Europe

Asparagus is a majestic vegetable and it remains one of the few whose coming into season is duly celebrated each year

In Erik ten Hag Manchester United have appointed a manager steeped in the finest Dutch traditions

Comedy is regarded as the lowest form of writing. It should be considered among the highest

Ivo van Hove, the Bowie collaborator with a taste for the spectacular, returns with a timely, bloody war epic at the Barbican

The Allies beat a Russian blockade in 1948. Now it is incumbent on Germany to help lead a new wave of aid

But, we also need art that exposes us to different ways of thinking about them

Social media has created a world with constant disagreements over objective factual truths. Political leaders abuse this and our prime minister is no exception

The city had always been kind to stray cats. The mayor said they had never gone hungry, but asks if they really need to house them now as well?

If the kings of the Neue Deutsche Härte are calling it a day Germany will lose one of its most paradoxically valuable assets

Audrey Diwan’s powerful abortion drama Happening has completed a clean sweep of major awards for female directors. But, she says, real equality is still far away

A definitive, exhaustive exhibition of the Renaissance artist is a once-in-a-lifetime blockbuster of a show

Brought to its knees by Covid, the UK’s travel and tourism industry is now beginning to feel the full force of Brexit as border restrictions and the end of the VAT reclaim scheme look set to deter thousands of Europeans and others

Emmanuel Macron may have beaten Marine Le Pen in the presidential election, but France has not yet banished fascism

Heidi Hautala, now vice-president of the European parliament, questioned Moscow’s democratic credentials in 2006, causing a storm at home. Now, as Finland prepares to apply for Nato membership, she assesses the security situation in Europe

Why can't politicians be more like Jürgen?

On the same day that France rejected Marine Le Pen’s, Slovenians dealt another blow to populism, casting out Trump-admiring PM Janez Janša in favour of former energy executive Robert Golob

The spectre of Marine Le Pen has been banished - at least for now - but there is plenty for the re-elected president to focus on

Jacob Rees-Mogg says we should ignore an EU push for speed limiters in cars - but it has the potential to save more lives than seat belts

An estimated 40% of the five million people who have fled Ukraine are children — many of whom arrive in neighbouring countries unaccompanied and afraid

Even inside his own monogrammed funeral casket the writer of Don Quixote remains an enigma

British lamb isn’t at its best in April, so try this recipe for roast hogget

A year on from the failed attempt to make European football a closed shop, the sport's administrators still want to tinker with the Champions League

The 72-year-old took what she thought was an unwanted jacket from the Paris museum. Her newly acquired coat was actually a work aimed to recreate the garment worn by Picasso

The latest – and last? – novel by Michel Houellebecq, France’s most controversial writer, takes on politics

Migration and livestreaming are helping the traditionally English game gain a foothold in mainland Europe at long last

New album Hair of the Dog captures something of our primitive selves who looked for expression of our hopes, desires and search for new beginnings through the sound of a beat

Little known today, Alexis Soyer was once hailed as the world’s greatest cook; feeding not just the rich but famine victims and soldiers too

Germany has had quite a yield of resignations recently. Our columnist explains why it looks like one more is soon to go in Olaf Scholz's new cabinet

Until our monarchy is replaced with a elected and transparent head of state then the UK cannot count itself a modern state

The so-called Nuremberg defence of “I was just following orders” won't protect them, nor should it

As swear words go, “putain” is up there with the best. But considering what most French people think of the Russian Tsar, is it time to revert it to “Putin”?

French presidential polls show the incumbent with a narrow lead, but he has done himself few favours against his reshaped rival