US July 4th celebrations disrupted

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1:3050 years since the declaration of independence, but a severe heat wave has seen some festivities scaled back or cancelled. A senior Venezuelan official has insisted that search and rescue operations are still ongoing following last month's devastating earthquakes, as the number of confirmed fatalities rises to almost 3 ,000. France has become the second team to reach the quarterfinals of the Men's Football World Cup after beating Paraguay. Also in this podcast. What's expected to be a huge procession, millions are expected to turn out. Many will, but many won't. Those who suffered during the restrictions and repression of his nearly four decades of rule.

2:16Our chief international correspondent reports from Tehran on the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

2:27Severe weather has been disrupting events in the United States which are being held to mark the 250th anniversary of America's independence from Britain. The flagship Salute to America Gala in the capital Washington DC was delayed with attendees evacuated and told to seek shelter due to thunderstorms. President Trump has been accused by opponents of politicizing the celebrations. In a major speech in Washington, he had this to say. America will never be a communist country. Won't happen. Communism is a loser and it always will be. The communist system is the opposite of the American system and the communist system has never worked.

3:13Our warriors did not fight communism on battlefields across the world only to have that menace, rear its ugly head right back here in America. We're not going to let it happen. I heard more from our correspondent in Washington, Howell Griffith. It's very hard to say with Donald Trump what was scripted and what was his ad-libbing compared to Mount Rushmore and the speech we heard on the mall last week. There was less pure politics, there was less swiping at opponents and there was certainly a greater part of history in there. I mean, bringing on veterans from the war means, of course, he did have to speak about previous wars, American achievements on the battlefield, lives lost and the service given by fellow countrymen.

3:59So there was a greater emphasis there. And that will be more unifying, maybe, because people from both sides of the divide can rally to that and honour and respect the commitment and the service given by others. However, there was still a bit of politics in there. And while we're on sort of the theme of the military, there was one bit that I was drawn to about him claiming that the military had become more powerful, particularly in his first term. And then he said about, say, second term, he said maybe I should say my third term, obviously slipping in the fact that he still disputes the result when he lost to Joe Biden.

4:39and then saying that they'd had tremendous success when you look at Venezuela, when you look at Iran, we wiped it out, wiped out their military. So for all the historical sweep, a lot of it did come back to the last couple of years and the last couple of weeks, really, of his presidency. Why does he keep coming back to communism? It's interesting and it doesn't have a lot of structure. These are big swipes talking about the villainy and tyranny of communism, how it's a cancer, he said this evening. Now, listeners may be confused if they think through American history that, you know, the Cold War is long over.

5:16More recently in domestic politics, we've seen a resurgent Democratic Party winning in primaries and the mayor of New York seemingly having great success. And that is a left-leaning side, maybe, of the Democratic Party. but none of these people are members of a communist party and they don't hold to a strict communist ideology. It is rather a way of tarnishing his critics and his opponents, particularly maybe as he looks to the midterm elections coming up in November when they threaten the Republican control of the House and maybe even the Senate. So I think it is a way for Donald Trump and the right-wing media here because these terms are echoed and amplified by some of the news channels here and people online, that they see the Democrats who are winning as communists and painting them in that way in order to put off the maybe undecided voters in the middle in America.

6:17Howell Griffith. The official death toll from the twin earthquakes that devastated Venezuela has risen to nearly 3 ,000. Many thousands are still missing and the government's response has been criticised as too slow and inadequate. The US-backed interim president, Dulce Rodriguez, is adamant that the authorities reacted immediately. Our correspondent, Yogi Serle-Moye, filed this report from La Guaria. More than 10 days since the disaster struck Venezuela, what you see all around is pockets and pockets of destruction, heaps of rubble, possibly hundreds of bodies lying underneath debris. Local Venezuelans who had families who lived in these buildings still waiting for news of their loved ones, who are still hoping that at least the bodies of their loved ones will be found so they can give them a proper funeral, a proper farewell.

7:09It's going to take a long time for the true scale of this disaster to be known. While we've been here, when they pull out the dead bodies, what we're seeing is there are helicopters that are being used to carry these bodies to a makeshift morgue. That's because the regular morgues are full. So they're taking the bodies from these areas, they're taking it to a makeshift morgue, which has been set up in a place where they used to store shipping containers. And we've been there, we've seen families going there looking at photographs of dead bodies, trying to identify the dead. And when we've been speaking to residents in so many areas, so many people I've spoken to now, most of them have said one thing, that the response to this earthquake came too slow.

7:52They feel their loved ones might have had a chance to survive. That's not happened. But frankly, it's even hard to put in words just the scale of this disaster. And that's why it's quite clear that it's going to take weeks, possibly months, even to assess what it will need for this country to begin to recover. You'll get Le Mugier. World Cup football now. And we're rapidly counting down from the 16 remaining teams to eight quarter-finalists. Co-hosts Canada are out after they were beaten 3-0 by Morocco. And so are Paraguay, who lost 1-0 to France. Three more games are scheduled on Sunday, including co-hosts Mexico against England at the imposing Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.

8:40The England team is already in the city and our correspondent Will Grant has been following their progress. It was interesting outside their hotel as the England team got onto their coach and left for what will be their final training session before the match. There was a really interesting combination of fans who were there to see their idols from English football, a lot of Arsenal fans looking out for Ukayo Saka and Rice and other players, a lot of fans of Captain Harry Kane, but of course, a large number of boos too, as people want to do whatever they can to slightly upset or kind of make uncomfortable as an environment for England as possible.

9:21It was all pretty good natured. The truth of the matter is they're going to face a far more formidable crowd in the Azteca itself, one of the cauldrons of world football, a place where Mexico have been performing very, very well and, of course, a place where England doesn't have the happiest of memories. No, I was going to ask you about that. This is a place with very unhappy memories for England. It is. It was where, in 1986, Maradona and Argentina beat England with the notorious, infamous Hand of God as well as, of course, one of the... It was, I think, known as the goal of the century. I mean, it's one of the greatest goals ever scored.

10:00both of those memories are sort of seared into people my age from england and if the england team if this england team hope to bury the man the hand of god in the azteca on this trip they're going to have to up their game a bit they have played well they've got through their uh games their they're not their first knockout game and of course their group they won but it hasn't exactly set the world on fire they don't look like they've clicked and mexico on the other hand are playing very, very well. They're yet to concede a single goal. Will, I hate to put you on the spot, but who's going to win?

10:34You are absolutely putting me on the spot. I think England on paper, though it's not going to be an easy game. If football does what football is supposed to do, then it should be an England victory, maybe 2-1, maybe even 2-0. But World Cup football, as you well know, Alex, it doesn't always do what it's supposed to. And this could very, very well be a major upset. Nothing would make Mexicans happier. And last question, Will, what's altitude going to play in the dynamics of this? It is definitely a consideration. England have got a very truncated amount of time to adapt to the altitude, which is 2 ,200 metres above sea level in Mexico City.

11:14Normally, if this was just, say, the Mexico World Cup, rather than one that's being split between the United States and Canada too, they would have had their training camp here, They would have had weeks to prepare by this point. They would be very well adapted by now. But, of course, they're changing from sea level to 2 ,200 metres above it. Now, that's going to be energy sapping for them. There was, of course, this possibility that it was going to be played at midday too, which means the heat would have been consideration. But after opposition from both camps, FIFA rolled back on that. And the match will remain at 6pm local time as originally planned.

11:51Will Grant in Mexico City? Still to come in this podcast. In 1981 or so, I had a conversation with the commissioner of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association, and he told me you cannot play wheelchair tennis. It's not a feasible wheelchair sport. We hear from one of the pioneers of wheelchair tennis.

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13:42Mike and his guests offer their perspective on how policy changes could affect what you do with your portfolio. Download the latest episode and follow at schwab.com slash Washington Wise or wherever you listen.

13:59This is the Global News Podcast. Iranians are mourning the death of the former supreme leader beating their chests, wailing and chanting, death to America. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli strikes in February and his funeral, supposed to take place within a day, was delayed due to the war. His coffin is currently on display in Tehran and those loyal to the regime are travelling from all over the country to pay their respects. Our correspondent Lise Doucette has been meeting them. She's reporting on condition that none of her material is used on the BBC's Persian service. These restrictions apply to all international media organisations operating in Iran.

14:42Iranians from across this country queue men in one line, women in the other to get food and water and to rest. They tell us they're heading to Tehran. They want to be able to go to the vast Mosala complex where the former supreme leader is lying in state. And then on Monday, what's expected to be a huge procession, carrying his coffins through the streets of Tehran. Millions are expected to turn out. Many will, but many won't. Those who suffered during the restrictions and repression of his nearly four decades of rule. This is an intensely political moment. On the flags, a clenched fist, a symbol of resistance and also revenge.

15:27A message from the leaders of this Islamic Republic. The war assassinated their supreme leader and many others, but they're still standing and still in charge. Lise Doucette in Tehran. Ukraine has struck targets in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, hitting oil installations and military sites, including the nearby naval base at Kronstadt. Moscow says it shot down dozens of drones over the city and the wider Leningrad region. Oliver Conway asked our correspondent James Landale why St. Petersburg was targeted. St. Petersburg is on the sea. It has substantial oil terminals and facilities in that area and it is oil refineries and oil infrastructure that seems to be in Ukraine's targets at the moment.

16:14We know that Ukraine has targeted this area and these targets before and Ukraine clearly seems determined to keep the pressure up because it knows that it's beginning to bite and that Russia is beginning to suffer fuel shortages as a result of the striking these oil terminals. And, you know, the irony is not being lost on many people. You now have Russia, one of the biggest oil producers in the world, actually now having to contemplate importing refined fuel because it simply hasn't got enough itself because of so many Ukrainian attacks, reducing its ability to refine oil. And how damaging is this for the Russian war machine and what impact is it having on the mood of the Russian people?

16:55Well, I think in terms of the Russian war machine, not a great deal at the moment. This is a Ukrainian strategy to put political pressure on the Kremlin. The Russian war machine has a substantial amount of fuel in reserves that they say they can rely on for some time. In certain areas, particularly in Crimea, there are definite shortages there for Russia's military, simply because of the geography and the fact that Ukraine has been targeting Crimea's supply lines for some time. But the broader point here, the reason why Ukraine is striking oil refineries in St. Petersburg and elsewhere, is to basically bring the war home to Russian people and hope that that puts political pressure on the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin.

17:37Well, Russia vowing to hit back, and it has been doing that in recent weeks and months anyway. Yeah, the Russian Defence Ministry has put out a statement saying that the Ukrainian attack would not go unanswered. I think what we're seeing here is a tit-for-tat exchange of airstrikes, missile strikes, drone strikes by both sides ahead of next week's NATO summit. I think there's clearly by the Russian side an attempt to try and get on the front foot. There is a feeling that the tide of war in recent weeks and months have been turning in Ukraine's favour. I think the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin are trying to generate some positive headlines for their side ahead of the NATO summit.

18:15So as well as the massive and deadly attack on Ukraine last Thursday, we've had in recent days President Putin being filmed in military fatigues, talking to military commanders, claiming advances on the front line and things like that. and I would expect similar messaging right up until next week's summit on Tuesday. James Landale in Moscow. In Germany, the far-right AFD is holding its annual conference in the state of Turingia, one of its strongholds. But thousands of protesters have been blocking roads to try to stop delegates from reaching the conference hall. Our correspondent Jessica Parker was there.

18:59I'm making my way through a huge crowd of protesters. They're here because just up the road, the party Alternative for Deutschland is holding its annual conference. I've been speaking to a couple of people who've shown up here, Stephanie and Felix, who live in the local area. We stood on a road where people are doing a sit-in. There are obviously attempts as part of this demonstration today to stop AFD delegates getting to their conference. Is that all right to try and prevent people from going to a party conference? Is it all right to force migrants to go back to their countries with war and bad situations happening in their home countries?

19:47It's all right to be here. It's all right to protest. the right to protest against a party that, in my opinion, is not democratic. I have several colleagues of mine that they directly told me if the AfD gains power, they will leave Germany. They have concrete plans to go to Switzerland, to go to the Netherlands, to go anywhere else but to Germany. And I have to say I'm scared. There is a huge security operation surrounding this event. A helicopter just flew over our heads. I'm looking at a water cannon truck not being used. at the moment. And I couldn't tell you how many police fans, police officers I've seen.

20:24We're just going to try and get an idea of the scale of the operation from police spokesperson Patrick Martin.

20:35We have pulled in forces from all other German states, several thousand officers. We have water cannon, helicopters, police horses. The situation is complex. Thousands of protesters here at the convention centre, but also protesters blocking roads in the vicinity in dozens of demonstrations in the city centre. Now, sections of the AFD are classed as right-wing extremist by domestic intelligence. The party argues that's a political smear. It insists it's a democratic movement. Policy-wise, the AFD wants to restore ties with Putin's Russia, buy Russian gas again. And then there's the term remigration, a word that's widely understood to mean mass deportations of people with a migrant background.

21:24Though the AFD's claimed it's illegal immigrants and foreign criminals that they have in their sights in this respect, not people with German citizenship. Nevertheless, it raised eyebrows when co-leader Alice Vidal openly used the term last year. This weekend she took to the stage in Erfurt with this message for the party's opponents. To our political competitors who incite hatred against us and to those troublemakers outside the conference, I say you can't break us, quite the opposite. We are getting stronger and bigger all the time.

22:05People who've showed up to protests here are obviously very against the AFD, even say they fear the party. But this is a party that's polling top in Germany and has a shot at taking power at a state level, a regional level, in elections this autumn. So the AFD is in a pretty buoyant mood. They feel like they're on the march.

22:39Jessica Parker in Airfoot. Wimbledon's Wheelchair Tennis Championships are renowned for drawing the best players from all over the world and this year's competition will get underway on Tuesday. Brad Parks was paralysed when a ski stunt went wrong and has been instrumental in developing wheelchair tennis, which he says is a distinct sport in its own right. He told Sean Lay how his wheelchair tennis career started. I spent a month in the hospital and I began to think about what can I do? And tennis just came to mind. I wondered if I could be able to play that and it was a sport that I wanted to get better at than I was.

23:22So it was on my mind. And finding other people to play with, other wheelchair users? No, I didn't know anybody in a wheelchair at that point. So a month after I got out of the hospital, I went for a checkup and there was a new therapist and he's playing wheelchair tennis. And he had a chair that he made in his garage, but it was night and day different from my chair. So all of a sudden there's another guy playing wheelchair tennis, right? So that was so encouraging. And we became the best of friends. Probably a year later, he goes, Brad, we're going to have a tournament in Los Angeles. And he goes, you're playing in it.

23:59What rules should we use? And I said, only two bounces, nothing else. And I won the tournament. Congratulations. And that rule is now the only difference, isn't it, as I understand it? Primarily. The key difference. You know, I mean, yeah, that's really the only thing that kind of stands out. You have to stay in contact with your wheelchair. chair. Everybody straps now tightly to the chair, so you can't really get away from your chair. But the early days, if you could stand up on one foot, you could kind of stand up a little bit out of your chair and hit a smash. So it'd give you a little bit of an advantage.

24:33And we allowed that, but that changed as it became more professional. Now, talking about it becoming more professional, the first year in which it was part of the Paralympics was in Barcelona in 92. That must to be in a big moment to see it recognized as a sport of equal status with all those other well-established sports. It was a big deal because in 1981 or so I had a conversation with the commissioner of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association and he told me you cannot play wheelchair tennis it's not a feasible wheelchair sport. Why did he think it couldn't be played? His main reasoning at that time was players would kind of shuffle side to side sort of think of a wheelchair you couldn't move laterally and that was his reasoning and you weren't going to take no for an answer well I was discouraged very discouraged I'm 21 years old and he's most important person maybe in the world in wheelchair sports but I just said you know what I think you don't really need to shuffle back and forth five years later of course he's asking to meet with me he wants to know how we are doing and he goes by the way Brad I was wrong and I apologize.

25:46Brad Parks. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag global news pod. And don't forget our sister podcast, The Global Story, which goes in depth and beyond the headlines on One Big Story. This edition of the Global News Podcast was mixed by Mark Pickett and produced by Ira Khan. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Alex Ritson. Until next time, goodbye.