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      The short goodbye: British troops leave Afghanistan amid warnings ‘very bad things’ could happen to country

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      The government has formally announced that British forces have finished their mission in Afghanistan ending, along with other international troops, the involvement in a long and contentious war which has divided opinion home and abroad.But the departure comes as Afghanistan faces an uncertain and dangerous future with lethal onslaughts by insurgents taking a rising daily toll of lives, and deep trepidation about the future, especially over the hard-won rights of women, if the Taliban take over once again. The haste with which the withdrawal has been carried out and the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan has raised deep concern about possible consequences in the region and beyond.General Lord Richards of Herstmonceux, the former head of the British military who commanded the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, warned of dangerous times ahead. He could not, he said, see any coherent western strategy to counter what is likely to unfold. Lord Richards told The Independent: “This is a hugely important and worrying time. We have a moral obligation to the Afghan people, but leaving that aside, one needs to look cold bloodedly at the security situation.“A security vacuum, an ungoverned space, will allow some very bad people to plot some very bad things. We should all remember that the intervention in 2001 took place because the 9/11 atrocity was conceived in an anarchic violent Afghanistan.“I do not want to be entirely pessimistic. There is a possibility that with the right balance of financial carrot and punitive stick the Taliban may join in the political process and we may be able to avoid prolonged bloodshed. “But this requires robust and dynamic western support. I see no coherent plan to this effect. Without it, I am not hopeful. We shall have to see what happens.”  More

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      I was abandoned by Tory peer’s son, claims socialite Jasmine Hartin

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      Canadian socialite Jasmin Hartin, who shot dead a policeman on a beach in Belize, has saidshe feels abandoned by her former partner, the son of Tory grandee Lord Ashcroft, and his family.Ms Hartin, who has been charged with manslaughter by authorities after accidentally shooting Henry Jemmott with his own gun, was granted bail during a court hearing last month.She was released on bail on Wednesday after a family friend, Wendy Auxillou, reportedly posted her bail.In an online clip teasing an extended interview with Hartin, which will air on local television, the socialite discusses her treatment.“Since the accusation of the manslaughter, from what I’ve been told from the family they have been told to distance themselves from me immediately, that they couldn’t have bad press associated with their reputation,” Ms Hartin said.She went on to say that no family members visited her in jail and that she wasn’t able to speak to her two children, although some friends visited her in jail.She said that her parents, who were “worried sick” were told by Mr Ashcroft that she was getting visitors every day, which she said was “a little bit exaggerated”.Despite enduring a “complicated” and sometimes “hostile” relationship with Mr Ashcroft, Ms Hartin said: “I can’t believe how I’ve been treated.”The Independent has reached out to Lord Ashcroft for comment. More

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      130 countries back global minimum corporate tax rate of 15 per cent, OECD says

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      Plans to force multinational companies to pay fairer tax by setting a global minimum have taken a step forward with the backing of 130 countries and jurisdictions, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development announced on Thursday. The US-backed deal sets a corporation tax rate of no less than 15 per cent in a bid to discourage companies from moving from one country to another to exploit lower rates. G7 leaders gave their approval at the summit in Cornwall last month. Collectively, countries that have agreed to the plan represent more than 90 per cent of the world’s GDP. “Today is an historic day for economic diplomacy,” treasury secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.“For decades, the United States has participated in a self-defeating international tax competition, lowering our corporate tax rates only to watch other nations lower theirs in response. The result was a global race to the bottom: Who could lower their corporate rate further and faster?”She added that the agreement showed that “the race to the bottom is one step closer to coming to an end. In its place, America will enter a competition that we can win; one judged on the skill of our workers and the strength of our infrastructure”.“We have a chance now to build a global and domestic tax system that lets American workers and businesses compete and win in the world economy. President Biden has spoken about a ‘foreign policy for the middle class,’ and today’s agreement is what that looks like in practice,” she added.Ireland, Barbados, Hungary, and Estonia are among the OECD members who have not yet agreed to the deal.The OECD said the new plan “updates key elements of the century-old international tax system” that is no longer fit for purpose in today’s global and digital economy. The framework was decided over negotiations “for much of the last decade” and would ensure that global corporations “pay tax where they operate and earn profits”. The OECD said that this would add “much-needed certainty and stability to the international tax system”. The first “pillar” of the plan will “ensure a fairer distribution of profits and taxing rights among countries” concerning large international companies, including digital ones. This part of the plan is also meant to “reallocate some taxing rights” over multinational enterprises “from their home countries to the markets where they have business activities and earn profits, regardless of whether firms have a physical presence there”. The second pillar “seeks to put a floor on competition over corporate income tax, through the introduction of a global minimum corporate tax rate”. The OECD said countries can use the minimum rate to “protect their tax bases”. The organisation said the new framework would help countries “repair their budgets and their balance sheets” as they try to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Taxing rights on more than $100bn worth of profits will be reallocated to “market jurisdictions” every year. The minimum global corporate income tax rate of at least 15 per cent is estimated to generate around $150bn in additional global tax revenue each year. “After years of intense work and negotiations, this historic package will ensure that large multinational companies pay their fair share of tax everywhere,” OECD secretary general Mathias Cormann said. “This package does not eliminate tax competition, as it should not, but it does set multilaterally agreed limitations on it. It also accommodates the various interests across the negotiating table, including those of small economies and developing jurisdictions. It is in everyone’s interest that we reach a final agreement among all Inclusive Framework Members as scheduled later this year,” he added.The “deadline for finalising the remaining technical work on the two-pillar approach” is set for October of this year and the new system’s implementation is scheduled for 2023. Each country that has agreed to the new framework will have to implement their own policies in their home countries, which might become an issue in the US as some Republicans have indicated that they’re not happy with this new development. The ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee, Texas Republican Rep Kevin Brady, said in a statement: “In negotiations with the OECD, the Biden Administration has already given up significant US ground.” He said the new framework would give a leg up to companies with headquarters outside of the US. “This is a dangerous economic surrender that sends US jobs overseas, undermines our economy, and strips away our US tax base,” he added. More

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      HMS Defender: Putin claims UK warship near Crimea deliberately tried to test Russian military response

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      The UK was attempting to uncover the location of Russia’s defence forces in the Crimean Peninsula and test their response during last week’s Black Sea incident, Vladimir Putin has claimed.The Russian president also claimed that a US reconnaissance aircraft was operating in sync with the British warship HMS Defender during the “complex provocation” near the Crimea coast.Speaking during a marathon live call-in show on Wednesday, Mr Putin said that the US aircraft’s mission was to monitor the Russian military’s response to the British destroyer.“First of all it was a provocation, quite obviously,” he said, according to a translation of his comments on the Russian state-backed RT channel.“What were they trying to tell us? What goals were they trying to achieve? It was a complex provocation organised by the US and the British because a warship entered our waters during the day and then… an American warplane took off from somewhere in Greece.”Mr Putin said HMS Defender “came into our waters and they looked at how we were going to respond” then “the [US] plane was looking at how we were going to respond”.The Russian president added: “I may have divulged a bit of a military secret there but I think our military is going to forgive me.”Mr Putin said Moscow was aware of the US intentions and responded accordingly to avoid revealing sensitive data. “I don’t think we were on the brink of World War Three,” he said.He added: “There was also a political component. A meeting [with US President Joe Biden] had just taken place in Geneva. One must ask why it was necessary to carry out such a provocation.“Why is all this being done? In order to emphasise that these people do not respect the choice of Crimeans to join the Russian Federation.” More

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      Islamic State posing ‘growing threat’ in Africa, says Raab

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      Dominic Raab will warn of the “growing threat” from Islamic State in Africa as the UK commits £12.6m to tackle terrorist groups in the region.He is to set out his desire to bring about the “lasting defeat” of IS, also known as Daesh, at a meeting of over 45 foreign ministers from around the world in Rome.The gathering of the Global Coalition Against Daesh on Monday is the first to take place in person since November 2019 and will be co-hosted by Italian foreign minister Luigi Di Maio and US secretary of state Anthony Blinken.Speaking at the event, Mr Raab will say: “The UK recognises the continuing threat and remains absolutely committed to the lasting defeat of Daesh.“The coalition must work together to tackle this pressing threat and target the longer-term challenges that are exploited by those who extol violence and terrorism.“We must ensure there are no safe havens for Daesh.“We must keep up the pressure on Daesh, wherever its poisonous influence spreads. It will exploit any opportunity to re-establish itself.”Attacks by Isis in Africa have gone up by a third over the past year while the group has also shown signs of a resurgence in the Middle East.The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said a new conflict, stability and security fund programme will support regional military efforts to counter IS and other groups, as well as efforts to safely demobilise suspected low-level members of terrorist groups.Its £12.6m contribution will focus on efforts in the Lake Chad Basin in West Africa, which covers northeast Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad. Islamic State West Africa (ISWA), an affiliate of Daesh, is active in the area.Mr Raab said: “Two years since Daesh’s territorial defeat in Iraq and Syria, the threat of Daesh and its hateful ideology has not gone away. Worryingly it continues to grow in Africa which is why we must work with our coalition partners to fight its poisonous propaganda on all fronts.“We stand shoulder to shoulder with our African partners to tackle the growing threat from Daesh-linked groups across Africa, particularly in the Lake Chad Basin.”Additional reporting by Press Association More

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      French set to replace English as EU’s ‘working language’

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      Emmanuel Macron’s governmen is drawing up plans for French to replace English as the official “working language” of the EU when it takes over the European Council presidency in 2022, a diplomat has revealed.France planning to use its first presidency since Brexit to push its native tongue as the “lingua franca” of Brussels, according to a report in Politico.A senior French diplomat told the website: “Even if we admit that English is a working language and it is commonly practiced, the basis to express oneself in French remains fully in place in the EU institutions.“We must enrich it, and make it live again so that the French language truly regains ground, and above that, the taste and pride of multilingualism.”The unnamed diplomat said all high-level meetings of the Council – the body which sets the political priorities of the EU – will be conducted in French instead of English during the six-month presidency.Notes and minutes will also be “French-first” and the Council will expect all letters from the EU Commission to be in French.“We will always ask the Commission to send us in French the letters it wishes to address to the French authorities, and if they fail to do so, we will wait for the French version before sending it,” the diplomat said.France’s presidency from January to June next year is the first stint in charge of the Council since 2008, when Nicolas Sarkozy was president.Mr Macron’s ministers have expressed a keen interest in pushing French ahead of the “ersatz” English used by officialdom in Brussels, now that the UK has left the bloc.EU affairs minister Clement Beaune and secretary of state Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne said in April that the presidency created “an opportunity to hold high this vital fight for multilingualism.”In an article for Le Figaro, they said the use of French in Brussels “had diminished to the benefit of English, and more often to Globish – that ersatz of the English language, which narrows the scope of one’s thoughts, and restricts one’s ability to express him or herself”. More

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      Lord Ashcroft’s daughter-in-law charged after police officer killed in Belize shooting

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      The daughter-in-law of a Tory peer has been charged with manslaughter by negligence over the death of a police officer in Belize. Jasmine Hartin, the partner of Lord Ashcroft’s son, was taken into custody after the body of a superintendent was discovered on a dock in the central American country on Friday.Police said Henry Jemmott, who was found dead in the town of San Pedro, had been fatally shot. His body was found in the water with an apparent gunshot wound behind his right ear, a police commissioner was quoted as saying in local media.Ms Hartin has been charged with manslaughter by negligence in connection with the death, her lawyer said on Monday.“Bail has been denied,” Godfrey Smith told local media outside court. “We appeal to the Supreme Court, as is normal.” Ms Hartin is married to Andrew Ashcroft, the son of former Conservative treasurer and deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft.Her father-in-law holds Belizean citizenship and was once its representative at the United Nations.Lord Ashcroft, who is also a Tory donor, sat in the House of Lords until 2015 and has retained his peerage since stepping down.Ms Hartin’s lawyer is expected to release a statement concerning the case later on Tuesday. Speaking about the events surrounding the discovery of Mr Jemmott’s body, police commissioner Chester Williams previously said a single gunshot was heard “and upon investigating, police found the female on a pier, and she had what appeared to be blood on her arms and on her clothing”.The gun involved belonged to police superintendent Mr Jemmott and police understand he and Ms Hartin were friends, according to local broadcaster Channel 5 news.Additional reporting by Associated Press More

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      Russia warns US of ‘unpleasant’ messages ahead of Biden-Putin meeting

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      Russia’s foreign ministry has put the US on notice ahead of a meeting between American president Joe Biden and and his Russian counterpart.Sergei Rybakov, the Russian deputy foreign minister, warned president Vladimir Putin’s government would send “unpleasant” messages to the US if they did not discuss a range of issues at their upcoming meeting.“The Americans must assume that a number of signals from Moscow … will be uncomfortable for them, including in the coming days,” he said, according to reporting from Russian news agency RIA.Biden and Putin are expected to meet on 16 June in Geneva. Biden has publicly said he press Mr Putin on the importance of human rights. This will be their first meeting of Biden’s presidency. Mr Rybakov said Russia could be willing to discuss human rights, in exchange for discussing the increase of NATO and American forces in the western regions of Russia, bordering Ukraine. “The actions of our Western colleagues are destroying the world’s security system and force us to take adequate countermeasures,” said Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, according to the Interfax news agency.Biden made reference to his upcoming talks with Putin on Sunday. “I’m meeting with President Putin in a couple weeks in Geneva, making it clear we will not stand by and let him abuse those rights,” Mr Biden said in a Memorial Day weekend address in Delaware.A Human Rights Watch report in 2020 on Russia found numerous human rights infringements. In 2019, the human rights situation was “deteriorating”. They cited torture and degrading treatment, election protest crackdowns and issues when it comes to freedom of expression. An additional complication to better relations between the two countries is Biden announcing sanctions on Belarus after they arrested Raman Protasevich, a 26-year-old dissident journalist and his girlfriend Sofia Sapagea, a fellow journalist. More