Middle East

World News

A year after Mahsa Amini's death, Iran still reels from protests and crackdowns

4:45pm September 15, 2023

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Iranian-born journalist Golnaz Esfandiari about the year since the death of a woman who died in police custody after allegedly wearing her headscarf incorrectly.

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Search and rescue operations are underway in the region affected by floods due to Storm Daniel in Derna, Libya, Sept. 14.

World News

Survivors of Libya's deadly floods describe catastrophic scenes and tragic losses

4:21pm September 15, 2023

by Fatima Al-Kassab

"They have seen death, not just in their families but within themselves as well," a Libyan doctor tells NPR. "Their souls are crushed, their hope is lost. How can you come back from such a thing?"

Newspapers with a cover picture of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by Iran's morality police, are seen in Tehran, Sept. 18, 2022.

World News

In Iran, women's resistance defies state clampdown a year after Mahsa Amini's death

5:18am September 15, 2023

by Arezou Rezvani

The death of a young woman in Iranian morality police custody sparked months of protests and a violent crackdown by the government. A year later, a more subdued defiance endures.

World News

A farmer mediates the exchange of soldiers' remains between warring sides in Yemen

4:59pm September 14, 2023

by Fatma Tanis

A man becomes a mediator between two warring sides in Yemen's civil war. He helps exchange bodies of fallen soldiers.

A baby is being treated for malnutrition in the neonatal department at Al-Sadaqa hospital in Aden, Yemen. The unit is filled with newborns born with complications due to malnutrition. Doctors say they do not have enough equipment or beds treat the number of babies.

There's a glimmer of hope on Yemen's war front. Yet children are still dying of hunger

2:53pm September 14, 2023

by Fatma Tanis

In a hospital in the frontline city of Taiz, a woman tries to revive her malnourished baby with protein paste. The war-torn country is suffering through one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Bahrain human rights activist Maryam al-Khawaja flashes the V-sign for "Victory" after she was released from detention on September 18, 2014, in the city of Muharraq, north of capital Manama.

The family of a jailed Bahrain activist says he has resumed a hunger strike

12:16pm September 14, 2023

by Leila Fadel

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Maryam al-Khawaja, who like her father, is a Bahraini human rights activist. He was put in prison 12 years ago for his role in pro-democracy protests. Where do things stand?

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30 years after Oslo Accords, peace is far away for Israelis and Palestinians

4:37pm September 13, 2023

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Aaron David Miller about the Oslo Peace agreement and what has happened since that historic handshake and signing ceremony.

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A combination image of satellite photos shows an area before and after a powerful storm and floods hit the country, in Derna, Libya, on Sept. 2 (top) and Sept. 12.

World News

More than 5,000 have been found dead after Libya floods

2:33pm September 13, 2023

by Ruth Sherlock

In the coastal city of Derna, dams broke, sending a torrent of water that submerged whole neighborhoods. Rescue efforts are complicated by the fact that Libya is divided between rival governments.

White House defends plan to swap money and prisoners for Americans held in Iran

5:12am September 13, 2023

by Michele Kelemen

The Biden administration's deal with Iran would also give Tehran access to $6 billion of its own oil revenue. Some in Congress warn that this will just encourage more Iranian hostage taking.

People check an area damaged by flash floods in Derna, eastern Libya, on Monday.

World News

Libya fears a spiraling death toll from powerful storm floods

6:18pm September 12, 2023

At least hundreds of people have died and thousands are feared missing in eastern Libya after Storm Daniel swept in, destroying dams and unleashing a torrent of muddy water that carried homes away.

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