Entire program – November 6, 2009

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Today on The World: A look at military mental health caregivers in the wake of the Fort Hood shootings; A hotel in Berlin today offers the creature comforts of a 1970s Eastern Bloc guesthouse; and mixing it up with British songwriter Gemma Ray.

Muslims in the armed forces

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President Barack Obama has said the “entire nation” is grieving after a shooting that killed 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas. The President ordered all flags at the White House and other Federal buildings to be flown at half-staff. US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a US-born Muslim opened fire at the Army base on Thursday. His cousin told the media that Hasan had been battling racial harassment because of his “Middle Eastern ethnicity”. The tragedy casts a light on Muslims serving in the US military. The World’s Matthew Bell reports. Download MP3 (AP Photo:David Morris, Killeen Daily Herald)

• BBC coverage
• Profile of Major Hasan
• In pictures: Ft Hood shootings

Electricity for rural Nicaragua

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Correspondent Eliza Barclay reports from Nicaragua how two American brothers tried a technological fix to alleviate poverty in that Central American country, and our Science Forum invites you discuss aid projects online with environmental engineer Anu Ramaswami of the University of Colorado in Denver. Download MP3

• Discuss technological aid projects in our Science forum
• More in our latest Science podcast
• blueEngergy Group
• Eliza Barclay’s photos from Nicaragua
• Eliza Barclay’s blog

East German guesthouse nostalgia

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The World’s Europe Correspondent, Gerry Hadden, is in Berlin working on stories for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. He spent last night in the Ostel hotel. It’s a hotel refurbished to resemble a guesthouse in 1970s communist East Germany. Gerry gives us a tour. Download MP3 (Photo: Gerry Hadden)

• See photos from Ostel
• The World’s Coverage: First breach in the Iron Curtain

Gemma Ray

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As long as there have been cool themes and rhythms, musicians have been recycling them. The trick is how to pull that off without sounding derivative. Take the songs of British singer-songwriter Gemma Ray. They sound familiar, but when you stop and listen, you know you’ve never heard this before. Download MP3

• BBC review: Lights Out, Zoltar!
• Gemma Ray on MySpace
• Gemma Ray at Bronzerat Records

The stress of treating combat stress

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Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Tulane University trauma expert Charles Figley about the kind of work that the alleged Ft. Hood shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, did. Hasan is an Army psychiatrist with a specialty in treating combat stress.

Discussing the Goldstone Report

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The UN endorsed a controversial report yesterday that accuses Israel and Hamas of war crimes in Gaza. On that same day, the report’s author, Judge Richard Goldstone met in a public forum with a former Israeli ambassador to discuss the report’s accusations. Correspondent Amy Bracken reports from Waltham, Massachusetts.

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Mentoring Afghan police

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Earlier this week an Afghan policeman turned on five British soldiers and killed them. It’s not the first time that the people being trained to take over security in their country have attacked the very ones who provide that training. Retired Captain Doug Beattie says he twice encountered situations that made him question the loyalty of his Afghan allies. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with him.

Winning the trust of Afghans

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Anchor Marco Werman speaks with US Army Major James Gant about his experience navigating tribal loyalties in Afghanistan in order to help the secure their support for Allied troops there.

Geo Quiz

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Our daily geography puzzler.

Geo answer

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A Swiss company called Solar Impulse is in the very early stages of mounting what it hopes will be the first solar-powered flight around the world. For today’s Geo Quiz, we asked just how long a flight that would be if the flight plan circled the earth at the equator. The answer is 24,901 miles…or approximately 25,000 miles.