World Tour

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour. This is our new segment based on your listener feedback. We feature headlines and more from around the world.

JILL NELSON, HOST: Today, our international reporters are all on reporting trips. So, we’ll be your hosts for today’s tour, starting in Afghanistan…

Violence mars Afghan elections— where voters await the results of last weekend’s parliamentary elections. Despite ongoing Taliban attacks, 4 million people went to the polls Saturday and Sunday. That’s about half the country’s eligible voters.

In a televised address shortly after the polls closed, President Ashraf Ghani said the large turnout showed Afghans are determined to pursue democracy.

AUDIO: [Sound of Ghani]

Many who voted risked their lives. Dozens of people suffered injuries in at least 192 attacks. 17 civilians, 10 police officers and 1 army officer died.

On Monday, Pentagon officials admitted a U.S. general was among those injured during a Taliban attack last week. U.S. Army Brigadier General Jeffrey Smiley suffered two gunshot wounds when a guard opened fire at the end of a security summit. The attack prompted Afghan officials to postpone elections in Kandahar until this weekend.

REICHARD: US charity under investigation in Liberia—Now to the African country of Liberia, where an American charity faces an investigation.

AUDIO: [Sound of Liberian protests]

Protests erupted in Monrovia after a report suggested the founder of a girls’ school called More Than Me Academy did nothing to stop suspected abuse. The school was founded by American Katie Meyler.

Ten girls testified against former staffer Macintosh Johnson during a sexual assault trial in 2015. But the new report detailed dozens of additional assaults.

The school has raised $8 million since its founding in 2013, including a $600,000 grant from the U.S. government.

NELSON: China opens world’s longest sea bridge—Now to China, where the world’s longest sea bridge opens to the public today.

AUDIO: [Sound of Xi Jinping]

The 34-mile-long bridge connects Hong Kong and Macau to mainland China. It took nine years and $20 billion to build.

Chinese officials insist it will boost the region’s economy by linking three important cities. But critics say it’s really designed to tighten Beijing’s grip on semi-autonomous Hong Kong.

REICHARD: Oldest-known intact shipwreck discovered—Now to the Black Sea, where researchers have discovered the world’s oldest known intact shipwreck. Researchers believe the Greek merchant ship sank around 400 B.C. The ship’s rudder, rowing benches, and even the contents of the hold remain intact thanks to the lack of oxygen on the seafloor. It sits more than a mile beneath the surface. The team that discovered it used robotic vehicles to photograph and map the shipwreck. They hope to return soon to explore the unopened hold.

NELSON: Human rights activist freed in Vietnam—And finally to Vietnam, where officials have released a prominent human rights activist and allowed her to leave the country. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh flew to the U.S. last week with her two children and her mother. Supporters welcomed her in Houston.

AUDIO: [Sound of Quynh supporters in Houston]

A court sentenced Quynh to 10 years in prison last year for social media posts deemed “anti-state propaganda.” Her arrest was part of a wider campaign to crack down on dissent in the communist country.

That’s this week’s World Tour.

(AP Photo/Mohammad Anwar Danishyar) A woman casts her vote at a pooling station in Jalalabad, capital of eastern Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018.

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