Новости за 07.12.2023

A court for the West African regional bloc ECOWAS has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Niger's transitional leaders and some corporations over sanctions imposed on Niger by ECOWAS following the July ouster of President Mohammed Bazoum. The applicants argued the sanctions are causing hardships for millions of Nigeriens. However, the ECOWAS Court of Justice said the military government did not have standing to make a case on behalf of Niger. Last month, Niger's military leaders, along with seven corporations... Читать дальше...

NASA celebrates a quarter century of human cooperation in space. Plus, a busy week of space launches, and 'America’s Dad' wants you to see the moon like those who’ve been there. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space

Energy companies have discovered natural gas in northern Zimbabwe, near the country's northern border with Mozambique and Zambia. The Zimbabwean government hopes the discovery, if it can be exploited, will help reduce the need for expensive imported energy. In a statement Thursday, Zhemu Soda, Zimbabwe’s minister of mines and mining development, described the discovery made in Cabora Bassa Basin, about 300 kilometers north of Harare, as “one of the most significant developments in the onshore oil and gas sector in the southern African region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia Wednesday on a quick tour in what observers say is a show of defiance against Western efforts to isolate him through sanctions and an International Criminal Court arrest warrant. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from the VOA Moscow bureau.

The European Union has voiced concerns of a surge in migrants from Africa, after the ruling military junta in Niger repealed a law that had previously criminalized the transport of migrants in the country. Known as Law 2015-36, the legislation was drafted in 2015 in coordination with the EU and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. At the time, Europe was facing a migrant crisis, as more than a million people entered the continent from Turkey and North Africa. The law was implemented the following year. Читать дальше...

Celebrations erupted in Nepal’s LGBTQ community when Maya Gurung, a transgender woman and Surendra Pandey, a man, were given a marriage certificate last week. It was hailed as a historic milestone for the community in the tiny, mountainous country. "This is first in South Asia. We are very excited for the sexual gender minority communities in Nepal,” Sunil Babu Pant, LGBTQ rights activist in Nepal told reporters. He said it will open the door for them to jointly open bank accounts, own and transfer property like other couples do. Читать дальше...

House members voted again Thursday to punish one of their own, targeting Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman for triggering a fire alarm in a U.S. Capitol office building when the chamber was in session. The Republican censure resolution passed with a few Democratic votes, but most of the party stood by Bowman in opposition of an effort they said lacked credibility and integrity. The prominent progressive now becomes the third Democratic House member to be admonished this year through the censure process... Читать дальше...

The trailer is authentic. It announces a political thriller Putin, produced in Poland and to be released in February 2024.

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

Hanukkah begins in Israel while hostages are still in Hamas custody and the fighting in Gaza rages on: we meet the father of a hostage. We get an update from Kyiv including news of a murder in Moscow, and reaction to the U.S. Senate’s failure to pass a procedural vote towards more aid for Kyiv.

Responding to increased attacks on ships in the southern Red Sea by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, the U.S. announced sanctions against 13 people and firms alleged to be providing tens of millions of dollars from the sale and shipment of Iranian commodities to the Houthis in Yemen.  Treasury says that previously sanctioned Houthi and Iranian financial facilitator Sa'id al-Jamal uses a network of exchange houses and firms to help Iranian money reach the country's militant partners in Yemen.  The... Читать дальше...

A Texas judge on Thursday granted a pregnant woman permission to obtain an abortion in an unprecedented challenge to the state's ban that took effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned last year. It was unclear how quickly or whether Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two from the Dallas area, will be able to obtain an abortion. State District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, an elected Democrat, said she would grant a temporary restraining order that would allow Cox to have an abortion under what are narrow exceptions to the state's ban. Читать дальше...

A Florida lawmaker has proposed eliminating scholarships, tuition breaks and fee waivers for students who are suspected of “promoting terrorist organizations.”  According to WOKV television, the bill appears to be in line with Florida efforts to disband pro-Palestinian groups on college campuses. (November 2023)

Denmark's parliament passed a bill on Thursday that makes it illegal to burn copies of the Quran in public places, after protests in Muslim nations over the desecration of Islam's holy book raised Danish security concerns. Denmark and Sweden experienced a series of public protests this year where anti-Islam activists burned or otherwise damaged copies of the Quran, sparking tensions with Muslims and triggering demands that the Nordic governments ban the practice. Denmark sought to strike a balance... Читать дальше...

Former President Donald Trump returned to his civil business fraud trial as a spectator Thursday, after a month of assailing the proceedings from afar.  With testimony winding down after more than two months, the Republican 2024 presidential front-runner showed up to watch an accounting professor testify about financial topics important to the case.  Trump himself is scheduled to take the stand Monday, for a second time.  Even while campaigning to reclaim the presidency and fighting four criminal cases... Читать дальше...

Several universities in the United States are taking measures to prevent and address incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia related to the Israel-Hamas war. VOA's Veronica Balderas Iglesias spoke with several students who favor freedom of speech with certain limits.

Two South Asian countries took divergent paths on LGBTQ rights this year. While tiny mountainous Nepal took a huge step in favor by allowing non-heterosexual marriages, in India, the Supreme Court has refused to legalize same sex unions. Despite the setback, India's LGBTQ community is gearing up to press ahead with its campaign for equal rights. From New Delhi, Anjana Pasricha reports.

South Africa and Nigeria led the wins at the Africa Canoe Sprint Olympics qualifier, recently held in Abuja, Nigeria. Both nations had athletes qualify to compete in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Gibson Emeka has this story from Abuja, Nigeria, narrated by Jackson Mvunganyi. (Camera and Video Edited by Emeka Gibson; Produced by Robert Raffaele)

Violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank has escalated since the war with Hamas began on October 7th, according to Palestinians. This has happened even as the Biden administration steps up pressure on Israel to stop settler violence by ordering a U.S. travel ban on extremist settlers involved in attacks. Henry Wilkins visited the scene of some of the recent clashes and has this report from the Palestinian town of Qarawat Bani Hassan in the West Bank. (Camera and Produced by: Henry Wilkins)

Israel attacked Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip's biggest cities on Thursday, leaving 350 people dead and thousands of Palestinian civilians searching for shelter to escape the ravages of the war.  Many displaced Gazans crammed into Rafah on the southern border with Egypt, where Israeli leaflets urged Palestinians to flee, saying they would be safe. But the Hamas-controlled health ministry reported at least 37 deaths in overnight Israeli air attacks.  The Israeli military Thursday accused militants... Читать дальше...

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit neighboring Vietnam next week to push for deeper ties between the socialist neighbors, Beijing's foreign ministry said on Thursday. Xi's state visit will take place next Tuesday and Wednesday, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement. The Chinese president was invited by Vietnam's top leaders Nguyen Phu Trong and Vo Van Thuong, she added. Xi will meet with Vietnam's top leadership and "discuss bringing China-Vietnam relations to a higher position", Beijing said. Читать дальше...

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Thursday called snap presidential elections in February, in a move expected to extend the decades-long authoritarian rule of his family. Aliyev's popularity is soaring after his military recaptured the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region from Armenian separatists in a lightning offensive in September. A decree published by the presidency ordered officials to hold a "snap election" on Feb. 7 next year. Elections had previously been scheduled for 2025. A state-run... Читать дальше...

In the year since Open AI introduced ChatGPT to the world, almost 600 media organizations have blocked the technology from scraping their content.  Two other AI chat bots — Google AI’s Bard and Common Crawl’s CCBot — are also blocked by some or most of those same news organizations. The list grows longer each day, according to Ben Welsh, a news applications editor for Reuters, who compiled a survey of news organizations for his media blog.  “What we are seeing here is that news publishers, at least half of them in my survey... Читать дальше...

Reuters and Agence France-Presse have each published an investigation into an October attack in southern Lebanon that killed a journalist and injured six others, saying their findings indicate the group was hit by Israeli tank rounds. Each of the media organizations worked with outside experts to review video recordings, satellite images, witness testimony and munitions fragments, concluding that the rounds were 120-mm tank rounds used only by the Israeli military. The attack happened Oct. 13... Читать дальше...

A new optical ground station has been built by the Australian National University to help the U.S. space agency, NASA, and others explore space and safely reach Mars. The Australian team has developed a new type of space communication using lasers. Researchers say the system will allow them to connect with satellites and NASA-crewed missions beyond low-Earth orbit. The project is supported by the Australian Space Agency’s Moon to Mars initiative. The Australian National University Quantum... Читать дальше...