Ukraine’s president Zelensky applies for fast-tracked NATO membership after annexations and nuclear threats September 30, 2022 Ukraine’s president Vlodymyr Zelensky has applied for fast-track application of his country to Nato, after Russia’s illegal annexation of four regions. The head of state issued a statement after a meeting with Kyiv’s national security and defence councils. This comes after Russia’s President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of eastern-Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson [...]
Putin declares four regions of Ukraine part of Russia as nuclear warnings rumble September 30, 2022 Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared four Ukrainian regions part of Russia, amid renewed warnings the Kremlin may use a strategic nuclear weapon. In a ceremony at the Kremlin, the authoritarian leader announced that Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia would be subsumed by Russia, following four ‘referendums’, which were widely declared as illegal and a [...]
Think-tank: Kwarteng budget “less out of control than the market thinks” September 30, 2022 ONE of the country’s leading economic think-tanks has described estimates that Kwasi Kwarteng’s package of tax cuts in last week’s mini budget could cost £45bn as a “gross exaggeration.” The package has gone down badly with both markets and politicians, with the cost of UK borrowing spiking due to concerns over runaway government spending. However [...]
Budget watchdog to deliver forecasts next week after emergency meeting with PM September 30, 2022 The UK's independent fiscal watchdog confirmed it will deliver an initial forecast for the government's so-called mini budget next week after an emergency meeting with the chancellor and prime minister today.
Govt must decide which ‘unpleasant combination’ of investment and benefit cuts will fuel mini-budget September 30, 2022 The government will have to decide which “unpleasant combination” of investment and benefit cuts will fuel its mini-budget stimulus package. a leading think tank has said. Prime Minister Liz Truss is appearing to stick with to Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget plans, despite the Tories sinking in the polls overnight with YouGov saying Labour now has [...]
Tories prepare for annual party conference as polling results sink September 29, 2022 The Tories are preparing for the party’s annual conference next week under a cloud of turmoil and infighting as new polling puts them 33 points behind Labour. Liz Truss’ first party conference as Prime Minister comes at a time of crisis, with her own MPs in open revolt against her and financial markets reacting badly [...]
UK borrowing costs surge and FTSE tanks after Truss and Kwarteng back mini-budget September 29, 2022 UK borrowing costs fired higher and the country’s largest listed companies tanked today after prime minister Liz Truss and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng doubled down on their tax cutting and borrowing plans. London’s FTSE 100, home to the UK’s top companies, shed 1.77 two per cent. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index nose dived more than three [...]
Truss refuses to commit to more tax cuts in apparent row-back on Kwarteng comments September 29, 2022 Liz Truss has refused to commit to more tax cuts in an apparent row back of earlier comments from Kwasi Kwarteng. Truss today told BBC London that it was important to be “fiscally responsible” and to “bring debt down over time”, after being asked if she would bring in more tax cuts. Truss and Kwarteng’s [...]
French Oil Giant TotalEnergies vows to have ‘no future with Russia’ September 29, 2022 TotalEnergies is ramping up investments in a bid to distance itself from Russia. The French oil giant has “no future with Russia”, said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and chief executive, in a strategy update presented in New York on Wednesday. Instead, it will look more to Qatar and the US while escalating their production of liquified [...]
Qatar urged to investigate allegations of torture before death of UK tourism exec September 29, 2022 Qatari authorities have been urged to investigate alleged torture of a UK tourism executive before his death three years ago. Mark Bennett was found dead in December 2019 after being arrested 10 weeks earlier at the office of Qatar Airways, his employer. The Times lifted the lid on alleged horrific treatment the tourism executive [...]