day Saturday.   Pakistani officials said the standoff erupted Wednesday after Taliban guards began constructing a new outpost near the historic Torkham border crossing, violating mutual agreements and ignoring warnings to stop the work.    ... Читать дальше...

An airstrike in a town in Somalia caused several casualties, including children, said residents and authorities, while three members of an al-Qaida-linked extremist group were killed. The U.S. military in a statement Friday said, “Unfortunately, civilians were injured and killed” in the vicinity of a military operation by Somali forces in El-Lahelay village Wednesday. The U.S. said that it evacuated injured civilians at the Somali government’s request, but that American forces had not conducted... Читать дальше...

The cost of building an artificial intelligence product like ChatGPT can be hard to measure. But one thing Microsoft-backed OpenAI needed for its technology was plenty of water, pulled from the watershed of the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers in central Iowa to cool a powerful supercomputer as it helped teach its AI systems how to mimic human writing. As they race to capitalize on a craze for generative AI, leading tech developers, including Microsoft, OpenAI and Google, have acknowledged that... Читать дальше...

Australia is expected to continue its efforts to end a trade dispute with China when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visits Beijing this year. The trip, announced Thursday, will be the first by an Australian leader to China since 2016. Analysts said that the visit is the latest sign of improving relations between the two countries but that more work is needed to normalize ties. Albanese's center-left Australian government, elected in May 2022, has been eager to end friction with China, by far its biggest trading partner. Читать дальше...

Life as an international student brings its own set of financial challenges, and unless you are independently wealthy, you'll need a plan to stay afloat while studying abroad. While different countries have different restrictions, Investor Times has some suggestions to help you make money while going to school. (August 2023)

India or Bharat? Feverish speculation on whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government is rebranding India as Bharat is gaining momentum on the sidelines of the ongoing Group of 20 summit in New Delhi. As the event got underway Saturday, the placard in front of Prime Minister Modi read “Bharat” instead of “India,” marking a break from the past. In his opening speech in Hindi, Modi said, “Bharat welcomes the delegates as the president of the G20." The debate on a possible... Читать дальше...

The United Nations is growing increasingly alarmed at the rising volume of unregulated chemicals for making methamphetamine headed to Myanmar, the hub of the region’s billion-dollar drug trade, and is ramping up efforts to get its neighbors to stem the tide. U.N. staff have been holding meetings and training governments across the region to persuade and teach them how to spot and seize seemingly anodyne shipments of chemicals with legal applications that are likely headed for Myanmar’s booming meth labs as precursors. Читать дальше...

People in the Maldives were voting on Saturday in a closely contested election for president of the Indian Ocean archipelago, seen as a battle for influence between India and China. President Ibrahim Solih, seeking a second five-year term in the Indian Ocean tourist destination, has championed an "India-first" policy during his time in power. He appears to be slightly ahead in the polls. The coalition backing his main rival, Mohamed Muizzu, has a record of being close to China and has launched an "India out" campaign... Читать дальше...

A multinational rail and ports deal linking the Middle East and South Asia will be announced Saturday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi, a White House official said. The pact comes at a critical time as U.S. President Joe Biden seeks to counter China's Belt and Road push on global infrastructure by pitching Washington as an alternative partner and investor for developing countries at the G20 grouping. The deal will benefit low and middle-income countries in the region and enable... Читать дальше...

Budget for new public buildings includes allotment for original artworks

Budget for new public buildings includes allotment for original artworks

Since its founding, the United States has incorporated art into its federal buildings. These days, one-half of one percent of a new building’s budget usually goes to funding original art designed specifically for that structure. As VOA’s Dora Mekouar reports, it’s a tradition that helps preserve American culture for future generations. Camera: Adam Greenbaum

Descendants of enslaved people who populate a tiny island community are once again fighting their local government, this time over a proposal to eliminate protections that for decades helped shield the Gullah-Geechee residents from high taxes and pressure to sell their land to developers. Residents of Hogg Hummock and their supporters packed a courtroom Thursday night to oppose a proposal by McIntosh County officials to cast aside zoning ordinances that limit homes to modest sizes in the enclave... Читать дальше...

Chinese travelers throng the bazaars of old Kashgar, munching mutton kebabs and soaking up heavily commodified Uyghur culture -- part of a government push to remold troubled Xinjiang into a tourism paradise. Kashgar, an ancient Silk Road oasis, was more recently on the front lines of Beijing's sweeping anti-terrorism campaign in the northwestern region. The city's outskirts are still pockmarked with facilities that the ruling Communist Party once called vocational schools but Western researchers... Читать дальше...

Heavy rain in Hong Kong and southern China overnight flooded city streets and some subway stations, with hundreds evacuated and two deaths reported in Hong Kong. Hong Kong authorities said during a joint news conference Friday that the extreme weather was expected to last until at least midnight, with widespread flooding and heavy disruptions to public transport in multiple districts. An official from the Hong Kong observatory said the city had recorded over 600mm of rain so far — a quarter of the city's average annual rainfall. Читать дальше...

Hurricane Lee is rewriting old rules of meteorology, leaving experts astonished at how rapidly it grew into a goliath Category 5 hurricane. Lee could also be a dreadful harbinger of what is to come as ocean temperatures climb, spawning fast-growing major hurricanes that could threaten communities farther north and farther inland, experts say. "Hurricanes are getting stronger at higher latitudes," said Marshall Shepherd, director of the University of Georgia's Atmospheric Sciences Program and... Читать дальше...

Thousands of travelers and hundreds of trucks laden with goods were stranded for a third day near the Pakistani border town of Torkham, as the crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan remained closed following deadly clashes between the two countries’ security forces. Khudainoor Nasar has the story from Torkham, narrated by Amy Katz. Camera: Shaheen Afridi and Khudainoor Nasar

Sept. 11, 2001, seems like yesterday for the small group that gathered Friday at the Pentagon Courtyard to mark the 22nd annual memorial for those who perished in the attack. Those in attendance knew the 184 people who were killed at the Pentagon more than two decades ago. On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaida terrorists launched the worst attack on American soil since Japan’s assault on Pearl Harbor in 1941. They hijacked four commercial airplanes and effectively turned the jetliners... Читать дальше...

A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco late Friday night, killing more than 800 people and damaging buildings from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakech. The toll was expected to rise as rescuers picked through the rubble Saturday and worked to reach remote areas. State television showed people clustered in the streets of Marrakech late at night, afraid to go back inside buildings that might still be unstable. A man said he was visiting a nearby apartment when dishes and wall hangings began raining down... Читать дальше...

Since China reopened its borders in January, thousands of Chinese have traveled to the United States. Some have asked for asylum. Mike O’Sullivan reports from Los Angeles, where recent migrants are adapting to life in a new country.

One month after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century leveled the historic town of Lahaina, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said Friday that the number of missing had dropped to 66, the confirmed death toll remained at 115 and authorities would soon escort residents on visits to their property. Tens of millions of dollars in aid will make its way to families and businesses as they recover, Green said, and beginning October 8, travel restrictions will end and West Maui will reopen to visitors. Читать дальше...

A judge on Friday denied Mark Meadows' request to move his Georgia election subversion case to federal court, ruling that the Trump White House chief of staff must fight the charges in state court instead.  U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in Atlanta wrote in a 49-page ruling that Meadows "has not met even the 'quite low' threshold" to move his case to federal court, noting that the question was whether the actions at issue were related to his role as a federal official.  "The evidence adduced... Читать дальше...

President Joe Biden received a warm welcome in India’s capital upon his arrival on Friday for a summit of the leaders of the Group of 20 major and developing economies. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from New Delhi on the mood ahead of this summit, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi sees as a validation of India’s place among global powers

Kian Derakhshan, who was badly injured in protests following the death of Mahsa Amini last September, told VOA he believes the Iranian people will ultimately prevail, ushering in a new era of freedom and democracy under the banner of "Women, Life, Freedom" in Iran. Amini, 22, died September 16, 2022, in the custody of Iran's morality police, allegedly for wearing her headscarf too loosely. "Women, Life, Freedom" has become the rallying cry of protests around her death but also for women's rights in Iran. Читать дальше...

Chinese leaders, worried by a wave of discouraging economic reports, have been appealing for foreign investors to remain in or return to China even as Western officials point out that it is Beijing’s own policies that are driving investors away. August saw a flurry of Chinese trade officials talking to state media about the government’s commitment to “improve foreign investment environment” and “spare no effort in keeping foreign capital onshore.” These proclamations followed a July 24 meeting... Читать дальше...