13 h. ago France has a massive debt crisis. So why is it spending billions a year subsidising business? | Alexander Hurst

The government is on the brink of collapse over planned austerity. Instead it must face up to the costs of its unnecessarily rigid labour marketAs someone who has always been against austerity, I find France, with a national debt at 114% of GDP and a budget deficit of 5.8% of GDP, a conundrum. Despite years of denunciation from his left and far-right opponents that Macron has engaged in “ultraneoliberalism”, there hasn’t been any. Not on a macro level, anyway, where both French government spending (57.3% of GDP) and tax receipts (51.4% of GDP) are among the highest in the world, including social spending, which outpaces any of its European neighbours.At the same time, it’s impossible to have spent the past decade in France without encountering the widely shared perception and accusation that public services are in decline. Doctors and nurses denounce a labour shortage in public hospitals; people who live in rural areas denounce the closing of rural train lines; students and academic...

Economics

23 h. ago Joe Bugner dies aged 75: Tributes to former heavyweight boxing champion and two

The Hungarian-born athlete was a three-time European champion and twice held the British and Commonwealth titles

Events

27 h. ago Former British heavyweight Joe Bugner, who twice took on Muhammad Ali, dies aged 75

Frank Bruno pays tribute and calls it ‘a sad day for boxing’Bugner was a British, Commonwealth and European championTributes have been paid to Joe Bugner, the British heavyweight who took Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier the distance in a colourful career that spanned 32 years in the ring, after his death at the age of 75.Bugner twice held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles and was a three-time European heavyweight champion during boxing’s golden age in the 1970s. However, a legitimate world title belt always eluded him. Continue reading...

Events

57 h. ago Is THIS what our ancestors really looked like three million years ago? Remains of 'Lucy' brought to life in hyper

Humanity's 'most famous ancestor' Lucy is visiting Europe for the first time ever, with her three-million-year-old remains being 'brought to life' in a hyperrealistic reconstruction.

Politics

3 d. ago Holidaymakers swap Italy for hidden gem Welsh town but there's one issue

With the summer drawing to a close, many of us are looking to extend our time in the sun with a mini-break to a sunny European destination - but there are budget-friendly options closer to home

Politics

4 d. ago Scenic Scottish sleeper train with one thing that 'makes you feel like a kid again'

Monisha Rajesh travelled on the Royal Scotsman from Edinburgh Waverley and said it was the "best" train route in the UK - but her followers were all saying the same thing

Politics

4 d. ago David Gray in Hibs 'belong' statement as gutted boss urges player to book return to Europe

Hibees were floored by an injury time equaliser and extra time winner away to Legia Warsaw to leave them out of Europe just when it looked like they were about to make history by reaching the league phase.

Sport

5 d. ago Russia’s devastating attack on Kyiv proves Trump’s Ukraine peace plans have failed. It is time for Europe to show leadership

Starmer and EU leaders may express outrage but they need to take more drastic action to help Ukraine beat Putin, writes World Affairs Editor Sam Kiley

Politics

5 d. ago Celtic and Rangers Europa League draw: Live stream, TV channel and start time

Glasgow's big two will have to make do with Thursday night football after crashing out of the Champions League playoffs

Sport

6 d. ago Uber has revealed plans to run trains to Europe from Stratford in east London by 2029

Uber has revealed plans to run trains to Europe from Stratford in east London by 2029  Time Out Worldwide

Politics

6 d. ago My favourite childhood outfit: ‘I was an innocent Muslim girl – and a walking endorsement for ecstasy’

At 14, on a family road trip to Europe, I mixed traditional shalwar kameez and trendy T-shirts. Unfortunately, I didn’t really understand what was on my shirt ...My favourite teen outfit was memorable for the wrong reasons. Age 14, in a desperate attempt to be cool, I bought a graphic print T-shirt depicting a bright green can of 7Up with bubbles effervescing from the top – oblivious to the fact that it didn’t say 7Up at all, it said, “EUp”, and the bubbles were not bubbles, but MDMA pills being dropped into the can. To make matters worse, the image also included Fido Dido – the cartoon mascot for 7Up – sporting bloodshot eyeballs while smoking a spliff. Little did I know that I, an innocent, drug-free Muslim girl, was a walking endorsement for ecstasy.I wore it in 1992, the year my dad decided it was time for a grand family road trip across Europe. There were 12 of us in total, aged between five and 50: aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins – we all piled into a minibus my dad had hired...

Politics

7 d. ago Rome to Munich ‘beer train’ sleeper service for Oktoberfest launched

Beer fans can book the Bavarian-themed journey from €99

Politics

8 d. ago The one change that worked: I abandoned my cynicism – and joined Europe’s biggest gay choir

I’ve sung at the Royal Albert Hall, made friends with people I would otherwise never have met and felt the power of being seen and heard for who I really amIt is April 2022 and I am standing in the middle of the stage at Cadogan Hall in London. As the pianist plays a plucky staccato intro, it dawns on me that I am about to sing the West Side Story classic I Feel Pretty, with choreography, in front of a packed audience, alongside 200 gay men.This was my first time performing with the London Gay Men’s Chorus (LGMC) – Europe’s largest gay choir. I first saw them perform years earlier in Soho, where they sang Bridge Over Troubled Water at a vigil for the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida in 2016. After making it through the pandemic, the chorus’s years-long waiting list and months of rehearsals, I was under the bright stage lights, trying to remember the first line of the song and thinking: “what have I got myself into?” Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Dark chapter saw Manchester shopping centre 'taken over by machine gun

It was part of the largest redevelopment zone in Europe at the time

Economics

9 d. ago Breakfast in Amsterdam, aperitifs in Vienna: how to make the most of your time in Europe’s sleeper train hubs

To maximise the thrill and romance of taking a night train, our rail expert recommends the best cafes, sights and facilities near your departure stationYou may dash for your morning commuter train, but you won’t want to rush for the sleeper to Vienna. The Nightjet train to the Austrian capital is the most illustrious departure of the day from Amsterdam. There is an art to conducting the perfect departure and the perfect arrival, the bookends of a thrilling overnight journey.There are four major hubs for sleeper services across western and central Europe: Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna and Zurich. Then there are secondary nodes at Budapest, Brussels, Milan, Munich, Paris and Prague. Most of the region’s night trains start or end in one of these 10 cities. Whatever your departure point, savour the moment by going for an aperitif and a relaxed dinner before boarding. And upon arrival, don’t just dash on – linger over a coffee and let the morning, and the city, develop around you. ...

Politics

9 d. ago Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest Premier League prediction, odds and betting offer

Tensions will be running high as Nottingham Forest play Crystal Palace for the first time since the Europa League controversy

Politics

1 week ago ‘No smoke without fire’: Nuno casts doubt over Forest future with Postecoglou in frame

Nuno admits ‘relations have changed’ with owner‘I’m worried,’ he says over reports he could be sackedNuno Espírito Santo has cast doubt over his future at Nottingham Forest by conceding his relationship with the owner, Evangelos Marinakis, has deteriorated and acknowledging there is “no smoke without fire” amid reports he could be sacked.Nuno secured Forest a place in European competition for the first time since 1995-96 and signed a new three-year contract in June, but his position appears in jeopardy after a series of ominous remarks in an extraordinary pre-match press conference on Friday. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago ‘No smoke without fire’: Nuno casts doubt over Forest future as Marinakis relationship sours

Nuno admits ‘relations have changed’ with owner‘I’m worried,’ he says over reports he could be sackedNuno Espírito Santo has cast doubt over his future at Nottingham Forest by conceding his relationship with the owner, Evangelos Marinakis, has deteriorated and acknowledging there is “no smoke without fire” amid reports he could be sacked.Nuno secured Forest a place in European competition for the first time since 1995-96 and signed a new three-year contract in June, but his position appears in jeopardy after a series of ominous remarks in an extraordinary pre-match press conference on Friday. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago D Block Europe at Leeds Festival: Set time, potential set list and will they tour after the event?

Get to know a little more about UK hip-hop dynamos D Block Europe, ahead of their set at Leeds Festival this evening.

Politics

1 week ago These islands could be mistaken for Barbados – but they’re off the coast of England

No passport, no jet lag – just white sands, clear water and kayaking among seals. A sleeper train and a ferry later, Rod Ardehali discovers Britain’s most quietly astonishing islands

Politics