Europe

Abortion-rights activists in Germany aim to make the procedure more widely available

5:04am July 20, 2022

by Esme Nicholson

Earlier this month, the EU Parliament voted in favor of a resolution to make abortion a fundamental right — a good sign for activists in Germany fighting to make the procedure more widely available.

Record high temperatures cause infrastructure damage in Britain

5:04am July 20, 2022

by Willem Marx

A heat wave that's been affecting Europe has caused dangerous infrastructure damage in Britain. The country's transportation sector has seen the worst of it.

World News

Kharkiv is finding a new normal as residents return to work — despite missile strikes

6:05pm July 19, 2022

by Jason Beaubien

As the war in Ukraine nears its sixth month, people in the northeastern city of Kharkiv are finding a new normal. Construction crews are cleaning up bombed buildings and people are returning to work.

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Eli Rosenbaum on how prosecuting war crimes in Ukraine compares to hunting Nazis

5:35pm July 19, 2022

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Department of Justice official Eli Rosenbaum on his investigation into war crimes that occurred in Ukraine.

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Residents of London enjoy some shade on Tuesday, as the United Kingdom recorded its hottest temperature ever.

World News

Why 100-degree heat is so dangerous in the United Kingdom

4:53pm July 19, 2022

by Becky Sullivan

"We're used to treating hot spells as a chance to go play in the sun," said a top government scientist. "Our lifestyles and our infrastructure are not adapted to what is coming."

World News

The European heatwave is spreading northward, fueling wildfire and drought dangers

4:43pm July 19, 2022

by Eleanor Beardsley

The heatwave embroiling southern and central Europe is making its way north. A report says the heat with low rainfall means nearly half the EU's land area will be affected by drought this summer.

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Putin picks Iran for his first trip outside of former USSR since the war with Ukraine

3:30pm July 19, 2022

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Anna Borshchevskaya, a Russia expert with the Washington Institute, about the wider strategy of Russian President Vladimir Putin's trip to Iran.

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A man refreshes his face at a fountain in Trafalgar Square in central London on Tuesday.

Environment

The U.K. breaks its record for highest temperature as the heat builds

9:08am July 19, 2022

by The Associated Press

Britain on Tuesday shattered its record for highest temperature ever registered — and the national weather forecaster predicted it would get hotter still in a country ill prepared for such extremes.

Northern Europe is bracing for unusually high temperatures this week

5:06am July 19, 2022

As the heat wave in southern Europe shows some signs of abating, temperatures in northern Europe are soaring. Record highs are expected in the U.K. where officials have declared a national emergency.

A firefighter cries Sunday near a wildfire in the Losacio area in northwestern Spain. Firefighters battled wildfires raging out of control in Spain and France as Europe wilted under an unusually extreme heat wave that authorities in Madrid blamed for hund

Heat torches Southern Europe, killing hundreds

9:58pm July 18, 2022

by The Associated Press

Ferocious wildfires are burning in Spain and France, which evacuated thousands of people and scrambled water-bombing planes and firefighters. Officials and scientists cited climate change as a factor.