23rd September 2011
A guest blog by Martin Dowle, Director, British Council The west Ukrainian city of Lviv is an intriguing location for a literature festival. Breath-taking views of spires and domes, offset with hidden courtyards, make this city on the cusp between East and West a crossroads for cultural exchange. Some 300 events are packed into four […]
16th September 2011 New York, USA
September 11th is an immensely emotional date for New York. This year, being the Tenth Anniversary, was especially so. Our priority this year—and every year—was to support the family members of the 67 British victims. My day started in Lower Manhattan, where I joined BBC Radio 5 Live’s Peter Allen as he broadcasted the main […]
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14th September 2011
How good to be in Bucharest now that the ‘George Enescu’ festival is here! When I first saw the programme for this year’s twentieth festival, I could not quite believe my eyes. It looked like one of those conference programmes which promise the President, three Ministers and the British Ambassador, but when you turn up […]
13th September 2011
Joint blog by Catalin Predoiu, Romanian Minister of Justice and Martin Harris, British Ambassador to Romania 2011 has already proved to be a great year in Romania-UK relations with the visits of President Traian Basescu and Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi to London. Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu’s visit last week, as the guest of the Justice Secretary Ken […]
12th September 2011
إن رؤية مجموعة الشباب الأردنيين الحاصلين على منح دراسية و المتوجهين الى المملكة المتحدة لهو دليل على متانة العلاقات الوثيقة بين الأردن والمملكة المتحدة بما يتعلق بالتعليم. فبريطانيا هي المكان الذي يرغب العديد من الأشخاص الدراسة فيه بسبب الجودة العالية لمدارسها و كلياتها وجامعاتها. و الترحيب بالطلاب الدوليين يعد أولوية قصوى لتلك الجامعات لأنه يجلب […]
19th July 2011
The red carpet heaves with talent including John Malkovich, Russian filmmaker and actor Nikita Mikhalkov and many legendary Odesa comedy stars including the “Masks” of Chaos Shakespeare fame. Above, gleaming gilt cherubs frolic. I’m at the fabulous Odesa opera house for the opening of this year’s Odesa International Film Festival. With six British films on […]
15th July 2011
The music is infectious. The urgent rhythm sends dancers sweeping around the room, partners gyrating and in some cases being thrown bodily through the air. At the end of the track, entitled “Shout Sister Shout”, everyone stops for a breather and swaps partners. I’m knackered. People often ask what Kyiv is like for a foreign […]
11th July 2011
It’s easy to see international cooperation in black and white terms: either you’re “in” a particular body or organisation or you’re “out”. This is often tied to “zero-sum” thinking, which argues that something which is good for one person or country has to be bad for another. In reality, however, international relations includes a vast […]
7th July 2011
Guest blog: My wife, Linda McLachlan, visited recently a pet therapy project taking place in Voluntari, on the outskirts of Bucharest. The idea behind it is simple yet impressive – bring vulnerable children and mistreated animals together to help each other overcome their unfortunate past experiences. ‘It’s long been argued that you can judge a […]
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6th July 2011
Four mighty slabs of gold hang on a wall. Nearby, a jacket gleams dully. A man’s head, twisted backwards, screams through golden lips. I’m at the “Ya Gallery”( ) in central Kyiv for the opening of a new exhibition, Mr Gold, curated by Pavlo Gudimov, whose Gudimov Art Project is always coming up with interesting […]