China's increasing role as an education donor in Africa, and the significance of this both economically and politically.

Why does China run one of the world's largest short-term training programmes, with plans to bring 30,000 Africans to China between 2013 and 2015?

Why does it give generous support to 24 Confucius Institutes teaching Mandarin and Chinese culture at many of Africa's top universities from the Cape to Cairo?

I am shifting early in the morning from London to Barcelona to begin to prepare for the GUNi conference and wanted to share some thoughts based on some of the goings on that I have been part of here in the UK for the past weeks.  I have had a visit to the National Coordinating Committee for Public Engagement in Higher Education in Bristol, a chat with Sir Peter Scott at the Institute of Education in London, a meeting of many of the leaders of the International Association of Universities in Salford, near Manchester, a talk on Knowledge Democracy at the Association of Commonwealth Universities, a brief chat with Prof. Martin Hall, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Salford and a disappointing draw match between my football team Arsenal and Manchester United.  And of course the death of Margaret Thatcher that raised once more the outrageous arrogance and nastiness of the war against the working class unleashed during her term.