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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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17th May 2016 Vilnius, Lithuania
Why I am – visiting HMS Iron Duke in Klaipeda
This week the UK Royal Navy ship, HMS Iron Duke, visits Klaipeda. HMS Iron Duke (the HMS stands for Her Majesty’s Ship) is taking part in NATO activity in the Baltic Sea and will be doing some training with the Lithuanian Navy. She (ships in English are female) has already visited Tallinn and Riga. HMS […]
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16th May 2016 San Francisco, USA
FUNDING: Securing the Internet of Things
Funding Opportunity The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Silicon Valley Office has issued a solicitation for innovators to submit ideas focused on Internet of Things (IoT) Security—HSHQDC-16-R-00035. This call, open until December 11, 2016, is seeking solutions from participants from across the nation (and around the world) addressing one, some or all of the following three areas: […]
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16th May 2016 Skopje, North Macedonia
Name me one country where corruption doesn’t exist
Name me one country where corruption doesn’t exist. You can’t, I know. Corruption exists, to a greater or lesser extent, in every country. And that global reach is one of the reasons behind the Anti-Corruption Summit hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron in London on 12 May. This was no conventional summit limited to Heads […]
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12th May 2016 Washington DC, USA
London summit brings together public and private sectors to fight corruption
Corruption is the cancer at the heart of so many of the world’s problems. It erodes trust, undermines stability, and breeds injustice. It’s costly in so many ways — estimates by the World Economic Forum show that corruption sets the global economy back by $2.6 trillion. And the World Bank has estimated that corruption adds to global […]
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11th May 2016 Vancouver, Canada
New Planes and New Opportunities
It defies logic. Every sensible instinct tells me it should be impossible. At almost 73 metres it’s longer than an ice hockey rink, it’s four times the height of my house (and I don’t live in a bungalow) and it carries over 500 passengers (plus luggage). Staring at it through the window of Vancouver International […]
11th May 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Honouring Msgr O’Flaherty: a man who saved lives
In November 2014, I posted a blog about Msgr Hugh O’Flaherty, an extraordinary man who, during WWII, took risks for the Church, and saved lives. The next chapter in his story was written earlier this week, when family members, relatives of those he had saved and those who had worked with him, and others keen to […]
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11th May 2016 Delhi, India
IP smart toolkit for doing business in India launched
British Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai, Bharat Joshi, launched a toolkit to guide foreign companies through an “IP smart” approach to doing business in India on 20 April 2016 in Chennai. The launch has been reported widely by local press. The toolkit is the result of a research project undertaken by IP Dome Strategy Advisors, […]
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10th May 2016 Guatemala City
Queen’s Birthday Celebration
This year Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her ninetieth birthday. Born in 1926, she became Queen in 1952 on the death of her father, King George V, and has been Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the last 64 years. Events to mark The Queen’s 90th birthday are being held […]
10th May 2016 London, UK
Email Triage: helping customers find what they need on GOV.UK
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s consular service supports British people around the world when they are most in need of our help. Consulates, embassies and high commissions publish their contact email addresses in the contact section of their pages. I hear that sharp intake of breath. How generous of them when most others hide behind […]
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10th May 2016 Geneva, Switzerland
Who Will Lobby For The Future?
One of the thorniest controversies in the WHO right now goes by the catchy acronym, FENSA. This stands for Framework on Engagement with Non State Actors. Beneath this bland surface lies one of the great dilemmas facing all international agencies. What is the appropriate role of business in policy making? Just to be clear, in […]