World Tour - Voting in CAR, and a discovery in Pompeii

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

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Election in Central African Republic—We start today here in Africa.

Voters in Central African Republic went to the polls on Sunday for presidential and legislative elections. It was the first election in CAR since the government signed a peace deal with 14 rebel groups in February 2019.

AUDIO: [Man speaking French]

This man says voters turned out on a massive scale to safeguard democracy. He described the turnout as “a relief.”

CAR is Africa’s most troubled state and continues to suffer fallout from a civil war that began in 2013. Armed groups control about two-thirds of the country, raising questions about the legitimacy of ballots cast outside the capital, Bangui.

Analysts project the current president to win a second term, although final results aren’t expected before January 18th.

Pro-democracy activists go on trial in China—Next we go to Hong Kong.

A group of pro-democracy activists who tried to escape the city earlier this year went on trial Monday in China. Police arrested them on a speedboat headed for Taiwan.

AUDIO: [Woman speaking Mandarin]

Family members of the 12 activists called on Beijing to broadcast the trial publicly. But as with many court cases in China, the trial is closed to observers, including foreign journalists and diplomats. 

The activists face lengthy prison sentences. The youngest is just 16 years old.

Iran issues warning to Israel —Next we go to the Middle East.

AUDIO: [Man speaking Farsi]

Iran warned the United States and Israel on Monday not to cross any so-called “red lines” in the final days of the Trump administration. That after both countries deployed submarines to the Persian Gulf.

Tension between the three countries has soared in recent months. Tehran accuses Israel of orchestrating several attacks inside Iran, including the assassination of a nuclear scientist in November. U.S. officials blame Tehran for a rocket attack last week near its embassy in Baghdad.

Fast-food “shack” uncovered in Pompeii—And finally, we end today in Europe.

AUDIO: [Man speaking Italian] 

Researchers in the ancient Italian city of Pompeii have discovered the remains of a 2,000-year-old fast-food stall. The team found duck bone fragments as well as the remains of pigs, goats, fish, and snails in earthenware pots.

Street corner food stands were popular in ancient Rome. Pompeii had at least 80. But this is the first one excavated in its entirety.

Pompeii was buried in a sea of boiling lava when the volcano on nearby Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.

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

(AP Photo) A woman casts her vote at the Koudougou school polling station in the capital Bangui, Central African Republic Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. 

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