Новости за 19.11.2023

Former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter has died at the age of 96. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh, who extensively covered Rosalynn Carter’s life and post-White House career promoting global health and democracy with her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, has more.

A deal between Israel and Hamas to free dozens of hostages held in Palestinian territories may be underway, according to a new report. Such a deal would likely bring at least a temporary pause to the fighting in Gaza and much-needed aid across the border. U.S. and Israeli officials say any such deal is not yet finalized. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.

Yemen’s Houthis, an Iran-backed rebel group, seized a cargo ship in the southern Red Sea and say they have taken it to a Yemeni port. "We are treating the ship's crew in accordance with Islamic principles and values," a spokesperson of the group's military said in a statement. The group said the ship was an Israeli vessel. The Israeli military said Sunday that the cargo ship was hijacked in the southern Red Sea as it was sailing from Turkey to India, raising the alarm that regional tensions over... Читать дальше...

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

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS Israel published video of what it described as a tunnel dug by Palestinian militants under Shifa hospital. Two Palestinians were killed overnight in Israeli raids on the occupied West Bank. 31 babies have been evacuated from Shifa Hospital Israeli airstrikes kill scores at a school in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. President Biden said Saturday the Palestinian Authority should ultimately govern the Gaza Strip and the West Bank following the Israel-Hamas war. Читать дальше...

A third round of United Nations negotiations to try to deliver the world's first treaty to control plastic pollution has drawn more than 500 proposals from those involved, participants said on the last day of the talks on Sunday. Negotiators, who have spent a week meeting in the Kenyan capital at talks known as INC3, have until the end of next year to strike a deal for the control of plastics, which produce an estimated 400 million tons of waste every year. The plastics industry, oil and petrochemical exporters... Читать дальше...

Indigenous rangers in northern Australia have started managing herds of feral animals from space. In the largest project of its kind in Australia, the so-called Space Cows project involves tagging and then tracking a thousand wild cattle and buffalo via satellite. Water buffalo were imported into Australia’s Northern Territory in the 19th century as working animals and meat for remote settlements. When those communities were abandoned, the animals were released into the wild. Their numbers have grown... Читать дальше...

Gale-force winds and heavy rain and snow hit large parts of Bulgaria Sunday, claiming the lives of two people, causing severe damage and disrupting the power supply in towns and villages, officials said Sunday. Residents in eastern Bulgaria, that was hit hardest by the storm said they had never experienced such weather. A state of emergency has been declared in the Black Sea city of Varna, where officials said the extreme weather poses serious risks to the population. The port city was struck... Читать дальше...

A German lawmaker who serves as the political sponsor of Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi has welcomed the release on bail of the dissident artist but warned he is still at risk as all charges against him are still pending. "While it is certainly a positive development that Toomaj is no longer in prison, it is essential for me to caution against excessive jubilation because the actions of the Iranian regime are unpredictable, lawmaker Ye-One Rhie told VOA. “They might detain him again next week, or they may never arrest him again. Читать дальше...

In Pakistan, Punjab’s government says smog is so bad in 10 of the province’s districts that wearing a mask is now mandatory in those areas whenever stepping outside. Health Secretary Ali Jan Khan wrote in a public order: “smog poses a serious and imminent threat to public health in all age groups.” The districts affected by the mandate are: Lahore, Nankana Sahib, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Narowal, Hafizabad, Sialkot and Mandi Bahauddin. The mandate is in effect from November 20 to 26. Читать дальше...

The leader of a small Taiwanese party who has been in talks with the main opposition party for a joint presidential ticket showed no signs of backing down on Sunday in a dispute deadlocked over who runs as president and who for vice president. The issue of China, which views Taiwan as its territory, looms over the Jan. 13 parliamentary and presidential elections. China has stepped up military and political pressure, including high-profile war games, to press the island to accept the sovereignty claims that Taiwan rejects. Читать дальше...

A federal judge in Nevada has dealt another legal setback to Native American tribes trying to halt construction of one of the biggest lithium mines in the world. U.S. District Judge Miranda Du granted the government's motion to dismiss their claims the mine is being built illegally near the sacred site of an 1865 massacre along the Nevada-Oregon line. But she said in last week's order the three tribes suing the Bureau of Land Management deserve another chance to amend their complaint to try to... Читать дальше...

Pope Francis' recent gesture of welcome for transgender Catholics has resonated strongly in a working class, seaside town south of Rome, where a community of trans women has found help and hope through a remarkable relationship with the pontiff forged during the darkest times of the pandemic. Thanks to the local parish priest, these women now make monthly visits to Francis' Wednesday general audiences, where they are given VIP seats. On any given day, they receive handouts of medicine, cash and shampoo. Читать дальше...

Epitou nan lang Kreyòl Ayisyen NEW YORK — On a hot and humid August day, Vania Andre walks to a shared workspace in Brooklyn for her first meeting of the day. A second-generation Haitian American, Andre is the first female publisher of The Haitian Times: a position that carries a lot of prestige and responsibility. Arriving in a conference room to meet with her team, Andre is poised for work — iPad and electronic pen in hand as she works out a technical issue with a Zoom call. With the equipment back online, Andre starts the meeting. Читать дальше...

Iran has increased repression of its Baha’i minority in recent months by engaging in more than 200 acts of persecution, including the arrests of 19 people last week, the Baha’i International Community, which represents world Baha’is, told VOA on Nov. 13. Simin Fahandej, a BIC representative to the United Nations, provided her organization's latest assessment of conditions in Iran in this week’s edition of VOA’s Flashpoint Iran podcast. Her assessment is consistent with an October report of increased... Читать дальше...

Voters in Argentina head to the polls Sunday in a presidential runoff election that will determine whether South America's second-largest economy will take a rightward shift. Populist Javier Milei, an upstart candidate who got his start as a television talking head, has frequently been compared to former U.S. President Donald Trump. He faces Economy Minister Sergio Massa of the Peronist party, which has been a leading force in Argentine politics for decades. On Massa's watch, inflation has soared to more than 140% and poverty has increased.

Oregon's first-in-the-nation law that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs in favor of an emphasis on addiction treatment is facing strong headwinds in the progressive state after an explosion of public drug use fueled by the proliferation of fentanyl and a surge in deaths from opioids, including those of children. "The inability for people to live their day-to-day life without encountering open-air drug use is so pressing on urban folks' minds," said John Horvick... Читать дальше...

Leaders from more than a dozen African countries are heading to Germany for the G20 Compact with Africa conference, which aims to help bolster private investment in the world's poorest, but fast-growing, continent. Underscoring renewed interest in Africa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will be among those attending the summit in Berlin, hosted by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, according to German government officials. Читать дальше...

Survivors of Nazi atrocities joined young Jewish activists outside the Paris Holocaust memorial Saturday to sound the alarm about resurgent antisemitic hate speech, graffiti and abuse linked to the Israel-Hamas war. The impact of the conflict is drawing increasing concern in France and beyond. Thousands of pro-Palestinian and left-wing activists rallied in Paris and around Britain on Saturday to call for a cease-fire, the latest of several such protests in major cities around the world since the war began. Читать дальше...

As the war in Gaza continues to hold public attention, Iran is gearing up for parliamentary elections next year where many conservatives are determined to tighten their grip on power. The Islamic republic has since August opened registration for candidacy in the upcoming parliamentary elections slated for March 1, 2024. Last week, officials announced that out of the 24,982 applicants, around 28% have been disqualified in an initial screening phase. The decision can be appealed and a final list... Читать дальше...

Jordan's foreign minister offered blistering criticism Saturday of Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, describing it as "blatant aggression" against Palestinian civilians that threatens to engulf the wider Middle East.  Ayman Safadi's harsh assessment — alleging Israel was committing "war crimes" by besieging the Gaza Strip and cutting off food, medicine and fuel shipments — shows how strained relations have become between Israel and Jordan, which reached a peace deal in 1994.  "All of us... Читать дальше...

Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah (KH) militia, a powerful armed faction with close ties to Iran, brushed off U.S. sanctions on the group over attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria and said Saturday such strikes aimed to drain the enemy."  The U.S. issued sanctions Friday against several KH members and against another Iran-backed Shiite militia and its secretary-general, accusing them of being involved in attacks against the United States and its partners in Iraq and Syria.  The United States has... Читать дальше...

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali on Saturday said it had left a ninth of its 12 bases as part of its forced withdrawal from the junta-led country battling separatist and jihadi rebellions. In June, the junta demanded that MINUSMA leave "without delay," leading the U.N. Security Council to begin an unprecedented hasty pullout to be completed by the end of the year. The Ansongo camp in northern Mali was handed over by MINUSMA's bureau chief in the city of Gao, Hawa Ahmed Youssouf... Читать дальше...

Dozens of migrants stood behind barriers Saturday at two crossings on Finland's border with Russia, the Finnish Border Guard said, after Helsinki erected barricades to halt a flow of asylum-seekers it says was instigated by Moscow.  The Finnish government has accused Russia of funneling migrants to the crossings in retaliation for its decision to increase defense cooperation with the United States, an assertion dismissed by the Kremlin.  The Finnish Border Guard erected barriers from midnight Friday at the Vaalimaa... Читать дальше...

Country singers, romance novelists, video game artists and voice actors are appealing to the U.S. government for relief — as soon as possible — from the threat that artificial intelligence poses to their livelihoods. "Please regulate AI. I'm scared," wrote a podcaster concerned about his voice being replicated by AI in one of thousands of letters recently submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office. Technology companies, by contrast, are largely happy with the status quo that has enabled them to gobble... Читать дальше...