FTS 12:30 18-08: Electoral silence in force in Ecuador ahead of snap elections
18/08/2023
FTS 12.30
*Heavy rains force hundreds of evacuations in the Argentine city of La Plata
*UN mission completes withdrawal from Mali amid increasing violence
FTS 12.30
*Heavy rains force hundreds of evacuations in the Argentine city of La Plata
*UN mission completes withdrawal from Mali amid increasing violence
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NewsTranscript
00:00 In Ecuador, the electoral silence is enforced after the campaign for the presidential and
00:12 legislative elections of next Sunday, August 20, ended on Thursday.
00:19 In Argentina, more than 1,000 families were affected by the floods caused by heavy rainfall
00:24 that hit the city of La Plata with particular strength.
00:31 The UN Mission in Mali has completed its withdrawal from the military bases in Beira and Gudetama
00:36 due to the violence unleashed between Tuareg rebels and the army.
00:42 Hello, welcome to Frente South.
00:46 I am Ana Razabal from the news studios in Havana, Cuba.
00:49 Let's begin with the news.
01:03 In Ecuador, the electoral silence comes into force after the campaign for the presidential
01:08 and legislative elections of next Sunday, August 20, ended on Thursday.
01:12 From midnight local time until the elections are over, political propaganda will be forbidden,
01:17 a rule that applies to any act of pro-Semitism but does not include dissemination in social
01:22 networks.
01:23 Also, from midday on Friday until the morning of Monday, drug law is enforced, suspending
01:28 the sale, distribution and consumption of alcoholic beverages.
01:33 These elections are marked by this vital violence associated with drug trafficking and organized
01:37 crimes, which even claimed the life of the presidential candidate of the Construya movement,
01:42 Fernando Villavicencio, last August 9.
01:49 In this context, the National Electoral Council inaugurated on Friday the home voting system
01:53 to facilitate the suffrage of people over 50 or with disabilities.
01:58 The Electoral Council implemented this strategy to facilitate the suffrage for the people
02:02 who might need it.
02:04 With this purpose, members of the board will move on a vehicle to beneficiaries' homes.
02:09 Members of the residence and president of the board will ask voters or persons of the
02:13 trust for an identification card to verify that the voter is registered in the electoral
02:17 roll.
02:18 The ballot box will be sealed and delivered together with the electoral package to the
02:23 Electoral Processing Center, where it will remain under military guard until the election
02:27 day next Sunday.
02:33 In Argentina, the government and oil companies freeze gasoline, increasing prices as did
02:37 after October elections.
02:39 The Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, announced on Thursday night that fuel prices will freeze
02:44 until October 31 to contain the impact of the devaluation.
02:49 He also announced a 90-day extension of the understanding with mass consumption companies.
02:54 Massa explained that the impact of the devaluation in the refinery sector will be distributed
03:00 among consumers, who will pay the single increase.
03:04 As well as the companies, which will give up part of the profits of the state, which
03:09 will give up part of the resources and collect from the companies on the sale of fuels.
03:17 The Brazilian Federal Police arrested the commander of the military police, Col. Rosa,
03:21 accused of mission and attacks on his alleged three branches of government on 8 January.
03:28 According to a statement, the operation against the leadership of the Federal District Military
03:32 Police resorted to half a dozen searches and seven arrests, including of two commanders
03:37 and five officers, for alleged conclusion on the January 8 attacks.
03:42 The prosecution also collected evidence on some of the messages exchanged by the suspects,
03:47 and the content of which repeated conspiracy theories about alleged fraud.
03:55 The hacker Walter Delgady confessed Thursday in Brazil that the former president of the
03:59 nation, Jair Bolsonaro, suggested hacking the electrobody system in the last elections.
04:05 According to the hacker, Bolsonaro wanted to use the hacking to demonstrate the alleged
04:09 fragility of the electronic software system.
04:13 Delgady stated before the Parliamentary Commission investigating the assaults on national powers
04:17 on January 8 that the former head of state even promised him a pardon in case he was
04:22 caught carrying out these illegal tasks.
04:25 The computer scientist explained that he suggested to him to create a fake electronic ballot
04:29 box he used to be as propaganda, in which a voter could vote for one and the search
04:34 would be pointed out to another.
04:37 In addition, she assured that the ultra-right-wing congresswoman Carla Sambeli was the intermediary
04:42 in the meetings.
04:45 Who was the man behind his attempt at the Electoral Throes?
04:53 Deputy Carla Sambeli on the orders of the then-president Bolsonaro.
04:58 Who asked him to take responsibility for the alleged phone taping of the Minister of the
05:03 Supreme Court Alexandre de Moraes, the then-president Bolsonaro?
05:07 Who invited him to make electoral propaganda to suggest to the population an alleged fraud
05:12 in the electoral system?
05:15 The advertiser Duda and the then-president Bolsonaro.
05:19 Who directed you to the Ministry of Defense to elaborate questions to the High Electoral
05:24 Court about the voting system?
05:27 The advertiser Duda and also the then-president Bolsonaro.
05:31 Who told you that if you committed an illegal act you would be pardoned and receive a pardon?
05:37 The then-president Bolsonaro.
05:39 Who gave him carte blanche, and even illegally?
05:42 The then-president Bolsonaro.
05:45 In Venezuela, during the podcast Los Neres of the president of Amortimédia Patricia
05:49 Villegas, the leader of the Lancashire Workers' Movement of Brazil, Joao Pedro Cedillo, stated
05:54 that the Latin American region is going through an important crisis of capitalism and an urgency
05:59 to protect their privileges.
06:01 Brazil and Latin America are living a serious crisis of capitalism, and the urgency to protect
06:09 their privilege in the face of the capitalist crisis in the last six years gave us four
06:14 anti-democratic coups against the people.
06:16 Overthrew Dilma without any reason, imposed on us a puppet government, put Lula in jail,
06:22 and then imposed a fascist government of a crazy captain called Bolsonaro.
06:26 During that period, we managed to resist, as you said.
06:29 Our popular movements were the first to be in the trenches for Lula's freedom and the
06:34 recovery of democracy.
06:38 In the same line, Joao Pedro Cedillo affirmed that the capitalism fascists continue with
06:42 their illegal seizure of different lands, including indigenous territories.
06:47 The capitalists and fascists, precisely in times of crisis, continue to take over public
06:55 lands, indigenous lands, because they are interested in privatizing the goods of nature
07:01 and accumulating, not producing food, but accumulating, privately taking over the goods
07:07 of nature, and that is the class struggle the landless workers will represent danger
07:12 to them, mostly because we will be a permanent threat to prevent them from continuing with
07:19 these crimes, to privately seize common goods, to kill the forest, to burn, and to use all
07:26 the environmental crimes that produce this climatic disbalance that we are all suffering.
07:31 Let's take a short break.
07:34 But remember, you can join us on Twitter @TaleswithEnglish, where you'll find news in different formats,
07:40 new dates, and more.
07:43 Other stories coming up.
07:44 Stay with us.
07:45 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:46 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:49 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:17 Welcome back.
08:18 In Argentina, more than 1,000 families were affected by the floods caused by heavy rainfall
08:23 that hit the city of La Plata with particular strength.
08:26 According to reports from the authorities, in one hour it rained the same volume of water
08:31 equivalent to what it usually rains in the whole month of August.
08:35 As a consequence, dozens of streets and houses were totally flooded, or as for the streams
08:39 that cross the city all floated.
08:41 Hundreds of people had to be evacuated, and civil defense indicated that the storms are
08:46 expected to continue and be accompanied by gusts of wind, electrical activity, and hail.
08:51 The authorities also suggest to avoid going out and taking necessary precautions in the
08:57 heavy rains.
09:02 Over there, the water is up to the chest.
09:04 Almost all the neighbors have left.
09:06 This started early in the morning with hail, and at 10 o'clock in the morning, we started
09:10 to help each other to evacuate.
09:13 Today it started to rain, and the stream in the back overflowed it, and as you can see,
09:18 it caused a disaster in the neighborhood.
09:20 Unfortunately, it is always the working people, the humble people, who bear the brunt.
09:25 The politicians fix their houses, their streets, and light up their neighborhoods, but you
09:30 don't see them here.
09:33 Wildfires continued to burn northward Canada, causing evacuation of thousands of residents.
09:39 Canadian residents had to drive hundreds of miles to safety while others waited in long
09:43 lines for emergency flights, facing the worst fire system on record in the country.
09:48 The flames driven by strong winds were 10 miles from the northern edge of the town of
09:53 Yellow Wheat, home to 20,000 residents.
09:57 Authorities asked people in the four highest risk areas to evacuate as soon as possible.
10:07 In the United States, authorities report 100 unidentified dead and at least 1,000 missing
10:12 after a Hawaii wildfire.
10:14 Security forces do not know the real number of dead after the forestry incident of the
10:18 last few days.
10:19 They also believe that a Polish figure could rise as rescuers to locate bodies and remove
10:24 the remains.
10:25 On the other hand, authorities detail that identifying the dead would not be easy since
10:29 most of them are unrecognizable and there is little chance of finding fingerprints.
10:39 A Japanese protest held in front of the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo against the Fukushima
10:43 Sea Watch Disposal Plan.
10:45 Hundreds of Japanese rallied in different areas of Tokyo to protest against the government's
10:50 plan to retach radioactive water into the sea for the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant,
10:55 demanding the immediate suspension of the project.
10:58 The Japanese government, which also considers the charge of radioactive water into the sea,
11:03 has given all sorts of excuses, stressing that other methods of disposal would either
11:07 not work or would be impractical.
11:16 We are at the moment where the treated water will be released soon.
11:20 I feel a sense of responsibility in stopping this from happening, and that's why I'm here.
11:26 The World Meteorological Organization, an agency attached to the UN, warned that the
11:31 impact of climate change in the South Pacific region is increasing.
11:35 The WMO detailed that during the last La Niña event, the average temperature in this Pacific
11:41 area was 0.2 centigrade in the year 2022 and passed to 0.3 higher than what was recorded
11:47 in 2011.
11:48 The head of the agency, Petteri de Haal, has estimated that now with the La Niña phenomenon,
11:54 it will continue in the remainder of 2023, and will have a greater impact on the region.
12:00 He also said that the impact of climate change is associated with higher temperatures, erratic
12:06 patterns, more marine headwaves and coral bleaching.
12:15 Telesur English launches its own videos on the Mound site for you to go and revisit,
12:19 our interviews, subseries, special broadcastings and more.
12:22 Just go to the Google+ corner in our website home page and click on the video option to
12:27 access our VOD platform.
12:29 Now we have a short break, stay with us.
12:33 Welcome back.
12:56 The government of Belarus assured that it will respond immediately if Ukraine, Baltic
13:00 countries or Poland act aggressively against it.
13:04 President Alexander Lukashenko indicated that the response will be overwhelming because
13:08 Belarus is not in competition with them or has any differences.
13:12 The president said that if there are hostile incidents on the part of the Baltic countries,
13:17 the response will be forceful which will result in considerable losses and damage.
13:22 Lukashenko added that nuclear weapons located in the Slavic country will not be used if
13:26 there is no aggression against Minsk.
13:29 However, if there is an aggression Belarus will not wait and will use the whole arsenal.
13:40 Russian and Chinese Navy ships have been jointly conducting maritime patrols and naval exercises
13:45 in the Pacific Oceans in order to counter air strikes.
13:49 Images released by the Russian Defense Minister on Friday show ships of the navies of the
13:53 two countries participating in joint maritime patrols.
13:58 The maneuvers involved rescue training and anti-aircraft drills.
14:02 The defense portfolio further said the drills included a protest in replacement of field
14:06 surfaces by ships and transfer of cargo on the move, adding that the joint attachment
14:11 of ships had covered more than 6,000 nautical miles since the start of the exercises.
14:21 Hundreds of Palestinians on Friday bid farewell to the remains of Hamza Afwesene, a Palestinian
14:27 citizen who perished after a year of agony caused by a Israeli gunfire.
14:31 The mortal remains of the deceased were carried to a procession as a tribute to the martyrs
14:40 killed by the Israeli regime.
14:42 As reported by the Palestinian Health Ministry, Afwesene, 30, never fully recovered from the
14:47 injuries he suffered in May 2021.
14:49 At the time, the medical report released stated that a gunshot wound caused multiple skull
14:55 fractures and the loss of one of his eyes.
15:03 Iraq's intelligence minister announced the arrest of a key suspect in a recent terrorist
15:07 attack claimed by Daesh and a Muslim shrine.
15:10 A summit issued by the foreign minister on Friday reports that among those captured was
15:15 a key suspect who sponsored the terrorism operation and maintained direct contact with
15:20 the head of Daesh's foreign operations in Syria and Afghanistan.
15:24 The terrorist attack on the Holy Kompan of Sa'ad, Karak and Shiraz occurred on August
15:29 13 and claimed the lives of two people and wounded eight others.
15:33 The perpetrator of the attack was arrested by security guards and Iranian intelligence
15:38 assured that his tagging national was recruited by Daesh and received training in Afghanistan.
15:48 The UN mission in Mali, Minushma, has completed its withdrawal from the military bases in
15:52 Be'er al-Ghudan because of violence between the Tuareg rebels and the army.
15:57 The United Nations' multidimensional integrated stabilization mission sent in a communique
16:02 that the UN bases were now closed and handed over the state of Mali through its designated
16:07 civilian representative.
16:09 The document refers to the formal return of the facilities, symbolizing the end of the
16:13 presence of Minushma in the conflict areas, which had also been accused of abuses against
16:18 various communities.
16:20 They also signed an agreement with the region's governor, specifying his status as a description
16:25 of the infrastructure.
16:31 In South Africa, after two-day meeting and months of negotiations between several opposition
16:35 parties, the multi-party convention agreed to work more closely as the country heads
16:39 towards election in 2024.
16:42 During the ceremony, leaders of the various parties signed a multi-party charter, which
16:46 full-paved the way to oust the ruling African National Congress led by President Idrie
16:51 Ramaphosa.
16:52 The leaders called on different parties that were not part of the group to reach out and
16:57 joined efforts in making sure that the ANC is removed from power, claiming that the country
17:02 is being misgoverned and the rule of law is not respected.
17:06 For the first time since the advent of democracy in 1994, the African National Congress first
17:11 lost its parliamentary majority in 2024, and therefore the presidency.
17:17 This comes against a backdrop of growing discontent with corruption, an unprecedented energy crisis,
17:22 and a flying economy marked by unemployment.
17:25 It's a historical moment for South Africa.
17:31 This is the first in the modern era of South Africa that coalition is cobbled together
17:39 before an election campaign.
17:43 The foundation laid by this group over the past three months has laid the foundation
17:49 upon which a new government can be built, one which is stable and that can address the
17:56 pressing needs of all South Africans.
17:59 In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 230 people, including children, have died of cholera
18:05 in the first seven months of 2023.
18:08 In this period, more than 31,000 suspected or confirmed cases of the disease were registered
18:14 in the country.
18:15 The most affected province has been North Kivu, which has had more than 21,000 confirmed
18:21 or suspected cases, including more than 8,000 children under five years of age.
18:26 The UNICEF coordinator stressed that if urgent measures are not taken in the coming months,
18:31 there is a significant risk that the disease will spread to the parts of the country that
18:35 have not been affected so far in these many years.
18:43 We have come to the end of this brief.
18:45 You can find this and many other stories on our website, batellesurienglish.net.
18:50 And join us on social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Teleram and TikTok.
18:55 For TELUS Surienglish, I'm Ana Rosabal.
18:57 Thank you for watching.
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