After a welcome speech from the Ambassador, Robert Lamb of the Swiss Ministry of the Environment gave a brief overview of the current status of the Strategy for Resource Mobilisation under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

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Pier Ferdinando Casini, the leader of the third-biggest party in Mr Berlusconi's government of 2001-06, gave his speech a rapturous welcome.

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Sure, the once-yearly opportunity to poke fun at an ill-judged Oscars dress or a super-gushy acceptance speech (gather, Kate, gather) is a welcome prospect in these dreary days of economic doom and gloom.

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Likewise, an actual open dialogue on the contents of these bills and the proper way to go about stopping online piracy while protecting freedom of speech would be a truly welcome development.

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"It's my therapy, " he sighs, and a welcome escape from his intensely people-oriented job as the owner of a corporate speech-coaching firm with 15 employees.

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In a speech in the United States on Tuesday, Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen repeated Dublin's welcome for the re-appointment of UUP ministers to the executive and Mr Trimble's decision to seek re-election as first minister.

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