Новости за 08.12.2023

As Israel’s bombing campaign against Hamas in Gaza takes an ever-heavier toll in lives lost and as basic survival commodities become ever scarcer, the international drumbeat for a cessation of hostilities in the beleaguered Palestinian territory is getting louder. It has been two months since the attacks on Israel by U.S.-designated terror group Hamas that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, mostly civilians, among them hundreds of young people who were slaughtered while attending a music festival. Читать дальше...

In the first two months of the Israel-Hamas war, a record number of journalists and aid workers have been killed. VOA’s Cristina Caicedo Smit has the story.

Taylor Swift's Eras Tour is the first tour to cross the billion-dollar mark, according to Pollstar's 2023 year-end charts. Not only was Swift's landmark Eras Tour the No. 1 tour both worldwide and in North America, but she also brought in a whopping $1.04 billion with 4.35 million tickets sold across 60 tour dates, the concert trade publication found. Pollstar data is pulled from box office reports, venue capacity estimates, historical Pollstar venue ticket sales data, and other undefined research... Читать дальше...

The governor of Nigeria's Kaduna state criticized Nigerian defense officials Friday after they said terrorists had embedded themselves in the village that was hit by a drone strike Sunday, killing at least 87 people. Governor Uba Sani said the statement was careless and lacked empathy. Meanwhile, rights group Amnesty International said the military is trying to suppress atrocities. Sani, speaking to Lagos-based Channels Television, said the claim by Nigerian defense authorities that the military... Читать дальше...

The 67-year-old gunman who killed three faculty members and wounded a fourth in a roughly 10-minute rampage at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, had a list of targets at the school and more than 150 rounds of ammunition, police said Thursday.  Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill identified the suspect, who was killed in a shootout with police, as Anthony Polito, a longtime business professor who was living in nearby Henderson, Nevada. The sheriff said at a news conference that investigators... Читать дальше...

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israel is not doing enough to protect civilians in Gaza; A Chinese military balloon soars towards Taiwan and the son of an Israeli cabinet minister is killed fighting in Gaza. Vladimir Putin is running for president of Russia again, we get reaction from Kyiv.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday approved a pair of gene therapies for sickle cell disease, including the first treatment based on the breakthrough CRISPR gene editing technology.  The agency approved Lyfgenia from bluebird bio, and a separate treatment called Casgevy by partners Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics.  Both the therapies were approved for people aged 12 years and older.  The Vertex/CRISPR gene therapy uses the breakthrough gene editing technology... Читать дальше...

The U.S. Treasury's ’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Friday announced sanctions against 20 individuals in nine countries for human rights abuses. Friday’s sanctions include 13 individuals targeted for their roles in perpetrating or condoning the perpetration of rape and other forms of sexual violence in the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, and South Sudan. In addition, two Taliban officials in Afghanistan were designated for abuse related to the repression... Читать дальше...

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

American-style football is a big part of college life on many campuses – with chants, songs, rivalries and homecoming celebrations.   But the celebration can be lost on international students, who aren’t typically familiar with the sport. The World reports Colorado State University offers a noncredit course to help students understand American football. (November 2023)

Moody's downgraded China’s credit rating based on an in-depth evaluation of its financial health, economic conditions and risks.

The French oil company TotalEnergies coerces and intimidates communities affected by the $5 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline project in Tanzania and Uganda, a human rights organization said this week. Residents along the 1,443-kilometer (870-mile) pipeline route are forced to accept inadequate compensation for their land, according to Global Witness, a human rights and environmental organization. Global Witness accused TotalEnergies of collaborating with Tanzanian and Ugandan authorities... Читать дальше...

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Friday he is running for another six-year term, one day after lawmakers in Russia's upper house of parliament set the date for the next presidential election for March 17, 2024.  Putin made the announcement on Russian state television following a ceremony at the Kremlin for military personnel.  During a conversation with military officer Lieutenant Colonel Artyom Zhoga, Putin said that he "had different thoughts at different times, but this is a time... Читать дальше...

Approximately 7 mortar rounds landed in the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad during an attack early on Friday, a U.S. military official told Reuters, disclosing a far larger attack than previously known.  The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, left open the possibility that more projectiles were fired at the embassy compound but did not land within it.  The official said the attack caused very minor damage but no injuries.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is due to hold presidential elections on December 20th. Analysts say while the independent national electoral commission (CENI) is doing what it can to ensure free and fair elections, challenges related to security in some parts of the country and disseminating voter material remain. VOA Nairobi Bureau Chief Mariama Diallo has this report. Camera and edit: Amos Wangua

Funding to counter China in the Pacific is now caught in the congressional battle in Washington over foreign aid and border security. The White House calls the package a “critical component” of its national security. And as VOA’s Jessica Stone reports, time is running out to lock in an economic and security relationship between the United States and three strategic Pacific Island nations. Camera: Yu Chen, Jessica Stone, Saqib Ul Islam

Taliban security forces in Afghanistan have reportedly killed an Islamic State operative and captured several others during overnight raids on the militant group’s bases near the border with Iran.   “important network” of the regional branch of Islamic State known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, said a Taliban-affiliated media outlet Friday.   The network was involved in some of the recent attacks on the Shi’ite Muslim community in Afghanistan, according to Al-Mersaad, which is tasked to... Читать дальше...

A University of Pennsylvania donor has threatened to withdraw a $100 million donation from The Wharton School, the university's business school, following the appearance of the university's president before Congress. University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill appeared before Congress Tuesday along with leaders of two other Ivy League schools - Harvard President Claudine Gay and Sally Kornbluth of MIT. During a hearing, none of the presidents answered "yes" or "no" to the question:... Читать дальше...

Hong Kong will hold a "patriots only" district council election Sunday, with 399 candidates running for 88 directly elected seats. The city’s authorities will appoint the rest of the 382 district councilors.  The election follows a historic landslide victory for the pro-democracy camp in the 2019 district council election, which saw more than 70% of the voters showing up to vote.  It also comes after the Hong Kong government overhauled the election process in July, reducing the number of directly... Читать дальше...

Israel said Friday it has discovered a new tunnel, weapons and Hamas facilities under Gaza — evidence, it says, that Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group carries out military operations through an extensive network running underneath civilian infrastructure.  The military did not provide video or photo evidence of the kilometer long tunnel extending from the campus of Al-Azhar University in Gaza to a nearby school, but it released photos of weapons soldiers allegedly found at the university, including explosives and rocket parts. Читать дальше...

Western foreign policy experts are welcoming recent U.S. agreements to jointly tackle foreign disinformation with Seoul and Tokyo, saying they are needed to counter Chinese efforts to undermine liberal democracies through the spread of fake news. The U.S. signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Japan in Tokyo on Wednesday "to identify and counter foreign information manipulation," according to a State Department statement. The agreement follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed with South... Читать дальше...

Taiwan's Defense Ministry says a Chinese military surveillance balloon was spotted in the Taiwan Strait, as well as a large-scale movement of military aircraft and ships. The ministry said the balloon passed southwest of the northern port city of Keelung on Thursday night, then continued east before disappearing, possibly into the Pacific Ocean. However, there seemed to some uncertainty about whether the balloon was operated directly by the People's Liberation Army, the military branch of China's ruling Communist Party. Читать дальше...

Black people make up about 38% of Mississippi's population, but a new study shows that Black women were four times more likely to die of causes directly related to pregnancy than white women in the state in 2020. "It is imperative that this racial inequity is not only recognized, but that concerted efforts are made at the institutional, community, and state levels to reduce these disparate outcomes," wrote Dr. Michelle Owens and Dr. Courtney Mitchell, leaders of the Maternal Mortality Review Committee that conducted the study. Читать дальше...

Environmental watchdogs accused a Mexico-based startup Thursday of violating international trade law by selling a health supplement made from endangered totoaba fish to several countries including the U.S. and China. Advocates told The Associated Press they also have concerns that the company, The Blue Formula, could be selling fish that is illegally caught in the wild. The product, which the company describes as "nature's best kept secret," is a small sachet of powder containing collagen taken... Читать дальше...