00:00In Venezuela citizens continue to go to the polls in complete normality to elect
00:21municipal authorities and take part in the first public youth consultation.
00:25China issued a maximum alert for possible floods and geological disasters caused by heavy
00:34rains.
00:37And despite the claiming to have implemented tactical passes in the Gaza Strip, Israeli occupation
00:43forces killed more than 50 civilians.
00:52Hello and welcome to From the South, I'm Alejandra Garcia from Telesur Studios in Havana, Cuba.
00:56We begin with the news.
00:59In Venezuela citizens continue to go to the polls in complete normality to elect municipal
01:16authorities and participate in the first public youth consultation.
01:20Over 21 million people are called to vote in Sunday's elections and police stations open
01:26at 6am for the 33rd election in the last 26 years.
01:31Venezuelans participate in two different elections, one to choose 335 majors and over 2,400 local
01:39councillors.
01:40The other, Venezuelan youth decide for the first time in a guided consultation on more than
01:475,000 projects for their communities.
01:49Both electoral processes develop peacefully with a high turnout.
01:54And on early afternoon, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro exercised its right to vote, accompanied
02:10by first combatant Cilia Flores and authorities of the national government.
02:14The head of state did so at the Boaraborin Centre in Caracas on a community with over 7,500 registered
02:21voters.
02:22From the location, Maduro highlighted the importance of the electoral processes and reiterated the
02:27Bolivarian revolution's commitment to democracy in the country.
02:31And as Venezuelan citizens head to the polls on Sunday, we go now to our correspondent,
02:45Bruno Falci, who is in La Guayra state with more details on how the election day is unfolding
02:51in the state.
02:52Let's see.
02:53Hello, Bruno.
02:54Hello.
02:55We are still here in the school Republic of Panama, in the city of La Guayra, in Venezuela,
03:09where in this important day, it's happened to election at the same time.
03:13The first one is the mayor's election, the municipal election, where they're going to elect
03:19three hundred and thirty-five mayors and two thousand four hundred seventy-one consulates.
03:26As you can see, everything is happening smoothly.
03:31People are voting, first they put their votes in this table, and then this lady is going
03:42to vote in the electronic machine.
03:46It's very fast, very practical, and very secure in this secret election, where the vote is
03:55secret.
03:56No one knows who they're going to vote.
03:59After she votes, she's going to put their vote in this box to vote two times, to be sure
04:08that her vote is going to be respected.
04:11As you can see, she's going to do this exactly now.
04:18And it's an important election, too, for the young people, where they're going to vote for
04:24their project in more than five thousand three hundred and thirty-eight communes.
04:30After that, she signed the paper with her documents to not repeat the vote.
04:38The people here vote only one time, and this is ensured by the signature in this list.
04:46As I was saying, the other votation that is very important in the historical process that
04:52makes this process historical is the first popular consultation for the young people, for
04:59the young people, for the young people, where they're going to vote for more than thirty-seven
05:06thousand projects in all the country, in their communities.
05:10In Venezuela, they have an experience of participative democracy and the popular power, where the people in their
05:20neighborhoods exert their power direct.
05:25In this votation, they're going to choose between seven projects, each one of these five thousand communes.
05:32And they're going to choose two of these projects to be financed by the state.
05:39In total, in this election, the municipal election, the Chavis and opposition are making a new fight for the power,
05:50a peaceful fight, where everything passing completely peacefully between the thirteen parties from the government
06:00and the twenty-three parties from the opposition.
06:04In all day, people have come, a lot of people have come here to vote, with a high participation of the Venezuelan citizens,
06:15where here, in Venezuela, the vote is not obligatory.
06:19And so, keep following us, because the election is going to go until the night, until the last elector is in the line,
06:29and we are going to follow them until these last minutes.
06:36Here, Bruno Fauci, from Venezuela, and we go back now to the studio in La Habana.
06:43Thank you, Bruno, for all the information from La Huayra State.
06:47We will keep in contact, for sure, throughout the day.
06:50And let's stay in topic. The Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, also reaffirmed the democratic nature of the people's election,
06:57of their political leaders. Let's listen.
07:00In Venezuela, the president is not appointed by the empire.
07:06The president is elected by the people, the sovereign, the ordinary man and woman.
07:14In this context, the head of Venezuela's National Electoral Consul, Elvis Amorosa, also expressed their commitment with democracy and the strengthening of the country's institutions.
07:25And these elections are an example for the whole world of a profoundly democratic process.
07:38And we have demonstrated that Venezuela wants peace, quiet, and the strengthening of our institutions.
07:52And the vice president of the National Electoral Consul of Venezuela, Carlos Quintero, informed that 98% of the polling stations were installed throughout the national territory.
08:04At this hour, we inform the country that we have already opened more than 98% of the polling stations nationwide.
08:11And this, as you point out, thanks to the commitment of more than 93,000 polling station members,
08:17the technical support of more than 65,000 electoral technicians that the National Electoral Council has deployed to support the entire electoral process,
08:28and the deployment of the entire republic operation with more than 379,000 officials.
08:36International observers are joining this democratic celebration.
08:41Their participation highlights Venezuela's commitment to transparency and democratic guarantees in its electoral processes.
08:47The National Electoral Consul reports that at least 1,400 national and international observers will be deployed throughout the country to ensure the integrity of Venezuela's electoral system.
08:59And also in this context, the head of the unified command of the Bolivar Revolution, Jorge Rodriguez,
09:10offered a press conference where he highlighted the efficiency and transparency of the Venezolan electoral system.
09:1653 political organizations are participating in today's electoral process.
09:25The stations opened as usual, as is the tradition as guaranteed by the National Electoral Council.
09:31They opened very early in the morning, in a process that despite being complex, since there are many positions to be elected,
09:40runs very quickly since Venezuela has the most efficient, fast and transparent electoral system in the world.
09:49Furthermore, Rodriguez addressed the public youth consultation also underway,
09:54where the Venezuelan youth is called to vote for communal projects to develop.
09:59And also, as a very important new element, because it is the first time in Venezuela's history
10:08that there are polling stations in all the voting centers, so that all voters and young people over 15 years old
10:17can go to the polling stations in all 15,731 voting centers and vote, choosing the youth project of their preference.
10:27There are more than 40,000 youth projects, with an average of between five and eight projects in each of the voting centers.
10:37And now we have a short break coming up, but first remember you can join us on TikTok at Telesur English,
10:42where you'll find news in different formats, news updates and more.
10:45We'll be right back, stop with us.
11:07Welcome back to From the South.
11:14China issued a maximum alert for possible floods and geological disasters caused by heavy rains.
11:20A red alert for floods, the highest level of the warning system, was activated at the Beijing Hydrological Station
11:27due to an increase in the flow of the Cow River up to 3,000 cubic meters per second.
11:33Likewise, the Planning and National Resources Commission, together with the Municipal Metrological Service,
11:38joined the measures due to the risk of landslides and earth movements.
11:43In this context, authorities recommended that people stay away from rivers, avoid unnecessary outings and follow official instructions.
11:52In Turkey, forest fires in the northwest province of Bursa have forced the displacement of civilians.
12:03In this regard, local officials have reported the evacuation of the town of Karakidir
12:08and was decided as the blazes spread to some 170 houses.
12:13Outside it is unveiled the combustion had propagated rapidly due to the presence of vigorous winds.
12:20In this context, Bursa Governor's Office stated that 1,765 people have been evacuated while more than 1,900 firefighters battled the flames.
12:31The affected were reportedly provided with food from shelter centers.
12:36In this scenario, the highway linking Bursa to the capital Ankara was closed as surrounding forest burned.
12:48In other information, in India at least six people were killed and 27 injured after a stampede at a Hindu temple in the northwest of the country,
12:57triggered by rumors of an electric shock.
13:00The District Police Superintendent Ramendre Hassan confirmed that 33 people were rescued.
13:06Authorities informed that police and rescue teams are operating in the area and the situation is being constantly monitored.
13:13India has recently experienced similar tragedies including a stampede in June with three victims and another during the Khumbh Mela in January.
13:22At least 30 people were killed.
13:31In Luanda capital, Angolan chief superintendent of the National Police, Nestor Goubel, reported neither injured nor arrested in the new rally against rising fuel prices.
13:41The senior officer further highlighted the police had not repressed protesters despite the fact demonstrators were leaping into several actions of public disorder.
13:51In this regard, the authority argued that marchers had tried to deviate from the route set with the police previously.
13:59Overall inflation of diesel price met skyrocket transport costs.
14:04Therefore, citizens have held protests to demand the government to lower prices for a third consecutive Saturday.
14:11Russian air defense forces intercepted nearly 99 Ukrainian combat drones in the southwest of the country.
14:32The Russian Defense Ministry said the unmanned vehicles had been shot down in the Bryansk, Smolensk and Rostov regions.
14:40The entity further noted that other Ukrainian drones had been intercepted on the Crimean Peninsula and in Kirks.
14:48Likewise, authorities highlighted that territories belated in Ukraine regularly report bombings and drone raids by Kayiv forces,
14:56so people are forced to move to other areas in search of refuge.
15:00The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that approximately 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the last 24 hours.
15:12Defense authorities said that one third of these casualties were the result of operations by the center group,
15:18which improved its tactical positions and shot down the enemy in several localities located in the Republic of Donetsk.
15:26Additionally, the East, West, North, South and Dniper groups neutralized approximately since February 25, 2022.
15:35And since then Russia has been engaged in a special military operation in Ukraine.
15:40Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the objective of this operation is to protect the people of Donbass from genocide on the part of the Kayiv regime.
15:53And now we have a second showbreak coming up. Before we invite you to visit our Facebook page at Telesur English,
16:00there you'll be able to watch our top stories, special life coverage and much more.
16:04Follow our page and activate the notification button to stay up to date on the world's most recent events.
16:10Final showbreak, don't go away.
16:12We'll see you next time.
16:42Welcome back to From the South.
16:56Despite claiming to have implemented tactical passes in the Gaza Strip,
17:01Israeli occupation forces killed more than 50 civilians.
17:04Despite the tactical pass intended to allow humanitarian aid to enter the territory,
17:09Palestinian authorities denounced the killing of civilians.
17:12They reported that 32 of those killed were waiting to receive humanitarian aid when they were killed by the Israeli army.
17:19Six more people died from malnutrition in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of starvation-related deaths to 133.
17:28Israel announced tactical passes in fighting from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time in several areas of the Gaza Strip starting Sunday.
17:37Israeli occupation forces have killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in attacks on civilian areas of the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.
17:51Health authorities reported that at least 88 people killed and 374 others injured by Zionist bombings in the last few hours.
18:00Health authorities also reported that 30,000 Palestinians have been missing since the start of the Israeli genocide,
18:07making it difficult to provide an exact figure for the number of dead.
18:11In the face of the international pressure, Tel Aviv announced a tactical pass to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip.
18:19In this context, Pope Leo XIV reiterated his call for an end to Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip,
18:37where almost 60,000 Palestinians have been killed.
18:40The Holy Father urged negotiations for a peaceful future for all peoples.
18:45And Pope Leo also demanded the release of hostages and respect for international humanitarian law.
18:52And like this, we have come to the end of this since brief,
19:00but you can find this and many other stories on our website at telesurenglish.net
19:04and join us on social media.
19:06We are on Facebook, X, Instagram, Telegram and TikTok as well.
19:10For Thalesur English, I'm Alejandra Garcia. Thank you for watching.
