World News and International Headlines : NPR

Assad Regime Slows In Handing Over Chemical Weapons

January 31, 2014 • The U.S. and international monitors are expressing concern over delays in the the handover of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal. Many experts now suspect that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime may be dragging its feet.

Assad Regime Slows In Handing Over Chemical Weapons

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Syria Peace Talks Take A Break

January 31, 2014 • The Syria peace talks in Geneva adjourn with no breakthroughs or substantive signs of progress. But international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi says there is some common ground between the government and its opponents, and he announced that the talks will resume on Feb. 10.

Syria Peace Talks Take A Break

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Afghan Security Agreement Is Still Unsigned — Who's At Fault?

January 31, 2014 • Delays continue to beset a proposed bilateral security agreement between the U.S. and Afghanistan. The pact would govern U.S. troops if they remain in Afghanistan past 2014. Deadlines have come and gone, but still no agreement has been signed by the two parties. Now, the situation seems to have deepened into a political standoff between the Pentagon and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. To understand how it got to this point, Robert Siegel turns to Sean Carberry, reporting from Kabul, and Tom Bowman, NPR's Pentagon correspondent.

Afghan Security Agreement Is Still Unsigned — Who's At Fault?

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School's Out For Online Students In 'State Sponsors Of Terrorism'

Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, Stanford University computer science professors who started Coursera, pose for a photo at the Coursera office in Mountain View, Calif., on Aug. 2, 2012. Jeff Chiu/AP hide caption

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Jeff Chiu/AP

The Two-Way

School's Out For Online Students In 'State Sponsors Of Terrorism'

January 31, 2014 • Students in Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria — countries under U.S. trade and economic sanctions — were blocked from accessing material on Coursera this week. The company, one of the largest providers of massive open online courses, says it's working with the U.S. government on a resolution.

PHOTOS: When Barn-Sized Boulder Meets Barn, Barn Loses

Years ago, the boulder in the foreground broke loose and rolled on to this farm in northern Italy. Then this month, the boulder in the center of the photo tumbled down the mountain, tore through a barn and came to rest in a field. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Markus Hell/Tareom.com/AP hide caption

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Markus Hell/Tareom.com/AP

The Two-Way

PHOTOS: When Barn-Sized Boulder Meets Barn, Barn Loses

January 31, 2014 • The images from northern Italy are stunning. A massive boulder broke free from a mountainside and tore a destructive path through a farm. The good news: No one was hurt.

Australia OKs Dumping Dredged Mud In Great Barrier Reef Park

A tasseled wobbegong shark (top) lies on the seafloor with the head of a brown-banded bamboo shark in its mouth on the fringing reef of Great Keppel Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef in August 2011. Reuters/Landov hide caption

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Reuters/Landov

The Two-Way

Australia OKs Dumping Dredged Mud In Great Barrier Reef Park

January 31, 2014 • The dredging operation is part of a plan to expand a coal port in Queensland. Environmentalists have warned that dumping sediment could kill off delicate corals, but park officials said dredging would be "subject to strict environmental conditions."

Canada Used Airport Wi-Fi To Track Travelers, Snowden Leak Alleges

Travelers at Pearson International Airport in Toronto earlier this month. At an unnamed airport, Canada's spy agency tested a program that allowed them to track those who took advantage of free Wi-Fi. Aaron Harris/Reuters/Landov hide caption

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Aaron Harris/Reuters/Landov

The Two-Way

Canada Used Airport Wi-Fi To Track Travelers, Snowden Leak Alleges

January 31, 2014 • The latest secret revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden shows how Canada's spy agency experimented with using free Wi-Fi signals to follow travelers. Officials tell CBC News that they were only collecting "metadata," not the contents of communications.

Panama To Free Crewmembers Of Seized North Korean Ship

Investigative officers look inside a container carrying a Russian-made MIG-21 fighter jet aboard the Chong Chon Gang, in the port city of Colon, Panama, in July. Arnulfo Franco/AP hide caption

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Arnulfo Franco/AP

The Two-Way

Panama To Free Crewmembers Of Seized North Korean Ship

January 31, 2014 • The Chong Chon Gang and its crew of 35 have been held since July, when Panamanian authorities found Cuban weapons aboard in violation of U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang.

No Breakthrough, But 'Bit Of Common Ground' In Syria Talks

U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi during his news conference Friday in Geneva. Martial Trezzini/EPA/Landov hide caption

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Martial Trezzini/EPA/Landov

The Two-Way

No Breakthrough, But 'Bit Of Common Ground' In Syria Talks

January 31, 2014 • It's hoped that the talks will resume on Feb. 10. U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi says a "wide" gap remains between the Assad regime and the Syrian opposition. But he believes they may agree on more than they realize.

Movie Interviews

'Return To Homs' Follows Cycle Of Syrian Demonstrations

January 31, 2014 • A new documentary about the war in Syria follows the transformation of peaceful demonstrators into insurgents. Steve Inskeep talks to Orwa Nyrabia, the producer of the film, about the toll of the Syrian civil war on the besieged city of Homs.

'Return To Homs' Follows Cycle Of Syrian Demonstrations

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Air Quality Worries Dampen Chinese New Year Fireworks

Fireworks explode in a Shanghai street on Thursday, the eve of the Lunar New Year. Setting off firecrackers is meant to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. But many Chinese say they won't buy firecrackers this year, owing to growing worries about air quality. Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

Parallels

Air Quality Worries Dampen Chinese New Year Fireworks

January 31, 2014 • China is greeting the Year of the Horse with a little less fanfare, noise and smoke, after severe air pollution choked scores of cities last year. Firework sales are down, and more people say they're forgoing the ancient and beloved good-luck tradition for the sake of their lungs and health.

Air Quality Worries Dampen Chinese New Year Fireworks

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Asia

Job Vacant After Karachi's Top Counter-Terrorism Cop Is Killed

January 31, 2014 • An intense debate is underway in Pakistan over what to do about a surge of deadly Taliban attacks. The city's chief counterterrosim officer was killed a few weeks ago. Superintendent Chaudhry Aslam Khan was and remains a legendary figure.

Job Vacant After Karachi's Top Counter-Terrorism Cop Is Killed

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The Americas

Michoacan Vigilante Groups Collaborate With Mexican Government

January 31, 2014 • The Mexican government has a new plan to control heavily armed vigilante groups fighting back against drug cartels. The government announced this week it is making the militias a legitimate part of the country's security forces and will allow them to help police the countryside.

Michoacan Vigilante Groups Collaborate With Mexican Government

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For A Twist On The Lunar New Year Dumpling, Add Green Tea

Ying Compestine's green tea-steamed shrimp dumplings. Lucy Schaeffer/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt hide caption

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Lucy Schaeffer/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

The Salt

For A Twist On The Lunar New Year Dumpling, Add Green Tea

January 31, 2014 • A Chinese cookbook author remembers her childhood in China, where dumplings were steamed to conserve precious cooking oil. Recently she gave her favorite steamed dumplings an update.

For A Twist On The Lunar New Year Dumpling, Add Green Tea

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