Ta Nea, 30 August 2011
Ta Nea, along with the rest of the Greek press, delightedly reports on what amounts to an "interbank honeymoon" in the wake of the "marriage of the year": the merger of Alpha and Eurobank, the second and third largest Greek banks, assisted by a cash injection from Qatar, which is "the largest foreign investment in Greece in years." The 29 August announcement of the merger was particularly well received by the markets, with the Athens stock exchange gaining 14%. "Thanks to the support from Qatar which has provided 500 million euros for a 17% stake, the new entity will now become the largest bank in Greece and the Balkans. The merger will also pave the way for the opening of the Greek banking sector," explains Ta Nea.
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.