Europe

Soldiers carry the coffins of two Ukrainian army sergeants during their funeral in Lviv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Ukraine gets a big boost of US aid. It still faces a long slog to repel Russia

A new package of $61 billion in U.S. aid may prevent Ukraine from losing its war against Russia. But winning it will be a long slog.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich speaks with his lawyers standing in a glass cage in a courtroom at the First Appeals Court of General Jurisdiction in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. A court will considers an appeal against the arrest of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich who was detained on espionage charges in Yekaterinburg last year. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Moscow court rejects Evan Gershkovich’s appeal, keeping him in jail until at least June 30

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, by the Border Force following a small boat incident in the Channel, on Tuesday April 23, 2024. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said "nothing will stand in our way" of getting flights to Rwanda off the ground, as the Government braced itself for legal challenges to the scheme to send asylum seekers to the east African country. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

More deaths in the English Channel underscore risks for migrants despite UK efforts to stem the tide

People look at fragments of the television tower which was broken in half after it was hit by a Russian missile in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

A Russian strike on Kharkiv’s TV tower is part of an intimidation campaign, Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says

Election posters of Stevo Pendarovski, incumbent President and a presidential candidate backed by the ruling social democrats (SDSM), left and Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, a presidential candidate supported by the center-right main opposition VMRO-DPMNE coalition, center top, are pictured in a busy street in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Monday April 22, 2024. Voters go to the polls in North Macedonia on Wednesday April 24 for the first round of presidential elections, the seventh such election since the Balkan country gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991, where seven candidates are vying for the largely ceremonial position. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Longtime EU hopeful North Macedonia holds presidential polls centered on bloc accession, rule of law

The UK government finally passes bill to send migrants to Rwanda. What took so long?

The British Parliament has finally passed legislation to send some migrants to Rwanda under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s controversial plan aimed at deterring risky English Channel crossings by people desperate to reach the U.K.

FILE - Irish writer Anne Enright holds a copy of her book after she won the Man Booker fiction prize for "The Gathering," an uncompromising portrait of a troubled family that its author called the literary equivalent of a Hollywood weepie, in London on Oct. 16 2007. Novels that give voice to the often unheard stories of migrants around the world are among the nominees for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction. The 16-book long list announced Tuesday, April 24, 2024, for the 30,000 pound ($38,000) award includes works by writers from Ghana, Barbados, Britain, the United States, Ireland, South Korea and Australia. One of the most published authors is Ireland’s Anne Enright, nominated for her seventh novel, “The Wren, The Wren.” (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

Complex stories of migration are among the finalists for the Women’s Prize for Fiction

Novels that tell complex and surprising stories of migration are among six finalists for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction. U.S.

FILE - Migrants wait in line for a distribution of blankets close to the Turkish-Greek border near Pazarkule, Edirne region, Turkey, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. European Union auditors said on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, they are unable to establish whether some of the billions of euros the bloc has given to Turkey to help it cope with Syrian refugees is actually having any impact. EU leaders and Turkey in 2016, committed to provide at least 6 billion euros ($6.4 billion) to Turkey to help it cope with migrants crossing in from Syria. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)

Auditors say it’s hard to tell how Turkey is using EU refugee funds. Some officials aren’t helpful

European Union auditors are struggling to work out whether some of the billions the bloc has sent Turkey to help it cope with Syrian refugees is having an impact.

EMBARGOED UNTIL 00.01 UTC APRIL 24,2024 Agnes Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, speaks at a press conference in London, ahead of the launch of 'The State of the World's Human Rights', its annual report on the global human rights situation, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. The report will be published on Wednesday April 24, covering 155 countries and including regional and global analyses, it provides the most comprehensive overview of human rights trends and developments in the world today. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says

Amnesty International says the world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar.

Activists help migrants to pack their belongings in a makeshift camp, early Tuesday, April 23, 2024 in Paris. French police officers have evicted migrants from a makeshift camp in Paris a few steps away from the Seine River, as similar operations have been carried out by authorities ahead of the Olympics. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)

Police clear out a migrant camp in central Paris. Activists say it’s a pre-Olympics sweep

French police have evicted migrants from a makeshift camp in Paris a few steps away from the Seine River.

This handout photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Thursday, Jan 11, 2024, shows Timur Ivanov, deputy defense minister, in Moscow. Ivanov, a top Russian military official was arrested on suspicion of accepting a bribe, authorities said Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Ivanov, one of Russia's 12 deputy defense ministers, was sanctioned by both the United States and the European Union in 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)

A top Russian military official reportedly linked to Ukraine’s Mariupol arrested for bribe-taking

Russian authorities say they have detained a top military official on suspicion of accepting a bribe.

Armenia and Azerbaijan move closer to normalizing ties as the first border marker goes up

Armenia and Azerbaijan have come a step closer toward normalizing relations after a bitter conflict over territory.

FILE - Competitors swim in the Seine River during the Paris Triathlon competition in Paris Sunday, July 10, 2011. Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo saidTuesday April 23, 2024 she was confident water quality will be up to the Olympics standards this summer _ and that she'll be able to prove it by swimming there, possibly alongside President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File )

Paris mayor is confident that water quality will allow Olympic swimming in the River Seine

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said she is confident water quality will be up to the Olympics standards this summer.

Erik Akerboom, director-general of the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service, AIVD, speaks during a press conference in Zoetermeer, Netherlands, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dutch intelligence sees the wars in Gaza and Ukraine as triggers for terrorist threats

The Dutch national intelligence agency says threats targeting the Netherlands are increasingly connected to worldwide turmoil, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

The European rights court rules Turkey’s jailing of a UN judge after a coup attempt was unlawful

The European Court of Human Rights says a United Nations judge was unlawfully jailed after he was arrested in Turkey following a coup attempt despite holding diplomatic immunity.

Spain reopens a probe into a Pegasus spyware case after a French request to work together

A Spanish judge has reopened a probe into the suspected spying on the cellphone of Spain’s prime minister after receiving a request to collaborate with a similar investigation in France.

The Holocaust Memorial of Roma and Sinti is seen before the opening ceremony, in Lety, Czech Republic, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Lubos Pavlicek/CTK via AP)

A memorial opens on the site of a Nazi concentration camp for Roma after a pig farm was removed

A new memorial has opened in the Czech Republic on the site of a former Nazi concentration camp for Roma, capping a process that took decades and was made possible after a Czech government agreed to remove a communist-era pig farm from the site.

German far-right politician of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) Björn Höcke arrives for a session of his trial over the alleged use of Nazi phrases, at the regional court in Halle, eastern Germany, on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Höecke, one of the most prominent figures in the far-right Alternative for Germany party, went on trial last Thursday on charges of using a Nazi slogan, months before a regional election in which he plans to run to become his state's governor. (Jens Schlueter/Pool Photo via AP)

A well-known figure in a German far-right party tells his trial he is completely innocent

One of the best-known figures in the far-right Alternative for Germany party has said at his trial on charges of using a Nazi slogan that he is “completely innocent.”

Members of the special police unit of Canton Sarajevo escort a person arrested in an operation codenamed "Black Tie" in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, April 22, 2024.In a large-scale raid conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, law enforcement officers swarmed homes and offices of 23 persons suspected to be part of the 'inner circle' of a drug kingpin. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Police in Bosnia arrest 23 people suspected of being part of global drug kingpin’s ‘inner circle’

Law enforcement authorities say they have arrested 23 people in Bosnia suspected of belonging to a “global drug kingpin’s inner circle,” including police and security officials, in a clampdown on criminal networks controlling much of Europe’s cocaine trade.

FILE - Boxes of Pepsi are displayed in a grocery store, Ill., Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022. PepsiCo reports earnings on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

PepsiCo beats Q1 revenue forecasts as price increases moderate

PepsiCo reported better-than-expected revenue in the first quarter on strong international demand for its snacks and beverages.

Swedish customs seize around 1.4 tons of cocaine in one of the country’s largest-ever drug busts

A Swedish customs official has told local media the group made one of the country’s biggest-ever cocaine seizures after confiscating around 1.4 tons of the drug last week in a port near Stockholm.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, by the Border Force following a small boat incident in the Channel, on Tuesday April 23, 2024. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said "nothing will stand in our way" of getting flights to Rwanda off the ground, as the Government braced itself for legal challenges to the scheme to send asylum seekers to the east African country. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

5 migrants die while crossing the English Channel hours after the UK approved a deportation bill

French authorities say five people, including a child, died while trying to cross the English Channel.

Germany's Maximilian Krah, of the far-right Alternative, calls during a session at the European Parliament, Tuesday, April 23, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France. A man who works for the prominent German far-right lawmaker in the European Parliament has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, authorities said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

A far-right German EU lawmaker’s aide is arrested on suspicion of spying for China

German authorities say a man who works for a prominent German far-right lawmaker in the European Parliament has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China.

People walk past election poster of Stevo Pendarovski, incumbent President and a presidential candidate backed by the ruling social democrats (SDSM), in a street in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Monday April 22, 2024. Voters go to the polls in North Macedonia on Wednesday April 24 for the first round of presidential elections, the seventh such election since the Balkan country gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991, where seven candidates are vying for the largely ceremonial position. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

North Macedonia to elect president after campaign focused on hot-button issue of EU membership

Voters are going to the polls in North Macedonia this week for the first round of the presidential election, the seventh such vote since the Balkan country gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

British Home Secretary James Cleverly, left, and Defence Secretary Grant Shapps attend a press conference by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Downing Street, in London, Monday, April 22, 2024. Sunak pledged Monday that the country’s first deportation flights to Rwanda could leave in 10-12 weeks as he promised to end the Parliamentary deadlock over a key policy promise before an election expected later this year. (Toby Melville/Pool Photo via AP)

UK home secretary to visit Italy to discuss stopping migrants arriving on boats

British Home Secretary James Cleverly is visiting Italy as part of the U.K. government’s efforts to crack down on migrants arriving by small boats.

Police officers stand beside the debris and damage to the Beacon Church of England Primary School after a car crashed into the building in Anfield, Liverpool, England, Monday, April 22, 2024. A driver who plowed through the wall of a classroom shortly before the start of school has been arrested on suspicion of using drugs. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

Driver arrested for drug driving after plowing through classroom wall in Liverpool

A driver who plowed through the wall of a Liverpool classroom shortly before the start of school has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs.

Nearly 100 Belarus political prisoners have severe medical problems, rights group says

A human rights group says that nearly 100 political prisoners in Belarus who were incarcerated in a severe crackdown on dissent are suffering severe medical problems and could be close to death.

The EU ratchets up pressure on TikTok’s new rewards app over risks to kids, warns of suspension

The European Union is demanding TikTok provide more information about a new app that pays users to watch videos and warned that it could order the video sharing platform to suspend addictive features that pose a risk to kids.

FILE - Presiding judge Joan Donoghue, center, opens preliminary hearings in a case at the International Court of Justice, or World Court, in The Hague, Netherlands, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Lawyers for Azerbaijan on Monday urged the top United Nations court to throw out a case filed by Armenia linked to the long-running dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, arguing that judges do not have jurisdiction. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

Armenia asks UN court to throw out Azerbaijan’s claim alleging racial discrimination

Lawyers for Armenia have asked the top U.N. court to throw out a case filed by Azerbaijan over the Karabakh region that accuses Armenia of ethnic cleansing.

Poland’s leader says his country is ready to host NATO members’ nuclear weapons to counter Russia

Poland’s president says the NATO member would be ready to host the nuclear weapons of the military alliances’s other members in response to Russia’s moving its nuclear weapons to neighboring Belarus.

UK prosecutors charge 2 men with spying for China, including a parliamentary researcher

Prosecutors in Britain say a former researcher working in the U.K. Parliament and another man have been charged with spying for China.

FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, file photo, Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, right, and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan leave after their statements at Maximos Mansion in Athens, Greece. Delegations from Greece and Turkey were meeting in Athens, on Monday, April 22, 2024 as part of long-standing efforts to improve often tense relations between the two neighbors, days after Turkey voiced objections over Greece's plans to create marine nature reserves in the Ionian and Aegean seas. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas, File)

Greek and Turkish delegations meet in Athens as part of efforts to improve often strained ties

Delegations from Greece and Turkey are meeting in Athens as part of long-standing efforts to improve often tense relations between the two neighbors, days after Turkey voiced objections over Greece’s plans to create marine nature reserves in the Ionian and Aegean seas.

Ornaments from the Stock Exchange, which have been successfully salvaged from the burned building, lie on the ground in Copenhagen, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (Emil Nicolai Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Traffic resumes near Copenhagen’s Old Stock Exchange after a fire ruined the 400-year-old landmark

Traffic has begun to flow Monday near Copenhagen’s historic Old Stock Exchange which was half-destroyed by fire last week.

Russian rockets are launched against Ukraine from Russia's Belgorod region, seen from Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

European nations with Patriot missiles hesitate to give the air defense systems to Ukraine

European Union countries possessing Patriot air defense systems appear reluctant to give any to Ukraine.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks at a press conference at Downing Street, in London, Monday, April 22, 2024. Sunak pledged Monday that the country’s first deportation flights to Rwanda could leave in 10-12 weeks as he promised to end the Parliamentary deadlock over a key policy promise before an election expected later this year. (Toby Melville/Pool Photo via AP)

UK Parliament approves Rwanda deportation bill, ending weeks of legislative stalemate

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s latest effort to send some migrants to Rwanda finally won approval from Parliament early Tuesday, hours after he pledged deportation flights would begin in July.

FILE - Norway's King Harald on his way to lunch with the Norwegian government in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday Feb. 14, 2024. Europe’s oldest monarch, King Harald V of Norway, returned to work Monday, April 22, 2024, after having been on sick leave because he had a permanent pacemaker implant procedure in Norway that followed a surgery in Malaysia where he got a temporary one due to a low heart rate. (Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix via AP, File)

Norway’s King Harald, Europe’s oldest monarch, is back at work after pacemaker implants

Europe’s oldest monarch, King Harald V of Norway, is resuming work after a long sick leave that followed two pacemaker implants.

FILE - Ukrainian soldiers carry shells to fire at Russian positions on the front line, near the city of Bakhmut, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on March 25, 2024. Approval by the U.S. House of a $61 billion package for Ukraine puts the country a step closer to getting an infusion of new firepower. But the clock is ticking. Russia is using all its might to achieve its most significant gains since the invasion by a May 9 deadline. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

Aid approval brings Ukraine closer to replenishing troops struggling to hold front lines

Approval by the U.S. House of Representatives of a $61 billion package for Ukraine puts the country a step closer to getting an infusion of new firepower.

FILE - Burnt trees and a car after yesterday's fire in Mandra, west of Athens, on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. Europe is the fastest-warming continent and its temperatures are rising at roughly twice the global average, two top climate monitoring organizations reported Monday, April 22, 2024, warning of the consequences for human health, glacier melt and economic activity. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)

Europe is the fastest-warming continent, at nearly twice the average global rate, report says

Two top climate monitoring organizations are reporting that Europe is the fastest-warming continent and its temperatures are rising at roughly twice the global average.

FILE - Undated handout photo issued by UK Parliament of Conservative MP Mark Menzies. Menzies, A British lawmaker who allegedly used campaign funds to pay off people who were holding him hostage said on Sunday April 21, 2024 that he wouldn't seek reelection after the governing Conservative Party found his behavior fell below the standard expected of members of Parliament. (Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament via AP, File)

UK lawmaker won’t run again after allegations of late night call for funds to pay off ‘bad people’

A British lawmaker who allegedly used campaign funds to pay off people who were holding him hostage says that he won’t seek reelection after the governing Conservative Party found his behavior fell below the standard expected of members of Parliament.

Polish voters take part in a local runoff election in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Polish voters choose mayors in hundreds of cities in runoff election

Polish voters have chosen mayors in hundreds of cities and towns where no candidate won outright in the first round of local election voting two weeks ago.