Clinton: Iran is becoming ‘military dictatorship’

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Iran is “becoming a military dictatorship”, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said. She was speaking to students at a Qatar university during a tour of the region. She said Iran’s elite army corps, the Revolutionary Guard, had gained so much power they had effectively supplanted the government. Laura Lynch reports. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• On The World: Iran marks 1979 revolution
• Background Brief: Nuclear Standoff with Iran

Saipan postcard

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Saipan is the largest island of the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It’s 3,000 miles west of Hawaii and it was the last place to join the United States. Fierce battles were fought there with Japanese troops during WWII. Many who know Saipan today are deeply fond of the Pacific island. One of those aficionados took The World’s Mary Kay Magistad on a little tour. Download MP3 (Photo courtesy of Matt Watts)

• More about Saipan

On IED patrol in Afghanistan

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Improvised Explosive Devices, or IED’s are now responsible for 70 % of the US troop fatalities in Afghanistan. One way the US led coalition is trying to combat them is by finding the bombs before they blow up. In part two of our series on IEDs, reporter Ben Gilbert is embedded with Task Force Thor in southern Afghanistan.

• Part one of this series

Women in the military

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Lieutenant Colonel Jennie Carignan became the first female deputy commanding officer of a combat arms unit in Canada. And she’s now serving in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. From there, she spoke to the BBC about how she combines being a military commander on the front line and a mother.

Charges brought against electronics mogul

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One of China’s richest men, Huang Guangyu, has been in detention for more than a year. Chinese state media reported today that he’s been charged with bribery, insider trading, and illegal business dealings. We speak with Yasheng Huang, a professor of International Management at MIT’s Sloan School of Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Iran’s domestic turmoil

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Iran’s government is also fighting domestic opposition. The opposition movement is having to adjust as the authorities have stepped up their crackdown. That’s according to Kelly Golnoush Niknejad. She’s the Editor of Tehran Bureau, the Boston-based online news source.

Wedding day divorce

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Anchor Katy Clark speaks with Muslim American comic Maysoon Zayid about the story of an Arab ambassador who divorced his wife because he didn’t know until the wedding that she had a beard and was cross-eyed.

Geo Quiz

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Our daily geography puzzler.

Warrant issued for cyclist

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While we are following the Olympics, let’s not forget the world of cycling and its doping issues. Today a French judge issued an arrest warrant for American cyclist Floyd Landis. Landis won the Tour de France in 2006 but was disqualified and banned for 2 years after that for doping. The warrant was issued in connection with a case of computer hacking at a French laboratory in 2006.

Carnival in Brazil

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In Brazil, just outside Rio de Janeiro, a mud parade is a different take on the traditional Carnival celebration.

Irish uilleann piper Paddy Keenan

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Irish uillean piper Paddy Keenan hails from a county in eastern Ireland. He’s a third generation piper. The World’s David Leveille tells us more about him and gives us the answer to the Geo Quiz. Download MP3

• Global Hit archive
• Geo Quiz archive
• Paddy Keenan homepage

Music Heard on Air for February 15, 2010

Tunes Spun On The World Between Our Reports For February 15, 2010. Artists featured are Ali Farka Toure, Ry Cooder, Bassekou Kouyate, Ngoni Ba, Harouna Samake, Kila, Oran Etkin.

A Chinese Valentine’s pod

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Hundreds of language programs at public schools have become victims of shrinking budgets. Not Chinese. We visit an inner city high school where 400 students are learning Chinese. Also, don’t be fooled: the language of love is not universal, not unless you keep you mouth shut. That’s the view of an American woman who endlessly misunderstands the amorous words of her German-speaking lover. Plus, bodice-ripping our way out of the recession: romance novels are more popular than ever.Download MP3

The Financial Problems With Greece

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Eurozone leaders say they will come to Greece’s rescue. But Greece’s Finance Minister wants details as to how exactly other eurozone nations will bailout his country. In this podcast we explore what went wrong with Greece and what it means for the rest of us.

Also, an update from Haiti: How to bring jobs to the millions of unemployed. And a small flower shop near Vancouver that is putting together 1,800 bouquets for all the Olympic medal winners.

Cash Cleaned for Chinese New Year

As celebrations for the Chinese Year of the Tiger continue across Asia, a creative Taiwanese businessman has come up with an ingenious service. Mr Yu Guan Cheng offers to wash dirty banknotes for customers so they can put them in red envelopes as traditional holiday gifts. Karen Chan reports for the BBC World Service World Today program.

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