Middle East

World News

Former Iranian President Rafsanjani Dies At 82

8:31am January 09, 2017

Steve Inskeep talks to Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace about what ex-President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's death means to the reformist movement he helped shape.

Queue Listen Now

World News

Attack In Jerusalem Leaves 4 Dead And At Least 15 Others Injured

6:00pm January 08, 2017

by Joanna Kakissis

In Jerusalem, four Israeli soldiers were killed and several others wounded when a truck drove into a group. Israeli officials say the driver, a Palestinian man, was shot shortly after the incident.

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, during a 2015 meeting with Germany's foreign minister in Tehran.

World News

Former Iranian President Rafsanjani, A Leading Voice For Reform, Dies At 82

3:07pm January 08, 2017

by Colin Dwyer

Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was a towering political figure in Iran for decades — from the 1979 revolution to current President Hassan Rouhani's surprise win in 2013. He was Iran's fourth president.

Queue Listen Now

World News

Jerusalem Truck Attack Kills At Least 4, Wounds 15

3:07pm January 08, 2017

A truck rammed into a group of Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem on Sunday. Israeli police have called it a terrorist attack. Freelance journalist Daniel Estrin gives us the latest on the attack.

Queue Listen Now

Iraqis inspect the scene of a Sunday car bomb attack at a Baghdad market.

World News

Baghdad Racked By A Spate Of Suicide Bombings In Shiite Areas

1:16pm January 08, 2017

by Colin Dwyer

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for one attack, and several other bombings followed across the city. The attacks continue an especially bloody week in the Iraqi capital.

Israeli security forces and emergency personnel gather at the site of a vehicle-ramming attack in Jerusalem on Sunday.

World News

At Least 4 People Killed, 15 Wounded In Jerusalem Vehicle Attack

11:18am January 08, 2017

by Colin Dwyer

Israeli police say a truck drove into a group of Israeli soldiers who had just left a bus. The officials say the driver has been "neutralized," and that they are treating it as an intentional attack.

A workman with the U.N. Development Programme to rehabilitate Homs fills a pothole at the beginning of reconstruction in a city that has seen very little so far.

World News

In Ancient Syrian City, Fighting Has Stopped But Rebuilding Is Scarce

10:00am January 08, 2017

by Alice Fordham

Homs was one of the places where the Syrian uprising began. The government has driven out its opponents in 2014, but much of the city remains in ruins, waiting to be rebuilt.

Where Faith Runs Deep, Cairo Suicide Bombing Sparks Fear During Orthodox Christmas

8:40am January 08, 2017

by Jane Arraf

After last month's bombing at a Cairo church, Orthodox Christians mark their Christmas under heightened security, and uncertainty over the future of the Middle East's largest Christian community.

An image grab taken from an AFPTV video released on Saturday shows people gathering amidst at the site of a car bomb attack in the rebel-held town of Azaz in northern Syria.

World News

Blast Hits Syrian Border Town, Killing At Least 43

9:24am January 07, 2017

by Colin Dwyer

A U.K.-based monitoring group says the explosion in rebel-held Azaz, on the border with Turkey, was caused by a fuel tanker rigged with a bomb. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

Russian says its Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier will leave Syria first.

World News

Russia Says It Is Starting To Draw Down Its Forces In Syria

12:12pm January 06, 2017

by Merrit Kennedy

Russia decisively entered the war in September 2015, and has been a major factor keeping Syrian President Bashar Assad in power. Its only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, will be first to go.