World News

In Debt Duel, It Was Argentina V. Paul Singer

8:07pm July 31, 2014

Argentina has defaulted on billions of dollars of government debt, and it's partly due to a bunch of New Yorkers. Forbes writer Agustino Fontevecchia explains the confrontation between Argentina and a New York-based hedge fund manager named Paul Singer.

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Kidnapping Is A Lucrative Business For Al-Qaida, Documents Show

5:39pm July 31, 2014

Last year, journalist Rukmini Callimachi found thousands of al-Qaida documents in Timbuktu in Mali. She tells Fresh Air about al-Qaida's strategy of kidnapping Europeans and demanding ransoms.

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Fighting Continues To Block Investigators From MH17 Wreckage

10:54am July 31, 2014

Financial Times reporter Guy Chazan tells Linda Wertheimer that while the world is focused on the crash site of MH17, civilians are dying in battles between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russia rebels.

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An Israeli army officer walks near the entrance of a tunnel allegedly used by Palestinian militants for cross-border attacks, at the Israel-Gaza border. A network of tunnels Palestinian militants have dug from Gaza to Israel is taking center stage in the

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Gaza's Network Of Tunnels Is A Major Hole In Israel's Defenses

9:24am July 31, 2014

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Hamas militants are using tunnels in and out of Gaza to strike inside Israel. Israelis are questioning how the tunnels grew to be so complex and why the military hasn't been able to shut them down.

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Argentina Economy Minister Axel Kicillof speaks during a news conference at the Argentina Consulate on Wednesday in New York. By the end of the day, a deal had not been reached with the country's creditors.

Late Rally From Argentina Fails To Delay Default

10:09pm July 30, 2014

by NPR Staff

Earlier in the day it looked like a resolution was possible, but ultimately talks between the country and a group of creditors broke down in New York. The first time the country defaulted was in 2002.

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A Tour Of The Tower That Fell Into Squatters' Hands

7:07pm July 30, 2014

One of the tallest skyscrapers in Venezuela has been occupied by some 3,000 squatters since 2007. The half-finished "Tower of David" — named for its financier, David Brillembourg — is now being evacuated by the Venezuelan government. Ari Shapiro talks to architecture critic Justin McGuirk about the building.

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After War's Deadliest Day, Another U.N. School In Gaza Gets Hit

8:07am July 30, 2014

by Emily Harris

A U.N. spokesman said Israeli tank shells hit the school Wednesday, killing 15 Palestinians and wounding 90. The agency is housing scores of people displaced by the fighting in schools across Gaza.

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France's Nude Models Threaten To Strike

8:07am July 30, 2014

The models say they have no job security or vacation pay and aren't allowed to collect tips. Organizers have said "not just anyone can take their clothes off and hold a pose."

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During nationwide polio campaigns, hundreds of thousands of health workers go door to door, giving children two drops of the polio vaccine.

The Hidden Costs Of Fighting Polio In Pakistan

11:06pm July 29, 2014

by Jason Beaubien

The effort to end polio is taking a toll on Pakistan's already overstretched health system. With more children dying of measles and diarrhea, some question whether the focus on polio is worth it.

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People holding Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar flags demonstrate in front of the French-built Vladivostok warship in St. Nazaire, western France, on June 1. The protesters are opposed to the sale of the Vladivostok and Sevastopol warships to Russia.

World News

France Presses On With Deal To Sell Two Warships To Russia

7:31pm July 29, 2014

by Eleanor Beardsley

Amid ongoing fighting in Ukraine and stepped-up U.S. and EU sanctions on Russia, the deal has met with little criticism in the shipbuilding town of St. Nazaire, where it has created 2,500 jobs.

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