Month: February 2023

Citing Germany’s decision to send tanks to Ukraine, the Russian president said history was repeating itself.

“It’s unbelievable but true,” he said. “We are again being threatened by German Leopard tanks.”

Germany is one of many countries helping Ukraine defend its territory.

Russia launched its bloody, full-scale invasion almost one year ago, prompting Western countries to send weapons and aid to the government in Kyiv.

Speaking in Volgograd – the modern name for Stalingrad – Mr Putin hinted that he could seek to move beyond conventional weapons.

“Those who hope to defeat Russia on the battlefield do not understand, it seems, that a modern war with Russia will be very different for them,” the 70-year-old leader said. “We are not sending our tanks to their borders, but we have the means to respond. It won’t be limited to the use of armoured hardware. Everyone must understand this.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to elaborate on Mr Putin’s comments but did tell reporters that “as new weapons are delivered by the collective West, Russia will make greater use of its potential to respond”.

Mr Putin was in Volgograd to mark the anniversary of the end of World War Two’s Battle of Stalingrad, which saw the Soviet army capture nearly 91,000 German troops in a major turning point of the war.

Over a million people perished in the battle – the bloodiest of the conflict.

Volgograd was temporarily renamed Stalingrad for the day to mark the anniversary, and earlier this week a new bust of the former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin was unveiled.

Stalin – who led the Soviet Union between 1924 and his death in 1953 – was accused of orchestrating a famine in Ukraine between 1932-33.

The event – called the Holodomor by Ukrainians – killed an estimated five million people and was recognised as a genocide earlier this week in Bulgaria.

Throughout the war in Ukraine, Mr Putin has falsely sought to present Russia’s invasion as a battle against nationalists and Nazis – who he says are leading the Kyiv government.

And he returned to the theme throughout his speech.

“Now, unfortunately, we see that the ideology of Nazism, already in its modern guise, in its modern manifestation, again creates direct threats to the security of our country,” he said.

“Again and again we have to repel the aggression of the collective West.”

But he vowed that while it was “unbelievable but true” that Russia was again being threatened by German tanks, Moscow had an answer for any country that threatened it.

Berlin has agreed to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, prompting the Russian company Fores – a Urals-based energy industry firm – to offer five million roubles (£58,250) to the first Russian soldier to destroy or capture one.

Mr Putin also laid flowers at the grave of the Soviet marshal who oversaw the defence of the city, and visited the main memorial complex where he led a moment of silence for those that died in the battle.

Meanwhile, thousands of Volgograd residents lined the city’s streets to watch a military parade.

As planes roared overhead, modern and World War Two-era tanks rolled along the centre of the city. Some of the modern vehicles were marked with the letter Z, which has become the symbol of Russia’s invasion.

Local media reported that regional Governor Andrey Bocharov – who accompanied Mr Putin to the memorial complex – was not at the parade. He had not been seen since 24 January, leading to speculation that he was isolating before meeting the president.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia was preparing to take “revenge” against the West for aiding Ukraine.

“Now Russia is concentrating its forces. We all know that. It is preparing to try to take revenge, not only against Ukraine, but against a free Europe and the free world,” Mr Zelensky said in Kyiv.

Speaking alongside EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Mr Zelensky said Russia was “increasing the pace of adaptation to sanctions” and urged the EU leader to impose additional restrictions on the Russian economy.

Later, addressing the National Prayer Breakfast in the US via videolink, Mr Zelensky thanked US President Joe Biden for his support and set Ukrainian forces a goal of defeating the Russian invasion in the next year.

“We must do everything we can together so that next year – on the first Thursday of February – we will be able to pray simply with thanks for the obtained salvation from evil,” Mr Zelensky said.

Marcos do Val has alleged he was asked to get the head of the electoral authority to compromise himself to discredit the presidential election.

Mr Bolsonaro narrowly lost October’s vote, prompting unsubstantiated claims by his supporters of voting fraud.

His son has admitted the meeting took place but denies a crime was committed.

Mr do Val told a news conference on Thursday that he was invited to a meeting on 9 December with Mr Bolsonaro by Daniel Silveira, a former lawmaker and a close ally of the former president. This was more than a month after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had won the election and three days before his presidency was formally approved.

Mr Silveira then allegedly asked Mr do Val to get the head of the electoral authority, Justice Alexandre de Moraes, to make compromising comments on tape that would lead to his arrest.

“I immediately said that I would not do that, I would not do that type of thing,” said Mr do Val, who claimed that Mr Bolsonaro “sat in silence” while Mr Silveira laid out the details of the plot during the meeting.

However, he has denied suggestions that he was coerced by the former president, telling journalists he “was in a position similar to mine, listening to an odd idea by Daniel Silveira”.

Mr do Val’s comments come after Mr Silveira was arrested on Thursday in relation to previous offences after his parliamentary immunity came to an end.

According to Reuters, Mr de Moraes has ordered Mr do Val to provide sworn testimony to federal police within five days as part of a Supreme Court investigation into the 8 January riots, in which Mr Bolsonaro has been named among those potentially responsible.

Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the country’s Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace in the capital, Brasília, after camping in and around the city for weeks calling for a military coup.

Mr Bolsonaro has voiced “regret” for the unrest, but denies he caused it. Neither he nor his representatives have yet commented on Mr do Val’s remarks.

The former president is currently in Florida after leaving Brazil at the end of December, before his successor was sworn in. His lawyers have told the BBC he has applied for a 6-month US tourist visa.

Mr Sunak said he was willing to be “transparent” and publish the documents, which were “being prepared”.

The PM’s financial affairs came under scrutiny last year when it emerged his wife, Akshata Murty, had non-dom status and was not paying UK tax.

Opposition parties have since called on Mr Sunak to be open about his finances.

Mr Sunak first made the promise to publish his tax returns during his unsuccessful campaign to be leader of the Conservative Party last summer.

Since becoming prime minister, he said in December at the G20 summit that he would stand by the pledge, telling reporters he would seek advice and “figure out the right way that happens”.

Mr Sunak is thought to be one of the richest MPs in Parliament, something Labour has used as an attack line during Prime Minister’s Questions.

While there is not a long tradition of prime ministers publishing their tax returns, some of Mr Sunak’s predecessors have chosen to do so in recent years.

In his interview with Morgan in 10 Downing Street, Mr Sunak said: “They will be published shortly. As you know the tax filing deadline was just a few days ago. So that’s why.

“So we do the tax-filing deadlines just passed, so they’re just being prepared and they will be released shortly.”

In another question about his financial affairs, Morgan asked Mr Sunak whether he was benefitting from a financial arrangement known as a blind trust.

Politicians with share portfolios and investments routinely set up blind trusts when they get government jobs. This allows them to continue earning income from their investments without knowing where the money is invested to avoid any conflicts of interest.

On the question of whether it was right for prime ministers to have blind trusts, Mr Sunak said: “I think that’s better than them having control over them.”

The interview covered a wide range of topics, from serious ones about government policy, to light-hearted ones about his love life.

He was asked by Morgan to describe his “doctrine” and assess his first 100 days in office as prime minister.

Mr Sunak said he inherited “a challenging situation” but insisted he was “proud of what we’ve achieved” so far.

One of the most prominent issues of his time in office up to now has been the wave of public sector strikes over pay.

Mr Sunak said nurses should be treated as an “exception” and he would “love to give the nurses a massive pay rise” but insisted he could not, as doing so would stoke the rising cost of living.

Later in the interview, Morgan asked Mr Sunak for his definition of a woman. Mr Sunak replied “adult human female”, but suggested the TV presenter was actually asking about society’s handling of people questioning their gender identity.

Morgan brought up the case of Isla Bryson, a transgender woman convicted of raping two women while known as a man called Adam Graham. She was initially remanded in a women’s prison, but has since been moved to a men’s jail.

Morgan said it showed the problem of “limitless gender self-identity”. Mr Sunak said it demonstrated “some of the challenges”, but added “we must and should have enormous compassion and tolerance and understanding for those who are questioning their gender and identity”.

“But we have to recognise the challenges that that poses, particularly for women’s safety,” Mr Sunak said.

“For me… whether it’s sex, whether it’s women’s spaces, whether it’s prisons, biological sex really matters.”

Asked about transgender women athletes competing in women’s sport, he said: “I think that doesn’t strike most people as being fair. That’s why when it comes to these questions, biological sex matters.”

Also in the interview:

About 115,000 workers will strike from 12:30pm on Thursday 16 February, until 12.30pm on Friday 17 February.

Mail deliveries are likely to be disrupted again, as seen during similar strikes last year in the run-up to Christmas.

A spokesperson for Royal Mail said the CWU’s action was “misguided”.

The fresh action comes as workers in various sectors seek pay rises in line with the rising cost of living.

Royal Mail workers staged several strikes at the end of last year, in a move which cost the firm millions at one of the busiest times of the year for parcel deliveries.

As the dispute over pay and conditions rumbles on, the CWU’s Dave Ward said that Royal Mail management had shown a “complete lack of integrity”.

He added that recent proposed changes by Royal Mail effectively remove the right of the union to negotiate at a local level and “viewed as a real step towards the derecognition of the union”.

“Our members will not just sit back and watch as their working lives are destroyed by a company leadership hell-bent on ripping up historic arrangements that protect their rights and give them a voice through their union,” Mr Ward said.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We entered facilitated talks… in good faith, believing that the CWU were serious in their claim that they wanted a resolution.

“In announcing further damaging strike action, the CWU have shown they are not interested in resolving this dispute and continue to focus on damaging our business further.”

Royal Mail has offered a pay deal which it says is worth up to 9% over 18 months. However, the CWU says its members want more, given that inflation – the rate at which prices rise – is at a record high.

The union also objects to Royal Mail’s proposed changes to working conditions, including the introduction of compulsory Sunday working.

Royal Mail’s management says these changes are necessary in an increasingly competitive deliveries market.

“We need to agree on changes to make our business more competitive. That is the only way to secure well-paid, long-term job security for our people,” a Royal Mail spokesperson added.

Royal Mail recently restarted the export of parcels after recovering from a cyber-attack in January.

Separately, the firm’s chief executive Simon Thompson will be quizzed for a second time by MPs after “hundreds” of complaints were made about the accuracy of evidence he gave to a committee last month.

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy committee said doubts were raised after Mr Thompson denied the firm tracked workers’ productivity through their handheld computers, and also questioned his denial that Royal Mail prioritised parcels.

In a statement, Mr Biden’s attorney said Wednesday’s search was “planned” with the president’s “full support”.

The nearly four-hour search of the property related to a wider probe into the handling of classified documents.

The FBI has not commented on the search. As it was consensual, no search warrant was sought.

Mr Biden’s lawyer, Bob Bauer, said the search was carried out “without advance public notice” in the interests of “operational security and integrity”.

Following the search – which lasted from 08:30 to 12:00 local time – Mr Bauer said that “no documents with classified markings were found”.

Some “materials and handwritten notes” that appear to date to Mr Biden’s time as vice-president between 2009-17 were taken for “further review”, Mr Bauer added.

The search is the latest in a series carried out at various locations, after classified documents were found at the Penn Biden Center – an office space – in Washington DC in November. This was not made public at the time.

More documents were discovered at another of Mr Biden’s homes in Wilmington, Delaware, in searches conducted in December and January.

The precise number of classified records recovered remains unclear – although at least a dozen were found during the January searches alone.

Mr Biden has said his team did “what they should have done” by alerting officials immediately, and that they are “co-operating fully and completely” with the investigation.

After the first of January’s searches, Mr Biden told reporters the files were in a locked garage.

“It’s not like they are sitting in the street,” he said.

The latest search comes a day after special counsel Robert Hur officially began his duties overseeing the probe into the documents.

President Donald Trump and former Vice-President Mike Pence have also been embroiled in controversy over the handling of classified documents.

In Mr Pence’s case, a “small number of documents bearing classified markings” were found at his home in Carmel, Indiana, according to a letter sent to the National Archives by his lawyer. The documents were recovered by the FBI from a safe at the property on 19 January, with two boxes more delivered to the Archives on 23 January.

An August 2022 search of Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida uncovered dozens of boxes and about 11,000 documents, including about 100 with classified markings.

The search warrant came after attorneys representing Mr Trump had said all government records were returned. Mr Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and claimed that he had declassified the documents taken with him.

The justice department search of Joe Biden’s holiday home adds one more twist to a classified documents saga that has stretched on for nearly a month now and includes a special counsel overseeing the inquiry.

The FBI move could reveal how forthcoming and thorough the Biden team has been in reviewing the documents stored on his personal property. For the most part, the Biden lawyers have been conducting their own review of the president’s personal residences without government investigators looking over their shoulders. While they found classified material at the president’s Wilmington home, they have said that there were no such documents found at the president’s beach house.

At the very least, the search will help quell some of the concerns expressed by Republicans that the government is holding Mr Biden to a lower level of scrutiny and suspicion than Donald Trump, who had his Mar-a-Lago estate searched by the FBI last August. When Mr Biden’s lawyers first revealed they had found classified material at his home and personal office, the former president, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy and other conservatives openly wondered why the current president wasn’t targeted by government investigators as well.

Now, however, Mr Biden’s defenders are pointing out that multiple Biden properties have been searched, but there is no indication that the FBI has investigated Mr Trump’s New Jersey and New York homes.