Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
Notes on Nairobi (1): the country
October 14th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Two months ago, our son Richard, his wife Emily and their daughter Catrin relocated to Nairobi in Kenya as a result of his work. He is now the Head of Strategic Advocacy for an organisation called Well Told Story. So this week, Vee and I are going to visit them for the first time. It […]
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How the world’s population is becoming heavier and heavier
October 10th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
“In 2010, 11.5% of adults, or 565 million people, were obese. By 2014, that had already risen to 13% (670 million) … if the trajectory does not change, 17% of adults will be obese by 2025. There will be 170 million adults with a BMI above 35, which is the threshold for urgent medical treatment, such […]
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What’s really happening now in North Korea?
October 8th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
“It is estimated that 30-50% of North Korean GDP is now produced by the private sector … Kim Jong-un is different: he quietly encourages the market economy … Kim Jong-un wants to apply to his country a model of authoritarian capitalism, a so-called “developmental dictatorship”. This model worked very well in Taiwan and South Korea and now […]
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Word of the day: deconfliction
October 1st, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I did not know there was such a word but it was used in a comment by a US defence official on the Russian air strikes in Syria.
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How much do you know (and care) about world poverty?
September 23rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
One billion people across the world live in extreme poverty, struggling to survive on the equivalent of about $1 a day. The United Nations aims to lift every single one of them out of this category within 15 years. It’s an ambitious target, and this weekend 150 world leaders will meet to work out how […]
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The good news: your chance of a violent death has never been less in the whole course of human history
September 12th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
For all the tragedy in the world, we need to remind ourselves constantly that we live in the most peaceful period of human history in terms of the chance of facing a violent death. This was demonstrated by American psychologist Steven Pinker in his 2011 book “The Better Angels Of Our Nature” and he has […]
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10 ways to manage the migration crisis
September 5th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
1) Establish a standard asylum procedure across Europe 2) Provide a safe and swift alternative to a meaningful number of refugees 3) End the war in Syria 4) Give Syrians employment rights in Turkey 5) Persuade Gulf countries to take in more Syrians 6) Provide economic alternatives in smuggling communities 7) End the war in […]
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We are all migrants
September 3rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Originally the only humans resided in the Rift Valley in East Africa. Now there are people in every corner of the globe. How did they get there? Migration. So, in a sense, we are all migrants. Some may argue that this was a long time ago, but most of us only have to go back […]
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Is the ageing of those who can and do vote killing social democracy?
August 27th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
This is an (edited) extract from a blog posting this week by Nick Pearce, Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). “Most people are familiar with the inequality in turnout between the social classes. No less egregious is the inequality in turnout between the generations. This is now a major political cleavage, with […]
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At last, the United States has an embassy in Cuba once more
August 15th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
When Vee and I visited Cuba seven years ago for a wonderful holiday, I hoped – and expected – that the thaw in relations between the USA and Cuba and the introduction of political reforms in Cuba itself would move more quickly. But there has been real progress under Barack Obama’s leadership and with support […]
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