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Category: UK News

  • Met only sought Al Fayed charges for two victims

    Met only sought Al Fayed charges for two victims

    It raises serious questions about the Met’s response to women who said they were abused by the former Harrods owner, who died aged 94 last year…reports Asian Lite News

    The Metropolitan Police only asked prosecutors to decide whether to charge Mohamed Al Fayed in relation to two out of 21 women who accused him of sexual offences while he was alive.

    It raises serious questions about the Met’s response to women who said they were abused by the former Harrods owner, who died aged 94 last year. It was also found that a woman was investigated for aiding and abetting rape by Al Fayed.

    Scotland Yard had refused to answer the BBC’s questions about how many women it sought charging decisions on, but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) provided the information.

    The force says it also sought early investigative advice from the CPS in relation to allegations from 10 other women. Full files of evidence were not passed to the CPS for charging decisions.

    The Met says claims from nine other women were reviewed by officers, and no further action was taken, with those police decisions taken in two cases after Al Fayed died in August last year. A documentary and podcast heard testimony from former Harrods employees who said the billionaire sexually assaulted or raped them. Al Fayed was never charged while he was alive.

    Since the documentary aired, at least 65 women have contacted the BBC saying they were abused by Al Fayed, with allegations stretching beyond Harrods and as far back as 1977. The Met stated that 21 women approached the force before the BBC film. The force revealed on Saturday that 60 further women have now contacted the force to report allegations against Al Fayed since the film. The allegations received by the Met span several decades.

    The force is conducting an internal review into these earlier complaints and the police watchdog has asked if anything needs to be referred to it for investigation. The CPS has now said that, in 2009, it made a charging decision on two allegations of sexual assault in relation to one female complainant.

    Then, in 2015, it made a charging decision on one allegation of rape and an allegation of aiding and abetting rape by one female suspect. These allegations related to a different female complainant. It means the Met did not pass full files of evidence to prosecutors on 19 of the women who approached them, nor did the two files it did pass contain complaints from other women whose evidence could have potentially provided corroboration.

    Many people will be astonished that a man could be accused of sexual offences by 21 women and not be charged. Given that 60 further women have approached the Met, there are now mounting questions about the quality of the Met’s earlier enquiries. These include why the Met did not link the different cases or launch a larger investigation that might have found other women who have now come forward.

    Zoe Billingham, who was Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary between 2009 and 2021, said the revelations about the actions of police were “shocking”.

    Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said: “It beggars belief that 21 women came forward to the Met with presumably very similar allegations about a wealthy man in a position of extreme power and authority and yet nothing happened, again. There should have been a full investigation. And this raises questions…. Were the police building a proper file for the prosecution in the first place?”

    She added: “There is a broader question here – that’s the question of culture. At that time, and perhaps even now, were woman coming forward with these types of allegations being taken seriously, were they being listened to or were they being fobbed off.”

    A Scotland Yard spokesperson said: “We are carrying out full reviews of all existing allegations reported to us about Al Fayed to ensure there are no new lines of enquiry based on new information which has emerged.

    “This includes liaising with the Directorate of Professional Standards where appropriate.”

    The force said investigators are reviewing new information which has come to light, in an effort to establish if there are any allegations of criminality that can be pursued against others who may have had some involvement in any offending.

    Ex-Fulham Ladies captain ‘groped’ by Al Fayed

    Ronnie Gibbons, a former Fulham women’s captain, has alleged she was sexually assaulted by Mohamed Al Fayed, the club’s late owner, in 2000.

    Gibbons, who was 20 at the time, said she was forcefully kissed, groped and had twice felt trapped in a room by Fayed, who owned Fulham between 1997 and 2013 and died in 2023.

    On 11 October the Metropolitan police confirmed it was investigating 40 new allegations, including of rape and sexual assault, relating to Fayed stretching back to 1979, after the broadcast of a BBC documentary about the former owner of Harrods. They are in addition to allegations relating to 21 women reported to the force between 2005 and 2023.

    Gibbons, a defender who was part of the Fulham squad that won a domestic treble in 2003 and also played at international level for the Republic of Ireland, told the Athletic: “Speaking my truth and finally telling my story will hopefully help me heal and be rid of the shame, embarrassment and pain I have carried for years. If this can help one person open up and realise it’s not your fault and be free of the same burdens, then I’ll be happy.”

    Now 44, Gibbons is the first former Fulham footballer to publicly detail allegations about Fayed. A statement issued by the Justice for Harrods Survivors group said: “What former Fulham captain Ronnie Gibbons was forced to endure at the hands of Mohamed Al Fayed is yet another horrible example of the monstrous abuse aided and abetted by the businesses he owned.

    “We salute our client’s bravery and are proud to advocate for Ronnie and others at Fulham who are searching for justice. We will do whatever we can to lift the lid on abuse, no matter where it was perpetrated, or who it was perpetrated by, including any enablers of Al Fayed’s abhorrent behaviour.”

    Mohamed Al Fayed was the owner of Fulham FC between 1997 and 2013. He died at the age of 94 in 2023. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

    Describing the first of two separate incidents where she felt trapped in a room at the Harrods department store in London, Gibbons said: “He pulled me in close and tried to kiss me on the mouth. He had his arms holding my arms. It was a real kind of control stance, like ‘I’m dominating you.’

    “He held my arms, pulled me in and tried to kiss me on the mouth. I sort of moved my head so he could only kiss me on the cheek. I was wearing my Fulham tracksuit and just felt sweat instantly on the back of my neck. Just so uncomfortable, instantly.”

    After detailing at length the process of being summoned back to the Harrods building again, she added: “This time he groped me. He groped my breast. He sort of had his hand on my face and he moved it down and he sort of touched me on my breast and sort of moved his hand down to my waist.”

    In a statement, Fulham said: “The club is profoundly troubled to learn of the experiences told today by former women’s team captain Ronnie Gibbons. She has our deepest empathy and support. We continue to stress our absolute condemnation of abuse in all forms. We remain in the process of establishing whether anyone at the club is or would have been impacted by Mohamed Al Fayed in any manner as described in recent reports.

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  • Storm Ashley batters Britain with strong winds and rain

    Storm Ashley batters Britain with strong winds and rain

    A yellow warning for wind came into effect at 3am on Sunday for the whole of Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as parts of north-west England and Wales..reports Asian Lite News

    Parts of the UK have been battered by strong winds and heavy rain, as Storm Ashley – the first named storm of the season – swept in. The Met Office said the storm was likely to bring a threat of injuries and danger to life, with winds of up to 80mph and heavy rain expected in some areas.

    A yellow warning for wind came into effect at 3am on Sunday for the whole of Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as parts of north-west England and Wales. It will run until midnight. The highest wind gust of 82mph was recorded in Aberdaron in the Welsh county of Gwynedd but stronger winds were expected later on Sunday.

    An amber warning for the north-west of Scotland was issued from 9am until midnight, with the Met Office warning: “Injuries and danger to life is likely from large waves and beach material being thrown on to coastal roads, sea fronts and properties.”

    The Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said very strong and severe gales, combined with high spring tides, could also result in very large waves. The north of Scotland will remain under a yellow warning for wind from midnight until 9am on Monday.

    Farther south, the Met Office issued a yellow warning for the south-west of England and south Wales until midday on Sunday, warning that travel might be disrupted and power supplies interrupted, with possible flooding.

    The Environment Agency’s website listed 41 active flood warnings on Sunday morning, meaning flooding was expected, and 132 flood alerts, meaning flooding was possible, with warnings in place for areas of the River Severn, the south Cornwall coast, and the Wye estuary.

    The Met Office said Sunday would be a “widely windy day” with storm-force winds in the north-west, and rain and gusty winds moving east, although sunny spells were expected later.

    “Parts of western Scotland could see gusts of 70-80mph during the afternoon,” the meteorologist Ellie Glaisyer said, adding: “It will turn drier and brighter across much of England and Wales with some sunny spells during the afternoon.”

    Tens of thousands of homes across Ireland remained without power on Sunday night. In the Republic of Ireland, ESB Networks said 29,000 customers were without power as of 8.30pm on Sunday. The number had been 53,000 earlier in the day.

    In Northern Ireland, NIE Networks said that at 9.45pm fewer than 1,500 customers were affected, with the majority of those expected to be connected later on Sunday night.

    It said power had already been restored to more than 10,000 customers who lost supply earlier in the day. The stormy conditions also saw several flights affected. As of 7.45pm, 60 flights due to depart and land at Dublin airport on Sunday were cancelled. At Belfast City airport, 28 departures were cancelled.

    Road users in Scotland were advised to avoid unnecessary travel, and Sunday’s annual Great South Run in Portsmouth, Hampshire, was cancelled because of weather-related safety concerns. Flights between Britain and Belfast City airport were also cancelled, with flights to and from Dublin, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh airports also affected.

    Police Scotland advised motorists to plan ahead and avoid unnecessary travel where possible, with a strong likelihood of disruption on roads, while Transport Scotland warned of likely delays to public transport, including the country’s ferry network.

    ScotRail said some services would be subject to precautionary speed restrictions, while the ferry operator CalMac said many of its services on the west coast of Scotland had been cancelled, with others liable to be disrupted.

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  • Govt appoints first nature envoy to tackle species decline

    Govt appoints first nature envoy to tackle species decline

    Ruth Davis, the new special representative for nature, is in Colombia for the start of two weeks of vital talks that will decide the global response to the biodiversity crisis…reports Asian Lite News

    The government has appointed the UK’s first envoy for nature, a former environment campaigner described as “the environmentalist’s environmentalist”, who will be charged with forging global agreement on halting the precipitous decline of species.

    Ruth Davis, the new special representative for nature, is in Colombia for the start of two weeks of vital talks that will decide the global response to the biodiversity crisis. The UK has played a leading role in such efforts in the past and Davis helped draw up a global pledge on deforestation that was one of the main outcomes of the UN Cop26 climate summit hosted in Glasgow in 2021.

    She will report to the foreign secretary, David Lammy, and the environment secretary, Steve Reed. The appointment of a nature envoy, first revealed by the Guardian, is an initial step in the government’s plan to put the UK at the centre of global efforts to stave off environmental collapse.

    Davis previously held senior roles at charities including Greenpeace, the RSPB and Plantlife, and the thinktank and consultancy E3G. She has worked on environmental policy for 25 years, and is renowned for her commitment – at the Copenhagen climate conference in 2009 she was said to have slept overnight in a cupboard in the conference centre as the talks dragged on.

    Reed is leading the UK’s negotiations on biodiversity in Cali, Colombia. He said: “We cannot address the nature and climate crises without coordinated global action. That is why we have appointed Ruth as our special representative for nature – a landmark first – who will champion our ambition to put climate and nature at the heart of our foreign policy.”

    He added: “We depend on nature in every aspect of our lives – it underpins our economy, health and society – and yet progress to restore our wildlife and habitats has been too slow. Ruth’s extensive knowledge and expertise will be vital to help us deliver on our commitments to put nature on the road to recovery.”

    Lammy has also promised to put the climate and nature protection at the heart of the UK’s foreign policy, as he views the environmental crises as threats to national security. Keir Starmer, the prime minister, has also set out his intention for the UK to lead in these areas, citing the climate in his speech to the UN general assembly last month.

    “We are returning the UK to responsible global leadership,” he told fellow heads of government. “Because it is right, but also because it is plainly in our self-interest.”

    Davis said: “The government has recognised that the nature crisis is of equal gravity to the climate crisis, and that we cannot tackle one without addressing the other. Ecosystems and the species they support are essential to maintain food security, reduce health risks and manage the impacts of rising global temperatures.”

    Her appointment follows that of Rachel Kyte, formerly the top climate official at the World Bank, to the role of climate envoy, a post that was scrapped under the Conservative government. That appointment was criticised as Kyte also holds a position on an advisory board to a charitable foundation funded by a financial investment firm that made a £4m donation to Labour before the election.

    Kyte was not involved in that decision, and many prominent environmental experts leaped to her defence. Nicholas Stern, the economist, told the Guardian: “Rachel was on the board of the philanthropic foundation and not the company, and she was very well equipped to advise that foundation. No conflict of interest.”

    Davis beat a strong field of candidates for the new role of nature envoy. Names spoken of in relation to the post included Tanya Steele, the chief executive of WWF UK; Matthew Gould, the chief executive of the Zoological Society of London; and Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England.

    Leading voices in green campaigning hailed Davis’s appointment. Edward Davey, the head of the UK office of the World Resources Institute thinktank, said: “Ruth Davis is the environmentalist’s environmentalist, and the best of us: profoundly knowledgeable, deeply committed, a person of fearless integrity, and entirely selfless. She will be a wonderful nature envoy and is a brilliant appointment.”

    Zac Goldsmith, the Conservative former minister, said: “I worked with Ruth as a minister and was always impressed by her knowledge and commitment. She will be a real asset to the new government.”

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  • Reeves urged to ringfence NHS funding on illness prevention

    Reeves urged to ringfence NHS funding on illness prevention

    Anita Charlesworth, the Health Foundation’s chief economist, said there needed to be a shift “so we are spending more on prevention and less of failure”. …reports Asian Lite News

    Rachel Reeves is being urged to use next week’s budget to ringfence health spending on prevention so it is protected from cuts when money is tight. A letter sent to the chancellor by a leading health charity, thinktanks and the body that represents accountants says carving out a new category of preventive spending would mean a healthier population and save the NHS money.

    The letter welcomes Labour’s emphasis on prevention but says there has been a long history of previous administrations making similar pledges only for services that affect health outcomes to become a casualty of pressures on day-to-day budgets and a victim of short-term thinking.

    Analysis by the Health Foundation – one of the signatories to the letter – showed that in the five years leading up to the pandemic (2014-19) spending on hospitals rose by 10%. The share of health spending devoted to prevention fell by 10% during that period.

    Anita Charlesworth, the Health Foundation’s chief economist, said there needed to be a shift “so we are spending more on prevention and less of failure”. Charlesworth said that a report by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility on the fiscal risks facing the UK had found that extra spending on prevention would lead to increased spending on the state pension but higher tax revenues, lower spending on welfare and less pressure on the NHS budget. “A healthier population would be really beneficial to the public finances,” she said.

    The letter, also signed by the thinktank Demos, the Institute for Government and the accountants’ body Cipfa, says public policy “is littered with examples of prevention spending being cut to provide short-term funding to patch up frontline services, and there is too little incentive to invest in services that deliver long-term benefits”.

    It cites evidence from the record of the Conservative governments after 2010, which cut spending on youth services and the Sure Start scheme for families with children under five despite evidence that they were having good long-term effects. Research by the IfG found that local authority spending on these services was cut by more than three-quarters between 2009 and 2023, while spending on looked-after children and safeguarding services rose by more than half over the same period.

    “Current fiscal frameworks do not distinguish between spending on acute services and prevention, despite the evidence that investment in prevention can deliver a greater long-term return,” the letter says.

    “Given the significant pressures on the public finances, the risk is that prevention spending will continue to be squeezed out in favour of meeting short term needs, undermining the government’s commitment to taking a long-term, prevention-led approach to improving public services.”

    Reeves has made clear that she intends to change the rules governing the public finances to allow her to borrow more to invest in capital projects, a move designed to deliver stronger growth.

    All Whitehall ministries are given departmental expenditure limits by the Treasury, but the letter calls for a new category of spending – preventive departmental expenditure limits – in which prevention would sit alongside day-to-day spending and capital investment, enabling the government to identify and track spending.

    “Strengthening the fiscal framework would enable the Treasury to better hold government departments to account for long term investment in prevention, and support mission-driven government by ensuring that this money is used to transform services”, the letter says. “Without this, we fear the government’s good intentions to promote prevention may once again fall by the wayside.”

    A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Our 10-year health plan will reform the NHS by shifting its focus from sickness to prevention. We’re introducing measures to ban junk food adverts targeted at children, as well as new NHS health checks to catch health problems earlier and prevent them worsening. Our tobacco and vapes bill will stop future generations from becoming hooked on nicotine and finally make Britain smoke-free.”

    The chancellor is expected to stake her reputation on a tax-­raising budget designed as a reset of the public finances. She has already had to deal with cabinet skirmishes over funding unveiled alongside the statement. However, Reeves is understood to believe that the public will accept a multibillion-pound hike in business taxes if it is linked to repairing the health system’s finances.

    The Observer has seen new research, commissioned in the run-up to the budget by an influential thinktank with close links to the Treasury and No 10, that suggests overwhelming support for using an increase in national insurance contributions (NICs) for employers to fund extra resources for the NHS.

    Seven in 10 voters said they would approve of the move if the money raised was used to increase spending on the health service, according to a poll of more than 6,000 people commissioned by Labour Together.

    Only 18% said they would disapprove. The measure was particularly popular with a crucial group who switched from the Conservatives to Labour at the last election. About 82% of the group said they approved of it.

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  • Ministers urged to increase basic rate of statutory sick pay

    Ministers urged to increase basic rate of statutory sick pay

    Campaigners have welcomed the changes, but they want ministers to go further and raise sick pay…reports Asian Lite News

    Ministers are under pressure to increase the basic rate of statutory sick pay (SSP) from £3 an hour for a full-time worker, amid concerns that hundreds of thousands of people a year are left without adequate financial support to pay essential bills while off work.

    The government will launch a consultation on Monday to coincide with the second reading of its employment rights bill, under which workers will get paid sick leave from day one, with those on earnings below the threshold of £123 a week eligible.

    Campaigners have welcomed the changes, but they want ministers to go further and raise sick pay, which is fixed at £116 a week and pegged to the inflation rate. They argue that the low rate pushes vulnerable people into poverty.

    In a letter to Keir Starmer, a group of charities including Citizens Advice, Macmillan Cancer Support, Mind and Maggie’s called on the government to amend the bill so ministers can increase sick pay amid the worsening health of working-age people.

    “Hundreds of thousands of working people who are each year diagnosed with infectious diseases, cancer, mental health problems or serious injuries will still find themselves without adequate financial support to pay essential bills like food, rent and heating,” they wrote.

    “There is a wide-ranging body of evidence, medical, academic and from leading UK thinktanks and charities, that suggests the current SSP system harms workers and is self-defeating for employers and the government alike.

    “This situation risks holding back the government’s laudable mission to grow the economy and bolster our NHS.”

    The intervention came as a report by WPI Economics, led by the welfare reform expert Matthew Oakley, found that increasing the rate could reduce days off by stemming the flow of unwell workers on to out-of-work benefits and reducing prolonged absence caused by deteriorating health.

    Oakley found that the move could result in a net £4.1bn financial benefit to business, the Treasury and the wider economy by increasing productivity and having fewer periods of long absence and better public health outcomes because people would not be spreading illness by coming into work sick.

    Amanda Walters from the Centre for Progressive Change, which is leading the campaign, said: “Most of us try to battle on when we’re sick, but sometimes we know that going to work will only make things worse, we’ll end up sicker and less productive.

    “It would be a massive missed opportunity not to address the rate of statutory sick pay now. The government should ensure no worker risks their health for want of a decent sick pay system.”

    Under current plans a full-time worker on the average UK salary would still lose £419 net in the first week of illness, even with day-one sick pay rights, putting them below the minimum acceptable standard of living, according to University of Loughborough research.

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  • Rayner gets permanent seat on UK national security council

    Rayner gets permanent seat on UK national security council

    Starmer has also strengthened the “quad” of his most senior ministers to become a proper steering group for the government’s agenda…reports Asian Lite News

    Angela Rayner has been given a permanent seat on the UK government’s national security council as the rebooted Downing Street operation seeks to smooth over reports of tensions between Keir Starmer and his deputy.

    Allies of the deputy prime minister had shared concerns she was being sidelined when it emerged two weeks ago that she had been given only a temporary place on the committee that brings together ministers with military and intelligence chiefs.

    Starmer has also strengthened the “quad” of his most senior ministers to become a proper steering group for the government’s agenda, insiders said. As well as Rayner, it includes Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, and Pat McFadden, the senior cabinet office minister.

    In another move to shore up the deputy prime minister, she will more formally and routinely deputise for Starmer, for example by standing in at prime minister’s questions this week, while he is away in Samoa at a Commonwealth heads of government summit.

    Downing Street hopes the changes will reassure the deputy prime minister, and her allies in the Labour party and across the union movement, that she has Starmer’s full support, after reports of continuing tensions between the pair.

    A No 10 source said: “Keir respects Angela and wants to make sure that is recognised more widely in government.”

    Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner visit the Oval Village project in London. Labour has set a target of building 1.5m new homes over five years.

    Others downplayed suggestions that Rayner and other cabinet ministers writing to Starmer to protest at cuts to their departments, set to be unveiled at next week’s budget, was anything other than part of the normal process. A second government source said: “Nobody on either side wants any more drama.”

    There has long been speculation among some of those around Starmer over his deputy’s own motives, with suspicions that she could be on manoeuvres to be in prime position to take over from him at some point in the future.

    Her allies said the latest changes were led by No 10 itself after the promotion of McSweeney, and should be seen as an attempt to better manage the relationship between Starmer and one of his most powerful ministers.

    Officials said that while Sue Gray, McSweeney’s predecessor as chief of staff, had been supportive of Rayner personally and of her role in principle, that did not always transfer into practice, with promises not always being delivered on.

    One described it as a “mismatch”, but suggested that it may have been down to broader dysfunction within Downing Street at the time.

    Earlier this month, it emerged that seven permanent members had been chosen to attend the NSC meetings, including Starmer, Reeves, McFadden and David Lammy, the foreign secretary. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, John Healey, the defence secretary, and Richard Hermer, the attorney general, were also named as members.

    However, Rayner’s absence from the list fuelled claims that she had been sidelined by No 10 since Labour’s general election victory. Previous deputy prime ministers, most recently Conservative MP Oliver Dowden, have been permanent members of the NSC.

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  • Russian envoy accuses UK of waging proxy war in Ukraine

    Russian envoy accuses UK of waging proxy war in Ukraine

    Kelin described the conflict as “a proxy war led by the United Kingdom’s government” which by providing weapons is “killing Russian soldiers and civilians”….reports Asian Lite News

    Moscow’s ambassador to London has said the UK is waging a proxy war against Russia, while predicting the “end of Ukraine” as Russian invading forces make deeper advances into the country.

    In an interview with the BBC, Andrei Kelin said Ukraine continued to fight but claimed “the resistance is more feeble and feeble”.

    Russian troops, he said, were gaining more terrain every day, adding: “The end of this phase will mean the end of Ukraine.” Russia is thought to control about 18% of Ukraine and has been making slow but steady advances over the last year.

    Kelin also described the conflict as “a proxy war led by the United Kingdom’s government” which by providing weapons is “killing Russian soldiers and civilians”.

    The comments came as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, renewed his appeal to western countries for air-defence systems, after Russian missile strikes on the central city of Kryvyi Rih late on Saturday wounded 17 people, according to Ukrainian officials.

    Ukraine is losing its territory in its eastern Donbas region to Russia’s invading forces, while coming under sustained bombardment, but has yet to convince western allies to provide it with long-range missiles to strike Russian military targets.

    In Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s home town, a police officer and rescue worker were among those injured in Russian attacks that damaged sites including an administrative building, a hotel and an educational facility, Ukraine’s national police reported on social media.

    The regional governor, Serhiy Lysak, said later that 15 apartment buildings, stores, a cafe, a church, office spaces, a bank branch and a gas pipeline had been damaged in the city.

    In a social media post on Sunday, Zelenskyy said that in the last week Russia had used more than 20 missiles of different types, about 800 guided aerial bombs, more than 500 varying strike drones against Ukraine. “Ukraine needs more air defence systems and long-range capabilities. I am grateful to all partners who understand this and support us,” he wrote on X.

    His post was accompanied with a 47-second video showing numerous smashed-up cars, burning buildings and bombed out homes in seven Ukrainian regions, described as the result of a week of Russian attacks.

    Meanwhile, the Russian defence ministry said that 110 drones were destroyed in an overnight barrage against seven Russian regions. Many targeted Russia’s border region of Kursk, where 43 drones were reportedly shot down, but others appeared to go much further

    Gleb Nikitin, the governor of Nizhny Novgorod, a city 250 miles (250km) east of Moscow, wrote on Telegram that four fighters had been lightly injured repelling a drone attack over an industrial zone, and were later discharged. He did not go into further details.

    In Kyiv, officials reported that about 10 drones were destroyed near the capital, with no known destruction or injuries.

    Visiting Kyiv on Saturday, France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, pledged support for Ukraine’s plan for ending the war with Russia, telling reporters he would work to secure other nations’ backing for the proposals.

    Outlining his “victory plan” this week, Zelenskyy called for an “immediate” invitation to join Nato to guarantee Ukraine’s security, but western allies have given a guarded response. Moscow claimed the plan amounted to an escalation, by “pushing Nato into direct conflict” with Russia.

    Russia’s ambassador to the UK was speaking to the BBC after the opening of a public inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess. She died in 2018 after coming into contact with the nerve agent novichok, believed to have been in a perfume bottle discarded by Russian agents who had tried to assassinate the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury a few months earlier.

    The inquest into Sturgess’s death was converted into a public inquiry in 2021 and opened last Monday.

    The UK government told the inquiry this week in a statement that it considered the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had authorised the Salisbury novichok poisonings, which could have killed thousands of people.

    The Russian government has denied any involved in the attempted assassination of the Skripals and poisoning of Sturgess and her partner, Charlie Rowley, who survived.

    Asked in the BBC interview if he had any words for Sturgess’s grieving family, the ambassador said: “I don’t know. I have never met this family. I am not involved in discussions with them or anything else. If someone has died of course we are concerned about that.”

    He also questioned the need for an inquiry: “Why drag this history so long?”

    The Skripal poisonings are seen as a turning point in British perceptions of Russia, triggering what the then prime minister, Theresa May, described as “the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history”.

    More than 100 Russian diplomats working in 20 western countries, who were alleged to be spies, were told to return to Moscow in a show of solidarity by western allies.

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  • EX-MI6 Boss Has A Warning

    EX-MI6 Boss Has A Warning

    Sir John Sawers says police and intelligence agencies in Britain should be “on their toes” after changes of leadership at terrorist organisations in the Middle East…reports Asian Lite News

    A return of Islamic extremist terror attacks on British soil could be triggered by the killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, the former head of MI6 has said.

    Sir John Sawers said police and intelligence agencies in Britain should be “on their toes” after changes of leadership at terrorist organisations in the Middle East.

    On Thursday Israeli troops confirmed the assassination of the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the Palestinian militant group’s 7 October attacks last year.

    In an interview with Sky News’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Sawers said: “Islamic terrorism may actually get a further boost, if that’s the right word, from events in the Middle East. The frustrations that we’ll be seeing because of the lack of movement on the Palestinian question, because of the violence people are witnessing every day.

    “And it could be that Hezbollah and Hamas, the new leaderships there, are focused so much on violence that they become not just terrorist organisations designated by western countries and aimed against Israel, but they could revert back to international terrorism, including here in the UK.”

    Sawers was chief of the Secret Intelligence Service from 2009 to 2014 and also worked in the Middle East as an ambassador to Egypt. Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, urged a ceasefire in the Middle East in a telephone call on Saturday with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, after a drone hit Netanyahu’s home on the Israeli coast.

    A Downing Street spokesperson told reporters that Starmer expressed alarm at the apparent assassination attempt on Netanyahu. According to the spokesperson, the leaders also discussed the killing of the Hamas leader, Sinwar, who Starmer said was a “brutal terrorist” who left the world “a better place without him”.

    On Friday, Starmer spoke in Berlin to urge the international community to make the most of the “opportunity” presented by Sinwar’s death to secure a ceasefire. Starmer also warned that the world would not tolerate “any more excuses” for not allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza. At least 42,603 Palestinian people have been killed and 99,795 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, according to a Gaza health ministry statement on Sunday.

    After Sinwar’s death, Joe Biden, the US president, urged Israel’s prime minister on Friday to “move on” and push ahead with a ceasefire in Gaza. But there is little sign of a willingness from Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran to bring an end to fighting. Netanyahu blamed the attack on his home on Hezbollah and said it had been a “grave mistake” that would “not deter me or the state of Israel from continuing our just war against our enemies in order to secure our future”.

    Iran, which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah, has vowed that Hamas will fight on. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah continues to carry out rocket attacks into Israel. There were reports on Sunday of “intense bombing” and gunfire at Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza.

    Last week, the US warned Israel that it faced losing the transfer of American weapons if it did not take immediate action to let more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

    The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory said on Sunday that not enough aid was being allowed in and that it could not “run a humanitarian operation at the scale needed with just a few unreliable and poorly accessible crossing points”.

    Israeli army demolishes UN observation tower

    Meanwhile, a bulldozer of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “deliberately demolished” an observation tower and perimeter fence of a UN position in Marwahin, a town in southern Lebanon, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has said.

    “Breaching a UN position and damaging UN assets is a flagrant violation of international law and Security Council Resolution 1701,” the UNIFIL said on Sunday in a statement on social media platform X, reminding the IDF and all actors of their obligations “to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and properties and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times.”

    The IDF has repeatedly demanded that the UNIFIL vacate its positions along the Blue Line and has deliberately damaged UN positions, the UN mission said.

    Despite the challenges, “peacekeepers remain in all positions. We will continue to undertake our mandated tasks,” the UNIFIL stressed.

    Israeli forces have attacked UNIFIL positions in Lebanon several times over these days, causing injuries among UN peacekeepers and sparking criticism from the international community.

    The assaults took place as the Israeli army, since September 23, has been launching intensive airstrikes on Lebanon in a dangerous escalation with Hezbollah. It has also conducted what it said was a “limited” ground operation across the border, allegedly to cripple Hezbollah capabilities.

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  • Indian High Commission holds welcome event for students  

    Indian High Commission holds welcome event for students  

    High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami led the event, personally interacting with the students and delivering a warm, encouraging address….reports Asian Lite News

    The High Commission of India hosted a welcome reception at India House in London to greet and support newly arrived Indian students pursuing studies across UK universities. The event drew a large crowd of students from diverse academic institutions, offering them a platform to connect and network with each other as they begin their journey in a new country.

    High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami led the event, personally interacting with the students and delivering a warm, encouraging address. He spoke about the importance of making the most of their educational opportunities, while also offering advice on adapting to life in the UK. Doraiswami emphasized the role of Indian students as ambassadors of Indian culture and talent, encouraging them to stay connected with their roots while embracing their new environment.

    The event also served to familiarize students with the High Commission’s services, reassuring them that support is readily available for any issues they might face during their stay. The reception helped build a sense of community and provided students with a welcoming space to share experiences, ask questions, and gain insights from the High Commission as they embark on their academic journey in the UK.

    “It was a great pleasure to be able to do this big welcome event for our student community. There are limits to the number of people you can fit into any one place, but we were lucky with the weather and I think my colleagues put on a lot of effort to get a really nice event going. We had about 600 young people here from a number of colleges across the UK and we live casted this to another 46 places. So all told we’ve reached out to about a hundred colleges in the UK,” Vikram Doraiswami, High Commissioner of India said.

    High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami led the event, personally interacting with the students and delivering a warm, encouraging address. (@HCI_London / X)

    Doraiswami added that they had also invited a stand-up comedian Rohan Joshi, who taught them how to look for internships, and mental health issues, et al.

    “We thought we’d make it interesting and fun by having some serious content to talk about mental health issues, to talk about concerns that young people might have, but also to talk about opportunities to show them how they can look at internships, how they can look at getting their career ready by getting people to come and talk about that. And for me, of course, the highlight of the event was to be able to have a great stand-up comic come and give them ideas about living in the UK but to do it in a way that was fun rather than to make it sound like a lecture. So I hope it works, as long as the students are happy we are happy,” he said. (ANI)

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  • King, Queen Camilla attend church on Australia tour

    King, Queen Camilla attend church on Australia tour

    The royal couple were greeted at St Thomas’ Anglican Church by the archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, and children from the church’s Sunday school who waved Australian flags….reports Asian Lite News

    King Charles and Queen Camilla met large, cheering crowds in Sydney after attending a church service on Sunday, the first event of their Australia tour.

    The royal couple were greeted at St Thomas’ Anglican Church by the archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, and children from the church’s Sunday school who waved Australian flags.

    Camilla, wearing a pale green Anna Valentine dress and straw hat, was given a flower bouquet by the minister’s wife, Ellie Mantle, who asked if they had recovered from jet lag after the long flight to Australia on Friday. “Sort of,” Camilla replied.

    Inside the church, Charles and Camilla signed two bibles, including one that belonged to Australia’s first minister and chaplain of the First Fleet of ships that took convicts from Britain to the penal colony of Australia in 1788.

    Outside, the royal couple shook hands and chatted with families and cheering fans, some singing “God Save the King,” who lined the streets around the church, the public’s first opportunity to meet Charles and Camilla since they arrived in Australia’s biggest city on Friday night. Traveling across Sydney Harbour, Charles visited the New South Wales parliament, marking the 200th anniversary of Australia’s oldest legislature.

    The king presented the lawmakers with an hour glass to time their speeches, and highlighted the fundamental role of strong parliaments to democracy.

    “What a great joy it is to come to Australia for the first time as sovereign and to renew a love of this country and its people which I have cherished for so long,” he said. Charles is making his inaugural visit to an overseas realm as sovereign and his first major foreign trip since being diagnosed with cancer.

    He will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa after the six-day Australia tour. Charles had made a significant personal donation to create a skills program to tackle climate change and boost higher education in small island states, including the Pacific Islands, the Association of Commonwealth Universities said on Sunday.

    “Throughout my life I have believed in the power of education to improve lives and unite communities across the Commonwealth and beyond,” he said in a statement.

    Mid-career professionals and civil servants will benefit from the fellowships, in a program that aims to retain talent in small island states and bolster resilience to the impacts of climate change such as rising sea levels.

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