Heralding the end of one of the most far reaching and controversial social reforms in the history of the German state, on 9 February, Germany's Constitutional Court invalidated the infamous Hartz IV law on welfare and unemployment benefits. In the light of the judges' decision, the reform introduced by the Schröder government in 2005, which has been regularly criticized as a key factor in the emergence of unprecedented levels of poverty, will now have to be revised. The government will have to re-calculate benefits paid to the unemployed and Germany's poorest citizens so as to take into account their fundamental right to a "life in dignity." Announcing a "Historic judgement" which will provide "a new basis for the German welfare state," Süddeutsche Zeitung compares the decision to the 1950s ruling which guaranteed equality between men and women. "What a pity we had to wait five years" for the courts to condemn "such a botched reform," concludes the Munich daily.
The leader of Greece’s leftist alliance SYRIZA is the new bright hope of Greek politics. Steering a course between pragmatism and the rhetoric of class warfare, he has unsettled Berlin, and not just those who back Angela Merkel's austerity policies. 
Europe’s economic woes have forced us to try to understand the secret Olympian world of global finance. But now that we pay more attention to bond yields and stability mechanisms, isn’t it clear that the experts up on their lofty peaks don’t know what’s going on either? 
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest is hosted by Azerbaijan, a country that is far from being a model democracy. An Estonian journalist takes a critical look at the deferential treatment enjoyed by the regime in Baku. 