Markus Andrews

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    in UK Politics

    Threat of world war is ‘serious and real’ Poland says as Putin steps up threats against West

    Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreThe war in Ukraine is entering a “decisive phase”, with Vladimir Putin’s launch of a new ballistic missile showing that the threat of global conflict is “serious and real”, Poland’s prime minister has said.Donald Tusk’s warning came as Nato and Ukrainian officials convened emergency talks over the hypersonic ballistic missile strike against Dnipro.Putin said its launch was in response to Ukraine using British and American long-range missiles on targets in Russia – and issued a stark threat that Moscow “had the right” to strike any Western nation that provided Kyiv with such weapons. And he vowed to continue using the new missile “in combat conditions” – a threat to both Ukraine and the West. Mr Tusk made clear the danger in Ukraine, which shares a border with Poland: “The war in the east is entering a decisive phase; we feel that the unknown is approaching. The conflict is taking on dramatic proportions. The last few dozen hours have shown that the threat is serious and real when it comes to global conflict.”Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said the world needs to mount a “serious response” to Putin’s firing of the missile, to show that there are “real consequences”. He added that his defence ministry was already working with allies and partners to develop air defences to protect against the “new risks” his country is facing.A session of Ukraine’s parliament was cancelled on Friday as security was tightened following the strike on Dnipro.Flashes after the missile strike on Dnipro in Ukraine More

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    ‘No deal is better than a bad deal’: Cop29 deadlocked over climate fund

    Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreHopes of a trillion-dollar climate finance fund appear to be slipping out of reach after a draft text at the Cop29 climate summit proposed a deal worth only a fifth of that.The interim agreement – released late on Friday, hours before the summit’s scheduled end – sets a $250bn (£199bn) annual target for the “new collective quantified goal” (NCQG), the sum developed nations must hand over to support mitigation in developing countries. The compromise sum was dismissed as an insult to the world’s most vulnerable populations as talks extended into the night at the summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.“We started Cop29 with alarm that the outcome of the US presidential elections would deter global climate action … apparently, the halls of Cop29 are already flooded with many Trumps,” said Gerry Arances, executive director of Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development. His country, the Philippines, has suffered six typhoons recently and the proposed sum won’t even be enough to support the victims of those disasters, he said. Developed nations are “gambling with the lives of people in developing nations and small states”, Mr Arances said.A key demand from developing countries has been to make climate finance accessible, which means more money as grants and not private finance or loans. But the amount proposed in the current draft does not stress this. Experts say without mentioning how much amount will be delivered as grants, the treaty leaves vulnerable countries at the mercy of loans. “Not only is $250bn far too low a target for climate finance to developing nations, but core aid funding should be coming only from public sources,” Tom Mitchell, executive director of the International Institute for Environment and Development, said.“Private investors should be topping up the contributions from national governments and multilateral banks, not being drafted in to distract from political miserliness.Campaigners highlighted that the $250bn figure totals a mere 8 per cent of the $2.97 trillion in profits made by the world’s biggest companies in the last financial year. “We cannot be expected to agree to a text which shows such contempt for our vulnerable people,” the Alliance of Small Island States said in a statement. In a statement the Azerbaijani presidency says the new climate finance text is the result of a consultation that stretched into the early hours of the morning – and offers a “balanced and streamlined” way forward.Many campaigners say it’s better to go back without a deal than $250bn in climate finance. “We find ourselves in a far worse position than we were before the NCQG process began,” said Lidy Nacpil from the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development. “I strongly echo the call for our developing country governments to reject this text.”The negotiations will now be running overnight, but a likely outcome may still be a figure of less than one trillion dollars.“To land a meaningful outcome here, wealthy nations must step up with a bold offer to the global South. Our eyes are now on the European Union and UK in particular to step up their game,” Andreas Seiber, associate director of policy and campaigns at 350.org told The Independent. “Cop29 cannot close on a deal this weak,” he warned. More

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    Starmer ramps up post-Brexit reset with recruitment of EU relations ‘sherpa’

    Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreSir Keir Starmer has kicked off the hunt for a “sherpa” to guide his post-Brexit reset with the European Union ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.The prime minister is ramping up his efforts to rebuild ties with Brussels, recruiting a second permanent secretary in the Cabinet Office focused primarily on the UK’s relationship with the EU.A job advert posted on Friday night says the “high-profile” £200,000-a-year role will lead on the government’s renewed relationship with the bloc.The successful applicant will face “significant public scrutiny and political attention”, the posting warns.Keir Starmer is on a mission to build closer ties with Europe More

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    Gordon Brown comes out against assisted dying in major blow to bill

    Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreGordon Brown has declared he does not support the legalisation of assisted dying, arguing that the state of the NHS means it is not the right time for the momentous change.The former prime minister wrote movingly of the death of his newborn daughter in January 2002, which he said showed him the “value and imperative of good end-of-life care”.The Labour grandee, who remains a very influential figure within the party, said the days spent with his wife Sarah beside their dying baby Jennifer’s bed were “among the most precious days of our lives”.And, in an intervention which threatens to derail Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, Mr Brown called instead for the establishment of a commission to devise a “fully funded, 10-year strategy for improved and comprehensive palliative care”.Former prime minister Gordon Brown (Lucy North/PA) More

  • 138 Shares199 Views

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    Reform UK MP jailed for repeatedly kicking girlfriend in historical conviction

    Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreReform UK MP James McMurdock was jailed for repeatedly kicking his girlfriend 18 years ago, it has emerged, as fresh details in the scandal over the politician’s crime come to light. Mr McMurdock claimed he had “pushed” his partner when details of his historical conviction, which he had not disclosed to the public before the election, were first revealed in July.But court records from his sentencing, obtained by The Times this week, show he was detained in a young offenders’ institution for 21 days for kicking the victim around four times, in an incident which took place in 2006. According to the records obtained and reported on by The Times, Mr McMurdock pleaded guilty to assault by beating, and the “serious nature of the offence” meant the sentence was not suspended.The Times reported the offence “requires immediate punishment” and that a pre-sentence report indicated a “lack of willingness to comply”.Reform UK MP, James McMurdock More

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    Furious French mayors accuse UK of ‘being in denial’ over migrant crossings in demand over cross-border deal

    Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreA group of French mayors have called for a key cross-Channel migrant deal with the UK to be ripped up, accusing Britain of being two-faced in its approach to the migrant crisis. The Group of Mayors from the Opal Coast, which includes Calais as well as 14 smaller towns engulfed by the small boats crisis, has called for the renegotiation of a deal that allows Britain and France to carry out checks in each other’s ports. The group, led by Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart, have accused the UK of hypocrisy for claiming to want to stop migrants crossing the Channel, while letting most of those who arrive settle in Britain.Keir Starmer has brushed off calls from the French mayors More

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    in UK Politics

    Starmer denies UK at war after Ukraine fires British Storm Shadow missiles into Russian territory

    Sir Keir Starmer has said that the UK is “not at war” and suggested there had been “irresponsible rhetoric” from Russia.Ukraine has fired British long-range Storm Shadow missiles into Russian territory for the first time, The Independent understands, the latest sign of a change in stance from Western countries on involvement in the conflict.Speaking to BBC Radio Bristol as part of a local radio round on Friday, 22 November, Sir Keir Starmer was asked “are we at war” in relation to the conflict in Ukraine.“No, we’re not at war, but Ukraine certainly is, because Ukraine has been invaded by Russia, and that war has now been going on for just over 1,000 days,” Sir Keir responded.After Russia threatened to use weapons against nations that allow their own weapons to be used inside Russia, the PM said: “There’s irresponsible rhetoric.” More

  • 138 Shares109 Views

    in UK Politics

    Netanyahu would be arrested if he enters UK, No 10 says

    Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreBenjamin Netanyahu faces arrest if he enters Britain after an international arrest warrant was issued for him, Downing Street has said.No 10 refused to explicitly comment on the individual case, saying it was a hypothetical situation, but said the UK would follow its legal obligations. It comes after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Mr Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, Israel’s former defence minister, over alleged war crimes in Gaza.The ICC also issued a warrant for Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’ armed wing, over the October 7 2023 attacks that triggered Israel’s offensive in Gaza.Yvette Cooper said “there are proper processes that need to be followed” More