- 4 hours ago
18/05/2026
FTS 08.30
*Israeli forces intercept Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla.
*Rwanda closes border with Democratic Republic of Congo amid Ebola outbreak.
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These and many more stories now!
FTS 08.30
*Israeli forces intercept Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla.
*Rwanda closes border with Democratic Republic of Congo amid Ebola outbreak.
teleSUR
These and many more stories now!
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NewsTranscript
00:07The opposition to Rodrigo Paz's government continues to grow, as social organizations
00:13reject a sectoral agreement with the government and announce new protests.
00:22Israel once again illegally intercepts a Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla in international water
00:28in an ongoing operation off the coast of Greece.
00:36Rwanda ordered the closure of border crossings with the Democratic Republic of the Congo after
00:41authorities confirmed a case of Ebola virus in the nearby city of Goma.
00:51Hello and welcome to From the South.
00:53I'm Luis Alberto Matos from Dele Sur Studios in Caracas, Venezuela.
00:57We begin with the news.
01:11In Bolivia, opposition to Rodrigo Paz's government continues to grow, as social organizations
01:17reject a sectoral agreement with the government and announce new protests.
01:21Precisely, the Department of the Federation of Rural Education Teachers of La Paz rejected
01:27the agreement signed between the government and urban educators and announced that they
01:32will continue their pressure measures, demanding wage increases.
01:36Also, the Unified Trade Union, the Federation of Rural Workers of the province of Omasuyos
01:42and the Women's Federation instructed the 39 agricultural unions to protest this Monday, May 18, in Plaza
01:49Paiván, in the face of the executive branch's threats of repression.
01:53This follows President Rodrigo Paz's hardening of his rhetoric, as the anti-blockade measures ordered
01:59by the executive branch have resulted in arrests of at least 57 people.
02:04In this regard, Paz has renewed threats to imprison those who attempt, in his words, to destroy democracy.
02:15In this context, indigenous communities from El Chapare have set up a security cordon around former President Evo Morales'
02:22residents in the area to provide him with protection after the leader denounced a joint plan by the United States
02:29and the government of Rodrigo Paz to arrest or assassinate him.
02:33The community is mobilized to protect their leader amid escalating tensions.
02:38Evo supporters have been maintaining roadblocks for 15 days now, demanding President Paz's resignation
02:44and a solution to the economic crisis.
02:53And Colombian President Gustavo Petro commented on the political crisis in Bolivia and offered
02:59his government's mediation to find a peaceful solution.
03:03Through his social media accounts, Colombian President Gustavo Petro issued the following message.
03:10Bolivia is experiencing a popular uprising. It is a response to geopolitical arrogance.
03:16Latin America is a diverse and distinct civilization. It cannot be homogenized by any part of the world.
03:22Latin America and the Caribbean must be heard by the world, looking ahead in peace and speaking frankly.
03:28My government is willing, if invited, to seek peaceful solutions to the Bolivian political crisis.
03:36He continues, there should be no political prisoners anywhere in the Americas.
03:41We must build a deep, multicolored democracy in our civilization, which has roots stretching back 60,000 years in the
03:49Americas,
03:50but also comes from the ancient Mediterranean, Black Africa and the deserts of Sahara.
03:55Legend had it that the American Jaguar would awaken if the Condor were attacked.
04:00And the Jaguar has awakened in the popular consciousness.
04:14And in response, former Bolivian President Evo Morales expressed his gratitude for the support of the Colombian head of state,
04:22in light of the complex political situation facing the Indian nation.
04:28Through a post on his ex-account Morales stated,
04:31President Gustavo Petro, thank you for understanding the true situation Bolivia is facing and for not buying into the false
04:38narrative that is being spread.
04:40Thank you for defending Latin America's sovereignty in the face of imperialist arrogance and for your offer to support the
04:47search for peaceful solutions in my homeland.
04:59Former Bolivian President Evo Morales complained to the United Nations and the International Court of Human Rights that far-right
05:08administration of Rodrigo Paz is using foreign platforms and technology to spy on citizens who hold different opinions to the
05:17government.
05:18On his social media account, former Bolivian President Evo Morales said,
05:23I am reporting to the United Nations Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that the Bolivian
05:31government of Rodrigo Paz is using foreign platforms and technology to spy and denounce Bolivians who think differently and are
05:40protesting to demand a just and sovereign Bolivia.
05:43This illegal method appears to be the same one used by Nazis who encouraged people to report unidentified Jews so
05:50that they could then exterminate them.
06:00And the United States offered its support to the Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz in a blatant disregard for the ongoing
06:08popular uprisings, thereby intervening once again in Bolivia's internal affairs.
06:13The Trump administration, through a statement on social media, condemned the social protests, describing them as a humanitarian crisis in
06:22a clear attempt to criminalize legitimate protests.
06:25Israel and Javier Millet joined this imperialist stance along with countries aligned with Washington, such as Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador,
06:34Honduras, Panama, and Peru, which signed a document to uphold Bolivia's constitutional order while ignoring the demands of the protesting
06:43people.
06:50Israel and Colombian President Gustavo Petro denounced a disinformation campaign about undermining the presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda's campaign.
07:01The controversy escalated following the circulation of a fake audio recording in which a man posing as a FARC dissident
07:09demanded votes for the ruling coalition.
07:12However, the police and the Ministry of Defense denied the claims.
07:16The recording was made in a prison in Tolima by a common inmate involved in telephone extortion with no connection
07:23to armed groups.
07:25Cepeda, the leader in the polls for May 31, rejected the allegations and clarified that his movement does not tolerate
07:31support from criminal organizations.
07:41In this regard, President Gustavo Petro said justice must investigate why this crime against the elections was orchestrated.
07:47The massive lie fabricated from prison to portray a candidate as a being backed by illegal groups must be fully
07:55exposed.
07:55It is an operation of the Honduras Gate scheme financed by Netanyahu and drug traffickers to destroy progressive movements in
08:04Mexico and Colombia.
08:05It's been carried out by the same group that brought Caracol TV to falsely accuse General Huertas and Agent Mejia
08:14simply because they were conducting preliminary investigations for the prosecutor's office regarding military corruption stemming from the so-called Zapateros.
08:36And in Ecuador, the LGBTIQ plus community is speaking out on international LGBTIQ plus day to denounce an alarming rise
08:44in violence and demand urgent action from the government to end impunity.
08:48Human rights organizations reported this Sunday that at least 12 members of the LGBTIQ plus community have been murdered so
08:56far in 2026 in Ecuador.
08:59Also, the RUNA CP Observatory, part of the Silhueta X Association, specified that among the fatal victims are 11 trans
09:06women and one gay man.
09:08They noted that the internal armed conflict declared by the government has disproportionately intensified violence against these vulnerable communities.
09:17They are calling on President Daniel Novoa and the National Assembly to enact legal reform to classify trans-femicide as
09:26a crime and create specialized units to investigate hate crimes.
09:37We have our first break. Stay with us.
10:00Welcome back.
10:01Cuba has condemned the escalation of hostile actions by the United States which seek to fabricate far-fetched pretexts to
10:10justify a military aggression against the island.
10:14In the face of this escalation, Havana, through the voices of several of its officials, reaffirmed its right to self
10:22-defense, making it clear that the aggressor is Washington while Cuba is the attacked nation, firmly resisting the maneuvers of
10:30U.S. imperialists.
10:31In addition, the Cuban government reiterated that it poses no threat to any country and that its foreign policy is
10:39based on solidarity and peace,
10:41warning, however, that it is prepared to defend its sovereignty against any attempt at external aggression.
10:47This denunciation is set against a backdrop of more than six decades of tensions marked by the economic, commercial, and
10:55financial blockade imposed by the United States.
11:05And in the Mexican state of Yucatan, President Claudia Sheinbaum inaugurated on Sunday the Agustin O'Horan Hospital in Mérida,
11:14one of the biggest in Latin America, which will offer free services to the population.
11:18During the ceremony, Sheinbaum stated the opening symbolizes a shift in health policy toward recognizing it as a fundamental social
11:28right.
11:28In this regard, she asserted that during her six-year term, more than $10.37 billion would be invested in
11:36the construction and renovation of hospital infrastructure,
11:39disclosing that the Mérida facility was built with a $5 billion fund.
11:44Furthermore, the head of state assured she is convinced that without corruption, public resources are sufficient to achieve social work,
11:52highlighting that since the October of 2024, 29 hospital projects have been completed.
12:07Mexican authorities dismantled five clandestine laboratories producing synthetic drugs across the state of Sinaloa, Nayarit, and Jalisco,
12:17seizing nearly 10,000 liters of chemical precursors and more than seven tons of chemical substances.
12:24Footage released by authorities on Sunday shows personnel from the Secretariat of the Navy, the Secretariat of Security and Citizen
12:33Protection,
12:34and the Attorney General's Office deploying to secure the laboratories.
12:38Three of the five labs were dismantled in Sinaloa, one in Jalisco, and another in Nayarit.
12:44These seizures represent losses exceeding $37.5 million for drug trafficking, mainly affecting the Jalisco New Generation Cartel,
12:52which had a presence in the laboratories of Jalisco and Nayarit.
13:16Israel once again illegally intercepts a Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla in international water in an ongoing operation on the coast
13:25of Greece.
13:26The Coalition of the Global Sumud and Freedom Flotilla is currently being surrounded and under active interception by Israeli naval
13:36warships in international waters,
13:38approximately 250 nautical miles from the coast of Gaza.
13:41The Coalition departed from Turkey on May 14th, the eve of Nakba Day, and is comprised of 54 vessels with
13:49almost 500 activists from 45 countries.
13:52Their goal, as previous flotilla, was to break the illegal Zionist blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people
13:59in the Gaza Strip.
14:00For its part, the Coalition's legal team has placed the international community on formal notice that any violence executed on
14:08these vessels remains the sole legal responsibility of the Israeli regime.
14:19And in the Occupied West Bank, the Israeli law allowing the execution of Palestinian prisoners has taken effect on Sunday,
14:27condemned by human rights organizations as a dangerous escalation of Sanish Genosadal policies.
14:33The Israeli head of the Army Central Command signed the military order necessary to enact in the Occupied West Bank
14:41the measure previously passed by the Zionist government in March.
14:45In this sense, the military courts presiding over cases involving Israeli death must apply the death penalty to Palestinians as
14:52the only available sentence
14:54unless the court finds special circumstances allowing for life imprisonment instead.
14:59Furthermore, the law is restricted to military courts where Palestinians are prosecuted while Israeli citizens are trialled in civil courts.
15:08The law has drawn fierce condemnation from humanitarian organizations who warn it formalizes discrimination and strips Palestinians of basic legal
15:17protections.
15:32In other topics, the number of deaths from the Ebola outbreak in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo this month
15:39has increased to 88.
15:41The figures represent a significant increase in just 24 hours when the health authorities reported 80 fatalities and 246 infections.
15:52The World Health Organization warned that the epidemic has spread to neighboring Uganda where a death from the disease was
15:59confirmed three days ago.
16:01Experts attribute the rapid spread to the puntibugio variant of the virus which exhibits unusual activity and has the capacity
16:08to spread over long distances.
16:17In this context, on Sunday, Rwanda ordered the closure of border crossings with the Democratic Republic of the Congo after
16:24authorities confirmed a case of Ebola virus disease in the eastern city of Goma.
16:29The indefinite suspension applies to most cross-border movement.
16:33However, limited health monitor exemptions remain in place, allowing stranded Rwandan and Congolese nationals on either side of the border
16:43to return to their respective countries.
16:44On Sunday, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern after at least 88
16:53deaths and more than 300 suspected cases were reported in the DRC amid the nation's 17th Ebola outbreak since the
17:00virus was first identified in 1976.
17:09We sent teams to take samples, and at 10 p.m. we confirmed that it was a case of Ebola.
17:16At the moment, the teams are already in place.
17:18As you know, this is not the first time we have managed Ebola outbreaks, which means that the teams are
17:24trained, as the authorities have confirmed, and that all the necessary resources are in place for treatment.
17:32And in this context, Congolese Health Minister Roger Samuel Kamba arrived in eastern Ituri province on Sunday to oversee the
17:40emergency response to the country's Ebola outbreak, urging the population to get treated to prevent the further spread of the
17:47virus.
17:51We have already deployed the response, and today we have come to supplement it with material and human resources from
18:01the Public Health Emergency Operations Center.
18:11The sooner we take care of the sick, the sooner we can treat them, and the sooner we can stop
18:17the spread of the virus.
18:19So it's not a mystical illness. Make yourself known so you can be treated, and the disease can be prevented
18:27from spreading. That's really the message. Treatment is free. Come and get it.
18:32Come and take care of the virus.
18:33Come and take care of the virus.
18:37And Hantavirus hit cruise ship MV Honduras arrived in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on Monday, earning its wages ahead of a
18:44disinfection operation. A lot of 26 people disembarked the vessel after more than a two-week-long ordeal following an
18:51outbreak that has killed three people and triggered global monitoring. The ship's operator, Oceanwide Expedition, said that everyone who was
19:00still on board is
19:02asymptomatic and being monitored. The Honduras will undergo cleaning and disinfection with the passengers either staying in quarantine facilities at
19:11the port or self-isolating at home. The ship began its journey from Argentina on April 1st and stranded off
19:17Cape Verde after the country refused to lay the dock. It then set sail for the Spanish Canary Islands where
19:24authorities managed the evacuation and repatriation of over 120 passengers and crew.
19:38And a few days after Donald Trump's visit to Beijing, China is now preparing to receive Russian President Obama Putin
19:44in a meeting that could reinforce the strategic alliance between Moscow and the Chinese government. Our correspondent Bruno Falsi with
19:52the details.
19:56Greetings, comrades. I'm here in Beijing where preparations are on the way to receive the Russian President Vladimir Putin who
20:05will tomorrow begin a two-day official visit to China in a meeting that takes place immediately after Donald Trump's
20:15trip to Beijing and highlight two distinct diplomatic dynamics.
20:20While the United States visit ended without concrete structural agreements and left open tensions regarding Taiwan and sanctions against Chinese
20:32companies, the meeting between Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives with a defined agenda and expectations of formal announcements.
20:43Moscow and Beijing anticipate the signing of a joint declaration and several bilateral agreements in strategic sectors such as energy,
20:55infrastructure, trade, and diplomatic coordination. The visit also coincides with the 25th anniversary of the treaty of good neighborhoods and
21:08friendship and cooperation between China and Russia.
21:12Considerate the political foundation of their current strategic relationship.
21:19Before his trip, Vladimir Putin stated that energy negotiations with China are advancing toward a new oil and gas agreement,
21:32which reinforced expectations of announcements during the visit.
21:37Since 2022, both countries have officially maintained a no-limits partnership, expanding their agreements with many sectors of their economy
21:51and broader the transition toward a more multipolar order.
21:58With this news from here, the capital of China, we go back with you in the studios.
22:07Let's continue now with our news.
22:21A 5.2-magnetic earthquake struck Liuzhou City in South China's Guangxi Autonomous Region early Monday, leaving at least two
22:29dead and prompting the quick evacuation of thousands.
22:32The quake hit the Leonan District 21 minutes past midnight on Monday at a depth of 8 km causing the
22:39collapse of 13 buildings and leaving three people missing and four injured.
22:43In the aftermath, the regional earthquake relief headquarters launched a Level 3 emergency response that included a deployment to the
22:50scene of emergency fire and police authorities.
22:53Two of the three missing people were confirmed dead and a 91-year-old man was rescued from the site
22:58and remains in stable condition, according to medical sources.
23:027,000 residents have been evacuated as search and rescue operations continue and authorities warned of transport disruptions.
23:17Well, we have come to the end of this news brief.
23:18You can find more on our website at telestownenglish.net and also on our social media.
23:22For Telestown English, I'm Luis Alberto Matos.
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