Pakistan relief camps ‘overwhelmed’

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Floods in Pakistan continue to devastate the country. Millions of Pakistanis now have no shelter or sanitation. And doctors in the worst-affected areas seem overwhelmed. Today, the UN refugee agency issued a new warning for Shahdadkot in the southern province of Sindh. Flood water there is pouring out of breaches in canals and threatens to submerge parts of the town. The BBC’s Jill McGivering is in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• India helps in flood disaster

Trapped Chilean miners get supplies

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33 miners trapped underground in Chile since August 5th have begun receiving glucose, rehydration tablets and medicine. Capsules containing the supplies were sent down a tube, which is the miners’ only lifeline. We get an update from The BBC’s Gideon Long. Download MP3

• BBC video: Trapped Chile miners get supplies
• On The World: Trapped miners are alive

Tanzania’s conservation vs development battle

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Can wildebeests and trucks coexist? That’s the question at the heart of today’s Geoquiz. Hundreds of thousands of wildebeest migrate every year through a protected area in northern Tanzania. Now the Tanzanian government wants to build a road through the region. Opponents say this would threaten the entire ecosystem. So, what’s the national park that’s home to all these wildebeests? (Photo: Benedict Moran) Download MP3

• Slideshow: See Benedict Moran’s photos of Tanzania
• Bringing solar power to Tanzania
• Eco-Islam in Africa

Pakistani children in danger

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There are fears that as families flee the floods in Pakistan, children are getting separated from their parents. That could increase the already-high number of children who go missing in Pakistan each year. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Haider Yaqub who works with a children’s charity in Islamabad.

Bulgarians warm to Turks

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For centuries, people in Bulgaria haven’t had much good to say about their neighbors in Turkey. But that’s changing now that Bulgarian TV viewers are hooked on Turkish soap operas. Reporter Matthew Brunwasser has the story.

Japan’s centenarian mystery

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Japan officially has the world’s largest number of people over the age of 100. But a recent series of grisly discoveries has put that exact number in doubt. Correspondent Akiko Fujita reports from Tokyo on what’s happening to Japan’s centenarians.

1972 Northern Ireland bombing revisited

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Northern Ireland’s Police Ombudsman today published a report on a number of IRA car bombings that struck the village of Claudy back in 1972. The report concludes a priest was centrally involved in the incident. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Mary Hamilton, who survived one of the bombings. She’s now a local official in Derry.

Mogadishu hotel attacked

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The World’s Jeb Sharp reports on an attack today by the Islamist militant group al-Shabab on a hotel on the Somali capital Mogadishu. More than 30 people were killed.

Geo Quiz and Answer

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Today’s Geo Quiz asked listeners to name a protected natural area in Tanzania that is crossed by a massive migration of wildebeests each year. The answer is Tazania’s Serengeti National Park. Plans to build a road there have raised fears that the road would disrupt the annual wildlife migration patterns. Benedict Moran reports from the Serengeti.

• Slideshow: See Benedict Moran’s photos of Tanzania
• Bringing solar power to Tanzania
• Eco-Islam in Africa

Ultra-marathoner crosses desert

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Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Eric Lahaie, an American living in Hong Kong, who won a 60-mile ultra-marathon race through the Taklamakan Desert in China.

• Racing the Planet picture gallery
• Eric Lahaie in the Geo Quiz
• Eric Lahaie’s Racing the Planet blog

Gianmaria Testa

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The subject of our Global Hit today likes to keep his songs simple. Just a guitar and his own gravely voice. Meet Italian singer-songwriter Gianmaria Testa. Testa’s latest CD was recorded live in Rome a couple of years ago. It’s called “Solo dal Vivo.” Download MP3

• Gianmaria Testa homepage
• Global Hit archive
• Global Hit on Facebook

How to hold a news conference, Chinese provincial style

You’re a Chinese provincial leader.  A group of foreign journalists is coming through, and you’re supposed to meet them.  What do you do?

Follow along with Mary Kay Magistad’s special dispatches on her trip to the Uighur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, in China’s far west and the largely ethnic Tibetan province of Qinghai.

• Read Mary Kay’s latest blog post from China
• On the Road with the Chinese Foreign Ministry

Talking Travel: London’s new bike rental scheme

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Forget the Tube, the double-decker busses, and the Black Cabs. London’s got a new mode of transportation. It’s called, lovingly, the “Boris Bike,” after the city’s Mayor, Boris Johnson, who also happens to be an avid cyclist. Lonely Planet’s Tom Hall tells you more about London’s new bike rental scheme on this episode of our Talking Travel podcast. (Photo: Mark Boyce)

• Download this episode (13:34)
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Music Heard on Air for August 24, 2010

Tunes Spun On The World Between Our Reports For August 24, 2010. Artists featured are Outback, Tinariwen, Oran Etkin, Moriba Koita, Jan Garbarek, Hafez Naeri, Bassekou Kouyate, Ngoni ba, Mungal, Nitin Sahwney, Mark Holdaway.

Entire program – August 23, 2010

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Today on The World: How India is responding to the ongoing flood crisis afflicting next door neighbor and rival Pakistan; Plus why 33 trapped miners in Chile will need to wait months to be rescued; And we listen to new music from a popular folk rock singer from Argentina.