Diário de Notícias, 24 September 2010
"Portuguese government opens door to new tax increase in 2011", headlines Diário de Noticias. The Lisbon daily, like much of the national press, is given over to Minister of Finance Fernando Teixeira dos Santos’ declaration in parliament that Portugal, one of the most fragile countries in the euro zone, must stick to its deficit reduction targets for 2010, and this will not be possible without additional tax revenues. The minister insisted that reducing the deficit by a staggering 4.6 per cent or 4.5 billion euros cannot be met by reducing government spending alone.
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.