All articles tagged with #foreign office
A Scottish travel influencer, Rachel Kerr from Alloa, who went missing after checking out of a hotel in Agadir, Morocco, has been found safe and is with her brother; the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said it is assisting her family.
Britain's Ambassador to the United States, Sir Christian Turner, privately told a group of British students that Israel was probably the only country with a 'special relationship' with the United States, remarks caught on recording and reported by the Financial Times. The Foreign Office said the comments were private and not a reflection of UK policy. The episode comes as King Charles III visits the U.S. amid ongoing tensions and debates over transatlantic ties.
A Guardian report claimed Lord Mandelson failed security vetting but the Foreign Office overruled it; days of silence and confusion followed, fueling opposition accusations that Prime Minister Keir Starmer misled Parliament. The fallout saw senior Foreign Office official Sir Olly Robbins leave his post, with Labour and opponents weighing the PM’s political future as questions over who knew what and when intensify.
Sir Olly Robbins, the Foreign Office’s permanent secretary, is leaving after the department overruled the vetting agency to allow Lord Mandelson to take up the US ambassador post; Mandelson was later dismissed over Epstein ties, prompting renewed questions about the prime minister’s judgement and triggering political fallout and calls for accountability.
The UK government has chartered its first flight specifically arranged to repatriate British nationals from Oman as Middle East attacks disrupt travel; seats will prioritise the most vulnerable and dependents, with the Foreign Office coordinating calls for eligible travellers and exploring additional routes while advising nationals to avoid travel to the region unless officially contacted.
In 2004, the UK Foreign Office advised against military action to overthrow Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, considering it not a serious option due to potential casualties and regional instability, and instead suggested re-engagement and exposing Mugabe's malpractices, with military intervention deemed unlikely and legally unsupported.
The UK government confirmed a cyber hack in October, with reports suggesting a Chinese cyber gang, Storm 1849, accessed Foreign Office data, though officials have not confirmed Chinese state involvement and are investigating the incident.
Sudanese-born NHS doctor Abdulrahman Babiker, who has a UK work permit, has been refused entry onto evacuation flights from Sudan to the UK, despite needing to return to work at the Manchester Royal Infirmary. The Foreign Office says it is prioritising British nationals, but people in Dr Babiker's situation are allowed to enter the UK but must make their own way there. Dr Babiker is one of at least 24 NHS doctors in a similar position, having been caught in Sudan while on a short trip there, many of them for the Muslim celebration of Eid.
UK citizens in Sudan have criticized their government for failing to evacuate them amid intense fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces. While hundreds of foreign nationals have already been evacuated, the UK has faced growing criticism from many of its citizens who say they have been essentially abandoned. The UK Foreign Office said over the weekend that it had managed to evacuate embassy staff from the capital Khartoum, but it is feared that hundreds of other citizens remain trapped.
Three UK citizens, including a charity worker and a traveller, are being held in Taliban custody in Afghanistan. The UK foreign office is working to secure contact with them, while a non-profit organisation, the Presidium Network, is providing support to two of the detainees. The third man is a British holidaymaker who travelled to Afghanistan despite the Taliban's return to power. The Presidium Network believes they are in good health and being well treated, and that their arrests came in relation to a misunderstanding over a licensed weapon in one of the detainee's rooms.
The German government has approved an additional €12bn ($13.01bn) worth of military support to Ukraine, including €3.2bn to be disbursed in 2023 and credit lines for the period between 2024 and 2032 amounting to some €8.8bn. The funding will allow Ukraine to directly buy armaments with the support of the German government. Germany has made available more than €14.2bn in support for Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion.