Europe

World News

A Rise In Radical Islam Draws A Reporter Back To Kosovo After 15 Years

10:11am August 16, 2016

Renee Montagne talks to Carlotta Gall of The New York Times about the rise of radical Islam in the Balkan country. Gall says radical clerics have turned Kosovo into a recruiting ground for ISIS.

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Artists Use Humans As A Canvas At World Bodypainting Festival

4:29pm August 15, 2016

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

As part of our series on unusual summer festivals, NPR travels to Austria for the World Bodypainting Festival, where artists use brushes, sprays and sponges on human canvases.

A demonstrator holds a smoke flare during a protest last September against the French government's plan to change cigarette packaging to place greater emphasis on the health risks. The new packaging will be phased in over the next six months. The smoking

World News

For French Teens, Smoking Still Has More Allure Than Stigma

11:48am August 15, 2016

by Eleanor Beardsley

French teens smoke at a much higher rate than their American counterparts. The French health minister is trying to remove the glamour and raise the price.

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Britain's Prime Minister Must Guide EU Exit While Keeping U.K. Unified

7:59am August 15, 2016

by Frank Langfitt

British Prime Minister Theresa May faces an extraordinary dilemma: How to leave the European Union, while keeping access to the market and reducing immigration. Many wonder how she can pull it off.

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Merkel Stakes Her Career On Germany Welcoming Middle East Migrants

7:59am August 15, 2016

by Joanna Kakissis

Chancellor Angela Merkel is standing by what she calls the historic task of making war refugees part of Germany. But fellow Germans are growing increasingly skeptical that this can be done.

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Competitors In Russian Town Vie For Most Mosquito Bites

7:13am August 15, 2016

Irina Ilyukhina, 9, won the "tastiest girl" category at the mosquito festival in Berezniki, Russia. She received 43 bites while berry-picking. She takes home a ceramic mug for her efforts.

In A Remote Vault In Norway, Repository Stores The World's Seeds

5:09pm August 13, 2016

Cary Fowler, senior adviser to the Global Crop Diversity Trust, talks about a giant vault of millions of seeds stored away in an icy mountain in Norway. Fowler is the author of Seeds on Ice.

Airbnb Hikes Paris Rental Housing Market Prices

9:14am August 13, 2016

The city of Berlin just banned Airbnb because it was swallowing up long-term rentals and driving up prices. Paris is now struggling to temper the explosion of the rental site for the same reasons.

Tree intern, Leni Classen (left), responds to letters sent to a chestnut tree in Dusseldorf, Germany. A postal worker from Deutsche Post (right) delivers mail to the tree's mailbox. The tree, which is planted in a nature reserve, has its own address and p

German Chestnut Tree Accepts Letters, Answers Queries, Promotes Environmentalism

7:42pm August 12, 2016

by Yvonne Muther

The tree in Duesseldorf has gotten more than 5,000 letters and cards. People send it greetings, pour out their hearts, and ask for advice. The project encourages protection of old trees.

The French Riviera city of Cannes has banned a full-body swimsuit called a burkini designed with Muslim women in mind.

World News

French Riviera City Bans Specialty Swimsuit For Muslim Women

5:03pm August 12, 2016

by Jason Slotkin

Cannes, a major summer destination, has banned a women's swimsuit designed around Islamic ideas of modesty. The city's mayor calls the burkini "the symbol of Islamist extremism."