The Nobel prize-winning author Doris Lessing has described the September 11 attacks as “neither as extraordinary nor as terrible” as people thought.

The 88-year-old, who won the Nobel for literature this month, said some people in the US would think she was “crazy” but that the attacks needed to be looked at in the context of the IRA’s campaign of terror in the UK.

“September 11 was terrible, but if one goes back over the history of the IRA, what happened to the Americans wasn’t that terrible,” Lessing told the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

“Some Americans will think I’m crazy. Many people died, two prominent buildings fell, but it was neither as terrible nor as extraordinary as they think.

“They’re a very naive people, or they pretend to be. Do you know what people forget? That the IRA attacked with bombs against our government.

“It killed several people while a Conservative congress was being held and in which the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, was [attending]. People forget.”

Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the September 11 attacks of 2001. More than 3,700 died and tens of thousands of people were injured in more than 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland.

Lessing, the author of The Golden Notebook, also revealed her contempt for Tony Blair, the former prime minister, and the US president, George Bush.

“I always hated Tony Blair, from the beginning,” she said. “Many of us hated Tony Blair; I think he has been a disaster for Britain and we have suffered him for many years.

“I said it when he was elected: ‘This man is a little showman who is going to cause us problems,’ and he did.

“As for Bush, he’s a world calamity. Everyone is tired of this man.

“Either he is stupid or he is very clever, although you have to remember he is a member of a social class which has profited from wars.”

The writer, who was born to British parents in what is now Iran, was also quoted as saying: “I hate Iran. I hate the Iranian government. It’s a cruel and evil government.

“Look what happened to its president in New York, they called him evil and cruel in Columbia University. Marvellous! They should have said more to him. Nobody criticises him, because of oil.”

When she was handed her Nobel, Lessing was praised by the judges for her “scepticism, fire and visionary power”.

SCOTLAND’S population is set to rise over the next 25 years to its highest-ever level, according to new projections by the Registrar General for Scotland.

The number of people living in the country is projected to rise from 5.12 million in 2006 to a high of 5.37 million in 2031, before slowly declining and eventually falling below the five million mark in 2076.

However, that is fully 40 years later than experts previously thought the population would bottom out at that level.

Registrar General Duncan Macniven said: “The recent upswing in births and migration has paved the way for continued gradual increase in Scotland’s population until it reaches almost 5.4 million in 2031 - well above its previous peak of 5.24 million in 1974.

“We will still be an ageing nation - in 2031, we expect there will be 18 people over 75 for every ten today.”

The report also shows that the number of under-16s is projected to fall by seven per cent to 0.86 million in 2031, while the number of people of working age is projected to increase slightly to 3.23 million.

Meanwhile, the number of pensioners is expected to shoot up by around 31 per cent from 0.98 million in 2006 to 1.29 million in 2031.

This is the main reason why the dependency ratio - the proportion of people aged under 16 or over pensionable age compared to those of working age - is projected to rise from around 59 per 100 in 2006 to 67 per 100 in 2031.

However, Scottish Finance Minister John Swinney welcomed the forecasts. “An increasing population has the potential to boost Scotland’s economic growth and help our nation prosper,” he said.

“Although we must not be complacent, a larger working age population can enhance the productivity of our economy and create increased consumer demand.”

New figures for Edinburgh and the Lothians will not be released until January, however, previous statistics show the region has seen some of the largest population increases in the country.

The city’s population rose by 5660 or 1.1 per cent in 2005-6, to 463,510. This was mainly due to people moving to the city, with a net migration gain of 4775, more than double that of Glasgow.

East and West Lothian saw similar percentage rises, compared with a rise of just 0.4 per cent in Scotland over all.

Births slightly outnumbered deaths in the Lothians, bucking the national trend.

There was a bigger proportion of working age people in the Capital - 71 per cent, compared with 67 per cent nationwide.

Linda Fabiani, Scottish Minister for Europe and External Affairs, added: “The projected growth in Scotland’s population to 5.37 million by 2031 is excellent news and has been helped by increases in migration.”

While Scotland’s population is projected to fall after 2031, population growth in England and Wales is set to continue unabated.

The total UK population will grow to more than 70 million over the next 24 years, according to predictions based on a range of factors which include immigration, fertility and average life-spans.

They are the first to use data on immigration which was recently increased by the ONS.

Last month, the organisation said the number of people migrating to the UK had increased by 45,000 a year to 190,000.

Long past the era of the “sleeping giant,” China is the epicenter of an industrial and economic transformation whose effect is being felt everywhere—from the boardrooms of Boston to the banks of London. Global systems are shifting so dramatically in China and other emerging countries that we’re all challenged to come up with new skills to work across cultures. What are the implications for management communication?

My friend and respected colleague Maya Hu-Chan and I reflected on this and other cross-cultural questions recently when we were the keynote speakers at the Global Leadership Conference in Shanghai. She’s the co-author (with Cathy Greenberg, Alistair Robertson, and me) of Global Leadership: The Next Generation. Maya conducts workshops on cross-cultural communication (in both English and Chinese) around the world and has worked with more than 3,000 leaders in global corporations. You can contact her at mayahuchan@earthlink.net, or visit her Web site at http://www.mayahuchan.com. She and I recently spoke about the challenges of leading global teams. Edited excerpts of our conversation follow:

What do managers tell you about the challenges they’re facing in this new global business environment?

It’s sink or swim, and swimming the Pacific is only one of the cultural marathon events for a modern CEO. We’re in an era of interwoven global cultures, each with its own character and subtleties. Over the past three years, I’ve surveyed over 1,200 global managers of multinational companies in telecommunications, financial services, manufacturing, and engineering/construction industries. I asked them, “What are your greatest challenges?” Ultimately, it boils down to a few areas: cultural gaps, lack of trust in each other, failure to value each other’s skills, and the big one: We just don’t communicate effectively.

Doesn’t speaking English make it easier?

Global team members have a hard time understanding one another even when they’re all speaking the same language. One global manager found it was hard for his team members in China and India to say no. He would think they were agreeing and move forward, only to find out later that they disagreed. Another manager was amazed at how many ways people found to say no, and yet it always sounded like yes to him!

To stay on course, you’ve got to be constantly asking yourself, “Am I reading this right?” Even if everyone speaks English, you have to test your assumptions. In a group situation, encourage everyone to slow down their speech, speak clearly, and periodically take a stop to recap what has been said or decided upon.

Communication styles come into play, right? For example, being up front is prized in the U.S. but may be considered rude in some other cultures.

There is the issue of “face.” For example, Marshall, I have known you for over 20 years. I’m sure that most of your friends and clients would agree that your communication style is sometimes in their face!

But seriously, American culture rewards outspokenness. In this English-dominant world, an American may admit point blank that he/she doesn’t speak another language—no big deal. People from other countries are proud to have studied English from grade school on, and are likely to fall silent rather than risk “losing face” when they realize that they aren’t being understood, or if they don’t completely understand what’s being said.

To turn this dynamic around, cultivate an intellectual grace and kindness which will allow you to ensure that a point is understood without shaming your colleague. Get on the same playing field by being curious, with respect. Thank your listener for speaking in English, and allow silence for him to reflect on the content on the table.