Archive for October, 2009


Forgotten World (190): Togo

October 30th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

Togo, a narrow strip of land on Africa’s west coast located between Ghana and Benin, has for years been the target of criticism over its human rights record and political governance. Political reconciliation remains elusive. Gnassingbe Eyadema died in early 2005 after 38 years in power. The military’s immediate but short-lived installation of his son, […]

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“Gillean’s Children”

October 29th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

Getting a film made is a tough enterprise. This site explains one man’s attempt to have the story of his father – a British Military Intelligence officer in the Second World War – made into a movie.

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Forgotten World (189): Syria

October 29th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Alawite Shias and Druze, as well as the Arab Sunnis who make up a majority of the Muslim population. Modern Syria gained its independence from France in 1946 but has lived through periods of political instability driven by the conflicting interests of […]

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Five riddles

October 28th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

1. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires. The second is full of assassins with loaded guns. The third is full of lions that haven’t eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him? 2. A woman shoots her husband. Then […]

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Word of the day: gongoozler

October 28th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

This is a word which only seems to be used in Britain. It means a person who enjoys watching activity on the canals More information here.

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Forgotten World (188): Anguilla

October 28th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

Anguilla – an island in the Caribbean with just 13,400 inhabitants- broke away from St Kitts and Nevis and became a British overseas territory in 1980. Carefully-regulated tourism is the bedrock of the economy. A tropical climate, fine beaches, reefs and turquoise seas lure visitors, many of them from the USA. Offshore banking is another […]

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What should we do about the Net?

October 27th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

I used to do a lot of media interviews for the Internet Watch Foundation and Postwatch, but these days I do very little indeed. However, this morning, I did a live radio interview for about 15 minutes on City Talk 105.9. I was interviewed by Roy Basnett on regulation of the Internet. I drew on […]

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Forgotten World (187): Svalbard

October 27th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean north of mainland Europe, about midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The archipelago is the northernmost part of Norway. Three islands are populated: Spitsbergen, Bear Island and Hopen. The Spitsbergen Treaty (1920) recognised Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard, and the 1925 Svalbard Act made Svalbard a […]

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Why have we turned back the clocks?

October 26th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

If you’re a reader in the UK, then this Sunday you turned back the clocks one hour. But why do we do this? The change from British Summer Time (BST) back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) has taken place annually since 1916 when, following wartime enemy Germany’s lead, the clocks went back to give farmers […]

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Forgotten World (186): Guinea

October 26th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

It’s time once more for 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 185 entries here. The mineral-rich African state of Guinea declared independence from France in 1958. […]

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