British Ministers visit the Holy See
A very intensive 24 hours this week saw the strongest ever delegation of ministers from the United Kingdom – 7 in total, including 4 Cabinet Ministers – paying an official visit to the Holy See. As Baroness Warsi, the leader of the delegation, … Read more »British Ministers visit the Holy See
Holy See, Vatican
16 February 2012
Earth Charter Odyssey 2050 Video Competition
The Earth Charter Initiative based at the University For Peace in Costa Rica is a diverse global network of people and organisations that participates in promoting and implementing the values and principles of the Earth Charter. The Earth Charter is … Read more »Earth Charter Odyssey 2050 Video Competition
San Jose, Costa Rica
16 February 2012
Russians love Dickens too!
Last week was the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens and there were many events held across Britain in honour of our greatest writer of the 19th Century, including a wreath laying ceremony by His Royal Highness Prince Charles at … Read more »Russians love Dickens too!
St Petersburg, Russia
16 February 2012
The former spousal affection is faded
As the song says, ‘Love and marriage, love and marriage, Go together like a horse and carriage’. While it is the week of Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be worth looking at what happens when people get married in China. We … Read more »The former spousal affection is faded
Beijing, China
16 February 2012
What future for Vietnam’s media?
The controversial story of the farmer Doan Van Vuon, whose family used improvised bombs and a shotgun to fight eviction by the police, was widely covered in newspapers and on TV here in Vietnam. Commentary on the story has also featured in some of … Read more »What future for Vietnam’s media?
Hanoi, Vietnam
15 February 2012
Recent posts from our bloggers
Flagging up the Paralympics
On Saturday last, the London 2012 Olympic flag could be seen by anyone driving past the British Embassy in Addis Ababa. Abebe Gidey, well-known sports journalist, kindly raised the flag to mark 200 days to go to the Paralympic Games. His Olympic Dreams Radio Programme has been featuring Ethiopian Olympians in recent weeks. We plan to ask other … Read more »Flagging up the Paralympics

Business is GREAT
The British Embassy always enjoyed a close relationship with the British Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and has been supportive of its objective to enhance trade relations between the two countries. To this end, for the second year running, the Embassy and the BHCC combined forces for this New Year reception and traditional pitta cutting which the … Read more »Business is GREAT

Swapping New York for Guatemala
Today we have a guest blogger, Elena Mercadante, who is here for three weeks on a temporary attachment to the Embassy. She describes how she grabbed the chance to swap New York City for Guatemala City. When I read about the opportunity to help out at the Embassy in Guatemala City in the run-up to their British Week, I jumped at the chance! I … Read more »Swapping New York for Guatemala

Best of British youth in the Philippines
I’ve written before in this blog about the great work that Britons do in the Philippine community, working with the poor and homeless. So a highlight of my past week was the dinner I hosted at my Residence for a delegation of school students from the Sholing Technology College in Southampton, England. The students and accompanying teachers … Read more »Best of British youth in the Philippines

UK announces Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult centre
The Technology Strategy Board (the UK’s national innovation agency) announced last week that a UK-wide consortium would set up the new Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult centre, with sites in Glasgow and Northumberland. You can read the press release here. Wind, wave and tidal power will be crucial components of the UK’s future energy … Read more »UK announces Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult centre
