Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
What are the prospects for Africa in 2018 – and does anyone care?
January 3rd, 2018 by Roger Darlington
Over the years, I’ve been to Africa 8 times and visited eight countries (Kenya four times). But the continent is home to no less than 54 nations and, in. terms of the world’s media, very under-reported. In this short article, the Africa correspondent of the “Guardian” newspaper briefly reviews the state of the continent and […]
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What is it like to be in Iran?
January 1st, 2018 by Roger Darlington
At the turn of the year, the major news from the Middle East is the wave of demonstrations in Iran. We’re not sure how these have spread so rapidly and how things will develop. But I visited Iran shortly after the last major wave of protests organised by the Green Movement and indeed made contact […]
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Why the UK’s international aid is so important
December 20th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
“UK aid has already done so much to change the lives of the world’s poorest children. British aid has educated 11 million children in the last five years. The UK’s investment in immunisation in the same period ensured 67.1 million children were protected against preventable diseases. That’s more than the population of the UK. This […]
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And the mega rich just become richer and richer
December 15th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
The richest 1% of the global population took 27% of the world’s wealth growth between 1980 and 2016, while the richest of the rich increased their wealth by even more. The top 0.1% gained 13% of the world’s wealth, and the top 0.001% – about 76,000 people – collected 4% of all the new wealth […]
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Robert Mugabe: my son’s part in his downfall
November 25th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
This week saw the departure from power of Robert Mugabe after his 37 years leading Zimbabwe and the departure from Africa of my son Richard after his two years working in the continent. His most recent blog posting for his Kenyan employer Well Told Story comments on his work in Zimbabwe and you can read […]
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Is it over for Germany’s Angela Merkel? Nein – not yet anyway
November 21st, 2017 by Roger Darlington
The electoral system in the German political system means that coalition governments are very common. The Social Democratic Party was in coalition with the Greens – the Red/Green coalition – from 1998-2005 and then, from 2005-2009, there was a ‘grand coalition’ between the Christian CDU/CSU and the SPD. Between 2009-2013, the CDU/CSU was in a […]
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Monaco and the crazy world of the super-rich
November 20th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
As has recently been underlined by the Paradise Papers, the super-rich live in a world of their own, financially, geographically, and morally. An example of this is Monaco. This is one of the few European countries that I’ve never visited – it has nothing to interest me. But it attracts the super-rich big time. Less […]
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It’s World Toilet Day – and that’s no joke
November 19th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly officially designated 19 November as World Toilet Day. World Toilet Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with governments and partners. World Toilet Day is about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. Today, 4.5 billion people live without a household toilet that safely disposes of their […]
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Just !% of the world’s population owns half the total wealth of the planet
November 17th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
According to Credit Suisse’s latest annual global wealth report published earlier this week, the globe’s richest 1% now owns half the world’s wealth. The world’s richest people have seen their share of the globe’s total wealth increase from 42.5% at the height of the 2008 financial crisis to 50.1% in 2017, or $140tn (£106tn), At the […]
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Please don’t forget the suffering in eastern Ukraine
November 12th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
“In February it will be four years since Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, annexed Crimea and helped foment a rebellion in Ukraine’s industrial east. Since then about 10,000 people have died, including 3,000 civilians, and more than 1.7 million have been displaced. Aid agencies say that 4.4 million people have been directly affected by the continuing […]
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