Middle East

Obama Renews Promise To Defeat ISIS, Scoffs At Claims Of Election Rigging

6:06am August 05, 2016

by Scott Horsley

President Obama held a wide-ranging news conference at the Pentagon on Thursday. He talked about the presidential campaign, a recently discovered cash payment to Iran, and efforts to defeat ISIS.

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World News

Iran Expert Weighs In On Controversial Washington-Tehran Money Transfer

6:06am August 05, 2016

Steve Inskeep talks to Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace about a controversial $400 million cash payment to Iran that coincided with the implementation of the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal and a prisoner swap.

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President Obama speaks to reporters after meeting his National Security Council at the Pentagon on Thursday.

'Their Military Defeat Will Not Be Enough': Obama Discusses Efforts To Counter ISIS

6:40pm August 04, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

Two years ago, "to many observers, ISIL looked invincible," Obama said at the Pentagon on Thursday. But now: "ISIL turns out not to be invincible, they're in fact inevitably going to be defeated."

World News

Doctor Says Syrian Town Is Starving For Food, Medical Care

2:24pm August 04, 2016

Dozens of people have starved to death in the besieged town of Madaya, where aid workers can't manage to get food or supplies. Renee Montagne talks with Syrian American Medical Society's Ammar Ghanem.

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'Wall Street Journal' Reveals U.S. Paid $400 Million In Cash To Iran

4:30pm August 03, 2016

by Michele Kelemen

A Wall Street Journal account raises questions about whether a controversial $400 million cash payment to Iran that coincided with the release of several U.S. citizens amounted to ransom.

U.S. State Department Spokesman John Kirby speaks during a briefing at the State Department on Jan. 6.

State Dept. Calls Report Linking Payment To Iranian Prisoner Release 'False'

4:28pm August 03, 2016

by Eyder Peralta

State Department spokesman John Kirby said there was no quid pro quo with the $400 million payment, which he said was tied to a claim Iran launched in an international tribunal.

Smoke rises after an Emirates plane made an emergency landing at Dubai International Airport on Wednesday.

World News

Emirates Plane Makes Emergency Landing, Bursts Into Flames In Dubai

1:28pm August 03, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

All 300 passengers and crew survived, but a firefighter died during rescue operations. Video on social media shows the plane with black smoke rising. Then a massive fireball erupts from the aircraft.

Turkish officials have blamed a failed coup attempt on Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who denies the accusation. Since 1999, he has lived in the U.S. Gulen is shown here on July 17 speaking to reporters at his compound in Saylorsburg, Pa.

World News

Will The U.S. Extradite An Elderly Turkish Cleric?

12:49pm August 03, 2016

by Michele Kelemen

Turkish lawmakers want the U.S. to extradite U.S.-based Fethullah Gulen, who they say backed a failed coup. But the process is far from easy and depends on international politics as much as courts.

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Women wave flags in front of a billboard bearing a picture of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Aug. 2 in Ankara's Kizilay Square during a protest against the failed military coup in July.

World News

After Failed Coup, Some Turks Call For Reinstating The Death Penalty

4:32pm August 02, 2016

by Peter Kenyon

Turkey abolished capital punishment in 2004. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says public demand for restoring it can't be ignored. But doing so would hurt Turkey's bid to join the EU.

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Does U.S. Strike Against ISIS In Libya Mark A Policy Shift?

5:04am August 02, 2016

Renee Montagne speaks with Washington Post reporter Missy Ryan about the American airstrikes targeting ISIS in Libya. The strikes, launched Monday, hit the coastal town of Sirte, an ISIS stronghold.