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?
9th August 2018 Berlin, Germany
Flying the flag for diversity, respect and tolerance
We in the UK and Germany have come a long way over the past decades in the fight for tolerance, diversity and sexual equality. And we have achieved a great deal. Today it almost easy to forget that homosexual relations were illegal less than 50 years ago in both countries. Since then, many small steps […]
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9th August 2018
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Hvala i vidimo se
“Sarajevo, ljubavi moja”. Sarajevo, my love. That was the song I sang at my leaving party. But, after four years exploring the length and breadth of this remarkable and beautiful country, it should really have been: “Bosno i Hercegovino, ljubavi moja.” Working as the UK Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina has been the most demanding […]
7th August 2018 London, UK
Does sex make you smarter?
As a blog title this is shamefully attention grabbing. But you are now reading. Actually this is my last blog as Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) and I want to briefly review my five and a half years with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. But honestly, the title is relevant as you will see if you […]
6th August 2018
Saving pangolins: London Zoo helps train customs agents in Cameroon to fight illegal trade
In Cameroon, endangered pangolins are sold for their meat and smuggled to Asia for their scales. Conservationists and the government of Cameroon are intensifying their efforts to clamp down on this illegal trade.
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2nd August 2018 Canberra, Australia
100 years, 100 reasons why Armistice matters
Note: This article originally published in The Australian newspaper on 3rd August 2018. In exactly 100 days, the world will pause to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice. This historic agreement brought an end to the slaughter of World War I. The anniversary of these six signatures in a railway carriage in Compiegne, France, remains deeply relevant. […]
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2nd August 2018 Auckland, New Zealand
Teachers! (Don’t) Leave those Kids Alone (teach them more science)
It was a pleasure to welcome back the National Space Academy to Beijing last week to undertake further master teaching classes, and in the process showcase a model of education that excites and inspires. My previous blogs have explored the style of teaching, so I do not need to repeat here. Moreover the added bonus […]
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1st August 2018
Top students from Singapore continue to choose UK universities and qualifications
In the last couple of weeks I’ve witnessed two great examples of the enduring strength of educational links between Singapore and the UK. On Tuesday 24th of July, I attended the Convocation ceremony at Nanyang Technological University for the first cohort of medical graduates from the Lee Kong Chiang (LKC) School of Medicine, a partnership with […]
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31st July 2018 Shanghai
UK and China join forces to fight cancer
The film “Dying to Survive” is now very popular in China. It is based on the true story of a Chinese leukaemia patient who smuggled cheap cancer drugs between India and China for himself, and 1,000 other cancer sufferers. He was arrested in 2015 and surprisingly was released after thousands of Chinese leukaemia sufferers signed […]
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27th July 2018 Beijing, China
New Chinese battery technology benefits UK through Newton Fund
Dr. Wang Wei is a professor at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He has developed a new type of material for Li-ion batteries. Using this material, battery performance is increased 12 times. This innovation will provide critical support to the popularisation of electric vehicles. More importantly, demands of graphite, a high-polluting and energy intensive material, […]
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24th July 2018 Harare, Zimbabwe
The rangers saving elephants in northern Zimbabwe
The Akashinga rangers Being an anti-poaching ranger in Zimbabwe used to be a profession reserved for men. But that’s changing, thanks to the success of the Akashinga rangers, an all-female anti-poaching team operating in the northern Hurungwe area.
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