21/02/2025
FTS 12.30
*Israeli govt. starts colonial projects in occupied Jerusalem
*Historic GCC-Jordan-Egypt meeting on Gaza opens in Riyadh
FTS 12.30
*Israeli govt. starts colonial projects in occupied Jerusalem
*Historic GCC-Jordan-Egypt meeting on Gaza opens in Riyadh
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NewsTranscript
00:00The Ecuadorian judiciary has ruled that the 16 soldiers being investigated for the enforced
00:16disappearance and subsequent murder of four children in Guayaquil will remain in jail
00:21while the investigation continues.
00:27The Saniyahu government initiated six colonial projects in occupied Jerusalem with the alleged
00:32approval of the Trump administration.
00:39And the summit of Arab countries to work out a coordinated response to White House plans
00:44for Gaza has begun in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
00:51Hello and welcome to From the South.
00:53My name is Belén de los Santos and from Aterzo Studios in Havana, Cuba, we begin with the
00:58news.
00:59The Ecuadorian judiciary has ruled that the 16 soldiers that are being investigated for
01:03the enforced disappearance and subsequent murder of four children in Guayaquil will
01:08remain in jail while the investigation continues.
01:11The provincial court of Guayaquil argued that the preventive detention was necessary to
01:16guarantee the impartial development of the investigation.
01:20In this sense, the decision was made after a two-day appeal hearing in which the uniformed
01:26officers claimed that the minors had been left alive.
01:30It should be remembered that on the night of December 8, 2024, four young people were
01:35abducted during a police operation and on the 24th of the same month, their bodies were
01:41found burnt near the airbase to which the soldiers involved in the case belonged.
01:48All this in the midst of the state of emergency that was declared by the government of Daniel
01:52Novoa on the pretext of tackling the security crisis in the country.
02:02And mass deportations from the United States are a reality in El Salvador.
02:06However, the government has not revealed any plan to deal with an eventual mass return
02:10of migrants.
02:11From San Salvador, our correspondent Roberto Hugo-Presa with the details.
02:20As every week, planes from the United States arrive at Monsenor Romero Airport full of
02:25deportees.
02:26There are officially no figures, but it is certain that deportations will increase in
02:29the coming weeks without any state plan for returnees being known.
02:36El Salvador has 210,000 deportation orders for Salvadoran citizens who are living in
02:40the United States with or without residency.
02:47We also have a considerable number of Salvadorans who are requesting asylum and have an appointment
02:51in court and when they get to court they are going to be told no.
03:00This implies that the profile of deportees coming in the coming weeks is different from
03:03the traditional ones, warn migration experts.
03:10They may be older people with chronic illnesses, people who have lived 30, 40 years in the
03:14United States, who have never settled their situation and who are already accustomed to
03:18a reality different from that of El Salvador.
03:21Therefore, the impact which they are going to have on this reintegration process is extremely
03:25complicated.
03:33In the face of this bleak outlook, organizations working on behalf of returnees are doing their
03:37part.
03:38The Integration Center for Migrant Workers, for example, runs support programs that include
03:43psychological help, training, community organization and seed capital for entrepreneurship.
03:51And many families that we have supported have improved their basic basket of goods, their
03:55access to basic services.
03:57So, we see that they even have the possibility of some, so to speak, some leisure activities.
04:02So, this has improved at different levels, not only at an economic level, but also at
04:07a psychosocial level for families and communities.
04:16Iris is one of the beneficiaries and says she would not attempt to risk her life and
04:19the lives of her children once again on the so-called death route.
04:27Because what we went through was not easy and, as I said, I almost lost my son's life
04:31and if we had a second chance, I don't think I would waste it like that, with ups and downs,
04:36but as I said, I have my business, I am with my children and I know we can get ahead here.
04:47Although no mass deportations have been officially registered so far, U.S. immigration authorities
04:52have reported dozens of arrests of Salvadorans who will sooner or later be repatriated.
05:02On a related topic, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro affirmed this Thursday that the criminal
05:07group El Tren de Aragua is now extinct in the country, and urged his U.S. counterpart
05:12to investigate the truth about this criminal organization.
05:20If anything can be said about the terrorism of the Tren de Aragua, the extinct Tren de
05:25Aragua, it is that they wanted to attack the cities of the country with terrorism, and
05:30we prevented it with intelligence, with action.
05:33President Trump asked for those reports so that you can see, I say this with sincerity
05:38and respect, so that you can see the truth about the infamous Tren de Aragua.
05:43Our migrants are not criminals, they are not bad people, they were people who migrated
05:48as a result of the sanctions, they are good people, they are working people, and in Venezuela
05:53we welcome them as a productive force, with a loving embrace.
05:58Welcome back to the homeland, a family reunion.
06:02Welcome everyone.
06:03And in Argentina, on Thursday, the Senate approved the bill promoted by President Javier
06:10Milley that suspends the primary, open, simultaneous and compulsory elections in the run-up to
06:16the legislative elections of next October.
06:18The project to eliminate the PASO elections was presented by Javier Milley with the argument
06:23that these primary elections, in which the vote of the citizens was mandatory, are costly
06:28and, according to his opinion, in reality are useless because most of the candidacies
06:33are already defined beforehand and there are practically no internal elections in the parties.
06:40The initiative was endorsed with 43 votes in favor, 20 against, and six abstentions
06:45becoming a law, and it only needs the promulgation of President Javier Milley to enforce it.
06:58Also in Argentina, members of the National Civil Aviation Workers Association continue
07:03to meet in the face of possible layoffs in the sector.
07:06The union confirmed the authorities' intention to transfer functions to other agencies, including
07:11the expulsion of several workers.
07:13It also pointed out that the redundancies in the state agency posed a significant risk.
07:18It warned that the loss of qualified workers could have consequences for the sector.
07:29Now we have a short break coming up, but first, remember you can join us on TikTok at TELUS
07:32or English, where you will find news in different formats, news updates and much more.
07:38Stay with us.
07:43Welcome back to From the South.
08:13As we continue with more information, the Netanyahu government initiated six colonial
08:17projects in occupied Jerusalem with the alleged approval of the Trump administration.
08:22A spokesperson for the Israeli Amin NGO announced activating the construction of new settlements
08:30in Palestinian lands as US President Trump backs up the expansion of Israeli settlers
08:36in occupied territories.
08:38The NGO further confirmed Israel demolished around 255 Palestinian buildings in East Jerusalem
08:45in 2024, in addition to 27 others torn down in 2025.
08:51These clear violations of international law and regulations forced the displacement of
08:55thousands of Palestinian civilians.
09:03The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement to denounce the Israeli
09:08bill as the latter condemns entities and organizations defending human rights.
09:13The ministry ensured that Israel was trying to hide out the constant violations of its
09:18military forces.
09:19The entity further described them as war crimes against humanity.
09:23And likewise, the statement expressed Palestinians' rejection of genocide, forced displacement
09:29and annexations of Palestinian lands by the Tel Aviv regime.
09:32Moreover, they urged the international community to take action against such legislative initiatives
09:37by the Israeli government.
09:45In this context, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a massive raid against the
09:50West Bank, justifying this genocidal offensive by the earlier blast of three empty buses
09:56in Badyam city near Tel Aviv.
09:59Israel decided to tighten up the military iron wall operation which occupation forces
10:04have launched since January against the West Bank.
10:08The Prime Minister made such decision following a meeting he held with both the police and
10:12the intelligence Shin Bet agency.
10:14Likewise, human rights organizations recall that since January, Israel has expelled over
10:1945,000 Palestinians from the West Bank.
10:23So they fear that the Israeli government has used this explosion, which there is no
10:28conclusive evidence yet, to keep up its military intervention.
10:38Meanwhile, Israeli authorities claimed that one of the four bodies returned from Gaza
10:42was not one of the captives that had to be handed over by Hamas.
10:46The Israeli army said early Friday morning that it had completed the process of identifying
10:52three of the bodies of the hostages handed over earlier that day by the Islamic resistance
10:57movement and they said that one of them did not match.
11:01The announcement comes at a fragile time for the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which
11:06began on January 19th and which has begun being marked by a series of Israeli violations
11:13and now this alleged discovery has caused Israel to announce restrictions on the Palestinian
11:19movement and closures in part of the West Bank as part of its security operations in
11:25the area.
11:32In other news, the U.S. administration continued its interfering policy by imposing sanctions
11:38on African leaders involved in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
11:43The President Trump sanctioned Rwandan Minister for Regional Integration James Kabarebe and
11:49the M23 rebel spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka for their support to the M23 group.
11:56Likewise, Washington gave penalties to two companies attached to Kanyuka.
12:00The White House pursued such impositions as their vying for appropriating Eastern Congo's
12:06trillions of dollars in mineral resources.
12:09Withstanding, the wealth is currently under the control of the M23 group as it seized
12:15Goma and Bukavu eastern main cities.
12:18Since the onset of the conflict, authorities registered over 700 deaths and nearly 3,000 injured.
12:25There were lifeless bodies all over the city of Bukavu.
12:40When we received a guarantee of security, we set out to collect the bodies throughout
12:48the city of Bukavu so that they could be buried with dignity and safety.
12:54Many people have lost their lives in this war.
12:57We, the people of Bukavu, don't want war.
13:00We want peace.
13:01It's pitiful and sad to see our brothers who lost their lives like animals being buried
13:05in poor conditions.
13:09And in a ceremony marked by the raising of an Ivory Coast flag, France has withdrawn
13:14from its only military base left in the African country.
13:18Operation Troops had occupied the military base at Port Boued, near the capital Abidjan,
13:23since 1978.
13:25Teneb Irahima Outara, Ivory Coast Defence Ministry, has said that this act marked a
13:31new stage in relations between the two nations.
13:34While his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu described the act as a historic event and
13:39acknowledged that changes must also take place in military relations.
13:44The French forces in the West Africa have been expelled from several countries in the
13:51sub-region recently.
14:02Ladies and gentlemen, at the end of the year, the President of the Republic indicated on
14:07his keynote address that France would hand over the 43rd BIMA, that is French Marine
14:12Infantry Battalion, base to the Ivorian Armed Forces.
14:15This one will be named after the late General Thomas Daquin.
14:19This ceremony is to announce that.
14:42Welcome back to From the South, we continue with more information.
15:05The summit of Arab countries to work out a coordinated response to the White House plans
15:09for Gaza has begun in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
15:13The member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, plus Egypt and Jordan, have agreed
15:19to reject the US President's plans.
15:21With this agenda, the representatives of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman
15:26and Bahrain, and the host country Saudi Arabia, together with the two countries that are not
15:30part of the coalition, are holding this meeting, which they have defined as a fraternal meeting.
15:37For experts, it is one of the most important meetings in recent times and represents an
15:42unprecedented historical turning point.
15:50In other news, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met on Thursday with his Chinese
15:54counterpart Wang Yi to debate on concerning global issues.
15:58On the sidelines of the current G20 meeting held this Friday, both diplomats stressed
16:05the importance on political dialogue to settle disputes.
16:08Furthermore, they tackled topics of common interest, such as the relations with the US
16:14and possible solutions to conflict, namely the one in Ukraine.
16:18Both foreign ministers agreed on taking the lead as stabilizing factors against the ongoing
16:24turmoil in the global system.
16:31The Sudanese government recalled its ambassador from Kenya, Kamal Khubara, for consultation
16:36in protest against allowing meetings of rebel militias and their allies.
16:41The Sudanese Foreign Ministry criticized the decision of the Kenyan government by saying
16:46the latter's actions promote a conspiracy to consolidate the coming-to-power of a militia.
16:52Moreover, Sudanese authorities described the Kenyan call as a serious threat to regional
16:57peace and security, and to the good neighborly relations between both countries.
17:02Likewise, the Sudanese administration accused the Kenyan authorities of backing up the rapid
17:07support forces, which had announced their intention to set up a parallel government
17:12in the country.
17:17We go now to Germany.
17:19As the Union Party, the center right force leading the German election polls, has lost
17:23two percentage points in the last few hours.
17:26By contrast, the far-right alternative for Germany has risen slightly, to 21% of the
17:31vote.
17:32Germany is on the edge, less than 72 hours before the early elections.
17:37There is already talk of pacts.
17:39The aim is to strengthen the court and sanitary in order to prevent the advance of the far-right,
17:45which is only seven points behind the center-right, which currently has about 28% of support.
17:52The Social Democrats, currently in government, have been hit hard by the performance of Chancellor
17:57Olaf Scholz, and remain at a modest 16%.
18:01But socialists of the left could cross the 5% threshold, while more than a quarter of
18:06the voters, that is to say 27% of them, remain undecided.
18:15The Russian government denounced NATO's growing threat in their domestic port.
18:20Russian authorities ensure the military risks and threats against Russia have rumbled up
18:25due to the upsurge of NATO forces willing to attack port facilities.
18:30In this sense, they emphasized that they were coping with these menaces to submarine and
18:35port infrastructure in order to neutralize them.
18:38Meanwhile, a high official of the Russian government pointed out that among NATO's
18:43targets are ships, large maritime oil terminals, railroad crossings through which fuel is transported,
18:50and large bridges.
18:57And the Russian armed forces have carried out 11 attacks on various Ukrainian military
19:01infrastructure in recent days.
19:04In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said that between 15 and 21 February the attacks
19:11were carried out in Ukrainian gas, energy and port areas, as well as power stations
19:17supporting the Kiev military-industrial complex and sites of temporary deployments of armed
19:23formations of the Ukrainian regime and foreign mercenaries.
19:27According to the security service, the Russian air defense systems shot down two MiG-29 aircraft
19:35and 790 unmanned aerial vehicles of the Kiev aircraft type.
19:47We now move on to other topics.
19:59In September of 2021, one of the largest wildfires in Spain occurred in Sierra Bermeja.
20:05A study now shows that this forest fire could increase the floodable area in western Costa
20:10del Sol by up to 300% in case of possible droughts or any other high-intensity event.
20:17Let's see more.
20:22Pablo walks over the Beaver River Basin, an area of high flooding at its mouth but
20:26which may be increased due to the destruction of the mountain range after a fire in 2021.
20:35Flood-prone land is marked topographically and orthographically, the negligence of the
20:38administrations in allowing houses to be built so close to flood-prone areas.
20:46Not only happens here but perhaps in all the coastal areas, because the soil of the
20:49coast is very exquisite, it's very greedy, isn't it?
20:58Sierra Bermeja is a natural park that was the target of a sixth-generation fire in 2021,
21:03an extreme phenomenon that devastated more than 8,400 hectares of this Mediterranean
21:08forest.
21:14It is not only from here that it seems to be a fire that is taking on a great virulence,
21:18there are several causes.
21:20Global warming, the average rise in temperatures, water shortages, but also factors that are
21:24attributable to human causes are undoubtedly contributing factors.
21:30Heat, wind and extreme phenomena spread the fire despite the work of nearly 6,000 troops
21:40and more than 200 aerial resources point one of the worst fires in the history of Spain
21:44occurred in Sierra Bermeja.
21:47Now however, scientists are warning that the effects of possible tears or major floods
21:51could radically affect the populations adjacent to this mountain range.
22:01Now a study by the Geography Department of the University of Malaga the Sierra Bermeja
22:05fire in 2021 could increase by up to 300% the floodable area in areas of the western
22:11Costa del Sol in case of possible droughts.
22:17There is another series of problems, such as the increase in the speed of the flows,
22:21which makes them more dangerous, or the increase in shear stress.
22:25All of this has been measured and specific numbers have been drawn up to show that shear
22:28stress increases, which is the capacity of the flow to erode or cause damage to infrastructure,
22:33for example.
22:41Experts warn that the extreme events we are facing are a consequence of climate change
22:45and the authorities in action to curb the climate crisis.
22:54And like this, we have come to the end of this news brief.
22:57You can find these and many other stories on our website at telesurenglish.net and also
23:01join us on social media, we are on Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and also on TikTok.
23:07For Telesur English, my name is Belén de los Santos, thank you for watching.