World Tour: Spanish rescue

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

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Lebanon bank heists— We kickoff today in Lebanon.

AUDIO: [Crowd cheering]

A knife-wielding man and his son stormed a bank in the town of Ghaziyeh, demanding funds he had deposited. Banks across the country recorded five such heists in a single day last week. Lebanon’s currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value. To cope with the crisis, banks stopped customers from accessing their funds.

The spate of armed attacks came two days after a woman identified as Sali Hafiz made off with $13,000. Hafiz said she needed the funds for her sister’s cancer treatment. Her actions drew quick support and praise on social media.

AUDIO: [Bank employees talking]

Lebanon’s public prosecutor told police to arrest those involved. Financial lenders launched a three-day closure ending today due to the attacks.

Spanish rescue— We head over to the Mediterranean, where a Spanish rescue ship picked up nearly 400 migrants in 24 hours.

AUDIO: [Ongoing rescue]

Open Arms rescued 294 people from an overcrowded barge south of Malta before dawn on Sunday. They had drifted for four days, and many were suffering from dehydration. In an earlier operation, Open Arms picked up 59 migrants from an oil platform in Tunisian waters.

Spokeswoman Laura Lanuza said the rescue crew found the body of one migrant who was shot and killed by smugglers. The crew rescued another 19 people from a rubber dinghy off the Libyan coast.

More than 1,600 migrants have died along the dangerous central Mediterranean route this year.

U.S. Armenia visit— Next, to Armenia.

AUDIO: [Cheering Nancy Pelosi]

Hundreds of cheering Armenians gathered Sunday in the capital city to welcome U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She is the highest-ranking U.S. official ever to visit the country.

Pelosi blamed Azerbaijan for initiating the latest clash between the warring neighbors. More than 200 people were killed in the fighting. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire is still holding.

PELOSI: The democracy of Armenia is of value to us in America and in our relationships with other countries in the mix here, we should be using our influence, our leverage, showing that Armenian democracy and sovereignty is a priority.

Ahead of her statement, Pelosi tearfully laid flowers at a hilltop memorial for the more than one million Armenians killed in the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

China factory— We wrap up today in China.

AUDIO: [Machines working]

Hundreds of workers wearing orange T-shirts hunched over sewing machines in a factory south of Shanghai.

Less than two hours after Queen Elizabeth the Second died, the factory began receiving a flurry of orders. So workers set aside other jobs and began pulling 14-hour days to meet the demand for British-themed flags.

They range from eight to 59 inches and sell for a dollar each. The factory’s general manager said workers made about 500,000 flags in the first week.

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

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

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Lebanon bank heists— We kickoff today in Lebanon.

AUDIO: [Crowd cheering]

A knife-wielding man and his son stormed a bank in the town of Ghaziyeh, demanding funds he had deposited. Banks across the country recorded five such heists in a single day last week. Lebanon’s currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value. To cope with the crisis, banks stopped customers from accessing their funds.

The spate of armed attacks came two days after a woman identified as Sali Hafiz made off with $13,000. Hafiz said she needed the funds for her sister’s cancer treatment. Her actions drew quick support and praise on social media.

AUDIO: [Bank employees talking]

Lebanon’s public prosecutor told police to arrest those involved. Financial lenders launched a three-day closure ending today due to the attacks.

Spanish rescue— We head over to the Mediterranean, where a Spanish rescue ship picked up nearly 400 migrants in 24 hours.

AUDIO: [Ongoing rescue]

Open Arms rescued 294 people from an overcrowded barge south of Malta before dawn on Sunday. They had drifted for four days, and many were suffering from dehydration. In an earlier operation, Open Arms picked up 59 migrants from an oil platform in Tunisian waters.

Spokeswoman Laura Lanuza said the rescue crew found the body of one migrant who was shot and killed by smugglers. The crew rescued another 19 people from a rubber dinghy off the Libyan coast.

More than 1,600 migrants have died along the dangerous central Mediterranean route this year.

U.S. Armenia visit— Next, to Armenia.

AUDIO: [Cheering Nancy Pelosi]

Hundreds of cheering Armenians gathered Sunday in the capital city to welcome U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She is the highest-ranking U.S. official ever to visit the country.

Pelosi blamed Azerbaijan for initiating the latest clash between the warring neighbors. More than 200 people were killed in the fighting. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire is still holding.

PELOSI: The democracy of Armenia is of value to us in America and in our relationships with other countries in the mix here, we should be using our influence, our leverage, showing that Armenian democracy and sovereignty is a priority.

Ahead of her statement, Pelosi tearfully laid flowers at a hilltop memorial for the more than one million Armenians killed in the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

China factory— We wrap up today in China.

AUDIO: [Machines working]

Hundreds of workers wearing orange T-shirts hunched over sewing machines in a factory south of Shanghai.

Less than two hours after Queen Elizabeth the Second died, the factory began receiving a flurry of orders. So workers set aside other jobs and began pulling 14-hour days to meet the demand for British-themed flags.

They range from eight to 59 inches and sell for a dollar each. The factory’s general manager said workers made about 500,000 flags in the first week.

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

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