Search results for

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair conclude a summit in Northern Ireland. The two say the United Nations will have a "vital role" in postwar Iraq. Bush suggests the role primarily would be humanitarian. But Blair is under pressure from his public and European neighbors to permit a leading U.N. role in governing and rebuilding Iraq. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports.

NPR's Melissa Block talks with Craig Nelson, a reporter for Cox Newspapers, at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad where many reporters are staying. The hotel was attacked today by an American tank, killing two journalists. U.S. officials say journalists are not a target, and the tank was returning fire against a sniper. Nelson says the reporters staying at the hotel thought there would be danger in covering the war from errant bombs, but never thought their hotel would be deliberately targeted.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from the Pentagon with an overview of today's events in Iraq. U.S. military leaders are being questioned about the deaths of at least three journalists in Baghdad as a result of U.S. fire. Pentagon officials also described the attack on a building where Saddam Hussein and his sons might have been meeting but can't confirm whether they were killed or injured.

Thousands of volunteers head to Iraq from other Arab states to fight the United States and Britain. Some say they are responding to calls for holy war. NPR's Kate Seeleye reports.

NPR's Anne Garrels reports from downtown Baghdad that it was another day of battling in the streets of the Iraqi capital. The fighting and chaos of urban war has blown away the capital's spirit of defiance and is causing a mounting toll of Iraqi casualties.

NPR's Larry Abramson reports on the results of FBI interviews of Iraqis living in the United States. The FBI says the information developed has helped with war planning. Many Iraqi Americans have said they're happy to be interviewed, but some critics say the process creates resentment among immigrants.

An NPR War Diary entry from Lt. Col. Ken Brown, a chaplain with the 101st Airborne Division, in southern Iraq, who is helping young Americans in the armed forces to deal with their first brush with death, close up.

Chicago-based alternative country label Bloodshot Records began with a modest ambition: to make good music and maybe sell a few albums along the way. Bloodshot has been issuing recordings since 1994. They recently reached a milestone -- their 100th release. To celebrate, they've compiled a collection of singles and rare recordings titled Making Singles, Drinking Doubles. Meredith Ochs has a review.

NPR's Robert Siegel speaks with NPR's Ann Garrels in Baghdad. She gives an update of today's events in Iraq, and the mood of the city now that night has overtaken an eventful day.

NPR's Mike Shuster brings us an overview on today's developments and the current situation in Iraq.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says U.S.-led forces are now liberating Baghdad, and that "Saddam Hussein is now taking his rightful place alongside Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Ceausescu in the pantheon of failed brutal dictators." NPR's Scott Horsley has the latest from the Pentagon.

NPR's Melissa Block speaks with NPR's John Burnett, traveling with the U.S. Marines. He reports they moved with relative ease throughout the eastern half of Baghdad.

U.S. Marines moved with relative ease through much of eastern Baghdad, which is now under their control. While many Iraqis celebrated by cheering and dancing in the streets over the apparent collapse of their government, others celebrated by wholesale looting. NPR's John Burnett is with the Marines in Baghdad.

U.S. Marines pushing to the center of Baghdad from the east are expected to link up with Army troops moving in from the west. The Marines' advance is met with sporadic resistance. Hear NPR's John Burnett.

Spontaneous celebrations break out in Dearborn, Mich. -- home to a large Arab-American community and many Iraqi immigrants -- as news arrives that Baghdad is in U.S. hands. Celeste Headlee of member station WDET reports.

Kurdish fighters and U.S. Special Forces take control of a key mountaintop overlooking the Iraqi-held city of Mosul, a senior Kurdish official says. He says it is the most important gain in the region thus far, and has opened the way for troops to enter Mosul. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson.

NPR's Melissa Block speaks with CNN reporter Diana Muriel in Basra about the problem of keeping the peace there. British forces took the city on Monday, and now residents are angry that forces there have failed to halt widespread looting and lawlessness.

Scientists in Hong Kong studying severe acute respiratory syndrome say the flu-like illness may be caused by a previously unknown form of the coronavirus, which also causes the common cold. In a study published in Lancet, researchers say 45 out of 50 people with SARS, which has killed more than 100 people worldwide, have the virus in their blood. Hear NPR's John McChesney.

Facing no resistance from forces loyal to Saddam Hussein, Kurdish militia and U.S. Special Forces seize the key northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, one of the country's main oil-producing areas. Kurdish leaders also report advances elsewhere, including oil fields further north. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson.

Now that Baghdad has fallen and southern Iraq is largely under the control of U.S. and British forces, attention is turning to the northern part of the country where the key city of Kirkuk fell today. Some analysts believe the next big battle for US led forces will be Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. NPR's Tom Gjelten analyzes the military options.

Now that the Iraqi regime has been toppled, the U.S. faces the task of rebuilding the country, physically and politically. NPR's Melissa Block talks about the challenges of administering a postwar country with Ambassador James Dobbins, the Bush administration's special envoy to Afghanistan, and a consultant for the United States in Kosovo, Bosnia, Haiti and Somalia.

Two new scientific papers are at odds over the question of whether it's currently possible to clone humans. One study suggests it's impossible with current methods. But earlier this week, a fertility doctor in Kentucky reported that he had successfully created a very early human embryo clone. NPR's Joe Palca reports.

U.S. officials say Saddam Hussein's regime appears to have lost hold of Baghdad, though some fighting continues. Security forces and government officials have disappeared, replaced by looters, and a crowd of Iraqi citizens, with th help of a U.S. Marine vehicle, topples a 40-foot statue of Saddam Hussein. U.S. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks says the regime "is in disarray and much of Iraq is free from years of oppression." Hear NPR News.

U.S. special forces troops and Kurdish fighters enter Mosul after the Iraqi army abandons the northern city. Widespread looting and celebrations are now under way. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson.

NPR's Eric Westervelt is with the Army 3rd Infantry Division in Baghdad.