Скачать или смотреть VOA News for Sunday, April 18th, 2021

VOA News for Sunday, April 18th, 2021
Thanks to https://gandalf.ddo.jp/ for transcribing
This is VOA News. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd.
Myanmar's military government said Saturday it had released more than 23,000 prisoners in observance of the country's traditional New Year holiday and that the new junta chief would make his first foreign trip since seizing power. Reuters Emer McCarthy reports.
Some activists called the cancellation of the festivity this year and, instead, for people to focus on a campaign to restore democracy. Pro-democracy politicians, including ousted members of parliament, announced the formation of a national unity government on Friday, including ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and leaders of the anti-coup protests and ethnic minorities.
Meantime, Myanmar's junta chief is set to attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Indonesia on April 24, according to a Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman. It will be his first known foreign trip since the coup.
That's Reuters Emer McCarthy.
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is apparently in critical condition after more than two weeks on a hunger strike.
The Doctors Alliance trade union claims Navalny's lawyers have made medical tests showing him in poor health and say his kidneys might soon fail leading to fears of cardiac arrest.
The 44-year-old, Russian President Vladimir Putin's chief critic, started refusing food March 31st in protest after he said prison authorities failed to treat him properly for back and leg pain.
Russia jailed Navalny for two and a half years in February for alleged parole violations. He was arrested when he returned to Russia after being in Germany for treatment for nerve agent poisoning, which he blames on the Kremlin. Russia has denied that charge.
For more on these stories and the rest of the day's news, visit our website. This is VOA News.
Britain's Prince Philip has been laid to rest in a service that honored his service to the country, the crown and the queen, his wife Elizabeth. AP's Karen Chammas reports.
Inside the Gothic Windsor chapel, the service was simple and somber. There was no sermon at Philip's request and no family unities or readings in keeping with royal tradition.
However, the dean of Windsor, David Connor, highlighted the Philip's dedication to the country and to his wife.
"We have been inspired by his unwavering loyalty to our Queen, by his service to the nation and the Commonwealth, by his courage, fortitude and faith.”
The widowed British monarch, setting an example amid the coronavirus pandemic, sat alone at the ceremony.
The entire procession of funeral took place out of public view within the grounds of Windsor Castle but was shown live on television.
Karen Chammas, London.
The global death toll from the coronavirus has topped a staggering 3 million people. AP's Ben Thomas reports.
The tally by Johns Hopkins University shows as of Saturday morning more than 566,000 people in the United States have died of confirmed COVID-19 infections, but other countries have also suffered staggering tolls.
Brazil is next on the list followed by Mexico, where more than 21,000 people have died. In India, where the toll has topped 175,000. The United Kingdom, Italy, Russia and France have all seen more than 100,000 deaths. The world passed 2 million deaths just in January.
I'm Ben Thomas.
A judge in Sicily on Saturday ordered former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini to stand trial for having refused to let a Spanish migrant rescue ship dock in an Italian port in 2019, keeping the people at sea for days.
Salvini, who attended the hearing, confirmed the outcome and insisted he was only doing his job and his duty by refusing entry to the open arms rescue ship and the 147 people it had rescued in the Mediterranean Sea.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is urging Western governments to criminalize insulting remarks against Islam's Profit Muhammad and to treat offenders the same way as those who deny the holocaust.
Khan spoke Saturday after nationwide violent protests this week by a radical Islamist party, demanding expulsion of the French ambassador over the publication of cartoons in France depicting the prophet, an act that Muslims condemn as blasphemous.
You can find more on these stories and the rest of the day's news at voanews.com. You can also follow us on the VOA mobile app. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd, VOA News.