Europe

China sees itself as a mediator in the Russia-Ukraine war, but many nations disagree

5:10am March 20, 2023

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Yun Sun, who directs the China Program at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Stimson Center, about China's president traveling to Moscow for talks with Russia's leader.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during an awarding ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on June 8, 2018. Xi is traveling to Moscow to show support for Putin.

World News

China's Xi Jinping flexes his diplomatic muscle with a visit to Moscow

10:07pm March 19, 2023

by John Ruwitch

Analysts say China's role as a mediator in the past suggests limits to what it may achieve when it comes to Ukraine.

Ireland's history plays into post-Brexit trade deal

5:43pm March 19, 2023

NPR's Pien Huang speaks with Mary Lou McDonald, president of the Irish political party Sinn Fein, about efforts to smooth trade between the UK and Ireland in the wake of the Brexit deal.

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In this photo taken from video released by the Russian TV pool on Sunday, March 19, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin talks with local residents during a surprise visit to Mariupol.

World News

Putin makes a surprise visit to Mariupol and tours an occupied city destroyed by war

11:46am March 19, 2023

by Joe Hernandez

The trip was Putin's first-ever visit to the Donbas region, which Russia illegally annexed last year. It followed the International Criminal Court's decision to issue a warrant for him on war crimes.

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World News

Young people in Greece are protesting in large numbers after last month's train crash

9:24am March 19, 2023

by Lydia Emmanouilidou

Young people throughout Greece have staged huge protests following last month's train crash near the city of Larissa which killed 57 people, many of them students.

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The U.N.-chartered vessel MV Valsamitis is loaded to deliver 25,000 tons of Ukrainian wheat to Kenya and 5,000 tons to Ethiopia. It is pictured at the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk in February.

World News

Russia agrees to extend the Ukraine grain deal again

1:05pm March 18, 2023

Brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, the deal allows Ukraine to ship food and fertilizer through a humanitarian corridor from Black Sea ports. The duration of the extension remained uncertain.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to the media after a summit in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on June 30, 2022. Putin traveled to Crimea to mark the ninth anniversary of the Black Sea peninsula's annexation from Ukraine on Saturday.

World News

Putin visits Crimea to mark the anniversary of its annexation from Ukraine

11:33am March 18, 2023

by The Associated Press

Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to the Black Sea peninsula to mark the ninth anniversary of its annexation from Ukraine. Russia's move in 2014 was denounced as illegal by most of the world.

People walk amid the debris at the crash site of the Flight MH17 passenger plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine, on July 17, 2014.

An infamous Russian unit that downed a civilian plane in 2014 was active in Ukraine

7:00am March 18, 2023

by Tim Mak

A secretive Russian military unit, known for its part in the deaths of hundreds of civilians on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 nearly a decade ago, was fighting in eastern Ukraine, NPR uncovered.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to a regional governor via videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, on Oct. 21, 2022. The International Criminal Court said Friday it has issued an arrest warrant for Putin and his children's rights commissioner for possible war crimes.

World News

The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Putin

7:32pm March 17, 2023

by International Desk

The ICC has issued warrants for the Russian president and his children's rights commissioner for alleged war crimes involving accusations that Russia has forcibly taken Ukrainian children.

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A woman convicted in Poland for aiding abortion says she did what was right

5:03pm March 17, 2023

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Justyna Wydrzynska, co-founder of Abortion Dream Team, who was convicted in Poland for helping a woman acquire abortion pills.