Month: November 2024

ROME — Tourists in Rome won’t be allowed to toss coins over their shoulders into the Trevi Fountain, following tradition, although an elevated walkway now gives limited access to the monument during maintenance work. Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri inaugurated the steel walkway Saturday, saying it will provide tourists with a close-up view of the fountain and …

Read more “Tourists in Rome have walkway to Trevi Fountain but can’t toss coins into it”

In parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia, Ukrainian officials can suddenly find themselves at the mercy of Moscow and cut off from Kyiv. In Balakliya, about 70 kilometers from Kharkiv, Judge Volodymyr Strihunenko decided that even though the Russians took over his town in 2022, he was still Ukrainian. VOA’s Anna Kosstutschenko met with him in the …

Read more “Ukrainian judge in occupied territory refuses to side with Russia”

GENEVA — Authorities in eastern Switzerland on Saturday ordered residents of a tiny village to prepare to evacuate as an Alpine rockslide looming overhead threatened to break loose and spill down on their homes. It was the second time that residents of Brienz received evacuation orders, after a similar threat last summer. Local officials said in …

Read more “Swiss villagers ready to evacuate after Alpine rockslide alert — again”

BERLIN — Like many other young women living in communist East Germany, Solveig Leo thought nothing about juggling work and motherhood. The mother of two was able to preside over a large state-owned farm in the northeastern village of Banzkow because child care was widely available. Contrast that with Claudia Huth, a mother of five, who …

Read more “Berlin Wall once shaped German women’s lives; echoes remain today”

BERLIN — Germany marks 35 years since the Berlin Wall fell with festivities beginning Saturday under the theme “Preserve Freedom!” as Russia’s war rages in Ukraine and many fear democracy is under attack. Chancellor Olaf Scholz — whose governing coalition dramatically collapsed this week — said in a message to the nation that the liberal ideals …

Read more “Germany marks 1989 Berlin Wall fall with ‘Preserve Freedom’ party”

The violence against fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam has some Israelis worried that it isn’t safe for their sports teams and fans to travel to games abroad. Many Palestinians want them banned entirely over Israel’s conduct of the war with Hamas. Dutch authorities say Israeli fans were assaulted after a football game in …

Read more “After Amsterdam violence, Israelis worry about sports teams’ safety abroad”

berlin — Like many other young women living in communist East Germany, Solveig Leo thought nothing about juggling work and motherhood. The mother of two was able to preside over a large state-owned farm in the northeastern village of Banzkow because childcare was widely available.  Contrast that with Claudia Huth, a mother of five, who grew …

Read more “Berlin Wall, divide that once shaped German women’s lives, echoes today”

ABBOTS LANGLEY, England — Originally built to store crops from peasant farmers, the Tithe Barn on the edge of the English village of Abbots Langley was converted into homes that preserve its centuries of history. Now, its residents are fighting to stop a development next door that represents the future. A proposal to build a data …

Read more “As data center industry booms, English village becomes battleground”

paris — As dusk falls over the City of Light, a new spectacle is illuminating Saint-Sulpice church, a monument whose interiors are even larger than Notre Dame’s — and arguably just as breathtaking.  The cavernous walls of the neoclassical gem on Paris’ Left Bank are coming alive with 360-degree video projections, sparkling cutting-edge technology and actors, …

Read more “Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris shines in light show”

kyiv, ukraine — Russian drones attacked Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa overnight, killing one person and injuring 13 others, including two boys, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Saturday. Several residential apartment buildings, private houses, commercial buildings and dozens of private cars were damaged in what was the second day in a row of Russian …

Read more “Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s Odesa kills one, injures 13, governor says”

The United States will send a small number of contractors to Ukraine to help it maintain and repair the U.S.-provided weapons and air defense systems it is using against Russia’s invasion, a defense official said Friday. The official said the contractors “will be far from the front lines and they will not be fighting Russian …

Read more “US to send contactors to Ukraine to repair, maintain US weapons”

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight, killing one civilian and wounding more than 30 people in the center, south, and northeast, Ukrainian officials said Friday. The Russian forces launched 92 drones and five missiles at 12 Ukrainian regions, the Ukrainian air force said. Sixty-two drones and four missiles …

Read more “Overnight Russian attacks across Ukraine kill 1, officials say”

AMSTERDAM — Amsterdam police said Friday that five people were hospitalized and 62 arrested after what authorities described as systematic violence by antisemitic rioters targeting Israeli fans following a football match. The Dutch and Israeli leaders denounced the violence, and condemnation poured in from Jewish groups. Israel’s foreign minister left on an urgent diplomatic trip to …

Read more “5 hospitalized, 62 detained after attacks on Israeli football fans, Amsterdam police say”

When a volcanic eruption buried the ancient city of Pompeii, the last desperate moments of its citizens were preserved in stone for centuries. Observers see stories in the plaster casts later made of their bodies, like a mother holding a child and two women embracing as they died. But new DNA evidence suggests things were …

Read more “DNA evidence rewrites long-told stories of people in ancient Pompeii”

LONDON — America’s allies in Europe are debating what Donald Trump’s win in Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election could mean for their security and prosperity amid concerns that the next four years may once again be characterized by a turbulent transatlantic alliance. European interests About 50 European leaders met in Budapest on Thursday for a summit of …

Read more “What does Trump’s election victory mean for NATO, Europe?”