Новости за 27.09.2023

he U.S. presidential election is a little over a year away and Republican candidates are vying to be their party’s nominee in hopes of replacing President Joe Biden. Later today, seven of those candidates will spar in the second Republican debate in California. VOA’s Senior Washington Correspondent Carolyn Presutti is there.

The United States said Tuesday it would halt assistance to Gabon after the military took charge last month.  "The U.S. government is pausing certain foreign assistance programs benefiting the government of Gabon while we evaluate the unconstitutional intervention by members of the country’s military," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. He said that the United States was maintaining diplomatic and consular operations in the oil-rich Central African country.  The move is temporary... Читать дальше...

Iran must take "de-escalatory steps" on its nuclear program if it wants to make space for diplomacy with the United States, starting by cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.  The comments by spokesperson Matt Miller at a briefing was the second time in recent days that the United States has criticized Iran for its decision to bar multiple IAEA inspectors assigned to the country, hindering the U.N. nuclear watchdog's oversight of Tehran's atomic activities. Читать дальше...

Iran has sentenced four people to death for selling contaminated bootleg alcohol that killed 17 people and sent dozens more to hospitals in June, the judiciary said on Tuesday.  The sale and consumption of alcohol has been banned in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, giving rise to a huge illicit trade in smuggled or bootleg alcohol, some of it adulterated with poisonous methanol. In June, at least 17 people died and 191 were admitted to hospitals with symptoms of methanol poisoning after drinking adulterated alcohol. Читать дальше...

The Eagle Pass area in Texas continues to experience an influx of migrants — the majority from Venezuela, the largest displacement in the Western Hemisphere and the second-largest globally, trailing only behind the Syrian refugee crisis, per the U.N. refugee agency.   U.S. border authorities told VOA they have seen this before and are managing the situation.    “We have a plan, we are executing that plan,” a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official told VOA on background — a method often used... Читать дальше...

Hengaw Organization for Human Rights’ Awyar Shekhi on how militarization of Iran’s Kurdistan province thwarted Mahsa Amini anniversary protests. VOA Persian’s Saman Arbabi on how Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s UNGA delegation reacted when approached by VOA journalists at a New York hotel. Hostage Aid Worldwide’s Barry Rosen on why U.S.-Iran prisoner releases last week were not a “prisoner exchange.”

At least 100 people were killed and 150 were injured in a fire at a wedding celebration in the district of Hamdaniya in Iraq's Nineveh province, Iraqi state media said early Wednesday local time, with local sources saying the toll was expected to rise.  The fire ripped through a large events hall in the northeastern region after fireworks were lit during the celebration, local civil defense said, according to state media.  Video from a Reuters correspondent at the site showed firefighters clambering... Читать дальше...

Nigeria's two biggest workers' unions plan to start an indefinite strike next week to protest a cost-of-living crisis after the government scrapped a popular but costly petrol subsidy, union leaders said on Tuesday. Unions have been pushing President Bola Tinubu to reverse his May decision to scrap the decades-old subsidy that had kept fuel prices low but was draining government finances. Prices have risen sharply, including the cost of food, transport and power as most businesses and households rely on petrol generators for electricity. Читать дальше...

AfterSchool Africa takes a look at the finer points of arranging accommodations for international students. Among the considerations: How close is the housing to campus? How safe is it? What about its proximity to public transit? Read the full story here.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden became the first known sitting U.S. president to join a labor strike, standing with auto workers in Michigan as they campaign for a 40 percent pay raise and a 32-hour work week. But can the top government employee move the top three American automakers? VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Washington.

American college enrollments are falling, even as they are increasing in comparable countries. One culprit could be the cost: while college graduates earn more, the debt they accumulate often wipes out much of that advantage. Paul Tough investigates for The New York Times Magazine. (September 2023)

Three Chinese textile manufacturers have been banned from exporting their goods to the United States over suspicions they may be using forced labor in their production lines.    International watchdogs have accused the Chinese government of setting up internment camps in the northwestern city of Xinjiang to extract forced labor from Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities, including Kazakhs and Kyrgyz.    U.S. intelligence now believes the three Xinjiang-based companies are collaborating with the... Читать дальше...

Just weeks ago, Abdessamad Elgzouli earned a living introducing tourists to the rugged beauty of Morocco's High Atlas Mountains and the ethnic Amazigh, or Berbers, who live here. Today, Elgzouli has a new vocation: organizing a tent camp in the town of Amizmiz, for hundreds left homeless by this month's earthquake. "For me, the past is gone," Elgzouli said as he surveyed his home, deeply fissured but still standing. "I live for today." The 6.8 magnitude quake on September 8 killed nearly 3,000 people... Читать дальше...

Some Zimbabweans living in abject poverty are reacting angrily to claims by President Emmerson Mnangagwa that the country’s economy is the fastest growing in the southern African region. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare, where some economists and members of the main opposition say the president is being misinformed or does not understand basic economics. Camera —  Blessing Chigwenhembe.