Music Heard on the World for August 14, 2009

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

Castle Building Gets Medieval, Bertrand Piccard, and GPS Atari Art

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On this week’s show, castle builders in France use medieval technologies and techniques to build a castle…from scratch. Also, we have an interview with Bertrand Piccard, who wants to one day fly a solar-powered plane, non-stop, around the world. And we end with one podcast listener’s amazing art project. He and his buddies use GPS and their bikes to make geo-spatial art!

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Rosetta Stone: the method behind the hype, a spelling bee with a twist, and Hillary’s Congo adventure

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In this week’s World in Words podcast, the rise and rise of Rosetta Stone. With big government contracts and a huge advertising campaign, Rosetta Stone is now American’s #1 language teacher. If you learn the Rosetta Stone way, you’ll absorb a language an infant does. Well, that’s the theory. Also, non-native English speakers from around the world take part in an English Spelling Bee in New York. And, Hillary Clinton’s not-so-lost-in-translation moment in Kinshasa, Congo. Download MP3

Israel’s road sign debate

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Last month, Israel’s new transport minister Israel Katz proposed an overhaul to his country’s road signs. Israeli signs are trilingual: Hebrew, Arabic and English. But Katz wants to remove Arabic and English city names and replace them with transliterations of the Hebrew names. Daniel Estrin reports from Jerusalem. >>> See more photos. (Photo credit: Daniel Estrin)

North Korea frees South Korean worker

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North Korea has freed a South Korean worker detained for allegedly insulting the North’s communist leadership. The engineer, Yoo Seong-jin, was handed over to officials of his company, Hyundai Asan, and has since crossed back into South Korea. Jason Strother reports. >>> More coverage from the BBC.(Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Canadian woman’s Kenyan ordeal

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Suaad Haji Mohamud is a Canadian citizen. In May, she went to Kenya, where her mother lives. But when she tried to leave the African nation, she ran into problems. Officials said she didn’t look like the woman pictured in her passport. The legal battle is ongoing. Lisa Mullins talked with Ms. Mohamud’s lawyer, Raoul Boulakia. >>> Read Canadian coverage of the story. (Photo courtesy of Raoul Boulakia)

Entire program – August 13, 2009

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Today on The World: An international perspective on America’s health care reform debate; Also, North Korea releases an employee of South Korean car maker Hyundai; And one couple’s efforts to make sure road signs in Jerusalem continue to display directions in Arabic.

Britain’s health care system

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The World’s Laura Lynch reports on Britain’s National Health Service, which is often dragged into the US debate over health care reform. Critics in the United States call the system inefficient, but many Britons defend the NHS.

International perspectives on US health debate

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Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with two international journalists covering the health care reform debate in the United States. Guillaume Debre is a Washington-based correspondent for French TV channel TF1. And Chris Cermak reports for the German Press Agency.

North Korea releases South Korean

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An executive from South Korean car maker Hyundai has won the release of a company employee held in North Korea. The employee had been accused insulting the North Korean regime. Reporter Jason Strother brings us the story.

Detained in Kenya

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Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with the lawyer of a Canadian woman who’s been detained in Kenya for months. She’s been charged with identity fraud because she didn’t look like she did in her passport picture.

More criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza

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Linda Gradstein reports on new allegations by the group Human Rights Watch regarding the conduct of Israeli soldiers in Gaza. The group has issued a report saying Israeli soldiers unlawfully shot and killed eleven Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Jerusalem street sign restoration

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Vandals have been defacing the Arabic on Jerusalem street signs. Reporter Daniel Estrin takes a ride with a self-appointed street sign crew that’s been restoring the signs.

Photo credit: Daniel Estrin
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Tackling swine flu with prayer

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Israeli rabbis have taken to the skies in an attempt to rid Israel of the swine flu H1N1 virus, through prayer.

Signs of European recovery

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The World’s Gerry Hadden reports that Germany and France are reporting a return to economic growth after the recession.