Hadeel Al-Shalchi
Hadeel al-Shalchi is an editor with Weekend Edition. Prior to joining NPR, Al-Shalchi was a Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press and covered the Arab Spring from Tunisia, Bahrain, Egypt, and Libya. In 2012, she joined Reuters as the Libya correspondent where she covered the country post-war and investigated the death of Ambassador Chris Stephens. Al-Shalchi also covered the front lines of Aleppo in 2012. She is fluent in Arabic.
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"Our problem is not with Israel. We don't want to meddle in anything that will threaten Israel's security," Damascus Governor Maher Marwan tells NPR. Syria and Israel have never had diplomatic ties. -
As Syria's economy collapsed during its civil war, the country became something of a narco state. The regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad earned billions by trafficking in the drug Captagon. -
Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is believed to have issued his first remarks, via the Telegram app from Moscow, since opposition forces took over the capital over a week ago. -
In Damascus, people stood shoulder to shoulder at one of Syria's holiest sites, the Umayyad Mosque, in the first Friday prayers since Bashar al-Assad was overthrown less than a week ago. -
The 29-year-old said he was detained earlier this year after crossing into Syria on foot from Lebanon and held in prison until the fall of Assad. Timmerman's family called it a "Christmas miracle." -
Palestinian citizens of Israel say they live in an atmosphere of fear, facing a backlash from Israeli society and arrests by authorities since the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel last year. -
Israel conducted airstrikes on "military targets in Iran," as Tehran was rocked by a series of explosions. Israel said the targets included missile manufacturing and surface-to-air missile sites. -
Vigils are taking worldwide to commemorate the approximately 1,200 killed in the Hamas attacks a year ago. Protests are planned to demand a cease-fire to the war that has killed nearly 42,000 in Gaza. -
The Iranian airstrikes come in the wake of stepped-up Israeli military operations in Lebanon against Hezbollah, a group backed by Iran for decades. Israel says it shot down most of the Iranian missiles. -
Under his leadership, Hezbollah, funded by Iran, became one of the most powerful militias in the Middle East, boasting a military force stronger even than the Lebanese army.
