World News

Afghan and U.S. officials attend the closing ceremony for the Paktia provincial reconstruction team on April 9 in eastern Afghanistan. NATO created more than 20 teams to help the Afghans rebuild. But now the U.S. teams are winding down their activities.

World News

U.S. Hands Over Nation-Building Projects To Afghans

4:24am May 16, 2013

by Sean Carberry

U.S. reconstruction teams have spent a decade building roads, bridges and other pieces of infrastructure that are badly needed in Afghanistan. But now the international effort is winding down, and it's not clear how much the Afghans will be able to do on their own.

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A black dehorned rhinoceros is followed by a calf at the Bona Bona Game Reserve in 2012. South Africa has seen a devastating increase in poaching in recent years as black-market demand for rhino horn has grown.

World News

Can Economics Save The African Rhino?

10:52pm May 15, 2013

by Gregory Warner

Poachers kill rhinos for their horns. Some economists think legalizing the horns could save the rhinos.

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World News

Syrian Minister: Removal Of Assad Means Destruction Of Syria

7:39pm May 15, 2013

Melissa Block talks with Syria's Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Faisal Mekdad, about the upcoming international conference on Syria in Geneva and about the Syrian government's view of the civil war. Mekdad says the government of President Bashar al-Assad believes a peaceful settlement is necessary to solve the conflict in Syria. However, Mekdad says the replacement of President Assad "means destruction of Syria, means no international conference, and means support of terrorism." Mekdad says Syria will not participate in the conference with any preconditions.

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White House Addresses Benghazi Emails, IRS Audits

7:39pm May 15, 2013

The White House has released 100 pages of internal emails related to the development of talking points after the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, last year. President Barack Obama also addressed the controversy surrounding the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups. Audie Cornish talks to Scott Horsley.

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The Legacy Of Gen. Ridgway And America's War In Korea

12:07pm May 15, 2013

The ongoing conflict on the Korean Peninsula is the legacy of the Korean War, which helps explain relations between the north and south. In a new book, historian Victor Davis Hanson discusses how the strategies of U.S. Gen. Matthew Ridgway helped to turn around what appeared to be "a lost war."

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Mike Watson (left), CEO of Kenya's Lewa Conservancy, and conservationist Ian Craig identify the carcass of a 4-year-old black rhino named Arthur, whom poachers had killed the night before. The well-armed, well-informed poachers very likely used night visi

The Enemy Inside: Rhino's Protectors Sometimes Aid Poachers

8:19pm May 14, 2013

by Gregory Warner

The defenders of Africa's rhinos are battling a well-financed and well-informed enemy. Poachers clear $40,000 or more for a single rhino horn. They have cash for the latest weaponry and to pay for inside information from some of the very people whose job it is to protect the rhinos.

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Abimael Martinez, who was deported from Riverside, Calif., sits next to the hole he dug to live in beneath the banks of Tijuana's fetid river canal.

World News

Living On The Border, Driven — Literally — Underground

7:15pm May 14, 2013

by Amy Isackson

After living underground in the United States — figuratively speaking — some undocumented immigrants deported to the Mexican border city of Tijuana have been driven — quite literally — underground. They're living in holes along Tijuana's fetid sewage canal for protection against police.

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Former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (center) waves as he registers his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran, May 11. Rafsanjani has been isolated since massive street protests in 2009 after

World News

A Sign Of Disunity? Iranian Candidates Jockey For Position

7:15pm May 14, 2013

by Peter Kenyon

The country is gearing up for a presidential election next month, and the lack of a clear front-runner, analysts say, is a sign the political elite isn't united behind a single candidate. The late entrance of a former president, in particular, will likely alter the shape of the race.

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The wife of Li Yiqian, Yang Liming, sits in their house, which is plastered with pictures of China's leaders, an attempt to help prevent local authorities from demolishing it. Her husband has been sentenced to three years in prison for organizing a crowd

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Five Years After A Quake, Chinese Cite Shoddy Reconstruction

5:42pm May 14, 2013

by Louisa Lim

A massive 2008 temblor in Sichuan province killed some 90,000 Chinese and pointed to the poor construction practices in China. The rebuilding effort was supposed to showcase modern China. But today, many survivors are angry over what they say is official corruption, ranging from poor construction and unpaid workers to bribes and improper compensation for seized land.

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A Vietnamese rhino horn user displays her horn, which was a gift from her well-to-do sister. Last year, rhino horn sold for up to $1,400 an ounce in Vietnam, about the price of gold these days.

Vietnam's Appetite For Rhino Horn Drives Poaching In Africa

5:42pm May 14, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

Demand for rhino horn, used in traditional Chinese medicine, is fueling a slaughter of the animals in Africa. In Vietnam, the sought-after commodity is fetching prices as high as $1,400 an ounce, or about the price of gold. There, some believe ground horn can cure everything from hangovers to cancer.

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