Accessibility links
Europe Europe

Europe

Tuesday

Italy Worries Sicily's Woes Could Have Ripple Effect

Raffaele Lombardo, the governor of Sicily, speaks to reporters after his meeting with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in Rome last week. Lombardo has been accused of having ties to the Mafia in Sicily. Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters/Landov hide caption

toggle caption
Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters/Landov

Italy Worries Sicily's Woes Could Have Ripple Effect

The eurozone crisis has led to sharp spending cuts and, with an economy based on public sector wages, Sicily is being called Italy's Greece. The central government fears Sicily's debt of more than $6 billion could further endanger Italy's financial stability.

Italy Worries Sicily's Woes Could Have Ripple Effect

Listen · 4:38
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/157620594/157637427" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Feminist Punk Band Gets Next Gig: Russian Courtroom

Members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot, Nadezha Tolokonnikova (left), Yekaterina Samutsevich (center) and Maria Alyokhina, at a hearing in Moscow court on Monday. Andrey Smirnov/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Andrey Smirnov/Getty Images

The Record

Feminist Punk Band Gets Next Gig: Russian Courtroom

Three members of the band, which staged a protest of Vladimir Putin in a Russian Orthodox cathedral in February, face up to seven years in prison. They pleaded not guilty on Monday.

Feminist Punk Band Gets Next Gig: Russian Courtroom

Listen · 4:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/157606363/157617855" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Olympic Cauldron Is Put Out, Then Relit, In London

In a mostly empty Olympic Stadium, Austin Playfoot lights the Olympic cauldron Monday morning. The cauldron was extinguished Sunday night, so it could be moved to one end of the stadium. Click the enlargement to see a close-up view. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

The Torch

Olympic Cauldron Is Put Out, Then Relit, In London

Just when the discussion over the London Olympics' opening ceremony was being overshadowed by actual sporting events at the Summer Games, news emerges Monday that the Olympic cauldron was extinguished Sunday night, so that workers could move it to another part of the stadium.

Traffic In London Not So Jammed

Traffic is moving well despite fears that the Olympic Games would clog the city. The M1 highway is busy but somewhere between normal and nice, and the AP reports no problems inside London. The commute to the houses of Parliament is five minutes shorter than normal, and bicyclists are loving roads cleared of cars for Olympic races.

Traffic In London Not So Jammed

Listen · 0:29
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/157583262/157583503" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Business

Paris Transit Launches Politeness Campaign

The public transport authority received complaints about train etiquette. New billboards poke fun at bad manners, featuring Frenchmen with giant animal heads: a donkey spitting out gum, a frog leaping the turnstile, a chicken clucking loudly on her cellphone.

Paris Transit Launches Politeness Campaign

Listen · 1:13
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/157580702/157580730" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sunday

Spain's Crisis Pushes Educated Into 'Economic Exile'

Government employees demonstrate against the Spanish government's austerity measures in Madrid, on Friday. The economic situation has forced some Spaniards to leave the country for work. Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images

Spain's Crisis Pushes Educated Into 'Economic Exile'

Debt, austerity and joblessness have prompted more people to leave the country in search of work. In the first six months of 2012, emigration from Spain is up more than 44 percent from the same period last year. The Spanish government denies it, but the "brain drain" has become something of a flood.

Spain's Crisis Pushes Educated Into 'Economic Exile'

Listen · 4:56
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/157547044/157554120" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

Cyclist Vinokourov Wins Gold Medal In Men's Road Race

Rigoberto Uran of Colombia leads a group of riders as they ride up Boxhill on the outskirts of London, during the men's cycling road race for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images

The Torch

Cyclist Vinokourov Wins Gold Medal In Men's Road Race

Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan won the gold medal in the men's cycling road race Saturday, edging Rigoberto Uran of Colombia in a late sprint. The medal completes a vindication for Vinokourov, 38, who was suspended for doping back in 2007.

Friday

Danny Boyle's 'Warm-Up Act' Opens The Summer Games

Animals and actors enter the stadium for the British meadow scene prior the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games on Friday. Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images

The Torch

Danny Boyle's 'Warm-Up Act' Opens The Summer Games

The London Olympics' opening ceremony is a "show," director Danny Boyle says, that celebrates Britain, from the Industrial Revolution to its music and literature — even its socialized medicine. There's also time for thousands of athletes to enter Olympic Stadium. "We don't get lost in show business," Boyle says.

London 2012: The Summer Olympics

Opening Ceremony Kicks Off London's Olympics

The opening ceremony of the London Olympics was on Friday. Howard Berkes took in the show and joins Robert Siegel to preview the upcoming sporting events.

Opening Ceremony Kicks Off London's Olympics

Listen · 3:28
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/157500637/157500596" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'It's What We Have': Spain's Athletes Sigh, And Put On Olympic Uniforms

Taking One For The Team: Field hockey player Alex Fabregas modeled Spain's Olympic outfit in this photo he posted on Twitter. Athletes have been publicly stoic about the colorful clothing, which was provided for free. Alex Fabregas/Twitter hide caption

toggle caption
Alex Fabregas/Twitter

The Torch

'It's What We Have': Spain's Athletes Sigh, And Put On Olympic Uniforms

Spanish Olympians are learning a painful lesson as they dress for the London 2012 Opening Ceremony: You get what you pay for. The colorful uniforms were free, but athletes say they're paying the price. Tennis player Carlos Moya expressed relief that he's retired, and so won't have to wear the ensemble.

Greece's Latest Crisis: Rising HIV Cases

Nurse Maria Vatista draws blood from a Greek drug addict for an HIV test in a mobile testing van in Athens last year. HIV infection rates are rising, as Greece's financial crisis has led the government to cut health and social services, including a successful needle exchange program. Yannis Behrakis/Reuters/Landov hide caption

toggle caption
Yannis Behrakis/Reuters/Landov

AIDS: A Turning Point

Greece's Latest Crisis: Rising HIV Cases

Despite having one of the lowest HIV rates in Europe, Greece's recent jump in the number of infections, particularly among injecting drug users, is alarming. Health workers blame cuts in health and social services, including the end of what had been a successful needle exchange program.

Greece's Latest Crisis: Rising HIV Cases

Listen · 4:52
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/157352062/157467473" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

A Minute-By-Minute Account Of the Norway Massacre

On July 22, 2011, Anders Breivik killed 77 people and injured hundreds more when he bombed government buildings in Oslo, Norway and then went on a shooting rampage at a summer camp. GQ correspondent Sean Flynn documents the "beat-by-beat horrors of those terrifying 198 minutes" in the August issue.

A Minute-By-Minute Account Of the Norway Massacre

Listen · 15:06
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/157432739/157432730" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
The Olympics Meet A Mall, And Make A Nightmare

The interior of London's Westfield Stratford City Mall measures some 1.9 million square feet. Many of them were recently walked by NPR's Tom Goldman. Tom Goldman/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Tom Goldman/NPR

The Torch

The Olympics Meet A Mall, And Make A Nightmare

On the edge of Olympic Park, Westfield Stratford City Mall is the gateway to the London Games. As many as 70 percent of 10 million visitors are expected to pass through the mall. But what if you just need to get somewhere — and you have to walk through the mall?