Archive for October, 2006
The British political system
October 15th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
It’s been a very busy weekend. Yesterday I spent most of the day preparing a lecture on the British political system. All day today I’ll be delivering that lecture to a group of 25 Chinese civil servants visiting the UK. I’ve turned the lecture into a section of my web site in case readers from […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
From Sunningdale to St Andrews
October 14th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
I first visited Northern Ireland in August 1969, the week after troops were deployed on the streets of Belast and Londonderry to stop what we would now call a version of ethnic cleansing. I could not believe that such an occurrence was taking place in the UK and wanted to see for myself what was […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (3)
Forgotten world (40): Corsica
October 13th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
The Mediterranean island of Corsica – 100 miles south of France – has had an active nationalist movement since Genoa governed it in the 14th century. It was ceded to France in 1768, the year before Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio. Today the island – half the size of Wales and with a population […]
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UN wrong on rights
October 12th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
The United Nations Human Rights Council, which was established in June 2006, has just had its second session and the outcome is a real disappointment. As explained here, Peggy Hicks, global advocacy director of Human Rights Watch accuses that: “In the face of atrocities in the Sudan, attacks on civilians in Sri Lanka, and impunity […]
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Forgotten world (39): Algeria
October 12th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Civil war broke out in Algeria in 1992 after the army cancelled elections that Islamist parties were set to win. Up to 200,000 people died in an orgy of violence that pitched the army, and its secular supporters, against some 27,000 fundamentalists, with the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) as the leading organisation. Today the main […]
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A tale of three parrots
October 11th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
Forgotten world (38): Lithuania
October 11th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Travelling from north to south, Lithuania is the third of the three Baltic states. Like the other two, it was absorbed into the Soviet Union in 1940, regained its independence with the collapse of the USSR in 1991, and became a member of the European Union in 2004. Lithuania has a population of 3.4 million […]
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What did North Korea explode?
October 10th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
This morning’s “Mirror ” newspaper reported: “Korean tyrant Kim Jong-il was yesterday accused of a brazenly defying the world after his country’s first nuke bomb blast. The huge 15-kiloton underground explosion – the same size as at Hiroshima – came despite international leaders pleading with him not to go ahead.” However, the “Guardian” newspaper said: […]
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Forgotten world (37): Latvia
October 10th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Travelling from north to south, Latvia is the second of the three Baltic states. Like the other two, it was absorbed into the Soviet Union in 1940, regained its independence with the collapse of the USSR in 1991, and became a member of the European Union in 2004. Latvia has a population of only 2.3 […]
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Keeping tabs on collections and deliveries
October 9th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
The consumer watchdog Postwatch today issued the results of a survey of tabs – the metal plates on most pillar boxes that indicates whether the last collection of the day has been made from that box. A nationwide survey undertaken in mid September by Postwatch has revealed that one in every four post boxes fails […]
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