Middle East

U.S. Diplomats Defend U.S. Policy In Syria Before Congressional Panel

4:19pm November 04, 2015

by Michele Kelemen

Two top State Department officials visit Capitol Hill Wednesday to explain how the US is countering Russia's military campaign in Syria. Some analysts say the U.S. is waiting for Russia to fail.

Jacob LaLoush poses beside bougainvillea flowers outside his kosher restaurant in Sidi Bou Said, outside Tunis, in 2012. He says his is the only kosher restaurant left in all of Tunis.

Amid Security Threats, Tunis' Only Kosher Restaurant Shutters

12:57pm November 04, 2015

by Steve Inskeep

NPR first visited Jacob LaLoush's restaurant, a vestige of Tunisia's ancient and once-thriving Jewish community, in 2012. But the country has become more restive in the years since the Arab Spring.

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World News

Tunisia Fact Check: Clarifying Some Points

7:03am November 04, 2015

by Eleanor Beardsley

Tunisia is touted as the great success story of the Arab Spring. How democratic does Tunisia really look these days?

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World News

During U.S. Visit, Netanyahu Expected To Request Larger Aid Package

6:48am November 04, 2015

When Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu comes to Washington next week, he is expected to negotiate a large strategic defense package. Steve Inskeep talks to former Middle East envoy Dennis Ross.

World News

Tunisia's Democratic Transition Benefits The World, Party Leader Says

5:09am November 04, 2015

Tunisia is often considered democracy's success story in the Middle East. David Greene talks to Rached Ghannouchi, co-founder of the Ennahda Movement in Tunisia, which is based on non-violent Islam.

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (left), and Palestinian leader leader Yasser Arafat reach an interim agreement as President Clinton looks on at the White house on Sept. 28, 1995. Rabin was killed by an extremist Jew five weeks later.

World News

20 Years Later, The Question Lingers: What If Yitzhak Rabin Had Lived?

6:54pm November 03, 2015

by Robert Siegel

Rabin was killed by a Jewish extremist on Nov. 4, 1995. NPR's Robert Siegel asks how Israeli-Palestinian conflict might have played out differently if he had survived.

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World News

German Leader's Open-Door Policy For Refugees Threatens Her Political Future

6:19pm November 03, 2015

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is finding herself increasingly at odds with her supposed political allies over her open-door policy for refugees.

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Tropical Cyclone Chapala Batters War-Torn Yemen's Southern Coast

5:40pm November 03, 2015

Thousands flee war-torn Yemen as tropical cyclone Chapala batters its southern coast. NPR's Kelly McEvers talks with journalist Iona Craig for the latest on the storm.

World News

Investigators Probe Crash Of Russian Airliner In Egypt's Sinai Peninsula

2:58pm November 03, 2015

by David Schaper

As speculation continues about what caused a Russian airliner to crash over the weekend, airline investigators and industry analysts say such investigations are meticulous and painstakingly slow.

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A satellite image showing Tropical Cyclone Chapala after it made landfall in Yemen.

World News

Tropical Cyclone Chapala Batters Yemen, Dumps Years' Worth Of Rain

12:07pm November 03, 2015

by Eyder Peralta

Yemen is used to getting about 4 inches of rain per year. Chapala has dumped more than twice that in a day. Parts of the arid, war-torn country are now flooded.