World

Supporters hold up posters of Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a rally in Osaka on Thursday. Considered a nationalist hawk, Abe is expected to become prime minister for a second time after parliamentary elections Sunday.

World News

Nationalist Rhetoric High As Japanese Head To Polls

10:27am December 17, 2012

by Frank Langfitt

Sunday's parliamentary election is taking place against a backdrop of increasing nationalist feeling in Japan. Right-wing sentiment has been growing in the face of an ongoing conflict with China over a group of disputed islands and continued economic and political instability inside Japan.

Queue Listen Now

Fatima Jafari, owner of Bamboo Wood Industries, listens to a worker in her factory in Kabul, Afghanistan. Jafari is one of the few female entrepreneurs in an industrial trade in the country, despite international efforts to support women in business.

World News

Afghan Woman Carves Out An Entrepreneurial Niche

9:49am December 17, 2012

by Sean Carberry

Despite more than a decade of international efforts to support women in Afghanistan, female entrepreneurs remain relatively rare. But one Afghan woman is trying to show the men a thing or two about making high-quality furniture in Afghanistan.

Queue Listen Now

Argh, it's on the tip of my tongue! Contestants in the Names and Faces competition focus at last year's World Memory Championships held in Guangzhou, China. A new field of mental athletes is currently vying for the 2012 championship.

World News

Ready. Set. Memorize!

1:43pm December 16, 2012

by Vicki Barker

There's no place for chronic misplacers of keys at the 21st World Memory Championships under way in London. About 75 competitors from some two dozen countries are vying to see who can memorize the most numbers, faces, playing cards or random words in a set amount of time in this "mnemonic Olympiad."

Queue Listen Now

World News

Egyptians Vote On Contested Constitution Draft

7:04pm December 15, 2012

by Merrit Kennedy

In Egypt, voter turnout is high in the first phase of a controversial constitutional referendum. This comes after more than three weeks of mass protests for and against the document and President Mohammed Morsi, leaving Egypt deeply divided.

Queue Listen Now

World News

Young Gazans Brave Fear To Welcome Hamas Leader

9:14am December 14, 2012

by NPR Staff

In many countries, the very young have zero interest in politics. After decades of conflict, however, Gaza is an intensely political place and its young people were out in force to give Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal a hero's welcome — even though many are still suffering the effects of the recent eight-day missile offensive.

Queue Listen Now

Patriarch Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem (center), splashes holy water toward worshippers after the washing of the feet ceremony in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem in 2009, during Easter celebrations. A cr

Israel, Christians Negotiate The Price Of Holy Water

9:13am December 14, 2012

by Anthony Kuhn

High-level diplomacy helped avert a disaster last month, in a dispute over the unpaid water bill of one of Christendom's holiest sites. The water company that supplies the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem said it owed $2.3 million. Eventually, the bill was waived — but the church now promises to pay going forward.

Queue Listen Now

World News

Chemical Weapons And The Syrian Civil War

9:12am December 14, 2012

After intelligence officials reported activity at Syrian chemical weapons sites, the U.S. warned Syrian President Bashar Assad he'd face "consequences" if Syria uses such weapons. Many questions remain about what chemical weapons Syria has and how they could use them.

Queue Listen Now

What North Korea's Rocket Launch Tells Us About Iran's Role

9:03am December 14, 2012

by Tom Gjelten

U.S. officials wonder whether North Korea's successful rocket launch this week helped Iran — another country whose nuclear program concerns the U.S. The two countries have worked together in missile design, but it's unclear who's helping whom.

Queue Listen Now

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi (in dark blue) shoots on Cordoba's goalkeeper Mikel Saizar (left) during the Spanish Copa del Rey football match in Cordoba on Wednesday.

With 88 Goals, Lionel Messi Celebrates A Record Year

2:42am December 14, 2012

by Lauren Frayer

The Barcelona star has broken several records this year — and many say the 25-year-old still hasn't peaked.

Queue Listen Now

World News

Options For Intervention In Mali's Growing Crisis

2:13pm December 13, 2012

A military coup brought down Mali's prime minister in March, allowing radical Islamists from Mali and surrounding areas to take hold of an area the size of Texas. As al-Qaida-linked militants take over the northern part of the country, many wonder what the U.S. and other can do to intervene.

Queue Listen Now