World Tour: Recovery efforts in Libya

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

AUDIO: [Rescue work]

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Libya flooding aftermath — Today’s roundup starts in Libya, where rescue workers are still carrying body bags and scouting for survivors, more than a week after a devastating flood.

Two dams in the mountains above the coastal city of Derna burst, sending floodwaters about two stories high rushing into the city.

SOUND: [Woman crying]

This survivor lifted pieces of rubble from her brother’s home as she searched for their family. Ira

AUDIO: [Woman speaking Arabic]

She says here that the family hopes to find at least one body so they can bury and mourn them.

SOUND: [Street, truck]

On Monday, workers dressed in hazmat suits began sanitizing the streets of Derna, hoping to stave off waterborne diseases.

AUDIO: [Protesters chant]

Iran anniversary protests — On Saturday, protesters in the Canadian city of Vancouver chanted, “Only solution, revolution.”

Thousands of protesters gathered in other cities around the world to mark one year since the death of Kurdish-Iranian national Mahsa Amini in police custody.

Iran’s morality police had detained her for violating laws about head coverings.

Her death sparked nationwide protests that grew into calls to overthrow Iran’s leadership.

AUDIO: [Chanting crowds]

In Rome, protesters chanted “end to the regime.” And in London, others chanted “Women, Life, and Freedom.”

Fari Bradley joined the march in central London.

BRADLEY: It's now a solidarity movement. Men, young and old, are treating women with more respect, and women are finding ways to express themselves and then be supported by their male relatives and family and coworkers and even strangers in the street.

Similar protests crowded the streets in Washington D.C., France, and Germany.

AUDIO: [Meeting]

Brazil-Cuba relations — We head next to Cuba, where Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sought to rekindle relations with his Cuban counterpart.

Lula stopped in Havana over the weekend to attend the summit of the Group of 77 emerging economies—plus China.

The countries account for 80 percent of the world’s population.

Lula criticized the U.S.-led embargo on Cuba and Cuba’s presence on the U.S. list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

LULA: [Speaking Portuguese]

Lula says Cuba has stood for a more just global governance.

Lula’s visit is the first of any Brazilian president to Cuba in nearly a decade. The two-day summit came days ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, which started Monday in New York.

SOUND: [Protest]

Germany Eritrea protests — In southwest Germany, dozens of people sustained injuries after violence broke out at an Eritrean cultural festival.

Shortly before the event started in the city of Stuttgart, protesters supporting Eritrea’s opposition began throwing stones and bottles at police and participants.

Authorities arrested more than 200 people. Several groups considered to be supporters of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki organized the Saturday event.

Tens of thousands of people have fled Eritrea for Europe, over alleged mistreatment under Afwerki’s government.

BRENNER: [Speaking German]

Stuttgart police spokesperson Timo Brenner saying authorities levied bans and restraining orders against the suspects.

Back in July, more than 25 police officers were injured after a similar Eritrean festival in the central German city of Giessen.

AUDIO: [Chanting protesters]

And earlier this month, clashes between Eritrean opposition and government supporters in Tel Aviv sparked one of Israel’s most violent street confrontations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the immediate deportation of those involved.

SOUND: [Parade music]

Germany Oktoberfest — We close today at the world’s largest folk festival in another German city.

Hundreds of people wore Bavarian costumes as they marched down the streets of Munich on Sunday.

Keeping with Oktoberfest folk festival tradition, the men wore leather trousers with checkered shirts, wooly socks, and a hat with a feather. The women donned corseted dresses with a lace-up front and aprons.

Germans trace the annual Oktoberfest traditions back to a horse race in 1810 that celebrated the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen.

Cecilia—originally from China—joined other parade onlookers who lined the streets.

CECILIA: [Speaking German]

She says she was excited to participate in everything, since the culture is different from her home country.

More than 700 guests also joined a four-mile-long procession of 40 floats. They included guests from Austria, Italy, and Serbia.

Oktoberfest celebrations will continue until October 3.

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

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