1st October 2026
A Year Too Big for Two Suitcases: Notes From a Chevening Scholar
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
11th May 2026
The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill: turning a global ocean agreement into UK law
9th April 2026
The Gulf, Berlin and the Commission on the Status of Women: building global alliances to advance women’s progress
21st August 2012 New Delhi, India
Coming to a city near you…
Following the success of the 2011 campaign, the European Union to India and its member states are running another series of information seminars in India from 10-28 September. These seminars will be held in 31 Indian cities and aim to raise awareness among Indian research stakeholders about the opportunities for research and innovation cooperation. From Chandigarh to […]
21st August 2012 Bucharest, Romania
The Romanian Paralympic Team is training for the Games
The following is a guest blog by Sally Wood-Lamont, President of the Romanian National Paralympic Committee. The Romanian Paralympic team are currently at their Pre-Paralympic Games training camp in Knowsley, Liverpool. The cycling team, with athletes Eduard Novak, currently world champion in both the road and track events with Torok Imre a fellow cyclist from […]
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20th August 2012 Washington DC, USA
Rebecca Ferguson brings GREAT British music to America
This past week I had the pleasure of listening to Rebecca Ferguson, X Factor UK runner up and the latest British music export to the US, as she sang live on Fresh FM in the Washington DC area. Not only does she have the most amazing soulful and powerful voice for one so tiny, she […]
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20th August 2012 Washington DC, USA
Afghanistan: Some First Impressions
The following is a guest post by Nic Hailey, who was a Counsellor – Political, Press, and Public Affairs in the British Embassy in Washington, now the new Deputy Ambassador at the British Embassy in Kabul. He writes about his initial impressions after his first few weeks in Afghanistan. After four wonderful years in Washington, I’ve […]
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19th August 2012 Harare, Zimbabwe
Police training in Gereshk
I have invited members of the PRT to use my blog to talk about their work and experiences in Helmand. Shelley Groves the PRT’s new Female Police Advisor has kindly written about her first police training course. On arriving in Lashkar Gah to take on my role as the PRT’s new Female Police Advisor, my first […]
17th August 2012 Chevening, UK
A Chevening Scholar performing at the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony!
Our latest Chevening Conversations blog has an Olympic theme as Filipino Chevening Scholar Benedict Carandang tells us about how he was selected as a performer for the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony. Now that the London 2012 Olympic Games have sadly ended, I would like to share with you my amazing journey as one of the volunteer performers of the greatest show on […]
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17th August 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Going for Gold
And so, it’s over. After seven years of preparation, the London 2012 Olympic Games has finished. 17 days of world class sporting talent on show to a global audience of billions of people, with more than 7.4 million of them visiting venues across the UK. We have been enthralled, excited, dismayed. We’ve laughed, smiled, groaned […]
17th August 2012 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Football Fever
I am delighted that Tony Collingridge, the Director of UK Trade & investment in Malaysia, has agreed to write a guest blog on the Premier League and the importance of an overseas business strategy. As an ardent Liverpool supporter, I would just like to add that we remain one of the best-supported clubs in Malaysia […]
17th August 2012 Windhoek, Namibia
Public speaking and championing women in the board room
It is always a rather heart-stopping moment when you arrive at an official function as a diplomat and find you’re billed as a key note guest speaker with no prepared speech to deliver. It happened to me a week into my first African posting in Swaziland. I turned up at a rural event to discover […]
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16th August 2012 Toronto, Canada
DECC releases new innovation assessments for low-carbon technologies
DECC, the UK’s Department for Energy and Climate Change, has released the latest round of Technology Innovation Needs Assessments (TINAs). These reports “aim to identify and value the key innovation needs of specific low carbon technology families to inform the prioritisation of public sector investment in low carbon innovation.” Currently available on the DECC website […]
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