15/03/2025
FTS 12.30
*Cuba's restoration of power grid underway.
*In Yemen, at least 31 killed in U.S. airstrikes.
teleSUR
These and many more stories now!
FTS 12.30
*Cuba's restoration of power grid underway.
*In Yemen, at least 31 killed in U.S. airstrikes.
teleSUR
These and many more stories now!
Category
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NewsTranscript
00:00In the United States, the International Conference for the Normalization of U.S.-Cuba Relations
00:15is underway.
00:20Cuba continues works round the clock to fully restore the national power grid as significant
00:25progress is made and users in different provinces see power restored.
00:32And the United States has launched a series of airstrikes against the Houthi resistance
00:37in Yemen.
00:42Hello and welcome to From the South, my name is Belén de los Santos, I'm from Interceptor
00:46Studios in Havana, Cuba, we begin with the news.
01:00On Saturday, the International Conference for the Normalization of U.S.-Cuba Relations
01:05began in New York amid the intensification of the hostile policy of the U.S. against
01:10the Caribbean country.
01:12The forum reiterates its demand for an end to the longstanding economic, commercial and
01:17financial blockade imposed on the Cuban people and also calls for the exclusion of the island
01:23from Washington's unilateral lists of alleged state sponsors of terrorism.
01:29A final declaration is expected with the objectives of the solidarity movement in the immediate
01:34future taking into account that there is a two-way blockade by the United States that
01:41dramatically affects the lives of tens of millions of Cubans and U.S. residents.
01:51And in an exclusive interview with Telesur's social activist Ika Nahum spoke about the
01:55work of the movement to support Cuba from within the United States.
02:01Every year there is a conference that the United Nations sponsored for the CSW, Commission
02:13for the Status of Women, and so the Cubans are able to come in and the previous administrations
02:21that have carried out the economic pressures and blockade against Cuba in the past, including
02:29the Trump administration with Rubio, are not able to keep them out.
02:35So we organize the solidarity movement in the United States, Canada, and increasingly
02:42across the hemisphere.
02:44We organize against the blockade and we have, as the Cubans, since they're able to come
02:50to New York City legally, to address and speak for themselves and for Cuba at our conference.
02:57So we have today hundreds of people that are physically attending and then many hundreds
03:04online that are working out and uniting to fight against the blockade and join the rest
03:12of the world.
03:13A majority of countries at the United Nations vote against the U.S. blockade and it really
03:21is more of a political and economic war, but our movement is inside the United States,
03:29inside the belly of the beast, as they say.
03:32So our movement is organized a little differently from other countries, but we feel that those
03:38countries that vote in the United Nations every year, year after year, beautiful words
03:43at the United Nations, because I go watch them, in solidarity with Cuba, they need to
03:49also unite to enforce politically and materially, if necessary, what's voted on overwhelmingly
03:59by the United Nations every year.
04:02And we have, our movement is trying to link up with that sentiment to organize with other
04:08forces in other countries to pressure their governments to do the right thing and help
04:13Cuba in its time.
04:15What kind of support are you receiving from the Senate and Congressmen in this country?
04:22And precisely in Cuba, the latest report from the Ministry of Energy and Mines indicates
04:27that the recovery of the national power grid continues to move forward.
04:31Lázaro Guerra Hernández, General Director of Electricity of the Ministry of Energy and
04:36Mines reported that the situation in the country has evolved during the course of the night
04:41and early morning, and so far the country's electricity system is interconnected from
04:45Havana to Guantanamo in the easternmost region of the country.
04:49Cuba's main thermoelectric power plant, Antonio Guitarras, is also ready to join the electric
04:54system shortly, as Havana already reports 57 connected circuits.
04:59Work continues around the clock to ensure the full recovery of the system nationwide.
05:10And in Venezuela, the political forces have started the electoral race for the elections
05:14to be held on May 25th.
05:16On Saturday, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela carried out the selection of its
05:21candidates from the popular bases.
05:23Our correspondent Roberto Hugo PĂ©rez sat with more details.
05:28This is a very particular democratic exercise where the people nominate their candidates.
05:33In communal assemblies such as this one, militants of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela,
05:38the largest political force in this country, propose the names of the candidates for deputies
05:43to the National Assembly, legislators and governors.
05:50To express each one of us, who are those people that can accompany us?
05:54Who is that suitable person, committed to the process, but beyond with the process from
05:58their community, because we want them to be new leaders, leaders that come from the base,
06:02as our President Chávez said, we must go from the catatums to raise those new leaders
06:06to that revolutionary process.
06:15Here in the country, it is the people's power who nominates, and not the party leadership,
06:20a model of popular participation that allows the people to elect those they consider the
06:24best people to represent them in public office.
06:30Here they are not assigned by hand by other spaces, but the communities get together.
06:35And the communities present the candidates to the party, and the party, of course, within
06:39the characteristics and the regulations and guidelines that we have, we choose the candidates
06:43that are going to represent this town.
06:50This process was carried out simultaneously in more than 47,200 communities in all the
06:57states of the country.
06:58At the end of the event, a list of people proposed for the leadership of the party was
07:02drawn up.
07:05In Venezuela, we are already accustomed to electoral processes, but this has been one
07:09of the most satisfying initiatives for us as community leaders to have the power or
07:13the opportunity to choose our candidates for such important positions as the National Assembly,
07:17the legislature of the Bolivarian state of Miranda, and the governorship of the state
07:21of Miranda.
07:27President Nicolás Maduro highlighted the participation of more than 5 million citizens
07:31and described the day as historic.
07:37This is the true democracy that the empires are afraid of.
07:40This is the power of the conscience of a sovereign and rebellious people, which the empires are
07:45afraid of.
07:52That is why I always say, those empires that have attacked us and are attacking us, have
07:56not been able to and will not be able to.
07:59Here we are more united than ever, stronger and more powerful than ever and I feel very
08:03motivated because this is the prelude to the success of the elections for the National
08:07Assembly, Governorships and Legislative Council on Sunday, May 25.
08:20All political forces in the country have also activated their own electoral machinery, according
08:24to their calendars, agendas and internal processes to elect their candidates.
08:31This is a party that is present in all 335 municipalities of Venezuela, in its 23 states,
08:39in the capital district, and we are going to present candidates all over Venezuela because
08:43that is what a political party does.
08:51The National Electoral Council has called for elections for governors, deputies to the
08:55National Assembly and state legislators on May 25 of this year.
09:04And now we have a short break coming up, but first, remember you can join us on TikTok
09:07at Teletubb English, where you will find news in different formats, news updates and much
09:11more.
09:13Stay with us.
09:14Welcome back to From the South.
09:40We continue with more information, in this case in the Middle East.
09:43On Saturday, the United States launched a series of airstrikes against the Houthi resistance
09:48in Yemen.
09:49The attacks, ordered by President Donald Trump, targeted key military installations in Sanaa
09:54and the northern province of Saada, areas crucial to the Houthi resistance efforts to
09:59protect Yemen from external threats.
10:02Despite the U.S. claims of targeting alleged terrorist bases, reports indicate that civilian
10:08areas were hit, resulting in significant casualties and destruction.
10:14Lebanese al-Shabahi, spokesman for the Houthi-run Health Ministry, confirmed that at least 31
10:20people were killed in the strikes.
10:26And also this Sunday, the popular Yemeni movement Ansar Allah announced that the airstrikes
10:31of the United States will not go unanswered.
10:34In this sense, they announced that the aggressions against civilians and civilian facilities
10:38are considered war crimes, and constitute a sign of U.S. terrorism against nations,
10:44and encourage the Zionist regime to continue the cruel siege of Gaza.
10:50However, they assured that this will not affect the Yemeni people's support for Palestine,
10:56its people, and the resistance in Gaza.
11:03And on Saturday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that
11:07talks with the Hamas-Palestinian resistance movement will carry on.
11:11Netanyahu instructed his negotiating team to continue the talks based on the proposal
11:16by U.S. Middle East Representative Steve Whitkoff for the immediate release of the remaining
11:2211 living hostages and half of the dead hostages.
11:26Hamas said it is ready to release Israeli-American U.S. soldiers Eden Alexander in exchange for
11:33a simultaneous start of negotiations for the implementation of the second phase of
11:38the ceasefire agreement, which entails a truce and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from
11:44Gaza as well as the immediate opening of the border crossings.
11:52And in Syria, the death toll from an explosion in the building in the coastal city of Latakia
11:57rose to 14 today, as rescue teams continue to search for possible survivors.
12:05The explosion that left the four-story residential buildings completely destroyed was due to
12:11an attempt by the owners of a hardware store to dismantle an unexploded ordnance in an
12:18unsafe way to extract copper.
12:20The Syrian civil defense reported that its rescuers recovered from under the rubble the
12:25bodies of a young man, a woman and her daughter.
12:29It also explained that among the victims there are four women and an equal number of children,
12:35in addition to 18 injured, including six children.
12:39According to the entity, the death toll is still preliminary while search and rescue
12:43operations continue.
12:49And more than 1,000 civilians were killed by terrorist forces of the current de facto
12:54government in the coastal region of Syria between March 6 and 9.
12:59In an exclusive interview with TELUSO, the president of the Association of Friendship
13:03between Turkey and Syria, Mehmet Yuva, explains the domestic and regional context.
13:11Formerly pearls on the Mediterranean coast, the regions of Latakia and Tartus became the
13:15scenes of ethnic cleansing.
13:17But this slaughter was in preparation with the fall of the Assad government, explains
13:21Professor Mehmet Yuva.
13:27After that, thousands of foreign fighters received Syrian citizenship and were given
13:30public positions, such as governors or police chiefs.
13:3499% of these people are on un-in-state lists as persons wanted by the law for committing
13:38acts of terror.
13:45The president of the Association of Turkish-Syrian Friendship, Mehmet Yuva, has been a professor
13:50at the University of Damascus since 1997.
13:53He observed the propagandistic preparations to try to justify the massacre.
14:00Perception was created that within the Assad government there was an Alawite regime, even
14:04though 99% of the ministers were Sunni, almost all governors were Sunni, the interior minister,
14:09the chief of general staff, the chief of military intelligence were Sunni.
14:13But, in order to break the ties between the communities and win over the Sunnis, Ahmet
14:17Karirshan started to blame only the Alawite community, to put a target on them.
14:28When attacks against HTS terrorists were registered, thousands of extremists headed for the coast,
14:33with elements of al-Nusra, the Hamza Shah Brigade, the Salman Shah Brigade, the Caucasus
14:38Union, the Islamic Movement of Turkestan, the Balkan Front, among others.
14:45They say we are not going to sit together with these Alawites, we are not going to eat
14:49together with the Christians.
14:51These groups send the message to al-Shara that they want to stay in accordance with
14:54their religion and their struggle.
15:00But the attacks have an international context, stresses Mehmet Yuva, an academic dedicated,
15:06also under the Assad government, to the normalization of relations between Turkey and Syria.
15:13The propaganda began that only Israel could save the Alawites.
15:17And it is true that only Israel was capable of organizing and planning a massacre of this
15:21scale.
15:22Others are even calling for a un-peacekeeping force, a sort of protectorate.
15:25If this happens, the coast will be separated from the rest of the country, as it was 100
15:30years ago under the French, and Syria will become a landlocked country.
15:38Yuva says that the country has a great responsibility, demanding that Ankara should immediately open
15:43the border to the coast, and send a delegation to make official contact with leaders of the
15:48regional community.
15:53And we have a second short break coming up, but before we invite you to visit our Facebook
15:57page at Telesur English, there you'll be able to watch our top stories, special live coverages
16:02and much more.
16:03Follow our page and activate the notification button to stay up to date on the world's most
16:08recent events.
16:09Final short break, don't go away.
16:21Welcome back to From the South.
16:23We continue with more information in Kazakhstan.
16:25More than 60 representatives from political, business, academia and also media gathered
16:31in Astana on Friday to discuss opportunities for strengthening China-Kazakhstan relations.
16:37The event, titled China in Spring – Prospects for Development of China-Kazakhstan Relations,
16:42was organized by China Media Group and the Chinese Embassy in Kazakhstan, Astana International
16:49University and Beijing Language and Culture University.
16:53During the event, the CMG President Sheng Haixiong emphasized President Xi Jinping's
16:59vision for openness and cooperation, highlighting China's advancements in fields like artificial
17:04intelligence, aviation and space exploration.
17:08Discussions focused on China's Belt and Road Initiative and high-tech collaboration.
17:19China has achieved another milestone in its space program by launching two new satellites
17:23into orbit.
17:25On Saturday, a Long March-2D carrier rocket took off from Yuanquan Satellite Launch Center
17:32in northwest China at 12.11 pm Beijing time.
17:36The mission successfully placed the Gongjin-302 remote sensing satellite into its designated
17:43orbit.
17:44This satellite is expected to enhance China's capabilities in remote sensing and also Earth
17:49observation.
17:50The launch also included the deployment of the Tianyang-23 satellite, further expanding
17:56China's presence in space.
17:58This mission marks the 564th flight of the Long March-series rocket, demonstrating China's
18:05consistent advancement in space technology and its ability to conduct complex satellite
18:11launches.
18:16In northern Macedonia, dozens of people died on early Sunday morning in a fire at a discotheque
18:22in Kohani Town.
18:23According to official reports so far, there are 59 fatalities and 155 people injured who
18:31were taken to nearby hospitals.
18:33The authorities also said that only 35 of the corpses have been positively identified,
18:40among them a policeman who was in charge of narcotics and illegal psychotropic substances
18:46at the premises.
18:47There is an ongoing investigation and inspection of the place to determine the causes of the
18:54fire.
18:59In Serbia, massive demonstrations linked to protests followed a building collapse in Novi
19:04Sar, ended in central Belgrade.
19:08The Serbian Ministry of the Interior reported that 107,000 people participated in these
19:14demonstrations of students and opposition sympathizers, while it also reported several
19:20incidents and also the arrest of two people for public disorder.
19:24For his part, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, asserted that the government dismantled
19:30groups that sought to close episodes of violence in the country and thanked the millions of
19:36people who followed this event with concern and showed that they knew how to listen to
19:41the other side.
19:54And in the United States, the Chicago River turned once again glowing curly green as the
19:59city opened its annual St. Patrick's Day celebration.
20:03Thousands of cheering onlookers clustered along downtown bridges of members of Chicago
20:08Journeymen Plumbers Union Local 130 began dumping containers of dye into the rivers
20:15from motorboats Saturday morning.
20:18They began this tradition some 63 years ago and the dyeing immediately precedes the annual
20:25downtown St. Patrick's Day parade to celebrate Irish culture.
20:29It must be noted that the dye is non-toxic and while the river stays bright for several
20:34hours, some trace of color can remain for days.
20:38It's my first time here, I mean I usually, I come to school here in the city, but like
20:46I've never been like, you know, my time living in Illinois came to the river dyeing.
20:50It was a good fun experience, a lot of people, like good vibes, like everybody was just there
20:54having a good time, like you know, laughing and then like cheering on when they were coming
20:58dyeing.
20:59And it was just an overall pleasant experience to be in and it just like gives a good vibe
21:03of like Chicago.
21:05And like this we have come to the end of this news brief.
21:07You can find these and many other stories on our website at TELUSorEnglish.net and also
21:11join us on social media, we are on Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and also on TikTok.
21:16For TELUSorEnglish, my name is Belen De Los Santos, thank you for watching.