ISTANBUL — Thousands of women demonstrated in the streets of Turkish cities Saturday to mark International Women’s Day, protesting inequality and violence against women.

On the Asian side of Istanbul, a rally in Kadikoy saw members of dozens of women’s groups listen to speeches, dance and sing in the spring sunshine. The colorful protest was overseen by a large police presence, including officers in riot gear and a water cannon truck.

The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared 2025 the Year of the Family. Protesters pushed back against the idea of women’s role being confined to marriage and motherhood, carrying banners reading “Family will not bind us to life” and “We will not be sacrificed to the family.”

Critics have accused the government of overseeing restrictions on women’s rights and not doing enough to tackle violence against women.

Erdogan in 2021 withdrew Turkey from a European treaty, dubbed the Istanbul Convention, that protects women from domestic violence. Turkey’s We Will Stop Femicides Platform says 394 women were killed by men in 2024.

“There is bullying at work, pressure from husbands and fathers at home and pressure from patriarchal society. We demand that this pressure be reduced even further,” Yaz Gulgun, 52, said.

The women’s day events were the first planned public demonstrations since the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, announced a ceasefire last week, bringing hope for an end to a 40-year conflict with the Turkish state.

Crowds in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast, heard a message from the group’s imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan in which he said the “women’s issue is bigger than the Kurdish issue.”

Gultan Kisanak, a Kurdish politician who was released from prison last year after being convicted of terrorism charges, addressed a rally near the city center. “A democratic society that does not accept women’s will cannot be built. Therefore, women’s struggle for freedom is the cornerstone of our people’s struggle for freedom and peace,” she said.

Many women were expected to gather in the evening on the European side of Istanbul for a Feminist Night March despite a ban. In recent years, authorities have blocked efforts by women to demonstrate in Taksim Square, Istanbul’s traditional gathering point for rallies.

Nearby metro stations were closed from the early afternoon, and streets, including one of the city’s main shopping thoroughfares, were sealed off with barriers.

The Beyoglu district governor’s office said the ban was enforced to prevent “actions that may disrupt public order and social peace.”
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LONDON — “One and one, please, love,” a regular said, leaning on the counter at a pie and mash shop in London’s East End.

In seconds, one piping-hot beef pie appeared with a single scoop of mashed potatoes at the G Kelly shop, topped off with parsley sauce known as liquor.

Londoners have been eating this classic Cockney combination since at least Victorian times, but for many years the working-class staple has had a humble reputation among outsiders.

Now a campaign to get pie and mash special protected status is gaining ground, with supporters arguing the dish deserves an official stamp of recognition similar to Parmesan cheese and champagne.

After a British politician took the case to Parliament and won the backing of MPs, campaigners hope to land the label this year.

“‘Bout time,” said G Kelly customer Daniel Terrance as he tucked into his third pie and mash of the week.

“I just want more,” the 39-year-old electrician chuckled, eating the meal with a traditional accompaniment of jellied eels.

Stewed eel water

The first pie and mash eateries began to crop up in London in the 1800s, when street hawkers selling pies teamed up with eel vendors and set up shop near the city’s docks.

Over time, a set of rituals has grown up around the dish, from the rapid-fire “one and one” ordering system to the fork and spoon that purists insist on using to eat it.

The pie’s flaky crust and soft suet base have been a fixture for generations, but most cooks have agreed to let one old-fashioned practice slide — nowadays, the liquor is rarely made from stewed eel water.

British cuisine has had a hard time shaking off its bad reputation, but backers say pie and mash is worthy of joining hundreds of dishes with official protection in mainland Europe and elsewhere.

The campaigners, among them several pie shop owners, now need to get a recipe for the dish approved by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs so they can secure a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) label.

The stamp legally safeguards traditional recipes but differs from badges awarded to foods like Parma ham in that it allows them to be made outside a specific area.

Neil Vening, the fourth-generation owner of the G Kelly family shop, hopes the label can prevent big companies from capitalizing on tradition to pump out substandard pie and mash.

“It’s undermining this great heritage we’ve got,” the 33-year-old said, pointing to the black-and-white photos of relatives and staff around the shop, founded by George Kelly in 1939.

‘Time warp’ 

For regular customers who have seen dozens of pie and mash shops close since the dish’s heyday, nostalgia is a big part of the appeal.

Gentrification has pushed London’s Cockney population farther and farther from the East End, and changing tastes have ushered in a wave of coffee shops and artisan bakeries.

“I like the changes but not every local does,” said Leanne Black, who has worked at the shop for 14 years.

The 45-year-old East Ender said many customers love the comfort an old-fashioned pie and mash shop brings.

“It’s not just about the food. Some people feel that the world has changed so much, and when they come in here, it’s like a time warp.

“It’s the smell in here. It’s the tables, the cold marble. … It’s everything.”

Future-proof pie

Pie and mash’s recent history is not just a story of decline, though.

Vening said G Kelly is enjoying a boost as newcomers and tourists eat alongside old-timers.

And East Enders who moved away from the capital have taken the dish with them — dozens of pie and mash shops are now flourishing outside London.

An official status would cement this turnaround, the campaigners argue.

Conservative MP Richard Holden, who took the motion to Parliament late last year, told AFP he wanted to celebrate pie and mash shops like those in his Basildon and Billericay constituency east of London.

“Let’s give them the protected status they deserve,” he said. 
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ATHENS, GREECE — Clashes broke out in Greece’s two largest cities Friday, as protesters hurled gasoline bombs and flares outside Parliament during a censure motion debate against the government over its handling of a deadly rail disaster two years ago.

Police fired tear gas and stun grenades at the violent protesters and used water cannons when the clashes broke out moments after Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis began speaking at the end of the three-day debate. The government survived the challenge in a 157-136 vote announced late Friday. Inside the assembly, activists in the visitors’ gallery threw leaflets down onto lawmakers before being removed by police.

Violence also erupted in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

Mitsotakis’ center-right government faced a censure motion over the 2023 train collision that killed 57 people and injured dozens more.

Friday’s demonstrations, the third round of nationwide protests held in a week, followed the second anniversary of the Feb. 28, 2023, collision at Tempe in northern Greece.

In a rare display of unity, four center-left and left-wing opposition parties submitted the no-confidence motion, arguing that the government has failed to accept responsibility for multiple rail safety system failures identified by investigators.

“You want to hide the criminal responsibility of the government for the Tempe tragedy,” Socialist opposition leader Nikos Androulakis told lawmakers, addressing the prime minister. “No Greek citizen will forgive your unacceptable behavior.”

Despite widespread public anger over the Tempe rail disaster, the fragmented opposition has struggled to capitalize on the discontent.

Mitsotakis accused his political opponents of engineering a political stunt, adding, “When I visited the scene of the accident … it was the most difficult moment of my life.”

Relatives of crash victims attended Friday’s protest rallies, publicly expressing gratitude to demonstrators.

“People are here because they understand what’s going on and they demand justice,” Chrysoula Chlorou said at a protest in the central city of Larissa. Chlorou’s sister Vasso, 55, was killed in the crash.

She added, “We will stand with everyone who has the strength to raise their voices for the people and we thank them very much.”
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ROME — Pope Francis hit the three-week mark Friday in his hospitalization for double pneumonia, in stable condition and resuming his therapies after giving the world a tangible indication of just how frail and sick he is.

The Vatican said the 88-year-old pope had a good night’s rest and woke up Friday morning just after 8 a.m. He resumed his respiratory and physical therapy, using high flows of supplemental oxygen to help him breathe. Doctors said they didn’t expect to give another medical update until Saturday, given his continued stability and absence of respiratory crises or other setbacks for several days now.

But Francis offered a first public sign of just how weak he is on Thursday by recording an audio message that was broadcast to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square who had gathered for the nightly recitation of the rosary prayer.

In it, Francis thanked the people for their prayers. But his voice was barely discernible through his labored breaths, and he spoke in his native Spanish, not Italian.

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the square, I accompany you from here,” he said to the hushed square. “May God bless you and the Virgin protect you. Thank you.”

The message served many purposes. It was the first public sign of life from the pope since he entered Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14, and it put to rest right-wing conspiracy theories and rumors calling into question his true medical status.

The Vatican said Francis himself wanted to record it, to thank all those people who had been praying for him. In his Sunday message last weekend, Francis said he had felt the affection of so many people and felt “as if I am ‘carried’ and supported by all God’s people.”

But the audio also underscored just how weak Francis is. For anyone used to hearing his voice, this audio — which is often so soft it sounds like a whisper — was an emotional punch to the gut that hammered home just how hard it is for him to even breathe.

The cardinal presiding over the prayer, Cardinal Angel Fernandez Artime, had told the crowd at the start of the service that he had “beautiful news, a beautiful gift” to share.

“Oh, che bello,” marveled one nun in the crowd. “Oh, how beautiful.”

The clearly surprised crowd broke into applause and then applauded again after Francis’ final “Gracias.” Fernandez Artime, for his part, bowed his head as he listened.

The 88-year-old pope has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man.

The Vatican has given twice-daily updates on Francis’ condition but has distributed no photos or video of him since the morning of Feb. 14, when he held a handful of audiences at the Vatican before being admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital for what was then just a bad case of bronchitis.

The infection progressed into a complex respiratory tract infection and double pneumonia that has sidelined Francis for the longest period of his 12-year papacy and raised questions about the future of his papacy.

The absence of any images of Francis in a country where the image and voice of the pontiff is a part of everyday life helped fuel dire conspiracy theories, primarily among right-wing critics of the pope, about Francis’ true fate.

Francis has issued written messages from the Gemelli, including some that seemed very much like him. But even Vatican officials had been clamoring to hear his voice, saying the pope’s calls for peace are particularly needed at a time of such global conflict and war.

More than any pope before him, Francis has mastered the art of informal and direct communication, often recording cell phone videos for visitors, anything from a “Happy Birthday” for someone’s mother to a religious prayer for a particular church group. For the considerable effort it must have taken, the audio message made clear that he understood the power of his voice, even in its weakened state.

Doctors on Thursday reported that Francis was in stable condition, with no new respiratory crises or fever. He continued his respiratory and other physical therapy Thursday, worked, rested and prayed from the 10th floor papal suite at Rome’s Gemelli hospital. His prognosis remains guarded, meaning he is not out of danger.

The pope has been sleeping with a noninvasive mechanical mask to guarantee that his lungs expand properly overnight and help his recovery. He has been transitioning to receiving high-flow oxygen with a nasal tube during the day.
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PARIS — The discovery of a World War II bomb has disrupted morning traffic to and from Paris’ busy Gare du Nord train station, French national railway company TER said on Friday.

“An unexploded bomb from the Second World War was discovered near the tracks,” TER said on social media platform X. The disruption is affecting both local metros and national and international trains.

Eurostar’s website shows that at least three trains scheduled to depart from Gare du Nord on Friday morning have been canceled.

The international train company did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment.

French police were not immediately available to provide more information. 
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pentagon — On a windy Thursday outside Washington at the Pentagon, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth welcomed his British counterpart to discuss how best to quickly end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“European leadership of NATO, led by the U.K., led by others, is, we believe, the future of defense on the continent,” Hegseth said.

British Defense Secretary John Healey said the United Kingdom had increased its defense spending and would continue to do so.

“You challenged us to step up on Ukraine, on defense spending, on European security. And I say to you that we have, we are, and we will further,” Healey said.

On the possibility of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, Healey said the U.K. believes Kyiv is ready to make the most of a “unique opportunity.”

But as to whether the U.S. has seen enough to resume intelligence sharing with Ukraine, that is up to President Donald Trump, the U.S. defense secretary said.

“We’re very encouraged by the signs we’re seeing. Ultimately, he will make the determination. But it is a pause for now,” Hegseth said.

Hegseth added that Trump is “laser focused” on ending the bloodshed.

In a joint address to Congress on Tuesday evening, Trump said he was working to end the war in Ukraine.

“It’s time to stop this madness,” he said.

Trump’s comments came the day after the United States paused military aid to Ukraine and a few days after an acrimonious Oval Office meeting on Feb. 28 concluded with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy leaving the White House without an agreement.

In his address, Trump said he received a letter Tuesday from Zelenskyy that said Kyiv was “ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible.”

VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
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PARIS — An Ariane 6 rocket roared skyward with a French military reconnaissance satellite aboard Thursday in the first commercial flight for the European heavy-lift launcher.

The rocket took off smoothly from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, quickly disappearing into thick clouds. Video images beamed back from the rocket showed the Earth’s beautiful colors and curvature.

The rocket’s mission was to deliver the CSO-3 military observation satellite into orbit at an altitude of around 800 kilometers.

It was the first commercial mission for Ariane 6 after its maiden flight in July 2024.
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VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis, battling pneumonia in hospital for nearly three weeks, remained stable on Thursday and did not have any new episodes of respiratory crisis, the Vatican said. 

In a sign of progress as the 88-year-old pontiff continues treatment, the pope’s doctors said they would not issue another medical bulletin until Saturday, “considering the stability of the clinical picture.” 

Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14 with a severe respiratory infection that has required continuously evolving treatment. 

In the latest detailed medical update on his condition, the Vatican said the pope had not had a fever and his blood tests had remained stable. Despite pausing the daily readouts about his condition, the doctors continued to call the pope’s prognosis “guarded,” meaning he was not yet out of danger. 

The tone of the updates from the Vatican has been more upbeat in recent days, following what was described as two episodes of “acute respiratory insufficiency” on Monday.  

On Thursday, the Vatican said the pope had been able to work between receiving his treatments and taking rest.  

It also said the pontiff, who has used a wheelchair in recent years due to knee and back pain, had continued with some physical therapy to help with mobility, which first started on Wednesday. 

Monday’s respiratory episodes had required Francis to use non-invasive mechanical ventilation, which involves placing a mask over the face to help push air into the lungs. 

The pope is now only receiving ventilation at night, said the Vatican. During the day, he receives oxygen via a small hose under his nose. 

Francis has not been seen in public since entering the hospital, his longest such absence since his papacy started 12 years ago. His doctors have not said how long the treatment might last. 

The pope, who is known to work himself to exhaustion, has continued to work from the hospital. On Thursday, the Vatican announced the appointments of two bishops that would have required his approval.  

The pope has experienced several bouts of ill health over the last two years and is prone to lung infections because he had pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed. 

Double pneumonia is a serious infection in both lungs that can inflame and scar them, making it difficult to breathe.
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French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Thursday that France is sharing intelligence with Ukraine, a move that followed the United States saying it was cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine.

The move comes as European Union leaders gathered Thursday in Brussels, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for a summit to discuss boosting defense spending and bolstering pledges of support for Ukraine in its battle against Russia’s invasion.

French President Emmanuel Macron said ahead of the talks that EU members would “take decisive steps forward,” while he expressed concerns about shifts in U.S. support for Ukraine under new President Donald Trump.

“The future of Europe does not have to be decided in Washington or Moscow,” Macron said.

Trump earlier in the week ordered the U.S. to suspend military aid to Kyiv’s fighters after his contentious meeting last week with Zelenskyy at the White House.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said Wednesday that the United States had also, for the moment, ended sharing its intelligence with Kyiv, although it could be short-lived after Zelenskyy said the exchanges with Trump in the Oval Office had been “regrettable” and that Ukraine was ready for peace talks with Russia.

“I think on the military front and the intelligence front, the pause [that prompted Ukraine’s president to respond], I think will go away,” Ratcliffe told the Fox Business Network.

“I think we’ll work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine as we have to push back on the aggression that’s there, but to put the world in a better place for these peace negotiations to move forward,” he said.

Since the start of the war in 2022, the United States has provided Ukraine with significant intelligence, including critical information its military needs for targeting Russian forces.

Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. “had taken a step back” and that the administration was “reviewing all aspects” of its intelligence relationship with Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Waltz told CBS News that the U.S. is moving quickly to start peace negotiations to end the war and sign a mineral rights deal with Kyiv.

“I think we’re going to see movement in very short order,” Waltz said.

He said Trump officials will meet with Ukrainian officials as they conduct shuttle diplomacy with Russia.

“I have literally just been on the phone with my counterpart, the Ukrainian national security adviser, talking about times, locations, delegations,” Waltz said.

Reaching a peace deal could prove difficult. Ukraine has long demanded a restoration of its internationally recognized 2014 borders before Moscow unilaterally seized Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. Overall, Russia now holds about a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including much of eastern Ukraine, and has vowed to not return any of it to the Kyiv government.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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UNITED NATIONS — Women’s rights regressed last year in a quarter of countries around the world, according to a report published by UN Women on Thursday, due to factors ranging from climate change to democratic backsliding.

“The weakening of democratic institutions has gone hand in hand with backlash on gender equality,” the report said, adding that “anti-rights actors are actively undermining long-standing consensus on key women’s rights issues.”

“Almost one-quarter of countries reported that backlash on gender equality is hampering implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action,” the report continued, referring to the document from the 1995 World Conference on Women.

In the 30 years since the conference, the U.N. said that progress has been mixed.

In parliaments around the world, female representation has more than doubled since 1995, but men still comprise about three-quarters of parliamentarians.

The number of women with social protection benefits increased by a third between 2010 and 2023, though 2 billion women and girls still live in places without such protections.

Gender employment gaps “have stagnated for decades.” Sixty-three percent of women between the ages of 25 and 54 have paid employment, compared to 92% of men in the same demographic.

The report cites the COVID-19 pandemic, global conflicts, climate change and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), as all new potential threats to gender equality.

Data presented by the UN Women report found that conflict-related sexual violence has spiked 50% in the past 10 years, with 95% of victims being children or young women.

In 2023, 612 million women lived within 50 kilometers of armed conflict, a 54% increase since 2010.

And in 12 countries in Europe and Central Asia, at least 53% of women have experienced one or more forms of gender-based violence online.

“Globally, violence against women and girls persists at alarming rates. Across their lifetime, around one in three women are subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence by a non-partner,” the report said.

The report sets out a multi-part roadmap to address gender inequality, such as fostering equitable access to new technologies like AI, measures toward climate justice, investments to combat poverty, increasing participation in public affairs and fighting against gendered violence.
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As European Union leaders prepare for emergency talks to ramp up military spending after the Trump administration suspended aid to Ukraine, several Russia experts say Moscow is trying to capitalize on fragmenting Western cohesion.

Following last week’s televised Oval Office clash between U.S. and Ukrainian leaders, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov on Monday accused Europe of seeking to prolong the war, adding that changes in U.S. “foreign policy configurations” largely coincide with Moscow’s vision.

The comments came before an EU financial summit planned for Thursday that aims to grapple with stabilizing continental security and helping Ukraine after decades of dependence on the U.S. defense umbrella.

In a recent interview with the military newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called President Donald Trump a “pragmatist” whose motto is “common sense.” He also said, “All tragedies in the world” over the past 500 years “originated in Europe or occurred owing to European policies,” while “the Americans played no seditious, let alone ‘inflammatory,’ role.”

Calling Europe Enemy No. 1 is “becoming the main trend in the Kremlin’s policy,” said exiled independent Russian political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin. “Therefore, having changed his tune … [Lavrov] explained to the audience that the U.S. is, if not a friend, then a reliable partner, and that means Britain and France are always to blame for everything.”

Oreshkin also said the relatively positive U.S. depiction shows the Kremlin is hoping for an “aggravation of contradictions” between Europe and America.

But Novaya Gazeta columnist Andrei Kolesnikov said it was premature for Russian authorities to assume Trump is taking Russia’s side in the war.

Trump’s “interest, which he equates with the interests of the United States, is to end the conflict,” Kolesnikov told VOA. “But there are two sides to the conflict. And if during future negotiations … [Trump] remains dissatisfied with the intransigence of the Russian side, no one will stand on ceremony. New [U.S.] sanctions and measures to reduce oil prices will follow with the same decisiveness and speed as [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy’s ‘punishment.’”

Kolesnikov was referring to the contentious Feb. 28 Oval Office meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, in which top U.S. officials accused him of being insufficiently grateful for U.S. military support.

The meeting concluded without the signing of an expected defense deal involving Ukrainian rare-earth minerals.

With long-held certainties about U.S. reliability as a security partner suddenly in doubt, EU and NATO leaders gathered Sunday in London to map out a path forward.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for uniting “around a new plan for a just and enduring peace,” while French President Emmanuel Macron said his country and Britain had agreed on an alternative peace plan envisaging a one-month partial ceasefire to end mutual attacks on energy infrastructure, followed by a second stage involving sending peacekeepers to Ukraine.

The White House on Monday announced temporary suspension of all U.S. military aid to Kyiv, although Trump during an address to Congress on Tuesday said Zelenskyy had signaled renewed interest in inking the U.S.-proposed defense deal.

According to U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, Trump on Wednesday halted intelligence cooperation with Ukraine.

Against this unclear backdrop, Russian officials have refrained from criticizing the U.S. administration and Trump personally while shifting their line of attack from the United States toward Europe.

Thursday’s summit in Brussels comes as the EU is arguably at its weakest point, fragmented by the steady rise of a hard right that is often pro-Russian.

EU leaders are also expected to discuss whether to place more arms contracts with Ukraine’s defense industry, and to help integrate it into the European industrial network.

The Trump administration has demanded that Europeans spend as much as 5% of GDP on defense, well beyond the NATO benchmark of at least 2%. Seven European allies still fall short of even that target. The U.S. spends around 3.4%, according to NATO figures, and a Pentagon audit that could reduce that is pending.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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