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Thirty years ago, China was a centrally planned economy largely closed to international trade. Today, China is the third largest economy in the world. China’s gross domestic product grew by 8.7 percent in 2009. (And that was during a worldwide recession!)
But while China’s economic engine hasn’t stalled during the worldwide recession, China faces economic challenges of its own. On this edition of the World’s Global Economy Podcast: An in-depth look at the booming Chinese economy, points good and bad.
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There’s been recent violence by Israeli settlers near the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar. Some religious Israelis are concerned about increasing fanaticism in the settler population. And they’re pointing to one book published by Yitzhar rabbis that could be interpreted as a license to kill. Daniel Estrin brings us the story from Jerusalem. (Photo: Daniel Estrin) Download MP3Audio 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.
Thousands of people recently demanded that US forces be moved off the Japanese island of Okinawa, something Washington is loathe to do. But there are plans to move some Okinawa Marines to Guam. Guam is a US territory, but as Mary Kay Magistad reports, plans for the military build-up there have ignited soul-searching about just how American people there feel. Download MP3 (Photo: Mary Kay Magistad)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.
Noise pollution is especially bothersome in highly populated cities. The Egyptian capital Cairo is one of them. There are around 20 million people in the greater Cairo area, but for Cairenes, their city just wouldn’t be the same without all that commotion, as Daniel Estrin reports. Download MP3 (flickr image: Xavier Fargas)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 Laura Lynch profiles a young South African woman who’s studying to become one of the new generation of animators in what is hoped will be a successful indigenous animation filmmaking industry. (photo: Laura Lynch) Download MP3Audio 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.
For today’s Geo Quiz we’re looking for the country between Ghana and Benin in West Africa. One of this country’s most popular tourist attractions is the crumpled remains of an airplane…
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Before the recent earthquake, Haiti was no stranger to natural disasters. In recent years, thousands of people have been killed by floods and landslides. To understand why the toll is so high, one need look no further than the country’s bald mountains. Haiti has lost about 97 % of its forests. And the main culprit is the nation’s most popular cooking fuel: charcoal. Reporter Amy Bracken looks at one effort to provide a tree-saving alternative: briquettes made from trash. Download MP3 (photo: Amy Bracken)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.
As South Africa prepares to host the World Cup in just under two months, it’s promising a warm welcome for tourists from around the globe.But the welcome mat isn’t out for everyone – particularly foreign workers from countries like Zimbabwe. The World’s Laura Lynch reports. Download MP3 (Photo: Laura Lynch)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 1973 Sue and Peter Westrum and their baby went to live among an indigenous tribe, the Berik, in Indonesian New Guinea. Their aim was to learn the oral Berik language, develop a script for it, and then translate the Bible into Berik. They spent more than 20 years there. It was a time of great transformation for the Berik people, their beliefs and their language.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 president of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, (pictured) says he is prepared to resign if security for him and his family can be guaranteed, and the self-declared interim government halts the bloodshed in the Central Asian country. Bakiyev said he was willing to hold talks with the head of the interim government, Roza Otunbayeva. We’ll get an update from the BBC’s Rayhan Demytrie. Download MP3Audio 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.
Our top five language stories this month: Why Google Translate rules, and why human translators shouldn’t feel threatened; a weight-loss company advertizes for Product Testing Associates, whose sole task is to eat more food — not the first time an employer has over-egged the job title pudding; there’s evidence that certain accents are less welcome than others in corporate boardrooms; India’s economic rise and linguistically mixed marriages mean that fewer young Indians speak the languages of their parents; and French citizens vote on new words for “buzz”, “chat”, and “newsletter.” Download MP3
The striking feature of Dmitri Nabokov’s edition of his father’s final unfinished novel is the wresting of authorial control, by a son, from a man whose deep obsession with control was manifest throughout his literary career.
