Middle East

Phil Mickelson, seen at the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National in 2020, says he "used words I sincerely regret" in an interview about a Saudi-financed golf league.

Phil Mickelson apologizes for controversial comments about a Saudi-backed golf league

3:57pm February 23, 2022

by Becky Sullivan

The six-time major winner said he "used words I sincerely regret" in an interview about a Saudi-financed golf league in which he brushed aside human rights violations by the Saudi regime.

This photo shows two carved standing stones at a remote Neolithic site in Jordan's eastern desert. A team of Jordanian and French archaeologists said Tuesday that it had found a roughly 9,000-year-old shrine.

Archaeologists find a 9,000-year-old shrine in the desert in Jordan

9:35pm February 22, 2022

by The Associated Press

Researchers said the find "sheds an entire new light on the symbolism, artistic expression as well as spiritual culture of these hitherto unknown Neolithic populations."

Talks in Vienna aim to revive the deal that put limits on Iran's nuclear program

6:06am February 22, 2022

Negotiators from Iran, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and China are working in Vienna to restore the Iran nuclear agreement. Participants say they are closer than ever to reaching a deal.

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Mashael al-Shuwaihan, who sits on the board of Kuwait's Women's Cultural Society, speaks during an interview, at a protest outside Kuwait's National Assembly in Kuwait City on Feb. 7, 2022. Her placard reads: "Freedom and equality for women are constituti

World News

As Kuwait cracks down, a battle erupts over women's rights

2:30am February 21, 2022

by The Associated Press

Conservative politicians are increasingly pushing back against a burgeoning feminist movement and what they see as an unraveling of the country's traditional values.

Hussein Raad, a 22-year-old college student, gets his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine at Zayoona Mall in Baghdad.

Iraq has enough doses of COVID vaccine for everyone. But many Iraqis don't trust it

5:19pm February 20, 2022

by Jason Beaubien

The vaccination rate is only 17%. People are scared and skeptical for many reasons. Now government health workers are trying to up the numbers. One strategy: vaccination booths in the mall.

Iraq struggles to form government as country faces a series of challenges

5:07pm February 13, 2022

by Jason Beaubien

Four months after parliamentary elections Iraqi leaders are still struggling to form their leadership. Meanwhile Iraqis endure shortages and frustration.

National

After death of ISIS leader, U.S. expects Islamic State to try to replace him

7:18am February 04, 2022

NPR's Steve Inskeep and NPR's Rachel Martin talk to Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby about the death of the Islamic State leader after a U.S. raid in Syria, and concerns of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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The head of the Islamic State Militant Group is dead. Here's what that means for ISIS

5:44pm February 03, 2022

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute about what the U.S. strike in Syria Wednesday night means for the future of ISIS.

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In this image provided by the White House, President Biden and Vice President Harris and members of the president's national security team observe from the White House Situation Room on Wednesday the counterterrorism operation responsible for removing fro

Biden says ISIS leader is dead after U.S. operation

5:14pm February 03, 2022

by Peter Granitz

A senior administration official said that during the raid, Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi "detonated a blast ... killing himself and several others, including his wife and children."

People check a destroyed house after a U.S. military operation in the Syrian village of Atmeh, in Idlib province, on Thursday. U.S. special forces carried out what the Pentagon said was a successful, large-scale counterterrorism raid. Local residents and

What is known about the ISIS leader who died during a U.S. raid in Syria

12:31pm February 03, 2022

by The Associated Press

The leader of the Islamic State group who died during a U.S. raid overnight in northwest Syria was largely a mystery, with almost no known photos, never appearing in public or in the group's videos.