Britain 2030: How far will UK foreign policy tilt toward the Asia Pacific? August 13, 2021 Boris Johnson’s victory in dragging the UK out of the EU was supposed to herald a new dawn for the country’s foreign policy, with his “Global Britain” agenda at the fore. It is perhaps unsurprising we are not much clearer about what this phrase means 20 months on, despite the release of a much heralded [...]
Germany detains British man suspected of spying for Russia August 11, 2021 British police have confirmed that a 57-year-old British national has been arrested by German authorities on suspicion of his involvement in “intelligence agent activity” with Russia. It comes after German prosecutors announced that they had detained the British citizen on Tuesday in Potsdam on suspicion of spying for Russia while working at the British Embassy [...]
Russia launches criminal probe into two allies of Kremlin critic Navalny August 10, 2021 Russian authorities have launched a criminal investigation into two top allies of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, for raising money for his political network – which has been labelled extremist. Allies Leonid Volkov and Ivan Zhdanov, who have already been exiled from the country, are at the centre of the investigation which was opened after a [...]
Opinion: Geronimo cannot be saved without sacrificing the UK’s food standards August 9, 2021 It’s August and an alpaca craze has overtaken British politics. After a chaotic few years banging on about Brexit and Covid, this summertime story has captivated the nation. Officials have ordered Geronimo, an alpaca imported from New Zealand, to be put down after twice testing positive for bovine tuberculosis. But alpaca owner, Helen Macdonald, claims [...]
China’s Wuhan tests 12m in six days after emergence of the Delta variant August 9, 2021 China’s Wuhan has completed citywide testing of some 12m residents for Covid-19 after just six days, to stamp out the emergence of the Delta strain. The testing programme, which began on Tuesday and finished yesterday, provides “basically full coverage” of all residents excluding children under the age of six and students on their summer break, [...]
Vaccine race: Chile leads, Spain overtakes UK and one-third of world gets first dose August 6, 2021 Just under a third of the world’s population has received one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine so far in the global immunisation drive, forming part of some 4.3bn jabs distributed, the latest data reveals. Around 15.2 per cent of the world has been fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data, but only 1.1 per [...]
China’s Wuhan to test all 12m residents after just three Delta cases found August 3, 2021 China’s Wuhan is set to test all 12m residents after just three Delta variant cases were spotted in the city, but fears of it spreading grow. The country’s levels of the Delta variant are still relatively low in comparison to the UK, with total cases standing at just 414 for the entire country. The Delta [...]
Abramovich bought Chelsea on Putin’s orders, former FT correspondent in Moscow claims July 28, 2021 Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was accused of buying Chelsea FC as “part of a scheme to corrupt the West” on Vladimir Putin’s orders in a “seriously defamatory” book about the Russian president’s regime, his lawyers told the High Court today. The 54-year-old billionaire is suing journalist Catherine Belton over her best-selling book Putin’s People: How [...]
Biden warns cyber attacks could lead to ‘real shooting war with major power’ July 28, 2021 US President Joe Biden has warned that if the United States ended up in a “real shooting war” with a “major power” it could be the result of a significant cyber attack on the country, highlighting what Washington sees as growing threats posed by Russia and China. Watch the full report.
Tory China hawks urge PM to dismiss concerns over cutting out China from nuclear plant July 27, 2021 A trio of Tory MPs have called on Boris Johnson to ban a China-owned company from owning a Suffolk nuclear plant amid concerns the move could jeopardise the status of a future site. Reports circulating yesterday suggested the Prime Minister was preparing to ban China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) from retaining majority ownership of the [...]