Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
What is the capital of Indonesia?
August 27th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Top of my bucket list is the aspiration – so long as I have the health and wealth – to have visited as many countries as my age. I have now been to 73 countries and I am 71, so I’m currently managlng to hit the target. The most populous nation is the world that […]
Posted in My life & thoughts, World current affairs | Comments (0)
How Netanyahu could lose; how Boris could be beaten; and why voting matters
August 19th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
There’s an election going on in Israel right now and incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is widely expected to retain power, but my friend Eric Lee has written an interesting column for the “Times of Israel” explaining how Netanyahu could lose. The argument rests on the supposition that Israeli Arabs – who comprise a fifth […]
Posted in British current affairs, World current affairs | Comments (0)
The world population of 7.7 billion forecast to reach 10.9 billion
July 11th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Today we mark World Population Day. As a recent article in the “Guardian newspaper put it: “This will be the 30th anniversary of the annual event set up by the United Nations in 1989 – when there were a mere 5 billion people on Earth – to focus attention on the urgency of our impending population crisis. […]
Posted in Environment, World current affairs | Comments (0)
Trade union rights under attack worldwide
June 19th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
I spent 24 years working as a national trade union official and I regard independent trade unions as an essential component of a genuine democracy. But worldwide trade unions and trade unionists are under attack. Today in Geneva the International Trade Union Confederation is releasing to the world the results of its annual Global Rights […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Why are political opinion polls getting it wrong more often? (2)
June 5th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
I wrote a blog posting recently about the growing difficulty for opinion pollsters in forecasting accurately the result of elections. I particularly referenced the recent failure of all the pollsters in Australia to forecast the victory of the National-Liberal coalition. I wrote: “I think that what we are seeing is more voter fluidity. Class used […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
The European Union is a large democratic entity – but not the largest. That would be India.
May 27th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
India – with a population of 1.3 billion and an electorate of around 900 million – is the world’s largest democracy and, for all its faults and flaws, this democratic system stands in marked contrast to the democratic failures of Pakistan and Bangladesh which were part of India until 1947. Elections in a country of […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Why are political opinion polls getting it wrong more often? (1)
May 22nd, 2019 by Roger Darlington
It is my contention that, across the democratic world, opinion pollsters are finding it harder to forecast accurately how political parties will do in elections and, on occasions, are getting the overall result wrong. Opinion polling is a complex matter and different companies use different methodologies, but all pollsters have the same problems of reaching […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
What is it like to visit the famous Peruvian site of Machu Picchu?
May 15th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
I really enjoy visiting new countries and have now managed to see a total of 73. Foreign travel is an opportunity to experience different cultures and visit wonderful locations. But I am aware that some popular tourist locations are now becoming overwhelmed. Today there is a story in the “Guardian” about opposition the building of […]
Posted in My life & thoughts, World current affairs | Comments (0)
What’s going on in Spanish politics with three general elections in just four years?
May 11th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
For four decades, the political institutions of Spain have been fought over by two major parties that reflected the Centre-Right/Centre-Left divisions in so much of European politics – a system known in Spain as “bipartidismo”. But chronic corruption in the political system and the economic crisis of recent years following the global downturn, which saw a […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
What do you know about the nation of Nauru?
April 29th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
I am a fan of the American television series “Madam Secretary” which is broadcast in the UK on the Sky Witness channel. A strength of the series is that – as with “The West Wing” – it features very contemporary and controversial political issues. So, for instance, a recent episode highlighted the impact of climate […]
Posted in Environment, World current affairs | Comments (0)