- 2 days ago
* Cuba: 7th session of the National Assembly of people's power underway
* Joint US-Saudi strikes in Iraq leave 20 dead
* Joint US-Saudi strikes in Iraq leave 20 dead
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:09Hello, acting president Elsie Rodriguez led a meeting with the United Nations officials
00:14to boost earthquake recovery efforts. Three firefighters have died in Greece while fighting
00:22wildfires in Creed and the Peloponnese as an unprecedented hit by fuels devastating
00:27blazes across Spain, France and Turkey. Islamic Revolutionary War Corps of Iran launched
00:37retaliatory missiles against U.S. military bases in the Middle East region after the resumption
00:41of aggressions against the Prussian territory. Hello, welcome to From the South. I am Lorena
00:52Fong from the Telesur Studios in Caracas, Venezuela. We begin with the news. Stay with us.
01:16On Wednesday, Venezuela's acting president Elsie Rodriguez led a meeting with the United Nations officials to discuss the post-disaster
01:23needs assessment to boost earthquake recovery efforts. The P-DNA is a
01:27based on our internationally recognized methodology for evaluating the impact of disasters. It
01:32determines recovery needs and their social and macroeconomic implications to inform decision-making
01:37processes. During the meeting, the United Nations resident coordinator in Venezuela, Gianluca
01:42Rampolla, stated that the P-DNA aims to strengthen the country's resilience following the natural
01:47disaster. The Venezuelan government implements the plan with technical support from the United
01:52Nations and participation from strategic partners in various sectors.
02:03And this plan, Gianluca, I know the working plan that begins tomorrow will bring extraordinary results because we have shown
02:13that we are capable of establishing highly effective coordination mechanisms with international organizations and with the United Nations system.
02:23We are fully capable of moving as quickly as possible to help restore the lives of those who were affected
02:29so they can regain a home and have a place to live.
02:35Just as I told Gianluca in the first hours after the disaster, we needed to save as many lives as
02:42possible. Now, we need to build homes so that every Venezuelan currently living in a temporary shelter can return home,
02:51reunite with their family, and live in a place that is welcoming and in harmony with nature.
03:02In this scenario, Venezuela's acting president, Andelce Rodriguez, press the United Nations for its prompt response to the emergency situation
03:08in Venezuela following the earthquakes.
03:12I recognize the work of the United Nations system during the initial stages of salvage, rescue, and life saving.
03:26As Gianluca and I have said, there is evidence of our immediate communication and my request to the UN coordinator
03:33to bring all available rescue delegations to our country.
03:38Those were the decisive hours to save more lives. Those were the hours that drove us to ensure that all
03:44of our actions, work, and coordination were focused on saving lives.
03:55The United Nations official Gianluca Rampolla also recognized the efforts of national and local authorities as well as international teams
04:03in the emergency response.
04:07The government's request, acting president, through you, to undertake this joint exercise reflects a strong commitment to a recovery process
04:16based on evidence, planned in a participatory manner, and aimed at strengthening the country's resilience.
04:22We welcome this leadership and reaffirm the United Nations commitment to supporting this process.
04:28I would also like to highlight the commitment of the European Union and the World Bank, which are co-leading
04:34this initiative, as well as the different partners that have joined during this preparatory phase, such as CAF, which is
04:41with us today.
04:44In this context, the United Nations resident coordinator in Venezuela has spoken the goals of the earthquake's recovery efforts.
04:54The work we are beginning today goes far beyond quantifying the impact of the disaster.
04:59Its purpose is to build a shared vision for recovery by identifying priorities, defining strategic investments, and strengthening national capacities
05:09to reduce vulnerability to future events.
05:12It therefore represents a new opportunity to further reinforce the close link between humanitarian response and capacity, building efforts that
05:21promote the country's sustainable development.
05:23As a complement to the PDNA, the resilient recovery framework provides an opportunity to build back better by using recovery
05:32investments to reduce future risks, strengthen national capacities, and promote safer, more inclusive, and more resilient development.
05:41Inclusive and resilient.
05:43Day by day economic activities recovering after the double earthquake.
05:47Belén de los Santos brings us a look at the current situation in the state of La Guayra.
05:54Alexander lives in Caravalleda, one of the areas of La Guayra most affected by the double earthquake.
05:59A few weeks ago, he reopened his shop.
06:03When we felt a little safer, we decided to come see how things had turned out.
06:07I decided to clean up.
06:08And the very next day, right after cleaning, I started opening again.
06:13Sales are still slow.
06:15Few have been able to return to business.
06:18Snacks.
06:19What we call tutorias here, soft drinks, cigarettes, things like that.
06:24That's what's selling the most right now.
06:29On this side, very few businesses are left.
06:32And, well, little by little, we're trying to get back to some sense of normalcy.
06:36It's very difficult trying to stabilize everything for ourselves, for our kids, so they can see that we have to
06:41keep moving forward.
06:43In businesses like Alexander's, the gradual return to activity depends on the support of suppliers.
06:52We're not pressuring our customers to pay us, no.
06:57Instead, we're supporting them by saying, if you need merchandise, I'll deliver it to you.
07:01And little by little, you can pay off your outstanding invoices.
07:06These gestures are a reminder that behind the supply chain are personal relationships shaped by tragedy.
07:13Our customers become our friends, you know, because it's the day-to-day, visiting them every single week.
07:19And you end up becoming friends with your customers.
07:22And obviously, whatever they lack, whatever happens to them, affects us.
07:26It affected me emotionally, sentimentally, and economically.
07:31In less affected areas, such as Maigatia, the pace is different.
07:35Some businesses managed to reopen just days after the earthquakes and today show significant activity.
07:42They continue to serve as a source of supplies for those affected, their families, and rescue workers.
07:50There are so many mixed emotions as well.
07:52We lost material things, we lost family members, and we've tried to maintain a good attitude,
07:57take care of our customers, and let them know they can count on us for anything.
08:01Every corner of La Guayra tells its own story.
08:04For Alexander, now more than ever, it is time to keep moving forward.
08:09Those of us who stayed, those of us who are still here, if God gave us this opportunity,
08:14it's because I believe our mission is not over yet.
08:17Our mission is not over yet, in general.
08:20So we keep going.
08:21Right now, I would say with even more determination, with even more strength.
08:25And I know we can do it.
08:27I know we're going to move forward.
08:28I know that step by step, we're going to move forward.
08:33On camera, Marcos Da Silva, Belen de los Santos, for Telesur English from La Guayra, Venezuela.
08:40And now we have a short break coming up.
08:42But first, remember you can join us on TikTok at Telesur English.
08:45There you will find news in different formats, news updates, and more.
08:50Stay with us.
09:04Welcome back to From the South.
09:05We continue our information in El Salvador.
09:07The court has handed down individual prison sentences exceeding 1,000 years to alleged
09:13criminals amid the multiple denouncers of human rights violations of Nayib Bukele's regime.
09:18The sentence announced involves 28 gang members convicted of drug trafficking, money laundering,
09:24and illicit associations, two of whom were condemned to 1,048 years in prison.
09:29The convictions come under President Nayib Bukele's ongoing anti-gang repression,
09:34has seen over 90,000 alleged criminals arrested since 2022.
09:39Human rights organizations and NGOs continue to voice strong concern,
09:43warning that El Salvador lacks judicial independence and accusing the administration of widespread
09:48arbitrary detention and severe rights violation.
09:52Despite international criticism over state of emergency measures,
09:56Bukele maintains strong domestic control as legal changes expand life sentences even
10:01to minors allegedly involved in organized crime.
10:12The government of Honduras has announced that it is putting negotiations for a free-trade agreement
10:17with China on hold following two years of talks,
10:20and despite the fact that the process had reached its sixth and final round.
10:25Gerardo Torres Zelaya reports from Tegucigalpa.
10:31Honduras began negotiations with China for a free-trade agreement in 2023.
10:37Over the course of two years, six rounds of negotiations were held,
10:41three in Beijing and three in Tegucigalpa,
10:43resulting in the approval of more than 90% of the text, which compromises 22 chapters.
10:49The new government has announced that it is putting the agreement on hold and will not sign it,
10:54without providing further details as to why.
10:57Relations reached a very high level.
11:03In the short time since establishing diplomatic ties,
11:08we had managed to secure what was known as an early harvest agreement with the Chinese regarding trade.
11:17This allowed Honduras' key export products, such as shrimp, coffee, beef, melons and tobacco,
11:25to gain rapid initial access to the Chinese market.
11:30All of this was achieved based on the understanding that we would be granted zero tariff access
11:36while negotiations for a free-trade agreement proceeded.
11:41Although the general rule is that free-trade agreements are signed with tariff liberalizations of at least 95%,
11:47Honduras had managed to get China to agree to an average of between 80 to 85%,
11:53which allowed for the protection of its strategic products that could be affected by the Asian giants' economic size and
12:00commercial capacity.
12:01These chapters cover a wide range of topics.
12:09The agreement addresses issues such as free-trade percentages,
12:14access to highly specific markets, and tariff classifications for particular goods,
12:22while also including matters of investment, cooperation, and highly technical details regarding rules of origin and specific product-related points.
12:34It is a comprehensive agreement, the result of extensive work by the technical teams of both nations and high-level
12:43negotiations,
12:45with only the final signing by both countries remaining.
12:52Another agreement between the treaty involved increasing China's cooperation in Honduras.
12:57This included an initial sum of $250 million allocated for the creation of six agricultural schools,
13:04the repair of 200 schools, and the purchase of 298 ambulances, one for each municipality in the country,
13:12as well as a sub-loan for the construction of a massive hydroelectric dam known as Patuka 2A.
13:19All of these projects have also been halted.
13:22Relations with China were in very good shape.
13:26However, the decision this administration has made, linked to other domestic and international political interests,
13:32is what has held up progress.
13:34And as far as I know, none of the cooperation initiatives have moved forward.
13:41Even without having signed a treaty, Honduras participated in various international trade fairs in Shanghai, Beijing, and other Chinese cities,
13:50successfully placing over 10,000 tons of coffee and some 500 tons of shrimp in just two years.
13:57While securing future purchase commitments for melons, beef, tobacco, and other products,
14:02the government's decision has taken the relevant business community by surprise.
14:07In all likelihood, halting the treaty's approval or closing diplomatic missions in that country will not slow down this rapidly
14:14growing trade relationship,
14:16but rather render it more unstable and devoid of clear rules.
14:20Reporting for Telesurian English from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Gerardo Torres Zelaya.
14:38Europe is engulfed in flames as forest fires continue ravaging thousands of hectares in Spain, France, and Turkey.
14:45In Spain, 10,000 people are still under an evacuation order as a fire in the eastern province of Castilla
14:50remains out of control.
14:52At the same time, an uncontained wildfire four times the size of Paris threatened to surge against the north-southwest
14:59France on Wednesday.
15:01Meanwhile, residents were evacuated in western Turkey as firefighters' teams, including planes and helicopters, battled the fires.
15:09The unprecedented magnitude of the fires comes amid a devastating heat wave affecting Europe,
15:14which has been forcing firefighters to fundamentally change their tactics, prioritizing evacuation and property protection
15:21due to the danger posed by fast-moving walls of flames and blazes too powerful to attack directly.
15:33In this scenario, three firefighters have lost their lives battling fast-moving wildfires across Greece as extreme heat and gale
15:41force winds sweep the region.
15:42In western Greece, two firefighters became trapped and died as an unimaginable fire,
15:48front stretched over 15 kilometers, forcing widespread village evacuations.
15:53A third firefighter was found dead in the southern Peloponnese region as blazes flared across Greek islands.
16:06The death toll from a powerful 7.1-magneted earthquake in southwestern Japan has risen to 34 as emergency crews
16:14raced against time to pull survivors from collapsed buildings.
16:17Rescue teams in Kumamoto Prefecture are searching throughout the breakage of a collapsed shopping mall after extracting multiple victims.
16:25Nearby, several casualties were confirmed at a paper factory where a massive chimney collapsed during the quake.
16:32Tens of thousands of homes remained without electricity or running water.
16:37Survivors faced compounding hardship as severe heat wave groups the region, making conditions inside temporary shelters increasingly perilous.
16:45With continuous aftershocks rattling the island of Kyushu, Prime Minister Sanae Takayashi assured that disaster response teams are working around
16:54the clock
16:54to restore basic services.
17:03Let's take a short break, but before we invite you to visit our Facebook page at Telesuit English that you'll
17:08be able to watch our top stories,
17:10special live coverage and much more.
17:12Follow our page and activate the notification button to stay up to date on the world's most recent events.
17:18Final short break, don't go away.
17:46Welcome back to From the South.
17:47We will continue now in the Middle East as the United States has resumed its aggressions against Iran after a
17:52fight-aid pause,
17:53killing three people in Qashem Island, including a two-year-old child.
17:57According to a statement from the United States Central Command, its forces began launching strikes against Iran early on Thursday,
18:04describing the operation as a response to what it called attempted Iranian attacks against U.S. forces in the region.
18:11The renewed U.S. operations came after a brief pause in the bombing campaign that began following 13 consecutive nights
18:18of United States strikes against Iranian military targets.
18:21Meanwhile, Iranian media reported search and rescue operations continued for people trapped under the rubble following a United States strike
18:29on Qashem Island,
18:30with officials confirming that two children were pulled from the debris and taken to the hospital.
18:35Moreover, the Ormazgan University of Medical Sciences reported that a couple and their two-year-old child were killed in
18:42the attacks.
18:47In this context, the Islamic Revolutionary War Corps of Iran announced its relaunch of retaliatory missiles against U.S. military
18:54bases in the Middle East region.
18:55In a statement, the RGC said aerospace fighters targeted a rampant maintenance shed at the U.S. Iran-Mubafak assaulty
19:04airbase in Al-Azac,
19:06which hosts U.S. F-35 fighter jets, completely destroying three of the aircrafts and causing heavy damage to three
19:13others.
19:13In the document, the organization noted that the U.S. attack used occupied bases in Jordan after being unable to
19:20confront Iran in a direct war
19:22and informed a number of enemy officers and technical and maintenance personnel were also killed in their retaliatory response.
19:43Russian forces have achieved a victory over a key settlement in Donetsk as target strike continued against Ukrainian military infrastructure.
19:51The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the troops secured the strategic settlement of Krasnyuk,
19:58high-precision strikes over the past 24 hours, neutralized Ukrainian ammunition and fuel depots,
20:05drone workshops and temporary deployment sites housing 40 mercenaries across 142 areas.
20:11Operations also targeted port facilities and vessels used to supply Western-backed Ukrainian forces,
20:17further dismantling military infrastructure in the region.
20:27And protesters gathered in downtown Kyiv to protest Zelensky's administrations and demand the return of former Defense Minister Mikhailov Fedorov.
20:36Waving Ukrainian flags, chanting slogans and holding signs with messages in support of Fedorov,
20:42dozens of citizens protested in the Ukrainian capital.
20:45Fedorov was removed from office during a cabinet reshuffle in mid-July, six months after Parliament appointed him to head
20:53of the Ministry of Defense,
20:55a move that sparked protests across the country.
20:57After his departure, President Volodymyr Zelensky offered him the position of Deputy Prime Minister for military innovation,
21:04which Fedorov rejected on the grounds that he needed full authority over the Ministry of Defense to carry out his
21:11reforms.
21:20Head of authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo report more than 3,000 confirmed Ebola cases as cross
21:27-water prevention efforts intensify.
21:29The Democratic Republic of Congo's Ministry of Health confirmed 3,360 cases and 1,487 deaths,
21:37while nearly 6,000 patients have successfully recovered over officials.
21:42And the World Health Organization warned that active mobility across regional borders maintain a high risk of transmission.
21:49Neighboring nations have heightened screening protocols as border crossing to safeguard public health and contain the outbreak.
22:04The United Nations warns that the current Ebola outbreak is critically increasing for the insecurity in the Democratic Republic of
22:11the Congo.
22:11According to United Nations officials, the outbreak in the hard-hit Etudi province is a crisis,
22:16on top of a crisis that has compounded a catastrophic situation with over 5 million Congolese already experiencing emergency-level
22:24food insecurity.
22:26The long-running conflict in Eastern Congo has driving nearly 10 million people into crisis or emergency levels of hunger,
22:32with Etudi, the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak, among the most affected with 1.9 million in need of food,
22:40according to the World Food Programme.
22:42In this sense, Julian Harnese, United Nations senior Ebola coordinator, called the attention on the exponentially growing disease,
22:52which since March 15 has recorded 3,360 confirmed cases, including 1,487 deaths.
23:07We have come to the end of this news brief. Remember, you can find this and many other stories on
23:11our website at www.telesurienglish.net,
23:14and also join us on social media. We are on Facebook, X, Instagram, Telegram, and TikTok.
23:19For Telesuri English, I am Lorena Foam. Thank you for watching.
23:30We'll see you next time.
Comments