Europe

Finland Researchers Experiment With Growing Coffee In A Lab

5:45am September 23, 2021

Coffee cultivation contributes to deforestation and exploited labor. Smithsonian Magazine reports researchers found a way to do without cultivation — growing coffee from plant cells in bioreactors.

Back in June at the G-7 summit in England, French President Emmanuel Macron (center, right) and President Biden appeared to be getting along fine. They spoke Wednesday after a rift that began with a new security alliance.

France To Send Its Ambassador Back To The U.S. Following A Macron-Biden Call

10:24pm September 22, 2021

by Alana Wise

The phone call was the first between President Biden and President Emmanuel Macron since last week's fracas over a nuclear submarine deal. France had recalled its ambassador from Washington.

Soviet Veterans, Who Spent Time In Afghanistan, Comment On The U.S. Exit Strategy

6:30am September 22, 2021

by Charles Maynes

Veterans of the Soviet Union's unsuccessful intervention in Afghanistan give their views about the U.S. experience there. The Soviets left Afghanistan in 1989. The U.S. pulled out last month.

World News

Russian Government Killed Former KGB Agent, Says European Court Of Human Rights

5:16pm September 21, 2021

by Charles Maynes

The European Court of Human Rights says Russia's government is responsible for the 2006 killing in London of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent turned exiled dissident.

World News

Sick Of Tanneries' Stench Centuries Ago, A French Town Began Making Perfume. It Stuck

5:16pm September 21, 2021

by Eleanor Beardsley

Since the 19th century, the French city of Grasse has been the center of the world's perfume industry. It developed as a response to Grasse's medieval tanning industry –- which stank.

President Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met in Cornwall, Britain, ahead of the G-7 summit in June.

World News

Boris Johnson Aims To Tighten U.S. Ties In A Visit That Follows A Contentious Month

12:33pm September 21, 2021

by Frank Langfitt

A few weeks ago, Britain was furious with the U.S. over the Afghanistan pullout. In his Tuesday White House visit, Johnson hopes to build momentum ahead of November's U.N. climate summit in Glasgow.

On his deathbed, Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian intelligence agent who defected, accused Vladimir Putin of ordering his assassination.

World News

Russia Fatally Poisoned A Prominent Defector In London, A Court Concludes

11:27am September 21, 2021

by Scott Neuman

Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian intelligence officer, died in London weeks after drinking tea that was later found to have been laced with the deadly radioactive compound polonium-210.

U.S.-U.K.-Australia Alliance In The Indo-Pacific Irks French Government

5:55am September 21, 2021

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Philippe Etienne, France's ambassador to the U.S., who was recalled to Paris after a U.S.-Australian submarine deal drew fury from the French government.

Cumbre Vieja erupts, spewing out columns of smoke, ash and lava, as seen from Los Llanos de Aridane municipality on the Canary island of La Palma on Sunday.

World News

Spewing Volcano Shouldn't Put Off Visitors To La Palma, Says Spain's Tourism Minister

3:45pm September 20, 2021

by Scott Neuman

Despite the eruption on the Canary island that has sent thousands fleeing, including some 500 tourists, Spain's tourism minister said visitors should stay and "enjoy what nature has brought us."

Colette Maze, now 107, began playing the piano at age 5 and defied the social conventions of her day to embrace it as a profession rather than as a pastime. Her son first arranged for her performances to be recorded when she was in her 90s. She has just r

This French Pianist Has Been Playing For 102 Years And Just Released A New Album

3:31pm September 20, 2021

by Eleanor Beardsley

Colette Maze, now 107, began playing the piano at age 5. She defied the social conventions of her era to embrace music as a profession rather than as a pastime. She has just released her sixth album.