Middle East

Jordanians marched in the streets of the capital Amman on Feb. 6 to show solidarity with the family of a pilot killed by the Islamic State in Syria. Jordanians also expressed support for the king's decision to take part in the U.S.-led coalition against I

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Jordan's King Balances Threats Abroad And Critics At Home

8:27am February 25, 2015

by Robert Siegel

Jordanians now support the military campaign against the self-declared Islamic State. But King Abdullah still faces domestic opponents, religious and secular, who chafe at restrictions at home.

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Kurdish Peshmerga fighters take positions on the outskirts of Mosul on Jan. 26. The U.S. military says an offensive to drive the Islamic State out of Mosul is expected around April or May.

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Iraqi Kurds: We're Ready To Fight For Mosul

7:27pm February 24, 2015

by Ari Shapiro

The Kurdish security chief says his Peshmerga fighters have gained ground against ISIS. But the big prize in northern Iraq is Mosul, and he says the Iraqi army will be needed for that battle.

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Saudi Arabia's Prince Turki al-Faisal, shown in 2013 in Bahrain, says the 'pinpricks' against the Islamic State have not been effective. The former intelligence chief also says the campaign needs to be better coordinated.

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Saudis Grow Increasingly Critical Of The Campaign Against ISIS

7:18pm February 24, 2015

by Deborah Amos

Prince Turki al-Faisal, the ex-Saudi intelligence chief, says the "pinprick" attacks against the Islamic State are not proving effective. He also says the campaign needs to be better coordinated.

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Story Of Missing Schoolgirls Captivates Britain

7:16pm February 24, 2015

by Ari Shapiro

Police in Turkey are looking for three British schoolgirls who are believed to have run away from home to join Islamist fighters in Iraq.

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Indonesian Authorities Worried About Return Of Islamic Radicals

7:16pm February 24, 2015

by Anthony Kuhn

Radicals from Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, have traveled to Syria to join ISIS. Some of them seek to establish a new Islamic state that would extend ISIS's caliphate.

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3 Missing Teenage Girls Now In Syria, British Police Say

5:13pm February 24, 2015

by Jackie Northam

The London teenagers boarded a flight to Istanbul on Feb. 17. Police believe the girls traveled to Syria hoping to join up with militants from the so-called Islamic State.

An artist's impression of the Qatar Foundation Stadium, one of the venues for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. A FIFA task force recommended today that soccer's showcase tournament be played from late November to the end of December.

FIFA Panel Backs Winter World Cup In Qatar In 2022

3:22pm February 24, 2015

by Krishnadev Calamur

Soccer's World Cup is typically played over the summer, but temperatures in Qatar during that season can exceed 110 degrees. A winter tournament would coincide with the European club season.

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ISIS Reportedly Abducts Dozens Of Christians In Syria

11:57am February 24, 2015

by Bill Chappell

The mass abduction took place in rural villages in a portion of Syria that's less than 150 miles west of Mosul, Iraq, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Ash Carter Says U.S. Is Considering A Slower Exit From Afghanistan

6:35pm February 23, 2015

The defense secretary said Saturday that the U.S. may slow its withdrawal from Afghanistan to make sure "progress sticks." NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Kate Clark of the Afghanistan Analyst Network.

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After An Education In American Jazz, A Musician Tackles The Turkish Songbook

4:52pm February 23, 2015

by Peter Kenyon

A Turkish jazz guitarist is converting Turkey's pop songs into popular jazz, the way American jazz musicians stylized tunes from the Great American Songbook.

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