La Vanguardia, 26 November 2010
"Europe demands that Spain accelerates reform,” headlines La Vanguardia at the end of a turbulent week which saw markets pile pressure on the Spanish economy. In an interview with the Catalan daily, Spain’s minister of the economy Elena Salgado stated that “new adjustment measures will make growth difficult.” But the European Commissioner for growth, Joaquín Almunia, is adamant on retirement reform in order to “dissipate doubts.” Spain, La Vanguardia notes, “remains the focus of attention with all waiting for it to act as the pressure increases."
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.