Iraq

Hossein Mahrammi with his wife and four young sons arrived at at Dulles International Airport in Virginia earlier this month with Special Immigrant Visas for the work Mahrammi had helped the U.S. with in Afghanistan.

Special Immigrant Visa Holders Still Face Questioning Upon Reaching U.S.

1:28pm March 27, 2017

by Joel Rose

Visa holders who worked with the U.S. overseas say they've been detained and threatened with deportation upon arrival in the country, but federal officials say there is broad discretion to deny entry.

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Trapped Civilians Complicate U.S. Efforts in Northern Syria And Iraq

5:06am March 27, 2017

by Tom Bowman

NPR's Pentagon Correspondent Tom Bowman explains U.S. and coalition efforts to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa and the ongoing fight for the Iraqi city of Mosul. Recent airstrikes in Mosul may have led to the deaths of more than one hundred civilians, including women and children.

Residents carry the body of several people killed during fights between Iraq security forces and Islamic State on the western side of Mosul, Iraq, yesterday. Residents of the Iraqi city's neighborhood known as Mosul Jidideh at the scene say that scores of

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U.S. Says Its Mosul Airstrikes Hit Area Where Civilian Casualties Are Reported

3:19pm March 25, 2017

by Laurel Wamsley

As many as 200 civilians were reported killed in western Mosul, where a US-led coalition is fighting ISIS. It's not clear whether the rules of engagement have changed.

Sandi Toksvig on the TED Stage at TEDWomen 2016 in San Francisco, California.

Sandi Toksvig: Can Social Change Start With Laughter?

9:10am March 24, 2017

by NPR/TED Staff

When comedian and TV host Sandi Toksvig came out as gay in the early 1990s, she used humor to recover from the onslaught of vitriol.Today, she says, humor can help bring about social change.

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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks Wednesday at the meeting of the Global Coalition on the Defeat of ISIS in Washington. Top officials from the 68-nation coalition are looking to increase pressure on ISIS.

Tillerson: Defeating ISIS 'No. 1 Goal' for U.S., But Others Should Do More

6:41pm March 22, 2017

by Michele Kelemen

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is hosting officials from 68 countries to discuss how best to take on ISIS. "As a coalition we are not in the business of nation-building or reconstruction," he said.

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U.S.-Led Coalition Continues Fight To Retake Mosul From ISIS

4:38pm March 22, 2017

by Alice Fordham

ISIS's single largest stronghold was the Iraqi city of Mosul, which was where their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced the creation of what he called a caliphate in 2014. NPR takes a look at the coalition effort to retake the city.

The Iranian woman fled to Iraq after facing harassment in Iran. "I was hoping so much that I could get my flight to America before the crackdown resumed," she says. "So far, there's no way forward for me, I'm stuck."

Caught Up In Travel Ban, Iranian Lesbian Asylum Seeker Sees 'No Way Forward'

10:06am March 15, 2017

by Peter Kenyon

The woman says she fled to Iraq a couple of years ago, after facing harassment in Iran. As she's awaited approval to travel to the U.S., she says she's also faced threats in Iraq.

World News

A Front-Line View Of ISIS At War: 'They're Not Backing Down'

1:33pm March 14, 2017

New York Times reporter Rukmini Callimachi was recently embedded with Iraqi troops fighting to liberate western Mosul from ISIS. She reports that the Islamic State looks "more fierce than ever."

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This photo, released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows blood soaked streets and damaged buses after a bombing in Damascus on Saturday.

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Explosions in Damascus Target Shiites From Iraq, Kill At Least 40

11:41am March 11, 2017

by Miles Parks

The bombing, near a revered cemetery on the border of the old city of Damascus, appears to have targeted Shiite visitors from Iraq. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Iraqis React With Relief To Trump's New Order On Immigration

4:32pm March 06, 2017

by Alice Fordham

Iraqis say they are happy to hear they are no longer banned for travel to the U.S. and say their country succeeded in changing President Trump's mind.