World Tour - Tanzania’s first female president

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

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Niger suffers deadliest attack—We start today here in Africa.

Niger’s president has ordered three days of morning for 137 people who died in a series of jihadist attacks over the weekend.

AUDIO: [Man speaking French]

A government spokesman said that in systematically targeting civilians, the armed bandits had gone a step further into horror and brutality. It was the deadliest jihadist terror attack in the country’s history.

The gunmen attacked villages near Niger’s border with Mali. More than 230 people have died in attacks on the region in the last week. Niger is the world’s poorest nation and has continued to struggle with Islamist insurgencies that have spilled over from Mali and Nigeria.

Tanzania gets first female president—Next we go to Tanzania.

AUDIO: [Woman speaking Swahili]

The country’s first female president took the oath of office last week. Samia Suluhu Hassan ascended to the presidency after her predecessor died suddenly. John Magufuli reportedly had COVID-19, although the government has not confirmed it. He opposed vaccines to combat the disease, refused face masks or lockdown measures, and stopped the publication of case statistics.

Africa only has one other female head of state, Ethiopia’s Sahle-Work Zewde. But her role is mostly ceremonial, whereas Hassan will serve as Tanzania’s head of government. 

Protests in the UK over crime bill—Next to Europe.

AUDIO: [Sounds of chanting followed by exploding smoke/tear gas canisters]

Protests in the British city of Bristol turned violent on Sunday. Clashes with police left 20 officers injured. The crowds had gathered to oppose a new policing law now being debated in Parliament. Critics say it would limit the freedom to protest.

The government proposed the bill in part because of anti-racism protests last summer. Mass gatherings are currently banned in England under coronavirus restrictions.

The chief of the local police force said extremists had hijacked an otherwise peaceful protest in an attempt to stir up anger against police.

Volcanic eruption in Iceland—And finally, we end today in Iceland.

AUDIO: [Sound of lava spewing]

After weeks of anticipation, a volcano near the country’s capital began erupting on Friday. The volcano is not spewing much smoke or ash, and the flowing lava is not a threat to nearby towns. But it’s close enough to the city to attract tourists and scientists who want to observe the eruption up close.

AUDIO: This is very exciting for us because we have been here since, for a bit more than two weeks. So we came really in the Reykjanes to analyze the formation here. We can get the ground cracks and so on, triggered by magma intrusion but also the tectonic activity. For us this is just amazing. It is really interesting to see that.

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

(AP Photo) Tanzania’s new president Samia Suluhu Hassan, center-right, inspects the guard of honor after being sworn in at a ceremony at State House in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Friday, March 19, 2021.

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