Kremlin in sudden U-turn as ceasefire seems likely: Russia ‘changing tone’ as isolated Putin drops demands for Ukraine to surrender March 16, 2022 Despite fierce fighting in the last 24 hours, with Russia’s military forces blasting Ukraine’s capital region and other major cities. Russia has softened its stance in the talks over a possible settlement and is rapidly ‘changing tone’, according to people close to the Ukraine-Russia peace talks. In fact, a ceasefire seems increasingly likely. Ihor Zhovkva, [...]
Nigel Farage hits back at claims he accepted more than half a million pounds from Russia: ‘Nonsense’ March 16, 2022 Former UKIP and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has called suggestions that he received hundreds of thousands of pounds from the Russian state “nonsense”. Labour MP Chris Bryant told a parliamentary debate that he wanted to “point out” payments for Mr Farage amounting to almost £550,000, which he said came from the Kremlin-backed broadcaster RT [...]
Government accused of wasting £120m on ‘festival of Brexit’ as MPs call event ‘recipe for failure’ March 16, 2022 MPs are saying the Government is wasting tens of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on a so-called “festival of Brexit” without any clear idea of what it is meant to be. The Unboxed: Creativity in the UK event – due to take place later this year – is supposed to showcase the best of [...]
Coming for oil: Watch as Boris Johnson arrives in the Middle East March 16, 2022 Boris Johnson has been greeted at Abu Dhabi airport by British Ambassador to the UAE Patrick Moody and UAE presidential advisor Anwar Gargash. The Prime Minister was guided through a guard of honour, the lines of men wearing coronavirus face masks and blades sheathed in scabbards on their torsos. More to follow.
Kremlin cronies face more sanctions while furious Putin fires eight generals: ‘Clusterf**k’ invasion not going well’ March 15, 2022 More family members of Russian oligarchs can expect to be targeted with sanctions, a UK official said this afternoon. The official, asked about the potential to sanction family members of Russian elites, said: “Yes, there is actually quite a wide range, out of the 370, who are family members. “There is a number of members, [...]
Major breakthrough in Iran: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe gets passport back as UK negotiators land in Tehran March 15, 2022 A British negotiating team is in the Iranian capital to discuss the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe while the British-Iranian mother has had her passport returned, her local MP has said. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been detained in Iran since her arrest in 2016 on charges of plotting to overthrow the government – allegations she has always [...]
London is back: Office occupancy reaches pre-pandemic levels March 15, 2022 London office occupancy peaked at 42 per cent on Thursday 10 March, the highest single daily rate in the capital since before the pandemic in 2020. The weekly average prior to the pandemic was 63 per cent. Furthermore, last week was the highest weekly average for the UK and London, with both averaging 31 per [...]
Number of Brits in jobs up by 275,000 people to record 29.7m March 15, 2022 The number of UK workers on payrolls rose by 275,000 between January and February to a record 29.7 million, the Office for National Statistics said this morning. Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the Office for National Statistics, said: “The labour market continues to recover from the effects of the pandemic, with the number of unemployed [...]
Rosneft hit by German hackers: Major cyberattack forces Putin crony’s oil giant to take systems down March 15, 2022 Russian energy giant Rosneft has been hit by a major cyberattack, according to various news reports in Germany. Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security, the BSI, confirmed that hacker group Anonymous has targeted several units of Rosneft, forcing the Russian oil company to take its systems down. Anonymous published a statement confirming responsibility for the [...]
‘They are lying to you’: Watch as millions of Russian jaws drop after woman interrupts live news broadcast in Moscow March 15, 2022 There was outrage, confusion and disbelief across Russia last night as a woman interrupted the main news program on state broadcaster Channel One with an anti-war banner. Tens of millions of ordinary Russians who had tuned in for the daily news broadcast saw how a woman appeared on their screens with a sign that said [...]