Military service scrapped
"The end of the draft", headlines the Frankfurter Rundschau, following the German Ministry of Defence announcement regarding the "suspension" of universal military service, which "will no longer be compulsory". By 2011, the daily explains, "(Defence minister) Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg hopes to transform the army into an all-volunteer corps and reduce personnel by one third, from its current level of 250,000 soldiers to 163,500". The aim: an army that is "smaller, less costly and more efficient", according to the minister. The announcement has aroused some misgivings from members of the ruling coalition, and if it passes, it would be the greatest military reform since the Second World War. So while it will no longer be compulsory, chancellor Angela Merkel has, for the time being, decided that the provisions concerning military service will nonetheless remain in the Constitution.
As Greece pimps its ancient monuments to bring in the tourists, lovers of cultural heritage are up in arms. But the country is only doing openly what the whole of Europe is: looting historic sites to drum up more ready cash. 
Asserting national values is central to the political project of the Hungarian PM. Since the start of the year, fifteen paintings, specially commissioned for an exhibition in the Castle of Buda, have been putting this ambition on show. 
The game has gone on for nearly two years: Athens pretends to comply with the demands of its creditors and partners, and they pretend to believe in Greece’s commitments. As the spectre of default comes nearer, however, the Greek bluff cannot go on much longer, writes an El Mundo editorialist.