Syria

World News

For Foreign Journalists, A Rare Invitation To Damascus

3:36pm October 31, 2016

Foreign reporters' access to Syria is severely restricted, but this week, a group of Western journalists has been invited to hear the Assad regime's point of view. NPR's Peter Kenyon is among them.

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Marsha Lewis, a semi-retired teacher, is one of the volunteers helping Syrian refugee Fadi al-Asmi, standing in the kitchen of Hartford's City Steam Brewery. Asmi, who co-owned a pastry shop in Damascus, now makes desserts at this Hartford cafe.

For Syrian Refugees In Connecticut, A Helping Hand From Private Volunteers

8:29am October 30, 2016

by Deborah Amos

Refugees are adjusting to life in Connecticut, where a program pairs them with private citizens who provide support for their resettlement. "I have a chance as much as anybody else," says one refugee.

Thousands of Haitians were promised homes by aid groups like the American Red Cross in the wake of the earthquake in 2010. Instead, many were given temporary shelters without bathrooms, kitchens or running water.

To Help More People In Need, Researchers Urge Aid Groups: Do Less

6:23pm October 27, 2016

by Malaka Gharib

Aid groups are falling short on some of the world's worst crises, says researcher Sara Pantuliano. There is a way to fix it — but it might not be popular.

World News

Dozens Dead In What UNICEF Calls One Of The Worst School Bombings In Syria's War

12:13pm October 27, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

"Some people cursed the Assad regime. Some invoked God. And others didn't say a word," a witness tells NPR. Schools have been hit repeatedly during Syria's war and this is one of the worst incidents.

The Next U.S. President Can Expect Weakened, But Still Lethal ISIS

3:00pm October 22, 2016

by Philip Ewing

The Pentagon is predicting big victories soon over ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Even if that happens, the next U.S. leader will have figure out how to deal with a weakened, but still dangerous group.

Wounded rebel fighters sit in the back of an ambulance in Aleppo on Thursday. The Syrian government and its Russian allies declared a pause in the fighting and urged rebels to leave the eastern part of the city, but clashes broke out Thursday.

World News

The Stark Choice In Aleppo: Flee Or Face More Attacks

6:07pm October 20, 2016

by Michele Kelemen

Syria and Russia have paused the bombing of the Syrian city and told fighters to leave. But it's seen as part of a brutal strategy used elsewhere in Syria.

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For years Devi Lockwood avoided learning how to cook. Now, she makes dolmades. The leaves for these stuffed grape leaves came from a vine on a friend's farm in New Zealand.

World News

In An Armenian Kitchen, Finding A Heritage Lost To Domestic Violence

5:00pm October 12, 2016

by Devi Lockwood

She grew up disconnected from her abusive father and his Armenian heritage. Years later, she reconnected to that heritage through her grandmother's kitchen and cooking lesson.

People walk past a replica of an ancient statue of a human-headed winged bull from Nimrud, Iraq, destroyed by the Islamic State. It's part of an exhibition called "Rising from Destruction" at Rome's Colosseum.

Replicas Of Artifacts Destroyed By ISIS 'Rising From Destruction' In Rome

1:09pm October 10, 2016

by Sylvia Poggioli

An exhibit at the Colosseum features life-size reconstructions of ancient works that ISIS damaged or destroyed in Iraq and Syria. "It is a universal heritage," says curator Francesco Rutelli.

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Smoke rises after a Russian Army aircraft bombed a residential area in the Darat Izza neighborhood of Aleppo on Oct. 4.

World News

5 Key Questions About Aleppo

9:18am October 08, 2016

by Larry Kaplow

It used to be the most populous city and the business capital of Syria. Now it's a symbol of urban devastation that's the focus of the country's five-year-old war.

Kerry Says Strikes By Russia, Syria 'Beg For' A War Crimes Investigation

6:02pm October 07, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

"This is a targeted strategy to terrorize civilians and to kill anybody and everybody who is in the way of their military objectives," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said.