World News

Passersby watch share prices spike in Tokyo on April 4, the day Japan's central bank announced a massive purchase of government bonds. The bank hopes the scale of the effort will boost Japan's slow-moving economy.

Japan's Big Stimulus Move Shocks Globe's Market Watchers

5:49pm April 11, 2013

by John Ydstie

Few expected the Bank of Japan's program to buy up government bonds to dwarf the Federal Reserve's similar effort in the U.S. Japan's stock market has soared and the yen's value tumbled. Thus far, the move is boosting exports, but is also making Asian competitors nervous.

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What's At Stake In Elections In Venezuela And Pakistan

2:16pm April 11, 2013

Presidential elections are on the horizon for Venezuela and Pakistan, and with them could come big changes. Venezuelans vote Sunday, their second time at the polls in the last year, and Pakistan's general election will be held on May 11.

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Venezuela's Next Leader Faces Tough Choice On Oil Program

10:59am April 11, 2013

by Tom Gjelten

During his presidency, Hugo Chavez gave Venezuelan consumers cheap gasoline. He propped up the Cuban regime, and he offered oil on preferential terms to 18 regional countries. But Chavez died before he had to confront the economic and political problems certain to plague his successor.

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Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles waves to supporters during a campaign rally in Valencia, Venezuela, on Tuesday. The country's voters go to the polls this weekend to choose a successor to longtime leader Hugo Chavez, who died

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Venezuelan Candidates Campaign In Chavez's Long Shadow

8:16pm April 10, 2013

by Juan Forero

Hugo Chavez won't be on the ballot in Sunday's presidential election, but in many ways he's still the dominant figure. Chavez's hand-picked successor is favored over the opposition candidate, leading by double digits in some polls.

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'The Way Of The Knife': Soldiers, Spies And Shadow Wars

2:10pm April 10, 2013

The CIA has morphed from a traditional espionage service concerned with stealing the secrets of foreign governments into an organization consumed with hunting down its enemies. New York Times journalist Mark Mazzetti chronicles this transformation in a new book, The Way of the Knife.

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Hugo Chavez, shown here in February 2012, was the president of Venezuela for over a decade. His career is the subject of a new book by Rory Carrolll.

'Comandante' Chavez Still Revered By Some, Despite Failings

9:42am April 10, 2013

by NPR Staff

As a journalist with Britain's The Guardian newspaper, Rory Carroll spent seven years living in Venezuela. His new book on Venezuela's recently deceased president explores Hugo Chavez's popularity with the poor and critiques his failures in governance and management.

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Hugo Chavez's Legacy Looms Over Venezuelan Election

7:20am April 10, 2013

Morning Edition is in Venezuela ahead of Sunday's vote to elect a successor to the late President Hugo Chavez. Interim President Nicolas Maduro is running as Chavez's heir apparent. The opposition candidate is Henrique Capriles.

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Razan Shalab Al-Sham, in bright blue, works for the Syrian Emergency Task Force. She helped provide uniforms for the new civil police force of Khirbet al-Joz in northern Syria.

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'It's Not Normal': Syrian War Transforms Lives

8:59pm April 09, 2013

by Deborah Amos

The war in Syria has torn families apart and driven millions out of the country, but it has also transformed some Syrians as they take on roles they never imagined. A 26-year-old woman from Homs has put her dream of teaching English literature on hold as she works with the opposition.

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Carrying on as usual: Shoppers in central Seoul on Monday.

World News

A View From South Korea: The North Is 'A Playground Bully'

7:34pm April 09, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

"It's like a joke," one retiree in Seoul says of the North's daily provocations. His view is shared by many South Koreans, who believe leaders in the North are trying to extort more aid from other nations and are trying to bolster their own positions.

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Director Nidal Hassan spent a year filming in Tartous, a Syrian beach town made up mostly of Alawites who still support embattled President Bashar Assad.

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A Close-Up Of Syria's Alawites, Loyalists Of A Troubled Regime

9:59pm April 08, 2013

by Kelly McEvers

A director spent a year filming the Alawite community in the Syrian coastal city of Tartous, where many believe President Bashar Assad is the only man who can save them from the mostly Sunni Muslims leading the country's rebellion.

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