The World's Franc Contreras reports on the Mexican government's crackdown on drug traffickers in the state of Michoacan.

Correspondent Matthew Brunwasser has the latest in the case of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor accused of deliberately infecting more than 400 Libyan children with HIV. A Libyan court today convicted the medics and sentenced them to death.

This week, Israel's High Court ruled against residents of a group of Jerusalem residents who tried to stop the construction of the security barrier in their neighborhood. The World's Aaron Schachter tells us about the barrier's impact on Israel's largest city.

Anchor Marco Werman speaks with the BBC's Nick Thorpe about the political turmoil in Gaza. Today, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah accused the United States of encouraging Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to stage a coup against his Hamas-led government.

Anchor Lisa Mullins talks to Global Hit producer Marco Werman about the Global Hits that almost got away. There's always more wonderful musicians out there than we have time to explore on the show. Today, Marco profiles some of them.

And, by the way, today's Geo Answer is the Russian city of Podolsk.

Where in the world will we go today?

Almost one in six people in the world lives in a third world slum. That means that about one billion people are living in oppressive poverty in makeshift urban areas that get little or nothing in the way of municipal services. This week, The World brings listeners a four-part series on life in the slums. The series begins today with correspondent Sheri Fink reporting from Nairobi, Kenya.

Lisa Mullins speaks with Italian sports journalist, Massimo Oriani about the Vatican's plans to field a competitive soccer team. A top Catholic Church official in Rome says the Vatican could soon put together a soccer squad that could play as an equal against some of Italy's best professional teams.

Correspondent Julie Siple reports from Berlin on what would be the first mosque in the former East Berlin.