Global News Podcast - In Venezuela Nicolas Maduro wins a third term

Episode Date: July 29, 2024

The opposition has denounced the official result of the presidential election as fraud. Also: Germany and other countries have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately, ahead of an expected response by Israel to a deadly attack it has blamed on Hezbollah, and Turkey debates a new law to curb its large stray dog population.

Hello, this is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service, with reports and analysis from across the world. The latest news seven days a week. BBC World Service podcasts are supported by advertising. If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Thank you. Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jalil and at 13 hours GMT on Monday the 29th of July, these are our main stories.

Venezuela's opposition denounces President Nicolas Maduro's election victory as a fraud, concerns echoed by the US and many other countries. Tensions rise in Lebanon after Israel threatens to make Hezbollah pay a heavy price for an attack which killed children in the occupied Golan Heights. Also... They look like worms, but we think that those things were probably like slime molds. Scientists say life on Earth may have begun more than a billion years earlier than previously thought. Coming up as well in this podcast, not Iron Man, but a mega villain.

New mask, same task. What can I tell you, I like playing complicated characters. Robert Downey Jr. makes a shock return to Marvel in a new role. There are serious concerns about Sunday's election in Venezuela after the longtime president, Nicolas Maduro, was declared the victor, despite opinion polls before the vote showing him trailing far behind the opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez. One after the other, a host of countries from the Americas, including the US, have expressed their disbelief and concern over the results. And the opposition has denounced

the outcome, saying that Mr. Gonzalez had in fact won around three quarters of the vote and he is now the president-elect. With more, here's our South America correspondent, Ione Wells. There must be respect for the popular will. Which country in the world, after receiving 930 criminal sanctions, after having suffered what we have suffered, dares to call elections. We called them. They were carried out in an exemplary manner, and I can say before the people of Venezuela and before the world. President Maduro claiming victory for a third time, asking people to respect the will of the people. The question

the opposition are asking is, has he? Freedom, freedom. Emotional cries as the polls closed at one polling station in Caracas, in an election where many were voting for change. Today the people of Venezuela are determined that these people leave power immediately. There is being outrage after outrage, violation of human rights, extrajudicial executions, excessive emigration, the largest emigration in Latin America without having had a war. I want a change for my country. I want decent salaries for teachers and doctors,

a quality of life for the elderly, for our youth, a change for our country. We deserve it. It has to be fair because the people are already tired. That is why we are all here, waiting for a change. We hope that the justice is done. They wanted a change from President Maduro. His party has been in power for decades, and he still has some loyal supporters.

There are many things, the benefits, help for people like me with disabilities. There are many things that we have to take advantage of that no other government has given. President Chavez, Maduro, and no one else. are many things that we have to take advantage of that no other government has given. President Chavez, Maduro and no one else. The last election win was widely dismissed as neither free nor fair and again there were questions, was this one? The president's face lined every street during the campaign. There were protests and clashes with authorities after some polling stations didn't open at all. There were huge queues of people waiting to vote, but some delays by design, with very few people let in at a time.

At rallies for the president, buses were paid for, free food handed out, government incentives to come to the president's rallies. The opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, was banned from running. Many of her aides were detained. Shops that served her were closed down. She and the opposition have alleged fraud in the counting of votes, saying many of their observers were not allowed into election counts. Today we want to tell Venezuelans and the entire world that Venezuela has a new president-elect and it is Edmundo González. We won and everyone knows it. We have won in all sectors. We saw it in the streets. The regime knows what happened.

In the next few days, we will announce the actions to defend the truth. Long life, free Venezuela. Much was at stake in this election. The economy has been in free fall for more than a decade. More than half the country lives in poverty. Millions of Venezuelans have fled the country, many to the US, fuelling a migration crisis. The question now is whether any of that will change. That report by Ione Wells. But what does the main opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, mean when she says that action will be decided in the next

few days? Mass protests, a tactic that's been tried before after previous elections and failed. Here's our America's Online Editor, Vanessa Beschluter. It was expected by many, but the opposition had hoped it would be a different result. They had hoped that if enough people turned out, and many, many people did turn out to vote against Mr. Maduro, that that would shield the result from fraud. But this outcome looks like the one that many had predicted. Of course, there will be a huge sense of anger among many. But protesting in Venezuela comes with real risks. I remember speaking to one family in 2017. Their son had taken part in protests and he was killed by the Bolivarian Guard. So real risks there. Vanessa Beschluter. Fibre optic cables have been

vandalised across France, causing some outages. This comes three days after the French railway network was sabotaged just hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, causing disruption to the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom were either trying to get to the Games or to get away for their summer holidays. At the same time, a man described as a far-left activist by French police has been detained in northern France on suspicion of planning to vandalise railway infrastructure. David Chazanne in Paris told us more about this latest sabotage attempt in France. Fibre optic cables were cut and this has affected mobile and internet services in different parts of France, areas separated from each other by hundreds of kilometers. So this has

happened in the north of the country, in the east, and also near Paris. Now, no group has claimed the acts of, or apparent acts of, sabotage, but French media have been quoting police sources as saying they believe that they were probably coordinated services cut because of the damage, but services have been considerably slowed because the operators say that data has had to be re-routed over longer distances. Now, the French authorities suspect that these acts are in protest against the Paris Olympics, which are in their third day now, but there's no proof of that for the time being. And at the same time, an arrest has been made in northern France as police continue to investigate Friday's rail network sabotage. That's right. A 28-year-old man has been detained. He's been described by police as a far-left activist,

known to have previously trespassed on railway property. Keys giving access to railway property were found in his car, along with tools which the police said could be used for acts of vandalism. However, there's no indication that the man detained is linked with the sabotage of communications cables and signal boxes on France's high-speed train network on Friday, which happened just hours before the Olympics opened. But the interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, says that suspicions are growing that far-left activists were to blame for the sabotage and the vandalism on Friday, mainly because of their modus operandi and because far-left groups have attacked rail infrastructure in the past in France. David Chazan.

If you walk down a street in Turkey, you're likely to spot a stray dog. They've been a neighbourhood fixture there for centuries, but that may be about to change. Parliament is debating a controversial law that could lead to a mass culling of the animals. Anna Aslam reports. Millions of dogs roam the streets of Turkey, which the government says is a problem. A new law would allow the killing of stray dogs that aren't adopted within 30 days and those who are sick or deemed to display negative behavior. The fine for abandoning pets

would also rise 30-fold. President Erdogan says it's necessary to control the population of stray dogs that he says have become a menace to society, attacking people, causing accidents and spreading disease. But the legislation has sparked nationwide anger and emotive arguments in Parliament. MPs were seen jostling one another and exchanging insults, opening another deep divide in an already fractured political landscape. Some local authorities have said they won't apply the law even if it's passed, and animal rights activists have described it as inhumane, calling instead for sterilization programs. A recent opinion poll shows nearly 80% of the

public supports measures to take dogs off the street, but less than 3% believe collected dogs should be euthanized. People could be as well-intentioned as they want, but this law has loopholes. The gaps need to be filled before it's put into practice. Those who govern us should know this well. Please don't play politics over animals. Please don't. It's not very difficult to keep them alive. Many people accused the government of using this law to distract from

political issues. President Erdogan's party suffered heavy defeats in local elections this spring, and the country is grappling with a worsening economic crisis. Despite the nationwide uproar over the legislation, it's expected to pass in parliament later this month. Anna Aslam, a record number of children in sub-Saharan Africa are enrolled in school, but according to the United Nations, 90% of pupils under the age of 10 still struggle to read and understand simple text. One country that has recently invested massively in education is Zambia. But what difference has it made? Lala Mohamed has been investigating. Since 2021, Zambia has spent over one and a half billion dollars in making primary and secondary education free.

Without free education, I don't know how my parents would have managed to take me back to school. 18-year-old Mariana is one of two million students who's been able to return to education. But the opportunity of free learning has also created new challenges. I'm at Chenyanya Junior School about an hour's drive south of Lusaka. Here, free education has brought hundreds of children back into the classroom in such a short time. This has created challenges of overcrowding and a shortage of teachers. Cleopatra Zulu is an early childhood education teacher at Chanyanya. When I started, I had at least a smaller number, 40, but this time around, it's

105, 80, 90, and that's just one class. It's a challenge. Even marking, we have even reduced even the number of subjects that we are giving them. Many students have to sit on the floor because of lack of desks, which has a negative

impact on their learning. But the government in Lusaka says it's listening and it's taking steps to address the challenges of free education. This is a good problem. Mr. Douglas Siakalima is the education minister in Zambia. I would rather let the children in a congested classroom rather than in the streets. What the president did was increase mass production of desks. Mass infrastructure building is happening. The Zambian government has hired more than 37,000 teachers in two years. But with Zambia still recovering from a debt default, some experts have cast doubt over the sustainability of the free education policy. The Minister of Education

says he is confident they can bear the cost. That report by Lala Mohamed. Still to come on the podcast, growing numbers of people with terminal illnesses are choosing to hold a funeral before their death. He had the terminal diagnosis, so he decided that he wanted to have a living funeral. He wanted the chance to say goodbye to friends and family and for everyone to celebrate his life. If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads?

Get current affairs podcasts like Global News, AmeriCast and The Global Story, plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free. Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. You're listening to The Global News Podcast. In the latest cross-border clash, Hezbollah says two of its fighters have been killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.

A drone is reported to have hit a car and a motorbike travelling between towns near the border. Israel has not yet commented. Tension has been growing in anticipation of a significant Israeli retaliation for Saturday's deadly rocket attack on the occupied Golan Heights, which killed 12 people, most of them children. Israel has blamed Hezbollah, but the Lebanese militant group has denied being involved. On Sunday, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short a visit to Washington to rush back for a security cabinet meeting for authorisation on how to respond, amid fears that this could escalate into a full-blown war which could draw in Iran, a backer of both Hezbollah and Hamas.

Our correspondent Paul Adams is in Majd al-Sham, where the children were killed. He spoke to Brigadier General Alon Friedman, Deputy Commander of the Israeli Army's Northern Command. Israel and the IDF and the Northern Command have several way and options to solve the problem in the northern arena. We are preparing, we are ready, and once the decision will take, we know what to do. After what happened in Tel Aviv, you immediately, almost immediately, did a huge operation in Yemen. Twelve people died here. People are really demanding something different. The most important thing is that we have to remember that our war is a regional war, that including what is going with Hamas in Gaza, what is going with the Khutib in Yemen,

connecting to what is going here in Lebanon. Everything's connected together to the head, which is Iran. Yolande Nel is our correspondent in Jerusalem and gave this update to my colleague Anita McVey. We know that the Israeli prime minister and his defense minister have been meeting the top security officials to discuss their different options. Israeli military commentators are speculating that what's being considered could be an attack on a major Hezbollah target deep inside Lebanon. Otherwise, they say there could possibly be an attack on Lebanese civilian infrastructure. But part of the calculation must really be looking at the fact that Hezbollah has a big arsenal of longer range weapons. How could it respond to an attack of this

nature? And that is really sort of, you know, the big question mark hanging over the region at the moment. Things are very much on edge as we wait to see exactly what will happen. And with Benjamin Netanyahu just back from his trip to Washington, what pressure do you think the US and other key countries can bring to bear in terms of urging restraint? We know that Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, has had a phone call with the Israeli president. That's right. There's been lots of international diplomatic activity going on, trying to really press for restraint, trying to get Israel to limit its response. There is so much concern about what could happen, that other powers could be dragged into an escalating war in this region. Of course, Hezbollah backed by Iran. There are proxies around the region

for Iran as well that could get involved. The US would find it very difficult to stay out of this. The White House did put out a statement talking about its ironclad commitment to Israel's security. But we also heard from the US Secretary of State that, you know, things should be done, diplomatic efforts being made to try to de-escalate this situation. Yolande Nel. Meanwhile, several international airlines, including Air France and Lufthansa, have suspended flights to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and Germany has told its citizens to leave Lebanon immediately. Hugo Beshega is in Tyre in southern Lebanon and told us about the mood on the ground there. Lebanon is now waiting for this Israeli reaction and I think the fact that this Israeli response hasn't happened yet

could be seen as a positive sign because it could help lower the temperature and give more time for diplomacy to work. As Yolande was saying, there has been a lot of diplomatic activity happening behind the scenes to try to limit this Israeli attack to avoid a major escalation that could put Hezbollah in a position where they feel they have to retaliate. I think Hezbollah is prepared to accept an attack that follows what they describe as rules of engagement. In other words, targets that are military targets, Hezbollah targets. So any kind of attack on Beirut, the Lebanese capital, or on Lebanese civilian

infrastructure could be seen as a major escalation by Hezbollah and, as a result, trigger a response by the group that is supported by Iran, a powerful group here in Lebanon. But we still don't know. We're still waiting for this response to happen. But, obviously, this has been the fear here since these attacks by Hezbollah started back in October, that any kind of miscalculation could trigger a major conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. And as the country waits for this Israeli attack, we're seeing already the impact that this is having on Lebanon.

A number of flights have been cancelled and suspended at Beirut's international airport, which is the only airport in Lebanon. So this tense wait continues here in Lebanon. And, you know, there is a lot of anticipation ahead of this possible Israeli attack. Hugo Beshega. Now, the current consensus is that animal life began around 635 million years ago. But new research from a group of scientists working in West Africa suggests that that figure is way, way out, and that complex life actually began much earlier,

more than 2 billion years ago. But not all scientists agree. They say more evidence is needed. David Lewis has the details. It's a discovery that could turn our understanding of evolution upside down. But just how have the team arrived at this theory? Well, the group have been studying rock formations in Franceville, Gabon. Their quest was to find if they showed evidence of containing nutrients

like oxygen and phosphorus that could have supported life. And according to scientists, they do. The chemistry of the rock, they say, showed evidence that a laboratory for life was created just before the formation appeared. The first hint that complex life could have begun this early came about a decade ago with the discovery of something called the Front Civilian Formation. Professor Ernest Chee-Thru from Cardiff University, who led this expedition to Gabon, said the formation was made up of fossils which pointed to evidence of life that could wiggle and move of its own accord.

And theories, just like the natural world, evolve over time. He told BBC News that if his new ideas are correct, these life forms would have been similar to slime mould, a brainless single-cell organism that reproduces with spores and vital to evolution. You can see the structures, some are moving in the sediments, you could see the traces of movement and movement itself is a very complex thing and it takes time to actually be able to do that sort of thing and we don't see that around this period. They look like worms but we think that those things were probably like slime molds and they were able to in the same fashion

congregate together and build structures like individuals that were multicellular not just a single cell. Professor Chithru's team believe that high levels of oxygen and phosphorus were made by two continental plates colliding underwater, creating volcanic activity. That collision cut off a section of water from the oceans, creating a nutrient-rich, shallow marine inland sea. But according to him, modern life did not descend from there. The team contests that organisms were restricted to an inland sea and did not spread globally and eventually died out. David Lewis, Indonesia's leader Joko Widodo has spent his first night in the presidential palace of what will be the

country's new capital Nusantara. The current one, Jakarta, is overcrowded and sinking as Mickey Bristow reports. Indonesia's new capital appears to be a project close to the president's heart. He rode into Nusantara on a motorbike, and after spending his first night in the eagle-shaped presidential palace, he had his first official meetings. Mr Widodo, who steps down in October, is scheduled to oversee Independence Day celebrations in the new city next month. But there have been numerous delays,

and there are many doubts over its ultimate viability. Even the president admits that it could take two decades to complete Indonesia's future capital. Mickey Bristow. There's a comic Irish folk song called Invitation to a Funeral which ends with the line, never go to funerals until the fella dies. Well, the joke doesn't always

work these days because a number of terminally ill people are choosing to hold so-called living funerals before they die. But why? We've been getting the views of some people here in the UK. Our son passed away in November last year after a two and a half year battle with leukaemia. He was a week short of his 34th birthday when he passed. He had the terminal diagnosis, so he decided that he wanted to have a living funeral. He wanted the chance to say goodbye to friends and family and for everyone to celebrate his life. The living funeral is for the patient. I don't know about you, but I've been to many funerals, sadly. And in the wake afterwards, you will always hear people say, oh, they would have loved this.

If only they were here, they would have really enjoyed this. So this gives them the chance to be part of that and actually enjoy it. They say their own eulogy, you know, they reflect on their life, the good, the highs, the lows. It is more about that celebration of their own life and having that final party that they'll ever have. I had breast cancer, which metastasised to my brain, and then I was given months to live. I didn't want to have a funeral where I wasn't involved in it.

I wanted to say a really fond farewell to all the people I loved and the people who loved me. I wanted to be there and share how peaceful I was feeling. It was so, so emotional and I just got to hear how people truly felt about me and it was so special. There were songs, A Little Help From My Friends, which was very pertinent to me, but it was the Joe Cock version. Let me hold your ears and I'll sing you a song I will try not to sing out of key Oh, baby, how do you love me? What concerns me about these living funerals

is that people are thinking that the funerals are about them. Obviously, funerals do need to celebrate the life of the person. They do need to talk about how they have contributed to this world and to this life. But to only have them about the person and their life and what they've given to this world is neglecting the really important part of funerals, enabling people to realise that the person has now gone. And that is often the beginning of acceptance, which in itself begins the grief journey. To have the funeral before the person has died is actually feeding into a culture of pushing death away and denying death and actually accentuating the problem of people not processing grief,

which is a worrying thing because suppressed grief leads to problems, not least our mental health problem that we have today. Some views there on the idea of living funerals. Robert Downey Jr. is making a shock return to the Marvel superhero world after five years away, but not in the Iron Man role that launched the multi-billion dollar franchise. So who will he be? His new character was unmasked at the Comic Con event in the Californian city of San Diego, as Paddy McGuire reports. Sixteen years, 33 films and $30 billion in box office takings later,

the Marvel Cinematic Universe has floundered in recent time. Profits have been down. There's a slight, perhaps understandable, air of superhero fatigue. So when stars joining the franchise were unveiled in Hall H at the Comic-Con event, the anticipation among fans was palpable. Was their universe going to be saved? And if so, by whom? Flanked by a posse of hooded figures, Dr Victor Von Doom, one of Marvel's biggest villains, appeared on stage in his beige-green cloak and slowly lifted his iconic metallic mask.

The fans had lost their minds. Robert Downey Jr. to play a mega-villain known for his sorcery and science? New mask, same task. What can I tell you? I like playing complicated characters. A major twist from good to evil. After all, the actor made his debut in 2008's Iron Man, the alter ego of Tony Stark, a self-described genius, billionaire and playboy philanthropist. Modesty aside, Iron Man is a classic anti-hero,

flawed but heroic. He's one of a team of superheroes, the Avengers, that first appeared in the Marvel comic books written by Stan Lee. Downey's role in the first Marvel movie was instrumental in launching the blockbuster universe. I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself,

which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending on what statement. You can't have it. Downey became one of its biggest stars. Ten films later, he last appeared five years ago in Avengers Endgame, when his character was killed off. Joanna Robinson is a podcaster and the author of MCU, the reign of Marvel Studios. What is most important to know is that ever since Robert Downey Jr. left Marvel

in Avengers Endgame in 2019, Marvel has been on this sort of steady decline in terms of the fandom, critics, and most critically last year, box office. And so I think the idea of Robert Downey Jr. coming back, the first star, the guy who started it all at Marvel Studios, is this idea that we might return to form for the Marvel movies that people have loved so much in the past. With Deadpool and Wolverine, a movie pairing two of Marvel's most popular characters, opening this weekend and already well on its way to becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, could this be the start of a reboot for the Marvel Universe? Avengers Doomsday is due for release in May 2026.

Paddy Maguire. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at Global News Pod. This edition was produced by Alice Adly. It was mixed by Callum McLean.

The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Janette Jalil. Until next time, goodbye. If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Global News, AmeriCast and The Global Story, plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free.

Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts.