World News

World News

Former Robben Island Inmate Recalls Mandela's Discipline, Courage

11:57am December 06, 2013

For 27 years, Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island for his fight against South Africa's apartheid regime. Saki Macozoma served time on Robben Island alongside Mandela in the 1970s, and he joins Robert Siegel to remember Mandela, who died Thursday at age 95.

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Freed From Prison, Mandela Preached Harmony, Equality

11:57am December 06, 2013

On Feb. 11, 1990, upon his release from prison, Nelson Mandela stood on the steps of City Hall in Cape Town, South Africa. He told the gather crowd of more than 100,000 people to seize what he called "a decisive moment." In the audio above, you can listen to a segment of that speech.

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If a plan taking shape is finalized, the MV Cape Ray, managed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, will be turned into a floating chemical weapons disposal plant.

Plan Calls For Syria's Chemical Arsenal To Be Destroyed At Sea

10:49am December 06, 2013

by Geoff Brumfiel

The world wants Syria's chemical arsenal destroyed. But so far, no country has offered to do the dirty work on its soil. Over the past week, an alternative has gained ground: Carry out the destruction at sea. The plan taking shape is complicated and untested, but it just might work.

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Renee Montagne Reflects On Covering Mandela

10:49am December 06, 2013

Nelson Mandela was released from a South African prison in 1990. Steve Inskeep talks to Renee Montagne about her time covering South Africa in the early 1990s.

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Why Music Played An Important Role In Mandela's Life

10:49am December 06, 2013

Morning Edition reports on the music that sustained Nelson Mandela and other members of the anti-apartheid movement while they were in a South African prison. Many of them were huge reggae fans.

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For Much Of His Life, Mandela Was A Controversial Figure

10:49am December 06, 2013

Former South African President Nelson Mandela is universally admired but there was a time when he was caught up in controversy. Steve Inskeep talks to Bill Keller, a columnist for The New York Times, about Mandela's controversial past.

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Songwriter Clegg On Mandela, South Africans' 'Bridge'

10:49am December 06, 2013

Renee Montagne talks to South African musician Johnny Clegg about his relationship with Nelson Mandela, who died Thursday at age 95. Clegg says his banned 1980s song that named Mandela and became an anthem came to him one day when he woke to gunshots and wondered "who can bridge you and me, every South African."

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Near Mandela's Soweto Home, A Gathering Of Mourners

10:49am December 06, 2013

NPR's Gregory Warner speaks with Renee Montagne about the scene near the family home of Nelson Mandela in Soweto, South Africa, where people are gathered to mourn the former president's life.

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A well-wisher uses his phone to take a picture of a banner of photos of Nelson Mandela outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria, where the former South African president is being treated.

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South Africans Ponder A Nation Without Mandela

7:10pm December 05, 2013

by Jason Beaubien

The anti-apartheid hero has been a unifying force in South Africa, particularly for the ruling African National Congress. There's concern, however, that xenophobia, racism and political infighting may grow once the "father of the nation" dies.

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People line up outside a government unemployment office in Madrid on Oct. 5. Spain has an unemployment rate of 26 percent.

Help-Wanted Ad Shows Depths Of Spain's Unemployment Problem

4:05pm December 05, 2013

by Lauren Frayer

Having trouble wrapping your head around southern Europe's staggering unemployment problem? This week, Ikea advertised for 400 jobs in a new megastore on Spain's Mediterranean coast. It got more than 20,000 online applicants in 48 hours, before the retailer's computer servers crashed.

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