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Episode details

World Service,27 Jun 2011,10 mins

Available for over a year

Alan Johnston introduces with and analysis from correspondents around the world. In this edition, Mark Mardell attends a mock cyberwar in the USA, while Jake Wallis Simons bids farewell to Malta's "shabby and magnificent" old buses. On the virtual battlefield President Obama has just announced the beginning of the end of America's war in Afghanistan. Thousands of troops are to start coming home this year. But even as Washington seeks to wind down this conflict, it's girding itself for a new one - which won't be fought by soldiers slugging it out on frontlines in faraway countries. As Mark Mardell explains, plans for the new conflict are being made in a very different arena, and against a very different enemy. Goodbye to Malta's old faithfuls London has its famous red buses, which have become symbols of the city all over the world. On the island of Malta the buses are just as remarkable - but they're all yellow and individually owned. Each bus has its own special character, slogan and, perhaps, personality. Yet the island also has terrible problems with traffic and congestion. All that is due to change. Jake Wallis Simons has been on the streets of Valletta asking what a new replacement fleet will have to offer.

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