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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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13th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
What Next for Ukraine?
This week, for almost the first time since I arrived in Ukraine in June 2008, Ukraine has been the number one item on the BBC World News website and in other media around the world. Friends have been getting in touch to ask me what’s going on, and where Ukraine is going. It’s an important […]
12th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Tymoshenko verdict
Following the verdict in the Tymoshenko trial, the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said: “The conviction of the Ukrainian opposition politician, Yuliya Tymoshenko, by a court in Kyiv is deeply concerning. Independent legal experts including the Danish Helsinki Committee have concluded that Ms Tymoshenko’s trial was subject to numerous and serious violations of fundamental legal principles, […]
11th October 2011 Bucharest, Romania
Romanian military, a steadfast partner
Guest blogger: Colonel Giles Orpen-Smellie, the British Defence Attaché, on his contribution to the visit by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to Bucharest It was a pleasure to be able to address the British Parliamentary delegation, led by Sir Menzies Campbell MP, a former leader of the British Liberal-Democrat Party, who visited Bucharest over the weekend […]
10th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Chornobyl: Safer Storage of Radioactive Waste
How radioactive is the environment at the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone? The question seems particularly pertinent when you’re planting a tree and the wind is blowing sand in your eyes. This was the scene recently when I visited Chornobyl with Volodymyr Kholosha, Head of the State Agency of Ukraine for the management of the Chornobyl Exclusion […]
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10th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Death Penalty
Today is the 9th World Day against the Death Penalty. It is the longstanding policy of the UK to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. However the death penalty is not prohibited by international law and 58 countries in the world retain it – that is 58 too many. […]
10th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Footsteps4good – walking on Gandhi’s birthday for a Mumbai cause
Most Indians know that 2 October marks the anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi. That fact is less well known among UK staff in the Deputy High Commission, but they were aware enough when they joined about 700 others in a 10K walk or run at 7am to mark the date, and raise money […]
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7th October 2011 Ottawa, Canada
Thank you
There was a fire at Earnscliffe on the night of Tuesday, 4 October. It began at about 7.30 pm, when the smoke alarms went off. The house rapidly filled with smoke, and we evacuated the building. The Ottawa Fire Department arrived in 5 minutes, and deployed with speed and great efficiency. It took about an […]
6th October 2011 Toronto, Canada
Grand opening of the Stephen Hawking Centre
Last week saw the grand opening of the Stephen Hawking Centre at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. Various luminaries (including the Governor General, David Johnston) turned out for inspiring speeches, a facility tour and the live recording of part of Stephen Hawking: The Power of Ideas. Many of the speakers mentioned […]
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6th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Is Kyiv worth a visit?
The following is a guest blog from Mary and Detlef Golletz, friends of mine who visited in the summer. “Kyiv?” friends asked quizzically as we discussed plans for a short break. A reasonable question, given that it proved impossible to buy local currency in the UK and our 2008 Lonely Planet Guide said that the […]
5th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
EU jargon and Ukraine: what it means
A long time ago in a previous job I used to lecture students and bureaucrats on the EU budgetary process. I used to hand out a mind-bogglingly complicated diagram, filled with jargon, arrows and boxes, which seemed to have been designed to be as confusing as possible. “For a start,” I would say, “ignore that […]