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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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OSLOBOĐENJE BEOGRADA
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Busting the gender myths – women and organised crime
19th August 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Wetting the baby’s head
When you are a long way from home historic events like the birth of HRH Prince George can take on a particularly special meaning. So many people have congratulated the Embassy for the birth that we felt we should do something to celebrate the happy arrival. In fact it was more than just the Embassy […]
19th August 2013 Kingston, Jamaica
“There is nothing wrong with Jamaica that cannot be fixed by what is right with Jamaica.”
I was struck by these words in the Independence Day message of the Governor General of Jamaica , Sir Patrick Allen. I had the honour of calling on Sir Patrick a few days later and asked him about this. He told me about the many examples of untapped excellence, skill, enthusiasm and goodwill which he […]
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19th August 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Learning about the Holy See from outside: Resilience and the Power of Music
A holiday always provides a useful opportunity for a diplomat to look at his posting from a different perspective. My leave away from Rome this August has been no exception. While Pope Francis has been working hard in Rome and Brazil, I have been in Slovakia, and on 15 August I visited the Slovak pilgrimage […]
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16th August 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Global issues, local interests
Recently I had the pleasure to be in London for the visit of Guatemala’s Foreign Minister, Fernando Carrera. His agenda covered a wide range of topics from drugs policy to the international sugar trade. I would like to highlight one topic in particular that he discussed with the Foreign Secretary William Hague – the Preventing Sexual […]
16th August 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Readers’ questions: the emotions of diplomacy
“How do diplomats behave if they get annoyed with a person during negotiations? Is it possible for diplomats to show their feelings or is there some technique they use to switch emotions?” — Lika Akubardia Dear Lika: thank you for your questions – and for all of those who responded to our competition. I hope to […]
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16th August 2013 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Heat
British people are famous for talking about the weather. But last week and the week before nobody in Tashkent seemed to be talking about anything else, with temperatures in the forties, and records being broken in Samarkand and elsewhere. The Ministry for Emergency Situations sent out, apparently for the first time ever, text messages with […]
16th August 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Why language matters: my first video blog in Turkish
Here’s my first video blog in Turkish. It’s about why language matters; and what I’m doing in Turkey. Comments welcome!
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15th August 2013 Montreal, Canada
Creating-altering life – The Frankencell
The first film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Novel Frankenstein was released in 1910. The story describes the ambitious work of Dr. Victor Frankenstein to create the most perfect human being the world had ever seen…
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15th August 2013 Singapore
Smarter, Faster – Life Lessons from F1
One of the things which make this job so enjoyable is getting to bring really inspiring people to the region to talk about great UK innovation. This week we’ve hosted Mike Gascoyne, long-time Formula One technical director, and current CTO of the Caterham Group, who generously agreed to visit Singapore and Malaysia to talk about […]
14th August 2013 Windhoek, Namibia
An Anglo-German labour of love, devotion and educational excellence in northern Namibia
I have just spent the most fascinating evening with a remarkable Anglo-German family in Kunene Province, north western Namibia, en route to the far north to see the effect of this year’s drought emergency. Gillian and Reiner Stommel are based five hours drive north of Windhoek where they run Otjikondo School, which they founded in […]
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