Entire program – February 2, 2010

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Today on The World: Japan’s national pride wavers as Toyota works out its recall problem; Also, the Pentagon launches a study on how it would lift the controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy; Plus, assessing the security situation in Haiti, 3 weeks after the earthquake.

What the Toyota recall means to Japan

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Toyota hasn’t stopped selling cars in Japan but the company’s problems in the US and now Europe have made headlines back home. Toyota’s global success is a source of national pride in Japan. In today’s show Akiko Fujita will tells us how the Toyota recall has been playing out in Japan. Download MP3 (AP Photo: Shizuo Kambayashi)

• BBC coverage
• Toyota press statement
• On The World: Toyota in trouble (Jan 27)

Haiti update

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It’s been three weeks since the massive earthquake struck Haiti and residents there are still struggling to find food and shelter. Nevertheless, some aid distribution problems in Haiti have eased. The BBC’s Nick Davis gives us an update from the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• On The World: Haiti’s child slaves
• In pictures: Haiti quake aftermath

McDonald’s marks 20 years in Russia

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Twenty years ago, Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev was still in power. But the Berlin wall had just come down. And the times they were a-changing. At this pivotal moment, in the bleakness of a Russian winter, a bright new sign came to Moscow. It was the sight of McDonald’s Golden Arches. That was 20 years ago this week. Analyst Masha Lipman was then and still is a resident of Moscow. Download MP3 (Photo: Fred Adler / BBC)

• Voice of America article
• mcdonalds.com
• CBC video archive: McDonalds in Moscow

Amazon geoglyphs

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For today’s Geo Quiz, we’re heading to the furthest reaches of the world’s biggest forest… in search of a lost city. The Amazon rainforest covers almost a billion and a half acres of South America. The forest is dense and inhospitable to humans and anthropologists long thought only small, simple societies lived there. But rumors have persisted for centuries of long-lost great civilizations, deep in the Amazon. The World’s Marina Giovannelli reports. Download MP3 (photo: Sanna Saunaluoma)

• Report on pre-Columbian geometric earthworks (pdf)
• Antiquity Journal
• geoglifos.com (Portuguese)

Polish sound postcards

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Even during the Communist days of the 1960s and 70s, Poles managed to get their hands on western pop music. A Donna Summer track, for example, would come in the form of a sound postcard (pictured), a small plastic rectangle covered in grooves, both literally and figuratively. We hear from Mat Schulz, a collector of Polish sound postcards. Download MP3

• Click here to view an audio slideshow featuring the postcards
• More information on the sound postcards

Reviewing don’t ask, don’t tell

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The World’s Katy Clark reports on Pentagon’s decision to launch a year-long study on how it would lift the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy banning gays from serving openly in the US military.

Quality control across international borders

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Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Economics Professor Susan Helper of Case Western University about how a global car company maintains quality control across international borders.

The first Palestinian planned city

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Developers have broken ground for what could be the first Palestinian planned community in the West Bank. Daniel Estrin reports from the site of the future city of Rawabi.

Finland loses weight, Nepal gets help

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An anonymous millionaire is sponsoring an unusual weight loss campaign in Finland. For every 2 pounds shed by Finns — 20 dollars will go to fund education for children in Nepal. Anchor Marco Werman finds out more from Finnish reporter Heli Keskinen.

Ukraine’s top woman

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Ukraine is used to strong women, but not necessarily powerful ones. Yulia Tymoshenko… who’s running in the presidential runoff this weekend is both. Reporter Brigid McCarthy looks at the Tymoshenko phenomenon.