selected BBC World Service Podcasts

President Obama sets out his controversial plans to improve the quality of teaching in the US. And why a 70-year-old Welshman is set to beat Eminem to Number One.

The former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan talks about possible repercussions in Afghanistan and Twitter is paying its respects to Ivy Bean - who at the age of 104 was its oldest user.

Arizona's controversial new immigration law is stripped of is its key provisions by a US federal judge, and more than 150 people die in a Pakistani plane crash.

A Pakistani plane crash kills all one-hundred-and-fifty-two people on board, the British prime minister calls for a new special relationship with India, and Catalonia bans bullfighting.

The Rwandan election campaign is in full swing - but is it being marred by violence and intimidation? We also hear why the former chief UN weapons inspector questions the judgement of the US and UK over the Iraq war.

BP's new chief executive, the Olympics and the death of publishing?

Do the wikileaks tell us anything new? Plus Esperanto for beginners...

Thousands of secret documents about the Afghan war are leaked to the media -- Pakistan denies allegations in them that it is supporting the Taliban. A senior Khmer Rouge official sentenced for crimes against humanity - we talk to the man who tracked him down.

Will new BP leadership change its fortunes? AU summit focuses on conflict in Somalia and the battle for the ashes of Jim Thorpe.

Somalia top of the AU summit agenda; BP boss set to stand down; can China's Three Gorges damn cope with flood waters? and Lance Armstrong's last Tour

One of the key negotiators of the Northern Ireland peace process, Lord John Alderdice, explains how to use psychotherapy to bring peace; Columbian law lecturer and writer, Oscar Guardiola Rivera tells us why he thinks it’s time for Latin America to assert itself; And the untapped chemical potential of trees with Irish “renegade scientist” and writer Diana Beresford-Kroeger.

Rajan Datar asks two listeners to give their expert opinion on the current documentary series, China: Shaking the World. Lisa Chen is Chinese-American and living in Europe, Jayaram is Indian and lives in Hong Kong, and they tell Rajan what they think of the series, based on their own knowledge of China. Rajan also finds out why the World Service has abruptly stopped broadcasting on FM to Dubai. And, in the week that the BBC broadcast the results of a worldwide investigation into the asbestos trade, he asks whether, in a time of financial cutbacks, investigative journalism has a future.

15 people are crushed to death in a stampede at a German music festival, the double life of gay priests and champion snooker player Alex 'Hurricaine' Higgins dies.

Oil washes up on Chinese beaches; Somalia top of AU summit agenda; regional responses to troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

A Tibetan monk speaks his mind to Damian Grammaticas despite the fear which grips the capital, Lhasa; Hugh Sykes wonders why Afghanistan has so little to show for billions of pounds' worth of aid; Jon Leyne tells a tale of golf and revolution from Cairo; the effects of political and economic crisis in Madagascar are analysed by Linda Pressly while Trish Flanagan's in County Clare meeting Ireland's oldest publican.

European banks take stress tests and we analyse the impact drone attacks have in Pakistan.

A special report on the use of unmanned 'drone' aircraft against the Taliban in Pakistan; Trafigura found guilty of transporting toxic waste to Ivory Coast.

In a special programme from the TED conference of international thinkers in Oxford, we ask how best to bring about lasting change in the world. Cyber activist, Ethan Zuckerman on how to harness the power of social media, Swedish environmentalist Johan Rockstrom on how understanding the unpredictable nature of change can help save the world's ecosystems, and the Iranian-American comedy star Maz Jobrani on how humour can change the world.

This week on Over To You, Tazeen Ahmad embarks on a spot of post-championship analysis of the World Cup coverage. Did the World Service go over the top in its programming? Also, why was there so little coverage of the recent violence in Kashmir and how does the BBC report international disasters such as Haiti?

Chicken for lunch and talk of terrorism - Gabriel Gatehouse travels to the mountains of northern Iraq for a secret meeting; Humphrey Hawksley's in Montenegro finding out why some of its citizens are horrified at the prospect of joining NATO; Emma Jane Kirby on the brittle relationship between President Sarkozy and the French media; Dan Collins meets the British missionary who's fallen foul of the Peruvian authorities while Simon Winchester hears plans to extend an American trail all the way to Africa.