Freed Cuban political prisoners arrive in Spain

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 largest release of political prisoners in Cuba in a decade is underway. The government of Raul Castro is freeing and exiling 52 dissidents jailed in a crackdown on human rights activists in 2003. Spain has agreed to take them and their families in. Six arrived in Spain today. The release comes after weeks of negotiations between the Cuban government, the Catholic Church and Spanish diplomats. Spain now wants Europe to improve its tense relations with the island. But many remain doubtful that Castro’s gesture is a sign of real change. The World’s Gerry Hadden reports. Download MP3

Iranian scientist seeks refuge in Pakistani Embassy

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.

A diplomatic dispute between Teheran and Washington over a missing Iranian nuclear scientist has taken a new turn. The scientist, Shahram Amiri, turned up at the Iranian interest section of Pakistan’s embassy in Washington. Amiri has reportedly asked to be returned home immediately to Iran. Amiri vanished during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in June last year. The Iranians say he was kidnapped by the CIA. Washington says the scientist came to the US on his own free will. Host Marco Werman learns more. Download MP3

China firewall project collapsing

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.

In China, a massive software project that would equip ALL computers with internet filtering software is falling apart. Chinese officials say the program would protect kids from on-line pornography and violence. But critics considered it another brick in the so-called “The Great Firewall of China.” Anchor Marco Werman speaks with The World’s Technology Correspondent Clark Boyd. Download MP3

Few Haitians seeking protective status

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.

Florida has the largest Haitian population in the country and close to two thirds of Temporary Protected Status applications processed so far in US have been from Florida. The problem is that the numbers are far lower than everyone thought they would be. From ‘Under the Sun‘ and WLRN in Miami, Alicia Zuckerman reports. (Photo: Alicia Zuckerman) Download MP3

Uganda bombings update

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 Somali Islamist group, Al-Shabab, has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s night’s double bombings that killed more than 70 people in the capital Kampala. Today, Ugandan authorities say they’ve made some arrests in the case. Anchor Marco Werman gets the latest on the story from the BBC’s Will Ross in Kampala. Download MP3

Paris’ secret catacombs

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.

Paris may be the most visited city in the world but there are parts of it few have ever seen – underground. “The Catacombs” began as vast underground limestone quarries. Today they are the playground of the bold and the brave. Don Duncan brings us below the surface of the City of Light. Download MP3

Uganda bombings reaction

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 World’s Jeb Sharp has more reaction to the bombings in Uganda claimed by the Somali insurgent group Al-Shabab. Burundi has also been threatened and is on high alert. Download MP3

Cocaine submarine off Guatemala’s coast

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.

Guatemala, Honduras and El Salavador form a small cluster of Central American countries. It’s sometimes called the northern triangle. Chances are, if you’re travelling overland from South America to points north, you’ll transit one or all of those countries. The same is true for drug traffickers. US authorities estimate that 75 % of cocaine smuggled into the US passes through Guatemala. So with that in mind, we’re looking for a region or department of Guatemala, where major drug bust just happened. This department is on the country’s southern coast, it looks out on the Pacific Ocean. We’ll tell you what washed up on the shores, after you take crack at naming the department. (Photo: Courtesy of the DEA) Download MP3

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.

Let’s check out a story that “surfaced” in Guatemala. Actually it was a submarine that surfaced in the Pacific waters off the Guatemalan coast. So the coastal state or “departamento” of Escuintla is the answer to the Geo Quiz. Authorities there this week intercepted a 55 foot submarine loaded with a US bound cargo of cocaine. Steven Dudley has been researching drug trafficking in Central America for the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars. He says these so called “narco subs” are an increasing headache for drug enforcement officials. Download MP3

Ashton Nyte gives South African music a new spin

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.

And finally today, for those of you who thought that all South African music was Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Hugh Masekela, get ready for ear adjustment. South Africa also has a lively alternative-rock scene. And at the center of it is singer-songwriter Ashton Nyte. With his newest album, Ashton Nyte may find allies and friends in the alternative scene here as well. Nyte recently left Johannesburg and made the move to St. Louis. His latest CD is called “The Valley.” Download MP3

Geo Quiz: Cocaine submarine

Guatemala, Honduras and El Salavador form a small cluster of Central American countries. It’s sometimes called the northern triangle. Chances are, if you’re travelling overland from South America to points north, you’ll transit one or all of those countries. The same is true for drug traffickers. US authorities estimate that 75 % of cocaine smuggled into the US passes through Guatemala. So with that in mind, we’re looking for a region or department of Guatemala, where major drug bust just happened.

The Cuban dissidents

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.

Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Nik Steinberg, Cuba researcher for Human Rights Watch, about the situation in Cuba, where the government has promised the release of 52 political prisoners. The first seven were freed and flown to Spain today. Nik Steinberg has met with some of the prisoners’ family members. Download MP3

Music Heard on Air for July 13, 2010

Tunes Spun On The World Between Our Reports For July 13, 2010. Artists featured are Ensemble Ali Farka Toure, Ry Cooder, Mongo Santamaria, Tor Dietrichson, Ensemble FizFuz, Ngoni ba, Bassekou Kouyate, Nostalgia 77.

Entire Program: July 12, 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.

Haiti reconstruction stymied by mounds of rubble

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.

It’s been six months since Haiti fell victim to one of the most destructive natural disasters on record. On January 12, at four fifty three in the afternoon, in 35 seconds, a 7.0 earthquake killed an estimated three hundred thousand people, and left more than a million homeless. Today, 1.7 million Haitians live in camps and as The World’s Amy Bracken reports, the effort to get people back into houses is being held up by one major obstacle: a lack of cleared, usable land. (Photo: Amy Bracken for The World) Download MP3

• See Amy Bracken’s photos from Haiti
• See more of Amy Bracken’s Haiti coverage