The French have an expression for it: Il a manqué une belle occasion de se taire – "He (or, in this case, she) missed a good opportunity of staying silent." The saying was brought to mind by the affair of the British ambassador's blog...

On the margins of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, I joined John Beyrle, U.S. Ambassador to Russia, for a meeting with a dynamic group of about 20 young Russian entrepreneurs to discuss their role in and expectations for Russia's economic transformation and modernization.

President Dmitry Medvedev was in California two weeks ago drumming up support for creating a version of Silicon Valley in Skolkovo, just outside Moscow. At the heart of the president’s push into the technology sector is the need to diversify Russia’s economy by developing new, innovation-based sectors.

UN Messenger of Peace HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein...today launched a video, in collaboration with the United Nations, inviting people from around the world, particularly youth, to tell leaders what the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) mean to them by uploading short films on the UN YouTube channel.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says building bridges with the Muslim world was his primary agenda as the head of the space agency raising questions about the scope of NASA's operations. In an interview with Al Jazeera Bolden said that developing congenial relations with the Muslim world would augment space exploration and that President Barack Obama had assigned him with this diplomatic responsibility.

In the post-Soviet period, the social networks within Russia’s Muslim community have become increasingly intense and diverse, reflecting both broader social and political changes and efforts by various groups within Islam to unite believers for one or another purpose, according to an analysis posted on the Islamnews.ru portal.

China's official Xinhua news agency launches a global English-language television service today. The new round-the-clock service, dubbed CNC (China Xinhua News Network Corp.) will "present an international vision with a China perspective to global audiences," according to the news agency's president, Li Congjun.

“Senior diplomats and other officials representing G-20 countries used the social networking platform to collaborate in the months prior to the June 26-27 event so that when the Summit got under way, issues and perspectives were shared over a secure network,” said Tom Jenkins, Executive Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer at Open Text.