Worldcrunch
It’s not recession, but secession that’s worrying many: Scotland will vote on independence from the UK, while Britain’s own potential exit from the EU could stunt an economic rebound.
Latvia becomes the 18th member of the European single currency zone, adopting the euro just as the small Baltic nation starts to enjoy economic growth. Will Latvians come to regret it?
BAUCAU — Eleven years after achieving independence from Indonesia, Timor-Leste is still one of the youngest countries in the world. And while economic growth rates are good, thanks in part to recent revenue from oil and gas, most people here still live in poverty. But now, the government is hoping to diversify the fledgling country’s economy by focusing on the tourism industry, banking on the the country’s natural beauty as a perfect draw for holiday and adventure seekers. Ricardo Ximenes Marques wakes up to paradise every morning at one of the beaches in Baucau, where the 26-year-old works as a […]
Most Americans will spend Thursday marking the birth of their nation 237 years ago, with the founding fathers’ adoption of the Declaration of Independence. July 4th celebrates the American colonies’ independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the establishment of the United States as a nation self-evidently free to pursue happiness and hot dog-eating […]
TIMES OF INDIA, INDIA WEST, DNA (India), REUTERS Worldcrunch LONDON – Two drops of Gandhi’s blood are being auctioned Tuesday in London. The two microscope slides are expected to be sold for between £10,000 and £15,000 ($15,200-$22,800), Reuters reports. The “fragments of Gandhi’s blood” were donated by the father of the Indian Independence movement in […]
CRIMEAN LAWMAKERS VOTE TO JOIN RUSSIA Crimean lawmakers voted unanimously this morning to join the Russian Federation and asked Russia to examine the request. And the region’s Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliev announced a March 16 referendum in which voters will answer two questions: whether they want Crimea to become a Russian territory, and whether […]
PRISTINA – Before General Xavier Bout de Marnhac can walk up to the second floor of the Gagi restaurant in the center of Kosovo’s capital, his security escort must inspect the premises. This is standard procedure. The French general, whom we were meeting only a few hours before he was leaving Kosovo, is the outgoing […]
NOUMEA – Stanley Jemes’ dream is to move back to Maré Island. There, he would grow sandalwood and yams, far away from town, “where everything is for sale.” On the island where he was born, Stanley would live with his family, like a tribe. “In Maré, we all live together. Here in Tindu, it’s everyone […]
EL PAÍS, VANGUARDIA, CORREO (Spain), GUARDIAN (U.K.), DER SPIEGEL (Germany) Worldcrunch BILBAO – Two Basque independence parties have triumphed in regional elections in northern Spain’s Basque country this weekend, the latest sign of growing separatist sentiment in crisis-plagued Europe. The two parties together took nearly two-thirds of the vote, 48 of the 75 Basque legislative […]
DOMODEDOVO – I first met with the leaders of this town’s independence movement in a small Azeri cafe. Domodedovo is barely a town, really, more like just a street; and when I arrived, there was a Muscovite photographer obviously on the same story. We were waiting for the members of the independence movement led by […]
HET LAATSTE NIEUWS (Belgium), THE SCOTSMAN (UK) Worldcrunch After Catalonia stepped up its bid to secession, separatist parties in Belgium and the United Kingdom have made major gains amid a crisis-hit Europe. British Prime Minister David Cameron is set to meet Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond in Edinburgh Monday to sign a historic deal that […]
BARCELONA – Making headway through the streets of Barcelona, closed to traffic for the occasion, seemed almost impossible. A crowd of children, students, retired people, business owners, and the unemployed coming from every part of Catalonia had joined together to wave yellow-and-red flags and voice their support for the creation of an independent state for […]