"Europe to examine regional deficits," headlines El Periódico, pointing out that "the Commission [which now evaluates the socio-economic and budgetary plans of member states] will be asking Spain to introduce further budgetary restrictions to reduce its deficit in 2012." At a time when several regional governments including the administration in Catalonia are "rebelling strongly" against the drive to cut back the public deficit to 6% of GDP by 2012, El Periódico notes that "doubts about the central government’s ability to impose discipline on defiant regions have emerged in Europe" while "the PP [right-wing opposition party] and the PSOE [ ruling socialist party] are trading allegations that [regional] public accounts have been falsified." For the Barcelona daily, the seriousness of the situation has also been highlighted by Moody´s rating agency which has announced that the central government has no effective instruments to ensure the achievement of objectives demanded by Brussels and the markets.
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.