Everything you need to stay up to date around the globe
EU LEADERS AGREE UKRAINE TRADE DEAL
European Union leaders will today sign a trade deal with Ukraine designed to give economic support to the beleaguered state in the wake of Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
EU leaders, including David Cameron, agreed last night to add 12 names to the list of senior figures from the Moscow regime to face travel bans and asset freezes in response to what the Prime Minister described as “unacceptable” actions by Russia.
US President Barack Obama stepped up action against Moscow by putting billionaire oligarch businessmen - including Vladimir Putin’s banker Yury Kovalchuk - on a blacklist of regime figures who will face sanctions from America.
SEARCH RESUMES FOR MISSING PLANE
Search planes joined a freighter to scan rough seas in one of the remotest places on Earth after satellite images detected possible pieces from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
In what officials called the “best lead” of the nearly two-week-old aviation mystery, a satellite detected two large objects floating in the southern Indian Ocean.
They were about 1,000 miles off the south-western coast of Australia and halfway to the desolate islands of the Antarctic. The area is so remote is takes aircraft longer to fly there - four hours - than it does for the search.
MENINGITIS VACCINE ’TO BE ON NHS’
A vaccine against deadly disease meningitis B will be made available free on the NHS, it has been reported.
The Bexsero treatment was licensed in Europe in January but the health service was advised against adopting it due to a lack of evidence of its effectiveness.
According to the Independent, the Department of Health is set to announce today that the recommendation has been reversed.
MILIBAND TO PUSH CASE FOR NO VOTE
The battle to keep the UK together will be won through Labour’s plans to restore social justice to the entire country, Ed Miliband will declare.
With the independence referendum taking place in six months, the Labour leader will use his key address to the party’s Scottish conference this weekend to insist that the UK is “better together”.
He will set out his vision to build prosperity across the UK and create a “country that is more just, more equal, more fair”.
GOVERNMENT RAPPED OVER IMMIGRATION
A Government failure to commission estimates of the numbers of Romanians and Bulgarians who would come to Britain after labour market controls were lifted fuelled “anti-immigrant prejudice”, a group of influential MPs have said.
In a damning report, the Home Affairs Select Committee said the Government’s decision not to obtain official estimates played into the hands of those who “wish to inflame tensions about immigration for political gain”.
Restrictions to the labour market were lifted for Romanians and Bulgarians on January 1, prompting warnings of a looming surge of immigration from the eastern European countries.
MPs WARN OF AFRICA TERRORISM THREAT
The UK and other Western powers failed to spot the warning signs of instability in Mali and the Central African Republic until it was too late, MPs have said as they urged the Government to step up efforts to engage with problems in the region.
The Foreign Affairs Committee criticised the “scant resources” allocated to the Western Sahel-Sahara and said there had been a “costly error” in failing to anticipate the effects of the collapse of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in Libya on its neighbouring countries.
The report warned there were “significant gaps” in information about terrorist groups operating in the region and said improving the quality of intelligence should be a priority for the UK and its allies.
CAMERON WANTS BORIS ’ON THE TEAM’
David Cameron has made a plea for Boris Johnson to return to Parliament and run in the next election.
The Prime Minister said it is up to the Mayor of London whether he completes his term in City Hall but that he wants him “on the team”.
He was speaking in an interview with James Corden, who was guest editor of The Sun for Sport Relief.
TASKFORCE CALLS FOR HS2 MINISTER
The Government should appoint a special HS2 minister, says a report from the growth taskforce for the £50 billion high-speed rail project.
The new minister would ensure growth and regeneration around HS2 remained a priority, the taskforce said.
Led by Lord Deighton, the taskforce said the scale of HS2 was “without precedent” and “could catalyse far-reaching economic and social benefits, particularly to the cities of the Midlands and the North”.
No comments:
Post a Comment