3rd December 2024
RENEWING OLD TIES: THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
3rd August 2014 Sofia, Bulgaria
100 Years of History in Pictures
by British Embassy Sofia The British Ambassador’s Residence in Sofia throughout the years. The FCO Historians have kindly provided us with the majority of the below images.
1st August 2014 Chevening, UK
Apply now for a 2015/2016 Chevening Scholarship
One of the many things that continues to impress me about Armenia is the Armenians’ appetite for learning. Wherever I go I meet people from all walks of life whoare working tirelessly to improve their education or that of their children. That is why one of the more enjoyable aspects of my job is Chairing […]
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1st August 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
National identities
In my first few months here, I asked Belarusian interlocutors about Belarusian national identity. I received a variety of replies, but the subject was of more interest to me than to them. That’s changed recently as events in Ukraine have stirred a debate on the issue. I am intrigued by national identity. I first came […]
31st July 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
NSW Premier says economic ties with UK strong and growing
New South Wales Premier Mike Baird, almost exactly 100 days in office, addressed an Australian British Chamber of Commerce lunch in Sydney yesterday. He described the state’s trade and investment links with Britain as large and growing, something he is keen to continue. British companies are major investors in NSW; many of them were represented […]
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30th July 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Human trafficking: responding to the Pope’s appeal
In my last blog posting on the concept of “the common good”, I noted that the Archbishop of Canterbury had included UK efforts to tackle human trafficking as one of three specific areas in which, in his view, Her Majesty’s Government was working for the common good. 30 July is the UN World Day against […]
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30th July 2014 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Siberia Challenge
Last Thursday I met a team of intrepid Brits who are driving from the westernmost point reachable by road in Europe – in the Dingle peninsula in the West of Ireland – to Magadan in the far East of Russia. They had just spent several days driving through Uzbekistan, having gone north from Ashgabat and […]
30th July 2014 Mumbai, India
The uninvited bacteria!
In 1928 the world celebrated the invention of penicillin by the British scientist Alexander Fleming and rightly so, as it brought about a revolution in the field of medicine and enabled treating life-threatening diseases like pneumococcal pneumonia, meningitis, etc. Unfortunately today, with growing strains of bacteria that have developed resistance to antibiotics, the world once […]
30th July 2014 Bangalore, India
Anti-microbial resistance research at JNCASR
Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) is a huge concern globally and the day when common ailments and minor injuries can kill someone is not far away. The recent WHO report (AMR Global Report on Surveillance) also provides data on the very high rates of resistance in common bacteria such as E.coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus. These […]
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29th July 2014 Sofia, Bulgaria
Bulgaria – Our Good Fortune
by Peter Lyner OBE After three challenging years in Moscow, in 1987 Peter Lyner was appointed Cultural Attaché in Bulgaria and British Council Bulgaria officer. Peter and his wife expected their life in Sofia to be similar to the one they had in Moscow but were proven wrong. Trips across Bulgaria and in the neighbouring countries, Bulgarian fine […]
29th July 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Opportunity for change…
#Retrak is a #UK-based #charity which enables street children in Africa to realise their potential and discover their worth. It’s been operating since 1994 (when it was just a football club in #Uganda) and now offers a wide range of services to street children in #Ethiopia, #Kenya, #Malawi, #Tanzania and #Uganda. It has also helped […]