Search results for

Three Marines were punished for abusing an Iraqi prisoner of war last May, just weeks after the end of major combat operations, according to a Marine investigation report obtained by NPR. All three received confinement, a reduction in rank and forfeiture of pay. In a separate case, a Marine reservist and a camp commander face courts-martial in the June 2003 death of a Baath Party official. NPR's Libby Lewis reports.

U.S. forces move closer to one of Shiite Islam's most sacred sites, the Imam Ali shrine in the city of Najaf. Militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr engage in fierce firefights in the vast cemetery surrounding the shrine with U.S. troops backed by tanks. There are reports the shrine may be damaged by the fighting. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports from Baghdad.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is taking a pounding in the local press for his decision to expel a New York Times reporter who wrote an unflattering article about the president's drinking. The case is the latest public-relations disaster for Lula, who has seen his popularity dip after being elected a year and a half ago in a surge of affection and hope. NPR's Martin Kaste reports.

A new wave of fighting breaks out between supporters of a radical Shiite cleric and U.S. and Iraqi government forces. Clashes are reported throughout southern Iraq and the Shiite-dominated Baghdad slum known as Sadr City. An American military spokesman says 300 Shiite militiamen were killed in one city alone. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

President Bush says he would consider major changes to the nation's intelligence services in response to the report expected this week from a bipartisan commission. The panel has been probing what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, and how it might have been prevented. One idea is to create a cabinet-level chief of all intelligence operations. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

The Pentagon announces new procedures for investigating the deaths of people in U.S. military custody. The new rules call for every death to be reported to military investigators and the Armed Forces medical examiner, who will decide if an autopsy is required. The guidelines are seen as an attempt to quell criticism of detainee deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

Earlier this week, NPR's Daniel Zwerdling presented two reports looking at the difficulties some soldiers face getting treatment for mental health issues in the military. He discusses his reports, and Dr. William Winkenwerder, head of the military health system, talks about military efforts to try to take care of the mental health of soldiers.

Six women are suing the University of Southern California, alleging they were victimized by a campus gynecologist who was allowed to practice for decades despite complaints.

In the third report in her series on refugees in the post-Cold War era, NPR's Ann Cooper reports on the political limitations facing the United Nations refugee agency--the U-N High Commissioner for Refugees. In an emergency, the world's powers always turn first to the UNHCR. But in the messy conflicts of the post-Cold War world, the refugee agency often is unable to accomplish a central goal of its work--getting refugees to go home again. This is particularly true in the cases of Bosnia and Rwanda.

NPR's Michael Skoler reports from Nairobi on fears in Africa that the civil war in Zaire could lead to the disintegration of that key nation. Rich in natural resources and bordering nine countries, Zaire is seen as the key to a stable central Africa. There are already unconfirmed reports that neighboring countries are involved on one side or the other in Zaire's conflict. Many fear that an escalation of the conflict could tempt other countries to try to seize parts of Zaire...a move which would throw all of the region's colonially-drawn boundaries into question.