World Tour: Coup attempt foiled in Guinea-Bissau

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

SOUND: [Street]

ONIZE OHIKERE: Guinea Bissau foiled coup — We start today’s roundup in the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau where calm has returned to the capital city after a thwarted coup attempt.

SOUND: [Gunbattle]

The country’s army on Friday said it retained control after a gun battle broke out between members of the National Guard and special forces guarding the president.

The unrest began after National Guard members stormed a police station to extract the finance minister and treasury secretary. Both men were under investigation for alleged corruption.

At least two people died in the fighting.

Here’s the country’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo:

EMBALO: A commission of enquiry will be set up and you all know who is involved in this coup.

He says here that authorities will launch an inquiry into the coup. He has dissolved the country’s parliament and will later announce the date for the legislative elections.

It was the second attempted coup to hit West Africa within a week. Last week, authorities in Sierra Leone also detained several soldiers who attempted a takeover.

SOUND: [Cheering]

Venezuela-Guyana rift — We head next to Venezuela where a referendum has sparked tensions with its eastern neighbor.

Electoral officials say 95 percent of Venezuelan voters backed the country’s claim to the oil-rich Essequibo territory controlled by Guyana. The 61,000-square-mile territory is larger than Greece and accounts for two-thirds of Guyana.

Venezuela has insisted the territory was stolen when the border was drawn more than a century ago. But Guyana sees the referendum as an annexation.

MADURO: [Speaking Spanish]

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says here that the referendum is settling a 150-year imperial dispossession.

Tensions have risen since September when Guyana took bids for several offshore oil exploration blocks on the territory.

Guyanese President Irfaan Ali assured his people they have nothing to fear.

ALI: We always say that our first line of defense is diplomacy and we are in a very, very strong position in this first line of defense.

Ahead of the vote, the International Court of Justice asked Venezuela not to take any action to alter Guyana’s control over the territory.

Maduro is up for reelection next year.

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Philippine bombing — Over in southern Philippines, chaos hit a college gymnasium after a deadly bomb attack during Sunday Mass at 7 a.m.

At least four people died and dozens more were injured after the explosion at the Mindanao State University in Marawi.

A group linked to the Islamic State later claimed responsibility. Security officials had earlier said the attack was likely a retaliation for recent military operations against Islamist militant groups.

This 21-year-old student says the explosion hit while congregants listened to the first Scripture reading.

AUDIO: [Speaking Tagalog]

He explains here that everyone started running. He looked behind and saw people lying on the floor.

The university suspended classes and deployed more security.

SOUND: [Evacuation site]

Meanwhile, dozens of people set up temporary tents at an evacuation site after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake. It struck off the coast of the country’s Mindanao island on Saturday. At least three people died and eight others were injured.

SOUND: [Opera singing]

South Africa Opera — We wrap up at a theater in Cape Town, South Africa where two students are preparing to perform their rendition of Mozart’s opera, “The Marriage of Figaro.”

AUDIO: [Sound from practice]

The University of Cape Town is the only opera school in the country that offers a comprehensive curriculum. Lessons include acting, opera, and languages like German, French, and Italian.

Many of the students got into singing late in life and often unexpectedly. This 23-year-old student says the opera scene in her city is very limited.

STUDENT: We do have a theatre but not much goes on. And I think that’s what is really encouraging me to just do well so that I could go back one day and just like develop the theatre, liven it up.

UPSOUND: Careful, the first one is like this. Mozart set you a little trap.

Jeremy Silver is the director of the opera school.

SILVER: If we are the only full opera training academy in the country, or on the continent, then we owe it to these young people to tell them of our existence and to make it clear that they’re welcome.

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

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