Euractiv carries an AFP report looking into the possibility that Scotland's Shetland Islands might, in the case of the United Kingdom falling apart, try to separate from Scotland to form a sort of West Nordic microstate thanks to the oil in the archipelago's waters.

Of all the consequences of the Brexit vote, the fate of the Shetland Islands in ( Read more... )

James Jeffrey reports for the Inter Press Service about how Somaliland, particularly its capital of Berbera, is trying to look forward to a bright future independent of a Somalia Somalilanders wish to separate from.

Crossing African borders by land can be an intimidating process (it’s proving an increasingly intimidating process nowadays in Europe ( Read more... )

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New Europe's Andy King reports on how iconic British insurance firm Lloyd's of London, in an effort to ensure that it can offer continuity of services to its European Union clients post-Brexit, has begun to shift jobs out of London to EU destinations. Ireland and Malta are apparently fronrunners.

After three centuries, the Lloyds of London will no ( Read more... )

BBC's Damien McGuinness reports from Berlin about how two Brexiteers' address to a conference of German business leaders, intended to secure decidedly United Kingdom-friendly terms, managed instead to fail. The profound misunderstanding of German intentions and German interests is almost painful to read about.

The distinguished audience members ( Read more... )

• 'Apostrophen's 'Nathan Smith describes his writing projects for this year.
• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper examining exomoon formation.
• The LRB Blog worries about Trump's hold on the button.
• The NYRB Daily looks at Rex Tillerson, an oil company diplomat to autocrats.
• Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw shares the rediscovered mid-19th century painting ( Read more... )

• Bad Astronomy reports on the astounding scientific illiteracy of Trump advisor Anthony Scaramucci.
• blogTO compiles a list of the best tobagganing hills in Toronto.
• Citizen Science Salon looks at what we can do in the redwood forests.
• The Dragon's Gaze notes a gap in the disk of TW Hydrae.
• Imageo notes that 2016 is the warmest year in the records.

John Quiggin's Crooked Timber post imagining likely outcomes for the post-Brexit United Kingdom feels depressingly possible. The discussion is largely good, too.

I’m finding it hard to see that anything will happen to justify the massive effort involved. The Poles and other EU citizens whose presence was the biggest single justification for Brexit ( Read more... )

• At Apostrophen, 'Nathan Smith talks about how he made a tradition out of Christmas tree ornamentation over the past twenty years.
• blogTO notes that Toronto's waterfront has major E Coli issues.
• Crooked Timber notes the potential for the recent by-election in London, fought on Brexit and lost by the Tories, to mean something.
• The Dragon's Gaze reports ( Read more... )

• blogTO notes that York University is slated to have an architecturally interesting student centre.
• Centauri Dreams reports on new imaging of various protoplanetary disks.
• The Dragon's Gaze reports on observations finetuning what is known about HD 209458b.
• Joe. My. God. notes the happiness of at least one white supremacist leader with the Trump victory ( Read more... )