17th December 2025
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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
9th December 2025
Why We Need Data, Courage, and Community
2nd December 2025
In cybersecurity, there are no limits – only new voices ready to lead
14th December 2012 Washington DC, USA
GREAT British boxer Amir Khan in Los Angeles
The following is a guest post by Dame Barbara Hay, British Consul-General in Los Angeles. They used to say Amir Khan was the best thing to happen to race relations in Britain. The son of Pakistani immigrants and a practising Muslim, he made all of Britain proud by winning silver at the 2004 Olympics and […]
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14th December 2012 Warsaw, Poland
Emerging Europe is GREAT!
Just wanted to catch up at the end of a very busy week. The Emerging Europe message really is great. Everybody is talking emerging market opportunity. For many businesses however they are just too far away – we offer a similar opportunity right on the UK’s doorstep – you can get here and back in […]
14th December 2012 Dushanbe, Tajikistan
New Year holidays in Dushanbe
The following is a post by Steven Mulvain, Vice Consul. It’s almost the end of the year, a time when the embassy starts to feel emptier as our hard-working local staff, as well as the Ambassador and the other British staff, take a well-earned break to enjoy the festive season and spend time with friends […]
14th December 2012 London, UK
Consular Christmas blogs: Christmas in Ibiza
Ibiza is very different in winter. After the hectic, chaotic heat of the summer, winter is chill-out time under the weak winter Mediterranean sun. The clubbers and party-goers have left to recharge their batteries ready for next year and the Islanders do the same. Over the last 20 years the Spanish perception of Christmas has […]
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14th December 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
When BBC stands for the Bosphorus Brewing Company
Where in the world can you buy Istanbul Pale Ale (IPA) with water made to a Burton on Trent recipe to wash down fish and chips made with beer batter? And why is 81 a good name for a beer in Turkey? I was delighted recently to be invited to the opening of the Bosphorus Brewing Company […]
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14th December 2012 Vientiane, Laos
Embassy set-up progressing well
It has been a few weeks since my last blog so time for an update on our progress in re-establishing our Embassy in Vientiane and on what we have been doing more broadly. As for our Embassy set-up, I think it important to highlight that, while we had the formal opening of the Embassy by […]
13th December 2012 Kingston, Jamaica
Personal Role Radios for the Jamaica Defence Force
I attended the UK handover of over 100 sets of Personal Role Radio (PRR) to Jamaica’s Defence Force at a press event involving Jamaica’s Minister of National Security, The British High Commissioner and Jamaica’s Chief of Defence staff. The event took place at the British High Commissioner’s Residence, Trafalgar House. The donation is the culmination […]
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13th December 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Positively Concluding on Turkey’s EU accession…
A guest blog by Louise Taylor, EU Political Officer at the British Embassy in Ankara, Turkey As EU Political Officer, I have been following Turkey’s EU accession process closely since I arrived in Ankara last March. So I am pleased to see that EU Ministers agreed positive conclusions at the General Affairs Council on Enlargement on […]
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13th December 2012 London, UK
Consular Christmas blogs: Christmas – South Indian Style!
Christmas in South India comes in the middle of the Indian festive season. The songs of joy and sparkling decorations could be an extension of Deepavali (Diwali in the North) without the sound and fury; or perhaps it is the harbinger of another mega event – Sankranthi, the harvest festival. In the countryside, you might […]
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13th December 2012 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
A European concert
On Monday evening I attended a concert at the Tashkent Conservatoire by the Conservatoire Students’ Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. It was an excellent concert, with a series of show-pieces to show off the students’ skills. I always enjoy hearing young orchestras and choirs performing at this sort of level. They tend to have a special […]