Новости за 02.01.2024

Tehran, Iran — Iran has hanged nine convicted drug traffickers in recent days, state media reported Tuesday, as it keeps up one of the world's highest rates of execution.  Three were hanged at a prison in the northwestern province of Ardabil on charges of "buying and transporting heroin and opium," the official IRNA news agency said.  The other six were executed separately on charges of trafficking "methamphetamine, heroin and cannabis," it added.  Iran lies on a major opium-smuggling route... Читать дальше...

Malawi’s government is sending young people to work on Israeli farms amid the conflict with Hamas. Critics say the program is shrouded in secrecy and has exposed unemployment issues in the country. Human rights activists argue that young people are willing to take opportunities abroad, despite the risks. Chimwemwe Padatha reports from the capital, Lilongwe.

WASHINGTON — Harvard President Claudine Gay has resigned, the Harvard Crimson student newspaper reported on Tuesday, after she and other presidents of Ivy League schools were widely criticized for their congressional testimony about antisemitism on campus.  Gay's tenure was the shortest in Harvard's history, the newspaper said, and followed increasing pressure for her resignation last month, after University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill stepped down.  Gay, Magill and Massachusetts Institute... Читать дальше...

A top Hamas leader killed in Lebanon as the Israeli Supreme Court blocks judicial reforms pushed by Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition government. A Japanese airliner burns on the runway following a collision at the Tokyo airport. We get an update from Kyiv as the city is targeted yet again.

ISLAMABAD — Bodies of six men shot to death were found in fields Tuesday in North Waziristan, a tribal district in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.   The deceased were identified as barbers from Pakistan’s eastern province of Punjab.   Speaking to VOA’s Urdu service, District Police Officer Roohan Zeb Khan declared the deaths a terror incident. He said the killings were being investigated and the bodies would be handed over to families after identification is completed. Читать дальше...

Paris — France has closed down its embassy in Niger until further notice, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, barely two weeks after the last French troops left the country in the wake of a coup that ousted a key Paris ally. The closure of the embassy in Niamey represents one of the final chapters in the winding down of a French presence in its former colony following the July coup that left the country in the hands of military leaders. "The French embassy in Niger is now closed until further... Читать дальше...

JERUSALEM — Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, to contest South Africa's genocide accusations over the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli government spokesman said on Tuesday.  South Africa asked the court on Friday for an urgent order declaring that Israel was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention in its conflict with Hamas.   "The State of Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice at... Читать дальше...

Madrid — A Spanish soccer fan who was detained by the Iranian authorities on espionage charges for over a year as he walked to the Qatar Soccer World Cup from Europe returned to his home country on Tuesday. Santiago Sanchez, who was 41 when he disappeared, touched down at Madrid's Barajas Airport at around 1 p.m. (1200 GMT), where a large crowd of well wishers awaited him. "It has been very long, very hard but I am here in my country," a jubilant Sanchez told reporters at the airport after an emotional reunion with his family and friends. Читать дальше...

Developers at the University of Maryland are using a holographic camera to capture people’s movements in three dimensions for what could be high-impact training, education and entertainment. It’s technology with the power to transform how we learn and entertain ourselves. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more. VOA footage and video editing by Adam Greenbaum.

Japan was struck by a powerful earthquake. Israel’s Supreme Court struck down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial judicial overhaul. And the global population passed 8 billion on January 1st, by best estimates. Can the Earth accommodate that many people?

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — South Korean opposition leader and former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck by a man pretending to be a supporter, during a visit to the southeastern port city of Busan on Tuesday. Lee was meeting with reporters at the construction site of a new airport when a man approached, asking for an autograph, according to media reports. Videos posted online showed Lee smiling shortly before the man plunged a large knife into the left side of his neck. His condition is unknown. Читать дальше...

NEW YORK — Access to a busy terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport was restricted Monday as pro-Palestinian protesters converged on the airport for the second time in a week. Videos posted online show heavy traffic and a slow-moving line of cars, some flying Palestinian flags and featuring text on the windows such as “Stop the genocide.” Police directed a line of cars around a checkpoint. Protesters also had planned to arrive at the airport in Queens, New York, by public transportation. Читать дальше...