Frankfurter Rundschau, 23 September 2010
"No more unemployment," headlines Frankfurter Rundschau in a report which announces that German workers are now reaping the benefits of economic recovery. Wages are going up and more importantly, Siemens has no further plans for downsizing. The industrial group, which employs 128,000 people in Germany, has extended its "location and employment agreement," which pledges to involve staff in corporate strategy and to protect them from redundancy. However, the pact will be up for review in 2013 and it also features a let-out clause in the event of a serious crisis – two details which leads the German press to question the group’s commitment to long-term job security.
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.