Search results for

The government of Ecuador on Thursday granted asylum to Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. Assange has been holed up at Ecuador's embassy in London for two months while the British government has demanded that he be handed over. He faces questioning in Sweden for alleged sexual misconduct.

For months, the British have been holding a public inquiry into press ethics. The government set this up after a big outcry over the phone hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World. The inquiry is shining a light into the secluded world of the people who run that ancient country, in particular, says NPR's Philip Reeves, the prime minister's social set.

Just a few weeks ago, warnings were flying thick and fast that the Olympic Games would reduce London to chaos, jamming the capital's roads and clogging up its aging transport system. Officials urged residents to work from home and plan their travel carefully. The public seems to have taken that advice to heart.

At the E.U. summit in Brussels, Britain was the only nation to rule out treaty changes aimed at saving eurozone countries from default and saving the euro. A look at what's behind Britain's latest show of euro skepticism — and what it means for the Tory Prime Minister David Cameron, who, ironically, is in a coalition with the pro-Europe Liberal Democratic party.

A sense of imminent doom is gripping Europe in the face of a possible Greek default on its debt. The head of the European Commission calls it the most serious problem to hit Europe in a generation, while others have warned of "dramatic economic, social and political costs" if Greece was to leave the eurozone.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is about to set out to Washington D.C., where he'll meet President Obama Friday and, next week, address a joint session of Congress. His trip comes as Israel's under growing pressure, thanks partly to the Arab Spring. The Palestinians' campaign for statehood has new momentum — and now, with Fatah and Hamas united again, they're planning to seek recognition from the U.N. in September. Netanyahu will use the mission to try to counter this — particularly by denouncing the inclusion of Hamas in a future Palestinian government.

It may come as a surprise but the popularity of President Jair Bolsonaro is growing — even as the country suffers one of the highest COVID-19 death tolls in the world.

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe asks researcher Kimberly Bertrand about hair relaxers containing formaldehyde and moves by the FDA to ban them.

The Biden administration is asking for aid for Israel and Ukraine but it may have to wait for a new House speaker.

Brazilians go to the polls to pick their next president in, perhaps, the country's most divisive election ever. The lead candidates are polar opposites on the political spectrum.