The EU elections bewilder voters – By Theo Sommer

Europe is our common future,” the leaders of the 27 EU member states solemnly declared last year, when the European Union celebrated its 50th anniversary. Their voices did not carry very far. In the 14 months since, they have clearly failed to re-ignite even a modest measure of enthusiasm for the unprecedented integration project launched half a century ago. Only one voter in three is expected to make his way to a polling station on June 7 for the elections of a new European Parliament.

The new economic optimism might be a case of jumping the gun – By Uwe Jean Heuser

The worst-case scenario has passed: Big economies have saved the world’s financial system from collapse. But when will economic growth return?

It’s springtime for the global economy – as a season in the Northern Hemisphere and a sense of blossoming nearly everywhere. And for good reason: The greatest peril of the crisis, a complete meltdown of the financial system, has been averted. The effort has been enormous, which will cause an explosion of public debt that will be around for years.

Smart. Energetic. Fierce. This is how fans want to see Lance Armstrong on the Tour – to the delight of organizers.

Lance Armstrong wants to win the Tour de France for the eighth time and organizers are thrilled – By Frank Bachner

Never before has a cyclist been fawned over so much by the organizers of the Tour de France: To them,Lance Armstrong is heaven-sent. His participation is supposed to distract the public from the many negative headlines of the past.

At the recent photo op in Italy, they might have chatted about the sleeveless dresses of First Lady Michelle Obama, the tabloid press’ favourite topic these days. But at the end of the day, what mattered most were the photos – and everyone wanted in. Franco Frattini received Lance Armstrong at his ministry in Rome. And the question was, which one of the two is considered more famous. Frattini is merely the Italian foreign minister. But Armstrong from Dallas is a sports legend – the resurrected cycling-messiah.

The Big Boys Club: Silvio Berlusconi (center) hams it up with U.S. President Barack Obama (left) and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the G-20 Summit in London on April 2.

Silvio Berlusconi rides – and partly steers – the crisis of Italian society – By Gian Enrico Rusconi

He has earned his own “ism.” “Berlusconism” is more than a charismatic, Machiavellian media tycoon. It is a product of the breakdown of an Italian society willing to hand ever-greater powers to a leader claiming to be acting in its best interest.

The “Berlusconi phenomenon” is a political fact. It can neither be dismissed nor condemned as extravagant, as was possible only a few years ago. It has paved the way for a metamorphosis of Italian democracy.