Rome — Pope Francis is in a “stable” condition in the hospital but the clinical picture remains complex, the Vatican said Sunday, as the 88-year-old issued a statement thanking well-wishers for their support. The head of the Catholic Church was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on February 14 with bronchitis, which later developed into pneumonia in …
LONDON — Britain, France and Ukraine have agreed to work on a ceasefire plan to present to the United States, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday as he prepared to host a summit of European leaders to discuss ending the war. The summit has been overshadowed by the extraordinary scolding by U.S. President Donald Trump …
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European leaders met in London Sunday to discuss the Ukraine-Russia war. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received a warm welcome after being asked to leave the White House following a heated exchange with President Donald Trump Friday. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. …
The need to end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. The United States imposing tariffs on other countries, and the downsizing of the U.S. federal government. Those are some of the topics that President Donald Trump is expected to highlight when he delivers the first address of this second term in office to …
Read more “Ukraine, Gaza expected to feature in Trump’s address to Congress”
The state of Russia’s three-year war against Ukraine remained deeply unsettled Sunday, with the U.S. saying it does not know whether peace is possible while European leaders met in London to voice their ongoing support for Kyiv’s forces. The new developments came two days after Friday’s explosive Washington meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and …
LOS ANGELES — The Academy Awards, the highest honors in the film business, take place on Sunday with no clear frontrunner among “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “Conclave” and other movies contending for the prestigious best picture prize. Timothee Chalamet and Demi Moore are vying for their first Oscars at the red-carpet ceremony in Hollywood. The show will …
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VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is in a stable condition as he fights double pneumonia in hospital for the 17th day, and is resting having had a peaceful night, the Vatican said on Sunday. The Vatican said on Saturday evening that the 88-year-old pontiff’s condition had stabilized, following an “isolated” breathing crisis a day earlier. “The …
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berlin — Forget SpongeBob SquarePants, Sesame Street and the sourdough starter craze — a depressed German loaf of bread named Bernd das Brot is celebrating his 25th anniversary as the reluctant star of a children’s television program that accidentally became equally popular with adults. A cult classic in Germany, Bernd das Brot (Bernd the Bread) …
ACCRA, GHANA — When Abigail Kwartekaa Quartey decided as a teenager to become a professional boxer – an unusual choice for a young woman in a working-class neighborhood of Ghana’s capital of Accra – her family begged her to stop training. Boxing is the pride of Jamestown, which is based around the fishing industry and also …
Read more “Ghana’s first female world boxing champion smashes barriers”
LONDON — Singer Charli XCX, whose album Brat inspired a cultural phenomenon last summer, was the big winner at the BRIT Awards, Britain’s pop music honors, in London on Saturday, picking up five prizes. Brat, which inspired fans to film themselves dancing to its tracks and whose lime green cover look was adopted by U.S. presidential …
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LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday gave Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a warm welcome in London, a day after the Ukrainian leader’s clash with U.S. President Donald Trump. The two countries also unveiled a $2.84 billion loan agreement to support Ukraine’s defense capabilities, to be paid back with the profits of immobilized sovereign …
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ISTANBUL — Outlawed Kurdish militants Saturday declared a ceasefire with Turkey following a landmark call by jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan asking the group to disband and end more than four decades of armed struggle. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who backed the peace process initiated by a close nationalist ally, warned that Turkey would pursue …
NIS, SERBIA — Tens of thousands of people in Serbia gathered Saturday for a huge student-led rally that vowed to turn the troubled, populist-run Balkan country into a free nation of justice and rule of law, with many proclaiming “We deserve better.” University students in the Balkan country that has been ruled firmly by a right-wing, …
Read more “Serbian students demand ‘better future’ in anti-corruption rally”
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA — Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital Saturday in the latest antigovernment demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the European Union country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flag and chanting slogans such as “Down …
Read more “Tens of thousands protest government before Romania’s election”
NEW YORK — David Johansen, the last surviving member of the glam and protopunk band the New York Dolls who later performed as his campy, pompadoured alter ego, Buster Poindexter, has died. He was 75. Johansen died Friday at his home in New York City, according to Rolling Stone, citing a family spokesperson. It was revealed …
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ROME — Pope Francis had coffee and was reading newspapers Saturday after an alarming setback in his two-week recovery from double pneumonia: Doctors had to put him on noninvasive mechanical ventilation following a coughing fit in which he inhaled vomit that needed to then be extracted. Doctors said it would take a day or two to …
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The public spat Friday between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the White House has triggered European solidarity for Ukraine. Barring Hungary, major European powers led by Germany and France have thrown their weight behind Kyiv, calling it the victim of Russian aggression, while promising sustained support to the war-torn …
Read more “VOA Mandarin: As Trump’s talks with Zelenskyy disintegrate, will China benefit?”
MOSCOW — Moscow on Saturday said it seized two more villages in eastern Ukraine as Kyiv officials said Russian strikes killed one person and wounded 19. The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces captured Sudne and Burlatske in the south of the eastern Donetsk region. They lie near the town of Velyka Novossilka, which was seized …
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Following the U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the Kremlin sent new instructions to state-run media to cover developments between Moscow and Washington in a positive tone, but instead of praising U.S. President Donald Trump personally follow the line that “the United States were wise to respond to Russia’s outstretched hand.” Click here for …
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CAIRO — Observant Muslims the world over will soon be united in a ritual of daily fasting from dawn to sunset as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan starts. For Muslims, it’s a time of increased worship, religious reflection, charity and good deeds. Socially, it often brings families and friends together in festive gatherings around meals …
Read more “What is Ramadan and how do Muslims observe the Islamic holy month?”
Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman likely died on Feb. 17, the last day there was any activity on his pacemaker, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. “According to the pathologist,” Mendoza said, “that is a very good assumption that was his last day of life,” nine days before investigators found his body. The …
Read more “Gene Hackman likely died Feb. 17, last day of activity on pacemaker, official says”
European leaders across much of the continent vowed to stand by Ukraine after a White House meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy turned into a heated exchange Friday, with Trump calling Zelenskyy “disrespectful.” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said it has become clear that “the free world needs …
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