Новости за 22.02.2024

As Israeli forces close in on the Gaza Strip's last main population center and international pressure grows for cease-fire, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is eyeing a key role in the postwar future of the Palestinian enclave. Analysts warn, though, that Erdogan's staunch support for Hamas will spur Israeli resistance. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.

montgomery, alabama — A second in vitro fertilization provider in the U.S. state of Alabama is pausing parts of its care to patients after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are legally considered children.  Alabama Fertility Services said in a statement Thursday that it has "made the impossibly difficult decision to hold new IVF treatments due to the legal risk to our clinic and our embryologists."  The decision comes a day after the University of Alabama at Birmingham health... Читать дальше...

As former President Jimmy Carter marks one year since the Carter Center announced he was entering end-of-life hospice care, some key parts of his legacy, both as president and global humanitarian, are in jeopardy. VOA's Kane Farabaugh has more.

Taipei, Taiwan — Chinese-born Australian writer and businessman Yang Hengjun’s recent suspended death sentence on espionage charges is likely to add to growing concerns about the risks foreign nationals face living in, working in and visiting China, analysts say. Yang, a democracy advocate and spy novelist, was sentenced earlier this month. On Wednesday, his family released a statement saying that they would not file an appeal to the ruling due to a lack of trust in China’s judicial system and... Читать дальше...

TEHRAN, IRAN — Candidates for Iran's parliament began campaigning Thursday in the country's first election since the bloody crackdown on the 2022 nationwide protests that followed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.  State television said 15,200 candidates will compete for a four-year term in the 290-seat chamber that hardliners have controlled for two decades.  That is a record number and more than twice the candidates who contested the 2020 election, when voter turnout was just over 42%, the lowest since 1979. Читать дальше...

Lisbon — Guinness World Records has ruled against a Portuguese dog that died last year keeping the title of oldest canine ever. Following a review, GWR said Thursday it "no longer has the evidence it needs to support Bobi's claim as the record holder." Bobi, a reportedly 31-year-old guard dog, had lived on a farm in the village of Conqueiros in Portugal with its owner, Leonel Costa. He was proclaimed as the world's oldest living dog and oldest dog ever in February 2023. Said to have been born on May 11, 1992, he died last October. Читать дальше...

Solomon Islands residents go to the polls April 17th to elect their national leadership. The elections could be consequential not only for the islanders but also for the United States and China. VOA’s Jessica Stone reports. Camera: Charley Piringi

Julian Assange, the founder of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, this week launched a last-ditch legal bid to prevent his extradition from Britain to the United States on charges of espionage relating to the publication of thousands of stolen U.S. diplomatic cables and military documents. Henry Ridgwell has more from London.

The Mexican army is mobilizing troops across the country to combat organized crime and strengthen public safety. The largest contingent of soldiers has been sent to Tijuana, a city with one of the country’s highest homicide rates. Vincente Calderón has the story, narrated by Veronica Villafañe.

BEIJING — China's Wildlife Conservation Association is working with the National Zoo in Washington in an arrangement that could bring more pandas back to the United States, signaling improving diplomatic relations between the two superpowers. China has lent its beloved bears to zoos in various countries over the years as goodwill animal ambassadors and also fostered a modern Sino-U.S. "panda diplomacy" with the gesture. "Relevant Chinese institutions have signed agreements with the Madrid Zoo... Читать дальше...

united nations — Israel says new attempts are underway to reach a cease-fire with Hamas to temporarily halt fighting in Gaza and secure the release of the 100 or so hostages still being held by the militants. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. Mideast envoy Brett McGurk on Thursday that the government “will expand the authority given to our hostage negotiators.” His comments came after Benny Gantz, who sits on Israel’s War Cabinet with Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu... Читать дальше...

ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s fundamentalist Taliban authorities publicly executed two men Thursday who had been convicted of murder in separate incidents. The Taliban’s Supreme Court said the executions, by gunshot, were carried out in a football stadium in the southeastern city of Ghazni. A large number of justice and government officials, as well as residents, witnessed the event, but no one was allowed to bring cellular phones or cameras to the stadium. The court statement said the two put... Читать дальше...

BEIJING — A  Chinese research ship is set to arrive in the Maldives on Thursday, global ship-tracking data showed, just three months after a similar vessel visited the Indian Ocean and sparked New Delhi's security concerns. The visit follows January comments by a U.S. think tank that China's navy could "leverage the insights gained from these missions" for deployment of naval forces, a claim Beijing calls part of a concocted image-smearing "China threat" narrative. The Xiang Yang Hong 03, owned... Читать дальше...