Новости за 26.09.2023

The elevation of the U.S.-Vietnam relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership shows an increasing level of shared interests between the two countries. But the enhanced ties do not mean Hanoi is drifting away from Beijing, its traditional partner, analysts say. The two countries upgraded their bilateral ties when U.S. President Joe Biden met with Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong in Hanoi in early September. Between July 25, 2013, and September 10, 2023, the countries had... Читать дальше...

The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon on Tuesday, accusing the e-commerce giant of operating an illegal monopoly, thereby overcharging for goods and locking merchants into predatory agreements.   The lawsuit says that Amazon crossed the line by punishing sellers with anti-discounting measures if they sold their products for less on other platforms. The FTC also said sellers have had no option but to pay for the company's logistics... Читать дальше...

Thailand's new prime minister has vowed to permit the use of cannabis for medical purposes only, a little more than year after his country became the first in Asia to decriminalize weed. Some advocates in Thailand warn that banning the leisure use of marijuana could be chaotic and costly, while others say it could help bring order to the rapidly expanding industry. Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin had this... Читать дальше...

U.S. Senator Cory Booker on Tuesday joined a growing list of Democrats calling for Senator Bob Menendez to resign. Menendez was recently charged with taking bribes from three businessmen in exchange for benefit to the Egyptian government and interfering with investigations into the three men. Booker, the junior senator from New Jersey, becomes possibly the most significant voice to call for the resignation of his fellow New Jersey senator, as the two have been close throughout their time in Congress. Читать дальше...

Members of the United Nations Security Council, except Russia and China, on Tuesday issued a resounding condemnation of the Taliban’s relentless persecution of women in Afghanistan, calling on all member states to take urgent action to hold the country’s leadership accountable. The U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, said since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban have issued over 50 decrees with the explicit aim of erasing women from public life. The... Читать дальше...

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

South Korea held its largest-scale military parade in downtown Seoul, the first such event in 10 years, to commemorate its upcoming Armed Forces Day. The parade comes amid heightened tensions between the two Koreas. State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching has more from Seoul.

Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, is calling for international action to bring an end to the increasingly brutal, repressive regime of Myanmar’s military, which toppled the country’s democratically elected government February 1, 2021. In a report submitted Tuesday to the U.N. Human Rights Council, the U.N. rights chief warned that Myanmar’s military junta has “further expanded its assault” against the civilian population. The report covers the period from April 1, 2022, to July 31, 2023. Читать дальше...

Israel’s tourism minister, Haim Katz, traveled to Saudi Arabia Tuesday, marking what’s described by Israel as the first time an official diplomatic visit of an Israeli cabinet member to Saudi Arabia has taken place. Katz will be attending a United Nations world tourism event in Riyadh. As Katz visits the kingdom, Saudi Arabia is pursuing a U.S.-brokered deal that would see bilateral relations formed between Saudi Arabia and Israel. While Israel’s delegation led by Katz visits Saudi Arabia... Читать дальше...

A Hong Kong court has sentenced Ronson Chan, the head of a journalists' association, to five days in prison for obstructing police.  The ruling Monday on Chan, who chairs the Hong Kong Journalists Association, was condemned by media analysts as showing a further decline in press freedom in the region.  It came as media organizations called on authorities to free former Apple Daily publisher Jimmy Lai, who marked 1,000 days in prison Tuesday.  In Chan's case, undercover police briefly detained... Читать дальше...

JPMorgan Chase agreed Tuesday to pay $75 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands to settle claims that the bank enabled the sex trafficking acts committed by financier Jeffrey Epstein. JPMorgan said that $55 million of the settlement will go toward local charities and assistance for victims. Another $20 million will go toward legal fees. The Virgin Islands, where Epstein had an estate, sued JPMorgan last year, saying its investigation has revealed that the financial services giant enabled Epstein's... Читать дальше...

Conservationists in Kenya are ramping up efforts to protect elephants and increase their dwindling population. This follows a study published earlier this year that shows elephants play an important role in mitigating climate change. Juma Majanga reports from Kenya's Amboseli National Park, home to over 2,500 elephants. Camera: Jimmy Makhulo.

The earthquake that killed nearly 3,000 people in Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains this month also took a toll on the region’s flourishing tourist industry — a key source of jobs and income. The raft of tourist cancellations adds to the many challenges facing impoverished mountain communities as they begin the difficult task of rebuilding. Lisa Bryant reports for VOA from the Moroccan town of Amizmiz.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the drawing of a new Alabama congressional map with greater representation for Black voters to proceed, rejecting the state's plea to retain Republican-drawn lines that were struck down by a lower court. In refusing to intervene, the justices, without any noted dissent, allowed a court-appointed special master's work to continue. On Monday, he submitted three proposals that would create a second congressional district where Black voters comprise a majority of the voting age population or close to it. Читать дальше...

The University of Kentucky has spent $805,000 a day for the past decade on upgrades to its campus, and now has one of the highest tuitions in the country, despite serving a lower-income state. Melissa Korn, Andrea Fuller and Jennifer S. Forsyth report for The Wall Street Journal. (August 2023) [[ ]]

A California tech startup is using artificial intelligence to mask the accents of call center workers. The goal is to reduce the ill feelings workers encounter when taking calls from people who have trouble understanding them. Matt Dibble has the story.

Saudi Arabia's newly appointed envoy to the Palestinian Authority presented his credentials to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his first visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday, a trip linked to American efforts to normalize ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel. The visit by nonresident ambassador Nayef al-Sudairi, who also serves as the Saudi ambassador to Jordan, is widely seen as an attempt by the kingdom to address the key sticking point in the Saudi-Israeli normalization deal ... Читать дальше...

Eight people including four children were killed by electrocution in two separate events after days of heavy rain caused floods in impoverished informal settlements near the South African city of Cape Town, emergency services said on Tuesday. Four people died in the Driftsands settlement on the eastern outskirts, the Cape Town Disaster Risk Management service said in a statement, as the floods caused problems with electricity connections. Four children were electrocuted and died in the Klipfontein settlement. Читать дальше...

Survey shows that despite hardships, immigrants believe their children will have a better future

One of Cambodia’s last independent media outlets, which was shuttered earlier this year, is set to reopen in Tacoma, Washington, in the Pacific United States. Cambodian authorities revoked the license for Voice of Democracy in February in a move that shocked press freedom advocates and the media outlet’s journalists.  But a statement on the news outlet’s Facebook page this month said it will relaunch with half-hour broadcasts aired on Facebook, YouTube and TikTok beginning October 2. Voice of Democracy will operate under Pa Nguon Teang... Читать дальше...

China's foreign minister called on the U.S. on Tuesday to do what it can to host a cooperative meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in November, criticizing those who seek to play up a confrontation between democracy and authoritarianism. Wang Yi said the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco in November should promote cooperation rather than provoke confrontation and said the U.S. should show fairness and inclusiveness to create better conditions for a smooth meeting. "We should... Читать дальше...

At least 20 people were killed and nearly 300 others injured by an explosion at a crowded gas station in Nagorno-Karabakh as thousands of people rushed to flee into Armenia, separatist authorities in the region said Tuesday. More than 13,500 people — about 12% of the region's population — have fled across the border since Azerbaijan defeated separatists who have governed the breakaway region for about 30 years in a swift military operation, Armenia's government said Tuesday morning. Residents... Читать дальше...

Saudi Arabia, which has engaged in U.S.-brokered talks with Israel to potentially normalize relations, Tuesday sent a delegation to the occupied West Bank for the first time in three decades. It was led by the Saudi non-resident ambassador to the Palestinian territories, Nayef al-Sudairi, who was to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and top Palestinian diplomat Riyad al-Maliki. Sudairi, the oil-rich kingdom's envoy to Jordan, was last month also named for the Palestinian territories post and appointed consul general for Jerusalem. Читать дальше...

Australia’s decision not to repatriate more than 30 women and children from a detention camp in northeast Syria is facing a legal challenge.  The women are the wives and widows of Islamic State fighters and have been held in custody for the past four years. The charity Save the Children is taking legal action Tuesday in Federal Court against Australia’s Home Affairs Department, demanding the return of the Australian citizens and their children.  Campaigners have insisted the group's detention is unlawful. Читать дальше...

South Korea's constitutional court ruled on Tuesday the ban on sending propaganda leaflets to North Korea was unconstitutional, striking down a law passed in 2020 by the liberal party of then-President Moon Jae-in, who sought better ties with Pyongyang. The law, which subjects violators to up to three years in prison or $22,210 in fines, had come under intense criticism from rights activists and conservative lawmakers as a violation of free speech rights. The 7-2 found that a clause in the Development... Читать дальше...