World Tour - Colombia legalizes abortion

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour with our reporter in Africa. Here’s Onize Ohikere.

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Burkina Faso gold mine explosion—We start today in West Africa.

An explosion at a gold mine in Burkina Faso on Monday killed at least 59 people and injured 100 others.

AUDIO: [Talking at the accident site]

The region’s high commissioner said explosives stored at the mine likely caused the blast. But investigators are still trying to figure out exactly what happened.

Burkina Faso is the fastest-growing gold producer in Africa. Gold is the country’s most important export. About 1.5 million people work in the industry.

Small mines like the one where Monday’s accident happened are becoming more common. And much of the gold dug from them is smuggled into neighboring Togo, Benin, Niger, and Ghana.

Small mines also attract jihadists linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State. The militants tax miners to raise funds and use the sites for recruiting and to seek refuge.

Colombian court legalizes abortion—Next we go to South America.

Colombia’s highest court legalized abortion through 24 weeks of pregnancy in a ruling issued Monday.

AUDIO: [Chanting, cheering]

Abortion activists celebrated outside the Supreme Court building in Bogota.

AUDIO: [Quiet talking]

Pro-life advocates held a more subdued rally. They waved flags, prayed, and held up photos of women who died after legal abortions.

The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights helped file the lawsuit that eventually overturned Colombia's abortion restrictions. A lawyer who worked on the case said the group’s goal was complete decriminalization of abortion.

Prior to the high court ruling, Colombia only allowed abortion when the mother’s life was in danger, the baby was diagnosed with abnormalities, or in cases of rape.

Colombia is just the latest country in Latin America to loosen abortion restrictions. Argentina, Uruguay, and Cuba also allow abortion without restrictions up to a certain point. But countries like El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic still prohibit the procedure under all circumstances.

Hong Kong faces COVID crisis—Next to Asia.

AUDIO: [Sound of construction]

Construction crews in Hong Kong are building special isolation facilities in hopes of containing a surge in COVID-19 cases. China is the only major economy trying to impose a zero-COVID strategy, despite ample evidence that it doesn’t work.

Under new restrictions, Hong Kong’s 7.4 million residents must submit to three rounds of virus tests, starting in March. Between those tests, they must take multiple rapid antigen tests every day at home. Anyone who tests positive will be strictly quarantined.

Health officials have reported thousands of new cases every day. Officials say the surge threatens to overwhelm the city’s hospitals.

Blind couples marry on 2/22—And finally, we end today in Indonesia.

AUDIO: [Man talking, laugh]

Ten special couples tied the knot in a group wedding ceremony in West Java on Tuesday. A charity for the blind organized the event to coincide with a date many there consider lucky: 2-22-22.

Blind people in Indonesia often face discrimination because of their disability. And blind couples—especially from poor families—often don’t have the means to marry.

One bride said she didn’t mind sharing her special day with others. She called the ceremony “spectacular.”

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

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