Middle East

World News

Egyptian Court Sentences 529 Morsi Supporters To Death

7:33am March 25, 2014

by Leila Fadel

An Egyptian criminal court on Monday sentenced them to death over the killing of a police officer. Human rights groups say the unprecedented verdict followed a sham trial that wrapped up in 2 days.

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The Russian ship Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great), seen here docked in the Cypriot port of Limassol in February, is part of the team involved in escorting shipments of Syria's chemical weapons material for destruction.

World News

Russia-U.S. Tensions Could Stall Syrian Chemical Weapons Removal

11:18am March 22, 2014

by Geoff Brumfiel

Under international agreement, the chemicals were to be destroyed aboard a U.S. ship escorted by Russian naval vessels. As the two nations square off over Crimea, that collaboration is over for now.

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Even Turkey's President Evades Its New Twitter Ban

6:22pm March 21, 2014

by Peter Kenyon

A Turkish court is trying to ban Twitter, setting off condemnation of the government's increasingly heavy hand and prompting Turks to find a workaround for the social media site.

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An informal Girl Scout group at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan sings: "We want to learn and rise up to fulfill our dreams."

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A Syrian Refugee Camp With Girl Scouts And A Safeway Store

8:57pm March 17, 2014

by Deborah Amos

Three years into Syria's civil war, a resigned stability and a sense of permanence are taking hold at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan.

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World News

Reflecting On 3-Year Syrian War: 'There But For The Grace Of God'

5:33pm March 15, 2014

Saturday is the three-year anniversary of the war in Syria. Nigel Timmins of Oxfam talks with NPR's Arun Rath about the humanitarian crisis there and the Syrian people he has met.

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World News

Two Words Complicate Push For Middle East Peace: 'Jewish State'

6:51pm March 11, 2014

Writer Ari Shavit and political scientist Shibley Telhami discuss the request to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. The matter has become a sticking point in the peace process with Palestinians.

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World News

Ukraine Crisis Weighs Heavy On Other Foreign Policy Issues

10:28am March 11, 2014

Is the rift with Russia over Ukraine impeding U.S. diplomatic efforts to end the war in Syria and curb Iran's nuclear ambitions? Renee Montagne talks to Aaron David Miller of the Wilson Center.

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Syria Falls Behind Destroying Its Chemical Weapons

8:04am March 04, 2014

Linda Wertheimer gets a progress report on Syria's disposal of chemical weapons from Amy Smithson, an expert at the Center for Non-Proliferation Studies.

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A vehicle inside the U.S. Consulate compound in Benghazi is engulfed in flames after an attack on Sept. 11, 2012. "There is no evidence whatsoever that al-Qaida or any group linked to al-Qaida played a role in organizing or leading the attack," says New Y

World News

In Benghazi, U.S. Intelligence Wasn't Focused On 'Homegrown Militants'

5:14pm February 26, 2014

New York Times correspondent David Kirkpatrick spent months on the ground in Benghazi, Libya, trying to get to the bottom of the deadly Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate.

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U.S. Response To Syria's Humanitarian Crisis Criticized

7:43am February 26, 2014

Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson describes the response to the Syrian crisis as "strategic despair." He and Michael Abramowitz of the Holocaust museum, tell Renee Montagne about what they saw.

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