Putin says Russia to welcome volunteers from Middle East to fight Ukraine

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the green light on Friday to bring in thousands of fighters from the Middle East to fight against Ukraine. At a meeting of Russia's Security Council, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East who were ready to come to fight with Russian-backed forces in the breakaway Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. "If you see that there are these people who want of their own accord, not for money, to come to help the people living in Donbass, then we need to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone," Putin said. Shoigu also proposed that Western-made Javelin and Stinger missiles that were captured by the Russian army in Ukraine should be handed over to Donbass forces.

"As to the delivery of arms, especially Western-made ones which have fallen into the hands of the Russian army - of course I support the possibility of giving these to the military units of the Lugansk and Donetsk people's republics," Putin said. "Please do this," he told Shoigu. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 soon after Putin recognised the breakaway territories as independent states, in an action condemned internationally as illegal. Russia says its "special military operation" in Ukraine was a forced response to what it calls genocide by Ukraine against Russian-speakers in the east of the country - a pretext rejected by Kyiv and the West as baseless war propaganda. Shoigu said the Russian military planned to strengthen its Western border after what he said was an increase in Western military units on Russia's border

Anti-racism protests in UK 'subverted by thuggery': Boris Johnson

The counter bigotry exhibitions in the UK are "undermined by thuggery", Prime Minister Boris Johnson has stated, censuring the assaults on cops after 'Dark Lives Matter' fights held over the custodial killing of George Floyd turned savage and the Covid-19 lockdown was penetrated by a great many individuals for a second continuous day.
African-American Floyd kicked the bucket in Minneapolis on May 25 after white cop Derek Chauvin stuck him to the ground and bowed on his neck for over eight minutes while the 46-year-old bound man wheezed for breath.
The recording, which became a web sensation, indicated Floyd begging the official, saying he can't relax. The four cops found in the recording have since been charged. Floyd's passing has activated broad fights over the US and in numerous different nations.
Johnson took to web based life on Sunday to state that the counter bigotry reason for the exhibits had been deceived by the "thuggery" of some protestors as the Metropolitan Police made 12 captures for open request offenses just as criminal harm to landmarks in focal London.

"Individuals reserve a privilege to dissent calmly and keeping in mind that watching social removing however they reserve no option to assault the police," said Johnson.

BBC to cut 450 jobs in modernisation plan focused on digital journalism

Current Affairs
The BBC has said that plans to "modernize" the British telecaster's newsroom will prompt the loss of an expected 450 employments. The slices speak to a significant hit to the national open assistance telecaster, which has gained notoriety for top notch news and amusement programs.
BBC News utilizes around 6,000 individuals, including 1,700 outside the UK, as indicated by an article about the activity cuts on its site. Fran Unsworth, BBC's executive of news and current undertakings, said the streamlining will be completed with an eye on computerized news coverage.
"We have to reshape BBC News for the following decade in a manner which sets aside significant measures of cash," Unsworth said on Wednesday. "We are spending a lot of our assets on conventional straight communicating and insufficient on computerized." The supporter said it needs to "decrease duplication" while sparing 80 million pounds ($105 million) in costs.
Like customary news outlets all through the world, the openly supported BBC faces money related and political weight in a quick changing media scene. The two supporters and pundits of Brexit have censured BBC's inclusion of the UK's approaching takeoff from the European Union. A few authorities in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative government have proposed changing the BBC's financing model.

The telecaster as of now is financed generally through a 154 pound (USD 200) yearly charge paid by each family with a TV. It isn't state-controlled, despite the fact that the administration sets the conditions of the supporter's sanction, which is restored once every decade. The telecaster additionally got negative inclusion over the pay rates of some in the news division that were viewed as excessively high and for a hole between what the BBC's ladies writers made contrasted with male partners...Read More

UK elections: Johnson headed for majority, Labour loses ground in heartland

Election News
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks set to return to 10 Downing Street with a comfortable majority and a victory for his Get Brexit Done message in the General Election based on forecasts as early results poured in on Friday.
The first sign of what the results held in store came with a definitive exit poll released at the close of voting at 2200 GMT on Thursday, which predicted the Johnson-led Conservative Party winning 368 seats, with the Labour Party way down at 191 in a predominantly Tory blue versus Labour red contest.
The forecast not only pegged the Tories way past the 326-mark required for the all-important majority in the 650-member House of Commons, but also meant Johnson's so-called divorce agreement struck with the European Union (EU) to take the UK out of the 28-member economic bloc set to be turbo-charged to go full speed ahead.
This has been a hard-fought election in a very cold time of the year because we needed a functioning Conservative majority, said Priti Patel, the senior-most Indian-origin minister in Johnson's last Cabinet, in response to the exit poll.We are committed to deliver on priorities and getting Brexit done is a priority. The deal is there, we want to move forward, she said.
The Opposition Labour Party, which looked set for one of its worst performances since 1935 as the so-called red wall of the party's heartlands towards the north of England looked set for significant knockdowns, conceded that voters seemed to have voted strongly on the basis of Brexit.

Brexit has dominated this election. If the results are anywhere near the exit polls, this is an extremely disappointing result, admitted Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell.The first couple of results were some relief for the Labour Party as its candidates clinched the traditionally held Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Central and Houghton and Sunderland South seats, albeit with reduced majority...Read More

Johnson's 'get Brexit done' worked, but there is a reality check waiting

Election News
Prime Minister Boris Johnson appears set for a sweeping election victory on a promise to "Get Brexit done", but there is a reality check waiting for jaded voters who are feeling relieved that the messy divorce seems to be finally over.
It's just the beginning.
With early vote-counting indicating a handsome Conservative majority, Johnson should be able to finally secure parliamentary approval for the withdrawal agreement he struck with the European Union in October so that Brexit happens on Jan. 31.
Britain will then go into a status-quo transition period until the end of 2020, which Johnson has said leaves ample time to negotiate a new relationship with the EU, including on trade.
But EU diplomats and officials say the following issues will be sticking points which, if not ironed out, could yet take Britain to the cliff edge of a no-deal exit one year from now.
Time
The EU hopes to start trade talks with Britain by March, leaving just 10 months to strike a deal and get it approved by London and the EU, including member states' parliaments.

Trade agreements with the EU typically take years to complete, and few in Brussels believe the transition period will be long enough to seal a deal with Britain.The transition period can be prolonged by one or two years but London must request an extension by the end of June...Read More

Karti Chidambaram pens letter to father on birthday; takes dig at BJP govt

International News

On the 74th birthday of former finance minister P Chidambaram, his son Karti wrote a letter to him, mostly taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In his letter, Karti criticised the government and its ministers, citing various recent events.
At the beginning of the letter, Karti wished his father and said that "no 56!!! can stop you", a clear jibe at PM Modi. He said the family would have been glad to celebrate the birthday at home, and added "turning 74 is nothing compared to turning 100 days old". (The BJP government just completed 100 days in office).
P Chidambaram now has access to newspapers and limited television in the prison. Karti, through his letter, got him up to speed with the recent events that his father missed due to unavailability of mass media. He informed that Chandrayaan-2 failed to soft-land on the moon. He wrote that PM Modi took the opportunity to console K Sivan, the chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) which according to him was more of theatrics. Karti mentioned Piyush Goyal's 'Einstein and gravity' gaffe too.
He wrote that the government had been celebrating its 100 days in office which was nothing more than celebration of failures.
He informed P Chidambaram about the failing economy, car sale slump, Sensex hitting new lows, and more such events.

 He talked about the plight of the people of Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and said that he was better off than them despite being in jail. He said that the BJP government had been trying to celebrate a bad patch of their tenure and they could not have found a better time to silence him...Read More

Collapse us if you can, British government dares Brexit opponents

Current Affairs

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government on Thursday challenged opponents of Brexit to collapse the government or change the law if they wanted to thwart Britain's exit from the European Union.
More than three years since the Brexit referendum, the UK is heading towards its gravest constitutional crisis and a showdown with the EU over Brexit due in just 63 days.
In his boldest step since becoming PM, Johnson enraged opponents of a no-deal Brexit by ordering the suspension of Parliament for almost a month.
The speaker of the lower house of Parliament, John Bercow, said that was a constitutional outrage as it limited the time the 800-year-old heart of English democracy has to debate and shape the course of British history.
But Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Brexit supporter in charge of managing government business in Parliament, dared opponents to do their worst. “All these people who are wailing and gnashing of teeth know that there are two ways of doing what they want to do,” he said.
“One, is to change the government and the other is to change the law. If they do either of those that will then have an effect. If they don't have either the courage or the gumption to do either of those, then we will leave on October 31 in accordance with the referendum result.”
Johnson’s move to suspend Parliament for longer than usual was cheered by US President Donald Trump but provoked criticism from some lawmakers and media. “Boris is obviously preparing for an election,” said Conservative lawmaker Ken Clarke.
Ruth Davidson quit as leader of the Conservative Party in Scotland on Thursday, saying she could no longer juggle the demands of being a mother with the balancing act of Brexit...Read More

'I don't know what he will do': Europe braces for Brexit with Boris Johnson

International News

Boris Johnson’s last act as Britain’s foreign secretary was to gather a host of European dignitaries in London and fail to turn up.
As the group of ministers waited in a conference center in London’s docklands last summer, text messages flooded in: Mr. Johnson had just quit the British government in protest over its handling of Brexit. “Well, it’s all rather happening, isn’t it?” said Alan Duncan, a British foreign office minister who was playing host amid the diplomatic mess, according to people present. European officials laughed, and some expressed relief that Mr. Johnson was gone.
Mr. Johnson may now be set to return this week, this time as Britain’s prime minister, and European officials say they don’t know what to expect.
Over the course of his career—including his leadership of the Brexit campaign and his rocky tenure as Britain’s foreign secretary—Mr. Johnson has proved to be unpredictable. He has survived scandals, and against the odds won the race to be mayor of London as well as the referendum to quit the EU. He promotes leaving the world’s biggest trade bloc but also markets himself as pro-globalization and pro-business.
In his two years as foreign secretary, he at times alarmed his European counterparts: He once compared former French President François Hollande to a World War II prison guard and likened the highly technical Brexit talks to trading Legos for candy.

 Other times, he charmed them. His former aides recall being overwhelmed by demands from foreign ministers for bilateral meetings with the man they just called “Boris.” He has delved into deep discussions with officials about ancient Greek history and lobbied hard in Washington to defend the EU’s stance on Iran...Read More