Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
What will Barack Obama find on his historic visit to Cuba?
March 20th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Today Barack Obama will be the first sitting US president in 88 years to visit Cuba. The last such visit was in 1928 when Calvin Coolidge went over to give a speech at an international conference. The opening up of relations between the USA and Cuba will be one the lasting legacies of the Obama […]
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How common is rape in India?
March 15th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
I have recently been in e-mail correspondence with an Indian woman currently living in Canada. She felt that my “Short Guide To The Indian Political System” contains “some negative information”, but I explained to her that “My readers expect a critical evaluation in my guides to political systems since constitutional details alone do not explain what […]
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The world’s oldest man: a survivor of Auschwitz who is 112
March 12th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
The human body and the human spirit are amazing things. I regularly marvel at how some people who have suffered so much can live so long. A case in point is Israel Kristal, a citizen of Haifa in Israel. He has just been confirmed as the world’s oldest documented living man, but he is a […]
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Word of the day: millennial
March 8th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
In today’s “Guardian” newspaper, there is a major feature on so-called millennials. But what exactly is a millennial? Wikipedia states: “Millennials (also known as the Millennial Generation or Generation Y) are the demographic cohort following Generation X. There are no precise dates for when the generation starts and ends; most researchers and commentators use birth […]
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Back from Kenya to find Britain divided by Europe
February 23rd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
At 5 am this morning, I landed at London’s Heathrow Airport after a near nine hour overnight flight from Nairobi. It was wonderful to spend almost a week with my son Richard, his wife Emily, and their daughter Catrin (now just five). It was Catrin’s half term and we able to spend a lot of […]
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Poor Christchurch hit by another earthquake
February 14th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Three years ago, Vee and I visited Australia and New Zealand and had some time in Christchurch. My account of the trip noted of the city: “Christchurch has been utterly changed, and will experience still more change, as a result of the devastating earthquake of 22 February 2011 which killed 185 people and severely damaged […]
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Does the world really need a 500 Euro note (or other very high denomination notes)?
February 13th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
The €500 note, in use throughout the Eurozone, is one of the highest value banknotes in the world. It is worth around £388 or $563. According to Europol, the European police agency, the €500 note accounts for a third of all the euro notes in circulation, despite their low public profile. About a fifth of all […]
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The stark statistics that summarise the appalling tragedy of Syria
February 11th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
470,000 have been killed 1.88 million have been wounded 11.5% of the population has been killed or injured 6.36 million have been displaced internally More than 4 million have been displaced abroad 45% of the population has been displaced overall About 13.8 million have lost their source of livelihood Consumer prices rose 53% last year Poverty […]
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How can the Israeli Government improve the image of the country?
February 9th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Well, one approach is to be found in this news item which explains: “The Israeli government is offering directors and actors shortlisted for this year’s Oscars a trip to the Holy Land worth $55,000 (£38,000) in the hope of countering recent bad press for the country. The voucher for a 10-day trip, valid for one […]
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How many of the world’s richest people have the same wealth as half of the globe’s total population?
January 18th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Oxfam has calculated that: In 2015, just 62 individuals had the same wealth as 3.6 billion people – the bottom half of humanity. This figure is down from 388 individuals as recently as 2010. The wealth of the richest 62 people has risen by 44% in the five years since 2010 – that’s an increase […]
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