Palestinian business hampered by visa problems

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Vice President Biden’s Middle East trip could not change the impression that the peace process there is as stalled as ever. A viable Palestinian state is not imminent and developing the Palestinian economy remains difficult. Investors are even having trouble getting visas to the Palestinian territories – and that’s blocking economic growth in the West Bank. Daniel Estrin reports from Ramallah. Download MP3 (Photo: Daniel Estrin)

• BBC coverage
• On The World: Biden criticizes Israel over building project
• Israel and the Palestinians

Hunting Colombian guerillas

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Law of the Jungle: The Hunt for Colombian Guerillas tells the tale of how a group of Colombian soldiers on a mission to rescue hostages from FARC rebels stumbled upon a stash of buried cash. Marco Werman speaks with the book’s author, John Otis. Download MP3

• Book info
• Colombia country profile

Manny Pacquiao boxing and running for office

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Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao is defending his title on Friday. And he’s also running for Congress back home. Just part of the Philippines tradition of choosing heroes for elected officials. Sunshine de Leon reports from Manila. Download MP3 (Photo source Wikipedia: Bret Newton)

• Manny Pacquiao
• Wikipedia: Manny Pacquiao

Balkan Beat Box

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Tomer Yosef (pictured) of the New York-Israeli hip hop band Balkan Beat Box drops by our studio and speaks with anchor Marco Werman about Vice President Biden’s visit to Israel and about the band’s new album. Download MP3

• Balkan Beat Box homepage
• Check out their single ‘War Again’
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Tech Podcast: Living with and without the internet

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This week, the tech podcast brings you a study in contrasts. As part of a series of reports on the power of the Internet, the BBC brought mobile phone connections to these two farmers in rural Nigeria. They’d never surfed the web before. Listen in to find out how they got on. At the same time, the BBC asked some South Koreans to disconnect from the ‘net for an entire week. Painful, considering South Korea is one of the most connected countries on earth. Also this week, we hear about how Indians are finding the love of their lives…online.

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• Pecha Kucha for Haiti update

Israel seals off West Bank

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Israel sealed off the West Bank today amid tensions over Israeli plan to build new homes in East Jerusalem. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with The World’s Matthew Bell in Jerusalem.

Blue fin tuna in trouble

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Europe has joined the United States in a call to suspend commercial fishing for Atlantic Blue Fin Tuna. Many experts say the Blue Fin is seriously over fished. But as The World’s Gerry Hadden reports, opponents have pledged to ignore any ban.

Iraq elections

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Results are slowly emerging in Iraq from last Saturday’s parliamentary elections. Anchor Marco Werman gets the latest from reporter Ben Gilbert, who’s in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Racy past for British candidate

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A former award-winning porn director has entered politics in Britian…and is now a promising candidate for Parliament. The World’s Laura Lynch reports.

Baseball reforms for Dominican Republic

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Anchor Marco Werman talks with Sandy Alderson. He’s just been appointed by Major League Baseball to tackle problems in the Dominican Republic, such as the use of performance-enhancing drugs, and players who lie about their age to get recruited by Major League Baseball teams.

Geo Quiz

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Where in the world will we go today?

Geo Answer

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The answer to our Geo Quiz is the Apulia region of Italy. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with local chef and cook-book author Domenico Maggi.

The heel of Italy’s boot

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The recipe for today’s Geo Quiz calls for some orecchiette and something called cima di rapa. The first is a type of pasta shaped like ears. The second is what Italians call turnip tops or greens. You may find both ingredients at your local grocery store. But if you want them freshly picked — and deliciously prepared — try south-eastern Italy.

Music Heard on Air for March 12, 2010

Tunes Spun On The World Between Our Reports For March 10, 2010. Artists featured are Praful, Moriba Koita, Outback, Balkan Beat Box, Ensemble Fis Fuz.

Moorish grafitti and texting in Yiddish

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The Alhambra in Grenada, the crowning glory of Moorish Spain, has more than 10,000 prayers and poems in Arabic inscribed on its walls. We hear about an effort to catalog the inscriptions. Then it’s the second part of the BBC’s documentary on Yiddish. Reporter Dennis Marks takes us to New York, where the language is undergoing a modest revival: among Hasidic Jews in Crown Heights, with a family who text message in transliterated Yiddish, and with a musician a novelist who are re-interpreting the old language of Eastern Europe’s shtetls for new generations. Download MP3