Indaba zesiNdebele Ekuseni - Voice of America
Indaba zesiNdebele Ekuseni - July 05, 2024
at 1900 UTC on the voice of America. This is VOA News, I'm Michael Brown, British Labour Party leader Kier Starmer sounded like a winter Friday after an exit poll pointed to a landslide win for his party in the British election. "Because tonight people here and around the country have spoken and they're ready for change to end the politics of performance, a return to politics as public service. The change begins right here because this is your democracy, your community and your future. You have voted. It is now time for us to deliver. Thank you very much." The historic defeat for conservatives will likely spark a contest to replace Prime Minister Rishi Sunok as leader. US President Joe Biden went on the radio Thursday, bowing to keep running after disastrous debate performance raised questions about his readiness. We get more from the AP's Jennifer King. In a radio interview with Andrea Lawful Sanders for the source on Philadelphia's independently black-owned W.U.R.D. radio, Biden says the stakes extend beyond his own political prospects. "This is the most important election because the next president in the United States, by the way, is going to be able to appoint at least two more justices for your period. Maybe more. Imagine what that does in the Supreme Court." There's a growing sense that Biden may be willing to take a second of the next election. In the last few days to make a persuasive case that he's fit for office before Democratic support for him evaporates completely. "Proud of the record and we just kind of keep moving." The president will campaign in Wisconsin on Friday and sit for an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos that will air as a primetime special Friday evening. Jennifer King, Washington. "After hours of heavy rains, winds that left a path of destruction and Jamaica hurricane burled as headed toward Mexico's Jucatan Peninsula, the center website BOANews.com. This is BOA News. Lebanon's Hezbollah launched a major rocket and drone attack on Israel on Thursday and threatened to hit new targets and retaliation for the killing of a top commander a day earlier in the south of the country. The latest surge of violence in the steadily worsening border conflict where this correspondent Lucy Fielder has more. "Sparked by Gaza, the conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel has raised fears of a full-scale war, which both sides have indicated they want to avoid and diplomatic efforts, led by the United States, are working to prevent." Mohamed Nasser was one of the most senior Hezbollah commanders Israel has killed during the conflict. Senior Hezbollah official Hisham Safyad Dean, speaking at a memorial for him, said the group would widen its targets after his killing. "What is Lucy?" Fielder reporting. AP correspondent Jackie Gwen reports on a lengthy prison sentence for U.S. citizen in Russia. A Russian-born U.S. citizens received a 12-and-a-half year prison sentence for drug trafficking. A lawyer representing Robert Woodland in Moscow says Woodland has been sentenced to more than a dozen years in prison for attempting to traffic large amounts of illegal drugs. The lawyer says Woodland has mental health issues and that an appeal of the prison sentence is planned. The State Department says it is aware of the case. According to Russian media, Woodland's information matches that of a man now 33 years old, who told an interviewer he had gone to Russia to find his "worth mother" because he had been adopted by an American couple in the mid-1990s. I'm Jackie Gwen. Brazilian police indicted former President Jayir Balzanaro for money laundering and criminal association, in connection with undeclared diamonds the far-right leader received from Saudi Arabia. During his time in office, according to a source with knowledge of the accusations, a second source confirmed the indictment, although not for which specific crimes were committed, allegedly. Once Brazil Supreme Court received the indictment, the country's prosecutor general will analyze the document and decide whether to file charges and force Balzanaro to stand trial. The former president has denied any wrongdoing. Nearly 90 migrants bound for Europe died when their vote capsized this week off the coast of Mauritania. The state news agency and local officials said Thursday dozens more remain missing. The coast got rescued nine people including a five-year-old girl according to the report. The Atlantic route has grown over the past four years. At our website BOANews.com or the BOA mobile app. I'm Michael Brown. BOA News. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Britain's labor party wins in a landslide. They have chosen labor and they have chosen the leadership of Kia Starma. Hurricane Burl moves on to Mexico. The loss of lies and damage wrought by Burl underscore the consequences of a warmer Atlantic Ocean, which scientists cite as a tale tale sign of human cause climate change fueling more extreme weather. And the U.S. celebrates Independence Day with fireworks, barbecues, and an annual hot dog eating contest. ♪♪ ♪♪ Today's Friday, July 5th and this is VIOA's International Edition. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ I'm Scott Walterman. And I'm Alexis Strope. Kia Starma will be Britain's next prime minister as president of the United States in parliamentary elections. Newly elected labor MP Bridget Phillipsen. ♪♪ They have chosen labor and they have chosen the leadership of Kia Starma. Today our country, with its proud history, has chosen a brighter future. The British people have decided that they believe, as labor believes, that our best Russia's soon acts conservatives are set to lose more than 200 seats. That would be the Tory's worst result in the party's two century history and one that would leave the party in disarray. I'm not going anywhere. US President Joe Biden still insists he will not drop out of the US presidential election. That was him at a July 4 barbecue at the White House for military families. Earlier in the day, he appeared on a radio show Civic Media Radio Network's Earl Ingram show on 5.40 a.m. WAUK, where he admitted his debate performance was bad. Here's VOA correspondent Scott Stearns with the state of the US presidential race today. Fourth of July celebrations in presidential election years are usually a time for patriotic campaigning with flag-waving supporters. But this year, neither of the leading candidates is on the campaign trail following their first debate last week, with President Joe Biden trying to reassure supporters after his sometimes halting performance and his challenger Donald Trump doing little to distract from his opponents' struggles. In a Fourth of July interview with Wisconsin radio station WAUK, Biden said he did not have a good debate last Thursday. "I had a bad night. I had a bad night. And the fact of the matter is that, you know, it was, I screwed up. I made a mistake. But I learned from my father and really get knocked down and just get back up." The Biden campaign is trying to help get their candidate back up with endorsements from leading Democratic party governors, including New York's Kathy Holkel. "I'm here to tell you today. President Joe Biden is in it to win it. And all of us said we pledged our support to him because the stakes could not be higher." Trump allies in Congress are feeding Democratic party anxieties about Biden, House Speaker Mike Johnson. "I think they know they have a serious problem, but it's not just political. It's not just the Democratic party. It's the entire country. We have a serious problem here because we have a president who, by all appearances, is not up to the task. And these are very dangerous times." Post debate polling by CNN shows 56 percent of Democrats and Democratic leaning registered voters now saying they have a better chance of winning with a candidate other than Biden. All campaigns go through cycles, says University of Texas history professor Jeremy Suri. But questions about Biden's health are here to stay. "He might still win this election. In fact, he still might be the favorite to win this election if he stays in. But his campaign was hoping that the debate would put the concerns about his health to rest. Those concerns about his health will not go to rest. They will be with us if he stays in the campaign every day of the campaign." The Trump campaign had no public events this week, with a statement saying it would "continue to build off the momentum earned by President Trump to grow our movement, raise the money we need to win, and head into the fall poised for a historic victory." Trump marked Fourth of July with a video on his "Truth Social" website, in which he said, "America is one of the greatest stories ever told." "We will never forget that we are Americans, and the future belongs to us. The spirit of American independence will never fade, never fail, but will reign forever and ever and ever to every citizen throughout our land. Have a glorious, independent state." With his Republican party preparing for its political convention this month, Trump may benefit from a more moderate approach, as his opponent struggles, says University of Texas professor Suri. "What Donald Trump would want to do, it seems to me, is not only to show vigor, but to show reasonableness, to make it so it's not a liar versus a feeble old man, but maybe a feeble old man versus a reasonable candidate." From the Fourth of July to election day in November, Biden and Trump have 125 more days to convince voters that they're the right choice. Scott's turns veerly news. But there was more bad news for the Biden campaign on Thursday. A story reported by both the New York Times and CNN says that during a meeting with Democratic governors at the White House on Wednesday night, the president said he intended not to do any events after 8 p.m. so he can get more sleep. This follows conflicting reasons given for his debate performance. First, his staff said he had a cold, then Biden himself saying he was tired from several global trips. Joining us now to talk about this is political consultant Matt Clink of Clink campaigns. He has more than 30 years of experience with campaigns in more than 35 countries. Matt, is this constant stream of bad news for Biden and the campaign and the way they're handling it? As bad as it seems? The Joe Biden administration and campaign are like the gang that can't shoot straight. Their messaging post debate has been jumbled. They've done nothing to reassure not only party insiders, but more importantly, the American public that he is capable of doing the job for the next seven months, much less running for reelection. And I think what you're seeing now is there are two different camps. There are the group that are holding on for dear life saying, Joe's our guy, he can do it. And then there are everyone else who is angry and saying, why didn't you say anything? How could you not? How could you have let this gone on for so long? And we've got to make a change as soon as possible. And I think the reality is that if the change is made, it's going to be ugly. It's going to be, it's going to be messy. It's not going to be a very clean process, but the Democratic Party has to find a way to not do it in a way that disenfranchises millions of voters who thought they were voting for a viable presidential candidate. What even is open to them in that regard? Well, their options are limited. You know, they really have Joe Biden, first of all, would have to have to withdraw his candidacy. So that's the first threshold. And what's happening right now is that both houses of Congress are home in district, and they're they're marching in their Fourth of July parades and they're doing their post Fourth of July constituent meetings, and they're going to get an ear fill. And if they come back, you've seen three members of Congress on the Democratic side say he should resign. If that number grows, we had heard reports of up to 25. But if that revolt gets bigger and bigger, I think that Joe Biden is going to have to read the writing on the wall. And someone needs to talk to him about legacy. I mean, he was the man after all who did beat Donald Trump in 2020. And he has a pretty notable career in the United States Senate. He doesn't want to go down in history who gave power back to Donald Trump. That would tarnish his legacy. Technically, do they have to give it to the Vice President? I don't believe that they do, although the pressure on the Democratic Party establishment to not take the number two, who also happens to be a woman of African American and South Asian descent. And optically, it would be a horrible precedent for the Democratic Party to cast her aside. But again, I think if you're going to throw the top person out, you want to get the best person to beat or run against and beat Donald Trump in November. And let's face it, Kamala Harris was a horrible presidential candidate. When she ran in 2020, she didn't even make it out of the Democratic primary. And she was chosen because she was geographically desirable, being from the largest Democratic state in the union, and because she was an African American woman. So, I mean, it's good. They should choose her if they were doing this thing on an equitable way. But I think that this is going to be brass tax politics. And they're going to look at who they think can win. They'll probably figure out some way to have a competition like a series of many primaries where they'll see which cream rises to the top. How long do they have if, let's say that he's still trying to turn it around, realistically, how much time does he have? At most, a couple of weeks, I think that, you know, you're going to get the members, the members of Congress coming back to Washington, D.C. Early next week, there will be much more comprehensive polling, particularly in swing states that are going to have the full flavor of the debate. And don't forget, the debate was just one night, but we're still talking about Joe Biden's performance. That's been dominating the news during this time. And we're already seeing some results that have come out that say that Virginia and Minnesota and New Mexico are now in play. That doesn't bode well for Joe Biden. So the bleeding needs to stop quickly. And he needs to do something to change the narrative. But I don't know an interview that's taped with George Stephanopoulos, a former Democrat campaign operative tomorrow on Friday night is not going to turn this thing around for him. Matt, thanks so much for your insight. You got it. Thanks, Scott. Happy fourth. Political consultant Matt Clink from Clink Campaigns in Los Angeles. The second round of the French election will happen this weekend. Last Sunday, the French people placed the anti-immigration party National Rally and its allies in first place while Macron's centrist camp came in third behind the left wing block. After the first round in constituencies where no candidate won outright, an unprecedented number of seats more than 300 went to a three way runoff favoring the RN. By Tuesday, as the deadline to drop out closed, fewer than 100 remain after centrist and left wing candidates strategically dropped out, hoping to capture those individual seats by not splitting the vote. Iran is holding a runoff election for the presidency on Friday. It's only the second time since 1979 the Islamic Revolution that our runoff has been needed in Iran. We're following these other stories from around the world. President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia has begun research and development on new intermediate range missiles and is ready to start producing them but will not deploy any missiles unless the United States does so. Cambodia's culture minister says the return to Cambodia this week of 14 sculptures that had been looted from the country during a period of war and unrest is like welcoming home the souls of ancestors. The items were patreated from the collection at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art were made between the 9th and 14th centuries. A 75 year old American swimmer has taken a dip in the Sen River in Paris to celebrate the 4th of July. He braved the murky waters to highlight the French government's efforts to clean up the river for the Olympic Games. Hours later regional authorities released data showing water quality in the river has improved over the past week. That raised hopes that it can host Olympic swimming events after all. NATO will be meeting in Washington next week and during the meeting it will roll out concrete ways to accelerate Ukraine's eventual membership. The summit will also address top security concerns over Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine and challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. BOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching has the story narrated by Elizabeth Chernef. As the Russia-Ukraine war rages on with no end in sight the United States will host leaders of the 32-member alliance for the annual NATO summit that runs from July 9th to 11th in Washington. Boosting Ukraine's security and addressing challenges from China are high on the agenda according to U.S. officials. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Douglas Jones spoke to BOA on Wednesday. Whether that's supporting Ukraine and its defense against Russian aggression, whether that's working with partners to ways in which we can build the resilience of allies to confront the threats and challenges from the PRC. Whether this is hybrid threats, cyber threats, these are all the issues we'll be focusing on at the summit. The U.S. and its NATO allies have said that Ukraine's future lies in the alliance and next week the group will unveil concrete steps to bring Ukraine closer towards NATO membership. Some U.S. lawmakers are expressing concern about Ukraine's readiness to join the alliance even as the embattled country commits itself to internal reforms. But the summit's focus is not just on Ukraine and European security. Analysts note NATO is also beginning to explore a larger role in the Indo-Pacific. The Rand Corporation's Stephen Flanagan. Australia, New Zealand. The Republic of Korea and Japan are very interested in deepening their cooperation with NATO and in those areas, not necessarily direct military to military cooperation, but some areas of where there is cooperation going on. In celebration of NATO's 75th anniversary, more than two dozen social media influencers have been invited to observe the proceedings and create content to commemorate the milestone. For Nike Chang, Elizabeth Chernef, the OA News, Washington. After leaving a trail of destruction across the eastern Caribbean and at least nine people dead, Hurricane Burl weakened as it has now reached Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Here's the latest from Reuters correspondent Ryan Chang. Power outages were widespread across Jamaica while some roads near the coast were washed out. Authorities say at least 10 people have died and the tally is likely to increase as communications come back across the islands. Director of the National Hurricane Centre, Michael Brennan. The Cayman Islands are sort of next in line for seeing significant impacts and again barrels moving west-northwest pretty quickly in about 18 miles per hour. The loss of light and damage wrought by Burl underscore the consequences of a warmer Atlantic Ocean, which scientists cite as a telltale sign of human cause climate change, feeling more extreme weather. Foam footage shot in Grenada showed destroyed houses and debris from Hurricane Burl. The Prime Minister of Grenada said there was almost complete destruction of the electrical grid on one of the country's islands, Kariyaku. Burl is the 2024 Atlantic season's first hurricane and the earliest storm on record to reach a category five. Further west in Mexico's tourist epicenter of Cancun, the city and the wider Yucatan Peninsula lies in Burl's protected path. Mexico's defence ministry has opened around 120 storm shelters. That was Reuters correspondent Ryan Chang. The EU says it's going to impose tariffs of up to 37 and a half percent on the imports of electric vehicles made in China. Reuters correspondent Francis McGuire has more. Thursday's announcement is likely to raise tensions with Beijing, but there's a four month window during which the tariffs are provisional. The aim is to prevent what commission president Ursula von der Leyen called a flood of cheap EVs built with state subsidies hitting the market. Beijing said it would take all necessary meshes to safeguard China's interests. These include retaliatory tariffs on exports to China of products such as cognac or pork. The issue has caused divides in Europe and faced strong opposition in Germany. The country's car makers made a third of their sales last year in China and Volkswagen criticized Thursday's move. Auto industry executives have also warned against the tariffs. They're fearful of counter tariffs or other measures that could affect the competitiveness of their cars in China. Reuters correspondent Francis McGuire. Beoways international edition continues. I'm Scott Walterman and I'm Alexis Strope. Lebanon's Hezbollah launched a big rocket and drone attack at Israel on Thursday and threatened to hit new targets in retaliation for the killing of a top commander. Reuters correspondent Lucy Fielder says it is the latest surge of violence in the steadily worsening conflict across the border. Smoke billows from the roof of a mall in the northern Israeli city of Acre after a rocket barrage launched from Lebanon was intercepted overhead. Sparked by Gaza, the conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel has raised fears of a full-scale war, which both sides have indicated they want to avoid and diplomatic efforts led by the United States are working to prevent. Mohammed Nasser was one of the most senior Hezbollah commanders Israel has killed during the conflict. Senior Hezbollah official Hisham Safiyad Deen, speaking at a memorial for him, said the group would widen its targets after his killing. The series of responses continues in succession and this series will continue to target new sites that the enemy did not imagine would be hit. Sonic booms rattled nerves for the second day in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon As Israeli jets broke the sound barrier, Lebanese state media reported. Hezbollah said it launched more than 200 rockets and a swarm of drones. At 10 Israeli military sites on Thursday, the Israeli military distributed videos it said showed interceptions as well as strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. The hostilities have inflicted a heavy toll on both sides of the frontier, forcing tens of thousands of Lebanese and Israelis to flee their homes. Writers correspondent, Lucy Fielder. And finally, millions of Americans took a welcome 4th of July break on Thursday, flocking to parades and fireworks shows and barbecues. The holiday marks the July 4th signing of the Declaration of Independence from Britain in 1776. One of the holiday's traditions is a hot dog eating contest in New York's Coney Island. This has been International Edition on the Voice of America. On behalf of everyone here at BOA, thank you so much for joining us. For pictures, stories, videos and more, follow BOA News on your favorite social media platform and online at voanews.com. In Washington, with Alexa Stroke, I'm Scott Waltzerman. Next, an editorial reflecting the views of the United States government. When President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China met at the Woodside Summit last November, the two leaders underscored the importance of ties between the peoples of their countries, and they pledged to expand educational student, cultural sports and business exchanges. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, U.S. Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, said the PRC is not living up to that pledge. In fact, it is actively working to prevent an expansion of such ties. They say they're in favor of reconnecting our two populations, but they are taking dramatic steps to make it impossible, he said. The Wall Street Journal reported that Ambassador Burns said he counted dozens of public events in which the PRC Ministry of State Security or other government institutions pressured Chinese citizens not to attend or try to intimidate those who went. Beijing also made it harder for Chinese students to study at U.S. universities. College fairs across China have rescinded invitations for U.S. diplomatic staff to promote American colleges and universities to students and parents, citing security concerns. Additionally, about half of the Chinese participants selected for U.S. funded exchange programs have pulled out, attributing cancellations to pressure from authorities, schools and employers. Rising anti-Americanism, in part fueled by Chinese officials, is also a factor in inhibiting people-to-people connections. "I've been concerned for my two-plus years here about the very aggressive Chinese government efforts to denigrate America to tell a distorted story about American society, American history, American policy. It happens every day on all networks available to the government here, and there's a high degree of anti-Americanism online," he said, "efforts to counter false narratives and distortions," he added, "are increasingly stymied by government censorship." State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller underscored U.S. commitment to people-to-people ties with China. "It has been a priority for this administration," he said. At the same time, as the ambassador said, the increased PRC interference in our cultural and educational programming in the PRC since November runs counter to the commitments made at the Woodside Summit, and suggests that the PRC's version or vision of increased people-to-people connections is very different to ours. Some of the Secretary raised on our last trip to Beijing. "We want to see people-to-people ties enhanced and strengthened," said spokesperson Miller. "It's in the interest of both our countries."