Word: baltics
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...misery is only just beginning. The former Soviet Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had the highest growth rates in Europe until recently. But, hit by the global credit crunch and economic downturn, the Baltics are now leading Europe into recession. By some estimates, Estonia's economy may already be shrinking. "There's an Estonian saying: Every party ends in tears," says Maris Lauri, an economist at Hansabank, a subsidiary of Sweden's Swedbank...
During Eastern Europe's good times, few countries partied quite as hard as the tiny Baltic states. The end of communist rule and the liberalization of their economies, together with the promise of joining the E.U. (which all three did in 2004), drove dizzying growth. Rapidly rising wages and property prices fueled the exuberance. In cities like Tallinn, families borrowed to buy their own homes for the first time. Flashy cars bumped along cobblestone streets, while high-end restaurants catered to the new moneyed class, serving mojito cocktails and champagne for lunch. "It was like New York City...
Residents of the tiny Baltic republic of Estonia have a reputation for being practical, down-to-earth, and forward-looking. The country boasts one of the world's highest rates of mobile phone and computer use. The coding for Skype was written here. But allow the conversation to turn to the supernatural and the stereotypical, and the sober-minded Estonian disappears in an instant. "Of course we have a ghost! This is Tallinn!" Anne Orro, a gray-haired receptionist in the medieval capital, exclaimed one rainy October evening recently. "It's not normal not to have a ghost...
...century gabled buildings built when Tallinn was a major link in the chain of Hanseatic trading centers that stretched across the continent's north. As the days grow gloomier in October, the atmosphere lends itself to the appearance of apparitions-imagined or not. Low clouds scud across the gray Baltic waters. The streets empty out as summer visitors who came for the parties and cheap beer head home. Centuries of sieges, plagues and political intrigues leave a catalogue of spine-chilling tales: screams emanating from the "Maiden's" tower on the edge of the high town where prostitutes...
...zero. Under the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, signed by 128 countries, vessels are currently allowed to discharge certain pollutants, like food and operational wastes, as long as ships are away from the coastline and other specially protected areas, such as the Mediterranean and Baltic seas. But Criddle's report warns that despite all regulations, there is still a significant amount of marine debris. "We lack a coordinated strategy dealing with land- and sea-based debris," says Criddle...