Category: Новини

Africa Cup of Nations – Day 5

Cameroon vs Ethiopia | 4-1

Cape Verde vs Burkina Faso | 0-1

 
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Africa Cup of Nations – Day 4, Jan 12, 2022

Tunisia vs Mali | 0-1

Mauritania vs Gambia | 0-1

Equatorial Guinea vs Ivory Coast | 0-1

 
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In an attempt to attract more foreign students, Dartmouth College in New Hampshire says it will admit international students regardless of their ability to pay tuition.

International students will be admitted through a “need blind” process used for U.S. students.

The college charges about $80,000 per year for tuition and accommodation.

“Talent is spread all across the world,” college president Philip Hanlon told the Financial Times. “We want to remove any financial barriers. This move benefits every student on campus, not just international ones. Tomorrow’s leaders have to be global citizens. By us bringing together students from all over the world … they will learn from their peers.”

A variety of factors has led to decreased numbers of international students applying to U.S. colleges. These include rising costs, stricter visa policies and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dartmouth said its most recent class took in 14% international students, compared to 8% in 2013 when Hanlon took charge.

A handful of other universities is taking similar measures.

In the Dartmouth College statement, Hanlon said that while there was no target, he expected “international applications will skyrocket” and would not be surprised if the proportion reached 25 percent in the coming decade.

“Dartmouth has stepped up recruitment abroad, diversifying from students often drawn from richer families in Canada, Europe, China and India to offer financial aid to those from countries such as Kenya, Vietnam and Brazil,” the report said.
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The Chinese city of Tianjin ordered a second round of COVID-19 testing for all of its 14 million residents on Wednesday after an initial screening of the population found 97 positive cases. The port city is about 100 kilometers southeast of the Winter Olympics host city of Beijing.  

Authorities locked down several of the port city’s contaminated districts as epidemiologists warned that the spread might have begun earlier than detected in last week’s screening. Tianjin authorities began tightening anti-virus and travel measures on January 9, fearing a prolonged outbreak.  

Analysts who spoke with VOA Mandarin said the Chinese government finds Tianjin’s new cases particularly alarming due to the city’s proximity to Beijing, the host city for the 24th Winter Olympics, scheduled to open February 4 and run through February 20. It takes less than 30 minutes to travel between the two cities by high-speed rail.    

Health experts said the rigid disease control lockdowns will be unsustainable as the more contagious variant omicron spreads across the country, which has adopted a zero-tolerance policy to fight the deadly coronavirus first detected in humans in China in late 2019.   

“With omicron, there’s a high proportion of asymptomatic cases, so I believe the number of confirmed cases will keep increasing in the next few days,” said Twu Shiing-jer, former minister of Taiwan’s Department of Health and chairman of the Development Center for Biotechnology in Taipei.   

“There’s a high probability that omicron will be brought to the Olympic Village in Beijing, since all the food and other logistic supplies will be transported into the venue from other cities,” he added.  

Tianjin is the latest city placed under strict controls by Chinese authorities eager to contain COVID-19 outbreaks. Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi Province in central China and until now perhaps best known as the home of thousands of ancient terra cotta warriors, is locked down, as are Anyang and Yuzhou, in China’s central Henan province.  

Huang Chun, an official with the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, said in a briefing on January 11 that unless there are large-scale outbreaks in the competition zones, “we don’t plan to adjust the COVID-19 control measures yet.”   

He said that judging from the current situation, there’s no need to impose a lockdown in Beijing.    

Tianjin’s “soft lockdown”   

Tianjin reported 33 domestically transmitted coronavirus infections with confirmed symptoms on Tuesday, up from 10 on Monday, according to national data, which did not specify how many of the infections were omicron. 

For now, most of the cases were found in the southeast area of Tianjin.  

City officials ordered a half-day off for all employees and other institutions on Wednesday and required all residents to stay home unless they have pressing needs, such as health workers conducting the second round of mass testing, according to Reuters.

In the meantime, authorities have suspended most of the transportation services between Tianjin and other cities. People who want to leave Tianjin must show a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours of travel as well as approval for travel from their employer or local government offices. 

VOA Mandarin spoke to several Tianjin residents on January 11 and most said their day-to-day routines remain little affected by the lockdown.  

Ms. Wu, 69, who asked that her full name not be used so she would not attract official attention, said she returned to Tianjin from Beijing on December 23. Since she lives far from the contaminated districts, she said she can still go out to get groceries.  

“I’m not worried. I have enough food stocked at home, I made sure to purchase all necessities in advance, and everyone has got two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, including my 6-year-old grandson,” she told VOA Mandarin.  

She said she hadn’t noticed any food shortages, even though the supermarket was busier than usual on Sunday. 

Tianjin resident Mr. Sun, 70, said that other than venturing out for nucleic acid tests, he’s stayed home watching TV for the past two days. Mr. Sun requested that VOA Mandarin not use his full name for fear of attracting official attention as well. 

Li Wenbo, an assistant professor of economics at Tianjin University in China, told VOA Mandarin that he expects the new wave of the COVID-19 variant will have a limited impact on Tianjin’s economy.  

“The authorities have taken swift actions. All schools, from kindergarten to universities, suspended classes immediately. Taking my school for example, final exams have been pushed until the start of the next semester, and all faculties are working from home now,” he told VOA Mandarin.  

Li said that while there’s enough food, some of the city’s sectors, such as restaurants and entertainment, will likely take a hit from the latest outbreak   

Li said he believes that China’s zero-tolerance policy explains why the economy is relatively normal. “Since China has been keeping COVID numbers low for two years, it doesn’t have to choose between people’s health and economic activities like developed countries in Europe and America.”  

Olympic challenge  

Twu, Taiwan’s former minister of health, is less optimistic. He argued that since omicron is one of the most contagious pathogens health workers have seen, it will be impossible for China to maintain the zero-tolerance policy.

“It’s exceptionally difficult to completely contain the virus, especially for omicron. First, it’s highly contagious. Second, there will be so many asymptomatic cases compared to previous variants,” Twu told VOA Mandarin.  

Even if the Beijing Olympics take place in a “closed loop,” he continued, there will be so much movement of people and goods to and from the Olympic sites “that some of the spread is almost inevitable.”     

“Therefore, there are only two situations if China were to insist on a zero-tolerance policy,” Twu said. “One is to ‘pretend’ there are no cases, and the other is to be so strict with pandemic control measures, to the point that it cancels the Winter Olympic Games.” 
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U.S. prosecutors have charged a man with supplying performance-enhancing drugs to athletes at the Tokyo Olympics, a first under a federal law allowing criminal charges against doping conspirators at events involving U.S. athletes, broadcasters and sponsors. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan said Eric Lira, 41, distributed drugs, including human growth hormone, “for the purpose of corrupting” the Tokyo Games. 

Lira obtained misbranded versions of prescription drugs used to boost production of red blood cells from Central and South America and distributed them to two athletes, prosecutors said. 

One of the athletes believed to be discussed in the criminal complaint but not identified there by name is Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare. 

She was provisionally banned by an international anti-doping entity, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), after testing positive for human growth hormone. 

Lira was charged under the Rodchenkov Act, a law enacted at the end of 2020 and named for Russian whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov. It lets prosecutors seek prison terms of up to 10 years and fines of up to $1 million for offenders. 

The charges against Lira marked the first U.S. criminal accusations of doping related to the Tokyo Games, which were scheduled for 2020 but delayed to the summer of 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The Games offered thousands of athletes validation after years of training,” Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement. “Eric Lira schemed to debase that moment by peddling illegal drugs.” 

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which had voiced concerns about the Rodchenkov Act, said in an email to Reuters it, “Welcomes efforts by governments to penalize those who are trafficking or distributing prohibited substances.” 

The head of the AIU, Brett Clothier, said, “Collaboration between law enforcement and anti-doping agencies can considerably strengthen the ability to detect serious doping, as is alleged in this case.” 

Lira, a therapist based in El Paso, Texas, was arrested Wednesday. 

Appearing via Zoom before U.S. Magistrate Judge Miguel Torres in El Paso, Lira, wearing a dark blue button-down T-shirt and surgical face mask, said he was “not very aware of the charges” and was in the process of hiring a private lawyer. 

Torres scheduled a bail hearing for January 18 and turned Lira over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. 

‘Huge win’ 

Travis Tygart, chief executive of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, in a statement called the charges “a huge win for all clean athletes and those who value fair sport.” 

Prosecutors said they had obtained encrypted messages in which Lira and one of the athletes discussed the athlete’s performance running the 100 meters, suggesting the athlete was a sprinter involved in the athletics competition. 

“Eric my body feel so good (sic), I just ran 10.63 with a 2.7 wind, I’m so happy,” the athlete wrote to Lira on June 22, 2021, according to one of the messages obtained by prosecutors. “Whatever you did, is working so well.” 

Some details in the complaint, including race dates and times and the athlete’s suspension, correspond with Okagbare, who had won a silver medal in the long jump at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. 

Okagbare did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. 

She had competed in the 100-meter heats at the Tokyo Olympics and was scheduled to run in the semifinal before being suspended. 

The AIU said Okagbare had previously tested positive and charged her with the presence and use of a prohibited substance following the detection of human growth hormone.

 
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Ronnie Spector, the cat-eyed, beehived rock ‘n’ roll siren who sang such 1960s hits as “Be My Baby,” “Baby I Love You” and “Walking in the Rain” as the leader of the Ronettes, has died. She was 78. 

Spector died Wednesday after a brief battle with cancer, her family said. 

“Ronnie lived her life with a twinkle in her eye, a spunky attitude, a wicked sense of humor and a smile on her face. She was filled with love and gratitude,” a statement said. No other details were included. 

Tributes flooded social media, from Stevie Van Zandt, who said it was an honor to produce her music, to Brian Wilson, who wrote on Twitter: “I loved her voice so much and she was a very special person and a dear friend.” Diane Warren called her “the voice of a million teenage dreams including mine.” 

The Ronettes’ sexy look and powerful voices — plus songwriting and producing help from Phil Spector — turned them into one of the premier acts of the girl-group era, touring England with the Rolling Stones and befriending the Beatles. 

Spector, alongside her sister Estelle Bennett and cousin Nedra Talley, scored hits with pop masterpieces like “Baby, I Love You,” “Walking in the Rain,” “I Can Hear Music” and “Be My Baby,” which was co-written by Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. 

“We weren’t afraid to be hot. That was our gimmick,” Spector said in her memoir. “When we saw the Shirelles walk on stage with their wide party dresses, we went in the opposite direction and squeezed our bodies into the tightest skirts we could find. Then we’d get out on stage and hike them up to show our legs even more.” 

Spector, born Veronica Bennett, and her multiracial bandmates grew up in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan. They began singing and dancing in clubs as Ronnie and the Relatives, becoming noteworthy for their liberal use of eyeliner and mascara. 

“The louder they applauded, the more mascara we put on the next time,” she wrote in her memoir. “We didn’t have a hit record to grab their attention, so we had to make an impression with our style. None of it was planned out; we just took the look we were born with and extended it.” 

In March 1963, Estelle Bennett managed to arrange an audition in front of Phil Spector, known for his big, brass-and-drum style dubbed the “wall of sound.” They were signed to Philles Records in 1963. After being signed, they sang backup for other acts until Spector had the group record “Be My Baby” and “Baby I Love You.”

The group’s debut album, “Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica,” was released in 1964. Five of its 12 tracks made it to the U.S. Billboard charts. 

“Nothing excites me more than just being onstage, having fun and flirting and winking to the guys and stuff like that,” she told People magazine in 2017. “I just have so much fun. It’s just the best feeling when I go out and they say, ‘Ladies and gentlemen’ … my heart stops for a minute …‘Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes!’ Then I just go out there and the crowd reacts the way they react and I can go on singing forever.” 

After touring Germany in 1967, the Ronettes broke up. Spector married Ronnie in 1968, after which she said he kept her locked in their Beverly Hills mansion. Her 1990 autobiography Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts and Madness, tells an unhappy story of abuse. The couple divorced in 1974. Phil Spector was sent to prison in 2009 for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson and died in 2020.

Ronnie Spector’s influence was felt far and wide. Brian Wilson became obsessed with “Be My Baby” and Billy Joel wrote “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” in Spector’s honor. Amy Winehouse frequently cited Spector as an idol.

Martin Scorsese used “Be My Baby” to open his 1973 film Mean Streets and the song appears in the title sequence of Dirty Dancing and the closing credits of Baby Mama. It also appeared on TV in Moonlighting and The Wonder Years.

When the Ronettes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones remembered opening for the trio in England in the mid-1960s. 

 “They could sing all their way right through a wall of sound,” Richards said. “They didn’t need anything. They touched my heart right there and then and they touch it still.” 

After the Ronettes broke up, Spector continued to tour and make music, including “Take Me Home Tonight” with Eddie Money, recording Joel’s “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, and recording the 1999 EP She Talks to Rainbows, which included her first ever recording of “Don’t Worry Baby,” written for her by Brian Wilson. 

She is survived by her husband, Jonathan Greenfield, and two sons, Jason and Austin. 
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Africa Cup of Nations – Day 3, Jan. 11, 2022

Algeria vs Sierra Leone | 0-0

Nigeria vs Egypt | 1-0

Sudan vs Guinea Bissau | 0-0

 
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A group of Indigenous people is prepping a bid to bring the 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games to Vancouver, Canada. It would be the first time any Olympics was hosted by Indigenous people and could lead to further reconciliation with Canada’s First Nations.

The group was known as the “Four Host First Nations” when Vancouver hosted the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in 2010.  

The Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh are from the area around the present-day city of Vancouver. The Lil Wat are near the present-day village of Whistler, the famed ski resort about 120 kilometers north of downtown Vancouver. 

They have signed a memorandum of understanding with the municipal governments of both Vancouver and Whistler to take the lead on making the bid for the same Games in 2030.

The First Nations played a prominent role in the 2010 Games and during the opening and closing ceremonies.

Wilson Williams, a council member and spokesperson for the Squamish Nation, fondly recalls the Vancouver area hosting the Winter Games and how it brought together over 300 Indigenous youth from across Canada in what came to be known as “The Gathering.”

He said in the years since, the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples has come into effect and Canada has entered an era of reconciliation involving historic human rights abuses committed against First Nations people.

Wilson said the Winter Games in 2030 would allow for the stories of First Nations people from across Canada to be told.

“So I think, you know, there’s a real hunger for sharing stories of who we are, where we come from, you know, there’s always that political eagerness to share the landscape in the visions of that, but I think the real story is paving a story that’s a vision for generations down the road,” he said. 

Wiliams said hosting the Games would also set a healthy example for Indigenous youth and help build a better relationship with non-First Nations Canadians.

“I think a First Nation, especially Squamish nation, really trying to pave a healthy path for our future, and setting up our “mun-mun” (children), we call it, our children for success in the future. And living a strong, vibrant and harmoniously with, with our peers, not just with First Nations community, but the community at large, you know, and I think that’s something that we’re really going to take pride in,” Williams said. 

Salt Lake City, Utah, which hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002, is also contending for the 2030 Games. Other bids could follow.

Montreal-based lawyer Dick Pound, the longest serving member of the International Olympic Committee and the founding president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, says, with Los Angeles, California set to host the Summer Games in 2028, it is less likely the United States will be picked for the 2030 Winter Games, boosting the chances that Vancouver’s First Nations-led bid will succeed.

“It’s the indigenous issue is one that now resonates a lot more strongly internationally. And the IOC is certainly alert to that. And of course, then they know the involvement in Vancouver to 2010.  So, no, I don’t think it’s cutesy (a stunt) at all, I think it’s a very good way of involving an important part of the community, particularly in B.C. (British Columbia),” Pound said.

The next step is for a formal collaboration agreement to be ironed out between First Nations and municipal governments, and then a feasibility study, which will detail the costs and sources of funding for the Games.

It is hoped this will happen in the next few months.   

Almost all major venues still exist from the 2010 Games and would not need to be built. 
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Novak Djokovic, the world’s top-ranked male tennis player, says errors were made on his entry documents about his activities in the weeks before traveling to Australia, adding another layer of controversy in his fight to compete in the year’s first major “Grand Slam” tennis tournament. 

The Serbian star issued a statement Wednesday saying his assistants had incorrectly declared that he had not traveled anywhere in the 14-days before departing for Melbourne last week. Reports have surfaced showing he traveled to Serbia and Spain. 

Djokovic also said he did not know he tested positive for COVID-19 on December 16 until the next day, after he appeared at a tennis event in Belgrade to present awards to children. He also admitted that he should have canceled a planned magazine interview and photoshoot the day after learning of his status.  

The 34-year-old Djokovic has been at odds with Australian officials since his arrival in Melbourne last Wednesday to begin preparations for the Australian Open, which begins next Monday, January 17. An open skeptic of COVID-19 vaccines, he said he had received a medical exemption from two medical panels and Tennis Australia, the tournament’s organizer, from the government’s requirement that all visitors should be vaccinated against COVID-19.  

But the government rejected Djokovic’s exemption and revoked his visa amid a public uproar in Australia, which is battling with a huge spike in new coronavirus cases driven by the omicron variant. He was placed in immigration detention until a judge overruled the government in a hearing Monday and reinstated his visa. 

But Immigration Minister Alex Hawke still could decide to expel Djokovic from Australia because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19. 

Djokovic is seeking his second consecutive Australian Open men’s title and his 10th overall. It would also be his 21st career Grand Slam win, which would break the tie he shares with his closest rivals, Rafeal Nadal of Spain and Roger Federer of Switzerland.    

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press, Reuters and  Agence France-Presse.  
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A Ugandan author who wrote critical comments about President Yoweri Museveni’s son has been charged with offensive communications. Kakwenza Rukirabashaija’s lawyer says he was tortured in detention.  

Award-winning writer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija appeared before a court Tuesday and was charged with two counts of offensive communication.

Rukirabashaija was arrested on December 28 and taken from his Kampala home. The government says he was using his Twitter account to offend President Yoweri Museveni and his son, Commander of Land Forces Lieutenant General Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

The writer’s lawyer, Eron Kiiza, tells VOA he was not made aware of his client’s court appearance until later.

“This was a clandestine move intended to deny him an opportunity for legal representation and an opportunity to pursue his legal remedies like bail and opposing the charges which are bogus,” said Kiiza.

Rukirabashaija’s court appearance comes a day after the high court issued an order for it to take place before the close of business Wednesday.

The magistrate Tuesday also issued an order for him to be subjected to a medical examination by prison authorities to ascertain his health status.

During a January 3rd search at his home in Iganga district in the Eastern region, the writer reportedly whispered to his wife that he had been tortured. Photos of his blood-stained undergarments were later posted on social media. 

The author was allegedly detained at the Special Forces Command facility in Entebbe, a claim the army vehemently denied.

The award-winning writer has been remanded to a prison facility until January 21, when he reappears before a court.

This is the third time he has been arrested. The first time was in April 2020 for his novel, The Greedy Barbarian, a fictional account of high-level corruption. He was again arrested the following September for his second novel titled Banana Republic, which detailed torture. 

He won the PEN Pinter Prize International Writer of Courage Award in 2021.
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