“Peace at last,” headlines the Independent, following the death of peace activist Brian Haw, whose anti-war placards on the pavement at Parliament Square became a London landmark. Haw, who died aged 62 of lung cancer, “first took up residence in Parliament Square three months before 9/11 to call for the lifting of sanctions preventing delivery of medical supplies to Iraq,” the London daily notes. But the evangelical Christian came to nationwide prominence after the US/UK led invasion of Iraq in 2003: “Viewed by the authorities as an affront and an eyesore, his camp quickly became the target of ministers, Westminster Council and the Greater London Authority, and survived repeated eviction attempts. His resilience made him a hero in the eyes of many. In 2007, he was voted the Most Politically Inspiring Figure of the Year in the Channel 4 Political Awards.”
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.