World

Preliminary voting tallies in the Afghan presidential election, released Monday, did little to ease a brewing political crisis. The losing candidate continued to claim fraud, declaring himself the winner instead. Meanwhile, the U.S. is warning of a power grab.

In a speech in Oslo, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder urged European partners to do more to find and disrupt plans of would-be terrorists who head to Syria — and, once trained, might return to the West.

Israel stepped up its air assault on the Gaza Strip, following the killings of Israeli and Palestinian teens. Unlike air strikes in the past, Israel has tempered its initial show of force for several reasons, but the situation appears to be steadily intensifying.

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This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Robert Siegel.

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And I'm Melissa Block. Three years ago this was the sound of freedom being celebrated in the world's newest country.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing in foreign language).

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ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.

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And I'm Melissa Block. The clock is ticking for Argentina. Yes, in the World Cup, but here, we're talking about its effort to prevent another debt crisis. Argentina has until the end of this month to pay its bondholders or it risks going into default. As NPR's Jim Zarroli reports, the dispute hinges on one particular clause in the country's debt contracts that could cost the country billions of dollars.

Guinea worm is about as close to a real-life Alien event as you can get — a parasitic worm mates inside a person's abdomen, grows up to 3 feet long and then exits (painfully) from a blister.

But the worm's final chapter is near: The world is closer than ever to wiping the parasite off the face of the Earth.

"Goats and Soda: Stories of Life in a Changing World."

That's the name of NPR's new blog, covering health and all sorts of development around the world.

You may be thinking: "Goats? Soda? This blog is going to look at communicable diseases, education struggles, sanitation concerns ... and it's called 'Goats and Soda'?"

We considered many names. A few seemed promising but fell short. Unarrested Development? Globelandia? Up the Road? They were too long, too hard to say on the radio or too vague.

Australia has agreed not to return a second boatload of Sri Lankan asylum seekers without first giving 72 hours' notice. The pledge came at a High Court hearing Tuesday, a day after the government acknowledged that it had handed over 41 asylum seekers to Sri Lankan authorities in a transfer at sea.

Coming off of two victories this weekend, Ukraine is calling for pro-Russian separatists to lay down their arms in Donetsk before taking part in peace talks. Rebels in the city are reportedly preparing to resist Ukraine's forces.

Plans for talks about a cease-fire are now in limbo, as President Petro Poroshenko and the militants also disagree on the location. From the AP: