PA Media Four senior aides to Boris Johnson have resigned from Downing Street within hours of each other amid growing pressure on the prime minister. Director of communications Jack Doyle confirmed his exit shortly after the departure of policy head Munira Mirza. They were followed by the chief of staff Dan Rosenfield and senior civil
Month: February 2022
Reuters Russia is planning to fabricate a pretext for an invasion of Ukraine, by falsely blaming Ukrainian military for an attack on Russian-backed separatists or Russia itself, US officials say. One option Russia is said to be considering is to stage and film a fake attack, with graphic images of an explosion showing numerous casualties.
Getty Images Millions of households will typically pay an extra £693 a year on their energy bills from April, but chancellor Rishi Sunak said his support plan would take the “sting” out of the rise. The sharp rise in energy bills will put a further squeeze on people already facing higher prices and rising taxes.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Workers should not ask for big pay rises, to try and stop prices rising out of control, the Bank of England governor has told the BBC. Prices are expected to climb faster than pay, putting the biggest
EPA The decision to deploy a Special Forces team to target Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi showed he was considered an important figure by Washington. Islamic State (IS) group and al-Qaeda figures over the years have often been targeted by drone strikes. Sending teams on the ground is far riskier and has been reserved for what
EPA The leader of the Islamic State (IS) group has been killed in an overnight US special forces raid in north-western Syria, senior US officials say. “Thanks to the skill and bravery of our armed forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi,” President Joe Biden said. Qurayshi detonated a bomb that
AFP The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Europe director says the continent could soon enter a “long period of tranquillity” in the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr Hans Kluge cited high vaccination rates, the end of winter and the less severe nature of the Omicron variant. Speaking to reporters, he said: “This period of higher protection should be
Getty Images Interest rates have risen for the second time in three months as the Bank of England tries to curb a rapid rise in the cost of living. The hike to 0.5% from 0.25% came as the Bank warned prices would remain at a 30-year high for the rest of the year. Prices are
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Russia has condemned a US decision to send extra troops to Europe to support its Nato allies amid continuing fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Moscow said it was a “destructive” step which heightened tension and
Getty Images GoFundMe has paused donations to truck drivers protesting against vaccine mandates in Canada. Donations to the page “Freedom Convoy 2022” had reached C$10m ($7.9m; £5.8m), by Wednesday afternoon with about C$1m released so far to organisers. A number of officials have suggested legal action against the platform to prevent the release of more
Set against a backdrop of Northern Ireland’s Troubles, Belfast is Kenneth Branagh’s most personal movie. The story is seen through the eyes of nine-year-old Buddy, a fictionalised version of the young Branagh who grew up in the city. Jude Hill, now aged 11, beat 300 other children to land the role, in a film now
A special task force in Brazil is conducting raids deep in the Amazon, in a new crackdown against what it calls “blood gold” mining. Mining in territories that are supposed to be protected by law is destroying the lives of indigenous people and wreaking havoc on the environment. The UK is the third biggest buyer
Getty Images DUP minister Edwin Poots has ordered his officials to halt Irish Sea border checks from midnight. He had been threatening to act, as part of the DUP’s ongoing opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol. Mr Poots said he had taken legal advice which meant he could direct the checks to stop in the
Getty Images Pulsed electromagnetic energy “plausibly explains” some of the cases of the mysterious “Havana Syndrome” illness, a new US intelligence community report says. There has been a contentious debate over whether symptoms afflicting US staff around the world were caused by some kind of device or were psychological in nature. The latest report from
Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament Boris Johnson is coming under fresh pressure as three Tory MPs join efforts to oust him as prime minister. Ex-minister Tobias Ellwood said he had submitted a letter of no confidence in the PM earlier, amid the ongoing row over lockdown parties in No 10. He has now been joined by backbenchers
On Tuesday, former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed an explosive lawsuit against the NFL and three of its teams (Giants, Dolphins, Broncos). At the heart of the lawsuit, Flores alleges that the NFL and its teams have displayed a pattern of racial discrimination during the hiring process for coaching and executive positions. This is