Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
The American presidential election (32)
May 9th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
Last night, I watched Barack Obama being interviewed on CNN’s “The Situation Room”. He was thoughtful and articulate and, if I was an American, he would certainly have my vote. Now Obama is going to be the Democratic Presidential candidate – it’s just going to take a little more time for Hillary Clinton to accept […]
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60th anniversary of Israel
May 8th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
Today is the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the state of Israel. Among the many media pieces marking the event, I thought that this article was a good assessment of the situation. You can read my review of a book on the Arab-Israeli conflict here. A year ago, I visited Israel and you can […]
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Can a politician be normal?
May 6th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
I think that I have some understanding of what it is like to be a senior politician. I worked full-time for one in the 1970s, two years in the House of Commons, two years in the Northern Ireland Office and two years in the Home Office. Since those days, I have met many Members of […]
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Forgotten World (130): Australia
May 2nd, 2008 by Roger Darlington
Australia is one of the largest countries in the world – but most of it is desert – and constitutes the overwhelming mass of the smallest continent on the globe (Australasia). The population is just over 21 million with approximately 60% of the population concentrated in and around the mainland state capitals of Sydney, Melbourne, […]
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Forgotten World (129): Burkina Faso
May 1st, 2008 by Roger Darlington
Formerly called Upper Volta and a French colony until 1960, Burkina Faso (which translates as “land of honest men”) is a country of 15 million which has spent many of its post-independence years under military rule with repeated coups, especially during the 1980s. Coup leader Blaise Compaore won a new five-year term in 2005 after […]
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Forgotten World (128): Libya
April 30th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
The standing of Libya in the international community has been transformed in recent years. Once shunned by much of the world over the 1988 bombing of a PanAm plane above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, the country formally took responsibility for the incident in 2003. This move, part of a deal to compensate families of […]
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The American presidential election (31)
April 30th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
If – like me – you are a non-American following the primary elections in the USA, you have to learn a lot of new terminology. In the current stage of the race, two terms are of particular strangeness. One term is “a Hoosier” This is a word used to describe a resident of the state […]
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Forgotten World (127): Venezuela
April 29th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
Venezuela is a South American country of 28 million that is very much a nation of contrasts and controversy. It has some of the world’s largest proven oil deposits as well as huge quantities of coal, iron ore, bauxite and gold. Yet most Venezuelans live in poverty, many of them in shanty towns, some of […]
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Forgotten World (126): Liechtenstein
April 28th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
It’s time for another week 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 125 entries here. The Principality of Liechtenstein is one of the most bizarre and disturbing features of the European landscape. […]
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The American presidential election (28)
April 21st, 2008 by Roger Darlington
On the eve of the Pennsylvania Democratic primary when we might see the Democratic field reduced to one, spare a thought for one-time contender John Edwards. In a normal set of primaries – that is, when there was not the chance to choose the first woman President or the first black President – Edwards might […]
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