Archive for September, 2019


Have you ever been to Tiananmen Square?

September 30th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

I have been to China four times and, on each occasion, I have visited Tiananmen Square in the heart of the capital Beijing. Inevitably, each time I have recalled the massacre of June 1989. In my account of the first visit in 2000, I wrote: “One advantage of seeing the palace [the Forbidden City] from […]

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One third fewer banks but much more online banking

September 29th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

The consumerbody Which? has just published its​ latest findings on bank branch closures. Banks and building societies closed a total of 3,312 branches between January 2015 and August 2019, with an average of 55 closing each month. A further 100 branches are scheduled to close before the end of this year. The RBS Group, which […]

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Visit to Iceland (4): South Coast Adventure

September 27th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

On our third and final full day in Iceland, Silvia and I left our hotel at 8.30 am and only returned at 7 pm as we went on an organised tour called the South Shore Adventure, a round trip of some 400 km involving five stops. The weather was so unseasonably pleasant that our female […]

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Visit to Iceland (3): Reykjavik

September 26th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

On our second full day in Iceland, we spent the day in the capital Reykjavik (the name means “smokey bay”) which is the most northern capital in the world. There are many walking tours on offer, most of them expensive, but we selected City Walk which is “free” (at the end, you donate what you […]

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Visit to Iceland (2): Golden Circle

September 25th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

On our first full day in Iceland, Silvia and I left our hotel at 8.30 am and only returned at 6.30 pm as we went on an organised tour called the Golden Circle, a round trip of some 300 km involving four stops. The weather was cool and sometimes misty but generally excellent for such […]

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Visit to Iceland (1): arrival

September 24th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

For more than a decade now, my sister Silvia and I have had a tradition of most years taking a holiday abroad together without our partners and this year our 13th such trip is to Iceland with Regent Travel. It is a new destination for both of us and the 74th country that I have […]

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What’s happening with the choice of baby names in England & Wales?

September 24th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

Earlier this month, there Office of National Statistics (ONS) published its annual list for the choice of baby names last year. There are some interesting trends. First of all, astonishingly the most popular boys’ name and the most popular girls’ name are essentially the same (Oliver and Olivia) – what is technically known as cognates […]

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Greta Thunberg at the UN: What an incredible young woman. What a stunning speech. What a clear message.

September 23rd, 2019 by Roger Darlington

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What now for Israel: a new coalition government or yet another general election?

September 23rd, 2019 by Roger Darlington

The final results are now in for the second general election in Israel in 2019 – the first time in the history of the country that two polls have been held in the same year. Incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – the longest-serving premier in the history of the nation – failed to lead his […]

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Discussion at the Labour Party Annual Conference in Brighton this week

September 23rd, 2019 by Roger Darlington

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