蜜芽传媒

Insight, wit and analysis from 蜜芽传媒 correspondents, journalists and writers around the world. Introduced by Pascale Harter. In this edition:

From the cradle of Europe ... to its margins?

It was the Ancient Greeks who came up with the very name "Europa" - a mythological princess whisked off to the island of Crete by a bull. But in today's Europe, the continent of the 21st century, what role can Greece continue to play? Is being European really just a question of being able to afford it?

Manuela Saragosa breaks bread with Greeks struggling to see clearly where they now sit in Europe.

The rogue clove which defied an empire

Of course European powers have vied for influence for many centuries - and not just within Europe itself. More than 350 years ago, many held far-flung islands on distant seas to ransom, in a ruthless battle to control the global trade in spices.

Simon Worrall went all the way to a mountain top in Indonesia to find a particular tree, still alive after more than 300 years, with an extraordinary story of imperialism and resistance.

(Image: An E.U. flag flutters in front of the monument of Parthenon on Acropolis Hill, Athens. Credit: Reuters / John Kolesidis)