Fatma Tanis

Aid workers dish up rice and stew to refugees at the Gawilan camp in northern Iraq. The camp has accommodated nearly 2,000 new arrivals in the past month.

Syrian Kurdish Refugees Say Kurdish Forces Tried To Prevent Them From Fleeing To Iraq

Fatma Tanis

"They told us, even if you stand here for 100 years, we are not going to let you cross," one refugee who made it to an Iraqi camp tells NPR. Many have resorted to paying smugglers to help them cross.

Iraqi youth watch the news about ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's death, in Najaf, Iraq, on Sunday.

'We Didn't See A Body': Baghdadi's Death Draws Doubts In Lands Where ISIS Ruled

Fatma Tanis

In Iraq and Syria, the ISIS leader's death has stirred a mix of responses — from joy to disbelief to dread that the militants will rise again.

Flames are seen at the production facility of Saudi Aramco's Shaybah oilfield in May.

Saudi Arabia's Ambitious Economic Overhaul Hinges On Reducing Its Oil 'Addiction'

Jackie Northam

The government has ambitious plans to diversify the oil kingdom — and that means revamping the world's biggest petroleum producer.

Saudi women wait for their drivers outside a hotel in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Hooking Up Gets Easier To Do In Saudi Arabia

Jackie Northam

These days, some young people in the conservative kingdom also use Tinder to find a match.

Saudi women jog in the streets of Jeddah in March. The government is encouraging greater participation by women in sports.

'Culture Shock Within Their Own Country': Saudis Come To Grips With Swift Changes

Jackie Northam

Activities once forbidden — cinema, music, women driving — are now OK. It makes some Saudis nervous. "I talk to younger people, they are happy with it," says a Saudi woman. "But older people are not."

Lubna Olayan in her office at Olayan Financing Company in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in April.

Lubna Olayan Broke Saudi Arabia's Glass Ceiling. Now She Wants More Women To Work

Jackie Northam

The influential Saudi CEO discusses what she's done to get more women working.

The AMC cinema in Riyadh hosted the first film screening in more than three decades on April 18. Movie theaters open to the wider public next month after Saudi Arabia lifted a 35-year ban on cinemas as part of a far-reaching liberalization drive.

As Saudi Arabia's Cinema Ban Ends, Filmmakers Eye New Opportunities

Jackie Northam

Allowing cinemas is part of a modernization drive by the Saudi government, which hopes to create more business opportunities and become a regional film hub. But it's a tough place to be a filmmaker.

Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh wait to receive food distributed by a Turkish aid agency at a refugee camp on Saturday.

U.N. Rights Chief: Myanmar's Treatment Of Rohingya Includes 'Almost ISIS-Type Crimes'

Fatma Tanis

The violence includes "some of the most awful crimes we have ever seen," including beheadings and cutting children's throats, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein tells NPR.

2 Houstonians Talk About Their City And How Hurricane Harvey Could Change It

Fatma Tanis

Watching from afar as the devastation unfolds in Texas has been difficult for anyone paying attention. But that experience is magnified for expatriate Houstonians — like NPR's producer Fatma Tanis.