World News

German Labor Minister Ursula von der Leyen (at left, shown here with German Chancellor Angela Merkel) has been the main government architect of measures aimed at helping women reconcile careers with having children.

World News

Germany's Paradox: Family-Friendly Benefits, But Few Kids

11:04am May 07, 2013

by Esme Nicholson

Germany is considered quite generous when it comes to helping women raise families. But some analysts say the way many of the benefits are set up hurts those with a career and a family.

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World News

Afghan-Pakistani Forces Exchange Fire Along Shared Border

11:04am May 07, 2013

by Sean Carberry

Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan are on the rise again following two border clashes in the space of a week. The trouble was apparently sparked by Pakistan's decision to erect a new border gate despite Afghan objections.

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Portugal Struggles To Avoid 2nd Bailout

11:04am May 07, 2013

by Lauren Frayer

Portugal's creditors are evaluating the country's latest austerity package, which includes 30,000 public sector layoffs, to determine whether Lisbon might need a second international bailout. The Portuguese government is raising the retirement age and lengthening work weeks to try to squeeze out more revenue, and repay its bailout loans.

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Thousands Of Syrians Ride Buses To Refugee Camps

11:54pm May 06, 2013

by Deborah Amos

Morning Edition rides along with Andrew Harper of the UNHCR to the Syrian border. Roughly 3,000 Syrians each day wait for buses to take them to refugee camps in Jordan.

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Gen. Antonio Indjai (left), Guinea-Bissau's army chief of staff, at the funeral of the country's late president, Malam Bacai Sanha, on Jan. 15, 2012. The U.S. says Indjai has been involved in drug trafficking, an allegation he denies. He recently eluded a

U.S. Faces Fight At Intersection Of Crime And Extremism

3:27pm May 06, 2013

by Tom Bowman

The Justice Department says about half of all international criminal organizations have links to extremist groups, such as Hezbollah, the Taliban and FARC rebels in Colombia. But diffuse priorities are hindering U.S. efforts to combat this growing problem of transnational, organized crime.

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Kerry's Visit To Russia A Chance To Talk Syria, Mend Fences

9:47am May 06, 2013

by Michele Kelemen

Secretary of State John Kerry sets off for what he calls "a long overdue" trip to Russia on Monday, and Syria is likely to top the agenda. But U.S.-Russian relations are frosty these days. The U.S. is imposing targeted sanctions on Russian human rights violators, while Moscow is preventing American families from adopting Russian children.

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Syrian Rebel Leader: We Won't Share U.S. Arms With Extremists

11:01am May 05, 2013

by NPR Staff

The U.S. says it will consider arming the rebels if it can confirm Bashar Assad's regime used the nerve gas sarin in recent attacks. But there's a danger that any weapons the U.S. provides could fall into the wrong hands.

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As a prisoner of war, Sub Lieut. John Pryor encrypted information and requests for supplies in letters sent from a German camp to his family in Cornwall.

World News

World War II Code Is Broken, Decades After POW Used It

6:04am May 05, 2013

by Bill Chappell

It's been 70 years since the letters of John Pryor were understood in their full meaning. That's because as a British prisoner of war in Nazi Germany, Pryor's letters home to his family also included intricate codes that were recently deciphered by codebreakers for the first time since the 1940s.

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On Mexico Trip, Obama Maintains Economic Focus

11:53am May 04, 2013

by Carrie Kahn

President Obama is in Costa Rica to discuss regional cooperation and security with regional leaders. This follows talks he had in Mexico with President Enrique Pena Nieto. During his two-day visit, Obama tried to steer the focus away from contentious issues like immigration and drug violence.

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Places Transformed: Syrian Refugees Overwhelm Camps, Towns

11:53am May 04, 2013

The fighting in Syria has created tens of thousands of refugees seeking shelter in neighboring Jordan. Host Scott Simon talks with NPR's Deborah Amos about a refugee camp in northern Jordan that has quickly become the second largest such camp in the world. Then we hear voices from a small town in southern Lebanon, where recently arrived Syrian refugees now outnumber the Lebanese residents.

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