News
Escalating Trump row looms over Zelensky’s US visit
The Speaker of the US House Mike Johnson has demanded that Ukraine fire its ambassador to Washington, as a feud between the Republican Party and Volodymyr Zelensky escalates.
Johnson’s intervention comes after President Zelensky visited an arms factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania – the hometown of President Joe Biden in a key swing state – with several top Democrats.
In a public letter, the top Republican said the visit was “designed to help Democrats” and claimed it amounted to “election interference”.
The row has threatened to overshadow Zelensky’s meeting with President Joe Biden on Thursday, during which he will present a “plan for victory” in his country’s war with Russia.
Since his arrival to the US on Sunday, Zelensky has ramped up efforts to persuade the US and other allies to lend more support to Ukraine as it fends off Russian advances.
On Thursday, Biden announced that the US will send $7.9bn (£5.9bn) worth of military aid to Ukraine in a surge of assistance as his presidency nears its end.
The aid, part of a $61bn package that passed Congress in April, includes additional Patriot air defence missiles and long-range munitions.
The weapons package will be approved through presidential drawdown authority and will pull from existing Pentagon supplies to deliver the arms more quickly.
Congressional Republicans blocked the Biden administration’s $61bn military package for months earlier this year, before ultimately relenting and passing the legislation in April. Before that, arms supplies to Ukraine had dried up for several months.
The US has been the largest foreign donor to Ukraine, with $56bn provided for its defence to date.
Responding to the aid package, Zelensky thanked the US and said he was “grateful to Joe Biden, US Congress and its both parties”.
The Ukrainian president said the assistance would be used “in the most efficient and transparent manner” to achieve “victory for Ukraine, just and lasting peace, and transatlantic security”.
Russia’s missile and drone attacks on Ukraine have continued while Zelensky is in the US.
The Sumy, Odesa and Kyiv regions were all attacked overnight, leaving one woman dead in Odesa and numerous reported injuries.
In the capital, air raid sirens and explosions from Ukraine’s air defences continued for hours.
“I woke up to the sound of the Shahed drone. I got up and saw the reflection in the windows, how a big ball of fire was falling down,” said Maryna, a 31-year-old mother of two children.
Zelensky had planned to present his priorities outlined in Thursday’s statement to the two presidential candidates: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
However, an official on Donald Trump’s campaign said the Republican nominee would not meet the Ukrainian leader on his tour of the US this week.
Trump and Zelensky have long held a fractious relationship. In 2019, Trump was impeached by the US House over accusations that he pressured Ukraine’s leader to dig up damaging information on a political rival.
He has frequently echoed Russian talking points over the war. At a campaign event on Wednesday he mocked Zelensky as the “greatest salesman on Earth” and accused the Ukrainian leader of refusing to “make a deal” with Moscow.
During an earlier rally on Tuesday, Trump also praised Russia’s military capabilities, saying: “They beat Hitler, they beat Napoleon – that’s what they do, they fight.”
The former president’s remarks come amid a growing row between Zelensky and the Republican party over his visit to an ammunition factory in Biden’s hometown of Scranton in the key swing state of Pennsylvania.
During the visit, Zelensky appeared with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and several other top Democrats. Speaker Johnson accused the president of taking part in a “partisan campaign event” designed to help Vice-President Kamala Harris’ camapign.
Meanwhile, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee had already announced that it would investigate whether Zelensky’s trip was an attempt to use a foreign leader to benefit Vice-President Kamala Harris’ campaign.
Congressional Republicans blocked the Biden administration’s $61bn military package for months earlier this year, before ultimately relenting and passing the legislation in April.
Before that, arms supplies to Ukraine had dried up for several months.
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News
Rwanda restricts funeral sizes following outbreak
Rwandan authorities have restricted funeral sizes for victims of Marburg virus in an effort to curb an outbreak of the highly contagious disease.
Eight people have died during Rwanda’s first outbreak of the virus, which was confirmed on Friday by the nation’s health ministry.
Marburg, with a fatality rate of up to 88%, is from the same virus family as Ebola. It spreads to humans from fruit bats and then through contact with bodily fluids of infected individuals.
In new guidelines to halt the spread of Marburg, the health ministry said no more than 50 people should attend the funeral of a person who died from the disease.
“Normal business and other activities” can continue in the East African country, said the advisory, published on Sunday evening.
However, it also urged the public to avoid close contact with “symptomatic individuals”. The ministry listed symptoms such as fever, headaches, muscle aches, vomiting and diarrhoea.
The virus can cause death through extreme blood loss.
The health ministry’s guidelines said hospital patients would not be permitted visitors for the next 14 days.
Patients will also only be allowed one caregiver at a time, the guidelines said.
In numerous developing countries, patients’ loved ones perform basic care tasks – such as washing and feeding – that are typically performed by a nurse in other countries.
On Saturday, when the official death toll was six, Rwanda’s health minister said most of the victims were healthcare workers in a hospital intensive care unit.
Dr Nahid Bhadelia, director of the Boston University Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases, told the BBC’s Newsday programme that curbing the virus’s spread may be challenging as most reported cases have been in the densely populated capital city, Kigali, while previous outbreaks have often been in remote rural areas where they are are easier to contain.
However, she added that there is hope as Rwanda has “a lot better infrastructure and history of public health coordination that many other countries”.
Rwanda said it was intensifying contact tracing, surveillance and testing to help contain the spread.
The country’s health minister said on Sunday that officials were tracking about 300 people who had come into contact with individuals affected by the Marburg virus.
The authorities have urged the public to practice good hygiene, such as frequent hand washing.
This is the first time Marburg has been confirmed in Rwanda.
Neighbouring Tanzania reported an outbreak in 2023, while three people died in Uganda in 2017.
Business
Singapore to ‘mop up’ finance business leaving Hong Kong: report
SINGAPORE — Japan, India and Singapore are poised to be winners in Asia as Chinese markets continue to be challenged by geopolitical risks, according to a report published last week by research and analysis outfit the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The report assessed prospects for Asian financial hubs amid mounting challenges in international markets as trade disputes between the U.S. and China drag on, while Chinese authorities tighten their grip on Hong Kong.
Money
Home REIT sells further 200 properties at auction ahead of wind down
The company as now sold 1,208 properties since August 2023.
The post Home REIT sells further 200 properties at auction ahead of wind down appeared first on Property Week.
Travel
Virgin Atlantic moving to dynamic pricing for reward seat redemptions
Flying Club members will be able to redeem points against any Virgin flight, but pricing will “vary in line with demand, in a similar way to standard tickets”
News
Met officers to be disciplined over investigation
Four Metropolitan Police officers and a member of police staff will face disciplinary proceedings for their handling of allegations against the serial rapist police officer David Carrick, the police watchdog has said.
Carrick, of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, was jailed for at least 30 years in February 2023 after he admitted dozens of rapes and sexual offences against 12 women.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said a detective sergeant, three officers and a police staff member allegedly breached “police standards of professional behaviour”.
Four reports of serious offending were made against Carrick by former partners between 2002 and 2021, while he served as a Met officer, the IOPC added.
IOPC regional director Mel Palmer said it had identified “several missed opportunities” where officers had failed to pursue misconduct investigations against Carrick.
“Had these matters been progressed appropriately, Carrick may have potentially faced gross misconduct proceedings and been dismissed from the force well before he was eventually arrested,” she added.
The IOPC announced in July 2023 it was carrying out four independent investigations into what actions were taken by the Met, after it emerged four reports of serious offending had been made against Carrick by former partners.
They included two reports of assault and harassment, made in 2002 and 2016, a report of assault made in 2019 and a report of rape and sexual assault in 2019.
The IOPC said in each case, either no further action was taken against Carrick or the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) was not informed.
“We found that a detective sergeant should face a gross misconduct hearing for potential breaches of the police standards of professional behaviour relating to their alleged failure to supervise adequately that Carrick conduct investigation,” the IOPC said.
“We also found that a detective constable and a police staff member should face misconduct meetings.”
The IOPC said those facing disciplinary proceedings all worked in the Met’s DPS at the time.
‘Serious flaws’
The Met said it was “truly sorry” for the harm Carrick had caused his victims, and that he should “never have been a police officer”.
“We have acknowledged that serious flaws in our approach meant we did not spot his pattern of abusive behaviour and as a result, we missed opportunities to pursue him through the misconduct process. We deeply regret this,” a spokesperson said.
“In addition to the IOPC investigation, we are also continuing to support the work of the independent inquiry chaired by Lady Elish Angiolini which is examining the extent to which Carrick’s conduct and crimes were known and investigated at the time.”
The IOPC said it was preparing “learning recommendations” for all police forces in England and Wales around vetting and the response to off-duty conduct.
It also said it was adding a mandatory “police perpetrated” flag to crime recording systems.
Earlier this year, London’s mayor confirmed Carrick had been stripped of his full state-funded pension.
Carrick had joined the Met in 2001 before becoming an armed officer in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection unit in 2009.
He pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to a total of 49 offences, including 24 counts of rape, between 2003 and 2020.
The Met, and City of London Police, where one of the officers is now based, will arrange disciplinary proceedings.
Business
Aston Martin and Stellantis shares slump after profit warnings
Luxury carmaker Aston Martin’s share price sank more than 20% after it said profits will be lower than expected this year.
The company, famed for its links to fictional superspy James Bond, has been hit by supply chain issues and falling sales in China.
The share price of Stellantis, the owner of brands such as Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat and Jeep, also plummeted on Monday after a profit warning.
Carmakers across Europe have been suffering lately, with disappointing sales and increased competition from abroad taking a heavy toll on earnings.
Aston Martin is a prestige brand which makes upmarket cars in relatively small quantities.
Last year, it sold 6,620 vehicles, with about a fifth of those going to the Asia-Pacific region.
However, the company says it has been hit by a fall in demand in China, where a slowing economy has affected sales of luxury cars.
It has also been affected by problems at a number of suppliers, which have affected its ability to build a number of new models.
As a result, Aston says it will make about 1000 cars fewer than originally planned this year.
Sales, which had originally been forecast to rise, are now expected to be lower than in 2023, and earnings will fall short of current market expectations.
Adrian Hallmark, who became Aston Martin’s chief executive a few weeks ago, said it had become clear that “decisive action” was needed to adjust output.
But he added that he was “even more convinced than before” about the brand’s potential for growth.
Industry giants suffering
Meanwhile, Stellantis has become the latest large-scale carmaker to revise its financial forecasts, thanks to a deterioration in the industry outlook.
The company has been struggling with weak demand in the US, a key market, where it has been forced to offer discounts in order to shift unsold stock.
It has also been facing increased competition from Chinese brands, which have been expanding aggressively abroad.
As a result, it sais it expects its profit margins to be significantly lower than previously thought this year.
The announcement sent its shares tumbling. By lunchtime on Monday, the price was down more than 14%.
The problems at Stellantis and Aston Martin reflect a wider malaise in the European car industry.
On Friday, Volkswagen issued its second profit warning in three months, while it has also suggested it might have to close plants in Germany for the first time in its history.
Its German rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW have also downgraded their profit forecasts in recent weeks.
Among the common issues are falling sales in China – until recently a highly lucrative market for expensive and profitable high-end models – coupled with growing competition from Chinese brands in other markets.
EV sales falter
Sales of electric cars, which manufacturers have invested huge sums in developing, have been faltering badly in Europe.
According to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, sales of battery-powered cars were down nearly 44% in August compared to the same period a year ago, while their share of the market dropped to 14.4%, compared to 21% in 2023.
The decline has followed the removal or reduction of incentives for electric car buyers in a number of European markets, including France and Germany.
On Friday, EU nations are due to vote on plans to impose steep tariffs on imports of electric vehicles from China.
The measures are designed to protect local producers from unfair competition. The European Commission claims Chinese manufacturers benefit from illegal subsidies from the Chinese government – and believes tariffs will create a level playing field.
But the plan is controversial, and has received a mixed reception from manufacturers.
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