beyondBeijing2008.com

From the newly reopened national museum to a restored girls’ school, an improved security situation in Baghdad has led to many signs of stability in the Iraqi capital.
Iraq’s restored National Museum formally reopened on Monday, six years after looters carried away priceless antiquities and treasures in the chaos following the U.S.-led invasion. NBC News’ Sarah [...]

Improved security is ushering in a new sense of openness in Iraq. As NBC News’ Richard Engel reports, the nation’s women are determined to shake off the repression that came with years of violence.

VIDEO: Iraqi women enjoying greater freedoms…(read more)

There’s a new weapon in the fight against the Taliban, and it’s hardly high-tech. As NBC News’ Jim Maceda reports, U.S. officials are hoping that growing pomegranates will cut into the militants’ opium trade.

VIDEO: New weapon against the Taliban: Pomegranates …(read more)

By Karim Hilmi, NBC NewsBAGHDAD  — Concrete blast walls and armed paramilitaries carrying AK-47 assault rifles still guard the street leading to Baghdad’s Virgin Mary Cathedral.But despite the danger that comes with being a Christian in Iraq, Father Azeria Warda Benyameen refuses to accept any bodyguards.”I believe the mighty God is the supreme protector and [...]

by Ann Curry, NBC News
CHAD/DARFUR BORDER — We traveled to the Chad/Darfur border with New York Times columnist Nick Kristof and actor/activist George Clooney, two men you might not guess have much in common, but both are smart and funny – and care deeply about Darfur.
Today in a refugee camp on the Chad side, we found in [...]