Новости за 18.05.2024

LA VICTORIA, Venezuela — The presidential candidate of Venezuela's chief opposition coalition sought Saturday to cultivate a mood of hope and possibility in a massive rally that marked the start of a campaign he admittedly never imagined leading.  Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the former diplomat chosen by the coalition to replace the fiery leader Maria Corina Machado on the ballot, drew thousands of supporters to the streets of La Victoria, his hometown.  He urged them to imagine a country where public services are not a luxury... Читать дальше...

tripoli — At least one person was killed and six injured when fierce clashes broke out Saturday in the city of Zawiya in western Libya, prompting calls for a cease-fire to rescue families trapped in the conflict area, a Libyan TV channel said. Ali Ahneesh, head of the Red Crescent branch in Zawiya, told the Istanbul-based Libya Alahrar TV channel that 10 families had been evacuated, and called for "a cease-fire to evacuate families stuck in the areas where the clashes have taken place." Red Crescent... Читать дальше...

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Benny Gantz, a centrist member of Israel's three-member War Cabinet, threatened on Saturday to resign from the government if it doesn't adopt in three weeks a new plan for the war in Gaza, a move that would leave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more reliant on his far-right allies.  His announcement escalates a divide within Israel's leadership more than seven months into a war in which it has yet to accomplish its stated goals of dismantling Hamas and returning scores... Читать дальше...

Taipei, Taiwan — China's Taiwan Affairs Office this week vowed to punish five well-known Taiwanese media commentators and their families for “fabricating false, negative information” about China and “provoking [a] hostile cross-strait confrontation." The sharp rebuke was made at a news briefing Wednesday by TAO spokesperson Chen Binhua in response to a reporter's question that China was looking at punitive measures for what it called “famous mouths,” or influencers, in Taiwan, who have been “spreading... Читать дальше...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen’s Houthi rebels hit an oil tanker in the Red Sea with a ballistic missile early Saturday, damaging the Panama-flagged, Greek-owned vessel in their latest assault over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, officials said. Although the Houthis did not immediately claim the assault, it comes as they claimed to have shot down a U.S. military MQ-9 Reaper drone over Yemen and have launched other attacks on shipping, disrupting trade on a key maritime route leading to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea. Читать дальше...

BERLIN — Six climate activists broke through a security fence at the Munich airport Saturday and glued themselves to access routes leading to runways, temporarily halting flights.  The activists from the group Last Generation were protesting flying as the most polluting form of transportation, said the German news agency dpa. Police detained the six.  Some 60 flights were canceled during the disruption that lasted a couple of hours, and passengers were rebooked on alternative flights, airport spokesperson Robert Wilhelm told dpa. Читать дальше...

HANOI, VIETNAM — Vietnam's Communist Party has named police minister To Lam  president, the government said Saturday, and nominated a new head of the parliament in a major leadership reshuffle.  Unprecedentedly for a one-party nation once known for its stable politics, two state presidents and a parliament speaker have stepped down in less than 18 months, all for unspecified "wrongdoing" amid a major antigraft campaign that is unnerving foreign investors because of its chilling effect on bureaucracy. Читать дальше...

TBILISI, Georgia — Georgia’s president on Saturday vetoed the so-called “Russian law” targeting media that has sparked weeks of mass protests. The law would require media and nongovernmental organizations to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad. Critics of the bill say that it closely resembles legislation used by the Kremlin to silence opponents and that it will obstruct Georgia’s bid to join the EU. President Salome Zourabichvili... Читать дальше...

PARIS — Jailed Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi faces a new trial over accusations she made against security forces of sexually assaulting female prisoners, her family said Saturday.  The trial, due to begin Sunday, relates to an audio message she shared from prison in April with supporters in which she decried a "full-scale war against women" in the Islamic Republic.  She is charged in this latest case with making "propaganda against the regime,"  the family said.  There has... Читать дальше...

London — Film director Mohammad Rasoulof made an "exhausting and extremely dangerous" walk across a mountainous borderland to avoid being jailed in Iran on national security charges, he told The Guardian newspaper.  Rasoulof said Monday he had fled Iran after a court sentenced him to eight years in jail, of which five were due to be served, over his new film "The Seed of the Sacred Fig."  The leading Iranian filmmaker, often a target of the country's authorities, told The Guardian in an interview... Читать дальше...

PARIS — Iran hanged at least seven people Saturday, including two women, while a member of its Jewish minority is at imminent risk of execution as the Islamic Republic further intensified its use of capital punishment, a nongovernmental organization said.  Parvin Mousavi, 53, a mother of two grown children, was hanged in Urmia prison in northwestern Iran along with five men convicted in various drug-related cases, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights, or IHR, said in a statement.  In Nishapur in eastern Iran... Читать дальше...

Kinmen, Taiwan — Standing on the shore of Taiwan's Kinmen island, Taiwanese tourists snap photos of the skyline of China's Xiamen city that is clearly visible across the sliver of water separating them.  For the best view of Xiamen's skyscrapers, visitors stand on a beach where anti-landing spikes jut out — a reminder of when the island was a battlefield front line after Chinese nationalists fled to Taiwan in 1949.  More than 70 years later, China's communist leaders still vow to seize democratic Taiwan... Читать дальше...

GENEVA — A report by the U.N. human rights office criticizes the Sri Lankan government’s failure to acknowledge and hold accountable the perpetrators of tens of thousands of enforced disappearances during the country’s decadeslong civil war.  The report notes that nearly 15 years have passed since the end of the armed conflict and yet “Sri Lankan authorities are still failing to ensure accountability” for the violations that occurred then as well as during “the earliest waves of enforced disappearances.”... Читать дальше...

TOKYO — The U.S. ambassador to Japan stressed Friday the importance of increased deterrence and his country’s commitment to its key ally as he visited two southwestern Japanese islands at the forefront of Tokyo's tension with Beijing. Rahm Emanuel visited Yonaguni, Japan’s westernmost island just east of Taiwan, a self-governed island also claimed by China. He later visited another Japanese island, Ishigaki, home to Japan Coast Guard patrol boats defending the disputed East China Sea islands and... Читать дальше...

ISLAMABAD — The Taliban government said Saturday that the death toll from an overnight gun attack on Western tourists in central Afghanistan had risen to at least six, including three Spaniards. Interior Ministry spokesperson Abdul Mateen Qani said in a video statement that the Friday evening shooting in Bamiyan city by unknown assailants left three Afghans dead. He said that four foreigners and three Afghans were among those wounded. Qani said that Taliban security forces had apprehended seven suspects in connection with the attack... Читать дальше...

ISLAMABAD — Flash floods from heavy seasonal rains in western Afghanistan have killed at least 50 people and dozens remain missing, a Taliban official said Saturday, adding the death toll was based on preliminary reports and might rise. Afghanistan has been witnessing unusually heavy seasonal rains. The hard-hit province of Ghor has suffered significant financial losses, said Abdul Wahid Hamas, spokesman for the provincial governor, after thousands of homes and properties were damaged and hundreds... Читать дальше...

Beijing — A Chinese official responsible for agricultural affairs is under investigation for corruption, state media reported Saturday, as President Xi Jinping's extensive anti-graft campaign continues to bring down high-level figures. Tang Renjian, the head of China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, is "suspected of serious violations of discipline and law," state broadcaster CCTV said. The report did not include details on the specific violations Tang is suspected of committing.... Читать дальше...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen's Houthi rebels on Friday claimed to have shot down an American drone, hours after footage circulated online of what appeared to be the wreckage of an MQ-9 Reaper drone. Early Saturday, a vessel also came under attack in the Red Sea. The two incidents likely represent just the latest attacks by the Houthis as they press their campaign over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed that rebels shot down... Читать дальше...

washington — A U.S.-built pier is in place to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea, but no one will know if the new route will work until a steady stream of deliveries begins reaching starving Palestinians.  The trucks that will roll off the pier project installed Thursday will face intensified fighting, Hamas threats to target any foreign forces and uncertainty about whether the Israeli military will ensure that aid convoys have access and safety from attack by Israeli forces.  Even if the sea route performs as hoped... Читать дальше...

Boston, Massachusetts — A Massachusetts teen who participated in a spicy tortilla chip challenge on social media died from eating a large quantity of chile pepper extract and also had a congenital heart defect, according to autopsy results obtained by The Associated Press.  Harris Wolobah, a 10th-grader from the city of Worcester, died on September 1, 2023, after eating the Paqui chip as part of the manufacturer's "One Chip Challenge."  "We were and remain deeply saddened by the death of Harris... Читать дальше...

MEXICO CITY — Newly minted Michelin-starred chef Arturo Rivera Martínez stood over an insanely hot grill Wednesday at the first Mexican taco stand ever to get a coveted star from the French dining guide and did exactly the same thing he's been doing for 20 years: searing meat. Though Michelin representatives came by Wednesday to present him with one of the company's heavy, full-sleeved, pristine white chef's jackets, he didn't put it on: In this tiny business, which measures 3 meters by 3 meters, the heat is intense. Читать дальше...

WASHINGTON — Seventy years ago this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled separating children in schools by race was unconstitutional. On paper, that decision — the fabled Brown v. Board of Education, taught in most every American classroom — still stands. But for decades, American schools have been re-segregating. The country is more diverse than it ever has been, with students more exposed to classmates from different backgrounds. Still, around 4 out of 10 Black and Hispanic students attend schools... Читать дальше...

Ramallah, WEST BANK — The Israeli military said on Saturday it killed a senior Palestinian militant during an air strike on an "operations center" in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. "A number of significant terrorists were inside the compound," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement posted to Telegram. It said the strike by a fighter jet and helicopter killed Islam Khamayseh, a "senior terrorist operative in the Jenin Camp" who was responsible for a series of attacks in the area. Читать дальше...