Новости за 11.03.2024

United Nations — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday that women and girls around the world are suffering a rollback in rights, while millions more are bearing the brunt of wars and conflict.   “Hard-fought progress is being reversed,” Guterres told hundreds of women’s rights advocates, officials and activists at the opening of the annual two-week session of the Commission on the Status of Women at U.N. headquarters in New York.   He said women’s rights are essentially a question of power and he is worried by negative trends.

WASHINGTON — China is cracking down on academic research fraud following revelations in January that publishers have retracted thousands of works by Chinese academics in recent years. However, observers say that addressing the problem will be difficult because it is so pervasive.  According to the scientific journal Nature, some 14,000 papers were retracted from English language journals in 2023 alone, three-quarters of which involved a Chinese co-author.    Last month, the Chinese Ministry of... Читать дальше...

NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump said Monday that he still believes TikTok poses a national security risk but is opposed to banning the hugely popular app because doing so would help its rival, Facebook, which he continues to lambast over his 2020 election loss. Trump, in a call-in interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box," was asked about his comments last week that seemed to voice opposition to a bill being advanced by Congress that would effectively ban TikTok and other ByteDance apps from... Читать дальше...

NEW YORK — Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife pleaded not guilty on Monday to new obstruction of justice charges in a New York court. The new charges were in a rewritten indictment returned last week against the Democrat in Manhattan federal court. "Once again, not guilty your honor," Menendez responded after Judge Sidney H. Stein asked him to enter a plea at a 20-minute hearing. Menendez had previously pleaded not guilty to charges in October. Menendez and his wife, Nadine, entered the pleas to... Читать дальше...

New Delhi — Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on Monday announced rules to implement a 2019 citizenship law that excludes Muslims, weeks before the Hindu nationalist leader seeks a third term in office. The Citizenship Amendment Act provides a fast track to naturalization for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to Hindu-majority India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before Dec. 31, 2014. The law excludes Muslims, who are a majority in all three nations. Читать дальше...

Rafah, Gaza / Istanbul  — Children in Gaza haven’t been to school since the Israel-Hamas war began, but parents here say, right now, this is the least of their problems. The United Nations says more than 12,000 children have died in the war, and 20 of starvation in recent weeks. Another 17,000 children have lost or been separated from their parents. Most children in Gaza have been forced to flee their homes, and parents say even the best cared-for are traumatized. “[My son] is constantly awake at night... Читать дальше...

Even as some U.S. states explore new methods to implement the death penalty, there are signs that public opinion is turning against execution. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias looks at the arguments for and against capital punishment as the United States faces growing international calls to abolish the practice.

China on Monday wrapped up an annual meeting of its National People’s Congress. During the week-long gathering, China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, further cemented his grip on power. More from VOA’s Bill Gallo in Beijing.

London — Kate, Princess of Wales, apologized Monday for "confusion" caused by her editing of a family photo released by the palace — an image of Kate and her children that was intended to calm concern and speculation about the British royal's health but had the opposite effect. Several news agencies that initially published the photo, including The Associated Press, withdrew the image over concerns about digital manipulation. Issued by the couple's Kensington Palace office on Sunday to mark Mother's Day in Britain... Читать дальше...

The United Nations says at least 20 children in Gaza have died of starvation and doctors say many more are increasingly suffering from grave physical and mental illnesses. VOA’s Heather Murdock reports from Istanbul with Nedal Hamdouna and Amjed Tantesh in Rafah, Gaza. Camera: Ihab Abu Riyash, Yan Beochat.

The claim that Russia's 200,000 tons of grain would significantly contribute to fighting hunger in Africa is misleading because of the scope of the hunger problem and because Moscow has worsened the problem by backing out of the Black Sea grain deal.

State Department        — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Jamaica Monday morning to join Caribbean leaders in discussing a solution to the political violence in Haiti and the urgent provision of humanitarian aid to its people.  The Caribbean Community, known as CARICOM, an alliance of Caribbean nations, said the talks will focus on stabilizing Haiti's security and addressing the urgent humanitarian needs.   CARICOM has been actively conversing with Haiti's stakeholders, including Prime Minister Ariel Henry... Читать дальше...

Taipei, Taiwan  — China concluded its week-long annual parliamentary meetings in Beijing Monday, passing amendments that will further consolidate Chinese President Xi Jinping’s power and vowing to adopt several new pieces of legislation that aim to safeguard China’s sovereignty and security interests.  China’s rubber-stamp parliament passed revisions to the Organic Law of the State Council on Monday, which include clauses stipulating that the council shall uphold the leadership of the ruling Chinese... Читать дальше...

New Delhi — India has signed a free trade pact with a group of four European nations that aims at drawing in investment of $100 billion over the next 15 years. The deal announced Sunday with the European Free Trade Association, whose members are Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, comes weeks ahead of India’s national elections in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made economic growth a key poll plank as he seeks a third term in office. The trade deal is one of several New Delhi... Читать дальше...

Wellington — At least 50 people were hurt on Monday, mostly with minor injuries, after LATAM Airlines LTM.SN told the New Zealand Herald that a "technical problem" had caused a "strong movement" during a flight from Sydney to Auckland. LATAM Airlines flight LA800, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, landed at Auckland airport as scheduled on Monday afternoon, according to FlightAware. The flight normally stops in Auckland on its way to Santiago, Chile. A spokesman for the South American airline told the... Читать дальше...

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea will start deploying military physicians and doctors from public health centers to strike-hit hospitals on Monday to help care for patients affected by the walkout of nearly 12,000 trainee doctors from 100 hospitals over government reform plans. Twenty military surgeons along with 138 public health doctors will be assigned to 20 hospitals for four weeks, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said at a meeting on Sunday. The number of military physicians called on to help... Читать дальше...