“Markets down, banks under attack”, headlines La Repubblica. The downgrading of Greek debt by Moody's and “the American impasse between Democrats and Republicans has affected the markets, dragged down by bank shares”, writes the Italian daily. “Spain and, above all, Italy were caught in yesterday’s storm”. Milan was the worst-hit stock market in Europe, down 2.48 per cent at closing. Banks in Italy and Spain also plummeted: Italy’s biggest bank Intesa San Paolo fell 8.33 per cent after rating agency Moody’s decided to rate the Greek deal a default. “The big fear is not over”, comments La Repubblica, “and worse, the yield spread between Italian 10-year bonds and German bunds widened to 280 points, underlining that Italy is less reliable than before”.
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.