Scientists observe ‘negative time’ in quantum experiments
TORONTO — Scientists have long known that light can sometimes appear to exit a material before entering it — an effect dismissed as an illusion caused by how waves are distorted by matter. Now, researchers at the University of Toronto,…
US flu season is under way, as cases surge in some areas and vaccinations lag
NEW YORK — The U.S. flu season is under way, withcases surging across much of the country, health officials said Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted sharp increases in several measures, including lab tests and emergency room…
Security and economic woes plague West Africa, as key elections loom
Leonardo Santos Simão, highlighted upcoming presidential elections in Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea-Bissau, and the adoption of constitutional reforms amid a strained political environment in Gambia. He also commended recent successful elections in Ghana and Senegal, noting the signing of a…
Sudan’s El Fasher siege: UN humanitarians killed as refugee crisis intensifies
In a new report, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) has detailed the catastrophic humanitarian situation unfolding in El Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state. The city has been under siege for seven months by fighters from the…
Syria: Rights investigators call for protection of evidence, including mass grave sites
A team from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on Syria visited former prisons and detention centres, including the notorious Sednaya and the Military Intelligence Branch 235 prisons. It is the first time the team has been able to…
Gaza is now a graveyard and there’s no escape, say UN aid teams
“The world is not seeing what’s going on with these people, it’s impossible for families to shelter in these conditions,” said Louise Wateridge, from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). Speaking from Nuseirat in central Gaza after heavy winter rains…
Russia hands 16-year prison term to east Ukraine resident for ‘treason’
Moscow — Russia on Friday sentenced a resident of east Ukraine’s Lugansk region to 16 years in prison for “high treason,” Moscow’s FSB security service said. Moscow regularly hands heavy sentences to people it accuses of spying for Ukraine and…
Russian ballistic missiles damage diplomatic missions in Kyiv attack
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry says an early morning Russian ballistic missile attack Friday on the capital of Kyiv killed at least one person and damaged six foreign embassies and a university in the city’s center. On its Telegram social media account,…
VOA Russian: Europe targets Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’
Leaders of 12 European countries agreed at a meeting in Tallinn to expand sanctions against Russia’s “shadow fleet” that is used by Moscow to sell oil and evade Western sanctions. Several European states imposed new policies on Russian vessels transiting…
US slow to react to pervasive Chinese hacking, experts say
As new potential threats from Chinese hackers were identified this week, the federal government issued one of its strongest warnings to date about the need for Americans — and in particular government officials and other “highly targeted” individuals — to…