Новости за 29.09.2023

U.S. and Mexican officials met in Washington Friday to discuss a variety of shared issues including trade, economic growth and border security as part of the third U.S.-Mexico high-level economic dialogue.  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with the Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai co-hosted meetings with their Mexican counterparts at the U.S. State Department headquarters.   Next week, Blinken, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland... Читать дальше...

At sunset, Bangkok’s Huai Khwang district comes alive with Chinese-speaking pedestrians bustling to their favorite hot pot restaurants among the many lining Pracharat Bamphen Road. The hungry parade is just one indication of how an influx of Chinese residents is transforming the 15-square-kilometer (5.8-square-mile) neighborhood in the city’s eastern reaches, with new arrivals restoring the pre-pandemic inflow. With the Chinese Embassy in nearby Din Daeng exerting a magnet-like force for Huai Khwang... Читать дальше...

Thousands of families displaced, wildlife habitats — home to vulnerable species such as elephants and chimpanzees — threatened, and carbon emissions increased. These are some of the risks from a planned oil pipeline stretching from Uganda's Lake Albert to Tanzania's Indian Ocean coast, environmentalists say. Activists say these considerations have led to several Western banks ruling out financing the more than 1,400-kilometer (870 miles) East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), but they expressed... Читать дальше...

Emergency aid efforts for tens of thousands of refugees who have fled to Armenia from the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in Azerbaijan are gathering speed as the exodus from the disputed region shows no signs of letting up. Since Azerbaijan launched an attack on Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19, the United Nations refugee agency says, more than 88,700 refugees have arrived in Armenia, mainly in the country’s southern Syunik region. “The numbers are increasing as we speak, and the needs are also really increasing,” said Kavita Belani... Читать дальше...

Guyana is adhering to the Geneva Agreement of 1966 in trying to resolve the dispute over Essequibo through the United Nations International Court of Justice.

Jim “Soni” Sonefeld, solo artist, author, speaker, drummer and one of the principal songwriters in the 2x GRAMMY® Award-winning Hootie & the Blowfish, has released Snowman Melting—15th Anniversary Deluxe Edition.  The expanded new edition of Sonefeld’s 2008 solo debut album, Snowman Melting, follows on the heels of the well-received double bonus tracks, led by Sitting in the Green Grass, the heartfelt duet with Darius Rucker, a Billboard song premiere exclusive, and the just released song and... Читать дальше...

Low-income Kenyans have been hit hardest by high inflation, a new report says. Low-income households experienced a challenging 2022 because of the increased cost of living, said Rose Ngugi, director of the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, or KIPPRA. "When food inflation is going up, then everybody is affected, and more so the low-income households, who spend about 60% of their income on food,” Ngugi said. “So, anytime food prices go up, then the cost-of-living increases... Читать дальше...

Since Azerbaijan regained control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region from Armenian separatists, there has been a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians from the enclave. The Armenian diaspora in the U.S. city of Los Angeles, California, is rallying to support the refugees and their plight. Genia Dulot reports.

The United States struck security agreements this week with Pacific Island nations seen as a key part of U.S. plans to counter China’s territorial expansion. But after three years of negotiations, one of those Pacific nations — the Marshall Islands — still has not reached a deal with Washington. A member of the U.S. negotiating team blames the State Department’s legal team for the holdup, saying they object to how the agreement describes money for compensation from U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands some 60 years ago. Читать дальше...

American chemical manufacturer Albemarle Corporation has agreed to pay more than $218 million to settle allegations of bribing officials at state oil refineries in three Asian countries, the U.S. Justice Department announced Friday. The North Carolina company admitted to using “third-party sales agents” and foreign employees to bribe officials to win contracts with state refineries in India, Indonesia and Vietnam, the department said. The department said Albemarle received nearly $100 million in profits from the corrupt scheme. Читать дальше...

Somali security forces on Friday arrested a man believed to be one of the country’s main illegal arms dealers suspected of supplying weapons to al-Shabab militants. Zakariya Kamal, who is accused by Somali authorities of conspiracy to provide weapons, material support or resources to al-Shabab, a designated terrorist organization, was arrested in the early morning hours by Somalia's National Intelligence Agency, or NISA. An NISA statement said Kamal was preparing to go into hiding when he was intercepted by security forces. Читать дальше...

VOA Connect Episode 297 - The ripple effects of a positive mindset and a commitment to social change.

Martin Schwartz is the founder of Vehicles for Change. The 24-year-old non-profit organization helps formerly incarcerated individuals learn auto skills and gives second chances to people wanting to get their lives on the right track.Producer: Julie Taboh, Camera | Editor: Adam Greenbaum

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

Only about 4 in 10 Americans say they have a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in higher education. Sarah Wood of U.S. News & World Report examines why and offers some solutions. (August 2023)

The federal government is just days away from a shutdown that will disrupt many services, squeeze workers and roil politics as Republicans in the House, fueled by hard-right demands, force a confrontation over federal spending. While some government entities will be exempt — Social Security checks, for example, will still go out — other functions will be severely curtailed. Federal agencies will stop all actions deemed non-essential, and millions of federal employees, including members of the military, won't receive paychecks. Читать дальше...

The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether state laws that seek to regulate Facebook, TikTok, X and other social media platforms violate the Constitution. The justices will review laws enacted by Republican-dominated legislatures and signed by Republican governors in Florida and Texas. While the details vary, both laws aim to prevent social media companies from censoring users based on their viewpoints. The court's announcement, three days before the start of its new term, comes as the... Читать дальше...

Between a third to half of all students admitted to the University of Pennsylvania and the California Institute of Technology feature high school research projects in their applications, and the MIT application even has a dedicated section for them. Such projects can be “both a differentiator and an equalizer” in the admissions process: they can show your own individual drive and creativity, while also being accessible to students of all races and incomes. Read Janos Perczel’s argument in The Hechinger Report. Читать дальше...

September 30 marks exactly 30 days since Gabon's military seized power and ended the nearly 60-year rule of the Bongo family. But the military junta is dealing with daily protests from disgruntled trade unions, workers and students who are now demanding better living conditions in the oil-producing West African country. Gabon's state TV on Friday reported people living with HIV or AIDS protesting at the Center for HIV/AIDS Treatment in the capital, Libreville, this week. Alain Oyono, a spokesperson for the demonstrators... Читать дальше...

Dianne Feinstein, a long-serving Democratic U.S. senator from California and gun control advocate who spearheaded the first federal assault weapons ban and documented the CIA's torture of foreign terrorism suspects, has died at 90, a source familiar with the news said on Friday. Feinstein's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the news, first reported by the Punchbowl news outlet. Feinstein was a Washington trail-blazer who among other accomplishments became the first... Читать дальше...

A teenager has cut down a world-famous tree in northern England. The 16-year-old boy has been arrested and released for cutting down the Sycamore Gap tree that stood alone along Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland county. The tree, which was several hundred years old, was cut down Wednesday, in what Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness said “looks like a deliberate act of vandalism.”  Photographs of the fallen tree show that it was cut at its base.   Fans of the tree posted... Читать дальше...

A powerful bomb exploded near a mosque at a rally celebrating the birthday of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad in southwest Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 21 people and wounding more than 50 others, police and a government official said. The bombing occurred in Mastung, a district in Baluchistan province, government administrator Atta Ullah said. Injured people were taken to nearby hospitals and some were in critical condition, he said. A senior police officer, Mohammad Nawaz, was among the dead, Ullah said. Читать дальше...

Many millions of Chinese tourists are expected to travel within their country, splurging on hotels, tours, attractions and meals in a boost to the economy during the 8-day autumn holiday period that began Friday. This year's holiday began with the Mid-Autumn Festival on Friday and also includes the Oct. 1 National Day. The public holidays end Oct. 6. Typically hundreds of millions of Chinese travel at home and overseas during such holidays. The eight-day-long holiday is the longest week of public... Читать дальше...

Sweden's prime minister on Thursday said that he's summoned the head of the military to discuss how the armed forces can help police deal with an unprecedented crime wave that has shocked the country with almost daily shootings and bombings. Getting the military involved in crime-fighting would be a highly unusual step for Sweden, underscoring the severity of the gang violence that has claimed a dozen lives across the country this month, including teenagers and innocent bystanders. Prime Minister... Читать дальше...

The streets of cities across Latin America were bathed in green Thursday as tens of thousands of women marched to commemorate International Safe Abortion Day. Latin American feminists have spent decades fighting to roll back strict prohibitions, although there are still few countries with a total ban, like El Salvador and Dominican Republic. In Mexico, marchers celebrated the recent decision by Mexico's Supreme Court to decriminalize abortions at the federal level. In Argentina, marchers had a more somber tone... Читать дальше...