The World
Tiny Montenegro Decides to Go Solo
Europe is getting a new nation, another fragment of what was Yugoslavia, and it won't be the last. Montenegro, with a population of just 620,000, voted by a slim majority of 55.4 percent to sever itself from Serbia (population 7.5 million)--after nearly a century together--and turned its hopes toward economic ties with the European Union. One of the poorest parts of former Yugoslavia, it has little industry, around $1,000 per capita income, and 30 percent unemployment. But it also has a spectacular Adriatic coastline, which could provide a basis for a growing tourism industry. And it already uses the euro as its currency, rather than the Serbian dinar.
Next up: Kosovo, the predominantly Albanian province of Serbia. Kosovo has been under United Nations administration since 1999, when NATO airstrikes drove out Serbian forces accused of ethnic cleansing in a two-year war with ethnic Albanian separatists. Montenegro's independence vote is adding to pressure for a similar vote in Kosovo, which Serbs cling to as their historic heartland even though it is now 90 percent Albanian.
Singapore Makes a Bet on Gambling
Tiny Singapore has been derided at times as a nanny state, enforcing a culture that punishes even infractions like spitting. With tourism down, Singapore has chosen the Las Vegas Sands Corp. to build its first casino, part of a $3.2 billion resort complex. Still, the government wants to keep locals out by charging them a $63 daily entrance fee.
With Associated Press
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