Middle East

World News

From cattle farming to struggling to survive: One Gaza family's story of displacement

8:14pm December 29, 2023

A look at one man and his family in Gaza who went from being a successful cattle farmer in the north to now living in a van with no water and little hope.

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A clergyman with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Chaplain Ivan, conducts a liturgy for Ukrainian troops near the front line in the eastern town of Vuhledar on Dec. 15.

World News

2 bitter wars with a long history and no solution in sight

2:23pm December 29, 2023

by Greg Myre

NPR's Greg Myre has been covering both the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Israel-Hamas fighting. He looks at where both these wars stand and the prospect for a permanent solution.

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Internally displaced Palestinian children use a makeshift wheeled cart to haul water in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, as battles continue between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

World News

There's a water crisis in Gaza that the end of fighting might not solve

2:16pm December 29, 2023

Before the war, Palestinians in the territory relied heavily on power-hungry desalination plants. But with Israel's intense bombardment, the fate of those plants — and Gaza's water future — is hazy.

Morning news brief

11:45am December 29, 2023

Israel orders more evacuations in Gaza. Polish truckers block traffic at the Poland-Ukraine border. A federal judge has approved Georgia's newly revised political maps.

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Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Durham, N.H.

Maine bars Trump from primary ballot; an Israeli strike in Gaza kills at least 20

8:24am December 29, 2023

by Majd Al-Waheidi

Maine's Democratic secretary of state removed former President Donald Trump from the state's presidential primary ballot. An Israeli airstrike killed at least 20 Palestinians in southern Gaza.

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One Palestinian man and his family struggle to survive in southern Gaza

5:07am December 29, 2023

by Carrie Kahn

A look at one man in Gaza who went from being a successful cattle farmer to now living in a van with his family. They have no water and little hope.

World News

Israeli leaders warn that there could be a war to its north in Lebanon

4:51pm December 28, 2023

by Jason DeRose

Israeli leaders are beginning to talk about the possibility of opening a new front in the north in Lebanon — while the Israeli offensive in Gaza sees a rising death toll.

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Palestinians pray near the wrapped bodies of relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, outside a morgue in Khan Younis on Wednesday.

World News

Israeli strikes across Gaza kill dozens of Palestinians, even in largely emptied north

8:45am December 28, 2023

by The Associated Press

Israeli forces bombarded towns and refugee camps across Gaza overnight into Thursday, killing dozens of people in an air and ground offensive against Hamas that has widened to most of the territory.

War in Gaza ends effort by Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judiciary

7:25am December 28, 2023

by Frank Langfitt

Before the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, Israel's government was in the process of trying to overhaul its judiciary, which many Israelis opposed. The plan's opponents say they haven't let down their guard.

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WHO cautions disease may kill more people in Gaza than combat. The New York Times sues ChatGPT's OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, and 2023 is expected to be the hottest year on record.