World Tour: Commemorating the Rwandan genocide

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour with our reporter in Nigeria, Onize Ohikere

AUDIO: [Singing]

Rwandan genocide — We take off today in Rwanda’s capital of Kigali, where thousands held candles at a Sunday vigil to commemorate the start of the Rwandan genocide 30 years ago.

Extremists from the Hutu ethnic group began attacking members of the Tutsi minority and also other moderate Hutus on April 7, 1994. The massacre lasted for 100 days and left about 800,000 people dead.

AUDIO: [Trumpets]

Rwandan President Paul Kagame lit a flame of remembrance and laid a wreath at the memorial site with the remains of 250,000 genocide victims.

Kagame said the international community failed his country by not intervening during the violence and called the tragedy a warning for other countries.

KAGAME: The process of division and extremism which leads to genocide can happen anywhere if left unchecked.

African leaders and other foreign guests, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Israeli President Isaac Herzog attended the events.

The Sunday festivities mark the start of a week of remembrance where flags will fly at half-mast and music is not allowed in public places.

AUDIO: [Protesters chanting]

Mexico-Ecuador rift — In Mexico, protesters rallied outside Ecuador’s embassy as both countries are locked in an unprecedented diplomatic spat.

The row began after Ecuadorian special forces stormed the Mexican Embassy in Ecuador’s capital of Quito. They arrested Ecuador’s former vice president Jorge Glas after Mexico granted him political asylum as he faces corruption charges.

Mexico severed diplomatic ties with Ecuador after the raid and ordered its diplomatic staff to return to Mexico. The raid has also drawn criticism from Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, and other regional governments.

Gabriela Sommerfeld is Ecuador’s foreign minister.

SOMMERFELD: [Speaking Spanish]

She says here that it’s unlawful to grant asylum to convicts or people facing prosecution.

Her Mexican counterpart, Alicia Barcena, condemned the raid and arrest.

BARCENA: [Speaking Spanish]

She says here that the Mexican government will take the matter to the International Court of Justice.

AUDIO: [Navy officer, commands]

South Asia joint drills — Over in the South China Sea, U.S. defense forces joined their counterparts from Australia, Japan, and the Philippines for a one-day joint exercise.

The four nations said they held the exercise to uphold freedom of navigation and use of international airspace. Their operations included anti-submarine warfare training and communication activities.

China has long-simmering tensions with Southeast Asian nations over the disputed waters. China’s Communist Party authorities accuse the United States of inflaming tensions.

In an apparent response to the joint drills, China’s military said it also conducted air and sea patrols over the South China Sea.

AUDIO: [Applause]

British milestone — We wrap up in the Tunisian city of Bizerte where a 27-year-old British man concluded a nearly 10,000-mile run across the length of Africa.

Russ Cook started the feat last April in South Africa and chronicled several hurdles along the way. He and his team were robbed of their money and passports at gunpoint in Angola. He paused in Nigeria after suffering severe back pain, then faced more delays in Algeria over visa complications.

Nicknamed the Hardest Geezer, Cook clocked more than 19 million steps in 16 countries.

His run has raised more than $870,000 for a charity that helps homeless young people and another that aids displaced people from Western Sahara.

AUDIO: [Final cheer, congratulations]

That’s it for today’s WORLD Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

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.