Eleanor Beardsley

French voters go to the polls this weekend to decide whether to give president Emmanuel Macron a third term. He's in the lead, but far right leader Marine Le Pen is right behind and closing the gap.

The Mayor of a Ukrainian town who was briefly taken hostage by Russian forces has emerged in France. He talks about what it was like being held by Russian soldiers and why he thinks he was released.

In France, 12 presidential candidates are set to face off Sunday in the first round of the presidential election. And thanks to French election law, they all get equal time on the airwaves.

Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov was held by Russian forces for five days. They told him they wanted to free his town from Nazis. "I told them in my 30 years in this town I've never seen a single Nazi."

The International Energy Agency ended a meeting Thursday that focused on how to settle energy markets made more volatile by Russia's war on Ukraine, sanctions and businesses pulling out.

The reelection of French President Emmanuel Macron next month seems virtually assured due to the war in Ukraine, but many say the lack of debate means democracy is being cheated.

Starting Monday people will be able to take their masks off indoors, and they won't have to show a vaccine pass to enter public places. Many people are relieved, but not everyone.

The Russian leader said his forces invaded Ukraine because a genocide was underway against Russian-speakers. People in Ukraine say that claim is a hoax.

A Ukrainian family makes its way from Kyiv to the Polish border and safety.

Africans and South Asians studying and working in Ukraine have had added difficulty leaving the country because of discriminatory treatment by local authorities.

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, is under attack by Russian forces.

The Ukrainian president releases another defiant video as Russian troops battle to take over Kyiv.

From central Ukraine, we cover the progress of Russia's invasion and its effect on Ukrainians.

The Russian Parliament handed President Vladimir Putin the power to deploy forces outside the country's borders. We talk to residents on the ground in eastern Ukraine.

Valerie Pecresse, the conservative nominee for president of France, is struggling in her bid to unseat President Emmanuel Macron.

Former French president Francois Hollande speaks about the situation in Ukraine. He helped negotiate a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine in 2015.

An anti-vaccine convoy that started three weeks ago in Canada has struck a nerve in Europe, where organizers are planning similar protests against COVID-19 regulations.

French President Emanuel Macron has taken center stage in the ongoing Ukraine crisis, insisting on the centrality of Europe to diplomacy.

French President Macron is engaged in an intense round of shuttle diplomacy aimed at warding off a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, holding separate meeting with the leaders of both countries.

NPR correspondents in Berlin, Paris and London talk about escalating tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine.