Best of the BBC: Maternal mortality worldwide

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Over half a million women die each year from complications during pregnancy, delivery or shortly afterward. To address the problem, the UN Population Fund is holding a high level maternal health meeting in Ethiopia. One of the Millennium Development Goals is to reduce maternal mortality by 75% by 2015. So which countries of the world are rising to the challenge and which are showing little evidence of improvement? The BBC has been looking at the situation for women giving birth in different countries. Listen to Lyse Doucet’s report from Afghanistan.Download MP3

• More on the BBC’s special series on maternal mortality
• More “Best of the BBC”

John Hughes RIP, sand dunes made of bacteria, and WE CARE’s solar suitcase

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This week’s podcast features a geek’s audio tribute to John Hughes, the late director of “Weird Science.” Also, we talk about a project to make thousand mile sand dunes with the help of bacteria. And we hear about the solar suitcase, a toolbox designed to greatly improve maternal care in the developing world.

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