Новости за 25.11.2020

The Russian port city of Vladivostok was battered by a freak ice storm on November 19, felling frozen trees and power lines, and leaving at least 150,000 people without electricity and water. Although most residents have recovered power as of November 25, the city remains covered in ice, putting residents at risk.

By appointing former senator and secretary of state John Kerry as the first ever US climate leader, President-elect Joe Biden is sending a clear message. He's not only reversing President Donald Trump’s reversal of America’s commitments to fighting climate change – he also plans to push these commitments much further.

Tributes poured in Wednesday as the world reacted to the death of Argentine football superstar Diego Maradona at 60, with fellow footballers, coaches, club owners and politicians paying their respects to one of the game’s greatest ever players.

Two rounds of Covid-19 lockdowns have taken their toll on French merchants, who are looking for innovative ways to boost fourth-quarter sales. Some of these changes are likely to last long after the pandemic is over.

Since 2007, the people of Chechnya, a small Muslim republic in southern Russia, have lived under the hardline rule of President Ramzan Kadyrov. He became notorious in 2017 when he launched a purge of homosexuals. He's also known for encouraging so-called honour crimes – crimes committed against women by members of their own families. Our team in Russia managed to meet one Chechen woman who fled the threat of an honour crime and told us her harrowing story.

Salma al-Najjar, a petrol station attendant in the Gaza Strip, sees her part-time job in larger terms than the traditional act of filling a customer's tank. The 15-year-old trailblazer is the first female to work at a gas station in the Palestinian territory, which has been controlled by the Islamist group Hamas since 2007. Sporting an orange and black vest and poised for her next vehicle, Najjar said she wanted to "support Palestinian women and show they can do whatever they want, despite the criticism they face." Gaza... Читать дальше...

In the kitchen of the Michelin-starred Del Cambio restaurant, chef Matteo Baronetto fusses over a boiling vat of paccheri -- fat pasta tubes to be immersed in a light tomato sauce. But the delicious meals will not be served to patrons of this historic eatery in the Italian city of Turin, which is shut because of the latest coronavirus restrictions. Instead, they will be handed out to those in need. Baronetto is part of the "Solidarity Kitchens" project, a network of 21 restaurants, volunteers and... Читать дальше...

Claudia Alves, co-founder of Fluxa Filmes and a writer, talks about the reality of anti-black racism in Brazil. Violent protests erupted this week, following the death of João Alberto Silvieria, a black man killed by security guards in a Carrefour Market.

Saudi authorities have transferred the trial of activist Loujain al-Hathloul to a court dealing with terrorism-related cases, said her family Wednesday, reporting she was visibly weak after more than two years in jail. Hathloul, 31, was arrested in May 2018 with about a dozen other women activists just weeks before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on female drivers. "My sister @LoujainHathloul's case has been transferred to the Specialised Criminal Court (or) the terrorism court," the... Читать дальше...

France will require online technology giants to pay a new "digital tax" on their 2020 earnings, the finance ministry said Wednesday, breaking a truce with Washington over the long-running tax fight that could prompt a round of punitive US tariffs on French goods.

A rushed cull of Denmark's minks over concerns about a coronavirus mutation has left the country facing a new horror, as cadavers of the animals re-emerge from the earth. The macabre phenomenon was observed in a military training field outside the western town of Holstebro, where thousands of minks had been put into an improvised mass grave. The carcasses rose to the surface, lifted by pressure from gases released by the decomposition, according to local police. The environment ministry said minks... Читать дальше...

There are 50 animals to feed and no tickets to sell. The Zavatelli Circus has been blocked in Belgium for almost a year by the coronavirus epidemic. Now the family-run firm is appealing to local donors to help them feed the camels, horses and llamas they have grazing outside the southern Wallon town of Gembloux. "Just to buy food for the animals we need 500 euros ($600) a week, it's a huge budget. We've had problems before, but never something like this," circus director Simon Dubois told AFP. In a normal year... Читать дальше...

Andres Iniesta scored his first goal in the Asian Champions League as Vissel Kobe powered their way to the last-16 with a dominant 3-1 win over Fabio Cannavaro’s Guangzhou Evergrande in their Group G clash on Wednesday. The Spain and Barcelona legend fired a right-footed shot from the centre of the box in the 84th minute to help the Japanese side consolidate their position at the top of their group with two wins from as many matches. They are now five points ahead of Guangzhou and Suwon Samsung... Читать дальше...

Britain's government on Wednesday unveiled plans to slash the foreign aid budget to help mend its coronavirus-battered finances, defying calls from high-profile figures to protect the world's poorest people. Finance minister Rishi Sunak said he would no longer meet the government's legally enshrined commitment to spend 0.7 percent of gross national income on the UK's overseas aid, which came to 15 billion pounds ($20 billion) last year. The intended cut to 0.5 percent of GNI, which is a broader measure than gross domestic product... Читать дальше...

Borussia Dortmund say the form of Erling Braut Haaland is pure gold with the Norwegian striker netting a record 16 goals in his first 12 Champions League games, bettering even superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. "For us, he is worth his weight in gold because he can carry the team along," Dortmund sports director Michael Zorc said of Haaland. "Every minute, he shows that he wants to be successful." The 20-year-old showcased his lethal finishing with two goals in Tuesday's 3-0 win over Brugge. Читать дальше...

A woman arrested for a knife attack in a Swiss department store was linked to a 2017 jihadism investigation and spent time in a psychiatric clinic, police said on Wednesday.

In a downbeat assessment of progress in post-Brexit trade talks, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned on Wednesday that any deal must not undermine the EU single market. "We will do all in our power to reach an agreement, we're ready to be creative," she told the European Parliament, warning that Britain must agree to fair trade rules. "But we are not ready to put into question the integrity of the single market, the main safeguard for European prosperity and wealth." Von der Leyen, head of the European Commission... Читать дальше...

A probe into rape allegations against a former deputy mayor of Paris has been dropped because the alleged offence has been ruled to fall under the statute of limitations, prosecutors said Wednesday. Christophe Girard resigned in July under pressure from opposition politicians and women's groups over his ties to Gabriel Matzneff, an award-winning writer now hit by a paedophilia scandal. A few weeks later, Girard himself was accused of abusing a minor in a New York Times report, leading prosecutors to open a preliminary rape inquiry. Читать дальше...

The German government on Wednesday agreed on September 26 next year for the general election to choose a successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel, a government spokeswoman said. Merkel has said she will not stand for a fifth term and will retire from politics next year after 16 years at the helm of Europe's top economic power and the EU's most populous country. Her departure will mark a new, less certain phase in German politics and at the heart of the European Union, whose rotating presidency Merkel currently holds. Читать дальше...

US President-elect Joe Biden and his Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken must show the American public that multilateralism works before the 2022 midterms – a “tough hill to climb” – Anthony Gardner, former US ambassador to the EU, told FRANCE 24.

A mysterious metal obelisk found buried in the remote western United States desert has inflamed the imaginations of UFO spotters, conspiracy theorists and Stanley Kubrick fans around the world.

No country has been spared the coronavirus, nor the scourge of domestic violence which has surged during lockdowns, as the world marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Wednesday.

Brazilian police on Tuesday arrested the supervisor of a Carrefour supermarket in Porto Alegre where security guards beat a black man to death, and accused her of collaborating with the killers.

Asian markets rallied Wednesday following a blockbuster performance on Wall Street as vaccine successes and easing US political uncertainty boosted investor confidence in the economic recovery.

International pressure mounted Tuesday on Ethiopia's warring parties to cease fighting and protect civilians in Tigray, where the army says it has encircled the capital ahead of a threatened bombardment.