Diário de Notícias, 24 November 2010
"Government and unions expect country to come to a halt", headlines Diário de Notícias. The November 24 Portuguese general strike against the proposed austerity budget is the severest to hit the country for 22 years. The transport sector is the worst affected, with airports at a standstill and with some 74.2% of trains not running in major urban centres. The government plans to “cut wages for state workers, freeze pensions in 2011 and increase VAT by 2%,” the Lisbon daily notes.
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.