23/02/2025
FTS 12.30
*Hundreds of people gather at Hezbollah Martyrs Funeral in Lebanon.
*Argentinean President Milei charged for crimes of fraud.
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These and many more stories now!
FTS 12.30
*Hundreds of people gather at Hezbollah Martyrs Funeral in Lebanon.
*Argentinean President Milei charged for crimes of fraud.
teleSUR
These and many more stories now!
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NewsTranscript
00:00In Germany, voting progresses in the early General Elections.
00:14More than 59 million people are called to vote in General Elections marked by the rise
00:18of the far-right wing.
00:21In Lebanon, hundreds of people gather at the Sport City Stadium in Beirut to take part
00:27in the funeral activities honoring the two Hezbollah martyrs, Syed Hassan Nasrallah and
00:31Syed Hashem Zafi Aldin.
00:36In Argentina, the Attorney General Eduardo Taenano indicted the President Javier Mele
00:41for the crimes of fraud, influence peddling and negotiations incompatible with public
00:45office in the framework of the Libra cryptocurrency scam.
00:54Hello, welcome to From the South, I'm Luis Alberto Matos from Televisu Studios in Havana,
00:58Cuba.
00:59We begin with the news.
01:00In Germany, voting progresses in the early General Elections.
01:03More than 59 million voters are called to vote in an election marked by the rise of
01:08the far-right wing.
01:09Early General Elections began this Sunday in Germany to elect a new Bundestag for the
01:13next four years, in a contest marked by challenges such as tensions with NATO, economic inequality,
01:19anti-immigration policies, among others.
01:22Voting stations began to receive votes from citizens at 8 a.m. local time and will be
01:27in operation until 6 p.m. local time.
01:30During the election, 630 members of the lower house of parliament will be elected, who in
01:35turn will vote for a new chancellor.
01:37These are early elections because the ruling coalition of the Social Democratic Party,
01:41the Greens and the Liberals disintegrated last November.
01:50Let's now welcome to From the South our next analyst to continue going deeper in the importance
01:54of today's election in Germany.
01:56We're joined by Juan Carlos Valareso, Chair of the International Relations Department
02:00at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador.
02:04Welcome Juan Carlos.
02:05Thank you very much for having me.
02:08It's our pleasure.
02:09Juan Carlos, what are the defining issues shaping voter priorities in this election?
02:22Climate change, economic recovery, post-pandemic, migration, or rising energy prices?
02:26How do these differ from past elections?
02:29Well, I see a similarity with the world trends in places where there have been elections,
02:37like in the United States, for instance.
02:39The two topics that are predominantly being debated right now by citizens and the candidates
02:45are immigration and the situation of the economy.
02:49In the case of Germany, I think particular consideration given that it's the biggest
02:55country and the most populated in terms of the European Union status.
03:02So I think these elections are rather important because it would set the tone for the debate
03:08as to what happens with immigration.
03:10We see certain parties like the extreme far right party, AFD, talking about closing borders
03:17and taking a similar approach to Donald Trump when it comes to deportations and detentions
03:24of people.
03:25And then we have a more, I would say, probably still strong policy against immigration, like
03:35the Christian Democratic Union.
03:37However, at the same time, it is important to notice that when we talk about the economy,
03:44Germany is not going through a very good patch with the economy.
03:47It's had an expectation for the last couple of years.
03:51And this is not necessarily due to the mismanagement of bad government of Olaf Scholz.
03:58We are seeing here a world trend that involves many variables like the competition with the
04:04car industry in China or the situation with the war in Ukraine that has led Germany to
04:11look for other sources when it comes to get the gas, therefore making it more expensive
04:15for Germans to acquire this resource.
04:20So I think it's a very complicated situation right now, especially regarding these two
04:24issues.
04:25You were referring to the Alternative for Germany party.
04:28This election has been marked by a rise in support for the far right.
04:32Just yesterday, hours before the polls opened, there were large demonstrations in Berlin
04:37of people protesting against this far right section of politics in Germany.
04:41In your opinion, what is the impact that the Alternative for Germany party will have and
04:45how it will shape the political discourse in the country as polls expect that they will
04:52be the second majority in the parliament?
04:59I think it's very risky.
05:00I think it's very dangerous, given that the proposals by this party are very drastic.
05:09I remember looking at a rally of the Alternative for Germany party and they had the intervention
05:15of Elon Musk, and this shows how this is more of a world trend situation.
05:22Also local, given the context of what Germany experienced in the last election, let's remember
05:28that in turning, the AFD won the majority of the votes in the local elections.
05:34And of course, as you say, it is expected to be the second political force in the Bundestag.
05:40However, at the same time, it is also a situation that put the other parties and the citizenry
05:46in general in alert.
05:49Let's remember that we haven't had a situation like this happening in Germany since the Second
05:53World War.
05:55And the rise of the far right is very dangerous, given that it's a very unexpected situation,
06:02just like we are seeing now in the United States.
06:06With Paul suggesting fragmented parliament, in your opinion, what coalition configurations
06:10are most likely?
06:11Could we see a first ever tripartite government and how might that impact policy stability?
06:20I consider it very unlikely that any of the parties would have a coalition with the AFD.
06:29There were speculations in the past that Friedrich Merz, the candidate for chancellor
06:35for the Christian Democrat Union, had mentioned the possibility of this happening.
06:41But then it was totally negated by saying that that is not an option.
06:47At the same time, then the rest of the parties that will remain, the Social Democrats, this
06:53is a big loss for them, Olaf Scholz's party.
06:57And this shows how they will definitely need to negotiate with the Greens.
07:01And I see a possible Christian Democrat Union aligning or conceding certain space for the
07:10Social Democrats in order to form a coalition.
07:13Let's remember that in the past, Germany has already done this in the era of Angela Merkel,
07:19that managed to stay in power for 16 years.
07:21And that's an example of how this situation could happen.
07:25I mean, because of the political system Germany has, it leads to negotiations, and this could
07:31take weeks or even months to finally have a coalition that could form a government.
07:39At the same time, I think it is very important that we keep our eyes open when it comes to
07:43these negotiations, because as we've seen in many other countries in the world, every
07:49time more and more politics is becoming very unexpected in terms of the results at the
07:54last minute.
07:56We saw in the recently concluded Munich Security Conference, U.S.-German relations take a dive.
08:01How might the election outcome affect Germany's strained ties with the U.S.?
08:08It's a very complicated situation, especially given that just a couple of days ago, Olaf
08:14Schulz has mentioned that the relations with the United States, especially with this tendency
08:20of the U.S. to impose tariffs and to look for supposedly equality, has led Germany to
08:29take a stand and say that they will also impose tariffs on products that come from the United
08:35States.
08:37We also have to consider that this is not just an economic relation, it's a political
08:41and security relation as well.
08:43And given that the United States is trying to push aside the European Union as a whole,
08:49as an organization, as a region, in terms of dealing directly with Russia to try to
08:55end the conflict in Ukraine, it's definitely putting some pressure on Germany to show its
09:02strength as a European leader.
09:04So I think regardless of what the outcome is for tonight, it's likely to expect that
09:10the Christian Democrats have the majority, according to the latest polls, and that would
09:14put them in a situation where they have to negotiate.
09:17I would see a more likely situation of dealing with European partners, with France, with
09:24neighboring countries in Belgium, in the Netherlands, to try to strengthen the position of the
09:32European Union.
09:33We have to consider that the situation in Ukraine is taking very unexpected turns when
09:39it comes to the unpredictability of Donald Trump's actions regarding the situation, and
09:45therefore Germany has to be very careful when it comes to the relation with the United States.
09:51Thank you, Juan Carlos, for your time and your inputs here in From the South.
09:56Thank you very much.
09:57It's our pleasure to have you, as always.
09:59Let's now take our first short break.
10:01First, remember you can join us on TikTok at Telestro English, where you'll find news
10:04in different formats, news updates, and much more.
10:09Stay with us.
10:18Welcome back.
10:19We'll take the topic of Germany, as the voting in these early federal elections are close
10:23to finish.
10:24For more details, we're going live with our special envoy, Junus Sonner.
10:27Welcome, Junus, to From the South.
10:34Hello, good afternoon, good evening, actually, from Berlin, the capital of the Federal Republic
10:39of Germany.
10:40I am right now in front of the federal headquarters of the Christian Democratic Union.
10:47You see the building right behind me, and you see a huge line here waiting for people
10:54to enter this building.
10:57That is due to the fact that the Christian Democratic Union, the conservative party,
11:04has been leading the polls in the parliamentary elections of Germany, which will be finished
11:11in approximately 15 minutes.
11:15At six o'clock local time, the voting centers will close, and at six o'clock and one minute,
11:22the national television will publish its exit polls, taken today over the day at the voting
11:31centers, with more than 85,000 people interviewed by them in a representative way.
11:37And these numbers will indicate, or will, they will not be any official numbers, but
11:43they will indicate how the seats of the 630 deputies' parliament will be distributed among
11:52the parties.
11:53The parties will react already to these numbers, to these exit polls.
11:58They are considered kind of non-official but clear results.
12:03Now, here in the polls, the Christian Democratic Union has been leading.
12:08On second place has been always, with 20 percent, the Alternative for Germany party, the ultra-right-wing
12:16and ultra-nationalist party, which has been criticized by the rest of all the parties
12:21as not being a democratic party.
12:25All the other parties have rejected to enter any cooperation, collaboration, or coalition
12:31with this party, both at the federal level as well as in the different states of Germany.
12:38Remember, Germany is a federal state.
12:40So this is the second party, and it is a big, big question how they will end up in numbers.
12:46Third comes the Social Democrat Party.
12:49They have been on government until December together with the Greens and the Liberals,
12:55but their coalition has collapsed, and thus they called for these early elections.
13:02These elections were scheduled to occur in September 2025.
13:07But they have been advanced, they have been taken to an earlier date due to the collapse
13:13of this coalition.
13:14And the Social Democrats are entering these elections with the expected poll of a result
13:21of 15 percent, followed by the Greens, who are expected to achieve 13 percent.
13:28So one thing is clear already.
13:31No party will govern this country alone.
13:34There will be talks about coalitions.
13:37But the mathematics of these coalitions will become clearer from 6 o'clock on when the
13:44final results of two smaller parties will get clear, because there's a 5 percent threshold
13:50to enter the German parliament, and two parties, the Liberals and the alliance of Sarah Wagenknecht,
13:57are in the polls between 4 and 6 percent.
14:00So they might enter or they might just fail to enter the German parliament.
14:04And that will, of course, affect the distribution of seats in the parliament among the other
14:09parties and affect coalition calculations.
14:14As for the time being, there is much talk about the so-called grand coalition between
14:18the conservatives of the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democrats, which might
14:24have to include a third partner that might be the Greens, that might be the Liberals.
14:31It seems pretty clear that after 6 o'clock, a lot of talking will begin about possible
14:37coalitions.
14:38This is to be, remains to be seen.
14:41With 6 o'clock and one, the first non-official exit poll results coming in via state television,
14:49all eyes are, as I said, on two factors.
14:52How will the extreme right end up in these elections, and will the two smaller parties
15:00make it into the parliament or not, thus affecting a possible future coalition constellations?
15:07But as for the time being, Friedrich Merz, the candidate of the Christian Democratic
15:11Union, is very confident that he will lead the election, he will lead the establishment
15:19of a new government here.
15:21And he presented himself very confident yesterday in closing his campaign when he said the politics,
15:27the left politics here in this country are over, we will have a turn in the economic
15:32policy, we will have a turn in migration policy.
15:35He also promised to strengthen German military and to, he called Europe to be more united
15:43facing Russia, facing China, but also facing the United States.
15:47He said who goes there small will be attended as a small person there.
15:52So he presented himself already as the future chancellor of the country, but we will have
15:59to expect, wait for the final results that will come later in the evening, starting from
16:05six o'clock and one minute on.
16:13Thank you, Juniors, for the latest details as the election day is about to close.
16:17We'll stay in tune with Upcoming News Brief for more information coming from Germany.
16:21Let's now continue with other news.
16:40In Lebanon, hundreds of people gather at the Sports City Stadium in Peru to take part in
16:45the funeral activities honoring the two Hezbollah martyrs, Zayed Hassan Nasrallah and Zayed
16:49Hashem Zafi al-Din.
16:51Preparations progress efficiently to receive the crowds of people who will be part of the
16:56route and services of the funeral procession, which began at the Sports City and ended at
17:02the Old Airport Road, facilitating large-scale participation since early Saturday morning.
17:07People from various Lebanese regions, as well as thousands of citizens from Arab and Islamic
17:12countries such as Iran, Yemen, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait and Turkmenistan began to arrive.
17:17The event was also attended by diplomatic delegations, parliamentarians, ministers and
17:22other political figures from approximately 70 countries.
17:30And Israel suspended the release of 602 Palestinian prisoners scheduled for Saturday, February
17:3522nd, in violation of the ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian Resistance Movement,
17:39Hamas, and the Israeli regime.
17:42Under the agreement between Hamas and Israel, the Saudi regime was to release at least 602
17:46Palestinian prisoners after the release of six Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip as
17:51part of the seventh round of prisoner exchanges.
17:54In a statement, Hamas declared that Netanyahu is playing dirty games to sabotage the Gaza
17:58ceasefire agreement.
18:00In this regard, the Palestinian Resistance Movement called on all the mediators and guarantors
18:04of the agreement to exert pressure on the Zionist entity so that the agreement is respected.
18:17We now have a second short break coming up, before we invite you to visit our YouTube
18:20channel at Telesol English, there you'll be able to re-watch our interviews, top stories,
18:24special broadcastings, and more.
18:26Hit the subscribe button and activate the notification bell to stay up to date on the
18:30world's most recent events.
18:31Have a short break, and go away.
18:42Welcome back.
18:43In Argentina, the Attorney General Eduardo Taiano indicted the President Javier Milley
18:47for the crimes of fraud, influence peddling, and negotiations incompatible with public
18:51office in the framework of the Libra cryptocurrency scam.
18:55After a week of the outbreak of the controversy, Taiano started the investigations of the Argentine
19:00head of state and ordered the first evidentiary measures.
19:04To these investigations are added a series of denunciations coming from the United States
19:09and the accusations against the President's sister, Karina Milley, for the crime of bribery
19:13to coordinate hearings with the President.
19:16The Attorney General also ordered the intervention of the prosecutorial unit specializing cybercrime
19:21of the public ministry, with the purpose of tracing the websites linked to the cryptocurrency
19:25and collaborating in the preservation and recovery of evidence.
19:33The Government of Venezuela denounced a new act of sabotage against the national electric
19:37power system this Saturday, February 22nd.
19:40Through a statement issued by the Ministry of the People's Power for Electric Energy
19:43and the National Electric Corporation, it was informed that Saturday, February 22nd,
19:48the authorities denounced a new terrorist and fascist attack by the extreme right wing
19:52against Venezuela's electrical installations.
19:55This time, it is the demolition of one of the electric transmission towers in the state
20:00of Anzuategui, especially in the town of Barbacoa, in Barcelona.
20:04On the affected sectors, they noted the following sectors are currently affected, Mezonas, Viñedo,
20:11Lorquilla, Villa Olímpica, La Ponderosa, Cruz Verde, Residencia Tamarindo, Moriches,
20:17Puente Ayala, José Antonio Anzuategui, and Mallorquin.
20:20The agency also stated communication was established with the Ministry of the People's Power for
20:24Internal Relations, Justice, and Peace in order to activate all citizen security agencies
20:29and find the whereabouts of those responsible for the criminal act.
20:37And in Colombia, President Gustavo Petro called more than 4,000 farmers to a large mobilization
20:42to defend the agrarian reform and their rights to land and a dignified life.
20:47Petro called on agrarian representatives to mobilize to defend social conquest and vindicate
20:51the work of the farmers.
20:54During the ceremony, the new Chicoral Pact was signed, which is considered a roadmap
20:58to promote agrarian reform, guarantee rural well-being, and contribute to peace with social justice.
21:04Previously, on February 14th and the 15th, some 6,000 representatives of farmers, indigenous
21:10and Afro-descendants communities formed municipal committees to strengthen the Farmers Popular
21:15Organization and those participating in the land distribution process.
21:20And in Peru, the death toll rose to 8 and the number of injured rose to 82 after the
21:28collapse of the roof of a shopping mall in the city of Trujillo.
21:32The roof of the Real Plaza shopping mall collapsed in a restaurant area, causing panic among
21:36hundreds of people.
21:37Through a press release, the Ministry of the Interior indicated that more than 200 police
21:41and firefighters are at the site.
21:44The entity also indicated that it is carrying out investigations to find those responsible
21:48for the alleged crime.
21:49Local authorities declared a regional mourning from February 22nd to the 23rd.
21:54And this is where we have come to the end of this news brief.
21:59You can find these and many other stories on our website at TELESURINGLISH.net, or join
22:03us on social media, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and TikTok.
22:07For TELESURINGLISH, I'm Luis Alberto Matos, thank you for watching.
22:18TELESURINGLISH.COM