ASHBOURNE, ENGLAND — This ancient form of football has a rule forbidding players from murdering each other.

Every year, thousands of people descend on a small town in the English countryside to watch a two-day game of mass street football that, to the casual observer, could easily be mistaken for a riot. This is Royal Shrovetide — a centuries-old ball game played in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, that, frankly, looks nothing like the world’s most popular sport. Or any other game for that matter.

“It’s like tug of war without the rope,” says Natalie Wakefield, 43, who lives locally and has marshaled the event in the past. “It’s mad in the best possible way.”

Hundreds of players

Played between two teams of hundreds of players, the aim is to “goal” at either end of a 5-kilometer sector that could take the match through rivers, hedgerows, high streets and just about anything or anywhere except for churchyards, cemeteries and places of worship. The ball is thrown into a crowd that moves like a giant herd, as each team tries to carry it toward their desired goal.

Rules are limited but “no murder” was an early stipulation for the game that dates back to at least the 1600s. Good players need to be “hard, aggressive and authoritative,” says Mark Harrison, who “goaled” in 1986 and is one of multiple generations of scorers in his family.

“You can’t practice,” the 62-year-old Harrison adds. He stopped competing seven years ago and now serves up burgers to throngs of spectators from a street food truck.

“You’ve just got to get in there and be rough. I am a rugby player … I’m also an ex-boxer so that helps.”

Royal approval

Harrison had the honor of carrying the then-Prince Charles on his shoulder when in 2003 the now-King of England opened that year’s game. “He loved it!” Harrison says.

Played over Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday each year, the event is a source of immense pride for the people of Ashbourne in Derbyshire’s Peak District.

Yet, such a unifying tradition is actually based upon splitting the town into two halves between the “Up’ards” and the “Down’ards,” determined by whether players are born on the north or south of the River Henmore.

Don’t park there

On any other days, Ashbourne, around a three-hour drive from London, is quiet and picturesque with a high street lined by antique shops, cafes and traditional pubs. Visitors include hikers, cyclists and campers.

For two days that all changes.

Large timber boardings are nailed up to protect shop fronts. Doorways are barricaded. “Play Zone” signs are strapped to lampposts, warning motorists not to park there for fear of damage to vehicles, which can be shoved out of the way by the force of the hoards of players trying to move the ball.

In contrast, colorful bunting is strewn high above from building to building and revelers congregate, eating and drinking as if it is a street party. Parents with babies in strollers watch on from a safe distance. School holidays in the area have long since been moved to coincide with the festival.

“There are people who come and they have a drink and they’re just like, ‘This is a bit of a crazy thing and it’s a spectacle, and now I’ve seen it, box ticked off,'” says Wakefield, who also used to report on Royal Shrovetide for the local newspaper. “And there are people who are absolutely enthralled by it all, and they get the beauty and complexity of the game and those people follow it year on year.”

Where’s the ball?

Play begins with an opening ceremony in a car park, no less, in the center of town. The national anthem and Auld Lang Syne are sung. Competitors are reminded, “You play the game at your own risk.” A leather ball, the size of a large pumpkin, filled with cork and ornately painted, is thrown into what is called a “hug” of players. And they’re off.

As a spectator sport, it can be confusing. There can be little to see for long periods during the eight hours of play each day from 2 p.m. local time. Players wear their own clothes — such as random football or rugby jerseys — rather than matching uniforms.

On Tuesday, it took more than 45 minutes to move the ball out of the car park. Onlookers stand on bins, walls and park benches, craning their necks to look down alleyways to try to get a better view. “Can you see the ball?” someone will ask. The answer is often “No.”

One person thinks it might be in line with a tree over to the right of the car park, but can’t be sure. Later that day there had been no sight of the ball for almost two hours until rumors started to circulate that the Down’ards scored what turned out to be the only goal over the two days of play for a 1-0 victory.

Deception and cunning

With so many players, the hug can be difficult to maneuver but gathers pace quickly, prompting crowds of spectators who’d previously been trying to get a closer look to suddenly run away from the action. The ball can be handled and kicked. Play can be frantic, with players racing after a loose ball wherever it may take them, diving into the river and up and out the other side.

While strength is needed in the hug, speed is required from runners if the ball breaks free. Royal Shrovetide, however, can be as much about deception and cunning as speed and strength, it seems.

“There’s a bit of strategy involved in that somebody’s pretending they’ve still got the ball in the middle of the hug,” Wakefield says. “And they’re quietly passing it back out to the edge to get it to a runner who has to sneak away in a kind of, I imagine, very nonchalant manner and then leg it down an alleyway.”

A famous goal in 2019 came as a result of the hug not realizing it didn’t have the ball until it was too late. Hidden by two schoolboys standing meters away, the ball was passed to a player who ran, largely unimpeded, for 2 1/2 kilometers before scoring.

A ball is goaled when it is hit three times against one of the millstones at either end of the town in Clifton or Sturston.

The beautiful game

Scorers have likened the achievement to winning Olympic gold. They are carried on shoulders, paraded through the town and celebrated like heroes.

“If you can imagine playing for Manchester United in their heyday and they’re at Wembley in a cup final. You score the winner. You’re there,” Harrison says. Scorers also get to keep the balls, which are repainted and become treasured family possessions.

It is the game, however, that is treasured most of all. “I just live and breathe it,” says Janet Richardson, 75, from Ashbourne, who has been going to Royal Shrovetide since she was a 1-year-old. “I can’t sleep because I’m excited. It’s so lovely to think that all these people still want to come here and watch this beautiful game that we’ve got in our town.” 
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KYIV, UKRAINE — Russia said Saturday its troops had retaken three villages seized by Ukraine in its Kursk border region, in a fresh setback for Kyiv ahead of talks to try to end the war. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday named a high-level delegation including ministers to meet U.S. negotiators in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, seeking to repair ties with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. 

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Thursday that Washington wanted to discuss a “framework for a peace agreement.”   

“We hope to discuss and agree on the necessary decisions and steps,” Zelenskyy said, stressing that Ukraine was “fully committed to constructive dialogue.” 

But he condemned the “brutal” deadly strikes on eastern Ukraine, saying they proved that Russia was “not thinking about how to end the war.” 

Trump on Friday threatened new sanctions and tariffs against Russia over its bombardment of Ukraine. 

The three-year-long war is now at a critical juncture for Kyiv after Trump suspended U.S. military aid following his public falling-out with Zelenskyy last week.   

Ukraine still controls some 400-square kilometers in the Kursk region after launching an offensive last August. Zelenskyy sees this as a possible bargaining chip in peace talks. 

But Ukraine’s troops in Kursk have seen their position worsen in recent weeks with Russia’s army pushing back.   

Russia claims gains  

Russia’s defense ministry announced Saturday the recapture of three more villages: Viktorovka, Nikolaevka and Staraya Sorochina. 

According to DeepState, an online military tracker linked to the Ukrainian army, the Russian move followed a “breach” in the Ukrainian defense lines near the town of Sudzha, which is under Kyiv’s control. 

The advance appears to have cut off the logistics route needed by Ukraine to supply its troops, although Kyiv has not confirmed this. 

Russia has already taken back some two-thirds of the territory in Kursk initially seized by Ukraine.   

The Ukrainian military General Staff said Saturday that clashes were ongoing amid heavy bombardment with artillery and guided aerial bombs. 

Small groups of Russian troops have also mounted attacks in recent weeks into Ukraine’s Sumy region bordering Kursk.   

But Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation denied reports Saturday of a “massive breakthrough,” saying its forces were destroying small groups trying to cross.   

Meeting in Saudi Arabia 

Full peace negotiations remain a distant prospect, with Kyiv and Moscow making starkly opposed demands. Trump has made settling the conflict a priority since his return to the White House.   

But by reaching out to Russian President Vladimir Putin while criticizing Zelenskyy, he has raised fears in Kyiv — and among its European allies — that Trump may try to force Ukraine to accept a settlement that favors Russia. 

Senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials are set to meet for talks on the war in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Zelenskyy also will visit Monday for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 

For the U.S., Witkoff has said he wants to discuss an “initial ceasefire” with Russia and a “framework” for a longer agreement. 

Zelenskyy said Ukraine would be represented by officials including foreign minister Andriy Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.   

In his evening address, he told Ukrainians he was “confident that the meeting will be productive.”   

Zelenskyy also urged allies to “increase sanctions against Russia” after heavy overnight bombardment in the east and northeast.   

A Russian barrage hit the center of Dobropillya in the eastern Donetsk region late Friday, killing 11 people and wounding 40, according to the emergency services.   

“Russia is proving literally every day with its cruelty that nothing has changed for them,” Zelenskyy said. 

He accused Moscow of wanting to “destroy and capture more as long as the world allows them to wage this war.” 

On Saturday, a strike on the embattled city of Pokrovsk killed a man in his 40s and wounded 2 others, and at least 10 people were killed in multiple strikes on Ukraine’s embattled eastern Donetsk region, the Donetsk Governor Vadym Filashkin said. He added that seven others were killed in multiple drone and missile strikes in towns close to the front lines.  

Three people died when a Russian drone hit a workshop in the northeastern Kharkiv region, the head of its military administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said. And one additional man was killed by shelling in the region. 

More bombs 

The latest strikes came after EU leaders, shaken by the prospect of U.S. disengagement, agreed to boost the bloc’s defenses.   

Putin “has no interest in peace,” the European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Saturday, reacting to the latest attacks. 

“We must step up our military support — otherwise, even more Ukrainian civilians will pay the highest price,” she added. 

Zelenskyy said Saturday that Ukrainian and British diplomats had held “highly productive” talks in Kyiv.   

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the latest Russian attacks were “what happens when someone appeases barbarians,” resulting in “more bombs, more aggression.”  
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ZURICH, SWITZERLAND — Swiss police said Saturday they had solved a kidnapping involving two dogs and a demand for ransom of 1 million Swiss francs (about $1.135 million). 

Zurich police said that two Bolonka dogs were stolen from the home of a 59-year-old man in Schlieren near Zurich last week, while the dog owner was away. 

When the man returned, the dogs were gone, and he found a letter demanding money to release the small dogs. 

Instead of paying the ransom, the man, who was not identified by name in line with Swiss privacy rules, called the police. 

During the investigation, police arrested a 30-year-old Norwegian man Thursday at Zurich Airport. Police said he was strongly suspected of being involved in the theft. 

Following further leads and cross-European cooperation, police in Poland then detained a 38-year-old suspect and discovered the kidnapped Bolonkas, which they returned safely to their owner Friday. 

Swiss police said the Norwegian is in custody in Switzerland and authorities in Poland are further investigating the Polish suspect. 

A Bolonka is a toy breed of dogs bred in Russia and sold for up to a couple of thousand dollars. 
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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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WARSAW, POLAND — South Korea and Poland signed a cooperation agreement on Wednesday as the democratic allies increasingly find themselves united by concerns about the global security situation despite the vast geographical distance between them. 

Foreign ministers Cho Tae-yul of South Korea and Poland’s Radek Sikorski signed an action plan which outlines their relations in the areas of politics, economy, defense and culture through 2028. 

“We both reaffirmed that there is a need to further strengthen our cooperation for transregional security cooperation, encompassing both Europe and the Indo-Pacific within the framework of the NATO-IP4 partnership,” said Cho, referring to NATO’s partnership with allies in the Indo-Pacific region, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. 

South Korea and Poland have been strategic partners since 2013, with South Korea in recent years becoming a major supplier of weapons as NATO member Poland carries out a massive investment program to modernize its armed forces. 

“Poland is the largest recipient of Korean military equipment worldwide, and we would like to further develop this cooperation with the prospect of relocating production and technology transfer to Poland,” Sikorski told reporters. “Poland can also serve as a hub for further promotion of Korean military equipment in Europe and for the rebuilding of Ukraine.” 

The two nations share concerns about the situation in Ukraine, which lies on Poland’s eastern border and has sent jitters across NATO’s eastern flank. 

South Korea and Poland, along with other European allies, have also been concerned about North Korea’s support for Russia in the war, including its dispatch of North Korean soldiers to fight alongside the Russians. Seoul worries that Russia could reward North Korea with transfers of sensitive technology to enhance its nuclear and missile programs. 

Cho told a news briefing that his country is launching an assistance package of over $2 billion, building on $400 million provided to Ukraine last year, “to address Ukraine’s urgent needs in energy, infrastructure, health care and education.” 

Sikorski and Cho also discussed expanding access to Polish food products in the South Korean market. 

“Poland is now Korea’s fifth largest trading partner within the EU (European Union), and Korea has become the largest Asian investor in Poland as of 2024. This is a testament to the trust and potential both nations see in each other’s economic future,” Cho said.
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You do not hear much from Russian civilians in international media as Russia’s government restricts foreign reporters working in the country. For VOA, Genia Dulot met with some Russian tourists visiting the Indian Ocean republic of Maldives to hear what they think about international sanctions and U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
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U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a “pause” Monday to military aid shipments to Ukraine with immediate effect, which his administration said was aimed at forcing all sides to peace talks. As Henry Ridgwell reports from London, European leaders have said it is vital to continue weapons shipments to Kyiv — but there are doubts over how long Ukraine can keep on fighting. Anna Chernikova contributed.
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