Ukraine and the West are still worried about Russian military aggression. Russian president Vladimir Putin addressed the situation during his end-of-the-year press conference.
Pope Francis celebrated Christmas Eve Mass before an estimated 2,000 people in St. Peter's Basilica, going ahead with the service despite the resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
After luring asylum-seekers to the EU as a political stunt, Belarus has now sent people back to the dangerous place they were escaping, rights groups and migrants tell NPR.
The father of NPR's Uri Berliner packed a stuffed monkey when he fled the Nazis as a child. He kept the toy for decades before donating it to a museum, an act that led to a remarkable discovery.
To understand the friction between Russia and Ukraine, it's important to go back to 1991. Exactly 30 years ago this weekend, the Soviet Union formally dissolved and broke up into 15 separate nations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the West on Thursday to move quickly to meet Russia's demand for security guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine.
With more than a hundred thousand Russian troops massed on the border with Ukraine, the world may be watching this year's news conference more closely than usual.