Middle East

World News

Pressures Of Migrant Crisis Weigh Heavy On Germany

6:56am February 29, 2016

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Germany is straining to cope with the large number of asylum-seekers and is encouraging some of them to return home. Germany's Parliament has also passed new laws making deportation easier.

World News

Iran Preliminary Results: Moderates Doing Well Over Hard-Liners

6:35am February 29, 2016

Steve Inskeep talks to Thomas Erdbrink, Teharan correspondent for The New York Times, about what the results in Iran's elections signify, and what it could mean for its relationship with the West.

World News

Shaky Cease-Fire Holds In Syria, For Now

7:57pm February 28, 2016

The U.S. and Russia have brokered a partial truce in the fighting in Syria. NPR's Alice Fordham has an update on its prospects and how it's affecting people on the ground.

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Two pictures show the minaret (top) of Aleppo's ancient Umayyad mosque, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on April 16, 2013, and the rubble (bottom) after it was blown up on April 24, 2013.

World News

Some Take Massive Risks To Save Syria's Cultural Heritage

6:48pm February 28, 2016

by NPR Staff

Reporter James Harkin traveled through war-torn Syria to witness how many historical treasures were destroyed - and how some people are scrambling to save what's left.

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An Iranian man and woman check the names of candidates before voting at a polling station in the holy city of Qom, about 80 miles south of the capital Tehran, on Friday. Long lines formed and voting was extended as Iranians cast ballots in an election tes

World News

Partial Results Show Iranian Moderates Poised For Big Wins In Tehran

9:14am February 28, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

Votes counted so far suggest all 30 parliamentary seats from the capital will go to reformists — a blow to Iran's hard-liners. The final results from Friday's elections are expected Monday.

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter in his office at the Pentagon.

In Fight Against ISIS, U.S. Adds Cyber Tools

7:57am February 28, 2016

Rachel Martin asks U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter about the civil war in Syria and the fight against ISIS.

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World News

Despite Syrian Cease Fire, Conditions Still Not Safe To Deliver Aid

7:41am February 28, 2016

Rachel Martin speaks with Christy Delafield of Mercy Corps about the struggle to get humanitarian aid into Syria, even during the current pause in fighting.

Syrians drive past government billboards in the capital of Damascus on Saturday, as a partial cease-fire — the first major truce of the five-year war — takes hold. Guns fell silent at midnight in suburbs around the capital and the bomb-scarred norther

World News

During First Day Of Syrian Truce, 'Cessation Of Hostilities' Mostly Honored

1:53pm February 27, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

The truce, which falls short of a cease-fire, appears to have been observed by most parties. But the Islamic State, not included in the agreement, launched a new attack in northern Syria.

Syrian refugees hang out at the Elbeyli Refugee Camp in southern Turkey, near the border with Syria. Turkey has absorbed 2.6 million Syrian refugees in recent years, but has recently closed its borders despite tens of thousands of Syrians who are trying t

World News

The Syrians Keep Fleeing, But Now They Hit Turkey's Closed Border

9:24am February 27, 2016

by Alice Fordham

Recent fighting in northern Syria has been pushing more and more civilians to seek shelter elsewhere. But neighboring Turkey, already burdened with 2.6 million refugees, has locked down its border.

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World News

Boko Haram Abductees Face Tough Return

7:54am February 27, 2016

Nigerian women and girls, forced into marriages with Boko Haram fighters, are being rejected upon returning home. Rachel Harvey of UNICEF talks about the stigma they face.