Foreign Digest: Undiplomatic British diplomats

BRITAIN

Diplomats were less than diplomatic

Details of what British ambassadors really thought about their foreign hosts were disclosed Sunday after the release of frank, and sometimes outright rude, letters written to London from embassies around the world. The BBC obtained the letters under freedom-of-information laws.

Until 2006, ambassadors leaving a post traditionally sent a valedictory dispatch to London, offering a candid assessment of the country in which they had served.

In a 1967 memo, Roger Pinsent, Britain's outgoing ambassador to Nicaragua, was scathing in his criticism: "There is, I fear, no question that the average Nicaraguan is one of the most dishonest, unreliable, violent and alcoholic of the Latin Americans."

Lord Moran, high commissioner in Ottawa between 1981 and 1984, wrote that Canadians had limited talents: "Anyone who is even moderately good at what they do -- in literature, the theater, skiing or whatever -- tends to become a national figure. And anyone who stands out at all from the crowd tends to be praised to the skies and given the Order of Canada at once."

The Foreign Office ended the tradition of valedictory letters in 2006, after a message from Ivor Roberts, Britain's departing ambassador to Italy, was leaked to the media.

-- Associated Press

PHILIPPINES

Agencies brace for another typhoon

Philippine disaster-response agencies packed tons of food aid, readied helicopters and prepared a major evacuation plan in the mountainous north as another typhoon threatened the country after back-to-back storms killed more than 800 people.

Typhoon Lupit, roaring over the Pacific Ocean with sustained winds of 108 mph and gusts of 130 mph, will probably spare the capital, Manila, but could slam into other parts of the north in about three days, chief weather forecaster Prisco Nilo said.