It is “Global Village Today” which provides important news from various countries of the world.
Host) What news do you have today?
Journalist) Yes. Russian forces have been carrying out air strikes in Ukraine since the beginning of the new year. The 1st was officially inaugurated by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Dasiouba, symbol of the Latin American left.
Host) Global Village Today, this is the first news. Is Ukraine caught in fire again since the beginning of the new year?
Reporter) Yes. Ukrainian officials said that Russian forces carried out a drone strike on the capital of Ukraine, Kiev, on the 2nd. On the 31st of last month, on New Year’s Day 1, the Russian military carried out a series of air strikes using self-destructing missiles and drones across Ukraine.
Moderator) Has the extent of the damage been confirmed?
Journalist) Yes. Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said that some energy infrastructure in the city was damaged, resulting in power outages in some areas. A 19-year-old boy was also injured and hospitalized. The man was allegedly injured after being hit by a fragment of a drone.
Moderator) There have been casualties in the last two days of air raids, right?
Journalist) Yes. At least four people were declared dead and over 100 injured in two days. The new year 2023 has begun, but the Ukrainian people welcome the new year with fear due to the constant air raids by the Russian army. A police officer in Cuiwu accused Reuters of launching the drone at a children’s playground, not a battlefield.
Presenter) How did the Ukrainian military respond?
Reporter) Yes. The Ukrainian Air Force command said its air defense system shot down 39 Iranian-made Shahid drones, as well as two Russian-made Orlan drones and an X-59 missile over Ukraine. Of these, 22 were shot down on Kiwu.
Host: What is Russia saying about this series of airstrikes?
Reporter) Russia said it was not targeting civilian facilities in Ukraine, but military facilities such as drone manufacturing plants and launch sites. He also claimed that Russia was attacked as well. An artillery shell fell on a village in the border city of Belgorod and a hospital in the Donetsk region of Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine was also hit by Ukrainian airstrikes, causing casualties. However, objective confirmation is impossible.
Presenter) The war has been over for a year, but there is still no sign of a ceasefire. What did the President of Ukraine include in his New Year’s speech?
Journalist) Yes. In his New Year’s speech on the 1st, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said: “The war that Russia is waging is not a war against NATO, as the propagandists claim, nor is it a security threat to the Russia or historical reasons.He emphasized that it was only a means of maintaining power.
Host) Are you referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin?
Journalist) Yes. In particular, President Zelensky said in Russian: “Your leader is now burning the future of the country and the people behind the army, missiles, the presidential palace and you.” “Neither the terrorist state nor those who ordered or carried out these attacks will be forgiven,” he said. “No drones, no missiles, nothing will help them,” Zelensky said, “because we are united, but they are united only by fear.”
Host) Russian President Putin skipped the annual press conference last year. Are you curious about President Putin’s New Year’s speech?
Reporter) Yes. At 0:00 on the 1st, President Putin released a pre-recorded New Year’s speech on state television. Not in front of the festive decorations of the Kremlin Palace, but with a group of soldiers in the background for about 9 minutes. President Putin spent most of his New Year’s speech on this day claiming the legitimacy of the war and criticizing the West. “Last year was difficult, but it was an absolutely necessary decision to preserve Russia’s integrity and sovereignty,” he said.
Moderator) Are you repeating your previous argument?
Journalist) Yes. “Now we are protecting people on our historical territory,” Putin said in his New Year’s speech. As justification for conducting the so-called “special military operation” in February last year, Russia cited the protection of pro-Russian separatist forces in the Donbass area of eastern Ukraine, as well as the denazization and demilitarization of Ukraine. Putin also said that the West is using Ukraine and its people to weaken and divide Russia: this war is against the West and Russia is winning.
Host) Global Village Today’s next news story. Was there a presidential inauguration in Brazil?
Journalist) Yes. The 1st Brazilian president Luís Inácio ‘Lula’ Dasúva was sworn in and started his four-year mandate. At his inauguration ceremony, which was attended by delegates from some 70 countries around the world, President Lula stressed the need to create a united Brazil through hope and reconstruction, and promised economic development and the elimination of poverty.
Host) President Lula, the first three-term president of Brazil, right?
Journalist) Exactly. President Lula defeated former president Jair Bolsonaro by 1.8 percentage points in the final vote of last October’s presidential election, setting a record as the first three-term president in Brazilian history. Lula served as president from 2003 to 2006 and from 2007 to 2010.
Presenter) Let’s listen a little more to President Lula’s inauguration speech.
Journalist) Yes. President Lula’s inaugural speech largely led to Brazil’s economic recovery and national unity. In particular, President Lula stressed that the quantitative and qualitative growth of Brazil achieved during his government collapsed due to his predecessor and that Brazil could lead the world economy. In particular, he drew attention by emphasizing the growth of the so-called green economy through the conservation of the Amazonian ecosystem.
Moderator) Isn’t he different from the previous president Bolsonaro?
Journalist) Yes. After taking office in 2019, former President Bolsonaro has actively promoted policies to promote the development of the Amazon rainforest in the name of agricultural development in Brazil. However, due to this, with the burning of the Amazon rainforest and the increase in the area of deforestation, criticism has been poured in from environmental activists who are concerned about the ecosystem of the Amazon, called the lung of the earth. In his New Year’s speech, President Lula stressed that agriculture can grow without deforestation in the Amazon.
Moderator) During the presidential elections, Brazil showed extreme division due to ideological conflicts, what did President Lula say about this?
Reporter) President Lula stressed that Brazil is a country and said that healing a fractured country is a crucial task he has been assigned. President Lula also said that he has no spirit of revenge against those who have tried to govern the country for personal ideas and purposes. But he added that he would ensure the rule of law and that those who made a mistake should be held accountable for their wrongdoing.
Host) Are you talking about former president Bolsonaro?
Journalist) That’s how it sounds. Lula did not directly name Bolsonaro in her speech. However, you have criticized the former government using the strong term “genocide” for the damage caused by the coronavirus that occurred during Bolsonaro’s term.
Host) Brazil is one of the countries most affected by corona, right?
Reporter) Yes. According to Johns Hopkins University, the number of corona deaths in Brazil has reached 694,000 as of 2. President Lula accused the Bolsonaro administration of failing to respond adequately to the coronavirus, which claimed his life to more than 680,000 Brazilians. He added that responsibility for this genocide must be investigated. Former President Bolsonaro has been criticized for bringing the situation up by dismissing it as flu before a vaccine was developed in the early stages of the corona crisis.
Host) What was the atmosphere like in Brazil now that President Lula has been welcomed back?
Correspondent) Brazil, including the capitals Brasilia, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, has been divided in protests by supporters and opponents who have welcomed the re-election of President Lula. In the midst of all this, a man was arrested as he tried to travel to the dedication ceremony with explosives and a weapon.
Moderator) Did former President Bolsonaro attend the inauguration ceremony on this day (1st)?
Reporter) Former President Bolsonaro did not attend the inauguration ceremony as he headed to Florida with his family on December 31, the day before the inauguration ceremony. This broke the tradition of the outgoing president tying the presidential belt on the new president during the inauguration ceremony. Meanwhile, former President Bolsonaro reportedly said he would be back on the plane soon. Some media noted that the Brazilian government will remain in the US until at least the end of this month, given the Brazilian government’s action to allow former President Bolsonaro to accompany some officials.
Moderator) Yes. Global Village Today, I will listen to this.
