Новости за 06.12.2023

Rescuers used boats to help people stranded inside their homes in southeastern India amid widespread flooding caused by Cyclone Michaung, which left at least 13 people dead and forced thousands of evacuations. Torrential rains preceded the cyclone, which made landfall Tuesday in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Trees were uprooted and infrastructure damaged.   In nearby Tamil Nadu state, the storm also caused widespread damage and forced the closure of the airport in the capital, Chennai. Many vehicles were swept away in the flooding. Читать дальше...

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed his call for a humanitarian cease-fire in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, warning that public order could completely break down soon, and the humanitarian system there is at “severe risk” of collapse. “Amid constant bombardment by the Israel Defense Forces, and without shelter or the essentials to survive, I expect the public order to completely break down soon due to the desperate conditions, rendering even limited humanitarian assistance impossible,”... Читать дальше...

Two months after his historic ouster as leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, Republican Kevin McCarthy of California announced Wednesday that he will resign from his congressional seat by the end of the year. His announcement capped a stunning end for the one-time deli owner from Bakersfield, who ascended through state and national politics to become second in line to the presidency before a contingent of hard-right conservatives engineered his removal in October. McCarthy is the only... Читать дальше...

In the past two years, Burkina Faso has experienced two coups, a rise in extremist violence and an increasingly hostile environment for media.  Despite those tough conditions, one local reporter has not been deterred from covering the issues affecting the most vulnerable people in her country. Mariam Ouedraogo, who reports for Burkina Faso’s daily French newspaper Sidwaya, says she sees it as her mission to shed light on often-overlooked social issues. Stories affecting women, children, people with disabilities and coverage on education... Читать дальше...

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

A Pakistani diplomat said Wednesday that nearly 450,000 Afghan nationals returned to their home country since his government announced two months ago that it would deport all undocumented foreigners. Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s special envoy to Afghanistan, shared the latest data while addressing a seminar in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. He spoke on a day the United Nations renewed its warning that Afghans returning from Pakistan “face a precarious, uncertain future” in their crisis-hit and impoverished nation. Читать дальше...

Italy officially told China that it will leave the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, the first country to do so since the project was launched a decade ago. Despite the decision, Rome still plans to maintain good relations with Beijing, government sources said on Wednesday. Beijing launched the BRI, a global infrastructure and transportation plan, in 2013 aiming to boost between connectivity between China and nations in Eurasia, Africa, Oceania and Latin America. Critics argue that one key aim... Читать дальше...

The United States was well within its rights to defend itself and commercial ships from unprovoked Houthi attacks on international waters.

Beijing should be concerned about Hanoi’s upgraded ties with Tokyo because the two countries share a common perspective on regional security matters, say experts. Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the Vietnam-Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on November 27 when Thuong visited Japan. According to their joint statement provided by Japan’s Foreign Ministry, Kishida and Thuong agreed to expand their cooperation in areas including trade... Читать дальше...

The United States Navy shot down a drone originating from a Houthi-controlled part of Yemen on Wednesday morning, U.S. officials said. The downing of the drone comes amid an escalation in attacks in Middle East waters linked to the Israel-Hamas war and marks the sixth time the U.S. has fired on drones in the Red Sea since the war broke out. There was no reported damage to U.S. ships and no U.S. personnel suffered injuries, according to a U.S. official. Earlier Wednesday, Britain's Maritime... Читать дальше...

After a 15-year case before the U.S. immigration courts, Mexican journalist Emilio Gutierrez Soto has been granted asylum. Media advocates say at-risk journalists like him need a fast track to safety. VOA’s immigration reporter Aline Barros has more. Camera: Saqib Islam

Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party is reacting angrily to a new visa restriction policy which U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced this week, aimed at people accused of undermining democracy in the southern African nation. The opposition is berating the United States for the latest move. Lawrence Socha, spokesperson at the U.S. Embassy in Harare, told VOA that the new visa restriction policy would affect individuals believed to be responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy.... Читать дальше...

Israeli troops and Hamas militants battled Wednesday in house-to-house fighting for control of Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-biggest city, as Palestinian civilians faced increasing difficulty finding shelter and access to humanitarian aid. Israel’s military said Wednesday it had carried out airstrikes on about 250 targets in the Gaza Strip during the past day, in some of the heaviest fighting of the two-month-old war. Hamas said it killed 10 Israeli soldiers in Khan Younis and injured several more... Читать дальше...

Television producer-writer Norman Lear, whose ground-breaking hit comedy shows such as "All in the Family" and "Maude" addressed social issues such as race and abortion that had rarely been seen on U.S. television, died on Tuesday at the age of 101, according to media reports.  Lear, one of the most influential people in television, died at his Los Angeles home of natural causes, Variety reported on Wednesday, citing his publicist.  Lear, who won six Emmy awards for his work in television, was known for his campaigning for liberal causes... Читать дальше...

International student enrollment at U.S. schools has bounded back from pandemic lows, Forbes reports. It increased 12% in 2022-23, the fastest growth rate in more than 40 years. Read the full story here. (November 2023)

After a first-day blur of rare quick action and agreement, negotiators at a critical United Nations climate summit finished their first week Wednesday in a more familiar place: the murky middle where momentum and roadblocks intertwine. “Negotiations ... are a mixed picture right now. We see big differences between individual states in some areas,” German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan said, “but there is a will to make progress.” U.S. Special Envoy John Kerry, said, “We have done a lot in this first week... Читать дальше...

Gabon's military leader, General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, visited Cameroon on Wednesday, asking central African states to lift economic sanctions on his country before the 2025 elections. When Nguema ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba in a bloodless coup on August 30, economic sanctions were imposed on the country by CEMAC, the six-nation Central Africa Economic and Monetary Community, which condemned the unconstitutional power shift and suspended Gabon.  Nguema said Wednesday that he and... Читать дальше...

As a debate over loans and trade relations with China heats up in Kenya, the Chinese embassy in Nairobi is looking to boost cultural ties with Kenyans by launching food extravaganzas. Victoria Amunga has more from Nairobi. (Camera and Produced by: Jimmy Makhulo)

More than 50 civilians were killed in attacks in Ethiopia last month, a human rights body said Wednesday, barely two weeks after talks between the government and a rebel group from the country's most populous region ended without agreement. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission — an independent, state-affiliated body — said that fighters from the Oromo Liberation Army, or OLA, killed 17 people and burned down villages in Benishangul-Gumuz, which borders the Oromia region. Classified as a "terrorist organization" by Addis Ababa... Читать дальше...

A daylong series of attacks in Austin has left four people dead and at least three wounded, and a man believed to be connected to them and the deaths of two other people near San Antonio was taken into custody, Texas authorities said. Those who died were found in two homes in Austin and a residence east of San Antonio. The wounded, who were shot, included two police officers and a bicyclist, police said. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening. The man, who is in his 30s, was charged with capital murder... Читать дальше...

In India, a journalist and a member of the country’s low caste community runs a news website where the reporting is focused on groups that have been marginalized for centuries. Meena Kotwal hopes that turning the spotlight on issues affecting the 300 million strong Dalit community will help redress the discrimination they often suffer. VOA's Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi. (Camera: Darshan Singh)

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has made an impassioned plea for what she calls “gender apartheid” to be made a crime under international law. Speaking at an event in South Africa, Yousafzai called on the world to pay attention to what’s happening to girls and women under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist who survived being shot in the head when she was 15 years old by Taliban gunmen for daring to pursue an education, delivered the annual Nelson Mandela Foundation lecture in South Africa Tuesday... Читать дальше...

It is breeding season for Namibia’s seal population. But ocean waste and pollution are threatening the millions of seals and other marine animals who live in this region. Vitalio Angula, reports from Walvis Bay, Namibia. (Camera and Produced by: Vitalio Angula)

The plight of fugitives and refugees has been part of the artist Dima Alekseevs’ work since he left Russia in 2016. He now lives in the U.S. Nina Vishneva visited the artist and has this report narrated by Anna Rice. (Camera: Vladimir Badikov, Elena Matusovsky; Produced by Elena Matusovsky, Anna Rice)

One of the hottest food trends of the year in the U.S. is the ube, a purple yam native to the Philippines. VOA’s Chris Casquejo looks at the emergence of this colorful tuber.