Russian parliament gives Putin reforms green light in first vote January 23, 2020 Russia’s lower house of parliament has unanimously backed the constitutional shake-up proposed by Vladimir Putin last week, paving the way for reforms that could cement the President’s power after he steps down from his current post. All 432 lawmakers in the lower house assented to the reforms, with no votes against or abstentions. The vote [...]
Davos 2020 live: Carrie Lam ‘disappointed’ by rating downgrade January 21, 2020 Please manually refresh this page for our latest Davos 2020 updates. The World Economic Forum at Davos is focusing on sustainability this year. US President Donald Trump is set to make a special address, despite his impeachment beginning in the Senate. Environmental activist Greta Thunberg hosts a panel session. Read more: What is Davos 2020? [...]
Vladimir Putin announces government overhaul and names new prime minister January 15, 2020 Russia’s prime minister and the entire government have resigned from their posts after President Vladimir Putin said he will hold a referendum on sweeping constitutional changes which could allow him to keep power when his term ends in 2024. The resigning prime minister Dmitry Medvedev said he wanted to give Putin room to make “all [...]
West blames Iran missile for plane crash as new video emerges January 10, 2020 Western leaders believe it is highly likely that a missile is to blame for the crash of a passenger jet over Iran that led to the death of all 176 people on board. Officials from the UK, USA, Canada and Australia have all agreed it is likely an Iranian missile was the cause of the [...]
World leaders blame Iran for accidentally shooting down plane January 9, 2020 World leaders have lined up to blame Iran of accidentally shooting down the Ukrainian passenger plane which crashed outside Tehran with no survivors in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that “there is now a body of information that the flight was shot down by an Iranian surface to air [...]
Putin and Erdogan launch Turkstream oil pipeline January 8, 2020 Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Erdogan today opened the Turkstream oil pipeline in Istanbul. The 930km pipeline, which crosses the Black Sea, will carry oil to southern Europe in a move that will allow Russia to reduce its shipments via Ukraine. Read more: Russian pipeline Nordstream 2 gets final approval In [...]
US says threat of ‘imminent attack’ triggered air strikes against Iran January 3, 2020 US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has claimed that the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani was carried out to prevent an “imminent attack” that would have endangered US citizens in the region. Speaking to CNN and Fox News, Pompeo said that the attack was based on an “intelligence based assessment”, but refused to say [...]
Space Force: Donald Trump unveils new US military service December 21, 2019 Donald Trump has officially signed off funding for a US Space Force. It is the first new military service to be implemented in 70 years and was unveiled on Friday after the President signed the $738bn (£567bn) annual US military budget. It will fall under the US Air Force domain and will receive an initial [...]
PM signs off report on Russian interference in UK politics December 16, 2019 A parliamentary report looking at Russia’s involvement in UK politics is ready to be published, having finally been signed off by the Prime Minister. The report, carried out earlier this year by the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), is believed to have considered the Kremlin’s influence through social media, donations and political ties. Read more: [...]
Mini bar, pepper spray pump, sound system: What the super-rich want in a panic room December 13, 2019 Most of us will never have the need for a panic room. The sum of our valuables and the size of our homes means dropping in a huge, heavy steel structure at a cost of (at least) hundreds of thousands of pounds doesn’t even cross our minds. Those who do find themselves in need of [...]