...Initiatives in Education, Science and Culture Towards Enhanced US-Muslim Countries Collaborations aimed to focus on concrete projects and initiatives in those three areas, and not on divisive political issues such the Israeli-Palestine conflict and Iraq.

The UK is stepping up its activities in Bahrain with increased investment in arts and education. British officials also hope to almost double the number of Bahrain schools linked with those in the UK.

Numerous young people, mostly university students in their 20s from diverse countries, including the United States, Germany and Pakistan, accepted invitations to the retreat and bought plane tickets, eager to explore Russia and to meet their Russian counterparts.

Delhi University, while realising the importance of an international exposure, is keen on casting its net wide. It has signed many MoUs with universities and colleges abroad for student and faculty exchange programmes.

"Of course, we had in the past and also now Taiwanese students studying in Israeli leading universities, but this is the first time that Taiwanese students will benefit from our government scholarships" said Raphael Gamzou, the head of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei.

Japanese diplomats say they are working hard to stop the decline in the number of British participants in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET). They recognize the concerns of the UK-Japan 21st Century Group which recently highlighted the drop in the number of British JET participants since 2001...

This partnership will help to increase global awareness of Istanbul and Turkey's unique cultural landscape - both historic and modern; as well as strengthening cultural relations between the UK/US and Turkey.

First started in 1983, the Chevening programme is touted by the UK government as a prestigious international scholarship scheme that fully or partly funds some 1,000 individuals from over 130 countries to pursue postgraduate studies in British universities every year.