Joanna Kakissis

Joanna Kakissis appears in the following:

Ukrainian women prepare to mobilize in case Russia invades

Tuesday, February 08, 2022

Women play an outsized role in Ukrainian society -– including mobilizing in case Russia attacks urban areas. Women of all ages are learning self-defense and survival skills.

Comment

U.K.'s Boris Johnson visits Kyiv to stand with Ukraine and Putin remarks on tensions

Tuesday, February 01, 2022

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson flew to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In Moscow, Russian President Putin made his first public remarks on the crisis since late 2021.

Comment

There's a complication in sanctioning Russia — it could cut Europe's gas supply

Sunday, January 30, 2022

The U.S. is working to help Europe find alternative energy sources should war in Ukraine lead Russia to cut off natural gas supplies.

Comment

Hungarian Roma are translating Amanda Gorman; her poetry speaks to their experience

Saturday, January 29, 2022

White European translators have hesitated to work on Gorman's poetry because of criticism that their race makes them inappropriate for the job. In Hungary, a marginalized community steps up.

Comment

Some European allies send weapons to Ukraine while Germany holds back

Monday, January 24, 2022

After a video call with European allies, President Biden said there's unanimity on the threat posed by Russian troops on Ukraine's borders. Some allies are sending weapons to Ukraine. Others are not.

Comment

An Afghan girls soccer team rebelled to play the game they love. Now they're refugees

Wednesday, January 05, 2022

The teenagers on the Afghan girls national soccer team lean on each other as they adjust to a new life in Portugal, where they fled after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Comment

Young Roma writers find inspiration in Amanda Gorman's poetry

Wednesday, January 05, 2022

Young writers who are Roma, Europe's largest ethnic minority, see their own struggles in Amanda Gorman's poetry, and are translating her new book into Hungarian.

Comment

Portugal has one of the top vaccination rates but isn't taking chances with omicron

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Scientists are watching how Portugal and other highly vaccinated countries are faring against the coronavirus' new omicron variant.

Comment

In Greece, the pope demands the world focus on the plight of asylum-seekers

Monday, December 06, 2021

Pope Francis visited a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos over the weekend, and called for more attention to migrant seekers.

Comment

Greece and Austria are mandating COVID-19 vaccinations and fining people who refuse

Saturday, December 04, 2021

Greece, where 62 percent of people are fully vaccinated, has started collecting monthly fines from those who refuse the shots. Austria is also taking similar measures.

Comment

A discomfort with Western liberalism is growing in Eastern Europe

Saturday, December 04, 2021

People of the former Soviet bloc rejoiced when the Iron Curtain fell and embraced membership in the European Union. Hungary is an example of a growing culture clash in the conservative East.

Comment

These Portuguese kids are suing 33 European countries to force them to cut emissions

Thursday, December 02, 2021

Adults "can see us as serious or they can see us as a joke," one of the kids says. "A lawsuit is not a joke," her brother adds. The European Court of Human Rights has fast-tracked their 2020 lawsuit.

Comment

Greece will mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for anyone over 60, or make them pay fines

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Anyone who refuses to get vaccinated will face monthly fines of 100 euros, or roughly $114. The monthly fine is substantial for retirees — the average pension is 730 euros a month.

Comment

Portugal may be the model to follow for how to live safely with the coronavirus

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Portugal, where nearly everyone is vaccinated, is becoming a test case for living with the coronavirus — as a worrying new strain spreads worldwide.

Comment

The 1st trial begins for volunteers who helped migrants in Greece

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

The first of more than 20 volunteers who helped migrants in Greece are going on trial, in what rights groups say is a politically motivated attempt to criminalize humanitarian work.

Comment

Young activists pick a legal option to try to get European nations to cut emissions

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Six young Portuguese, alarmed at how the warming climate is affecting their future, are suing 33 European countries to compel them to significantly reduce carbon emissions.

Comment

What's next for Afghan allies who were evacuated to a U.S. military base in Kosovo

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Some Afghans evacuated by the U.S. are being held on a U.S. military base in Kosovo because of insufficient security vetting. Their future is unclear.

Comment

People in Hungary grapple with what it means to be European

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Former Soviet block countries were elated when they were able to open to the West. But that emotion has been replaced by discomfort, as deeply conservative societies grapple with the EU's liberalism.

Comment

Climate Change Destroyed A Way Of Life On The Once-Idyllic Greek Island Of Evia

Saturday, September 11, 2021

This summer has seen forest fires across southern Europe, which scientists say were worsened by climate change. Evia lost its forests, the island's source of livelihood and joy.

Comment

Life On The Greek Island Of Evia Will Never Be The Same After Catastrophic Fires

Wednesday, September 01, 2021

After catastrophic fires razed the forest that was the lifeblood of Greece's second largest island, residents are planning for a hotter, drier future — and demanding the government do the same.

Comment