- 5 hours ago
* DR Congo: Health authorities step up Ebola response
* Palestine: Israel expands forced displacement policies to empty Gaza
* Palestine: Israel expands forced displacement policies to empty Gaza
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:11Colombia's election process has already begun.
00:13Colombian citizens residing in New Zealand began voting to elect the country's next president.
00:23Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
00:25impose a mandatory quarantine of 21 days in some areas of the country.
00:34And in Palestine, a Gaza-based human rights organization has warned that Israel
00:42is systematically destroying remaining house homes across the Gaza street
00:45while intensifying policies of forced displacement.
00:52Hello, welcome from the south.
00:54I'm Luis Alberto Matos from Deleceo Studios in Caracas, Venezuela.
00:57We begin with the news.
01:11Colombia's election process has already begun.
01:14Colombian citizens residing in New Zealand began voting this Monday in local time in New Zealand
01:20and yesterday's Sunday Colombian time to elect the country's new president.
01:24According to the National Registry,
01:27there are more than 1.4 million Colombians eligible to vote abroad
01:31who will be able to do so throughout this week.
01:33The Foreign Ministry announced strict monitoring of the process.
01:37The Registry Office reported that for the first time,
01:41digitization stations for election forms were set up in cities such as Madrid, Barcelona and New York.
01:47A significant fact about these overseas elections is that the National Electrical Commission confirmed
01:52the participation of more than 13,700 national election observers
01:56and more than 1,200 international ones.
02:08And in Colombia as well, presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda of the Pacto Historical Party
02:13closes his campaign with an event in Barranquilla.
02:15Cepeda, who has been one of the most fervent defenders of total peace and social justice,
02:20called on his supporters to defend the legacy of the first progressive government
02:24in the country's recent history against the advance of the far right.
02:28Previous polls before May 31st show Cepeda in the lead,
02:32with the highest percentage while the Colombian people prepare to decide
02:35whether to continue the path of structural reforms
02:37or return to neoliberal policies that have historically perpetrated inequality.
02:41The presidential candidate for the Pacto Historical focuses his discourse
02:45on consolidating a model of development based on social justice and peace.
03:04We have conducted a campaign in the form of a permanent dialogue with the Colombian people.
03:13We are interested in talking to communities and listening to the people.
03:21We have consciously distanced ourselves from the politics of spectacle.
03:26We have not submitted to the humiliation of the economic or media powers.
03:33We have not built this campaign obsessed with being competitors,
03:38with the aim of having more radio microphones,
03:43more television cameras or more magazine covers.
03:50We do not compete to have the most eye-catching advertising,
03:55nor do we disguise ourselves as something we are not to please or camouflage,
04:03as the people at the last minute.
04:17Meanwhile, the far-right candidate, Albert Abelardo de las Pialas,
04:21suffered a resounding defeat in his campaign finale in Medellin.
04:24The political rally held in Plaza de Todos La Macarena,
04:28which has a capacity of 15,000, only managed to attract around 6,000 people,
04:33highlights the limited popular support for his political project,
04:36which has been criticized for its link to paramilitarism and Eurobism.
04:39The low turnout reflects the rejection of the candidate
04:42due to these controversial comments and questionable decisions
04:45such as publicly discreeting citizens and activists during his campaigns.
04:56Colombia is preparing for a crucial election on May 31st,
05:00when citizens will vote to determine the country's scores for the next four years.
05:07More than 21 million Colombians are eligible to vote in this first round of the presidential election.
05:12If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote,
05:15the two top candidates will face a second round on June 21st.
05:20This process follows the legislative elections held on March 8th.
05:23On that day, Colombians elected the 296 members of Congress,
05:27including senators and representatives to the House of Representatives,
05:30who will form the legislature until 2030.
05:34The National Registry of Civil Status has coordinated logistics throughout the country.
05:38In addition, voting stations were set up at consulates
05:41to ensure the participation of Colombians living abroad.
05:44The electoral system is monitored by the Election Observation Mission
05:48and other international organizations
05:50to ensure the transparency of the process.
05:52The results of this presidential election
05:54will shape Colombia's political and social agenda for the next four years.
06:10Through his ex-account, President Gustavo Petro confirmed that Colombia will also join China in sending rice to Cuba.
06:16In his social media account, the president wrote,
06:19If there are excesses of rice in Colombia, they must be brought and urgently sent to Cuba.
06:24I don't want lazy and scared officials when it comes to feeding a whole population.
06:38And two ships carrying wheat flour also arrived at the ports of Havana and Cienfuego
06:42as part of the government's efforts to counter the U.S. blockade.
06:45The authorities reported that nearly 50,000 tons of flour were unloaded to be processed
06:50at the Cuban flour milling company in Santiago de Cuba,
06:53one of the companies affected by economic restrictions.
06:56With the mill back in operation, it is expected that between May and June
06:59there will be sufficient capacity to distribute the flour throughout the country.
07:09And the Black Caucus of the United States Congress demanded Washington to end the oil blockade on Cuba.
07:16In a later address to the U.S. administration on Friday,
07:20Congressional Black Caucus Sherwoman Yvette DeClark said she was alarmed by the growing humanitarian crisis in Cuba
07:27and that it was time for the administration to lift its oil blockade
07:30and the archaic unnecessarily harsh sanctions that have disproportionately harmed innocent Cubans for decades.
07:37She went on by citing a report by the New York Times that informed that as a result of the
07:40sanctions,
07:41the infant mortality rate in Cuba has more than doubled since 2018,
07:45with food shortages leading to more underweight pregnant mothers and their newborns.
07:50Too many Cuban children are unable to make it out of the hospital and home to their families.
07:55In another part of the text,
07:56the U.S. Clark sentence that the Congressional Black Caucus would not stand by and allow this administration
08:02to drag out this barbaric policy that generates unimaginable human suffering in Cuba.
08:15Let's now take our first break. Stay with us.
08:39Welcome back.
08:40Students in U.S. schools are performing worse academically than they were a decade ago,
08:45according to a recent study conducted by Stanford University's Education Opportunity Project.
08:50From New York, our correspondent Henry Camelo with more.
08:54In free fall, that's the state of basic education in the United States,
09:00according to the most recent study from Stanford University,
09:04which determined that American students are earning lower grades than they were ten years ago.
09:11Between 2015 and 2025, math scores fell by 70% in the analyzed districts,
09:19while reading scores dropped by 83%.
09:23Do you think that the cell phone, using the cell phone, the tablets,
09:27watching too much TV would be part of the problem?
09:32I think so would be part of the problem because it brainwashes people to not do what they're supposed to
09:38do in class
09:38and their brain is focused on social media and stuff.
09:42The report characterizes the situation as a learning recession, one that began before the pandemic,
09:51but was exacerbated by school closures and remote learning,
09:56which, according to experts, led young people to make greater use of social media.
10:02There are several factors. I think one of them is social media.
10:08Social media are playing a crucial role in our teenagers.
10:13If you think about it, most of them are trying to be influencers,
10:20and that's easy money, if you want to call it like that.
10:28And they are just, like, trying to leave the stories behind.
10:33That's a trend that's not only in the States. I think it's everywhere.
10:37Among other causes, the report cites increased school absenteeism,
10:43excessive use of mobile devices, and a race in mental health issues.
10:48However, for parents, there are other key factors.
10:51For example, like, immigration kids, like, parents cannot speak very well English,
10:57and then they have, like, English, for example, English,
11:03and the Spanish teacher in the school, they can get help, like me.
11:08The study also revealed that children within the immigrant community
11:13face greater difficulties in passing their academic subjects.
11:18Right here, we don't have the traditional family anymore.
11:21If you want to say it like that, like, when some of the household stays with the kids,
11:28that's not happening anymore because, you know, of the financial situation.
11:34Like, a father and a mother, they need to go to work
11:37because they need to cover all the expenses that is going on here.
11:41So all the kids are left behind, pretty much are on their own.
11:45The research also indicates that low students' performance may be attributed
11:51to an education law replaced in 2015 that mandated the measurement of academic progress.
11:59However, critics of this law denounced that some schools lowered their standards
12:05in order to demonstrate better results to retain federal funding
12:09without ever accounting for the human costs this would entail in the long run.
12:16Pablo Daniel Jo and Henry Camelo, TELESUR, New York.
12:24The Bolivian Senate approved a law that authorized the President to declare a state of emergency
12:30without requiring the approval of the legislative assembly.
12:33The law, which repeals Law 1341 on states of emergency,
12:36eliminates the mechanisms that previously limited the executive branch
12:39to prevent possible abuses of power and guarantee the protection of citizens' rights
12:44during crises or disasters.
12:45Social organizations expressed concern over the concentration of extraordinary powers,
12:50while the ruling party defends the measure as necessary to act quickly
12:54in situations of national emergency.
12:56The decision generated a debate about the balance of powers
13:00and the protection of constitutional guarantees in the country.
13:10The Departmental Federation of Indigenous Intercultural Communities of La Paz urged
13:15to mobilize in defense of the rights of the Bolivian people.
13:18First, it is determined that there shall be organized,
13:21massive and disciplined participation in the peaceful march toward the city of La Paz
13:24as a legitimate measure of social protest and defense of the rights of the Bolivian people.
13:29Furthermore, they stated that participants must assemble at Plaza del Maestro
13:33at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 25, 2026,
13:36to ensure an organized, disciplined and forceful participation.
13:39It is recommended that the protest be conducted in a strictly peaceful manner,
13:42avoiding any action that could damage public poverty or affect public and private property.
13:54At least eight people were reported dead on Sunday following a serious road accident in Minas Gerais,
13:59Brazil, according to local media.
14:01The firefighters stressed that the bus collided head-on,
14:04with a truck carrying mainly tires.
14:06Both vehicles caught fire after the impact traffic remains blocked in both directions,
14:11with around 30 kilometers of tailbacks.
14:13The company that owns the bus has not yet been identified.
14:24And health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Sunday
14:27imposed a mandatory quarantine of 21 days in some areas of the country.
14:31The measures taking effect this Monday includes people returning from Bunia and Ituri
14:35as part of the regional authorities' response to the Ebola epidemic.
14:39The health authorities of Congo on Sunday reported 904 suspected cases
14:43and 119 suspected deaths since the outbreak of the epidemic in the country a few weeks ago.
14:49In this context, Dr. Villa Di Sinkinko, Provisional Health Director in North Kibu,
14:54said that they have put screening measures in checkpoints to ensure that people cannot enter in Goma
14:58without passing through the quarantine site.
15:07We know that Bunia is the epicentery of the Ebola outbreak and people pass through there.
15:14So we have put measures in place there to ensure that people cannot enter Goma
15:18without passing through the quarantine site.
15:22People returning home to Goma from Bunia and Ituri must spend 21 days in quarantine
15:27before joining their families.
15:32Final break now, we're going to be right back.
15:56Welcome back.
15:57In Palestine, a Gaza-based human rights organization has warned that Israel is systematically destroying
16:02remaining homes across the Gaza Strip while intensifying policies of forced displacement.
16:07The Gaza Human Rights Center said Israeli occupation forces have increasingly adopted a pattern
16:11in which residents receive phone calls ordering them to evacuate their remaining homes
16:16only for those structures to be bombed or destroyed shortly afterward.
16:20The organization warned that evacuation notices and telephone warnings
16:23neither absolve legal responsibility nor legitimize attacks on civilian infrastructure,
16:27stressing that such measures serve as instruments of intimidation, mass destruction, and forced displacement.
16:33It further argued that the repeated targeting of residential areas, not a series of isolated incidents,
16:37were part of a broader long-term strategy aimed at dismantling Gaza's residential environment
16:41and displacing its population.
16:43The warning came as newly released aerial images showed widespread devastation across Rafa and Hanjunis
16:50amid continuing Israeli bombardment.
16:58The foreign ministers of eight Arab and Islamic nations have strongly condemned far-right Israeli police minister
17:04Itamar Benvir for his actions toward participants of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla while they were in Israeli detention.
17:10In a joint statement issued on Sunday, the top diplomats of Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar,
17:16Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates said Benvir's deliberate public humiliation of detainees was
17:21a disgraceful assault on human dignity and a clear violation of Israel's obligations under international law,
17:27including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
17:31Governments have expressed outrage and called for concrete measures to end Benvir's repeated provocations
17:37after he posted a video in which he taunted activists who were pinned to the ground.
17:41In this context, some of the detainees who had intended to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza
17:45later revealed that they were physically assaulted while in detention.
17:55Upon returning to Australia, activists who were part of a Gaza-bound flotilla assist
18:00and deported by Israel hold a press conference recounting and condemning the mistreatment they received
18:05at the hands of the sirenists.
18:07I was beaten and that was just the beginning of four days of absolute hell.
18:13I've looked into the eyes of the most soulless people in the universe and nothing came back.
18:20These people need to be stopped.
18:23The serial killing, genocidal regime, the Zionist regime of Israel needs to absolutely be dismantled.
18:32And Albo, where are you when we need you?
18:34It was not our job to be dragged onto a prison boat, to be shot at in the Mediterranean,
18:40to be dragged, to be cable tied, to be hog tied, to be thrown so much water under my face
18:47I thought I was going to drown.
18:48And that was just the beginning of a systematic process that was patrolled and calculated
18:54to absolutely punish us for daring to uncover their genocidal serial killing insanity.
19:04They shoot in the street.
19:06He continues to be their friend.
19:09How can we live, how can we live in a safe world when our government continues to call this state
19:16a friend and ally?
19:18As long as this country calls Israel a friend, how can any of us be proud to be Australians?
19:28And negotiations between Iran and the United States to achieve peace in the Middle East region advance
19:32with details about the draft memorandum of understanding being released by Iranian sources.
19:37According to Iran's dusting news agency, the document refers to the declaration of an end to the war on all
19:41fronts,
19:42including Lebanon, implying an end to the conflict could be closed.
19:46Moreover, the draft text, which has not received final approval yet, outlines a 30-day deadline
19:51to address the issue of the Strait of Hormuz and the naval blockade, while allocating a separate 60-day period
19:57for talks surrounding Iran's nuclear program.
19:59He also states that the initial step of any agreement would require the release of a portion of Iran's frozen
20:04assets.
20:04At present, the draft agreement is being analyzed by both parties,
20:08and advances in the negotiations have been notable in the past couple of days.
20:19In Lebanon, one paramedic has been killed and six other wounded in recent Israeli airstrikes.
20:25The announcement was made by Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health listing a total of two fatalities and ten injured people
20:31as a result of successive Israeli strikes on the town of Arab Salem.
20:35This came following an early strike where, according to official reports, the Civil Defense Center in the city of Nabatyeh
20:42was destroyed.
20:44This latest attack is part of the soundness' continued targeting of healthcare centers and personnel
20:48in violation of international humanitarian law.
21:00And in Lebanon, the Secretary General of the Hezbollah Resistance Movement, Sheikh Inaim Kazem,
21:05delivered a speech to commemorate the 26th anniversary of the liberation of Lebanon while also reaffirming Hezbollah's commitment to resistance.
21:11On the occasion of Resistance and Liberation Day, Sheikh Kazem rejected soundness calls for the disarmament of their resistance
21:18and warned against Israeli escalation, further expressing that efforts to disarm Hezbollah would pave their way for Lebanon's subjugation.
21:26This comes in the eve of Liberation Day on May 25th, which commemorates the historic withdrawal of the Israeli army
21:32from southern Lebanon in 2000
21:34and in a 22-year military occupation.
21:37Kazem highlighted that the achievement was borne from the unity of the army, the people, and the resistance.
21:49And China has successfully launched the Shenzhou-23 crewed spacecraft from the Yuakuan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern region
21:57of the country,
21:58marking the 40th launch in the country's crewed space program.
22:01The mission is taking three astronauts to the Tiangong Space Station to perform several core tasks,
22:06including scientific experiments and extravehicular activities.
22:09Furthermore, they will relieve the crew of Shenzhou-21, continuing the station's regular rotation system
22:15that has been in place since the completion of the Tiangong Space Station in 2022.
22:19One of the three astronauts aboard the spacecraft will also take part in a historic one-year stay in orbit,
22:24a significant milestone for China's fast-moving space program.
22:27The Shenzhou-23 Tiangong mission is part of China's plan to maintain a permanent human presence in low-Earth orbit.
22:39Like this, you have come to the end of this newsgroup.
22:40You can find more on our website at www.telesourenglish.net and also on our social media.
22:44For Telesour English, I was Roberto Matos. Thank you for watching.
Comments