Europe

Russia carried out some 20 air strikes in Syria on Wednesday. Now the U.S. military is scrambling to make sure American and Russian war planes steer clear of each other over the skies of Syria.

The case cuts at the heart of essential German traits: reliability, precision, and environmental awareness. Constanze Stelzenmueller of the Brookings Institution talks about the impact on Germany.

Russia carried out a series of airstrikes in Syria Wednesday, giving short notice to the U.S. that it also has planes in the air nearby and is calling out for more coordination.

Russia warplanes have begun bombing targets in Syria, according to U.S. officials. They say they were briefed by Moscow about the raids, which came hours after the Russian parliament authorized President Vladimir Putin to use Russian forces abroad.

Pope Francis has called on all of Europe's Catholics to take in refugees. In Hungary, church leaders have been hesitant, and Catholic churches are conspicuously absent from relief efforts.

Hungarian laws criminalizing the offer of rides to people who enter the country illegally are aimed at traffickers — but are making some ordinary Hungarians think twice about helping asylum seekers.

Migrants from as far away as Afghanistan have been placed behind barbed wire in detention camps in Hungary. NPR's Lauren Frayer visits a camp where the numbers — and the frustrations — keep growing.

Separatists in Spain's prosperous northeast region of Catalonia are celebrating an election victory they say puts them on track to establish the world's newest country. But their failure to win an absolute majority, and fierce opposition from Spain's central government, means months of negotiations and uncertainty lie ahead.