World Tour: Protests in Iran

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

Iran protests—Today’s World Tour takes off with protests in Iran.

AUDIO: [Protesters chanting]

Defiant protesters chanted and burned headscarves across Iran in another consecutive night of protests.

Demonstrations flared after a 22-year-old woman died in police custody last week. Iran’s morality police arrested her for violating modesty laws.

Police have arrested more than 1,200 protesters, while at least 75 people have died in the clashes.

AUDIO: [Protester chanting]

In the streets of Paris on Sunday, thousands of people joined a solidarity march. Similar protests also sprang up in London and Istanbul.

Italian election— Next, we go to Italy, where an electoral victory brought historic changes.

AUDIO: [Crowd cheering]

In Sunday’s general election, the Brothers of Italy party won 26 percent of the vote. That means party leader Giorgia Meloni is on a course to serve as Italy’s first female prime minister.

Meloni’s party is also part of a conservative alliance that clinched a clear majority in both houses of parliament. Their victory puts in power Italy’s most conservative government since World War II.

Meloni’s party traces its roots to the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement. As a teenager, Meloni served as an activist with the party’s youth wing ... but has since denounced fascism and distanced herself from the party’s history.

^{MELONI: [Speaking in Italian]}

Meloni says here she will govern for all Italians and focus on uniting people. Her coalition has promised to lower taxes, end mass immigration, and promote family values.

Italy isn’t the only country shifting to the political right. Sweden, France, and Spain also recorded conservative gains in recent elections.

Philippines storm— We head next to the storm-ravaged Philippines.

AUDIO: [Traffic in flood]

Typhoon Noru toppled trees and knocked out power across the Philippines’ most populous island on Sunday and Monday.

The storm is the strongest to hit the Philippines this year.

Authorities said five rescuers died while trying to help flooded residents in Bulacan province, near the capital, Manila. A landslide also killed one elderly man in Quezon province.

AUDIO: [Resident speaking in Tagalog]

This resident says the flood washed away his home 15 minutes after his family evacuated.

Disaster officials anticipated widespread devastation but later described the damage as minimal. The Philippines faces an average of 20 storms each year.

Border reopening— We end today at the border between Venezuela and Colombia.

AUDIO: [Trucks honking]

A cargo truck adorned with balloons and flags honked loudly as it crossed the Simon Bolivar International Bridge Monday.

The crossing formally reopened cargo trade between the South American neighbors after seven years.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro restricted transporting goods across the border in 2015 and the countries fully severed ties in 2019. That’s after members of Venezuela’s opposition tried to cross with food and medicine.

Colombia’s leftist president Gustavo Petro assumed office in August. He pledged to restore ties with Venezuela. The countries also plan to resume commercial flights.

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

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