Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
Forgotten World (239): Sao Tome & Principe
April 14th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Previously a Portuguese colony and now one of Africa’s smallest countries, with a population of a mere 165,000, Sao Tome and Principe consists of two islands of volcanic origin and a number of smaller islets. It is trying to shake off its dependence on the cocoa crop, since falls in production and prices left the […]
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Forgotten World (238): Howland, Jarvis & Baker
April 13th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Howland Island, Jarvis Island, and Baker Island neighbour one another in the Pacific Ocean. They were claimed by the United States under the Guano Act of 1856. Guano, composed of phosphates, was used as fertilizer in the 19th century, and its collection was highly lucrative. Through the Guano Act, the U.S. gained 79 tiny territories […]
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Forgotten World (237): Diego Garcia
April 12th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Diego Garcia is a British-administered island in the Indian Ocean. All the 1,500 inhabitants, regardless of ancestry or employment status, were involuntarily, and some claim, forcibly, relocated to other islands in the Chagos Archipelago, or to Mauritius or the Seychelles by 1971 to satisfy the requirements of a U.K./U.S. Exchange of Notes signed in 1966 […]
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France’s ban on the burqa
April 11th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Today France introduces a ban on the burqa. A similar ban is already in operation in Belgium, likely to be implemented in the Netherlands, and under discussion in Canada, Denmark and Spain. Bizarrely, in a French population of 64 million, the number of women who cover their face is a tiny figure estimated at between […]
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Forgotten World (236): Cote d’Ivoire
April 11th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
It’s time – it’s been almost three months – for one of the regular weeks of postings in my long-running series called Forgotten World – a look at parts of the world that too rarely feature in our media or thoughts. You can check the previous 235 entries here. In recent months, the media has […]
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Who started the Arab revolutions?
April 2nd, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Transformative historical events usually have profound, long-term causes but can be initiated by an incident or spark. Think of the First World War which was started by the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo. The last three months have seen amazing events in the Arab nations of north Africa and the Middle East. Tunisia, […]
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The meaning of the Arab Awakening
March 31st, 2011 by Roger Darlington
This week, I attended the last session in my 12-week course on “International Relations And World Conflict” led by lecturer Dr Dale Mineshima-Lowe and held at the City Lit in central London. The course has coincided with an explosion of dissent in north Africa and the Middle East which has been called the Arab Awakening, […]
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A history of Lebanon
March 30th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
As regular readers of NightHawk will know, I have recently returned from a trip to Syria and Lebanon – you can read my account and view photographs here. During the holiday, I was reading a book on the modern history of Lebanon entitled “Beware Of Small States”. I’ve only now managed to write a review […]
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If Saddam Hussein was still in power
March 29th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
… this year’s Arab uprisings could never have happened, states Christopher Hitchens in this interesting article.
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The Canadian general election
March 29th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The minority Conservative Government in Canada has just fallen and a general election will now be held on 2 May, as explained here. If you want to know the background to the election process, check out my “Short Guide To The Canadian Political System”.
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