Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
Forgotten world (46): Haiti
November 27th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
On nine occasions now, I’ve had a week-long feature on NightHawk devoted to parts of the world that tend to be under-reported or even forgotten. You can check out the previous 45 entries here. This week, I am going to run a tenth series of postings on this theme. Haiti – once a French colony […]
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Dying to be different
November 18th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Most readers of NightHawk will be thoroughly familiar with the great historic schisms in Christianity – notably the division between Catholicism and Protestantism stemming from the Reformation, but also the further divisions between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church and between traditional Protestants and the fundamentalists or born again Christians. Some readers […]
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“Saddam’s Road To Hell”
November 15th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
I was at the House of Commons this evening for an advance showing of a moving British television programme called “Saddam’s Road To Hell”. Labour Friends of Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Foreign Policy Centre were responsible for showing this film to MPs and invited guests. Saddam Hussein is standing trial for mass […]
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Did winning the Senate depend on one word?
November 11th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
There is a plausible suggestion that the Democrats won the US Senate earlier this week on the basis of one word. The word was the derisive nickname ‘Macaca’ and it was used by the incumbent Repubican Senator for Virginia George Allen. You can read the explanation here.
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Forgotten world (45): Uzbekistan
November 10th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Uzbekistan is surrounded by five other ‘-stans’ – Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan (the word ‘stan’ means land) – and more strategically located between the giants of Russia and China. It is one of only two countries in the world that has the dubious honour of being doubly landlocked (that is, goods must pass […]
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Assessing the government’s performance
November 9th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
No, not that of the UK – the Government of South Africa. The Democratic Alliance makes an annual assessment of the performance of the Government’s Cabinet Ministers and it wants voters to rate each Minister on a score card. Ouch!!!
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Forgotten world (44): Botswana
November 9th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
The media never mention Botswana (known as Bechuanaland until 1966), but it is one of Africa’s most stable countries, it has the continent’s longest continuous multi-party democracy, it is relatively free of corruption, and it has a good human rights record. The country is sparsely populated (the population is only 1.8M) because it is so […]
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First socialist Senate member
November 8th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Among all the news from the elections to the US Congress, there is the facinating fact of the return of the first socialist to the Senate in the shape of Bernie Sanders of the small state of Vermont. His web site is here.
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First Muslim Congress member
November 8th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Among a fascinating set of election results from the United States, there is the welcome news of the return of the first Muslim in the Congress. Keith Ellison, a Democrat, won a Minnesota seat in the House of Representatives. Check out his web site here.
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First woman Congressional leader
November 8th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
As the news of the Democratic victory in yesterday’s mid term US elections rolls in, it is clear that the House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi will now become the chamber’s first female Speaker. You can check out her web site here.
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