World Tour: Aftermath of flooding in the DRC

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: WORLD Tour with our reporter in Africa, Onize Oduah.

AUDIO: [Clearing out water]

ONIZE ODUAH: DRC flooding aftermath — We start today in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where some residents are clearing out pails of water from their homes and shoveling the streets.

Heavy rainfall over the weekend caused rivers and sewers in the capital city of Kinshasa to overflow. Authorities confirm at least one child died in the floodwaters.

Officials expected more damage and loss of life, but residents are still grappling with the aftermath.

KAYIBA: [Speaking Lingala]

Maguy Kayiba says she’s lost everything as she stands in her flooded home.

Authorities warn that littering waterways increases flood risks.

The country’s northeastern neighbor South Sudan is experiencing its worst flooding in decades. Heavy rains have forced more than 200,000 people from their homes and hindered aid delivery to hundreds of thousands more. In other continents, parts of France, Italy, and Bangladesh have also reported severe flooding.

AUDIO: [Sound of cheering]

King Charles in Australia — We head next to cheering crowds in Australia’s Sydney, as King Charles the Third and Queen Camilla wrap up a six-day tour.

The international tour is the first for the 75-year-old since he was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.

He gifted an hourglass timer to the parliament and later attended a Sunday service at the St. Thomas’ Anglican Church in North Sydney.

Lynton Martin came from Melbourne to catch a glimpse of the royals.

MARTIN: My grandmother loved the Royals. She saw Charles and Diana in the early 80s when they came to East Gippsland. So this is sort of a round circle moment - a full circle moment.

During a stop in the capital city of Canberra, King Charles paid respect to indigenous people.

KING CHARLES: Because we are all connected, both as a global community and with all that sustains life, that is the timeless wisdom of Indigenous people throughout the entire world, from which each one of us can benefit.

But an indigenous senator chimed in just after his speech…

AUDIO: [Shouting “give us our land back”]

Australians are divided over retaining the British king as Australia’s monarch and adopting a republic system that will have an Australian as head of state. A 1999 referendum kept Queen Elizabeth the Second as head of state.

The royals also visited a war memorial in Canberra and greeted fans outside the Sydney Opera House.

They are arriving in Samoa today where King Charles will attend his first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

AUDIO: [Salute]

Indonesia’s new leader — And in Indonesia, a former general assumed office on Sunday as the country’s new president.

Prabowo Subianto clinched a landslide victory in a February election.

SUBIANTO: [Speaking Indonesian]

He says here that he will fulfill his duties with fairness and will uphold the constitution.

Subianto assumes office with a record of rights abuses during his time in the military. He was accused of ordering the abductions of democracy activists in the late 1990s—an allegation that led to his discharge from the military.

AUDIO: [Cheering and applause]

Guatemalan journalist released — We end in Guatemala, where a journalist who spent more than two years in detention is on his way home after a judge approved his request for house arrest.

Authorities detained Jose Ruben Zamora over money laundering charges two years ago. He was sentenced to six years in prison last June.

In 1996, Zamora founded the now-shuttered El Periódico daily newspaper, which focused on anti-corruption.

Zamora says he believes authorities will try to arrest him again.

ZAMORA: [Speaking Spanish]

He says here that he has the spirit, the courage, and the faith to continue.

Eight journalists and columnists working with the newspaper have left the country since the prosecutor’s office launched its investigation.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Oduah in Abuja, Nigeria.

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