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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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, …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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, …

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he wants to restart nuclear arms control talks with Russia and China and that eventually he hopes all three countries could agree to cut their massive defense budgets in half. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump lamented the hundreds of billions of dollars being invested in …

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WASHINGTON — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Britain for the first time on Thursday, marking the restart of a diplomatic dialogue mechanism that has been paused for nearly seven years. Wang had talks with Britain’s foreign minister and national security adviser and briefly met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The top Chinese diplomat’s visit restarts …

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As U.S. President Donald Trump announced talks to end Russia’s war with Ukraine, Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer in an exclusive interview with VOA Russian describes how Trump will need to use a carrot and a stick to persuade Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire. Bremmer believes that although Trump has far more leverage …

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Sunday marks one year since the sudden death of top Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny in his arctic prison. VOA Russian looks back at how the investigation into what happened has stalled over the past year with no new leads or information available. Russian activists have asked the United Nations to launch an international investigation …

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PENTAGON — U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has called for NATO’s European members to increase their role in the defense of Europe as the United States focuses on defending the alliance’s Pacific flank. It is a move that he says will likely require European allies to significantly increase defense spending from 2% of GDP to …

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At this week’s Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris, world leaders and technologists gathered to discuss the rapidly evolving field of generative artificial intelligence. Many are eager to join the global AI race, while others are proceeding with caution. Tina Trinh reports. …

French police were searching Thursday for an unidentified man who threw a grenade into a bar late Wednesday in the southeastern Alpine city of Grenoble, wounding 15 people, at least two of them seriously, according to health officials. Regional prosecutor Francois Touret de Coucy told reporters witness at the scene reported that shortly after 8 …

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DACHAU, GERMANY — U.S. Vice President JD Vance visited the Dachau concentration camp memorial on Thursday, walking the solemn halls with a group that included a Holocaust survivor once held at the site of so much suffering and mass murder and experiencing firsthand a powerful symbol of World War II. The tour came amid an ongoing …

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Ukraine and the United States are considering a crucial minerals deal at this week’s Munich Security Conference, according to officials from the two countries. After meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the proposed agreement as a potential “long-term security shield” for Ukraine when its war with Russia comes to …

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Northern Europe’s Baltic Sea is bordered by nations including Germany, Russia and Latvia. Many critical cables and pipelines cross the seafloor. But with tensions rising in the region, NATO is looking for ways to ensure all that infrastructure stays safe. Vladislavs Andrejevs has more in this story, narrated by Anna Rice. (Produced by: Vladislavs Andrejevs, …

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Brussles — Thousands of Belgians took to the streets on Thursday in protest over the new government’s planned pension reforms in the first day of a multi-day strike that halted all air traffic in the country.  Brussels airport canceled 430 flights on Thursday, a spokesperson said, adding that the disruption to the air traffic sector would …

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