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Leila Fadel Leila Fadel is a host of Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First.
Leila Fadel, photographed for NPR, 2 May 2022, in Washington DC. Photo by Mike Morgan for NPR.
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Leila Fadel

Tuesday

Middle East

Major sticking points between Israel and Hamas have made a ceasefire elusive

Throughout 2024 negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas were on again and off again. There were moments of great optimism and then months of no negotiations at all.

Major sticking points between Israel and Hamas have made a ceasefire elusive

Listen · 3:48
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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director General, delivers his speech after inaugurating the WHO Academy campus which promotes lifelong learning across the health sector, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Lyon, central France.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director General, delivers his speech after inaugurating the WHO Academy campus which promotes lifelong learning across the health sector, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Lyon, central France. Laurent Cipriani/AP hide caption

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Laurent Cipriani/AP

Middle East

WHO director urges Israel to stop attacks on Gaza's medical infrastructure

World Health Organization director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who escaped an Israeli airstrike in Yemen, says Gaza's health crisis is indescribable and is calling for a ceasefire.

The WHO urges Israel to stop attacks on Gaza’s medical infrastructure

Listen · 7:17
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Monday

Obituaries

A review of Carter's foreign policy and views on global affairs post presidency

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Richard Haass, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, who reflects on his time serving in the Pentagon under President Jimmy Carter, who has died at age 100.

A review of Carter's foreign policy and views on global affairs post presidency

Listen · 4:59
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Middle East

Shockwaves reverberate after Syrian official says he wants cordial ties with Israel

The governor of Damascus faces backlash after he tells NPR that he wants the U.S. to mediate cordial relations with Israel.

Shockwaves reverberate after Syrian official says he wants cordial ties with Israel

Listen · 3:43
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Business

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell says the economy is ending 2024 on a positive note

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution, about the U.S. economic outlook for 2025.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell says the economy is ending 2024 on a positive note

Listen · 4:21
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Friday

Middle East

Stephen Rapp discusses holding the former Syrian regime accountable for atrocities

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Stephen Rapp, a former U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, on his trip to Syria to help preserve evidence from mass graves.

Stephen Rapp discusses holding the former Syrian regime accountable for atrocities

Listen · 4:42
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Wednesday

State of the World from NPR

Why Syria's Military Imploded So Quickly

Former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad depended on his military to keep him in power for years. Then in just a matter of days, that same feared military disintegrated as rebel groups took control of the country. Our reporter in Damascus talks to former military members to understand why the military collapsed so fast.

Why Syria's Military Imploded So Quickly

Listen · 7:37
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Middle East

Syria's ousted dictator relied on a brutal army, and powerful allies. What changed?

Stories from men conscripted into the Syrian military help explain why it collapsed.

Syria's ousted dictator relied on a brutal army, and powerful allies. What changed?

Listen · 6:21
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Tuesday

Sarah Abdel Hamid Al-A'ami holds photos of her 4 brothers who were all accused of terrorism under the Assad regime, and though she came to search posters of dead bodies, she still hasn't found any signs of them.

Sarah Abdel Hamid Al-A'ami holds photos of her 4 brothers who were all accused of terrorism under the Assad regime, and though she came to search posters of dead bodies, she still hasn't found any signs of them. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

Middle East

Syrian families scour hospitals and morgues for loved ones lost under Assad's rule

People in Syria are looking for their relatives and friends in prisons, hospitals and morgues. The U.N. estimates over 100,00 people have gone missing in Syria under the Assad regime.

With the collapse of the Assad regime, families across Syria search for loved ones

Listen · 10:49
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Tawfik Diab lost 12 family members, including his wife and four children, in the 2018 chemical attack in Ghouta.

Tawfik Diab lost 12 family members, including his wife and four children, in the 2018 chemical attack in Ghouta. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

Middle East

Syrians can finally tell their stories about Assad's chemical attacks

With Bashar al-Assad gone, survivors of his regime's chemical attacks share their stories. NPR met a father who was forced for years to stay silent about how his children were killed.

Syrians can finally tell their stories about Assad's chemical attacks

Listen · 7:23
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Monday

State of the World from NPR

Will Sectarian Groups Get Along in a New Syria?

As the future of Syria begins to emerge, one minority group is particularly fearful about how they'll be treated. The Alawites feel like they were mistreated by now-deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad, but because he was a member of that sect, they are also unfairly tied to him in the minds of other Syrians. We go to an Alawite neighborhood of Damascus to hear their concerns.

Will Sectarian Groups Get Along in a New Syria?

Listen · 7:55
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Middle East

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was cruel to those he leaned on the most for support

When Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad fled the country, members of his own minority sect say he left them impoverished and stained with his legacy.

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was cruel to those he leaned on the most for support

Listen · 7:01
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Middle East

What comes next for Syria after the Assad regime

NPR's Leila Fadel, Jane Arraf, and Ruth Sherlock share their reporting from Syria more than a week after the fall of the Assad regime.

What comes next for Syria after the Assad regime

Listen · 7:17
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