conflict

Sexual violence is an ancient and often unseen war crime. Is it inevitable?

11:32am February 08, 2024

by Jill Langlois

"Conflict-related sexual violence" is as old as the Bible and as topical as current wars around the world. We talk to three experts about why it persists, why it's underreported and how to stop it.

An Israeli air strike damaged this ambulance in front of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 3. Israel said the vehicle was "identified ... as being used by a Hamas terrorist cell" and that a "number of Hamas terrorist operatives were killed." Hamas denied the presence of fighters in the ambulance convoy, calling the claims "baseless."

Attacks on health care are on track to hit a record high in 2023. Can it be stopped?

5:11am December 13, 2023

by Ari Daniel

The targeting of hospitals and medical workers is a fact of modern warfare — in Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Gaza and Israel. International law say such attacks are unacceptable. Are there any consequences?

Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to U.S. Congress was running for president in 1972 when she had a remarkable interaction with the pro-segregation George Wallace, then governor of Alabama. Her efforts to build bridges with him ultimately changed his point of view. She's pictured here giving a speech at Laney Community College during her presidential campaign.

Lessons from brain science — and history's peacemakers — for resolving conflicts

6:00am November 04, 2023

by Yuki Noguchi

Humans instinctually forge loyalties to groups to survive. Being aware of these impulses can help us deescalate arguments and find common ground. Some notable leaders in history show us how it's done.

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Health & Safety

A slightly sadistic experiment aims to find out why heat drives up global conflict

2:16pm August 11, 2023

by Nurith Aizenman

The subjects were assigned to one of two rooms: 68 degrees or a sweat-inducing 86 degrees. Then they were told to play a computer game that can bring out the worst in human nature.

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Nagwa Khalid Hamad, who died when mortar hit her home in Khartoum, at a wedding in in 2019. Her son says: "I don't even recall whose wedding it was but all i can remember is my brother, sister, mom and myself were there and we were happy." He describes her as "a very calm person." If he was upset, he says, "she would say to just take it in, just breathe it in and don't worry about it."

Health & Safety

His mom — a doctor and 'a true angel' — died when mortar struck her home in Sudan

11:30am April 22, 2023

by Emmanuel Akinwotu

Nagwa Khalid Hamad, 66, was one of at least 400 killed since conflict erupted last Saturday. Her son spoke to NPR about her death and life — and what she meant to him, to family and to her patients.

Smoke rises during clashes in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on April 16. "Some hospitals are being targeted by the warring parties," reports Dr. Ghazali Babiker, country director for the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières in Sudan.

Health & Safety

'I am hearing anti-aircraft fire,' says a doctor in Sudan as he depicts medical crisis

12:29pm April 18, 2023

by Andrew Connelly

We spoke to Dr. Ghazali Babiker, country director for Médecins Sans Frontières in Sudan, who is in Khartoum. He offered a grim assessment of the impact of fighting on the ability to give health care.

A women holds a child in the alley of a slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Bangladesh is one of the world's poorest countries; nearly 40% of the population survive on less than a dollar a day.

Health & Safety

The clock is ticking for U.N. goals to end poverty — and it doesn't look promising

1:51pm September 19, 2022

by Nurith Aizenman

Can we end poverty, provide food for all and otherwise make Earth a better place by 2030? By all accounts, the answer is no. So then what's the point of the Sustainable Development Goals?

Dr. Denis Mukwege is a gynecologist, Nobel Peace Prize winner and advocate against sexual violence in conflict zones like his homeland, the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is now speaking out against the reports of rapes committed by Russian soldiers dur

Health & Safety

Fighting the horror of wartime rape, Nobel Peace Prize winner won't give up hope

3:23pm May 18, 2022

by Malaka Gharib

Dr. Denis Mukwege has spent decades treating women who have been raped in his homeland of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He's calling on the world to take action for women in Ukraine.

Opinion: A jet flew by in Michigan. It reminded me that wartime trauma is hard to heal

10:22am April 10, 2022

by Maji Hailemariam Debena

Conflicts in Ethiopia, Ukraine and other countries cause psychological trauma that can last far beyond any ceasefire. An Ethiopian-born mental health epidemiologist shares her insights.

Satellite images show the destruction in Mariupol after Russian strike

5:52pm March 09, 2022

by Marco Storel

Russian forces breached a temporary cease-fire declared yesterday in Ukraine.