Europe

STRASBOURG, FRANCE — One person died and two police officers were seriously injured in a knife attack in eastern France on Saturday that occurred during a demonstration, the local prosecutor said. Three more officers were lightly wounded in the attack in the city of Mulhouse, carried out by a 37-year-old suspect who is on a terror prevention watchlist, prosecutor Nicolas Heitz told AFP. The list, called …

PARIS — Mohamed Amra, a French fugitive known as “The Fly,” who was freed by gunmen in a brazen attack against a prison van in May, was arrested in Romania on Saturday, the French interior minister said. French police had launched a massive manhunt for the fugitive, whose escape resulted in the deaths of two prison guards and was seized upon by right-wing politicians as evidence …

ROME — The Vatican carried on with its Holy Year celebrations without the pope Saturday, as Pope Francis battled pneumonia and a complex respiratory infection that doctors say remains touch-and-go and will keep him hospitalized for at least another week. Francis slept well overnight, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said in a brief early update Saturday. But doctors have warned that the main threat facing the 88-year-old …

Preparations are underway for a face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said Saturday, marking a dramatic shift away from Western isolation of Moscow over its war in Ukraine. Speaking to Russian state media, Sergei Ryabkov said a possible Putin-Trump summit could involve broad talks on global issues, not just the war in Ukraine. “The question is …

Uncertainty looms over U.S.-Ukraine relations as Ukraine enters the fourth year of war with Russia. Recent shifts in Washington’s rhetoric have raised fears that Ukraine could be pressured into an unfavorable peace deal — or be left to confront Russia without U.S. support. While most Ukrainians are now in favor of peace talks, many insist any settlement be on Ukraine’s terms. Myroslava Gongadze has the …

Pope Francis’ medical team said Friday that his medical condition was not life-threatening, but that the pontiff was not out of danger. “If the question is, ‘Is he out of danger?’ the answer is, ‘No,’ ” Sergio Alfieri, the head of the team of doctors at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital taking care of the pope, said. “But if you then ask us if, at this moment, …

berlin — Police arrested a man suspected in a stabbing Friday at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial that left a Spanish tourist seriously injured, police said. There was no immediate indication of a motive for the attack, which came two days before Germans vote in a national election. Police spokesman Florian Nath said at a news conference that the attack happened at 6 p.m., “probably with a knife. …

BERLIN — German police said Friday they have arrested an 18-year-old Russian man on suspicion of planning a “politically motivated” attack in Berlin, two days before national elections. The man was detained late Thursday in the state of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin, police and prosecutors said in a statement. Authorities did not provide further details about the attack plot, but the Tagesspiegel newspaper reported the suspect …

February 24 marks the three-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with international efforts aimed at ending the conflict in progress. Amid criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by the new Trump administration, research shows the majority of Ukraine’s population trusts Zelenskyy and is not ready to elect a president during war time. Lesia Bakalets reports from Kyiv. Camera: Vladyslav Smilianets …

RFE/RL   — Iya Rashevskaya was told her husband — a member of the country’s armed forces – had gone missing in the frontline in the eastern Donetsk region, in April 2023.  The news of Serhiy Skotarenko’s disappearance came just a month after he had joined the military, having given up his job abroad.  Rashevskaya soon found out that her husband, a native of Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhya …

Vice President JD Vance sketched his conservative view of foreign affairs Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, accompanied by foreign politicians who say they support President Donald Trump’s agenda. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington. Camera: Anthony LaBruto …

Pope Francis “had a restful night,” and Thursday morning “got out of bed and had breakfast in an armchair,” the Vatican said in a statement. Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital last week with bronchitis, which then developed into double pneumonia. Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said Thursday that the pope now has focal pneumonia with limited areas of infection in the lungs. Bruni said …

The fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continued Thursday, with Trump doubling down on his claim Zelenskyy is a dictator because he has not held elections since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has reaction from around the world. …

WASHINGTON — Hoping to head off a potential trade conflict, a top European Union official stressed the importance of active engagement and fairness in trade during a four-hour meeting with Trump administration officials. “The top objective as it was presented to us yesterday by our American partners is reciprocity,” Maros Sefcovic, the European commissioner for trade and economic security, told reporters at a Thursday briefing. Sefcovic …

Azerbaijan’s government has ordered the suspension of the Azerbaijani operation of BBC News, the British news agency confirmed Thursday. In a statement, the BBC said it had made the “reluctant decision” to close its office in the country after receiving a verbal instruction from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We deeply regret this restrictive move against press freedom, which will hinder our ability to report …

U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg met in Kyiv Thursday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but there was no immediate word on whether they had eased U.S.-Ukrainian relations after U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy traded barbs this week over Russia’s three-year war against Ukraine. Kellogg said upon arriving in the Ukrainian capital that he was there to listen to Zelenskyy’s views after officials in Kyiv voiced …

BRUSSELS — The European Commission said Thursday it had approved 920 million-euro of German state aid, or $960 million, to Infineon Technologies for the construction of a new semiconductor manufacturing plant in Dresden. The measure will allow Infineon to complete the MEGAFAB-DD project, which will be able to produce a wide range of different types of computer chips, the Commission said. Chipmakers across the globe are …

BEIJING — China has been “doing its best” to push for negotiations with the European Union over its tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, a commerce ministry spokesperson said on Thursday, almost four months after the punitive import curbs took effect. The bloc voted to increase the tariffs to as much as 45.3% in October after the European Commission — which oversees EU trade policy — launched …

Tens of thousands of people remained without power Thursday in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa as a result of several days of Russian aerial attacks. Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram that crews were working to restore electricity service, and had brought 40,000 customers back online, with another 49,000 still without power. Russian attacks continued Thursday in multiple parts of Ukraine, including in …

Thousands of residents in Ukraine’s city of Odesa were without electricity or heating after Russia launched a massive drone attack for the second night in a row.  In his address to the nation on Wednesday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said repair work was underway after 80,000 people lost power and the same number lost heating.   Governor Oleh Kiper, writing on the Telegram messaging …

U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments this week claiming Ukraine was responsible for starting the three-year conflict with Russia and calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “a dictator without elections” drew criticism from congressional Democrats and pushback from some members of the Republican Party. “Clearly, Vladimir Putin is responsible for this war,” Republican Senator Thom Tillis told reporters. “His decision has resulted in the murder, rape, torture …

VOA Russian talked to experts after the U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia on how to end the Ukraine war. They warned that this is only the beginning of negotiations that may last for some time and take several turns.  Exiled independent Russian political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin compared the first meeting to “not even a warm-up of two boxers, but just a weigh-in ahead of the …

Many Ukrainians are dealing with the reality of starting over after losing their homes in the war with Russia. One project helps them find new homes and jobs while assisting in the development of small villages. Lesia Bakalets reports from the Kyiv region. Camera: Vladyslav Smilianets. …

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni visited Pope Francis in the hospital Wednesday and reported he was “alert and responsive” and full of good humor, despite his diagnosis of pneumonia and a complicated bronchial infection that has sidelined the 88-year-old pontiff for six days.   Meloni said she wanted to bring get-well wishes to the pope on behalf of the government and the entire nation. “We joked around …