Afghanistan

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An Afghan Writer Wants To Return Home, But It Could Cost Him His Life

6:43pm September 11, 2015

by Elizabeth Ross

Qais Akbar Omar's memoir has been translated into more than 20 languages. But his outspoken criticism of Afghanistan's government has created problems for him and his family back in Kabul.

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A newborn in Sierra Leone is treated after delivery by Caesarean section. The country's child mortality rate has dropped from 264 per 1,000 in 1990 to an estimated 120 this year.

How Many Children Under 5 Die A Year In The U.S. Vs. Angola?

2:47pm September 09, 2015

by Jason Beaubien

A new report emphasizes significant progress in cutting the number of deaths of children before age 5. But in some parts of the world, the rate is still depressingly high.

A migrant girl holds a sign expressing her love to Germany as she arrives at the train station in Saalfeld, central Germany, on Saturday. Hundreds of refugees arrived in a train from Munich to be transported by bus to an accomodation center.

World News

Trainloads Of Migrants Begin Arriving In Germany

4:01pm September 06, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Thousands of refugees, mainly escaping conflict in Syria and Iraq, began arriving in Munich after transiting through Austria.

Abdel Mounan, an Iraqi refugee, holds his young daughter. After two days in a refugee camp in Hungary, Munan says he'd rather die than return to Iraq.

World News

Austria, Germany Agree To Take Migrants Stopped In Hungary

7:36am September 06, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Groups of the refugees earlier had left a rail station and stopped train and begun walking toward Austria. Also: The father of a 3-year-old Syrian boy who drowned in the Aegean Sea buries his family.

'Almond Garden, Portraits from the Women's Prisons in Afghanistan published by Daylight Books, April 2015. All right reserved. ©Gabriela Maj'

World News

Mother And Child Behind Bars: The Women Of Afghanistan's Prisons

7:03am September 06, 2015

by Rena Silverman

In Afghanistan, a woman who has premarital sex or cheats on her husband can be charged with moral crimes and imprisoned. Many of these women serve their time with their children by their side.

A woman holds her smiling baby in her arms as she arrives at the Hauptbahnhof station in Salzburg, Austria, on Saturday on their way with other migrants from Hungary via Vienna to Germany.

World News

Migrants Arrive In Austria, Germany After Being Bused To Border

2:32pm September 05, 2015

by L. Carol Ritchie

The refugees from Syria, Iraq and elsewhere have been blocked for days from leaving Hungary.

Relatives of 3-year-old Syrian Kurdish boy Aylan Kurdi carry his body during a funeral procession for Aylan, his mother, Rehan, and his older brother, Galip, in Kobani, Syria, on Friday.

World News

Father Of Drowned Syrian 3-Year-Old: 'We Are Human Beings, Just Like Westerners'

11:38am September 04, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Abdullah Kurdi, whose 3-year-old son's lifeless body was photographed facedown on a Turkish beach, says: "I hope the world will learn something from it."

By the time archaeologists uncovered this statue of the Buddha at Mes Aynak, its head was gone — likely broken off by looters.

What's Better For Afghanistan's Future: Buddha Tours Or A Copper Mine?

2:48pm August 31, 2015

by NPR Staff

A vast archaeological site sits atop one of the world's biggest untapped copper deposits. Afghanistan must decide which resource will be a greater boon.

World News

Settled Migrants In Greece Reach Out To Help Newcomers

8:25am August 31, 2015

by Joanna Kakissis

Afghan refugees are camped out in an Athens park, waiting for papers to get out of Greece. They live in donated tents and get clothes, medicine and food from volunteers — including fellow migrants.

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Inspektor Jan Gieber of Austrian police shows the inside of the large van outside the police station in Braunau, Upper Austria, on Sunday, where the children were found among 26 migrants trying to reach Europe.

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Refugee Children Rescued In Austria Reportedly Disappear From Hospital

3:37pm August 30, 2015

by Scott Neuman

The three Syrian children, aged 5 and 6, were near death from dehydration when they were discovered by police in the back of a minivan on Saturday.