World News and International Headlines : NPR

Strains Of Love Across Pakistan-India Border

Indian right-wing nationalist protesters burn an effigy of tennis player Sania Mirza in Mumbai on Wednesday, a day after the tennis star confirmed she will marry Pakistani cricket star Shoaib Malik. STR/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

STR/AFP/Getty Images

Asia

Strains Of Love Across Pakistan-India Border

March 31, 2010 • An Indian tennis ace and a Pakistani cricket star confirmed plans to marry, sparking protests and a media frenzy. Such "cross-border" couples are not common, and it is not easy for them. History has left a bitter residue between India and Pakistan. There is still much suspicion and rivalry.

NPR Photographers Cover Haiti

Legal Group Seeks U.N. Funding For Haiti Work

March 31, 2010 • The International Development Law Organization is among the groups seeking funding at Wednesday's conference on Haiti. Karen Widess, a lawyer with the Rome-based IDLO, has come up with a proposal for legal reform in the country. She offers her insight.

NPR Photographers Cover Haiti

Donors Meet On Haiti Aid

March 31, 2010 • Donors from around the world are meeting at the U.N. to discuss reconstruction aid for Haiti, which is seeking $3.8 billion in pledges to cover the next 18 months. It's been more than two months since an earthquake killed more than 200,000 people and destroyed the country's infrastucture.

Europe

U.K. Panel Mostly Vindicates Climate Scientists

March 31, 2010 • A British parliamentary committee has released the first official report into the theft of e-mails from a leading climate research center last year. The panel said the unit had a culture of withholding information from global warming skeptics, but did not deliberately manipulate data to support its case.

Army Preps For Next Afghan Target: Kandahar

Capt. Mike Miller, with Delta Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division, rides in his Humvee during a training mission at Fort Polk, La. David Gilkey/NPR hide caption

toggle caption

David Gilkey/NPR

Radio Pictures

Army Preps For Next Afghan Target: Kandahar

March 31, 2010 • The Afghan village is fake, but the scenarios and tension are real as U.S. soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division train in the Louisiana pine forests. They will head to Afghanistan soon for one of the war's most challenging operations: taking Kandahar, home of the Taliban.

Pressure Mounts For Pope Amid Abuse Revelations

Members of the U.S. organization Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, demonstrate against child sex abuse Friday in front of St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. STR/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

STR/AFP/Getty Images

Religion

Pressure Mounts For Pope Amid Abuse Revelations

March 31, 2010 • Allegations of child abuse by Catholic priests have emerged in Italy. Three men say they were abused as boys at a Catholic school for the deaf, and that no action has been taken since they reported the abuse more than a year ago. Pope Benedict is under increasing pressure for a more forceful response to the charges sweeping Europe and the U.S.

Iraqi Vote Results In Doubt After Disqualifications

The announcement this week that six winning candidates in Iraq's March 7 parliamentary election have ties to the former regime of Saddam Hussein and must be disqualified jeopardizes the slim margin of victory for Iraq's former prime minister, Ayad Allawi (shown here in February). Sabah Arar/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Sabah Arar/AFP/Getty Images

Iraqi Vote Results In Doubt After Disqualifications

March 31, 2010 • A controversial committee has announced that six winning candidates in Iraq's March 7 election are connected to the former regime of Saddam Hussein and must be disqualified. Critics say it's no coincidence that disqualifying them will erase the lead of secular Ayad Allawi and his alliance of Sunnis and Shiites.

Books

From 'Son Of Hamas' To Agent Of Shin Bet

March 31, 2010 • Mosab Hassan Yousef's father helped found Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist organization. But Yousef chose a different path — working with the Israeli intelligence group Shin Bet.

Former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton walk with Haitian President Rene Preval (center), near the destroyed presidential palace on March 22. Thony Belizaire/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Thony Belizaire/AFP/Getty Images

Haiti Quake: Ruin And Recovery

After Quake In Haiti, Who's The Boss?

March 31, 2010 • Governments and international aid agencies pledging to help Haiti say they want to take their lead from the Haitian government. But the government in Haiti remains extremely weak, and in the everyday life of many Haitians, it seems to be missing in action.

Religion

Abuse Crisis Reveals Church's Management Issues

March 31, 2010 • The sex abuse scandal in the Catholic church have some debating whether Pope Benedict should resign. Religion journalist and papal biographer David Gibson talks Mary Louise Kelly about the inner workings of the Catholic church. He says it's been centuries since a pope has resigned. Gibson, author of The Rule of Benedict, says the scandal points to the church's management flaws.

Europe

Britain's Tony Blair Campaigns For Labour Party

March 31, 2010 • British Prime Minister Gordon Brown got a big vote of support from former Prime Minister Tony Blair Tuesday. Blair urged voters to give his party a fourth term in office. The governing Labour Party is in a tight race with the opposition Conservatives — just weeks ahead of national elections.

Foreign Aid A Blessing, Curse For Struggling Haiti

United Nations troops from Bolivia distribute water and meals to the residents of Cite Soleil, Haiti, after the Jan. 12 earthquake. Marco Dormino/Courtesy of U.N. hide caption

toggle caption

Marco Dormino/Courtesy of U.N.