“Confidence hangs on seven votes”, headlines Corriere della Sera as the Italian parliament braces for a vote that will decide PM Silvio Berlusconi’s and Italy’s political future. Now that Gianfranco Fini, a former Berlusconi ally, has signed a motion of no-confidence against the ruling PdL (People of Liberty), the government cannot muster the 316 votes it needs to survive in the lower house. In recent days, however, Berlusconi has launched an audacious – and, according to some, corrupt – campaign to rally independent and even opposition MPs to his cause. In a senate speech ahead of the vote, the Cavaliere said he is ready to bring in UDC (Christian Democrats) to stabilise his majority. Meanwhile, tensions are rising with MPs being ordered to get to parliament “by dawn” to avoid being caught up in anti-austerity demonstrations that will block the capital tomorrow.
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.