Worldwide news. The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique while others talk of a “plurality of worlds”
MUNICH — Europe won’t have a seat at the table for Ukraine peace talks, Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy said on Saturday, after Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv. Trump shocked European allies this week by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin without consulting them or …
Read more “Europe will not be part of Ukraine peace talks, US envoy says”
ROME — An Italian nun is taking over a top management job in the Vatican: Sister Raffaella Petrini was named Saturday as president of the Vatican City State, making her essentially the governor of the 44-hectare (108-acre) territory in Rome that is home to the Catholic Church. Petrini, 56, had previously been the secretary general of …
Read more “Nun takes top Vatican job running city state administration”
MUNICH/WASHINGTON — U.S. and Russian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia in coming days to start talks aimed at ending Moscow’s nearly three-year war in Ukraine, a U.S. lawmaker and a source familiar with the planning said on Saturday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Germany on Friday, said …
Read more “US, Russia officials to meet in Saudi Arabia to start talks on Ukraine”
VIENNA — A 23-year-old man stabbed five passersby in southern Austria on Saturday in what police said was a random attack that left a 14-year-old dead, and four others injured. The suspect was detained in the city of Villach, where the attack took place, police said. He is a Syrian national with legal residence in Austria, …
Read more “1 dead, 4 injured in stabbing spree by Syrian suspect in Austria”
WASHINGTON — James Carafano, senior counselor to the president and national security expert at The Heritage Foundation, responsible for its defense and foreign policy team, spoke with VOA’s Ukraine Service about the Trump administration’s goals and considerations in the negotiation process to achieve peace in Ukraine. He explained that while not a vital interest, a free …
Read more “Carafano: ‘A free, independent Ukraine is in America’s best interest’”
MOSCOW — A Moscow court has ordered a U.S. citizen suspected of drug smuggling held in pre-trial detention for 30 days, the Moscow courts press service said Saturday, days after a Moscow-Washington prisoner swap that the White House called a diplomatic thaw and a step toward ending the fighting in Ukraine. The U.S. citizen, whom Saturday’s …
Read more “US citizen detained in Russia, accused of drug smuggling”
MUNICH — G7 foreign ministers agreed Saturday to continuing working together to get a strong peace deal for Ukraine with robust security guarantees and linked future sanctions on Russia to good-faith negotiations by Moscow. “Any new, additional sanctions after February should be linked to whether the Russian Federation enters into real, good-faith efforts to bring an …
Read more “G7 ministers link future Russia sanctions to good-faith talks”
ROME — Pope Francis slept well during a quiet first night in the hospital after being admitted with a respiratory tract infection and was up eating and reading Saturday, the Vatican said. Francis, 88, ate breakfast Saturday morning and read the newspapers while continuing his drug therapy, spokesperson Matteo Bruni said. The Argentine pope was admitted …
Read more “Vatican: Pope spent quiet night in hospital, continues drug therapy”
KRAGUJEVAC, SERBIA — Serbia’s striking students and supporters of populist President Aleksandar Vucic were holding parallel rallies Saturday as both marked the country’s Statehood Day with notably contrasting messages. The student-led protest is the latest in a nationwide anti-graft movement that reflects mounting calls for fundamental political changes in the Balkan state, triggered after a concrete …
Read more “Serbia’s striking students, president hold parallel rallies”
WASHINGTON — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attention-grabbing overseas debut may have irritated some key Republicans and alienated allies in Europe, where his statements on Ukraine and NATO went down like a lead balloon. But his forceful comments gained him a nod from one key listener: U.S. President Donald Trump. And Hegseth — who on Saturday …
Read more “US defense secretary’s Europe debut irks allies, wins Trump’s nod”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the creation of a unified European military force, saying the continent must be self-reliant amid a persistent threat from Russia and uncertainty about U.S. support — a situation he described as “this new reality.” “We must build the Armed Forces of Europe so that Europe’s future depends only on …
Read more “Zelenskyy calls for creation of ‘Armed Forces of Europe’”
Ukraine would have a “very, very difficult” time surviving without U.S. military support to fend off Russia’s invasion, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a interview broadcast the night before he is scheduled to address the Munich Security Conference. “Probably it will be very, very, very difficult. And of course, you know in all the difficult …
Read more “Ukraine would have ‘low chance to survive’ without US support, Zelenskyy says”
LONDON — At first whiff, it sounds repulsive: Sniff the essence of an ancient corpse. But researchers who indulged their curiosity in the name of science found that well-preserved Egyptian mummies actually smell pretty good. “In films and books, terrible things happen to those who smell mummified bodies,” said Cecilia Bembibre, director of research at University …
Read more “Research finds ancient Egyptian mummies smell nice”
U.S. Vice President JD Vance warned European leaders at the security conference in Munich, Germany, of the “threat from within,” arguing that their governments are censoring far-right speech and failing to control migration. His remarks came amid allies’ alarm over President Donald Trump’s decision to begin peace talks with Russia. White House Bureau Chief Patsy …
Read more “At Munich conference, Vance warns European allies of ‘threat from within’”
ZAGREB, CROATIA — Thirteen people suspected of illegally importing and disposing of hazardous waste have been arrested in Croatia, the European Union’s law enforcement agency said Friday. The main suspects, two Croatian nationals, are considered high-value targets by Europol, said an agency statement. They are believed to have orchestrated the illegal hazardous waste imports from Italy, …
Read more “13 people arrested in Croatia for illegally disposing of hazardous waste”
The tragic deaths of Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov in a plane crash late last month in Washington have shone a spotlight on the role of Russian- or Soviet-born coaches in the world of competitive figure skating. Their influence has shaped a generation of American skaters, raising the question: Why have these coaches been so …
Read more “Russian- and Soviet-born coaches still shaping US figure skating’s future”
The U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed Friday that a drone attack damaged an outer wall of the protective dome containing the remains of the damaged Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine, starting a fire. The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident is considered the worst in history. Ukraine blames Russia for the attack on the site …
Read more “IAEA confirms drone attack damaged outer wall of Chernobyl dome”
Vice President JD Vance warned European allies attending the security conference in Munich, Germany, against “the threat from within,” arguing that European governments are exercising extreme censorship and have failed to adequately get a handle on “out-of-control migration.” “The threat that I worry the most about vis a vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not …
Read more “At Munich conference, US VP Vance warns European allies of ‘threat from within’”
ROME — Pope Francis was taken to the hospital on Friday morning for tests and to continue treatment of his ongoing bronchitis, the Vatican said. “This morning, at the end of his audiences, Pope Francis was admitted to the Policlinico Agostino Gemelli [hospital] for some necessary diagnostic tests and to continue his treatment for bronchitis, which …
Read more “Pope Francis taken to hospital for bronchitis treatment”
KYIV, UKRAINE — A Russian drone attack caused significant damage to the radiation shelter of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday. Chernobyl was the site of the world’s worst civil nuclear catastrophe when one of its four reactors exploded in 1986. That reactor is now enveloped by a protective …
Read more “Russian drone attack damages Chernobyl nuclear plant’s shelter, Zelenskyy says”
WASHINGTON — “I will not bow to this regime,” writes Mzia Amaglobeli from pre-trial detention in the city of Batumi in Georgia. The 49-year-old journalist has been in custody since January 11 and on a hunger strike since January 12 over her detention. Amaglobeli was attending a protest where demonstrations were calling for fresh elections and …
Read more “Jailed Georgian journalist: ‘I will not bow to this regime’”
German voters head to the polls this month for an election that will determine who the country’s new chancellor will be. The Feb. 23 poll is a snap election, following the collapse of center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government last year. The far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, founded in 2013, appears to be gathering …
Read more “As Germany election looms, far-right German party continues to gather support”
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron urged Syria’s interim government to cooperate with a U.S.-led coalition fighting against extremist groups in that region as he hosted a conference Thursday on the Mideast country’s future. Macron’s comments come amid uncertainty over the United States’ commitment to the region. Thursday’s conference in Paris among European and Arab nations …
Alexander Vinnik, a Russian national convicted of cybercrime and released by U.S. authorities as part of a prisoner swap, arrived in Moscow on Thursday and thanked President Vladimir Putin and others for arranging the exchange, state news agency RIA said. Vinnik, who pleaded guilty in May 2024 to charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, …
Read more “Russian Vinnik back in Moscow after prisoner swap, news agency says”