NPR People: Deborah Amos

Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, about 4 million Iraqis have fled their homes. Another 2 million have fled the country entirely. Throughout the war, NPR's Deborah Amos has spent much of her time with Iraqis who fled to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. She has a new book out: Eclipse of the Sunnis: Power, Exile and Upheaval in the Middle East.

Medical personnel from the U.S. government were almost involved in a mid-air collision over the crowded and chaotic Port-au-Prince airport Thursday. The aircraft was diverted to Turks and Caicos, delaying the emergency teams for yet another day as the clock ticks down on helping severely injured survivors.

A new poll by the Pew Research Center finds that despite high unemployment and other economic woes afflicting the African-American community, blacks are more optimistic about their prospects than they were just two years ago. The poll also found that more blacks and whites than before believe they share common values.

The Obama administration is trying to do something about the high unemployment rate. White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairwoman Christina Romer told CNN that the White House is talking about actions to jump-start job creation.

The headwaters of the Middle East's great rivers, the Euphrates and Tigris, originate in Turkey, which controls flow of the waters to the Arab world downstream. A three-year drought has devastated Syria and Iraq, fueling resentment against the Turks.

The Middle East is facing its worst water crisis in decades. For three summers, the annual rains have failed to come. Farmland has dried up in Iraq, Syria, southeast Turkey and Lebanon. The dire conditions are creating a new phenomenon: water refugees.

Aleppo, in northern Syria, is one of the oldest cities in the world. Now, this Middle East gourmet capital is registering on the itineraries of food tourists. Its cuisine is the product of fertile land and location — along the Silk Road, an ancient trading route.

Many of Iran's political dissidents have fled to Turkey, since the disputed presidential election in June and subsequent government crackdown. While many bloggers say they can continue reporting on Iran's anti-government protests from Turkey, they say Iranian intelligence agents cross the border, and harass them even in exile.

An indictment in the largest and most explosive trial in Turkish history claims that an ultranational gang plotted to overthrow the government. The trial has raised tensions between Turkey's secular military and the ruling party, the AKP, which swept to power in 2002 by a rising class of Turks who identify themselves as religious Muslims.

Iraqi refugees in exile wonder whether they will be allowed to vote in Iraq's elections next year as they were in 2005.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to end a 25-year-old Kurdish rebellion by giving more rights to the minority Kurds. But a ban on the country's main Kurdish political party — over alleged links to Kurdish rebels — is exacerbating tensions.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits President Obama at the White House Monday. Turkey is building stronger ties with Iran and that has raised concerns in Washington. Also the prime minister heads a party with Islamist roots — a departure from decades of secular leadership in Turkey. That has some asking if the NATO member is titling East at the expense of the West.

Mexico's economy relies heavily on money flowing back to the country from workers in the U.S. The recession has hit these remittances hard. But as the U.S. recession fades, more Mexican men are traveling north to look for work as Mexico's severe downturn lingers.

The vast majority of undocumented Mexican workers in the U.S. are staying put. They are working less and hoping that an economic recovery restores jobs. Besides, they say, the recession back home in Mexico is even worse. Immigrant economic ties are strong between New York City and the Mexican city of Puebla.