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Report Estimates 30 Million People In Slavery Worldwide

5:35pm October 18, 2013

Audie Cornish talks to Kevin Bales, a professor of contemporary slavery at the University of Hull and lead author of the 2013 Global Slavery Index. The first-time report by the Walk Free Foundation estimates that there are nearly 30 million people in slavery across the globe.

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, in New York City.

Wilted Reputations Left By Shutdown And Default Threat

5:35pm October 18, 2013

by John Ydstie

There was a sense of relief Thursday as the U.S. government went back to work and once again skipped past default. But around the world, many investors wonder whether the U.S. is going to be in fiscal crisis mode for some time to come, and how the country's currency and creditworthiness will be viewed by others.

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Nigerian Civilians Caught In Crackdown On Islamists

12:23pm October 18, 2013

by Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

Amnesty International says more than 950 people have died in military detention in Nigeria, as the government fights an Islamist insurgency. Civilians are increasingly becoming targets of the Islamists — and many local people say they are more frightened of government soldiers than the insurgents.

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Secretary of State John Kerry flies over Afghanistan on Oct. 11. He met with President Hamid Karzai to work out an agreement on U.S. presence in the country.

Kerry Says He Hopes Syria's Chemical Weapons Are Shipped Out Of Region

2:11pm October 17, 2013

by Dana Farrington

Weapons inspectors are still in Syria assessing the country's stockpile and how to destroy it. It's unclear where the weapons would go if they were sent abroad, but there are signs that such a move is under consideration.

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Experts Debate How Best To Remove Syria's Chemical Weapons

10:23am October 17, 2013

by Michele Kelemen

Secretary of State John Kerry says he's hoping Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles can be consolidated quickly and shipped out of the country. Experts say it is possible, but risky. International chemical weapons experts are still mapping out Syria's stockpiles to see what can be moved.

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Workers stand inside the gold mine in Greenland's Nulanaq mountain in 2009. The Danish territory's underground wealth was at the forefront of elections in March. Now, Greenland faces another dilemma: whether to end a zero-tolerance policy on uranium extra

As Greenland Seeks Economic Development, Is Uranium The Way?

6:39pm October 16, 2013

by Sidsel Overgaard

The debate over lifting a ban on uranium extraction pits the Danish territory's lawmakers against environmentalists. It would be a controversial move and one with consequences for Greenland's economic development as well as its political status.

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No Deal, But Progress, As Iran Nuclear Talks Wrap Up

6:39pm October 16, 2013

by Peter Kenyon

Talks on Iran's suspect nuclear program wrapped up Wednesday. No breakthroughs came from the talks, but diplomats cite progress toward a solution of this long-running crisis.

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Moscow Suburb Riot Shows Russia's Tense Ties With Migrants

6:12pm October 15, 2013

by Corey Flintoff

Authorities in Moscow have rounded up more than 1,600 migrant workers after an ethnic riot took place over the weekend. Russian nationalists and soccer hooligans attacked a market area in a gritty industrial suburb of Moscow that's home to many migrant workers from the North Caucasus. The riot broke out after police announced that they were searching for a North Caucasian man suspected in the stabbing death of a young, ethnic Slav man. The situation highlights Russia's immigration problem — the country needs migrant labor, but fears what it perceives as foreign influence.

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Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inspects the Natanz nuclear plant in central Iran on March 8, 2007. The tall cylinders are centrifuges for enriching uranium.

Are Iran's Centrifuges Just Few Turns From A Nuclear Bomb?

6:19pm October 14, 2013

by Geoff Brumfiel

Talks about the country's nuclear program are set to begin in Geneva. Iran says it is making nuclear fuel for power plants, but some observers are suspicious of the country's motives.

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Can Iran, The West Overcome Distrust To Make A Nuclear Deal?

6:19pm October 14, 2013

by Peter Kenyon

Nuclear negotiators from six world powers and Iran head to Geneva for talks surrounded by more optimism than has been seen in years. Positive rhetoric from the new administration of President Hasan Rouhani has raised hopes that diplomacy may once again be ascendant instead of sanctions and threats of military action. Analysts say the trick will be getting the slow-moving negotiating process to respond before these expectations fade. Much will depend on the West's, and especially Washington's, willingness to consider leaving low-level uranium enrichment in Iran's hands, and on whether Congress can be persuaded to hold off on more punitive sanctions that could derail the diplomatic effort.

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