6th February 2019 Beirut, Lebanon
The Embassy has been celebrating in recent weeks. There was a Wedding – on Saturday night a colleague married, the couple looked radiant, and the party was full of Lebanese life. We’ve had an award from Her Majesty The Queen, who at New Year recognised Lea Baroudi of MARCH for her inspiration in creating peace, […]
9th May 2017 Chennai, India
In March, I had the absolute delight of visiting India for the first time in my life and the whole week was an adventure, both personally and commercially. Experiencing the Indian way of life, the hospitality and incredible proactivity to doing business were all eye-opening, as was the traffic! I help run Innovation Birmingham, the […]
20th June 2011
Some weeks ago I blogged about the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. This week (11-19 June) the Budapest Pride Festival is taking place, with the annual March due tomorrow. The police have pledged that the March will be secure and safe (though there has been an announcement about a possible far right counter-demonstration in […]
6th May 2011 Toronto, Canada
This month’s SIN Newsletter (actually a bumper two-month edition), covering science and technology news in Canada, is out! Click here to download the PDF version. If you would like to be added to the mailing list and receive it automatically in your inbox, leave a comment below or send us an e-mail. Some highlights from […]
21st December 2010
I am proud and a little relieved that my wife completed her trek in the footsteps of Gandhi. I am proud and a little relieved to write after my last blog that my wife completed her 350 kilometre trek in the footsteps of Gandhi’s famous Salt March of 1930 at the beginning of December. The […]
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10th December 2010
On Thursday 18 November forty people gathered pre-dawn at one of India’s most historic sites, the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, where Mahatma Gandhi lived for many years. The occasion was the beginning of an India-UK Friendship Walk, which my wife Jill has organised with massive support from members of the Association of British Scholars in […]
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26th March 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan
In response to an earlier blog of mine someone asked whether I really meant my description of Pakistan as a proud country or whether I was just being polite. I was not just being polite. I meant proud. And proud in ways that diplomats like me need to understand and remember. The celebration of Pakistan […]