Stories from the Continent

With geopolitical tensions and the war in Ukraine, European countries are looking to bolster their military forces. But are young people willing to take up arms?

In the Netherlands, donating a kidney to a stranger means receiving a vital healthy kidney quicker for families in need.

Whilst other European rail companies are gradually phasing out this mode of transport, ČD Night, a small Czech company, is trying to expand its network of sleeper carriages.

A typical Hungarian family makes sense of the change of government in Budapest. Will things improve?

Originating in Japanese manga culture from the 1980s, Cosplay has gone global in the decades since

A new generation of men are doing their share of the chores and looking after the children.

Every year, around 5,000 French students go abroad to study medicine. More than half of them choose Romania.  

In Europe’s driest country, water consumption is rising while water levels are decreasing. What can be done?

Europe is facing a tsunami of cocaine with the illegal drug being smuggled in via the Atlantic coasts of Spain and Portugal. 

Ordinary civilians are now preparing for war by volunteering for the Latvian National Guard in large numbers.

In the hills above Madrid, Europe’s largest wildlife hospital takes in more than 10,000 animals every year.

A highly charged debate is ongoing in Latvia on the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, aimed at preventing violence against women.

Volunteer doctors from the Greek mainland visit remote Aegean islands to provide vital healthcare.

Since 1967 the German NGO Friedensdorf International has been bringing sick or injured children from around the world for treatment in Germany.

A new generation of young people from urban areas is taking on the difficult job of producing food for the nation.

A huge amount of lithium lies underneath the Jadar valley in Serbia. A multinational wants to mine it but locals are against the  idea.

Belgian microbreweries are facing a crisis with rising prices and changing consumer habits. Can they survive?

The Ambedkar high school, run by headmaster Tibor Derdak, helps Roma children who would otherwise drop out of school

Many French people cross the border to Belgium to end their lives in dignity, where assisted dying is possible.

Once a month the European Parliament moves from Brussels to Strasbourg for four days, a practice which many are against.

Photographer Alex Iacob explores Romania’s lost derelict breweries, abandoned cinemas and closed up spa towns.

The Sado river, south of Lisbon, has been transformed from a polluted area to a regenerated biodiverse habitat.

In the hills above Madrid, Europe’s largest wildlife hospital takes in more than 10,000 animals every year.

Belgian microbreweries are facing a crisis with rising prices and changing consumer habits. Can they survive?

A café in Vienna brings together pensioners and young workers alike as a way to combat loneliness and to supplement the seniors’ pensions

Whilst other European rail companies are gradually phasing out this mode of transport, ČD Night, a small Czech company, is trying to expand its network of sleeper carriages.