Middle East

World News

Turkey Asked To Do More To Stop Flow Of Migrants To Europe

5:58am March 08, 2016

by Renee Montagne

We explore the plight of Syrian refugees with Ramadan Assi, director of Global Strategy for International Medical Corps in Turkey. His group assists millions of Syrians who have ended up in Turkey.

World News

Aid Agencies Take Advantage Of Cease-Fire In Syria To Reach Needy

5:53am March 08, 2016

For an update on what food and medical aid is reaching the most desperate areas of Syria, Renee Montagne talks to the World Food Program's Jakob Kern in Damascus.

European Council President Donald Tusk (front center) shakes hands with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (front row, second from left) during a group photo at an EU summit Monday in Brussels.

World News

EU Leaders, Turkey Near Agreement On Migration Route To Northern Europe

7:18pm March 07, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

A summit in Brussels has ended with participants saying they are closer to an agreement. The EU has been seeking more help from Turkey to cut the flow of migrants. Turkey wants EU membership and cash.

Asylum seekers from Afghanistan play football Feb. 7 in a resort in Halmstad, Sweden, where they are living temporarily. Sweden took in 163,000 migrants in 2015. Resistance to migrants is beginning to grow among some Swedes.

World News

As Migrants Flow In, Sweden Begins To Rethink Its Open-Door Policy

4:04pm March 07, 2016

by Eleanor Beardsley

Sweden has taken in more asylum seekers per capita than any other European country — including 35,000 unaccompanied minors in 2015. But not everyone in Sweden wants to keep the doors open.

Recenty released letters from former al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden show he warned against declaring an Islamic state too soon. He also feared that rival jihadist groups could battle each other, as has happened between al-Qaida and ISIS.

Osama Bin Laden Warned Of Civil War Between Jihadi Groups

12:54pm March 07, 2016

by Mary Louise Kelly

The recently released bin Laden papers include letters in which the al-Qaida leader warned against establishing an Islamic state too soon. He also feared conflicts between rival Islamist groups.

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World News

Turkey Shrugs Off Condemnation Of Takeover Of Opposition Newspaper

6:08am March 07, 2016

by Peter Kenyon

Turkey's largest-circulation opposition newspaper is no longer opposing the president. Editors and journalists were cleared out by riot police, and court-appointed trustees took over management.

World News

EU To Turkey: Please Slow The Flow Of Migrants

6:30pm March 06, 2016

At a meeting on Monday, the European Union is trying to convince Turkey to slow the flow of migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan into Europe. What does Turkey want in return?

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World News

Iran Sentences Billionaire Businessman To Death For Corruption

6:11pm March 06, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

Iranian state media report that Babak Zanjani, an oil trader who allegedly helped Iran evade oil sanctions, has been convicted of "spreading corruption on earth." Zanjani can appeal the verdict.

Hans Sick and Freia-Mai Franck have taken in two Afghan teenagers. Franck, who came to Sweden as a German refugee after World War II, says, "I'm remembering what was happening to me when I was a child."

World News

Fleeing Alone, Some Migrant Kids Find Foster Homes In Sweden

12:43pm March 06, 2016

by Eleanor Beardsley

Sweden took in a record number of asylum seekers last year, among them 35,000 children who arrived without their parents. The luckiest are in foster care with Swedish families.

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People ride a horse and carriage at sunset in Isfahan's UNESCO-listed central square on June 2, 2014 in Isfahan, Iran. Isfahan, with its immense mosques, picturesque bridges and ancient bazaar, is a virtual living museum of Iranian traditional culture, an

Amid Uncertainty, Iranians Hope For Economic Reforms

10:15am March 06, 2016

by Peter Kenyon

Iranians are hoping the recent election of more reformers to parliament will help improve the economy.

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