Roxana Saberi’s music

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Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi was a regular contributor on The World for several years. In 2009 she was arrested in Iran on spying charges and spent four months in jail. She has a new book out called “Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran.” In it she writes how music helped her pass the time in an Iranian prison. Marco Werman talks with Saberi. Download MP3

• Download her songs
• Marco Werman spoke with Saberi after her release in June 2009
• Global Hit archive
• Book info

Goodluck Jonathan

For today’s Geo Quiz, we’re looking for the country whose President is named Goodluck. Actually Goodluck Jonathan is the “acting president” and commander-in-chief of its armed forces.

Russian reaction to Tennessee adoption case

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Many Russians have long been wary of sending Russian children to the US for adoption. The case of a Tennessee woman who recently sent her adoptive Russian child back to Moscow — alone on a plane — has heightened that distrust. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Natasha Shaginian, a psychiatrist who has worked in Russian orphanages.

Going to Mars

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Today, President Obama outlined his vision for NASA’s future, including a manned mission to Mars. Russia and Europe are also planning missions to the red planet, but experts don’t expect a new international space race. The World’s Alex Gallafent reports.

Obama steps up support for NASA

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President Obama is asking for more than a 60 percent increase in funding for NASA’s earth sciences budget over the next five years. Much of that money will go toward research on climate change. The World’s Environment editor Peter Thomson speaks with anchor Marco Werman.

Geo Quiz

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Our daily geography puzzler.

New proposal in Colombia’s drug wars

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Colombia’s President Uribe is looking for ways to combat soaring drug violence in the city of Medellin. One plan is to hire university students to serve as police informants against the gangs, but critics say that would make matters worse. Reporter John Otis reports from Medellin.

Geo answer

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The answer to today’s Geo Quiz is Nigeria, where acting president Goodluck Jonathan has lived up to his name. Anchor Marco Werman explains.

Music Heard on Air for April 15, 2010

Tunes Spun On The World Between Our Reports For April 14, 2010. Artists featured are Moriba Koita, Kila, Jonthan Richman and The Modern Lovers, Kaki King, Femi Kuti.

Global Political Cartoons: Mar 27 – Apr 9, 2010

The World’s Carol Hills with her latest selection of political cartoons from around the globe. The sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church: still fodder for cartoonists; the Russian nesting doll just got a new addition: a hidden female suicide bomber; and techies’ latest love interest: the ipad

• Watch the slideshow
• Subscribe to our multimedia feed on iTunes

Entire program – April 14, 2010

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Today on The World: A powerful earthquake in western China kills at least 400; Also, the slow pace of reconstruction in L’Aquila, Italy, one year after an earthquake there; Plus, how the smell of a book tells a story of its own.

China earthquake kills hundreds in Qinghai

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Some 400 people have died and thousands are feared injured after a magnitude-6.9 quake hit western China’s Qinghai province, officials say. The powerful tremor struck remote Yushu county, 500 miles south-west of the provincial capital Xining. Most of the buildings in the worst-hit town of Jiegu were wrecked, and landslides have cut off roads. We get an update from the BBC’s Michael Bristow in Beijing. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• US Geological Survey

L’Aquila – one year after the quake

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A little more than a year has passed since an earthquake struck central Italy. 308 people died in the medieval town of L’Aquila and surrounding villages. Tens of thousands of homes were destroyed. And a year later the reconstruction still has not begun. The World’s Gerry Hadden reports from L’Aquila. Download MP3 (Photo: Gerry Hadden)

• Gerry Hadden’s pictures from L’Aquila
• BBC coverage
• In pictures: Italy earthquake (April 2009)

Mourning Poland’s leadership from afar

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President Obama and other world leaders are to pay last respects to Polish president Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria at their funeral on Sunday. Poland has witnessed an outpouring of grief since the first couple died in a plane crash last week. Karolina Lewestam (pictured) is a Polish doctoral candidate living in the US. She talks with Marco Werman about mourning the loss of her country’s leaders from abroad. Download MP3 (Picture: Andrea Crossan)

• BBC Obituary: Lech Kaczynski
• In pictures: Poland mourns
• On The World: Poland grieves after air crash

The Meaning of Katyn

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On this episode of How We Got Here, historian John Connelly of the University of California at Berkeley tells us about the Stalin-era massacre of 20,000 Polish officers in a place called Katyn during World War Two. The Polish delegation killed in a plane crash in Russia last weekend was on its way to a 70th anniversary commemoration of that crime. The tragedy made Katyn seem doubly cursed and underscored its meaning in Polish history and also Polish-Russian relations. Download MP3