Europe

U.S. President Joe Biden hosted NATO’s chief on Monday, less than a month before the newly enlarged security alliance converges in Washington for its annual summit. At the White House, the two leaders spoke of how they will “ensure predictable support to Ukraine for the long haul.” VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House. …

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BRUSSELS — European Union countries approved a flagship policy to restore damaged nature on Monday, after months of delay, making it the first green law to pass since European Parliament elections this month.  The nature restoration law is among the EU’s biggest environmental policies, requiring member states to introduce measures restoring nature on a fifth of their land and sea by 2030.  EU countries’ environment ministers …

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Nearly 6.5 million – that is the number of Ukrainian refugees the United Nations counts in the third year of Russia’s full-scale invasion. According to the world body’s latest report, most of them hope to return home one day. Lesia Bakalets talked to Ukrainians who have already done so. VOA footage by Vladyslav Smilianets. …

Nearly 80 of the countries represented at the Ukraine peace summit agreed that territorial integrity and the principles of international law and the U.N. charter should be the basis for peace talks to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. Eastern Europe bureau chief Myroslava Gongadze has the story from Switzerland. VOA footage and editing by Daniil Batushchak. …

BEIJING — China said Monday it had launched an anti-dumping investigation into imports of pork products from the European Union. The probe is in response to an application submitted on behalf of domestic producers, Beijing said, and comes in the face of mounting trade tensions between China and the EU. “The Ministry of Commerce has opened an anti-dumping investigation into imports of relevant pork and pig …

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The world’s nine nuclear-armed states continue to modernize their nuclear weapons as the countries deepened their reliance on such deterrence in 2023, a Swedish think tank said Monday. “We have not seen nuclear weapons playing such a prominent role in international relations since the Cold War,” said Wilfred Wan, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s weapons of mass destruction program. Earlier …

Dubai, UAE — Iran called upon the Group of Seven leaders Sunday to distance itself from “destructive policies of the past,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said, referring to a G7 statement condemning Iran’s recent nuclear program escalation. On Friday, the G7 warned Iran against advancing its nuclear enrichment program and said it would be ready to enforce new measures if Tehran were to …

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Berlin — German police said Sunday they shot and wounded a man who was threatening them with an axe and a firebomb in the northern city of Hamburg, hours before it hosted a match in the Euro 2024 soccer tournament.  Police officers opened fire after the man refused to lay down the ax, hitting him in the leg, German news agency dpa reported, citing Hamburg police. …

London — The UK general election is being watched closely after stark warnings that rapid advancements in cyber-tech, particularly AI, and increasing friction between major nations threaten the integrity of 2024’s landmark votes. “These rogue and unregulated technological advances pose an enormous threat to us all. They can be weaponized to discriminate, disinform and divide,” the head of Amnesty International Agnes Callamard said in April. The …

MOSCOW — Security forces stormed a detention center in southern Russia on Sunday, killing inmates who had taken two members of staff hostage, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported Sunday. The hostages at the pretrial detention center in Rostov-on-Don were uninjured, said RIA Novosti, citing Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service. It said that the hostage-takers had been “liquidated,” with other local news outlets reporting that at …

ALGIERS, Algeria — France has twice rejected visa applications from Nabil Tabarout, a 29-year-old web developer from Algeria who hopes this year to visit his sister there. He’s among the many people navigating the often-arduous visa process throughout Africa, which faces higher visa rejection rates than anywhere else in the world when it comes to visiting Europe’s Schengen Area. Appointments are often difficult to secure. Applicants …

NORTH SOUND, Antigua — England’s defense of the Twenty20 World Cup title lived on for a few more hours after a must-win over Namibia in a rain-affected match Saturday. To reach the Super Eight, England first had to beat Namibia in their maiden T20 matchup. Persistent showers almost ruined the chance, but the match started three hours late and was reduced to 11 overs, then 10 …

athens, greece — A missing Dutch tourist was found dead early Saturday on the eastern Greek island of Samos, local media reported, the latest in a string of recent cases in which tourists in the Greek islands have died or gone missing. Some, if not all, had set out on hikes in blistering hot temperatures.  Dr. Michael Mosley, a noted British television anchor and author, was …

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LONDON — Britain put on a display of birthday pageantry Saturday for King Charles III, a military parade that marked the Princess of Wales’ first public appearance since her cancer diagnosis early this year. The annual event was also a show of stability by the monarchy after months in which the king and Kate, wife of heir to the throne Prince William, have been sidelined by …

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran and Sweden agreed Saturday to a prisoner swap, freeing Hamid Nouri, convicted of war crimes by Sweden over mass 1988 executions in the Islamic Republic, in exchange for two men held by Tehran. Iran released Johan Floderus, a Swede who had been working for the European Union’s diplomatic corps, as well as a man identified as Saeed Azizi by Swedish …

PARIS — France, Germany and Britain on Saturday condemned Iran’s latest steps, as reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency, to further expand its nuclear program. “Iran has taken further steps in hollowing out the JCPoA, by operating dozens of additional advanced centrifuges at the Natanz enrichment site as well as announcing it will install thousands more centrifuges at both its Fordow and Natanz sites,” the …

PARIS — Antiracism groups will join French unions and a brand-new left-wing coalition in protests in Paris and across France on Saturday against the surging nationalist far right as frenzied campaigning is underway ahead of snap parliamentary elections. In Paris, those who fear that the elections will produce France’s first far-right government since World War II, will gather at Place de la Republique before marching through …

ATHENS, Greece — Desperate hands clutched at Ali Elwan’s arms, legs and neck, and screams misted his ears, as he spat out saltwater and fought for three hours to keep afloat in the night, dozens of miles from land.  Although a poor swimmer, he lived — one of just 104 survivors from the wreck of a dilapidated old metal fishing boat smuggling up to 750 migrants …