Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir — Voter turnout in Indian Kashmir neared record highs Monday as residents swarmed polling stations across Srinagar in the first national election since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2019 nullification of the Himalayan region's semi-autonomous status. Marking the second-highest voting percentage in more than three decades, Monday's turnout of at least 36% reverses a long-running trend of unusually low vote counts. More than double the 2019 election turnout of 14.43%... Читать дальше...
A groundbreaking clinical trial is underway in South Africa, marking a pivotal moment in the fight against tuberculosis. The new vaccine could become the first to help prevent pulmonary TB, the most common form of the disease, in adolescents and adults. It would be the first new TB vaccine in more than a century. Zaheer Cassim has the story.
Kampala — An official of the International Criminal Court has promised victims of Uganda’s rebel Lord's Resistance Army that the court will provide reparations that were promised after the conviction of a top LRA leader. However, the Tribunal Trust Fund does not have enough money to make the payments, and now some victims worry other world conflicts are drawing down donor funds. ICC Registrar Osvaldo Zavala Giler, speaking to the media Tuesday in Uganda, assured victims of the violent, long-running... Читать дальше...
The NATO Swift Response exercise began earlier this month in Sweden, where around 800 paratroopers from the United States, Spain, Hungary, and Italy are training together to deter any potential aggression. It is the first such exercise on Swedish soil since the country joined NATO in March. VOA’s Eastern Europe Chief Myroslava Gongadze reports from the training ground in Sweden. Video editor: Daniil Batushchak
Jakarta — This October, 45-year-old Kevin Wu will serve in the Jakarta House of Regional Representatives for the first time, becoming part of a minority of ethnic Chinese elected officials in the Indonesian legislative body. Wu has been a staunch advocate for Chinese-Indonesian rights since 2008 and helped to establish a Buddhist house of worship in the predominantly Muslim country. Now, he is an entrepreneur who advocates for small businesses. “If we witness injustice, we have two choices —... Читать дальше...
GENEVA — U.N. agencies are banding together in coordination with Afghanistan’s de facto Taliban rulers to aid hundreds of thousands of survivors of devastating flash floods that struck northeastern Afghanistan Friday. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, reported Monday that search and rescue operations continue. It said that 14 U.N. teams have been deployed to jointly assess the damage and needs, and that humanitarian partners “have identified available emergency... Читать дальше...
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts — Protesters against the war between Israel and Hamas were voluntarily taking down their tents in Harvard Yard on Tuesday after university officials agreed to discuss their questions about the endowment, bringing a peaceful end to the kinds of demonstrations that were broken up by police on other campuses. The student protest group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine said in a statement that the encampment "outlasted its utility with respect to our demands." Meanwhile, Harvard... Читать дальше...
Washington — The U.S. Treasury on Tuesday put sanctions on a Russian citizen and three Russia-based companies it said were trying to evade U.S. sanctions in a scheme that could have unfrozen more than $1.5 billion belonging to Russian metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska. Deripaska, who himself was placed under U.S. sanctions in April 2018, branched out into metals trading as the Soviet Union crumbled, making a fortune by buying up stakes in aluminum factories. Forbes ranked his fortune this year at $2.8... Читать дальше...
The US Midwestern city of Detroit once had a thriving Chinatown. And while that historic neighborhood has disappeared, one culinary legacy is well remembered and remains a favorite among locals. VOA’s Chris Casquejo introduces us to almond boneless chicken. Camera and edit: Yu Chen
PARIS — Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in a brazen attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday during which a high-profile inmate escaped, officials said. The van was transporting prisoner Mohamed Amra to Evreux jail after a court hearing in Rouen when it was ambushed. Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said he would join a crisis unit to address the emergency. "All means are being used to find these criminals. On my instructions, several... Читать дальше...
Conflict has forced a record number of people around the world to become internally displaced – forced to flee their homes, but still living in their home countries, often in refugee camps. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the figure has increased dramatically in the past five years.
Seafaring robots are increasingly used for tasks ranging from ocean exploration to rescue missions. Matt Dibble has the latest in this week’s episode of LogOn.
The United Nations is pledging to help Malawi recover from a widespread drought linked to the El Nino climate pattern. Government officials say the crisis has created a food shortage for nearly half of the country’s population. The pledge comes after U.N. officials visited Malawi to see the damage firsthand and identify ways to offer support. Lameck Masina has more from southern Malawi.
In the United States, each year there are fewer news organizations covering local communities, even near the nation’s capital. Some high school journalists are trying to help make up for the shortage. Robin Guess reports from Montgomery County, just outside Washington. Camera: Nazir Afzali.
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled a bundle of steep tariff increases on an array of Chinese imports including electric vehicles, computer chips and medical products, risking an election-year standoff with Beijing in a bid to woo voters who give his economic policies low marks. Biden will keep tariffs put in place by his Republican predecessor Donald Trump while ratcheting up others, including a quadrupling of EV duties to over 100%, the White House said in a statement. It... Читать дальше...
Yaounde — Cameroon’s military has moved over 300 civilians rescued from Boko Haram terrorist captivity along the central African states border with Nigeria and Chad this week to a northern Cameroon military post. The country's army says scores of militants of the Nigeria-based insurgent group were neutralized in a border operation called Alpha. Oumar Fatime, 37, tells Cameroon military and senior government officials that she was a successful vegetable farmer in Ngouboua village, until April 17... Читать дальше...
SYDNEY — Australia says it will impose limits on the number of international students coming into the country to ease stress on housing and to reduce immigration. The government in Canberra has said that international education programs, under which foreign students come to study in Australia, were fertile ground for immigration and visa fraud. In 2023, official figures show that 787,000 international students studied in Australia, exceeding levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canberra... Читать дальше...
New Delhi — India and Iran have signed a 10-year contract to develop and operate the Iranian port of Chabahar, which New Delhi envisages as a strategic trade route to landlocked Central Asian republics, allowing it to bypass rival Pakistan. India said the deal has unlocked new avenues for trade. But the United States, whose ties with Iran have worsened, has warned of the potential risk of sanctions on anyone considering business deals with Tehran. Analysts in New Delhi say the threat of sanctions... Читать дальше...
