“France’s 35-hour week” versus “Germany’s drive for full employment”? La Tribune explores the implications of the opposing models in two of Europe’s major economies. Deeply unpopular with France's right-wing majority and businesses in the country, traditional left-wing support for the 35 hour working week was broken recently with Socialist Party presidential hopeful Manuel Valls expressing reservations on the law. Minister for Labour Xavier Bertrand is convinced that France “has already broken free of the administrative straitjacket imposed by the 35-hour week,” the daily notes. The Ministry for Industry, it adds, is still worried about “French labour costs, which are catching up on those in Germany, our main trading partner and economic rival.” La Tribune also quotes an economist who argues that “the 35-week has promoted divergences between France and Germany.”
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.