World

Turkey's Protests Are An Impediment For Its Prime Minister

by Peter Kenyon

After more than three weeks of anti-government protests, Turkey's leaders insist they will restore order and quickly bounce back from any damage to the country's economy or image abroad. The crisis comes at a delicate time for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He is in the midst of a fragile peace initiative with the Kurdish minority, dealing with an escalating war next door in Syria, and trying to convince parliament to strengthen the office of the president, which he is expected to run for as his final term as prime minister winds down.
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India Revives An Ancient University

At one time, Nalanda University was a prestigious center of learning that attracted scholars from all over Asia. But after it was destroyed in the late 1100s, it languished. Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon talks with Nobel economist Amartya Sen about plans to revive the ancient university as a collaborative school between several Asian nations.
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A Calculating Win for China's New Supercomputer

China's "Tianhe-2" (Milky Way 2) supercomputer took first place in one recent speed test, clocking in at 30 quadrillion calculations per second--about twice as fast as the best American machines. The U.S. still has more supercomputers than any other nation, but some experts say computer speed is a measure of a country's scientific innovation, and worry the U.S. is lagging behind.
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