As the U.S. begins to arm and train Syrian rebels, here's a look at the very mixed record of U.S. support for rebel movements from Angola to Afghanistan.
Maajid Nawaz used to be a recruiter for an extreme Islamist group in the United Kingdom. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Nawaz about how the recruiting process works, and how it can be thwarted.
The man in the video says he is John Cantlie, a British journalist and hostage. He asks why his government has abandoned him. NPR hasn't independently verified the video's authenticity.
The president got approval for his plan to train and equip Syrian opposition fighters, but lawmakers didn't approve funds to pay for it or the broader air campaign.
The Islamic State recently launched an offensive that sent a wave of Kurdish refugees into Turkey from Syria. Deborah Amos reports from southern Turkey on the chaos on the border.
The Syrian refugee flood in southern Turkey this weekend is just the latest in a larger crisis in the region. NPR's Melissa Block and Robert Siegel go over the numbers.
Turkey recently secured the release of 49 ISIS hostages. John Kerry said that Ankara had not committed to the coalition against ISIS because they first needed to deal with that hostage situation.
Forty-three veterans of Unit 8200, Israel's secretive surveillance organization, say they were directed to spy indiscriminately on Palestinians. Were they using intelligence gathered by the NSA?
Peshmerga forces say they are still engaged in fierce battles with Islamic State militants. The fighting has triggered a mass exodus of Kurdish refugees into Turkey.