NPR Sunday Puzzle (June 25): A Country and Two 20th-century World Leaders

NPR Sunday Puzzle (June 25): A Country and Two 20th-century World Leaders:

Q: Think of a certain country in the world. Change its first letter to name a well-known 20th-century world leader. Or change its third letter to name another well-known 20th-century world leader. What is the country and who are the leaders?

It shouldn't take too long to come up with this answer. First be sure to focus on 20th-century leaders, not 21st-century leaders. Also, it helps to have an atlas at hand or at least a list of countries.
Edit: If you looked through an alphabetical list of countries, it definitely shouldn't have taken long... I had the answer almost immediately

A: Republic of BENIN (Country in Western Africa)
Vladimir LENIN (First Premier of the Soviet Union, 1917-24)
Menachem BEGIN (Prime Minister of Israel, 1977-83)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (June 18): R-blank and F-blank become Synonyms

NPR Sunday Puzzle (June 18): R-blank and F-blank become Synonyms:

Q: Think of a phrase of the form, Blank and Blank. The initials of the two words in the blanks are R and F. Change the first letter of the second word from an F to a V, and the two words will become synonyms. What are they?

The way I solved this was to look for words in the dictionary... I started with words starting with V and considered which would make words starting with F. Once I hit the word, it was obvious that it was the right answer. I won't give any hints since I think this puzzle should separate the elite from the run of the mill puzzle solvers. My answer after the deadline.
Edit: Who are the opposite of the elite? I guess I did give a clue.

A: RANK and FILE --> RANK and VILE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (June 11): People and Region in Europe

NPR Sunday Puzzle (June 11): People and Region in Europe

Q: Name a people of Europe. Remove the second and third letters of this word. The remaining letters, in order, will spell an area of Europe, that is unrelated to the people. Who are the people and what is the area?

I've got an answer to this question but I'm not sure it is the intended answer. Anybody want to post a comment on this? My answer involves the ancient city of Troy.
Edit: Okay, we'll see if this answer is correct or not...

A: ITALIAN --> ILIAN (Ilian is related to Iliad and an alternate spelling is Ilion. It relates to the city of Troy. Again, I don't know if this is the right answer or not but I'll update you on Sunday when the NPR puzzler airs...)
Edit: The official answer was FINLANDERS --> FLANDERS...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (June 4): Synonyms in the News

NPR Sunday Puzzle (June 4): Synonyms in the News:

Q: Name two people who have been in the news together recently. One of them has a three-letter last name. The other has an eight-letter last name. Move the first letter of the eight-letter name to the start of the three-letter name. The result will be two words that are synonyms. Who are the people and what are the synonyms?

My first thought was that the three-letter name had to be an Asian name, but I was completely wrong. Just think about people in the news and you'll have this puzzle licked.
Edit: I was trying to give a clue where I said 'have this puzzle licked' but it was rather obtuse. So who has been in the news recently?

A: Former Enron executives Kenneth LAY and Jeffrey SKILLING were recently found guilty. The answer is: LAY + SKILLING --> SLAY + KILLING