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Israel's E1 Project Could Disrupt Travel For Palestinians In West Bank

9:19am March 24, 2013

by Sheera Frenkel

Plans by the Israeli government to build in E1 have been decried by Palestinian officials who claim that building a new settlement between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim would, "effectively cut the West Bank in two." Israeli officials have accused the Palestinians of exaggerating E1's importance, and pro-Israel groups have argued that alternative roads will still run through the area, connecting the northern and southern halves of the West Bank. A trip between Bethlehem and Ramallah that 10 years ago would take 15-20 minutes, will take upwards of 2.5 hours on the new roads.

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World News

The Art Of Negotiating Intractable Conflicts

9:18am March 24, 2013

The tensions between Israelis and Palestinians are one of many long-standing conflicts often described as intractable. Conflict negotiation experts employ various strategies to tackle big problems, ranging from divorce and property management to ethnic, religious and international conflict.

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Anti-riot police face off with protesters in Saudi Arabia's eastern city of Qatif on March 11, 2011. Despite bans on the demonstrations, Shiite Muslims in the eastern part of the country have continued to stage protests, demanding political changes.

World News

In Saudi Arabia, Shiite Muslims Challenge Ban On Protests

4:27pm March 23, 2013

by Reese Erlich

When demonstrators began rising up against Arab governments in 2011, Saudi authorities responded with large spending projects and with tough actions against protesters. However, the Shiite minority in eastern Saudi Arabia persists with regular demonstrations.

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Customers at an Internet and multimedia services store in Yangon, Myanmar. The country is working to expand and improve Internet and mobile phone networks nationwide.

World News

Google's Eric Schmidt Heads To Another Isolated Asian Nation

10:55am March 22, 2013

by Jackie Northam

Schmidt, who recently traveled to North Korea, will be the first senior executive of a major U.S. tech firm to visit Myanmar since it began political and economic reforms. Myanmar plans to vastly expand its telecom infrastructure. But sanctions remain against members of the military, many of whom hold positions in the telecom sector.

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World News

'Tiny Fraction' Took Advantage During Iraq's Reconstruction

10:55am March 22, 2013

This week, Morning Edition has been marking the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Steve Inskeep talks to Inspector General Stuart Bowen about his audit report on U.S. spending and waste in the reconstruction of Iraq.

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Nigeria's Outspoken Writer Chinua Achebe Dies At 82

10:55am March 22, 2013

Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, who played a critical role in establishing post-colonial African literature, has died. The author of Things Fall Apart was 82.

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Residents visit the tomb of a loved one at the New Kerbala cemetery in the holy city of Kerbala, Iraq, in 2007.

World News

Face To Face With Death In Iraq

6:21pm March 21, 2013

Um Abbas has spent decades performing the Muslim ritual of washing the bodies of the dead to prepare them for burial. The war years in Iraq were terrible, she says, but in some ways, confronting death every day helped her cope with the country's trauma.

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Ali Hamdani was a doctor in Iraq before becoming a translator for NPR. He now lives in North Carolina.

'We Survived Iraq': An Iraqi Makes A New Home In North Carolina

7:51pm March 19, 2013

by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

Ali Hamdani worked for NPR in Iraq and narrowly survived a 2008 car bomb attack. He's among a relatively small number of Iraqis who have been allowed to resettle in the U.S., and he considers himself lucky.

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Veterans Face Red Tape Accessing Disability, Other Benefits

5:05pm March 19, 2013

On the 10-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, journalist Aaron Glantz talks about the challenges American service members face in accessing disability and other benefits. Glantz says there is a backlog of 900,000 claims and that the average waiting period is 273 days.

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The Ripple Effects Of Cyprus' Financial Crisis

2:42pm March 19, 2013

Cyprus lawmakers rejected a $13 billion bailout package that included controversial taxes on bank deposits. The proposed tax would have helped to pay for the bailout of crumbling banks. NPR's Marilyn Geewax explains how the events in Cyprus could affect the global economy and what may happen next.

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