Новости за 30.09.2023

Human rights sources say the number of Baluch citizens detained during violent demonstrations Friday has risen to at least 51 in the cities of Zahedan, Khash, and Mirjaveh, as three more people were identified Saturday. The Hal-Vash website that covers news in Sistan and Baluchistan provinces reports Saturday that, following Friday prayers, government forces detained several citizens in the cities of Zahedan, Khash, Mehrestan and Mirjaveh. The website's reporting suggests more than half of detainees are 16 to 30 years old. Читать дальше...

Militant attacks have surged in Pakistan, killing more than 700 security forces and civilians in the first nine months of the year, according to a report released Saturday. The Islamabad-based independent Center for Research and Security Studies, or CRSS, published the report a day after suicide bombings and insurgent raids in southwestern Baluchistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces killed at least 69 people. No group has claimed responsibility for Friday's deadly violence. The... Читать дальше...

China's factory activity in September recorded its first expansion in six months, an official survey said Saturday, providing another sign that the world's second-largest economy is gradually improving after its post-pandemic malaise. According to the government statistics bureau and an official industry group, the monthly purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.2 this month from 49.7 in August measured on a 100-point scale. Numbers above 50 indicate activity is increasing. Measures of production... Читать дальше...

The Supreme Court is returning to a new term to take up some familiar topics — guns and abortion — while concerns about ethics swirl around the justices. The year also will have a heavy focus on social media and how free speech protections apply online. A big unknown is whether the court will be asked to weigh in on any aspect of the criminal cases against former President Donald Trump and others or efforts in some states to keep the Republican off the 2024 presidential ballot because of his role... Читать дальше...

Pope Francis created 21 new cardinals at a ritual-filled ceremony Saturday, including key figures at the Vatican and in the field who will help enact his reforms and cement his legacy as he enters a crucial new phase in running the Roman Catholic Church. On a crisp sunny morning filled with cheers from St. Peter's Square, Francis further expanded his influence on the College of Cardinals who will help him govern and one day elect his successor: With Saturday's additions, nearly three-quarters of... Читать дальше...

A parliamentary investigation in Namibia found that Canadian oil exploration company ReconAfrica violated several of the country’s laws and that its local partner deceived and misled the public about the value of its shareholdings on various international stock exchanges. Despite the findings, ReconAfrica has been allowed to continue exploring for oil. Vincent Marenga, a ruling party member of Namibia’s Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources, told VOA that the committee’s investigation... Читать дальше...

Labor unions are finding support among graduate students at U.S. colleges and universities, according to a new report.  Graduate students, upset by working conditions and pay, have held a series of organizing votes in the past two years, Times Higher Education reports. (September 2023).

In pockets of Europe's Alpine mountains, glaciers are abundant enough that ski resorts operate above the snow and ice. Ski lifts, resorts, cabins and huts dot the landscape — and have done so for decades. But glaciers are also one of the most obvious and early victims of human-caused climate change, and as they shrink year by year, the future of the mountain ecosystems and the people who enjoy them will look starkly different. Glaciers — centuries of compacted snow and ice — are disappearing at an alarming rate. Читать дальше...

Australian officials say one man died and another was hospitalized after a whale reportedly struck their boat in the waters off Sydney early Saturday. New South Wales Water Police Acting Superintendent Siobhan Munro said, “Early reports are that a whale may have breached near the boat or onto the boat.” Saturday marks the first day of National Safe Boating Week in Australia, an initiative focused on the importance of having lifejackets on boats. It was not immediately clear whether the men... Читать дальше...

Maldivians were voting Saturday in the runoff presidential election which has turned into a virtual referendum on which regional power — India or China — will have the biggest influence in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation. Neither main opposition candidate Mohamed Muiz nor incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih got more than 50% in the first round of voting earlier in September, triggering a runoff election. Solih, who was first elected president in 2018, is battling allegations by Muiz... Читать дальше...

Former President Jimmy Carter is set to mark his 99th birthday on October 1 while in hospice care. VOA's Kane Farabaugh reports on an outpouring of admiration and well wishes for the onetime peanut farmer and Georgia governor who promoted peace and fought tropical diseases after leaving the White House.

The U.S. West Coast produces over 90% of America's wine, but the region is also prone to wildfires — a combustible combination that spelled disaster for the industry in 2020 and one that scientists are scrambling to neutralize. Sample a good wine and you might get notes of oak or red fruit. But sip on wine made from grapes that were penetrated by smoke, and it could taste like someone dumped the contents of an ashtray into your glass. Wine experts from three West Coast universities are working together to meet the threat... Читать дальше...

When Carolina's captors arrived at dawn to pull her out of the stash house in the Mexican border city of Reynosa in late May, she thought they were going to force her to call her family in Venezuela again to beg them to pay $2,000 ransom. Instead, one of the men shoved her onto a broken-down bus parked outside and raped her, she told Reuters. "It's the saddest, most horrible thing that can happen to a person," Carolina said. A migrant advocate who assisted Carolina after the kidnapping, who spoke... Читать дальше...

The leader of Burkina Faso's military junta on Friday said promised elections would only be held once the security situation permits, as hundreds of his supporters rallied in the capital on the first anniversary of the coup. Supporters gathered at the Place de la Nation in Ouagadougou waving Burkinabe flags. Some held signs with pictures of the young interim president, Captain Ibrahim Traore. Traore grabbed power Sept. 30, 2022, ousting the leader of another coup who had overthrown president... Читать дальше...

John Wulu is the manager and chief editor of Top FM, a radio station in Juba, South Sudan’s capital. He says journalists broadcasting stories that shed light on corruption face intimidation and threatening phone calls from unidentified individuals. Wulu said most media houses in the country have a hard time working on in-depth reports due to a lack of access, censorship and harassment — at times coming from South Sudan security operatives. "Reporting security issues is a red line between us and the government. Читать дальше...

The United States called on Belgrade to pull its forces back from the border with Kosovo on Friday after detecting what it called an unprecedented Serbian military buildup. Serbia deployed sophisticated tanks and artillery on the frontier after deadly clashes erupted at a monastery in northern Kosovo last week, the White House said. The violence in which a Kosovo policeman and three Serb gunmen were killed marked one of the gravest escalations for years in Kosovo, a former Serbian breakaway province. Читать дальше...

Five years ago Monday, journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in Istanbul. U.S. intelligence has pointed to Saudi leadership as being responsible. Meanwhile, U.S.-Saudi ties continue to normalize, disappointing some press freedom and rule-of-law advocates. VOA’s Laurel Bowman reports.

A man who prosecutors say ordered the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur was arrested and charged with murder Friday in a long-awaited breakthrough in one of hip-hop's most enduring mysteries. Duane "Keffe D" Davis has long been known to investigators as one of four suspects identified early in the investigation. He isn't the accused gunman but was described as the group's ringleader by authorities Friday at a news conference and in court. "Duane Davis was the shot caller for this group of individuals... Читать дальше...

Libya's prosecutor general has ordered the arrest of four more officials, bringing to 12 the number held as part of an inquiry into this month's flood that killed thousands.  Flooding caused by hurricane-strength Storm Daniel tore through eastern Libya on September 10, leaving at least 3,893 people dead and thousands more missing.  The seaside city of Derna was the worst hit in the flash flood, which witnesses likened to a tsunami. The water burst through two dams and washed entire neighborhoods into the Mediterranean. Читать дальше...

With only hours remaining before funding expires, how can the world’s largest economy face a government shutdown? And what are the political implications? Plus, most ethnic Armenians have evacuated Nagorno-Karabach this week; what impact could this have on the region?

Retiring Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley made a forceful call in defense of American democracy and the Constitution on Friday as he handed the reins of the military’s top post to his successor, General Charles Q. Brown Jr. VOA’s White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi attended talks Friday in the Russian city of Kazan, where he praised China for sending a new ambassador to Afghanistan and urged other countries to follow China's example. The newly appointed Chinese ambassador to Kabul signals China's continued interest in Afghanistan, analysts say. The Taliban's deputy prime minister, Abdul Salam Hanafi, said the new development "will play an effective role in strengthening the relations between Afghanistan and China." During a meeting in Kabul last week... Читать дальше...

Meta's decision to not suspend the Facebook account of a former Cambodian prime minister who had used the platform to physically threaten political opponents is drawing criticism from the tech giant's Oversight Board, human rights groups and digital security experts. Meta's Oversight Board, a group of prominent global experts that makes mostly nonbinding recommendations on some of the company's thorniest policy questions, had recommended suspending Hun Sen's account over a January 9 post of a speech delivered the day before. Читать дальше...

Syrian Kurdish fighters and American forces have captured a senior member of the Islamic State group, a militant described as one of its "key facilitators," the force said Friday.  Mahmdouh Ibrahim al-Haji, also known as Abu Youssef, was taken into custody on Thursday in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, according to the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, just days after the U.S. military said it had captured another IS operator in northern Syria.  According to a statement from the Syrian Kurdish fighters... Читать дальше...

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein died on Thursday night at 90, her family confirmed. She was the oldest member of Congress.  Feinstein's peers in the Senate say she will be remembered as a trailblazer and an exemplar of perseverance whose many firsts paved the way for generations of women to take charge in politics and society. She was the first woman to serve as mayor of San Francisco and the first woman to be considered for a presidential ticket in 1984 — though Walter Mondale ultimately ran with Geraldine Ferraro. Читать дальше...