Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
The relationship between income inequality and violent crime
March 28th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
I have blogged a number of times about the really important book “The Spirit Level” which I reviewed here. The core message of the work can be simply stated: on a whole range of significant social indicators, countries with less inequality do markedly better than those with greater inequality. The arguments in the book are […]
Posted in Social policy, World current affairs | Comments (0)
What does the USA have in common with China, Iran & North Korea?
March 28th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
It still carries out capital punishment. According to the latest statistics from Amnesty International, China accounts for more such deaths than the rest of the world put together, although the precise figure (probably several thousand) is unknown because China – which uses the death penalty for no less than 68 offences – refuses to release […]
Posted in American current affairs, World current affairs | Comments (0)
Now it’s the turn of Syria
March 25th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The revolts in the Arab world over the last couple of months have been truly astonishing and the full implications have yet to be seen. We are witnessing changes as profound as the revolutions in central & eastern Europe in 1989. When I travelled to Syria three weeks ago, there was no evidence of unrest […]
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Past and present in the Levant
March 20th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
One week after Vee and I returned from a holiday in Syria and Lebanon, I’ve written up a full account of the trip for my web site and you can read it here. The was not our first visit to the Middle East because we have previously been to: Israel – my account here Egypt […]
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Lebanon’s position on Libya
March 19th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
As regular readers of NightHawk will know, I’ve just returned from Lebanon, so I was particularly interested that the country, the only Arab member of the current United Nations Security Council, voted in favour of the resolution imposing a no-fly zone over Libya. A key factor is the issue of continued concern over the fate […]
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Security Council resolution on Libya
March 19th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
What does it actually say? You can read the text here.
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Happy birthday Italy
March 17th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
It may have escaped your notice but today marks the 150th anniversary of the declaration of independence of Italy. In fact, I am half-Italian – my mother came from Naples where my parents met and married. Italy today is a strange country. I have written an explanation of the Italian political system here.
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Should we be worried about a nuclear meltdown? (3)
March 17th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
It seems clear that the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is more serious than ever and that the crisis is still far from under control – see here for up-date. I’ve just received the following message from a long-time Japanese friend living in Tokyo: “Dear Brother Roger & Vee: This is just to […]
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How well do countries handle natural disasters?
March 15th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
This interesting posting suggests that democratic countries – like Japan or the USA – handle disasters better than totalitarian regimes – such as North Korea – since a free media makes information more available to citizens and elections provide politicians with an incentive to act effectively. This is probably true as a general rule but, […]
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Remembering the Chilean miners
March 15th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
We can’t do anything to prevent earthquakes and tsunamis but we can do something to minise the risk of mining accidents. Immediately following the successful rescue of 33 copper miners in Chile on 13 October 2010, President Sebastián Piñera proclaimed to the world that within 90 days Chile would reform its mine safety laws. But he […]
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