World News

It's OK To Protest In China, Just Don't March

1:12pm September 09, 2013

by Shankar Vedantam

China runs the largest censorship machine in human history, researchers say. But Harvard studies of Internet postings in China suggest that even vitriolic criticisms of leaders and state policies are not what officials want to censor.

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Afghan soldiers and contractors are taught about the workings of a diesel-powered electrical generator at Forward Operating Base Nolay in Helmand province.

World News

How To Build An Afghan Army, In A Million Difficult Steps

12:57pm September 09, 2013

by Sean Carberry

As the deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan approaches, Afghans have taken over the lead combat role in places like restive Helmand province. But U.S. forces are still engaged in major training efforts to make sure the Afghan-led security is sustainable.

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At the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, many families struggle to get clean water, food and health services.

Humanitarian Aid Agencies Brace For Fallout From Syrian Strikes

11:04am September 09, 2013

by Jason Beaubien

Millions of Syrians have poured into refugee camps, where food, water and health services are scarce. As the U.S. prepares for possible military action, aid agencies are preparing for thousands more people to flee and worsen the humanitarian crisis.

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Rep. Cole Weighs In On Syria Resolution

7:25am September 09, 2013

The White House is pursuing a major effort to persuade members of Congress to support a military strike in Syria. Estimates show the number of House members publicly against a strike near an outright majority. Renee Montagne talks to Republican Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma who is opposed to military action.

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World News

Concert Stirs Strife In Disputed Kashmir Region

7:25am September 09, 2013

by Julie McCarthy

The German government sponsored the concert and chose as the venue Srinagar, Kashmir. That's the disputed territory in the Himalayas over which India and Pakistan have twice gone to war. Indian-controlled Kashmir has been torn by internal conflict as well for two decades as separatists fought to expel Indian forces.

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Farmers ride in their tractor in the drought-hit region of Hasaka in northeastern Syria on June 17, 2010.

World News

How Could A Drought Spark A Civil War?

6:32pm September 08, 2013

by NPR Staff

There are many ways to look at civil war: ethnic factions, economic divides and religions differences. But increasingly, some say we should also look at climate change as a factor as well, as it is often what forces internal migrations in nations already simmering with ethnic and sectarian tensions.

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Members of S. A. Andrée's 1897 journey survey their downed vessel. This photo was recovered from a camera when their remains were found 33 years later.

From The Fall Of Failure, Success Can Take Flight

6:26pm September 08, 2013

by NPR Staff

Risking and embracing failure is part of the job for explorers and adventurers like aeronaut Salomon August Andrée. His fatal attempt at reaching the North Pole motivated others to push their own limits. The September issue of National Geographic investigates "famous failures" and why they mattered.

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In early August, Israel launched a mass campaign to vaccinate children against polio, including this little girl at a clinic in Rahat.

To Keep Polio At Bay, Israel Revaccinates A Million Kids

10:10am September 08, 2013

by Jason Beaubien

After being free of polio for decades, Israel has detected the virus in sewers across the country. No children have become ill. But health officials are worried that polio has regained a foothold in Israel.

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President Obama holds a press conference in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday on the sideline of the G-20 summit.

Syria Puts Obama's Multilateralist Philosophy To The Test

1:11am September 08, 2013

by Ari Shapiro

Multilateralism has been the foundation of the president's foreign policy, and not just on issues of war and peace. At the G-20 summit in Russia this week, he used familiar words when urging military action in Syria. So far, few allies are onboard.

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Leo del Aguila (from left), Vesa Gashi, Scott Simon, Erblin Mehmetaj and Shawn Fox in 1999 in a housing complex in Pristina. Del Aguila, Simon and Fox were covering the Kosovo conflict for NPR; the children lived in the war-stricken area.

World News

When Weighing Intervention In Syria, Consider The Children

1:01pm September 07, 2013

by Scott Simon

This week, NPR's Scott Simon ran into a young man he knew years ago while covering the war in Kosovo. His friend was just a child during that conflict, and their chance reunion prompted Simon to wonder anew about children trapped in conflict zones and the unknowable consequences of military intervention in Syria.

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