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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
23rd April 2024
Good English – A Key to Panama’s Future Success
21st March 2024
Forests in focus on International Day of Forests
21st October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Excitement about The Queen and CHOGM
There is much excitement here about the visit by HM The Queen. She comes of course as Queen of Australia, so it’s the Australian government who have made all the arrangements for her programme. I have just come from a reception at the Parliament in Canberra where Her Majesty met Australians from many walks […]
21st October 2011 Windhoek, Namibia
Making the Commonwealth count
Queen Elizabeth II has arrived in Australia for this year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting. She will be joined by head of states from across the organisation’s diverse membership, including President Pohamba and a sizeable Namibian delegation, including the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Trade & Investment. A key focus of this year’s event […]
19th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
David vs Goliath
Manchester United were in Bucharest last night for their Group C match in the UEFA Champions League. Their opponents were Otelul Galati – the surprise winners of last years’ Romanian championship, and an historic club from the steelworks in the town of Galati, close to the Danube Delta in eastern Romania. It was a great […]
18th October 2011 Chevening, UK
Chevening thoughts from new Pakistani Chevening scholars
Four of our new 2011/12 Chevening Scholars from Pakistan share their thoughts with us as they embark on their Chevening experiences. Imtiaz Ahmed, Khurram Ali Mehran,Shakeel Ahmed and Zameer Abbas are among the 23 Pakistanis who were awarded a Chevening Scholarship. Chevening Scholarships are for talented people who have been identified as potential future leaders […]
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18th October 2011 London, UK
Supporting Brits Abroad: The Death Penalty
Jonathan Marshall, Head of the FCO Prisoners Team The last person executed in Britain was in 1964. It doesn’t seem that long ago does it? Whilst we no longer have capital punishment in the UK, what many people don’t realise is that there are a significant number of British nationals overseas who are facing the […]
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17th October 2011 Toronto, Canada
The Jenkins Report: A review of federal R&D support
Today we report upon the release of Innovation Canada: A Call to Action, formally the Report of the Independent Panel on Federal Support to Research and Development and commonly referred to as the Jenkins Report (after the panel’s chair, Tom Jenkins). You can read the full report at rd-review.ca, and I’ll be summarising the key […]
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17th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Bessarabia, Ukraine and Europe
The towers of the fortress rise above the Black Sea. Within mighty walls, bastions soar. Our guide says it’s hard to be sure who built which bits: over the past two millennia, the site has been occupied by Greeks, Romans, Poles, Goths, Huns, Moldovans, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Tatars, Russians, Genoese and Turks. Down the road there […]
17th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Community Education
Amongst my various introductory calls since arriving in Rome this August, I have had the opportunity to visit the Venerable English College and the Pontifical Scots College. These are both ancient institutions – the Venerable English College celebrates the 650th anniversary of its foundation, by King Edward III, next year – which throughout their history […]
17th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Hungarian Rugby
Welsh supporters all round the world, and many other sympathisers, are in sorrow today following the defeat of Wales 9-10 by France in the Rugby World Cup. But no one can deny the gallantry and professionalism of a superb team, which did well to reach the semi-finals and kept us on the edge of our […]
17th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The renaissance of the nuclear sector
This morning I attended an international symposium here in Bucharest on nuclear energy which was looking at the challenges that energy faces for the future. These are various, they relate to security and safety issues, to financing, to technological issues and also to political issues in response to public concern about nuclear safety in the […]