"A measure of happiness" headlines Der Freitag, devoting a front-page report to the end of GDP as an effective measure of national well-being. Over the last four decades, many commentators have highlighted the tenuous relationship between statistical indicators of prosperity and the level of happiness in societies, but this growing awareness has yet to be acknowledged by Germany's politicians, and in particular by Angela Merkel. In fact, given the international enthusiasm for German economic growth, the Chancellor, a trained physicist, could be forgiven for thinking that she is presiding over a miracle. However, the newspaper argues that "German obsession with GDP" does not take into account "the real nature of our times." That said, Der Freitag warns against any governmental attempt to create a happiness indicator which, it argues, would transform democracy into a statistical technocracy. The creation of an effective measurement for happiness would have to remain a scientific rather than a political project.
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.