NewsBeat
Ukraine claims strike on Russian oil refinery in huge drone attack
Ukraine reportedly hit a Russian oil refinery and targeted Moscow during an attack involving a wave of at least 121 drones, one of the largest single operations of its kind during the war.
Video footage verified by the BBC shows a fireball rising over the refinery and pumping station in the Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow, which Ukrainian officials said was a target.
Russia said it had shot down 121 drones that had targeted 13 regions, including Ryazan and Moscow, but reported no damage.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian authorities said three people were killed and one was injured when a Russian drone hit a residential building in the Kyiv region.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s centre for countering disinformation, said on Telegram that an oil refinery in Ryazan had been hit, as well as the Kremniy factory in Bryansk that Kyiv says produces missile components and other weapons.
Bloggers on Telegram posted images and videos of fires raging at the Ryazan facility, which covers around 6sq km (2.3sq miles). Verified footage shows people fleeing from the site in cars and on foot as a fireball rises into the sky.
BBC Verify used video footage to establish the location of two fires at the refinery. One video shows a fire near the northern entrance, whose location was matched by the road layout, signs and fences.
Two other videos show a larger fire on the eastern side of the refinery, around 3km (1.6m) away from the first. The location was identified by matching trees, pylons, road and path layouts.
Russian state-owned news agency RIA cited a statement from the Kremniy factory in Bryansk, which said work had been suspended after an attack by six drones. Pavel Malkov, the regional governor, said emergency services were responding.
The Kremlin acknowledged the attacks but made no mention of damage or casualties.
It claimed to have destroyed 121 Ukrainian drones, including six over the Moscow region, 20 in the Ryazan region, and a number over the border region of Bryansk.
Sergei Sobyanin, Moscow’s mayor, said the city’s air defences had intercepted attacks by Ukrainian drones at four locations.
He said air defences southeast of the capital in Kolomna and Ramenskoye had also repelled drones, without specifying how many. He said there was no damage.
Russian news agencies quoted Rosaviatsiya, the federal aviation agency, as saying two Moscow airports, Vnukovo and Domodedovo, had resumed flights after suspending operations for a time. Six flights were redirected to other airports.
In the city of Kursk, Mayor Igor Kutsak said overnight attacks had damaged power lines and cut off electricity to one district.
In Ukraine, officials said that its air defences had destroyed 25 of 58 drones launched overnight by Russia.
The interior ministry said debris from one of the drones had killed two men and a woman in Hlevakha, Kyiv region, and that another person had been injured.
A Bulgarian woman charged with being part of a Russian spy cell operating in the UK has denied knowing that information she gathered would be sent to Russia.
Katrin Ivanova, 33, is accused of spying for Russia in a series of elaborate operations in the UK and Europe.
She allegedly targeted a US military base in Germany and secretly filmed two investigative journalists regarded as enemies of the Russian state.
Jurors have heard there was a risk the journalists could be kidnaped or assassinated.
Giving evidence for the first time, Ms Ivanova denied being a spy.
She accepted following people targeted by the operations, and travelling around Europe, but said she did not know the true purpose of the activity.
She said she believed one operation targeting the investigative journalist Christo Grozev was itself a form of journalism and would reveal to the public that he was corrupt.
“The plan was to try and expose Mr Grozev,” she said.
However, no information was ever published and “nothing actually happened”, she said.
She said her then-partner Biser Dzhambazov – whom she told the jury she had trusted with her life – asked her to take part in surveillance operations.
“He has been my partner for over 10 years. Why would he do something that’s going to hurt me,” she said.
The operations were to help Dzhambazov’s friend Orlin Roussev, who assisted the couple financially after they first moved to the UK in 2012, Ms Ivanova told the court.
The couple first met Roussev at East Croydon station in 2012, and went for dinner with him at a “posh” restaurant near the Thames, she said.
“I was very impressed with him,” she said. “He was someone I always wanted to be. He was a typical hero immigrant story.”
Both Dzhambazov and Roussev have already admitted conspiracy to spy for Russia.
Ms Ivanova wiped away tears in the witness box as she described learning how her partner was arrested in bed with the other alleged female spy in this trial, Vanya Gaberova, 30.
Jurors have heard that Dzhambazov and Ms Gaberova were in bed together when the police arrived to arrest them in February 2023.
She said Dzhambazov told her he had a brain tumour and went abroad for treatment. She now believes that was a lie so he could live a “parallel life” with Ms Gaberova.
The trial continues.
Politics
Tories and Reform could be ‘forced to merge’ as staggering new poll puts Nigel Farage on course to become next PM
Reform UK has topped a national opinion poll for the first time, securing 26 per cent of voter support according to new data from Find Out Now.
The poll of 2,380 British adults puts Nigel Farage’s party three points ahead of Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives at 23 per cent.
Labour trails in third place with 22 per cent, marking a significant shift in the political landscape just six months into their government.
The Liberal Democrats secured 12 per cent, followed by the Greens at 10 per cent and the SNP at 3 per cent.
Christopher Hope offered his snap reaction to the shock polling
GB NEWS / PA
GB News Political Editor Christopher Hope suggests the poll results could force a dramatic realignment in British politics.
According to Chopper’s analysis of seat projections, Reform UK would secure 190 MPs, with Labour on 161 and the Conservatives trailing at 141.
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The poll of 2,380 British adults puts Nigel Farage’s party three points ahead of Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives
X/ Nigel Farage
“It would basically force the Conservatives and Reform to merge,” Hope said, though he noted Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has previously dismissed such suggestions, questioning “why on Earth” she would merge with a party whose leader vowed to “destroy” the Conservatives.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage responded to the poll on social media, declaring: “Reform LEADS for the first time in a national opinion poll. This is just the beginning.”
The party’s chairman Zia Yusuf firmly rejected suggestions of cooperation with the Conservatives, stating: “No pacts, no deals. Reform is headed for Government.”
Reform MP Rupert Lowe expressed confidence in the party’s trajectory, saying: “Reform now in the clear, leading a national opinion poll. I am more confident than ever that we will outright win the next general election.”
Chopper analysed the poll on GB News
GB NEWS
A Conservative spokesman for Kemi Badenoch downplayed the results, telling GB News: “Polls go up and down and change every week. We’re focused on what matters – the damage Labour is doing to the economy, our schools and our international standing.”
Labour dismissed the poll, with a party source saying they were focused on delivering their Plan for Change.
“While the opposition fight among themselves, the Labour Government is putting in the hard yards to deliver much-needed growth,” the source added.
The poll results come as Ipsos UK found confidence in the country’s direction has fallen to near pre-election levels, with 62 per cent saying the UK is going in the wrong direction.
The survey revealed widespread dissatisfaction with political leaders, with 52 per cent viewing Starmer unfavourably and 50 per cent expressing similar views about Labour.
Reform leader Farage faces his own challenges, with 51 per cent viewing him unfavourably, while 46 per cent hold negative views of Conservative leader Badenoch.
Saudi Arabia has asked legendary Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer to work on a new version of its national anthem, according to a senior official in the country.
Adam, Chris, Vicki and James discuss the political week in Westminster, and beyond.
Politics
Nigel Farage rages at Britain’s ‘dismal’ ability to stop terrorists as ‘disgraceful’ Axel Rudakubana failings laid bare
Nigel Farage has launched a scathing attack on Britain’s counter-terrorism capabilities, claiming the country’s “ability to stop terrorists is dismal”.
Speaking on GB News, the former UKIP leader criticised what he called a “cover-up” in the case of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana.
He said the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to tell Merseyside Police not to release basic information about Rudakubana was “a real disgrace”.
“The head of the CPS, his head should roll,” Nigel declared.
Nigel Farage hit out at the country’s failings in stopping Axel Rudakubana
GB NEWS / PA
Rudakubana had been referred to the government’s anti-extremism Prevent programme three times while at school due to his fixation with violence.
Police records show he had attacked a pupil with a hockey stick, carried knives into school and searched online for information about the London Bridge terror attack.
Axel RudakubanaPALancashire Police were called to his home five times between 2019 and 2022 over concerning behaviour.
He was also under the care of Alder Hey Children’s Hospital’s mental health services from 2019 until February 2023, when he stopped engaging despite continued offers of support.
The 18-year-old was sentenced on Thursday to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 52 years for murdering three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
Rudakubana killed Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, in Southport last July.
Nigel Farage spoke to Martin Daubney on GB News
GB NEWS
He also pleaded guilty to attempting to murder eight other children and two adults.
The sentence is the second-longest tariff on record in English history, after the Manchester Arena bomber’s brother.
Justice Goose said it was “highly likely” Rudakubana would never be free again.
“For daring to ask questions about this case, I got absolute vilification and hatred from senior politicians and mainstream broadcasters,” Nigel said.
He claimed both Kemi Badenoch and the Labour Party knew Rudakubana’s identity early on.
“If the public had known the truth about this guy, crazy conspiracies would not have spread online and the riots would have been nowhere near as bad,” he added.
Nigel criticised Sir Keir Starmer for only talking about “the far-right” while ignoring “evil ideologies allowed to persist within our community”.
A YouGov survey published today revealed that while 91 per cent of respondents blame Rudakubana for his actions, 70 per cent also hold counter-terrorism services responsible.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has ordered a “thorough review” of the Prevent referrals in this case.
A public inquiry will examine any “missed opportunities” to identify Rudakubana’s murderous intent.
The investigation remains “live”, according to Detective Chief Inspector Jason Pye, who has not ruled out further arrests in the case.
Science correspondent, BBC News
Getty ImagesThe government says it will dispose of its 140 tonnes of radioactive plutonium – currently stored at a secure facility at Sellafield in Cumbria.
The UK has the world’s largest stockpile of the hazardous material, which is a product of nuclear fuel reprocessing.
It has been kept at the site and has been piling up for decades in a form that would allow it to be recycled into new nuclear fuel.
But the government has now decided that it will not be reused and instead says it wants to put the hazardous material “beyond reach” and made ready for permanent disposal deep underground.
Kevin Church, BBCWhen spent nuclear fuel is separated it into its component parts, one of the products is plutonium.
Successive governments have kept the material to leave open the option to recycle it into new nuclear fuel.
Storing this highly radioactive material – in its current form – is expensive and difficult. It needs to be frequently repackaged, because radiation damages the containers it’s kept in. And it’s guarded by armed police. All that costs the taxpayer more than £70m per year.
The government has made the decision that the safest – most economically viable solution – is to “immobilise” its entire plutonium stockpile.
That means that a facility will be built at Sellafield where the plutonium can be converted into a stable, rock-like material, which can eventually be disposed of deep underground.
In a statement, energy minister Michael Shanks said the objective was “to put this material beyond reach, into a form which both reduces the long-term safety and security burden during storage and ensures it is suitable for disposal”.
Nuclear materials scientist Dr Lewis Blackburn from the University of Sheffield said the plutonium would be “converted into a ceramic material” which, while still radioactive, is solid and stable so it is deemed safe to dispose of.
“The type of ceramic remains to be decided [and selecting the right material] is the subject of ongoing research.”
Kevin Church, BBCNuclear waste expert Prof Claire Corkhill from the University of Bristol said the goverment’s decision was a “positive step”.
She told BBC News that it paved the way to removing the cost and hazard of storing plutonium at Sellafield “by transforming it and locking it away into a solid, durable material that will last for millions of years in a geological disposal facility”.
“These materials are based on those we find in nature – natural minerals, that we know have contained uranium for billions of years.”
The government is currently in the early stages of a long technical and political process of choosing a suitable site to build a deep geological facility that will eventually be the destination for all of the country’s most hazardous radioactive waste. That facility will not be operational until at least 2050.
President Donald Trump has revoked security protection for former top US health official Anthony Fauci, who has faced death threats since leading the country’s Covid-19 response.
“You can’t have a security detail for the rest of your life because you work for government,” Trump told reporters, when asked about the decision on Friday. “It’s very standard.”
This week, Trump also revoked security protections for his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, his former National Security Adviser John Bolton and former envoy Brian Hook, who all faced threats from Iran.
Dr Fauci has now hired his own private security team that he will pay for himself, US media report.
Asked whether he felt responsible for the officials’ safety, Trump said on Friday: “They all made a lot of money. They can hire their own security too.”
Dr Fauci was previously protected by federal marshals, and then a private security company, which was paid for by the government, according to the New York Times.
One of Dr Fauci’s most vocal Republican critics, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, had called for his security to be revoked.
He wrote in a post on X on Thursday that he had “sent supporting information to end the 24 hr a day limo and security detail for Fauci”.
“I wish him nothing but peace but he needs to pay for his own limos,” he said.
Trump has also revoked the security clearances of 51 intelligence officials who had claimed that Hunter Biden’s laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
Under US protocol, former presidents and their spouses are granted security protection for life. But protection for other US officials is decided based on the threat assessment from the intelligence community.
As the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr Fauci faced death threats during and after the coronavirus pandemic, as well as criticism from Republicans over mask mandates and other Covid restrictions.
He led the institute for 40 years, including during Trump’s first term. Trump had also awarded presidential commendations to Dr Fauci who served on the Operation Warp Speed task force during the pandemic.
Before leaving office, then-President Joe Biden issued a preemptive pardon for Dr Fauci.
The doctor told US media that he “truly appreciated” Biden for taking action, adding that the possibility of prosecution had created “immeasurable and intolerable distress” on his family.
“Let me be perfectly clear, I have committed no crime and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me,” he said.
NewsBeat
‘Vile’ policeman Samuel McGregor found guilty of rape – leaving senior officer ‘sickened’ | UK News
A “vile” policeman has been convicted of rape – leaving a senior officer “sickened” by his “abhorrent behaviour”.
PC Samuel McGregor, who previously worked at the Metropolitan Police‘s Central North command unit, was found guilty on Friday after a trial at Inner London Crown Court.
The 33-year-old officer had previously pleaded not guilty in June 2023.
The court heard the victim, who was known to the defendant, was raped on 11 May 2021 at an address in London.
She later told her colleagues about the incident, and they reported it to officers on the victim’s behalf on 2 June 2021.
McGregor was arrested the next day on suspicion of rape.
Chief Superintendent Andy Carter, who heads policing for Central North, said: “I am sickened by McGregor’s abhorrent behaviour and the pain he has caused the victim.
“There is simply no place for individuals like McGregor in the Met, and we will continue to root out such vile individuals.”
He added that he hoped the court’s guilty verdict “brings some closure to the victim”.
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McGregor is set to be sentenced on 10 March.
A misconduct hearing will take place in due course.
McGregor was suspended from duty on 3 March 2022 after he admitted lying during a police interview.
Sadiq Khan has been accused of “running down the clock” when pressed on grooming gangs in a London Assembly meeting.
The London Mayor was asked if he would guarantee some funding for police investigations into the grooming gangs scandal.
Khan said: “Firstly it’s really important when you have a conversation of this nature that you think about the victims of child sexual exploitation.”
Pressed by Susan Hall, a former London mayoral candidate, Khan said that he was “really surprised” that Hall “did not know how operational independence works” for the police.
Sadiq Khan has been accused of ‘running down the clock’ when pressed on grooming gangs in a London Assembly meeting
London Assembly
Noting that she was “on a clock”, she had asked the mayor for a “yes or no” answer.
Susan Hall AM, City Hall Conservatives Crime spokesperson, said: “Yet again Sadiq has failed to answer the important questions put to him about the issues that matter to London.”
She added: “Starmer tells us local inquires are the way forward but cowardly Sadiq can’t commit to funding one, and instead cynically tries to run down the clock on the time we have to ask him questions in order to avoid answering.
“It’s a disgrace, and an insult to the victims that despite every opportunity we get to push for justice, the Mayor continues to run and hide, for shame.”
The mayor’s office was contacted for comment.
BBC Scotland
PA MediaVisitors to Edinburgh will be charged a tourist tax designed to raise £50m annually, after city councillors voted in favour of the move.
The charge, which mimics those already used in Germany, Spain and Italy, covers hotels, bed and breakfasts, self-catering accommodation as well as rooms and properties let through websites like Airbnb.
City of Edinburgh Council has said the levy of 5% will take effect from 24 July 2026 and the revenue raised will be spent on infrastructure improvements.
But some businesses are concerned that it will put visitors off visiting the city and that it is being rushed in before systems are ready.
Council leader Jane Meagher said it was one of the most important injections of funding in the city for decades, and visitors and residents would quickly see the benefits.
“They will see cleaner streets, they will see quicker removal of graffiti, better environmental improvements, more attractive spaces and better transport connections,” she said.
“They will see lots of improvements across the city, not just in the city centre.”
She added some of the money would go towards affordable housing, to enable people working in the city to find somewhere to live.
“We’re getting strong messages from employers in the hospitality sector that they’re struggling to recruit people to jobs because rents and mortgages are so high and they can’t afford to live near where they work,” she said.
However, there are concerns from some in the business community who say it will mean more administration for them.
Anna Morris, who runs a short-term let in the Newington area of the city, is also concerned it could put people off coming to Edinburgh.
“I think there is a risk that it does affect the competitiveness of Edinburgh as a destination,” she said.
“It is quite an expensive destination already. I love Edinburgh, It’s a brilliant place to come but people can go wherever they want – abroad and even within Scotland, there are other cities you might choose to go to.
“Everyone is watching what they spend now, and [the tax] is quite high when you think about it so there is a risk there.”
But other European cities where a tourist tax has been introduced – such as Amsterdam – say they have not lost visitors and have seen many benefits.
The Dutch capital now charges 12.5% on top of accommodation bills, raising 265m Euros (£220m) a year.
The deputy mayor Hester van Buren said: “The residents are more tolerant of the tourists because they think they’ve contributed, and that there are also benefits from the tourists.
“We can clean the city, we can build more infrastructure, we can put money into more affordable housing for the residents so I hope the residents see the profit of it.”
One of the areas hoping to benefit from any levy is Edinburgh’s only city centre housing scheme, Dumbiedykes.
Jim Slaven, who has been a tenant there for 30 years, said many of the flats were now short-term lets and they lost amenities such as their community centre and shops.
“Housing is one of the major crises in the city and has been in working class areas for many years,” he said.
“For years the residents of Edinburgh have been told how many hundreds of millions of pounds come into the city through tourism, so with the visitors’ levy it’s an opportunity for some money from tourism to be put into public services and infrastructure.”
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