Middle East

Racial reckoning in the U.S. has sparked conversations about racism worldwide. African students at the American University of Beirut share their experience of dealing with discrimination in Lebanon.

Turkey held the first organized Muslim prayers Friday in the famed Hagia Sophia after the grand ancient building was converted from a museum into a mosque.

The Istanbul landmark has long been hailed as a symbol of the coexistence of Christianity and Islam, a cultural junction between East and West.

Prime Minister Omar Razzaz tells NPR Jordan is determined to protect the most vulnerable and "went for a very different model ... based on social solidarity." There have been just 11 COVID-19 deaths.

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Jordan's Prime Minister Omar Razzaz about the Israeli government's plan to annex the occupied West Bank.

Domestic workers in Lebanon regularly suffer mistreatment and racism. An Ethiopian woman shares her experience of domestic work at a time when Lebanon is enduring an economic crisis.

The United Arab Emirates successfully launched a Mars orbital probe known as Hope, or "Amal" in Arabic. It is expected to reach the red planet in February and will study the thin atmosphere of Mars.

A missile operator who didn't properly calibrate his radar system fired on the Ukrainian passenger plane without authorization, Iran says. All 176 people on board were killed on Jan. 8.

Israelis and Palestinians have scrambled to hold weddings amid the pandemic lockdown, but a spike in coronavirus infections is shutting them down.

Aid groups warn that civilians are in danger, as a humanitarian assistance program that funnels supplies to displaced Syrians in areas outside government control is whittled down yet again.

An incident last week at an Iranian nuclear facility appears to be sabotage. A look at the chief suspects and what the impact could be on Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The Syrian government, which faces the collapse of the country's economy, has started a public fight with President Bashar al-Assad's cousin, who is said to be the wealthiest businessman in Syria.