The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer

James Dorsey’s blog The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer looks at the intersection of soccer and politics. Dorsey’s been scribbling furiously since the terrible violence in Port Said.

Senegalese Musician Youssou N’Dour Announces Presidential Bid

N’Dour announced his candidacy Tuesday saying that he sees running for president as a “supreme patriotic duty.”

Belgium Close To Forming Government

Belgium is on the brink of forming a coalition government after more than 500 days of wrangling. The problem has largely been a north-south divide, one that looks like a microcosm of the north-south divide in the Eurozone.

India Gets Serious About Cartoons

Two Indian political cartoonists have experienced pressure to censor their own work.

How Statehood Bid Affects Palestinian Politics

Has the Palestinian bid brought together the fractious Hamas and Fatah?

Politics Affects Belgium’s Music Scene

How the language and culture divide is playing out for the musicians in Belgium?

Nepal Stagnates Amid Government Deadlock

Nepal has great potential, but its economy remains stagnant because rivals in the government cannot agree on moving forward and its poor suffer the consequences. The World’s Mary Kay Magistad reports.

Hiroshima, Nagasaki and self-censorship

As Japan faces its biggest crisis since World War Two, here are two takes on self-censorship from those war years. A child survivor of Hiroshima explains why she kept quiet about her experiences for so long, through the pain and guilt of survival. And a Japanese examination of the self-censorship of American newspaper reporters and editors in the weeks after Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[...]

Turkey: Where politics and religion mix

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Matthew Brunwasser reports on the funeral Tuesday of a former Turkish Prime Minister, now considered the father of political Islam in Turkey, one of the few countries in the Middle East region to successfully mix religion and politics. Download MP3

Pharaohs, Cantonese and the Gang of Four

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In this week’s World in Words podcast: why did British band Gang of Four name themselves after China’s notorious cultural revolutionaries? Also, was Hosni Mubarak Egypt’s last pharaoh? Or is that just a cute turn of phrase? And is Cantonese, once the lingua franca of Chinatowns around the world., imperiled by the steady march of Mandarin?

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Still no government in Belgium

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Belgium has been without government for 225 days and many Belgians are fed up with the politicians as The World’s Clark Boyd reports from Brussels. Download MP3

Slideshow: Belgians protest for a government

An Israeli view on leaked documents

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Marco Werman speaks with David Horowitz, editor of the Jerusalem Post, about how the leaked documents affect the politics of the Middle East and prospects for a negotiated peace. Download MP3

Tuareg tales and the R word

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In this week’s World in Words podcast, we hear about an initiative in Mali to preserve the Tamasheq language, spoken by a dwindling number of the nomadic Tuareg people. Also, a conversation about the literary merits of the King James Bible, which turns 400 in 2011. And, the R word: rationing. which among some Americans is R-rated when it comes to health care. But in Britain, rationing is part of the national psyche: it got the country through two world wars, and its collectivist values are at the core of Britain’s government-run health service. Download MP3

Pakistan’s political battle heats up

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Muttahida Qaumi Movement, or MQM, Pakistan’s third largest political party, made headlines recently when it abandoned the ruling PPP-led coalition government, stoking fears of a government collapse, or worse, a military coup. That may not happen, but the move did set Pakistan’s two largest secular parties at loggerheads at a moment when the role of religion in politics in Pakistan is being hotly debated. Madha Tahir reports from Karachi. Download MP3

Lebanon awaits Hariri assassination indictments

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Tensions are rising in Lebanon as a UN court prepares to issue indictments relating to the assassination of the country’s former prime minister. There is reason to believe that members of the powerful political party of Hezbollah will be named. Ben Gilbert reports that Hezbollah is mounting a counter-offensive. Download MP3