Kamis, 10 Februari 2022
UK Russia talks fail to reach agreements on Ukraine crisis - BBC News - BBC News
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2022-02-10 17:30:05Z
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Russia-Ukraine crisis: Ministers get new powers to sanction Russia after Truss's stormy talks in Moscow - Sky News
The Foreign Office has signed off tougher sanctions on Russia just hours ahead of a self-imposed deadline - and after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss held stormy talks with her counterpart in Moscow.
New legislation was laid in parliament on Thursday that gives ministers the power to impose tough new sanctions on Russian oligarchs and businesses.
The Foreign Office said the legislation would allow the UK to sanction those linked directly to Russia's agitation over Ukraine, as well as Kremlin-linked organisations and businesses of "economic and strategic significance" to the Russian government.
This includes their owners, directors and trustees.
'A conversation between a dumb and a deaf person'
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Earlier on Thursday, Ms Truss was involved in testy exchanges with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov as they met in Moscow.
He characterised the meeting as a "conversation between a dumb and a deaf person".
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"It seems like we listen but don't hear," he added.
"At least, our most detailed explanations fell on unprepared soil. They say Russia is waiting until the ground freezes like a stone so its tanks can easily cross into Ukrainian territory.
"I think the ground was like that today with our British colleagues - from which numerous facts that we produced bounced off."
But, pushing back against Mr Lavrov's statement, Ms Truss said: "I certainly was not mute in our discussions earlier.
"I put forward the UK's point of view on the current situation and the fact that, as well as seeking to deter Russia from an invasion into Ukraine, we are also very resolute in pursuing the diplomatic path."
She added there were "further talks to be had" between Russia and the West over the Ukraine crisis.
Truss meeting not a triumph of diplomacy
This was very far from a meeting of minds.
Sergei Lavrov said at the start that relations left a lot to be desired and that ultimatums and threats would lead nowhere. That seems to have been what he got.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss's suggestions of possible talks with NATO on transparency and confidence-building measures weren't likely to give a sense to Russia that the UK was taking what Russia sees as its legitimate security concerns seriously.
Mr Lavrov had already poured scorn on NATO’s response to Russia’s security guarantee proposals, saying there was nothing in there that Russia could engage with. Asking Russia to stick to a diplomatic path without giving it anything to keep it there is a challenge. In any case, it may also be only the US that Russia listens to.
There’s also the awkward story doing the rounds that when Mr Lavrov asked Ms Truss whether she recognised Russian sovereignty over Rostov and Voronezh oblasts, both in Russia, she said she would "never" do so. The British ambassador then had to tell her they were not in Ukraine.
The UK embassy issued a statement in Russian on Twitter quoting the foreign secretary as having said she’d thought Mr Lavrov was talking about Ukraine and that she’d indicated to him they were part of sovereign Russia. It seems a stretch.
Britain had an important message to bring and Ms Truss clearly brought it. She was resolute in the face of diplomatic bullying and stood up for Ukrainian sovereignty, as she needed to. But on Russia's "Diplomats' Day", this was not a triumph of diplomacy.
Foreign Office strives to meet self-imposed deadline
The foreign secretary had previously said that new sanctions legislation aimed at Russia would be "in place" by 10 February.
Critics questioned whether Thursday's announcement meant the Foreign Office had indeed met its own deadline.
Labour MP Chris Bryant said the legislation would "require a vote" in the House of Commons before becoming law.
He highlighted how MPs were now on recess for the next 10 days and without such a vote having taken place.
However, a Whitehall source stressed that existing post-Brexit sanctions legislation allowed ministers to bring in further powers with immediate effect.
Parliament will be asked whether to keep or scrap the new powers within the next 28 days, the source added.
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0:42Commenting on the new powers, Ms Truss said: "The UK is resolute in its support for Ukraine's sovereignty and right to self-determination.
"We urge Russia to de-escalate and choose the path of diplomacy. If Russia persists with its aggression towards Ukraine the UK and its partners will not hesitate to act."
The Foreign Office said the new Russia-focussed legislation would provide the framework for the strongest sanctions regime the UK has had against Russia.
Targets could include the country's chemical, defence, mining, oil, gas, communications and financial services industries.
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2022-02-10 18:51:20Z
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Kamila Valieva: Russian star practices as usual at Beijing Olympics despite reports of positive drug test - Sky News
Russian superstar figure skater Kamila Valieva has turned up for training as usual at the Beijing Olympics - amid reports the 15-year-old has tested positive for a banned substance.
A medal ceremony for Russia's recent team figure skating gold win - where Valieva hit two quad jumps - has subsequently been suspended.
Russian newspaper RBC reported that Valieva tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned heart medication, before the Beijing Games.
It is the first big doping case at the Beijing Olympics that involves one of its favourite young stars.
Age is a factor
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Matters have been made more complex due to Valieva's age, which can give her extra protection.
The World Anti-Doping Code classes minors as a "person who has not reached the age of 18 years" - and the question of identifying them "shall be proportionate to the facts and circumstances of the case".
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It could mean that the circumstances of Valieva's case will focus on the advice and decisions of her team officials and coaches.
On Wednesday, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said that "legal consultation" was required between the Olympic committee and the International Skating Union.
He refrained from revealing further details - but confirmed that "athletes that have won medals" are involved.
Practice as usual
Valieva - who became the first woman to land a quadruple jump in the Olympic competition - practised as usual on Thursday morning and skated with teammate Alexandra Trusova.
She was also seen getting tips from coach Eteri Tutberidze at the practice rink and even flashed a smile to another one of her coaches near the end of the half-an-hour session.
None of the skaters at practice took questions from reporters.
What is trimetazidine and why is it at the centre of Russian Olympic controversy?
Trimetazidine is a fatty acid oxidation inhibitor used to prevent and treat the symptoms of angina, or chest pain due to a lack of blood supply and oxygen to the heart.
Sometimes referred to as TMZ, the drug is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Trimetazidine makes the heart better at pumping blood to the rest of the body; it makes the heart muscle "optimally functional". Increased blood flow delivers more oxygen to the body's muscles, which helps them perform better — a clear benefit to athletes.
It is also used to treat the symptoms of vertigo - a spinning sensation.
And it can help treat tinnitus and reduced vision and blurred vision due to problems affecting the blood vessels.
The angina drug has garnered media attention recently in connection to the 2022 Winter Olympics, but it has been on the radar of anti-doping authorities for years.
In 2014, the Olympic gold medallist, Chinese swimmer Sun Yang, tested positive for the Trimetazidine. However, the athlete's doctor said he had prescribed the drug since 2008 to treat the swimmer's heart palpitations and dizziness.
Her attendance at training implies that the federation is not accepting any finding that would eliminate her - and it is unclear if Russia is appealing or fighting the result.
"She is not suspended," Russian figure skating federation spokeswoman Olga Ermolina said, providing no further detail.
The first sign of a problem with the results of the three-day team competition came when the medal ceremony was postponed indefinitely after Russia won gold, the US silver, and Japan bronze.
Positive test could be detrimental for Russian team
Russia could lose its gold medal from the team competition due to a positive test, and it could also threaten Valieva's chance of winning the individual competition that begins on Tuesday.
The US team would be elevated to the gold medal for the first time in the event if Russia is disqualified, and Japan would be awarded silver. Fourth-place finisher Canada would receive the bronze medal.
The sample was reportedly obtained in December, when the teenager was still in Russia.
It reportedly did not come to light until after she had helped her team win the gold medal with her dynamic performances on Sunday.
It is also unclear whether the Russian star applied for a therapeutic use exemption or has a history of heart problems.
Reporters asked the Kremlin about the reported doping issue.
"Let's, for the sake of understanding, wait for some explanations either from our sports officials or from the IOC," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Traditional doping is uncommon in figure skating since more muscle mass is seen as a negative. However, many skaters have been caught trying to control their weight with diuretics over the years, which are banned for their ability to mask steroid use and other medications that could affect performance.
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2022-02-10 05:47:36Z
CBMijAFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9rYW1pbGEtdmFsaWV2YS1ydXNzaWFuLXN0YXItcHJhY3RpY2VzLWFzLXVzdWFsLWF0LWJlaWppbmctb2x5bXBpY3MtZGVzcGl0ZS1yZXBvcnRzLW9mLXBvc2l0aXZlLWRydWctdGVzdC0xMjUzNzg5MtIBkAFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9hbXAva2FtaWxhLXZhbGlldmEtcnVzc2lhbi1zdGFyLXByYWN0aWNlcy1hcy11c3VhbC1hdC1iZWlqaW5nLW9seW1waWNzLWRlc3BpdGUtcmVwb3J0cy1vZi1wb3NpdGl2ZS1kcnVnLXRlc3QtMTI1Mzc4OTI
Ukraine-Russia tensions: Hard talks ahead in Moscow as Liz Truss prepares to lay down the law - Sky News
The last foreign secretary to visit Russia was Boris Johnson in 2017. Things weren't easy then and that was before the Salisbury poisonings. They are a lot harder now.
Liz Truss will meet a wily, combative and much more experienced counterpart in Sergei Lavrov - who takes no prisoners.
Whether they manage to make any diplomatic headway depends on what the foreign secretary says once she's delivered her main message - which the Russians know already - that they must stop their aggression and de-escalate and that the UK has a powerful sanctions package ready to go if they don't.
That sanctions regime was supposed to be in place by now; it's not. That removes one barb from the Truss armoury.
Plus there's the long-promised Economic Crime Bill, which languishes awaiting a hearing years after the Russia Report advised the government to take urgent action.
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London is flooded with Russian wealth but most of it at this late stage has very little to do with President Vladimir Putin or the people who influence his thinking. That ship sailed long ago.
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On the more immediate issue at hand - if an answer is to be found to Russia's security concerns whilst upholding Ukrainian sovereignty, it will require creative diplomatic solutions which the UK may or may not play one small part of.
All stick and no carrot from the West gives Russia little reason to keep talking.
"There are reasons for the Russians to actually have genuine concerns about the way the world and European security architecture is structured," says Mark Galeotti, director of Mayak Intelligence and an expert on Russian security affairs.
In Moscow to meet Foreign Minister Lavrov and make clear that Russia must immediately withdraw its forces and respect Ukraine’s sovereignty or face severe consequences.
Any incursion would be a huge mistake. Diplomacy is the only way forward and Russia must pursue that path. pic.twitter.com/weIAnr60Nh
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) February 9, 2022
"Just simply telling the Russians that NATO is a defensive alliance, you have no security concerns, is not going to convince them.
"We may well think it is ridiculously overblown but unless we're actually willing to hear them out, they will have no incentive to continue the talks. And if we push Putin to the situation where essentially he is faced with a choice between escalation and capitulation, he's very unlikely to capitulate."
Two-day ministerial double-act
This is the first in a two-day ministerial double-act. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace will meet his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, in Moscow on Friday.
While Mr Lavrov is a seasoned diplomat, he still essentially conveys the messages up. Mr Shoigu is legitimately close to the Russian president and that's not just because of shared, shirtless hunting holidays in Siberia. So both these meetings could pack a punch if each side feels there's enough in them to keep talking.
Then there are the other, harder nuts to crack - the so-called siloviki or security men around Mr Putin who may be watching but who the UK won't have access to.
Men like the head of the Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, or the heads of the security agencies, the SVR and FSB respectively - Sergei Naryshkin and Alexander Bortnikov, who rose up with Mr Putin through the ranks of the KGB and hold in the main part a hardline, anti-liberal, anti-western agenda.
For them, it's the United States which counts (for most of the political elite, in fact). They may even see further escalation as beneficial.
"If tomorrow, Russia goes to war with Ukraine and faces sanctions and huge risks for the economy, from my point of view, it won't really scare the siloviki because they believe that this will make the relationship with the US more frank and open," says Tatiana Stanovaya, who is an expert on Russian politics and founder of political think tank R.Politik.
"They will have more opportunities to deal with the United States and to create, inter-body shadow contacts whilst sidelining the diplomats."
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8:31UK playing hardball wins 'respect' in Russia
The UK holds a specific position vis-a-vis Russia - not Europe, it is more hardline than Europe, but not quite the United States either.
"There is a sense the UK plays hardball and that actually wins you a certain amount of respect in Russia," Mr Galeotti says. "In some ways, it's liberated too by the fact that UK-Russian relations really have very little way down further to go."
The foreign secretary came in for criticism for even coming to Moscow but that is the job of the diplomat and the UK cannot encourage Russia to take the diplomatic path whilst refusing to engage in it.
Their meeting will be short - a little over an hour, not exactly enough for peace in our time. At least though with Mr Lavrov's fluent English, there will be no time or nuance lost to translations.
Perhaps just long enough to get beyond the mutual recriminations and see where the meeting takes them.
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2022-02-09 22:51:51Z
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US warns that Russia still ramping up military activity near Ukraine - Financial Times
US officials have warned that Russia has continued to ramp up its military activity around the Ukrainian border, despite a flurry of diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis including a high-profile visit to Moscow this week by French president Emmanuel Macron.
The White House and the Pentagon on Wednesday said Moscow was increasing its military presence near Ukraine, even though Macron earlier this week said Russian president Vladimir Putin had assured him there would be no “deterioration or escalation” in the stand-off.
“We have continued to see even over the last 24 hours additional capabilities flow from elsewhere in Russia to that border with Ukraine and Belarus,” John Kirby, Pentagon spokesperson, said.
“The numbers continue to grow. We maintain that he’s north of 100,000 [troops] for sure. And he continues to add to that capability. We also see indications that additional battalion tactical groups are on their way. And so every day he adds to his options,” Kirby added.
Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, said: “What we’re looking at here [is] whether or not Russia is taking de-escalatory steps. They are not. They are taking escalatory, not de-escalatory, steps. We certainly hope that changes.”
After his visit to Moscow on Monday, Macron said he had fulfilled his aim of “arranging things to prevent an escalation and open up new avenues” for diplomacy. The French president then travelled to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Biden met Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, on Monday in a bid to portray unity between Washington and Berlin and warn Moscow that it would face severe economic sanctions if it went ahead with an invasion of Ukraine.
US and European Nato members remained adamant that a diplomatic solution to the stand-off was still their preferred option and that the path to an agreement with Moscow was still open.
But there are concerns in Washington and in some European capitals that a combination of the threat of sanctions, troop deployments to eastern European allies, aid to Ukraine and diplomatic exchanges with Russia have failed to yield concrete results.
Biden and Macron spoke on Wednesday about the French president’s meetings in Russia and Ukraine. They discussed “ongoing diplomatic and deterrence efforts”, according to a White House account of their conversation.
During the Pentagon briefing, Kirby confirmed a report in the Wall Street Journal that some of the 1,700 US troops deployed to Poland recently could be used to help evacuate US citizens who might try to cross the Ukrainian border following a Russian invasion.
Kirby urged Americans in Ukraine to pay “close attention” to the warnings from the US government that they should be leaving the country in the face of the Russian threat.
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2022-02-09 22:26:05Z
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Rabu, 09 Februari 2022
US university in $250m payout for doctor's sex abuse - BBC News
The University of California has agreed to pay nearly $250m (£185m) to over 200 women who allege they were sexually assaulted by a campus gynaecologist.
Multiple women accuse the university's Los Angeles site (UCLA) of deliberately hiding James Heaps' alleged sexual abuse of patients.
Mr Heaps was based at the UCLA student health centre during his 35-year career between 1983 and 2018.
Hundreds of women, some of whom had cancer, say they were abused by him.
The university did not begin investigating complaints against Mr Heaps until 2017. It has been accused in hundreds of lawsuits of deliberately hiding the gynaecologist's alleged sexual abuse of patients.
His medical licence was suspended by a judge in 2019 for the duration of the sex abuse case.
The university said it hoped the financial settlement would provide "healing and closure" for the women involved.
Mr Heaps faces 21 criminal counts of sexual abuse against seven women and has pleaded not guilty.
"The conduct alleged to have been committed by Heaps is reprehensible and contrary to the University's values," a UCLA statement said on Tuesday. "Our first and highest obligation will always be to the communities we serve, and we hope this settlement is one step toward providing healing and closure for the plaintiffs involved."
But Kara Cagle, a breast cancer survivor who reported Mr Heaps while she was undergoing treatment at the university, told the Los Angeles Times: "Today, after eight long years, I received recognition of what happened to me.
"Although there is some consolation in that, my heart breaks for all the women who were not spared, all the women who suffered after me, because UCLA refused to act."
Tuesday's settlement does not halt an ongoing lawsuit by more than 300 patients.
Last July, a federal judge approved a $73m settlement against Mr Heaps, which was brought by more than 5,500 women.
According to lawyers in the case, he was once the highest paid doctor in the entire University of California system.
John C Manley, a lawyer representing one of the women who has filed criminal charges against Mr Heaps, alleged he was a sophisticated predator who committed abuse under the guise of normal medical examinations.
"He was a board-certified gynaecologist and a board-certified oncologist. Most of the women... were there because they had cancer or they thought they had cancer," Mr Manley told the BBC.
The federal lawsuits said that Mr Heaps was not properly investigated until the university received a complaint in 2017, and that he was allowed to continue seeing patients during the inquiry into his actions, and even after the university told him that his contract would not be renewed.
The latest payout follows a series of a large settlements with US universities over patient abuse by campus doctors.
Last month, the University of Michigan reached a $490m settlement with more than 1,000 people who say they were abused by a sports doctor during his four-decade career.
Meanwhile, three women are suing another of America's most prestigious colleges, Harvard, on the grounds it also ignored sexual harassment allegations.
Professor John Comaroff, an anthropologist, denies their allegations that he kissed and groped them.
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2022-02-09 06:03:34Z
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Selasa, 08 Februari 2022
Canada truckers: Arrests as police warn of 'volatile' protesters - BBC News
Ottawa police have warned that "volatile" and "determined" protesters remain in Canada's capital after nearly two weeks of a trucker-led anti-vaccine mandate protest.
Ottawa is under a state of emergency as police have tried to contain the chaos.
Up to a quarter of so-called Freedom Convoy vehicles have children in them who could be at risk during operations, authorities said on Tuesday.
Nearly 80 criminal investigations have been opened relating to the protests.
Some two dozen arrests have been made so far.
While most of the protest has been peaceful, police have been concerned about the extremist rhetoric coming from far-right groups at the rally. As well as reported racial and homophobic abuse, Nazi symbols have been displayed and protesters danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National War Memorial.
Officers have issued tickets and warned people away, but have been met with protesters determined to stay, and even a fake bomb threat which authorities said was intended to "deceive and distract" police.
One officer was reportedly attacked while attempting to seize fuel from a protest truck.
Speaking to press on Tuesday, deputy police chief Steve Bell said: "Our message to the demonstrators remains the same: Don't come. If you do, there will be consequences."
Incidents under police investigation include alleged hate crimes and property damage.
Mr Bell also disclosed on Tuesday that police had found about 100 trucks with children in them and contacted Children Aid Society overs concerns with noise, fumes and hygiene.
Some 740 miles (1,190 km) away from Ottawa, Canada's busiest border crossing was partially reopened on Tuesday after protesting truckers ground traffic to a standstill.
Truckers rallying in solidarity with those in Ottawa had blocked the Ambassador Bridge on Monday night, forcing vehicles to take long detours.
The bridge over the Detroit River is a vital trade link between it and the US, with more than 40,000 people and $323m (£238m) worth of goods cross it daily.
According to police in Michigan and Windsor, protesters had forced authorities to close it shortly before 21:00 local time on Monday - just hours after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had accused the demonstrators of attempting to "blockade our economy".
Hundreds of vehicles were backed up for miles as travellers were warned by Canadian police to reroute.
While now open for travel from Canada to the US, across the other side, the Michigan Department of Transportation said the bridge remained closed and advised drivers to divert to nearby Port Huron to head into Canada. Business groups in the US and Canada called the blockade "an attack on the well-being of our citizens and the businesses that employ them", and demanded a full reopening.
As traffic continued to ensnare the area, demonstrators in Ottawa faced anger from local residents even as many insisted that they were protesting peacefully and with righteousness.
"There's been nothing but love, unity and peace out here," said John Van Vleet, a trucker from Ontario. "It's important for me to come down here to fight for my freedoms," he said.
However, Ottawans have said the atmosphere has been tense, especially on weekends when thousands of protesters have descended upon the city's downtown core, spilling into nearby streets.
"We're all fed up," said Marika Morris, a resident. "They don't have a right to take us hostage".
Ottawa has been under a state of emergency since Sunday.
Even before that, the city centre had been paralysed for a week as hundreds of lorries parked downtown and gatherings of protesters had forced businesses to close.
Residents' nerves were also being frayed by constantly blaring air horns. On Monday, an Ottawa judge ruled that the truckers must stop honking their horns for 10 days.
The so-called Freedom Convoy began on 9 January in western Canada as truckers protested against a rule that requires them to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to cross the US-Canada border. The demonstrations have morphed to include anger at a raft of Covid-19 restrictions and at Mr Trudeau's government generally.
Demonstrations have also spread to other Canadian cities, including Toronto and Vancouver. Internationally, there have been rallies of support in New Zealand's capital Wellington and Canberra in Australia.
A divided city
Jessica Murphy, BBC News, Ottawa
For city blocks, in the centre of the national capital, massive trucks are parked, many decorated with signs calling for an end to vaccine mandates - or simply "Freedom".
Up to 500 such trucks are estimated to be in Ottawa's downtown right now and many have been there for going on 12 days.
The fences in front of the parliament building are covered in hundreds of handwritten protest signs expressing support for their cause.
The protesters say that theirs is a cause all Canadians should applaud - but after nearly a fortnight of blaring horns and streets shut by blockaders and police, many residents of Ottawa see it differently.
"They've done their protest and should have been sent home a long time ago," David, a local business owner said.
Holding a sign opposing the protests, he said he has got some supportive honks and thumbs up from passers-by. But he's also been yelled at by protesters, or bumped into and pushed, and they've tried to take his sign.
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2022-02-08 21:11:08Z
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