World Tour - Nazi trial in Germany, and an oil leak in Mauritius

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: WORLD Tour.

Both our international reporters are on assignment.

Former Nazi camp guard convicted—We start today in Europe. 

AUDIO: [SURVIVOR SPEAKING]

A German court has sentenced a former concentration camp guard to two years in prison. Bruno Dey was convicted of more than 5,000 counts of accessory to murder. That’s the number of people killed at the Nazi camp while Dey was a guard there in 1944. He was 17 at the time.

Dey claimed not to have known the extent of the suffering in the camp. But the judge ruled against him, saying the mass murder at the camp could not have happened without guards like him.

Even after 70 years, many former Nazis are still being prosecuted. The special office that investigates Nazi crimes has more than a dozen ongoing investigations.

Afghanistan frees 400 Taliban fighters—Next, to the Middle East.

AUDIO: [MAN SINGING]

AUDIO: [ASHRAF GHANI SPEAKING]

Afghanistan has agreed to release 400 Taliban prisoners in an effort to jumpstart peace talks with the militant group. The country’s assembly of elders made the decision Sunday.

The Taliban had demanded the release of 5,000 fighters before beginning peace talks. These 400 are the last of that group. Among them are Taliban members accused of major attacks against civilians, including a 2017 truck bombing in Kabul that killed more than 150 people.

The Afghan assembly said following the release of the prisoners, the Taliban should begin negotiations “immediately, without any excuse.”

Mauritian stranded oil tanker—Next, we go to Africa.

AUDIO: [WAVES]

Crews are working to remove as much oil as possible from a stranded tanker off the coast of Mauritius. The ship ran aground two weeks ago and began leaking oil into the once-pristine ocean. High winds and waves are pounding the ship, slowly cracking it apart.

More than 1,000 tons of oil has already seeped out of the wreck, polluting the nearby reefs and lagoons. Thousands of volunteers have created improvised barriers out of fabric tubes stuffed with straw and leaves. The barriers are supposed to help keep the oil contained in a smaller area.

Mauritius is a small island country in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. It is home to world-renowned coral reefs, and tourism is a crucial part of its economy.

Muwado, 8-year-old comedienne—Finally, we end today in Somalia.

AUDIO: [MUWADO’S INTRO]

An 8-year-old comedian named Muwado Abshir has grabbed the country’s attention. She’s the star of short comedy videos on TikTok and YouTube.

Her teenage brother first posted a video of her in December 2019. Within days, it had more than a quarter of a million views. The account now has over 200,000 followers. Muwado’s brother writes the script and she delivers the punchlines.

Somalia is still recovering from a brutal civil war. Muwado says she likes to make people happy because they look better when they are laughing.

And that’s this week’s World Tour.

(Nik Cole/Mauritian Wildlife Foundation via AP) This photo provided by the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation Ministry shows oil leaking from the MV Wakashio, a bulk carrier ship that recently ran aground off the southeast coast of Mauritius, Monday Aug. 10, 2020. 

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