bbc World Service podcasts

This week in Global Business another in the short series of programmes from Israel. This week Peter Day takes a look at Israel's Hi-tech industry the second largest in the world outside of Silicon Valley, California. Born out of adversity and the military over 30 years later it has become a force to be reckoned with economically. But underlying the success there are some problems of how to sustain this due to a lack of good graduates, growing poverty and even the cost of occupation of the West Bank. Producer: Julie Ball Editor: Stephen Chilcott

Sarah Palin quotes from a Starbucks cup the words of Madeleine Albright, but why should women support each other? Are women themselves the biggest obstacle to gaining equality?

* Forty-two people go on trial in Paris accused of trafficking arms to Angola. * International community criticised over Somali conflict. * Can Africa make more money from the humble banana?

In Business Daily, as the financial crisis deepens, we delve into the reasons behind the fall of the worlds biggest insurance company, AIG. Did its own policies and actions mean it was asking for trouble?

The nightmare of not being able to get to sleep…the misery of insomnia and some possible solutions. And if you do finally drift off what if the baby wakes you up? Does a doctor have the secret of soothing a crying baby? And how children can survive cancer.

Owen Bennett-Jones meets Hugh Herr who lost both his legs below the knee in a mountaineering accident and set out to design his own artifical legs.

The UN Mission in Congo reacts to rebel attacks on its helicopters. *Fresh signs of a split in South Africa's ruling ANC party as a former senior member criticises his own party publicly. *And more than 2 million counterfeit pills destined for Africa have been seized in Belgium.

Owen Bennett-Jones looks at al Qaeda's hard power and military capabilities in its chosen key battlegrounds: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Pathway in the brain linked to obesity in mice; snow on Mars; how human pollution of African Great Lakes could be causing new species of fish to evolve; fusion steel and how it could mean safer buildings; spin off technology from the Large Hadron Collider experiment at CERN; on Science in Action with Sue Broom.

'For' and 'since' are two words which are often used in present perfect sentences when saying how long something has been happening. We challenge Hye Jung from Korea to use the correct words to make good sentences.

Do you know someone with a cheeky sense of humour? Find out in this weeks' Real English.

In The Elephant's Journey, Brett Westwood looks at African elephant migration. He follows Mac, the African elephant that travels each year between Kruger National Park in South Africa and the private nature reserves to find a mate.

Every time the sky falls in, we imagine that it's all completely new. In fact, there's nothing new to financial crises. Plus - sound advice on making the most of your money when the going gets rough.

This year Norway enshrined in law that 40% of company boards must be made up of women. Peter Day asked four years ago why the country intended to take such drastic action. Now he wonders whether where Norway goes, others will follow. Producers: Sandra Kanthal and Rosamund Jones Editor: Stephen Chilcott

What role does the media play in elections in your country? Can someone win without the bulk of the media on his or her side? There aren’t too many of us who’ll admit doing something because someone else tells us too, but is it time to be honest and say lots of us follow the media’s lead during elections, rather than the politicians?

*A new European plan to launch a joint naval force to combat piracy around Somalia. *End of Ramadan celebrations ends in tragedy in Tanzania when 19 children die. *And growing impatience in Zimbabwe as the power-sharing government fails to agree on a cabinet.

The Maldives, Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Mauritius are all popular tourist destinations. Robin White tells the stories behind the tourist facades, visiting Mauritius for part four of this series.

In this edition of Business Daily we hear a very rare piece of radio: an admission by a man at the top of a big financial institution that he got it wrong. No ifs, no buts, just an apology and regret.

"Globalisation" is a buzzword in our news bulletins. We take a look at the pros and cons of this phenomenon.

In Assignment, Robert Walker travels to East Africa to investigate a secret detention programme - involving the transfer of suspected terrorists across three countries: Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.