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Syria, Economy Top The G8 Agenda Weekend Edition Sunday Host Rachel Martin speaks with NPR's Scott Horsley as President Obama departs for the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland. |
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Syrian Strife Draws In Neighbors, Global Players Iran, Israel, Russia and Saudi Arabia are among the key global stakeholders in the conflict that has taken an estimated 93,000 lives. Here's a look at what some of them stand to gain — or lose. |
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Putting Up A Good Front For The G8 County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland is hosting this year's G8 Summit. To spruce up the recession-hit area, the county has created some fake storefronts. Host Rachel Martin speaks with District Council member Brendan Hegarty. |
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Baghdad Businessman Reflects On Violence In Iraq Weekend Edition Sunday Host Rachel Martin talks to Baghdad businessman Haider al-Jumaili about the growing violence in Iraq, where more than a thousand people died in May. |
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Police Clear Protesters In Istanbul Park Turkish riot police have cleared protesters from Gezi park and Taksim Square in Istanbul. The move ends the 19-day occupation of the spaces. But as NPR's Peter Kenyon reports, protesters are saying they will return. |
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Wave Of Attacks Leaves At Least 30 Dead In Iraq A string of deadly attacks that appeared to be coordinated car bombs and shootings has left at least 30 people and many more wounded across Iraq on Sunday |
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'Children' Of Iran's Activists Inherit Love, Loss And Longing Sahar Delijani was born in an Iranian prison, where her parents were held as political activists. Her debut novel, Children of the Jacaranda Tree, is inspired by true stories of the post-revolutionary Iran she was born into and follows the rippling effects of oppression forward into the present. |
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Burning Down The House: Artistic Freedom Under Fire In Egypt   The director of Cairo's Opera House has been sacked, sparking protests and a sit-in at the Culture Ministry. Egyptian artists say there's a culture war underway, pitting secularists against the Islamist administration of President Mohamed Morsi. |
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Obama's Dilemma: Arming The Syrian Rebels The White House is taking its first tentative steps toward arming Syrian rebels. Host Jacki Lyden speaks with James Fallows, national correspondent with The Atlantic, about the U.S.' ongoing struggle to determine when is the right time to intercede. They also discuss moderate candidate Hasan Rowhani's victory in the Iranian presidential election. |
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In Istanbul's Taksim Square, Cue The Piano Man Amid the protests and clashes in Istanbul's Taksim Square, a pianist has been hauling in his instrument at night to entertain the crowds. Each time he does, the raucous crowd stills itself while he plays. In between tunes, chants rise up and he stands on his piano bench to conduct the crowd. |
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Google's 'Looney' Internet Balloons Invade New Zealand The tech giant hopes the test of flying hotspots will bring service to billions of people in remote areas such as Africa and Southeast Asia. |
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5 Things To Know About Syria's Rebels The Syrian war has been raging for two years, yet the rebel fighters are relatively unknown. The U.S. decision to provide weapons will put a spotlight on the rebels, who cover a broad spectrum, from secular nationalists to Islamist extremists. |
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Riot Police In Turkey Move To Quash Protests After two weeks of anti-government demonstrations, security forces have again clashed with protesters opposed to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. |
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Coordinated Attacks Rock Southwestern Pakistan A bombing on a bus carrying female university students was followed by an attack on the hospital where the victims had been taken. The attacks came just hours after militants destroyed a historic residence that had once been used by the country's founding father. |
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Are The Protests In Turkey Really About A Park? Weekend Edition Saturday Host Scott Simon talks to award winning Turkish novelist Elif Shafak about the nature and deeper causes of the protests in Turkey, which erupted two weeks ago. |
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How U.S. Arms Will Reach Syrian Rebels This week the Obama administration announced it would send weapons to the Syrian rebels, because of credible evidence Syrian government forces had indeed used chemical weapons. Weekend Edition Saturday Host Scott Simon talks with NPR's Deborah Amos about how Syrians are reacting to the news. |
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Islamabad Reservoir Cools Pakistanis Summers are swelteringly hot in Pakistan. So, when there's no power for up to 18 hours a day (and you can't afford a generator) what do you do? Head for the nearest lake. NPR's Philip Reeves reports from Lake View Park, on the edge of Islamabad's edge. |
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Turkish Protesters Refuse To Leave Gezi Park The Turkish government has offered to avoid bulldozing the park, but protesters say other demands have not been met. |
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Russia Says No-Fly Zone Over Syria Would Be Illegal Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said that evidence cited by the U.S. for Syria's use of chemical weapons does not meet stringent international standards. |
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Moderate Has Lead In Iran's Initial Election Returns The Associated Press and the New York Times are reporting that the reformist-backed candidate, Hasan Rowhani, has surged to a wide lead in the early vote counting in Iran on Saturday. |
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Moderate Leads In Iran's Early Presidential Returns Reformist-backed candidate Hasan Rowhani has surged to a wide lead in the early vote counting in Iran on Saturday. |
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Moderate Wins Iran's Presidency In Rebuke To Hard-Line Clerics The interior minister announced Saturday that reformist-backed candidate Hasan Rowhani, a former nuclear negotiator, had won the election. |
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Report: Former Nazi SS Officer Living In Minnesota The Associated Press says in an exclusive that 94-year-old Michael Karkoc was a top commander in SS units that massacred civilians in Ukraine and Poland. |
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Archaeologists Discover Lost City In Cambodian Jungle The Australian researchers found a jungle-covered metropolis that predates the country's famous Angkor Wat complex by some 350 years. |
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Australian General's Frank Talk On Sexual Abuse Wins Fans  Disgusted by reports that members of the Australian Army emailed videos and pictures that degrade women, the service's leader says its time to change. "If you're not up to it, find something else to do with your life," Lt. Gen. David Morrison says. |
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Some Turkish Protesters Optimistic After Meeting With Leaders Protesters in Istanbul are mulling an offer from Prime Minister Erdogan that could bring an end to the unrest. |
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White House Defends Timing Of Decision To Help Syrian Rebels The White House will begin sending direct military aid to the Syrian opposition after concluding that the Syrian government has been using chemical weapons against rebel forces. For the past two years, President Obama has taken a cautious approach to the conflict and has been reluctant to intervene. |
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U.S. Supplies For Syrian Rebels May Be Too Little, Too Late After determining that the Syrian government has crossed a red line by using chemical weapons, the White House has agreed to start sending military aid to the rebels. Some analysts think it may be too late to tip the balance in Syria, where Assad's forces backed by Hezbollah, Iran and Russia have been gaining ground. |
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Voters Head To The Polls To Pick New President In Iran Iranians headed to the polls on Friday to elect a new president. Many people there feel the outcome won't make much difference since the reins of power will remain with the Supreme Leader, Ayatolah Khamenei. Analysts will be closely watching voter turn-out. |
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U.N. Chief Opposes U.S. Military Support For Syrian Rebels U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also cast some doubt on the United States' claim that the regime of Bashar Assad had used chemical weapons against rebel forces. |
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Pulitzer Winner's Personal Film About Being Undocumented Jose Antonio Vargas was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team of journalists, but he was also hiding a secret. In 2011, he revealed that he was an undocumented immigrant. Host Michel Martin speaks with Vargas about his new film, Documented, which follows the immigration debate through his own experience. |
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Iranians Go To Polls In Vote To Replace Ahmadinejad Six candidates vie to replace the combative president, all but one of whom are hard-liners favored by the country's ruling Islamic clerics. |
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Scientists Go Medieval To Solve Ancient Leprosy Puzzle Looking for clues to to modern-day leprosy, scientists dig up a 500-year-old mass grave and scan for ancient strains of bacteria in human remains. They find that the bacteria that cause leprosy haven't changed, humans have. |
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U.S. Says Syria Crossed 'Red Line'; Now What? The finding that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons raises lots of questions — about Russia, about a no-fly zone, about the kind of support the rebels will receive from the U.S. |
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Voters Cast Ballots In Iran's Presidential Election It's Iran's first presidential election since the stunning vote in 2009. Back then, a surprisingly early declaration of victory for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparked a wave of protests, followed by years of government repression. |
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Venezuelan Joggers Find Safety In Numbers Venezuelans do the oddest things to have normal lives in an abnormally crime-plagued country. For example: Jog in groups of up to 300 to avoid muggers. |
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Talks In Turkey May Solve Violence Over Park Construction A plan to build on a small park in Istanbul's downtown Taksim Square prompted an outpouring of opposition to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. That led to clashes between police and protesters that have killed at least five people and injured hundreds. |
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Syrians React To U.S. Providing Military Aid To Rebels The Obama administration has decided to provide more assistance to the Syrian opposition after officials became confident the Syrian regime was using chemical weapons against rebel forces. |
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U.S. To Provide Military Support To Opposition In Syria The Obama administration has decided to send military aid to the rebels in Syria. The decision was announced after the administration said it had concluded, with high confidence, that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons on multiple occasions over the past few months. |
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Friction Among Afghans A Threat To Post-U.S. Mission By this time next year, there will be roughly half as many U.S. troops in Afghanistan as there are today. And for U.S. strategy in the country to work, Afghan security forces will have to hold off the Taliban after the Americans leave. But it's unclear if the Afghans will all stand together. |
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Can Captain Sunshine Save The Israeli Electric Car Dream? The electric car company Better Place failed to build the dream it had designed. Its bankruptcy left tech-watchers worried about the stain on the country, which is proud of its image as a startup hotbed. But there may be a savior in the wings. |
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GOP Lawmakers Greet Obama's Syria Step, But Urge A Leap The White House announced Syria had crossed a "red line" by using chemical weapons. Many of the GOP reactions suggested the announcement was long overdue. And they made clear they expect much more from the president than just arming the Syrian rebels. |
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Chemical Weapons Use In Syria Crosses U.S. 'Red Line' U.S. and European intelligence has determined that the Syrian government has used Sarin chemical weapons on multiple occasions in its fight to suppress rebels. With this determination, the White House says aid for the rebels — perhaps in the form of heavy weapons — will be forthcoming. |
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Where Things Stand In Syria – And Other Questions Answered The White House announced Thursday that Syrian President Bashar Assad had crossed a "red line" by using chemical weapons. The announcement comes amid calls for greater U.S. engagement in the conflict. We take a look at what is happening in Syria and who the major players are. |
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Death Toll In Syria Jumps To Nearly 93,000 Death toll numbers in Syria have been revised higher after a report released by the Human Rights Data Analysis Group. Melissa Block talks to Megan Price, the group's director of research. |
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Pope's Reference To 'Gay Lobby' Broaches Taboo Topic Pope Francis has surprised many with his candor in the early days of his papacy. In recent remarks, he reportedly acknowledged a so-called gay lobby in the Vatican. The pope's words are being interpreted as part of a broader effort to re-examine the way the Vatican is run. |
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As Sanctions Squeeze, Iranians Keep Improvising Whoever wins Iran's presidential election will face a major challenge: how to revive a struggling economy that is facing tough international sanctions. Iranians have been finding ways around the punitive measures for decades, but are they running out of options? |
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U.S. Says It Has 'High Confidence' Syria Used Chemical Weapons The White House says sarin gas has killed up to 150 people in Syria, and that the use of chemical weapons crosses a "red line." |
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Mass Kidnapping Puts Mexican Legal System On Trial Mexico City has largely been spared the drug violence in other parts of the country. But a brazen daylight abduction of 12 young people from a Mexico City bar is putting the spotlight on one of the capital's roughest neighborhoods, and putting the popular mayor on the defensive. |
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Flamenco Sensation Buika Embraces Her 'Animal' Voice  When Buika was growing up on the Spanish island of Majorca, she was used to people saying her voice was ugly. But that didn't stop her. Today, Buika blends flamenco with jazz, blues and soul. Here, she explains how she found her voice and offers a look at her new album. |
