Archive for January, 2007
The most famous person you don’t know
January 18th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
He is an actor who has appeared in around 180 films. Britain’s “Sunday Times” has described him as “Tom Cruise, Sean Connery and Clint Eastwood rolled into one.” In 1999, he was named the Greatest Star of the Millennium by a BBC Online poll. He was a Member of Parliament for three years, he is […]
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Forgotten world (59): Morocco
January 18th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Morocco – population 32 million – is the most westerly of the North African countries known as the Maghreb. Strategically situated with both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, but with a rugged mountainous interior, it stayed independent for centuries while developing a rich culture blended from Arab, Berber, European and African influences. Morocco was a French […]
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He’s running …
January 17th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
A month ago, I finished a blog posting by writing “Just watch this man run …” I was refering to Barack Obama and the race for the Democratic nomination for the US Presidential election. Well, now we have the news that he has announced the formation of a committee to explore support and funding and […]
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Forgotten World (58): Canada
January 17th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia (9.9 million sq km or 3.8 million sq miles), but it hardly features in media reports aound the world. At 32 million, its population is only about one-fifth of Russia’s and nearly 90% of Canadians live within 200 km of the border with the […]
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“Party Animals” (1)
January 16th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
A new BBC2 television drama series called “Party Animals” – a satire on young political researchers and advisers in Westminster and Whitehall – is due to be shown soon, but this morning my son Richard was on the BBC radio “Today” programme talking about it.
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How old are you in Chinese terms?
January 16th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
When a baby is born in China, using the old traditional method of counting one’s age, the child is already one. Then a year is added each Chinese New Year. So, on this basis, everyone in China is a year or two older than their chronological age. i’ve blogged about his before. But now – […]
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Forgotten World (57): Uttar Pradesh
January 16th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
There are endless reference in the media to India as a nation, usually focusing on its size (more than a billion people) and its growth (annual rate of around 8%). But there is little media reporting to illustrate the sheer scale and diversity of the nation. The largest of India’s 28 states is Uttar Pradesh […]
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How does one know Chinese?
January 15th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
This weekend, we spent time with our very good Chinese friends Hua and Zhihao and, as always, we had interesting discussions comparing and contrasting British and Chinese culture and lifestyle. Once again, the issue of the Chinese language came up, initially in the context of the Chinatown restaurant sign for the toilets. I was interested […]
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Forgotten World (56): Belgium
January 15th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
On 11 occasions now, I’ve had a week-long feature on NightHawk devoted to parts of the world that tend to be under-reported or even forgotten. You can check out the previous 55 entries here. This week, I am going to run an 12th series of postings on this theme. In December 2006, Belgians reacted with […]
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“The Past From Above”
January 14th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Vee and I spent most of Saturday in central London with our dear Chinese friends Hua and Zhihao. We started with a dim sum meal in a restaurant in Chinatown called “New China” where we had lots of courses and took our time. Then we went to the British Museum to see an interesting exhibition […]
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