Boris Johnson’s disastrous India trip: Little progress on trade deal, partygate rows, Tory donor bulldozers and Modi stays close to Putin April 23, 2022 Boris Johnson today indicated at a press conference in India that he did not try to encourage the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, to go further in dropping India’s neutrality over the Russian President’s invasion of Ukraine. Also, Johnson’s two-day trip was dogged by questions over the deepening partygate scandal, with a Tory rebellion leading [...]
China raises alarm over military capabilities of Elon Musk’s Starlink May 10, 2022 The official newspaper for China's military has taken aim at Elon Musk's Starlink satellites over concerns about their military capabilities.
Biden agrees to meeting with Putin while 7,000 more Russian troops arrive on border with Ukraine February 21, 2022 US president Joe Biden has agreed “in principle” to a meeting with Vladimir Putin, provided Russia holds off on what American officials believe is an imminent assault on Ukraine. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the US administration has been clear that America is “committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion begins”. [...]
Sombre faces in Canary Wharf as HSBC profits nosedive on Ukraine war and inflation worries April 26, 2022 It’s not the best of mornings for HSBC as the banking giant saw its first-quarter profits tumble by more than a quarter after taking a hit on expected bad debts due to the Ukraine war and soaring inflation. The lender posted a 28 per cent drop in pre-tax profits to £3.3bn for the first three [...]
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey ‘very uncertain’ about inflation decline February 9, 2023 The Bank of England’s governor, Andrew Bailey, has today admitted he is “very uncertain” about whether inflation will decline, forcing him to back another steep interest rate increase last week. Responding to a grilling by MPs on the commons treasury select committee, Bailey, 63, said he wants to see “more evidence” of the rate of [...]
UK Defence Secretary “not optimistic” invasion of Ukraine can be halted January 27, 2022 Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that he is "not optimistic" a Russian invasion of Ukraine can be stopped, warning NATO may deploy more troops.
G7 leaders commit to phasing out Russian oil May 8, 2022 Leaders of the world’s richest economies today committed to banning imports of Russian oil in a further ratcheting up of sanctions against Vladimir Putin. G7 chiefs have committed “to phase out our dependency on Russian energy, including by phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil,” the White House said in a statement yesterday. [...]
World Economic Forum kicks off first Russian free Davos meeting since the fall of the Soviet Union May 22, 2022 The World Economic Forum (WEF) has refused to invite a single Russian to its annual conference in Davos this week, in what is set to be the first Davos conference without any Russians since the fall of the USSR. The WEF’s annual meeting – which is set to be the first in-person Davos conference since [...]
Government borrowing: Another new debt record as interest hits July high making pre-election tax cuts unlikely August 22, 2023 The interest paid on government debt hit its highest July level on record as government borrowing continued to rise, albeit significantly less than expected.
Russian promise to ‘drastically reduce hostilities’ may be bid to ‘deceive people and deflect attention’ March 30, 2022 Ukraine and the United States have cast major doubt on Russia’s reported promise to “drastically reduce hostilities”, with and secretary of state Antony Blinken warning it could be a bid to “deceive people and deflect attention”. Following “constructive” ceasefire negotiations held in Turkey between officials from the two warring sides, it has been reported that [...]