Brewing up success
A RURAL Welsh coffee roastery has been named among the world’s best destinations to experience coffee culture.
Coaltown Coffee in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, is one of 16 UK roasteries and cafes featured in Lonely Planet’s Global Coffee Tour book.
Coffee-loving tourists are also advised to seek out “small, indie cafes” such as Colonna and Small’s, Bath; Bold St Coffee, Liverpool, Climpson and Sons, London, and Espressini, Falmouth. RUSSIAN-STATE media outlets and representatives promoted at least 30 “explanations” for the Salisbury nerve agent attack as part of a campaign to shift blame for the attempted assassination, the head of MI5 has said.
In an blistering critique, Andrew Parker accused the Kremlin of attempting to mislead the world through “bare-faced lies”, social media disinformation and ridicule of critics.
In his first public remarks since the poisoning, the Director General of the Security Service delivered an unambiguous assessment of who was responsible.
“Whatever nonsense they conjure up, the case is clear,” he said.
Vladimir Putin’s regime has been the subject of international condemnation since the attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal in March, which saw the first use of a nerve agent in Europe since the Second World War.
The British Government has pointed the finger at Russia, but Moscow has repeatedly denied responsibility.
Giving the first public speech outside the UK by a serving head of MI5, Mr Parker told an audience of security chiefs in Berlin that Europe faces “sustained threats and sustained hostile activity from certain states”.
He said: “Let me be clear – by this I don’t just mean spies spying on other spies, spies following each other around at the dead of night – I mean the deliberate, targeted, malign activity intended to undermine our free, open and democratic societies.”
The chief protagonist among “hostile actors” is the Russian government, Mr Parker said, adding: “Instead of becoming a respected, great nation, it risks becoming a more isolated pariah.”
He accused the Kremlin of “flagrant breaches” of international rules – citing the invasion of Crimea, attempts to interfere with democratic elections in the US and France and the unleashing of cyber attacks, as well as the Salisbury episode.
Noting the exploitation of modern technology by Europe’s adversaries, he said: “Age-old attempts at covert influence and propaganda have been super charged in online disinformation, which can be churned out at massive scale and pace, and at little cost.
“The aim is to sow doubt by flat denials of the truth, to dilute truth with falsehood, divert attention to fake stories, and do all they can to divide alliances.
“Bare-faced lying seems to be the default mode, coupled with ridicule of critics.”
Mr Parker referenced a media survey which found that two-thirds of social media output at the peak of the Salisbury crisis came from accounts controlled by the Russian government.
He did not single out specific sources but the Russian embassy in the UK has repeatedly issued statements and tweets disputing Britain’s allegations about the attack.
Mr Skripal remains in hospital, while his daughter Yulia, who was also taken ill, was released to a secure location last month.