Every month, when his respiratory medicine runs out, Dionysis Assimakopoulos heads to the most unlikely pharmacy in Athens. Amid derelict stadiums dating from the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, the volunteer-staffed social pharmacy of Hellinikon has handed out free medicine to hundreds of poverty-stricken patients, keeping some of them out of death’s reach. “My wife and I have been unemployed for over two years. We need about 150 euros for medicine…

The main candidates in Spain’s general election on Monday clashed over how to handle Catalonia’s independence drive, accusing each other of lying in a tense television debate that left questions open on what coalition deals could be struck. Spain’s parliamentary election on April 28, one of the country’s most divisive since its return to democracy in the late 1970s, is being fought more on emotional and identity issues, such as…

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will visit Russia for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean state media confirmed. With his Russia visit, North Korea’s Kim is seen working to build up foreign support for his economic development plans, since the breakdown of the second U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi in February led to stalled talks with Washington on the sanctions relief Pyongyang had sought. State media…

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a television actor, has won a landslide victory in the Ukrainian presidential election Sunday. Exit polls show he received around three times as many votes as incumbent Petro Poroshenko, who conceded defeat Sunday evening. As Henry Ridgwell reports, Zelenskiy’s supporters say the country needs an outsider to tackle endemic corruption, but critics say Russia could seek to take advantage of his inexperience. …

Climate change protesters who have brought parts of London to a standstill said Sunday they were prepared to call a halt if the British government will discuss their demands. Some 963 arrests have been made and 42 people charged in connection with the ongoing Extinction Rebellion protests. On the seventh day of demonstrations that have occupied key spots in the British capital, Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg addressed the…

French Catholics on Sunday celebrated Easter mass in Paris in the shadow of the badly burned Notre-Dame Cathedral, praying that the landmark monument — and along with it the entire Catholic Church — can be renewed. The fire at Notre-Dame six days earlier destroyed the cathedral’s spire and two-thirds of its roof. The damaged building is now to be closed for years to visits and worship. Deprived of access to…

Pope Francis expressed closeness to the Christian community struck by the attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter day. In his Easter message he also prayed for peace in Syria, Yemen, Libya and South Sudan. Addressing tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square from the central balcony of the basilica, the pope said the resurrection of Christ, he said, is the principle of new life for every man…

Exit polls in Ukraine indicate standup comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy has won a landslide victory in Sunday’s runoff presidential election over incumbent Petro Poroshenko. The polls says Zelenskiy, who plays a fictional president in popular television series,  won about 73 percent of the vote. The 41-year-old Zelenskiy, who has no political experience, is heavily favored to defeat Poroshenko, polls show. Zelenskiy’s once long-shot bid for the presidency gained momentum amid voter…

Many Christians observed one of the most important times of their religious year with a vigil Saturday night before Sunday’s celebration of Easter, when the faithful believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead.    On the night of Holy Saturday, Pope Francis celebrates an Easter vigil at Saint Peter’s Basilica, ahead of Easter Sunday Mass in the square. At the end of Mass, the pope will give his traditional blessing…

A Frenchman who has spent 113 days floating across the Atlantic in a custom-made barrel says he is in high spirits as he approaches the end of his journey.     Earlier this week, Jean-Jacques Savin, 72, posted on his Facebook page that he was just 750 kilometers from the island of St. Martin. But he has traveled only 250 kilometers in the past week because of the lack of wind.    …