Europe

Do Big Cash Denominations Help Organized Crime?

5:17pm February 27, 2016

by Eric Westervelt

The European Central Bank is considering abandoning the 500 euro note. Harvard University's Peter Sands explains why the 500 euro note is the currency of choice for organized crime and terrorists.

FIFA Elects New Leader To Replace Blatter

7:54am February 27, 2016

Gianni Infantino is the new leader of FIFA, replacing the disgraced Sepp Blatter. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro speaks to ESPN's Howard Bryant about whether soccer will see any real changes.

World News

As Borders Close, Greece Struggles To Shelter Migrants Stuck There

4:29pm February 26, 2016

by Joanna Kakissis

Thousands of Afghan migrants are living outdoors in Athens after being prevented from entering the Balkans and Austria — in the past, the pathways to Germany, where many migrants hoped to settle.

Migrants and refugees seeking asylum in Sarstedt, Germany, line up Feb. 26 for lunch at the shelter where they live while their asylum applications are processed. Germany wants to send more migrants home and sent a charter plane filled with Afghan migrant

World News

Discouraged By Delays In Germany, Some Migrants Opt To Return Home

2:43pm February 26, 2016

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

They say they are leaving because of lengthy delays in being recognized as refugees, poor living conditions and humiliation at the hands of German authorities.

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Ascensión Mendieta, 90, visits the mass grave where her father, Timoteo Mendieta, was buried in 1939. She saw him for the last time when she was 13. Two years ago, she became the plaintiff in a case to allow Spain's mass graves to be exhumed.

World News

Finding A Long-Lost Father As Spain Exhumes Decades-Old Mass Graves

10:48am February 26, 2016

by Lauren Frayer

Ascension Mendieta watched a gunman march her father away 77 years ago. Now she finally knows where he was buried. Spain has 2,300 mass graves. As they're exhumed, the country confronts a bloody past.

Soccer Fans Skeptical New FIFA President Will Bring Needed Reform

6:55pm February 25, 2016

by Tom Goldman

World soccer's much-maligned governing body picks a new president this Friday. Much of the soccer-loving public disdains FIFA and is skeptical a new president will bring about positive change.

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World News

Tony Blair Works To Define The Problem Of Islamist Extremism

3:27pm February 25, 2016

Steve Inskeep talks to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is teaming up with former U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, to launch a commission to counter Islamist extremism.

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This smartphone case talks to an app that can turn it into a stun gun.

World News

At Tech Conference, Meet The Tesla Of Bikes And A Weaponized Phone

5:29pm February 24, 2016

by Aarti Shahani

Mobile phones that double as stun guns. Smart bikes connected to an app that can deter thieves and track your workout. We got an eyeful of futuristic gadgets at a mobile tech conference in Barcelona.

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Russia's Air Campaign In Syria May Be Hurting Anti-ISIS Campaign

3:27pm February 24, 2016

Perhaps the biggest question about the efforts to bring a pause in the fighting in Syria is: Have Russian air strikes emboldened the Syrian regime so much that it doesn't want to stop fighting?

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Man Fined In Austria For Loud Belch

7:21am February 24, 2016

The man in Vienna was fined 77 euros for violating "public decency with a loud belch next to a police officer." The man says the burp happened because there were too many onions on his kebab.