 | | |
|
Good morning. The US, Ukraine and Russia are meeting for another round of peace talks today – before American officials hold more nuclear discussions with Iran. The Local Government Secretary is facing calls to resign after Labour abandoned plans to postpone local elections, while Reform will announce its ‘shadow cabinet’ later. Emmanuel Macron is in India, Chinese firms could find it easier to list in London, and Hollywood remembers Robert Duvall: the great Godfather consigliere who has died at the age of 95. You’re reading Spectator Daily – here’s everything you need to know today. |
|
UKRAINE, IRAN AND A TALE OF TWO TALKS
Once more with feeling? Two rounds of talks are happening in Geneva today, as the US tries to tie up the Ukraine-Russia war and prevent an escalation with Iran. Let’s look at the more pessimistic discussions first aka the latest trilateral meeting between Kyiv, Moscow and Washington.
Is there even any point? The two-day meeting comes less than a month after the US mediated initial rounds of discussions in Abu Dhabi. While those talks largely focused on the possibility of a military ceasefire, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today’s negotiations will address a ‘broader range of issues’ including territorial concessions.
Next week will mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion – but the prospect of a breakthrough before then seems slim. Officials from all sides briefed that they do not expect an agreement to end the war coming out of the next two days. The US – whose delegation is expected to be led by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – has set a June deadline to reach a settlement. But with what leverage? |
|
 | Getty | Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – here we go again. |
|
Hopes are slightly higher about US-Iran talks, though. American and Iranian negotiators will also meet in Geneva later to discuss Tehran’s nuclear programme. Donald Trump has long threatened military action if Iran refuses to strike a deal. However, the mood is slightly more optimistic after the head of Iran’s nuclear watchdog told the BBC on Sunday that they were willing to compromise if the US lifts sanctions.
Iranian media said the ‘process of nuclear talks’ officially resumed yesterday after Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog. Grossi said they had had ‘in-depth technical discussions’ ahead of the Oman-mediated talks today. Will that pave the way for a breakthrough?
Perhaps not if Israel can help it. Last week, Benjamin Netanyahu lobbied Donald Trump to not accept a nuclear-only deal. Israel wants an agreement to include action against Iran’s support for terrorist groups, as well as its ballistic missiles. CBS, however, reported that the Israeli Prime Minister was told in December that the US would support strikes on Iran’s missiles if the talks fail. So the stakes are somewhat high, then…
All of this, of course, was preceded by some good old military flexing yesterday. Iranian state media released a video of the military conducting naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz. Hours later, US Central Command posted pictures of exercises taking place on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, the large aircraft carrier stationed in the Middle East. The region has been relatively quiet in recent weeks: don’t bet on that lasting long. |
|
Upcoming debate
Editorial errors, ideological bias and partisan presenters – what has happened to the BBC? Once considered a national treasure and a bastion of pioneering journalism around the world, ‘Auntie’ is now just as likely to make the headlines as to report them.
Watch Charles Moore, who was fined after refusing to pay his licence fee, and Allison Pearson go up against Michael Gove and Jon Sopel to debate if we should abolish the licence fee.
Book now
|
|
|
|
ANOTHER COUNCIL U-TURN
Most of the papers splash on yet another U-turn from the government, which yesterday abandoned plans to postpone 30 council elections in England. The proposals would have delayed May’s vote for 4.6 million people, which Labour justified by claiming that changes to the local authority system made elections too expensive. However, following a legal challenge by Reform, the government has backed down. What’s more, it has agreed to pay Reform’s legal costs (which the BBC reports could be more than £100,000), prompting Nigel Farage to call for the resignation of Local Government Secretary Steve Reed.
What makes this particularly embarrassing for Sir Keir Starmer is that the decision came following ‘new legal advice’ from the government’s lawyers. A High Court hearing was scheduled for Thursday: some oversight for the proud lawyer…
Reform will try to keep the momentum going as it announces its ‘shadow cabinet’ at 11 a.m. It won’t be a full listing, but will see senior figures be allocated certain briefs. Robert Jenrick is expected to be made ‘shadow chancellor’, beating competition from Zia Yusuf and Richard Tice. Yusuf, according to the Times, will be put in charge of home affairs, while Tice will be given a business and energy brief. Nadhim Zahawi will reportedly be put in charge of foreign policy. We’ll find out later, of course, how accurate that briefing was… |
|
 | Getty | ‘Him! In charge of foreign policy! I amuse myself sometimes…’ |
|
Meanwhile, the Quran burning case is back in the High Court today. Hamit Coskun overturned his conviction for a religiously aggravated public order offence after he burned a copy of the religious text outside the Turkish embassy in London last February. However the Crown Prosecution Service is today appealing the decision to quash his conviction. US state department officials are reportedly preparing to offer Coskun asylum if he loses the case. If so, could this finally spell the death of the ‘special relationship’?
It’s not just British blasphemy Donald Trump is weighing in on. The US President criticised Ed Miliband’s ‘inappropriate’ green deal with California yesterday. He claimed that the clean energy and climate action pact signed with Gavin Newsom, the state’s Democratic governor, will not be successful because Newsom is ‘a loser’ and ‘everything he’s touched turned to garbage’. If it’s any consolation, the agreement is just a ‘memorandum of understanding’, pledging co-operation on clean energy technologies, and shouldn’t actually commit us to anything.
Back in Westminster, the knives remain out for Dame Antonia Romeo, the woman touted as the next cabinet secretary. The Times reports that, when she was consul-general in New York between 2016 and 2017, an investigation into claims she bullied staff found a ‘serious case to answer’. However the probe was then dropped by the Cabinet Office – the department from which she was seconded – which found ‘no case to answer’. Romeo’s allies point out that she has led three different government departments since then, to no similar complaints. However, critics told the Times it was a ‘chilling’ cover-up. |
|
Coming up today |  | Monthly unemployment figures have just dropped here – with unemployment reaching a five-year high. | | David Lammy is in Sri Lanka, visiting in his role as Deputy Prime Minister. His ex-adviser Ben Judah, who recently left government, wrote in the Times yesterday that ‘the state is failing’. Fun experience, then? | | It’s Shrove Tuesday today: so, happy pancake day. Morning Press favours lemon and sugar, but those quitting chocolate for Lent might want one last hit. |
|
|
MINNEAPOLIS, PELICOT AND MACRON GOES TO INDIA
It’s quieter in Minneapolis than it was, but the past month’s scenes in the city continue to reverberate. Law authorities said last night that the FBI is refusing to co-operate with its investigation into Alex Pretti’s death. Federal immigration agents shot the 37-year-old intensive care nurse last month. However, Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension claimed the FBI was refusing to hand over any information or evidence from its investigation into the shooting. The state’s Democrat governor Tim Walz said the probe needed to be ‘impartial’ since Donald Trump’s ‘left hand cannot investigate his right hand’.
Meanwhile, Walmart has been approached by investigators looking into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of US TV anchor Savannah Guthrie. The 84-year-old was last seen at her Arizona home on 31 January and was reported missing the following day. Sheriffs said that a suspect, who was recorded outside her house the night she disappeared, was wearing a backpack sold exclusively at Walmart stores.
In India, Emmanuel Macron will today become the most senior figure to drop in on the India AI Impact Summit, which started in New Delhi yesterday. The French President will also hold talks with Narendra Modi to ‘deepen ties’ (in Bloomberg’s words). The two countries seem to be getting on: last week, India approved the purchase of 114 Rafale jets from France – the biggest arms deal in Indian history. Today should see the technical details finalised. |
|
 | Getty | ‘Now tell me, do you also find talking to Keir impossible?’ |
|
Back in France, Gisèle Pelicot’s memoir A Hymn to Life is released today. Pelicot waived her right to anonymity after she was drugged and raped by her husband and at least 80 other men while unconscious over a nine-year period. In the book, she calls them ‘parrots, deplorable mouthpieces, violent, cowardly little people’. In case you missed it, it’s also worth watching Sunday’s Newsnight interview with this staggeringly brave woman. |
|
| Watch and listen | | The Rest is History’s latest multi-parter has gone live: this time Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook tackle the fall of the Incas. | | This newsletter wouldn’t normally recommend a Novara Media show, but Ash Sarkar’s 90-minute chat with Maurice Glasman is worth dipping into. | | Channel Four has been following Tony Blair around for a new documentary: The Tony Blair Story is on at 9 p.m. |
|
|
CHINA IN THE CITY
Those who’ve watched the latest episode of Industry will know what a high-stakes world auditing can be. Now, there could be major changes coming for it, according to the Financial Times. The accounting regulator is trying to make it easier for Chinese companies to list in London, the paper reports. The changes would allow Chinese-registered entities to use Chinese auditing standards with global depository receipts. Currently, Chinese companies have to meet UK standards. At the time of writing, the most-liked comment under the report reads: ‘Well, I can’t see how anything might go wrong there…’
Some good news, however, for the Chancellor. Ahead of next month’s spring statement (which ministers are keen to stress is a non-event), Rachel Reeves looks like she’ll benefit from falling debt-interest payment costs for the first time since she entered office. According to Bloomberg’s calculations, she’ll have an extra £1.5 billion to play with compared with last November. We’re in the money! |
|
 | Getty | ‘You got 50p, is it? I’ll take 50p, this debt won’t clear itself!’ |
|
Across the Atlantic, Elon Musk’s SpaceX and xAI are reportedly competing in a (not-so) secret Pentagon contest for companies to make voice-controlled autonomous drone technology. It marks a new domain for Musk: the AI weapons market. He has previously expressed opposition to making ‘new tools for killing people’. There’s only one way to stop a bad guy with a voice-controlled pack of autonomous drones, of course, and it’s a good guy with a voice-controlled pack of autonomous drones…
Semi-linked to that, it’s worth reading this Wall Street Journal deep dive about how companies are gambling with the new AI age. A particularly prominent trend over the past year has been CEO churn, and it looks like younger people are benefiting. The past year has seen record CEO turnover among US public companies, with incoming chief executives having an average age of 54 (down from 56 last year). Notably, more than 80 per cent of new CEO appointments were first-timers, with two-thirds having never sat on a board before. |
|
RIP to Robert Duvall who died yesterday at the age of 95. One of the greatest actors of all time, he was best known for his roles in The Godfather franchise and Tender Mercies. His final role was in a Christian Bale film, The Pale Blue Eye, which came out in 2022. Incidentally, he’s also one of the best lines in one of Family Guy’s funniest scenes. A statement on behalf of his family said Duvall died ‘peacefully’ on his ranch in Virginia. His Godfather co-star Al Pacino said he was ‘a born actor… his connection with it, his understanding and his phenomenal gift will always be remembered’.
Meanwhile, some concerning news from Italy. The famous ‘Lovers’ Arch’ in Puglia, just off the Adriatic coast, has collapsed after days of heavy rain. It was one of the world’s most popular spots for wedding proposals and – somewhat bleakly – collapsed on Valentine’s Day. The local mayor Maurizio Cisternino said: ‘Nature as it created the bow, has taken it back.’ Can’t really imagine Andy Burnham speaking like that, can you? |
|
 | iStock | Like this? Well, bad luck, it’s gone now. |
|
Good news! Intermittent fasting may not help weight loss, according to a major study. Researchers said that fasting diets such as the 5:2 regime ‘may make little to no difference to weight loss’. However, they said intermittent fasting could be good for you in other ways, such as improving gut health. So help yourself to an extra slice of toast this morning! |
|
With thanks to John Power for additional reporting. |
|
| |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment