2nd December 2025
In cybersecurity, there are no limits – only new voices ready to lead
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
14th October 2025
Lost and Found (but mostly lost)
13th October 2025
UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls: September visits to Sarajevo and New York
14th August 2014 Budapest, Hungary
Sziget Adventures – Day 1
Guest blog by Theresa Bubbear, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Budapest. In 2012 I blogged about my first experience of Sziget. Yesterday I went back to see what was happening and what had changed. This year’s festival is bigger and better than ever, with 400,000 visitors expected and some top […]
14th August 2014 Bucharest, Romania
Volunteers for the summer
On 19th July, Mark Flewitt and Tim Tofts – Trustees of The Libra Foundation – visited the embassy on to talk about the charity’s plans for the future. The charity volunteers and trustees were excited about a 5 week programme that was about to start, full of activities aimed at improving the lives of disadvantaged […]
14th August 2014 Mumbai, India
Workshop on Advanced Manufacturing in Bengaluru
As a follow up to the UK-India manufacturing round table held in New Delhi in April this year, I’m collaborating with my UKTI colleague, Venkatesh, to organise a one-day UK-India workshop on advanced manufacturing in Bengaluru on September 12, 2014. If you’re interested in finding about the outcomes of the round table meeting, you might […]
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13th August 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Una muestra del Día Internacional de los Pueblos Indígenas en Honduras
El 9 de agosto es el Día Internacional de los Pueblos Indígenas, cuando alrededor del mundo se celebra la historia, cultura y derechos de los pueblos indígenas. La ONU lo proclamó así para abogar por la no discriminación e inclusión de los pueblos originarios en procesos legislativos en todos los niveles. En Guatemala hay más […]
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13th August 2014 Sana’a, Yemen
اصنعوا السلام، لا الحرب
قال الفيلسوف الاسباني جورج سانتايانا “أولائك الذين لا يستطيعون تذكر الماضي يُحكم عليهم بتكراره”. لدى اليمنيين ذاكرة ممتازة ومع هذا فأن دورات العنف، والثأر والسلطة مستمرة. كما رأينا في مؤتمر الحوار الوطني غالبية الشعب اليمني يريدون السلام والاستقرار والحقوق الاقتصادية والاجتماعية الأساسية. وقد أعطت مخرجات مؤتمر الحوار الوطني اليمنيين خارطة الطريق للوصول لهذا الهدف بالرغم […]
13th August 2014 Sana’a, Yemen
MAKE PEACE, NOT WAR
Spanish philosopher George Santayana said that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Yemenis have very good memories and yet the cycles of violence, revenge and power continue. As we saw in the National Dialogue, most Yemenis want peace, stability and basic economic and social rights. The NDC outcomes gave Yemen a plan to get […]
13th August 2014 New Delhi, India
‘IISc is very keen on expanding its network’
This month, Professor Balaram stepped down as Director of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) after nearly a decade at the helm. He was also recently in the UK to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of York, recognising his enormous contributions to science. I caught up with him, just prior to his departure […]
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13th August 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Death to the Death Penalty?
The following is a guest blog by Steve Townsend, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy to the Holy See On 13 August 1964, Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans made British judicial history, although not in a way they would have appreciated. They were the last people executed in the United Kingdom. Throughout the […]
13th August 2014 Brasilia, Brazil
Scarlet Pimpernel and the Chevening scholars
“They seek them here, they seek them there Those Brits they seek them everywhere, Be they in Manaus, Recife or Sao Paulo Those Chevening scholars are the key to tomorrow” *Inspired by the Scarlet Pimpernel – click here to discover this gem of British Culture Funding for Chevening in Brazil will triple from 2015. As […]
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13th August 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Dr Who mania hits Sydney
I no longer cower behind the sofa at the opening bars of the Dr Who theme tune, but it still summons up something of the frisson I remember from Saturday nights in my childhood. Interestingly, I just learned that the melody was composed by an Australian, Ron Grainer, for the first series back in 1963. […]