World Tour: Peace talks in South Sudan and protests end in Ecuador

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

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Tunisia gets new president—We start today here in Africa.

AUDIO: [Tunisa election celebration]

Fireworks exploded over the capital of Tunisia on Sunday as residents celebrated their new president. Political newcomer Kais Saied won the election with nearly 73 percent of the vote.

AUDIO: [Tunisia’s electoral commission]

The country’s electoral commission announced the official results on Monday. It was only the country’s second free presidential election since the 2011 Arab Spring uprising.

During his campaign, Saied vowed to shake up Tunisia’s governing structure. He also wants to give more power to young people and local governments.

Peace talks in South Sudan—Next we go to South Sudan.

Leaders there are hosting peace talks between Sudan’s transitional government and rebel leaders.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed helped to mediate the power-sharing agreement that ended months of violence in Sudan.

AHMED: With all parties committed to peace the potential for Sudan to shift its focus and energy towards building a strong economy that will pave the path for a prosperous nation is important.

Protesters in Sudan succeeded in overthrowing longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April. But they quickly clashed with the military over the transition to new leadership. The current power-sharing agreement calls for joint military and civilian rule until elections can be held a few years from now.

Russia declares opposition group a foreign agent—Next we go to Russia.

The Russian Justice Ministry has declared the anti-corruption group run by opposition leader Alexei Navalny as a foreign agent. That designation implies the group is spying for a foreign government.

AUDIO: [Russian police raid]

Police raided the offices of The Foundation for Fighting Corruption in September. Security cameras recorded them bursting through the front door. The foundation’s director said the foreign agent listing is part of ongoing efforts to intimidate and silence the group.

The foundation focuses on major investigative reports in Russia. It takes donations from Russian supporters but has long refused foreign funds.

AUDIO: [Kremlin critic Navalny]

In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Navalny vowed to continue fighting what he called “crooks and thieves.” He called the foreign agent listing unlawful.

Polio vaccine campaign in the Philippines—Next to the Philippines.

AUDIO: [Sound from Philippine vaccination campaign]

Health officials there began a mass vaccination campaign to protect children from polio. The potentially crippling disease has re-emerged in the country after nearly two decades.

Vaccination rates dropped in the Philippines after several children died during an immunization campaign in 2017. The country is now struggling to contain deadly outbreaks of measles and dengue fever.

Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that mainly affects young children. It has no known cure and can only be prevented by immunization.

Protests end in Ecuador—And finally, we end today in South America.

AUDIO: [Sound of celebrations in Ecuador]

Members of Ecuador’s indigenous community celebrated on Sunday after leaders reached an agreement to end weeks of unrest. The protesters wanted the government to cancel austerity measures that included a sharp increase in fuel costs.

After the government agreed to their demands, the protesters quickly dispersed—but not before helping to clean up the mess they created.

AUDIO: [Workers clean Quito’s streets]

Young protesters took down improvised barricades built two weeks earlier. They returned the paving stones to the construction sites they had come from or piled them onto the beds of city trucks. They also helped sweep up the charred remains of tires and construction material set on fire during the protests.

That’s this week’s World Tour. For WORLD Radio, I’m Onize Ohikere reporting from Abuja, Nigeria.

(Photo/Str) Kais Saied, a constitutional law professor without a party, stands after hearing the unofficial results of the presidential elections, Sunday, Sept.15, 2019. 

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