World News

World News

ISIS Seen Profiting From Informal Money System In Spain

9:46am February 10, 2015

by Bill Chappell

The extremist group ISIS is exploiting an informal finance network in Spain to pay its fighters, according to Spanish intelligence officials. The system is often used by immigrants to transfer money.

A sampling of the 1,000-plus pharmacies in Senegal.

Senegal's Pharmacies Are Much, Much Better Than Your Local Drugstore

9:25am February 10, 2015

by Linda Poon

When the Senegalese need a diagnosis, they often head to the pharmacy. And the odds are good that the pharmacist who sees them will be a woman.

World News

Migrants' Deaths Blamed On Italy Ending Major Rescue Missions

7:59am February 10, 2015

by Sylvia Poggioli

Twenty-nine African migrants have died of exposure after being picked up off Libya's coast by Italian patrol boats. A program with larger boats, which would have provided more shelter, was canceled.

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A screen shot from Seven Quests shows a battle with the hero, Rostam, and his troops. The game is based on a 1,000-year-old Iranian poem.

World News

Video Game Based On Ancient Story Aims For Audiences In Iran, Beyond

9:17pm February 09, 2015

by Deborah Amos

Two entrepreneurs with Iranian roots hope to make an international splash with a new online multiplayer game that is an update of a 1,000-year-old Iranian poem.

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Social Media Pages Give Vivid Glimpses Into Ukraine Conflict

8:36pm February 09, 2015

Ukrainians are documenting the conflict with Russia online. NPR's Scott Simon talks with the Wall Street Journal's Paul Sonne about how once-lighthearted websites have become grim logs of destruction.

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Sissako works on set with Timbuktu actors Mehdi A.G. Mohamed (left) and Layla Walet Mohamed.

Filmmaker Takes Stand Against Extremism In Oscar-Nominated 'Timbuktu'

8:02pm February 09, 2015

by Bilal Qureshi

Abderrahmane Sissako's film was inspired by the seizure of the Malian city by Islamist fighters in 2012. It has won international accolades with its lyrical beauty and critique of religious extremism.

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Rong Mala, 30, holds her 6-day-old child, Rakhal, as she waits to see the paramedic at a government clinic in Bangladesh.

Better Bath Rituals Is One Way Bangladesh Is Saving Its Newborns

7:36pm February 09, 2015

by Linda Poon

Babies need a lot of help. And they don't always get it in low- and middle-income countries, where child mortality rates are high. A Bangladeshi doctor tells how his country is making strides.

Obama, Merkel Downplay Disagreement Over Ukraine Aid

6:27pm February 09, 2015

by Tamara Keith

With the Ukraine crisis spiraling, President Obama and Germany's leader Angela Merkel met in Washington, D.C.

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Document Leak Reveals Secret Swiss Bank Accounts

6:27pm February 09, 2015

by Jim Zarroli

For years the Swiss banking industry has been under pressure to get out of the tax evasion business. A trove of documents released by a former employee of HSBC shows just how aggressive the bank was in marketing tax avoidance schemes to clients.

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Gitmo Trial For Sept. 11 Suspects Resumes — Then Abruptly Halted

6:27pm February 09, 2015

by David Welna

The trial of five men accused in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks resumed on Monday at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and then was abruptly halted. Defendants in the case protested that one of the court interpreters at the hearing had been present years before at secret sites where the men had been held and, they claim, tortured. The judge ordered a recess to look into the matter.

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