Europe

Ukraine's rail system is working overtime to keep people and goods moving

5:03am August 17, 2022

by Eleanor Beardsley

With airlines shut down and many of the country's road's destroyed, Ukraine's train system has been both the literal and figurative lifeline for the country.

Period products are seen in a Scottish supermarket in 2020, when Scotland's parliament initially approved legislation to make such products available for free.

Scotland becomes the first country to offer tampons and pads for free, officials say

5:38pm August 16, 2022

by Becky Sullivan

Studies have shown that a significant number of people struggle to afford menstrual products, and going without can cause people to miss school or work.

World News

What it was like as family of Ukrainian prisoners of war waited for news after blast

5:04pm August 16, 2022

by Joanna Kakissis

The families of Ukrainian soldiers imprisoned by Russian forces have embarked on a desperate search for information after a deadly explosion at the prison where the soldiers are kept.

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The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine's Enerhodar, Zaporizhzhia region, is seen through barbed wire on the embankment in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region, central Ukraine, on July 20. Russian soldiers have been shelling Nikopol from the premises o

Over the river from a Russian-occupied nuclear plant, a Ukrainian town fears a spill

11:24am August 16, 2022

by Joanna Kakissis

The small town of Nikopol, Ukraine, sits across the river from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Attacks are causing serious alarm for the community.

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Shallow Rhine River has a devastating effect on commercial traffic

5:06am August 16, 2022

A hot, dry summer has made parts of one of Europe's most important waterways, the Rhine River, too shallow for fully laden ships to pass.

A COVID-19 vaccination center in London. The United Kingdom has become the first country to approve an omicron-specific booster shot.

The U.K. approved omicron-specific booster shots. They're coming to the U.S. soon

5:01am August 16, 2022

by Becky Sullivan

In the U.S., officials have asked vaccine makers to target BA.5, rather than the original omicron strain. That has delayed the boosters' development — but officials hope they will be more effective.

World News

Ukrainians express worries over conscription following Russia's invasion

4:46pm August 15, 2022

by Ashley Westerman

After Russia's invasion, Ukraine announced martial law in February and issued a travel ban, so most men couldn't leave the country. Many have since felt trapped and worry they'll be drafted to fight.

A priest prays for unidentified civilians killed by Russian troops in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Aug. 11. Eleven unidentified bodies exhumed from a mass grave were buried in Bucha that day.

Russia-Ukraine war: A weekly recap and look ahead (Aug. 15)

12:13pm August 15, 2022

by NPR Staff

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is escorted from a court room ater a hearing, in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022.

Sports

Lawyers for basketball star Brittney Griner appeal her Russian prison sentence

6:24am August 15, 2022

by The Associated Press

Griner's attorney was quoted by Russian news agencies on Monday as saying the appeal was filed, but the grounds of the appeal were not immediately clear.

Missile strikes near a nuclear power plant in Ukraine leave residents on edge

5:13am August 15, 2022

by Joanna Kakissis

Fighting at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, now occupied by Russia, turns a Ukrainian city across the river into a target for Russian missiles and a danger zone for a nuclear accident.