MWN: Tiny Nations edition

So I thought I might go back and do a slightly modified version of one of my favorites- what's in the news in the world's tiniest countries?  Only this time, I look for what might be a more interesting story, rather than the first one.  The other rule- has to be a legit news site from that country- remains, but I don't care how much I dig.  Also, not going to do the size/population thing again, you can look here to see if you so choose.  Also, I'll go from smallest down this time- or I would except I looked up #2 smallest Monaco first, and well, I'm ready to type out this story now, so...


2- Monaco

Got $129 million to blow on a new home?  Check this one out:

That pink one, overhanging a cliff, as well as the Grand Prix racetrack, is known as ‘l’Echauguette’, meaning ‘the watchtower’, at Port Hercule, and is up for sale.  Sotheby's is starting it at 110 million Euros.  It belonged to the guy that brought roulette to Monte Carlo, one Francois Blanc...

He invented what is known as the "single-0" roulette wheel, which they use still in Monaco- one 0 space instead of a "0" and a "00" in America.  Through some reasoning, this effectively doubles your odds- or to put it more accurately, from a page I found as I tried to understand this:

It may not sound like much of a difference, but let’s put it into perspective: If it took you ONE hour to lose $1,000 on a European roulette table, you would lose the same amount in HALF the time (30 mins) on an American wheel. So is just one pocket an insignificant difference? And would you prefer to lose twice as quickly?

So come to America, where you can lose your shirt more efficiently.

And now, back to proper numbering...

1- Vatican City


All the buzz- and I mean ALL of it- is on the child abuse scandal, which makes it kinda hard to do a light-hearted post on their situation.  However, I do find a bit of it in the last speaker they had during the "Protection of Minors summit" was a Mexican journalist named  Valentina Alazraki-

  She's a veteran of Church media, and wanted to use her experience as a Catholic, a journalist, and a Mom, to "add some practical advice". 

To be able to fulfill her mission to preach the Gospel, Alazraki said, the Church needs a moral guide; “coherence between what one preaches and what one lives is the basis of being a credible institution, worthy of trust and respect”, an institution that reports crimes that may have been committed and follows up with credible procedures.

This, is where journalists are called into play, she continued, observing that they are allies – and not enemies – helping the Church “find the rotten apples and to overcome resistance in order to separate them from the healthy ones” and seeking the common good.

Nothing wrong here, nothing funny- except that in the USA, you could make the case that the media needs a 'moral guide', and the Church would be a good one.  But with the Catholic Church, outside the USA, it's the other way around.


3- Nauru

Speaking of the differences between the increasingly Godless USA and the rest of the world:

On the eve of Christmas, His Excellency President Baron Waqa delivered the end of year Christmas message of love quoting the Bible’s John 3:16.

“For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son,” was the beginning of the president’s message to the nation, underscoring that Nauruans are proud to embrace being Christians, especially at this time of celebrating the birth of Christ.

President Waqa encouraged brotherly love emphasising that Christmas is a time of happiness, a time for giving and a time for renewing.

Christmas 2018 is particularly special for Nauruans as they continue to celebrate the nation’s 50th anniversary of independence.

Preach it, Mr. President!  And happy 50 to Nauru!


4- Tuvalu

Well, the closest they come to a news site, apparently, is what they post on Facebook, and ten minutes ago (as I type) they posted pictures of their new police boat...

...I'm somewhat concerned they named it the Terminator 2....

5- San Marino

Last time, I did San Marino on something that ended up being a Japanese story, so anything that actually pertains to this tiny zit on the face of Italy would be an improvement.  And so, with a little help from Google Translate, we have:

 The Republic of San Marino has an important objective regarding the management of urban waste, ie achieving 70% of separate waste by 2020.

A challenge that the Autonomous State Enterprise for Public Services is facing with the utmost commitment, aware that the only way to win it is the extension of door-to-door collection to the entire territory of the Republic. In fact, to date the service does not cover the most populous Castles, ie Borgo Maggiore (with the exception of its historical center), Domagnano and Serravalle, equal to about 60% of resident users.


Mind you, this place is something under 1/4th the size of Fort Wayne, and they only get 60% of the trash picked up?  Is there waste company "Fiume Rosso"?

6- Liechtenstein


Well, you can have two ways to go with Liechtenstein.  One is a promotional "news" site that gives you all that lovely banking info I found so boring last time, and the other was a local site I finally stumbled onto, with not much on it but traffic accidents.  To wit:

In the night on Friday, an alcoholic driver collided in Vaduz while driving on the roundabout 'Linde' with an iron post. He then left the scene of the accident without informing the state police or the injured party.

The driver drove his car around 01:00 clock on the main street 'Heiligkreuz' in the direction of the roundabout 'Linde'. Shortly before he wanted to leave the roundabout, he collided head-on against the iron post on the roadside. Based on a witness statement, the fallible car driver could be explored. The state police ordered the blood collection and took the accident causer provisionally from the driver's license. 

Loving that Google translate!  And that he didn't inform the "injured party" when he amscrayed- although, since HE was the injured party, it might have seemed a bit redundant.


7- Marshall Islands

I thought that here, too, I was going to have to depend on a Facebook site, and that page was one party after another, making me wonder why it wasn't higher on those "happiest nation in the world" lists (answer, didn't get ranked).  But the FB page actually had a link to their real news site, and as you can tell from the beginning of the lead story, it isn't much different there...

The Majuro Day celebration at Laura Ball Field last Friday saw thousands of participants in what seemed to be another unique festivity — courtesy of Mayor Ladie Jack and his local government.

On top of the upbeat performances by students and the MALGov women and the military-style drill from the honor guards, the crowd had their eyes fixated on the several creative floats, namely the princess and warriors’ float from Marshalls Christian High School, which featured masculine and beauty on a decked out rear-cart.

8- St Kitts and Nevis

Ready for another record scratch compared to the USA?  This was in an article where the PM describes their poverty alleviation program, which seemed like it might be just another hand out deal.  But, the results were vastly different than we get here...

“This programme has affirmed that we are a virtuous people. Several of the 3,500 Beneficiaries of the December 2018 payout have reported to the relevant government departments, such as Social Services, Accountant General or Sustainable Development, that their circumstances have changed and they could not in good conscience accept further payments.

Wow...


9- Maldives

Okay, so democracy works here thanks to one man's appeal... but you gotta wonder why he bothered....


The Supreme Court has struck down amendments brought to the political parties law in 2013 that barred losers of primary elections from contesting as independent candidates.

The constitutionality of the provisions was challenged by former lawmaker Abdulla Jabir after he lost the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party’s primary for the Kaashidhoo constituency.

Jabir, a resort owner and special envoy of the president, was soundly defeated by a 35-point margin.

Of course, this is a guy just having come through legal action after giving the President a 6-figure bribe in 2014, so....


And finally,

10- Malta


Well, Malta had a Saturday night like our Sunday...

The wild winds that whipped across Malta from Saturday night turned the island's roads into a veritable obstacle course. 

Uprooted trees, PV panels and even boats stood in the way of those brave enough to get into their cars.

According to the story, their winds peaked out at a record 62 MPH.  By comparison, we topped out according to Weather Underground at 47.