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17th October 2011 Toronto, Canada
The Jenkins Report: A review of federal R&D support
Today we report upon the release of Innovation Canada: A Call to Action, formally the Report of the Independent Panel on Federal Support to Research and Development and commonly referred to as the Jenkins Report (after the panel’s chair, Tom Jenkins). You can read the full report at rd-review.ca, and I’ll be summarising the key […]
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17th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Bessarabia, Ukraine and Europe
The towers of the fortress rise above the Black Sea. Within mighty walls, bastions soar. Our guide says it’s hard to be sure who built which bits: over the past two millennia, the site has been occupied by Greeks, Romans, Poles, Goths, Huns, Moldovans, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Tatars, Russians, Genoese and Turks. Down the road there […]
17th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Community Education
Amongst my various introductory calls since arriving in Rome this August, I have had the opportunity to visit the Venerable English College and the Pontifical Scots College. These are both ancient institutions – the Venerable English College celebrates the 650th anniversary of its foundation, by King Edward III, next year – which throughout their history […]
17th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Hungarian Rugby
Welsh supporters all round the world, and many other sympathisers, are in sorrow today following the defeat of Wales 9-10 by France in the Rugby World Cup. But no one can deny the gallantry and professionalism of a superb team, which did well to reach the semi-finals and kept us on the edge of our […]
17th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The renaissance of the nuclear sector
This morning I attended an international symposium here in Bucharest on nuclear energy which was looking at the challenges that energy faces for the future. These are various, they relate to security and safety issues, to financing, to technological issues and also to political issues in response to public concern about nuclear safety in the […]
16th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Food and the Fighting Man
Napoleon said that an Army marches on its stomach. So what’s the connection between food and war? Most wars are about ideology, nationalism or territory. Very often the reason for conflict over territory is to do with growing food. There might be a fight to gain richer soil, easier access to water or better grazing […]
16th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Food security: a second green revolution?
Today is Blog Action Day 2011 and the subject is food. Food has a huge impact on our very existence, from the state of our countryside to the length of our lives. And in recent years food security has become a major security risk for everyone, alongside terrorism and arms proliferation – a problem we […]
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15th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Un pact pentru creștere economică
Vince Cable, ministrul britanic pentru Afaceri şi Inovaţie a venit săptămâna trecută la Bucureşti cu un mesaj foarte clar – Uniunea Europeană trebuie să revină pe un parcurs de creştere economică sustenabilă pe termen lung. Şi asta înseamnă ca UE să facă ceea ce ştie mai bine – comerţ liber. Atât România cât şi Marea Britanie beneficiază […]
13th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Comedy stand-up
There was encouraging news yesterday, with 200 political prisoners released in Burma. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “I welcome the news that a number of political prisoners have been released. … We look forward to the hopes for genuine change coming to fruition, and to seeing news of further releases and progress on other […]
13th October 2011 Windhoek, Namibia
The joys of pap in Namibia
It is international Blog Action Day (BAD) 2011 this Sunday 16 October and the topic for this year is food. Last year the FCO took an active part in this event and is encouraging its bloggers around the world to contribute to the food theme from our unique international and local perspectives. Having only been […]