Category: Business

Vladimir Putin is “standing in the way” of a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, Sir Keir Starmer has said, as he promised to stand by Ukraine “for as long as it takes”.
The prime minister made his comments on the fourth anniversary of the war, which was triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier, in a defiant message to his people, Volodymyr Zelensky said that Putin had not broken the Ukrainian people.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hit out at Putin (PA) (PA Wire)The Ukrainian leader used a televised address on Tuesday to say that “Putin has not achieved his goals”, while Ukraine has preserved its independence and “will do everything to achieve peace and to ensure justice”.
The UK defence secretary John Healey also hit out at the Russian leader, saying the war had been “four years of failure for Putin”.
The PM used an address to his cabinet to praise the “incredible resilience” of Ukraine.
Sir Keir also warned the conflict was not “a remote” one happening “a long way away ..

The masked suspect in the abduction of Nancy Guthrie may have been at her front door earlier than the date of her disappearance, according to multiple reports.
Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today show star Savannah Guthrie, vanished from her home in the Catalina Foothills outside of Tucson, Arizona, in the early morning hours of February 1. Police believe the elderly woman was taken as she slept.
Authorities released photos of the suspect, who is yet to be publicly identified, earlier this month. The suspect was wearing a ski mask, gloves and, in most of the photos, a backpack.
The photos were taken from a doorbell camera at Nancy’s front door the morning of her disappearance, according to the FBI.
open image in galleryThe masked suspect in the abduction of Nancy Guthrie may have been at her front door earlier than the date of her disappearance, according to multiple reports (FBI)But ABC News reported Monday, citing sources familiar with the investigation, one of the images, w..

Zelensky warns Putin has started WW IIIPoland's foreign minister accused Hungary of showing a shocking lack of solidarity for Ukraine on Monday, and said he believed the Hungarian government was creating a climate of hostility towards Kyiv to use in an upcoming election campaign.
“I would have expected a much greater feeling of solidarity from Hungary for Ukraine,” Radoslaw Sikorski told reporters in Brussels, as Budapest looked poised to block proposed EU sanctions on Russia on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the war.
“And instead, with the help of state propaganda…the ruling party managed to create a climate of hostility towards the victim of aggression. And now it's trying to exploit that in the general election. It's quite shocking.”
EU leaders have voiced frustration over Hungary’s longstanding opposition to supporting neighbouring Ukraine. Budapest said it will block a 90 billion euro loan for Kyiv until Ukraine resumes oil shipments.
It comes as Ukrainian p..

Students staged protests at several Iranian universities on Saturday, marking the start of a new semester with clashes between demonstrators and pro-government factions, according to local news agencies and posts on social media.
The unrest coincided with mourning ceremonies, traditionally held after 40 days, for those killed during January’s anti-government demonstrations.
They saw thousands lose their lives in the most severe domestic upheaval since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
A video, reportedly from Tehran's Sharif University of Technology, showed marchers condemning Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a “murderous leader” and advocating for Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's deposed shah, to assume a new monarchical role.
State-affiliated news agencies such as SNN carried videos of clashes, with protesters allegedly injuring volunteer student Basij militia by throwing rocks at Iran's top engineering university.
Pro-government Basij members often ..

In the days after Iran’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters, Amir*, a doctor in a private clinic outside Tehran, came face-to-face with one of the Islamic regime’s spies.
According to Amir, the man had entered the clinic during a night shift posing as a patient. Once the time of his appointment came, the man began interrogating the doctor.
He asked whether Amir had been working on the nights of 8 and 9 January – the most deadly 48 hours of the protests, when security forces began firing lethal rounds on protesters under the cover of an internet blackout.
open image in galleryShotgun pellets in the foot area of a patient seen in CT scan and X-ray images (Supplied)“I dodged the questions as much as I could,” Amir says. “I think he was there to scare me more than to gather information because I think they have the information.”
Although he did not disclose this to his interrogator, Amir wasn’t supposed to be working on that now infamous 8 January: a bloodstained date that ..

Donald Trump has announced a 10 per cent global tariff on “all countries” to replace ones struck down by the Supreme Court, calling the ruling “terrible” and branding the justices who rejected his trade policy as “fools”.
The US president’s “reciprocal tariffs”, imposed on most of the rest of the world last April under an emergency powers law, were overturned by the US Supreme Court on Friday in a major blow to the president’s economic agenda.
But he doubled down on imposing levies following the decision, claiming the court “has been swayed by foreign interests” and other countries were “dancing in the streets, but they won’t be dancing for long, that I can assure you”.
The UK scrambled to respond in the wake of the announcement, with ministers saying they expect the country’s “privileged trading position with the US” to continue following the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The UK received the lowest tariff rate of 10 per cent, and a subsequent deal struck by Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Trump saw..

Residents in Australia’s Victoria state were told to flee on Saturday after an out-of-control bushfire tore through steep, forested country.
The blaze began on Thursday night near Gaffneys Creek, located about 50 km northeast of state capital Melbourne.
Victorian emergency services issued the state’s highest alert for residents around the A1 Mine Settlement after the fire moved rapidly along ridgelines, leading to road closures.
“Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous,” Victoria Emergency said on its website.
State response controller Alistair Drayton told ABC News that the bushfire was burning in “remote mountainous terrain which is difficult for crews to access from the ground”.
Firefighters had managed to contain the fire’s western edge, but they were still working round-the-clock to bring it under control.
“The fire is burning in complex and steep terrain, with crews working around the clock. They are using heavy machinery to build contain..