John Limbert, who spent 444 days as a hostage in Tehran, stepped down as head of the State Department's Iran desk on Friday. Limbert says that while the White House has made persistent efforts to change the tone of America's relationship with Iran, conflicts between the two nations are deeply ingrained.

Mexico's army claimed a victory this week against one of the country's most powerful drug cartels. Soldiers shot and killed Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, a top lieutenant to the kingpin of the Sinaloa cartel. Guest host Jacki Lyden talks to reporter Michael O'Boyle about the latest developments in Mexico's drug wars.

The leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia wrapped up a visit to Lebanon Friday, seeking to cool tensions over an imminent move to indict members of a Shiite militia for the 2005 assassination of Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri. The anticipated indictment from a special international tribunal has prompted worries about a new flare-up of sectarian violence in Lebanon. Guest host Jacki Lyden recaps the visit with NPR's Deborah Amos.

Flooding in Pakistan has killed more than 800 people in a week, a government official said Saturday as rescuers struggled to reach marooned victims and some evacuees showed signs of fever, diarrhea and other waterborne diseases. The U.N. estimated Saturday that some 1 million people nationwide were affected by the disaster.

Concerns about safety oversight prompted the move, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The action won't stop flights between the two countries, but it will prevent Mexican airlines like AeroMexico and Mexicana from expanding service to the United States.

Saudi Arabia and Syria were bitterly divided in the aftermath of the 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. But the leaders of both countries visited Lebanon on Friday to try to ease tensions over reports Hezbollah will be implicated in the crime by an international tribunal.

Israeli law prohibits women from reading the Torah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, one of Judaism's most sacred spots. Anat Hoffman wants to change that. She's the chairwoman of Women of the Wall and a leading figure in the Reform movement in Israel. Earlier this month she was arrested for carrying the Torah at the wall. Hoffman tells guest host Rebecca Roberts about the incident and why she is so steadfastly working to upend the gender-based restrictions.

The fires have spread quickly across more than 200,000 acres in recent days after a record heat wave and severe drought. July has been the hottest month in Moscow in 130 years of recorded history.

Embassy spokesman Paul Patin says employees in the mailroom identified a "suspicious letter" and French authorities were summoned to examine it. A Paris police official says the two were feeling "unwell" and that the incident is being investigated.

The death toll in three days of flooding in Pakistan reached at least 313 on Friday, rescue and government officials said, as rains bloated rivers, submerged villages, and triggered landslides.

Northwest Pakistan has been hit by its heaviest rains in 80 years. The storms are affecting some 400,000 people from the tribal areas. There is also flooding in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, and its sister city, Rawalpindi.

NATO's announcement that six more U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan brings the death toll for this month to at least 66, surpassing the previous month's record as the deadliest for American forces in the nearly 9-year-old war.

Behind China's complicated economy exists a vast underground economy of corruption and bribery. A recent case in which an anti-corruption official was convicted of taking bribes -- and now awaits execution -- shows how endemic and open a secret the problem is.

As India competes in the global economy, new challenges arise for its aging population, who once relied on their children to help them through old age. Morning Edition commentator Sandip Roy explains.

The U.S. Embassy said it was closing the consulate pending a security review, but did not elaborate. Ciudad Juarez, across the river from El Paso, Texas, is at the center of Mexico's war on drug gangs.