Middle East

World News

Turkish-Led Forces Oust Kurdish Fighters In Afrin, Syria

11:07am March 19, 2018

by Peter Kenyon

The government in Turkey says Turkish forces have taken over the city center of Afrin in northern Syria. An advocacy group says nearly 200,000 people have been displaced by the righting.

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World News

Saudi Prince Will Court Trump In Visit — And Tech Execs And Hollywood, Too

8:56am March 19, 2018

Mohammed bin Salman is coming to the U.S. this week. His ongoing PR campaign seeks to diversify Saudi Arabia's economy and reset its image abroad, but some of his actions have undermined that goal.

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World News

Why Yemen's Nearly 3-Year-Old Civil War Remains Mostly Out Of Headlines

6:28am March 19, 2018

Yemen has been in a war that is being fought, in large part, by regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran. Steve Inskeep travels to the frontlines to meet with fighters and displaced civilians.

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Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army soldiers celebrate around a statue of Kawa, a mythology figure in Kurdish culture as they prepare to destroy it in city center of Afrin, northwestern Syria, early Sunday.

Turkish Forces Seize Syrian City of Afrin

11:58am March 18, 2018

by Shannon Van Sant

The Turkish military has taken control of Afrin, a city in northwestern Syria. An advocacy group says nearly 200,000 people have been displaced by the fighting.

Saudi Prince May Have Trouble Finding U.S. Investors After Anti-Corruption Campaign

4:58pm March 16, 2018

by Jackie Northam

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince begins a tour of the U.S. next week to try and drum up foreign investment. That may be a hard sell after 200 princes and wealthy businessmen were detained at a luxury hotel in Riyadh for three months as part of the prince's anti-corruption campaign.

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Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters shown during Exercise Angel Thunder, in Arizona's Sonoran Desert, in 2010. A Pave Hawk crashed in Iraq on Thursday, killing seven people.

U.S. Military Helicopter Crashes In Iraq, Killing 7 People

7:57am March 16, 2018

There are no survivors from the crash of the HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter. U.S. military officials say the aircraft went down after hitting a power line in western Anbar province.

An elderly Syrian man searches for safe shelter Wednesday in the rebel-held town of Hamouria, in eastern Ghouta. The Syrian government bombarded the area before breaking through rebel lines Wednesday night. On Thursday, thousands of civilians fled the dis

World News

Syrian War Enters 8th Year, Trailing Smoke And Suffering In Its Wake

8:08pm March 15, 2018

by Colin Dwyer

Civilians outside Damascus and in Afrin marked the dark anniversary as they have all the others: by trying to survive.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a meeting in November 2017 in Riyadh. U.S. officials say he has hidden his mother.

World News

Saudi Crown Prince Is Hiding His Mother, U.S. Officials Say

5:05pm March 15, 2018

by Sasha Ingber

They say it shows his willingness to solidify his role as Saudi Arabia's next king. U.S. intelligence analysts reportedly think he believes his mother opposes his rise to the throne.

Caleb Stevens (fourth from left) in Raqqa, Syria, with other members of his unit. Stevens, a 23-year-old from Michigan, traveled to Syria to fight with the Kurdish People's Protection Units or YPG.

Dozens Of Westerners Join Kurds To Fight ISIS In Syria

3:47pm March 15, 2018

by Samantha Raphelson

While hundreds of Americans have tried to join ISIS, the Kurdish People's Protection Units, also known as YPG, have recruited people around the world to fight against the extremist group in Syria.

Defense Secretary Mattis Sends More Troops To Afghanistan With Hopes To End War

4:15pm March 14, 2018

by David Welna

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis is traveling in the Middle East after a two-day trip to Afghanistan. NPR's David Welna is traveling with Mattis and talks with NPR's Ari Shapiro about the Trump Administration's goals to end the war there.

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