Tag: Commonwealth

• Sunday, February 13th 2022 - 14:23 UTC

  Eighty years since the “worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history”

  

  This month marks 80 years since Singapore, a British colony with significant strategic importance was invaded and subsequently captured by the Empire of Japan. Its loss represented the lowest point of the war in the Far East and was a matter Prime Minister Winston Churchill never really got over.

• Tuesday, February 8th 2022 - 09:29 UTC

  Commonwealth and WHO agree to work on universal health care and resilient health systems

  

  The Commonwealth Secretariat and the World Health Organization (WHO) signed on Monday a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) committing to strengthening their collaboration on a broad range of public health issues of particular concern to Commonwealth member states and governments, such as the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine equity, advancing universal health coverage, and building resilient health systems.

• Friday, December 10th 2021 - 08:55 UTC

  Book on OTs Parliament buildings marks 110th anniversary of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

  

  To mark the conclusion of the 110th anniversary of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association this year, the CPA has published a special anniversary book showcasing over 180 Parliament buildings around the Commonwealth and giving an insight into their varied histories. The historic Parliament buildings of Anguilla, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands and the Virgin Islands (BVI) are featured in this new book.

• Monday, October 4th 2021 - 09:00 UTC

  Birmingham 2022 Queen's Baton Relay in the Falklands on June 7

  

  The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to take place from 28 July to 8 August will be preceded by the 16th official Queen’s Baton Relay. An epic journey across the Commonwealth, with the Queen’s Baton visiting all 72 nations and territories, reaching Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Caribbean and in the Americas, among others the Falkland Islands on 7 June 2022.

• Friday, October 1st 2021 - 07:06 UTC

  Barbados to quit British Commonwealth effective December 1

  

  The Parliament of Barbados has passed by 25 votes to none a Constitutional Amendment whereby the former British colony, which remained within the Commonwealth after its declaration of independence in 1966 will become a republic and thus remove Queen Elizabeth as head of state. The decision will become effective on Dec. 1.

• Thursday, September 17th 2020 - 08:14 UTC

  Barbados to become a republic November 2021; the Caribbean nation is expected to remain in the Commonwealth

  

  The Caribbean island of Barbados wants to remove Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as its head of state and become a republic, the government has said, reviving a plan mooted several times in the past.

• Wednesday, April 22nd 2020 - 07:40 UTC

  Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting scheduled for June suspended

  

  A Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting scheduled to take place in the Rwandan capital Kigali in June has been postponed due to COVID-19, the organization said on Tuesday. A new date for the event, which takes place every two years, would be announced in due course, the body's London-based secretariat said in a statement.

• Saturday, October 5th 2019 - 09:00 UTC

  Commonwealth brainstorming to tackle effects of climate change

  

  The Commonwealth on Friday launched an ideas-sharing network to tackle the effects of climate change through replicable regeneration projects. The 53-country bloc held a two-day brainstorming of indigenous groups, environmentalists, scientists and climate change experts at its headquarters in London.

• Friday, April 20th 2018 - 08:53 UTC

  Queen hopes Prince Charles will lead Commonwealth; 53-nation summit decides

  

  Queen Elizabeth II opened a summit of the 53-nation Commonwealth on Thursday, and backed her son Prince Charles to be the next leader of the association of Britain and its former colonies. In a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, the queen said she hoped Charles would “carry on the important work” of leading the Commonwealth, a loose alliance of countries large and small that has struggled to carve out a firm place on the world stage.

• Tuesday, April 17th 2018 - 08:55 UTC

  Theresa May pledges £212m in support of Commonwealth girls education

  

  Theresa May is to call for “concrete measures” to ensure girls in Commonwealth countries spend at least 12 years in education. The prime minister will pledge £212m, which Downing Street said would allow almost one million more girls to go to school.