News Broadcasting
“Trump is our main ally”: Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado to Times Now
MUMBAI: Democracy, defiance, and a dash of diplomacy. In a rare and emotional global exclusive, Times Now has become the only Indian news channel to interview Venezuela’s 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado and the face of her nation’s democratic resistance.
Speaking to Times Now and Times Now Navbharat group editor-in-chief Navika Kumar, Machado appeared via a secure link from hiding, where she has lived in isolation for over 15 months amid president Nicolás Maduro’s crackdown on dissent.
In her most candid conversation yet, Machado called India “a great democracy and an example for the world”, expressing hope that a liberated Venezuela would deepen ties with New Delhi.
“India has been an example for many generations,” she said. “I hope I can host prime minister Modi in a free Venezuela very soon.”
The Nobel laureate also made headlines for describing US president Donald Trump as “our main ally in the fight for democracy”, crediting his administration’s hard-line stance against the Maduro regime. She defended America’s targeted strikes on narco-terror networks in Venezuelan waters as a necessary response to “the criminal socialist structures that have devastated our nation.”
Breaking down at one point, Machado spoke of the human cost of repression and said, “I’ve been in absolute isolation for almost 15 months. Thousands have disappeared. Children and women have been abused, tortured, even killed. But Venezuela’s spirit is unbroken: Maduro’s time is over.”
Citing Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings, she reflected on the power of peaceful resistance. “Being peaceful is not weakness. Gandhi showed humanity that freedom demands strength.”
Her remarks come amid global debates over the future of democracy and place India squarely in her vision of hope.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
