Новости за 04.01.2024

Nairobi, Kenya — Kenya's president is coming under criticism from judges, lawyers, legal experts and opposition groups after saying he won't respect court orders that he perceives as an effort to undermine key policies of his administration. Critics are calling for nationwide protests to protect the judiciary's independence and respect for the rule of law. Kenyan lawyers have called for a demonstration following Tuesday’s comments from President William Ruto. The head of the Law Society of Kenya... Читать дальше...

A busy week for SpaceX launches. NASA eyes an upcoming moon mission. And Australian buffaloes get a high-tech upgrade. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space.

KAMPALA, UGANDA — Days after the United States removed Uganda from an economic assistance program due to human rights concerns, Uganda's president harshly criticized the West. In a speech Thursday, President Yoweri Museveni urged lawmakers from the Commonwealth of Nations to reject what he called the evil tendencies of Western countries toward societies different from them. Museveni told the 33 parliament speakers from Commonwealth countries meeting in Kampala that the West’s oppression takes the form of aggression... Читать дальше...

Gambia’s Immigration Department has launched a manhunt for immigration smugglers after an increase in the death toll of Gambians attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean into Europe. Some returnees are holding workshops to tell about the dangers of trying to flee the country. Senanu Tord reports from the capital, Banjul.

pentagon — Houthi militants appear to be ignoring U.S. warnings about their repeated attacks on ships in the Red Sea, launching a naval drone Thursday that came within "a couple of miles" of merchant ships and American combat vessels before detonating. U.S. naval officials said the so-called unmanned surface vessel was launched from Houthi territory in Yemen and traveled about 50 miles into busy shipping lanes before exploding. They said it is unclear who or what the Houthis were trying to target... Читать дальше...

London — Freight costs from Asia to northern Europe have more than doubled in recent days as attacks by Houthi rebels on commercial vessels in the Red Sea force shipping companies to re-route cargo around the southern tip of Africa. The Iranian-backed militants have staged at least 24 attacks on commercial vessels since mid-November, according to the International Maritime Organization. The group, which has been engaged in a civil war with Yemen’s internationally recognized government since 2014... Читать дальше...

Denmark's Maersk group said this week it would continue to pause all cargo shipments through the Red Sea following a weekend attack on one of its ships. Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have stepped up attacks on vessels in the Red Sea since November to show their support for Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas fighting Israel in Gaza. Henry Ridgwell reports.

Perry, Iowa — Police in Perry, Iowa, say multiple people were shot at the city's high school Thursday, early on students' first day back in classes after their annual winter break. Two gunshot victims were taken by ambulance to Iowa Methodist Medical Center in the state capital of Des Moines, about 64 kilometers southeast of Perry, a community of about 8,000 people. Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante said the shooting occurred before school was set to start, so there were few students and faculty in Perry High School. Читать дальше...

Baghdad/Washington — The U.S. military carried out a retaliatory strike in Baghdad on Thursday that killed a militia leader it blames for recent attacks on U.S. personnel, a U.S. official told Reuters. Iraqi police sources and witnesses said a drone fired at least two rockets in eastern Baghdad at a facility used by the Iraqi militia group al-Nujaba'a.   Police and militia sources said the rockets hit a vehicle inside the Nujaba'a headquarters and killed four people, including a local group commander and one of his aides. Читать дальше...

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Two Chinese navy vessels shadowed Philippine and U.S. ships conducting joint patrols in the South China Sea, the Philippine military said on Thursday, as tensions flare in the region over disputed territorial claims.  "We confirm the presence of two PLA-N [People's Liberation Army Navy] vessels from a distance shadowing the participants of the Maritime Cooperative Activity," said Xerxes Trinidad, chief of the Philippine military's public affairs office.  The two-day maritime exercises involving Manila and Washington... Читать дальше...

Rome — Pope Francis has urged prayers for Nicaragua where two Catholic bishops,15 priests and two seminarians are in custody, with the most recent arrests taking place on Dec. 31. Observers fear the government of President Daniel Ortega is trying to eradicate the Catholic Church’s presence in Nicaragua. The pontiff opened the new year with an appeal for prayer for the Central American country, expressing his deep concern for bishops and priests "deprived of their freedom" there and urging “the... Читать дальше...

Burned residential buildings, destroyed warehouses, scorched cars — these are the consequences of a Russian missile attack Tuesday morning in Kyiv. According to the mayor's office, 50 people were injured and at least two were killed. Anna Kosstutschenko talked to survivors. VOA footage by Pavel Suhodolskiy.

Hundreds of Hamas militants were killed or captured during their October 7 rampage in which they killed some 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 240, sparking the war in Gaza. Israeli officials say many of them were found carrying pills of the amphetamine Captagon, a stimulant that can lower inhibitions and radically boost stamina. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem. VOA footage by Ricki Rosen. Warning: This video contains graphic images that some may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.

Melbourne, Australia — Although China’s government has promised a rosier outlook for the economy in 2024, some migrant workers, labor brokers and shop owners tell VOA’s Mandarin Service that jobs in the country’s coastal cities are drying up, forcing many to go home or others to close shop.     For the past seven years, Ma Hailiang has worked as a labor broker for factories in the southeastern coastal city of Shantou. He said that before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were plenty of jobs in Shantou’s Chenghai District... Читать дальше...

BEIJING — Beijing on Thursday voiced "strong dissatisfaction" that fighting in neighboring Myanmar had caused Chinese casualties and said it would take "all necessary measures" to protect its citizens, following reports an artillery shell had exploded across the border. Armed conflict has raged in Myanmar's northern Shan state since October, when an alliance of ethnic minority groups launched an offensive against the military junta. Several Chinese media outlets reported on Wednesday that an... Читать дальше...

SAN FRANCISCO — The falling-block video game Tetris has met its match in 13-year-old Willis Gibson, who has become the first player to officially "beat" the original Nintendo version of the game — by breaking it. Technically, Willis — aka "blue scuti" in the gaming world — made it to what gamers call a "kill screen," a point where the Tetris code glitches, crashing the game. That might not sound like much of a victory to anyone thinking that only high scores count, but it's a highly coveted achievement in the world of video games... Читать дальше...

AUSTIN, Texas — The Justice Department on Wednesday sued Texas over a new law that would allow police to arrest migrants who enter the U.S. illegally, taking Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to court again over his escalating response to border crossers arriving from Mexico. The lawsuit draws Texas into another clash over immigration at a time when New York and Chicago are pushing back on buses and planes carrying migrants sent by Abbott to Democrat-led cities nationwide. Texas is also fighting separate... Читать дальше...

Tokyo — The black box from an Osprey military aircraft that crashed off Japan in November with eight people on board has been recovered, the US military said Thursday, five weeks after the accident. "Critical equipment identified by investigation officials has been recovered, including the Voice and Data Recorder, often called the black box," U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command spokesperson Rebecca Heyse said. "The equipment will be transported to laboratories for data retrieval with follow analysis of the data at AFSOC. Читать дальше...