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7th February 2014 Pretoria, South Africa
The Queen’s baton relay in Swaziland, Lesotho and South Africa – In a week!
South Africa is never dull but this last week and the week to follow will test both the physical and mental stamina of the UK Family here. We kicked off on Wednesday with a youth engagement event at the High Commission to encourage support and interest in next week’s International Conference in London against Illegal […]
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7th February 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Poniendo fin al contrabando
La próxima semana en Costa Rica las Embajadas Británicas en la región de Centroamérica se reunirán para recibir una conferencia abordando el tema de Contrabando. Expertos y autoridades de toda la región (Guatemala, Honduras, El salvador, Panamá, Belice, Nicaragua y por supuesto Costa Rica) nos reuniremos para discutir de este tema fundamentalmente fronterizo. En las […]
7th February 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Bookish Britain
One of my favourite activities is to spend time browsing in a bookshop. When I was growing up, that was the most likely place I would go to when I visited our local town. I usually spent my pocket money on a book. Reading is still very popular in Britain. Radio 4, the main national […]
7th February 2014 Mumbai, India
UK-India ageing partnerships
Last month was an exciting one for me, as I saw months of hard-work and endless tele-cons, email exchanges and meetings, finally culminate into a fantastic two –day close-door workshop at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai. There, we had some of the best of ageing experts from India and the UK gathered under […]
7th February 2014 Beirut, Lebanon
DIVA DIPLOMACY – ‘ONE LEBANON: UNITED FOR TOMORROW’
Last Saturday, twenty Lebanese stars performed together in a powerful rejection of divisive politics and sectarianism. Pop idols, divas, comedians, sportsmen, rappers and actors put on the best possible display of the real Lebanon – talented, resilient, and proud of their country. It was an extraordinary night. The charismatic Anthony Touma got the largest screams, […]
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6th February 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Australia is BBC Worldwide’s third largest market
I begin every day by checking the BBC News website – before I’ve even got out of bed – to see what has been happening overnight. Later I catch the BBC World Service, which local broadcaster ABC carries on FM radio at certain times of day. And if you switch on the TV here there’s […]
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6th February 2014 Brasilia, Brazil
David Bowie is… very British – guest blog by Beatriz Correa
During the pre-opening of the “David Bowie is” exhibition for the press, Alex Ellis, British Ambassador to Brazil, began his speech by saying that Bowie is “international, global and ‘very British’”. The ambassador’s words made me think about how Bowie translates perfectly the reasons that make the UK, and the British culture as a whole, […]
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6th February 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Joining the M’illumino di Meno energy saving campaign!
Welcome to my blog. I’m the British Ambassador to Italy and I’ve decided to start this blog in order to shine a light on what we get up to here in the Embassy. The idea is to write about the United Kingdom and Italy, the issues that join us together and perhaps even one or […]
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6th February 2014 London, UK
Not Poles apart: Britain and Poland’s close relationship
Guest blog by Robin Barnett, Ambassador to Warsaw 31 January was an important day in relations between Britain and Poland, key partners in the EU and NATO. Prime Ministers Cameron and Tusk met at RAF Brize Norton to discuss the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. My journey back from Warsaw began badly, with weather at […]
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6th February 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Putting an end to contraband
Next week in Costa Rica the British Embassies in the Central America region are joining together to host a conference on tackling contraband. Experts and authorities from all over the region (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, Belize, Nicaragua and of course, Costa Rica) will meet to discuss this fundamentally cross-border issue. In the conversations I […]