Entire program – August 31, 2010

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Today on The World: President Obama prepares to address the nation tonight to declare the end of the US combat role in Iraq; Also, engineers in Chile begin drilling the rescue tunnel for those 33 miners trapped underground; Plus how Margaret Thatcher managed to keep Soviet funds from reaching Britain’s striking coal miners back in the 1980s.

Ending US combat operations in Iraq

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Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri Maliki says his country is ‘independent’ as the US formally ends combat operations there. Vice-President Joe Biden is in Iraq on an unannounced visit ahead of the official end of the mission at midnight local time. President Barack Obama is due to deliver a televised address to the American people tonight. Marco Werman speaks with Jane Arraf, Baghdad correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, about how Iraqis feel about this transition.(Photo: US Army) Download MP3

• State of the Iraq insurgency
• BBC slideshow: seven years of war in Iraq
• Retired US officer reflects on Iraq withdrawal
• Two Iraqis talk about the US presence in their country
• The war in figures

Iraq’s oil boom

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Much of the uncertainty Iraqis feel is about the economic future of their country.Those prospects depend largely on the recovery of Iraq’s oil industry. That’s been more or less dormant for the past seven years. But The World’s Katy Clark reports that Iraq’s oil is flowing again. Download MP3

• BBC video: Iraq oil contracts awarded
• BBC video: UK and China secure Iraq oil deal
• Iraq Oil Report

Tales of Things

Many of the things we buy come fresh out of the box, new and glistening. But get something second-hand, and that object has lived out at least one life with somebody else before you even see it. What would it be like to get a glimpse of that other life? The World’s Ari Daniel Shapiro reports. (Photo: Tales of Things) Download MP3

• Tales of Things
• Tales of Things and Electronic Memory (TOTeM)
• More on Chris Speed
• Fields: places, memories, people

Israeli music in Berlin

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Israeli Jews are now flocking to an unexpected place: Berlin, once the capital of the Nazi regime that murdered millions of European Jews. Many Holocaust survivors settled in Israel and vowed never to set foot in Germany again. Their grandchildren are different: today about 3,000 Israelis, mostly young artists, have moved to Berlin. Reporter Daniel Estrin profiles one Israeli musician whose career is blossoming in Berlin. (Photo:Lisa Zappe) Download MP3

• Ofrin’s YouTube channel
• Ofrin on MySpace
• Global Hit on Facebook

An Iraqi politician reflects on US operations

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Anchor Marco Werman talks with Iraqi elder statesman Adnan Pachachi about the official end of US combat operations in Iraq. (Photo: Omar Chatriwala)

More than milestones in Iraq

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Anchor Marco Werman offers a timeline of significant events in Iraq that are not necessarily considered major milestones.

Brazil’s grammar hotline

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Politicians recently approved a bill to create a linguistic hotline in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It’s not the first one in the country. Reporter Jason Strother tells us about another grammar call-in service that’s been around for 30 years.

Israeli settlements still hurdle for peace talks

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President Obama hosts a Middle East peace summit this week. The goal is to reach a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians in one year. But there are serious doubts about whether these peace talks will even last a month. One of the many difficult issues is the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Matthew Bell reports. Download MP3

• BBC Middle East coverage
• Hamas on Mideast peace
• Palestinians and the State of Israel

Drilling begins in Chile

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Drilling has begun on a rescue tunnel for the 33 miners trapped underground in Chile. Anchor Marco Werman get details from the BBC’s Gideon Long, who is at the mine site.

• Coverage in Spanish at BBC Mundo

New detail revealed in Thatcher’s strike-busting strategy

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Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Rob Evans, an investigative reporter for the Guardian newspaper in London. He co-wrote a recent article on a newly-revealed part of the British coal miners’ strike of 1984. Turns out then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher went to great lengths to prevent funds collected by miners in the Soviet Union from reaching the striking miners in the United Kingdom.

• Guardian newspaper story

Geo Quiz

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The World’s daily geography challenge.

Geo Answer

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The answer to today’s Geoquiz is the Cascadia Subduction Zone, also known as the Cascadia fault. A retail store has just opened up near the fault that caters to nervous Canadians in the area. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Scott Larsen, sales manager for Krasicki and Ward Emergency Prep in Vancouver, British Columbia.

• Geo Quiz Archive