Middle East

Anti-riot police face off with protesters in Saudi Arabia's eastern city of Qatif on March 11, 2011. Despite bans on the demonstrations, Shiite Muslims in the eastern part of the country have continued to stage protests, demanding political changes.

World News

In Saudi Arabia, Shiite Muslims Challenge Ban On Protests

4:27pm March 23, 2013

by Reese Erlich

When demonstrators began rising up against Arab governments in 2011, Saudi authorities responded with large spending projects and with tough actions against protesters. However, the Shiite minority in eastern Saudi Arabia persists with regular demonstrations.

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Residents visit the tomb of a loved one at the New Kerbala cemetery in the holy city of Kerbala, Iraq, in 2007.

World News

Face To Face With Death In Iraq

6:21pm March 21, 2013

Um Abbas has spent decades performing the Muslim ritual of washing the bodies of the dead to prepare them for burial. The war years in Iraq were terrible, she says, but in some ways, confronting death every day helped her cope with the country's trauma.

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Ali Hamdani was a doctor in Iraq before becoming a translator for NPR. He now lives in North Carolina.

'We Survived Iraq': An Iraqi Makes A New Home In North Carolina

7:51pm March 19, 2013

by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

Ali Hamdani worked for NPR in Iraq and narrowly survived a 2008 car bomb attack. He's among a relatively small number of Iraqis who have been allowed to resettle in the U.S., and he considers himself lucky.

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EU Bailout Tax Sparks Bank Run In Cyprus

10:08am March 19, 2013

Citizens of Cyprus did not react well to the news that their government wants to allow the European Union to take nearly 10 percent of their savings deposits in exchange for a $13 billion bailout. Banks are closed through Tuesday after worries over bank runs. Depositors stood in long lines to withdraw money over the weekend.

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Reading The Tea Leaves Of Obama's Mideast Trip

9:57am March 17, 2013

President Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas when he travels to the Middle East next week. Host Scott Simon talks with Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic and Bloomberg View about the president's upcoming trip.

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Dr. Hamad Suleiman Daher, shown here with his youngest daughter, was the first person to receive a kidney transplant in Gaza.

Can Kidney Transplants Ease Strain On Gaza's Health System?

9:54am March 17, 2013

by Larry Abramson

Years of war have overtaxed Gaza's hospitals, making it tough for kidney patients to get good treatment. Thanks to help from British doctors, Gaza surgeons are now being trained to perform kidney transplants. They hope to help ease the huge demand for dialysis, but transplants have their own cost.

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An Islamist rebel group in Aleppo called "the Authority for the Promotion of Virtue and Supporting the Oppressed" reviews applications for aid on Feb. 25. In addition to handing out aid, the Islamist group says it is carrying out civilian administration i

World News

Courts Become A Battleground For Secularists, Islamists In Syria

6:49pm March 14, 2013

by Deborah Amos

Islamist brigades are competing with pro-democracy civilians to shape Syria's future. In many areas in rebel-held northern Syria, Islamists have set up religious courts that deliver rulings under Shariah, or Islamic law.

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Ahmad "Harvester" Heidar is a computer software engineer whose work for the Syrian rebels includes sweeping the hard drives of detained anti-government activists, and trying to develop a robot that will help extract sniper victims in Syria. Turkish offici

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Syrian Cyber-Rebel Wages War, One Hack At A Time

8:27pm March 13, 2013

by Deborah Amos

A 28-year-old computer wizard known as the Harvester, along with his online rebel friends, have hacked into a pro-regime TV station as part of their ongoing battle against the government's electronic army.

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World News

When Insects Go Biblical: Swarms Head Toward Israel

8:47am March 10, 2013

A plague of locusts has recently moved from the Sinai Peninsula into southern Israel. Host Scott Simon talks with NPR's Larry Abramson about the swarms that have arrived just a few weeks ahead of the Passover holiday.

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A Palestinian laborer works at the site of a residential construction project funded by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Mar. 21, 2012.

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Palestinians Still Feel The Squeeze Of The Restrictions On Gaza

8:43am March 10, 2013

by Larry Abramson

Local builders in Gaza say they can't find everyday items like cement and gravel. Yet Israeli officials say they have widened the categories of items allowed into Gaza.

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