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Both Virgin in France and HMV in the UK going into administration is bad news for the music industry. Yet the live music industry is still going strong, with artists continuing to draw in large audiences to concerts

The Rolling Stones, My Bloody Valentine, Depeche Mode, David Bowie…with so many surprise comebacks, the first half of 2013 has been marked by famous veterans returning in force. They reflect a very real culture of nostalgia. But does experience always win the day?

There was no time. In the space of just a few minutes, early in the morning of 26 April, a psychiatric hospital in the province of Moscow was reduced to ashes - and it's not the first tragedy to make ash out of Russia's people and institutions

Sometimes, all it takes is for a politician to let slip one comment about another country for Europe to be plunged once again into a new war of words. Who has taken their oath too far - and how do you express that sentiment in other European languages? Idiom of the week

Taking back the female body, crushing male domination, fighting prostitution - these are the battles of Femen, the off-the-wall feminists from the Ukraine. Since establishing an 'office' in Paris, the members are staging bare-breasted protests in all four corners of Europe. Their message is that they can can strike where they want, when they want

The professor of gender studies at the university of Freiburg, 49, says her mission statement is to ‘overcome the evidence and focus on the really social elements (not the biological ones, or the ones defined by god), which are behind social phenomena. Over a skype phone call, we talk LGBT, women’s football and conservate stead

Halfway between east and west, between the 'European dream' and the 'Caucasian way of life', Turkey still doesn't seem like a country for gay people. The 29-year-old explains that far from the great metropolises of the country, sexual freedom is still reserved for the cultural elite - or for the world of cyber-dating

More than 40% of Generation Yers intend to set up a company within the next three years, the result of a rigid and suffocating marketplace that has rendered 14% of Poles unemployed. And it doesn’t stop there. Within the staggering youth unemployment rate (26%), the numbers are a lot more unforgiving (30%) for young women under 25

On 14 May David Cameron presented a draft bill for a referendum on EU membership to be held by 2017 in a bid to appease the EU opponents in his conservative party. Commentators say the draft will only lead to an anti-European rebellion among the tories, and call on the prime minister to campaign for a comprehensive reform of the EU instead

Five years of recession in Greece has undoubtedly been one of the harbingers of a general crisis in Europe; in January 2013 Greece recorded the highest unemployment rate in Europe (27.2. Grassroots movements are contributing to a more ‘EUtopian’ future for the Greek people, with eco-innovation marked out as a factor where Greece is improving its performace. Malmo-based Turkish photojournalist Ozan Tekyn profiles Nea Guinea, Open Ecology, Spithari and theSwitch - civil initiatives focusing on sustainability projects, eco-communities and green NGOs which have bloomed out of the crisis

Raspberries are no longer hip enough, it has to be Brazilian acai berries. A light green spirulina smoothie is so nineties, according to many health fanatics, when you can now sip on green kale. And who still cooks millet when it’s all about exotic quinoa? It’s enough to make natural food philistines dizzy, but what can and should you eat without being revealed to be 'uncool'?

Despite the efforts of institutions from all over Spain, only a few Spaniards know when and why Europe Day is celebrated. According to the last eurobarometer polls in autumn 2012, 51% of the Spanish people don’t know anything about the rights that they have as Europeans, says Marta Roqueta

On 9 May the EU celebrates Europe Day. What do we have to celebrate? The EU is a bold and unique project. It's hard to find historic models. Its approach resembles less that of the United States of America and more that of the Soviet Union, says Andreas Kiener

Have we been consumed by technology? Do we only have time for our virtual avatars? These could become the problems of our time if we don't learn how to separate the intangible world of the internet from that which surrounds us

9 May 2013 will be a great day in Germany. People will go out on the street and celebrate together all the fathers of their nation, as it is ascension day and therefore the traditional Father’s Day. But will they think about Robert Schuman, the architect of the European Union, too?

As I stood on the plateau of Chajnantor in northern Chile, 5000 meters above sea level, I was not only reporting about the inauguration of the second biggest scientific project of mankind. I could also look back into Europe’s birth and see how powerful its idea has become

I picture Europe as an elegant lady with grayish hair and fine clothes, a warm-hearted, literate old woman who likes to invite her friends to dinner parties. Her sons throw her a birthday party on 9 May - but who is on the guest list? Is there even a cause for celebration today?

For us Spaniards, it’s easy to confuse the German for 'German' - 'Deutsch' - and the nationality of the 'Dutch', or the words ‘sueco’ (Swedish) and ‘suizo’ (Swiss). In a continent as rich as we live in, it’s easy to match its languages, identities and traditions with confusions (although football can help)

The band have a French-inspired name, and the trio behind it encompass five different nationalities. They met in Denmark and moved to the Netherlands before setting up base in Warsaw. The Dutch-American singer and guitarist says the band’s international aspect is not particularly surprising – it is simply a result of who he is

When French sweet company Carambar indicated that it may put an end to its wrapper jokes on its soft caramel treats, there was a general outcry for nostalgia and traditions past. But it was a hoax, and the debate led us to find that there are many other places in Europe where jokes are fondly remembered on sweet wrappers