Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
Murder in South Africa
October 20th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
It is well-known that South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world as evidenced by the statistics. The annual homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants is around 40 in South Africa compared to 6 in the USA or 2 in the UK. What is less appreciated is that the police in South […]
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Forgotten World (185): Wallis and Futuna
October 2nd, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Although the Dutch and the British were the European discoverers of the islands of Wallis and Futuna in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was the French who were the first Europeans to settle in the territory, with the arrival of French missionaries in 1837, and it remains a French overseas collectivity to this day. […]
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Forgotten World (184): St Pierre and Miquelon
October 1st, 2009 by Roger Darlington
The sole remnant of France’s once-extensive possessions in North America, the Atlantic islands of St Pierre and Miquelon lie off the Canadian island of Newfoundland and house a a mere 6,300 inhabitants. The islands became a French “territorial collectivity” in 1985. The status – something between a department and an overseas territory – allowed French […]
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Forgotten World (183): Palmyra
September 30th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Palmyra is an atoll of a mere 4.6 square miles located in the Northern Pacific Ocean. It is incorporated territory of the United States, meaning that it is subject to all provisions contained in the United States Constitution and is permanently under U.S. sovereignty. However, it is also an unorganized territory as there is no […]
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Forgotten World (182): Antigua and Barbuda
September 29th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Antigua and Barbuda (Spanish for “Ancient” and “Bearded”) is one of the Caribbean’s most prosperous nations, thanks to its tourism industry and offshore financial services. The country’s strength lies in its tropical climate and good beaches, which have made it popular as a stop-off point for US cruise ships and have attracted large investments in […]
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Three elections in Europe
September 28th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
One might think that the most serious economic crisis in the history of global capitalism would severely dent the fortunes of the most pro-capitalist political parties in free market nations, but recent elections do not offer any such solace for social democrats like me. This weekend, there were elections in Germany, Austria and Portugal and […]
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Forgotten World (181): Turks and Caicos
September 28th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
It’s been a while since I’ve done 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 – so let’s return to the series. You can check the previous 180 entries here. The Turks and […]
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The German federal elections
September 26th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Germans go to the polls tomorrow in an important federal election. To help you make sense of it, you might like to read my “Short Guide To The German Political System”.
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Double set of war crimes
September 16th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
So now an authoritative and independent report has spelled out at great length that both the Palestinians and the Israelis were guilty of war crimes last December and January. The 574-page report from esteemed judge Richard Goldstone is based on 188 interviews, more than 10,000 pages of documentation and 1,200 photographs and other material. Both […]
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How did economists get it so wrong?
September 8th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
In this article – long but so informative and convincing – Paul Krugman, “New York Times” op-ed columnist and winner of the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science, argues: “So here’s what I think economists have to do. First, they have to face up to the inconvenient reality that financial markets fall far short […]
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