EU Parliament calls for halt to Nord Stream 2 construction after Navalny arrest January 21, 2021 EU lawmakers are currently voting on a resolution that would stop the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in response to the Kremlin’s arrest of Alexei Navalny. It is expected that the resolution, which calls on the bloc to review its cooperation with Russia in light of Navalny’s arrest, will pass. “The European [...]
Alexei Navalny calls for UK sanctions against Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich January 19, 2021 Detained Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has called for the UK to sanction Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and former Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov if he is not released from prison. Navalny’s close associate Vladimir Ashurkov said today that Navalny had written up a list of eight Russian oligarchs that “he felt should be sanctioned if [...]
Dominic Raab demands immediate release of Alexei Navalny January 18, 2021 The UK has demanded the immediate release of Alexei Navalny after he was arrested at a Moscow airport yesterday. Kremlin critic Navalny was detained by police as he got off the plane on his first return to Russia since being poisoned last year. Writing on Twitter, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said: “It is appalling that [...]
Alexei Navalny detained after returning to Russia January 17, 2021 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been arrested at the Moscow airport, after flying back to Russia five months after being poisoned with the deadly nerve agent Novichok . Local media has reported that Navalny was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport “for multiple violations of his suspended sentence”. Navalny, who almost died from the poisoning and [...]
Is “Londonograd” hiding a culture of dirty tricks in banking? January 11, 2021 A legal dispute is coming to a head concerning an alleged banking fraud committed during the sale in 2016 of Vivacom the largest Bulgarian telecoms company. Vivacom, the largest Bulgarian telecoms company, was sold in August 2016 by VTB Capital Plc (“VTBC”), a UK-based investment subsidiary of the Russian state-owned VTB Bank, in a pledge [...]
When it comes to China, Europe is no longer America’s sidekick December 23, 2020 The largely unnoticed downgrading of US-EU ties is so important. Taken entirely for granted by a Trump administration uninterested in the high art of alliance management, when the US sheriff sets out to corral new rival China, it will do so without Europe unambiguously coming along as part of the posse. A recent series of [...]
Lost the plot: City A.M’s pick of the best books of 2020 December 18, 2020 Whether it was a period of furlough, a cancelled trip or endless weekends with no pubs, restaurants, museums or cinemas open: there has definitely been more time for most of us to get stuck into a good book this year. As we turn the last page of 2020, whether you’re looking for a page-turner during [...]
US nuclear networks accessed in sustained and ‘significant’ cyber-attack December 18, 2020 The US Energy Department, which manages the country’s nuclear weapons stockpile, believe hackers gained access to its networks as part of a massive cyber campaign against the US government. Last night officials warned of a “grave risk” posed to the United States in the form of a sustained cyber-attack, which has affected government agencies and [...]
Russia says may retaliate after new round of UK sanctions December 12, 2020 MOSCOW (Reuters) – A new round of British sanctions against Russian individuals over alleged human rights abuses in Chechnya is “unfounded” and Moscow may retaliate, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. “Undoubtedly, this politically-charged demarche will have a negative impact on Russian-British interstate relations,” the ministry said, adding Russia “reserves the right to take [...]
Oligarch’s son embroiled in divorce case lost $50m in ‘risky’ trades December 8, 2020 The son of a Russian oligarch at the centre of a huge divorce case said he did not conceal assets and instead lost the money while trading at university. London oil trader Temur Akhmedov said $50m in funds from his father, Farkhad, did not disappear because he was hiding the assets from his mother Tatiana. [...]