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Ukraine war: JK Rowling hits back at Putin's 'cancel culture' comment - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Mr Putin referenced the Harry Potter author during a speech condemning "cancel culture" in the West. | The Harry Potter author criticised Russia's invasion of Ukraine after President Putin defended her
JK Rowling has hit back at Vladimir Putin, after the Russian president cited her in a wide-ranging speech that saw him criticise "cancel culture".
At a televised meeting on Friday, Mr Putin compared recent criticism of the Harry Potter author to that faced by pro-war Russian composers and writers.
In response, Ms Rowling denounced the invasion of Ukraine in which she said Russia was "slaughtering civilians".
Rowling has been criticised for her views on transgender issues.
"Critiques of Western cancel culture are possibly not best made by those currently slaughtering civilians for the crime of resistance, or who jail and poison their critics," the Harry Potter author wrote on Twitter.
In the lengthy speech, which was given to the winners of various cultural prizes, President Putin claimed Russian composers and writers were being discriminated against.
"They are trying to cancel a thousand-year-old country," he said.
Some events featuring pro-war Russians have been cancelled since Moscow invaded Ukraine last month.
A much smaller number of events have been cancelled due to their use of music by dead Russian composers.
But Mr Putin also alleged - without providing evidence - that there was a "gradual discrimination against everything linked to Russia... in a number of Western countries".
"They are banning Russian writers and books," he said."The proverbial 'cancel culture' has become a cancellation of culture."
Mr Putin then defended Ms Rowling, who has faced criticism for her comments on transgender issues. She denies accusations of transphobia.
"JK Rowling was cancelled because she, a writer of books that have sold millions of copies around the world, didn't please fans of so-called gender freedoms," Mr Putin claimed.
The writer has said her interest in trans issues stems from being a survivor of abuse and having concerns around single-sex spaces.
Critics have said her views have diminished the identity of trans people.
Conductor Valery Gergiev, who attended Friday's meeting with the president, has been dropped by festivals, concert halls and management after he failed to condemn Russia's invasion of its neighbour.
And earlier this month, a Welsh orchestra dropped music by the Russian composer Tchaikovsky from a concert because of the war.
"There were two military-themed pieces... that we felt were particularly inappropriate at this time," the Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra said in a statement.
"When the humanitarian crisis is over the discussion about 'woke' and 'cancel culture' can have its place," it added.
Russia's invasion, which is entering its second month, has sparked a major humanitarian crisis with more than 10m people displaced. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60878133 |
A bomb hit this theatre hiding hundreds - here's how one woman survived - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The BBC speaks to survivors of the Mariupol theatre attack, who describe for the first time what happened. | Mariia, who was volunteering at the Ukrainian Red Cross, tried to help those injured in the attack but her kit was inside the theatre
As the port city of Mariupol was being razed to rubble by Russian bombs, hundreds of civilians, mostly women and children, went to hide in a theatre near the waterfront, a grand Soviet-era building. Last Wednesday, a bomb hit and - within seconds - the building had been split in two and left in ruins. We still do not know how many died, but the BBC has spoken to survivors who described for the first time what happened when the bomb fell.
All morning, Russian planes had been circling the skies above the city.
Mariia Rodionova, a 27-year-old teacher, had been living in the theatre for 10 days, having fled her ninth-floor apartment with her two dogs. They camped next to the stage in an auditorium near the back of the building.
That morning she had got some fish scraps from an outdoor field kitchen to feed her dogs, but then realised they had not drunk any water. So at about 10:00, she tied her dogs to her luggage and made her way towards the main entrance where a queue was forming for hot water.
There was the sound of a clap, thunderous and loud. Then the sound of broken glass. A man came from behind and pushed her to a wall, protecting her with his own body. The blast was so loud that she felt intense pain in one of her ears, so intense she thought her eardrum must have split. She only realised it had not because she could hear the screams of people. The screams were everywhere.
The force of the blast threw another man against a window. He fell on the ground, his face covered with broken glass. A woman, who also had a wound on her head, tried to help him. Mariia, who had been volunteering at the Ukrainian Red Cross in Mariupol, gathered her senses enough to shout over, telling her to stop.
"I said 'Wait, don't touch him. I'll bring my first aid kit and I'll help you both'," she recalled. But her kit was inside the theatre, and that part of the building had collapsed.
"There was only rubble," she said. It was impossible for her to get in.
"For two hours, I couldn't do anything," she said. "I just stayed there. I was in shock."
Vladyslav, a 27-year-old locksmith who does not want to use his full name, had also wandered into the building that morning. He had some friends there and went to look for them. He was near the main entrance when the explosion hit. He ran with others into a basement and, 10 minutes later, heard the building was on fire and emerged to a scene of chaos.
"Terrible things were happening," he said.
He saw plenty of people bleeding. Some had open fracture wounds. "One mother was trying to find her kids under the rubble. A five-year-old kid was screaming: 'I don't want to die'. It was heartbreaking."
It is likely to have been just one bomb that fell on the theatre that morning, bringing all that destruction with it, analysis by McKenzie Intelligence Services for the BBC has concluded.
"Due to the missile appearing to accurately hit the centre of the building, we believe it is a laser-guided bomb, likely the KAB-500L or similar variant, launched from an aircraft," the London-based group said.
"The nature of the explosion indicates it was armed with an instantaneous fuse, so was unable to penetrate the ground floors."
From the accuracy of the strike it is very likely that the theatre was the chosen target.
Satellite imagery released by the US company Maxar, from the days before the attack, show the word "children" in Russian was clearly painted on the lawn in front of the theatre, visible to any passing bomber.
Russia denies attacking the theatre. It has also denied hitting civilian sites in Ukraine, although its attacks on countless residential buildings and other non-military facilities have been well documented across the country and nowhere more brutally than in Mariupol.
Andrei Marusov, an investigative journalist from Mariupol, had visited the theatre two days before the attack. "Everybody knew that it was a focal point for many women and children," Marusov, who is a former chairman of the advocacy group Transparency International Ukraine, said. "There were only civilians there."
That Wednesday, the day of the bombing, he had gone up to the top of his building at 06:00 to survey the city. The planes were still buzzing through the air. He said Russian planes had been shelling and bombarding the area where the theatre was, that Sea of Azov waterfront all morning.
"I saw that the city centre was covered by fire and constant explosions," he said.
Mariia also remembers military planes "making circles" near the theatre that morning, and "throwing bombs somewhere else". But it was not unusual for her to spot military planes flying in the area. She had got used to their sound.
There are still many details that remain unclear about the attack. It is thought that up to 1,000 people were sheltering in the drama theatre. Some appeared to have based themselves in its underground bunker or bomb shelter, according to others who hid in the building and city authorities. Mariia saw others living in crowded corridors on overground floors.
One thing which is clear from the accounts of the people the BBC spoke to, is that people would wander around the complex, its corridors and grounds, and others would come and go.
The destroyed theatre that Mariia walked away from
The day after the attack, the city council said 130 people had been rescued. A further update said it was possible that many had survived. But there has been no news since then. The city is in such a desperate state that there may never be a clear picture of how many were there and how many survived.
Mariia's home inside the theatre for the days she was there was in an auditorium hall with a chandelier, and she nestled right next to the stage because her dogs had drawn some complaints. She said there were about 30 people in that hall and it is her belief that they must have all perished when the bomb hit. It was sheer luck that she had stepped outside at that moment.
After the blasts she was unable to find her dogs and it was a moment of desperation: "For me," she said, "my dogs were more important than anything."
Vladyslav said he saw many people coming out of the building, something that Mariia saw as well.
"Some were with their luggage," she said. "No-one knew what to do, and the area was still being shelled."
Standing outside the theatre, she too looked at the damage. She realised it made no sense to look for another shelter. It had been a few stunned hours and she eventually left.
She tried to stop any car leaving the city. "People were in panic," she said, "no-one took me in their car." She started to walk along the coast.
"I needed to get out of the city."
First, she got to the village of Pishchanka. "I met a woman," she said, "who asked if I was OK. I started to cry." She was offered tea and food, and invited to spend the night. The next morning, she kept walking, until she reached Melekyne. A curfew meant she had to stop at 20:00. A day later, she walked to Yalta. The following one, to Berdyansk. "I walked all that time," she said.
Mariupol has seen the worst horrors of Russia's aggression on Ukraine. The invading troops have surrounded the city and attacked it relentlessly for almost a month, from the air, land and, in recent days, also from the sea. About 100,000 people remain trapped, subjected to a medieval-like siege. No electricity, no gas, no running water.
When Mariia left her flat for the theatre, her grandmother, who lived with her, refused to go. "She just said: 'It's my apartment, my home. I'm going to die here'."
Mariia is still waiting to hear whether she is alive. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60835106 |
Top US court backs right to be touched at execution by pastor - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Inmate John Henry Ramirez wants a pastor to touch him and say a prayer during his execution in Texas. | The top US court has ruled in favour of a Texas inmate who had argued it is his right to have his pastor touch him and offer a prayer during his execution.
John Henry Ramirez said the state's policy of not allowing spiritual advisers to touch inmates during executions violates their constitutional rights.
In an 8-1 ruling, the Supreme Court said his request could be carried out.
Ramirez was sentenced to death for killing a man during a robbery in 2004.
After Ramirez sued Texas last August, lower courts rejected his requests for his pastor to physically touch him and audibly pray as he died, and declined to block his execution.
Just before he was due to be executed in September 2021, a federal judge rejected his request for a stay for religious reasons.
At the time, the judge said that Texas had "compelling interest" in maintaining an "orderly, safe and effective" execution process, such as by preventing anything interfering with intravenous lines used for lethal injections.
The Supreme Court issued a stay that same month, putting the execution on hold.
In a majority opinion for the Supreme Court released on Thursday, Chief Justice John Roberts rejected the federal judge's argument, noting that a chaplain could feasibly touch a part of the inmate's body away from the IV lines, like the lower leg.
Additionally, Justice Roberts said that Texas "appears to have long allowed prison chaplains to pray with inmates in the execution chamber" and has only prohibited the practice recently. Texas banned all religious chaplains from execution chambers in 2019 after the Supreme Court granted a prisoners' request for a Buddhist monk.
Only one Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas, dissented in Thursday's ruling. He wrote that he believes Ramirez "has manufactured more than a decade of delay to evade the capital sentence".
Following Thursday's ruling, the case will head back to the lower courts - which had earlier ruled in favour of Texas - for more litigating.
In his opinion, Justice Roberts said that more court proceedings "might shed additional light on Texas's interests", adding that Ramirez is "likely to succeed in proving that his religious requests are sincerely based on a religious belief".
In a statement, Ramirez's attorney Seth Kretzer said the Supreme Court decision "clarified that the rule of law is as ubiquitous as God" and that he looks forward to "prevailing in the forthcoming litigation about the issue".
Ramirez, 37, was convicted of stabbing a man 29 times in a robbery 18 years ago that prosecutors said netted the sum of $1.25 (£0.95). After the murder, he fled to Mexico and remained a fugitive there for years before being arrested near the US border.
To date, three people have been executed in the US in 2022. Last year, 11 people were executed compared to 17 in 2020. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-60864940 |
Ukraine: Nato will respond if Russia uses chemical weapons, warns Biden - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The US president made the comments during an unprecedented day of emergency summits in Brussels. | The US president has previously stressed that the US and allies will not send troops to Ukraine
US President Joe Biden has said Nato "would respond" if Russia used chemical weapons in Ukraine.
The president - who is in Europe for talks with allies - did not spell out what that might mean.
His comments came on an unprecedented day of emergency summits in Brussels, where Western leaders showed a united front against Russia's invasion.
Mr Biden is travelling to Poland on Friday where more than two million Ukrainians have fled from the fighting.
Asked whether the use of chemical weapons by Russia's Vladimir Putin would prompt a military response from Nato, Mr Biden replied that it "would trigger a response in kind".
"We would respond if he uses it. The nature of the response would depend on the nature of the use," he said.
Western nations have warned Russia could be preparing to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, as its invasion of the country enters its fifth week.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said it would be "catastrophic" if Mr Putin used chemical weapons, while Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has made it clear it would result in severe consequences.
The White House has set up a national security team to look at how the US and allies should react if Russia launched a chemical attack. But there is no suggestion Nato would respond by using chemical weapons, says BBC US Editor Sarah Smith.
Mr Biden has previously stressed the US and Nato would not send troops to Ukraine over fears of a direct military confrontation with Russia.
The president was speaking after an emergency meeting of Nato leaders to debate how to respond to the possible use of weapons of mass destruction, as well as military aid for Ukraine and tougher sanctions on Moscow.
"The single most important thing is for us to stay united," the president said after the summit.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch what Boris Johnson says about the prospect of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine
Mr Biden is expected to announce a major deal with the EU on liquified natural gas, in an attempt to reduce Europe's reliance on Russian energy.
The agreement would see Washington provide the EU with at least 15 billion additional cubic metres of the fuel by the end of the year.
Four new Nato battlegroups are being deployed to Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria.
The president also said he would support calls for Russia's expulsion from the G20 group of wealthy nations. But he said that would depend on the views of other members.
After a meeting with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on Friday morning, Mr Biden will head to Poland. The president will travel to the city of Rzeszow, close to the border with Ukraine, where he will meet Ukrainian refugees.
Mr Biden has announced the US would take in up to 100,000 Ukrainians and provide an additional $1bn (£756m) in food, medicine, water and other supplies.
More than 3.6 million refugees have fled Ukraine since the invasion began, including more than 2.1 million to Poland.
Mr Biden will also visit US troops who have recently been deployed there. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60870771 |
Pregnant women to receive life-saving pre-eclampsia check - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The test gives an early warning of a condition that can be fatal for the mother and baby, new guidelines say. | A simple blood test can help spot pre-eclampsia, a potentially dangerous condition in pregnancy, and should be offered to women on the NHS, new draft guidelines for England say.
Early diagnosis of this disorder, which affects up to 6% of pregnancies, can save lives, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) says.
The test checks the health of the placenta, which provides nutrients and oxygen to the baby in the womb.
And it can warn early of any problem.
Many hospitals have already started using the placental growth factor (PLGF) test.
PLGF is a protein that helps the development of new blood vessels in the placenta.
Abnormally low levels could be an indicator the placenta is not developing properly.
The new guidelines say midwives caring for pregnant women can use it, alongside other checks, to quickly identify pre-eclampsia.
It can give a result the same day, providing fast reassurance and allowing closer monitoring and extra care to swiftly begin for those who need it.
If the test is normal, pre-eclampsia is unlikely to develop over the next week or so.
Jeanette Kusel, from NICE, said: "These tests represent a step change in the management and treatment of pre-eclampsia.
"This is extremely valuable to doctors and expectant mothers as now they can have increased confidence in their treatment plans and preparing for a safe birth."
Tina Prendeville from Tommy's, a charity funding research into miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth, said: "Tens of thousands of women have already been helped as this testing has been used across the country. With three quarters of maternity units now using it, NICE's consultation is very welcome."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-60860826 |
EU signs US gas deal to curb reliance on Russia - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The liquefied natural gas deal with US is part of EU attempts to reduce reliance on Russian energy. | The US and the EU have announced a major deal on liquified natural gas, in an attempt to reduce Europe's reliance on Russian energy.
The agreement will see the US provide the EU with extra gas, equivalent to around 10% of the gas it currently gets from Russia, by the end of the year.
The bloc has already said it will cut Russian gas use in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia currently supplies about 40% of the EU's gas needs.
The new deal will involve the US and other countries supplying an extra 15 billion cubic metres of gas on top of last year's 22 billion cubic metres.
The new total will represent around 24% of the gas currently imported from Russia.
The eventual aim is for the US and international partners to provide about 50 billion cubic metres per year to the EU.
Cutting reliance on Russia will mean generating more renewable energy and improving energy efficiency as well as increasing imports.
The deal was announced on Friday during a three-day visit by US President Joe Biden to Brussels.
Mr Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen discussed Russia's invasion of Ukraine and offered fresh support to Kyiv.
"Putin is using Russia's energy resources to coerce and manipulate its neighbours," Mr Biden told reporters in Brussels. "He's used the profits to drive his war machine."
He said the long term benefits of the deal would outweigh the short term pain that reducing Russian gas supplies would cause.
"I know that eliminating Russian gas will have costs for Europe, but it's not only the right thing to do from a moral standpoint, it's going to put us on a much stronger strategic footing."
President von der Leyen said: "We want, as Europeans, to diversify away from Russia towards suppliers that we trust that are friends and that are reliable."
She pointed out that the target 50 billion cubic metres per year "is replacing one-third already of the Russian gas going to Europe today. So we are right on track now to diversify away from Russian gas."
The EU gets 40% of its gas from Russia. If it's to wean itself off that dependency, it needs to get its energy elsewhere.
The question is, where from?
Gas is already piped from Norway - but those pipelines are already operating at maximum capacity. The EU gets relatively little from the North Sea.
New supplies will have to come from further afield, in the form of LNG - gas that's been chilled and liquified.
But there's already intense competition for LNG supplies from countries such as Algeria and Qatar, and that's been pushing up prices.
The 50 billion cubic metres of gas a year from the US - more than double the current quantity - would certainly be welcome.
But it still wouldn't fill the gap if Russian supplies were removed.
There are also question marks over how much gas the US can supply, how quickly it can increase exports to the EU - and how much those shipments will cost.
The EU has been enjoying cheap gas for many years - but now it seems to have accepted that era is coming to an end.
Russia's war with Ukraine has helped push energy prices to record highs.
Energy prices were already rising before the invasion as economies started to recover from the Covid crisis.
The Ukraine invasion prompted the EU to pledge to cut Russian gas use by two-thirds this year by hiking imports from other countries and boosting renewable energy.
The White House said that greater energy efficiency can be immediately achieved through increasing the use of smart thermostats and heat pumps.
The EU said that reductions through energy savings in homes can replace 15.5 billion cubic metres this year and that accelerating wind and solar deployment can replace 20 billion cubic metres.
The EU's goal is to save 170 billion cubic metres by 2030 through energy efficiency and by using renewable energy.
That 170 billion on top of the planned 50 billion of additional gas from the US and other countries means Europe's reliance on Russian gas could be replaced by 2030.
In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the US is banning all Russian oil and gas imports and the UK will phase out Russian oil imports by the end of 2022.
The EU has said it will switch to alternative supplies and make Europe independent from Russian energy "well before 2030".
Germany has put on hold permission for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to open.
Meanwhile in the UK petrol prices have hit record highs as oil and gas costs soar.
Oil jumped to $139 a barrel at one point earlier this month, the highest level for almost 14 years, while wholesale gas prices for next-day delivery more than doubled. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60871601 |
'We are not co-operating': Life in occupied Ukraine - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Ukrainian cities are now occupied by Russian troops, and residents are not making them feel welcome. | The scene in Melitopol. "We have not stopped protesting," one resident said
In the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol on Monday, the mayor Ivan Federov sat down at his desk to send out his daily Facebook update.
He told his followers that the Russian forces occupying the city had now taken control of the city's communications network, so they needed to be wary of what they heard on TV and the radio.
How many people would see his warning, he didn't know. Melitopol's internet connection had also all but disappeared, making it nearly impossible to reach people inside by WhatsApp or Telegram call, or stay connected for more than a few minutes.
The ordinary phone lines were no longer an option, Federov told the BBC, when the Telegram app finally connected. "We cannot use," he said. "Too easy for the Russians to listen in."
When the invading forces took control of Melitopol a week ago they ransacked the mayor's offices, Federov said, exiling his team to another location where they are attempting to continue running their city.
"We are not co-operating with the Russians in any way," Federov said emphatically. "They have not tried to help us, they cannot help us, and we do not want their help."
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has claimed he is liberating historically Russian lands and speakers from a Nazi regime. But in Melitopol and a string of other mainly-Russian speaking southern and eastern cities, his forces have found themselves treated as occupiers.
Russian military vehicles are seen on the street in Kherson, south-eastern Ukraine
"There are protests in Melitopol every day," said Yuliya Kovaliova, 33, who before the invasion helped run her family business of electronics stores.
"At some point the Russian army started shooting at us and one man got shot but we have not stopped protesting," Kovaliova said. "We are not afraid to protest because we are together. We are afraid to walk alone at night, but we are not afraid to protest."
About 5,000 people gathered in Melitopol's central square on Tuesday, Federov reckoned, despite the shooting last week, which wounded a man in the leg. Videos have surfaced showing protests in occupied and part-occupied cities and towns across the region - Kherson, Berdyansk, Starobilsk, Novopskov. The BBC reached residents and local mayors to try to understand the situation inside.
"I don't know how to count the number of people protesting, I thought it was 2,000 at least," said Yunona, a 29-year-old IT worker in the southern city of Kherson. "One of our friends was beaten and taken by the Russian soldiers and people got so angry they chased the occupiers down the street and took him back."
The Russian troops in Kherson looked young and uncertain, said Olha, a 63-year-old English teacher. "We go to the protests every day and they are close to us but they look afraid," she said. "We are all just waiting for the Ukrainian army to kick them out."
Berdyansk in the south-east has also seen protestors take to the streets
Reports of serious violence against Ukrainian protesters have been limited, for the most part Russian forces seem to be tensely watching. But some local mayors were facing a dilemma - how much to encourage their citizens to take to the streets.
"Our people need to protest but they also need to save their lives," said Federov, the Melitopol mayor. "I have asked them - please do not go near the Russian soldiers, go around them."
Vadym Gaev, the mayor of Novopskov, a town near Donbas, told the BBC there had been daily protests but they had stopped three days ago when Russian soldiers shot three protestors - non-fatally - and beat another. Gaev said the Russian troops told an intermediary they had authorisation to shoot protesters, so there should be no more protests.
Novopskov appeared to be an example of a strange and uneasy scenario playing out in some parts of Ukraine, where local Ukrainian officials were continuing to function in some form but Russian military forces were in control. In the occupied city of Starobilsk, nearby, mayor Yana Litvinova was also working remotely, she said.
"A new 'administration' has been appointed. The only thing we know is that it is going around government buildings and asking people to co-operate, and they are refusing."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. President Zelensky: We will not give up, and we will not lose
Gaev and his team left town when Russia seized Novopskov, in order to keep his administration running - a move he said had divided residents, some of whom accused him of a betrayal while others said they were grateful he was still able to work.
Two residents of Kherson told the BBC they thought the mayor there had betrayed the city by co-operating with Russian forces - an accusation circulating in Telegram chat groups. Two others said he was simply doing what he could to ensure the city kept running.
The mayor of Kherson, Igor Kolykhayev, told the BBC: "If I had betrayed the city would I still be here? I am in the office every day, working with my team to keep things running."
The priority was to restart food production and get people back to work, Kolykhayev said.
"We are running out of food and there is no aid coming in, it's just not happening," he said. "So we are telling everyone in the city: make any food you can make, manufacture anything you can manufacture."
Most residents who spoke to the BBC from the occupied cities said food was fast running out.
"Shops are almost empty. You can buy the things that are left but very few things are left," said Yuliya Kovaliova, the electronics shop owner from Melitopol. "Pharmacies are empty and my mother can't buy her heart medicine."
Kovaliova said that two Russian trucks with humanitarian markings came into the city centre last week and attempted to hand out food, but they also brought a film crew. Nearly everyone refused, she said.
"Later we saw on it on TV. Russia has taken over the TV towers here so we only have one Russian channel being shown now and it was showing people taking the food and saying how thankful they are to the Russian humanitarian convoy."
Maxim, a 22-year-old piano teacher in the city, also described the supposed humanitarian convoy. "They were filming and people said actors arrived to take the food," he said. Yunona, the IT worker in Kherson, said she saw the same thing there, and Ukrainian media reported on the phenomenon in Berdyansk.
Ivan Federov, the mayor of Melitopol, said he had heard about these 'humanitarian convoys' too. But there were "no real Russian trucks and no real Russian food," he said.
"They could open humanitarian corridors at any time to allow food and medicine in, but they do not want to. We know, we have tried."
On Tuesday afternoon, as usual, Federov put out his daily Facebook update, appealing to anyone in the city who could afford it to pay their utility bills and congratulating Ukraine's women on International Women's Day. "I'm sure the war will end soon and we will celebrate all our holidays in a peaceful, Ukrainian Melitopol," he said.
Are you in Ukraine? Is your family? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60670173 |
HMP Thorn Cross: Killer is second inmate to abscond in two days - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Police hunt for killer Shane Farrington after he absconded from HMP Thorn Cross in Cheshire. | Shane Farrington, who was convicted of manslaughter, absconded from HMP Thorn Cross on Thursday
A second inmate has absconded from a prison within two days.
Shane Farrington, who was convicted of manslaughter, was last seen at HMP Thorn Cross in Warrington at about 18:45 GMT on Thursday, police said.
Another inmate, Jonathan Simpson, was later arrested after he absconded from the Category D prison on Wednesday.
Officers have warned the public not to approach Farrington, last seen wearing a dark-coloured top, blue jeans, black shoes, a dark-coloured coat.
The 39-year-old is known to have links within the Peterborough area.
A Cheshire Police spokesman said multiple searches are being carried out to locate him.
Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-60861281 |
Texts reveal wife of Supreme Court judge urged 2020 election overturn - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Text messages reveal Virginia Thomas pushed ex-President Trump's staff not to concede the election. | The wife of a US Supreme Court judge repeatedly pressed Trump White House staff to overturn the 2020 presidential election, US media has reported.
Virginia Thomas, wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, reportedly sent 29 text messages to former adviser Mark Meadows, urging him not to concede.
Ms Thomas called Joe Biden's victory "the greatest heist of our history".
The texts are among 2,320 messages Mr Meadows provided to a committee investigating the US Capitol riot.
In the text messages, seen by CBS News and The Washington Post, she urged Mr Meadows, who was Donald Trump's chief of staff, to "make a plan" in a bid to save his presidency.
"Do not concede. It takes time for the army who is gathering for his back", she wrote on 6 November. It is unclear if Mr Meadows responded.
Ms Thomas also appeared to push QAnon conspiracy theories and urged Mr Meadows to appoint Sidney Powell, a conspiracy theorist and lawyer, to head up Mr Trump's legal team.
"Sounds like Sidney and her team are getting inundated with evidence of fraud," Ms Thomas wrote. "Release the Kraken and save us from the left taking America down."
Mr Meadows told Ms Thomas that he intended to "stand firm" and said that he "will fight until there is no fight left".
The Trump campaign later distanced itself from Ms Powell, after she made dramatic claims of voter fraud, without providing any evidence, at several media events.
Virginia Thomas - who goes by Ginni - is a prominent Republican fundraiser. She was formerly associated with the Tea Party wing of the party, a hard-line conservative movement to which Mr Meadows was also affiliated during his time in the House of Representatives.
She has been married to conservative-leaning Justice Clarence Thomas for 35 years, and has insisted her activist work has no influence on her husband's work with the Supreme Court.
In 2010, she made headlines for asking Anita Hill to apologise for accusing Mr Thomas of harassment during his confirmation hearings in 1991.
Clarence Thomas, who was released from hospital on Friday after suffering from flu-like symptoms, is the longest-serving member of the US Supreme Court, having served since 1991.
He is considered extremely influential in American law, but for much of his career rarely spoke or asked questions in court until 2016 when he broke a 10-year silence.
Since the Covid pandemic began, however, Mr Thomas has become more vocal and participates in most oral arguments.
In February 2021 the Supreme Court rejected Donald Trump's challenges to the elections result, however Mr Thomas dissented from the decision, calling it "baffling".
The revelation of Ginni Thomas's conspiracy-minded text messages have prompted critics on the left to call for Clarence Thomas to be impeached and removed from his lifetime seat on the Supreme Court.
They point to his lone dissent from the Supreme Court decision ordering the release of White House documents to the congressional committee investigating the 6 January Capitol attack as evidence that he was secretly protecting his wife, who was closely involved in efforts to overturn Donald Trump's election defeat.
Mr Thomas's defenders counter that he should not be held responsible for the activities of his spouse and, in any regard, there are no ethical rules that apply to high court justices.
The impeachment process for Supreme Court justices is the same as those for US presidents - a majority vote in the House of Representatives and two-thirds to convict and remove in the US Senate. That's an unreachable bar given the current partisan divide of the latter chamber.
In fact, only one US Supreme Court justice has been impeached by the House in US history. Samuel Chase was accused of political bias and misdeeds in 1804. He was acquitted in the Senate by a comfortable margin.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: How the US marked the Capitol riot anniversary | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-60871794 |
FA Cup: Liverpool's Jordan Henderson thinks Man City semi-final should have been switched from Wembley - BBC Sport | 2022-03-25 | Liverpool's Jordan Henderson says it would "would make sense" to have switched the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Manchester City from Wembley. | Last updated on .From the section FA Cup
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson says it would "would make sense" to have switched the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Manchester City away from Wembley.
He was speaking after the Football Association said it would provide 100 free buses for fans attending the game.
Fans of both clubs and mayors of the respective cities had asked for a venue change given no trains are running from either city to London that weekend.
But the game will go ahead at Wembley.
The match is being shown live on BBC One, on Saturday, 16 April at 15:30 BST.
"I think this time, I've been thinking a bit more about the fans," Henderson said. "In many ways it's their day, and not being able to get down to London for different reasons - the cost of that... in my head it would make sense obviously to change it to a [different] neutral venue, especially with it being two teams from the north-west.
"That's just my opinion. There's obviously complications within that, I'm sure, which the FA have got to overcome but looking at the fans - which is probably the most important thing for me and something that we've learned over the past couple of years how important the fans are to football - it is really disappointing to see that it's a struggle and it's got to be expensive for them to get there."
Henderson, who will hope to feature for England in Saturday's friendly against Switzerland at Wembley (17:30 GMT), said he also thinks semi-finals should always be played away from the national stadium.
"I love playing at Wembley - I would like to keep Wembley for finals anyway," he said.
"I think that was quite exciting, quite good and then obviously the final at Wembley to make it extra special."
The FA said "unessential roadworks" will also be paused to aid journeys on the day of the semi-final.
"The FA recognises the significant challenges that are being faced by some Liverpool and Manchester City supporters with train services being severely limited," an FA statement added.
The FA has also pledged "a number of free return bus services" for Manchester City fans attending the Women's FA Cup semi-final away to West Ham at 12:15 on Saturday, 16 April.
Unlike the men's semi-finals, which are held at Wembley each season, the women's semis are not held at a neutral venue.
City's trip to West Ham will be live on BBC One, while Arsenal's game at home to Chelsea at 12:30 on Sunday, 17 April will be shown on BBC Two, with both semi-finals also available on BBC iPlayer.
In a joint letter to the FA, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Liverpool counterpart Steve Rotheram had said keeping the game at Wembley would cause fans "excessive cost and inconvenience".
They argued a lack of train services, due to engineering works, would "price fans out of the game" and lead to extra journeys on motorways already "stretched to capacity by bank holiday traffic".
However, the FA has resisted calls to switch the venue, instead attempting to minimise travel disruption through talks with Network Rail, National Express and National Highways.
The free return bus journeys "will ensure that up to 5,000 Liverpool and Manchester City supporters will be able to travel to Wembley Stadium free of charge", its statement said.
"Hundreds of miles of unessential roadworks will be put on hold to help supporters enjoy the occasion and enhance their journeys," the FA added.
Places on the free buses must be pre-booked with the clubs involved.
Both FA Cup semi-finals have been played at Wembley since 2008 - before that, the semis had mostly been held at neutral Premier League grounds.
The other FA Cup semi-final is between London clubs Chelsea and Crystal Palace so there is no issue over the venue. That semi-final will take place on Sunday, 17 April, with a 16:30 kick-off.
Manchester City v Liverpool - Saturday, 16 April, 15:30, Wembley Stadium, on BBC One and BBC iPlayer
West Ham United v Manchester City - Saturday, 16 April, 12:15, on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC Radio 5 Live
Arsenal v Chelsea - Sunday, 17 April, 12:30 on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer and BBC Radio 5 Live
• None Watch all of the latest FA Cup highlights and reaction here | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60873713 |
Bella-Rae Birch: Dog that killed toddler was legal American Bully XL - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Detectives confirm an American Bully XL dog killed 17-month-old Bella-Rae Birch in St Helens. | Bella-Rae Birch's family said she would be "sadly missed but never forgotten"
A toddler who was mauled to death in her own home was killed by an American Bully XL dog, police have confirmed.
Bella-Rae Birch, who was 17 months old, died in hospital after the attack in St Helens at about 15:50 GMT on Monday.
Merseyside Police said the toddler was attacked only a week after her family had bought the dog.
Tests have confirmed the dog was a legal breed and not subject to any prohibitions under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, the force added.
Currently there are four dog breeds banned in the UK - Pitbull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brasileiro.
Detectives said inquiries were ongoing into the dog attack
The attack happened at the family's home in Bidston Avenue in the Blackbrook area of St Helens.
One neighbour said the child's parents were "hysterical".
"We pulled up from school and heard screaming. I just ran over to try to help and started CPR until the paramedics took over," she said.
"I didn't see the dog, I was just focusing on helping the baby."
Detectives said the force was continuing their inquiries into the toddler's death and urged anyone with information to come forward.
In a statement following her death, Bella-Rae's family said they would "like to thank the community for their support".
"We would ask that we are now allowed some space and time to try and come to terms with the tragic loss of our much-loved Bella-Rae," they added.
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-60866899 |
Royal tour: Cherish your friends, Kate tells schoolchildren in Bahamas as trip ends - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | William and Catherine saw a traditional parade and visited a school on the last day of their tour. | Catherine was all smiles despite the torrential rain that accompanied the royal visit to Sybil Strachan Primary School
The Duchess of Cambridge told children to "cherish" their friends during a visit to a primary school in the Bahamas.
Catherine spoke of the challenges pupils faced in being apart from classmates and teachers when schools shut for two years during the pandemic.
She said the friendships made at school were "special" and urged the youngsters to "cherish... and take time for them".
Her remarks came on the last day of William and Catherine's Caribbean tour.
The royal tour has seen activists calling for the monarchy to pay reparations for the slave trade and Prince William tell of his "sorrow" over slavery in a speech in Jamaica.
The duke and duchess sheltered from torrential rain under umbrellas as they arrived in Nassau on Friday.
They jokingly apologised for bringing typical British weather to the Bahamas as hundreds of people gathered to see the royal couple in the capital.
The deluge did little to dampen the carnival atmosphere as the couple watched a traditional Bahamian Junkanoo parade featuring performers in elaborate costumes.
The duke and duchess watched performers in elaborate costumes in the Junkanoo carnival
The duke and duchess sheltered under umbrellas as they watched the parade in the capital Nassau
Earlier, William and Catherine praised the efforts of key workers during the pandemic, with the duchess speaking to medics at the Princess Margaret Hospital about the importance of mental and physical health.
The duke met members of the Bahamas Red Cross who had dealt with the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in 2019 before being deployed to Covid-19 hubs.
In a bid to lighten the mood, he said: "We don't want any more disasters for you, let's hope the Bahamas Red Cross has a boring few years!"
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: The Duchess of Cambridge tells Bahamian schoolchildren, "I see all of you as the stars of this country"
On their first engagement of the day at Sybil Strachan primary school, the royal couple joined an assembly, where students presented them with a portrait of the Queen.
In a speech, Catherine told pupils the pandemic had "taken you away from your classrooms and your friends and learning from home has had its challenges".
"That is why it is so wonderful that after nearly two years away, you have recently returned to school and been reunited with your teachers and friends again," she said.
Palace staff must be wondering how the defining image of the Cambridges' trip to the Caribbean was not the explosion of joy and pleasure that greeted the couple in Trench Town, in the Jamaican capital of Kingston.
But instead, what looked to many as some sort of white-saviour parody, with Catherine and William fleetingly making contact with the outstretched fingers of Jamaican children, pushing through a wire fence.
It was a bad misstep for a couple who are surprisingly media-savvy. And it was not the only one on this curiously disorganised trip.
The first engagement in Belize was hurriedly cancelled following a protest by some residents. Another smaller protest popped up on the day they arrived in Jamaica.
It is worth noting that many things went well. Prince William's speeches were thoughtful and well-received.
And at their various events, the Cambridges thanked those who so often go un-thanked and unrewarded for their efforts, drawing attention to stubbornly unfashionable causes and issues.
You can read Jonny's full analysis here.
The duchess, who has carried out extensive work on early learning and child development, added: "The connections, the relationships and friendships that you make during school are so special.
"So please look after them, cherish them and take time for them. And be kind, understanding and loving to yourself and others."
She also praised the "spectacular natural environment" of the Bahamas and said she hoped the couple's three children, Prince George, eight, Princess Charlotte, six, and Prince Louis, three, might experience its "clear waters and beautiful beaches before too long".
William and Catherine met students at Sybil Strachan Primary School in Nassau on the final day of their tour
William and Catherine were given a painting of the Queen during the school visit
The duke and duchess arrived in the Bahamas from Jamaica on Thursday, and were greeted by Prime Minister Philip Davis, who conveyed his best wishes to the Queen, "and congratulations on her Platinum Jubilee".
He added: "I do not think we will see the same again," to which William nodded.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge posed for a photograph with the Prime Minister of the Bahamas Philip Davis and his wife Ann-Marie Davis
The Cambridges' week-long tour to mark the Queen's 70 years on the throne has seen them visit Belize and Jamaica before their final stop in the Bahamas.
In Belize, the royal couple got involved in some traditional dancing, visited a chocolate farm and learned about efforts to conserve Belize's barrier reef.
In Jamaica, they visited the neighbourhood where reggae legend Bob Marley lived and played football with England forward Raheem Sterling, who was born on the island.
The royal tour has seen demonstrators urge the monarchy to pay reparations for its role in the slave trade. In Jamaica, there have been calls for the Queen to be removed as head of state.
Their trip comes four months after Barbados became a republic.
During a speech at a dinner in Jamaica, William described slavery as abhorrent, saying it "should never have happened" and "forever stains our history".
The island's prime minister, Andrew Holness, had earlier told the future king his country planned to pursue its goals as an independent country. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60879605 |
Ukraine crisis tests unity as Biden visits Europe - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The president's trip to the continent is welcomed with wariness in Brussels, says BBC Europe Editor Katya Adler. | US President Joe Biden met with G7 leaders in Brussels on Thursday, including Germany's Olaf Scholz and the UK's Boris Johnson
After the disinterested, often EU-antagonistic Trump-years, the US is back with bells on when it comes to involvement in European security.
That's more or less been the message of President Joe Biden during his late-week dash to G7, EU and Nato summits in Brussels on Thursday, with a fly-by to Poland on Friday.
The president's visit was borne out of the shadows of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And its aim was two-fold:
Biden says he's offering the EU access to US natural gas and hydrogen supplies, as the bloc tries to wean itself off a heavy reliance on Russian energy. This will take time to organise.
The US president also made headlines during his European trip, announcing any chemical attack launched by Russia in Ukraine would be met "in kind" by Nato. Though he declined to go into detail.
Washington had so far shown huge reluctance to get too involved in Ukraine for fear of provoking a wider war with nuclear power Russia.
Eastern Europeans have expressed frustration in past weeks at the point-blank refusal by the White House to contemplate imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, for instance.
Those same countries now welcome what they view as a change in Biden's tone. Though what he means in practice about a "proportionate" response should the Kremlin use weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine, has been left - possibly intentionally - vague.
But while this new US interest and intervention has been welcomed by Europe's leaders, Brussels still suffers from an acute case of post-Trump wariness.
It's too simplistic to suggest the EU is now resolutely pivoting away from reliance on Russian energy and business ties, towards Washington instead.
France demands the EU avoid becoming dependent on any one country outside the bloc, including the US.
Donald Trump being re-elected president in 2024 is seen here as a very real possibility.
France's Emmanuel Macron (right) does not want the EU to be dependent on any outside country, including the US
Instead, President Emmanuel Macron favours what he calls strategic sovereignty for the EU: where the bloc boosts its own energy and food production, technological advances and defence capabilities. The latter would be designed, Mr Macron is at pains to emphasise, to complement rather than rival Nato.
Frankly, even if the EU wanted to trump the alliance in terms of defence, it's beyond the realms of the realistic.
As is the idea that, five weeks into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, intra-EU unity would still be 100% watertight.
Central and Eastern European countries that now fear for their own security have been nicknamed the "sanctionistas". They favour far tougher, swifter sanctions against Moscow. Penalties introduced so far by the West have failed miserably to force Russia's Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and secure a realistic ceasefire in Ukraine, they argue.
Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz (left) has rejected Eastern European demands for tougher measures on Russia
Germany leads the more cautious EU members. Sanctions against Russia should have minimal repercussions in the countries imposing them, its Chancellor Olaf Scholz said this week. He's ruled out an Eastern European demand for an immediate ban on Russian oil, for instance. The EU relies on Russia for a third of its crude oil supplies. Losing that would send Germany and the rest of the EU plummeting into a recession, says Chancellor Scholz.
You probably remember Berlin trumpeting a new era at the start of Russia's onslaught in Ukraine. With promises to build up the German army and to end the country's decades-long dependence on Russian energy and close business ties.
But many in Brussels are now questioning Germany's resolve.
The more brutal the Kremlin's assault becomes in Ukraine, the tougher the choices facing western leaders as to how far they're willing to intervene. And the harder it will be for President Biden to maintain the united front he came to Europe to emphasise.
A big test for EU and transatlantic unity comes next week when Brussels hosts the EU-China summit. Coached by the US President, his counter-part in the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, promises to make it "absolutely clear" to Beijing that it will face "severe consequences" if China helps Russia get round economic sanctions or sends military support.
Will Germany drags it heels as to what form "severe consequences" might take? Berlin had pledged unwavering solidarity with Ukraine. That said, China is Germany's third most important trading partner. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60865385 |
Richard Curtis: Ferrell should have had Oscar nomination for Elf - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Screenwriter and director Richard Curtis says awards voters often overlook comedy and its actors. | Will Ferrell starred in the hugely popular Christmas film Elf in 2003
Screenwriter and director Richard Curtis has said it is a "real issue that comedy isn't respected as much" at key awards ceremonies like the Oscars.
The Love Actually director said awards voters often overlook the genre, "particularly the actors".
"I always get very antsy about the fact that Will Ferrell didn't get nominated for Elf," Curtis said at the Oscar Wilde Awards in Los Angeles.
"Or that Peter Sellers didn't get nominated for Inspector Clouseau."
He added: "But it's the price you pay, as it were. Comedies tend to make a bit of money, and then you don't get the prizes."
Curtis, who is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said he would have voted for Ferrell's performance in the hugely popular 2003 Christmas film, but "wasn't given the chance" because the actor was not nominated.
Each category's nominees at the Oscars are decided by their own peers - which means actors can only be nominated by other actors. Then once nominations are announced, all Academy members can vote in every category.
Richard Curtis and wife Emma Freud attended the Oscar Wilde Awards on Thursday
Curtis added: "I think it's a real issue that comedy isn't respected as much... but I do try and push for comedy performances whenever I can."
The 65-year-old, who also wrote Notting Hill and co-wrote the adaptation of Bridget Jones's Diary, has only received one Academy Award nomination - for Four Weddings and Funeral's screenplay in 1994.
This year, the satirical Don't Look Up is the only comedy among the 10 best picture nominees.
The film uses a deadly comet headed for Earth as a metaphor for climate change and the dangers of ignoring it, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence.
Its director Adam McKay told BBC News the comedic treatment was part of the reason so many A-list stars joined the film's cast.
"I think everyone was just excited to deal with these dark times with a sense of humour," he said. "So everyone just jumped on board right away. It was one of those crazy movies."
Don't Look Up is one of the most widely-seen film in a mixed best picture race this year.
Having bypassed cinemas, the movie found a sizeable audience on Netflix over Christmas and New Year. Netflix previously said it was the service's second most successful film to date, behind Red Notice.
Adam McKay directed the Netflix satire Don't Look Up
"It's hard to tell from their numbers but it seems like a lot of people saw it," McKay said. "Conservatively, definitely in the hundreds of millions watched it. And from reactions around the world from Pakistan, Nigeria, Vietnam, Brazil, Ukraine, it's been really remarkable to see the world reaction to the movie."
Curtis and McKay were speaking at the Oscar Wilde Awards, an annual event that takes place just before the Academy Awards and aims to strengthen ties between Ireland and the US.
This is a particularly strong year for Irish talent and Irish-themed films, with Sir Kenneth Branagh's autobiographical Belfast nominated for six Oscars.
But it's uncertain how many of the cast will make it to the ceremony in LA, after several people behind the film caught Covid.
Reflecting on awards season, Belfast star Jamie Dornan said: "It's just mad, there's a lot of commitments, a lot happening, people are excited.
"There are still all kinds of Covid protocols to jump through. No-one in the world is more Covid-tested than me in the last few months, it's been wild."
Jamie Dornan says he has taken a "wild" number of Covid tests in recent months
Asked if best director nominee Sir Kenneth and best supporting actor nominee Ciarán Hinds would attend the ceremony, Dornan replied: "We're hoping so, I don't know, it's all going to be very last minute.
"[Getting Covid] is the risk that you take from travelling around talking about this movie, going to the awards, going to the Baftas. The Baftas seem to be a wee bit of an event where a few people picked it up.
"I've just been texting with Ciarán Hinds saying, 'Please tell me you're going to be OK for Sunday', because imagine the career he's had, and everything he's put in, and he's nominated for his first Oscar and can't go. That would be awful."
The big acting winner at Sunday's Academy Awards is expected to be Will Smith, who is likely to win his first Oscar for his performance in King Richard for playing the father of Venus and Serena Williams.
The film's director Reinaldo Marcus Green said "it would mean a lot" for Smith to win the film industry's top acting honour at this stage in his career.
"I'm a fan first, I grew up watching Will like everybody else, and to see him, I'm just rooting for him. To work with him, see his dedication, see how motivated he is, to put on the performance he did, he did the work."
Reinaldo Marcus Green has directed Will Smith to potentially his first Oscar win
"I've always thought it was Will's time [to win an Oscar]. I thought it was Will's time from the moment I met him and we sat down for this role."
The Power of the Dog director Jane Campion was criticised recently when she said that Venus and Serena Williams don't have to compete against men in tennis matches in the same way she has to for film awards.
She later apologised, saying it was "a thoughtless comment equating what I do in the film world with all that Serena Williams and Venus Williams have achieved".
Asked about the controversy, Green said: "I haven't spoken to anybody about it, and I think, like everybody, Jane is a master. I'm sure she meant no harm by that, and she apologised for it, so I think we've all moved on like everybody else and we're rooting for Jane too, Jane is a special film-maker."
But Campion's The Power of the Dog is still a strong best picture candidate, along with Apple TV's Coda. Either way, it means a streaming service could take home the best picture trophy for the first time.
McKay, whose film Don't Look Up is also a Netflix release, said: "I love seeing a movie in a theatre I will never back off that as an experience.
"But I also think we're learning there are a lot of diverse ways to see movies and especially with the pandemic, this could be the year for it, it definitely could, and I think it's valid, I think given what we've been through this would be a good year for it to happen."
The Oscars take place on Sunday 27 March. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60872722 |
Dairy giant Arla warns of supply issues unless farmers paid more - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The UK's largest dairy says its farmers are struggling to cover costs due to rising production prices. | The UK's largest dairy has warned milk supplies could be under threat unless its farmers are paid more.
The managing director of Arla Foods said costs are increasing at rates never seen before and that farmers can no longer cover their expenses.
"Because of the recent crisis, feed, fuel and fertiliser have rocketed and therefore cashflow on the farm is negative," said Ash Amirahmadi.
He added farmers are producing less milk as a result of the higher costs.
"UK dairy farmers have been producing more for about the last seven to eight years but it's now going the other way," Mr Amirahmadi told the BBC.
"In February, they produced 2% less and in March it's 4%."
With cost increases of some 36%, he warned farmers are facing some hard decisions and that they need confidence to carry on producing.
And that means securing a higher price from Arla's customers - the supermarkets.
"The most important thing now is that we put our arm around the farmers…and pay our farmers more to cover their costs to make sure the milk is flowing, " said Mr Amirahmadi.
Arla Foods is the fifth biggest dairy company in the world and the largest supplier of fresh milk and cream in the UK. The co-operative has 2,100 dairy farmers in the UK and 8,950 across Europe.
David Christensen is an Arla dairy farmer based in Oxfordshire
David Christensen, an Arla dairy farmer based in Oxfordshire, said he had "never experienced conditions like this in 30 years" of working in the industry.
His fertiliser bill has jumped from £350 to £900 a tonne and his fuel has more than doubled - cost increases he won't be able to absorb after the summer.
"There's no doubt, if the economics don't stack up one of the options is to scale back production...milk prices need to go up. It's no longer sustainable," he said.
The boss of Arla said the price of milk in the shops is 7% lower now than it was 10 years ago.
But the price consumers pay is different to the prices which farmers receive to produce it.
For farmers the break even price is key. This includes any extra income and government subsidies.
Over the years, the industry has kept costs down by becoming more efficient and many supermarkets have direct contracts with farmers based on their own cost of production models to try to give them a fairer deal.
But industry sources have said even these so-called aligned contracts are failing to keep up with sky rocketing costs.
Mr Amirahmadi's comments come as his business unveiled a five-year plan to grow and future proof the business at the same time it faces pressure from surges in inflation.
Arla believes increasing global demand for dairy is an opportunity for farmers in the UK. The prices paid to farmers abroad are now 15% higher than the prices paid to farmers here.
It's already trialling the export of fresh British milk for processing at its European sites which is then sold on international markets.
The dairy giant is the first producer to consider doing this at scale.
"The good news here for farmers and actually the British dairy industry is that the opportunities of export give farmers more options and therefore it means that the whole of the UK dairy industry should get a lift as a result of those markets," Mr Amirahmadi said.
As for the UK, he believes the dynamics need to change. He said for too many years the liquid milk market has been failing to deliver for farmers.
"Over the next five years we will have to make some tough decisions about where our milk goes to ensure farmers can cover their costs and continue to invest in reducing their on-farm emissions," he added.
"The profitability of some of our milk contracts will need to increase significantly when up for renewal in order to compete with more attractive business opportunities that are opening up." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60825516 |
P&O Ferries ship detained over crew training concerns - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | It comes after 800 of the firm's staff were sacked and replaced with workers on cheaper wages. | A P&O Ferries ship is being held in Northern Ireland because it is "unfit to sail", nine days after the company sacked 800 workers without notice.
The European Causeway had been held in Larne over "failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training", the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said.
P&O Ferries said it would make changes to return the ship to service.
Protests at UK ports are calling on customers to boycott the company.
They gathered in Dover, Hull and Liverpool, chanting slogans such as "don't go P&O" and "seize the ship".
Protestors from the RMT Union are attempting to block access to the Pride of Rotterdam in Hull docks.
Meanwhile, the Trades Union Congress tweeted a video it said showed P&O dockers in Rotterdam refusing to load freight onto a ferry set for Hull in solidarity with sacked workers.
Unions have raised fears over a lack of training of new crew, after the firm replaced their members with workers whose average hourly rate of pay would be £5.50, less than the UK minimum wage.
As the company's ships operate internationally and are registered overseas, the UK minimum hourly rate of £8.91 does not apply.
At the Dover protest, RMT union national secretary Darren Procter said: "Bringing a crew on board a vessel they're not familiar with to sail across the busiest shipping lane in the world, carrying passengers, is going to be a dangerous act."
He said the MCA should detain every other P&O Ferries vessel around the UK on the basis they are not fit to sail.
RMT union members have been protesting at Dover, calling on customers to boycott the ferry company
The European Causeway sails between Larne and Cairnryan in Scotland. P&O Ferries told customers on Twitter that its services on this route were suspended, adding: "It is no longer possible for us to arrange travel via an alternative operator on this route.
"For essential travel, customers are advised to seek alternatives themselves."
There were no passengers or freight aboard the European Causeway when it was impounded in Larne, the MCA confirmed.
It said the vessel would remain under detention until all issues were resolved by P&O Ferries.
Seamus Leheny, of freight industry body Logistics UK, said rival ferry operator Stena had increased capacity through Belfast by 50% but the situation was still causing difficulties for businesses.
"It's not sustainable to have so much freight coming through Belfast... we want that Larne service back up and running as soon as possible," he added.
On Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson backed Transport Secretary Grant Shapps's calls for the boss of P&O Ferries to resign.
Peter Hebblethwaite admitted to MPs that he broke the law by not consulting workers ahead of the job cuts - but said he would do the same again if he had to.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. ‘P&O Ferries weren’t just jobs they were our homes’
Mr Shapps wrote on social media that the European Causeway's detention followed an instruction from him to the MCA to inspect "all P&O vessels" before they entered back into service.
"I will not compromise the safety of these vessels, and P&O will not be able to rush inexperienced crew through training," he added.
Labour's Louise Haigh called for the sacked workers to be reinstated and for Mr Hebblethwaite to be "barred" as a director.
"The shameful misconduct of P&O Ferries has ruined livelihoods, and is harming the UK's key shipping routes," the shadow transport secretary wrote on Twitter.
P&O Ferries said in a statement that an MCA inspection had deemed the European Causeway "not sufficiently ready for entry into operation".
"We shall review the findings, make any changes required and continue to work closely with the MCA to return the ship to service."
Meanwhile P&O Ferries services between Dover and Calais remain cancelled. The firm said it would organise an alternative carrier for passengers.
Saturday evening's service from Rotterdam to Hull is also suspended, the firm said - but the evening service from Hull to Rotterdam is expected to sail on time. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60881550 |
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will go ahead after missile attack - BBC Sport | 2022-03-25 | The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is expected to go ahead as planned after hours of meetings following a missile attack near the track in Jeddah. | Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is expected to go ahead as planned after hours of meetings following a missile attack near the track in Jeddah.
The drivers spent four hours after practice on Friday discussing whether the race should be run.
But eventually at 2.30am local time on Saturday, after further reassurances from bosses, they agreed to race.
After an extraordinary series of events, team bosses emerged from the meetings to say: "We will be racing."
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• None How to follow the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack on an oil depot about nine miles from the track, according to the Associated Press.
Second practice was delayed by 15 minutes after the attack as team bosses and drivers were called to a meeting with F1 president Stefano Domenicali.
The drivers went into a meeting with Domenicali and managing director Ross Brawn about an hour after the end of practice and that meeting did not end for another four hours, as various senior figures came and went.
BBC Sport has learned that a significant number of drivers had concerns about the safety of the event following the attack.
But eventually they were convinced to go ahead and race after being given further information by bosses.
Part of this information involved the possible consequences of not racing, such as how easily teams and drivers would be able to leave the country if the race did not happen.
The first signs of the attack came as smoke had billowed across the track during the first practice session in the afternoon.
Before second practice, Domenicali called teams and drivers to a meeting and told them the weekend would proceed as planned and that security for the grand prix has been a priority for the authorities.
He said he would keep them updated through the weekend and met them again just over an hour after practice finished to share further information.
But the drivers continued to be concerned about the potential risks of racing so close to a missile strike on a high-profile Saudi facility. The grand prix is also closely associated with the Saudi royal family.
All the drivers' post-practice media sessions were cancelled.
F1 said after practice had finished but before the drivers went into their marathon meeting: "Formula 1 has been in close contact with the relevant authorities following the situation that took place today.
"The authorities have confirmed that the event can continue as planned and we will remain in close contact with them and all the teams and closely monitor the situation."
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of F1's governing body the FIA, said: "They are targeting the infrastructure, not the civilians, and, of course, not the track. We've checked the facts and we've got assurances from the highest level that this is a secure place. Let's go on racing."
There was a similar attack a week before the race, while F1 was at the opening event of the season in Bahrain.
The Jeddah Corniche circuit is surrounded by coastline
Once second practice started, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc set the fastest time by 0.14 seconds from Red Bull's Max Verstappen. But the Monegasque, winner of the first race of the season in Bahrain last weekend, later hit the wall at Turn Four and damaged his car's steering.
Verstappen's best time was set on the harder medium tyres while Leclerc's was on the soft, because traffic and other interruptions prevented the Dutchman completing his run on the softs.
However, Verstappen was 0.2secs down on Leclerc's fastest time before he had to abort what would have been his best lap on the soft tyres.
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was third fastest, also with a fastest time on the mediums, after he too hit the wall, this time on the exit of Turn 13 and without damaging his car.
Red Bull's Sergio Perez was fourth fastest, ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. The pair were just over 0.1secs apart and Hamilton was 0.4secs off the pace.
The Mercedes cars were again suffering badly from aerodynamic bouncing - or "porpoising" - as their main limitation.
As a result, Hamilton and Russell were 0.4secs off the pace by the time they reached Turn 13, the halfway point of the track, because of the bouncing affecting confidence through the high-speed swerves of the first sector.
After that, they did not lose significant time to the fastest cars.
The Ferrari drivers' incidents meant they were unable to go out again in the final part of the session to do their race-simulation runs on high fuel.
Behind the Mercedes, Lando Norris was seventh for McLaren, after a more encouraging showing for the team following their dismal start to the season in Bahrain, when the McLaren was the third slowest car.
Esteban Ocon's Alpine was eighth fastest, ahead of Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas and Yuki Tsunoda's Alpha Tauri.
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• None The rise of the American far right: | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/60880598 |
Ukraine war: The priest shot at a checkpoint - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The shooting of a Ukrainian priest by Russian soldiers is being logged as a suspected war crime. | Ukraine's Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has said the country is in the process of documenting thousands of incidents believed to contravene its criminal code on the rules of war.
As of 24 March, there have been 2,472 cases documented by her office. On Wednesday, Ms Venediktova outlined to the media how the country is handling these cases.
"Where we see that we will be successful in Ukrainian jurisdiction, and where the perpetrator of a crime will physically be in Ukraine, we will follow one strategy," she said.
"If we understand that we are not able to have success in Ukraine, we will put our resources towards the International Criminal Court, so that a specific person, an individual, suffers the punishment."
The following is an account gathered by the BBC of just one of the incidents that have been logged as a suspected war crime.
It was just over a week into Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A group of volunteers - neighbours and friends - from the small village of Yasnohorodka, 40km west of Kyiv, had taken up their positions at a checkpoint guarding the entrance to the community.
Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces was already brutally fierce. Across the country, checkpoints were springing up at the entrance to towns and villages - mostly manned by local volunteers without any formal military training.
On the afternoon of 5 March, Rostyslav Dudarenko, the village priest, was at the Yasnohorodka checkpoint. His role was to check approaching vehicles. But like all military chaplains he was also there to offer the group spiritual support. He was dressed in civilian clothes.
It is not possible to establish exactly what happened, but one survivor of the attack, Yukhym (not his real name), told the BBC he had been manning the checkpoint with Dudarenko and around a dozen others when they learned three Russian tanks had driven through the village. He says the group decided to hide in the woods, ready to confront them if necessary.
As they approached the checkpoint, the Russian troops started "firing in all directions", Yukhym told the BBC. "When they realised we were hiding in the grass, they went off road to run us over with tanks."
He says the tanks had driven back to the road when Dudarenko decided to break cover.
"I saw Rostyslav raise the cross above his head, get up from his hideaway, screaming something and walking towards them. Perhaps he wanted to stop them. I tried to call him."
He says shots were then fired in the direction of the priest, and from his viewpoint at the time, they appeared to be aimed directly at Dudarenko. "And that was it. He made just a couple of steps and fell."
Yukhym, who himself was shot and injured in the attack, believes they would all have been killed if Ukraine's armed forces had not at that moment arrived to push the Russian forces back.
The voluntary group Dudarenko, 45, had joined had no military status. A couple had some military training - having previous experience in the long-running conflict with Russia in the Donbas in the east, according to another volunteer called Eduard (not his real name). Some were simply amateur hunters. Most were over the age of 50, he told the BBC.
Eduard, who was stationed at a different checkpoint, arrived just as the Russian tanks were driving away to find bodies scattered on the road. He said these included Dudarenko and his assistant - who had also been unarmed - two other defence volunteers and another person he did not know.
Dudarenko's mother Nadiia says her only son was determined to play his part.
"He wanted to be able to protect everyone," Nadiia told the BBC. "I tried to talk him out of it but I couldn't argue with him."
Dudarenko and his congregation hold a memorial service for villagers killed by Nazis in 1941
The group were armed with hunting rifles plus a small number of Russian army Kalashnikovs that had come into their possession, and had just three bulletproof vests between them. But as a priest, Dudarenko refused to bear arms, his friend and fellow priest Serhii Tsoma told the BBC.
This made him particularly vulnerable when he decided to confront the tanks, but such an action was in his nature, according to eyewitness Yukhym.
"Rostyslav was a kind and optimistic person. I think that's why he went to try and stop the Russians."
He was well known in Yasnohorodka as someone always ready to help others, driving round the village to collect older congregation members before Sunday mass, says his friend Tsoma.
His services themselves were also self-sacrificing, says one of his regular congregation, Tetyana Pylypchuk.
Dudarenko belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which was finally granted independence from the Russian Orthodox Church in 2019, in a move never recognised by Russia.
Before the formal split, the Orthodox Church in Ukraine was divided between two branches, one loyal to Moscow, and one loyal to Kyiv. Although Dudarenko served in a church aligned with Kyiv, when pro-Russian former president Viktor Yanukovych took power in Ukraine in 2010 the Moscow Patriarchate began to take over Kyiv Patriarchate churches, including the one Dudarenko served in.
So rather than betray his principles, his friends say, he left the church and conducted his services out in the open - even in the rain. He later built a makeshift church in his trailer, with the help of donations.
"Our church is orphaned without you, Father," wrote Tetyana in a tribute on her Facebook page.
As has been the case with thousands of such incidents across the country over the past few weeks, the killings were swiftly logged by both the police and local and national public prosecutor's offices, with details published on their respective Facebook pages.
The cases - suspected contraventions of Ukraine's article 438: Violation of the rules of warfare - have also been uploaded on to a centralised website used by Ukraine's state institutions.
Ms Venediktova told the BBC in an interview recorded last week in English that such documentation of evidence was critical.
"In the office of prosecutor general we have a special department of war… all law enforcement agencies help us… to investigate war crimes. It's our main priority.
"Of course, we don't have enough investigators, that's why we created a common website - warcrimes.gov.ua." The website is used not just by the prosecutor general's office but by other state institutions such as Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Justice, to document all evidence.
"It's very important for us," she explained. "[The evidence] should be acceptable in our Ukrainian courts, they should be acceptable in the ICC, and in other jurisdictions."
As for the 5 March incident in Yasnohorodka, once the investigation into the shooting has been concluded, a court indictment will be issued, says the Kyiv Oblast district prosecutor's office.
"The prosecution is doing everything to establish the circumstances of each and every war crime, and each and every perpetrator: from a soldier, to a general, to the high military and political leadership of the aggressor state," it said in a statement.
It added that in some cases Russian soldiers were already facing the first stage of Ukrainian prosecutions, "so we are not just talking about prospects of sentences in absentia. In each specific case war criminals will be punished in accordance with the law of Ukraine". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60778909 |
Ukraine-Russia: The 76-year-old artist taking on Putin - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | "What's happening is a disgrace," says Elena, who was carried away by police for anti-war protests. | In her tiny St Petersburg apartment, 76-year-old artist Elena Osipova shows me the anti-war placards she's made.
On one she's written: "Putin is war. We don't want to die for Putin."
Another depicts Russia's president as the devil, with the horns of Satan.
Elena tells me that after Russia attacked Ukraine, she was so shocked, she didn't eat for three days. Then, filled with anger, she'd taken to the streets to protest.
A small crowd had applauded her: they'd chanted "No War!"
Then two police officers took the pensioner by the arms and led her away.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch the moment an elderly activist is arrested at a protest in St Petersburg
Police still haven't returned one of her placards. She describes it to me: "I'd been given some red tulips, beautiful young flowers. But very quickly they died and wilted. They reminded me of young men falling into their graves.
"So I'd made a poster and wrote that people were being sent to their deaths. And on another placard I appealed to Russian soldiers: 'Lay down your guns and you will be heroes.'"
Across town, a human rights group, Soldiers' Mothers of St Petersburg, is operating a hotline.
Parents call in, worried for their conscript sons, some of whom are already fighting in Ukraine.
Many of them desperately ask for help to bring their boys home. There have been lots of calls - but there's also lots of pressure from above. Olga from the group tells me it is being forced to shut down.
"The authorities prefer to cover things up, to give society a false picture that everything's fine in the army. They want soldiers' mothers to be patient and to be silent."
But in St Petersburg, and across Russia, the authorities are trying to rally support for what the Russian military is doing in Ukraine.
Elena's flat is filled with her artworks - not all of which is explicitly anti-war
The St Petersburg Police press department has been busy. They have made a number of slick videos, complete with thumping soundtrack, to show support for Russia's forces in Ukraine.
In one, riot officers link arms with people on the street. The camera pans up to reveal that the crowd has formed the letter Z.
The symbol is painted on many of the Russian military vehicles in Ukraine, and is used to show support for Russia's offensive. And there are many Russians who do support it - who, for now, believe what the state media here is telling them: that Russia is in the right.
Outside the world-famous Hermitage Museum, I stop to talk to Nadezhda, who is out for a stroll. She tells me: "I love my Motherland and I trust my president, and If you think the West can frighten us by withholding goods, you're wrong. Russians aren't scared of cold or hunger."
But back in her flat, artist Elena Osipova says she will never accept that what Russian is doing in Ukraine is right.
"What's happening is a disgrace. So many people are being killed. The authorities are trying to arouse patriotic feelings in the public. But it's all a deception. And many are deceived by the propaganda that has gone on for years and that has changed people. It's terrible."
In recent years, Russians have known many wars.
The Soviet war in Afghanistan, two wars in Chechnya, the Russian military getting involved in the war in Syria. And now Ukraine. The Kremlin insists that its troops there are conducting a special military operation.
But most of the world calls it Russia's war. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60866283 |
Wales 2-1 Austria: Gareth Bale strikes twice to fire hosts into World Cup play-off final - BBC Sport | 2022-03-25 | Gareth Bale scores two brilliant goals to take Wales a step closer to qualifying for their first World Cup since 1958 with victory over Austria in their play-off semi-final. | Last updated on .From the section Football
Gareth Bale scored two brilliant goals in a vintage individual performance to take Wales a step closer to qualifying for their first World Cup since 1958 with victory over Austria in their play-off semi-final.
Austria's Christoph Baumgartner hit the crossbar in the fifth minute before Bale's majestic free-kick sparked ecstatic celebrations for an already thunderous home crowd in Cardiff.
Wales' captain struck again early in the second half, shooting beautifully on the turn from a short corner.
Marcel Sabitzer's deflected shot brought Austria back into the game and, although the visitors exerted sustained pressure, Wales stood up to the challenge with a stoic defensive display.
Wales will now face Scotland or Ukraine in their play-off final, a one-off tie which was meant to be played next Tuesday, but which has been postponed because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Scotland and Ukraine's fixture is expected to be played in June, with the play-off final set to follow later the same month.
The details of that one-legged final are yet to be confirmed but, for now, Wales can savour this win in the knowledge that they are one victory away from ending their 64-year absence from World Cups.
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Cardiff City Stadium heaved with emotion in a highly charged build-up to the game, with Welsh folk singer Dafydd Iwan leading a rendition of his song Yma o Hyd before the crowd took over to bellow the national anthem with even greater passion than usual.
The fervent atmosphere helped Wales start the game at a blistering pace, pressing Austria high up the pitch and unsettling the visitors. With only 80 seconds gone, Connor Roberts dispossessed Austria captain David Alaba and combined with Aaron Ramsey to set up Daniel James for a shot which Heinz Lindner held.
It was frenetic at both ends and Austria squandered a golden opportunity when Sabitzer played a fine through ball for Christoph Baumgartner, who had time and Wales keeper Wayne Hennessey to beat, but hit his shot against the crossbar - thanks to a vital deflection from the covering Neco Williams.
That was a warning for Wales, but they continued to pour forward, their attacking line-up - which included Bale, Aaron Ramsey, Daniel James and Harry Wilson all from the start - playing with an admirable sense of adventure.
Then midway through the first half, Bale produced his moment of genius.
• None Wales 2-1 Austria: As it happened and reaction
The 32-year-old has only played two hours of football for Real Madrid in the past six months and the build-up to this game was dominated by conjecture about his fitness, while the captain himself has mentioned that this might be his final World Cup campaign.
But his first goal was the Bale of old. A direct free-kick - the first he had scored for Wales since Euro 2016 - 25 yards out and hit with vintage precision, dipping just enough to clip the bar on its way in to send the Red Wall into raptures.
There were chances to extend Wales' lead before half-time - such as Ramsey's shot well saved by Lindner - and it was Bale again who provided the inspiration after the break.
From a short corner, Williams swung in a low cross which Davies touched into Bale's path and Wales' all-time leading scorer took his tally to 38 with a fierce drive into the top far corner.
As Wales fans sang Don't Take Me Home, the soundtrack of their run to the Euro 2016 semi-finals, while they watched a Bale masterclass, it felt like that golden summer in France revisited.
This has been the most successful period in Wales' history, with the national team qualifying for back-to-back European Championships and soaring to the semi-finals of Euro 2016.
Yet despite the record-high world rankings and heroic contributions from Bale, Ramsey and others, World Cups have remained elusive.
The 1958 tournament in Sweden is still Wales' only appearance at a World Cup and, since then, they have frequently and painfully fallen at the final hurdle.
When Sabitzer's shot deflected off Ben Davies and bobbled into the Welsh net, a sense of anxiety swept around Cardiff City Stadium as supporters began to wonder if this was to be the latest setback in a history littered with similar tales of anguish, from Scotland in 1977 to Romania in 1993.
Austria seized on that unease to take control of the second half, albeit without creating many clear-cut scoring opportunities against a resolute Welsh defence.
There were still openings for Wales, with James wasting two particularly good chances, just to heighten the sense of nervousness among the home fans.
But this team is not weighed down by the nation's failures of the past.
Most of these players are too young to remember the bad old days and have instead been brought up in an era of regular qualification and winning at home, where they have now not lost in 17 games.
Robert Page's men still have one more game to navigate, but this victory will strengthen their belief that they will be the team to end their nation's long wait to play at a World Cup.
• None Attempt saved. Brennan Johnson (Wales) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Harry Wilson.
• None Offside, Wales. Aaron Ramsey tries a through ball, but Brennan Johnson is caught offside.
• None Attempt missed. Gareth Bale (Wales) left footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Connor Roberts.
• None Attempt saved. Marko Arnautovic (Austria) header from a difficult angle on the right is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Nicolas Seiwald.
• None Attempt blocked. Andreas Weimann (Austria) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
• None Stefan Lainer (Austria) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
• None Attempt blocked. Neco Williams (Wales) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Harry Wilson.
• None Connor Roberts (Wales) wins a free kick on the right wing. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
• None Who were the real Peaky Blinders?: Explore the origins of this mass gang movement
• None The rise of the American far right: | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60775091 |
Father 'devastated' at lack of progress on autism care - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Jeremy's autistic daughter, Bethany, was locked in a hospital "cell" for nearly two years. | The father of an autistic girl locked in a hospital "cell" for nearly two years says more needs to be done to prevent it happening to others.
It comes after a damning report revealed none of the recommendations made by the health regulator in 2020 to improve care had been fully achieved.
Charity Mencap said the lack of "meaningful progress" was "shocking".
The government said it was working hard to ensure those with autism and mental health issues were given better care.
Bethany - whose surname cannot be published - was locked in a hospital room in Northampton as a teenager. Her only access to the outside world was through a tiny hatch in the door.
Her father Jeremy said he could only see his daughter through a plastic screen or through the six-inch hatch.
"I could hold her hand and that was it. That was our physical contact," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"It was cruel. It was torture for my daughter," he said.
"It broke her human rights, her right to family life, her right to freedom from degrading treatment."
After the BBC's File on 4 programme highlighted the young woman's case in 2018, Health Secretary Matt Hancock apologised and the health regulator launched an urgent investigation into the use of seclusion and restraint of people with autism, learning disabilities and mental health issues.
But despite making a series of recommendations, the latest progress report by the health regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), said not enough had been done to protect people from what Mencap branded a shocking "human rights scandal".
The CQC report said: "The Out of Sight report [published in 2020] was intended to stop unacceptable practice, but also challenge the status quo to lever the change that must happen to improve the lives of people with mental ill health, autistic people, and people with a learning disability.
"This has not happened and there are still too many people in mental health inpatient services. They often stay too long, do not experience therapeutic care and are still subject to too many restrictive interventions, which cause trauma."
Jeremy said he was devastated to hear more progress had not been made and urged the government to take more radical action to force change.
"There is a perfect storm which is keeping people in institutions who shouldn't be there," he said.
"It's a cycle of identifying failings, and nothing gets put in place. We need this to be statutory rather than recommendations that simply are not enforced."
Bethany is now getting support to live a more independent life
Dan Scorer, head of policy at learning disability charity Mencap, said: "It's shocking that in CQC's assessment these agencies have failed to make meaningful progress in tackling use of restrictive practices - including horrifying levels of physical restraint, over-medication and solitary confinement, against people with a learning disability and autistic people within modern-day asylums.
"The government has missed repeated targets to close inpatient beds and develop the right community support."
"There can be no more excuses," he added. "This is a human rights scandal, and the forthcoming cross-government action plan must set out clear actions and accountability to deliver the long overdue changes promised."
Since her case was highlighted by the BBC, Bethany, now aged 21, has moved out of secure inpatient care and lives with round-the-clock carers in her own flat.
Her father Jeremy, who now helps other families in a similar situation, said she was getting support to live a more independent life but it would take time.
"She was so damaged by what happened, the effects are long-lasting," he added.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We are transforming mental health services in England with an extra £2.3bn a year by 2023/24 and £500m this year to support those most impacted by the pandemic, including people with learning disabilities and autistic people.
"We have already committed to taking forward the recommendations put forward by the CQC and are introducing once-in-a-generation Mental Health Act reforms to help improve support for people with a learning disability and autistic people; end inappropriate detentions; and eradicate disparities in healthcare." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60877292 |
Ukraine War: Civilians abducted as Russia tries to assert control - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The UN has documented almost 40 cases of politicians, journalists and activists being abducted. | After Viktoriia Roshchyna was released from detention, a hostage-style video began to circulate on pro-Russian Telegram channels
Ukrainians are being arbitrarily detained and subjected to enforced disappearances in Russian-controlled areas, the UN has told the BBC.
At least 36 cases of civilian detentions were verified by the UN, with families often denied any information about the fate of those being held.
Ukrainians say they fear an escalating campaign of kidnappings and intimidation, as Russia struggles to assert control over towns it captures.
Viktoriia Roshchyna, a journalist, was working in occupied areas in the east of the country when she was taken by unidentified men on 15 March.
Her employer, Hromadske media, said she "was probably detained by the FSB", Russia's internal intelligence service, based on witness accounts of her being taken in the city of Berdyansk.
She was released six days later when a hostage-style video - apparently recorded under duress - began to circulate on pro-Russian Telegram outlets. In it Ms Roshchyna said Russia had not taken her captive and thanked Moscow's forces for "saving her life".
Svetlana Zalizetskaya, a journalist in the occupied city of Melitopol, accused Russian forces of taking her 75-year old father hostage as punishment for her refusal to co-operate with the new administration.
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Ms Zalizetskaya, the director of local news agency RIA Melitopol, wrote on Facebook that her father had been detained after her meeting with the Russian-installed leader of the city, where she refused to end her criticism of the invasion.
She said that she received a phone call from his captors, in which her father informed her that he was being held "in some basement" and said that he "didn't know what they wanted from him".
His captors demanded that Ms Zalizetskaya, who has pledged to "tell the world of atrocities" committed by Moscow's forces in Melitopol, surrender herself.
Ukraine's National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said four journalists had also been detained and were later released in Melitopol.
The head of the Ukrainian NUJ, Sergiy Tomilenko, said the detentions were part of "a wave of information cleansing" which is aimed towards the "intimidation of journalists and public figures".
Mykhailo Kumko, a retired local newspaper publisher, is one of the journalists detained in Melitopol
A spokesperson for the UN's Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNOHR), whose monitoring mission in Ukraine has been documenting the abductions, told the BBC that those being targeted "are mostly representatives of local communities, journalists and people who were vocal about their pro-Ukrainian positions".
But they said they were not able to assess whether those being detained form part of "targeted lists reportedly drawn up by Russian security officials".
In February, US officials sent a letter to the UN warning that Russia had drawn up a "kill list" of Ukrainians to be attacked or detained following the invasion of the country.
Some sources have suggested that a hack of a Ukrainian digital services app in January may have helped Russia identify targets, while the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) has speculated that a hack of the Ukrainian national car insurance registry may have allowed security services to identify the locations of targets.
A number of officials in occupied parts of Ukraine have been detained by Russian forces in recent weeks. In the southern city of Melitopol, Mayor Ivan Fedorov was abducted from a city crisis centre by Russian troops earlier this month.
Discussing his detention with local media, Mr Fedorov alleged that other detainees at the holding centre he was taken to were being tortured.
"They didn't touch me physically but trust me, seven armed men were enough to make their position clear," Mr Fedorov said. "In the next cell someone was being tortured - there were screams which generated plenty of psychological pressure."
"They try to accuse them of sabotage and squeeze their fingers in the door to make them say which army they're from, but they're just local residents."
Ivan Fedorov met with President Volodymyr Zelensky after his release
Alleged abductions have occurred in several other cities, including Nova Kakhovka in the north, where the secretary of the city council has disappeared, and in Bucha, where the local council told the BBC that six employees were detained and later released after a Russian raid.
Ukrainian MP Alyona Shkrum said she believed the detentions were likely to increase as Russia faces a lack of co-operation and increased resistance in occupied regions.
"I'm sure Putin thought it will be just as it was in Crimea, they come they take over the administrative buildings and the mayor will say 'lets co-operate, I will be your mayor now, what difference does it make'," she told the BBC.
"It didn't happen at all here... nobody, even from sort of pro-Russian parties agreed to do what Russian soldiers wanted them to do".
Russian forces have faced opposition in occupied cities like Kherson
Ms Shkrum, a pro-Western MP, told the BBC that she was warned by the Ukrainian security services that she was likely on a Russian hit-list and was warned to avoid her apartment in Kyiv.
"Pretty much there are two lists," she said. "A list of people to be killed as members of parliament, they are mostly people who [Russia] feel they cannot co-operate with. And a list of people to be taken hostage and taken to Moscow and forced to vote on something."
"I also have sanctions against me in Russia, so I presume I am on the list to be killed or captured," Ms Shkrum added.
The abductions have not been limited to public figures, with some civilians and ex-members of the armed forces also detained.
Mattia Nelles, a Ukrainian political analyst, told the BBC that his uncle, a former medic with the Ukrainian army who fought in the Donbas from 2016-2018, had been targeted by Russian soldiers in the eastern city of Svatove.
"Security forces of the Russian Federation have come to his house and searched for him," Mr Nelles said. "Luckily he was not at his house but neighbours confirmed that he is wanted."
Mr Nelles said it was unclear which element of Russia's forces are behind the wave of detentions, but in his uncle's case he said the troops were "a mix of army personnel and some other security forces. We can only speculate whether it's FSB, they didn't wear insignia".
He fears that the campaign of arrests will escalate in the coming days. He observed that in southern areas, such as Kherson, so far the "amount of arrests seem relatively low" and some of the lists appear to be "drawn up on the go" as Russian forces identify those resisting occupation.
"Locals fear we are seeing the beginning of a more sustained campaign," he warned.
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Queen's delight as teapot factory comes to her - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | She was originally meant to visit the Staffordshire firm - but it arranged to bring its wares to Windsor. | The Queen was all smiles as she peered at the array of artefacts laid out in the White Drawing Room of her Berkshire home
The Queen appeared delighted as she viewed a collection of hand-decorated teapots and enamelled trinket boxes, all brought to her Windsor Castle home for her latest public engagement.
The engagement was fulfilled five days before the planned memorial for her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.
The 95-year-old was shown the items by Staffordshire company Halcyon Days.
She had been due to visit the firm's factory in 2020, but the pandemic prevented her doing so.
So following the "working from home" spirit of the past two years, the factory was invited to come to visit her.
There have recently been concerns about her ability to travel and mobility, and during the extended audience with the Halcyon Days staff, the Queen - who marks her Platinum Jubilee this year - was briefly pictured with a walking stick.
But another picture showed her wearing half-moon spectacles as she closely examined the artefacts in the White Drawing Room of her Berkshire residence.
She also wore her Flower Basket brooch - a basket of gem-studded flowers set with diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds - which was a gift from her parents in 1948 to mark the birth of her first child, Prince Charles.
The firm's owner Peter Harper, and its chairman and chief executive Pamela Harper, took the monarch through the items.
The 95-year-old smiled as she viewed a series of intricately-decorated items from the Halcyon Days collection
Among the pieces on display was a number of intricately-decorated coffee cups, saucers and tiny enamelled boxes, including some of the companies' earliest designs.
Halcyon Days was founded in 1950, two years before the start of the Queen's reign, and marked its own Platinum Jubilee in 2020. It has three royal warrants.
The Queen was shown the firm's first ever "year box" - from the Silver Jubilee of 1977 - and viewed new Platinum Jubilee pieces which are dark blue and painted with platinum flowers of the realm.
She also watched a demonstration of traditional enamelling and gilding by hand by master artisans before examining several pieces in closer detail.
She viewed a selection of hand-decorated archive enamelware and fine bone china in closer detail
The monarch was reported to have particularly enjoyed the Castle of Mey tea range. Its pastel floral decoration was inspired by her late mother, the Queen Mother's, favourite flowers including primulas, pansies and Albertine roses.
She also looked at a rectangular enamelled trinket box, edged in lavender, featuring three colour portraits of the Queen Mother as a young woman.
It was released in 2005 and is adorned with Samuel Warburton's 1923 triptych painting of the Queen Mother in the year she married the Queen's father.
The Queen Mother admired the firm's pieces and first commissioned an enamel box in 1970 of her London home Clarence House. She issued the company's first royal warrant two years later.
Halcyon Days was founded in 1950, two years before the start of the Queen's reign, and marked its own Platinum Jubilee in 2020
Halycon Days has an enamel factory in Wolverhampton and a fine bone china and jewellery factory in Stoke.
The only supplier of objets d'art to the royal household, it is among just 14 firms globally to hold all three Royal Warrants, by appointment to the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales.
The Queen was forced to cancel a number of events towards the end of February after testing positive for Covid and experiencing mild, "cold-like" symptoms. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60869176 |
Dubai ruler's ex-wife given sole responsibility for their children's care - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Sheikh Mohammed's ex-wife will have sole responsibility for their children as a court rules he was abusive. | The couple pictured together at Royal Ascot in 2011 - Sheikh Mohammed is a major figure in the horse racing world
The ex-wife of Dubai's ruler will have sole responsibility for schooling and medical care of their children after the High Court ruled he abused her.
The ruling is expected to be the final major decision in the case between Sheikh Mohammed, 72, and his sixth wife Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, 47.
She fled the United Arab Emirates in 2019 and now lives in the UK.
In the judgement published on Thursday, judge Sir Andrew McFarlane - the most senior family court judge in England and Wales - limited Sheikh Mohammed's parental responsibility for his daughter and son, Al Jalila, 14, and Zayed, 10, who the judge ruled could be named, despite their young ages.
After fleeing to the UK nearly three years ago, Princess Haya, daughter of Jordan's former King Hussein, applied for the children to be made wards of court and asked the High Court to make a series of findings about Sheikh Mohammed.
The sheikh - the multi-billionaire ruler of Dubai, prime minister of the UAE and an influential horse-racing owner - applied for the return of the two children to Dubai but later accepted they would live in England, and recently opted not to pursue direct contact with the two children.
The court heard this means he has no face-to-face contact with the children, but can instead contact them indirectly, such as through telephone calls.
When she fled the UAE for the UK in April 2019, the princess said she was in fear for her life, after discovering Sheikh Mohammed had previously abducted two of his other daughters - Sheikha Latifa and Sheikha Shamsa - and rendered them back to Dubai against their will.
In the judgement, Sir Andrew said Sheikh Mohammed "consistently displayed coercive and controlling behaviour with respect to those members of his family who he regards as behaving contrary to his will".
Sir Andrew said a co-parenting relationship between the estranged couple was "entirely bankrupt".
"The decision to afford the mother sole responsibility for these important matters is justified by the need to reduce the potential for continuing harm to the children," he ruled.
Princess Haya described her children as "the two bravest souls of all"
The judge said he accepted Sheikh Mohammed loved the two children, who loved him back.
But he said there was an "absence of any acceptance of responsibility, expression of remorse or understanding of the impact" of his behaviour on his former wife.
Sir Andrew found Sheikh Mohammed's behaviour towards his ex-wife was domestic abuse "conducted on a scale which is entirely outside the ordinary circumstances of cases heard in the family court in this jurisdiction".
He added: "Given his immense power and wealth, the potential for the father, and those in Dubai who do his bidding, to act remorselessly against the interests of the mother has been proved during these proceedings."
The judge said the "sustained" abuse towards Princess Haya likely had "a profound impact upon every aspect of her day-to-day life and her emotional wellbeing".
In December the High Court awarded Princess Haya, the youngest of Sheikh Mohammed's six wives, a lump sum settlement of £251.5m to cover the cost of running two multi-million pound properties in London and Surrey, a security budget, holidays, salaries and accommodation for a nurse and a nanny, armoured vehicles for the family, and the cost of maintaining various ponies and pets.
Princess Haya said in a statement after the latest ruling that she and her children "are not pawns to be used for division".
She said: "There are no words, no words at all, to describe the love, respect, admiration, and pride I have for the two bravest souls of all, Jalila and Zayed."
A spokesperson for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said the ruler maintained his denial of the allegations made against him and wished to make clear that: "He loves his children and cherishes their love for him. He has always cared and provided for them, and always will." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60863698 |
Dawn Sturgess: 'Rigorous' inquiry into Novichok death - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Dawn Sturgess died after being exposed to the Russian nerve agent Novichok in Wiltshire in 2018. | Mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess died after coming into contact with the Russian nerve agent Novichok
The chairman of a public inquiry has promised a "rigorous investigation" of potential Russian involvement in the death of Novichok victim Dawn Sturgess.
Ms Sturgess, 44, died in July 2018 in Amesbury, Wiltshire, after coming into contact with the nerve agent in what she thought was a bottle of perfume.
Lord Hughes, who will head the inquiry, said recent world events highlighted the importance of "clear conclusions".
A preliminary hearing was held earlier at the Royal Courts of Justice.
The deadly solution was smeared on the door handle of Sergei and Yulia Skripal's home in Salisbury
The public inquiry itself is scheduled to begin next year.
Ms Sturgess died in hospital on 8 July 2018 after she was exposed to Novichok that had been stored in a discarded perfume bottle found by her boyfriend Charlie Rowley and given to her as a gift.
The previous inquest into her death was converted into a public inquiry to allow it to have access to top secret intelligence which will be considered in private.
Lord Hughes told the preliminary hearing that the inquiry would deal with "wide-ranging matters including international politics and complex science" and offered sympathy to Ms Sturgess's family.
"We must not lose sight of the fact that at its heart is the death of a woman who had no international or security life," he said.
"She was dearly loved and must, I am sure, be much missed by her family and friends."
Ms Sturgess's family and her partner Mr Rowley will be represented by barristers at the inquiry, along with Sergei and Yulia Skripal, the original targets of what police believe was a Russian hit squad in Salisbury.
The substance was smeared on Mr Skripal's door handle on 4 March 2018, at his home in Salisbury, eight miles from Amesbury.
Mr Skripal, his daughter Yulia and Mr Rowley survived their exposure to the solution.
Operation Verbasco, a combined investigation involving both the Metropolitan and Thames Valley police forces, has produced much of the evidence in the case.
This investigation led to two Russian men, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, being named as prime suspects in the poisoning, alongside a third man Denis Sergeev, who is believed to have helped them.
The men were offered the opportunity to be represented at the previous inquest but have not responded.
An inquiry barrister has been asked to ensure that the evidence against them is "fully tested" to ensure the proceedings are fair.
Lord Hughes said: "The accusations have been made very publicly.
"An inquiry like this does not conduct a trial. It can't convict anybody of anything but it will be necessary, as I see it, to decide whether the facts alleged are proved or not."
Government barrister Cathryn McGahey told the inquiry that intelligence staff are under considerable pressure and "cannot afford to make mistakes".
As a result, the government said it would not be able to deliver the first stage of evidence disclosure by April, as requested by the inquiry.
It hoped to deliver it by June, which could delay the first hearings due to take place next year.
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Defiant Ukrainian troops tell Russians: 'Go home while you're still alive' - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Quentin Sommerville and cameraman Darren Conway have spent time with two fighters since the very start. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Mark and Vlad show the BBC the daily dangers they face on the front line
It is a month since Vladimir Putin's forces invaded Ukraine with nearly 200,000 men. One of the first cities to feel the full force of the invasion was Kharkiv in the north-east. Our correspondent Quentin Sommerville and cameraman Darren Conway have spent time with two fighters who have been at the front line since the very beginning.
This report contains some content some readers may find disturbing
The tale of Kharkiv is the story of the army that didn't fail, and an army that failed to win.
While Russia stumbles, Ukraine stands firm. Defying widespread expectations that it would collapse in short order, Russian forces have been unable to breach the Ukrainian army's lines around Kharkiv and have not managed to encircle the city.
Russia invaded at 05:00 on 24 February. The night before, 22-year-old Vlad and his brother-in-arms Mark, also 22, were at a fellow private's wedding. Columns of Russian tanks, howitzers, armoured vehicles and troop transports rolled across the border, just 40km (25 miles) away. Despite the long build up of Russian forces, the move came as a shock to the inhabitants of Kharkiv. Troops scrambled to defend the city.
When they learned of the attack, Vlad and Mark joined their battalion - the 22nd Motorised Infantry - and headed straight to the front lines. They have been there ever since. I have visited them there twice on the city's northern edge - a once pleasant suburban neighbourhood, which has now become a muddy battlefield strewn with corpses and burned-out Russian tanks and vehicles.
But it is sound, not sight, that is so jarring here. All manner of Russian artillery and missiles are fired at these positions almost continuously. When there is a respite in the shelling, or the roar of Russian Grad rockets, the silence itself comes as a shock. Ukrainian forces have lived under this terror for weeks now.
At a nearby command post, its windows all gone, broken furniture is strewn around. In an outbuilding, a belt-fed machine gun sits incongruously by a baby's pram. Children's climbing frames are surrounded by impact craters, and on one nearby abandoned house, a For Sale sign flaps in the freezing wind. Against the regular beat of Russian artillery outside, I ask Mark and Vlad what they are fighting for.
Vlad has a blunt message for Russian troops: "Run away. Either you stay here in the ground or you go back home."
Vlad's reply is short and to the point, "For peace in Ukraine." Mark shoots him a glance, "My comrade says for peace in Ukraine," he laughs, then he swears and asks, "Who knows? These people came to our land. No-one was waiting for them here, no-one was calling them."
On that first day, one group of Russians made it into the centre, but were repelled after three days of hard, bloody fighting - with heavy casualties on both sides. The Russians were forced out beyond Kharkiv's edge.
A month on, while Russian missiles still strike at the city centre and at least half the 1.4m population have fled, there are neighbourhoods that remain untouched.
But, the city's eastern and northern residential neighbourhoods, which were largely intact when I arrived here three weeks ago, are unrecognisable. A tree has an unexploded Russian shell in its base; an apartment block has a 500kg bomb resting on its roof - if it had detonated, the whole building would have been brought down.
Mark and Vlad keep this grimness of war from family ears on the calls home they make most most days, just a couple of minutes each to mothers and girlfriends. So there is no mention of the dead bodies at the back door and in the next garden, no mention of the colleagues killed by Russian shelling, or of the tank commander who died the previous day. And nothing that could reveal operational details.
"Mainly we discuss when this will all end, when we can return to normal life, when everything is good and it won't be dangerous to walk outside," says Vlad.
Mark and Vlad on the front line
A bank of phone chargers is connected to a generator in the building. The room where they sleep is warm and orderly. An elderly German Shepherd dog lives with them, she's traumatised by the chaos around her and moves from Mark to Vlad, soldier to soldier. A brief head rub and she goes to the next man seeking comfort from the noise and disorder outside.
The two men live everyday with Russians targeting their positions. Full-time soldiers, the Ukrainian army is their life.
The Ukrainian soldiers might have it rough, but the Russians seem to have been particularly unprepared for anything other than the shortest possible campaign in Ukraine. The corpses I have encountered in the snow have been poorly dressed for a winter campaign, and Ukrainian soldiers say they found the most meagre of rations with them.
Do they think of the soldiers on the other side, I wonder? Vlad says he has a message for them, "Run. Run away. Either you stay here in the ground or you go back home." He pauses but then adds, "Don't kill kids, destroy homes and families." This time it is Mark who is to the point, "Go back home while you are still alive."
The Russian war machine is a formidable adversary - but in the initial phase of the war, the Ukrainian military put into practice lessons learned from Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula, where the Ukrainians were found seriously wanting. Ukrainian forces however, are still significantly outmatched in numbers, technology and airpower.
So how have they held off the Russians so successfully?
A purported intercepted phone call, along with Western intelligence reports, may provide some of the answers. It is from a Russian commander in Mykolaiv, near Odesa in south-west Ukraine, to his superiors on 11 March. It was released by Ukrainian officials and has not been independently verified. It paints a picture of Russian misery and incompetence in the Russian campaign that both the US Pentagon and the UK's Ministry of Defence have, in part, detailed.
Troops lack basics such as tents and body armour - and are digging trenches in freezing ground to sleep. Two weeks ago, at another front line position in the city, I asked a young Ukrainian commander if his men slept in trenches. "Why would we sleep here when we can sleep in houses. The Russians sleep in trenches, but we sleep over there," he said, pointing to a well-heated house filled with men. He explained that the dead Russians had Kevlar body armour but many lacked the armoured plates that make the vest effective.
Mark and Vlad are well equipped. As we move through forward positions, there is ammunition and weaponry everywhere. Piles of rations and, in the kitchen, tea and coffee being made from a dark, cast-iron kettle. Inside their vehicles there are plenty of cigarettes - despite the familiarity with the chaos around them, many of the men chain-smoke.
When news comes over the radio that a colleague has been injured, an ambulance arrives within minutes and the casualty is covered in a heat blanket. He is bleeding, but is quickly stabilised. A Russian shell has peppered him with shrapnel and he has lost most of his fingers on one hand.
Hours later, as we head back to the rear, news comes over the radio that the soldier is stable and will recover.
A wounded Ukrainian soldier is put into an ambulance
The Ukrainians revel in their home-team advantage. They offer us biscuits and freshly delivered cakes from local factories. Their enemy has no such luck. There have been reports of Russian troops looting and foraging for supplies, villagers near Kharkiv complain that chickens and produce have been stolen.
A video of a captured Russian army cookhouse gives an unappetising glimpse of the meals served to troops. Servings piled high with onions and potatoes - all held together with congealed fat. Russian army rations - Meals, Ready-To-Eat (MRE) - with an expiry date of 2015.
When I met Mark and Vlad the first time, their commander gave me one of their sturdy green packs of Ukrainian daily rations - a leaving gift, he said.
There were 17 different things inside: wheat porridge with beef; rice and meat soup; beef stew; chicken with vegetables; pork and vegetables; crackers; biscuits; tea bags; coffee; blackcurrant drink; honey; sugar; black pepper; chewing gum; bar of dark chocolate; plastic spoons; moist wipes.
Ukrainian fortitude may be partly thanks to an unlikely suspect - Vladimir Putin.
In 2014, the Ukrainian army was in a terrible state. As it fought and failed to prevent the annexation of Crimea, its troops went hungry. Corruption was rife, training and equipment lacking and its chain of command unresponsive. Vlad and Mark's battalion was reconstituted the same year. The whole Ukrainian army underwent an overhaul - to make it ready for the next war with Russia.
Vlad and Mark, and almost every fighting man I have met on the front line over the past three weeks, have one thing in common - they have all fought in the eastern Donbas region. Some sport combat patches on their body armour with "donbasonia" written on them. Some of the patches though, we discovered later, were also symbols used by the ultra-right.
In the separatist Donbas enclaves of Donetsk and Luhansk, Ukrainian forces have been combat-tested for the past eight years. Between 250,000 and 400,000 Ukrainian men may have done tours of duty there since 2014.
"Ukraine is not the same country it was in 2014," one front line commander told me - echoing a sentiment that was repeated again and again to me in Kharkiv.
This has created a more professional army, and one with common purpose. An army that knew Russia wouldn't stop in Donbas or Crimea - and that a day of reckoning was sure to follow for the rest of the country.
In short, Ukraine isn't the pushover it once was.
As many as 190,000 Russian troops have been deployed to Ukraine - with additional Chechen and Syria forces boosting their ranks. Ukraine's army stands at 100,000, but Kyiv claims it can rapidly mobilise significantly more.
And a month in, here in Kharkiv and across many other fronts in Ukraine, morale is strong among Ukrainian forces. "We are fighting for our land," Mark told me. What are Russia's mainly conscript fighters dying for? There are plenty of dead Russian fighters at various battlegrounds around the city. The Ukrainian dead, on the other hand, are quickly cleared away - but no official casualty numbers have been released.
Few of the Russian corpses appear to be ethnic Russians, instead they are ethnic minorities. White bands on their uniforms distinguish them from regular Russian troops. "These aren't real Russians," another Ukrainian fighter said as we passed bodies by the road. "They don't know why they are here," he said.
For the Ukrainians, this is seen as a good thing. Ethnic-minority Russian troops have weaker allegiance to Moscow, they say. One senior Kharkiv figure told me, "We don't fear Chechens, it's the Russians in Moscow restaurants who are afraid of them."
Kamil Galeev of the Wilson Centre, a US think tank, explores the condition of the Russian army. He suggests the troops are underpaid and undermotivated. Certainly, recruitment is a problem in Russia where dropping fertility rates mean there are fewer young Russians available to fight.
In Kharkiv, the winter snow and frost is beginning to melt. I join Mark beside his foxhole - a pit dug in the ground, on an embankment that is the front line. His boots squelch in the mud, the battlefield has become gooey, difficult terrain.
The thawing weather might not help Russia either - two weeks ago the temperature here was -13C, it is now eight degrees. As the mud deepens to grip boots, vehicles and kit, it becomes a trap for attackers and a boon for those defending the farmland around the city.
Further down the line, a soldier spots movement in nearby woods and opens fire. There is gunfire in response. "We have to move, there isn't enough protection here," says Mark "One hundred per cent, they will respond [with artillery]."
Mark scours the horizon for the enemy
Sure enough, shells begin to fall only metres away and dirt is thrown up in the air. The shells land close enough to feel the shockwaves in your chest. Our team scrambles for cover under a nearby vehicle.
But Mark and Vlad seem untroubled. Everyone here told me the first three days were the worst. "This is much easier now," says the men's commander, who never once breaks into a run during the constant shelling, and hardly takes his phone from his ear, or the cigarette from his lips.
A quick glance over their shoulders to check where the explosion hits, and Mark and Vlad continue the conversation. "It's OK, you get used to it. Humans adapt to everything quickly," Mark says as another explosion punctuates his sentence.
What's going on right now, I ask, aware that cameraman Darren Conway is rolling. "They are working on our position," says Mark. "It's artillery," adds Vlad, with a nonchalant upward nod.
As the two men head back to shelter for a smoke and some tea, they pass the spent cases of US and UK-supplied anti-tank weapons. These, too, have been a decisive factor in this war. I have seen the aftermath of those missile strikes - at least a dozen rusting shells of Russian armoured vehicles, trucks and tanks.
But "the Ukrainian version is just as good," says another soldier, patriotically. Now is the time for once-sceptical Western governments to throw their weight, with more supplies and intelligence, behind Ukrainian resistance, another commander tells me.
The Ukrainian national anthem contains the following lines:
Soul and body shall we lay down
There is little chance of Russian troops vanishing from Ukrainian soil.
Already there are reports that north of Kyiv, they may be digging and forming defensive positions, since their advance was stymied. And Russia, with nuclear and chemical weapons, as well as a range of sophisticated conventional weapons, has the power to escalate its bombardments of Kharkiv and other cities. It has done so before in Grozny and in Syria, and there, Russia with all its firepower proved that artillery requires little morale or motivation to be effective.
But Ukrainian forces, a month into this war, are satisfied they have defied expectations. With each week that passes, their chance of remaining independent grows, they believe. Russia isn't going anywhere, but neither are Mark and Vlad, nor the dozens of other Ukrainian soldiers I've met who say they are in this fight until the very end. Whenever that may be.
This piece was amended after publication to reflect updated information about the soldiers' insignia. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60860548 |
Ethiopia's Tigray war: TPLF agrees to humanitarian truce - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The civil war has left millions needing food aid, yet none has been delivered to Tigray for months. | Rebel forces fighting in northern Ethiopia have agreed to a government offer of a truce to allow aid deliveries to reach millions of people in urgent need of assistance.
No aid has been delivered to the Tigray region since mid-December, with the government accused of imposing a blockade. It blames rebel forces.
The TPLF rebels said they would respect the ceasefire as long as aid deliveries resume "within reasonable time".
More than two million people have been forced to flee their homes.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is from Tigray, has described the situation there as "catastrophic".
In January, the World Food Programme said that almost 40% of Tigrayans were suffering from what it called "an extreme lack of food". It also found that half of all pregnant and breastfeeding women were malnourished.
Some nine million people need aid in Tigray and neighbouring regions, which have also been affected by the fighting.
Tigray has also been hit by a communications blackout with the internet and phone services cut.
An unknown number of people have died from hunger or the lack of medical supplies. Conditions have been so bad, even doctors have been forced to beg for food.
The United Nations says at least 100 humanitarian lorries are needed to transport aid every day to the region.
The US, UN and European Union have all welcomed the truce, which follows a visit to Ethiopia by US Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa David Satterfield.
In its statement on Thursday, the government said that the truce was "indefinite" and "effective immediately", but added that it would only improve the lives of people in the north of the country if the move was reciprocated.
It called on the Tigrayan forces to "stop further aggression and withdraw from areas they have occupied in neighbouring regions".
In response, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) said it "will do everything it can do to make sure this cessation of hostilities is a success".
Fighting broke out in November 2020 following months of tension between the federal authorities and the TPLF, which governed Tigray, Ethiopia's northernmost region.
Within weeks, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the conflict was over when federal forces took the regional capital Mekelle. But the TPLF later fought back and regained control of much of Tigray.
When the rebels retook Mekelle last June, Mr Abiy declared a unilateral ceasefire. But the TPLF said it would not observe this unless it was recognised as the legitimate authority in Tigray.
News of the truce announced by the federal authorities in Ethiopia and the subsequent commitment to cessation of hostilities by the TPLF is being welcomed with a measure of scepticism. The situation on the ground is complex - rivalries run deep and the civil war has attracted other actors that include regional forces and militia.
Previous ceasefire announcements failed to translate into better conditions for people and humanitarian access.
"We will believe it when we see the trucks with life-saving humanitarian aid reach Tigray," said one commentator on Twitter.
Beyond the announcements and getting aid to those who need it, it would appear expectations vary. The TPLF says it wants the political and humanitarian issues de-linked. However, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said: "It should also serve as an essential foundation of an inclusive political process."
The starting point, however, would be to see the movement of aid supplies by road get to the people who desperately need them in Tigray. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-60861900 |
David Amess killing: Bodycam shows moment of suspect arrest - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Officers are heard shouting "drop the knife" as they confront the suspected killer of David Amess. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Jurors were shown bodycam footage of plain-clothed police officers tackling Ali Harbi Ali to the ground
Jurors have been shown footage of the moment two police officers tackled a knife-wielding terror suspect accused of murdering Sir David Amess MP.
Sir David, the MP for Southend West, died after he was stabbed more than 20 times during a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on 15 October.
Officers were heard to shout "drop the knife" as they entered Belfairs Methodist Church after the attack.
Ali Harbi Ali, 26, denies charges of murder and preparing acts of terrorism.
The trial at the Old Bailey also heard how Mr Ali told police officers he had committed a "terror-related crime."
Sir David died at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea during a constituency surgery last October
Ali Harbi Ali was detained by two plain-clothed police officers
PCs Scott James and Ryan Curtis entered Belfairs Methodist Church armed only with a baton and incapacitant spray, the court was told, despite being warned the suspect had a knife.
PC Curtis told the jury they found Mr Ali standing in the aisle of the church with a blood-stained knife in his hand.
Body-worn footage from PC James was played to the court and showed the officer deciding against waiting for backup from a team with a Taser.
Ali Harbi Ali told a booking officer at Southend police station his motive was "terror and religious-based"
The footage showed them shout "drop the knife!" on entering the church. After a short stand-off, the suspect dropped the weapon and officers handcuffed him.
In the aftermath of the arrest, Mr Ali, who was believed to be on the phone to his sister at the time said "My phone's rung, it's the family."
Shouting, he added: "Don't worry. The police got me. They're not gonna shoot."
Mr Ali was on the video saying "I was prepared to die", the court heard.
He was taken to Southend police station and asked if the crime might be domestic or hate-related.
Sir David died from multiple stab wounds to the chest, some 15cm (5.9in) deep, and was pronounced dead inside the church.
Sir David Amess was fatally stabbed during a constituency surgery in October
Previously, jurors were played a 999 call from the aftermath of the attack where a witness said Mr Ali was threatening to kill four other people.
They were also shown CCTV images earlier in the trial showing how Mr Ali travelled form his Kentish Town, north London, home to Leigh-on-Sea on the day of the killing.
The trial previously heard how Mr Ali allegedly spent years researching a number of potential high-profile political targets including Michael Gove, Dominic Raab and Sir Keir Starmer.
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Bute Park: Three jailed for doctor's homophobic murder - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The judge says attackers believed gay men they targeted would be less likely to report the crime. | Two men and a 17-year-old girl have been jailed for life for the homophobic murder of a doctor in a city centre park.
Psychiatrist Dr Gary Jenkins, 54, was attacked in Cardiff's Bute Park on 20 July 2021, and died 16 days later.
Jason Edwards, 25 and Lee William Strickland, 36, will both serve a minimum of 32 years.
Dionne Timms-Williams, who was 16 at the time of the crime, will serve a minimum of 17 years.
The consultant psychiatrist, who was described as "kind" and "compassionate", was kicked and punched to death in the park by the trio.
He suffered multiple severe brain injuries and died at University Hospital of Wales.
Sentencing the three, Judge Daniel Williams said they had chosen to target gay men in Bute Park because they believed their victim would be "less likely to report the crime" and also "sheer homophobia".
In his sentencing remarks Judge Williams described the trio as a "toxic mix"
All three admitted to manslaughter, but were found guilty of murder after a trial at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court.
Judge Williams said Dr Jenkins was a "kind and compassionate man," adding "the world is the drabber for his passing, it's less kind and less colourful".
He added: "Why the three of you formed such a toxic mix will never be known, but you wanted to show how little you valued human life".
The sound of the attack was captured on CCTV, lasting possibly as long as 28 minutes. The judge said there were "no words to describe the audio recording".
Judge Williams said: "Each of you punched, kicked and stamped on him and encouraged each other to do so.
"You ignored his desperate pleas to stop even after his pleas turned to groans as his life ebbed away," he added.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. CCTV footage shows the moment the three defendants met, with Timms-Williams offered a can of cider by Edwards
In CCTV footage of the attack, shown to the jury during the trial, Dr Jenkins can be heard repeatedly shouting "leave me alone" and "get off me".
A female voice, identified as Timms-Williams, shouts "money" and "now", then says: "Hit him again."
At the end of the attack, the girl is heard saying: "Yeah, I needed that."
In a statement the wife of Dr Jenkins said his death had hit the family hard, adding: "He was such a kind soul who would never hurt anyone".
"When the family learnt what happened our world fell apart. Gary was much loved by all who knew him."
She said their two daughters had been "massively affected" and were now "struggling in areas where they previously were thriving."
"We cannot bring Gary back, there are no winners, only losers. But as a family we are relieved that justice is done and through this harrowing process we hope to restore our faith in humanity," she added.
Dr Jenkins was attacked near the Summerhouse cafe in Bute Park
Nathan Williams, who had been friends with Dr Jenkins since school, described him as a "caring, sensitive and compassionate person", and a "whirlwind, who made life interesting".
He said his death represented a "deeply painful loss felt each day by colleagues, patients and friends" with some colleagues saying that "life has lost its vibrancy" since the attack.
He added he had not been able to enter the park since his friend's death.
"That beautiful park will now always be the place he was taken from us," he said.
Dr Jenkins' employer, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, said he would "remain prominently" in the memory of all staff and patients who knew him.
This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by Cardiff & Vale UHB This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Following the sentencing, senior investigating officer for South Wales Police, Det Insp Stuart Wales, said the attack was "cowardly and senseless in the extreme".
"The degree and duration of unnecessary violence inflicted upon him, together with homophobic abuse - all captured on audio, was both sickening and staggering," he added.
"He did nothing whatsoever to warrant this.
"Nothing will fill the void in the lives of those who loved Gary and have suffered the heartbreak of losing him in the most devastating circumstances."
Judge Williams said aggravating factors in the case were that the murder had been for gain, that it happened during the course of a robbery and that the attack was homophobic.
He sentenced Edwards and Strickland to serve a minimum term of 32 years and 123 days, and Timms-Williams to a minimum of 17 years.
All three were also sentenced for offences of robbery and assault, to run concurrently with their life sentences.
When released they will spend the rest of their lives on licence, Cardiff Crown Court heard. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-60862833 |
Ukraine war: A dangerous escape on the 'Rescue Express' - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | A risky night-time race to safety lies ahead for exhausted families fleeing Kyiv each day. | Passengers board the train in Lviv during the first days of the war in Ukraine
Ten million people have fled their homes in Ukraine because of the Russian invasion. Most head west to the relative safety of cities like Lviv - and many continue onwards to neighbouring countries. Our correspondent Fergal Keane met some of those who took the 91/92 train between Kyiv and Lviv - the "Rescue Express"
The air raid alarm in the station tower has just started: no bombs are falling, but nerves are fraying. The guard tells us to shelter with the refugees in the tunnel under the platform.
There are several thousand people here, in a long queue.
We wait among the anxious and exhausted, the families calming scared children, the elderly woman wrapped in a blanket and pulling a suitcase. She looks as if she cannot possibly walk another step. But she will trudge forward when the all-clear is given. This is not a place of options. Go forward, or run the risk of the war catching up with you.
Then a horn blares. A searchlight appears down the track to the east, a looming brilliance that grows larger as it approaches. Another horn sounds, followed by a conductor's whistle cutting through the clamour of the air raid sirens. A murmur ripples through the crowd. The all-clear is declared, and they can board a train to Poland.
After nearly a month reporting on refugees, I have taken to calling this extraordinary evacuation the "Rescue Express". Millions of Ukrainians have taken trains from as far south as Odessa on the Black Sea, from Kharkiv close to the Russian border in the north-east, from the Donbas and from Kyiv, and numerous smaller stations in between.
It has come at great human cost: 33 railway staff have been killed. Tracks and stations have been bombed.
The head conductor on Train 91/92 between Lviv and Kyiv is Ievgen Propokenko, a 40-year veteran of the railways. He comes from Kharkiv, which is now under Russian siege, and where his daughter and son-in-law also work to keep the Rescue Express going. The railways, he explains, run in the family.
Ievgen Propokenko, head conductor on board the "Rescue Express" knows that his train could come under fire
"It is terrifying. My native city is being bombed," says Ievgen. "I can feel it and see it, but I cannot believe it."
He knows that his own train runs the risk of being attacked. One of the conductor's duties is to check that train windows are covered, so its lights don't present an obvious target for Russian aircraft.
"We can see the war in the faces of the people who come onboard. It is our job. It is what we have to do."
Also onboard is his younger colleague, Oleksandr Shevchenko, 31, the spokesman for the railways who is heading to an awards ceremony. The Prime Minister will be handing out awards to railway staff at the station in Kyiv.
This service is heading east back towards the conflict, and has only a few passengers. Sitting in a compartment before departure I met Petro Rocharan, a 25-year-old investment banker, who has volunteered to join a battalion defending the capital. Petro is a scout. He has had just three weeks' military training and he is frank about his feelings.
"I am rather scared honestly. I know Kyiv has been through a lot so far. Including the streets where I am going, where some of my friends are living, and I am just not sure if I am ready to see those buildings destroyed," he explains. Petro speaks of different waves of feeling: from fear to excitement and back to fear again.
The lights of the train could make it a target in these dangerous times
The train pulls into Kyiv just after dawn, and Petro heads off in search of his battalion. New shifts of drivers, conductors and stewards start to arrive at the station. So do the buses carrying families from the embattled cities of Kharkiv, Mariupol, Kramatorsk and the suburbs of Kyiv itself.
Oleg Kryvospytska, 59, comes from Troyeschchyna in the northern suburbs of Kyiv and has brought his wife, Olena, his 29-year-old daughter Olga, and his granddaughters, aged six and 12.
But Oleg will not be travelling with them. He must stay behind and care for an elderly relative who is unable to travel.
Olena says that they will take the train to Lviv and stay for a few days before deciding where to go in Europe. "I have no words for this," she says. "This is something terrifying that I can't believe is happening. I'm currently taking sedatives every day to keep me calm, but even that isn't helping."
Oleg is a tall, strongly-built man and his wife Olena leans into him as the time approaches to board the train. They embrace, and sway gently from side to side. It is a portrait of fortitude and loss, rooted in the 30 years of their life together.
Oleg does not speak or cry. For the children's sake, he smiles.
Oleg says goodbye to his family, but is careful not to shed any tears
Even as he walks alongside the departing train and can see Olena weeping, he keeps smiling and waving. The little girls shout: "We love you, we love you." His daughter Olga calls out: "Wait for us."
He will. Of course. However long it takes.
The train picks up speed. The horn blares and the carriages roll west, through the suburbs, away from the front line and out into the great immensity of Europe's second-largest country. It passes wheat fields ready for spring planting, through small and large towns, further and further from the war zone.
It is after 22:00 when the Rescue Express pulls into Lviv. Olga and Olena and the children are in the first carriage and it is dark on the platform. A conductor appears with a flash lamp and lights their way. The weary travellers gather their bags and walk towards the lights of the station.
In a day or two they will board another train, to Poland, peace and exile. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60866389 |
Sir Philip Pullman resigns as Society of Authors president after book row - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Sir Philip Pullman says he cannot express personal opinions as president of the Society of Authors. | Sir Philip Pullman said he had been "pressed by people both in and out of the Society" to retract his comments
Author Sir Philip Pullman has resigned as president of the Society of Authors in the wake of a controversy over his support for an author who was accused of racial and ableist stereotyping.
Last year, the His Dark Materials writer backed Kate Clanchy after her memoir attracted criticism.
The society, a trade union for authors, distanced itself from his comments.
He has now said he "would not be free to express my personal opinions as long as I remained president".
Sir Philip took up the post in 2013 but divisions arose last August when he described Clanchy's Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me as "humane, warm, decent, generous, and welcoming".
And in response to a tweet he wrongly thought to be about Clanchy, he said people who don't read a book before they condemn it would "find a comfortable home in Isis or the Taliban".
The society said his comments were "not in the name of the Society of Authors" and asked its members to "be mindful of privilege and of the impact of what they create, do and say".
Sir Philip later tweeted an apology, saying criticism of Clanchy was "reasonable and balanced" and the "experiences and imaginations" of people of colour "deserve every kind of respect".
In his resignation letter, which has just been published, he said: "Recent events have made it apparent that when a difference of opinion arises, there is no easy way to resolve it within the constitution or the established practices of the Society.
"When it became clear that statements of mine were being regarded as if they represented the views of the Society as a whole (although they did nothing of the sort, and weren't intended to), and that I was being pressed by people both in and out of the Society to retract them and apologise, I realised that I would not be free to express my personal opinions as long as I remained President.
"That being the case, with great regret and after long consideration I chose to stand down."
The society's chief executive Nicola Solomon said: "We were very sorry when Philip told us in February that he intended to resign, and regret that his personal views have come under so much scrutiny because of his presidency of the SoA.
"Social media has changed the way we all communicate, organisations as well as individuals.
"We are in the process of reviewing the constitution to reflect the times in which we live, including the roles of the management committee, chair and president."
In January, Pan Macmillan and Clanchy parted company "by mutual consent", with the publisher saying it would not publish Clanchy's new titles nor any updated editions from her, and would revert the rights and cease distribution, following criticism of Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60873393 |
Child Q: School apologises for strip-search of black schoolgirl - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The school's governing body says teachers were not aware a strip-search was taking place. | Protests have been held in east London over the student's treatment
The governing body of an east London school where a black pupil was strip-searched has publicly apologised for the incident.
A safeguarding report found the search of the 15-year-old girl, known as Child Q, was unjustified and racism was "likely" to have been a factor.
In a statement the governing board said the school "was not aware that a strip-search was taking place".
Child Q is suing the Met Police and the school in Hackney over the incident.
The governing body said: "The incident involving Child Q is harrowing, and we understand and share the sadness and anger that is being felt by the community.
"While the school was not aware that a strip search was taking place, we wholly accept that the child should not have been left in the situation that she was.
"For this, we have offered a full and formal apology to Child Q and her family, and continue to work with them to provide what support we can."
Lawyers acting on behalf of Child Q have asked for the school not to be named in the media.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Labour MP Florence Eshalomi: "When my daughter is 15, I hope this issue still isn't happening but I'm worried it will"
During the incident, the girl was taken out of an exam to the school's medical room and strip-searched by two female Met police officers who were looking for cannabis, while teachers remained outside.
No other adult was present, her parents were not contacted, and no drugs were found.
The girl's intimate body parts were exposed and she was made to take off her sanitary towel, according to the review.
Scotland Yard has admitted the actions of the two officers were "regrettable" and it "should never have happened".
On Monday, policing minister Kit Malthouse said the government was taking the matter "extremely seriously".
In the statement, the school's governing board said "changes were made immediately after the incident, and continued to be made".
Since the incident, the school has changed the leadership of its governing board. However, research by the BBC shows the chair of governors was still in place six months after the search occurred.
The make-up of the board has also changed. The governing board said it would not comment on the employment status of anyone involved.
The Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) said a report on the incident is being "finalised".
The incident has sparked days of protest across Hackney, near the site of Child Q's school.
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-60873858 |
Rishi Sunak denies link to Russia through firm part-owned by wife - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | An Indian software giant part-owned by the chancellor's wife has kept its presence in Moscow. | Rishi Sunak married Akshata Murty in 2009 and they have two children
Rishi Sunak has denied any connection with a multinational firm part-owned by his wife that has continued to operate in Russia during the war in Ukraine.
The chancellor said he had "nothing to do" with Infosys, in which his wife Akshata Murty holds shares.
He has urged UK firms to pull out of Russia to inflict "economic pain" on President Vladimir Putin.
Mr Sunak's spokesperson said Ms Murty had no role in Infosys's operational decisions.
The software giant was co-founded by Ms Murty's father Narayana, an Indian billionaire who retired from the company in 2014.
Founded in 1981, the firm has since expanded into a number of countries and operates an office in Moscow.
Its most recent annual report lists Ms Murty as holding 0.9% of the company's shares - reportedly worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
India has not followed Western countries, including the UK, in restricting trade with Russia via sanctions in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier this month, Mr Sunak said the government would "fully support" UK firms that pull out of Russia voluntarily.
After meeting a group of leading British companies, the chancellor said he welcomed the "consensus on the need to inflict maximum economic pain on Putin and his regime".
"While I recognise that it may be challenging to wind down existing investments, I believe there is no argument for new investment in the Russian economy," he added.
"I am urging asset owners and managers to think very carefully about any investments that would in any sense support Putin and his regime."
Pressed on Infosys's presence in Russia on Thursday, Mr Sunak told Sky News: "I'm an elected politician, and I'm here to talk to you about what I'm responsible for. My wife is not."
He added that companies' operations were "up to them".
"We've put in place significant sanctions and all the companies we're responsible for are following those, as they rightly should," said the chancellor.
Narayana Murthy co-founded Infosys, often seen as the poster child of India's technology boom.
A spokesperson for the chancellor said Ms Murty was "one of thousands of minority shareholders in the company".
"It is a public company and neither her nor any member of her family have any involvement in the operational decisions of the company," they added.
Infosys said it had a "small team of employees based out of Russia" that "services some of our global clients, locally".
"We do not have any active business relationships with local Russian enterprises," it added.
"Infosys supports and advocates for peace between Russia and Ukraine".
Infosys has had connections in the past to Alfa Bank, one of Russia's biggest financial institutions, which was added to the UK's sanctions list on Thursday, having already been sanctioned by the US and EU.
In 2004, Mr Putin visited Infosys' headquarters in Bangalore, where he was given a guided tour by Narayana Murthy.
Mr Sunak met his future spouse while studying for an MBA at Stanford University in California. They married in 2009 and have two children. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60866778 |
World freedoms at stake, President Biden tells US troops - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | President Joe Biden tells US troops in Poland that global democracy is at risk amid Ukraine war. | Joe Biden with US paratroopers deployed to Poland
President Joe Biden hailed American military deployments to Europe as part of a struggle for democracy against autocracy during a visit to US troops in Poland.
His remarks come as the US and others have reinforced Nato's eastern flank amid the war in Ukraine.
The stop at an airbase in Rzeszow, near the Ukrainian border, was part of Mr Biden's trip to Europe to rally allies.
However, back home Mr Biden faces scepticism over his Ukraine response.
In his remarks to the troops on Friday, the president sought to portray their deployments as part of a wider "fight between democracies and oligarchs".
"You are the finest fighting force in the history of the world," he said. "What you're doing is consequential."
"What's at stake is what your kids and grandkids are going to look like in terms of their freedom," he said. "What you're engaging in is much more than whether or not you can alleviate the pain and suffering of the people of Ukraine".
This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by President Biden This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Since February, the US has sent about 12,000 troops to Europe, many of them to Poland to help deter Russia from threatening Nato allies and to assist with humanitarian efforts. Thousands more have been redeployed east from existing US bases in Europe.
The deployments bring the total number of US troops in Europe - including both those on temporary missions and stationed there permanently - to 100,000 for the first time since 2005.
Mr Biden has repeatedly made clear, however, that the troops are in Europe to defend Nato allies and not to fight Russian forces. Earlier in March, he said that a "direct confrontation" between Nato and Russian forces would lead to "World War III" - a scenario he said must be prevented.
Earlier this week, Mr Biden met with Nato, EU and G7 leaders in Brussels to shore up a message of unity against Moscow's invasion of its neighbour.
He is due to hold a bilateral meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Saturday, and deliver a major address after meeting with Ukrainian refugees.
The trip comes as polls show that a majority of US voters are worried about his handling of the crisis in Ukraine.
Only about a quarter said they had confidence in his ability to handle a crisis or effectively manage the US military, according to an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, while 56% of Americans believe that Mr Biden's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine has "not been tough enough".
Another poll, from NPR/Ipsos, found that 45% of Americans believe Mr Biden is being too cautious. Over 60% said they want the US to give Ukraine the support it wants, while still wanting to avoid a larger conflict with Russia.
While no additional US troop deployments have been announced, earlier this week National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that troops levels in Europe are "a matter of constant reassessment" in the White House. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-60837949 |
Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever case found in UK - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | A woman had recently travelled to Central Asia where the tick bite viral disease is endemic. | UK officials say they have found a confirmed case of a viral illness called Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in England.
The woman, who is being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London, had recently travelled to Central Asia, where this tick bite infection is endemic.
The disease does not spread easily between people, meaning the risk to the public is very low, say experts.
It is not carried by ticks in the UK.
It is the third known case of the fever in the UK, with prior cases reported in 2012 and 2014.
The disease can be caught from contact with infected blood or tissues from a person or animal.
Symptoms then develop quite quickly - after a few days - and include fever, aches, nausea and vomiting, and a rash caused by bleeding into the skin.
Patients can become severely ill with organ damage, which can be fatal.
Chief Medical Advisor at the UK Health Security Agency, Dr Susan Hopkins, said robust infection control measures were being followed at the hospital that is caring for the patient.
"We are working to contact the individuals who have had close contact with the case prior to confirmation of their infection, to assess them as necessary and provide advice," she added.
The woman was diagnosed at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation before being transferred to The Royal Free Hospital.
Dr Sir Michael Jacobs, consultant in infectious diseases at the Royal Free London, said: "The Royal Free Hospital is a specialist centre for treating patients with viral infections such as Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever.
"Our high-level isolation unit is run by an expert team of doctors, nurses, therapists and laboratory staff, and is designed to ensure we can safely treat patients with these kind of infections."
People living in or visiting endemic areas should use personal protective measures to avoid contact with ticks, including:
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-60872683 |
Italy 0-1 North Macedonia: European champions stunned in World Cup play-offs - BBC Sport | 2022-03-25 | European champions Italy will not play in the 2022 World Cup after being stunned by North Macedonia in their play-off in Palermo. | Last updated on .From the section Football
European champions Italy will not play in the 2022 World Cup after being stunned by North Macedonia in their play-off in Palermo.
Aleksandar Trajkovski picked up the loose ball in the 92nd minute, drove forward and fired a sensational winner from outside the area.
The goal sparked wild celebrations on the North Macedonia bench, while Italy's players and coaching staff dropped to their knees in front of their home fans.
It means Italy have failed to qualify for a second consecutive World Cup, ensuring the Azzurri will endure at least 12 years between appearances at football's showpiece event.
It is just eight months since Roberto Mancini's side celebrated one of their greatest triumphs - beating England at Wembley to win Euro 2020 having been considered outsiders going into the tournament.
But they have now paid the price for a disjointed - if previously unbeaten - World Cup qualification campaign during which they finished runners-up to Switzerland in their group, winning four and drawing four of their eight matches.
As expected Italy dominated possession on Thursday but failed to penetrate the resolute North Macedonia defence, registering five shots on target from 32 attempts.
The visitors, ranked 67th in the world, are rewarded for their defensive display with a play-off final against Portugal, who beat Turkey 3-1.
North Macedonia are 90 minutes away from reaching consecutive tournaments, having never reached a Euros or World Cup before qualifying for Euro 2020.
Four-time World Cup winners Italy, who are ranked sixth in the world, will watch events in Qatar in November and December from afar.
As the players emerged from the tunnel and the national anthems played, this was billed as a routine victory for Italy.
The mouth-watering prospect of veteran superstars Giorgio Chiellini and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo meeting in the play-off final loomed large.
But it was anything but routine.
Mancini's side started brightly and Marco Verratti kept them ticking, but they struggled to translate their possession into clear-cut chances.
North Macedonia came to Italy with a defensive gameplan and they threw everything in the way of the ball, as Visar Musliu caught the full force of a Domenico Berardi volley in the groin.
Berardi was a rare bright spark for Italy but when he was gifted possession by North Macedonia keeper Stole Dimitrievski, who had left his goal momentarily unguarded, the Sassuolo forward could not get the ball out of his feet in time to roll it into the net.
That theme continued into the second half as Berardi's movement again proved to be a threat without the final product.
As he rolled his marker just outside of the area with ease, he could only fire his effort over the bar with just the keeper to beat.
North Macedonia had just 34% possession and four shots over 90 minutes, but they took their opportunity against the run of play clinically.
As the ball bounced up inside the Italian half, Trajkovski, who used to play for Palermo, chested the ball away from two blue shirts and set off towards Gianluigi Donnarumma's goal.
The Paris St-Germain keeper had virtually nothing to do for 90 minutes, but he was too slow to react to Trajkovski's fizzing effort as it nestled into the bottom corner.
The journey is not yet complete for North Macedonia, who face Italy's predecessors as European champions in the final, but this is unquestionably the upset of the play-offs.
• None Attempt missed. João Pedro (Italy) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Alessandro Florenzi.
• None Attempt missed. Alessandro Florenzi (Italy) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left.
• None Offside, North Macedonia. Stefan Spirovski tries a through ball, but Aleksandar Trajkovski is caught offside.
• None Goal! Italy 0, North Macedonia 1. Aleksandar Trajkovski (North Macedonia) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Bojan Miovski.
• None Domenico Berardi (Italy) wins a free kick on the right wing. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60869125 |
P&O Ferries offers £100,000 to some sacked staff - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The firm says it didn't break law over sackings as it shares details of £36.5m compensation plan. | Protests against the sackings have been held at ports around the UK
P&O Ferries has said 800 redundant staff will be offered £36.5m in total - with around 40 getting more than £100,000 each.
The firm has also denied that it broke the law when it sacked the workers without warning last week.
However, unions said the compensation package being offered was "pure blackmail and threats".
Ministers had questioned whether the move was legal - but P&O said those affected were employed outside the UK.
The company said some employees are set to get 91 weeks' pay and the chance of new employment, and no employee would receive less than £15,000.
The video message in which the company sacked workers last Thursday prompted widespread outrage, with unions claiming some staff would be replaced by Indian seafarers on £1.81 an hour.
Ministers had threatened the firm with "unlimited fines" but in a letter to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, its chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite said the 786 sacked workers were employed by three Jersey-based arms of P&O Ferries.
The eight ships they worked on, which service routes including Dover-Calais and Larne-Ciarnryan, are all registered in Cyprus, the Bahamas or Bermuda.
Sacked staff had told the BBC about their experience of being "treated like criminals" - but in the letter Mr Hebblethwaite denied "rumours" that security staff who boarded vessels to manage the situation wore balaclavas or were directed to use handcuffs or force.
"The teams accompanying the seafarers off our vessels were totally professional in handling this difficult task," he said.
The company said its settlement with its workers is believed to be "the largest compensation package in the British marine sector," and more than 40 staff would get severance packages of more than £100,000 each.
The transport and freight company said 575 seafarers affected were in discussions to progress with the severance offers.
However, the RMT union, which has been organising protests over the redundancies said "the pay in lieu of notice is not compensation".
"If staff do not sign up and give away their jobs and their legal right to take the company to an employment tribunal they will receive a fraction of the amount put to them," general secretary Mick Lynch said.
P&O Ferries had until Tuesday at 17:00 to respond to the letter from Mr Kwarteng - in which he said that P&O Ferries "appears to have failed" to follow the correct process for making large-scale redundancies, by not consulting with unions and notifying the government in time.
Mr Kwarteng pointed out that failure to notify is "a criminal offence and can lead to an unlimited fine".
Separately, Business Minister Paul Scully said the government was reviewing all of its contracts with P&O ferries and its owner DP World, including a £25 million subsidy to DP World to help develop London Gateway as a freeport. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60840467 |
Electric car chargepoints to overtake fuel pumps - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Motoring group the RAC says the number may still be insufficient for growing demand. | The number of electric vehicle charging points will reach 300,000 by 2030 under government plans but motoring groups say the roll out is not fast enough.
Under the plans, operators will have to ensure drivers can compare prices and pay by contactless card.
But the RAC said the chargepoint target "might sound impressive", but it is concerned the number is "not going to be sufficient" for growing demand.
The UK currently has 30,000 public electric vehicle charging points.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said the number of chargepoints by the end of the decade would be the equivalent to almost five times the number of fuel pumps on UK roads today.
It said the £500m scheme would include £450m to boost public charging stations and on-street charging for people without driveways.
According to Melanie Shufflebotham, chief operations officer of Zap-Map, an EV charging app, 80% of electric vehicle owners have off-street parking.
She went on to say that currently London is the area most "well-served" with on-street overnight charging, due to how built up it is, but that other areas of the country have better access to rapid or ultra-rapid charging.
About a third of all chargers are currently in London.
The funds were previously announced as part of the government's £1.6bn Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, but the government has now given details about how the money will be spent.
New standards and legislation will mean operators will have to provide real-time data for customers to check the status of chargepoints and apps for customers to find the nearest available one.
They will also be required to have a 99% reliability rate at rapid chargepoints.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "We're powering ahead with plans to help British people go electric, with our expanding charging network making journeys easier right across the country."
However, Sir John Armitt, chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission, which advises the government on major infrastructure, said in a report there was a gap emerging between the government's aspirations on net zero policy and actions taken to reach it.
"We need to turbo-charge the roll out of electric vehicle charging points, accelerating the installation of both rapid and on-street charging facilities so that the 2030 date for the end of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars remains viable, he said.
RAC head of policy Nicholas Lyes said it was "pleasing" to see the government set "ambitious reliability targets on the chargepoints themselves" as many current and would-be electric car drivers "worry that charging units will be out of order when they arrive".
He also warned that the installation timescale of 300,000 chargepoints needed be quicker with drivers looking to switch to electric "en masse" ahead of the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.
The AA said action was needed on the lack of charging points in rural areas.
Edmund King, AA president, said: "As we advance quickly to the 2030 deadline for new zero-emission vehicles, it is vital that we get our charging infrastructure in order. While great progress has been made, there is still much to do to convince drivers on the number, and importantly reliability, of charge posts.
"To bring confidence and power to potential electric car drivers we need more, and more reliable and accessible charge points as soon as possible."
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told the BBC that the increased number of electric vehicles will eventually lead to road pricing or tolls in place of fuel duty.
Mr Shapps also acknowledged that electric cars are "still a little bit more expensive" to buy than petrol or diesel vehicles.
However, he said that people should invest in electric cars as a way of easing cost of living pressures, by saving on fuel.
Alongside the expansion of the UK's charging network, the government also has plans for at least 6,000 chargepoints across English motorways by 2035 though an existing £950m Rapid Charging fund.
Over the decade between 2011 and 2021 the total number of charge points in the UK jumped from about 1,500 to more than 48,000 both public and private, according to industry figures.
The Society of Motoring Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said electrified vehicles made up more than one in every four cars produced in the UK last month, at nearly 16,000 units.
Overall, UK vehicle production slumped in February, from 105,000 units in 2021 to 61,000 units for the same month this year, due to continued global shortages in computer chips used in car production. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60863974 |
N Korea claims successful launch of 'monster missile' Hwasong-17 - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The Hwasong-17 is a new, powerful intercontinental ballistic missile – and the country's largest weapon. | The Hwasong-17 is North Korea's largest missile yet
North Korea has announced that it successfully launched its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in a test on Thursday.
The Hwasong-17 was first unveiled in 2020 at a parade where its colossal size surprised even seasoned analysts.
Thursday's launch marked the first time the country tested a ICBM since 2017.
ICBMs are long-range missiles, capable of reaching the US. N Korea is banned from testing them and has been heavily sanctioned for doing so before.
State media said leader Kim Jong-un directly guided Thursday's test and the weapon was key to deterring nuclear war.
Ankit Panda from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace called the launch a "significant milestone" for North Korea's nuclear arsenal.
"This test was long telegraphed and continues North Korea's efforts to improve its nuclear deterrent," he told the BBC.
Thursday's missile launch was tracked by militaries in Japan and South Korea - Japanese officials said it flew to an altitude of 6,000 km (3,728 miles) and fell in Japanese waters after flying for more than an hour.
Its altitude surpasses that of a previous missile - the Hwasong-15 - which reached an altitude of 4,500km (2,800 miles) in a series of tests carried out by North Korea in 2017.
Experts estimated the Hwasong-15, if it had been fired on a standard trajectory, could have travelled more than 13,000km (8,080 miles), placing any part of the continental United States within reach.
The new missile would be able to travel higher and further than this.
As one analyst described it: "A monster missile".
It is believed to be the largest mobile ICBM designed to carry multiple warheads.
The international community had been warned this was coming.
Kim Jong-un first showed off this missile at a military parade in October 2020 and state media had mentioned several times that the pause in long range missile tests was over.
The next steps also feel familiar. The United States and its allies will issue condemnation, there will be further sanctions placed on North Korea, there will be discussions about diplomacy and perhaps co-co-ordinating with China in the hope that Beijing can influence neighbouring Pyongyang.
And yet Kim Jong-un, while under strict international sanctions and a self-imposed blockade at the border to prevent the spread of the pandemic, has managed to build weapons that go further and faster.
As state media said - this ICBM is seen as a "necessary deterrent". The regime has made it a priority even as it tackles a "grave" economic crisis.
Pyongyang is determined to be seen as a nuclear power, as part of the elite nuclear club and most analysts believe more tests are coming.
Something the international community is unlikely to ever accept.
The Biden administration has understandably been busy. North Korea has not been a priority.
The real headache, if Washington chooses to take on this challenge, is what more can they do that hasn't already been done.
The latest test comes after a flurry of missile tests in recent weeks, some of which the US and South Korea said were in fact parts of an ICBM system. Pyongyang claimed these were satellite launches at the time.
The ICBM test is being seen as a major escalation by the North and has been condemned by the UN, its neighbours and the US.
The United States called it a "brazen violation" of UN Security Council resolutions.
The missile reached an altitude of 6,000km - higher than any previous intercontinental ballistic missile tested by North Korea
"The door has not closed on diplomacy, but Pyongyang must immediately cease its destabilising actions," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the launch "a significant escalation of tensions in the region", while South Korean president Moon Jae-in said it was a "breach of the suspension of intercontinental ballistic missile launches promised by Chairman Kim Jong-un to the international community".
After the launch, state media quoted Mr Kim as saying that the country was preparing for a long confrontation with US imperialism.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Why does North Korea keep launching missiles? | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-60860441 |
UK's rainfall records rescued by volunteer army - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | We now have a clearer idea of when these islands were sodden or parched going back almost 200 years. | The project will help put modern floods and droughts in their proper context
Thousands of weather enthusiasts are celebrating the rescue of a unique trove of UK rainfall data.
The volunteer army stepped up during the first Covid lockdown to transfer handwritten rain gauge totals on to computers.
This digitisation effort has given the UK Met Office a much clearer idea of when our islands were sodden or parched going back almost 200 years.
And that's extremely useful for understanding climate change.
"What our 16,000 volunteers did in the first weeks of lockdown will really help us recognise long-term trends," said the Rainfall Rescue project scientist and Reading University professor Ed Hawkins, who's now analysed the new dataset.
"But almost more important is what we learn about extremes. We want to know about the big floods, the big droughts - how likely they are, how frequently they might happen. This will allow us to put modern extremes in their proper context," he told BBC News.
The Rainfall Rescue project was launched in those first few days after the government issued its pandemic stay-at-home order in March 2020.
People were asked to while away their time by helping to recover a series of pre-1960 weather records known as the "10 Year Rainfall Sheets".
These were 65,000 scanned pieces of paper in the UK Met Office archives that contained the scribbled monthly and decadal rainfall totals at thousands of weather stations across the country.
Dr Ross says the digitisation project was a herculean task
Converting all the data into a modern electronic form, able to be analysed by computer, was expected to take a long time, especially since the ornate handwriting on many sheets demanded human eyes do the job rather than an automated character-recognition system.
But the British public raced through the information in just 16 days.
"Across those 66,000 sheets, we had 5.4 million individual rainfall observations. They were keyed into the computer four times for quality control purposes. So that actually makes over 20 million individual observations being keyed," explained Met Office archivist Dr Catherine Ross.
"Add in other data, such as the names of the places where the rainfall was recorded and who the observers were - we're up to 100 million keystrokes."
The British public love nothing better than to talk about the weather
A vast effort, but one that will now pay big dividends.
Consider the task of planning for the consequences of too little or too much water.
How do we satisfy our need for water resources, for domestic supply and industrial use, and also ensure we have the necessary infrastructure to protect our homes from flooding?
The "weather memory" recovered from the decadal sheets will underpin future decision-making.
Some nuggets of information to emerge from the project include:
Observations being taken at a rain gauge at Seathwaite in the Lake District on 14 July 1899
Much of the rescued data comes from a period prior to the Met Office's foundation in 1854 - a lot of it gathered by keen amateurs.
These were individuals working in schools, in hospitals, at reservoirs and iron & steelworks, in lighthouses and at a chocolate factory.
There's even royal data from Sandringham House. Its 10-year sheet from 1900-1909 has written on it: "For His Majesty the King."
Social gatherings in London didn't keep Lady Bayning from her weather observations
Consider one Lady Bayning. She recorded rainfall in Norfolk between 1835 and 1887, and would take her rain gauge with her to London for the social season.
A good number of sheets had incomplete information, perhaps a missing location for the rain gauge.
"We had to track down a Reverend Iliff from Sunderland," recalled Jacqui Huntley, one of eight dedicated Rainfall Rescue volunteers (known as "The Collective") who set themselves the task of validating the recovered data.
"The poor man had so much bad luck. First, his rain gauge was stolen. He then had his arm broken and could only take readings for a few months, and then they put a road through his garden. We had to find his precise street to know where exactly he had his rain gauge."
Dr Mark McCarthy is head of the Met Office's National Climate Information Centre. He said: "I'm always humbled to think about these individuals who were collecting weather records long before the Met Office existed or indeed any sort of systematic observing of our climate was under way.
"They saw fit to collect their records for whatever reason, and 150, 200 years later they've produced real gems for science."
The Rainfall Rescue project was carried out on the Zooniverse citizen science platform. The analysis of its data is published in an open access paper in Geoscience Data Journal.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Hear Ed Hawkins describe the purpose and benefits of the rainfall project | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60860397 |
Lower energy bills for people near wind turbines considered - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The government is looking at lowering people's energy bills based on how close they are to onshore wind turbines. | The government is considering plans to lower people's energy bills based on how close they are to onshore wind turbines, the BBC has been told.
It's an idea the energy company Octopus offers some customers in Yorkshire and Caerphilly.
But the government is considering expanding this across the country.
There are currently strict planning rules about where onshore wind farms can be built in England, which inhibit the development of wind farms.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is in favour of loosening regulations to make it easier to approve plans for more onshore wind.
It's expected the government will outline its energy supply strategy next week - which will include plans for accelerating renewable energy in the UK.
One plan under consideration is reviewing planning laws in England, that were tightened in 2015, to make it easier to approve more onshore wind farms.
The business secretary supports the idea, and Downing Street sources have said the government has "got to be open" to more onshore wind.
It is understood Michael Gove - who is in charge of planning in England - is also supportive.
But the BBC has been told other cabinet ministers strongly oppose the plans, and onshore wind farms have been controversial with Conservative activists in the past.
A government source said that - if the idea is approved - "as with any development, local consent is absolutely critical. We would always want to bring the public with us."
Electricity and gas bills for a typical household will go up by £693 a year in April, a 54% increase.
In October, customers in England, Scotland and Wales will receive a £200 rebate on their energy bills. They will have to repay this at £40 a year for five years, starting in April 2023.
But the OBR on Wednesday forecast that energy bills will rise by 40% again in October, if wholesale gas prices remain at the same level they are now.
In his Spring Statement, Mr Sunak said that VAT would be cut from 5% to 0% on energy efficiency products such as solar panels, insulation and heat pumps.
The BBC understands one option under consideration is introducing a scheme to make energy bills cheaper depending on how close people live to an onshore wind farm.
It's understood this would apply to new developments.
Currently, a similar scheme is run by the energy company Octopus. Their customers get 20% off electricity bills when their local turbine is spinning, and 50% off when it's picking up speed.
There are two local wind turbines using this model so far - one in Market Weighton in Yorkshire and one in Caerphilly in Wales.
The BBC has been told that the government is "very interested" in this model and are considering expanding it across the country to provide an incentive for onshore wind farms to be approved in people's local areas.
A government source said: "Ministers would want to ensure communities are able to directly benefit from hosting renewable energy infrastructure. There are a range of different options under discussion."
The energy strategy expected next week is likely to focus on plans to accelerate the rollout of more renewable and nuclear energy in the UK - as well as the government's ambitions to loosen regulations around extracting North Sea oil and gas while the government moves away from Russian gas and transitions towards more renewable energy.
Labour MP Darren Jones, who is chair of the Commons select committee which focuses on business and energy, called on the government for more action on energy.
"For colleagues in Parliament who have concerns about onshore wind turbines, which is a much better option than fracking, maybe they can demand that government brings forward the delayed updates to the energy efficiency voucher scheme to help families insulate their homes and reduce energy demand in the first place." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60864097 |
Ukraine war: Five challenges for Biden in Europe - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Joe Biden is meeting allies at a moment of international crisis. Here are his most pressing concerns. | Joe Biden is taking his third trip to Europe as US president at a moment of international crisis. His last journey, in the autumn for the G20 meeting in Rome and the climate conference in Glasgow, was planned months in advance.
This one is of the emergency variety.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is entering its fourth week with no end in sight, and the path ahead for the US-Europe alliance is far from clear.
Here's a look at five of the most pressing concerns as Mr Biden meets European leaders and allies in the days ahead.
Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, the US has made special efforts to move only in concert with its allies. That sometimes meant holding off on actions - such as different forms of sanctions or military aid - until the rest of Nato was ready to take steps concurrently.
This was never easy given the disparate interests of the 30-nation alliance, but the early, dramatic days of Russia offensive created a sense of urgency that removed some traditional obstacles to consensus. As the war drags on - and the economic fallout from the violence and resulting allied response grows more pronounced - the potential for public discord within the alliance will increase.
The primary goal of Mr Biden's trip, then, is to be seen standing shoulder-to-shoulder with America's allies (literally and figuratively) and to demonstrate that strengthened Nato resolve is not a temporary condition but the new normal in response to Russia's expansionist policies.
After meeting other leaders in Belgium, Mr Biden will travel to Poland for a bilateral meeting with President Andrzej Duda. Given the nation's position on Nato's eastern flank, the former Soviet satellite state has been given special attention by the US in the past few months, with visits from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Although topics of military aid to Ukraine and an increased Nato presence on Polish soil are sure to come up, US officials say the top issue for the meeting will be dealing with the flood of refugees that has been arriving at the Ukraine-Poland border since hostilities began.
Caring for and processing millions of refugees has put a considerable financial and logistical burdens on Poland and, if not handled competently, could ultimately lead to social unrest and economic instability.
Given Poland's geopolitical importance in the confrontation with Russia, ensuring the nation remains a reliable Nato member is a pressing US concern.
In the past few months the US and its allies have open the spigots of lethal military aid to the uniformed and volunteer Ukrainian forces holding off the Russian assault.
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made clear recent in speeches to legislative bodies in Europe and North America, however, the aid so far has not been enough. He says Ukraine needs more sophisticated anti-air systems as well as jet fighters capable of "closing the skies" over Ukraine to Russian warplanes.
While the US has promised to provide more advanced long-range air defense capabilities, that's easier said than done. As seen with the friction between the US and Poland over the proposed but now shelved effort to supply Ukraine with Polish-owned Soviet-era jets, there are concerns over the kinds of anti-air support that would generate a Russian response against Nato, the logistics of getting weapons into Ukrainian hands and how to replace the weapons that are transferred.
The US is currently engaged in discussions with Nato members Slovakia and Turkey to move their anti-air systems over to Ukraine, but it will take a more deft touch than was displayed with Poland to accomplish it. If Mr Biden can pull this off while he's in Europe, it would be a notable success.
The US and its allies promised that they would impose unprecedented, debilitating economic sanctions on Russia if it were to invade Ukraine. After some early fits and starts, that's exactly what the allies have done. The Russian economy, its stock market and its currency have been staggered by the allied punishments, which include trade restrictions, financial isolation, limits on energy exports and targeted sanctions on Russian political and business leaders.
Severe as the restrictions may be, however, they have not deterred Russia from continuing its all-out assault. While western allies insist that the pain of the current sanctions will increase as time goes by, there is growing pressure on US and European leaders to find new ways of punishing Russian aggression that they can announce during Mr Biden's meetings this week.
Some proposals include new sanctions on oligarchs and politicians, greater restrictions on Russian energy exports and the kinds of technology that is imported to Russia.
None of these seem likely to produce a dramatic new impact on the Russian economy, but sometimes the perception of continued action is as important as the actions themselves.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin had a warm meeting in Beijing during February's Winter Olympics, where they described a friendship between their nations that had "no limits". If that translates into ongoing Chinese economic and military support for Russia in the months ahead, it could undermine everything the US and its European allies are trying to do in Ukraine.
Last week, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met his Chinese counterpart in Rome, followed by a nearly two-hour phone call between Mr Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The US can't act alone here, however. Both America and Europe will need to make concerted, co-ordinated efforts to convince China to keep its distance from Russia and, if possible, be more vocal in its denunciations of Russia's infringement on Ukrainian territorial sovereignty. China's recent backing of Russian participation in the upcoming G20 economic summit suggests the task will not be easy.
Like the US, Europe is a key market for Chinese goods - and the threat of US and European sanctions on China if it were to openly aid Russia is already weighing on the Chinese economy. Mr Biden has frequently spoken of how the world is in an era-defining conflict between democracies and autocracies - but pushing China and Russia into the same adversarial camp at the moment is a risky move. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-60854242 |
Rishi Sunak faces questions over link to firm operating in Russia - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The chancellor's wife has a stake in an Indian multinational that has kept its office in Moscow. | Rishi Sunak married Akshata Murty in 2009 and they have two children
Rishi Sunak is coming under attack from political rivals over his wife's stake in an Indian multinational operating in Russia.
Labour said the chancellor has "very serious questions to answer" over Akshata Murty's shares in Infosys, a firm co-founded by her father.
Mr Sunak has said he has "nothing to do" with the company.
He has encouraged UK firms to sever ties with Russia to punish Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine.
Downing Street told reporters on Friday that Ms Murty's stake in Infosys was a "personal issue for the chancellor".
Software giant Infosys is one of India's biggest companies, with a presence in about 50 countries around the world.
It was co-founded by Ms Murty's billionaire father Narayana, who retired in 2014, but retains a small stake in it along with other members of his family.
Ms Murty's 0.9% shareholding in Infosys is thought to be worth more than £400m.
A spokesperson for Mr Sunak has said neither she nor any members of her family "have any involvement in the operational decisions of the company".
In 2016, Infosys set up an engineering centre in Moscow to support its customer, Ansaldo Energia, which was developing gas turbines to sell to Russian power plants, and other clients.
After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, many global IT giants, including Oracle and SAP, suspended operations in the Russian Federation, and expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
Infosys is among those who continue to operate there, saying it has a "small team of employees based out of Russia that services some of our global clients, locally".
"We do not have any active business relationships with local Russian enterprises," it added in a statement.
"Infosys supports and advocates for peace between Russia and Ukraine," the company said, and had committed $1m to "relief efforts for the victims of war from Ukraine".
The UK has restricted its trade with Russia via sanctions in the wake of its invasion last month - a move not replicated by India.
Mr Sunak has said he would support UK firms that voluntarily cut ties with Russia in a bid to inflict "economic pain" on President Vladimir Putin.
He has also urged British investors to "think very carefully" about whether investments could support Mr Putin, and he believed there was "no argument for new investment in the Russian economy".
Pressed on Infosys's presence in Russia on Thursday, Mr Sunak told Sky News he had "nothing to do" with the company.
Narayana Murthy founded Infosys in 1981 and the firm now has a presence in a number of countries
But on Friday, Labour's shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said Mr Sunak had "very serious questions to answer on this matter".
"It is really quite shocking that these allegations have now emerged that Rishi Sunak's family itself is benefiting from business in Russia," she told BBC News.
"The chancellor has explicitly called on business to divest from Russia in order to inflict economic pain and ensure that the sanctions are as deeply felt as possible," she added.
Asked whether Mr Sunak should ask his wife to sell her shares, Ms Haigh replied: "Given that he's called on business to stop doing business in Russia, of course he should be ensuring that his own family follows that advice as well."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Louise Haigh: Rishi Sunak has "very serious questions to answer".
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Christine Jardine said Mr Sunak "needs to come clean and declare any potential conflicts of interest".
"Openness and full transparency are key given the risks posed by financial connections to Russia," she added.
"The public deserves full transparency on this issue. It cannot be one rule for the chancellor and another for everyone else."
Infosys has had connections in the past to Alfa Bank, one of Russia's biggest financial institutions, which was added to the UK's sanctions list on Thursday, having already been sanctioned by the US and EU.
In 2004, Mr Putin visited Infosys' headquarters in Bangalore, where he was given a guided tour by Narayana Murthy.
Mr Sunak met his future spouse while studying for a business degree at Stanford University in California. They married in 2009 and have two children. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60876612 |
Spotify stops streaming in Russia over safety concerns - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | New laws threaten jail for people accused of spreading "fake news" about Russia's armed forces. | Spotify is pulling out of Russia citing a new law that threatens jail for spreading "fake news" about the country's armed forces.
The music streaming company said safety concerns about staff and "possibly even our listeners" had pushed it to fully suspend its free service.
Spotify shut its office in Russia earlier in March.
But it said it had wanted to keep its service operational to provide "independent news" to the country.
"Spotify has continued to believe that it's critically important to try to keep our service operational in Russia to provide trusted, independent news and information from the region," Spotify said in a statement.
"Unfortunately, recently enacted legislation further restricting access to information, eliminating free expression, and criminalizing certain types of news puts the safety of Spotify's employees and the possibility of even our listeners at risk."
New rules on what media companies can broadcast or post online mean publishing material deemed to be "fake news" about Russia's invasion of Ukraine can lead to lengthy prison sentences.
Following passage of the legislation, Bloomberg, the New York Times and CNN were among the outlets that announced plans earlier this month to suspend reporting from the country.
TikTok also suspended live streaming and new content from its platform following its introduction.
The BBC suspended reporting in Russia, though it has since resumed. Access to BBC websites has been restricted in Russia, and the Kremlin took BBC World News off the air earlier this month.
Spotify, which launched in Russia in 2020, is best known as a music streaming platform. But it has aggressively moved into podcasting as part of its business model, with its library including many news and current affairs shows.
Since the war in Ukraine, it has not been able to sell its premium subscriptions in the country because of restrictions put in place by payment providers amid international sanctions.
This latest move adds it to a list of hundreds of global firms that have exited or scaled back operations in the country, including BP, McDonald's and Netflix. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60881567 |
Ashling Murphy 'will not be forgotten', says Prince Charles - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Prince Charles and Camilla meet Ashling Murphy's family during a visit to County Tipperary. | The royal couple met privately with Ms Murphy's parents Kathleen and Ray, sister Amy, brother Cathal and boyfriend Ryan Casey
The name of murdered Irish school teacher Ashling Murphy will not be forgotten, the Prince of Wales has said.
Prince Charles expressed sympathy with the 23-year-old's family, after meeting them alongside the Duchess of Cornwall in County Tipperary.
The royal couple are on their last day of a visit to the island of Ireland.
Ms Murphy was attacked while jogging along a canal in County Offaly, in January.
The royals met privately with Ms Murphy's parents Kathleen and Ray, sister Amy, brother Cathal and boyfriend Ryan Casey at Brú Ború Cultural Centre in Cashel.
Ms Murphy, a talented folk musician, had previously performed at the centre in County Tipperary.
Ms Murphy's death caused shockwaves and sparked vigils across the island of Ireland and beyond, as calls were made for a change in attempts to tackle gender-based violence.
The Duchess of Cornwall has long been a campaigner on the issue of violence against women, and at an event in London last year she paid tribute to all the "precious lives that have been brutally ended".
In a speech at the end of the couple's latest tour, Prince Charles told those gathered that the "responsibility to make a difference rests on us all".
Flowers and candles were laid at a Belfast City Hall vigil for Ashling Murphy
"Last year, my wife called on the entire community, male and female, to dismantle the lies, words and actions that enable so much violence against women," he said.
"In your country and mine, in the intervening year, we've continued to witness appalling attacks.
"Therefore, with profound sorrow and sympathy, perhaps I might be permitted to pay tribute to Ashling Murphy, whose name will not be forgotten, who was taken from us far too soon, and who I know was a friend to many here, where she performed.
"My wife and I were so enormously touched to have been able to meet her family, who I know are with us here today. And our most special, heartfelt thoughts are with them."
It is the final day of The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall's visit to the island of Ireland
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall are on their final day of their trip to the island of Ireland as part of the Queen's platinum jubilee celebrations.
The royal couple also visited the Rock of Cashel, once the seat of the High Kings of Munster, during their latest visit.
Prince Charles and Camilla posed in front of the stone cathedral ruins before being given a short history of the site.
On Thursday Charles and Camilla visited Waterford on the first day in the Republic of Ireland after they completed a two-day visit to Northern Ireland. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60878503 |
P&O Ferries: Not consulting on job cuts broke law, boss admits - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Peter Hebblethwaite admits P&O should have consulted unions before sacking 800 ferry workers. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
P&O Ferries boss Peter Hebblethwaite has admitted to MPs that a decision to sack 800 workers last week without notice broke the law.
He said there was "absolutely no doubt" that under UK employment law the firm was required to consult unions before making the mass cuts.
However, he said no union would have accepted the plan and it was easier to compensate workers "in full" instead.
The P&O boss also said he would make the same decision again if he had to.
Huw Merriman, the Conservative chair of the Transport Committee urged him to resign.
"It's untenable to come to parliament and say you decided to break the law, you have no regrets," Mr Merriman told BBC Radio 4's World at One.
"We can't have companies run by people like that. So he needs to hand his card in."
The sackings of P&O staff sparked outrage after it emerged they will be replaced by foreign agency workers paid less than the minimum wage.
Addressing a committee of MPs on Thursday, Mr Hebblethwaite apologised for the distress caused by the cuts, but said they were necessary to save the business which has been loss-making.
He said workers would receive "extremely generous" compensation, although as part of these settlements they would forgo their right to pursue further legal action against P&O.
Asked whether P&O broke the law by not consulting the unions, Mr Hebblethwaite said: "It was our assessment that the change [to staffing] was of such a magnitude that no union could possibly accept our proposal.
"So as I say, I completely throw our hands up, my hands up, that we did choose not to consult."
He added: "We did not believe there was any other way to do this and we are compensating people in full."
Asked if he would change anything about the decision made last Thursday, he responded: "That's a really, really difficult question.
"The business would close, the business was not viable. This is the only way for us to save this business and we have moved to a model that is internationally recognised and widely used across the globe and by our competitors.
"I would make this decision again I'm afraid."
Peter Hebblethwaite apologised to workers. But he remained adamant there had been no other option and gave no indication that he would change course.
MPs were aghast at his open admission that the business had chosen not to comply with the requirement to consult unions over planned redundancies.
A representative of DP World, which owns P&O, said Mr Hebblethwaite would not be sacked.
But after this morning's appearance, the calls for him to resign are growing.
No P&O worker will get less than £15,000 in compensation, he said, and a small number will receive more than £100,000.
Mr Hebblethwaite, who earns £325,000 a year as a base salary, said he could not say whether he would get a performance-related bonus after the sackings.
In 2020, the directors of P&O were paid £1.9m in total, and the highest paid director got £452,000.
Mr Hebblethwaite told MPs that the average hourly rate of pay for new P&O crewmembers would be £5.50 per hour, which is below the UK minimum wage. However, it is in line with international maritime standards.
From 1 April, the UK minimum wage for people aged 23 and over will be £9.50.
Mr Hebblethwaite said that the firm's new operating model was consistent with "models throughout the globe and our competitors".
Former P&O worker John said he was 'sickened and shocked' by the hearing
By sacking its crews and taking on agency staff instead, he said the business would cut its wage bill in half.
Following the hearing MP Darren Jones, who chairs the business committee, said he was "amazed" by Mr Hebblethwaite's evidence.
The Labour MP added: "He should be fined, struck off and prosecuted."
John, a former P&O seafarer, who started working in the ferry business when he was 16, also said the P&O boss should go.
"I am sickened and shocked by this man's arrogant explanation," he said. "I don't even know if I've got the right words for how I'm feeling inside."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The government will stop a similar firing of P&O Ferries staff after the firm “exploited a loophole”, says Grant Shapps.
Meanwhile, transport secretary Grant Shapps said he would take action to prevent similar mass sackings without notice.
He said the government would "have a package of measures" to remove a "loophole in the law" it believed had been "exploited" by P&O.
MPs on the committee also raised questions about the way P&O notified foreign governments that it was going to make the redundancies, which is a legal requirement.
The company informed authorities in Barbados, Bermuda and Cyprus on 17 March - but MPs said it should have done this sooner.
On Wednesday, Boris Johnson told the Commons that "it looks like" P&O breached a similar rule in the UK, but some employment lawyers have cast doubt on that claim.
The company denies it breached any rules in this regard. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60862933 |
Ukraine not alone in fight against Russia, says Boris Johnson - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Boris Johnson warns if Vladimir Putin uses chemical weapons in Ukraine the consequences will be "catastrophic for him". | Ukraine is "not alone" in its fight against Russia's invasion, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.
He said the UK would not stand by while Vladimir Putin "vents his fury on Ukraine" and would work to ramp up defensive weaponry for the country.
Speaking in Brussels, he warned that, if the Russian president used chemical weapons, the consequences would be "catastrophic for him".
Earlier, the UK announced sanctions on 65 more Russian groups and individuals.
Mr Johnson later told BBC Newsnight that Russia did not want peace, and instead wanted to intensify its attack on Ukraine.
Leaders from Nato, the EU and the G7 have been holding emergency meetings in Brussels to discuss the conflict.
Speaking at a news conference following the Nato summit, Mr Johnson defended the level of the UK's support for Ukraine, saying the government planned to send 6,000 more missiles to the country as well as an extra £25m in aid to help Ukraine pay the salaries of its armed forces.
The PM said kit would be provided to Ukraine to defend against "its bullying neighbour".
Mr Johnson also promised a new deployment of UK troops to Bulgaria, on top of doubling troops both in Poland and in Estonia.
It follows Nato's earlier announcement that new battle groups would be created in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia.
"The message Putin can take is: Ukraine is not alone. We stand with the people of Kyiv, Mariupol, Lviv and Donetsk," Mr Johnson said.
"As President Zelensky himself has said, the people of Ukraine must prevail and Putin must fail - and he will."
Mr Johnson added that Western nations were looking to "steadily ratchet up" the amount of military gear they are sending Ukraine, but that it was proving "difficult" to meet the country's request for warplanes and tanks.
In a virtual appearance at the summit earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's asked Nato for "1% of all your planes, 1% of all your tanks".
Mr Johnson said: "What President Zelensky wants is to try to relieve Mariupol and to help the thousands of Ukrainian fighters in the city. To that end he does need armour, as he sees it."
"We are looking at what we can do to help. But logistically it looks very difficult both with armour and with jets."
Mr Johnson added that no Western power was looking to put "boots on the ground" or impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
He acknowledged that the Ukrainian president wanted more from Nato, saying allies felt "agony" about their "inability to do more given the constraints we face".
In a statement reported by Russia's Ria news agency, Russia's foreign ministry said Nato's decision to continue supporting Ukraine showed the military alliance wanted the conflict to continue.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Zelensky calls on people to 'support freedom' one month after Russia invaded Ukraine
The UK government has already given £400m in humanitarian and economic aid to Ukraine and its neighbouring nations since Russia's invasion last month.
The PM said ministers had sanctioned more than 1,000 Russian individuals and entities so far in the toughest sanctions the UK had ever imposed.
The Wagner Group, a private military firm thought to function as an arms-length unit of the Russian military, was among the 65 entities hit by the latest sanctions announced by the UK earlier.
Also targeted were Gazprombank, the country's third-largest bank and one of the main channels for payments for Russian oil and gas, and the state-run shipping firm Sovcomflot.
The stepdaughter of Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, Polina Kovaleva, who is thought to own a London property worth an estimated £4m, was also targeted by the measures.
Earlier, Mr Johnson called on the West to consider measures to prevent Russia using its gold reserves to prop up its currency, the rouble.
He told the news conference the Kremlin was "trying to get around the sanctions on their gold" and the UK and others were trying to ensure there was "no leakage or no sale of bullion into markets around the world".
The prime minister said he was not "remotely anti-Russian" after the Kremlin labelled him the "most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian".
He said that, while one could be sympathetic to ordinary Russians, the way Mr Putin was leading Russia was "utterly catastrophic" and his invasion of Ukraine was "inhuman and barbaric".
Mr Johnson dismissed talk about the use of nuclear weapons as a "distraction" from what was happening in Ukraine - where he said Russia's use of conventional weapons against "innocent people" had been "absolutely barbaric".
He warned that any use of chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine by Russia would be "disastrous for Putin".
"There is a visceral horror of the use of these weapons of mass destruction. I think that if Putin were to engage in anything like that the consequences would be very, very severe.
"You have to have a bit of ambiguity about your response but I think it would be catastrophic for him if he were to do that. And I think that he understands that."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch what Boris Johnson says about the prospect of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine
In an interview with the BBC's Newsnight Mr Johnson said Ukraine can win the war with Russia - not necessarily on the battlefield, but by making an occupation impossible.
"There's a sense in which Putin has already failed, or lost, because I think that he had literally no idea that the Ukrainians were going to mount the resistance that they are and he totally misunderstood what Ukraine is - and, far from extinguishing Ukraine as a nation, he's solidified it... He can't subjugate Ukraine."
The prime minister added that he was "not optimistic" the Russian president truly wanted peace, and that he had instead decided to "double down" in his assault on Ukraine which he said was a "tragic mistake."
Mr Johnson sparked anger at the weekend after appearing to make a comparison between Britons voting to leave the European Union and Ukrainians fighting for the freedom from Russia.
But when asked about this the prime minister said that had not been the analogy he was making and his words had been "wildly misconstrued".
Elsewhere, US President Joe Biden warned any use of chemical weapons by Mr Putin would be met with a "response in kind", the nature of which "would depend on the nature of the use".
Mr Biden said the Russian President had "miscalculated" in his decision to invade Ukraine, and had banked on "Nato being split".
"Nato has never, never been more united. Putin is getting exactly the opposite of (what) he intended to have as a consequence of going into Ukraine." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60867964 |
Spring Statement: Rishi Sunak accused of not doing enough for poorest households - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The chancellor's mini-Budget is under scrutiny, as Boris Johnson hints at more help for hard-pressed families. | Rishi Sunak has been accused of not doing enough to help the poorest as the cost of food and energy increases at its fastest rate for 30 years.
The Resolution Foundation and Institute for Fiscal Studies think tanks said he could have done more to protect those hit hardest by rising costs.
Planned increases in benefits will be much smaller than the rise in the cost of living this year.
Mr Sunak said tax cuts this year would help those on low wages the most.
He said his plans to raise the point at which workers start paying National Insurance would particularly help people on low and middle incomes.
And he said it was impossible for him to "fully compensate" people for spiralling energy costs, a challenge the UK was "not alone" in facing.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson also hinted more help for people struggling was on its way in the coming months.
"The cost of living is the single biggest thing we're having to fix, and we will fix it," the prime minister told LBC Radio, adding: "As we go forward, we need to do more".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Mr Sunak sought to address the rising cost of living in his Spring Statement on Wednesday, cutting 5p from fuel duty and taking some of the sting out of April's National Insurance (NI) rise by raising the point at which workers have to start paying it from £9,600 to £12,570 from July.
But he has faced calls from opposition MPs to do more to help people now, as inflation is predicted to hit more than 8% by end of the year and UK living standards are predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility to fall faster than at any time since the 1950s.
His tweaks to National Insurance fell short of the demands from Labour and some Tory MPs, who had called on him to scrap April's rise completely.
One of the Conservatives who had called on him to scrap the increase, Richard Drax, said the chancellor's approach was "tinkering around the edge" and he had not gone far enough to ease the tax burden.
Another Conservative backbencher, Peter Aldous, said the chancellor's tweaks would "offset" the effect of the NI rise - but added the below-inflation increase to benefits meant claimants would still see a "significant fall" in spending power.
Privately, there is angst among some Conservatives, including ministers, that the changes announced by Rishi Sunak amounted to "fiddling," as one put it.
Another was scathing about what they perceived to be the political calculation made by a chancellor desperate to be seen as a tax-cutter at a time when taxing and government spending is higher than it's been for decades.
One described Mr Sunak's promise to cut income tax - but possibly not for two years - as "ridiculous," seeing it as a gesture to burnish his credentials and image as a future prime minister rather than sensible policy making.
A photo opportunity where Mr Sunak filled up someone else's car with petrol is also being privately mocked among some of his colleagues.
But there's a deeper concern from many here: that at what one minister described as a "genuinely difficult time for people," the capacity for any government to make a substantial difference is limited.
And plenty fret this government has not yet grasped the true scale of the problems coming down the track.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies' director Paul Johnson said that overall the measures set out by Mr Sunak - including council tax and energy bill rebates announced last year - amounted to a "relatively modest giveaway" of around £5bn.
He acknowledged that the chancellor had been "caught in a bind", dealing with the effects of the pandemic, Brexit and the war in Ukraine.
But he said that the new policies would "not be enough to protect poorer households from a significant hit to their living standards".
And, despite the chancellor's rhetoric about cutting taxes, they were set to rise their highest level as a share of national income since the 1940s, when Britain was emerging from World War Two.
Another think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies, criticised Mr Sunak's decision to go ahead with April's National Insurance rise, but said his tweaks to the starting point for paying the tax were a good way to "soften the blow".
"This has long been a good idea which help ensure that work pays, and leave money in the pockets of lower earners beyond the current crisis," it added, saying boosting growth in the long term was the only way out of the current economic issues.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: How the Ford family is coping with the cost of living
New analysis from the Resolution Foundation, which focuses on people on low incomes, also suggests that 1.3 million more people would be pushed into "absolute poverty" from April - defined as having an income below £14,000 for a childless couple and £8,000 for a single person.
But the chancellor said this needed to been seen in the context of the "biggest economic shock in over 300 years" due to Covid.
Speaking to the BBC, he said borrowing had spiralled to its biggest level since World War Two as a result of spending to support the economy during pandemic.
"It's unsurprising that dealing with the aftermath of that is also pretty exceptional," he added.
Powder is being kept dry, while the energy cap suppresses further rises in bills.
The extent of any further support can be determined in the summer, when it will be clear if the new cap implies average bills of an incredible £200 per month or even a truly terrifying £300 per month.
That in turn depends on the war in Ukraine and supplies of energy from Russia.
Not even the Office for Budget Responsibility knows where this is going to land. But there is space for a support package of several billion, if required.
Mr Sunak also used Wednesday's statement to promise to cut the basic rate of income tax from 20p to 19p in the pound by the next general election in 2024, when he said the UK economy would be in better shape than it is now.
Stevie (left) says she is "just trying to get by"
Stevie Hall in Halifax says rising food, fuel and energy bills have nudged her into debt already.
She told the BBC she has been batch cooking to save money and is only driving when there is a real need.
"We're just trying to get by, I'm trying to stay upbeat about it," she said.
Louise in Leicester told BBC 5 Live that her electricity bill "has gone up £120 a month so that's money off something else".
"I'm having to buy bulk more to make stuff last. You dare not put your electric on… you can't put that on for 300-odd quid a month."
Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said Mr Sunak had failed to understand the scale of the cost of living crisis.
"I think most people are looking at their pay packets now and looking at their taxes, and saying these promises in the future are not going to help me pay these bills this year," she said in an interview.
"I was incredibly surprised that the chancellor didn't do anything yesterday with rising gas and electricity bills, when the profits being made by North Sea oil and gas companies are at near-record highs."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Labour says Sunak is a tax raising chancellor, following the Spring Statement
How is the cost of living crisis affecting you? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60858113 |
Next stop Kyiv - the battle on the capital's outskirts - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | In Irpin, only a few civilians remain as volunteers bolster defences a few miles from Kyiv. | Smoke as heavy as a winter fog hung over the last mile or so of the road into Irpin, just a 20-minute drive north-west of Kyiv. Trees and undergrowth in the pine forest on either side were burning, set alight by shelling. The road was almost empty.
When our BBC team was last able to come here, about three weeks ago, the city was badly damaged. Now it is in ruins.
Irpin sits in an arc of towns that also includes Bucha and Hostomel, where the most important fighting for the future of Kyiv is taking place. If it is important for Kyiv, it is important for the rest of the country. The capital remains the biggest prize.
It seems clear now that a central part of Russia's strategy when President Putin ordered the invasion was a decisive thrust into Kyiv, to replace the troublesome Zelensky government with one that would do as it was told.
The failure of that strategy is, without a doubt, a victory for Ukraine. President Zelensky's presence in the capital is as well. While the government is here, and functioning, and while Kyiv remains accessible, President Putin has a constant reminder that the start of his "special military operation" - it is not called a war by the Kremlin - was badly bungled.
Ukraine is winning another battle decisively - the war of the Twittersphere. From skilfully crafted video messages delivered by President Zelensky and world-famous Ukrainians, such as the boxing Klitschko brothers, to local journalists who suddenly have hundreds of thousands of followers, they dominate social media.
It is a clever strategy, partly managed and partly spontaneous. The information battlefield is a vital part of modern war.
But getting to the truth of what is happening in a war means being very cautious about declarations of victory or defeat by anyone.
For journalists, that requires using your own eyes and ears, which is why our BBC team - and many other colleagues - have made trips to front line areas to try to base our reporting on first-hand knowledge.
A month into the war, it's harder to get to the crucial front line at Irpin. In the first days, journalists were able to drive in that direction. They were waved through roadblocks, and images went round the world of thousands of displaced civilians crossing the ruins of a road bridge blown by Ukrainian engineers to slow the Russians down if they made it to the Irpin River.
People cross the destroyed bridge as they evacuate Irpin during heavy shelling and bombing on March 5, 2022
But as governments and military commands organise themselves in wars after the confusion of the first few days, it is always more difficult to move around. So, when the opportunity came to revisit the area it was important to take it. It is never an easy decision to go into harm's way.
Commander Oleg, the leader of the unit that was going to take us in, delivered a stern briefing at their base in Kyiv. His pistol was on the desk in front of him and his Kalashnikov assault rifle was propped up against a chair. The unit was part of the volunteer territorial defence.
Oleg, a thick-set man in his 40s, said he had been a factory manager before the invasion. He said that shelling north west of Kyiv was constant. If we were lucky there might be a lull. If we were not whatever happened was our responsibility, and there were basements and cellars we would have to reach in a hurry.
When displaced people were leaving Irpin, the road into the city was crowded with buses and ambulances picking them up and taking them into Kyiv. Many went straight to the railway station to head west, further from the Russians or to cross the border to become refugees in Poland, Romania and beyond.
In Irpin I could see clearly that the last few weeks of bombardment had damaged almost every building. The ruined bridge was now the route into the battlefield for groups of Ukrainian troops, heavily laden with weapons and ammunition, who were pushing forward on foot.
A few civilians were still emerging from the rubble of their town, people who had tried to hang on. A man called Pavlo, who walked painfully slowly with a stick, said he was getting out because a shell had destroyed his house. A soldier was helping him, carrying a few of things Pavlo had salvaged packed into a plastic supermarket shopping bag. I asked the old man how he was.
"I'm bad," he said. "Children are dying, everyone is dying. I didn't think I would make it to the bridge."
A man and a woman were leaving with nine dogs. The animals were terrified, and Slava was dragging them on a lead. She said they had been cut off, but now had to move.
They were the exceptions. Otherwise, it was a military area, swept up by the fighting. Vehicles picked up the Ukrainian soldiers to ferry them deeper into the battleground. The sound of Russian heavy artillery rumbled constantly around the flat, boggy terrain.
Irpin, Bucha and Hostomel, all now in ruins, used to be desirable places to live, an easy drive into the city, criss-crossed by waterways, with plenty of forest to walk dogs. It turns out that what was good for the residents is also good for Ukrainian defenders.
As one of the generals commanding the defence of Kyiv told me early in the war, the topography helps them. Spring is in the air, ice and snow have melted; mud and water are a nightmare for tanks. Forests are good places to conceal guns and build defensive positions.
In a cellar Commander Oleg, who had delivered the stern warning in Kyiv, was more relaxed closer to the fight.
The underground space, chosen because it had a thick concrete roof, was in a half-built house. It still had power. The lights on racks of battery chargers for walkie-talkies glowed in the gloom. Weapons were stacked in corners.
Ammunition comes in metal containers painted army green, which are opened like giant cans of corn beef.
Like his men, Oleg said the Russians had been pushed back. He explained that they were hitting Russian supply lines. Putin's men still had a toehold on the ground in Irpin, but the way they made their presence felt was with heavy artillery.
Former British soldier Shane Matthews is fighting with Oleg's unit
Shane Matthews, a former British soldier who travelled here from the UK with a Ukrainian friend, was part of Oleg's unit. Shane did not believe Nato should intervene, unlike every Ukrainian from the president down, because of the risks of a wider war. He had seen many civilians, including a family of four whose car was hit by an artillery shell. So little was left of them, he said, that their remains would barely have filled a bin bag.
First-hand reporting helps, but it is still hard to penetrate the fog of war, especially in a place that is being shelled more or less constantly. As far as I could see, the claims made by the Ukrainian military that it is holding territory and even taking some of it back are true.
What is also true is that Russia is using its formidable firepower and could still direct it at Kyiv. Even if most of their artillery is kept too far back to hit the city centre - a key Ukrainian objective - the Russians have destructive long range conventional missiles.
So far, apart from isolated but deadly attacks, nothing nearly as bad has happened in Kyiv. Everyone in the city knows that could change very fast.
In the city this week, more volunteers were being redeployed from quieter sectors to the battered north-western suburbs. It was quiet, a bit tense, as they waited for buses that would take them to the front line.
Katrine, one of the few women in uniform, cuddled her 18-month-old son Nikita. It was going to be a brief reunion as she too was off to Irpin. Katrine said she had been a sniper since 2015 in the long war against Russian backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Now she was back.
"I'm ready to kill," she said, kissing her boy, "to protect his future".
Katrine the sniper cuddles her son before heading off to fight
The war has changed everything for Ukraine, and for Russia. The world now feels more dangerous. Whatever happens on the battlefields of Ukraine, it is clear after a month that the Russian invasion is the biggest threat to international peace and security since the end of the Cold War.
Its consequences are already being felt beyond the borders of Ukraine, in the shape of European security, the politics of the Nato alliance and the growing pressure on economies and food supplies. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned this week that disruption to Ukraine and Russia's agricultural exports could increase world hunger.
Outside their headquarters, the younger volunteers were checking their phones as they waited for the buses. They were born when Europe was hopeful, in the 1990s.
Plenty of older men, some in their 60s were there too. Two of them said they were fishing buddies. They grew up when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.
Now the old drumbeat of the Cold War, the risk of confrontation between the big powers that was so familiar when Europe was divided by an iron curtain, is back for a new generation. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60874223 |
Ukraine: The small town which managed to block Russia's big plans - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The mayor of Voznesensk hails the "fighting spirit" of local people who drove Russian troops back. | It was one of the most decisive battles of the war so far - a ferocious two-day struggle for control of the farming town of Voznesensk and its strategically important bridge.
Victory would have enabled Russian forces to sweep further west along the Black Sea coast towards the huge port of Odesa and a major nuclear power plant.
Instead, Ukrainian troops, supported by an eclectic army of local volunteers, delivered a crushing blow to Russian plans, first by blowing up the bridge and then by driving the invading army back, up to 100km, to the east.
"It's hard to explain how we did it. It's thanks to the fighting spirit of our local people and to the Ukrainian army," said Voznesensk's 32-year-old mayor, Yevheni Velichko, standing in body armour with his guards outside the town hall.
But almost three weeks after that battle, the mayor warned that another attack by Russian forces was probably imminent and that the town's defenders lacked the weapons to hold them off a second time.
"This is such a strategic location. We're not only defending the town, but all the territory behind it. And we don't have the heavy weapons our enemy has," he said.
Voznesensk's strategically important bridge was blown up to stop the Russians using it
As on so many frontlines in Ukraine, British-supplied anti-tank missiles proved crucial in turning the tide against Russian armour in Voznesensk, leaving the town littered with up to 30 tanks, armoured cars and even a helicopter.
"It's only thanks to these weapons that we were able to beat our enemy here. And we say thank you to our partners for their support. But we need more. The enemy's convoys will keep coming," said Mr Velichko.
Voznesensk's strategic significance became clear soon after Russian forces failed to capture an even larger bridge, further to the south, across Ukraine's second-largest river, the Southern Buh.
Today, Voznesensk is not quite a ghost town, haunted by regular air raid sirens. But thousands have left in recent weeks, by train or on pot-holed country roads that wind through vast, rolling fields of wheat.
Many of those who have chosen to stay behind still seem eager to talk about their remarkable victory.
Voznesensk's mayor, Yevheni Velichko, praised the defenders of his town
"It was a colossal effort by the whole town," said Alexander, a local shopkeeper who filmed himself on the frontlines with an AK47, screaming "Come on my little beauties!" as another volunteer fired a rocket-propelled grenade towards Russian positions.
"We used hunting rifles, people threw bricks and jars. Old women loaded heavy sandbags.
"The Russians didn't know where to look or where the next attack would come from. I've never seen the community come together like that," he said, standing by the twisted wreckage of the bridge, which Ukrainian forces destroyed within hours of the first Russian attack.
The matted swirl of Russian tank tracks still mark Svetlana Nikolaevna's garden, in the village of Rakove, on the southern edge of Voznesensk, where some of the heaviest fighting took place.
Bloody bandages and Russian ration packs litter the hedge rows. The 59-year-old pointed to her husband's tool shed, explaining that two captured Ukrainian soldiers had been held there by the Russians and were only saved from execution by a surge in fighting.
"Look at the blood stains on my door," she said, inviting visitors inside her ramshackle cottage. While she and her family took shelter in a nearby cellar, the Russians converted her entire home into a makeshift field hospital.
"I came back to get some clothes on the second day. There were wounded people lying everywhere. Ten of them, I think. I've cleared up most of the blood," she said.
"They left in a hurry, one night. They left everything behind - boots, socks, body armour, helmets - and just loaded up their dead and their wounded and ran away."
It fell to the local funeral director, Mykhailo Sokurenko, to hunt in the fields for more Russian bodies and then load them into a train wagon.
"I don't consider them human beings [after what they did here]. But it would wrong just leave them out in the field, still frightening people even after their deaths," he said.
"These Russians are sick in the head, so we'll have to stay on guard. But victory will come, and we'll push the Russians out of all our lands." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60840081 |
Kherson: Russian-occupied city stays angry and defiant - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | More than a fortnight after falling under Russian occupation, the residents of Kherson are wrestling with acute shortages while protesting against the Kremlin's forces. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
More than a fortnight after falling under Russian occupation, the residents of Kherson are wrestling with acute shortages of medicine and holding daily protests against the Kremlin's forces. They are also worried that increased shelling on the outskirts might signal the start of a Ukrainian push to recapture their southern city, which is a key port.
A series of loud explosions rattled the windows of Yuri Stelmashenko's office in a government building in the centre of Kherson on Tuesday afternoon, as the city's deputy mayor was on a phone call, busy explaining they had less than a week's supply of food and medicine left.
"Can you hear the shelling outside? Not far off. Unfortunately, we're having to get used to this terrifying reality," said Stelmashenko calmly.
"We're looking at a real humanitarian catastrophe here," he said.
"We've been left here alone - there's no other legitimate authority apart from the mayor. Russian officials came to our office and we agreed that we would continue working. But it's not clear how long that will continue."
There have been reports that Russia might stage a referendum in Kherson on independence from Ukraine - as they previously did in Crimea after it was annexed in 2014, as well in the Russian-backed separatist areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Residents of Kherson have held repeated protests against the Russian occupation
But Stelmashenko rejected the idea of this happening in his city, saying it was clear there was no support for Moscow's actions among the largely Russian-speaking population.
Video footage showing a small pro-Russian demonstration in Kherson has been dismissed as a Kremlin propaganda stunt by locals.
On the streets nearby, there were queues for milk, and frustration in local pharmacies which have reportedly run out of most essential drugs.
"There's no medicine left for people with heart conditions, or asthma. The hospitals are working but there's just no medicine," said a medic, speaking by telephone. She asked that we only use her first name, Galina.
"No-one is starving here," said a local university lecturer, Lada Danik, who praised the mayor's office for focusing on trying to support residents of the city without appearing to endorse the Russian occupation.
"The situation is quite stable. We have electricity, water, and there is central heating and transport."
But Danik condemned officials in other occupied cities who have submitted to Russian rule. "If they want to make our city Russian, then it's treason," she said.
In Melitopol, to the east, the Ukrainian mayor was reportedly abducted by Russian forces last week and has not been seen since.
A local pro-Russian official, Galina Danilchenko, has now claimed that she is Melitopol's new mayor and recorded a video message urging residents "to adapt… to the new realities, so we can begin to live in a new way".
But in Kherson, thousands of residents, including Danik, have continued to take part in peaceful daily protests outside government offices in the city centre.
Video footage shows large crowds screaming "fascists… have you no shame?" and "go home" at Russian troops.
"The quantity of soldiers is getting bigger. But they're not military now. They wear different, grey uniform. Like a kind of police," said Danik.
"There were so many people at today's protests that the Russian troops started shooting into the air. It seemed to me they were afraid. I was crying to them: 'Go home, go to your mother.' Two of [the Russian soldiers] were laughing. I was really furious, so I just cried out some curse words.
"I'm not an activist, but I want people to understand what's happening here. I'm in my homeland, not doing anything wrong. I'm trying to protect my daughter."
To the east, another key city, Mykolaiv, has so far managed to hold off a Russian advance.
Mykolaiv's governor, Vitaliy Kim, hinted that Ukrainian forces near Mykolaiv were now looking to recapture Kherson, too.
"Fighting is taking place, clearing out several villages [of Russian forces]…The occupiers are fleeing, and people all say that the troops are running away. It's true. They run," he said in a post on social media.
"Kherson residents, we are with you. Wait! Together we'll be victorious." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-60769318 |
Kyrell Matthews: Mum and partner jailed for killing toddler son - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Kyrell Matthews suffered weeks of abuse before he died, much of it caught on harrowing recordings. | Kyrell Matthews died after being found in cardiac arrest
A man who murdered his ex-girlfriend's two-year-old son has been jailed for life after the couple's horrific abuse was captured on secret recordings.
Kyrell Matthews died in October 2019 with 41 rib fractures and internal injuries after weeks of cruelty by Kemar Brown and Phylesia Shirley at his south London home.
Brown, 28, was convicted of murder and sentenced to a minimum of 25 years.
Shirley, 24, was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 13 years.
Much of the abuse was caught on audio recordings made at the property in Thornton Heath which were played to the jury.
The toddler could be heard crying and screaming on files taken from Shirley's phone, which picked up the sound of Kyrell being hit repeatedly, with Brown saying "shut up" and "you have to ruin the fun".
Another recording played during the trial at the Old Bailey caught Shirley striking her son, causing him to break down in distress.
Prosecution barrister Edward Brown QC told jurors that the mother put her relationship with Brown above her own child.
The couple, who were unemployed at the time of Kyrell's murder, were both cannabis users and are understood to have been visited by social services at least once.
"She was prepared to reject what should have been motherly care in protecting Kyrell in favour of abuse by her - his own mother - and in favour of the abuse carried out by a man she knew was abusing her child," Mr Brown told jurors.
"The truth is that his death came when once more he was abused in that flat, once more in a very similar way, causing very similar injuries, except on this occasion it was so much more serious, the abuse and the results were catastrophic."
Phylesia Shirley and Kemar Brown will be sentenced on 25 March
Paying tribute to Kyrell outside court after the couple were convicted, his paternal step-grandmother Christine Ernest described the two-year-old as "the most loving little boy, always smiling".
During the trial, jurors were not told that police had been called to an earlier domestic incident but no offences were identified and Kyrell was said to have appeared "safe and well".
A passer-by had alerted officers on 17 July 2019 after hearing shouting and screaming coming from their flat, with a female voice saying: "Stop hitting my face."
It followed an attack in May 2019 when Kyrell suffered a significant injury to the side of his face and spent five days in Croydon University Hospital.
The hospital carried out an investigation and found Shirley's explanation that the little boy had fallen off a sofa and hit his head on a highchair was "plausible", police said.
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Prince William and Kate: The PR missteps that overshadowed a royal tour - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | Palace staff must be wondering how the defining image of the royal trip was not the joy that greeted them. | Quite how defeat was plucked from the jaws of victory in Trench Town, Kingston, may one day become the stuff of public relations legend.
Palace staff must be wondering how the defining image of the Cambridges' trip to the Caribbean was not the explosion of joy and pleasure that greeted the couple in downtown Kingston.
But instead, what looked to many as some sort of white-saviour parody, with Kate and William fleetingly making contact with the outstretched fingers of Jamaican children, pushing through a wire fence.
It was a bad misstep for a couple who are surprisingly media-savvy. And it was not the only one on this curiously disorganised trip.
The first engagement in Belize was hurriedly cancelled following a protest by some residents. Another protest - albeit a small one - popped up on the day they arrived in Jamaica.
The Jamaican prime minister declared, as the couple stood mutely beside him, that he would rather not have the Queen as head of state any more.
And the Land Rover ride out of the military commissioning parade may have been intended as a charming homage to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who rode in the same vehicle back in the 60s.
But to some it just felt like a clunky reminder of a more deferential time.
It is worth noting that lots of things went really quite well. Prince William's speeches were thoughtful and well received.
The Land Rover was a nod to the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh but may have felt like a reminder of more colonial days
England footballer Raheem Sterling also greeted fans who had come to see him and Prince William play football
In Jamaica he went further than any member of the Royal Family, speaking of his sorrow at and abhorrence of slavery.
And he went out of his way to celebrate the contribution that Jamaicans have made to Britain in the years since World War Two.
It was a reminder of the depth and complexity of the relationship between two very different nations.
During event after event, the couple did that royal thing of sprinkling a little magic and a little joy into people's lives.
They thanked those who so often go un-thanked and unrewarded for their efforts, drawing attention to stubbornly unfashionable causes and issues.
And they got a warm reception pretty much wherever they went.
While in Trench Town the royals joined in with reggae musicians as they visited the neighbourhood where Bob Marley grew up
Crowds came out to greet the Cambridges on their visit to Trench Town
No more so than in Trench Town in Kingston where wild cheers accompanied their every step and a walkabout at one point threatened to go out of control with excited people pressing them on every side.
So how did Trench Town end up as a PR disaster? Bad planning and bad execution are part of it.
It's been more than two years since the last tour and the Cambridges' team sorely lacks experience in setting up a long and complex trip.
It only takes one thing, one moment, to overshadow days of good works.
There have been a fair few of those things.
The whole fingers-through-the wire moment was avoidable.
"It's really unfair," complained one senior British diplomat of the critical coverage. But since when was life - or social media - fair?
And the world has changed, very fast, since the last tour.
Black Lives Matter has changed many perceptions. And the declaration by Barbados of a republic late last year has changed things too.
There is no longer the forgiveness there once was for the slightly tone-deaf moment.
The Cambridges were met with an explosion of joy in downtown Kingston
The Land Rover might have seemed like a good idea at the time. But on the day it felt like one more reminder of colonial days.
Times have changed. The Royal Family have in the past been pretty good at changing with them. But not on this tour.
And second chances are these days few and far between. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60870417 |
David Amess killing: Suspect said MP suspected 'sting', court told - BBC News | 2022-03-25 | The Old Bailey hears the man accused of killing Sir David Amess told police it was a terrorist attack. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Jurors were shown footage from a police interview where the suspect said 'I killed an MP'.
Sir David Amess MP suspected his alleged killer was there for a sting in the moments before he was stabbed, a court has heard.
Sir David, the MP for Southend West, died after he was stabbed more than 20 times during a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on 15 October.
Ali Harbi Ali, 26, denies charges of murder and preparing acts of terrorism.
Mr Ali told police "he knew straight away something was up", the trial heard.
Sir David died at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea during a constituency surgery last October
His police interviews, seven in total, were played to the jury.
In one he told officers: "Sat down with him. He was quick, but I think he knew straight away something was up.
"Well, it looked awkward 'cos I was holding my phone, ready to send off, like, a bunch of messages to let my family know what was up.
"Then he must've thought that it was a sting from the Labour Party, because he said to me, 'Oh, you must be very politically inclined. You're from the Labour Party, you're not recording me are you?'
"Because... Brass Eye, they did a thing on him, like, 14 years ago."
He claimed it was "one of the strangest days...of my life".
In his first interview, hours after the attack he was asked if the stabbing was a terror attack.
To which he replied: "I mean, I guess yeah I killed an MP and I done it yeah."
He then laughed and said he had worded the answer "like a Little Britain episode", the video showed.
Mr Ali, who is thought to have been on the phone to his sister when he was arrested, said he was mostly worrying about his own family that day.
"The only reason I dropped the knife in front of the police officer was because my sister was on the phone crying her eyes out," he said.
Throughout his interviews Mr Ali repeated that he was motivated by targeting MPs who had voted to carry out airstrikes in Syria, the court heard.
Sir David Amess was the MP for Southend West
Mr Ali also told police he had "bottled" previously planned attacks.
The court heard that he said he "settled" on Sir David after searching for 'MPs surgeries' on Twitter and seeing a post about a recent surgery by Sir David with contact information.
"He was the easiest. I settled on him", he told police.
Mr Ali said he first thought of attacking cabinet minister Michael Gove but decided against it when the secretary of state for communities and levelling up had split up with his wife Sarah Vine.
He said he had also gone to London MP Mike Freer's surgery in Finchley.
Mr Ali was thought to have been on the phone to his sister when he was arrested
Talking about the attack on Sir David, he said: "It's hard. You see a man alive, and then he's dead."
But a few moments later he told police: "Obviously I killed someone yesterday, there's no doubt about that, but it still doesn't really feel like it."
Mr Ali said he felt he had an allegiance to the so-called Islamic State and wanted to be seen as an "Islamic State militant".
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WATCH: Ukrainian sailing club protest superyacht linked to Abramovich in Turkey - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | A Ukrainian sailing team protest against the arrival of a superyacht linked to Roman Abramovich in Turkey. | A superyacht linked to sanctioned billionaire and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich has been met by a protest as it arrived at port in Bodrum, Turkey.
Members of the Optimist Sailing Team Ukraine confronted the vessel in a small boat, chanting "no war in Ukraine" and waving their country's flag.
They were part of a junior sailing team that was in Turkey to compete in an annual competition, having left Ukraine before the Russian invasion. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60836321 |
P&O: Stena Line to help retailers with extra ferries - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Stena Line will put on additional ferry services from Scotland to Northern Ireland on Tuesday. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Stena Line will put on two extra ferry services from Scotland to Northern Ireland from tomorrow, the UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said.
He told the Commons it would be of help to some retailers including Asda and Marks and Spencers.
He said the company had already "stepped up" following the suspension of P&O routes last week.
Up to 50 staff from Northern Ireland will be directly impacted by P&O's move to fire 800 workers last week.
Mr Shapps said if it was confirmed that relative notice periods and consultations were not conducted before P&O staff were fired, then it would be a "a matter for criminal prosecution and unlimited fines".
The Economy Minister Gordon Lyons has accused the firm of "ripping up the employment rule book".
Mr Lyons said he did not believe P&O had acted within either the "spirit or letter" of employment law, a matter devolved to Northern Ireland.
Officials are investigating potential remedies for breaches of the law.
On Thursday, the company fired about 800 of its workers, with about a quarter of the staff hearing the news via a pre-recorded video message.
A private security firm was sent on board the vessel in Larne, County Antrim, which remains docked at the port, to remove staff.
On Monday, P&O said its services, including the crossing from Larne to Cairnryan in Scotland, would be "unable to run for the next few days".
"For essential travel, customers are advised to seek alternatives themselves," the firm continued.
It had been suggested at the time of the workforce announcement that it could be a week before the ferry service could resume.
A protest was held against P&O's decision at the Port of Larne on Friday
Finance Minister Conor Murphy said he raised the P&O situation during discussions with his counterparts in Scotland and Wales and the chief secretary to the treasury on Monday.
He said there should be support for the workers who needed to be treated "fairly".
"We can't just be subject to the whim of company who decide to cut their costs and behave in an appalling manner to do that," Mr Murphy added.
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"P&O might want to hide behind the small print of maritime law... but the court of public opinion will not be so sympathetic," Mr Lyons told assembly members (MLAs) on Monday.
"We must send a strong message to all companies that might think of getting involved in a practice in this way."
On Sunday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said P&O's move had been "awful" and "wrong" and the government would examine the legality of its actions.
Some of the dismissed workers and trade unions held a protest at Larne port on Friday.
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P&O has said its decision to fire workers was to secure the future viability of the business.
It explained that required "swift and significant changes now".
The company said it would update its Twitter account regularly to inform people of the operational situation.
On Monday, Northern Ireland's Consumer Council said that following talks with P&O, travellers affected by the disruption could re-book their crossing with Stena Line and claim expenses from P&O.
The council's head of transport, Richard Williams, said people could also claim for additional expenditure, such as some hotel or mileage costs.
"Originally that wasn't going to be the case but they've accepted that because they can't provide the re-rerouting they normally would that people really have to book with Stena," he said.
Mr Williams said it was common for mechanical issues to cause delays to ferry services but the P&O situation was one that was "going on and on".
"It is certainly an unusual situation which is causing real problems for passengers," he added.
Mr Williams said the biggest issue was the employee situation but he warned the company faced "financial repercussions" to resolve customer issues also.
Geraldine Sinclair, who was due to travel with P&O on Thursday to a family event in Scotland said she would never use the company again because of how they treated customers and staff,
She told BBC News NI's Good Morning Ulster she needed to re-arrange transport and was told she would receive a refund.
"I don't think much of them but to be honest, it's the staff I feel sorry for. We've all been there with redundancies but certainly not like that," she said.
Geraldine's husband Jim said he would avoid the company unless there was "no viable alternative".
P&O has said its decision to fire workers was to secure the future viability of the business.
It explained that required "swift and significant changes now". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-60819923 |
Ukraine war: Belarusian dissidents fight against Russia in Ukraine - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Belarusian dissident Pavel Kulazhanka left his life in New York to join the fight against Russia. | Among the foreign fighters heading to Ukraine to fight against Russia are dissidents from Belarus living in exile.
They see the war as a battle both against Vladimir Putin’s forces but also against the regime of the Belarusian President Alexandr Lukashenko, which has heavily backed Moscow.
The BBC met Pavel Kulazhanka, who left his life in New York to join the fight. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60827109 |
Ukraine war: Holocaust survivor killed by Russian shelling in Kharkiv - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Boris Romantschenko was killed in Kharkiv 77 years after surviving the Buchenwald concentration camp. | Boris Romantschenko survived detention in four separate concentration camps between 1942 and 1945
A Ukrainian man who survived the Nazi Holocaust during World War Two has been killed during a Russian attack on the eastern city of Kharkiv.
Boris Romantschenko, 96, died during Russian shelling of his apartment block on Friday, relatives said.
Russian forces have been relentlessly shelling Kharkiv, which lies just 30 miles (50km) from the border, for over three weeks.
At least 500 civilians have now been killed there, Ukrainian officials say.
Police said one of the victims has been identified as a nine-year old boy.
The Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation said it was "deeply disturbed" by Romantschenko's death.
The organisation, of which Romantschenko was vice-president, announced the news after being informed by his family and said he had "worked intensely on the memory of Nazi crimes".
"We mourn the loss of a close friend. We wish his son and granddaughter, who brought us the sad news, a lot of strength in these difficult times," the foundation's statement added.
Romantschenko's death comes more than three weeks after President Vladimir Putin sought to justify his invasion to the Russian people by telling them his goal is to"de-Nazify Ukraine".
Western leaders have condemned these claims and pointed out that Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is Jewish.
Romantschenko was born in the north-eastern city of Bondari on 20 January 1926.
He was rounded up by Nazi troops at the age of 16 after the invasion of the Soviet Union and deported to Germany in 1942, where he was forced to do hard labour, the foundation said.
After a failed escape attempt in 1943, he was sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp, where some 56,545 people were murdered before its liberation in 1945 by the allies.
He also spent time in the subcamp of Mittelbau-Dora, as well as the infamous Bergen Belsen and Peenemünde camps.
Boris Romantschenko reading at the memorial in 2012
Romantschenko, who was not Jewish, returned to Buchenwald in 2012 to celebrate the 67th anniversary of the liberation of the camp by US troops, where he recited the pledge made by survivors to create "a new world where peace and freedom reign".
The Nazi regime murdered over six million Jewish people across occupied Europe between 1941 and 1945. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60826303 |
Alisher Usmanov: Everton-linked Russian billionaire has assets frozen by EU - BBC Sport | 2022-03-22 | Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who has commercial ties to Everton, has his assets frozen by the European Union. | Last updated on .From the section Everton
The Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who has commercial ties to Everton, has had his assets frozen by the European Union as it announced further sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Restrictions include a "prohibition from making funds available" and an EU travel ban.
Usmanov also has an exclusive naming-rights option on Everton's new stadium.
Everton owner Farhad Moshiri is the chairman of USM Holdings.
It is not yet clear what, if any, effect the move might have on Everton. The club have been contacted for comment.
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• None Ukraine's Zinchenko set to play for Man City in cup
In its reasoning, the EU Council said: "Alisher Usmanov is a pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin".
It added that he "actively supported materially or financially Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine".
On Tuesday, Usmanov made a statement on the website of the International Fencing Federation, an organisation of which he is president, calling the EU's decision to impose restrictions on him "unfair".
He said he would "use all legal means to protect my honour and reputation".
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The global music market was worth $26bn in 2021 - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Music industry revenues went up by 18.5% in 2021 thanks to hits by Adele, Taylor Swift and BTS. | BTS were the biggest-selling act in the world last year
Global music revenues grew at the fastest rate in more than two decades last year, with help from artists like BTS, Taylor Swift and Adele.
Revenues surged by 18.5% to $25.9bn (£19.5bn) in 2021, the highest level since records began in the 1990s.
The growth was driven by streaming, with 523 million paid subscribers, up from 443 million in 2020.
Streaming now accounts for 65% of total revenues, with CDs, vinyl and cassettes making up 19% and downloads 4%.
The remaining 11% comes from a mixture of royalty payments and licensing music to films, TV shows and adverts.
The figures mean the industry has enjoyed a seventh consecutive year of growth, according to trade body the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
"It's hugely encouraging," chief executive Frances Moore told the BBC. "We lived through that dire period after 1999 where the industry declined by 40%.
"We didn't envisage we'd be in a situation [this year] where we report on 60 or 70 countries and every single one is in growth."
Although streaming is the engine of the industry's recovery, revenues were up in every format except digital downloads last year.
Sales of CDs increased for the first time this millennium, and vinyl revenues were up by 51%.
Total streaming - including both paid subscriptions and advertising-supported listening - grew and is now worth $16.9bn (£12.75bn)
But while the figures are good news for record labels, the independent sector warned that profits were not being shared equally.
"It is good to see continued growth across the global music market... but it serves as an important reminder that not everyone is feeling the benefit," said Paul Pacifico of the Association of Independent Music.
Without "clear support" for up-and-coming musicians, he added, "it will remain very difficult to reconcile the positive numbers in the market as a whole with the hard reality of making a life in music at an individual, human level".
Adele (pictured at the Brit Awards) had the biggest-selling album of 2021
All of the record labels represented by the IFPI have suspended operations in Russia, the fifth biggest music market in Europe, since the invasion began last month.
Although significant, Russia only accounts for 1.3% of global revenues (about $336m), Moore said, meaning the move would have little impact on the global industry.
"We just want to get back to a situation where people in Russia and Ukraine can enjoy music in a peaceful, non-violent environment," she added.
The UK music industry grew at a slightly slower rate than the global average, with revenues up 12.8% to £1.3bn, according to the BPI - but it remains the third biggest music market in the world, behind the US and Japan.
Revenues in the US outpaced the rest of the world, rising by 22%; while lockdown-bound Australia was the world's slowest-growing market, on 3.4%.
The IFPI report highlighted the increasingly global nature of music consumption, with artists from Latin America, Africa and Asia featuring among the year's top 100 artists.
South Korean band BTS were the biggest-selling act for the second year running after topping the US Billboard chart three times and earning a Grammy nomination for their Michael Jackson-inspired single Butter.
"Who could have imagined that 20 years ago?" Moore asked. "It's a phenomenon."
US songwriter Taylor Swift was the year's second best-seller, the same position she held last year, while Adele came third.
Adele's fourth album, 30, was the most popular record overall, selling 4.7 million copies; while The Weeknd's Save Your Tears was the year's biggest single.
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African artists like Wizkid, Ckay and Burna Boy also had a successful year, encouraged in the UK by the recently-launched Afrobeats chart.
"It's an exciting moment for artists from the continent," said Temi Adeniji, managing director of Warner Music South Africa. "I really do deeply believe that this is a transformative moment for the continent."
However, she said more needs to be done to reflect the diversity of Africa's musicians.
"The continent is... much more than Afrobeats," she said. "There are so many different genres that we can take a look at that have the potential to do exactly what Afrobeats has done."
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Adeniji cited the global success of Ckay's Love Nwantiti as an example of how other countries are embracing African music.
"We really did break this track in non-English-speaking markets," she explained. "France was the first country in which the song went number one and that was definitely a first for us.
"It's also been a top three hit in the UK, we've gone platinum in the US as well and it's gone, I think, three times platinum in India. We're hoping to replicate that [with other artists] going forward."
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Daniel Morgan: Met Police approach to tackling corruption is flawed, watchdog finds - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | The report comes after the failed investigation into the 1987 murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan. | Daniel Morgan was murdered in south-east London in 1987
The Metropolitan Police's approach to tackling corruption within its ranks is "fundamentally flawed", an inspection by the police watchdog has concluded.
The watchdog found the force had recruited people with criminal connections in the last two years, and more than 100 staff had broken the law.
The Met welcomed the report and said it was committed to tackling corruption.
It follows the failed investigation into the 1987 murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan.
The 37-year-old was attacked with an axe in the car park of the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, south-east London.
The inquiry into his death was hampered by poor policing and potentially corrupt links between detectives, suspects and journalists.
Despite six investigations and inquiries into the murder no one has ever been convicted.
The latest report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) looked at the Met's counter-corruption arrangements and the findings of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel report, which was published in June last year.
Last week the Met rejected the findings of the panel report that it suffered from a form of "institutional corruption".
The HMICFRS report said "it would not describe the Met as institutionally corrupt" based on this inspection but it did say the force's approach to tackling corruption was "not fit for purpose".
According to the findings:
Publishing the HMICFRS report, Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr said: "It is unacceptable that 35 years after Daniel Morgan's murder, the Metropolitan Police has not done enough to ensure its failings from that investigation cannot be repeated.
"In fact, we found no evidence that someone, somewhere, had adopted the view that this must never happen again."
Mr Parr said the Met's "apparent tolerance of these shortcomings suggests a degree of indifference to the risk of corruption" and it had "sometimes behaved in ways that make it appear arrogant, secretive and lethargic".
Police warrant cards, which act as proof of identification, can be used to access police buildings and obtain free travel on London transport.
Mr Parr said the fact more than 2,000 warrant cards had gone missing also had obvious "sinister implications".
Wayne Couzens, who had a valid warrant card as a serving Met Police officer, used it to coerce 33-year-old Sarah Everard before murdering her in March last year.
The watchdog did recognise the force's ability to investigate the most serious corruption allegations was "particularly impressive" and it praised its confidential reporting line and support provided to whistleblowers.
It said the Met had also significantly reduced the number of personnel who were not security vetted.
Alastair Morgan has spent 34 years campaigning for justice for his brother
In response to the findings, Mr Morgan's family - who are suing the force - called for "the culture of corruption and cover up that remains rife in the Met" to be confronted.
Unless and until there are "root-and-branch changes" in the Met's leadership team, "we consider we are unlikely to see any meaningful progress within the Met in relation to police corruption", they said in a statement.
Mr Morgan's family also called on the Mayor's office, Home Office and Independent Office for Police Conduct to "stop turning a blind eye to those within the Met" who sought to "manage the fallout from that corruption" instead of confronting it.
In response to the report, the Met reiterated its apology to the family of Mr Morgan and insisted it had not given up on the case.
In a statement, it said: "There is clearly much more work to do when it comes to tackling corruption in its widest sense. We are absolutely committed to this."
The force added that it was "deeply concerned" at the report's criticisms and it was "urgently reviewing" its systems and processes.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said that "whilst the report found some examples of impressive work, I am very disappointed that serious issues still persist".
"Standards must be immediately improved. I expect the mayor of London and the new commissioner to reverse these deficiencies as a matter of urgency," she added.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper also said the new commissioner should "make instituting these changes a top priority". But Ms Cooper added that "we also need to see a stronger response from the Home Office", to ensure policing standards rise and to boost people's confidence in the force.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the report was "deeply worrying" and the failure to tackle corruption was another reason confidence in the police was "almost at an all-time low".
He added that action needed to be taken "at the highest levels of the Met in order to regain the trust and confidence of Londoners". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60832186 |
Amanda Bynes: Judge ends former actress's nine-year conservatorship - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | The former child star was placed under the legal guardianship after drug and mental health problems. | Amanda Bynes, pictured in 2011, said she had "been working hard to improve my health"
Former actress Amanda Bynes has been released from her nine-year conservatorship by a judge in California.
The one-time child star was placed under the legal guardianship - similar to that of Britney Spears - in 2013, while undergoing psychiatric care.
Bynes, now 35, was known for The Amanda Show and films like What a Girl Wants, She's the Man and Easy A, but suffered drug and mental health problems.
On Tuesday, Judge Roger L Lund said the conservatorship was no longer required.
"She's done everything the court has asked over a long period of time," he said, according to the New York Times.
A conservatorship is granted by a court for individuals who are unable to make their own decisions. Under the arrangement, Bynes' mother supervised her daughter's financial and personal affairs including her medical decisions.
In a statement to People, Bynes thanked fans "for their love and well wishes during this time".
"I would also like to thank my lawyer and my parents for their support over the last nine years," she said.
"In the last several years, I have been working hard to improve my health so that I can live and work independently, and I will continue to prioritize my well-being in this next chapter."
Bynes' drug use started with marijuana at the age of 16, but her problems deepened when she started taking Adderall, a prescription medicine used to treat people with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
She retired from acting in 2010, and the conservatorship came about after Bynes was taken to hospital for a mental health assessment, having thought to have started a small fire in the drive of a home in California.
There had also been erratic behaviour and brushes with the law including charges of drink-driving, hit and run and driving with a suspended licence. She was eventually sentenced to three years probation.
Bynes also made headlines for her Twitter rants, which she later said left her "ashamed and embarrassed".
"I can't turn back time but if I could, I would. And I'm so sorry to whoever I hurt and whoever I lied about because it truly eats away at me," she told Paper Magazine in 2018.
More recently she has got herself clean, been living in a "structured community for women" and graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, as well as getting engaged to her partner, Paul Michael. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60832046 |
War in Ukraine: Backlash in Russia against anti-war musicians - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Banned from radio stations and rumoured black lists, artists against the war face a difficult moment. | A few days after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, one of Russia's largest media companies, Russian Media Group (RMG), released a statement explaining why it would no longer be playing certain artists on its popular radio stations or music TV channel.
"The reason for this decision was the harsh statements these musicians made towards Russia in the context of the difficult situation between Russia and Ukraine," the statement read.
It explained that respect for its listeners was the company's top priority, and the "arrogant and contemptuous attitude of the musicians towards Russian listeners" left it no choice but to terminate its contract with the artists.
The list included several Ukrainian musicians and three Russian acts, including legendary rock group Aquarium, whose lead singer, Boris Grebenshchikov, had called the war "madness" in a post on Instagram. He is no stranger to political pressure.
"I've spent half my life under some sort of ban", Mr Grebenshchikov told the BBC. "There were bans in the 70s, bans in the 80s - there's nothing unusual about it. Then the same people who ban you give you prizes."
The pressure on dissenting voices in the music industry marks a stark contrast to those artists who are loyal to the Kremlin, some of whom performed last week at a glitzy, made-for-TV stadium concert which featured Vladimir Putin as the headline act.
Tens of thousands of people waved Russian flags and chanted pro-Russian slogans at the event celebrating the eighth anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Many of them told the BBC they had been pressured to be there.
Oleg Gazmanov performed at a pro-Kremlin rally to celebrate the annexation of Crimea
On the first day of the war, Ukrainian singer Ivan Dorn published a video on Instagram calling for Russians to "end this catastrophe" and "not to participate in this murderous war".
Days later he found himself on the list of acts banned by the Russian Media Group, and his name appeared on another "black list" leaked to Russian media, demanding that certain musicians are banned from performing because of their anti-war views. The list was reportedly circulated to music venues and promoters in Russia.
But Mr Dorn told the BBC that being blacklisted in Russia made no difference to him.
"Any cooperation with Russia was impossible even before the announcement of any list," he said.
"Does anyone within the organs of the Russian state really think we want to work with the aggressors who are exterminating the Ukrainian nation, murdering thousands of innocent people, building a totalitarian regime and putting their own people in jail for dissent?"
Ukrainian singer Ivan Dorn called on Russians to "stop this catastrophe"
It isn't clear who created the "black list" or where it originated, and the BBC cannot confirm its authenticity, but music industry insiders say such documents are not uncommon.
"It's never indicated where they come from - no name, phone number, email, official stamp. It can look like a fake - just a printed list with the names of musicians, writers or comedians," music manager Elena Saveleva told the BBC. Her client, rapper Noize MC, is on the list.
According to Ms Saveleva, pressure on promoters usually comes from regional security services, with officials turning up at concert halls and threatening them with closures and fines.
The art director of Moscow's oldest club, 16 Tons, believes the document could be fake.
"I haven't seen it and no officials have come to see me, even though usually we are the first club they visit," Pavel Kamakin told the BBC.
The ambiguity surrounding the list's origin makes it difficult for promoters, musicians and venue owners to know how seriously to take it.
Whatever its origins, the list reflects the increasingly unpredictable environment for people in Russia who disagree with the war.
For some musicians, that means the only option is to perform abroad.
Russian rapper Oxxxymiron, whose name appears on the "black list" circulated by Russian media, cancelled his upcoming tour in Russia and has instead organised charity concerts abroad - known as "Russians Against War" - to raise money for Ukrainian refugees.
He raised over $30,000 (£22,760) at a performance in Istanbul, and will appear in London later this week.
Announcing the postponement of his Russian tour, Oxxxymiron explained that he could not "entertain people while Russian rockets fall on Ukraine, while residents of Kyiv are forced to hide in their basements and the metro, and while people are dying". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60814306 |
War in Ukraine: Kyiv shopping centre hit by Russian missile - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | A nearby camera captured the moment the shopping centre in Kyiv was struck by a missile. | Video released by Ukraine's State Emergency Service captured the moment when a shopping centre in Kyiv was hit by a Russian missile.
Authorities say at least eight people were killed when the Podilskyi district of Kyiv was struck.
Firefighters were seen trying to rescue people stranded beneath the rubble. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60819030 |
A bomb hit this theatre hiding hundreds - here's how one woman survived - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | The BBC speaks to survivors of the Mariupol theatre attack, who describe for the first time what happened. | Mariia, who was volunteering at the Ukrainian Red Cross, tried to help those injured in the attack but her kit was inside the theatre
As the port city of Mariupol was being razed to rubble by Russian bombs, hundreds of civilians, mostly women and children, went to hide in a theatre near the waterfront, a grand Soviet-era building. Last Wednesday, a bomb hit and - within seconds - the building had been split in two and left in ruins. We still do not know how many died, but the BBC has spoken to survivors who described for the first time what happened when the bomb fell.
All morning, Russian planes had been circling the skies above the city.
Mariia Rodionova, a 27-year-old teacher, had been living in the theatre for 10 days, having fled her ninth-floor apartment with her two dogs. They camped next to the stage in an auditorium near the back of the building.
That morning she had got some fish scraps from an outdoor field kitchen to feed her dogs, but then realised they had not drunk any water. So at about 10:00, she tied her dogs to her luggage and made her way towards the main entrance where a queue was forming for hot water.
There was the sound of a clap, thunderous and loud. Then the sound of broken glass. A man came from behind and pushed her to a wall, protecting her with his own body. The blast was so loud that she felt intense pain in one of her ears, so intense she thought her eardrum must have split. She only realised it had not because she could hear the screams of people. The screams were everywhere.
The force of the blast threw another man against a window. He fell on the ground, his face covered with broken glass. A woman, who also had a wound on her head, tried to help him. Mariia, who had been volunteering at the Ukrainian Red Cross in Mariupol, gathered her senses enough to shout over, telling her to stop.
"I said 'Wait, don't touch him. I'll bring my first aid kit and I'll help you both'," she recalled. But her kit was inside the theatre, and that part of the building had collapsed.
"There was only rubble," she said. It was impossible for her to get in.
"For two hours, I couldn't do anything," she said. "I just stayed there. I was in shock."
Vladyslav, a 27-year-old locksmith who does not want to use his full name, had also wandered into the building that morning. He had some friends there and went to look for them. He was near the main entrance when the explosion hit. He ran with others into a basement and, 10 minutes later, heard the building was on fire and emerged to a scene of chaos.
"Terrible things were happening," he said.
He saw plenty of people bleeding. Some had open fracture wounds. "One mother was trying to find her kids under the rubble. A five-year-old kid was screaming: 'I don't want to die'. It was heartbreaking."
It is likely to have been just one bomb that fell on the theatre that morning, bringing all that destruction with it, analysis by McKenzie Intelligence Services for the BBC has concluded.
"Due to the missile appearing to accurately hit the centre of the building, we believe it is a laser-guided bomb, likely the KAB-500L or similar variant, launched from an aircraft," the London-based group said.
"The nature of the explosion indicates it was armed with an instantaneous fuse, so was unable to penetrate the ground floors."
From the accuracy of the strike it is very likely that the theatre was the chosen target.
Satellite imagery released by the US company Maxar, from the days before the attack, show the word "children" in Russian was clearly painted on the lawn in front of the theatre, visible to any passing bomber.
Russia denies attacking the theatre. It has also denied hitting civilian sites in Ukraine, although its attacks on countless residential buildings and other non-military facilities have been well documented across the country and nowhere more brutally than in Mariupol.
Andrei Marusov, an investigative journalist from Mariupol, had visited the theatre two days before the attack. "Everybody knew that it was a focal point for many women and children," Marusov, who is a former chairman of the advocacy group Transparency International Ukraine, said. "There were only civilians there."
That Wednesday, the day of the bombing, he had gone up to the top of his building at 06:00 to survey the city. The planes were still buzzing through the air. He said Russian planes had been shelling and bombarding the area where the theatre was, that Sea of Azov waterfront all morning.
"I saw that the city centre was covered by fire and constant explosions," he said.
Mariia also remembers military planes "making circles" near the theatre that morning, and "throwing bombs somewhere else". But it was not unusual for her to spot military planes flying in the area. She had got used to their sound.
There are still many details that remain unclear about the attack. It is thought that up to 1,000 people were sheltering in the drama theatre. Some appeared to have based themselves in its underground bunker or bomb shelter, according to others who hid in the building and city authorities. Mariia saw others living in crowded corridors on overground floors.
One thing which is clear from the accounts of the people the BBC spoke to, is that people would wander around the complex, its corridors and grounds, and others would come and go.
The destroyed theatre that Mariia walked away from
The day after the attack, the city council said 130 people had been rescued. A further update said it was possible that many had survived. But there has been no news since then. The city is in such a desperate state that there may never be a clear picture of how many were there and how many survived.
Mariia's home inside the theatre for the days she was there was in an auditorium hall with a chandelier, and she nestled right next to the stage because her dogs had drawn some complaints. She said there were about 30 people in that hall and it is her belief that they must have all perished when the bomb hit. It was sheer luck that she had stepped outside at that moment.
After the blasts she was unable to find her dogs and it was a moment of desperation: "For me," she said, "my dogs were more important than anything."
Vladyslav said he saw many people coming out of the building, something that Mariia saw as well.
"Some were with their luggage," she said. "No-one knew what to do, and the area was still being shelled."
Standing outside the theatre, she too looked at the damage. She realised it made no sense to look for another shelter. It had been a few stunned hours and she eventually left.
She tried to stop any car leaving the city. "People were in panic," she said, "no-one took me in their car." She started to walk along the coast.
"I needed to get out of the city."
First, she got to the village of Pishchanka. "I met a woman," she said, "who asked if I was OK. I started to cry." She was offered tea and food, and invited to spend the night. The next morning, she kept walking, until she reached Melekyne. A curfew meant she had to stop at 20:00. A day later, she walked to Yalta. The following one, to Berdyansk. "I walked all that time," she said.
Mariupol has seen the worst horrors of Russia's aggression on Ukraine. The invading troops have surrounded the city and attacked it relentlessly for almost a month, from the air, land and, in recent days, also from the sea. About 100,000 people remain trapped, subjected to a medieval-like siege. No electricity, no gas, no running water.
When Mariia left her flat for the theatre, her grandmother, who lived with her, refused to go. "She just said: 'It's my apartment, my home. I'm going to die here'."
Mariia is still waiting to hear whether she is alive. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60835106 |
Mariupol: Why Mariupol is so important to Russia's plan - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | The most bombarded city in Ukraine’s war with Russia is key to Moscow’s military campaign. | Mariupol has become the most heavily bombed and damaged city in Ukraine's war with Russia - having suffered the brunt of sustained Russian attacks. It is key to Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine. But why?
There are four main reasons why taking the port city would be such a strategic win for Russia - and a major blow for Ukraine.
Geographically, the city of Mariupol occupies only a tiny area on the map but it now stands obstinately in the way of Russian forces who have burst out of the Crimean peninsula.
They are pushing north-east to try to link up with their comrades and Ukrainian-separatist allies in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
General Sir Richard Barrons - former commander of UK Joint Forces Command - says capturing Mariupol is vital to Russia's war effort.
"When the Russians feel they have successfully concluded that battle, they will have completed a land bridge from Russia to Crimea and they will see this as a major strategic success."
If Mariupol was seized, Russia would also end up with full control of more than 80% of Ukraine's Black Sea coastline - cutting-off its maritime trade and further isolating it from the world.
By holding out against advancing forces for the past three weeks, the defending Ukrainians have managed to preoccupy a large number of Russian troops. But that failure by Russia to secure a rapid capture of the city, has prompted Russian commanders to resort to a 21st Century version of mediaeval siege tactics.
They have pummelled Mariupol with artillery, rockets and missiles - damaging or destroying over 90% of the city. They have also cut off access to electricity, heating, fresh water, food and medical supplies - creating a man-made humanitarian catastrophe which Moscow now blames on Ukraine for refusing to surrender by an 05:00 deadline on Monday. A Ukrainian MP has accused Russia of "trying to starve Mariupol into surrender".
Ukraine has vowed to defend the city down to the last soldier. It may well come to that. Russian troops are slowly pushing into the centre and, in the absence of any kind of workable peace deal, Russia is now likely to intensify its bombardment - drawing little if any distinction between its armed defenders and the beleaguered civilian population which still numbers over 200,000.
If, and when, Russia takes full control of Mariupol this will free up close to 6,000 of its troops - organised into 1,000-strong battalion tactical groups - to then go and reinforce other Russian fronts around Ukraine.
There are a number of possibilities as to where they could be redeployed:
Mariupol has long-been a strategically important port on the Sea of Azov, part of the Black Sea.
With its deep berths, it is the biggest port in the Azov Sea region and home to a major iron and steel works. In normal times, Mariupol is a key export hub for Ukraine's steel, coal and corn going to customers in the Middle East and beyond.
For eight years now, since Moscow's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, the city has been sandwiched uncomfortably between Russian forces on that peninsula and the pro-Kremlin separatists in the breakaway self-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Losing Mariupol would be a major blow to what is left of Ukraine's economy.
Mariupol is home to a Ukrainian militia unit called the Azov Brigade, named after the Sea of Azov which links Mariupol to the rest of the Black Sea. The Azov Brigade contains far-right extremists, historically including neo-Nazis.
Although they form only the tiniest fraction of Ukraine's fighting forces, this has been a useful propaganda tool for Moscow, giving it a pretext for telling Russia's population that the young men it has sent to fight in Ukraine are there to rid their neighbour of neo-Nazis.
Azov Battalion training camp at a former holiday resort near Mariupol, February 2019
If Russia manages to capture alive significant numbers of Azov Brigade fighters it is likely they will be paraded on Russian state-controlled media as part of the ongoing information war to discredit Ukraine and its government.
The capture of Mariupol by Russia, if it happens, will be psychologically significant for both sides in this war.
A Russian victory in Mariupol would enable the Kremlin to show its population - through state-controlled media - that Russia was achieving its aims and making progress.
For President Putin, for whom this war appears to be personal, there is a historical significance to all this. He sees Ukraine's Black Sea coastline as belonging to something called Novorossiya (New Russia) - Russian lands that date back to the 18th Century empire.
Putin wants to revive that concept, "rescuing Russians from the tyranny of a pro-western government in Kyiv" as he sees it. Mariupol currently stands in the way of him achieving that aim.
But to Ukrainians, the loss of Mariupol would be a major blow - not just militarily and economically - but also to the minds of the men and women fighting on the ground, defending their country. Mariupol would be the first major city to fall to the Russians after Kherson, a strategically much less important city that was barely defended.
There is another morale aspect here and that is of deterrence.
Digging graves by the roadside in Mariupol, 20 March
Mariupol has put up fierce resistance - but look at the cost. The city is decimated, it lies largely in ruins. It will go down in history alongside Grozny and Aleppo, places that Russia eventually bombed and shelled into submission, reducing them to rubble. The message to other Ukrainian cities is stark - if you choose to resist like Mariupol did then you can expect the same fate.
"The Russians couldn't walk into Mariupol," says Gen Sir Richard Barrons, "they couldn't drive in with their tanks, so they've pounded it to rubble. And that's what we should expect to see anywhere else that really matters to them."
Are you in Ukraine? Is your family? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60825226 |
Jonathan Van-Tam granted freedom of Boston in ceremony - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | England's deputy medical officer can now drive sheep across a bridge in his home town of Boston. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
England's deputy chief medical officer has been granted the freedom of Boston.
In a ceremony held at the ground of Prof Sir Jonathan Van-Tam's beloved Boston United, he was made a freeman of the borough in recognition of his role during the Covid-19 pandemic response.
The 58-year-old came to public prominence during the daily government coronavirus briefings where he won fans with his frequent football analogies.
He said it was a "tremendous honour" and he was "very humbled by it all".
Prof Van-Tam described the honour as 'unbelievable' and spoke fondly of picking vegetables in local fields while growing up
Prof Van-Tam was knighted in the New Year Honours list along with England's chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty, who attended a Boston United fixture with him on Saturday.
In mid-January, it was announced he would be leaving his role at the end of this month and will become pro-vice chancellor at the University of Nottingham's faculty of medicine and health sciences.
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Speaking at the ceremony organised by Boston Borough Council, which now allows him to drive sheep over the Town Bridge and into the Market Place, Prof Van-Tam said: "What a superb accolade to be recognised by your home town and by the people you grew up with.
"I connect to my home town these days through my really happy memories, through people I still know in the town and of course through the football club."
Speaking about growing up, Prof Van-Tam said his childhood memories "live with you for a lifetime" and reminisced about growing up in the outskirts of Boston and picking vegetables.
Deputy chief medical officer for England since 2017, he often appeared alongside Prime Minister Boris Johnson at televised news briefings, where he caught the public's attention by the way he described coronavirus.
He said his formative years in the town had aided him in giving the briefings, saying: "It's really helped me think about my audience. When I get deeply complex scientific questions, I think back to my audience and think: 'Well, what would they want to know?'."
He told BBC Radio Lincolnshire the pandemic had been "really difficult" for people, and in addressing his high profile during the response, he said: "It's something you have to face if you're in a national role, but I'd rather be Mr Ordinary."
Prof Van-Tam, who previously worked in the pharmaceutical industry and for the UK Health Protection Agency, also volunteered as a vaccinator to help distribute Covid-19 jabs.
On receiving his honour, he wanted to stress the team effort of the last two years, saying: "There are thousands upon thousands of people in this country who have done every bit as much as I have in their own roles either locally or regionally, and they all to deserve recognition and thanks."
The ceremonial plaque confirming Prof Van-Tam is now an honorary freeman
Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-60826339 |
As it happened: Ukraine war latest: Nato to boost forces in eastern Europe as Ukraine war rages - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says four new battlegroups will be sent to Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. | British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce on Thursday that the UK will provide Ukraine with about 6,000 extra missiles.
At the Nato and G7 leaders' meetings in Brussels, Johnson will also unveil £25m ($33m) of funding to help pay Ukrainian soldiers and pilots.
The UK government will also provide £4.1m for the BBC World Service to help support its Ukrainian and Russian language services in the region.
"The United Kingdom will work with our allies to step up military and economic support to Ukraine, strengthening their defences as they turn the tide in this fight," Johnson said.
"One month into this crisis, the international community faces a choice. We can keep the flame of freedom alive in Ukraine, or risk it being snuffed out across Europe and the world."
Britain said the new package will come on top of around 4,000 missiles already provided by the UK to Ukrainian forces.
The latest funding is in addition to £400m already committed in humanitarian and economic aid, said UK officials.
Boris Johnson vowed "to keep the flame of freedom alive in Ukraine" Image caption: Boris Johnson vowed "to keep the flame of freedom alive in Ukraine" | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-60830013 |
UK government mulls move to take over Gazprom unit - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | The BBC understands the UK division of Russian gas giant Gazprom could be placed into administration. | Many English councils have already said they intend to end their deals with the Russian energy giant
The UK arm of Russian gas giant Gazprom could be placed into administration in the coming days, the BBC understands.
Bloomberg reported the government is preparing to step in and temporarily run Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail Ltd, which supplies thousands of organisations across the UK.
It is understood the government is looking at all options and monitoring the situation closely.
One possibility could be to put the company into special administration, where it is temporarily run on behalf of the government.
Last November, the UK energy company Bulb was placed into special administration, with £1.7bn in government funds set aside to keep it trading.
The company's UK retail operation does not sell gas from its parent company in Russia, but a number of companies and councils are thought to be trying to end their contracts with the company in protest at Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Gazprom itself has also been sanctioned by the UK government.
Earlier this month, a number of councils in England told the BBC they were looking to end their Gazprom contracts as soon as possible.
According to the public services data firm Tussell, UK public sector contracts amounted to £107m in total between 2016 and 2021.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid also urged NHS trusts to stop using energy supplied by Gazprom.
A government spokesperson would not be drawn on its plans for Gazprom's UK unit but said the UK "was in no way" dependent on Russian gas.
"Our highly diverse sources of gas supply and a diverse electricity mix ensures that households, businesses, and heavy industry get the energy they need," they said.
"We are aware that Gazprom Energy has a large presence in the non-domestic energy retail market.
"Gazprom's retail business continues to trade in the UK and customers should exercise their own commercial judgement with regards to energy supply contracts they have in place at the moment."
Gazprom has been approached for comment.
A spokesperson for McDonald's said it was trying to exit its deal "at the earliest opportunity" while Siemens UK said it was looking at the terms of cancelling supply contracts with Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail.
"We support the severe and broad sanctions applied by western governments and are ensuring that we act in compliance with them," it said. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60825804 |
Ukraine: Impossible choices for surrogate mothers and parents - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Hundreds of Ukrainian women are pregnant with other people's children - creating a web of complex problems. | On the day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Svetlana found it hard to believe that what she was watching on the news was really happening.
Things were calm in her home town, Bila Tserkva, a historic city on a winding river 80km (50 miles) south of Kyiv.
Svetlana and her husband dragged their mattresses into the corridor of their apartment building and huddled there with their three children. The noise of the sirens was constant and they didn't sleep for days.
Thousands of miles away in Australia, Emma Micallif was frantically messaging. The two women are intimately connected because Svetlana is pregnant with Emma's second child. As rockets fell on Bila Tserkva Emma felt angry and helpless.
For six months the two mums had chatted back and forth using a translation app. They shared pictures of their children, discussed the things they liked to bake with their kids or moaned about the stress of pandemic home-schooling.
Now they were trying to co-ordinate an evacuation.
"I thought having cancer was stressful or having a baby while having treatment was stressful or having round after round of IVF and it not working was stressful," Emma says. "But it just does not compare."
With the help of the surrogacy agency, Emma got in touch with two other parents who had surrogates in Ukraine. They found a bus that would take the three women and their 10 children on an 18-hour trip to the Moldovan border.
When they finally got to the Moldovan capital they were crammed into a small apartment. Emma was horrified when she heard that there weren't enough beds. "Our lovely, pregnant Svetlana was sleeping on the floor," she says.
But Svetlana was too devastated to care. She had left her husband behind in Ukraine and her mother had fled to Germany. When her mother calls she just cries down the phone.
"It hurts so much that this war is tearing families apart," she told me. "I feel safe in Moldova but my heart is in Ukraine."
More than 2,000 children are born through surrogacy every year in Ukraine, the majority to foreign couples. The country has around 50 reproductive clinics and many agencies and middle-men who match couples - known as "intended parents" - to surrogates.
Ukraine is a popular choice because of the way its laws on surrogacy are written. In many European countries, including the UK, when a surrogate gives birth she is listed as the mother on the birth certificate. If she is married, her husband will be listed as the father. In Ukraine the intended parents are listed as mother and father. That means getting the baby a passport and bringing them home is much simpler.
The agency that Emma and Svetlana are using is small - it is currently managing nine surrogacies - but Ukraine's biggest agency currently has 500 surrogates at different stages of pregnancy.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Surrogate babies waiting for parents in a bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine
Forty-one babies in its care are stranded in Kyiv, because their intended parents, from all over the world, have been prevented from collecting them by the war. Many of these children are being cared for in a basement nursery in Kyiv as Russian forces sit outside the city and shell it.
Every day more children are born, but since the invasion only nine sets of parents have risked the journey to Kyiv to pick up their babies. Another five have arranged remote pick-ups. "If nothing changes in the near future, we may have 100 babies under our care," says Denys Herman, the agency's legal adviser.
The company has been grappling with whether to move the babies out of Kyiv to a safer location in western Ukraine, but transporting them in a war zone also carries risks.
It's not just Denys Herman who has a problem with stranded babies.
Nastya was saving up to buy a house in Kharkiv, where she lives with her two young boys, and coming to the end of her second surrogate pregnancy. When the war broke out she was only weeks from her due date and went into labour to give birth to twins a few days later.
"We spent the entire time in the hospital in a bomb shelter," she says. Kharkiv was under heavy bombardment and the hospital's basement was packed from wall to wall with mattresses and baby cribs. She camped out in a storage room with her two children, sleeping on sofa cushions on the floor, underneath shelves piled high with files and paperwork.
"But the doctors were wonderful, I am very grateful to them," she says. She gave birth to two healthy boys.
A week later she left the hospital. Kharkiv was still under attack and the foreign parents couldn't get there to collect the twins.
So, together with some staff from her agency, Nastya, her two sons and the new-born twins travelled across Ukraine. She cared for the babies while delivering them to their parents at the border. That was more than a week ago, and she hasn't heard from them since.
When Emma envisages the family she wants, she thinks of the drive from her home in Canberra to her parent's place in Sydney. She imagines looking into the back seat and seeing a gaggle of children. Instead, she has one. "It just feels like a hole in my life," she says.
Five years ago while she was pregnant with her son, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The tumour was growing at an alarming rate, helped along by the hormones she produced in pregnancy. It was a rare medical event and when her son was born doctors crowded into the delivery room to observe.
"He came out perfect, he didn't have to go into the neonatal ICU, so I felt very lucky," she says. When her son was only five weeks old, she started intense radiation and chemotherapy which damaged her reproductive organs.
"I went into early menopause at 29. So that was delightful," she says wryly.
In the five years since her cancer diagnosis, Emma's every waking moment has been consumed by thoughts of how to conceive her second child. She and her husband went through 13 cycles of IVF which were traumatic and expensive, but none of the embryos would ultimately take. "Surrogacy is never anyone's first pick but it comes as a result of a deep loss beforehand," she says.
Emma and her husband, Alex, struggled to find a surrogate in Australia where only altruistic surrogacy is allowed. When they first heard about the option of Ukraine they were hesitant but they were reassured by other Australians who'd had a good experience.
With their first surrogate, two attempts at pregnancy didn't take, causing further heartbreak. When they were matched with Svetlana and she got pregnant right away it felt like the battle was finally over.
"It was such a relief that we could stop fighting. We'd been in a state of fight or flight, as husband and wife, for so long."
Before the war, the whole family had planned to travel to Ukraine. Emma had hoped to spend time with Svetlana so that she could tell her new child about her birth mother. With the baby due in a month that's unlikely to happen now.
But for some intended parents the war is making the relationship with their surrogates even closer.
Christine (not her real name) woke up on the day of the invasion and felt sick. Her surrogate was in Zaporizhzhia, in the south-east of Ukraine, which would make headlines a few days later when its nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, was attacked by Russian forces.
Her surrogate, Tatiana (also not her real name) left for Poland that day with her six-year-old son. Christine marvels at her strength.
When she asked Tatiana if she was interested in coming to England Christine wasn't sure how she would react. But she was delighted. "We can come next week," she said. She is one of only four or five women applying for a bespoke visa created by the Home Office for surrogate mothers.
"The past few days have been unbearably traumatic in what's already been a traumatic year," Christine says.
Last January she and her husband lost a child, a daughter who was born prematurely and died at five weeks old. At one point during the delivery her husband was told he might have to choose between Christine and the baby. She was advised not to try again but she did and miscarried again. "Because I was impatient and grieving and wanting it now, we looked abroad."
They found out Tatiana was pregnant in January this year. "It was kind of too good to be true," she says.
On Sunday Christine flew to Poland to meet Tatiana for the first time. Both were nervous, but relaxed when a Polish doctor said the results of the first scan were good.
Now they are working hard to get to know each other, using Google translate. "Yesterday, we had a discussion about our spiritual beliefs, whether we believe in clairvoyance and all those things. It's not just all about pregnancy," she says.
The visa will last three years and Christine and her husband have invited Tatiana to stay with them for as long as she wants to, beyond the birth of their child.
Surrogacy is legal in the UK, but under English law the surrogate's name will be on the birth certificate, along with Christine's husband's. Legal parenthood will then have to be transferred from Tatiana to Christine.
If the baby is born in a third country there are even more legal complications. And that's left Svetlana, Emma and Alex with a dilemma.
Surrogacy is not permitted in Moldova. If the baby is born there, Svetlana will be its legal guardian. She could place it for adoption but then it could be years before Emma and Alex are allowed to take their child home.
So together they have come up with a plan for Svetlana to deliver the baby in a city close to the border.
Svetlana has mixed feelings about going back to Ukraine. "There's shooting everywhere, homes are being reduced to rubble and the Russians are shelling maternity hospitals, kindergartens and schools," she says.
On the other hand, she is desperate to see her husband, who can't leave the country under the terms of Ukraine's martial law.
A mother waits to give birth in a hospital basement in Mykolaiv
For Emma, the idea of Svetlana returning to a war zone is hard to take. "If you'd asked me a year ago, I'd say 'No, I wouldn't do that.' Because it's just not what we should be doing. It's not what should be happening," she says.
One possible snag is that it could take weeks for the baby's birth certificate to be issued. If that happens Emma and Alex are not sure what they will do.
The war has left thousands of surrogates and intended parents in equally terrible positions.
Cyrille, who is French, struggled to get in touch with his surrogate in Kharkiv for two weeks after the invasion. When eventually he did, he helped her to come to Paris where he hopes she will stay until she gives birth in August. But she has left her children in western Ukraine with their father, who didn't want them to leave.
Natasha, a surrogate in Cherkasy is 10 weeks pregnant with the baby of a couple in the US. She is tormented by sirens, shelling and morning sickness. "This is not life, it's a nightmare," she says.
Just a few days before the war, I spoke to another surrogate who is pregnant with a baby girl for a couple in Spain. Maryna lived close to Svetlana in the town of Uzyn. When we spoke she was getting ready to move to Kyiv for the last two months of her pregnancy.
"Kyiv is always going to be a safe place because it's so far from the Donbas," she said.
Even after Russia invaded she struggled to imagine how bad things could get. "I really hope that a brain will appear in Putin's head and he will start to withdraw his troops. Because Ukrainian and Russian mothers didn't give birth to children so that they would fight."
Just after Svetlana arrived safely in Moldova, Emma felt a moment of bittersweet relief.
"She sent me a photo of her youngest daughter with a soft-serve ice cream from McDonalds and a balloon and the biggest smile on her face. And I just completely broke down," Emma says.
It reminded her of what every child should be doing, enjoying her life safely, with her family. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60824936 |
Teenage girl on e-scooter dies in crash with van in east London - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | The van driver is with police but has not been arrested over the death of the girl, believed to be 14. | Police believe the victim is 14 years old
A teenage girl riding an e-scooter has died following a crash with a van in east London.
The rider, who police believe was 14 years old, was in collision with the vehicle on Green Street in Upton Park. She was treated by paramedics but died at the scene, at about 13:30 GMT.
Detectives said the driver of the van was with police but he had not been arrested.
The girl's next of kin have been informed, the Met added.
Police have cordoned off a half-mile stretch of the B167 in Newham following the crash.
The cordon stretches from Selsdon Road to Barking Road, and Met Police officers are diverting traffic at either end.
The use of privately-owned e-scooters is banned on public roads in the UK, although a rental scheme was introduced in some parts of London in June 2021 as part of government-backed trials across England.
Recent government figures, from January 2021 to June 2021, showed more than half of the 931 e-scooter crashes in the UK last year were in London.
The Met Police also seized more than 3,600 privately owned e-scooters during 2021.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-60826567 |
Rafael Nadal out for up to six weeks with rib injury - BBC Sport | 2022-03-22 | Rafael Nadal is ruled out for between four and six weeks because of a stress fracture of the rib, with the French Open starting on 22 May. | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Rafael Nadal has been ruled out for between four and six weeks with a stress fracture of the rib.
The injury occurred on Saturday during the Spaniard's win against Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells semi-final.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion found breathing painful and said he was dizzy as he lost the final to Taylor Fritz.
Nadal, 35, is expected to miss both of next month's clay court events in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, while the French Open begins in Paris on 22 May.
Nadal has won the title at Roland Garros a record 13 times.
In a post on social media, he said when he returned to Spain he "immediately went to visit my medical team to do tests after I played with discomfort in the final".
He added: "As it turns out, I have a stress crack in one of my ribs. This is not good news and I did not expect this."
Nadal has been the form player in the world this year, headlined by his victory in the Australian Open when he beat Daniil Medvedev in an epic final.
His defeat against Fritz in California was his first of the year, bringing a 20-match winning run to an end.
Nadal is not expected to be able to start practising again for four weeks and his next tournament is set to be the Madrid Open in six weeks.
• None Who was the greatest ever number 10?
• None If Fergie had quit Man United in 2002... Exploring the greatest 'What If' moments in the English Football history | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/60817261 |
Boris Johnson gets summaries of sensitive government material via WhatsApp - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Campaigners are challenging the use of messaging apps to discuss government business in the High Court. | Boris Johnson carries official documents in a briefcase known as a red box
Boris Johnson gets details of vital government business sent to him via WhatsApp, court papers have revealed.
The material, from the PM's ministerial "red box", is sent to his phone for "administrative ease", officials say, and does not break the rules.
But campaigners challenging "government by WhatsApp" in the High Court say it is a security risk.
They claim the use of insecure apps and message deletion by ministers and officials is "rampant".
Campaigning law groups the Good Law Project and Foxglove are challenging the government's use of such services in the High Court, saying that it breaks the law on keeping public records.
The government says it has secure channels for exchanging sensitive information, and ministers are obliged to record important decision-making discussions with officials.
Documents released on the first of a three-day judicial review reveal:
The screenshot messages, published by Mr Cummings on his blog, include discussions with the PM on the procurement of ventilators, testing in care homes, and Mr Johnson's description of then health secretary Matt Hancock as "hopeless".
No official record has been kept of these messages
It also emerged that all messages on Boris Johnson's phone were wiped in April 2021, after it emerged his number had been freely available on the internet for 15 years.
In a witness statement, the Cabinet Office's chief operating officer Sarah Harrison said: "In light of a well-publicised security breach, the prime minister implemented security advice relating to a mobile device. The effect was that historic messages were no longer available to search and the phone is not active."
Legal campaigners say records of vital decision-making have been lost to the public record, which could undermine next year's inquiry into the government's handling of the pandemic.
Cori Crider, director of Foxglove, said: "Our democracy can only work if the decisions of those who represent us are open to scrutiny.
"That can't happen if officials govern by secret WhatsApp chats that vanish into thin air."
Foxglove is bringing the case on behalf of non-profit media group The Citizens.
They say the government is potentially in breach of its own data security guidelines and the Public Records Act of 1958, which requires legal checks to be made on messages in case they need to be kept for the public interest.
The government argues that a record is kept of all substantive discussions and only ephemeral messages are deleted.
In her witness statement, Ms Harrison said: "In my view, it is not realistic to suggest that those working in government should refrain from interacting with one another online in the same way everyone else does, subject always to the compliance with government policy on the use of such tools and in line with information records management policy.
"This is particularly the case where teams are now much more dispersed - between home and the office as well as geographically."
The Foxglove and Good Law Project law suits started out as separate cases but the High Court decided to hear both of them together.
The government is expected to challenge the standing of the Good Law Project in court, after the High Court found against the organisation in a separate case in February. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60837166 |
Cost of living: Calls for targeted help to cut energy bills - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Millions of people may have to spend less on food and clothing to afford higher bills, an energy boss says. | Bills are rising sharply in April for millions of people
Millions of people face the dilemma of cutting spending on food and clothing to pay their energy bill, one supplier's boss has said.
Bill Bullen, chief executive of Utilita - which serves prepayment meter customers - said government financial support was not directed sufficiently to those who needed it most.
He said ministers should spend money on "insulating the hell out of Britain".
There are growing calls for help on bills ahead of the Spring Statement.
On Wednesday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak will deliver the statement - an update on the state of the UK economy, and an opportunity to outline further policies on tackling the rising cost of living.
The government is also preparing a UK energy strategy in light of the war in Ukraine and the impact it is having on global supply and prices.
Millions of households are facing a 54% rise in the cost of a typical annual gas and electricity bill, to about £2,000, when the regulator's new, higher price cap takes effect on 1 April.
The price rise for prepayment meter customers, who can include some of the poorest and most vulnerable in society, is slightly higher. The increase for prepayment meter customers is typically £708 a year.
The war in Ukraine has heightened concern about a similar increase in October, when the next cap is set.
The government has said it is taking "decisive action" in helping people with their bills. This includes a £150 council tax rebate for 80% of households, followed by a £200 discount on bills in October which will need to be repaid.
However, Mr Bullen argued that the rise was inadequately focussed, leaving millions of people facing tough choices on their family budgets.
"They just do not have the money," he said.
He said that the "path of no regret" for the government was to find ways to cut energy consumption, and therefore bills, over the long term with a massive home insulation programme. It was relatively easy, he said, to cut consumption by 20%.
Some people who agree with the criticism of a non-targeted approach to the government's financial assistance have chosen to donate their £150 council rebate to charities helping those struggling to pay their fuel bills.
National Energy Action, which campaigns for warm, dry homes and runs a helpline and hardship funds, said that 40% of its donations in February came from people wishing to donate their rebate.
Grocery prices are also rising adding to the pressure on people's finances
Ahead of the Spring Statement, a string of charities have called on the chancellor to step up support for those struggling to pay their bills, given the rising cost of basics such as food and fuel.
The debt charity Christians Against Poverty said calls to its helpline went up by 47% in January compared with the same month last year. It said requests for emergency fuel vouchers had doubled in the first two months of this year compared with the same period last year.
As well as a more generous increase in benefit payments, the charity wants the chancellor to announce a full review of the cost of living to ensure everyone has a sufficient income for their basic needs.
Citizens Advice estimated that five million people would be unable to afford the April energy price rise. The prospect of more price rises in October could mean that one in four UK adults would be unable to pay their bills.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation argued that the minimum requirement from the chancellor to tackle the cost of living issue was to increase benefits in line with inflation - close to doubling the 3.1% increase set for April. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60796131 |
Multiple Apple services suffer outages - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Several Apple services were down on Monday, including the App Store. The company says the outages have now been resolved. | A number of Apple services experienced outages on Monday, Apple's support page has confirmed.
The areas affected included the App Store, iMessage, Maps, Apple Arcade, the iTunes store, podcasts and Apple TV+.
Apple's system status page now shows that all of its services are back up and running.
Some of Apple's network was down for three hours.
A number of iCloud services had been affected, including calendar and mail.
Apple confirmed to the BBC its systems had faced outages but has not commented on the reason for the issue.
According to outage tracking website Downdetector.com, more than 4,000 users had reported issues with accessing Apple Music, while nearly 4,000 reported problems with iCloud.
Apple iMessage was also down for a short period. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-60787301 |
US rolls back Trump-era tariffs on UK steel - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | The deal follows similar agreements the US has reached with allies including the European Union. | The UK had hoped for a free trade deal with the US
The US has agreed to ease Trump-era tariffs on UK steel and aluminium shipments, resolving an issue that had strained relations between the allies.
The move follows earlier deals with the European Union and Japan over the controversial taxes, which were imposed by former President Donald Trump in 2018 in the name of national security.
In exchange, the UK will suspend extra taxes it had put on US products such as bourbon and Levi's jeans.
Under the agreement, the US will replace the 25% tariffs on steel with a quota system.
The policy will let UK metal imports into the country duty-free up to a certain level - the quota - before taxes kick in again.
The deal will come into effect on 1 June.
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the deal had removed a "very frustrating irritant", calling the agreement "good news for the steel and aluminium sectors, which support the jobs of over 80,000 people across the UK".
"It means our manufacturers can now enjoy a high level of tariff-free access to the US market once again," she said.
"Hopefully we can now move forward and focus on deepening our thriving trading relationship with the US."
US officials also welcomed the suspension of the UK retaliatory tariffs, which they said affected about $500m (£377m) worth in annual trade.
"The historical deal announced today delivers on President Biden's vision to repair relationships with our allies while also helping to ensure the long-term viability of our steel and aluminium industries," said Ambassador Katherine Tai.
However, in an interview with the BBC, Ms Tai, the top US trade negotiator, refused to be drawn as to when or if discussions for a formal free trade agreement might start.
"I think the issue is what kind of collaboration is going to be fit for the purpose of addressing the challenges that we have today," she said. "I'm not going to exclude any options."
The Biden administration has prioritised domestic goals ahead of trade, said economist Chad Bown, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
While that could change as the US seeks stronger relations with allies in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he said there's no evidence of that happening yet.
"The US administration has not made any signs that they want to do trade agreements with anybody anytime soon," he said. "That would be a big change."
The Biden administration's low prioritisation of trade matters marks a major shift from former president Donald Trump, who made it a signature area of focus, using tariffs as bargaining chips in diplomacy.
He set off a firestorm of criticism in the US and abroad when he announced the 25% tax on foreign steel shipments and 15% tax on foreign aluminium, citing a need to preserve America's manufacturing base and rejecting concerns that tariffs raise prices.
After allies, including the UK, hit US products such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles in retaliation, Mr Trump backed off the duties for certain countries, including Canada, opting for quotas instead.
US President Joe Biden later reached similar deals with the European Union and Japan.
The approach has won praise in the US, including from groups like United Steel Workers for responding to the concerns of allies while still providing protection for US manufacturers.
With many steel plants located in key election states, maintaining support from those workers is important for Mr Biden.
On Tuesday the union praised the new deal for measures it said would help safeguard against unfairly subsidised steel production, such as mandatory annual audits of British Steel, which has a Chinese parent company.
Business lobby UK Steel also praised the deal, saying it would be "felt by steel companies and their employees right across the UK and is immensely welcome".
But with the quotas in place, consumers are unlikely to see benefits like lower prices, said Phil Levy, economist for Flexport.
"Replacing tariffs with a system of quotas is actually moving away from transparency on these things and it does not get you the benefits of free trade," he said.
American spirits exporters toasted the deal, which should make their bourbon whiskeys cheaper for UK shoppers. "Distillers throughout the United States are cheering the end of this long tariff nightmare," Distilled Spirits Council President Chris Swonger said.
The US and UK traded more than $260bn worth of goods last year, of which the majority were exports from the US such as metals, aircraft parts, oil and gas.
While America accounts for nearly one fifth of total UK trade, the UK market represents just 5% of US exports.
Mr Bown said the US imports too little British steel for a deal to have significant impact on prices. For UK consumers of American products, the impact on prices is also likely to be marginal, he said.
"It can't hurt the consumer, so it will make them better off, but by how much is I think unclear," he said.
With America buying £1 in every £6 of British exports, the cooling of tensions over steel has raised hopes of a reheating of the wider transatlantic trade relationship.
Levi's jeans, Harley Davidson motorbikes, steel bars and bourbon whiskey became unlikely weapons in a painful battle that has waged since 2018, with their producers and consumers paying a hefty price. For them this ceasefire will be welcome, if overdue.
At the heart of the dispute was the protection of American jobs. And if - and it's by no means certain - these developments are the first step towards the resumption of wider free-trade talks, that theme will continue to loom large, even if the man in the White House has changed.
The Biden administration struck a deal with the EU over steel almost five months ago. There's been speculations that the UK was made to wait due to unease over the way Boris Johnson's government has handled post-Brexit trading arrangements in Ireland.
The UK is keen to demonstrate its Brexit-era agility by notching up more trade agreements - but the US will be keen to continue showing it's calling the shots . | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60839343 |
The lonely funeral of a young soldier in Ukraine - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | As Dmytro Kotenko was laid to rest, his parents were 600 miles away, trapped under Russian bombs. | Dmytro Kotenko died near the southern city of Kherson and was buried in Lviv, safe for now from falling bombs
There was no family around Dmytro Kotenko when they put him in the ground. His parents did not hear the gunshots that rang out over his grave. They did not hear the sound of the ribbon tied to the wooden cross above him as it fluttered in the wind. They did not see the rough earth that first landed on his coffin and they did not lay a flower over him when he was completely covered by the earth.
Most likely, Kotenko's parents did not know their son was being buried that day in the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv. They were 600 miles away, with his two younger brothers, near the eastern city of Sumy, which was being so heavily shelled by Russian forces that it was cut off from the outside world.
Kotenko's parents did know that their son was dead. He died on 26 February, the third day of the Russian invasion, near to the southern city of Kherson. It was his first military operation. He was 21. Two days after his death, his parents received a call from his childhood friend Vadym Yarovenko, an artillery soldier, who broke the news.
Dmytro Kotenko died on the third day of the Russian invasion. He was 21.
It had taken Yarovenko all night to work up the courage to make the call — a long and restless night on his army bunk in Lviv, alone with the knowledge that Kotenko was gone. They were just boys when they met, all of 15 years old, with fresh haircuts and new uniforms for their first day at military school. When they discovered they were from adjacent villages, it was the beginning of a friendship that might have lasted for a lifetime.
Kotenko's father was a truck driver. His mother worked on a local farm. "To join the army meant to come up in the world," Yarovenko said, "I think this was part of the reason Dmytro signed up." The Kotenkos were a poor family, two parents and three sons, with a modest house in a small village on the Russian border in eastern Ukraine — the very people the Russian president Vladimir Putin claimed he was rescuing from the yoke of Ukrainian oppression.
Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the grinding war that followed in Donbas in eastern Ukraine, was another reason the boys signed up, Yarovenko said. "We knew that something like this could happen," he said, "and we would have to go and defend our land." When people from the village asked them why they wanted to join the army in wartime, Kotenko would say, "If not me, then who?"
Kotenko's coffin is carried into the military church in Lviv. Three men were buried that day
Yarovenko's father also drove a truck, and at the military school in Sumy the boys bonded over their love of cars. Yarovenko, an only child, had found something like a brother in Kotenko. "Neither of us liked the city-like entertainment, clubs etc," Yarovenko said. "We loved spending time in nature — fishing, hunting, picnics. We loved to go to the river with friends."
They worked together on an old car — a Red Zhyguli — that Kotenko was fixing up on his family plot. They repaired motorbikes and drove them on the rural roads around home. They got to know each other's families.
"Dmytro's parents loved him and he loved them," Yarovenko said, wiping tears from his eyes. "Dmytro would always help them with repairs, he was good at that. Even at school or at the academy he would always help. He was very good to his parents. I never heard them argue."
Yarovenko wanted to join an artillery unit but Kotenko's dream was to be a paratrooper. After two years at the academy they were separated — Yarovenko to the western city of Lviv to train for artillery and Kotenko to the southern city of Odesa to train to be a paratrooper.
"We messaged each other every day," Yarovenko said. "We talked about everything. Regular things — how are you? What is happening where you are? We were close friends, we just talked."
Dmytro Kotenko's coffin at the Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church, Lviv. The church now holds funerals every day.
For a while last year, from July to October, the boys were reunited when Kotenko was stationed in Lviv. They went running together on the weekends and trained together. It was a happy time. On 31 December, their families got together in the village to ring in the new year, and a month or so later Kotenko came to Lviv to visit Yarovenko, before he was due to deploy south on an operation. They stayed up late talking. Along Ukraine's borders, Russia's forces were massed, waiting for orders to invade, but in Lviv life was normal and that night the war felt like a distant thing.
The next morning, Kotenko and Yarovenko said their goodbyes and Kotenko went south. They continued messaging every day. On 24 February, the long-awaited invasion came. On 26 February, Kotenko stopped responding to messages, and Yarovenko feared the worst. Eventually he reached the commander of Kotenko's unit, who told him over the phone that his friend had been killed by a mortar shell.
"I don't have all the details yet," Yarovenko said. "There was shelling, there was an explosion, Dmytro died."
Kotenko was buried alongside Kyrylo Moroz, who also could not be taken home
When Yarovenko dialled the number for Kotenko's parents, there was still a phone connection, and in a short conversation he told them that their son was gone. When he tried to call later about the funeral, the aerial bombardment of Sumy had worsened and the line would not connect. He kept trying but the line stayed dead. So Kotenko's body was brought to Lviv to be buried there without them, because the city was safe from falling shells.
At the heart of Lviv lies the Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church, which has a long affiliation with Ukraine's armed forces. Along the sides of the church's nave, there are boards mounted with pictures of Ukraine's war dead. The first pictures were put up by the chaplains in 2014, to honour the fallen soldiers who had been members of the church. Then, bereaved parents from around Lviv saw the pictures and wanted their sons and daughters to be there, and gradually the collection of portraits grew.
"They bring us photographs because they know we pray every day for those who died in war," said Father Vsevolod, one of the chaplains. "We are part of this city's mission to bury army men and women with honours, so their acts of bravery are never forgotten."
Father Vsevolod stands in front of the portraits of the dead. "We will be honouring the fallen all our lives," he said
Before the invasion, the church held a funeral for a soldier once or twice a month, Father Vsevolod said. Now it was burying two or three men a day. None of the recent dead had yet been added to the wall of portraits. Kotenko was not there. But the pictures would be put up, Father Vsevolod said, and if a family was cut off and did not know their son was being buried in Lviv, the church would add it for them, he said.
On the day of Kotenko's funeral, Yarovenko travelled alone from his base to the church and he stood alone on one side of the nave, next to the portraits of the dead, under the vaulted ceiling painted with saints, as smoke from burning incense drifted over the priests and the mourners.
There were three coffins in the church that day. One of the men was from a village near Lviv, and the church was filled with his family and friends. After the service, they took him home. The two other coffins went quietly to the Lychakiv Cemetery, with a small group of soldiers from a local unit who help to commemorate the dead.
The gravediggers at the Lychakiv Cemetery cover Kotenko's coffin with earth
Kotenko was buried alongside Kyrylo Moroz, 25, a paratrooper from his unit, who could also not be taken home. They were laid to rest in a far corner of the cemetery, among the dead from the first and second world wars and the war with Russian-backed forces in Donbas.
Kotenko and Moroz were the fourth and fifth men killed in this invasion to be buried at the Lychakiv. Their graves were almost bare, but for a bunch of roses and a bunch of asters laid by the church and marked with the designation of their unit. The three other graves, for soldiers from Lviv, were festooned with flowers and lanterns.
The following day, the gravediggers at the Lychakiv buried two more men. The day after, three. Eventually, the wooden crosses bearing their names will be replaced by headstones that will hold their memory here for good.
"Thank God we do not have fighting yet here in Lviv," said the groundsman, "so we can bury the soldiers who are defending our home."
Vadym Yarovenko travelled alone to see his friend buried. He is waiting for his turn to be called up
Yarovenko is still trying to reach Kotenko's parents, but the line is dead. They are likely still trapped in Sumy. The invasion has robbed them first of their son, and then of one of the few things that might have ameliorated their grief — the right to be by his side when he went into the ground.
As Kotenko's coffin was lowered, Yarovenko stood to one side, behind the honour guard that fired the guns. It was the saddest thing he had ever experienced. "I watched my friend being buried far from his home," he said. Afterwards, he stood silently, looking at the grave, the sole mourner left, alone with the gravediggers as they cleared away their tools.
"We never got the chance to meet at the front," he said. All that was left was the hope of speaking to Kotenko's parents soon, and the memory of their son, which he will carry with him as he waits for his turn to fight and carry with him to the frontline when he goes. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60801586 |
How access to satellite images shifts the view of war - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | An unprecedented supply of images gives a unique overview of events unfolding on the ground. | Satellites can be used to pick out images of individual vehicles and even road markings
Kyle Glen, a project manager in Wales in the UK, has an unusual hobby - tracking Russian troop movements.
Mr Glen is co-founder of Conflict News, an account on social media platform, Twitter, with more than 400,000 followers. It collates and shares publicly-available photos and videos of conflict, gathered from a variety of online sources.
Since early last year, he and others among what's known as the "open source intelligence community" have been closely watching Russian military activity in and around Ukraine.
He bought and shared from the account satellite images from online service SkyWatch, which reportedly showed the massing of vehicles along the Russia-Ukraine border over many months - and then, the moment when the invasion began.
"We watched it go from nothing, to quite significant build-up and then it was empty again the day before the invasion," he recalls, referring to images from one apparent camp on the border.
"I don't get any money from this at all," says Mr Glen. "It's completely a hobby, voluntary, whatever you want to call it."
Media coverage of the war in Ukraine, which started almost a month ago, has included, arguably to an unprecedented extent, content shared via social media. This has included satellite photos that document troop movements and shocking damage to cities.
In recent days, pictures snapped by satellites in orbit have captured images which appear to show destroyed Russian helicopters, extensive damage to a shopping centre and residential districts in Mariupol, and a civilian tanker vessel on fire in the Black Sea.
Maxar satellite images appear to show a long Russian convoy of military vehicles approaching Kyiv, Ukraine's capital
Privately-owned companies that launch and operate their own satellites - such as Planet and Maxar - have distributed many satellite images of the conflict zone.
The proliferation of these images means members of the public and military analysts alike can try to gauge the situation on the ground in Ukraine and the progress of Russia's invading armed forces from thousands of miles away.
Mr Glen says that while satellite imagery has been available online during previous conflicts, including the war in Syria, the volume of this material was "a drop in the bucket", compared to what has come out of Ukraine in little more than a fortnight.
So, what's changed? While government and intelligence agency satellites gather classified, secret information, commercial firms have long been able to sell their own, unclassified, imagery. And now, this material is being made easily accessible online.
A variety of businesses and other organisations rely on satellite images to track everything from wildfires to crops and the movement of ships. This means there has been a big rise in the number of commercial satellites in orbit which has significantly increased data sharing possibilities says Chris Quilty, partner at Quilty Analytics.
"There are more eyes in the sky," as he puts it.
There has been a big rise in satellite launches over the last 20 years
Members of the public can purchase high-quality pictures gathered by satellite for as little as $10 (£7.60) per sq km.
The resolution of these images is sometimes very high, capturing tiny details measuring down to 30cm by 30cm at ground level. This granularity makes it possible to identify vehicles and road markings.
Operators can also program satellites to monitor specific locations multiple times every 24 hours, picking up even small changes almost as soon as they happen.
As the technology has advanced, the public's willingness to engage with satellite images has really taken off, Mr Quilty adds: "The fundamental capability hasn't changed dramatically, it's the willingness and manner in which users are ingesting and using the data that has changed."
This even extends to sophisticated, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery, which is often more difficult to interpret than a picture taken with an optical lens.
Satellites can even capture SAR images through cloud cover. The resulting black-and-white pictures might show vehicles, including tanks, for instance, as rows of bright dots.
Mr Glen says these types of image have helped him, and people like him, to track the beginning of the Ukraine invasion.
Rita Konaev says widespread access to satellite images has helped combat disinformation about the Ukraine conflict.
Rita Konaev, associate director of analysis at Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology, says satellite imagery "has been an aspect of modern conflict for 10 to 15 years now, but the scale [this time] is different and the accessibility is different," she adds, suggesting satellite imagery has helped to challenge disinformation about the invasion.
"The architecture of European cities like Kyiv is very familiar in the Western world," adds Dr Konaev. This familiarity, she suggests, may have influenced the response in the West to the invasion - in contrast with wars in the Middle East and further afield.
Mr Glen says followers of Conflict News and similar social media accounts, can verify satellite imagery by checking online sources themselves. "You can present the evidence to a wider audience in as unbiased a way as possible and let people to come to their own conclusions," he says.
However, he also acknowledges that he and others like him in the so-called "open source intelligence community" make judgements about what to share and when.
For example, he identifies more closely with the Ukrainians than the Russians in this conflict, he says, and therefore would not intentionally publish any information about Ukrainian military movements, to avoid accidentally compromising their safety.
Some private companies are also sharing sophisticated images captured from orbit - in near real-time - directly with the Ukrainian military. Canadian firm MDA is one such example.
Dr Konaev argues that satellite images offer a unique overview - literally - of events unfolding thousands of miles away, unlike any other media, which may she says explain some of the heightened interest in these pictures.
"In some ways, I think the imagery from a distance, gives even more of a perspective of the scale of the destruction and the devastation," she adds. "It's more than just people's individual lives, it's [whole] communities."
But there could be some significant consequences of making such detailed imagery so widely available.
Although militaries have vast intelligence resources that they rely on beyond social media, there is no knowing how satellite images of troop movements shared on Twitter, or Facebook, could influence operational decisions on the ground.
"There are real, potential life or death consequences," says Dr Konaev.
Mr Glen has thought about this possibility but will likely never know whether an image he shares ultimately leads to a fatal attack or confrontation on a frontline.
"I wouldn't say it makes me hesitate, as such, but it's something I'm aware is a possibility," he says. "And I've come to terms with it." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60762772 |
Corrie Mckeague inquest concludes he died after going into bin - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Jurors heard two weeks of evidence about the disappearance of the RAF's Corrie Mckeague on a night out. | Corrie Mckeague, from Dunfermline, Fife, was based at RAF Honington which is about 10 miles (16km) north of Bury St Edmunds
The missing RAF gunner Corrie Mckeague who vanished on a night out in 2016 died after climbing into a commercial waste bin, an inquest concluded.
The airman, from Dunfermline, Fife, was 23 when he disappeared in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on 24 September 2016.
He was last seen on CCTV going into a bin loading area but his body has never been found despite extensive searches.
Inquest jurors in Ipswich concluded he died after climbing into the bin which was then tipped into a waste lorry.
In a narrative conclusion they said Mr Mckeague died at about 04:20 BST in Bury St Edmunds as a result of "compression asphyxia in association with multiple injuries".
They said Mr Mckeague's "death was contributed to by impaired judgment due to alcohol consumption".
Mr Mckeague was last seen on CCTV on his own walking past The Grapes public house in Bury St Edmunds town centre
He was captured heading towards a bin loading area behind some shops, including Greggs, in Bury St Edmunds town centre
The jurors, who had heard two weeks of evidence at Suffolk Coroner's Court, said there were "ineffective bin locks" and an "ineffective search of the bin" before it was tipped.
During the inquest, it was heard Mr Mckeague, who was stationed at RAF Honington, had slept in a bin before.
He had also slept under bin bags on a previous night out, using them "like a blanket", and was a "heavy sleeper" when drunk, the hearing was told.
Mr Mckeague was described as being "significantly under the influence of alcohol" on the night he went missing.
He was seen asleep in a shop doorway earlier on 24 September before he awoke and walked to the bin loading area, known as "the horseshoe", where he was last seen.
Mr Mckeague's father Martin said he hoped the conclusion would enable his son to "rest in peace"
Waste firm Biffa initially told police the weight of the bin was 11kg (1st 10lbs), and therefore not heavy enough to contain a person, but it was later recorded as 116kg (18st 3lbs).
The force said the movement of Mr Mckeague's mobile phone mirrored the movement of the waste lorry that collected the bin from the service area where he was last seen.
Mr Mckeague was not seen on CCTV leaving the area on foot.
His mother Nicola Urquhart said the "most obvious thing" was her son got into a bin that was later tipped into a waste lorry.
But she said before the inquest she had "other questions, though, and until they could be answered we couldn't get to that conclusion either".
"However, we've heard information in the inquest [so] that we now completely believe in the verdict that the jury have given today, 100%," she said,
Standing next to Mr Mckeague's brothers, Daroch and Makayen, she said: "As a family, we've now all walked out of there with a huge weight lifted off our shoulders."
Nicola Urquhart, Corrie Mckeague's mother, said his legacy was his five-year-old daughter
His father, Martin Mckeague, said after the ruling that he hoped his son could "finally be left to rest in peace", with the inquest shining "a new light on the truth for everyone".
He did, however, criticise "conspiracy theorists" who he said had misled people.
"They've suggested Corrie may have gone AWOL or got lost on his way home to his RAF base," he said in a statement.
"We knew the facts and evidence could unfortunately only mean one horrible conclusion - Corrie climbed into the bin in the horseshoe area and tragically died in the waste disposal process."
Mr Mckeague described his son as a "loveable rogue who loved to socialise and party", and said he was "very much missed by all".
Corrie Mckeague, who was based at RAF Honington near Bury St Edmunds, was last seen wearing light-coloured trousers and a pink shirt
Suffolk's senior coroner Nigel Parsley said he could not imagine the "distress and anguish" Mr Mckeague's family had felt since he disappeared.
Mr Parsley expressed concerns about viewing panels, used to see inside the back of bin lorries, and said he would write to the British Standards Institute, bin lorry manufacturer Dennis Eagle and waste firm Biffa about these concerns.
He said he would also order a prevention of future deaths report in respect of "ineffective locks on bins".
A Biffa spokesperson said: "Our deepest sympathies are with Corrie's family and friends in this tragic case.
"This incident highlights the important, waste industry-wide issue, of people sleeping in waste containers, an issue which we have been actively campaigning on for the last 10 years."
Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-60833539 |
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family 'relieved' by Iran release - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | After years of campaigning, a relative says Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's return is "mind-blowing". | Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, husband Richard and daughter Gabriella shared a hug after she landed at RAF Brize Norton
A relative of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe says news of her return to the UK is "absolutely mind-blowing" after six years of being detained in Iran.
The 43-year-old and another detainee, Anoosheh Ashoori, were met at RAF Brize Norton in the early hours.
Alex Loftus, cousin of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, said she did not think it had "sunk in properly yet".
Mrs Loftus, from Warwickshire, added it had been "so moving" seeing the images of her being reunited with family.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Mr Ashoori, 67, left Tehran on Wednesday after their release was secured following months of negotiations.
Alex Loftus said she was "absolutely over the moon" after years of campaigning over Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release
It marked the end of an ordeal that saw the British-Iranian national detained, after being accused in 2016 of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government.
She was sentenced to a further year in prison in April last year and a one-year travel ban on charges of propaganda against the government.
Both Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Mr Ashoori have consistently and vigorously denied allegations.
Their release came after the UK settled a debt to Iran of almost £400m dating from the 1970s.
Mrs Loftus, who lives near Southam, said a couple of years ago Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe "made the very brave decision of sending" her now seven-year-old daughter, Gabriella, back home.
The girl rushed to hug her mother after she touched down at Brize Norton.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori were released after the UK settled a near £400m debt to Iran
Mrs Loftus added: "She could then start having a normal sort of, well the British life that she was meant to have in the first place and go to school, be with her dad.
"Thankfully we now have Skype... [but] things like... giving Gabriella a kiss goodnight, walking her to school, things like that... she just missed out on."
The cousin said 3.7 million people had signed a Change.org petition and that there had been regular family meetings.
"We've been there so many times, that there's been hope," she said.
"I don't think any us were ever going to believe it until actually Naz was on that plane out of Iranian airspace.
"We'll have our time to see them, but at the moment it just needs to be the three of them."
Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-60782380 |
China Eastern: Plane carrying 132 people crashes in Guangxi hills - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | The Boeing 737 crashed into a hillside in southern China and there are fears no-one survived. | A Chinese passenger plane with 132 people on board has crashed in a forested hillside in southern China.
The China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 was flying from Kunming to Guangzhou when it plunged to earth in Guangxi province and caught fire.
The number of casualties and reason for the crash are not yet known. Rescuers have seen no signs of survivors.
Chinese airlines generally have a good safety record - the last major accident took place 12 years ago.
The crash has caused shock in China, where President Xi Jinping has ordered an immediate investigation to determine the cause. China Eastern Airlines has grounded all its 737-800s.
Flight tracking data suggested the plane lost height rapidly from its cruising altitude before plummeting to the ground.
More than 600 emergency responders are said to be at the crash site. Firefighters reached the scene first and managed to extinguish a blaze in the hills caused by the crash.
Footage taken by local villagers and shared on Chinese social media - and by state broadcasters - showed fire and smoke from the crash, with plane debris on the ground.
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Air safety and aviation standards in China have improved vastly in recent decades, following a series of accidents in the 1990s, and crashes such as this are now very rare.
The country's last major plane accident was in August 2010, when a flight from Harbin crashed in north-east Yichun during foggy weather, killing 42 people.
China Eastern has set up a hotline for people seeking information about those on board. It expressed "its deep condolences for the passengers and crew members who died".
Earlier, it greyed out its logo on its Weibo account and also changed its website to black and white in an apparent sign of mourning.
As a precaution, China Eastern's entire fleet of Boeing 737-800 jets has been grounded.
It took just two and a half minutes for an apparently normal flight to turn into a tragedy.
The aircraft was a 737-800, a well-proven design first produced in the late 1990s. It is a workhorse of the aviation world, with thousands still in service.
It has a strong safety record. Fatigue cracks have been found in some older planes, but this one was not quite seven years old.
There is no connection here with the 737 MAX, a newer version of the 737, which was grounded for more than a year and a half after a design flaw triggered two major accidents.
Investigators will be looking at many possible causes - among them deliberate action, such as terrorism, technical issues such as structural failure, or a mid-air collision.
They will look at communications from the pilots, examine the state of the wreckage - and search for the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.
Those recorders should contain the information needed to confirm exactly what happened during those minutes and why.
Staff at Guangzhou airport are directing worried relatives to a separate zone set up to receive them.
One woman waiting for news there told local media she had booked a seat on the flight, but ended up switching to an earlier plane.
"I feel very sad," she said. Her sister and four friends were on the crashed plane, AFP news agency reports.
State-owned China Eastern is one of China's big three airlines, along with China Southern and Air China.
Flight MU5735 left Kunming at 13:11 local time (05:11 GMT) and was scheduled to arrive in Guangzhou at 15:05.
A file photo from 2015 of the China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 which crashed
Flight tracking sites report the plane was in the air for just over an hour and was nearing its destination when it went down in Wuzhou, a verdant, hilly area prone to mixed weather at this time of year as China enters its annual flood season.
The weather was cloudy, but visibility was reported to have been good at the time of the crash.
Footage said to be of Flight MU5735 plummeting vertically from the sky has been circulating on social media.
The plane dropped thousands of metres in three minutes, flight tracker data showed.
According to FlightRadar24 data, the plane was cruising at 29,100ft, but two minutes and 15 seconds later it was recorded at 9,075ft. The last sourced information on the flight showed it ended at 14:22 local time, at an altitude of 3,225ft.
"Usually the plane is on autopilot during cruise stage. So it is very hard to fathom what happened," Li Xiaojin, a Chinese aviation expert, told Reuters news agency.
Another expert, Wang Ya'nan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge, told China's Global Times newspaper: "It is very likely that the aircraft lost power at cruising altitude, resulting in the pilot losing control of the aircraft.
"This is a very serious technical failure in which the plane inevitably enters a high-speed descent."
The Boeing 737-800 plane was nearly seven years old, according to tracker websites. It is the predecessor model to the Boeing 737 Max line, which were the planes involved in deadly crashes in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019.
China banned that model after those crashes.
Boeing issued a statement on the crash of MU5735, saying: "We are aware of the initial media reports and are working to gather more information."
China's Civil Aviation Administration said it had dispatched its investigators to the scene. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-60819760 |
Ukraine war: Western agents seek to get inside Putin's head - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine shook the West. Now its leaders are trying to predict his next move. | Russia's leader Vladimir Putin is trapped in a closed world of his own making, Western spies believe. And that worries them.
For years they have sought to get inside Mr Putin's mind, to better understand his intentions.
With Russian troops seemingly bogged down in Ukraine, the need to do so has become all the more necessary as they try to work out how he will react under pressure.
Understanding his state of mind will be vital to avoid escalating the crisis into even more dangerous territory.
There has been speculation that Russia's leader was ill, but many analysts believe he has actually become isolated and closed off to any alternative views.
His isolation has been evident in pictures of his meetings, such as when he met President Emmanuel Macron, the pair at far ends of a long table. It was also evident in Mr Putin's meeting with his own national security team on the eve of war.
Mr Putin's initial military plan looked like something devised by a KGB officer, one Western intelligence official explains.
It had been created, they say, by a tight "conspiratorial cabal" with an emphasis on secrecy. But the result was chaos. Russian military commanders were not ready and some soldiers went over the border without knowing what they were doing.
Western spies, through sources they will not discuss, knew more about those plans than many inside Russia's leadership. But now they face a new challenge - understanding what Russia's leader will do next. And that is not easy.
"The challenge of understanding the Kremlin's moves is that Putin is the single decision-maker in Moscow," explains John Sipher, who formerly ran the CIA's Russia operations. And even though his views are often made clear through public statements, knowing how he will act on them is difficult intelligence challenge.
"It is extremely hard in a system as well protected as Russia to have good intelligence on what's happening inside the head of the leader especially when so many of his own people do not know what is going on," Sir John Sawers, a former head of Britain's MI6, told the BBC.
Mr Putin, intelligence officials say, is isolated in a bubble of his own making, which very little outside information penetrates, particularly any which might challenge what he thinks.
"He is a victim of his own propaganda in the sense that he only listens to a certain number of people and blocks out everything else. This gives him a strange view of the world," says Adrian Furnham, a professor of psychology and co-author of a forthcoming book The Psychology of Spies and Spying. The risk is what is called "group think" in which everyone reinforces his view. "If he's a victim of group think we need to know who the group is," says Prof Furnham.
The circle of those Mr Putin talks to has never been large but when it came to the decision to invade Ukraine, it had narrowed to just a handful of people, Western intelligence officials believe, all of those "true believers" who share Mr Putin's mindset and obsessions.
The sense of how small his inner circle has become was emphasised when he publicly dressed down the head of his own Foreign Intelligence Service at the national security meeting just before the invasion - a move which seemed to humiliate the official. His speech hours later also revealed a man angry and obsessed with Ukraine and the West.
Those who have observed him say the Russian leader is driven by a desire to overcome the perceived humiliation of Russia in the 1990s along with a conviction that the West is determined to keep Russia down and drive him from power. One person who met Mr Putin remembers his obsession with watching videos of Libya's Col Gaddafi being killed after he was driven from power in 2011.
When the director of the CIA, William Burns, was asked to assess Mr Putin's mental state, he said he had "been stewing in a combustible combination of grievance and ambition for many years" and described his views as having "hardened" and that he was "far more insulated" from other points of view.
Is the Russian president crazy? That is a question many in the West have asked. But few experts consider it helpful. One psychologist with expertise in the area said a mistake was to assume because we cannot understand a decision like invading Ukraine we frame the person who made it as "mad".
The CIA has a team which carries out "leadership analysis" on foreign decision makers, drawing on a tradition dating back to attempts to understand Hitler. They study background, relationships and health, drawing on secret intelligence.
Another source are read-outs from the those who have had direct contact, such as other leaders. In 2014, Angela Merkel reportedly told President Obama that Mr Putin was living "in another world". President Macron meanwhile when he sat down with Mr Putin recently, was reported to have found the Russian leader "more rigid, more isolated" compared with previous encounters.
Did something change? Some speculate, without much evidence, about possible ill-health or the impact of medication. Others point to psychological factors such as a sense of his own time running out for him to fulfil what he sees as his destiny in protecting Russia or restoring its greatness. The Russian leader has visibly isolated himself from others during the Covid pandemic and this also may have had a psychological impact.
"Putin is likely not mentally ill, nor he has changed, although he is in more of a hurry, and likely more isolated in recent years," says Ken Dekleva, a former US government physician and diplomat, and currently a senior fellow at the George HW Bush Foundation for US-China Relations.
But a concern now is that reliable information is still not finding its way into Mr Putin's closed loop. His intelligence services may have been reluctant before the invasion to tell him anything he did not want to hear, offering rosy estimates of how an invasion would go and how Russian troops would be received before the war. And this week one Western official said Mr Putin may still not have the insight into how badly things are going for his own troops that Western intelligence has. That leads to concern about how he might react when confronted with a worsening situation for Russia.
Mr Putin himself tells the story of chasing a rat when he was a boy. When he had driven it into a corner, the rat reacted by attacking him, forcing a young Vladimir to become the one who fled. The question Western policymakers are asking is what if Mr Putin feels cornered now?
"The question really is whether or not he doubles down with greater brutality and escalates in terms of the weapon systems that he's prepared to use," said one western official. There have been concerns he could use chemical weapons or even a tactical nuclear weapon.
"The worry is that he does something unbelievably rash in a vicious press-the button way," says Adrian Furnham.
Mr Putin himself may play up the sense that he is dangerous or even irrational - this is a well-known tactic (often called the "madman" theory) in which someone with access to nuclear weapons tries to get his adversary to back down by convincing them that he may well be crazy enough to use them despite the potential for everyone to perish.
For Western spies and policymakers understanding Mr Putin's intentions and mindset today could not be more important. Predicting his response is pivotal in working out how far they can push him without triggering a dangerous reaction.
"Putin's self concept does not allow for failure or weakness. He despises such things" says Ken Dekleva. "A cornered, weakened Putin is a more dangerous Putin. It's sometimes better to let the bear run out of the cage and back to the forest." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60807134 |
Prince Andrew plans to attend Prince Philip service - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Duke of York to make first appearance at a public event since his court case settlement. | Prince Andrew will make his first appearance in public since settling the court case
The Duke of York will attend next week's thanksgiving service for Prince Philip, says his spokesperson.
It will be Prince Andrew's first public appearance since the settlement of the civil sex assault case brought against him in the US by Virginia Giuffre.
The service at Westminster Abbey will celebrate the life of his father, Prince Philip, who died last year.
Prince Philip's grandson, Prince Harry, who lives in the US, has already said he will not be attending.
The Queen would be expected to attend next Tuesday's service honouring the memory of her husband.
But there have been concerns about her mobility and last week she was unable to go to the Commonwealth Service held in Westminster Abbey.
Other members of the Royal Family will take part in the service remembering Prince Philip's life and legacy - although Prince Harry has already confirmed he will not be travelling from the US.
Prince Harry has been involved in a legal dispute over the provision of security when he visits the UK.
In the fall out from his high-profile court case, Prince Andrew lost the use of the title His Royal Highness and stepped back from public life, but his representative says he will attend the service commemorating his father.
This will be the first time he will have been seen at an event in public since agreeing to make payments to Ms Giuffre and her victims' rights charity in a settlement that ended the civil court case.
Prince Andrew rejected any claims of wrongdoing, and the formal closure of the case earlier this month ended the prospect of a trial in New York.
But there have been questions about the prince's reputational damage and his future role in royal events. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60826073 |
Yvan Colonna: Corsican nationalist dies after jihadist jail attack - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Yvan Colonna's strangling by a fellow inmate had sparked violent protests on the French island. | Yvan Colonna's attack has prompted protests in France and Corsica
A jailed Corsican nationalist, whose prison assault sparked protests on the French Mediterranean island, has died.
Yvan Colonna, 61, who was serving a life term for murdering Corsica's top official, was beaten by another inmate, a Cameroonian jihadist, on 2 March.
The attack left Colonna in a coma and he had been receiving treatment in a hospital in the south of France.
The assault provoked riots in Corsica, where many see him as a hero in its campaign for independence from France.
Colonna was jailed two decades ago for shooting dead Corsica's prefect Claude Erignac in 1998, following a five-year manhunt that eventually found him in the mountains living as a shepherd.
Colonna, who was one of France's best-known prisoners, died in a hospital in the southern French city of Marseille. His supporters had long campaigned for his release or his transfer to jail in Corsica.
According to prosecutors, he was working out in the prison gym in Arles when Franck Elong Abé, 35, a former jihadist serving time for terror offences, allegedly launched his attack.
For eight minutes, Abé beat Colonna and tried to suffocate him with a bin bag and towels, investigators say. Under questioning, he accused Colonna of "blaspheming" and mocking the prophet Muhammad.
The assault - and the perceived failure of prison authorities to prevent it - stoked anger on the island, prompting its biggest and most violent protests in decades.
The unrest prompted the French government to suggest it could loosen its grip on the island.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said Paris could offer Corsica "autonomy" and visited the island last week, while President Emmanuel Macron conceded that idea was no longer "taboo".
Protesters threw petrol bombs and stones at police officers in Corsica's second-biggest city Bastia
For more than 10 days, protesters took to the streets, chanting "Liberta" (freedom) and "Statu Francese assassinu" (French state assassin). Some lobbed stones and petrol bombs at police.
In a single night of rioting in Corsica's second-biggest city, Bastia, on 13 March, some 67 people were injured, 44 of them police officers.
The agonising death of Yvan Colonna has put Corsica's troubles at the centre of the political agenda, less than three weeks ahead of France's presidential election.
Convicted assassin he may have been, but the 61-year-old had heroic status among the island's nationalists. Many of them refuse to believe he was actually guilty of killing Claude Erignac in 1998. He always denied it.
But many more were horrified by the manner of his death, brutally suffocated in a prison gym by a jihadist co-detainee. They blame the French state for failing to protect him, especially after Paris refused for years to have him transferred from the mainland to a jail inside Corsica.
Faced by serious rioting on the island, President Macron's reaction so far has been conciliate, conciliate, conciliate. Two others convicted in the Erignac killing have been told they can now be transferred back to Corsica. And last week's promise of "autonomy" talks was a significant concession to nationalists.
The danger, as Le Monde points out in an editorial, is that it all comes across as a signal of weakness. For years, President Macron has refused to budge on constitutional change for Corsica - and now, suddenly, under the pressure of violence, he gives way.
The same happened after the "yellow vests" protests led to the opening of state coffers. A dangerous precedent, perhaps, especially if, as many predict, the president is re-elected "by default" next month: in the shadow of the Ukraine war, with a low turnout and an underperforming opposition.
Talks on autonomy are due to start early next month, but Colonna's death prompted shock across the political spectrum.
Corsica's pro-autonomy regional council president, Gilles Simeoni, said his death was an "injustice and a tragedy, which will leave its mark on the history of contemporary Corsica and its people".
The island - most famous for being the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte - has been a French territory since the 18th Century. But its recent past has been marked by separatist violence.
"I call on everyone to keep their calm and not add fuel to the fire in Corsica," said the Republicans' presidential candidate Valérie Pécresse.
A spokesman for far-right candidate Eric Zemmour said Colonna's jihadist killer should have been deported long ago. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60830052 |
Petrol prices stabilise after weeks at record highs - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Average petrol prices fall slightly from record high of £1.67 per litre, the RAC says. | Fuel prices have stabilised for the first time this month after Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused a surge.
Average fuel prices slipped from record highs on Monday, with petrol at nearly £1.67 a litre and diesel at £1.79.
Crude oil surged to $139 per barrel in the first week of March, then slid back the following week.
The RAC said the settling of prices could be an indication that retailers may have "finished" passing on their higher wholesale costs to customers.
However, it is unclear if and when the cost of fuel will go down.
Simon Williams, fuel spokesman for the RAC, said Monday's prices had "steadied with very slight reductions in both petrol and diesel".
UK fuel prices have increased at the fastest rate on record in recent weeks, with petrol rising 13p since the start of the month and diesel increasing by nearly 21p.
Fuel prices, which were already rising as global economies recovered from the coronavirus pandemic, surged after the war in Ukraine pushed up oil prices.
Changes in prices at the pump are mainly determined by crude oil prices and the dollar exchange rate, because crude oil is traded in dollars.
Russia is one of the world's major oil exporters and it is being targeted by economic and trading sanctions.
After Brent crude oil - a global benchmark for prices - hit a near 14-year high of $139 a barrel during the early stages of the conflict, prices fell back to around $100, but have since risen again to $115 on Tuesday.
The most recent increase was driven by the European Union discussing a ban on the purchase of Russian oil, which countries in the bloc rely heavily on.
Some countries, such as the US and Canada, have already banned on Russian oil imports, but the EU has so far stopped short of that action.
Meanwhile, the UK government has vowed to phase out imports of Russian oil by the end of the year.
The UK only imports about 6% of its crude oil from Russia, but is affected by the global shifts in price.
Mr Williams said the wholesale price of petrol for retailers currently stands at £1.30 a litre for petrol and £1.48 for diesel.
"With prices this high before retailer margin and 20% VAT are added it's clear we are in a tough place when it comes to being able to afford to drive," he said.
"This is why it's crucial the chancellor takes decisive and meaningful action in his Spring Statement that helps hard-pressed drivers and businesses."
More than 50 Conservative MPs have called for a cut in fuel duty, which is currently 57.95p per litre, and has VAT of 20% applied on top.
Several newspapers have also reported that Chancellor Rishi Sunak is considering a temporary cut of as much as 5p per litre, but some opposition MPs have questioned whether this would go far enough.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there were warnings of potential global oil supply problems.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said high commodity prices and sanctions against Russia were "threatening to create a global oil supply shock".
It estimated three million barrels per day of Russian oil could be taken out of the global market as a result of international sanctions.
The agency warned only Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have enough spare production capacity to offset the shortfall in Russian output. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60832115 |
As it happened: Ukraine war latest: Resilience making Russia assess reality, negotiator says - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Mykhaylo Podolyak, an aide to President Zelensky, says the change has helped encourage a dialogue between the nations. | Pavel has been taking pictures in bomb shelters Image caption: Pavel has been taking pictures in bomb shelters
Pavel Gomzyakov usually photographs the happiest days of people’s lives. He is an award-winning wedding photographer from Mariupol, southern Ukraine.
But, recently, he has been documenting life in the city as it has come under heavy Russian attack.
“Before the start of the war, Mariupol was a peaceful Ukrainian city, a city in which 95% of people were Russian speaking, like me. My daughter used to study at a Russian school,” he tells BBC Panorama.
At the end of last week, he escaped, along with his wife and nine-year-old son. His elderly parents stayed behind and he hasn’t been able to contact them for days, as electricity has been cut.
He is now trying work out how he can unite with his eldest daughter, 17, who is alone in Germany. She was in the north-eastern Ukrainian city Kharkiv at ballet school when the war started.
Pavel says it is if they have all woken up to a new, terrible reality.
More on Panorama Ukraine's Resistance: Standing Up to Putin on BBC One at 20:00 GMT | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-60802572 |
Shells rain down on Kharkiv as Ukraine's army stands firm - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | The BBC's Quentin Sommerville and Darren Conway are in Kharkiv, where Ukraine's army has repelled Russia for three weeks. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: The BBC's Quentin Sommerville follows Ukrainian troops holding the front line as Russia pounds Kharkiv
Ukraine's second city Kharkiv has been the constant target of Russian attacks for three weeks. The BBC's Quentin Sommerville and cameraman Darren Conway report from the front line where Ukrainian troops continue to repel the enemy advance.
We enter the house where the back door used to be. Now there is just a blanket flapping in the freezing wind. The owners, long gone, would have had a view across the rich farmland north of Kharkiv, but much of that is unrecognisable, too.
In the garage, beside an abandoned skateboard, are a dozen or so empty packing cases for some of the world's best anti-tank weapons. A dead Russian soldier lies face down in the front garden.
The house has become a frontline base, and the spent cases are an indication that the soldiers here have had the fight of their lives - a fight for Ukraine's independence.
We have gained rare access to the Ukrainian army, who after three weeks of hard fighting, are still holding firm on the outskirts of Kharkiv, preventing Russian forces from capturing Ukraine's second-largest city.
"Do you want to go further ahead?" asks Yuri, a commander with the Ukrainian army's 22 Motorized Infantry Battalion, pointing at the ruins of two Russian armoured personnel carriers, and the shattered pieces of two of their tanks. The battalion was reconstituted in 2014 after Russia invaded Crimea and backed Donbas separatists.
"They've used drones, aircraft, attack helicopters, everything," says Yuri, as Russian shells thunder overhead, striking nearby roads and apartment blocks.
Moments after Russian Grad rockets - multiple rockets launched in quick succession - fell on a residential neighbourhood
The Russians have continued to attack again and been repelled many times. In their frustration at being denied entry, they bomb the city, which was once home to 1.4 million people, day and night.
The ground is churned up and thick mud sucks on your boots. A backward glance shows the ruined shells of the line of houses we just passed through. Suburban gardens have become battlefields from Europe's past.
"The first three days were the worst. It was raining, we were covered in mud, we looked like pigs," says Olexander, 44, who is standing nearby.
By one of the destroyed armoured personnel carriers, its Z marking already faded, is a large crater, 20ft (6m) across. On the first day of the invasion, 24 February, a Russian strike killed six Ukrainian soldiers at this exact place. Many more died here since, but official figures aren't being released.
A green army boot is perched on the crater's edge, a Russian corpse beyond that. A large black crow sits nearby, untroubled by the roar of shelling and Grad rockets from Russian positions.
The men here can tell you the precise date and time they came to the front - the implication being that if you weren't here the first three days, you don't know real fighting. "Jump in the crater if there is more shelling," says Uri.
Constantine, 58, was a pilot in the Ukrainian air force until he retired and became a journalist. Now he's back at the front, walking with a limp and using a broken broom handle for support. Russian shrapnel wounded his leg, but he refuses to leave the front.
"This is the last line of defence for the city, if they get through here, they will enter Kharkiv. This road takes you from Russia to the very heart of the city," he says.
Olexander, 44, who fought in Donbas - "For the first three days, we couldn't understand what was going on"
There is a boom and whoosh, and a wire-guided missile flies just over our heads. We scramble into the crater. It strikes along the roadside, a gas pipeline bursts into flames.
While we shelter, a tall reconnaissance soldier with blue tape across his helmet tells us to stay down. Roman is 34 years old, though he jokes that he was 24 when the war started three weeks ago.
He says the Russians won't show themselves now. "They are chickens. We will respond good and proper." He stops and asks for a selfie. Later we learn that he transported the dead bodies of his fallen comrades in his own vehicle - which was just a month old - from the front to the city morgue.
As we leave, Constantine catches something in the air - thin copper wire, which stretches for miles. It was used to guide the Russian missile which just flew over our heads.
Waiting for us is Olexander, 44, from nearby Poltava region. He's been with the unit since its founding and has fought in Donbas. "This is much worse," he says, adding: "For the first three days, we couldn't understand what was going on. We were lost and we couldn't believe it was happening. But after that we got better and we are standing our ground and will hold our positions."
I ask him why he is fighting. He gives a laugh and responds, "For a free Ukraine, for my family, and for you guys as well. For our independence and for peace."
Yuri, the commander, drives us back to the collection of Soviet-era apartment blocks, still inhabited. Russia says it came to Ukraine to demilitarise the country, but here we see what that means for civilians. A 20-storey block is still smoking from a Russian strike - it was two days ago, according to Yuri.
The official number of civilian deaths in Kharkiv stood at 234, including 14 children, on 16 March. The past few days have been punishing - as we were reminded in an instant.
A volley of Russian Grad rockets rained down on the neighbourhood, striking just metres away. The soldiers around us had taken cover and were unharmed.
Svitlana. 72, and her husband sleep two hours a night in their bomb-damaged flat
In the same housing complex lives husband and wife Svitlana and Sasha. Svitlana is 72, and welcomes us into her home, saying they haven't spoken to anyone in weeks. "We're glad you came," she says.
Their building has already been hit, the back windows are gone, and they sleep in a central room on sofas. They manage two hours of sleep a night, the shelling is relentless. "When it stops, it is like a thaw in spring," she says.
I ask if she has a message for Vladimir Putin. "No," she replies, firmly. "No, it seems to me that this man has already lost his sanity and he does not think clearly. Because a sane human can not do something like this - bomb old people, kids, kindergartens, schools, hospitals. He wouldn't understand what I say."
But then, when I ask about the men not far from her home who are defending the city, she cries. She says, "Yes, I'm very grateful to them for protecting their homeland. Hold on guys. We will always support you. They are so brave, both boys and girls."
There are still hundreds of thousands of people living in Kharkiv, despite the shelling. If Russia and Ukraine are brothers, as the Kremlin professes, then this is fratricide.
As we leave the neighbourhood, much of it is alight. Russia's fury with this city is both seen and heard. By evening, all of Kharkiv is covered in a cloud of smoke, the relentless pounding of guns continues, but the defenders of Kharkiv still keep the enemy from the city gates.
Are you or your family in Ukraine? Please share your experience if it is safe to do so by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60785679 |
Boris Becker used his business account as piggy bank, court told - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | The former tennis champion is accused of spending the money on school fees and designer clothes. | Boris Becker, the six-time Grand Slam tennis champion, was using his business account as a "piggy bank" to pay for personal expenses, a court has heard.
He spent money from his business account on his children's school fees, designer clothes and shopping at the luxury store, Harrods, jurors heard.
The 54-year-old, who commentated for the BBC last year, is on trial at Southwark Crown Court charged with 24 offences under the Insolvency Act.
The charges relate to his June 2017 bankruptcy over a £3.5m bank loan for a property in Mallorca, Spain.
He is accused of hiding, or failing to hand over, assets before and after his bankruptcy.
As the second day of Mr Becker's trial got under way, the jury heard the former world number one spent hundreds of pounds at Harrods, bought online groceries at Ocado and treated himself to Ralph Lauren clothes.
The German national is alleged to have hidden €1.13 million (£940,000) from the sale of a Mercedes car dealership he owned in Germany, which was paid into his Boris Becker Private Office (BBPOL) account.
Prosecutor Rebecca Chalkley said: "It is the prosecution case that Mr Becker used the BBPOL sterling account as an extension of his own account, effectively as his own piggy bank, for everyday personal expenses such as school fees for the children and such like."
She said payments in 2017 included £643 to Polo Ralph Lauren, £7,600 in school fees, £976 at Harrods and more than £1,000 at Ocado.
Ms Chalkley told jurors Mr Becker paid his ex-wife Barbara Becker €23,000 (£19,000), estranged wife Sharell "Lilly" Becker €100,000 (£83,000) and transferred £225,000 to a friend.
The prosecutor added that he also transferred €300,000 (£249,000) to his own account, while other funds went into an account he jointly held with his son.
Mr Becker is also accused of failing to hand over assets including trophies he received as a result of his 1985 and 1989 Wimbledon men's singles title, his Australian Open trophies from 1991 and 1996 and his 1992 Olympic gold medal.
He also allegedly failed to declare two German properties, as well as his interest in a flat in Chelsea, west London, and hid a €825,000 (£686,000) bank loan.
The prosecution is being brought by the Insolvency Service on behalf of the business secretary.
On Monday at the start of the trial, Judge Deborah Taylor instructed the jury of 11 men and one woman to ignore Mr Becker's celebrity.
"You must treat him in exactly the same way you would treat someone you have not heard of and is not in the public eye," she said.
The trial, expected to last up to three weeks, continues. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60837657 |
A young soldier's funeral and a city facing starvation - Ukraine war daily round-up - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Fears that Russia wants to starve Mariupol into surrender, and a young soldier isolated from his family is buried. | Shelling by Russian forces has prevented civilians from being able to evacuate the besieged port city
There seems to be no let-up to the horrors facing the southern city of Mariupol.
Ukrainian MP Dmytro Gurin has accused Russian forces of trying to starve the besieged port into submission.
Around 300,000 people are believed to be trapped there with supplies running out and aid blocked from entering.
Residents have endured weeks of Russian bombardment with no power or running water.
But Mr Gurin said there was no question of Mariupol surrendering, and a Monday morning deadline set by the Russians for the city to lay down its arms came and went.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner gives four reasons why taking Mariupol is so important for Russia.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
In the capital Kyiv, eight people were reported dead after a shopping centre and a number of houses were shelled in the Podilskyi district.
Witnesses says the blast at the shopping centre shook the whole city.
Firefighters were seen trying to rescue people stranded beneath the rubble.
The Retroville mall was opened just before the Covid-19 pandemic and boasted 250 shops, a multiplex cinema and a 3,000-space car park.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko announced a curfew in the city from 2000 local time on Monday to 0700 local time on Wednesday.
The city of Kherson has been under Russian control since the beginning of March. It is the largest city to be occupied by the invading forces since the offensive began.
But it has seen daily anti-Russian protests by local residents, and media reports on Monday said several people had been injured after troops opened fire to disperse protesters.
Footage shared on social media, verified by the BBC, also showed explosions which were reported to be stun grenades.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: Russian forces open fire on protesters in the city of Kherson
Dmytro Kotenko died near the southern city of Kherson and was buried in Lviv, safe for now from falling bombs
The BBC's Joel Gunter uncovered the story of a young Ukrainian soldier killed in the early days of the invasion.
Dmytro Kotenko, 21, was buried hundreds of miles from his family, who are stuck in the northern city of Sumy, cut off from the outside world.
Kotenko's childhood friend Vadym Yarovenko was the one who broke the news to Kotenko's parents - it took him all night to work up the courage to make the call to tell them he had died.
When he tried to call later about the funeral, the aerial bombardment of Sumy had worsened and the line would not connect. He kept trying but the line stayed dead.
The sole mourner at his funeral, Yarovenko said it was the saddest thing he had ever experienced.
"I watched my friend being buried far from his home," he said.
He hopes he can speak to Kotenko's parents again. And he says his will carry the memory of his friend as he waits for his own turn to fight on the frontline.
Russia's stock market has partially resumed trading after a nearly month-long suspension because of the war.
Only bonds issued by the Russian government can be traded as part of a phased re-opening of the market.
Andrei Braginsky, a spokesman for the Moscow Exchange, said he hoped that trading in stocks would be able to start again soon.
The invasion and sanctions imposed by Western governments are taking a toll on the Russian economy.
Some supermarkets are rationing sales of basic goods such as salt and cooking oil.
Reports from across the country suggest sugar and other staples are being restricted.
However, deputy industry and trade minister Viktor Yevtukhov insists "there is no problem with sugar".
Boris Romantschenko survived detention in four separate concentration camps between 1942 and 1945
Boris Romantschenko survived the Nazi Holocaust, spending time in Buchenwald and several other camps.
But at the age of 96 he was killed by Russian shelling of his apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Friday.
The Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation, of which he was vice-president, announced the death on Monday, saying it was "deeply disturbed" by Mr Romantschenko's death.
It said he had "worked intensely on the memory of Nazi crimes".
"We mourn the loss of a close friend. We wish his son and granddaughter, who brought us the sad news, a lot of strength in these difficult times," the foundation's statement added.
Russian forces have been relentlessly shelling Kharkiv, which lies just 30 miles (50km) from the border, for over three weeks. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60825630 |
Ukraine war: Putin has redrawn the world - but not the way he wanted - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Because of his miscalculations, there's a new iron curtain at the Russian leader’s door - writes Allan Little | "Russia does not start wars, it ends them" reads a poster of Vladimir Putin in Simferopol, Crimea, 10 March
Vladimir's Putin's invasion of Ukraine has changed the world. We are living in new and more dangerous times - the post-Cold War era that began with the fall of the Berlin Wall is over.
It is a rare thing to live through a moment of huge historical consequence and understand in real time that is what it is.
In November 1989, I stood on a snow-flecked Wenceslas Square in Prague, the capital of what was then Czechoslovakia, and watched a new world being born.
The peoples of Communist Eastern Europe had risen in defiance of their dictatorships. The Berlin Wall had been torn down. A divided Europe was being made whole again.
In Prague, the dissident playwright Vaclav Havel addressed a crowd of 400,000 from a second-floor balcony. It was an exhilarating moment, dizzying in its pace. That evening, the Communist regime collapsed and within weeks Havel was president of a new democratic state. I sensed, even at the time, that I had watched the world pivot - that it was one of those rare moments when you know the world is remaking itself before your eyes.
How many such moments had there been in the history of Europe since the French Revolution? Probably, I thought then, about five. This, 1989, was the sixth.
But that world - born in those dramatic popular revolutions - came to an end when Putin ordered Russian forces into Ukraine.
The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called this moment a zeitenwende - a turning point - while UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said it was a "paradigm shift". The age of complacency, she said, was over.
Quentin Sommerville, one of the BBC's most experienced war reporters walked through the wreckage in Kharkiv recently and said of the Russian bombardment: "If these tactics are unfamiliar to you, then you haven't been paying attention."
He should know, he spent enough time under Russian rockets in Syria to be paying very close attention. But the governments of the democratic world - how much attention have they been paying to the nature of the Putin regime?
The evidence has been building for years.
Two decades have passed since he sent troops into Georgia claiming he was supporting breakaway regions.
Later, he sent spies into British cities armed with nerve agents to murder exiled Russians.
In 2014, he invaded Eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea.
Despite all this, Germany, and much of the EU, were locking themselves into an unhealthy dependence on Russian gas. A year after the annexation of Crimea, they approved the building of a new pipeline, Nord Stream 2, to boost supplies.
The "complacency" Liz Truss refers to also indicts her own country. London has been a safe haven for Russian money since John Major was prime minister. Russian oligarchs have parked billions here, laundered their money, bought up the most prestigious private homes in the capital, socialised with politicians and donated to their campaign funds. Few questions were asked about where their vast wealth, acquired so suddenly, had come from.
So, no. The Western democracies have not been "paying attention" to the nature of the menace that has been incubating on their eastern frontier.
But Putin, too, has seemed complacent.
Receiving station for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, near Lubmin, Germany
First, he believed the West was in chronic decline, weakened by internal division and ideological rancour. The election of Donald Trump and Brexit he saw as proof of this. The rise of right-wing authoritarian governments in Poland and Hungary was further evidence of the disintegration of liberal values and institutions. The US's humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan was proof of a waning power withdrawing from the world stage.
Second, he misread what was happening on his borders. He refused to believe that a series of democratic uprisings in former Soviet Republics - Georgia (2003), Ukraine (2004-5) and Kyrgyzstan (2005) - could possibly be authentic expressions of the popular will. Because each was aimed at removing corrupt and unpopular pro-Moscow governments, it seemed self-evident to the Kremlin that these were the work of foreign intelligence agencies, the Americans and the British in particular - Western imperialism's forward march into territory that was rightfully and historically Russia's.
Third, he has failed to understand his own armed forces. It is clear now that he expected this "special military operation" to be over in a few days.
Russia's military incompetence has astonished many Western security experts. It brings echoes for me of a smaller, more containable, but nonetheless devastating war, in former Yugoslavia.
In 1992, Serb nationalists launched a war to strangle the newly independent state of Bosnia at birth. They argued that Bosnian identity was bogus, that Bosnian statehood had no historical legitimacy, that it was really part of Serbia. It is exactly Putin's view of Ukraine.
A Bosnian special forces soldier and civilians come under fire from Serbian snipers, Sarajevo, 6 April 1992
Like Russia today, Serb forces enjoyed overwhelming firepower superiority. But they often stalled wherever local non-Serbs put up resistance. They seemed unable to seize towns or cities - unwilling to fight street-by-street on foot. The Bosnian defenders were initially very poorly equipped - I remember boys in tennis shoes in the trenches of Sarajevo with one AK-47 between three of them. But they defended their capital for nearly four years. There is a similar resolve in the young men volunteering to defend Kyiv.
So instead of taking the cities and towns, the Serbs laid siege to them - surrounding them, bombarding them, cutting off water, gas and electricity. It is already happening in Mariupol. Besiege a city and cut off its water supply, and within 24 hours, every toilet is a public health hazard. Citizens have to go out into the streets to find water standpipes and fill up receptacles just to flush their loos. Cut off the electricity and you freeze in your own home. Soon the food runs out. Is that what the Russians intend for Mariupol, for Kharkiv, for Kyiv? To starve them into submission?
But nearly four years of this cruelty gave Bosnian nationhood a founding narrative of resistance, suffering and heroic struggle. Ukraine's identity, too, will be strengthened further by the way Ukrainians have fought. Ukraine's Russian speakers have not felt "liberated" by the invasion. The evidence is that they, too, believe in Ukraine as a sovereign state. Putin's war, aimed at reunifying what he sees as two parts of the Russian nation, is already having the opposite effect - strengthening the will of most Ukrainians to seek a destiny free from Russian domination.
Scrambling for rationed food during the siege of Sarajevo, 1992
In 1994, while the war in the Balkans was still raging, the rest of Eastern Europe was looking to the future - each nation eager to take what it saw as its natural place in a Europe of independent sovereign states at peace with each other. But it was still far from certain that any of them would be allowed to join Nato.
There was a debate, back then, about whether a third security block should be formed by the newly-liberated East European nations, to act as a buffer between Nato and Russia. Russia was weak in the 1990s, and the nations that had endured Soviet occupation for 40 years did not trust it to stay weak for long. In the end, they wanted nothing short of Nato membership.
Under President Bill Clinton, the US pressed ahead with Nato expansion. The Russian president Boris Yeltsin, who saw himself as a loyal ally of Clinton's, was said to be furious when he found out - at a press conference - that Nato was planning to admit new members without consulting Moscow.
And the tearing down of the Iron Curtain had raised a new question in geopolitics - how far east does the Western world extend? I was commissioned by the BBC to take a road trip through Poland, Belarus and Ukraine to address the question, "Where is the eastern edge of the Western world now?"
I went to the hunting lodge in Belarus where, in late 1991, the President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, had met his counterparts from Ukraine and Belarus. Here, they agreed to recognise each other's Soviet Republics as independent nation-states. They then rang the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and informed him that the country of which he was head of state - the Soviet Union - no longer existed.
It was a moment fraught with both danger and opportunity. For Belarus and Ukraine, it was the chance to liberate themselves from Moscow rule - domination by Russian imperialism in both its Tsarist and Soviet forms.
For Yeltsin, it represented the chance to liberate Russia too - from its historic role as an imperial power. The UK and France had both ceased to be imperial powers after World War Two - as Austria had done after WW1. In Turkey, Kemal Ataturk had built a modern European secular republic - a Turkish nation-state - after the multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire had been defeated and dismembered in 1918.
US President George HW Bush with Boris Yeltsin in Maryland, 1992
Could Boris Yeltsin do the same thing - build a modern Russian nation-state, at peace with its sovereign neighbours, on the ruins of the Soviet Empire? In the early 1990s, he began his Westernising experiment, to try to turn an imperial power into a democratic state.
But the rush - encouraged by the Western democracies eager for investment opportunities - to turn a sclerotic, state-owned command economy into a free-market system was disastrous. It created gangster capitalism. A tiny elite became fabulously rich by plundering the assets of the major industries - especially oil and gas.
The wheels finally came off the experiment in 1998. The economy collapsed, the rouble lost two-thirds of its value in a month and inflation hit 80%.
I stood with a middle-aged couple in a queue at a Moscow bank. They wanted to take their money out in dollars or pounds - anything other than roubles. The queue was long and slow-moving and, every few minutes, a bank employee changed the displayed exchange rate, as the rouble plunged further. People could see their life savings dropping in value by the minute. The couple got close to the head of the queue when suddenly the shutters came down - there was no cash left.
I went to a former coal-mining region near the Ukraine border, where the mines were barely functioning. I met a graduate mining engineer who had lost his job - a man in his 30s with a young family. He took me to his dacha outside the city, which had about an acre of land. "About 80% of what my family eat in the year," he said. "I grow on this patch of land. The rest, like coffee and sugar, I barter for. I haven't used or even seen cash in about 18 months." Nothing spoke more powerfully about Yeltsin's failure to transform Russia than the sight of this highly educated man digging for his own dinner.
"Stalin turned a nation of peasants into an industrial superpower in a generation. Yeltsin is doing the same thing in reverse," he told me.
Ordinary Russians felt robbed. The great westernising experiment had been a con trick that had enriched a criminalised elite and impoverished everyone else. Many of the reports we filed from Russia at that time boiled down to a single question: "What are the political consequences of the profound disenchantment that Russians now feel?"
The answer was that Russia, eventually, would revert to type - a retreat from democracy and a return to authoritarian rule. A retreat from nation-statehood and return to a more assertive imperial attitude to its "near abroad" - the countries that had previously been part of the Soviet Union.
The former US National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski famously said that Russia could be a democracy or an empire, but it could not be both. The Russian emblem, the double-headed eagle, looks both east and west. History has pulled Russia in opposing directions - democratic nation statehood in one direction, domineering imperial power in the other.
Go to St Petersburg and you will see another aspect of this dual character. It is the country's beautiful bay window on the Gulf of Finland. It is an 18th Century city, facing west. It is the European Enlightenment in architectural form. Under the Tsars it was the imperial capital.
After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks moved the capital back to Moscow and power retreated behind the high, crenellated walls of the Kremlin. It is the architecture of defensiveness, of suspicion, even fear. When Russian leaders look west from here, they see flat open countryside rolling away to the south and west for hundreds of miles. There are no natural frontiers.
The crenellated red walls of the Kremlin in Moscow
When I was the BBC's Moscow correspondent in the late 1990s, there was a driver who could remember, as a boy, seeing German troops on the outskirts of Moscow in the 1940s. Every time he took us to Sheremetyevo Airport, we would pass a monument designed to look like metal anti-tank defences - so-called Czech hedgehogs - and he would say: "This is how close they came, the Germans."
Napoleon's army had gone further the previous century. That experience - that chronic sense of an insecure western frontier - informs the way Russian leaders have thought about their "near abroad".
In another conversation about the "near abroad", a friend recited a rhyming couplet to me. In Russian it rhymes nicely, but in English it goes: "A chicken's not really a bird; and Poland's not really abroad." Russia's sense of what it is entitled to in the lands to its west penetrates popular consciousness, too.
I will borrow an anecdote from another friend in Moscow at the time. The same driver picked her up from the airport and asked her where she had been. "I've been for a weekend in Prague," she said. "Oh Prague," came the reply. "That's good. That's ours."
But it wasn't. The Berlin Wall had come down nine years earlier and the nations of Eastern Europe had ceased being "ours".
Except Ukraine. Putin regards it not as a neighbouring country, but as the frontier land of Russia itself - and he wants it brought back into the Russian fold.
What would it take to do that? How can a nation that has put up so unified a resistance be subdued? Almost certainly he has overreached himself. Several factors must now be alarming him.
The first is the state of his own armed forces.
The second is the resilience of the Ukrainian defence. Did Putin really expect the Russian-speaking people of Ukraine to welcome his troops as liberators? Did he really believe that the uprising of 2014 - which replaced the pro-Moscow government with one oriented to the West - was all a Western plot? If he did, then it reveals how little the Kremlin understands about its "near abroad".
But his biggest miscalculation has been to underestimate the resolve of the West. And this is what makes 2022 one of those pivotal years - the zeitenwende, in the words of Chancellor Scholz.
Almost overnight, Germany has transformed its attitude to its role in the world. Traditionally reluctant - for sound historical reasons - to throw its weight around, it had preferred the exercise of soft power to hard. Not now. It has announced a doubling of defence spending, and is sending lethal weapons to Ukraine. Gone, too, is the ostpolitik - the decades-old German policy of seeking peace through engagement, especially trade.
Germany, along with the rest of the democratic world, will now move to end its dependence on Russian gas. The Nord Stream 2 project is suspended - though not yet scrapped. We are seeing a root-and-branch redrawing of the map of global energy distribution, aimed at cutting Russia out of it.
Russia is highly integrated into the global economy. But now it has been expelled from the system the world uses to exchange payment for goods and services. Its industries, including oil and gas, depend on imported goods and components. Soon production will grind to a halt. Employers will have to lay off their workers. Unemployment will rise.
No-one expected the West to sanction the Russian Central Bank. Already, the rouble has collapsed and interest rates have doubled. No other major economy has ever been subjected to a package of sanctions this punitive. It amounts to the expulsion of Russia from the global economy. More workers will be laid off. Major industries will find it hard to carry on. Unemployment will rise further. Soaring inflation will erode life savings.
We will all be affected. Potentially, this is the rolling back of the globalised economy that emerged after the end of the Cold War.
The US and the EU have, in effect, divided the world up. Those states and companies that continue to trade with Russia will find themselves punished - also frozen out of trade with the rich world.
It amounts to a new economic iron curtain separating Russia from the West.
Much will depend on how China negotiates this new landscape. China and Russia are bonded by their shared antipathy to American power, and their conviction that the greatest threat is from a resurgent, more unified democratic world.
China does not want Putin weakened, or the West strengthened. Yet that is exactly what the effect the war in Ukraine has had.
Some China watchers believe Beijing will try to challenge the dominance of the dollar as a reserve currency by carving out a distinct yuan zone as an alternative space in the global economy that can be protected from any future attempt by the US to sanction China. Putin's war, therefore, could redraw the international financial map.
But above all, this is a war that pits the world's democracies against the world's authoritarian regimes.
It is also a war between two conflicting conceptions of the rules by which international relations should function.
The Oxford scholar Timothy Garton Ash says these two world views can be expressed in short form by two words - Helsinki versus Yalta.
At Yalta in 1945, Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill carved post-war Europe into "spheres of influence" - most of Eastern Europe to Russia, the West to the trans-Atlantic alliance that would set about rebuilding Europe's democracies.
"Helsinki", by contrast, describes a Europe of independent sovereign states, each of which is free to choose its own alliances. This grew out of the Helsinki Final Act of 1975 and gradually evolved into the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Ukraine's defenders are fighting for Helsinki. Putin has sent his troops in to impose a modern version of Yalta - which would kill off Ukraine's independence and leave it under Russian domination.
Garton Ash argues that the West has been too half-hearted in defending the values of Helsinki - that it has formally acknowledged Ukraine's right to join Nato at some unspecified date in the future without ever intending to make it happen.
But Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has signalled a readiness to compromise on Helsinki principles, by agreeing to abandon Ukraine's ambition to become a Nato member. With all the risks that entails, it may yet be the price Ukraine pays for the survival of its statehood.
My generation grew up with the existential terror of the threat of nuclear annihilation. The conflict has brought that fear back to public consciousness. Putin has threatened to use Russia's nuclear arsenal.
That makes this the most dangerous moment since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Then, the Soviet Union shipped nuclear missiles to its ally Cuba. The US assembled a fleet to blockade (or "quarantine") Cuba and was considering an attack on the island by air and/or sea.
What the Americans did not know is that the Soviets didn't only have long-range strategic missiles. They also had smaller, tactical nuclear missiles - so-called battlefield nuclear weapons. And that Soviet military doctrine delegated first-use decision making to commanders on the ground.
Had the threatened invasion gone ahead, it would have triggered a nuclear exchange.
The then American Defence Secretary Robert McNamara only found out about this when the Soviet archives opened in 1991. Only then, did he understand how close the world had come to catastrophe.
In a remarkable film called Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert McNamara, he explained how the world had avoided destroying itself. Was it skilled diplomacy? Wise leadership? No.
"Luck," he said. "We lucked out."
That experience, now fading from memory, should focus minds.
Correction: This article previously referred to Zbigniew Brzezinski as a former US secretary of state, rather than former national security adviser | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60767454 |
Covid: Fewer stomach bugs recorded during UK's lockdown - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Food poisoning and gastroenteritis outbreaks halved in England, as people stayed at home. | The UK's Covid lockdown appears to have had a massive impact on stomach bugs, slashing outbreaks by more than half in England during the first six months of the pandemic.
Far fewer people suffered vomiting and diarrhoea than usual, data show.
People staying at home, mixing less and washing their hands will have had an impact, say public health experts in a new article published by BMJ Open.
This perk may continue if we all carry on being more germ-aware, they say.
Routine surveillance in England shows the number of outbreaks caused by the winter vomiting bug norovirus has increased in recent weeks, although they are still below the five-year-average or usual level for this time of year.
Norovirus is easily transmitted through contact with people who have it, or contaminated surfaces.
Prof Saheer Gharbia, from the UK Health Security Agency and one of the authors of the BMJ study, said: "Norovirus, commonly known as the winter vomiting bug, has been at lower levels than normal throughout the pandemic but, as people have begun to mix more, the numbers of outbreaks have started to increase again."
Symptoms include sudden onset of nausea, projectile vomiting and diarrhoea. Although it can be very unpleasant, it usually goes away in a couple of days.
The advice is to stay at home if you are experiencing norovirus symptoms and do not return to work or send children to school or nursery until 48 hours after symptoms have cleared.
Prof Gharbia said: "Please avoid visiting elderly relatives if you are unwell - particularly if they are in a care home or hospital.
"As with Covid and other infectious illnesses, handwashing is really important to help stop the spread of this bug, but remember, unlike for Covid, alcohol gels do not kill off norovirus, so soap and water is best."
For their study, Prof Gharbia and colleagues looked at information on outbreaks, laboratory notifications, calls to the NHS 111 health advice service, GP appointments, and attendance at emergency care for gastrointestinal infections during the first half of 2020 in England.
That included illness from bacteria like salmonella and listeria, as well as the winter vomiting virus.
Just over 1,500 suspected and lab-confirmed gastrointestinal infection outbreaks were reported in England, representing a 52% fall on the five-year average for the period.
Google Trends data showed internet searches for key phrases, such as "food poisoning", "gastroenteritis" and "sickness bug" plunged, while ones for "handwashing" and "disinfection" rose substantially during the UK's first Covid wave.
Each year in England there are typically more than 17 million cases of gastrointestinal infections, resulting in more than one million calls or visits for medical advice or care.
To help reduce the spread:
Prof Martin Marshall, from the Royal College of GPs, said: "This study makes clear that as we've seen with other contagious diseases, such as colds and flu, prevalence of gastro-intestinal infection was lower during the pandemic. This is likely to be in a large part due to restrictions that were implemented to stop the spread of Covid, and greater adherence to public health measures.
"As we move to the next stages of the pandemic, severe restrictions have been, and continue to be, lifted to allow a more normal way of life, but practising good hygiene measures is something that can and should continue, and really can help people keep well."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-60819716 |
Ukraine war: On the front line of the battle for Kharkiv - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Quentin Sommerville and cameraman Darren Conway are with Ukrainian forces fighting to stop the Russian advance on the country's second city. | In the early days of the invasion, Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine fought back a Russian armoured column. Since then, it has suffered nightly Russian airstrikes and shelling, with dozens of civilians killed and hundreds injured. The BBC's Quentin Sommerville and cameraman Darren Conway have spent the week with the Ukrainian forces as they fight to stop a further Russian advance.
This report contains material some viewers will find disturbing
The first casualty of war is time. Ask the young soldier at the front when the attack happened, or the old lady in the hospital bed when her home was shelled, and they look at you confused. Was it 24 hours ago, or 48? The days have become one, they tell you.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, time is elastic. It's close to the border with Russia and the nightly shelling from Russian artillery and warplanes gives no rest. The past two weeks have seemed like an eternity, yet peace can be remembered as if it were yesterday.
In a frozen landscape on the city's north-eastern edge, 21-year-old Lieutenant Yevgen Gromadsky stands with hands outstretched. There are trenches dug in nearby. "Outgoing," he says, lifting his right hand to accompany the thump of fire from his positions. "Incoming," he says, and his left hand ticks up. With a crump, Russian shells are fired from their positions 900m away across snow-covered fields.
The shelling continues like clockwork at the edge of this bombed-out village - "Incoming, outgoing, incoming, outgoing," Lt Gromadsky flicks his hands with each report.
We met only this afternoon, but already I know that just last week, his father Oleg was killed defending the city, and Lt Gromadsky is the seventh generation of military in his family. He plans for an eighth, in a free Ukraine.
He describes the fight so far, "Sabotage groups are probing our lines out, we have direct tank battles. They shoot with mortar shells at first, and then tanks fire at our positions."
We move along the front lines from position to position. Inside his armoured vehicle, a Russian army hat - a trophy from their first capture - hanging from the ceiling, he continues, "We are shooting back with anti-tank guided missiles and also the usual small arms. They dismount, they scatter, there's always a lot of people."
Inside the truck there are Mexican Day of the Dead air fresheners. Grinning skulls hanging from every corner as we bounce along rutted dirt road. On the floor, rocket-propelled grenade launchers roll around.
From the front passenger seat Lt Gromadsky says, "Sometimes they use this tactic - first, they raise a white flag above their equipment, then come closer to our positions. When we come up and kind of take them as prisoners of war, they start to open fire on our troops."
The position was attacked on Monday (or was it the day before, he wonders), two Russian tanks and an armoured vehicle. "Don't worry, we are well defended," he says as he gestures to a pile of American-made Javelin guided anti-tank missiles. "Lockheed Martin, Texas," is written on their casing. Nearby, is a pile of British next-generation light anti-tank weapon (NLAW) missiles. "Eliminates even the most advanced tanks," its manufacturer Saab promises on its website.
It is bitterly cold and two puppies are playing around Lt Gromadsky's feet. His shoes are a pair of white Puma trainers - "You need to be fast out here," he says.
The Ukrainians are improvising in this war. Their government has been criticised for being ill-prepared, and now there is a rush to bring men forward to the front. The regular army is being merged with civilian defence forces. At a marshalling point on the city's eastern edge, I watch as buses arrive with hundreds of freshly equipped soldiers. "Where's my body armour?" asks one. "You'll get it at the front," yells an officer, and moments later they are gone.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Our correspondent on the front line, with Ukraine’s troops - this report contains graphic images of casualties
Some will be joining Lt Gromadsky's unit and working alongside a medic who goes by the name of Reaper. "You've heard of the grim reaper, right?" he asks. He's also in command of this defence line at the edge of a village. Many of the homes there have been destroyed or damaged by Russian shelling.
How are the Russians fighting, I ask. "They fight like stupid animals," says Reaper. "They fight like it's 1941 - they have no manoeuvrability, they just come to the front and that's all. They have a lot of people, a lot of tanks, a lot of vehicles, but we are fighting for our land, and we are protecting our families. it doesn't matter how they fight because we fight like lions and they won't win."
Back in the rear, the field kitchen is in a coffee shop. The army cook is reassuringly large with a knitted hat atop his head. He offers bowls of steaming hot borscht - "Have sour cream with it," he insists. There are piles of cakes and biscuits, made by local factories for the troops.
I sit beside a 30-year-old battalion commander, Sergey. "We see the enemy, we kill the enemy, there's no conversation, that's it," he says. He wants to know where I'm from. I tell him and he asks if it's true that British volunteers have come to fight for Ukraine. "What aircraft have you given us," he says as he finishes his borscht.
But across the east and south of Ukraine, Russia has been advancing. The Russian army has met more determined resistance than it expected, but cities continue to fall. And for all their front-line courage, there is a recognition that their abilities on the ground will not be enough. Soldier after soldier says they need air defence, a no-fly zone.
I get inside another armoured vehicle, which two weeks ago was doing cash pickups at the city's banks. It, too, has now been put into the war effort. As we drive through the city, with its wide boulevards, and fine buildings, we reach a Soviet-Era apartment complex. And there I meet Eugene, a great Viking of a man, heavily tattooed with an orange beard.
"If Kharkiv falls, then all of Ukraine falls," Eugene, 36, tells me. He's a part of a reconnaissance team working near apartment blocks. Some of the flats have taken direct hits and in the car park, a car lies ripped apart from another grad missile strike.
What there isn't here in Kharkiv, is any surprise at the Russian attack. "Since 2014 we knew they would come, maybe in a year, 10 years, or 1,000 years, but we knew they would come".
At 04:55 on 24 February, Eugene received a call from a friend saying the attack was about to begin. "Then I heard the rockets attack our city," he says. Like everyone else he hasn't been home since.
Leaving the front to return to the centre of the city is almost like entering another world. The relentless Russian shelling has meant that most of the 1.5m population has fled. Few neighbourhoods have escaped some kind of damage. Early in the mornings, queues can still be seen at pharmacies, banks, supermarkets and petrol stations, as those who stayed behind stock up on supplies. A huge logistical and humanitarian effort is going on behind the scenes to keep Kharkiv running.
Before curfew I make my way to the city's Hospital Number 4 to meet Dr Alexander Dukhovskyi, head of paediatrics. Underneath his hospital whites, he's wearing a Miami Beach 2015 T-shirt, with the American flag. He hasn't gone home in weeks.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: How Russia is using tactics refined over a decade in Syria
He laughs when I say that Russia says it isn't targeting civilians. Then, silently, he takes me down corridor after corridor of victims of Russian attacks. They are in the hallways because Russian shells have landed nearby, so the patients aren't safe in the wards with large windows. Most here were injured while at home.
The children's intensive care unit is on the ground floor. Its narrow windows catch the brilliant light from the snow outside and glint over the golden icons of saints above the nurses' station.
In a bed nearby is eight-year-old Dmitry. His toes poke out from under the blanket and a hand, bruised and bloodied peeks out too. His face is scraped and scarred with hundreds of marks, his right eye is not quite closed. A few days ago, the doctors removed a bullet from under his skull and vertebrae.
It is hoped he'll make a full recovery, but for the moment he's in a sorry state, with tubes taking out fluids from his small body in plastic bottles hanging beneath his bed. The thin blanket with tiny roses on it, rises and falls with his mechanical breathing.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Doctors removed a bullet from between Dmitriy's skull and vertebrae
Vladimir Putin said he wanted to demilitarise Ukraine, instead he's creating a no-man's land. At night the city is in near total blackout. A steady beat of Russian strikes fall through the night.
Kharkiv was once Ukraine's capital - it has the parks, cathedrals, museums and theatres you would expect, as well as the Antonov aircraft factory and tank and turbine manufacturers.
All of the city is now a front line.
And this, too, should come as no surprise. The Russian war-playbook has been perfected in Syria over the past 10 years. Surround, besiege, and terrorise the population. In Ukraine, as in Syria, the population is being bussed out of their home cities as Russian forces continue their advance.
I meet an intelligence team, who drive with anti-tank missiles ready to use in the back of their vehicles. Again, I head to the city's edge, and pass through the front lines into a wasteland. Two petrol stations just outside the city that have been destroyed by shelling and gunfire.
Lying in the snow, are a dozen or so frozen Russian corpses. The men lie like wax figures, some with hands reaching out, their matted beards frozen stiff in the cold.
The guts of one are spilled across the forecourt. There are blood-red footprints around his corpse. Their weapons have been taken, and I ask Uta, one of the officers, what will happen to the bodies.
"What do you think will happen, we will leave them for the dogs," he says with a shrug.
And at this miserable spot on Kharkiv's edge, unremarkable for its ordinariness two weeks ago, surrounded by frozen corpses, it's as if time is standing still.
Are you or your family in Ukraine? Please share your experience if it is safe to do so by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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David Amess killing: Jury played 999 call from witness to stabbing - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | After fatally attacking Sir David Amess, Ali Harbi Ali threatened to kill others, court is told. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Clips from the 999 call made by a constituent of Sir David Amess MP after he was fatally stabbed
A murder trial jury has been played the desperate call for help made by a constituent after Sir David Amess was fatally stabbed.
The MP for Southend West died during a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on 15 October.
Ali Harbi Ali denies murder and preparing acts of terrorism and is on trial at the Old Bailey.
The court heard Mr Ali booked an appointment with Sir David and had travelled from London to see him.
After fatally attacking the MP, the defendant then threatened to kill four other people, the court was told.
Ali Harbi Ali was seen on CCTV walking between Leigh-on-Sea railway station and Belfair's Methodist Church on the day Sir David Amess was killed
The jury heard a 999 call from Yvonne Eaves who, with her partner Darren King, was due to have the next appointment.
She told the operator that the attacker had killed Sir David and was threatening to kill them and two of the MP's female staff at the church.
In the call, she said: "Please, please, quick. Now the man is wielding a knife, he's threatened me... He's killed David Amess at Belfairs Methodist Church."
Ms Eaves appeared to call out to her partner to "come away", adding: "It's horrible, it's horrible."
She described the weapon as a "big kitchen carving knife" about 12in (30cm) long.
"We tried to get it off him. He won't. He's threatened myself, he's threatened four people here.
She said Mr Ali had said he "wants to get shot".
Sir David Amess was fatally stabbed during a constituency surgery in October
The court was told how before Sir David's death, Mr Ali exchanged a series of emails with the MP's office in which he claimed to be moving to the area.
Tom Little QC, prosecuting, told how Mr Ali had feigned an interest in churches and healthcare to get a meeting with the Southend MP.
On Tuesday, Mr Little took the jury through a timeline of events leading up to the 69-year-old's death.
CCTV footage was shown to the jury of Ali Harbi Ali making a journey by rail from Gospel Oak tube station to Leigh-on-Sea
He said Mr Ali searched for information about Sir David on 22 July last year and three hours later he was near the Houses of Parliament.
Mr Ali had also researched cabinet minister Michael Gove, MP for Finchley and Golders Green in London, Mike Freer and Labour Leader Kier Starmer in September, jurors heard.
Mr Little said Mr Ali emailed Sir David's office on 27 September asking for an appointment claiming to be interested in Christianity.
The defendant, Mr Little said, wrote: "I will be moving to the area from a Labour-held constituency and wanted to get to know my future MP.
"Since I work in healthcare, I would like to know his plans, if any, for the hospital and workers.
"Also, as someone interested in Christianity, I have seen many churches in my area losing attendances and struggle with upkeep, eventually becoming at risk of being demolished or repurposed.
"I wanted to know if the situation in Southend is similar and, if so, what are the solutions."
He added: "Looking forward to seeing you soon. If all appointments are taken, let me know if there's a cancellation. I'll be in the local area and will be able to drop by."
An aide replied and asked him to confirm his full name and address to check he was a constituent.
The defendant provided a postcode in Southend and was told all appointments had been taken and was offered one on 15 October.
Sir David was pronounced dead at the scene in Leigh-on-Sea in his Southend West constituency in Essex
Mr Ali replied to say his "schedule is rather hectic for the next couple of weeks so I'm not sure I'll be available", the court heard.
However, on 30 September, he replied to say he was "able to clear up my schedule" and asked for an appointment at noon.
He told aide Rebecca Hayton: "I don't really know how long the appointments are but I don't think I'll take too long. Thanks for all the help so far."
The jury was shown CCTV footage of Mr Ali travelling from his home in Kentish Town to Leigh on Sea. He was wearing a long khaki jacket with a black backpack over his right shoulder, blue trainers and black trousers.
Around the time of the attack on Sir David, Mr Ali sent a message to family and friends which appeared to have been drafted days before, the court was told.
In it, he said the attack was "for the sake of Allah", jurors heard.
He allegedly wrote: "I apologise to my family for deceiving them for so long. I would have preferred Hijrah so as not to harm you but I could not.
"The obligations upon me to take revenge for the blood of Muslims were too great.
"The shame of abiding in the very lands that carry out these horrendous acts against my brothers and sisters was too much."
The court heard he spent 14 minutes on the phone to his sister, aborting the call when he was confronted and arrested.
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Video clip of hoax call with UK minister Ben Wallace published - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | The UK blames Russia for the call targeted at Ben Wallace during a visit to Poland last week. | Ben Wallace, shown here at the Conservative spring conference, revealed he was targeted last week
Two prominent Russian hoaxers have published footage from a call they made to the UK defence secretary.
In a recording posted online, Ben Wallace can be heard speaking to a man in a video call, made while Mr Wallace was visiting Poland on Friday.
Mr Wallace revealed the hoax last week, saying he had been targeted by an "imposter" posing as the Ukrainian PM.
The UK government has blamed Russia for targeting British ministers with fake calls about the conflict in Ukraine.
Home Secretary Priti Patel revealed she had received a hoax call last week, whilst No 10 said Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has also been targeted.
The recording of the video call to Mr Wallace was posted online by Vladimir "Vovan" Kuznetsov and Alexei "Lexus" Stolyarov.
The pair have targeted a number of politicians and public figures in the past. They were credited with a hoax call to then-foreign secretary Boris Johnson in 2018, in which he was targeted by a caller pretending to be the prime minister of Armenia.
Previous recordings of their alleged conversations have been aired on Russian TV.
In the published footage, which lasts around a minute, Mr Wallace, shown in a car, is asked questions about an alleged nuclear weapons programme for Ukraine.
A defence source told the BBC the clip had been "doctored".
After the video was published, Mr Wallace said: "Things must be going so badly for the Kremlin that they are now resorting to pranks and video fakes."
Earlier, Boris Johnson's spokesman told reporters that "the Russian state was responsible for the hoax telephone calls made to UK ministers last week".
The spokesman did not give further details, but added: "This is standard practice for Russian information operations.
"Disinformation is a tactic straight from the Kremlin playbook to try to distract from their illegal activities in Ukraine and the human rights abuses being committed there."
It is understood that Mr Wallace was put through to a Microsoft Teams video call which lasted about 10 minutes.
The video call was set up after an email, purportedly from an aide at the Ukrainian embassy in London, was sent to a UK government department and then forwarded to the Ministry of Defence.
A cross-department government inquiry into how the call happened is ongoing.
Asked whether defences against hoax calls were strong enough, the No 10 spokesman said there was guidance on how such calls should be handled.
The Russian duo have also claimed to have interviewed politicians including Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and US Senator John McCain. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60829542 |
Ed Sheeran awaits verdict in 'traumatising' Shape of You copyright trial - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | The star's lawyer says a copyright case over the song Shape of You should never have gone to court. | Shape of You won the Grammy Award for best pop solo performance in 2018
Ed Sheeran faces a wait of "days and weeks" to learn the outcome of a High Court trial over his hit Shape of You.
The star has been accused of copying part of the song from another artist.
In closing arguments, grime artist Sami Chokri's barrister said there was an "indisputable similarity between the works". But Mr Sheeran's lawyer said the case against him was "so strained as to be logically unintelligible".
Mr Justice Zacaroli said he would "take some time to consider my judgment".
The 11-day trial ended on Tuesday. Ian Mill QC, representing Mr Sheeran, said it had been "deeply traumatising" for the star and his co-writers, Johnny McDaid and Steve Mac.
He described the dispute as "terribly, terribly unfortunate" and argued that the case "should never have gone to trial".
Mr Sheeran, who has attended the court throughout, listened attentively to the closing arguments with his hands clasped together. During the trial, the superstar has been described as a "magpie" who "borrows" ideas from other artists.
The dispute revolves around similarities between Shape of You and Oh Why by Mr Chokri, who performs under the name Sami Switch.
The contentious part is the "Oh I, oh I, oh I" hook that follows the chorus in Shape of You. Mr Chokri and his co-writer Ross O'Donoghue say it is almost identical to the chorus of their song, which was released two years earlier.
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Their barrister Andrew Sutcliffe QC suggested the chances of the two songs being written independently were "minutely small" and accused Mr Sheeran of "inconsistencies" and "evasiveness" in his testimony.
Mr Sutcliffe also claimed "material documents" linked to the writing of Shape of You "have been lost or deleted, with no adequate explanation".
Mr Sheeran and his co-authors said they had disclosed all relevant material at their disposal.
The court heard how Shape of You was written "extraordinarily quickly" in October 2016, with the basic track completed in under an hour.
Mr Sutcliffe claimed this meant Mr Sheeran had entered the studio with the melody from Oh Why "consciously or unconsciously in his head".
"Such speed is indicative of copying," he said in a written closing statement.
Sami Chokri has described the High Court case as "the worst few weeks of my life"
Mr Sheeran's lawyer disagreed. "Speed is indicative of the genius of Mr Sheeran and his ability to work at a speed no-one else can," he told the court.
He added that all three writers "were categorically clear that they went into the writing session" with "no preconceived ideas as to whatever it was that they would write that day".
Mr Mill also argued that the similarities between the two songs were too "generic" to be protected by copyright.
"They comprise, in substance, the use of the first four notes of the minor pentatonic scale combined with the use of octaves and harmonies in a vocal chant," he argued.
However, Mr Sutcliffe argued that Oh Why's chorus was "extremely memorable" and an "earworm".
If Mr Sheeran did not consciously copy it, he said, a likely explanation was that it became "part of the echo chamber of references, songs and ideas that [he] holds in his mind, which re-surfaced in October 2016 without him realising it".
At the heart of the trial was the issue of whether Mr Sheeran had ever heard Oh Why. On the witness stand, he and his co-writers all denied prior knowledge of the song, saying they only became aware of it when the legal proceedings began.
The defendants insisted Mr Sheeran would have had the chance to hear it, describing a "concerted plan" to get the track into his hands in the hope of an endorsement.
To that end, they promoted Oh Why to several people in Mr Sheeran's circle, although not the star himself.
Giving evidence, Mr Chokri said he was certain one of them would have played Oh Why to the musician - but "I can't tell you exactly which because I don't know".
Sheeran's writing partner Johnny McDaid is also a member of chart-topping band Snow Patrol
Mr Sutcliffe said the chance that Mr Sheeran was not aware of Mr Chokri in 2016 was "vanishingly small" because they had both appeared on YouTube channel SBTV in 2010, they shared friends, and Mr Chokri had tweeted him and allegedly met him.
Mr Mill countered that there was no evidence that anyone had ever played Oh Why to Mr Sheeran.
Furthermore, he noted that no-one who had been sent the track had been specifically asked to pass it on to the star.
He claimed there were "hundreds of videos" on SBTV that Mr Sheeran "never saw or watched", and that Oh Why itself had never featured on the channel.
The implication that the star had "remembered, followed and sought out Sami Switch on another platform" six years after they had appeared on SBTV was a "preposterous jump", he said, adding: "It is quite clear from all the evidence that the promotion of Oh Why was an absolute failure".
Shape of You was the biggest hit of 2017 and remains the most-streamed song of all time on Spotify, with more than three billion plays.
It earns Mr Sheeran, Mr McDaid and Mr Mac about £5m a year, the court heard, despite almost 10% of the payments being frozen due to the ongoing dispute.
The case dates back to 2018, when the writers asked the High Court to declare they had not infringed Mr Chokri and Mr O'Donoghue's copyright.
In July 2018, the pair issued their own claim for "copyright infringement, damages and an account of profits in relation to the alleged infringement".
As the trial ended on Tuesday, Mr Justice Zacaroli told both sides he would deliver his judgment "as soon as I can".
Follow us on Facebook, or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60828120 |
Kaden Reddick: Topshop and Arcadia guilty of safety breaches - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Kaden Reddick suffered a fatal head injury at the store in Reading during a family shopping trip. | Kaden Reddick was fatally injured at Topshop in Reading's Oracle shopping centre
Topshop and its former owners have been found guilty of health and safety breaches after a 10-year-old boy died when a queue barrier toppled on him.
Kaden Reddick suffered a fatal head injury at the Reading store during a family shopping trip in 2017.
Following a two-month trial, Arcadia Group and Topshop/Topman were convicted of failing to discharge a health and safety duty.
A jury found barrier manufacturer Realm Projects not guilty of the same charge.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. CCTV video showed the barrier at the Reading store "wobble" as people leaned on it
Stoneforce Ltd, which was contracted to fit the barriers, had earlier pleaded guilty to failing to discharge a health and safety duty.
During the trial, Reading Crown Court heard the barrier was installed between 2013 and 2014, during a major store refit.
The plinth supporting the barrier at the store in Reading's Oracle shopping centre had only been fixed to the floor with two narrow screws and the "wobbly" barrier fell on Kaden, prosecutors said.
Arcadia, Topshop/Topman and Stoneforce Ltd will be sentenced at a later date.
The jury was shown a picture of the barrier around the time it was installed
Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-60826883 |
Police failing to bring in talent from black communities, says racism lead - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | The man tasked with tackling racism in the police says racist incidents have been damaging. | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. David Thompson responds to criticism that he is the NPCC's lead on racism as a white man
The police have failed to "bring in enough talent from black communities and ensure they thrive," the lead for tackling racism within UK forces says.
Sir David Thompson, chief constable of West Midlands Police, told BBC Newsnight racist incidents involving officers had been damaging.
He added it was a shame the police were not "an employer of choice for many communities".
A plan on how best to solve the issue will be published in April.
The interview follows a series of revelations of racism in policing - including a recent report by the police watchdog disclosing racist WhatsApp messages exchanged between officers.
Another report released this month found the strip-search of a 15-year-old girl, known as Child Q, was unjustified and racism was "likely" to have been a factor. The Met Police has since apologised.
The BBC interviewed Sir David before the Child Q revelations.
In a report published last year by the Home Affairs Select Committee, MPs said only 4% of officers at or above the rank of chief inspector in England and Wales were from black and minority ethnic backgrounds by 2020.
Officers from black and minority ethnic backgrounds also represented just 7% of the whole police service across England and Wales by the same year - which MPs said was still "far below the 14% of the population" from these backgrounds.
Sir David, the lead for race and inclusion at the National Police Chiefs' Council, called the low numbers a "failure" on the part of police leaders.
He said it was his job to make sure the action plan for the NPCC and the College of Policing helped to improve the situation by winning trust.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Sir David explained the plan would focus on four areas, including:
When asked about whether a white man should be leading a policy on combating racism, he acknowledged it was a "legitimate question".
"We've got black and ethnic minority staff and chief officers engaged in this work," he said.
"If we're going to succeed in building an anti-racist police force, surely it is the people in the majority - white men - who have to be at the forefront saying this needs to change," he continued.
Sir David said the programme was being developed with black communities and partners, including the National Black Policing Association.
He also said the term institutionally racist was "often too crude a term for policing".
"It's not as simple as saying, 'well the policeman is usually racist, so everything is broken'. This plan is about tackling institutional issues in policing, not just individual behaviours." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60826602 |
Cabinet split over changing planning law to allow more wind farms - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Ministers are preparing plans to produce more energy in England but are at odds over how to do it. | Boris Johnson's cabinet is split over proposals to ease planning rules in England to enable more onshore wind farms, sources have told the BBC.
Ministers are next week due to set out plans to produce more energy in the UK to tackle spiralling household bills.
Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is in favour of loosening planning regulations to make it easier to approve plans for more onshore wind.
But the BBC has been told other cabinet ministers strongly oppose the plans.
In 2015, planning laws were changed to give local councils tougher powers over whether onshore wind turbines were built in their areas. Labour have described this as an effective "moratorium" on onshore wind - and have called on the government to end it.
The government wants the UK to become more "energy independent", as the West tries to wean itself off Russian gas and oil.
Its "energy supply strategy" will focus on:
This week, Kwasi Kwarteng told the i newspaper "the prime minister has been very clear that onshore wind has got to be part of the mix and we've got to look at planning".
Speaking ahead of Wednesday's cabinet meeting - the last before the energy strategy is due to be unveiled - he said: "We are not saying we are going to scrap all planning rules and all of these things have got to be in line with community support."
Kwasi Kwarteng wants onshore wind to be part of the UK's energy mix
He described 2015 arguments against more onshore wind as "historic", as the government had not then committed to achieving "net zero" emissions by 2050.
"The circumstances today with Putin, Russia, Saudi Arabia, all of those things, mean that we've got to have more energy independence and I think onshore renewables are absolutely part of that," he added.
Downing Street sources told the BBC the government has "got to be open" to more onshore wind where it works, but that the "big wins are offshore".
Boris Johnson is thought to be particularly keen on offshore wind and nuclear power, telling nuclear industry leaders on Monday that he was "insanely frustrated" that the UK has "so little" nuclear capacity and was "moving so slowly" on building new reactors.
But multiple cabinet sources have told the BBC they are against relaxing planning laws for onshore wind, with one saying there was "very, very little" support for the idea.
Another cabinet source said ministers were generally united on the need for more offshore wind and nuclear power, but onshore wind would cause a "bigger problem" and needed more discussion.
Among the cabinet ministers opposed to more onshore wind turbines is Scottish Secretary Alister Jack, but the BBC understands he backs offshore developments.
The Westminster government has no say over planning laws in Scotland, where the majority of the UK's large scale wind farms are located.
Onshore wind is Scotland's main source of renewable energy, with about 70% of electricity generated in Scotland coming from onshore wind in 2020.
Onshore wind farms have been controversial among Tory MPs in the past, with David Cameron saying in 2014 that people were "fed up" with onshore wind farms being built, and Conservative activists criticising the visual impact of them on the landscape.
But in recent years government surveys have shown public support for onshore wind, albeit not always in the areas where turbines are built.
Some cabinet ministers we spoke to were "sceptical", rather than strongly against, more onshore wind.
Separately, the BBC has been told that Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg would back whatever would bring "cheap and reliable" energy to the UK, but has long been frustrated by what he views as its unreliability as an energy source. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60837170 |
Freeing Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe took too long, Jeremy Hunt says - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | The former foreign secretary insists he did all he could but calls for an independent inquiry. | Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe returned to the UK last week
It took too long to secure the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori from prison in Iran, former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has said.
Mr Hunt told the BBC the British-Iranian pair's return to the UK last week was an "extraordinary achievement" but it should have happened faster.
He called for an independent inquiry into the issue.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe spent six years in detention on spying charges.
She was visiting her parents in Iran when she was arrested and has always denied the allegations.
Mr Ashoori, who was released at the same time, spent almost five years in detention on spying charges, which he also denied.
Mr Hunt, who was foreign secretary between July 2018 and July 2019, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he did "everything I could" in his role to secure their release but "it took too long".
While he said the "primary responsibility" for their detention lay with Iran, the Conservative MP added: "I think we all have to say 'could we have done it faster?' And I think the answer is we could have."
However, he praised Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and the Foreign Office for negotiating the pair's release, describing it as "an extraordinary achievement".
On Monday, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe took issue with ministers being given credit for her release, saying: "I have seen five foreign secretaries change over the course of six years. How many foreign secretaries does it take for someone to come home?"
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe faced criticism from some commentators on social media, who suggested she should be more grateful to the British government for securing her freedom.
However, Mr Hunt defended her comments, writing on Twitter: "Those criticising Nazanin have got it so wrong. She doesn't owe us gratitude: we owe her an explanation."
Downing Street also said Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe should not face any abuse. The prime minister's official spokesman said: "As a UK citizen, someone in a free and democratic country, she is rightly able to voice her opinion on any topic she wishes."
Mr Hunt said Prime Minister Boris Johnson "deserves some credit" for authorising the payment of a £400m debt to Iran over a failed arms deal dating back to the 1970s.
Both the UK and Iranian governments have said the two issues should not be linked but Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe said she had been told by her captors that her imprisonment was connected to the unpaid debt.
Mr Hunt said there was initially "a lot of reluctance" over paying the debt when he started as foreign secretary because of fears it might be seen as a "ransom" and encourage more hostage taking.
"But this is not a ransom, it's a debt, and I think that decision that we should pay it in principle was taken when I was foreign secretary," he said.
He added that because Iran was under economic sanctions the practicalities of paying the debt "still took a long time to sort out".
Morad Tahbaz and fellow conservationists were using cameras to track endangered species when they were arrested
Meanwhile, Morad Tahbaz, who has British, Iranian, and American citizenship, remains in detention in Iran.
Mr Tahbaz, who was born in the UK, was doing conservation work when he was held in Iran in January 2018.
He and seven other conservationists were accused of collecting classified information about Iran's strategic areas under the pretext of carrying out environmental and scientific projects. All eight deny the charges.
His family say they had been told by the Foreign Office that Mr Tahbaz would be included in any deal to release hostages in Iran.
Mr Tahbaz, 66, was returned to custody last week after briefly being allowed out on furlough on the day Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Mr Ashoori were released.
His daughter Roxanne told BBC Breakfast her father, who has cancer, had been on hunger strike for three days.
Ms Tahbaz said it was "devastating" that she had not been able to see her parents for four years. Her mother is also unable to leave Iran because she is under a travel ban.
She added that the family hoped the UK government would "keep their promise" and "at the very least" secure an unrestricted furlough for her father and the lifting of her mother's travel ban.
Mr Hunt said Mr Tahbaz's continued detention was "absolutely disgraceful" and he accused Iran of "using an innocent person as a pawn in a diplomatic game".
He added that he suspected that because Mr Tahbaz was also an American citizen "the Iranians want something from the Americans before they're prepared to release him".
The Foreign Office said it was urgently raising Mr Tahbaz's case with Iran and that he must be allowed to return to his home in Tehran, "as the Iranian government committed to doing". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60832188 |
China Eastern plane crash rescuers find no survivors - BBC News | 2022-03-22 | Crash investigators do not yet know why a flight carrying 132 people plunged out of the sky. | Search and rescue workers trawling the slopes near the crash site are yet to find passengers
Rescuers have found no survivors so far from a jet carrying 132 people which crashed in hills in southern China.
Crash investigators also had no information on why China Eastern flight MU5735 plummeted out of the sky on Monday.
Recovery work at the site of the Boeing 737-800 crash in Guangxi province is being hampered by difficult terrain.
There has been an outpouring of grief in China, where families of passengers and crew are waiting for news.
Hundreds of responders have been scouring the steeply forested slopes in Wuzhou where debris from the plane was strewn after it broke apart and set fire to the hillside.
There had been no official word on casualties until China's Civil Aviation Administration held its news briefing, some 36 hours after the disaster.
"Up to now, search and rescue work has not found any survivors," Zhu Tao, aviation safety office director at the CAA, told reporters. "Given the information currently available, we still do not have a clear assessment of the cause for the crash."
Air controllers had repeatedly called the aircraft during its descent but had received no response, he added.
Rescuers have so far found parts of the 737's burnt wreckage. State broadcasters showed images of the charred remains of letters, bags, wallets and identity cards belonging to those on board.
Meanwhile, the families and friends of the 123 passengers and nine crew have gathered at each end of the flight - with relatives visiting China Eastern's offices in Yunnan province and waiting at Guangzhou International Airport.
The China Eastern Airlines flight from Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, had been due to land in Guangzhou on Monday afternoon.
China Eastern has grounded all its Boeing 737-800s and set up a hotline for people seeking information on those on board.
Authorities have yet to identify passengers and crew members, but some relatives have spoken to local media or shared their grief online.
One woman reported the loss of her newly-wed husband on her WeChat account. Her earlier posts included videos of the couple's holiday trips.
Other passengers included a group of six people, one of them a teenager, who were on their way to Guangzhou to attend a funeral, a local newspaper reported.
Families waiting for news at Guangzhou International Airport on Monday night
Another woman interviewed said her sister and close friends were part of that group, adding that she had also been booked on the flight, but ended up switching to an earlier plane.
Reuters quoted a man at the airport who said he was the colleague of a passenger named Mr Tan.
After confirming that Mr Tan was on board, he had to break the news to Mr Tan's family. "They were sobbing. His mother couldn't believe this had happened," he told the news agency. "Her boy was only 29 years old."
He added that arrangements were being made by the airline to bring families to the crash site in Wuzhou.
Pictures show distraught families waiting in a cordoned-off area at Guangzhou airport, being assisted by airline staff.
One unverified clip circulating widely on Chinese social media shows a man slumped in his seat crying and lamenting the loss of his three children who were on the flight.
This accident took place in China and involved a Chinese airline. As such, the investigation will be led by the country's civil aviation administration.
But under international standards, the US will also be entitled to appoint an accredited representative because the Boeing 737 was designed and built in the US. The National Transportation Safety Board has already appointed a senior air safety investigator to fulfil this role.
Representatives from Boeing itself, the engine maker CFM International and the US aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, will serve as technical advisers.
The priority now will be to gather evidence from the crash site and search for the "black boxes", the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.
If they can be found, and the data they contain is readable, then the immediate cause of the crash could become apparent quite quickly. But the investigation as a whole will take time.
Flight MU5735 had been in the air for more than an hour and was nearing its destination when it suddenly plummeted from its cruising height.
Chinese state TV outlets have broadcast footage which appears to show a jet in a near nosedive to the ground. The footage was captured by a car's dashcam. The BBC has not yet been able to verify the clip.
Flight tracker data showed the Boeing 737-800 jet dropped thousands of metres in under three minutes.
According to FlightRadar24, the plane was cruising at 29,100ft (about 9,000m), but two minutes and 15 seconds later it was recorded at 9,075ft. The last sourced information on the flight showed it ended at 14:22 local time, at an altitude of 3,225ft.
Aviation experts say the Boeing 737-800 model has a strong safety record, with thousands in service around the world. The aircraft that crashed was less than seven years old.
Investigators are expected to look at several possible causes - including deliberate action, pilot error, or technical issues such as a structural failure or mid-air collision. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-60830395 |