You are listening to the audio version of the Wider Europe newsletter, published on April 22, 2025, read by an AI-generated voice of RFE/RL's Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak.

Belarusian comedian “Evil Sasha” turns trauma into dark humor on stage in Vilnius. Scarred by a fire and injured in 2020 protests, she fled to Lithuania. Now her sharp jokes blend laughter with the ...

Sasha Hushcha suffered severe burns early in life and endured bullying in childhood. In 2022, she left her native Belarus for Lithuania because she feared political persecution. Today, she's mining ...

I'm RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak, and this week I am drilling down on the uncertain path of the "coalition of the ...

Pope Francis, the first Jesuit and first Latin American to lead the Roman Catholic Church, has died at the age of 88.

Russian bloggers and tabloids warn of “black widows” -- women allegedly marrying soldiers to claim death benefits if they die fighting in Ukraine. The claims are stoking public outrage and raising ...

Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine are being warned about so-called "black widows" -- women who seduce and marry them with the aim of collecting their military death benefits. As RFE/RL's Andrey ...

Russia and Ukraine exchanged over 500 prisoners of war in the latest swap brokered by the United Arab Emirates. Video filmed ...

"This is deportation," says the head of a Ukrainian volunteer group that helps people escape from Russian-occupied areas. He ...

As Iran and the United States prepare for a new round of indirect nuclear talks in Rome, shifting US positions, sidelined ...

The EU is set to tighten its visa suspension rules, expanding the reasons it can revoke visa-free travel for 61 countries.

Iran’s foreign minister has called for Russia to play a role in high-stakes negotiations over the fate of Tehran’s nuclear ...