A government minister has her armored Mercedes stolen while on holiday in Spain, prompting a general uproar: voters are up in arms, and Health Minister Ulla Schmidt is under pressure. "Everyone is talking about a car, while at the same time, 102 billion euros of taxpayers' money vanish into a bank," complains Tageszeitung, referring to the rescue of Hypo Real Estate – on the verge of bankruptcy – by the German state in the autumn of 2008. The 102-billion bailout cost every German 1,200 euros, and questions about the circumstances surrounding the deal are now being investigated by a commission of enquiry established in April 2009. "You can count on a general outcry whenever it is a simple issue," laments Tageszeitung, "however, when it is a question of understanding how 102 billion was given to a bank, public opinion is unmoved and no one wants to stick his neck out." It is on this basis that the Berlin daily concludes that another headline – "850,000 state cars disappear, and nobody cares" – would be more than justified.
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.