World Tour: Russia detains another American journalist

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

Onize Ohikere is off this week, so World Radio Reporter Mary Muncy has this week’s roundup.

AUDIO: [Judge reading sentence in Russian]

MARY MUNCY, REPORTER: Reporter detained in Russia — We begin today’s World Tour in Russia.

A court on Monday extended a second Russian-American journalist’s pre-trial detention to December.

Alsu Kurmasheva is a Prague-based journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

She entered Russia in May for a family emergency and Russian authorities detained her in June for failing to register her U.S. passport. Authorities later added the charge of failing to register as a foreign agent.

The charges carry fines and a sentence of up to five years in prison.

In March, Russian authorities also detained a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, Evan Gershkovich. He remains in prison awaiting trial.

Haiti Update — Next, to Haiti, where Haitian police arrested a former justice official last week for the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise.

Investigators accuse Joseph Felix Badio of hiring a group of Colombian mercenaries to kill Moise in July 2021.

AUDIO: [Sound from street]

Since the assassination, gangs have taken over many cities in the country and the United Nations approved sending peacekeeping forces from Kenya.

But a Kenyan court blocked the Multinational Security Support, or MSS—saying the Kenyan president doesn’t have the authority to approve it.

UN Special Representative for Haiti Maria Isabel Salvador spoke to the UN this week.

SALVADOR: Reestablishing control by the Haitian National Police is a prerequisite for holding credible and inclusive elections. The deployment of the MSS brings hope that the situation will improve.

Salvador says in the absence of peacekeeping forces, a new vigilante movement has lynched at least 395 alleged gang members.

AUDIO: [Khan supporters]

Imran Khan Indictment — Now on to Pakistan, where authorities indicted former Prime Minister Imran Khan earlier this week for allegedly revealing government secrets.

Khan’s lawyer says the trial should not occur behind closed doors.

LAWYER: He denies all the allegations. All are trumped up charges, all are politically motivated. All are by the two hostile regimes, the previous one and this one.

Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote last year and after the ouster, he allegedly waved a classified document in the air at a rally. He said it would prove that he was being threatened and that his ouster was a U.S. conspiracy.

A court has already sentenced Khan to three years in prison and he’s not eligible to run for office in January. The new charges could carry a life sentence or the death penalty.

MILEI: [Thanking supporters in Spanish]

Argentina election — In Argentina, presidential hopeful Javier Milei is thanking supporters for putting him into a November runoff election.

On Sunday, the economist and lawmaker claimed 30 percent of the opening round votes, scoring him second place behind the current economy minister, whose policies have driven inflation in Argentina to 140 percent.

AUDIO: [Sheep bells ringing]

Animal traffic jam — We end today’s World Tour on the streets of Madrid as sheep bring traffic to a standstill.

AUDIO: [Shepherds calling sheep]

Over the weekend, shepherds herded their flocks along ancient herding routes to their southern pastures for the winter. The fluffy parade is part of Madrid’s annual Fiesta de la TrashuMANcia, or the festival of the migration.

WOMAN: Yes. It’s amazing. I think it’s a tradition for a long time. It’s nice to see so many people joining and enjoying as well. It’s amazing.

That’s it for today’s WORLD Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Mary Muncy, filling in for Onize Ohikere.

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