Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
Hillzilla vs Obambi?
December 17th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Earlier this week, I did a posting about the excitement caused in the United States by the growing popularity of the black Senator Barack Obama and the interest in the possibility that he might challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic candidacy for the 2008 Presidential election. In an article in today’s “Observer” newspaper, reference is […]
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A picture of Iraq
December 13th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
The problems of achieving peace in Iraq stem in large part from its location between other nation states which have their own reasons either to ferment violence there or not to want to become involved in combating the violence. You can see a pictorial representation of the pressure vault that is Iraq here
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Who controls Baghdad?
December 13th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
The sectarian divide between Shite and Sunni Muslims in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad becomes ever wider, as the suicide bombing continues and the respective militias carve up local districts. There now exists an ‘arc’ of domination by Shiite militias in the north of Baghdad, while Sunni militias have carved out a few enclaves in […]
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“Run, Obama, run!”
December 12th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
In an echo of the call to Forrest Gump, this was the appeal to Democratic Senator Barack Obama. Significantly the call was made by an enthusiast in New Hampshire and the request was to run for the Democratic candidacy for the US Presidential race in 2008. Read more here. Now I first blogged about Obama […]
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Why did Litvinenko die?
December 6th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Nowhere are different theories being discussed more than in Moscow. See here an examination of four theories in the Russian newspaper “Izvestia”.
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World AIDS Day
December 1st, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Around 40M people are living with HIV throughout the world – and that number increases in every region every day. In the UK alone, more than 60,000 people are living with HIV and more than 7,000 more are diagnosed every year. Today is World AIDS Day – an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in […]
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Forgotten world (50): Mongolia
December 1st, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Inner Mongolia is a province of China, but Mongolia proper spreads out across 1.5 million sq km of the Central Asian plateau, while its population of only 2.7M is much smaller than the Mongol population of China. In 1990 Mongolia abandoned its 70-year-old Soviet-style one-party state and embraced political and economic reforms. Democracy and privatisation […]
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Forgotten world (49): Equatorial Guinea
November 30th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
The tiny state of Equatorial Guinea has five inhabited islands and a mainland portion of jungle. It is one of the smallest countries in Africa with only 520,000 citizens. In 1979, nine years after independence from Spain, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema seized power, and has been absolute ruler ever since. In the past decade, the […]
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Forgotten world (48): Ethiopia
November 29th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Ethiopia is Africa’s oldest independent country. Apart from a five-year occupation by Mussolini’s Italy, it has never been colonised. Although largely free from the coups that have plagued other African countries, Ethiopia’s turmoil has been no less devastating. Drought, famine, war and ill-conceived policies brought millions to the brink of starvation in the 1970s and […]
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Forgotten world (47): Dominican Republic
November 28th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
The Dominican Republic – once a Spanish colony – occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola. It has a population of 9M. While the country remains one of the poorest countries in the Caribbean, there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor, with the richest being the white descendants of […]
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