Is North Korea Changing — Or Resisting Change?
Recent developments in North Korea are puzzling watchers of the "Hermit Kingdom" in both the U.S. and South Korea. There are some signs of change within the new leadership in North Korea — and there...
View ArticleN. Korea May Stage Nuclear Test After Rocket Launch
As North Korea reaches the final stage of preparations for a long-range rocket launch, concern is growing that it is in the early stages of preparing its underground test site for another nuclear...
View ArticleFacing Tougher Sanctions, Iran Enters Nuclear Talks
For the first time in more than a year, diplomats from Iran will meet with representatives from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China — plus...
View ArticleFor Putin's Third Term As President, A New Russia
On Monday, Vladimir Putin will again become president of Russia. When he is inaugurated in the Kremlin, it will be for a third term, even though the Russian constitution limits presidents to two...
View ArticleFor A Third Time, Putin Returns As Russia's President
Vladimir Putin is once again the president of Russia. Putin, who held the job from 2000 to 2008, spent the past four years as prime minister because the Russian Constitution prohibits a third...
View ArticleIn This Russian Trial, The Defendant Is A Dead Man
The Russian government is about to put a dead man on trial. Sergei Magnitsky was a tax lawyer for the investment fund Hermitage Capital, at one time the largest foreign investment firm in Russia. In...
View ArticleTo Tap Arctic Oil, Russia Partners With Exxon Mobil
Russia is still the world's largest producer of oil and gas, but growth has stalled and to get to new supplies requires going to a very difficult place — the Arctic. "If you want to be in this business...
View ArticlePlanned E.U. Oil Embargo Looks Set To Squeeze Iran
On July 1, the European Union says it will stop buying oil from Iran. Europe is one of the most important markets for Iran's oil, and in anticipation of the boycott, Iranian oil exports worldwide are...
View ArticleIran's Nuclear Fatwa: A Policy Or A Ploy?
It's been an article of faith for nearly a decade that Iran's supreme leader issued a fatwa — a religious edict — that nuclear weapons are a sin and Iran has no intention of acquiring them. President...
View ArticlePakistan Will Reopen NATO Supply Lines
Transcript LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST: Pakistan and the United States have reached agreement to reopen the strategic land supply routes from Pakistan into Afghanistan. Pakistan closed those routes last...
View Article'Hard Questions' Remain In U.S.-Pakistan Relations
A U.S. operation in the mountains near Afghanistan last November killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Pakistan wanted an apology. The U.S. refused. In response, Pakistan shut down supply routes to Afghanistan...
View ArticleThe Cost Of Women's Rights In Northwest Pakistan
Earlier this month, 25-year-old Farida Afridi, who ran an organization that provides information for women about their rights, was gunned down in the street, near the city of Peshawar in northwest...
View ArticleIt's Deja Vu As Pakistan's Political Crisis Deepens
An ongoing political crisis has left Pakistan's government paralyzed and near collapse, as the country's Supreme Court attempts to revive corruption charges against the president in an apparent effort...
View ArticleIn Pakistan, Sounds Of A Different Kind Of Drone
Bagpipes and Scotland? Aye, it's a natural association: Played for centuries, the instrument is especially identified with the Scottish military and traditional Scottish dress, tartan kilts and shawls....
View ArticleFrom All Sides, Iran Under Siege
Iran appears to be facing a crisis more serious than anything it has experienced since its war with Iraq in the 1980s. Diplomatically, President Bashar Assad's regime is under threat from the widening...
View ArticleAnother Round Of Iranian Nuclear Talks To Begin
Transcript DAVID GREENE, HOST: This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm David Greene. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: And I'm Steve Inskeep. Talks with Iran on its controversial nuclear program are set to...
View ArticleAs Sanctions Take A Toll, Debate In Iran Heats Up
Yukiya Amano is frustrated. Last week, Amano, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told a meeting of the agency in Vienna that he is aggravated by Iran's unwillingness to...
View ArticlePanic Rises In Iran As Currency Plunges To New Lows
Large crowds of anxious Iranians gathered in Tehran on Sunday and Monday at foreign exchange offices — some of which had shuttered their doors — as Iran's currency continues its free fall . From Sunday...
View ArticleSignals From Iran Indicate Willingness To Talk
Iran is hurting. Economic and banking sanctions, plus an effective oil embargo led by the European Union, have brought chaos to Iran's economy. The bottom fell out of its currency, the rial, a couple...
View ArticleTo Combat Sanctions, Iran Buys Up Gold
Iran is stockpiling gold. That's the way David Cohen sees it. He's undersecretary of the Treasury, and the Treasury's point man for the banking sanctions the U.S. has imposed on Iran. "Iran is...
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