Europe

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a fire engine and school buses burn after a Russian drone hit them when firefighters were putting out the fire at a lyceum following Russian drone attack in Bohodukhiv, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Russia and Ukraine trade overnight aerial attacks after Putin sets out conditions for ceasefire

Russia and Ukraine have traded heavy aerial blows with both sides reporting more than 100 enemy drones over their respective territories overnight.
 
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks at a press conference following this morning's virtual summit video conference at 10 Downing Street in London, England, March 15, 2025. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)

Starmer challenges Putin to prove he is serious about peace by signing up to Ukraine ceasefire

 
People gather in front of the Serbian parliament during a major anti-corruption rally led by university students in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

Large crowds converge in Belgrade for protest rally against Serbia’s president and government

 
A message for Pope Francis is seen in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, in Rome, Saturday, March 15, 2025, where the Pontiff is hospitalized since Feb. 14. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope works on signature reform from hospital as he recovers from pneumonia

 
Mounted hussars ride during celebrations marking the 177th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1848 revolution and war of independence against Habsburg rule in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)

Hungary’s Orbán promises crackdown on media, NGOs in a speech laden with conspiracy theory

 
Pope Francis shares a light moment with "Telefono Amico" support hotline president Dario Briccola during an audience at the Vatican Saturday, March 11, 2017. (L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP, File)

At the Vatican switchboard, nuns soothe anxious callers about Pope Francis

The nuns who operate the Vatican’s switchboard are fielding a growing number of calls. Many want to know how Pope Francis is doing, and some ask to speak with him directly as the head of the Catholic Church remains hospitalized in Rome.
 
Smoke billows from the MV Solong cargo ship in the North Sea, off the Yorkshire coast in England, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Dan Kitwood/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian captain of a cargo vessel involved in North Sea collision appears in UK court

The Russian captain of a cargo ship that collided with a U.S. tanker earlier this week appeared in a U.K. court where he was remanded in custody over the death of a crew member, who is missing and presumed dead.
 
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa during a joint press conference following their meeting at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)

Turkey and Israel face mounting tensions over future of post-Assad Syria

The fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government has aggravated the already tense relations between Turkey and Israel, with their conflicting interests in Syria pushing the relationship toward a possible collision course.
 
Jesse Eisenberg arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Polish leader offers actor Jesse Eisenberg military training to ‘land the new James Bond role’

Poland’s prime minister has made a tongue-in-cheek offer to U.S. actor and director Jesse Eisenberg, who recently gained Polish citizenship, to give him military training that would land him “the new James Bond role.”
 
Chairman of Demokraatit, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, center, hugs supporters during the election party at Demokraatit by cafe Killut in Nuuk, early Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Greenland political parties join together against Trump comments about annexing the island

All five parties in Greenland’s parliament have issued a joint statement on Friday rejecting President Donald Trump’s latest effort to take control of the strategic Arctic island.
 
A visitor to the city wearing a mask of President Donald Trump poses for a photo in front of a Canadian flag being held by tourists from Toronto showing their support for Canada regarding trade tariffs, in front of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

With Trump’s zigzag actions on trade, March came in like a lion and won’t be going out like a lamb

On the U.S. trade front, March came in like a lion and won’t be going out like a lamb. President Donald Trump has set in motion a tariff spree that expands or changes by the hour.
 
A driverless mini-bus, presented by WeRide and Renault Group, drives by Casa Batlló, designed by Antoni Gaudí, in Barcelona downtown, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Driverless ‘bus of the future’ is tested in Barcelona

Renault is testing a new driverless mini-bus in Barcelona this week. The autonomous vehicle is running on a circular route of just under 1.5 miles, with four stops in the center of the Spanish city.
 
In this handout photo released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry press service, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, left, sits with Syria's interim president Ahmad Al-Sharaa, during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Turkish Foreign Ministry press service via AP)

Turkey says it will closely monitor a Syrian government deal with a Kurdish armed group

Turkey’s foreign minister says Ankara is closely monitoring an agreement between the Syrian government and a U.S-backed Kurdish-led armed group.
 
Smoke billows from the MV Solong cargo ship in the North Sea, off the Yorkshire coast in England, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Dan Kitwood/Pool Photo via AP)

Arrested Russian captain of a cargo vessel involved in North Sea collision charged

British police said the Russian captain of a cargo ship that collided with a U.S. tanker has been charged over the death of a crew member, who is missing and presumed dead.
 
U.N. Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart, center, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar talk as they attend the UN's end of year reception at Ledras Palace inside the U.N buffer zone in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)

Turkish Cypriot group fears that local leader is Ankara’s man who wants to partition Cyprus

An activist group says that the Turkish Cypriot leader in the breakaway north of the ethnically divided island of Cyprus is toeing Ankara’s line and doesn’t really speak for the local community there.
 
George Simion, the leader of Romania's most popular far-right party, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), speaks in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, March 14, 2025, after filing his candidacy to participate in the country's presidential election rerun in May as he seeks to rally nationalist voters in the wake of last year's controversial frontrunner being barred from the race. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Romania’s George Simion bids for the presidency, seeking to rally far-right votes in election rerun

Romania’s populist far-right politician George Simion is making his bid for the country’s presidential election rerun in May as he seeks to rally nationalist voters after a controversial frontrunner was barred from the race last year.
 
The band knitting perform during The New Colossus Festival on Friday, March 7, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Visa fee hikes and delays hinder international artists from touring the United States

International artists hoping to perform in the United States are finding the visa process much more arduous and expensive.
 
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Pool via AP)

Whipsawed by Trump’s tariffs, the US public is getting a lot more nervous about the economy

President Donald Trump’s volatile tariff threats are unleashing historic jumps in public anxiety. This has the potential to undermine his pledges to strengthen a U.S. economy that is increasingly weakened.
 
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU Summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Spain told European allies it would spend more on defense, faster. Back home, it’s a harder sell

Spain’s prime minister has tried to assure European allies that his country is willing to spend more on defense as the continent scrambles to rearm.
 
A man walks by the headquarters of Huawei in Brussels, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Sylvain Plazy)

Huawei lobbyists banned from accessing European Parliament after bribery arrests

The European Parliament says he lobbyists working for Huawei have been suspended from entering its premises following the arrests of several people in a corruption probe linked to the European Parliament and the Chinese company.
 
Sandbags are placed on a street in Bologna, Italy, Friday March 14, 2025, as heavy rain battered the northern Emilia-Romagna region, where local rivers were above alert levels. (Guido Calamosca/LaPresse via AP)

Italy’s Florence and Pisa on alert as heavy rains bring floods to Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna regions

Heavy rains has hit the northern Italian regions of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, pushing the main rivers in the regions above alert levels for floodings.
 
Friedrich Merz, CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag and CDU federal chairman, makes a statement after the parliamentary group meeting in the Bundestag, Berlin, Friday, March 14, 2025. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP)

German parties agree deal to loosen debt limit, expand defense spending as Europe called to do more

German lawmakers have reached an agreement to exempt some defense spending from the nation’s tight rules on running up debt.
 

Bulgaria’s ruling coalition is left with a slim majority after vote recount

New lawmakers have been sworn in to Bulgaria’s parliament after a court ordered a partial vote recount of the October early general elections.
 
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves walks, during a visit to Babcock International, in Rosyth, Scotland, Friday March 14, 2025. (Mike Boyd/PA via AP)

UK economy unexpectedly shrinks in January, in blow to Treasury chief ahead of key statement

The British economy unexpectedly shrank during January, piling pressure on Treasury chief Rachel Reeves before a key statement about the state of the public finances later this month.
 
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire at a civilian hospital following a Russian drone attack in Zolochiv, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Friday, March 14, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

US envoy is taking Putin’s comments on Ukraine ceasefire proposal to Trump, Kremlin official says

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Russian President Vladimir Putin met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss details of the American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Ukraine.
 
Rain falls on the auspicious candles with images of Pope Francis left outside the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, where he is being treated for bilateral pneumonia in Rome, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

A month of Pope Francis’s longest hospital stay with lenses focused everywhere he is not

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Friday marked one month in the hospital where he is being treated for double pneumonia, with signs in recent days that indicate he is gradually recovering.
 
Protesters throw flyers as Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaks ON censure motion debate against the conservative government in parliament over a deadly rail disaster nearly two years ago, in Athens, Greece, Friday, March 7, 2025. Greece's conservative government has announced a major cabinet reshuffle on Friday, March 14, 2025 following declining approval ratings linked to the deadly 2023 rail disaster. (Ismini Vlassopoulou/InTime News via AP, File).

Greek PM reshuffles cabinet as protests dent approval rating. Hard-liner named as migration minister

Greece’s conservative government has announced a major cabinet reshuffle as it works to address declining approval ratings and a rise in support for far-right parties.
 
Soldiers from Belgium and Luxembourg line up as they prepare to board a military transport plane at Melsbroek Military Airport in Melsbroek, Belgium, July 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

Europe’s military personnel shortfalls exposed as Trump warns US security priorities lie elsewhere

The Trump administration’s warning last month that Europe must now take care of security in its own backyard raises troubling questions.
 
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, left, speaks with Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, right, during a meeting of the council of state at the Belem presidential palace in Lisbon, Thursday, March 13, 2025, after Montenegro's government saw its motion of confidence defeated in parliament. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Portugal is to hold an early election in May after minority government’s fall

Portugal’s president has announced that the country will hold an early general election on May 18. His announcement Thursday came two days after a minority government lost a confidence vote in parliament and stood down.
 
Shown is a display of French Germany and Spanish wines at a Pennsylvania Fine Wine & Good Spirits in Flourtown, Pa., Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

US wine shops and importers say Trump’s threatened 200% tariff on European wines would kill demand

The U.S. is suddenly looking less bubbly for European wines. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned 50% tariff on American whiskey.
 

Kosovo’s war crime-charged ex-president briefly released to visit his ill father

Kosovo’s ex-President Hashim Thaci, who is facing war crime charges, has been briefly released from a European Union-backed court to visit his ill father.
 
Students and former paramilitary fighters, loyal to President Aleksandar Vucic, are camping outside the presidency building in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, March 13, 2025, fueling fears of violent incidents during a major anti-corruption rally this weekend. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Why are tensions running high in Serbia ahead of a major student-led rally?

Students and other opponents of Serbia’s populist president are gearing up for a major rally in the capital over the weekend as momentum builds in favor of their demands for major changes in the Balkan country.
 
A vial of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is on display at the Lubbock Health Department Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Mary Conlon, File)

Measles cases in Europe and Central Asia doubled last year to the highest reported level since 1997

There were 127,350 reported cases of measles, including 38 deaths, in Europe and Central Asia last year, marking the highest total in nearly 30 years, according to figures from UNICEF and the World Health Organization.
 
General view into the plenary hall during a meeting of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

German lawmakers debate loosening debt limits to spend more on defense as Europe’s worries grow

Germany’s likely next chancellor on Thursday urged outgoing members of parliament to exempt some defense spending from the nation’s tight self-imposed rules on running up debt.
 

EU’s enlargement commissioner urges Albania to focus on reforms in membership talks update

European Union enlargement commissioner Marta Kos has hailed Albania’s progress in the membership negotiations and as a “champion” of the regional cooperation.
 
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, center, speaks with members of staff after delivering a speech on plans to reform the civil service, during a visit to Reckitt Benckiser Health Care UK Ltd in Kingston upon Hull, England, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Oli Scarff/Pool Photo via AP)

Keir Starmer plans to reshape Britain’s ‘flabby’ state. But don’t compare him to Elon Musk

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer has won praise for his efforts to marshal international support for Ukraine as President Donald Trump’s economic and foreign policies roil the world.
 
Bottles Champagne are for sale at a wine dealer shop as President Donald Trump threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey, Thursday, March 13, 2025 in Ville d'Avray, outside Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Trump threatens retaliatory 200% tariff on European wine after EU proposes American whiskey tax

President Donald Trump is threatening a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey.
 
President-elect Donald Trump listens as Steve Witkoff speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Steve Witkoff has gone from spotting Trump cash at a deli to helping him navigate Ukraine and Gaza

Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in Moscow for high-level talks. That’s according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly.
 
People wait in line to visit the European Parliament during Europe Day celebrations in Brussels on May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

Belgian prosecutors arrest suspects in Huawei bribery probe targeting EU Parliament

Belgian federal prosecutors say they’ve arrested several people as part of a corruption probe linked to the European Parliament and Huawei.
 
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, center, shares a light moment with European Union Council President Antonio Costa, left, and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, ahead of the eighth EU-South Africa summit in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)

EU announces a $5 billion investment in South Africa as the tariffs war with Trump escalates

European Union leaders have announced a 4.7 billion euro, or about $5.1 billion, investment package in South Africa to support green energy transition and vaccine production.