Новости за 20.02.2024

Geneva — The World Health Organization warns that Gaza’s health system is hanging by a thread as health facilities throughout the Palestinian enclave cease to function, restrictions to access increase, medical supplies dwindle and cuts in other humanitarian aid essential for patient care grow. Gaza’s Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where an Israeli military operation is ongoing, is one of the latest casualties. WHO, together with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)... Читать дальше...

Ivan Sechenov and Alexander Butlerov did not receive the Nobel Prize, and Leonid Kantorovich received the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

WASHINGTON — The Russian government on Tuesday labeled VOA’s sister outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as an “undesirable organization” in a move that underscores the Kremlin’s harsh repression of media. The new designation opens RFE/RL staffers, donors and sources to criminal charges, the Prague-based outlet reported. The outlet was added to a registry of “undesirable organizations” maintained by Russia’s Ministry of Justice, becoming the 142nd organization to be labeled that way. RFE/RL... Читать дальше...

Dakar — Senegal's Constitutional Council on Tuesday published an amended list of candidates for a presidential election delayed from Feb. 25 to a yet undecided date, removing just one candidate from the initial list because she withdrew her application.  The council last week overturned a bill that delayed the vote to December — a move that had plunged the West African country into unchartered constitutional territory and stoked public anger against the government.  President Macky Sall, who... Читать дальше...

Kenyan companies, facing economic challenges, are turning to artificial intelligence to reduce production and advertising expenses. That’s causing anxiety among artists and ad agencies, who fear reduced income and job losses if AI can replace the work they’ve always done. Mohammed Yusuf reports from Nairobi.

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — Astronomers have discovered what may be the brightest object in the universe, a quasar with a black hole at its heart growing so fast that it swallows the equivalent of a sun a day.  The record-breaking quasar shines 500 trillion times brighter than our sun. The black hole powering this distant quasar is more than 17 billion times more immense than our sun, an Australian-led team reported Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy.  While the quasar resembles a mere dot in images, scientists envision a ferocious place.

NEW YORK — The Beatles are getting the big-screen biopic treatment in not just one film, but a Fab Four of movies that will give each band member their own spotlight — all of which are to be directed by Sam Mendes. For the first time, the Beatles, long among the stingiest rights granters, are giving full life and music rights to a movie project. Sony Pictures announced Monday a deal that may dwarf all music biopics that have come before it, with the stories of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George... Читать дальше...

Groundbreaking AI-assisted technology can help people with voice disorders speak in their natural voice, giving millions of people a chance to have clearer conversations. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more in this week’s episode of LogOn. Tina Trinh contributed.

ISLAMABAD — The Taliban have reportedly allowed female high school graduates in Afghanistan to enroll in state-run medical institutes for the new academic year that begins in March. The enrollment process has begun in more than a dozen Afghan provinces, following a directive from the Ministry of Public Health in Kabul, the Taliban-run official Bakhtar news agency said Tuesday. It provided no further information. There was no immediate comment from de facto Afghan authorities on the ministry’s reported directive. Читать дальше...

United Nations — Israel's military on Tuesday reported intense fighting in the Khan Younis area of the Gaza Strip, while the United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire, scaled up aid access and rejects the forced displacement of Palestinians.  "Demanding an immediate, unconditional cease-fire without an agreement requiring Hamas to release the hostages will not bring about a durable peace," said U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda... Читать дальше...

SYDNEY — Australia Tuesday announced a multibillion overhaul of its navy, which senior officials say is in response to “increasing geostrategic uncertainty.” Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles told reporters Tuesday that the overhaul would give the navy the largest surface fleet since World War II.   The total cost of the plan over the next 10 years is estimated at $35.25 billion. The revamp of Australia’s naval fleet intends to more than double the number of warships. Analysts say... Читать дальше...

LONDON — Lockbit, a notorious cybercrime gang that holds its victims' data for ransom, has been disrupted in a rare international law enforcement operation by Britain’s National Crime Agency, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Europol and a coalition of international police agencies, according to a post on the gang’s extortion website on Monday. “This site is now under the control of the National Crime Agency of the UK, working in close cooperation with the FBI and the international law enforcement task force... Читать дальше...

The widow of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has vowed to continue his fight. Protesters in Jerusalem scuffle with police and call for the hostages’ return. WHO says they were shocked by what they found at Gaza's Nasser hospital. And tracking polar bears using collars with video cameras.

Reykjavik, Iceland — Icelandic police said Monday that residents of a fishing village evacuated because of multiple volcanic eruptions were allowed to return, adding that they believed few would stay overnight because of the state of the town. The roughly 4,000 residents of Grindavik on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland had to be evacuated on Nov. 11 after hundreds of earthquakes damaged buildings and opened up huge cracks in roads, shrouding the village's future in doubt. The quakes were followed by a volcanic fissure on Dec. Читать дальше...

SAN FRANCISCO — Another wet winter storm swamped California with heavy rainfall on Monday, flooding the runways at a regional airport and leading to several rescues on swollen rivers and creeks. The Santa Barbara airport, on the state's central coast, closed Monday after as much as 25 centimeters of rain had fallen in the area by noon, covering the runways with water and closing the airport. The National Weather Service had warned that California's central coast was at risk of "significant flooding,"... Читать дальше...