Britain’s Prime Minister has urged allies to “go after” Iran’s ability to supply weapons to Russia that are killing civilians.
Speaking at a summit in Riga, Rishi Sunak condemned the Tehran regime, which has sent more than 500 kamikaze drones to Russia. They have been used in deadly attacks on Ukraine’s people and energy supply.
He also warned that the “economic consequences” for Russia must continue to be “severe”, particularly with the new oil price cap set by the G7.
Mr Sunak used Monday's meeting of northern European allies in Latvia to call on his counterparts to sustain or increase their assistance to Ukraine against Russian invasion, that included a clamp down on Tehran's arms supplies.
“We must continue to focus on degrading Russia’s capability to regroup and to resupply and that means going after its supply chains and removing the international support," he said.
“Particularly I’m thinking of Iran and the weapons that it is currently providing to Russia, which we should be very strong about calling out as we have done in the United Nations."
The UK has announced hundreds of thousands more rounds of artillery ammunition as part of its package of military aid for 2023 under a £250 million contract.
At the meeting in Riga on Monday, the members of the Joint Expeditionary Force discussed Ukraine’s defence needs while seeking to accelerate their own co-operation.
Following the gathering, which was addressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mr Sunak met Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins.
Ukraine war latest - in pictures
In Estonia, he will meet UK and Nato troops serving on alliance’s eastern flank.
A new digital partnership, which Mr Sunak will sign with Ms Kallas, will involve the strengthening of ties across health, education, cyber security, data and connectivity.
“From the Arctic Circle to the Isle of Wight, the UK and our European allies have been in lockstep in our response to the invasion of Ukraine, and we remain steadfast in our ambition for peace in Europe once again," Mr Sunak said.
“But to achieve peace, we must deter aggression and our deployments across the region together are vital in ensuring we are able to respond to the gravest of threats.
Ukraine becomes dark patch in night satellite images - in pictures
“I know this Joint Expeditionary Force summit will only underline our close friendships and unwavering support for Ukraine.”
The JEF alliance includes Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
