Europe

Ukrainians in Lviv show support for the residents and defenders of Mariupol on Saturday. Ukraine rejected Russia's calls to surrender the strategic southern port city.

Ukrainian officials emphatically reject Russia's call to surrender besieged Mariupol

3:38pm March 21, 2022

After weeks of bombarding the city, Russia offered the ultimatum on Sunday: If Mariupol surrenders, it will let civilians leave and humanitarian aid enter. Ukrainian officials refused.

Queue Listen Now

World News

A 96-year-old Holocaust survivor was killed when Russian forces shelled his home

2:54pm March 21, 2022

by Rachel Treisman

Boris Romantschenko was killed last week in a Russian attack in Kharkiv. He survived four concentration camps and later "campaigned intensively for the memory of the Nazi crimes."

The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine warns of a sharp rise in online ads seeking truck drivers.

World News

Russia is trying to recruit drivers who know Ukraine's roads

1:59pm March 21, 2022

by Bill Chappell

There's been a sharp rise in ads for trucker jobs in since March 19, but Ukraine's government says the postings are linked to Russia's military, which has had trouble navigating Ukraine.

A Russian court has banned Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, for "extremist activities." WhatsApp is excluded from the ruling, however.

A Russian court bans Facebook and Instagram as extremist

12:42pm March 21, 2022

by Alina Selyukh

The ruling amounts to an immediate ban of Facebook and Instagram in Russia, where both platforms are already blocked. WhatsApp, which is owned by the same company, is still allowed.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at a news conference in Budapest on Feb. 17.

In Hungary, the arts are being suppressed by the government, a new report says

12:26pm March 21, 2022

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The Artistic Freedom Initiative contends that consolidated state power under right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and artists' self-censorship has led to an "existential crisis."

National

A restaurant serving Russian food rebrands itself after Russia invades Ukraine

7:51am March 21, 2022

by Kailey Broussard

A restaurant in Arlington, Texas, called its food "Russian" for the past two decades. But threats were made after Russia invaded Ukraine, and now the restaurant is rebranding to "Eastern European."

Queue Listen Now

NATO is facing pressure to provide more support to Ukraine

7:51am March 21, 2022

by Frank Langfitt

As President Biden heads to Brussels for a NATO summit this week and the Russians continue to bomb Ukrainian cities, pressure is building on the military alliance to do more.

Queue Listen Now

Ukranian officials say Russia bombed a theater and art school in Mariupol

7:28am March 21, 2022

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Petro Andrushchenko, an adviser to Mariupol's mayor, who says civilians in bomb shelters are running out of food.

Queue Listen Now

Ukraine rejects Russia's demand to surrender the port city of Mariupol

7:28am March 21, 2022

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Ukrainian member of parliament Lesia Vasylenko about the war, and the critical situation in the besieged city of Mariupol.

Queue Listen Now

A man walking on a beach in southwestern England finds a message in a bottle

6:23am March 21, 2022

The handwritten letter, dated June 2001, was written by a six-year-old girl named Anna, on a family vacation in the Bahamas. The message, written in crayon, read: "Please don't pollute. Thank you."