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?
2nd November 2017 Tokyo, Japan
Research without Barriers – a step-change in UK-Japan collaboration
Science is a global enterprise. The best researchers in the UK want to work with the best researchers across the globe. Japan is a very strong research nation – it is a country of world leading researchers and technologies that invests over 3.5% of GDP in R&D and has had more Nobel Prize winners since […]
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31st October 2017 Hanoi, Vietnam
Which part of my job I enjoy the most, and which is the hardest part
People sometimes ask me which part of my job I enjoy the most, and which is the hardest part. For both questions, the answer often relates to our role in providing consular services to British people overseas. I get a particular sense of professional satisfaction when our consular teams in Hanoi or HCMC are able […]
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31st October 2017 Vienna, Austria
My year in Vienna: what has changed?
A bloke in a leather jacket stands on a sunny railway platform, looking forward to starting a new job. Excited to be on my way from Salzburg today to take up my posting in #Vienna pic.twitter.com/S4oSK0J1TJ — Leigh Turner (@LeighTurnerFCO) August 27, 2016 I started as British Ambassador to Vienna and UK Permanent Representative to […]
27th October 2017
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Every child needs a family
Autumn has come, and so my wife Caroline is busy organising this year’s Diplomatic Winter Bazaar, BiH’s biggest charity event. Last year, around 15,000 people crowded into Skenderija to eat, drink, play and shop at the stands manned by 40 Embassies as well as over 70 local NGOs and businesses. Thanks to generous sponsorship, including […]
27th October 2017 Skopje, North Macedonia
Why carve a lion-man?
In his BBC radio series “living with the gods”, the British historian Neil MacGregor looks back at religious items of the past. His story begins in a cave some 35 to 40 thousand years ago. In that cave a Stone Age man or woman sits with a woolly mammoth tusk in her hands. Her life and […]
27th October 2017 Skopje, North Macedonia
Зошто некој би направил човек-лав?
Во неговите емисии на Би-Би-Си радио „живот со боговите“ британскиот историчар Нил Мекрегор раскажува за религизионите предмети од минатото. Неговата приказна започнува во пештера пред некои 35 до 40 000 години. Во таа пештера, маж или жена од каменото време седи со заб од волнест мамут во своите раце. Нејзиниот живот и животите на луѓето […]
27th October 2017 Skopje, North Macedonia
Përse të gdhendish njeri luan
Historiani britanik Neil MacGregor në BBC serialin e tij në radio “Të jetosh me perënditë”, rikthehet në artikujt fetarë të së kaluarës. Historia e tij fillon në një shpellë rreth 35 deri në 40 mijë vjet më parë. Në atë shpellë, një burrë/grua i/e epokës së gurit, ulet duke mbajtur çatallin e mamuthit të leshtë. Jeta […]
23rd October 2017 Skopje, North Macedonia
The 10 Downing Street impressions of a Chevening scholar from Macedonia
The Chevening programme does not only help its scholars complete their dreams – it offers them the possibility to experience the undreamed. More than financial support, this scholarship gave me a prestigious identity along with many privileges and opportunities. One of them was definitely the exclusive chance to visit 10 Downing Street, the residence and […]
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19th October 2017 Vienna, Austria
Journey to the Centre of the Earth – in Styria
The tunnel is steep: I clutch a rope and lower myself towards an aluminium ladder below. Water drips, gathering in pools. Yet when I reach the bottom, a beautifully-carved stone passageway curves around a corner. The tunnels and menhirs of eastern Styria (Steiermark) are remarkable. According to the research body Sub Terra Vorau, around 790 […]
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18th October 2017 Tokyo, Japan
Ultrasonic Robots! UK-Japan joint project helps Fukushima
In March, 2011, following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, there was a major nuclear incident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. This left Japan with a significant nuclear decommissioning challenge. There are several challenges to decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi reactor units, one of the most important being locating and understanding the nature […]
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