World Tour: Soldiers return home to Ivory Coast

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

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Ivory Coast — Today’s roundup starts in Ivory Coast, where 46 soldiers have returned home.

AUDIO: [Celebration chants]

Authorities lined up at the airport in Abidjan to welcome the soldiers who spent six months detained in Mali.

Mali’s military junta arrested the soldiers back in June when they went to work for a private aviation company contracted by the United Nations.

They were sentenced to 20 years in prison for undermining state security and conspiracy, but the junta issued a pardon and released the soldiers last week.

The pardon also extends to three female soldiers who received death sentences in absentia because they did not appear in court for their hearing.

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara.

OUATTARA: [Speaking in French]

He says here the mission was not easy and the soldiers had no reason to reproach themselves.

Mali has faced two coups since 2020.

Pakistan flood recovery — Next to Pakistan.

The United Nations is drumming up support to help Pakistan recover from last year’s devastating floods.

AUDIO: [Displaced Pakistanis]

The rainy season deluge that submerged a third of the country killed more than 1,700 people and ruined millions of acres of agricultural land.

Thousands of Pakistanis are still living in open areas in makeshift homes and tents near stagnant water.

During a conference this week, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for more funds and debt financing to help Pakistan.

GUTERRES: So my heart broke when I saw firsthand the utter devastation of last summer's floods. No country deserves to endure what's happened to Pakistan.

Dozens of countries and global aid groups have pledged more than $9 billion dollars to help rebuild.

Iran protests — We go next to protests in Iran.

AUDIO: [Chanting protesters]

Hardline demonstrators set fire to the French flag and chanted “Death to France” outside the French embassy in Tehran on Sunday.

The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo sparked the protests by publishing cartoons that mocked Iran’s ruling clerics.

Back in 2015, two French-born extremists killed 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo office over its cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.

AUDIO: [Protester speaking Farsi]

This protester accused France of trying to stain Islam.

Iran has accused the West of supporting protests that began in September after a 22-year-old detained for violating strict dress codes died in police custody.

Orthodox Christmas — We wrap up today with Orthodox Christmas celebrations around the world.

AUDIO: [Procession]

In the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, hundreds of Georgians dressed in church garments and marched alongside bulls and donkeys in a traditional procession to collect donations for orphans.

AUDIO: [Worship]

In Gaza, dozens of Christian Palestinians gathered for Mass inside the Church of Saint Porphyrius, one of the oldest Churches in the region. Gaza’s Christian population has fallen to about 1,000 people.

AUDIO: [Worshippers singing]

And in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, worshippers lit candles and prayed together on the Orthodox Christmas Eve.

Many in Bucha are still trying to rebuild after regaining control of the town from Russian forces.

The Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on January 7 following the Julian calendar. Similar traditions and worship drew believers in other countries like Egypt, Ethiopia, and Armenia.

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

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