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But the Biden administration does not impose any sanctions against Mohammed bin Salman, to the dismay of dissidents
Greenpeace builds ‘boulder barrier’ to protect marine site
Campaigners have built an underwater “boulder barrier” to stop damaging fishing in a protected area of the English Channel. Greenpeace activists have dropped a series of boulders from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza in the Offshore Brighton marine protected area to close off nearly 55 square nautical miles of the sea from bottom trawling. The group says bottom trawling, in which heavy weighted nets are dragged over the seabed to catch fish, is ploughing up the sensitive seabed habitat for which the area is protected.
The gravel and rock seabed of the conservation zone is home to wildlife including starfish, hermit crabs and anemones and is a rich hunting ground for skates, rays and other fish. Celebrities including Thandie Newton, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Paloma Faith, Bella Ramsey, Mark Rylance, Jarvis Cocker and Ranulph Fiennes have signed their names to boulders dropped into the sea. PA
Businesswoman who sued Barclays and lost considers appeal
A businesswoman who sued Barclays for hundreds of millions of pounds has said she is considering an
appeal after losing a High Court battle. Amanda Staveley, 47, made complaints about the behaviour of bosses at the bank when negotiating investment deals during the 2008 financial crisis. She said PCP Capital Partners, a private equity firm she runs, would have invested in the bank on “vastly better terms” but for Barclays’ “false representations”. The bank disputed her allegations and said the claim should be dismissed. A High Court judge ruled against Ms Staveley on Friday. PA
Life-extending drug for incurable breast cancer approved
A drug which could help extend the lives of thousands of women with incurable advanced breast cancer has been approved for NHS use. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence yesterday approved ribociclib – also known as Kisqali – for routine use by the NHS. In its draft guidance, Nice recommended using ribociclib alongside another drug called fulvestrant to treat hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
The treatment could be an option for 3,300 women a year who have had previous endocrine therapy and where exemestane plus everolimus, another drug combination, is the most appropriate alternative treatment. New evidence shows that, compared with fulvestrant alone, people taking ribociclib and fulvestrant together have longer before their disease gets worse and also live up to eight months longer, according to Nice. The treatment could also allow patients to put off the point at which they start chemotherapy.
‘Neo-Nazi’ jailed for threatening to bomb NHS hospital
A man who posed as a neo-Nazi has been jailed for threatening to bomb an NHS hospital at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Emil Apreda, a 33-year-old Italian man living in Berlin, threatened to place an explosive device in an unspecified English hospital unless he was paid £10m in Bitcoin.
His message purported to be from the neo-Nazi group Combat 18, but investigators said he used it as a “front for his extortion” and that he did not have access to a bomb. Apreda emailed his threat to the NHS on 25 April 2020, but sent the same message to the National Crime Agency control centre hours later. Yesterday, he was convicted of attempted extortion following a trial that started in December at Berlin’s Tiergarten District Court and jailed for three years. Apreda was released on bail until the ruling is ratified, because under German law the verdict is not immediately binding and can be appealed within a week.
Final anti-HS2 activist leaves Euston tunnels
The final anti-HS2 activist in a network of tunnels in London’s Euston Square Gardens has been removed. HS2 Limited, the government-owned company building the high-speed railway, said the person was taken out of the site in Euston Square Gardens yesterday morning. They raised two fingers in a peace sign as they were being put into an ambulance. A crowd gathered nearby cheered and shouted “we love you Bradley”. A total of nine protesters have been removed from the tunnels since they were discovered on 26 January. PA
Rail minister announces plan to speed up major projects
Britain’s rail industry has been urged to pioneer “radical” new ways of working to fast-track major projects. Rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris announced Rail Project Speed initiative aims to halve the duration, and significantly reduce the costs, of rail infrastructure work. Ten key themes have been identified to achieve these aims, such as rapidly increasing the use of innovative construction methods, and simplifying planning
processes. The Department for Transport said these principles are already supporting the scheme to reopen the Northumberland line between Ashington and Newcastle, which closed in 1964 as part of the Beeching cuts. PA
The Biden administration will take no direct action against Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman
following the release of a US intelligence assessment that concluded he ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The long-awaited report was released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) yesterday, more than two years after dissident Khashoggi was murdered by a hit squad at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
“We assess that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” the report noted.
The assessment was based on “the crown prince’s control of decision making in the kingdom since 2017, the direct involvement of a key adviser and members of Mohammed bin Salman’s protective detail in the operation, and the crown prince’s support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi”.
Soon after the release of the report, the State Department announced sanctions against 76 Saudi individuals who it said had engaged in threatening dissidents overseas. The sanctions will apply to some who were believed to have been involved in Khashoggi’s murder.
The report was compiled by US intelligence agencies soon after the brutal killing of Khashoggi in October 2018 , but had not been released by the Trump administration due to fears it would impact arms sales worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the kingdom.
Donald Trump cited the economic benefits of the US relationship with Saudi Arabia as a reason for not acting on the killing of Khashoggi, who worked as a columnist for the Washington Post.
“I only say they spend $400 to $450 billion over a period of time, all money, all jobs, buying equipment,” Mr Trump said in 2019 when asked for his response to a United Nations report into the killing. “I’m not like a fool that says, ‘We don’t want to do business with them.’ And by the way, if they don’t do business with us, you know what they do? They’ll do business with the Russians or with the Chinese.”
The decision to declassify the intelligence report is an early indication that Joe Biden’s administration is likely to take a tougher approach with the long-time US ally.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters yesterday that the administration has been clear that it will “recalibrate our relationship” with Saudi Arabia. Mr Biden announced earlier this month that the US would halt its support for a Saudi Arabia-led military campaign in Yemen.
The release of the report was followed by an announcement by the State Department of new measures which it claimed would “reinforce the world’s condemnation of that crime, and to push back against
governments that reach beyond their borders to threaten and attack journalists and perceived dissidents for exercising their fundamental freedoms”.
Secretary of state Antony Blinken said the so-called “Khashoggi Ban” would impose visa restrictions on individuals “who, acting on behalf of a foreign government, are believed to have been directly engaged in serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities, including those that suppress, harass, surveil, threaten, or harm journalists, activists, or other persons perceived to be dissidents for their work, or who engage in such activities with respect to the families or other close associates of such persons”.
“As a matter of safety for all within our borders, perpetrators targeting perceived dissidents on behalf of any foreign government should not be permitted to reach American soil,” Mr Blinken added in a statement.
The State Department is also said to be considering a halt to the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia.
But the Biden administration’s response to the murder was conspicuous for the absence of any specific sanctions targeting Prince Mohammed, who the ODNI report found to have ordered the operation. During his presidential campaign, Mr Biden had promised to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” for the murder.
One senior Biden administration official told Reuters they are seeking a “recalibration (in ties) - not a rupture. That’s because of the important interests that we do share.”
But some Democrats are calling for tougher action against the crown prince. Elizabeth Warren welcomed the report’s release “so the whole world can see Mohammed bin Salman for who he is.”
But she added: “Nobody should escape consequences for their role in this assassination. All pending arms sales to the Saudis should be cancelled and the administration should conduct a wholesale review of the USSaudi relationship.”
The ODNI, a cabinet-level agency that coordinates between US intelligence arms, said the killing could not have been carried out without his approval.
“Since 2017, the crown prince has had absolute control of the kingdom’s security and intelligence organisations, making it highly unlikely that Saudi officials would have carried out an operation of this nature without the crown prince’s authorisation,” it said.
Khashoggi was working as a columnist for the Washington Post when he was killed by a hit squad which included members of Prince Mohammed’s security team. The 59-year-old had gone to the Saudi embassy in Istanbul to collect documents needed to obtain a licence to marry his fiancee Hatice Cengiz.
Ms Cengiz waited outside while Khashoggi entered the building to receive the documents. Inside, he was set upon by the hit squad, who strangled him and dismembered his body. His remains have never been
found.
A Turkish bug planted at the consulate reportedly captured the sound of a forensic saw, operated by a Saudi colonel who was also a forensics expert, dismembering Khashoggi's body within an hour of his entering the building.
The prince said in 2019 he took "full responsibility" for the killing since it happened on his watch, but denied ordering it.
Saudi officials have said Khashoggi's killing was the work of rogue Saudi security and intelligence officials. Saudi Arabian courts last year announced they had sentenced eight Saudi nationals to prison in Khashoggi's killing. They were not identified.