Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
Will Colombia’s peace settlement survive the change of president?
August 7th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
Today a new president takes office in the South American state of Colombia. On 17 June, Ivan Duque, the conservative candidate of Democratic Centre – who is alleged to be under the control of the former president Alvaro Uribe – beat the leftist Gustavo Petro (a former member of the guerilla group M-19) standing for […]
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How high can inflation go? Pity the people of Venezuela.
July 28th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
Currently I’m doing a short course at the City Literary Institute on the Weimar Republic of Germany from 1919-1933. A defining feature of that country at that time was the hyper inflation experienced in 1923. At the start of the crisis in July 1922, one American dollar could be bought for 493 German marks. By […]
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Have you had a lot of really hot weather recently? You’re not alone.
July 23rd, 2018 by Roger Darlington
“Across much of the northern hemisphere, intense and prolonged heatwaves have triggered disruption and devastation as North America, the Arctic, northern Europe and Africa have sweltered in record-breaking temperatures. In Africa, a weather station at Ouargla, Algeria, in the Sahara desert, recorded a temperature of 51.3C, the highest reliable temperature ever recorded in Africa. In […]
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What’s happening in Ethiopia? – and do you care?
July 10th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
Two important books which I’ve read recently – “Enlightenment Now” [my review here] and “Factfulness” [my review here] – both make the fundamental point that most of the progress which is being made by humankind is not reported by the media because it is gradual and undramatic and therefore unnewsworthy. This is especially true of […]
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My review of “Factfulness” by Hans Rosling – or 10 reasons we’re wrong about the world
July 9th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
I read this important book by Swedish professor of international health Hans Rosling shortly after reading “Enlightenment Now” by American professor of psychology Steven Pinker which was published just a few months earlier [my review here]. Both works essentially have the same message: if you look at the facts, on most measures humankind is making […]
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Whose side is Turkey on?
June 24th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
“The US and Europe need Turkey for a host of strategic, political, practical and geographical reasons. But Turkey under Erdogan is proving a less than constant friend. Not so much an ally, it is increasingly seen as a threat.” On the day when Turkey holds hard-fought presidential and parliamentary elections, Simon Tisdall uses an article […]
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It’s World Refugee Day …
June 20th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
… and the “Guardian” newspaper has produced this special feature. Faced with a lack of official data, the Dutch activist group United for Intercultural Action has gathered newspaper articles, NGO records and coastguard reports to collect details of the deaths of 34,361 migrants travelling to Europe since the early 1990s. The List is revealing: deaths do not just […]
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Is there a solution to the Cyprus problem?
June 15th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
“The Cyprus Problem” by James Ker-Lindsay (2011) Before I visit a new country, I like to read about the place and, in the case of a forthcoming holiday in Cyprus, it seemed essential to familiarise myself with the issues around the partition of the island and this short and balanced account by an academic at […]
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A review of the fascinating book “Enlightenment Now” by Steven Pinker (2018)
May 11th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
The Enlightenment took place from the mid 17th century to the late 18th century but, 300 years later, the triumphs of Enlightenment thinking and values, with their emphasis on reason, science and humanism, still need explaining and defending to a world in which populism and so-called post-truth are seeking to challenge the fruits of progress. […]
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In short, what is the nuclear deal with Iran?
May 9th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
“Iran and a six-nation negotiating group reached a landmark agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in July 2015. It ended 12 years of deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Struck in Vienna after nearly two years of intensive talks, the deal limited the Iranian programme to reassure the rest of the world that […]
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