Al Qaeda group vows revenge on China

An Al Qaeda affiliate in northern Africa has vowed to avenge the deaths of Muslim Uighurs in China by targeting Chinese workers in Africa. The World’s Gerry Hadden explains. Listen

Unrest in western China

Geo Quiz

Our daily geography puzzler. Listen

The resurgence of the Taliban

The year 2001 marked the end of Taliban rule in Afghanistan. But its leaders and fighters have regrouped. Reporter Charles Sennott has the first in a series of reports on resurgent influence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Listen

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Taliban insurgency

Pharmaceutical giant allows generic AIDS drugs

One of the world’s largest drug companies, GlaxoSmithKline, has said it will allow the manufacturers of generic drugs to produce versions of all its medicines for treating HIV and AIDS. Anchor Jeb Sharp speaks with Michelle Childs, Director of Policy at the Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines. Listen

Geo answer

For today’s Geo Quiz we were looking for the city where cyclists in the 10th stage of the Tour de France will cross the finish line. The answer is Issoudun, France. Anchor Jeb Sharp gets the latest on today’s events from New York Times reporter Juliet Macur. Listen

Global Hit: Ludovico Einaudi

Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi shares the recipe for his famous musical soundscapes. Listen

Inside the Taliban

In the final part of our series on the Taliban, Charles Sennott sat down with former Taliban leaders, clerics and US counter-insurgency experts to try to discover the minds of the Taliban and whether the US military is making any progress in understanding them. >>>Listen to Part IV (Photo by Seamus Murphy/VII)

China: Global Warming Savior or Villain?

China is one of the planet’s biggest polluters, but it’s also a leader in efficient energy use and green technology. Starting today, China expert Julian Wong will appear in The World’s interactive science forum. Ask him questions, dispute his conclusions, and discuss the merits of solar power and pulverized coal. Can China save the world before it overheats? >>>Join the discussion in our science forum

Esperanto, Klingon, Blissymbolics and 900 others: why we invent languages

This week, a converation with Arika Okrent, author of “In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build a Perfect Language.” Okrent, herself a linguist, tells the stories of people who dreamed up languages that would replace our own bastard tongues. She also submerges herself, Orwell-style, into the geeky world of invented language societies. The vast majority of invented languages from Lingua Ignota (c.1150) to Dritok (2007) have completely failed to take off. But they tell us much about how we think, how we do not think, and how we love to blame language for our own shortcomings. Listen

Ludovico Einaudi

Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi shares the recipe for his famous musical soundscapes. Listen

World Books Feature: Summer Reads for the Adventurous

It may be summer, but your brain needn’t go on vacation. My summer list of fiction in translation that demands and repays close attention.

Music Heard on Air from July 14, 2009

A List of Music Featured Between our reports for July 14, 2009

Pirate Parties Go Global

The Pirate Party began in Sweden. Its political goals are to reform copyright and patent laws, and to campaign for citizen privacy, both online and in the real world. Now, the movement’s gone global. Cyrus Farivar reports. >>>Listen to the story

Entire program – July 13, 2009

Today on The World: Casualties are up in Afghanistan, as the US troop escalation hits full swing; Colombian guerillas cross into Venezuela looking for new hostages for ransom; And why an effort to mobilize young voters through the Internet violates Japan’s election law. >>>Listen to the show

Recruiting Somalis in Kenya

Somalia has experienced almost constant conflict since the collapse of its central government in 1991. The long-running instability has created misery for its people. And it’s spilled over into its east African neighbor, Kenya, home to many ethnic Somalis. Heba Aly has the story of one Kenyan community that’s lost one of its young men to the insurgency.