The East Jerusalem issue

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US Middle East envoy George Mitchell has postponed a visit to Israel amid a continuing quarrel over Israel’s decision to build more Jewish homes in East Jerusalem. The building announcement, made as Vice-President Biden visited last week, angered Washington. Tension remains high in Jerusalem, with more security forces moving in as rock throwing protesters vent their frustration. The World’s Matthew Bell chronicles the developing tensions over East Jerusalem. Download MP3 (photo: Matthew Bell)

• Matthew’s pictures from East Jerusalem
• BBC coverage
• On The World: Strains in US-Israel relations

Latvian Nazi unit commemorated

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The wounds of World War II are still deeply felt in the Baltics. That was evident in Latvia today where veterans gathered to commemorate troops who had died defending Latvia against Stalin’s Soviet invaders. The annual ceremony angers some in Latvia because the troops being commemorated fought in two Waffen SS divisions on the side of Nazi Germany. The BBC’s Damien McGuiness is in Latvia’s capital Riga. Download MP3 (Photo: German Bundesarchiv)

• BBC coverage
• Country profile: Latvia

Turkey bans trips abroad for artificial insemination

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A new law passed in Turkey has made it a criminal offense for a woman to go abroad and get pregnant via artificial insemination. Artificial insemination is already illegal, but women have until now been able to go overseas to seek sperm donors. Now they will face punishment of one to three years in prison for doing so. Marco Werman talks with Pinar Ilkkaracan, the co-founder of Women for Women’s Human Rights in Istanbul. Download MP3 (flickr image courtesy of fxp)

• BBC coverage

Moorish grafitti and texting in Yiddish

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The Alhambra in Grenada, the crowning glory of Moorish Spain, has more than 10,000 prayers and poems in Arabic inscribed on its walls. We hear about an effort to catalog the inscriptions. Then it’s the second part of the BBC’s documentary on Yiddish. Reporter Dennis Marks takes us to New York, where the language is undergoing a modest revival: among Hasidic Jews in Crown Heights, with a family who text message in transliterated Yiddish, and with a musician a novelist who are re-interpreting the old language of Eastern Europe’s shtetls for new generations. Download MP3

Noize MC and the Mercedes song

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The hip-hop song “Mercedes S666″ by Noize MC is about a Moscow traffic accident that has everyone there talking. Two weeks ago, the vice-president of Russian oil giant Lukoil was in his chauffeur-driven Mercedes when it crashed head-on into a Citroen killing the two women in that car. The police blamed the Citroen for the accident but Noize MC has his own version of events. Anchor Marco Werman has more about the song. Download MP3

• Noize MC – Mercedes S666 video
• Noize MC homepage

Entire program – March 16, 2010

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Today on The World: Clashes in East Jerusalem, as Palestinians protest against Israeli plans for new housing there; Also, old wounds are re-opened in Latvia, with a ceremony honoring soldiers killed in World War Two; And a dispute in Egypt over women serving as judges.