The World from PRX

A flooded city road with a military truck carrying people through the water, while others wade alongside. Overhead signs indicate directions to various city areas. The surrounding area has buildings and trees with a cloudy sky.

Indonesia hopes 20-mile long wall can defend Jakarta from rising seawater

Full Episode
48:37

In this file photo, a military truck drives through a flooded toll road after heavy rains in Jakarta, Indonesia, Feb. 20, 2021. Indonesia is planning to move its capital from Jakarta — a city that is sinking below sea level — to Kalimantan.

Dita Alangkara/AP/File

More than 20 miles of gigantic wall, out in the ocean, are hoping to defend Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital and Southeast Asia’s biggest mega-city, from rising seawater. Also, US foreign direct investment in Africa has surpassed China’s for the first time since 2012. And, New Delhi and Islamabad were both hit with bombs, killing at least 20 people between them, and both Indian and Pakistani officials are trying to find out the exact cause of the explosions. Plus, the genre-bending American band Deerhoof releases its first single, “Immigrant Songs,” a playful take on a serious issue.

Listen to today’s Music Heard on Air.

In This Episode

Jakarta’s great climate wall
8:46
Crypto scammer who fled China for London sentenced to 11 years in prison
3:50
US and China in competition for resources, with African countries stuck in the middle
8:17
Explosions rock capitals of India and Pakistan
5:14
Deerhoof’s ‘Immigrant Songs’ is a playful take on a serious issue
6:38
New potato variety aims to improve disease resilience in Peru
5:18
Speaking more than one language can help delay dementia symptoms, study finds
7:29