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10th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
GREAT on the streets of Istanbul… with more to come
What is GREAT and all over Istanbul? The answer is the GREAT campaign to deepen business and education links between Britain and Turkey. I wrote about the launch of the GREAT campaign last month. That included the goals of doubling trade between the UK and Turkey in both directions by 2015, boosting investment and encouraging […]
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10th May 2013 London, UK
Sajak CSCLeaders / CSCLeaders Poems
In this guest blog, Hajah Aidah shares with us three poems that she wrote for the CSCLeaders conference , where she represented the Sultanate. CSCLeaders is a series of Conferences for exceptional leaders, which assembles individuals from across the Commonwealth to tackle challenges that government, businesses and society face today and builds the relationships needed […]
9th May 2013 Ottawa, Canada
New Faces in the Science and Innovation Network
Now that we’ve finally said goodbye to the last of the winter snow in (most parts) of Canada and hello to warm summer weather, it’s time to welcome a few changes to the Science and Innovation Network (SIN). First of all, a big congratulations to both Nicolina Farella (SIN Officer in Montreal) and to Nicole […]
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9th May 2013 Windhoek, Namibia
HMS Argyll helps boost UK Prosperity Agenda in Namibia
Royal British Navy Frigate HMS Argyll served as a fantastic platform to showcase the best of British commercial interests in Namibia this week in Walvis Bay. The 133m long vessel, complete with Lynx helicopter and 200-strong crew, spent 3 days berthed at the country’s port. I was delighted to join the Governor of Erongo Region, […]
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9th May 2013 Washington DC, USA
Shared Horizons – Is it cutting-edge science when you can’t find a joke about it on the web?
The following is a guest blog post from Suzanne Austin, Deputy Director for Research Councils UK team in the US. I wanted to start this blog post with a joke. You know the one where there’s a historian, biologist and computer scientist in a bar? And they….except they don’t. There are no jokes about these […]
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9th May 2013 London, UK
At the ballot box
My first visit to a polling station was not to vote, but as a poll clerk. From 6am until 10pm I sat in a draughty hall in Harrow, north London checking that the voters were on the electoral register, validating their ballot paper with a special machine and handing it to them so they could […]
9th May 2013 London, UK
Bosnia – time to move forward
This week, at the British Embassy in Sarajevo, a memorial was unveiled to the 59 British personnel who lost their lives in the Bosnian conflict of the 1990s. Their sacrifice is a reminder of the strength of the UK’s commitment to a stable and secure Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the impact that conflict […]
9th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Somalia: What a difference a Year Makes
Prime Minister David Cameron and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia co-hosted an important conference on Somalia in London on 7 May. As I told Vatican Radio, the conference was held under very different circumstances from the February 2012 London Somalia conference. Shortly before then, Benedict XVI had called on the world to act in […]
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9th May 2013 Malmo, Sweden
Case study: Iran
For some years now, my country, Iran, has been in a difficult situation caused by economical pressures, social deficiencies and most importantly of all, a lack of freedoms. I was a child of the Islamic revolution; my generation grew up in war and post-war situations but nothing more than social restrictions surrounding us. I always […]
9th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Lumină din Lumină
I love the Orthodox tradition of sharing the Holy Fire from Jerusalem at Easter. Last weekend my wife was back in London so I was a single parent for Easter in Bucharest with our two younger daughters (and one of their friends). We went to the midnight service at our local Orthodox Church. There was […]