Danish territory wants to control own police force, oil fields
Time Nov 26, 08 10:52 AM CST
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Three-fourths of the Greenlanders who voted in yesterday’s referendum on self-rule want more autonomy from Denmark, Time reports. The historic vote—which must still be adopted by parliaments in Copenhagen and Nuuk—puts the world’s largest island on the path to becoming the first independent Inuit state. But that road is riddled with obstacles ranging from ice to economics.
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But defense sec says US troops will remain
New York Times Oct 8, 08 8:06 AM CDT
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The US will maintain its current troop levels in Kosovo until at least the end of 2009, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. His trip to Kosovo is the first by an American cabinet member since the republic declared independence in February. The move of support is meant to show Russia—which does not recognize Kosovo's independence—that its actions in Georgia have had consequences, writes the New York Times .
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Locals want to make province into a tax haven, ski resort
New York Times Aug 29, 08 8:40 AM CDT
(Newser)
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When the Russian government recognized South Ossetia as an independent state last week, the international reaction was not only anger but incredulity. The breakaway Georgian province has only 70,000 citizens, and they have suffered both wretched poverty and years of fighting. But citizens insist that theirs is a viable state, reports the New York Times . "Why can’t Liechtenstein be here?" asked one Ossetian, referring to the wealthy European principality of about the same size.
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OPINION
Georgia's 'madman' forced us to act, writes Russian president
Financial Times (UK) Aug 27, 08 9:04 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Yesterday Russia recognized the Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states—a move that Dmitry Medvedev calls "a heavy decision." Writing in the Financial Times , the Russian president says that independence for the two breakaway regions, which have suffered under Georgia's "vicious war on its minority nations," became inevitable after the "madman" Mikheil Saakashvili ordered the invasion of Tskhinvali.
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Moscow moves closer to recognizing breakaway enclaves
Wall Street Journal Aug 20, 08 3:41 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Russia may soon officially recognize the sovereignty of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, lawmakers said today, even as the military moved to establish so-called buffer zones that include Georgian territory, the Wall Street Journal reports. Then-president Vladimir Putin used the move to recognize the secessionist republics to criticize countries which did the same for Kosovo in February, saying Russia wouldn’t “ape” the West.
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Officers decry lack of equipment; US pushes independence
New York Times Aug 6, 08 6:51 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Iraq’s army has taken strides toward independence—but it still needs the help of American forces, say Iraqi troops and officers interviewed by the New York Times . “We are too many years behind other countries. We need the coalition forces until 2015,” said one officer. But American officers are increasingly pushing Iraqi troops to go it alone.
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OPINION
400th anniversary of Quebec City offers chance to reflect: historian
New York Times Jul 3, 08 7:39 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Tomorrow is Independence Day, but north of the border today marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City, the first settlement of New France and one of the oldest cities in Canada. David Hackett Fischer, a historian writing in the New York Times , uses the occasion to explore a different vision of North America, one predicated not on freedom, but on diversity and exchange.
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As NATO creeps eastward, imperial ambition ties Russia to breakaway regions
Christian Science Monitor Jun 25, 08 2:17 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Unsettled ex-Soviet republics could become the scenes of proxy battles in a new cold war, the Christian Science Monitor reports, with the breakaway Georgia region of Abkhazia a case in point. The US and NATO are backing Georgia, with Russia supporting the separatists. "Tensions are growing very fast, and we find ourselves on the line of confrontation between Russia and the West," one Abkhazian academic says.
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OPINION
Backlash against oversheltering kids gains some traction
Los Angeles Times May 16, 08 5:48 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Using the flap over a New York 9-year-old allowed to find his own way home from Bloomingdale's as an example of a sea change, Rosa Brooks, writing in the Los Angeles Times, reminds us that allowing children to be outside on their own used to be the norm. "'Play,' incidentally, is a mysterious activity children engage in when not compelled to spend every hour under adult supervision," she writes.
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'Yes, there are flaws ... but behind the flaws a wonderful country is hidden,' speaker says
Jerusalem Post (Israel) May 7, 08 4:11 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Thousands gathered across Israel today for the nation’s 60th Independence Day celebration, the Jerusalem Post reports. At one ceremony, lawmaker Dalia Itzik first remembered the 22,437 Israelis killed in conflict since 1860. "Friends, you are not, and you will never be alone. We will never be able to pay off our debt to you."
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Breakaway republic can barely support survivors from better times
Los Angeles Times Apr 12, 08 5:50 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Traumatized monkeys once the subjects of Soviet experiments are odd remnants of a more prosperous time in Abkhazia, an area of Georgia that calls itself independent, the Los Angeles Times reports. The area was crippled in its effort to break away from Georgia, but the 286 primates living in a research institute remain a point of pride for residents.
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New nation resents being stuck with Serbian dialing code
Wall Street Journal Mar 27, 08 10:23 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Kosovo has won recognition as an independent state from three dozen countries, but a call to the world's newest nation is a reminder of its history. Telephone numbers in Kosovo still begin with the old Serbian dialing code, and the breakaway republic now wants its own international prefix. It's not an isolated case, writes the Wall Street Journal : from Palestine to Taiwan, a country code can inspire as much patriotic fervor as a flag.
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Prez candidates favor warmer relations, despite Tibet violence
Wall Street Journal Mar 20, 08 8:39 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Both candidates in Taiwan's presidential election Saturday favor mending fences with China, the Wall Street Journal reports. Beijing has recently eased its once-blustery rhetoric over the breakaway island, and both Taiwanese parties are betting that closer ties with the mainland's booming economy could help pull theirs out of a slump.
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