Category: World

Thank you, Chair.   I warmly welcome Deputy Head Turcan to the Permanent Council – thank you for your report. I would like to extend my personal thanks to you and your team for your support and hospitality to my Ambassador during his recent visit to Dushanbe, where he saw first-hand the work you are doing across all three OSCE dimensions of security.   I would like to […]

The leaders visited STFC’s RAL Space facility to learn more about the contribution UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) makes to defence on behalf of the UK. The visit was hosted by Dr Barbara Ghinelli, Director of Innovation Clusters and Harwell Campus at the Science and Technology Facility Council (STFC). The visit showcased with industry and […]

Sweden’s criminal justice system was once held up as an example of moderation – focusing on rehabilitation and minimising the use of imprisonment. But the Scandinavian nation could soon join countries such as Russia, Belarus and Nicaragua as a world leader in punitiveness. Throughout 1990s and up to the mid-2010s, Sweden had a total prison […]

Thank you, Mr Chair.  I am delivering this statement on behalf of Canada, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and my own country the United Kingdom.  The 30th of August marked the annual International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. As such, at today’s Permanent Council, we would like to reaffirm our strong condemnation of enforced disappearances.  […]

Thank you to the US for their work on this important mandate. For over twenty years, the international community has sought to address the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes.  The United Kingdom has consistently championed a diplomatic solution. Regrettably, Iran has too often chosen escalation over cooperation, creating the circumstances that continue […]

Ghosts in Sweden? It sounds strange to place the supernatural in a country of health-conscious, pragmatic engineers. But even though Swedes readily accept modernity, their popular culture hints at something else. From the outside, Sweden appears to be a secular nation. The country has an exceptionally high number of non-believers, who engage in and identify […]

Ghosts in Sweden? It sounds strange to place the supernatural in a country of health-conscious, pragmatic engineers. But even though Swedes readily accept modernity, their popular culture hints at something else. From the outside, Sweden appears to be a secular nation. The country has an exceptionally high number of non-believers, who engage in and identify […]

Today, the United States filed a complaint under the False Claims Act against laboratory executives Jay Johnson and Austin Whiles, alleging that they used their roles at Capstone Diagnostics, an Atlanta-based clinical laboratory, to orchestrate two testing schemes — one targeting faith-based communities and the other senior citizens — that caused Medicare to pay millions […]

President, last week marked a significant step forward in Syria’s compliance with its international obligations, with the IAEA closure of Syria’s longstanding safeguards file by consensus. After fifteen years of obstruction by the Assad regime, this decision is an important symbol of Syria’s commitment to meeting its international obligations. And we also commend Syria’s constructive engagement with […]

KEY TAKEAWAYS In France, as in other OECD countries, student performance has seen a steep decline in mathematics and reading. The latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) shows that this decline affects disadvantaged and advantaged students alike. International comparisons are more useful for questioning education systems’ capacity to reform than for identifying a model […]