Middle East

Morning News Brief: Primaries, Taliban Attack And Turkey's Crisis

8:46am August 14, 2018

Four states hold primaries Tuesday ahead of November's midterms. Taliban fighters have attacked the Afghan city of Ghazni. As Turkey's economic troubles spread, a dispute with the U.S. plays a role.

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Fears Of Global Ripple Effects Grow As Turkey's Financial Problems Continue

11:49pm August 13, 2018

The Turkish Lira plummeted over the weekend, hitting a record low against the dollar. NPR's Audie Cornish speaks to economist Eswar Prasad about the fall and the larger effects on the global economy.

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World News

Taliban Launches Major Attack On Afghan City Of Ghazni, Leaving Civilians Trapped

5:44pm August 13, 2018

NPR's Mary-Louise Kelly speaks with BBC journalist Shoaib Sharifi about the fight to drive Taliban fighters out of the embattled city of Ghazni, Afghanistan.

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Correspondent Reflects On Nearly 17 Years Of War In Afghanistan In 'The Fighters'

5:44pm August 13, 2018

Pulitzer Prize-winning author C.J. Chivers speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about his new book, The Fighters: Americans in Combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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President Trump speaks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a tour of the new NATO headquarters last month in Brussels, Belgium. Despite their alliance, the U.S. and Turkey have experienced escalating friction in recent weeks.

What's The Deal With The Deepening Dispute Between U.S. And Turkey?

5:28pm August 13, 2018

With the tariffs, sanctions and insults, these longtime allies are looking like anything but. As the Turkish lira falls, you may wonder what's going on here — and why it matters. We have answers.

People look at cars at a Tesla showroom in New York City. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, reportedly under scrutiny by federal regulators for earlier statements, says Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund is looking to diversify away from oil with a bigger investment

World News

Elon Musk Says Saudi Investment Fund Could Help Him Take Tesla Private

5:06pm August 13, 2018

by Avie Schneider

The Tesla CEO, reportedly under scrutiny by federal regulators for earlier statements, says the Saudi fund is looking to diversify away from oil with a bigger investment in the electric car company.

Syrian lawyer Anwar al-Bunni, who survived torture in Syrian regime jail cells, is pictured in Berlin on March 1, 2017. He is among other Syrian torture survivors, lawyers and human rights groups who have filed criminal complaints in Germany alleging crim

World News

With Syria's War Nearly Over, Victims Take The Battle To European Courts

2:16pm August 13, 2018

by Deborah Amos

Syria's President Bashar Assad is on the verge of winning the war. But refugee activists are waging new battles against the regime from Europe.

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World News

More Than A Dozen Are Killed In Arms Depot Blast In Syria

12:18pm August 13, 2018

by Ruth Sherlock

There's been a deadly explosion at an arms depot in the rebel-held Syrian town of Idlib. At least 12 children are reported among the dead. Dozens of people are missing.

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Trump Tariffs Strain Relations Between U.S. And Turkey

12:18pm August 13, 2018

Noel King talks to Elmira Bayrasli — who served in the State Department during the Clinton administration, and now teaches international affairs at Bard College — about the tariffs.

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World News

'Frontline' Series With Thomas Erdbrink: 'Our Man In Tehran'

6:29am August 13, 2018

David Greene talks to Thomas Erdbrink of The New York Times about the series he produced for Frontline documenting life inside Iran which airs Monday and Tuesday night on PBS.

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