Russia notified the Council of Europe on Tuesday that it would leave the group after members indicated a move to expel it from the pan-European rights body.
The decision ends Russia's 26-year membership of the Council of Europe, making it no longer a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights. Nato earlier on Tuesday warned of the possibility of Russia conducting a "false flag" chemical weapons attack. Meanwhile, the leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia travelled to Kyiv in support of Ukraine as the city came under shelling from Russian forces. They met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. A new wave of air strikes on residential areas in Kyiv killed at least two people, emergency services said, the morning after the US Pentagon claimed Russia's ground offensive had largely “stalled” outside the capital. Read More : https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2022/02/18/russia-ukraine-latest-news/
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An Indian High Court has ruled that the traditional hijab is not a critical part of Muslim religious practice, after a petition was filed to challenge a government ban on wearing the headscarves in educational institutions. Six Muslim students had petitioned the Karnataka High Court to declare the hijab as part of their essential religious practices after a row erupted in the southern state over the use of religious symbols in schools and colleges. The court dismissed three petitions and upheld the government ban. “Wearing of hijab is not essential religious practice of Islamic faith,” said Chief Justice Rituraj Awasthi. The court had earlier passed an interim order banning any religious clothing in education institutions and had reserved its ruling on February 25 after daily hearings for nearly two weeks. Before Tuesday's verdict, the state had banned large gatherings for a week in several parts of the state including capital Bengaluru "to maintain public peace and order". Protests and counter-protests marked the opening of schools in the communally sensitive state in December and January, with the government shutting down educational institutions over fears of violence. Controversy over the hijab had been brewing for months after six Muslim students at the state-run Women's Pre-University College in Udupi were barred from entering classrooms while wearing hijabs, in late December. The move sparked protests by Muslim students outside the college campus, demanding that they be allowed to attend regular classes. The protests intensified and spread to other colleges after the government defended the hijab ban. Tensions soared after hundreds of Hindu students wearing saffron scarves — a colour used by hardline Hindu nationalists — rallied at campuses and on the streets to counter Muslim female students demanding the right to wear the hijab. The students marched chanting "Jai Shri Ram", a traditional Hindu salutation that has in recent years become a war cry, and heckled some hijab-wearing students. Several incidents of stone-pelting were reported in the region and police used tear gas to disperse crowds. The issue soon snowballed into a national political controversy and several opposition political leaders accused the government of allowing the situation to go out of hand. But the state government run by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party defended the decision, saying that the educational institutions have the right to prescribe and enforce rules on the wearing of uniform, including a no-hijab policy under the Karnataka Education Act-1983 that makes uniform compulsory. Rajeev Jhawar has been the Managing Director of Usha Martin Limited since May 19, 2008. He is also a director of the Neutral Publishing House Limited. Rajeev Jhawar has been the Vice Chairman of Usha Martin Education and Solutions Limited since September 2010. The company has been bringing rich experience in the management of industrial enterprises for more than a decade. His leadership qualities, sharp business acumen, deep understanding of business administration and strategic decisions led the group to a high growth trajectory as a whole. Rajeev Jhawar shares his observation about the industry post covid. After the corona virus the industry witnessed a pandemic and subsequent lockdowns disrupted overall economic activity. The Indian steel industry struggled to keep pace with the sharp fall in steel demand. Adverse market conditions forced steelmakers to cut their operations by up to 50% by the end of 2019-20 and early 2020-21. Further he also makes his views on the various stimulus measure taken by the government to enhance the growth of the economy. Rajeev Jhawar, managing director, UML, said the various measures announced by the central government to stimulate the economy are likely to bear fruit after the monsoon. While the pandemic has not yet eradicated completely, the growth is likely to occur as all the industries had learnt to live together with the pandemic. Rajeev said while the demand for wire rope in the international market was very modest, domestic demand in various sectors was very low due to the lockdown in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Rajeev jhawar says that their plant is currently operating at 50-55% of the installed capacity. However, export demand is good and we are supported by the depreciation of the rupee, he said. The company expects capacity to increase by the second half of this financial year once the covid situation is brought under control and domestic demand picks up. All 81 operational Bitcoin cashpoints in the UK must shut down after being declared illegal by the country’s financial regulator.
The Financial Conduct Authority has written to the providers with the directive, and raised the prospect of enforcement if it is not obeyed. Most of Britain’s cryptocurrency ATMs are found in convenience shops and supermarkets, and they too have been written to by the FCA. The machines allow users to to exchange cash for Bitcoin but have scant security checks, especially for smaller amounts, and none of their providers are licensed. This has led to concerns they could be used for money laundering, prompting the FCA to act. “We have warned operators of crypto ATMs in the UK to shut their machines down or face enforcement action,” the regulator said. “Crypto ATMs offering crypto-asset exchange services in the UK must be registered with us and comply with UK money laundering regulations. “None of the crypto-asset firms registered with us have been approved to offer crypto ATM services, meaning that any of them operating in the UK are doing so illegally and consumers should not be using them. “We are concerned about crypto ATM machines operating in the UK and will therefore be contacting the operators instructing that the machines be shut down or face further action.” The regulator’s stance is consonant with its well established stringent regulatory approach to crypto. The robustness of its regulation has meant a mere 33 companies are listed on the UK’s crypto-asset register, with a further 22 on a time-limited list permitting trading until the end of March. Th FCA has shut down 110 operators to date, one of which, Gidiplus, failed in an attempt to overturn the ban in court. “We regularly warn consumers that crypto-assets are unregulated and high-risk, which means people are very unlikely to have any protection if things go wrong, so people should be prepared to lose all their money if they choose to invest in them,” said the FCA. Vessels being held on suspicion of illegal shipments of crude
The US has seized two tankers suspected of transporting Iranian oil as part of a sanctions-busting scheme involving forged documents and the repainting of a ship’s deck to conceal illegal shipments. Details of the seizure were contained in a federal civil case after the Greek-managed vessels discharged their cargo, worth more than $38 million, in Houston and the Bahamas at the direction of the US, AP reported. The incident comes as President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that would most likely entail the US lifting sanctions. Talks have been made more urgent by President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine and the US decision to retaliate by banning all Russian oil imports. The ban potentially removes from western markets more than 10 million daily barrels of oil. Some of that lost supply could be made up by Iran, which pumped an average 2.4 million barrels a day last year. Tehran has been able to sell less than half of what it produces because of the sanctions. The journey that led to the ships being intercepted began in the autumn 2020, when the M/T Stark I, an Iranian-owned vessel under US sanctions since 2018, repainted its deck as a means of disguise and to avoid detection by satellite. On October 31 that year, it pulled into a terminal at Kharg Island, Iran, and loaded oil. Four days later, 733,876 barrels were transferred at sea to another tanker, the M/T Arina. During the transfer, both vessels turned off their transponders — a mandatory safety device on all large ships — to avoid being picked up on tracking databases, satellite imagery and data showed. Key to the smuggling operation are dozens of privately owned, foreign-flagged tankers — nicknamed a “ghost armada” — that use various sophisticated techniques to hide their movements. In a cat-and-mouse world, ship-tracking technology has boosted efforts to detect sanctions-evading behaviour by Iran as well as Venezuela, whose oil industry is also under US export restrictions. But seizing oil shipments is rare: before this incident it had been done only twice before. The Panama-flagged Arina — whose last listed manager was Saint James Shipping, based in Athens — had previously been known to illegally ship Iranian crude, US attorneys allege in a civil complaint filed in a Washington federal court. Earlier in 2020 and again on its latest suspect voyage, false documents were created to show crude transported by the ship had originated in Oman, prosecutors allege. From there, the Arina set course for the Suez Canal but experienced numerous delays along the voyage. Eventually, it made it to Istanbul, where it underwent repair work and then Romania, ship tracking data analysed by Jungman showed. Throughout the voyage the ship’s managers failed to find a buyer for the Iranian oil. On August 26, 2021 it transferred 220,793 barrels to the M/T Nostos, off the coast of Cyprus, the complaint alleges. Both the Arina and the Nostos then tried to discharge the oil at a depot in Turkey, Jungman says. Instead, they were detected by US authorities and ordered to unload their cargo, which the Nostos did in Houston around Thanksgiving last year and Arina more recently, in January, in the Bahamas, Jungman says. Iranian officials have suggested they have been able to sell crude oil despite American sanctions. The Central Bank of Iran issued statistics in early February suggesting it made $18.6 billion in oil sales in the first half of this Persian year, as opposed to $8.5bn in the same period last year, the state-run IRAN newspaper reported. Challenges to come, analysts warn, with rising inflation set to trigger interest-rate rise next week
Britain’s economy rebounded much more than expected in January, when the number of infections caused by the Omicron coronavirus variant eased, but the war in Ukraine darkens the outlook. Gross domestic product grew 0.8 per cent on the month in January after a 0.2 per cent decline in December — the strongest monthly expansion since June, according to the Office for National Statistics — with soaring inflation raising the spectre of an interest-rate increase next week. While January’s growth means the economy is now 0.8 per cent bigger than its pre-pandemic peak in February 2020, with growth set to continue in February, economists expect tougher times ahead. “Conflict in Ukraine is putting considerable pressure on energy and commodity prices, which, if sustained, will push inflation even higher than expected,” said Alpesh Paleja, lead economist at the Chamber of British Industry. “The need to press ahead with deploying new power generation — through renewables, nuclear and increasing storage capacity — remains acute.” While the British economy appears stronger than its pre-pandemic size, it remains about 4 per cent smaller than it would have been if it had continued growing at its trend rate for the last decade, according to Reuters. The ONS said output would be about 1.2 per cent below its pre-pandemic size if extra spending on health care was stripped out. In January, hospitality venues gained from a spurt of pent-up demand following the mass cancellation of events before Christmas, with a surge of business in what is typically the quietest month of the year. “Output for food and beverage activities jumped 6.8 per cent, with revellers shrugging off the shock of Omicron and celebrating once more. That helped the overall consumer-facing services sector grow 1.7 per cent,” said Susannah Streeter, a senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. “Building sites also whirred busily in January, with construction rising by 1.1 per cent, while the wholesale and retail trade lifted 2.5 per cent and was the main contributor to January’s growth in services.” However, the biggest driver of growth was human health and social work activities, as the high demand for extra healthcare services ramped up while consumer-facing services are still 6.8 per cent below pre-crisis levels and output from the production sector is 2 per cent below, Ms Streeter said. Responding to the data, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said the Russia-Ukraine conflict had raised uncertainty around the economic outlook. “We have provided unprecedented support throughout the pandemic, which has put our economy in a strong position to deal with current cost of living challenges,” he said. “We know that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is creating significant economic uncertainty and we will continue to monitor its impact on the UK.” Last month, the Bank of England said the economy was on track to grow by about 3.75 per cent this year, with inflation peaking at about 7.25 per cent in April. However, those forecasts have already been eclipsed by the inflationary consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for financial markets and international trade. “The cost of living crisis and the influence of the war in Ukraine probably means this is as good as it gets for the year,” said Paul Dales, chief UK economist at consultancy Capital Economics. Inflation is now expected to gallop past the 8 per cent mark, with some economists even predicting double digit readings of 10 per cent or more. With that in mind, BoE policymakers are expected to raise interest rates next week for the third time in the space of three months. “Given the escalating situation, with fresh sanctions being placed on Russian oil exports and severe disruptions to other commodities, which is set to weigh on businesses and consumers, policymakers are expected to limit the rise to 0.25 per cent, pushing the bank rate to 0.75 per cent,” said Ms Streeter. “The aim will be to try to dampen demand but not squeeze this new spurt life out of the economy, at a time of increased uncertainty.” UK shares rose on Friday following the better-than-expected economic growth, with the mid-cap index on course for its best weekly performance in more than a year. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index gained 0.8 per cent in early trading, rising 2.5 per cent so far in the week. The FTSE mid-cap index climbed 1.1 per cent and was on track for its best week since February 2020. Energy stocks were up 2.1 per cent, rising 5.8 per cent so far this week, supported by a rally in crude oil prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces are bearing down on Kyiv and regrouping north-west of the Ukrainian capital, satellite pictures show Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he wanted to allow volunteers to fight against Ukrainian forces and approved handing over captured western missile systems to Russian-backed rebel fighters. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu proposed handing over US-made anti-tank systems, such as Javelin and Stinger, to fighters from the rebel regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. Mr Putin, at a Russian security council meeting, said he supported such an idea, Reuters reported. He also said that those who wanted to volunteer to fight with Russian-backed forces should be allowed to do so. Mr Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East who were ready to come to fight with Russian-backed forces. Moscow could now be planning an assault on the city within days, the UK said on Friday "Russia is likely seeking to reset and re-posture its forces for renewed offensive activity in the coming days," Britain's Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update. "This will probably include operations against the capital Kyiv." Russia's main attack force in northern Ukraine has been stalled on a motorway north of Kyiv since the initial days of the invasion, having failed in what western countries believe was an initial plan for a lightning assault on the capital. But images released by private US satellite company Maxar showed armoured units manoeuvring in and through towns close to Antonov airport at Hostomel, north-west of Kyiv, which has been the site of intense fighting since Russia landed paratroopers there in the first hours of the war. Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said she hopes a safe corridor will be opened for civilians to leave the besieged southern port city of Mariupol on Friday. Residents have been cowering under fire, and without power or water, in the strategically important city of more than 400,000 people for more than a week and attempts to arrange a local ceasefire and safe passage out have repeatedly failed. "We hope it [the corridor] will work today," Ms Vereshchuk said in a televised statement, in which she said she hoped several other humanitarian corridors would also be opened by Russian forces. A convoy of about 225 people in 50 cars and a bus set out from the city of Enerhodar, heading to nearby Zaporizhzhia in eastern Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia's regional governor said. "We are waiting in Zaporizhzhia," Governor Oleksandr Starukh said on Telegram. Earlier, Russia's defence ministry said it would open humanitarian corridors from Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Chernihiv. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said not a single civilian had been able to leave Mariupol on Thursday although Ukrainian authorities had managed to evacuate almost 40,000 people from five other cities. He blamed Russian shelling for the failure of the evacuation attempt from Mariupol. Russia blames Ukraine for the collapse of humanitarian corridors and denies targeting civilians. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian ambassador to Japan, Sergiy Korsunsky, said on Friday it was possible Mr Putin would be willing to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine. "We will fight until the end, we are not going to live in a Russia-managed state," Mr Korsunsky told Reuters. "There is no reason to believe that he [Putin] can threaten us, as he thinks, to the state that we will overthrow our government and ... embrace Russia after what they have done to us. No way. Therefore he may use nuclear weapons." Late last month, Mr Putin ordered his military command to put Russia's deterrent forces, which include nuclear arms, on high alert, citing what he called aggressive statements by Nato leaders and western economic sanctions against Moscow. Mr Putin has not directly threatened to use nuclear arms. But while announcing the military operation in Ukraine last month, he said after referring to Russia's powerful nuclear arsenal: "Whoever tries to hinder us ... should know that Russia's response will be immediate. And it will lead you to such consequences that you have never encountered in your history." Mr Korsunsky said that Ukraine was relying on its allies to help avoid any kind of escalation. Meanwhile, EU leaders were holding a summit at Versailles Palace outside Paris, which is expected to be dominated by calls for more action to punish Russia, assist Ukraine and cope with an influx of nearly 2.5 million refugees in just two weeks. Western countries have moved swiftly to isolate Russia from world trade and the global financial system. In the latest move, US President Joe Biden will ask the Group of Seven industrialised countries to strip Russia of normal trade rights, known as "most favoured nation status", sources told Reuters. That would mean Russian goods could be subject to new tariffs. Japanese electronics maker has been developing a bigger ‘4680’ cell that will improve vehicle range
Panasonic is moving closer to bringing next generation lithium-ion batteries to the market, which is expected to substantially cut the cost of electric vehicles such as Tesla. The Japanese electronics maker has been developing a bigger “4680” battery that Tesla chief executive Elon Musk believes is key to placing EVs in the $25,000 price bracket. Tesla’s Model 3 starts at about $41,000 with tax incentives. The battery, about five times bigger than those currently supplied to Tesla, would allow the US car maker to lower production costs and improve vehicle range. The 4680 battery will have a “considerable impact” in lowering the cost of EVs, enabling them to spread more widely and, in turn, lower carbon emissions, said Kazuo Tadanobu, chief executive of Panasonic’s energy business. However, surging costs of raw materials, made worse by Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine, are expected to slow and even temporarily reverse the long-term trend of falling costs of batteries, according to Gregory Miller, an analyst at industry forecaster Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. This year could mark the first yearly increase in the average price of lithium-ion battery cells, Mr Miller said. High EV prices matter because mainstream consumers are not going to pay a large premium for technology that many do not yet fully embrace, research company Cox Automotive told Reuters on Tuesday. Panasonic is reportedly looking to purchase land in the US for a mega-factory to manufacture the new battery, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. Readmore:https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/technology/2022/03/11/tesla-for-25000-new-panasonic-battery-set-to-cut-cost-of-electric-cars/ Chelsea will look to maintain their focus on the pitch when they face a resurgent Newcastle United in Sunday’s early match
Liverpool have the chance to cut Manchester City’s lead at the top of the Premier League down to three points when they kick off this weekend’s fixtures. Jurgen Klopp’s side travel to Brighton & Hove Albion on the back of seven straight wins in the league, while the Seagulls have suffered four straight losses. That match at the Amex Stadium kicks off Saturday’s matches which also features Brentford v Burnley and a clash between top-four hopefuls Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in the evening game. Chelsea will look to maintain their focus on the pitch when they face a resurgent Newcastle United in Sunday’s early match. The West London club say they will fulfill all their remaining fixtures for the 2021/22 campaign despite the UK government imposing sanctions on Chelsea’s billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich over his ties to the Kremlin as it continues to wage war on neighbouring Ukraine. Everton hope to end their slide towards the relegation trap door when they welcome Wolves to Goodison; Leeds United entertain Norwich City, Watford travel to Southampton, West Ham clash with Aston Villa and Arsenal lock horns with Leicester City in the late match. Manchester City are in action on Monday when they travel south to face Crystal Palace. To see Steve Luckings’ predictions for this week’s matches, scroll through the picture gallery above. City of London office assets a key target despite Britain’s stuttering back-to-work drive
Middle East appetite for UK commercial real estate is ramping up with wealthy investors expected to spend $1.5 billion this year, with office buildings — particularly in the City of London — the top target as easing Covid-19 restrictions unleash pent-up demand. The region’s accelerated investment in Britain’s commercial property landscape is set to be 33 per cent higher in 2022 than last year, according to Knight Frank, with office assets taking centre stage despite Britain’s employees making a slow return to city centres following the pandemic-induced work-from-home trend. The investment figure could be even higher, according to Alex James, head of private client commercial advisory at Knight Frank, with the consultancy tracking £4.17bn of active central London office requirements from Middle East investors this year — up 6 per cent on 2021 — with premium green office buildings that comply with Britain’s tighter energy regulations a key focus. “There is going to be a big pick-up in transaction volumes this year off the back of restrictions easing off with a build-up in demand especially over the summer when a lot of clients from the Middle East travel over here,” Mr James told The National. “There’s already been a huge uptick this year in Middle East interest and inquiries have gone through the roof for UK investment opportunities over the past two months as people fly again — you can definitely feel the momentum.” Rising interest in UK commercial property was already evident last year, with Iraq’s Al Khashlok Group snapping up Mulberry and Delvaux flagship stores on New Bond Street in central London for £227 million in August. Meanwhile, the UAE’s Oryx Real Estate Partners made its first acquisition in the London real estate market, spending £100m acquiring 3 Bunhill Row, a freehold office property in the City, while Saudi Arabian sharia-compliant asset manager Sidra Capital acquired Coca-Cola’s UK head office in Uxbridge, on the outskirts of London in December for £43.65m. This year is expected to be a record for global cross-border real estate investment activity, said Knight Frank, with $6.5bn of capital from GCC countries set to target global outbound real estate investment opportunities. UK commercial real estate — one of the region’s favoured outbound investment destinations — will lead the charge, with office buildings the most popular real estate asset class, constituting 24 per cent of allocations within the property sector, according to a Knight Frank survey of wealthy investors, whose wish list includes long-term office income from blue-chip tenants. A lack of A-grade stock as well as Britain’s green transformation, which will see office buildings forced to comply with stricter energy regulations by 2030, will help to fuel this investment, said Mr James, who expects the second, third and fourth quarters of this year to be “busy”. “We’ve had a very busy start to the year already with clients looking to reposition their portfolios,” said Mr James. While low supply of premium assets has been a challenge for investors, Mr James said the “right kind of investment opportunities” have begun to enter the market this year, such as “blue-chip office tenants on long-term leases”. Although interest in Britain’s office sector is surging, the country’s back-to-work campaign has stuttered over the past few months, after the Omicron variant of coronavirus reversed the return to work seen in the run-up to Christmas. Despite restrictions easing in February as the threat posed by the latest variant retreated, many companies are sticking to hybrid working solutions rather than enforcing a full-time return to the office. “We are expecting to see a recovery in the office sector and forecast more than half of all major cross-border transactions to be focused on this sector this year,” said Mr James. “Core long-term office income from globally recognised tenants continues to be the primary focus from investors and we expect there to be an increase in appetite for both London and UK regional cities.” A desire to have contact with other employees will help to drive people back to work, added Mr James, as people become increasingly frustrated with Zoom meetings and working alone. However, he concedes that the hybrid approach “is here to stay”, partly because offices have already evolved in recent years from nine-to-five workplaces to hubs for staff to “meet, socialise and increase productivity and creativity”. Readmore:https://www.thenationalnews.com/Business/UK/2022/03/11/middle-east-investors-set-to-snap-up-15bn-in-uk-commercial-property-in-2022 |
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