Le Figaro, 28 September 2010
“Sarkozy wants Europe in on the talks,” headlines Le Figaro. The French president, who met his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas on 27 September, wants a “change of method” in the Middle East peace talks. Specifically, he called for the active involvement of the EU and the Union for the Mediterranean, which he says is “affected by this conflict”. As editorialist Pierre Rousselin points out: “Though it provides the bulk of the funds for the peace process, Europe is persistently sidelined. But it’s always there when it comes time to sign the cheques.(…) Without the roughly €300 million annual injection, the Palestinian Authority would no longer exist, and there would be only Hamas to talk to.”
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.