Alice Fordham
Alice Fordham is an NPR International Correspondent based in Beirut, Lebanon.
In this role, she reports on Lebanon, Syria and many of the countries throughout the Middle East.
Before joining NPR in 2014, Fordham covered the Middle East for five years, reporting for The Washington Post, the Economist, The Times and other publications. She has worked in wars and political turmoil but also amid beauty, resilience and fun.
In 2011, Fordham was a Stern Fellow at the Washington Post. That same year she won the Next Century Foundation's Breakaway award, in part for an investigation into Iraqi prisons.
Fordham graduated from Cambridge University with a Bachelor of Arts in Classics.
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The pontiff arrived at Baghdad International Airport where he was greeted by the prime minister. During his four-day visit, Francis will focus on Iraq's ancient but dwindling Christian community.
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The U.S. launched an air attack in Syria Thursday. Pentagon officials say they targeted facilities used by Iranian-backed militias responsible for a deadly rocket attack on a U.S. base in Iraq.
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Domestic tourism has been strong in Iraq's northern Kurdish region, but sites in more impoverished, insecure areas tend to be visited less. A few Iraqi tourism companies are trying to change that.
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Many Iraqis — Christian and Muslim — say they are excited about the first papal visit to the country, raising hopes of religious tolerance in the face of extremist violence.
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"Iraq's economic situation can probably best be described as being dire," says an International Energy Agency expert. Government revenues have plummeted and its currency has been devalued.
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Twin suicide bombings at a Baghdad market — unheard of in recent years — are raising security concerns as the Biden administration looks at the U.S. troops still in the country.
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Suicide bombings have been rare in the Iraqi capital since the country's military largely defeated the Islamic State group in 2017. But ISIS has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attacks.
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Syria's President Bashar Assad, seems to be keeping his promise to retake every inch of the country with brutal force. But people in the areas he controls are suffering economically, too.
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In Lebanon, a woman in a Palestinian refugee camp tested positive for the coronavirus. It's a worrying case for a country whose response to the virus is threatened by economic problems.
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The pandemic has "had a particularly heartbreaking impact on refugees — in the sense that it's cut off their ability to travel, and trapped them in precarious situations," says an immigration lawyer.