All Europe
- France fights flight to big cities with funds for smaller towns
With high unemployment and empty storefronts, France’s smaller towns aren’t functioning well. The government hopes an investment of €5 billion in 222 communities will help attract younger residents and revitalize city cores.
- Buddhism flourishes in Siberia, opening window on its pre-Soviet past
Orthodox Christianity may be Russia's most high-profile religion, but it is only one of the country's four official “founding” faiths. Another of the four, Buddhism, has been experiencing a rebirth in post-Soviet Russia. Second in a five-part series.
- Will rising summer temperatures raise world’s climate change concern?
It’s been an extraordinarily hot summer – with deadly effect – all across the Northern Hemisphere. Has the heat been changing how people think about climate change?
- ‘La vie en vert’: Green living in the French countryside
The village of Langouët in northern France is small, but it’s doing a lot to help the environment. It has funded a number of innovative projects that are eco-friendly, making the town one of the most sustainable in France.
- Russia's Asian and European halves meet and mix in remote Buryatia
Russia isn't just the cathedral-and-Kremlin society pictured by the West. In the remote – and struggling – republic of Buryatia, a mix of Cossacks and Mongols, Orthodox Christian exiles and Buddhists populate a decidedly different Russia. First in a five-part series.
- First LookJewish teens step up to quell anti-Semitism in German schools
With the number of Holocaust survivors dwindling, Jewish teenagers have become the new ambassadors to educate their peers about Jewish life and culture.
- First LookGermany allows asylum seekers to reunite with family members
Following a record influx of refugees in Germany, the government stopped allowing asylum seekers to bring immediate family members to the country in 2016. Now, the ban has been lifted and families can reunite, but the move has reignited divisive debates about immigration.
- First LookUnshaken by doubts, Thomas wins first Tour de France title
Geraint Thomas of Britain won his first ever Tour de France title on July 29, persevering through the skepticism thrown his way by fans by being the steadiest bike rider from the start.
- As same-sex couples in France try to adopt, conservative forces push back
France may look highly progressive, given its legalization of same-sex marriage five years ago. But French society is more conservative than it seems, a fact manifesting as now-married LGBT couples try to adopt.
- He calls it a 'hustle,' but this Russian’s cryptocurrency empowers a village
Cryptocurrencies are associated more with hard-to-understand financial investments than small farms producing potatoes and eggs. But in ruble-poor, rural Russia, Mikhail Shlyapnikov created a system to help his community trade real goods and services.
- First LookEU fines Google $5 billion for anticompetitive behavior
The European Union imposed a record fine on Google for forcing Android mobile phone producers to pre-install Google Search and browser apps as conditions for licensing its app store. Google claims the sale of content and apps is a critical part of its revenue.
- Russia chalks up Trump-Putin summit as success. But is there a hidden cost?
For all the backlash in the US to President Trump's comments in Helsinki, there are pressing issues that Moscow and Washington need to discuss. And the Kremlin was very happy with how the summit addressed them.
- By staying on the job, Poland's top judge fights the right-wing government
Poland is in the midst of a battle over its Supreme Court, which the ultraconservative ruling party is trying to remake. And by quietly coming to work, Judge Małgorzata Gersdorf has become the face of resistance.
- Why a nearly 30-year-old list of names is roiling modern Latvia
As a nation transitions from occupied state to democracy, is it better to reveal or destroy the identities of informants in order for a nation to move on? Latvia is still deciding which way to go.
- The ExplainerAs clock ticks down, Britain finally reveals its plan for Brexit. What now?
Nine months before the deadline to leave the EU, British Prime Minister Theresa May has finally, officially, backed a policy of a “soft” Brexit, but it is not clear that she has made enough concessions to convince Brussels to do a deal.
- US-Europe ties and the audacity of July 1948
- The ExplainerImmigration deal saves German government, points to European future
Angela Merkel has held her fragile government together and found a compromise with rebels on immigration policy. Will it last?
- First LookBoris Johnson resigns in midst of UK Brexit crisis
Hours after the resignation of Brexit Secretary David Davis, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson announced his resignation as well as junior Brexit minister Steve Baker. The resignations come only days after Prime Minister Theresa May announced her plan for Britain to continue free-trade with the European Union.
- The vicious circle of Islamist terrorism and far-right extremism
While Islamist terrorists get close scrutiny, their far-right counterparts often do not. But that is changing, especially as studies show jihadists and the far-right not only reflect each other, but feed off each other.
- First LookTheresa May tries to unite fractious ministers on Brexit trade plan
Prime Minister Theresa May gathered nearly 30 Cabinet ministers for marathon-talks today to hash out a plan for trade with the European Union after Britain leaves the bloc in nine months.