Closing Guantanamo

A White House task force on closing Guantanamo is being delayed by six months. Does that mean Barack Obama’s vow to close the detention camp by early next year is in jeopardy? The World’s Matthew Bell reports.
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Concerns about Venezuela

A group of Venezuelan opposition leaders are in Washington for talks with the head of the Organisation of American States, about their concerns over the state of democracy in Venezuela. Correspondent Will Grant reports.
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The world’s private chefs gather

The private chefs who serve the world’s presidents, prime ministers, and kings are members of an exclusive club called the “Club of Leaders’ Chefs.” The 25-member club is in Italy today for their annual meeting. Anchor Lisa Mullins finds out what’s on the agenda…and on the menu…from Mark Flanigan, private chef to Queen Elizabeth.
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Cafe just for smokers

Correspondent Akiko Fujita tells us about a cafe in Japan that caters exclusively to smokers…and has anti-smoking advocates fuming. Listen Read the Transcript This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here [...]

Water Struggle Unites Palestinians & Israelis

The Middle East is running out of clean water. Israeli and Palestinian leaders don’t want to talk about it. But grassroots organizations say they have no choice. Correspondent Linda Gradstein has the story, in the second of her two reports on the Middle East’s growing water crisis.
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Climate change and water supply

Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert about how climate change is likely to exacerbate problems of water supply.
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Geo Quiz

Our daily geography puzzler.
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Century’s longest solar eclipse

Tomorrow morning, the longest total solar eclipse of this century will begin. People will only be able to see it in Asia. Reporter Bill Marcus is awaiting the big show in Shanghai.
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Geo answer

Today’s Geo Quiz asked for the name of the place where a key battle between the English and the French took place during the Hundred Years’ War. The answer is Agincourt in northern France. Now the service records of the 250-thousand medieval soldiers who fought in that battle are online. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with Professor Ann Curry, one of the scholars responsible for the project.
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Global Hit: Ceu

Anchor Lisa Mullins profiles Brazilian singer Ceu who says her latest album is all about taking the time to enjoy the simple things in life.
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Hundred Years’ War

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Ceu

We close our program today with the latest release from Brazilian singer Ceu. Now you may recall Ceu first came on the scene in 2007 with her self titled debut CD. Starbuck’s released it and Apple’s iPhone helped promote it. This time around though the hype has settled a bit — but in a good way.

Music Heard on Air for July 21, 2009

A List of Music Featured Between our reports for July 21, 2009

Entire program – July 20, 2009

Today on The World: gaping holes in the security of one of Afghanistan’s most dangerous cities; a former Soviet space program official recalls the day he heard about Americans landing on the moon; and tensions are rising due to a water shortage throughout the Middle East.

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Pentagon wants overhaul of Afghan jails

A new Pentagon report calls for a major overhaul of the prison system in Afghanistan. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with New York Times correspondent Eric Schmitt about concerns that Afghan jails are churning out a new generation of Taliban militants, even as the US is trying to combat fighters already on the ground.
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Taliban insurgency