World News

Christmas chocolate and sweets on display at a Christmas market at Piazza Navona on Dec. 20 in Rome.

World News

At Christmas, A Roman Holiday Revolves Around The Food

11:05am December 28, 2012

by Sylvia Poggioli

The Italian city isn't big on Christmas glitz and glamor. Instead, Rome saves its holiday shine for the dinner table. The Christmas day meal might start with lasagna before moving on to turkey or guinea hen. And it wouldn't be complete without plenty of sweets.

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French actor Gerard Depardieu speaks outside Paris in March. He recently said he was moving to neighboring Belgium to avoid France's new top tax rate of 75 percent. The news ignited a debate in France over taxes and patriotism.

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Gerard Depardieu's Tax Flight Stirs Fierce Debate In France

11:02pm December 27, 2012

by Eleanor Beardsley

The film actor is moving to neighboring Belgium to avoid a new 75 percent tax on the superwealthy. This has touched off a war of words with the prime minister, and the public seems deeply divided.

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The ILVA steel plant in Taranto, Italy, provides some 20,000 badly needed jobs in a country with a weak economy. But it also spews carcinogens. A court has ordered a partial shutdown, which the government has rejected.

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A Showdown In Italy Over A Polluting Steel Plant

9:40pm December 27, 2012

by Sylvia Poggioli

The city of Taranto is heavily dependent on a steel plant, the largest in Europe, which provides some 20,000 jobs. A court has ordered a partial shutdown because the factory spews carcinogens into the air, but the government has rejected the court's ruling, saying the economy needs the jobs.

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Schwarzkopf, Commander In Gulf War, Dies At 78

9:40pm December 27, 2012

Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the Desert Storm offensive that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait, has died. Audie Cornish talks with NPR's Tom Bowman about the much-decorated soldier.

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A hilltop view of the 18-foot fence along the U.S.-Mexico border west of Nogales, Ariz.

Is The Border Secure Enough To Tackle The Immigration System?

8:10pm December 26, 2012

by Ted Robbins

"Secure the borders first" has been the cry from Republicans in Congress before they'd agree to comprehensive immigration reform. That stance seems to be changing, as some experts say demanding border security first is backward.

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Maysam Selmo, 8, during her first week at Albashayer School for Syrian Refugee Children in Antakya, Turkey. She and her extended family fled their village in northwestern Syria and now live in a crowded apartment.

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Syria's War Leaves Its Scars On The Children

7:57pm December 26, 2012

by Deborah Amos

Many Syrian children have lost family members and are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Even those who have fled into neighboring Turkey have not been able to leave the trauma behind.

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Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo fields reporters' questions after meeting with residents of a Jakarta slum. Recent polls say Widodo is currently the most popular choice for Indonesia's president in 2014.

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Jakarta's New Governor Seen As A Rising Star

7:24pm December 26, 2012

by Anthony Kuhn

Most Indonesian leaders have been generals or bureaucrats who came to power by building patronage networks, not by providing services to citizens. But Jakarta's new governor, who has been in office only a few months, has already won widespread popular support.

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U.S. Military Builds Up Its Presence In Africa

7:22am December 26, 2012

by Tom Bowman

The U.S. military plans to send an Army brigade to Africa next year. Some 4,000 soldiers would deploy — in small units and at different times — to help train and advise African troops. It's part of an Obama administration plan to address the growing challenge posed by terrorism in Africa.

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Dig Finds Evidence Of Another Bethlehem

7:13am December 26, 2012

by Sheera Frenkel

Archaeologists are unearthing evidence that the city of Bethlehem, in the West Bank, celebrated as the birthplace of Jesus, may not have been the actual Bethlehem of his birth. They have discovered a Bethlehem that existed in the Galilee near Nazareth.

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In March 2011, at the beginning of the Syrian uprising, protester Ibrahim Abazid made a massive white flag out of a sugar sack. This picture of him waving the flag in his hometown of Dera'a became a hugely popular image. Now Abazid hopes to serve on a cit

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As Syrian War Grinds On, A Rebel Keeps Reinventing Himself

6:51pm December 24, 2012

by Kelly McEvers

Since the uprising began, Ibrahim Abazid has been a protester, a rebel fighter and an aid worker. Now he is looking to form a city council that could run his hometown in southern Syria.

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