World Tour: Georgian protests over EU delay

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

SOUND: [PROTESTERS]

We start today at protests in the Black Sea nation of Georgia.

Protests have continued for days in the capital city of Tbilisi … since the government decided last week to suspend talks of joining the European Union for four years.

On Sunday, protesters gathered once again outside the parliament building and threw fireworks … as riot police tried to use water cannons to disperse them.

Georgia’s Interior Ministry said at least 27 protesters and 16 police officers were hospitalized. More than 100 people have also been detained since the demonstrations began.

Here’s Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.

IRAKLI KOBAKHIDZE: [GEORGIAN] I urge everyone to remain calm and abide by the law. I remind everyone that any violation of the law will be met with the full rigor of the law.

Critics accuse the ruling Georgian Dream party of pushing the country toward closer ties with Russia. The party’s victory in an October parliamentary election sparked accusations of Russian influence and voting irregularities.

The pro-Western and mostly ceremonial President Salome Zurabishvili … has also criticized the ruling party.

She says that she stands with the protesters as they seek to return the country to its European path and hold new elections.

SOUND: [PROTESTERS CHANTING]

Next we head over to Venezuela, where demonstrators there are demanding the release of people detained … after a controversial July vote.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council declared incumbent President Nicolás Maduro the winner … without releasing the vote tallies. Both Maduro and opposition candidate Edmundo González have said they will assume office on Jan. 10.

During the opposition-led march on Sunday, protesters released white balloons and shouted “freedom” for the nearly 2,000 people who are still imprisoned after post-election demonstrations.

Sairam Rivas is an activist who joined the march.

SAIRAM RIVAS: [SPANISH] We demand justice for those who are at this moment unjustly deprived of liberty, and furthermore, for all those who have been unjustly killed.

She says they are demanding justice for those who are detained and also those who died during the protests.

SOUND: [CHEERING MILITARY]

Over in the Middle East, Syrian rebels are cheering after regaining control of most of the city of Aleppo after a surprise offensive.

Thousands of opposition fighters now guard key landmarks in Syria’s second-largest city … including the international airport and the old citadel. The insurgents also claimed control of dozens of nearby towns and villages.

The latest fighting is the most significant in recent years. It’s also the first time the rebels have returned to Aleppo … since government troops regained control eight years ago.

Syria’s civil war began in 2011. Government troops regained control of much of the country with support from Iran and Russia years later … but the war never formally ended.

The latest rebels are part of a new coalition called “Military Operations Command.” They say their offensive is a response to growing attacks from the Syrian government and Iranian militias.

Kareem Chehayeb is with the Associated Press.

KAREEM CHEHAYEB: This comes at an interesting time as Syria's key allies, Russia and Iran, are preoccupied by conflicts of their own. And this recent flare-up in the Middle East also comes as there is conflict in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

Russia and Syria have conducted joint air raids against the insurgents.

SOUND: [FESTIVE MUSIC]

We wrap up with a holiday festivity …. this time in the South African legislative capital of Cape Town.

Children and adults wore colorful headgear to the Sunday event with the theme: “People of Hope.”

SOUND: [COUNTDOWN]

At the end of the countdown, a colorful blend of lights illuminated the city’s Adderley Street.

Here’s Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

GEORDIN HILL-LEWIS: Capetonians are the people of hope. They really give me hope, they find ways through difficult things. They are showing the example to the country of what is possible. So Capetonians are the people of hope, and this is the city of Hope.

Cape Town has organized the festivities for more than five decades.

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

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