Archive for January, 2013


PRI’s The World: 01/21/2013 (Spain, Palestine, India)

President Barack Obama begins a second term we get a global view of the inauguration. We speak with retired General Stanley McChrystal about a second term strategy in Afghanistan. And sounds from one of the world’s largest natural sound archives.

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Reduced Expectations for Obama 2.0

US President Barack Obama takes the oath of office as his family watches. (Photo: Reuters/Jason Reed)

President Obama’s second inauguration has been a subdued event, says Gary Younge, a columnist for the British newspaper The Guardian. Younge tells anchor Marco Werman why he thinks the notion that America might vote in a black president now seems like little more than a banal fact of life.

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General Stanley McChrystal Optimistic on Afghanistan

McChrystal meets with the President in the Oval Office of the White House in 2009. (Photo: The White House)

As Barack Obama formally begins his second term, most eyes are on the domestic agenda. But the nation is still at war in Afghanistan. Anchor Marco Werman discusses the direction and conduct of the war with retired General Stanley McChrystal, former commander in Afghanistan.

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China Rebukes US Over Disputed Islands Comment

Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands (Photo: Wiki Commons)

China’s foreign ministry has strongly criticized the US for backing Japan’s control of a disputed group of islands in the East China Sea. A government spokesman said the view, expressed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “neglects the facts.”

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Two Documentaries About the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in Contention for an Oscar

In this scene from the film, "5 Broken Cameras," Emad's mother pleads with an Israeli soldier to release her son Khaled after he was arrested. (Photo: 5 Broken Cameras)

Two of the five documentary films nominated for an Oscar this year are about the same thing: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But they come at the issue from two very different perspectives. One story is told through the eyes of a Palestinian villager. The other is based on interviews with Israel’s top security chiefs.

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Ivan Fernandez Anaya, Gentleman Runner from Spain, Allows Fellow Competitor to Win

Ivan Fernandez Anaya and Kenyan runnerAbel Mutai. (Photo: Jorge Broncano/YouTube)

Cheating in sports has dominated the news for the last several days since American cyclist Lance Armstrong confessed to years of doping. His dishonesty casts a shadow over an entire sport, even its honest competitors but as The World’s Gerry Hadden reports from Barcelona, good guys can finish first.

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Music Heard on Air for January 21, 2013

Tunes spun on The World between our reports for January 21, 2013. Artists featured are: Khaira Arby, Toubab Krewe, Tuh Pa Warez, Allen Toussaint, AfroCubism, Drumagick, Generation Bass.

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India Gang Rape Trial Begins

aA demonstrator holds a placard during a protest outside a court in Delhi (REUTERS/Adnan Abidi)

The trial of five men accused of gang-raping and murdering a young woman has started in Delhi. The 23-year-old physiotherapy student was brutally assaulted on board a bus last month.That attack has caused outrage across India and around the world. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with The World’s Rhitu Chatterjee in Delhi.

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Rape in India Triggers More Awareness in the US

Activist Preeti Shekar, in black near center, at a candlelight vigil in San Francisco organized in response to the rape and murder in December of a young woman in India. (Photo: Anupma Sud)

Talk of harassment and violence in India has prompted discussions among South Asian immigrants about how that violence is sometimes exported to the United States.

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British Soldiers of the American Revolution

Bunker Hill, by Howard Pyle. This 19th century picture is full of errors, just like much of the literature and most movie depictions of British soldiers in the American Revolution. (Photo: Wiki Commons)

The common British soldier of the American Revolution has a certain image in the popular imagination. The scum of the earth, pressed into service as an alternative to jail or the gallows, then disciplined brutally with constant floggings to become a mindless killing machine. But recent research is telling quite a different story.

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The Sound of Birds, Whales, Elephants, Frogs, Published Online

Adelie Penguin -- Pygoscelis adeliae (Photo: Tim Laman, Cornell Macaulay Library)

Thousands of wildlife recordings at Cornell’s Macaulay Library in Itaca, NY, are now online. Audio curator Greg Budney samples the vast collection of field recordings collected worldwide of birds, whales, elephants, frogs, primates and more that’s just been digitized and put online.

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Son of Cuban Exiles, Richard Blanco, Recites Inauguration Poem

President Barack Obama greets poet Richard Blanco after his reading at the presidential inauguration. (Photo: REUTERS/Win McNamee/Pool)

Maya Angelou was the first African-American to write a poem for a presidential inauguration. She delivered her poem at President Clinton’s ceremony in 1993. On Monday it was the turn of Richard Blanco, the first openly gay poet and the first Cuban-American to receive the honor.

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Australia’s, and America’s, Convict Pioneers

Print of the ship the Charlotte, part of the First Fleet. The image was of the ship at Portsmouth, England, prior to departure in May 1787. (Photo: Wiki Commons)

January 18th is the day the first European settlers arrived in Australia, 225 years ago. They were convicts, deported from Britain. You may be surprised to hear this was not a new practice for the Brits.

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Q&A: Mali Crisis

French soldiers stand guard at the Mali air force base near Bamako. (Photo: REUTERS/Eric Gaillard)

We wanted to know your questions about the rapidly unfolding and complex drama in Mali. We received several questions from readers. The BBC’s Defense and Diplomatic Correspondent Jonathan Marcus offer these responses.

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PRI’s The World: 01/18/2013 (Mexico, China, Ethiopia)

Reaction from France on the Algerian hostage crisis and Lance Armstrong’s doping confession. Plus, pressure from China toward unmarried women to get married. And mobility in Mexico City as the capital improves its traffic flow.

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