“Competitive intelligence” is an increasingly widespread activity – and not only within the military-industrial complex. The French daily Libération profiles a current case in point: that of amateur computer scientist and professional hacker Alain Quiros, the main operative in three major industrial espionage scandals. The targets: a leader of Greenpeace, the solicitor for stockholders of Vivendi and EADS, and an anti-doping laboratory. In each case, Quiros hacked into his victim’s computers. Two of his alleged clients have already been revealed: the French mega-utility EDF, which is said to have set up “strategic surveillance” to keep abreast of planned Greenpeace activities; and US cyclist and ex-Tour de France champ Floyd Landis, whom the lab in question tested positive for excessive testosterone in 2006. “This story is emblematic of a crooked profession that has developed outside of any legal framework […] and underscores the need to regulate the ‘competitive intelligence’ sector,” opines Libération.
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.