anchor: a shipment of ukrainian grain leaves odesa for the first time since the war broke out. humanitarian groups hope it will help to ease the food crisis. the speaker of the u.s. house of representatives on a tour of asia. the big question today, will she visit taiwan? the top american diplomat calls on beijing not to escalated tensions in the region. and conflicting reports out of senegal.

the presidents coalition and opposition both claim victory in key parliamentary elections. thank you for joining us. we start the program with the news that a ship carrying ukrainian grain has left the port of odessa for the first time since the russian invasion. it is bound for lebanon, carrying 26,000 tons of corn. the journey was made possible thanks to a deal brokered by turkey in the united nations. it took weeks to negotiate with the russian and ukrainian governments and represents a rare diplomatic rate through in the war. we have a report. reporter: on board the ship, more than 26,000 tons of ukrainian corn. a crewman shared his joy after being stuck in the port under

the threat of shelling. >> it was a gat feeling. i felt we became free after being detained a long time. reporter: the shipment was made possible thanks to adil reese last month between ukraine and russia -- things to a deal reached last month between ukraine and russia. the vessel will first anchor off istanbul for inspection before heading to lebanon. kyiv hailed this as a step toward preventing world hunger. ukraine is a major grain the global wheat market and 15% of the corn market. the war has present -- prevented ships from leaving its ports, leading to a spike in food prices. more ships are expected to follow in the coming days. according to ukrainian presidential officials, 17 ships

are docked with almost 600,000 tons of cargo. unlocking the ports would also provide ukraine with much needed cash as russian attacks continue, including on farms and silos. anchor: staying with the fallout of the russian invasion, we can look now at how energy resources are being diversified. european countries are increasingly turning to other suppliers. germany wants to increase its coal imports from columbia, the fourth largest exporter in the world. our team has a report. reporter: it is the largest open pit coal mine in latin ameca. it is in northeast columbia, and run by a swiss company. >> in 2021, we produced 23.4 million tons of coal. reporter: following the russian energy embargo, germany is planning to buy more colombian coal.

catherine, a german green party representative, went to columbia to research the conditions of this huge operation. >> the mine as a significant impact in the region in terms of the drinking water and air pollution. reporter: the mining company officials claim there is no negative impt on the environmen >> the mining company is telling me everything is perfect and they have it under ctrol, during our visit, they tried to make sure everything looked perfect. but i know the difference. reporter: the mind consumes 24 million liters of water per day. yet it is a semi desert region where water is in short supply. close to the perimeter,

indigenous people. the company diverted the course of this river to expand operations, altering the ecosystem of the area. >> before we had all the water we needed. since the company came, we have run out of water. we have no food, many children have died of hunger and thirst. >> i was shocked to hear that communities are still threatened to get evicted. we need to exit coal. we need to phase out coal ternationally. reporter: on the seventh of august, for the first time in history, a left wing president will be inaugurated in columbia. he is pushing for an energy transformation but needs to replenish the state coffers, and a russian embargo is a welcome boost for countries like columbia. for now, a halt in coal mining is not on the agenda. anchor: in other news, the speaker of the u.s. house of representatives, currently on a tour of asia.

she is in singapore and will visit malaysia, south korea and japan. one big question remains -- will she visit taiwan? china has warned of consequences if she does decided to rule -- to visit the south ruled island -- self ruled island. secretary blinken says china must act responsibly whatever the outcome this week. >> the speaker will make her own decisions on whether to visit taiwan. if the speaker does decide to visit and china tries to create some kind of crisis or otherwise escalate tensions, that would be entirely on beijing. we are looking for them to act responsibly and not engage in any escalation going forward. anchor: last week, it was reported by beijing that the visit would be very controversial.

reporter: stay away from taiwan or face serious consequences. a furious warning from beijing, even though no trip to the island by nancy has been announced. >> [speaking chinese] reporter: u.s. and taiwanese media say hello see will visit taiwan as early as tuesday, at a time that russia's invasion of ukraine has raised alarm over the islands own future. china has been flexing muscles in recent days, stepping up maritime and aerial surveillance around the island, which it sees as a breakaway province. for beijing, a visit by pelosi, the first u.s. congressional

leader to do so in 25 years, would constitute a gross interference in its internal affairs and undermining interior -- undermining its integrity. it would be particular provocative even her long history of criticizing the chinese human rights record. she famously went to tiananmen square to commemorate victims. more recently, she voiced support for pro-democracy in hong kong. the house speaker declined to discuss her itinerary. >> i don't talk about my travel because it is a security issue. a security issue for every member of congress traveling. reporter: the white house is also worried about the rumored visit as it maintains a delicate policy of strategic ambiguity. since recognizing communist china in the late 1970's, the u.s. has not had official diplomatic ties with taiwan, but is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend

itself. anchor: in the united states, hundreds of firefighters are battling a fast-moving forest fire in northern california. it is the largest in the state this year. two bodies were discovered today in the state has imposed evacuation orders for 2000 people. reporter: smoke rising as far as the eye can see. hundreds of firefighters in california on monday continued to battle the mckinney fire, the state's largest wildfire this year, as it has ravaged over 200,000 hectares so far. >> we are seeing the growth earlier and earlier every year. there's something we've seen in the last several years, 10 years, we are sing a lot more rapid growth, intensifiers burning through communities like we haven't seen in the past. reporter: the blaze has forced

thousands near the club math natural forest -- clamath national forest to evacuate. it is exacerbated by the climate , gusty winds and lack of rain. >> pay attention to what is going on with the earth. >> we need to be less selfish. reporter: the state's governor has declared a state of emergency over the inferno, which began friday afternoon before quickly exploding in size. the cause of the fire is still under investigation according to the california fire service. anchor: in senegal, the president's coalition and the opposition have declared victory in the key parliamentary elections. the official result is not due until tomorrow at the earliest but supporters of both sides have taken to the streets to celebrate, and earlier today i

spoke to a professor of african studies at columbia university and asked for his view on those conflicting reports coming out. >> theseonflicting election, but weighed them very important is the ruling coalitn proclaiming victory. the opposition is mainly talking about waiting for relts. what has radically changed is the fact that traditionally, the ruling party had benefited from destruction of the electoral system and iused to win.

this time they are losing, which shows a shift is happening, and this will be a radical shift. anchor: we will bring you more news when we have the official results of that election. in england, football fans are still on cloud nine this monday after the nation triumphed against germany in the european women's championship sunday night. even the queen joined in the celebrations and called the lionesses and inspiration for girls and women and for the future of generations of women. reporter: a nonstop party in trafalgar square, and across england, reveling in the championship tree. for years, they have been longing for a moment like this. finally for the first time in over half a century, a major football tournament trophy came home. >> it is one of the best things

i've ever seen. >> so many years of heartbreak and the women brought it home. a beautiful moment. reporter: as the champions gathered in front of an elated crowd on monday to celebrate their first major trophy, the coach kept her cool as always. >> how are you feeling today? >> pretty good. [laughter] reporter: she managed to stay compose the night before as an intense match was battled between england and germany. but the ice cold coach was overcome with emotion like the rest of the country when her squad pulled off a victory in front of a record crowd of over 87,000 fans at emily stadium. -- wimbley stadium. for the team captain, it is more than a victory. >> what we've done for women and young girls that can look up to aspire to be us.

england has hosted an incredible tournament and i think it will change the world. reporter: now they have their eyes on a bigger prize. >> there is still one more we can still get our hands on next year. reporter: these european champions are hoping to repeat their triumph at the world cup in 2023. anchor: those are the celebrations in london earlier today. that is it for this news program. thank you for watching. if you would like more, had to france 24.com, that is in english, french, arabic and spanish. you can see those grain exports leaving odesa. you can find the latest information. that is it for me. thank you for watching and stay

tuned to france 24. ♪ ♪ host: today on encore, we talked to a south african feminist activist and rapper. she's known for beats that fluctuate between lighthearted pop and dark hip-hop. ♪ since her first ep in 2016, she

has taken her messages of empowerment from cape town to the international stage, collaborating with mia and featured on "inventing anna." ♪ her third ep is called "higher self." ♪ host: thank you for taking the time to talk with france 24. for people discovering you today, can you talk about the history of your name? dope saint jude: thank you for having me, first of all. my full name is catherine saint jude pretorius. my second name, saint jude, is a

saint of hopeless cases. i grew up in a very catholic household. i added dope because it sounds cool. not an amazing story but it is what it is. host: your story is not a hopeless one. where you -- we are going to talk about your new ep in a moment. the start of your career began as a drag king, which is the reverse of a drag queen, for viewers who may not know. your character was basically lil wayne the rapper. can you talk about the scene in cape town and how you came up with him is your inspiration? dope saint jude: cape town is a pretty queer friendly city and there's a big drag seen in cape town, predominantly drag queens, only dragging -- drag queens. someone wrote an article asking

where are the drag kings in cape town? that inspired me to start a troop, which i think is africa's first documented drag king troop. that's the scene i came up and in i was performing regularly. i wanted to explore masculinity, i thought it was an interesting topic, but i also fell in love with lil wayne as a tragic figure in hip-hop because he started so young and the more i learned about his story, the more empathy i felt for him, and i ended up understanding the nuances of that identity, which i thought was interesting. i think art has the ability to inform you and educate you. host: as a hip-hop artist, you've got more of a name for yourself internationally. has lil wayne heard about you and your drag king inspiration and reacted? dope saint jude: i don't think so.

i hope so, and i hope if he does he sees it in a positive light. i have become a fan of his overtime. ♪ host: you have been referred to as the patron of south african intersectional hip-hop scene. is that a heavy title to bear, trying to represent everyone in lgbtq plus community or is it something you're proud of, or both? dope saint jude: i don't feel any pressure because it is my natural identity. it is part of who i am so i'm not trying to carry that identity on my shoulders. i just do inherently. i am proud of it, but i also tried to normalize it at the same time. there are always two sides so that coin, you are representing a community and at the same time trying to normalize it. host: many countries across the world still haven't made room

for the existence of the queer community, and looking at south africa in particular, how much has it evolved as a whole? dope saint jude: south africa legalized gay marriage before the u.k. even did, so i think south africa is very progressive in terms of queer rights. but i think it's also very different politically, and on paper versus culturally. also in other african countries, you have instances where it can be punishable by death, being gay. we also have to uncover the root of the homophobia and often it is imported and it is evangelicals from other places importing this way of thinking. i don't believe that homophobia is inherently african. we need to combat that wherever

we are, where is the root of this thinking? host: your new ep is called "higher self," what is the higher self? dope saint jude: i believe that is a very deep question, but it is i think the part of yourself that you call upon when you want to show the best part of who you are and the vulnerable part of yourself and the part of yourself that is -- you know, the most loving and the theory of -- ethereal and the highest level you can be had as a human being. host: you have infused that with your music videos with your partner, very sexy. also this track is called "home," which you wrote during a pandemic, you were trapped and could not go back to cape town. can you tell us about what you were doing at the time you were writing that? dope saint jude: the pandemic

first of all gave a lot of pause for a lot of people, a moment to sit and reflect. the pandemic also stopped me from being able to travel home. i was to london, i'd only moved there in 2019, and in 2020, the pandemic came and i really had to redefine what home means for me and create a new home for myself with my partner. it is not a physical thing but more of a feeling, and that also ties into the feeling of when my mom passed away, we sold our family home, and having to understand what is home mean when you don't have a physical house anymore? >> ♪ i want to feel your pain i want to feel your pain ♪ ♪

host: one of your major influences that you cite is american author toni morrison. can you tell us why her work has had such an impact on you in general? dope saint jude: toni morrison's work has had a big impact on me. when i read her work as a kid, it was the first time i read stories that were centered on, for example, "in the bluest eye," a young black girl as the key protagonist in a story. she has a saying that if there is a book you want to read it that hasn't been written, you should write that book. in the music video, i wanted to create the kind of content i have been missing. that's why that music video is super queer and just an expression of my love for my partner, because i did not see that kind of media between two black women, and also african

women expressing their love in that way. host: also in your back catalog, i've noticed that race is a topic that comes up a lot and you tackle it very skillfully through your music. i love "oh hi, g -- "go high, go low." why is it still such an important topic? dope saint jude: it's about experience, i'm not trying to be provocative or political, i'm just expressing my lived experiences. it is something i've had to deal with quite often, and especially during the pandemic when, for example, they shut the borders for african countries, it made me realize my position in the world, even though i am living in europe, i am still on an african passport, and the hierarchy of passports that exist, it is something we can't deny.

as black people, we have to experience. it is natural to talk about that in my music because it is catharsis in therapy for me. i have to talk about the things that pain me. ho: when if you new singles is called "for you." i read it was a tribute to your mother and grandmother as well, about all of t difficuies of women through the ages. dope saint jude: yes, so that song is in honor of my mom and grandmother, who lived a life of sacrifice and a lot of suffering. i realized that often we have this narrative with women, all women, and i think also particularly with black and african women, this kind of, it is noble to suffer, and i think we need to end that rhetoric. my goal is to experience joy and

this kind of radical joy, because i want to break that cycle of suffering. i don't think women need to suffer to be valid. ♪ host: i feelike we could get into a big conversation about how trans generations of trauma are ingrained in our dna. i am looking forward to seeing you put it on stage in a radical empirical way -- radical and beautiful way. you are going on tour in europe, and also some festivals lined up. dope saint jude: i've had really wonderful feedback. i move my live show from just having me and a dj is a backup

where i now have a band and it has elevated the quality of the sound to have that live element and i think it complements the new project because the new project is very cinematic in the sound and relies heavily on percussion. so far we've had really great feedback. i encourage everyone watching to watch our shows. host: dope saint jude, thank you for taking the time to chat with france 24 today. dope saint jude: thank you for having me. ♪

mocracy no] ♪ amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> 1970, it 20-year-old recent fall school graduate became the most wanted woman in america. >> angela davis was replaced on the fbi's most wanted list this afternoon by bernadine dohrn. >>