Rob Schmitz

Countries are taking a variety of approaches to their mass COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. NPR's international correspondents discuss the results in Germany, Israel and Brazil.

Alexei Navalny said he has purchased a Sunday plane ticket to return to Moscow. He has spent months in Germany recovering from nerve agent poisoning.

The storming of the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump extremists has shocked America's allies, and prompted denunciations. They've called it an assault on democracy, and urged a peaceful transfer of power.

There's growing concern in Germany about the slow start to the campaign. German politicians blame EU leaders for moving too slowly, and for wanting to control the rollout for its 27 member states.

While daily new infections have declined somewhat, more than 1,000 Germans are dying per day. All 16 German states are in favor of keeping restrictions in place.

Critics say the ruling party overhauled public media to serve as a mouthpiece, and a state-backed oil refiner's purchase of a newspaper chain brings more outlets under party loyalist control.

The European Union concluded the deal with China after seven years of negotiations. Last week, the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden had urged the EU to wait.

Poland and Hungary had blocked the EU budget over a provision requiring each member nation to uphold the bloc's rule-of-law principles. The two nations are under investigation for not doing so.

Whether it's officers participating in neo-Nazi chat groups or hoarding ammunition to prepare for a doomsday scenario, extremism is a persistent problem among those who enforce the law in Germany.

Leaders of nations like Poland, Slovenia and Hungary are having a hard time accepting that President Trump lost the election. Joe Biden says he is committed to rebuilding ties with the European Union.

Strongmen leaders in Eastern Europe have lost a powerful ally in Donald Trump, and his election loss threatens to isolate them even more.

With the daily number of new infections hovering around 20,000, Chancellor Angela Merkel told Germans this week that her government may move to extend restrictions into the new year.

Thousands of demonstrators, most without masks, had gathered in a tightly packed crowd at the city's Brandenburg Gate, objecting to government measures intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The last four years under President Trump encouraged Europe to be more independent of the U.S. Now that pressure might relax, given the prospect of a friendlier relationship with Washington.

The two Eastern European countries are in a long-running dispute with the European Union over their consolidation of state power and restrictions on free speech and an independent judiciary.

In Poland, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest further abortion restrictions. Demonstrations provoked a rare climbdown, but the relief may be only temporary.

Reactions to the election results have been pouring in from world leaders. NPR correspondents speak on what a Joe Biden presidency means for American foreign policy.

A week into a lockdown, Germany is still hoping to cut a sharp increase in the number of coronavirus infections. Meanwhile, many German states have decided to keep schools open.

Europeans reacted to the U.S. election with dismay. Some politicians are voicing alarm over President Trump's premature declaration of victory and labeling of routine vote counting as fraudulent.

Eyewitnesses to Monday's terror attack in Vienna described harrowing scenes of a gunman shooting people, killing four and wounding more than 20 others. Police killed the gunman.