Entire program – January 18, 2010

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Today on The World: Does Haiti’s disaster provide an opportunity to re-build its infrastructure from scratch; Also, Chile elects its first conservative leader since Augusto Pinochet; And a deported Cambodian-American gang member learns to rap in Khmer.

Haiti aid still hampered by bottlenecks

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The leading American general in Haiti has said it is a “reasonable assumption” that up to 200,000 people may have died in last Tuesday’s earthquake. Lt-General Ken Keen said the disaster was of “epic proportions”, but it was “too early to know” the full human cost. Relief efforts are being slowed by bottlenecks, and many thousands of survivors are fending for themselves. We get the latest from the BBC’s Nick Davies. Download MP3 (Photo : Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

• BBC coverage
• Latest pictures from Haiti
• Friday’s coverage on The World

Rebuilding Haiti

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Haiti’s infrastructure for things like clean water and sewage disposal was primitive before last week’s earthquake. Now, out of tragedy arises the opportunity to rebuild it up to modern standards. But will the country be able to take advantage of the opportunity? Marina Giovannelli has our story. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• You can help through these aid organizations

Multiple Taliban attacks in Afghanistan

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Taliban gunmen and suicide bombers have attacked buildings in the heart of the Afghan capital, Kabul, setting off explosions and sparking gun battles. Fighting erupted near the Serena Hotel and the presidential palace, although Afghan President Karzai says security has now been restored. The Taliban said 20 of its fighters took part in the attack. The World’s Matthew Bell reports on the implications of the brazen Taliban attack. Download MP3

• BBC coverage

Habitat for Humanity

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Marco Werman talks with Kip Scheidler of Habitat for Humanity International about efforts to help in Haiti.

Cruise lines docking in Haiti

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
The pristine vacation resort of Labadee is only 60 miles from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. We hear about a cruise liners controversial decision to dock there.

Chile’s new president

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
The people of Chile voted for a right-wing president yesterday, for the first time since the removal of the military dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1990. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with reporter Gideon Long in Santiago about the way forward for Chile.

An economically divided Europe

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Europe is dividing in two, economically. While countries like Germany and France emerge from recession, the so-called PIIGS countries (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) stand to sink further. That’s because interest rates are about to go up, making it harder for stressed governments to respond to the crisis. The World’s Gerry Hadden reports.

Getting aid into Haiti

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
We speak with Lura Blank, the disaster Communications Manager with the NGO World Vision. She is in Port-au-Prince.

US military role in Haiti

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Assistance to Haiti’s earthquake survivors has been slow to arrive, in part because the quake destroyed the port in the capital, Port-au-Prince. And the airport only has one runway. The US military is managing the airport. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Colonel Brian Reno, director of the Contingency Response Cell at the 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center. The Control Center is coordinating the airlift efforts for the humanitarian response in Haiti.

Geo Quiz

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Where will our Geo Quiz take us today?

Geo Answer

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
The answer to our Geo Quiz today is Leuven, Belgium. The city is home to Anheuser Busch – InBev, the world’s biggest brewer. Union workers protesting job cuts there are blockading the company, and that’s threatening local beer suppies. Anchor Marco Werman finds out more about Belgian beer from Horst Dornhorst, a US based beer expert and writer.

Boomer Da Sharpshoota

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
We close today with the story of Cambodian-American rapper Boomer Da Sharpshoota. He grew up in the US but he was deported seven years ago after serving a two-year prison sentence on gun convictions. Boomer now lives in Cambodia and he’s been learning to rap in Khmer. That’s no easy feat since it’s not the language he grew up speaking. Corey Takahashi has his story.

• Boomer on MySpace

Belgian beer capital

For today’s Geo Quiz, we’re talking beer: A labor dispute in the Flemish region of Belgium is affecting the world’s largest brewery. Union workers in the city we’re looking for are upset by a plan by “Anheuser-Busch – InBev” to cut jobs.

Music Heard on Air for January 18, 2010

Tunes Spun On The Word Between our reports for January 18, 2010. Artists featured are Badmarsh & Shri, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Bela Fleck, Ceu, Mark Holdaway, Tuh Pa Warez, Ali Farka Toure, Ry Cooder, Laliya.