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Women Latest Target Of Bahrain Crackdown

Bahraini protesters hold up flowers toward riot police near the Pearl Roundabout in February. On March 18, the government demolished the monument, which had become a prominent gathering place for opposition protesters. Hasan Jamali/AP hide caption

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Hasan Jamali/AP

Middle East

Women Latest Target Of Bahrain Crackdown

In the wake of massive protests, the government has cracked down brutally on opposition figures. Authorities detained thousands of men — and then went after the women. "They took me from my work," one woman says. "And from the beginning they slapped me on my face, on my head, shoulder."

Women The Latest Target Of Bahrain's Crackdown

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Europe

Germany Moves To Shutter Nuclear Power Stations

The German government has decided to close all the country's nuclear power stations by 2022. The decision marks a U-turn for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who only last year had forced through legislation that would have extended the working life of the power plants. Anti-nuclear feeling has grown in Germany following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. And in March, Merkel's Christian Democrats party lost a crucial regional election that was fought largely on environmental issues. NPR's Eric Westervelt talks to Robert Siegel from Berlin.

Germany Moves To Shutter Nuclear Power Stations

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Mladic Extradited To The Hague To Stand Trial

Ratko Mladic has been extradited to The Hague to face trial. The Bosnian Serb general is accused of genocide and war crimes carried out by forces under his command during the war in Bosnia in the early 1990s.

Mladic Extradited To The Hague To Stand Trial

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Middle East

Islamist Parties Gain Traction In Tunisia, Egypt

Elections in Tunisia and Egypt will be taking place over the next couple of months. The Islamist parties in both countries, which had previously been banned, are becoming powerful political forces of the post-revolutionary landscape. Robert Siegel talks with Michele Dunne, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and editor of the Arab Reform Bulletin, about who these groups are — and how they might perform in the elections.

Islamist Parties Gain Traction In Tunisia, Egypt

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Sports

Corruption Accusations Swirl Around Soccer's FIFA

World soccer's governing body has been besieged with allegations of corruption. FIFA's president has been cleared of wrongdoing, but others weren't so lucky. Now there are accusations that Qatar bought the rights to host the 2022 World Cup.

Corruption Accusations Swirl Around Soccer's FIFA

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Middle East

Did The Uprising In Syria Catch Hezbollah Off Guard?

The ongoing political unrest in Syria is drawing negative attention to Lebanon-based Hezbollah. The Shiite militia and its political wing have portrayed themselves as being on the side of the people. But Hezbollah's patrons in the Syrian capital Damascus have cracked down on protesters demanding change.

Did The Uprising In Syria Catch Hezbollah Off Guard?

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Middle East

Activists In Bahrain Lay Low After Crackdown

For the past two and a half months, the government of Bahrain has brutally targeted opposition figures who led massive anti-government protests in February and March. Human rights groups say the government has now ruled it a crime to be against the government.

Activists In Bahrain Lay Low After Crackdown

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Criticizing Pakistan's Military: Dangerous, As Is Life

Asma Jehangir, a human rights advocate and lawyer in Lahore, Pakistan, is an outspoken critic of the military. Jim Wildman/NPR hide caption

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Asia

Criticizing Pakistan's Military: Dangerous, As Is Life

Asma Jehangir, a human rights advocate and lawyer in Pakistan, has sharp words for the country's dominant institution. The military is under pressure from the U.S. following the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound.

Criticizing Pakistan's Military: Dangerous, As Is Life

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El Salvador Grapples With Upswing In Drug Traffic

Members of the Salvadoran police squad "The Hawks" search suspected gang members in San Salvador. Jason Beaubien/NPR hide caption

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Latin America

El Salvador Grapples With Upswing In Drug Traffic

Mexican drug cartels are expanding into El Salvador, using local gang members as hit men, police say. The Salvadoran president calls the cartels a "very powerful enemy," but his government says the problem isn't out of hand. Others say if the cartels aren't stopped soon, it may be too late for El Salvador.

El Salvador Grapples With Upswing In Drug Traffic

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Al-Qaida's Paper Trail: A 'Treasure Trove' For U.S.

Al-Qaida is known to keep meticulous records. Experts say that's the influence of Osama bin Laden, shown in 1998, who was obsessed with documenting everything. Rahimullah Yousafzai/AP hide caption

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Rahimullah Yousafzai/AP

Osama Bin Laden Killed

Al-Qaida's Paper Trail: A 'Treasure Trove' For U.S.

From its earliest days, al-Qaida leaders insisted on receipts for everything from floppy disks to explosives. Experts say that was the influence of Osama bin Laden, who earned an undergraduate degree in economics and public administration. That obsession with record-keeping has come back to haunt the organization.

Al-Qaida's Paper Trail: A 'Treasure Trove' For U.S.

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Al-Qaida Killed Two CIA Officers 13 Years Ago

Molly Huckaby Hardy and Tom Shah were among more than 200 people killed in 1998 when al-Qaida bombed the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. And now, 13 years after their deaths, their CIA affiliation has been revealed. The U.S. government said the two were State Department employees. But both Hardy and Shah were working undercover for the CIA, according to Associated Press reporter Matt Apuzzo, who tells NPR's Melissa Block what he discovered.

Al-Qaida Killed Two CIA Officers 13 Years Ago

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Protesters, Police Clash Over Mladic Arrest

A protestor holds a picture of Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic as she attends a demonstration in front of Serbian Parliament on May 29, 2011 in Belgrade. Andrej Isakovic/Getty Images hide caption

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Andrej Isakovic/Getty Images

Protesters, Police Clash Over Mladic Arrest

Ultranationalists gathered outside parliament in Belgrade Sunday waving posters of Ratko Mladic, who was captured last week after nearly 16 years as a fugitive. Mladic's lawyer says he is too sick to stand trial but Serbian authorities are determined to extradite him to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague to be tried for the execution of thousands at Srebrenica during the Bosnian war.

Protesters, Police Clash Over Mladic Arrest

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National

Gates: Defense Cuts Will Shrink U.S. Role Worldwide

Defense secretary Robert Gates is expected to step down next month. In what may have been his final policy speech last week, he leveled a warning to Congress and the White House — deep cuts in the Pentagon's budget will mean both a smaller military, and a diminished U.S. role around the world. In a column at ForeignPolicy.com, Stephen Walt argued, that's not necessarily a bad thing: "We should be focusing a lot more attention on long-term capacity building than fighting costly wars in places that don't matter very much (like Afghanistan)."

Gates: Defense Cuts Will Shrink U.S. Role Worldwide

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When Iraq War Ends, How Many Troops Will Stay?

U.S. military leaders are debating how many troops will stay in Iraq when the war winds down by year's end. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says some troops will stay for years past the deadline, but Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr warns that if U.S. troops remain past 2011, his militias will return to violence.

When Iraq War Ends, How Many Troops Will Stay?

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The Impact of War

Filmmaker Chronicles The Reality Of U.S. Troops In Iraq

Journalist and documentary filmmaker Brian Palmer has been to Iraq three times. His new film, Full Disclosure , chronicles the everyday lives inside the First Battalion, Second Marine Regiment. Palmer shares his experiences with the Marines on the front lines.

Filmmaker Chronicles The Reality Of U.S. Troops In Iraq

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