Middle East

World News

Egyptian Woman Goes From Protests To Pizza After Crackdown

4:31pm August 24, 2016

by Leila Fadel

An Egyptian activist who once took to the streets to help topple a dictator now works organizing rural women in small business and pizza making. The country is too dangerous for political activism.

World News

Turkey Launches Airstrikes, Artillery Fire In Cross-Border Incursion Into Syria

12:39pm August 24, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

Turkey's offensive is the largest military mission of its kind in the Syria conflict to date. It was intended to clear ISIS militants from territory along the border.

Syrian refugee Taher Hamada, 34, cares for his 4-month-old daughter, Tamara, at his apartment in Gaziantep, Turkey. His lack of documents makes it difficult, if not impossible, for him to travel, and could limit the opportunities for his daughter.

World News

Turkish Rules Leave Syrian Refugee Children In Limbo

11:44am August 24, 2016

by Carmen Gentile

Turkey has taken in 2.7 million Syrian refugees since 2011. But it's extremely difficult for refugees to build a new life, particularly for children who often can't get documented.

World News

Biden To Try To Smooth U.S. Relations With Turkey

7:03am August 24, 2016

Vice President Joe Biden is in Turkey for meetings with the country's president. It's the highest level U.S. visit to Turkey since a failed coup attempt there that led to a crisis in U.S. relations.

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Egyptian Prisons Blamed For Young Men Becoming Radicalized

5:27am August 24, 2016

by Leila Fadel

The unprecedented numbers of political prisoners in Egyptian jails could lead to a super-sized version of an old Egyptian problem: prisoners being radicalized behind bars.

'The Terror Years' Traces The Rise Of Al-Qaida And ISIS

6:54pm August 23, 2016

by NPR Staff

Lawrence Wright's new book collects his essays for The New Yorker on the growth of terrorism in the Middle East, from the Sept. 11 attacks to the recent beheadings of journalists and aid workers.

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Syrian Regime Area Residents Suffer Amid Deadly Rebel Offensive

5:55pm August 23, 2016

by Alison Meuse

Syrian regime attacks like the one that wounded an Aleppo boy in images last week have been commonplace. But recently rebels are attacking civilians on the government side of town as well.

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U.S. Service Member Killed In Afghanistan's Helmand Province

1:10pm August 23, 2016

by Jason Slotkin

The service member was on a training mission when a roadside bomb went off Tuesday near the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. It is the second U.S. combat death in Afghanistan since January.

World News

Bombing At Turkish Wedding Raises Questions About Country's Stability

6:17pm August 22, 2016

by Deborah Amos

The weekend bombing of a wedding in Turkey raises new questions about the country's stability and the rough area near the Syrian border where it took place.

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A 5-year-old boy, identified in news reports as Omran Daqneesh, sits in an ambulance Wednesday after reportedly being pulled out of a building hit by an airstrike in Aleppo, Syria.

This Photo May Not Change The World But It Moved One Mom To Act

5:28pm August 22, 2016

by Marisol Andino

Can a single photo make a difference? For one NPR audience member — who admits she knew little of the Syrian war before last week — the answer is yes.