Middle East

World News

When ISIS Retreats, Turks And Kurds Renew Fighting In Syria

6:36pm August 29, 2016

by Alice Fordham

Two U.S. allies in the fight against ISIS are fighting each other in Syria — Turks and Kurds. It's one of the rivalries that occurs when ISIS is forced from areas that multiple sides covet.

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Humanitarian Relief Expert Calls Syrian Crisis 'Defining' Of This Century

6:36pm August 29, 2016

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with David Miliband, CEO of the International Rescue Committee, for the latest on the migrant crisis.

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U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim hold a news conference after meeting Aug. 24 in Ankara, Turkey. While the U.S. and Turkey are close allies, they've been at odds on a number of issues, and the meeting was designed t

In A Time Of Middle East Conflict, What's The Role Of U.S. Diplomacy?

5:21pm August 29, 2016

by Peter Kenyon

The focus has often been on U.S. military action in the Middle East. But diplomacy is also critical. Here's a look at one of America's most important and complicated relationships in the region.

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Syrian Refugee Family Arrives In New Jersey To Start New Life

4:36pm August 29, 2016

by Deborah Amos

A Syrian refugee family arrives to meet Syrian American relatives who are waiting to host them. This comes as the U.S. meets its goal of bringing 10,000 refugees from Syria by October.

The next president has a huge inbox, filled with more security challenges than we've seen since in decades.

The Next President's Inbox: Challenges From Russia, China And Everywhere

11:32am August 29, 2016

by Michele Kelemen

The next U.S. president faces a messy world, from a confrontational Russia to a rising China and a fractured Middle East. NPR looks at the election year debate over America's place in the world.

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Yemenis inspect the site of a suicide car bombing at an army recruitment center in Aden, Yemen, on Monday.

World News

Suicide Bombing In Yemen Kills At Least 54; Attack Claimed By Islamic State

10:18am August 29, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

The bombing struck the southern city of Aden, the temporary home of Yemen's government. An ISIS-affiliated news outlet says the attack targeted a military recruitment center.

World News

Syrian Government In Control After Rebels Evacuate Daraya

7:16am August 29, 2016

by Alice Fordham

A small suburb of Damascus that was a symbol of resistance is no more. Daraya is all but a ghost town. After years of opposition to the Syrian regime, fighters and civilians were allowed to leave.

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World News

Libyan Forces And Islamic State Fighters Battle For Sirte

7:08am August 29, 2016

David Greene talks to Washington Post Cairo Bureau Chief Sudarsan Raghavan about how the Islamic State is pushing to expand its self-proclaimed caliphate to Libya.

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World News

ISIS Increasingly Recruiting Children To Carry Out Terrorist Acts

3:20pm August 28, 2016

Last Sunday in Iraq a young teenage boy was captured before he could detonate an explosive belt on behalf of ISIS. Linda Wertheimer talks to terrorism expert John Horgan about the group's recruitment.

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Revisiting The Syrian Playbook After Obama

8:50am August 27, 2016

The Obama administration has kept its distance from the crisis in Syria. Journalist Thanassis Cambanis tells NPR's Scott Simon that it would be in our own interests to escalate military involvement.