Middle East

Syrian pro-government forces and residents gather at the site of suicide bombings in the area of a revered Shiite shrine on the outskirts of Damascus, on Sunday. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for bombings that killed at least 45 people.

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Blasts In Damascus Kill At Least 45; Islamic State Claims Responsibility

10:17am January 31, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

A car bomb and two suicide bombs struck near a shrine revered by Shiite Muslims on Sunday. Groups aligned with Bashar al-Assad often use the defense of the shrine as a rallying cry for recruits.

A Danish policeman checks passengers' identity papers on a train arriving from Germany on Jan. 6. Officials say the small country is overwhelmed by the number of refugees seeking asylum.

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Denmark's Mixed Message For Refugees

8:59am January 31, 2016

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Ambivalence about refugees runs high in Denmark. Danes are critical of a new law requiring police to take cash and valuables from asylum seekers. But they're also nervous about rising refugee numbers.

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Syrian Drownings Hover Over U.N. Peace Talks

8:54am January 31, 2016

U.N.-brokered talks to end the Syrian civil war are taking place in Geneva, but so far the warring sides won't even be in the same room together. NPR's Peter Kenyon updates Rachel Martin.

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Christina Dimakou (right), a 30-year-old lawyer, works on the Greek island of Lesbos as a guardian for refugee and migrant children who travel alone.

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Greek Guardian Leaves Law To Help Aid Migrant Children

8:45am January 30, 2016

by Joanna Kakissis

Thousands of refugee children are traveling alone through Europe. A 30-year-old woman helps some who arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos, a main gateway into the European Union for asylum-seekers.

Iranian-American Released In Prisoner Exchange Criticizes His Treatment

5:15pm January 29, 2016

NPR's Robert Siegel interviews Nader Modanlo, an Iranian-American who was released from U.S. federal prison as part of the swap of American prisoners in Iran. He says he is unhappy with how his release was handled and the strings that came attached.

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'I'm Still Here': NPR Reporter On Trying To Reconnect With Syrian Refugee

4:29pm January 29, 2016

by Melissa Block

NPR's Melissa Block has an essay about her experience trying to reconnect with a Syrian migrant she interviewed last summer.

A car passes in an area that was destroyed during the battle between the U.S. backed Kurdish forces and the Islamic State fighters in Kobani, north Syria, in 2015.

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Reaction To U.N. Envoy's Video Shows Difficulties Of Syria Peace Talks

3:52pm January 29, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

The U.N.-sponsored talks begin today in Geneva, five years into Syria's civil war. A message from the U.N. envoy for Syria hasn't necessarily helped matters.

A view from Earth of a slender crescent moon in close proximity to the two brightest planets in the sky, Venus and Jupiter.

Track Jupiter's Path Like An Ancient Babylonian

8:28pm January 28, 2016

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Clay tablets show that Babylonian astronomers tracked planets using a method that was thought to be invented 1,400 years later. In a way, scientists say, the ancient techniques were "very modern."

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After Lifting Of Sanctions, Iran's President Brings Trade Mission To France

6:46pm January 28, 2016

NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Ardavan Amir-Aslani, a French-Iranian lawyer who is negotiating deals with Tehran for major French corporations.

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Freed Journalist Jason Rezaian Thanks Colleagues At 'Washington Post'

6:45pm January 28, 2016

by Michele Kelemen

Now out of an Iranian prison, Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian thanked his colleagues on Thursday for working for his freedom.

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