Vladimir Putin’s recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent has escalated Russia’s slow annexation of Ukrainian territories. This is a violation of international law, according to Marija Pejčinović Burić, secretary general of the Council of Europe, the continent’s top organisation to promote human rights and democracy. Since Russia is aContinue Reading
When allegations arose some years ago that former prime minister David Cameron had behaved obscenely with a pig’s head during a Bullingdon Club event while at the University of Oxford, he distanced himself from the controversial group, saying: These were the years after the ITV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited, whenContinue Reading
Lenin may still have statues in Ukraine but he didn't invent the country, despite what Putin may say. Ferran Cornellà via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-NC Vladimir Putin has long insisted Ukraine is part of the country he rules. “Kiev is the mother of Russian cities. Ancient Rus is our commonContinue Reading
Commenting on the Prime Minister’s Living With COVID strategy, Plymouth Sutton and Devonport MP Luke Pollard said: “The Prime Minister promised a plan for living with COVID, but he has left us in chaos and disarray. “It is shocking that Boris Johnson is scrapping free testing for most people, endingContinue Reading
Russia’s recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, and fears of a military attack on Ukraine, have once again drawn the world’s attention to these two rebel-held separatist regions. They have been outside Ukrainian government control since Russian-backed separatists fought Ukrainian forces to a standstill in 2014, a conflictContinue Reading
Russia has started evacuating its embassy in Kyiv and Ukraine urged its citizens to leave Russia as the region braced for further confrontation after Vladimir Putin received authorisation to use military force outside his country and the West responded with sanctions. Hopes for a diplomatic way out of a potentiallyContinue Reading
Vladimir Putin’s recognition of the independence of the two breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk followed a surreal live broadcast of a security council meeting in the Kremlin. Sitting facing the 13-member council, Putin cajoled and argued as, one by one, his most senior officials – including Dmitry Medvedev, aContinue Reading
The conflict in Ukraine is changing rapidly. In the latest escalation, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, declared two separatist areas of Ukraine as independent, and used this as the pretext to send in Russian troops for what he termed “peacekeeping operations”. The world is now watching to see whether thisContinue Reading
Dream of a caliphate as an Islamist homeland is receding. Mohammad Bash via Shutterstock A “proto-state”, a “socio-political movement, the ”beast“ – all names given to a single group that, at its height, seemed to embody the west’s worst nightmare. Islamic State appeared to be a motivated, well-led insurgency groupContinue Reading
Spyware and covert monitoring devices can be exploited to abusive ends. Trismegist san | Shutterstock Perpetrators of domestic abuse are increasingly exploiting digital tools to coerce and control their victims. Where there is abuse in a relationship, technology will also feature in how that abuse is conducted. Police forces nowContinue Reading
