Deborah Amos

The man at the eye of the storm in Saudi Arabia is Ahmad Aziz Al Ghamdi. He's a religious scholar, the former head of the religious police in Mecca, a group officially known as the Committee for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

He has the pedigree of an ...

Signaling what could be a major shift in U.S. relations with Cuba, Gross, who has been jailed in Cuba for five years, will be released, while the U.S. will release three Cubans.

The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council is expected to form an unprecedented, NATO-inspired joint military command. The growing strength of ISIS and Iran's influence have made cooperation more urgent.

The stabbing death of an American schoolteacher in a bathroom at an upscale mall in Abu Dhabi this week has shocked the United Arab Emirates, citizens and international residents alike. Violent crime is rare in the Emirates, a place where glitzy shopping centers are the hub of social life.

An ...

As part of the 50 Great Teachers series, NPR's Bob Mondello looks at what Hollywood has taught us about teachers.

Souq.com, created by U.S.-educated Ronaldo Mouchawar, has a strong presence in the Middle East. Since the boom in cell phones in the region, "you can feel the crescendo" in its tech sector, he says.

Can Iran and six world powers reach a historic deal over Iran's nuclear program by Monday? The negotiations are at a crucial phase. As the deadline nears, regional hopes and fears are rising in equal measure.

A successful nuclear deal to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions could finally defuse one of ...

A U.S.-led coalition is targeting Islamic State militants. Obama says he's not trying to "solve" Syria's war, a far cry from efforts made to negotiate an end to the war or build up the rebellion.

Imagine this: You have a great idea for an Internet startup. You're sure it will work. You are ready to be part of the global market. There's one big problem: You live in Iran, a country facing some of the most extensive financial sanctions imposed on any country in the ...

The Kurds are now regularly mentioned in the news about the fight against the self-proclaimed Islamic State. But who are they, where do they live and why do Americans need to care? St...

Thousands of international recruits have crossed into Syria from Turkey to join the Islamic State. A Syrian man who helped smuggle those jihadis in explains how it worked, but says he's stopped now.

The U.S. says it's not coordinating its attacks on ISIS with the Syrian regime. But opponents to Syrian President Bashar Assad worry that he's benefitting from the U.S. air campaign.

A Syrian defector from the self-proclaimed Islamic State says he had happy moments when he first joined the militants. But he began to see brutality and cruelty that was impossible for him to support.

Pentagon officials say airstrikes targeted mobile oil refineries being used by militants of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. The group uses the money from the refineries to fund its operations.

The Pentagon says Islamic State targets in Syria were pounded using fighters, bombers and Tomahawk sea-based missiles. We examine the regional impact of the strikes on ISIS headquarters in Raqqa.

Multiple crises could be difficult for diplomats to make priorities with so many key issues at stake: the Ebola crisis, terrorism in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine — just to name a few.

The "moderate" opposition has been losing ground on the battlefield and pleading for weapons from the U.S. for the past couple of years. They are hoping that their fortunes have finally changed.

The White House is lobbying Congress to authorize a package to arm and train Syria's moderate rebels. The funding is key to Obama's strategy to confront militants known as the Islamic State, or ISIS.

Leaders and diplomats from more than 20 countries met in Paris on Monday to offer a mixed bag of support in the U.S.-led campaign against the militants of the self-proclaimed Islamic State.