Foreign investment in the US

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More Americans are looking for work than in 26 years. The dollar keeps getting weaker. Times are tough for many Americans. But for foreign companies looking to invest in the United States, America looks pretty attractive. Roughly five-and-a-half million Americans work for foreign companies operating in the U.S. States across the country are vigorously competing for their business. But there are pros and cons to foreign investment. What does a state get out of the bargain? The World’s Jason Margolis profiles one state: Mississippi. Download MP3

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• Jason’s previous stories from Mississippi

Patua scroll book

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Five years ago, one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded occurred off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh Province. The quake triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean with waves up to a hundred feet tall. More than a quarter of a million people died, most of them in Indonesia. India was also hit. Now a publishing company based in the Southern city of Chennai is remembering what happened five years ago with a beautiful new handmade book. We speak with the founder and director of Tara Books. Download MP3

• Video: Patua scroll book
• Tara Books: Tsunami

Russian tabloid wants to be trendsetter

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Some might call it a school for scandal but a muckraking Russian newspaper publisher is calling it critical to the future of journalism in his country. Aram Gabrelyanov has created his own journalism training program – aimed and producing a new breed of reporters. Laura Lynch reports from Moscow. Download MP3

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An update on the accused Nigerian bomber

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More details are emerging about the Nigerian man who’s accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound flight. But as The World’s Matthew Bell reports, there are still many unanswered questions about a possible al Qaeda connection and what the foiled attempt means for airline security.

How people become radicalized

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Anchor Katy Clarks speaks with Marc Sageman, an ex-CIA case officer and forensic psychiatrist, who studies the process of radicalization.

Opposition figures arrested in Iran

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Anti-government demonstrations across Iran reportedly left at least eight people dead yesterday. And the protests continue. Opposition websites say today Iranian authorities arrested a number of opposition figures. Anchor Katy Clark speaks with Kasra Naji of the BBC’s Persian Service, who’s monitoring events from London.

Asylum rules to change

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Asylum seekers in the US sometimes have to spend up to a year in an immigration detention facility. But the US government is changing that policy — starting next week, asylum seekers could be immediately eligible for supervised release. Correspondent Monica Ortiz Uribe has the story.

Junkanoo Festival

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Our Geo Quiz sends us in search of the largest city in the Bahamas. The annual Junkanoo Festival takes place across the islands, but the main revelry occurs in this city’s downtown. Scott Gurian sent us this audio postcard.

Music Heard on Air for December 28, 2009

Tunes Spun On The Word Between our reports for December 28, 2009. Artists featured are Ali Farka Toure, Ry Cooder, Kila, Kerekes Band, Orchestra Lissanga.

World Books Review: American Writers in Istanbul

“American Writers in Istanbul” should have been a fascinating example of multicultural literary analysis, but academic jargon and heavy-handed politicizing get in the way.

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Entire program – December 25, 2009

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Today on The World: How soldiers in Afghanistan are spending the holiday; Also, global outcry after a Chinese dissident is sentenced to eleven years in prison; Plus, controversy over whether a beauty pageant should take place in the West Bank.

Video of captured soldier released

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The Taliban released a video today showing captured U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl. Marco Werman has more.

The holiday for soldiers in Afghanistan

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Ben Gilbert was embedded with US troops in southern Afghanistan. He reports on the soldiers who are there for Christmas — and the lucky few who get to go home for the holiday.

Reflecting on the year in Afghanistan

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Marco Werman speaks with Sultana Parvanta, a former official with Afghanistan’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Ms. Parvanta lives in Kabul… and she says this is a special time of the year to be in the Afghan capital.

Is time crunch a global phenomenon?

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Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Eva Hoffman, author of a new book called Time. She says the faster tempo of modern life isn’t just a western phenomenon: the feeling of a “time crunch” is increasingly a global experience.