Indaba zesiNdebele Ekuseni - Voice of America
Indaba zesiNdebele Ekuseni - July 17, 2024
This is video and news. I'm Tommy McNeil. Federal law enforcement officials are warning a possible copycat attacks or retaliatory violence after the attempt on former President Donald Trump's life. As a visibly stronger security detail surrounds both the Republican nominee and U.S. President Joe Biden. Meanwhile, EP correspondent Alana Durkin richer reports law enforcement officials worry about the fallout from Saturday's attack on former president and presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Federal law enforcement officials are warning now of potential retaliatory acts of violence saying they've seen an uptick of threatening rhetoric online. Independent candidate Robert Jeff Kennedy Jr. has also received secret service protection. A threat of Donald Trump's life from Iran prompted additional security in the days before Saturday's rally, but it was unrelated to the assassination attempt on the Republican presidential nominee. President Joe Biden addressed black supporters in a battleground state of Nevada Tuesday. His first campaign appearance since the assassination attempt on his Republican rival. He linked the attack on Trump to ratioing gun violence, imploring Americans to condemn violence in any form. B.A.S. Patsy Boudakaswara, currently Biden lags behind Trump nationally and in various swing states, including Nevada, aiming to win black support. Biden contrasts at his policies with his rivals. He mocked the term black jobs that Trump often uses. Folks, I know what a black job is. It's a vice president of the United States. Biden repeated calls for Americans to treat each other not as enemies. Trump, uncharacteristically subdued after the attempt on his life, has also called for unity. But many expect the calm to last only temporarily with campaigning set to intensify following the party's political conventions. Patsy Boudakaswara, viewing news, Washington. This is the U.N. News. The Israeli military will begin sending draft notices to Jewish ultra orthodox men Sunday. Step could destabilize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. Hundreds of men protested after the announcement follows the landmark Supreme Court order for young religious men to begin enlisting from military services. The U.S. Ambassador told Russia's Foreign Minister that President Vladimir Putin should release detained Americans singling out journalist Evan Gersker, which in ex-marine Paul Whelan. The Tom's Greenfield took the opportunity of Moscow's top diplomat, Sergei Lavrov, presiding at a U.N. Security Council meeting to promote multilateralism and democracy to appeal for the release of Americans. Rest of Americans are increasingly common in Russia with nine U.S. citizens known to be currently detained as the tensions or tensions between the two countries have increased especially since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The corruption trial of U.S. Senator Robert Menendez ends with guilty verdicts and all charges against him, which include him accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for using his powerful position and to enrich and protect two men and acting as an agent for the Egyptian government. Aaron Rainin reports from New York City. After the jury decision outside the Manhattan courthouse, the senator from New Jersey vehemently denied the charges. Good afternoon. Obviously, I am deeply, deeply disappointed by the jury's decision. I have every faith that the law and the fact did not sustain that decision and that we will be successful upon appeal. I have never violated my public oath. I have never been anything with a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never ever been a foreign agent. And as legal team has announced plans to appeal the verdict. Aaron Rainin, VOA News, New York City. Hi, police are investigating the deaths of six foreign nationals whose bodies were found in a room at an upmarket hotel in Bangkok on Tuesday, including looking for a seven-person connection with that incident. Reuters correspondent Alex Cohen. All six were of Vietnamese descent, including two Americans. Police believe they may have ingested something that killed them and that they were not the victims of robbery or assault. Initially from the scene inspection, there was no fight, no harm done. The property as far as we can see has not been ransacked. It is assumed that there was no intention toward the property and no outsiders entered as determined from the fingerprint investigation. It is possible that it occurred from the inside possibly a hideout, which indeed originated from the inside. No, I'm Tommy McNeil, viewing news. U.S. Senator Robert Menendez found guilty. This case has always been about shocking levels of corruption. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, and Mercedes Benz. Protests in Kenya turned deadly again. At least one person was killed in renewed anti-government protests. And it's an 800-year-old tradition. The annual swan census in London. When we could catch a family of swans, young signates, we take them ashore, we will weigh them, we will measure them, and we check them for any injuries. This is Wednesday, July 17th. And this is VIOA's International Edition. I'm Scott Wolterman, but jury in this courthouse convicted Senator Robert Menendez of corruption and national security offenses. U.S. Senator Bob Menendez was convicted on Tuesday on all 16 criminal counts he faced, including bribery at his corruption trial. Here's Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. This case has always been about shocking levels of corruption. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, and Mercedes Benz. This wasn't politics as usual. This was politics for profit. And now the jury has convicted Bob Menendez. His years of selling his office to the highest bidder have finally come to an end. In exchange for bribes, Menendez helped steer billions of dollars in American aid to Egypt. He accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars, and car and mortgage payments from three businessmen. He maintains his innocence. I'm deeply, deeply disappointed by the jury's decision. I have every faith that the law and the facts did not sustain that decision, and that we will be successful upon appeal. Senior Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and fellow New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, quickly called on Menendez to resign from the Senate. Night number two at the Republican National Convention in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, bringing us now for an update on how things are going is the always Steve Herman. So night number two, give us the lay of the land this evening. What's happening in the convention hall? Well, Scott, tonight, the official thing is make America safe again, but it could have really been named Republicans all play nice again because we have a number of Donald Trump's former foes in the Republican party who ran against him for president, taking turns issuing a message of unity and basically support for Donald Trump and, of course, denigrating Joseph Biden, saying that Republicans all have to go together to get Biden back to his basement as it was put by Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida. I saw that Nikki Haley was on the schedule for tonight, but not in the part of the show, nor was Ron DeSantis. That's going to be broadcast on network television in the United States. Oh, I think both of them showed up on most of the networks that were carrying the convention. No doubt about that because those two were especially of interest to viewers across the country and all the networks because of the very contentious campaigns that they had run against Donald Trump. Nikki Haley, of course, was the very last candidate to stick it out and actually won some delegates that are at this convention, and she is now pledging to Donald Trump. I know she released those delegates to the former president to just briefly explain to people what we're talking about is the primary elections gather human beings or delegates that come to the convention and then they vote in a ceremony to nominate whoever it is to run as the party's nominee for president against the other party. What's the mood there? I mean, first night was I know when he came out, it was just explosive in terms of emotion and applause and the first time he had been seen since the assassination attempt, have they been able to keep up that level of excitement tonight? Well, Donald Trump came out again this evening with his bandaged ear and also J.D. Vance is a selection to be his running mate. And if they win, J.D. Vance, the senator from Ohio, a very young fellow 39 years old, would become the vice president of the United States. So it was just a very jubilant mood. You have to understand that these are ordinary folks for the most part who come from all around the country, many from small towns. And this is an event that happens once of every four years. And it is one huge party this time around for Donald Trump. You know, you said he was in the hall again tonight. That's unusual. Usually you do not see the main candidate. You see him the first night at the very end of the first night, they come out, they wave, they stand on stage with their spouse and their running mate, they wave, but then you don't see that person traditionally again until they give their acceptance speech. But I see he's sitting in the hall listening to everybody talk about him. Well, he wanted to see what some of his former foes were saying against him and for them to know that he's sitting in the audience. I guess that's one way to look at it. Well, it is in the Republican party now really all about the one person, even traditionally, if it weren't Donald Trump, everybody rallies around this one person to get them elected into the White House. And I guess why not? Well, as you know, Scott, traditionally these major party conventions had quite a bit of sense of drama until recent decades where maybe that we still had a contested nominating process. Or if you go way back, things were decided in smoke filled back rooms at the last minute and you sometimes would have more than a dozen votes before you got a candidate. So that's sort of drama is long gone and these conventions nowadays are very orchestrated. They're more like a coordination than a nomination. And I think one thing that was remarkable with this particular Republican National Convention, the only real dissent involved the platform of the party, which again used to be a very big deal. But this platform was streamlined. It sounds very much like Donald Trump wrote it or at least it was taken from his written words. And there was some objection to adopting this platform because the language on abortion, that very contentious domestic issue here in the United States was softened to sort of widen the appeal of Trump and the Republican Party is the way that they're portraying this. And there was no discussion on the floor about the platform. They took the voice vote to me. It sounded like the nose were pretty close to the yeas, the yeses. But then the gavel slammed down saying that the platform had been adopted. Well, he's been saying on the campaign trail that, you know, we have to get elected and one of the one of the points of contention in the party is abortion. And he says, you know, I know it's been very emotional. And I know you, you believe in this, but we have to get elected and you're right. They're softening it up for the general election to try to bring in people that aren't as anti abortion as perhaps some of the people you're talking about. All right. And in an election year where we're down to a number of swing states and it could just take a few thousand votes in any one of these states to determine the outcome of the election, you're going to try to to widen your appeal as much as you can. All right, VOA, Steve Herman inside the convention hall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Thanks so much for the update. My pleasure, Scott. News breaking today says the United States got intelligence from a human source in recent weeks about an Iranian plot to assassinate former President Donald Trump CNN citing people briefed on the matter said there is no indication that the Iranian plot and the weekend assassination attempt are related. Iran says the allegations are unsubstantiated and malicious. My name is Joe Biden and I'm a lifetime member of the NAACP. And I am all in. He was President Joe Biden back on the campaign trail for the first time since the weekend's assassination attempt on Trump speaking at the NAACP convention in Las Vegas. I'm truly honored to be here to be this 10th moment in this country. It is a 10th moment. Just a few days after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, we're grateful. He was not seriously injured. We continue to pray for him and his family this time for an important conversation in this country. Our politics has gotten too heated. I've said he overall was on Sunday night as it made clear throughout my presidency. We all have a responsibility to lower the temperature and condemn violence in any form. Also from the Biden administration on Tuesday, news that he's getting ready to propose a major Supreme Court overhaul in the coming week that would include term limits for justices and an enforceable ethics code. The Washington Post reported citing two sources familiar with the plans that Biden is also weighing whether or not to call for a constitutional amendment to eliminate broad presidential immunity. Or it also that Biden will call for a ban on AR style guns like the one used in the assassination attempt on former President Trump. Following these other stories from around the world, Mexico said on Tuesday it's going to receive 2,700 Cuban doctors to alleviate a shortage of specialists despite criticism from opponents who say it will support the communist led Caribbean nation to the detriment of local medical professionals. A new hearing in the espionage trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gerskovitz has been brought forward to July 18th from August 13th, according to the Russian court hearing his case. Gerskovitz, 32-year-old American journalist denies any wrongdoing when on trial for espionage behind closed doors last month in Russia. Restaurants in and around Houston, Houston, Texas in the United States on Monday filed a class action lawsuit seeking more than $100 million from U.S. power provider center point energy alleging incompetence and negligence in the utilities efforts to restore power quickly following hurricane barrel. Police clashed with protesters in Kenya on Thursday and what appeared to be the biggest demonstration since President William Ruto withdrew proposed tax items. Youth led nationwide demonstrations that broke out a month ago against proposed tax hikes have continued, even after President William Ruto withdrew the legislation and fired most of his cabinet. In Kit and Gala, a town on the southern outskirts of the capital Nairobi, police fired repeatedly in the direction of hundreds of demonstrators. A Reuters reporter saw the body of one protester lying on the ground, blood oozing from a head wound. The National Police spokesperson declined to comment. Tuesday's protests appear to be the largest since Ruto withdrew the tax increases on June 26. He is now caught between the demands of lenders like the International Monetary Fund to cut deficits and a population wheeling from a rising cost of living. Indeed, protesters have directed some of their anger at the IMF, accusing it of being the driving force behind the now scrapped tax hikes. The IMF has said its main goal through its lending programs with Kenya has been helping the country overcome economic challenges and improve its people's well-being. Ruto's office had announced a multi-sectoral talks for this week to address grievances raised by the protesters, but there was no sign they had begun. Most of the leading activists behind the protests have rejected the invitation, instead calling for immediate action on issues like corruption. Ruto's spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. That's Reuters correspondent David Doyle reporting, "Israeli forces battle to mausled fighters in several parts of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The Palestinian health officials say at least 57 people were killed in Israeli bombardments. We get details on this now from Reuters correspondent Zachary Goldman." Gaza's health officials said those casualties included 23 killed at a United Nations school in Nousserat. The Israeli military said in a statement it attacked a group of terrorists who had operated from inside the school after taking steps to mitigate the risk to civilians. Gaza's health ministry said another 17 were dead after an airstrike in Khan Yunus on a car near a tended area, housing displaced families in the humanitarian designated area of al-Mawasi. The car was moving and a young man was walking. The car was targeted, blood was splashing, and shrapnel hit our tents and martyrs were left on the street. We screamed, "We need an ambulance." We put them on carts and rickshaws and the ambulance came after a while. Reuters footage showed residents carrying bodies of the dead and wounded on donkey carts and in rickshaws, two hospitals. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a senior militant in the Islamic Jihad group, an ally of Hamas. In a statement the military said, "We are looking into the reports stating that several civilians were injured as a result of the strike." Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas after its militants killed 1,200 people and took over 250 hostage in an attack on southern Israeli communities last October 7, according to Israeli Talies. At least 38,713 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory offensive since then, Gaza Health Authority said in their latest update on Tuesday. The Israeli military said in a statement on Tuesday that half of the leadership of Hamas's military wing has been eliminated with approximately 14,000 fighters killed or captured since the start of the Gaza campaign. News correspondent Zachary Goldman. VOA's International Edition continues. I'm Scott Walterman. Ukrainians are battling a record heatwave as residents also grapple with rolling blackouts from Russia's continued attacks on the country's energy system. The combination is creating a nightmare for the wider economy and everyday life. Reuters correspondent Sean Hogan has more on this. By torchlight, Ukrainian mother Margarita Zakachuk carries her child up to her 12th floor apartment. The lift is out due to a blackout. She is one of millions of Ukrainians struggling amid a record heatwave, compounded by regular power cuts, making air-conditioning units and refrigerators useless. "The first thing that has changed is that we don't cook much anymore. Secondly, we cannot store products in the fridge for a long time. For example, curts next for children will fall quickly. On the 2nd or 3rd day, they are not edible anymore. That's why we only buy food that we can eat today or tomorrow." Regular Russian airstrikes have ravaged the country's energy system, leading to hours-long rolling blackouts. The central geophysical observatory said on Tuesday it had clocked a record-high 93.5 degrees Fahrenheit in a keve for July 15. Temperatures on Tuesday were expected to reach even higher. "During the heatwave, we cannot use the air conditioner. We are trying to survive using the shower. We beat children in the water or we try to be outside in the park if we can." Store owners like Victoria, battle increased costs from running generators and product losses. "We suffer a lot. Blackouts last for six to eight hours during the day and it's a problem for dairy and ice cream. We don't order a lot of milk or butter because it spoils. We have to return products." Ukraine's broader economy is also struggling in the heat. State weather forecasters say the harvest of late crops could decline by up to 30 percent in central, southern and eastern regions. The energy minister has urged consumers to conserve energy and minimise the use of powerful electrical appliances to preserve the grid. Reuters correspondent Sean Hogan. Police say the bodies of six people were found in a luxury hotel in downtown Bangkok with poisoning a possibility. Police identified the dead as two Vietnamese-Americans and four Vietnamese nationals. The investigation is currently ongoing. Bolivian Cholitas are steering their way to empowerment with the public transport lilac line that helps women challenge gender barriers in the transport sector and creates a safer, more inclusive environment for all passengers, Reuters correspondent, aren't they? Say a parent reports. This is Felicity Dad Kispay, a driver with the public transportation lilac line in Bolivia. Kispay is one of dozens of women challenging gender norms here by driving taxis in many buses. There's a lot of violence against women, a lot of discrimination. For example, in the transport sector, they say women can't drive and we must not beat the wheel. They say we must be at home assisting our husbands. But as a woman, I feel I am capable. Kispay told Reuters she found her path to independence at the central of productive and entrepreneur women in El Alto, near the capital La Paz. The organization launched the lilac line in 2021 to train women so they could earn a source of income and sustain their families. Kispay says as a driver, she feels empowered. The purple line has been the reason I came to this organization because I suffered from violence from my partner. For this reason, I look for support, she says. Almost 51,800 cases of gender violence were reported in 2023 in Bolivia, according to the prosecutor's office. 75% of those were cases of domestic violence. Julia Kispay is the executive director of central of productive and entrepreneur women. She hopes the lilac line will grow and expand to other parts of Bolivia to help more women take control of their lives. They learn to drive as we want to empower them. And the project expands throughout Bolivia so that many women get out of violence. Because the economy is a problem for women as they can't get out of their homes and stay with their husbands that shouted them, scold them, and tell them they're foolish. Florida's correspondent, Arthe, they apparent. And finally it's the ideal way of catching swans. It's an 800-year-old tradition catching swans on the river Thames in London so they can be counted. It's a swan census. When we could catch a family of swans, the young signets, we take them ashore, we will weigh them, we will measure them, and we check them for any injuries. We have to be 47473. What is it? 47473. Once captured, they're tagged with a number, weighed, measured, and looked over for, as he just said before, injuries. And a lot of the injuries we find are from fishing tackle injuries. So a lot of them we can detackle, but if it's a serious injury, then they will go to one of the swan rescue organisations and to one of the vets there, and they will be attended to there. And after 800 years of practice, they have the collection of the swans down to a science. With long boats, which are skiffs, Thames gifts, they're absolutely ideal for it and easy because you make a great big circle. You work the boats in closer together and then because you can lift the family of swans out by hand. The swan upping, they call it the swan upping. The swan upping tradition dates back to the 12th century when the English crown first claimed ownership of all the mute swans, which have long curved necks, orange beaks, white feathers, and were then considered a delicacy that would be served at banquets. This has been International Edition on the Voice of America. On behalf of everyone here at VOA, thank you so much for being with us for this time. For pictures, stories, videos, and more, follow VOA News on your favourite social media platform and on our website at VOA News dot com. I'm Scott Mulcerman