PRI's THE WORLD - Here are the stories we're tracking today from The World's newsroom in Boston.
PRI's The World - with Host Marco Werman There’s lots of talk on Capitol Hill today about the online glitches that have plagued the rollout of the Obama Administration's new health care system. In the crosshairs is a Montreal based company called CGI Federal, which built the site. It's got us wondering -- just how much of the government's work is outsourced to foreign companies? We'll try to follow the money trail. Meanwhile, President Obama begins a new push on immigration reform. We'll have a wrap-up of Mr. Obama's speech this morning. And we'll take a trip on New York's N Train, or "Ñ" as some street artists are renaming it, in a nod to the Spanish speakers who live on the line. Plus, we'll hear how a Norwegian citizen of Somali origin ended up in Kenya as one of participants in the Westgate Mall attack. And, the story of an Armenian rug that's been sitting in a White House basement since the days of the Coolidge Administration. All that, and a conversation with British folk singer Linda Thompson. | ||||
In China and have a lot of social followers? You could be the target of an 'anti-rumor' campaign
In China, the official media have to toe the Communist Party line, but China’s social media is a pretty freewheeling place, with half a billion users. That’s especially true of the micro-blogging site Sina Weibo, which is like the Chinese version of Twitter. Justin Bieber may have a record-breaking 46 million Twitter followers. But Chinese movie star and singer Chen Kun has 61 million followers on Weibo. Chen is what’s known as a big V — V for Weibo-verified. Posts by big Vs can spark a wildfire of criticism and outrage — some of it aimed at public officials. | ||||
Today, on The Takeaway: President Obama Apologizes to French and German Leaders Over Surveillance Concerns | White House to Delay Obamacare Mandate By up to Six Weeks | Problems With ACA Exchanges Highlight Government's I.T. Obstacles | NASA Tools of Yesteryear May Be The Key to Tomorrow's Innovations | When Quantum Physics Meets Video Games | ||||
President Obama Apologizes to French and German Leaders Over Surveillance Concerns After German Chancellor Angela Merkel received intelligence from her government that her phone was under surveillance, President Barack Obama had an uncomfortable phone call to make. He called Chancellor Merkel and reassured her that her phone was not being tapped. That conversation came just a few days after he had to offer similar reassurances to French President François Hollande after it was revealed that the communications of French citizens were under U.S. surveillance. David Sanger, Chief Washington Correspondent for our partner The New York Times, joins The Takeaway to discuss this latest diplomatic riff. | ||||
TODAY on "Q" -- The Chinese publishing market has opened itself up to writing from the west in a big way over the last 20 years, but some things have been lost in translation... namely, politically-sensitive commentary that Chinese censors are quick to alter. New York Times Beijing correspondent ANDREW JACOBS explores the trend of American authors acquiescing to censorship from Chinese publishers, and whether or not that's a good thing. -- MARK MCMORRIS might just be Canada's first gold medal winner at the Sochi Olympics… but he must defeat the legendary Shaun White to win. The 19-year-old snowboarder from Regina is living the dream, travelling the world with his friends and is the heavy gold medal favourite in his sport. He drops by studio Q to discuss his chances, fears, being a snowboarder from central Canada, and his rivalry |