World Tour

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, October 10th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour.

And yes, it’s a brand-new feature! In our recent listener survey we heard from some of you who said a program called “The World and Everything in It” should have more international news. Well, we agree!

EICHER: Yeah, and if the name sounds familiar, it’s because World Tour is the name of a weekly international roundup on WORLD Digital.

And starting today, each week we’ll bring you an audio version of World Tour. You’ll hear from Mindy Belz and Onize Ohikere.

Mindy, of course, is the senior editor of WORLD. She’s been covering global events for decades. And Onize is our eyes and ears on the ground in Africa.

REICHARD: And just so folks will know the plan here—we’ll still cover global headlines in the news at the top of the program. But this weekly feature will allow us go beyond the major headlines. To hear about some things that you might otherwise have missed.

EICHER: So with all that said, here’s Mindy Belz with our first World Tour.

MINDY BELZ, SENIOR EDITOR: Brazil election—We begin today in Brazil—Latin America’s largest country. There the two candidates for president are making last-minute appeals to voters ahead of an October 28th runoff election.

AUDIO: [Bolsonaro rally]

Far-right firebrand Jair Bolsonaro is trying to build on the momentum that helped him capture 46 percent of the general election vote last Sunday. Leftist Fernando Haddad received only 29 percent in a crowded field, but the two are running close in head-to-head polling.

Bolsonaro is running on an anti-corruption platform after former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was jailed on corruption charges. He’s is also vowing to crack down on crime. Brazil suffered a record 63,000 murders in 2017.

Asia Bibi appeal—This week Pakistan’s Supreme Court heard an appeal in the long-standing case against a Christian mother charged with blasphemy.

AUDIO: [Arabic news report]

Asia Bibi is a Catholic farmworker on death row since 2010. Her co-workers accused her of insulting Muhammad in 2009.

False blasphemy claims are often used to settle scores in Pakistan, but Bibi’s case has become a rallying cry for hardline Islamists. The Tehreek-e-Labaik party in Pakistan warned of, quote— “terrible consequences” should the court free Bibi.

If the high court does not free her, Bibi could become the first person executed under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.

Pence blasts China—Vice President Mike Pence fired rhetorical warning shots at China in an important foreign policy speech last week.

PENCE: As we speak, Beijing is employing a whole of government approach: using political, economic, and military tools, as well as propaganda, to advance its influence and benefit its interest in the United States.

The comments came four days after a Chinese destroyer nearly collided with the USS Decatur while trying to block its path. It was only the most recent of China’s aggression in the international waters of the South China Sea, where nearly one-third of all global shipping passes.

China’s actions constitute a new “red scare.” But Pence’s remarks show the U.S. is not blinking.

PENCE: We will not relent until our relationship with China is grounded in fairness, reciprocity, and respect for our sovereignty.

South Korean president sentenced—A South Korean court has convicted former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak of corruption.

AUDIO: [Judge sentence]

Lee will spend the next 15 years in prison. The court convicted him of embezzling nearly $22 million from a company he owned and taking $5 million in bribes from Samsung.

Lee is just the latest South Korean politician embroiled in scandal. His successor to the presidency, Park Geun-hye, is serving a 33-year sentence in a separate corruption case.  

Bibles in Sudan—And finally, good news from Sudan. Government officials have released a shipment of Arabic-language Bibles held in port for six years. They also returned 19 properties seized two years ago from Church of Christ congregations.

WORLD learned that visiting American clergy raised the issue of confiscated properties with Khartoum officials a year ago. The U.S. government regards Sudan as a “violent abuser” of religious freedom.

That’s this week’s World Tour. I’m Mindy Belz.

(AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo) Fernando Haddad, left, and Jair Bolsonaro, right

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.