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Jane Arraf Jane Arraf is NPR's International Correspondent based in Cairo.
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Middle East

A Look Back At Moments Of Devastation And Hope In Mideast

After covering the end of the ISIS caliphate on NPR for four years, NPR correspondent Jane Arraf revisits some of the most memorable stories she's shared with listeners.

A Look Back At Moments Of Devastation And Hope In Mideast

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With No Options, Displaced Iraqi Yazidis Return To Homes Destroyed In ISIS Fight

Nofa Khudeda (left) and a neighbor in the village of Tel Qasab on the day Khudeda and her husband returned after six years in a camp for displaced Yazidis. Khudeda and her husband, Ali Edo, repaired and renovated the house, which had been looted by ISIS fighters and then militias that fought ISIS. Jane Arraf/NPR hide caption

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Life After ISIS: The Struggle And Survival Of Yazidis

With No Options, Displaced Iraqi Yazidis Return To Homes Destroyed In ISIS Fight

Thousands of Yazidis who were in displacement camps in northern Iraq's Kurdistan Region have returned to Sinjar. "It's a beautiful feeling to be home," says a Yazidi woman who recently arrived.

With No Options, Displaced Iraqi Yazidis Return To Homes Destroyed In ISIS Fight

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'Nothing Left In The World Except These Bones': Yazidis Search For Mothers' Remains

Survivors of the ISIS genocide of Yazidis walk to mass graves near the village of Kocho, northern Iraq, in August 2019, on the fifth anniversary of the massacre that killed most of the men and older boys in the village. Andrea DiCenzo for NPR hide caption

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Andrea DiCenzo for NPR

Life After ISIS: The Struggle And Survival Of Yazidis

'Nothing Left In The World Except These Bones': Yazidis Search For Mothers' Remains

Investigators have discovered 17 mass graves containing bodies of some of the 3,000 Yazidis killed by ISIS. For survivors, a grave with remains of older and pregnant women prompts a special anguish.

'Nothing Left In The World Except These Bones': Yazidis Search For Mothers' Remains

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Middle East

U.N. Investigators Help Yazidis In Iraq Find Bodies Of Loved Ones Killed By ISIS

In Iraq, six years after the ISIS genocide against the Yazidi minority, survivors are still trying to find bodies of their loved ones. U.N. investigators are exhuming mass graves.

U.N. Investigators Help Yazidis In Iraq Find Bodies Of Loved Ones Killed By ISIS

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Middle East

Some Of The Nearly 200,000 Displaced Yazidis Return Home

Long after the fall of ISIS, Yazidis are now returning to the ruined towns of their homeland. It's been six years since ISIS launched its genocide against the religious minority in Sinjar.

Some Of The Nearly 200,000 Displaced Yazidis Return Home

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A Yazidi Woman Searches For Her Lost Daughter, Kidnapped By ISIS 6 Years Ago

Kamo Zandinan says goodbye in the Mosul orphanage to a 10-year-old girl she believes is her daughter Sonya, taken from her by ISIS six years ago. The girl was rescued by police in March from an Arab family to whom she was not related. Zandinan is waiting for DNA tests to confirm whether the girl is her daughter. Jane Arraf/NPR hide caption

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Life After ISIS: The Struggle And Survival Of Yazidis

A Yazidi Woman Searches For Her Lost Daughter, Kidnapped By ISIS 6 Years Ago

ISIS fighters tore Kamo Zandinan's 4-year-old daughter Sonya from her arms in 2014. Zandinan, now a refugee in Canada, recently returned to Iraq to meet the 10-year-old girl she believes is Sonya.

A Yazidi Woman Searches For Her Lost Daughter, Kidnapped By ISIS 6 Years Ago

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Egypt Defiant As International Criticism Grows Over Arrest Of Human Rights Activists

Gasser Abdel Razek, executive director of Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, in a photo from the organization's website. Abdel Razek was arrested with two other officials of the civil rights organization after the met with European ambassadors. Courtesy Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights hide caption

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Courtesy Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights

World

Egypt Defiant As International Criticism Grows Over Arrest Of Human Rights Activists

Three prominent figures in the country's embattled human rights movement were arrested after meeting with European ambassadors. The Egyptian government is accusing them of being terrorists.

World

Her Daughter Was Taken By ISIS 6 Years Ago. Now She May Have Found Her

A Yazidi mother who was separated from her daughter in the ISIS genocide believes she's found her. But she's awaiting confirmation from a DNA test.

Her Daughter Was Taken By ISIS 6 Years Ago. Now She May Have Found Her

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Inside The World Of A Jordanian Nurse Doing Essential Work In The Pandemic

Samah Ibrahim Tanieub at home with her sons, Eyan, 5, and Rayan, 7 (left). Taniub is a divorced single mother working in the isolation ward of Amman's main COVID hospital. Jane Arraf/NPR hide caption

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World

Inside The World Of A Jordanian Nurse Doing Essential Work In The Pandemic

A nurse in Jordan struggles to care for her own children and parents while staying free of COVID-19 while she treats patients infected with the virus.

Inside The World Of A Jordanian Nurse Doing Essential Work In The Pandemic

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World

What Might Biden's Presidency Mean For U.S. Foreign Policy?

Foreign leaders are assessing what a Joe Biden presidency will mean for their relations with the U.S. We examine how Biden's presidency could affect U.S. relations with China, Russia and Iraq.

What Might Biden's Presidency Mean For U.S. Foreign Policy?

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Iraqi Family Identifies Their Son As ISIS Teen At Center Of Navy War Crimes Trial

Khaled Jamal Abdullah after running away from home to pledge allegiance to ISIS and join the militant group as a fighter. He had just turned 16. Jamal Abdullah Naser hide caption

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Jamal Abdullah Naser

World

Iraqi Family Identifies Their Son As ISIS Teen At Center Of Navy War Crimes Trial

The name of the young ISIS fighter was not revealed in U.S. court proceedings, and the records are sealed. NPR has identified the fighter with the help of Iraqi officials and the teenager's family.

Iraqi Family Identifies Their Son As ISIS Teen At Center Of Navy War Crimes Trial

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Middle East

Christian Refugees From Iraq On Their New Lives In Jordan

Almost two-thirds of Iraq's Christians have left the country since the U.S. invasion in 2003. NPR caught up with some of them in Jordan to talk about their new life and plans to return to Iraq.

Christian Refugees From Iraq On Their New Lives In Jordan

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Middle East

Tension Is Rising In Iraq Over An Alleged U.S. Threat To Close Its Embassy

Iraqi leaders are decrying what they say is a threat by the U.S. to close its embassy in Baghdad. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said closing the U.S. Embassy would be "disastrous."

Tension Is Rising In Iraq Over An Alleged U.S. Threat To Close Its Embassy

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Kuwait's Emir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Dies At 91

Kuwait state television announced Tuesday that the country's ruler, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, pictured last year at the 40th Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Saudi Arabia, has died. Amr Nabil/AP hide caption

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Amr Nabil/AP

Obituaries

Kuwait's Emir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Dies At 91

Sheikh Sabah spent four decades as foreign minister before becoming emir in 2006. He was known as a master diplomat who tried to mediate disputes in the volatile Gulf region.

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