Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
Forgotten World (214): Puerto Rico
July 15th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Puerto Rico (Spanish for ‘rich port’) is a Caribbean island that is almost part of the United States – it is technically a sef-governing, unincorporated territory of the USA. The US invaded and occupied the island during the Spanish-American War of 1898, ending centuries of rule from Spain. Under American administration, Puerto Rico saw growth […]
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Forgotten World (213): Montenegro
July 14th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Montenegro emerged as a sovereign state in Europe after just over 55% of the population opted for independence in a May 2006 referendum. The vote heralded the end of the former Union of Serbia and Montenegro – itself created only three years earlier out of the remnant of the former Yugoslavia. The EU-brokered deal of […]
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Should the full veil be banned?
July 13th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
The news today is that the French National Assembly has voted to ban the wearing of the full veil in public. I’ve debated this issue with various friends who have taken different positions on the matter. My own position is against a ban. On the one hand, I am both a secularist and a feminist, […]
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Forgotten World (212): Eritrea
July 13th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
A former Italian colony, Eritrea was occupied by the British in 1941. In 1952 the United Nations resolved to establish it as an autonomous entity federated with Ethiopia. However, 10 years later the Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie, decided to annex it, triggering a 32-year armed struggle. This culminated in independence after an alliance of the […]
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Forgotten World (211): Ascension Island
July 12th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
It’s been a month since I had one of my regular weeks of postings in my long-running series called Forgotten World – a look at parts of the world that hardly feature in our media or thoughts. You can check the previous 210 entries here. Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial […]
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What caused the economic crisis?
July 11th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Professor David Harvey is a genuinely radical academic from a Marxist perspective and it’s hard to escape his analysis that we haven’t yet got to the root cause of the economic crisis that is still raging around the world and assaulting the living standards of the poorest in our societies. Check out this 11 minute […]
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Remembering the displaced Tamils
June 28th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
I live in north-west London where there are a lot of Tamils who came here to escape the bitter and long-running war between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers. That war is now over and the world’s media has largely forgotten the island’s problems, but I’m regularly reminded by conversations with local Tamils. […]
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“The Spirit Level” (3)
June 19th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
I’ve now finished reading an utterly fascinating book called “The Spirit Level” by Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett. It is one of the most important books that I have ever read. You can learn why by reading my review.
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“The Spirit Level” (2)
June 15th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
I’ve now almost finished reading a fascinating book called “The Spirit Level” by Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett. I’ll be reviewing the work on my web site when I’ve completed it, but meanwhile I urge you to check out this PowerPoint presentation of the main diagrams from the book (the information is easier to read […]
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A tale of two general elections
June 14th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
This weekend, two European countries held general elections, but you may not have known this because the media around the world tends to focus on national events to the neglect of other countries unless there is violence or conflict. The first election was in Slovakia and you can read about the result here. The second […]
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