Peter Kenyon

Ukrainian troops have been inside their bases in Crimea with sizable numbers of Russian troops and Crimean self-defense units blocking the entrances.

Vladimir Putin orders tens of thousands of troops in military exercises near Ukraine to pull back. Thousands of Russian servicemen control border crossings and block military bases inside Crimea.

Not everyone in Crimea is happy with recent events. Muslim Tatars, who'd lived there for centuries, were exiled by Stalin and could only return with the fall of Communism. Now, the Russians are back.

Attention is focusing on whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin will stop at Crimea or order his troops into eastern Ukraine, which also has a sizable pro-Russian population.

As the Russian military entrenches itself in the Crimean peninsula, NPR's Peter Kenyon reports on the latest news in Ukraine from Simferopol, Crimea's capital.

Armed men are patrolling two airports in the Ukrainian province of Crimea, and Ukraine's acting president is blaming Russia. Russia says its troops have nothing to do with it.

Pro-Russian forces have captured two buildings in Crimea, even as Russia is offering to protect the ousted Ukrainian president. Meanwhile, the new government in Kiev is warning against separatism.

Ukrainian leaders are struggling to return the country to some kind of peace. They plan to form a new government Thursday, even as separatist sentiment simmers in the country's eastern regions.

The interim Ukrainian president has delayed naming a new government. News of the delay comes as an economic crisis looms, tensions simmer with Russia and talk spreads of separatism in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine faces bankruptcy if it cannot raise billions of dollars within the next few months. An offer of aid from Moscow, made before the revolution, now appears to be in doubt.

The new authorities in Kiev are trying to consolidate power and capture former President Viktor Yanukovych. Meanwhile, demonstrators in parts of eastern Ukraine are supporting closer ties with Moscow.

President Hassan Rouhani appeals to Iranian college students when he talks about creating more opportunities for the young. But the clock is ticking. Many of those born long after the 1979 Islamic revolution see limited prospects at home and envision a better future abroad.

Outside Tehran University, Iran's largest, you ...

A historically significant but now-crumbling fifth century Byzantine monastery in Istanbul is finally slated for restoration. But for Turkey's dwindling Greek community, the bad news is that the government wants to turn the Stoudios monastery into a mosque.

It's just one of several such conversions of historically Christian sites that ...