Britain is considering disrupting online social networking such as Blackberry Messenger and Twitter during civil unrest, Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday, a move widely condemned as repressive when used by other countries.

Zimbabwe's biggest outdoors UK festival returns for its 11th year at Raynes Park in London on August 27, organisers announced. The Zimfest, featuring sports, live music, business exhibitions and cultural exchange activities was moved indoors last year after the park where it is traditionally held became unavailable.

The statue is the most visible part of an exhibition put on by the British Council, a cultural-exchange outfit, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Gagarin’s flight. The exhibition is modest, filling a room in the Council’s offices with artefacts, pictures and documents from the Soviet space programme.

Britain's soft power which was becoming more perceptible with the migration of more than 20 million Britons from the years 1650 to 1950 to outside of Europe would continuously spread the English language, teaching administration, customs and Christianity. The term “Anglicization” was used exactly like the more recent “Americanization” to describe the process of dissemination of the English culture. The passage of time proved that neither hard nor soft power guaranteed the sustenance of the Empire.

It’s quite difficult, to be honest, for the government to do that [control] because many of these soft power tools are not things that we have direct control over. Even if we did try to influence them, that would be — to use the English phrase — the kiss of death, because the fact that the government was doing it would actually detract from the effectiveness of those soft power tools.

Earlier this week Chatham House put out the results of a survey looking at UK public attitudes to the coalition government’s foreign policy priorities. It’s a serious job – a public sample of over 2000 plus a sample of 843 opinion formers – that deserves some serious commentary...

The British Museum is to stage a major exhibition dedicated to the hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam will bring together historic and contemporary objects – including manuscripts, textiles, archaeological items and photography – to explore the experience and importance of the pilgrimage. The museum's director said it would enable a global audience to deepen their understanding of the significance and history of the hajj.

Harvard professor Joseph Nye talks of a world shaped by the shifting distribution of power from West to East and the growing dispersal of power from state to citizens.The “Arab Spring” is the most spectacular example...