Público, 30 March 2011
"Brazil available to buy Portuguese debt", headlines Público, in the wake of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s visit to the economically troubled country. Questioned by journalists as to whether Brazil intended to buy up Portuguese national debt, Rousseff answered that "Brazil will do everything to help". But denied that the outgoing Portuguese government had made any formal request for aid. This comes as Standard & Poor's downgraded Portugal’s credit rating to BBB-, and as interest rates on national debt reached record highs of 9.04% on five year bonds and 8.023% for ten year bonds.
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.