Новости за 24.03.2024

U.S. President Joe Biden campaigned on his health care record this weekend, while his political rival Donald Trump had to focus on meeting a deadline to post a bond to a New York state court after losing a civil fraud case. VOA's Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports.

SRINAGAR, India — Thousands of people in the remote region of Ladakh have been protesting for over two weeks in freezing temperatures, demanding constitutional provisions from the Indian government to protect their territory's fragile ecology and to have autonomy over land and agriculture decisions.  Situated between India, Pakistan and China, Ladakh has faced territorial disputes and suffered the effects of climate change. Shifting weather patterns in the sparsely populated villages altered people's lives through floods... Читать дальше...

Russia observed a day of mourning Sunday following a deadly attack on a music venue in a Moscow suburb. Islamic State took credit for the assault that killed 137 people. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us more.

new york — Ghostbusting is still a good business.  "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" collected $45.2 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, handing Sony Pictures the studio's first No. 1 film since last summer.  The opening weekend for "Frozen Empire," in 4,345 theaters, was nearly exactly the same as the $44 million launch for "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" in 2021. "Afterlife" rebooted the franchise with a sequel built around the descendants (Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard... Читать дальше...

london — Ireland is poised to get its youngest-ever premier next month after Simon Harris secured the leadership of the Fine Gael party Sunday, replacing Leo Varadkar, who announced his surprise resignation last week. Harris, 37, who has been the coalition government's further and higher education minister, was the only candidate to put his name forward to succeed Varadkar, who had been Ireland's previous youngest prime minister, or what Ireland calls its taoiseach. Harris is expected to be formally... Читать дальше...

Ho Chi Min City/Washington — Analysts say this month's resignation of Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong, one year into his five-year term, indicates infighting within the Communist Party and shakes the country's reputation for political stability, a key driver of foreign investment.  On March 20, the party's Central Committee held an extraordinary session in which it agreed to allow Thuong to give up the presidency and all official duties. Thuong's resignation comes amid an anti-corruption drive led by the party’s leader... Читать дальше...

Paris — France will provide special flights for its "most vulnerable" citizens to leave Haiti, the French foreign ministry said Sunday, after air links with Port-au-Prince were cut during political chaos.    "France's embassy in Port-au-Prince remains open and is still working despite the degraded conditions," the ministry told AFP in a statement.    It added that staff are "completely mobilized to support the French community on the ground".    Around 1,100 French citizens live in Haiti, the ministry added... Читать дальше...

Dakar — Senegalese voters are casting ballots after outgoing President Macky Sall’s attempt to delay the elections plunged the country into months of political crisis.  It’s a day many have been waiting for, including Jules Rolland Pascal Diatta. He was the first to cast his ballot in voting room number seven at a school about 30 minutes outside Dakar’s city center. He arrived two and half hours before the poll officially opened. “I see that they are actually on time and open at 8 a.m. sharp. Читать дальше...

YEREVAN — Three armed men attempted to storm a police station in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on Sunday detonating hand grenades that injured two of the attackers.  The injured assailants were hospitalized with shrapnel wounds from the blast in Yerevan's northern Nor-Nork district. A third man was detained by police after a brief standoff, Narek Sargsyan, spokesperson for Armenia's Ministry of Internal Affairs, told journalists. There were no other reported injuries.  The men had hoped to... Читать дальше...

N'DJAMENA — Chad's Constitutional Council on Sunday cleared 10 candidates for this year's long-awaited presidential election, including interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby and the country's recently-appointed prime minister.  The central African nation is scheduled to hold the first round of a presidential election in May as part of a transition back to democracy from junta rule.  Deby initially promised an 18-month transition to elections after he seized power in 2021, when his long-ruling father was killed in clashes with rebels. Читать дальше...

Geneva — In marking World Tuberculosis Day, the World Health Organization is calling for action to rid the world of this ancient scourge, which has sickened and killed millions of people throughout the ages. This year’s theme, “Yes! We can end TB," is intended to send a message of hope that ending the epidemic, which WHO says each year causes the deaths of some 1.3 million people, is possible. While the disease is curable and preventable, heads of state at the 2023 U.N. high-level meeting on... Читать дальше...

Islamabad — The leader of Afghanistan's fundamentalist Taliban government has said it is determined to enforce the Islamic criminal justice system, including the public stoning of women for adultery. "Our mission is to enforce sharia and Allah's Hudud [law]," said Hibatullah Akhundzada in an audio clip Taliban officials said was from his latest speech. They did not say where the reclusive leader spoke, but Akhundzada lives in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar and rarely leaves what is known... Читать дальше...

Bangkok — Police and prosecutors across Southeast Asia are forging new ways of working together to thwart and pursue the sprawling criminal networks behind the online scam centers that have quickly taken root in the region, experts involved in the effort have told VOA. In a few short years, scamming hubs bilking billions of dollars out of victims across the globe have set up shop in Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines and, increasingly, Myanmar. The United Nations estimates that hundreds of thousands... Читать дальше...

London — Catherine, Princess of Wales, has said she is "enormously touched" by the support she has received from around the world following her shock announcement that she is being treated for cancer.  Catherine, 42, revealed Friday that she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy in a video message to the UK, triggering a wave of support from global leaders, family members and the public.    "The prince and princess are both enormously touched by the kind messages from people here in the UK... Читать дальше...

Rome — Pope Francis decided at the last minute to skip his homily during Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, avoiding a strenuous speech at the start of a busy Holy Week that will test his increasingly frail health. Hobbled by bad knees and persistent respiratory problems, Francis also didn’t participate in the procession of cardinals around the obelisk in the piazza at the start of the Mass. Instead, the 87-year-old pontiff blessed the palm fronds and olive branches carried by the faithful from the altar. Читать дальше...

Parkland, Florida — PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris toured on Saturday the bloodstained classroom building where the 2018 Parkland high school massacre happened, then announced a program to assist states that have laws allowing police to temporarily seize guns from people judges have found to be dangerous. Harris saw bullet-pocked walls and floors still covered in dried blood and broken glass left behind from the Feb. 14, 2018, attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that... Читать дальше...

ABUJA, Nigeria — Nearly 300 kidnapped Nigerian schoolchildren have been released, local officials said Sunday, more than two weeks after the children were seized from their school in the northwestern state of Kaduna and marched into the forests. At least 1,400 students have been kidnapped from Nigerian schools since 2014, when Boko Haram militants kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls from Borno state's Chibok village in 2014. In recent years, abductions have been concentrated in the country's northwestern and central regions... Читать дальше...