Tag: Boris

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-Top News Afghanistan World News

Boris calls for G7 leaders meet on Afghanistan

G7 leaders along with leaders of guest nations pose for photograph during the G7 Summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall. Picture by Andrew Parsons No 10 Downing Street

Johnson also outlined his intention to host a virtual meeting of G7 leaders on Afghanistan in the coming days to this end…reports Asian Lite News.

The UK, which currently holds the G7 presidency, on Monday called for holding a virtual summit of the G7 leaders to discuss Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the current situation in Afghanistan, the government has said.

He stressed the need for the international community to come together and take a unified approach on Afghanistan, both in terms of recognising any future government and in working to prevent a humanitarian and refugee crisis.

Johnson also outlined his intention to host a virtual meeting of G7 leaders on Afghanistan in the coming days to this end.

The leaders both emphasised the ongoing importance of working together on the long-term future of Afghanistan and the immediate need to help our nationals and others get to safety. They agreed that the UK and France should work together at the UN Security Council, including on a possible joint-resolution.

Meanwhile, a plane believed to be carrying fleeing Afghan military personnel was shot down by Uzbekistan’s air-defence system after it crossed into the neighboring nation’s airspace, officials in Uzbek capital Tashkent revealed on Monday, Russia Today reported.

A spokesman for the Uzbek Defence Ministry told RIA Novosti that, on Sunday night, “The air defence forces of the Air Force of Uzbekistan suppressed an attempt to illegally cross the air border of Uzbekistan by an Afghan military aircraft.”

It was reported earlier on Monday that an Afghan plane had crashed in Uzbekistan after it ran out of fuel, while it was refused by Uzbek officials to have landed in the country.

Reports from local media indicated that the two pilots on board the jet survived the crash, landing by parachute. Earlier, government spokesman Bakhrom Zulfikarov had told TASS that the crash had occurred overnight, and that “details of the incident are currently being confirmed”.

Ashraf Ghani, the now-ousted President of Afghanistan who had headed the US-backed Afghan government since 2014, left the country on Sunday, and multiple sources said that he had flown to Uzbekistan along with a close group of advisors.

The Russian Embassy in Kabul has since said that Ghani attempted to leave with large quantities of cash and valuables, the report said.

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-Top News UK News

Boris, Carrie expecting second child around Christmas

They also mentioned that the baby is due by this Christmas and that she had a miscarriage earlier in the year…reports Asian Lite News.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife, Carrie Johnson, are expecting their second child in December, said Carrie on Saturday adding that she felt blessed but a bit nervous.

“I feel incredibly blessed to be pregnant again but I’ve also felt like a bag of nerves,” Carrie Johnson wrote on the latter’s Instagram account on Saturday (local time).

They also mentioned that the baby is due by this Christmas and that she had a miscarriage earlier in the year.

“At the beginning of the year, I had a miscarriage which left me heartbroken,” she said.

While Boris Johnson added: “Fertility issues can be really hard for many people, particularly when on platforms like Instagram it can look like everything is only ever going well.”

“I found it a real comfort to hear from people who had also experienced loss so I hope that in some small way sharing this might help others too,” CNN reported.

The prime minister married his third wife in a secret ceremony this May.

Carrie and Boris married in May this year in a private Catholic ceremony at Westminster Cathedral in London. Their first child, Wilfred, was born in April 2020.

The prime minister had four children with his second wife, Marina Wheeler, and has fathered at least one child outside of his marriages. (with inputs from ANI)

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-Top News UK News

PM resisted lockdown as only over-80s dying: Cummings

In an interview with BBC, Cummings also said the prime minister had messaged him to say: “I no longer buy all this NHS overwhelmed stuff.”…reports Asian Lite News.

In yet another attack on Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the former PM aide Dominic Cummings has claimed Johnson was reluctant to tighten Covid restrictions as cases rose last autumn because he thought people dying from it were “essentially all over 80”.

In an interview with BBC, Cummings also said the prime minister had messaged him to say: “I no longer buy all this NHS overwhelmed stuff.”

Johnson had wanted to let Covid “wash through the country” rather than destroy the economy, Cummings claimed. This was the first time Cummings has given a one-on-one TV interview during his career in politics.

Meanwhile, In response to the accusation made by Cummings, Downing Street said the prime minister had taken the “necessary action to protect lives and livelihoods, guided by the best scientific advice” throughout the pandemic.

And the government had prevented the NHS “from being overwhelmed through three national lockdowns”, a spokesperson added.

In May, Cummings had launched an all-out attack on the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

During a marathon seven-hour evidence session, Cummings claimed that thousands of people died needlessly as a result of government mistakes in the handling of the pandemic crisis.

Cummings said Boris Johnson was “unfit for the job”, claiming he had ignored scientific advice and wrongly delayed lockdowns.

His most savage criticism was against Matt Hancock, in which he claimed the then health secretary should have been fired for “15 to 20” different things. He said he had repeatedly called on Johnson to sack Hancock, calling him “completely incapable of doing the job”.

He also accused Hancock of lying, something denied by the former health secretary.

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China UK News

UK MPs urge govt to act tough on China

It further said that the government should use every opportunity it has at the UN organs, summits and treaty bodies to call for the immediate disbandment of the camps…reports Asian Lite News.

A group of British lawmakers have urged the Boris Johnson government to take tough action against China over its treatment of the Uyghur community in Xinjiang province.

The cross-party committee, led by Conservative leader Tom Tugendhat, said in a report that the atrocities being committed in Xinjiang to represent an international crisis of profound urgency, making it unconscionable for any civilised government to look the other way.

“The evidence of severe human rights abuses and crimes against the Uyghur people is already overwhelming and indisputable, and Parliament has called it genocide,” Tugendhat said.

The report by UK Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee has called on the UK government to explore a ban on the import of all cotton products known to be produced in whole or in part in Xinjiang.

In their 37-page report – Never Again: The UK’s Responsibility to Act on Atrocities in Xinjiang and Beyond – the British MPs said the UK Government should ensure that the Chinese government faces consequences at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics for its crimes in Xinjiang.

The report called on the UK government to increase pressure on the Chinese government to allow international observers access to Xinjiang, especially the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. “As an alternative, the Committee recommends a UN investigation taking place from outside of China,” the report said.

It further said that the government should use every opportunity it has at the UN organs, summits and treaty bodies to call for the immediate disbandment of the camps.

Furthermore, the report urges the government to engage in dialogue with the International Criminal Court about the feasibility of an investigation into crimes committed against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang and beyond.

Despite mounting evidence, Beijing continues to deny the grave human rights violation in Xinjiang.

Two days ago, members of the Uyghurs and the Tibetan communities protested outside the Chinese embassy in London to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the Urumqi massacre.

On July 5, 2009, violent riots broke out in Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang. The Chinese government launched a crackdown against Uyghurs protesting against the killing of two Uyghurs. Thousands of protestors were killed, disappeared or injured.

Uyghur

According to officials, a total of 197 people died, with 1,721 suffered injuries in the riot.

Uyghur-run mosques were temporarily closed. By November 2009, over 400 individuals faced criminal charges for their actions during the riots. Nine were executed in November 2009, and by February 2010, at least 26 had received death sentences.

Reports from non-governmental organisations based on interviews with eyewitnesses indicated that security forces deliberately used live ammunition during the protest.

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-Top News Business China

Johnson orders review of Beijing takeover of UK tech firm

According to the SMH, the deal was not reviewed under the UK’s new national security law, which is meant to stop high-risk foreign takeovers of critical infrastructure firms…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said his government will review the purchase of the UK’s largest producer of semiconductors by a Chinese-owned manufacturer, a day after his government said it would not intervene.

This comes after Chinese-owned firm Nexperia on Monday said it had acquired Britain’s largest producer of silicon chips Newport Wafer Fab. The agreement was said to be worth around USD 116 million but this has not been confirmed, The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported.

According to the SMH, the deal was not reviewed under the UK’s new national security law, which is meant to stop high-risk foreign takeovers of critical infrastructure firms.

The semiconductor industry has gained geopolitical importance as China has targeted the key technology for the future economy. Beijing has ambitions to corner the global supply chain of semiconductors as silicon-based products are the imperative component of all electronic devices.

The sale was “a very difficult business”, said Johnson and warned against anti-China sentiment by default. “I do not want an anti-China spirit to lead to us trying to pitchfork away every investment from China into this country,” he said. “That would be economically foolhardy.”

Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the UK foreign affairs select committee said that the government has to judge whether the stuff the company (Newport Wafer Fab) is making is of real intellectual property value and interest to China and whether there are real security implications.

“I think semiconductors are of huge importance to this country, one of the things I wanted to look at immediately was whether we could be more self-reliant. We’re thinking about what to do.” (ANI)

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-Top News India News UK News

UK, India launch first financial markets dialogue

Bilateral trade between the UK and India stood at over £18bn in 2020, with India accounting for the UK’s second-largest source of investment in terms of the number of projects…reports Asian Lite News.

The inaugural meeting of the UK-India Financial Markets Dialogue (FMD) took place virtually on Thursday to deepen bilateral ties in the financial sector, the British High Commission (BHC) said on Thursday.

The Dialogue saw government-to-government discussions to strengthen cooperation on four key themes: Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City; banking and payments; insurance, and; capital markets. It was led by senior officials from the UK Treasury and the Indian Ministry of Finance, with participation from independent British and Indian regulatory agencies, BHC said.

The creation of the Financial Markets Dialogue to strengthen financial services cooperation and address regulatory barriers for UK and Indian firms was agreed at the tenth Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) between the UK and India by Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last year.

Bilateral trade between the UK and India stood at over £18bn in 2020, with India accounting for the UK’s second-largest source of investment in terms of the number of projects. British and Indian investments support nearly half a million jobs in each other’s economies.

“In May this year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced their ambition to double the value of UK-India trade over the next decade as well as a shared intent to begin work towards negotiations on a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA),” BHC said.

Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, said: “The 2030 Roadmap agreed by Prime Ministers Modi and Johnson aims for a transformation of the UK-India relationship, especially as we look to build back better from Covid-19. The first Financial Markets Dialogue held today will strengthen links on financial services and create new opportunities for UK and Indian businesses. I’m pleased to see the strong progress we have already made ahead of the upcoming Economic and Financial Dialogue between our finance ministers.” (ANI)

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-Top News UK News

Now or Never: Johnson Sets Out Freedom Day Plans

Face masks and distancing rules will no longer be legally required in England from July 19. Also the rule of six inside private homes will also be removed and work-from-home guidance will be scrapped, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk

Most coronavirus restrictions are set to end on July 19 as part of the final step of England’s roadmap out of the lockdown, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed on Monday.

Face masks and distancing rules will no longer be legally required in England from July 19, Johnson told a news conference at Downing Street.

The rule of six inside private homes will also be removed and work-from-home guidance will be scrapped, said the Prime Minister.

Johnson explained: “If we don’t go ahead now when we’ve clearly done so much with the vaccination programme to break the link… when would we go ahead?”

He added: “We run the risk of either opening up at a very difficult time when the virus has an edge, has an advantage, in the cold months, or again putting everything off to next year.”

He also said there will be no Covid certificate required as a condition of entry to any venue or event, although businesses and events can certainly make use of certification and the NHS app is giving a Covid pass as one way to show the Covid status.

He also said there could be 50,000 cases detected per day by the 19th and “again as we predicted, we’re seeing rising hospital admissions and we must reconcile ourselves sadly to more deaths from Covid.”

He said “as we come to the fourth step, we have to balance the risks. The risks of the disease which the vaccines have reduced but very far from eliminated. And the risks of continuing with legally enforced restrictions that inevitably take their toll on people’s lives and livelihoods – on people’s health and mental health. And we must be honest with ourselves that if we can’t reopen our society in the next few weeks, when we will be helped by the arrival of summer and by the school holidays, then we must ask ourselves when will we be able to return to normal?”

The British government is only responsible for coronavirus restrictions in England. The devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are responsible for their own policies in relation to public health matters, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Johnson previously announced a four-week delay to the final step of England’s roadmap out of Covid-19 restrictions until July 19, amid a surge in cases of the Delta variant first identified in India.

Britain reported another 27,334 coronavirus cases in the 24-hour period, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,930,534, according to official figures released on Monday.

The country also recorded another nine coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 128,231. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

More than 45.3 million people in Britain have received the first jab of Covid-19 vaccine and over 33.7 million people have received two doses, the official figures showed.

However, Welsh health official has said that further lockdown in Wales will not be ruled out as the number of local Covid-19 cases is rising, a media report said on Monday.

There may be a new variant that escapes our vaccines, so “I can’t make those kind of predictions”, said Welsh Health Minister Eluned Morgan.

Sky News also quoted Morgan as saying that Wales will not be rushed into making a decision about scrapping its coronavirus restrictions despite England’s plan to do so on July 19.

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-Top News UK News

Boris mulls backtracking on foreign aid cuts

Davis told BBC Radio 4 last month that potentially lifesaving schemes had already been canceled as a result of the move…reports Asian Lite News.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to backtrack and offer the lawmakers a vote on foreign aid cuts as warnings mount that the move risks the Conservatives’ reputation.

The Sunday Times reported that Johnson is “actively considering” plans to allow MPs a binding vote on the £4 billion ($5.6 billion) cuts to the overseas aid budget before the parliamentary summer recess, according to its sources.

Although Johnson has yet to give his official view on the proposal, it is understood he has been advised to grant the vote or risk MPs bringing forward another rebel amendment, the Times reported.

Former Prime Minister Theresa May and Brexit Secretary David Davis (Number 10 Flickr)

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis is among 50 Conservative rebel MPs, including former Prime Minister Theresa May, who are planning to vote against a proposal to cut the foreign aid budget from 0.7 percent of gross domestic product to 0.5 percent despite the party committing to maintaining the figure in its 2019 general election manifesto, according to a report appeared in the Arab News.

The policy change is going to hit hard on countries such as Syria, Yemen, Libya and Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Downing Street has maintained that the cuts are a temporary measure due to the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, but has offered no timeframe for returning to the 0.7 percent target.

Davis told BBC Radio 4 last month that potentially lifesaving schemes had already been canceled as a result of the move.

In June, Johnson avoided a parliamentary defeat after MPs were blocked from voting on an amendment to the proposed cuts, which had been proposed by Conservative rebels.

Last month, the UK has helped to clear Sudan’s debt and supported its economic recovery.

Last month, Sudan’s $1.4 billion in arrears owed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had been cleared, allowing it to access new financing to boost its economic recovery.

The clearing of its arrears was supported with £36 million from UK reserves at the IMF.

An additional £148 million one-day loan from the UK, announced by the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in May, has previously helped Sudan clear its arrears at the African Development Bank.

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-Top News COVID-19 UK News

Johnson defends handling of Hancock’s exit

Johnson on Friday publicly backed Hancock, with his spokesman saying, “The prime minister has accepted his apology and considers the matter closed.”…reports Asian Lite News.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday said the exit of Matt Hancock, who had been steering the country’s battle against Covid-19, over a breach of coronavirus rules took place at the “right pace,” according to media reports.

This is in contrast with the official statement from the Downing Street a day before Hancock quit.

Johnson on Friday publicly backed Hancock, with his spokesman saying, “The prime minister has accepted his apology and considers the matter closed.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock. Picture by Simon Dawson No 10 Downing Street

But on Monday, Johnson told reporters, “I read the story on Friday and we’ve got a new health secretary in post on Saturday, and I think that’s about the right pace to proceed in a pandemic,” according to a Politico report.

He also admitted that Hancock had undermined the government’s message about being “all in it together” amid the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the prime minister’s spokesman denied any inconsistency in Johnson’s approach but emphasised that Hancock had indeed quit, rather than being sacked, it was reported.

However, Johnson acted promptly on Saturday evening to appoint former Chancellor Sajid Javid as Hancock’s successor.

Hancock’s key job in Johnson’s top team of ministers was thrown into doubt after The Sun newspaper on June 25 published photographs of the Health Secretary kissing Gina Coladangelo, one of his key aides, at the Department of Health’s London HQ reportedly during office hours in May.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the incident took place on May 6 when the public were still being advised not to hug people outside their household.

But what doomed Hancock’s cabinet career was outrage from politicians and the public that the incident broke a legally-enforceable social distancing rule he had imposed across the country to contain the pandemic.

During the pandemic, Hancock regularly appeared on Downing Street virtual briefings, detailing restrictions that must be followed in the fight against the virus.

Political expert Iain Begg from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) told Xinhua that despite that Hancock “being the minister most able to claim credit for the vaccine successes, he was undone by the charge of hypocrisy”.

“UK voters would have been tolerant of the news of his relationship, but resent the idea of leaders breaking rules. One rule for us and another for them plays very badly with citizens.”

Ruling Conservative Party lawmakers said they had been bombarded with furious complaints about Hancock’s behavior from voters in their constituencies.

Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer speaks after Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget speech. (UK Parliament_Jessica Taylor)

Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said on Saturday night that Hancock was right to resign, adding that Johnson should have fired him.

Ed Davey, leader of the minority opposition party Liberal Democrats, said on his social media site: “Matt Hancock’s legacy as Health Secretary will be one of cronyism and failure.”

British media engaged in a frenzy of coverage about his relationship with Coladangelo, a mother of three, who has also resigned from her government job.

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-Top News Asia News UK News

Russia Targets Royal Navy Ship in Black Sea

UK has denied that any warning shots were fired, saying its warship was conducting an “innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with international law”, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk

More than 20 Russian warplanes and coastguard ships have targeted a Royal Navy warship sailing near Crimea, it was reported.

Moscow on Wednesday said its warship fired warning shots after British Royal Navy destroyer, HMS Defender, violated Russia’s maritime borders in the Black Sea.

“At 11:52 am on 23 June, the HMS Defender of the British Royal Navy, operating in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, violated the border and entered three kilometres into Russian territorial waters in the region of Cape Fiolent,” the Russian Ministry of Defence said in a press statement.

According to the military, the British warship was warned that deadly force would be used if it violated Russia’s borders. The ship was said to have ignored the warning, Sputnik reported.

“At 12:06 and 12:08, a border patrol vessel carried out warning shots. At 12:19 a Su-24M carried out a warning bombing run using 4 OFAB-250 [high-explosive fragmentation] bombs at the HMS Defender’s path of movement,” the statement added.

“At 12:23 the combined actions of the Black Sea Fleet and the Border Forces of the FSB forced the HMS Defender to leave the territorial waters of the Russian Federation,” it further said.

Meanwhile, UK has denied that any warning shots were fired, saying its warship was conducting an “innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with international law.”

“We believe the Russians were undertaking a gunnery exercise in the Black Sea and provided the maritime community with prior warning of their activity. No shots were directed at HMS Defender and we do not recognize the claim that bombs were dropped in her path,” the UK Defence Ministry said in a pair of tweets.

HMS Defender was sailing from Odessa in southern Ukraine to Georgia. To get there, it passed south of the Crimea peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 in a move that has not been recognised internationally.

While Moscow claims the peninsula and its waters are Russian territory, the UK says HMS Defender was passing through Ukrainian waters in a commonly used and internationally recognised transit route.

A later tweet from the Russian embassy in the UK said: “HMS Defender turns HMS Provocateur and violates Russian border. Not exactly a ‘routine’ transit, is it?”

But a UK government spokesman played down any notion of hostilities, insisting that Russia was doing “gunnery exercises” in the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, a BBC Correspondent on board HMS Defender said the ship was going to sail within the 12 mile (19km) limit of Crimea’s territorial waters.

The captain insisted he was only seeking safe passage through an internationally recognised shipping lane, Jonathan Beale said.

He also said two Russian coastguard ships that were shadowing the Royal Navy warship, tried to force it to alter its course. “At one stage, one of the Russian vessels closed in to about 100m,” his report in BBC said.

Earlier this month, UK had joined 14 other nations to call on Russia to cease aggression against Ukraine and end its occupation of Crimea, following Moscow’s informal Arria-formula meeting on Ukraine.

“We call on Russia to immediately cease its aggression against Ukraine and end its occupation of Crimea and the egregious human rights abuses it inflicts on the Crimean population,” a part of the joint statement read.

Two days ago, the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has launched its first direct military operation against Daesh as part of its first deployment after UK has shifted its focus to Indo-Pacific.

British and American F-35B Stealth jets took off from the decks of the new carrier to strike the terror group’s positions in Syria and Iraq. Defence officials said several Daesh positions were destroyed. (with inputs from ANI)

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