2001

Benjamin Zephaniah, one of Britain's leading poets, merges politics and reggae with incisive wit. He was born in Birmingham in the industrial heartland of England, a far cry from his Jamaican roots, but his popularity has since spread around the globe, even earning him a no.1 slot in Yugoslavia!

Americans and their New Year's Resolutions: as the world grows a year older it's always a good time to change those natural faults that make us human - but it's always a lost cause.

The Empire has faded, but English surnames are colonising Central Europe at a rate of knots. Here's your guide, ladies, to bagging a Brit. Polish gentlemen, please don't feel too put out there are some useful tips for you, too.

The music's fabulous, the lyrics go from the simple to the surreal. But do they mean anything? And does it really matter?

Who rules over England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales? Queen Elizabeth, of course! But besides being the richest woman in Britain and owning the most beautiful buildings, she's just a tourist attraction. It's the government and Parliament, and especially No.10 Downing Street, who write the rules.

After the Pogues and U2, there came the female voices of Sinéad O'Connor, Enya and the Cranberries. But what next? It was the boys' turn (well, mostly), and the money-makers have been having a field day.

Forget Brad, Ronan and Becks. There's a new kid on the block and he's got talent in bucketfuls. Discovered by British film director Stephen Daldry at the tender age of 13, he has already achieved what others can only dream of.

The whirl surrounding the boy from Billingham, England, started when he was cast as the eponymous hero of the film Billy Elliot. Since then Jamie Bell has managed - with his adolescent charm and superb skills - to thrill millions of viewers all around the world and turn the British production into a smash hit.

For a real taste of old-fashioned England, there's no better place to visit than Rye on (or near enough) the East Sussex coast.

"Jutro jedziemy do Rye'u," I said to my wife (who is Polish, by the way). "Do raju?" she asked. Then I realised that to Poles the name of this little town could well be confused with Paradise. I had never been there before, so I couldn't say whether or not Rye might indeed be "raj". But as it turned out, the little town not far from Hastings came surprisingly close.

>A Polish student living in America, Katarzyna Jelonek-Allen, gives our World of English readers an insight into the realities of American university life. Pay attention (before you pay the fees!)

So just who are the development workers and how did they originate? Simon Jones, himself a former overseas development worker (ODW), gives us a thumbnail sketch of the people ex-President Mary Robinson (now United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) honours with a candle in the window of her official residence, Áras an Uachtarain, every Christmas.