World News

World News

Fight Against Corruption In Afghanistan Press On

12:31pm December 18, 2014

Renee Montagne talks to John Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction. He recently released a report highlighting significant waste, fraud and abuse in the U.S. funded program.

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Mixed Reactions In Miami On Diplomatic Overtures To Cuba

12:31pm December 18, 2014

by Greg Allen

When he announced the release of Alan Gross and plans to resume diplomatic ties with Cuba, Obama also referenced Miami. Some Cuban Americans welcome the changes, others see the action as a betrayal.

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Cubans React To U.S. Moves To Normalize Relations With Cuba

12:31pm December 18, 2014

President Obama announced the most significant change in U.S. policy toward Cuba in more than 50 years. Renee Montagne talks to journalist Marc Frank in Havana for Cuban reaction to the announcement.

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World News

Correct Name Gets Canadian Woman A Free European Trip

12:31pm December 18, 2014

Jordan Axani and his girlfriend broke up, and he was left with plane tickets in her name. He offered a free vacation to anyone with the same name: Elizabeth Gallagher.

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Michael J. Garcia, head of FIFA's investigatory chamber of the ethics committee, resigned Wednesday in protest.

FIFA Begins Meeting After American Lawyer's Angry Resignation

11:22am December 18, 2014

by Krishnadev Calamur

Soccer's governing body will, among other things, discuss preparations for the 2018 World Cup. But it's the resignation of Michael Garcia over his corruption report that is likely to draw attention.

A customer picks up a block of butter at a food store in Tokyo on Nov. 10. Japanese shoppers are up in arms over a serious butter shortage that has forced Tokyo to resort to emergency imports, as some grocers limit sales to one block per customer.

World News

Japan's Butter Shortage Whips Its Cake Makers Into A Frenzy

11:21am December 18, 2014

by NPR Staff

For the Japanese, Christmastime means sponge cake. But a nationwide butter shortage has led to mandatory butter rationing, forcing cake bakers to seek out substitutes.

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Alan Gross and his wife, Judy, in Washington on Wednesday after his release from a Cuban prison.

Alan Gross' Release: How It Went Down

9:44am December 18, 2014

by Krishnadev Calamur

American Alan Gross had spent more than five years in a Cuban prison, where he suffered ill health. Then, on Tuesday, his lawyer, Scott Gilbert, told him in a phone call that he was going home.

A Pakistani health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child during a campaign in the northern city of Rawalpindi.

Pakistan Keeps On Vaccinating Despite Tough Terrain And Terror Threat

9:40am December 18, 2014

by Jason Beaubien

Just getting a measles vaccine to a child in Pakistan was once an impossible dream. Despite many obstacles, health workers have made great progress in stopping infectious diseases.

Fidel Castro looks up at the Jefferson Memorial on April 16, 1959. The Cuban leader visited Washington several months after seizing power. But U.S.-Cuban relations quickly frayed, and the U.S. imposed an embargo of the island in 1960.

The U.S. And Cuba: A Brief History Of A Complicated Relationship

10:49pm December 17, 2014

by Greg Myre

The stalemate has outlasted 10 U.S. presidents, a failed invasion, a nuclear crisis and countless boatloads of Cuban asylum seekers. All that changed on Wednesday.

Some Cuban-Americans Angry With Release Of Spies

9:21pm December 17, 2014

by Greg Allen

We hear reaction from Miami's Cuban-American community on announced changes to U.S. policy toward the island.

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