As Trump thaws ties, Russia has a new public enemy number one: Britain

 Two British diplomats expelled in a spying row. A blistering statement from Russia's foreign intelligence service calling Britain "a warmonger." And a threat from a top ally of Vladimir Putin to seize UK assets inside Russia.

As the U.S. under Donald Trump seeks to reset ties with Moscow and broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, Britain has been granted the status of Russia's public enemy number one. 

It's a mantle it has held on and off over the past two centuries.

"London today, like on the eve of both World Wars of the last century, is acting as the main global 'warmonger'," Russia's foreign intelligence service said in an unusually charged public statement on Monday. It accused London of trying to derail Trump's efforts to broker peace in Ukraine.

"The time has come to expose them and send a clear message to 'perfidious Albion' and its elites: you will not succeed," the agency, known as SVR, said.

It did not elaborate on its objections to Britain's behaviour prior to the two World Wars. 

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has become Europe's biggest and deadliest conflict since World War Two. It has left hundreds of thousands of dead and injured, displaced millions more, and triggered the sharpest confrontation between Moscow and the West in decades.

For most of the war, Russia lambasted Washington for its role in supplying aid to Kyiv. With Trump in office, that has changed. 

Three Russian officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, said Britain was now regarded as Moscow's main foe, with one fuming that London was "stoking chaos and war" in Ukraine. 

Another described Britain as the driving force in the West when it came to galvanising opposition to Russia. 

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's talk this month of putting British boots on the ground and planes in the air in Ukraine as part of a potential peacekeeping force has angered senior Russian politicians. So did his hosting of a meeting of the "coalition of the willing", as well as his in-person and phone lobbying of Trump to support Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has cast Starmer as fuelling tensions at the very moment when Trump was trying to calm them.

British diplomats in Russia say they know what they're up against. Tit-for-tat expulsions have already shrunk the staff at Britain's embassy by at least 10 diplomats since the start of the war. Neither Russia nor Britain has defence attaches in post.

Russia's FSB security service on Monday accused a British diplomat and the spouse of another diplomat of spying and expelled them - allegations London called "baseless." 

Britain summoned Russia's ambassador in London on Wednesday and expelled a Russian diplomat and a diplomatic spouse in retaliation.  

"It is clear that the Russian state is actively seeking to drive the British Embassy in Moscow towards closure," the British Foreign Office said in a statement on Wednesday.

Russia's Foreign Ministry and British Foreign Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

"HOSTILE ACTION"

Russia, according to the head of Britain's MI6 Secret Intelligence Service, has used "staggeringly reckless" sabotage on British and European soil. 

A London court this month found three Bulgarians guilty of being part of a Russian spy unit. In October, a British man admitted to a London court that he had carried out an arson attack on a Ukrainian-owned warehouse in east London on behalf of Russia.

A British inquiry blamed Russia for the 2006 poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London with a radioactive substance. London also accused Moscow of the 2018 Salisbury poisoning that used the Novichok nerve agent. Moscow rejected those accusations.

Some Russian politicians have suggested, without providing evidence, that Britain helped Ukraine carry out sabotage operations on Russian targets such as on the bridge linking Crimea with mainland Russia, in which two people were killed in 2023.   

One of the three Russian officials said Starmer, like Boris Johnson before him, was using the Ukraine war to distract from domestic problems. London says it wants to ensure Ukraine gets "a just peace" rather than being forced to capitulate.

'THE ENGLISHWOMAN RELIEVES HERSELF'

Nationalist commentators on Russian state TV have started telling Russians that London has been trying to undermine Moscow for centuries. 

Despite London's popularity as a Russian investment destination, distrust of Britain traces its roots back to at least the Crimean War of 1853-1856, when it was part of an alliance that defeated the Russian Empire.

Britain's more recent purported transgressions have had Russian politicians reaching for a nineteenth century phrase used to describe Britain's hostile foreign policy towards Russia under Queen Victoria: “The Englishwoman relieves herself" on Russia, a saying meant to signify Britain's alleged systematic efforts to act as a spoiler.

The new, souring anti-British mood, which has been accompanied by a marked and rapid softening of anti-U.S. rhetoric in state media, could leave London more exposed.

As Russia enters a fourth year of war with its economy overheating, there is a sense in Moscow that Trump’s new approach offers a chance for peace on terms favourable to Moscow.

Some lawmakers have said companies from "hostile" nations like Britain should not be allowed back even if Western sanctions are eased after an eventual peace deal with Ukraine, or given a much harder ride if they are.  

Vyacheslav Volodin, a top Putin ally, this week spoke of the need to claw back money from Britain, a reference to interest accrued on frozen Russian assets in the UK worth around $26 billion that London has been handing to Ukraine. 

British-Russia trade has shrunk from over 16 billion pounds in 2021 to just over 2 billion pounds in 2023, according to UK government data, with oil company BP taking a hit of over $20 billion to exit Russia in 2022.

Other British companies, such as the British-Swedish pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, continue to do business there.

BRITISH LOCOMOTIVE

Some in Britain might be surprised by the global importance attributed to London's intelligence services and special forces by Moscow. But one of the three Russian officials said London had shown it was able to lead by example on Ukraine.

"They're the locomotive and pull others along with them," the official said.

Britain, which offers training and finance to the Ukrainian military, was the first country to pledge Western-made main battle tanks to Ukraine and the first to deliver long-range cruise missiles at a time when other countries were hesitating. 

It deeply angered Russia.

"If today Britain is hitting our territory with its missiles from Ukraine … I consider this a good reason for Britain to cease to exist, Andrei Gurulyov, a pro-Putin lawmaker and former military commander, told state TV in January.

Russia's attempt to cast Britain as a warmonger echoes Putin's accusation that former British prime minister Boris Johnson persuaded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to walk away from a potential peace deal in 2022, an assertion Johnson and Zelenskiy reject.

And though it would appear to weaken the charge that Britain poses a threat to Moscow, Russian politicians and commentators have been eager to point out the shrunken state of the British military, which currently has less than 75,000 full-time army soldiers. Russia has an estimated 1.1 million active servicemen.

State TV anchor Yevgeny Kiselyov used his flagship show this month to quip that the entire British army could fit into London’s Wembley football stadium.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/analysis-as-trump-thaws-ties-russia-has-a-new-public-enemy-number-one-britain/ar-AA1AUqTU

NHS England 'has lost control of health service', says BMA

 As the news that NHS England is to be dismantled sinks in, the British Medical Association (BMA) and other bodies have weighed in on the decision.

According to Prof Phil Banfield, chair of the BMA council, it had become clear that the centre "no longer has a grip on the health service, its staffing or the future of the NHS," although he praised the hard work of the leadership and staff.

Referring to the decision announced yesterday by Prime Minister Keir as a "high-stakes move," Banfield said that the government must ensure that it retains the expertise needed to achieve its much-touted reform of the NHS.

"The systematic fragmentation and incremental cuts to the NHS have made it too complex and unclear to frontline staff, patients, and the next generation of doctors just who is responsible for today, tomorrow, and the future," according to Banfield.

He also warned that, without the buffer of NHS England, the buck will now clearly stop with Health Secretary Wes Streeting as the reform process plays out.

Yesterday, Streeting said that there was an enormous amount of duplication between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England, adding that "Work has already begun to strip out the duplication…and bring many of NHS England's functions into the Department."

For now, at least, there's far more speculation than fact about the reorganisation of the administrative and commissioning side of the NHS, which was NHS England's main remit, other than a pledge from the government that the process will be completed within two years.

The King's Fund think tank said that the centre – which was set up in 2013 under the previous Conservative government and employs around 13,000 people – had been asked to take on a lot more additional power and functions, and therefore staff, than it was originally designed to do.

"The most important question is how will the abolition of NHS England make it easier for people to get a GP appointment, shorten waits for planned care and improve people's health?" commented its chief executive Sarah Woolnough, who suggested that the cost savings in dismantling it will be minimal in the context of the entire NHS budget.

"That hasn't yet been set out – ministers will need to explain how the prize will be worth the price," she added, noting that the country is now waiting in anticipation for the Labour government's 10-year plan for the NHS later this year.

Matthew Taylor, CEO of the NHS Confederation which represents organisations that plan, commission and commission NHS services, and Daniel Elkeles, incoming CEO of NHS Providers which represents health service trusts, issued a joint statement on the news.

They said that their members would "understand the dynamics at play here," whilst also warning that the decision had come at "an extremely challenging time, with rising demand for care, constrained funding and the need to transform services."

Figures released yesterday showed that the NHS elective procedure waiting list in January fell for the fifth month in a row, from 7.46 million to 7.43 million, a reduction of 193,000 since July 2024.

https://pharmaphorum.com/news/nhs-england-has-lost-control-health-service-says-bma

Pharma furious as UK Statutory Scheme rebate rate soars

 The UK pharma sector has reacted with consternation to the news that the government is proposing to raise the Statutory Scheme payment rate from 15.5% to 32.2% of companies' NHS sales in the second half of this year.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) warned that the proposal, which comes alongside a sharp rise in the rebate rate for the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG), is threatening growth and investment in the UK life sciences industry.

The two schemes set a yearly cap on the total allowed sales value of branded medicines to the NHS each year, with sales above the cap paid back to the government via a levy.

Most companies opt for the voluntary scheme, although a massive increase in the rebate in the last few years prompted some to opt out and switch to the statutory scheme in protest. The ABPI estimates that only around 2% of the total branded medicines market is subject to the Statutory Scheme, and the VPAG "tends to have enhanced terms and marginally lower rates."

Nevertheless, the rise in the Statutory Scheme rate to almost a third of pharma company revenue – which brings the average for the year to 23.8%, roughly in line with the 22.9% levied via the VPAG – is undermining the UK government's efforts to make life sciences a foundation of its industrial strategy.

"We need an urgent ministerial commitment to work with industry to get the UK back to an internationally competitive position," said ABPI chief executive Richard Torbett, who pointed out that comparable sales rebate rates in Germany (7%), Ireland (9%), and France (12%) show that the UK is outside international norms with its policy.

ABPI also repeated its often-asserted comment that the UK invests a smaller share of overall healthcare costs on medicines than comparable countries, at 9% compared to 17% in Germany and Italy and 15% in France.

"There is a real risk the rates continue to increase beyond record levels for years to come – unless ministers intervene to fix the broken system," said the trade organisation.

"The result of limiting government expenditure on branded medicines at levels far below NHS need has led to long-term disinvestment in medicines, while the costs to industry has increased exponentially," it added.

"Most recently, this has been exacerbated by a rapid expansion of NHS spending, without any corresponding increase to allowed spending on medicine."

Earlier this month, the ABPI published a white paper that urged the government to put medicines at the heart of the NHS 10-year plan as a 'fourth shift' in the government's much-anticipated 10-year plan for the health service, along with moving care from hospitals to the community, embracing digital technologies, and focusing on disease prevention rather than sickness.

https://pharmaphorum.com/news/pharma-furious-uk-statutory-scheme-rebate-rate-soars

US designated South Korea a 'sensitive' country amid talk of nuclear weapons

 The U.S. Department of Energy has designated ally South Korea a "sensitive" country, a spokesperson said on Friday, after the South Korean president briefly imposed martial law and amid talk of Seoul potentially developing nuclear weapons.

The administration of then-President Joe Biden put South Korea on the lowest tier of the Sensitive and Other Designated Countries List in January shortly before Biden left office, the DOE said in a written response to Reuters queries.

The department did not explain why the Asian nation was added to the list and did not indicate that President Donald Trump was inclined to reverse the measure. The spokesperson said Seoul faces no new restrictions on bilateral cooperation in science and technology.

South Korea's foreign ministry could not immediately be reached for comment on Saturday. Seoul is in talks with Washington to resolve the matter before the designation takes effect on April 15, Yonhap news agency reported, citing a diplomatic source it did not identify.

The DOE list of sensitive countries includes China, Taiwan, Israel, Russia, Iran and North Korea, with Tehran and Pyongyang designated as terrorist, according to a 2017 document posted on the department's website.

President Yoon Suk Yeol and then-Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun are among the South Korean officials who raised the prospect that South Korea would be forced to pursue nuclear weapons amid fears over North Korea's accelerated nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, and concerns about the strength of the alliance with the U.S., which provides a nuclear shield for South Korea.

Yoon and Kim have been indicted on charges of insurrection over Yoon's six-hour declaration of martial law in December. Yoon was impeached and his presidential powers suspended while a court decides whether to remove him from office.

Yoon backed off rhetoric about a nuclear weapons program after negotiating with Biden a 2023 agreement under which Washington is to give Seoul more insight into U.S. planning to deter and respond to a nuclear incident in the region. In return, Seoul renewed a pledge not to pursue a nuclear bomb of its own and said it would abide by the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, which it has signed.

That, however, has not been enough to ease doubts over U.S. defense commitments that have fueled calls for a South Korean nuclear arsenal.

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said last month that nuclear weapons were not "off the table", though it was premature to talk about such a plan.

"Given that international situations are developing in unpredictable directions, this is a principled response that we must prepare for all possible scenarios," Cho told a parliamentary hearing.

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the nonprofit Arms Control Association, said that in light of such "provocative" statements, South Korea is a proliferation risk and the DOE was prudent to put the country on its list.

"Listing the ROK as a proliferation-sensitive country should rule out any chance of a South Korean request for U.S. approval to enrich uranium and reprocessing spent fuel... to produce nuclear weapons," Kimball said, citing the country's formal name, the Republic of Korea.

The handling of the designation raised concerns in Seoul. Cho told parliament on Tuesday that his ministry had had no formal communication from the Biden administration and only heard about the possible designation from an informal tip-off.

Countries may appear on Energy Department's list for reasons of national security, nuclear nonproliferation or support for terrorism, though inclusion does not necessarily indicate an adversarial relationship with the United States.

"Currently there are no new restrictions on bilateral science and technology cooperation with the ROK," the DOE said. "The Energy Department looks forward to collaborating with the ROK to advance our mutual interests."

Though the designation does not prohibit scientific or technical cooperation, visits to the listed countries and cooperation undergo an internal review beforehand, the department said.

https://www.aol.com/news/us-designated-south-korea-sensitive-043831761.html

Iraqi PM says Islamic State leader for Iraq and Syria killed

 The leader of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has been killed, Iraq's prime minister said on Friday, describing him as "one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world."

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rufay'i, also known as Abu Khadija, had been killed by Iraqi security forces, with the support of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.

Islamic State imposed hardline Islamist rule over millions of people in Syria and Iraq for years, and has been trying to stage a comeback in the Middle East, the West and Asia.

Former Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate over a quarter of Iraq and Syria in 2014 before he was killed in a raid by U.S. special forces in northwest Syria in 2019 as the group collapsed.

The U.S. Central Command said last July that the group was been attempting to "reconstitute following several years of decreased capability."

The command based its assessment on Islamic State claims of mounting 153 attacks in Iraq and Syria in the first half of 2024, a rate that would put the group "on pace to more than double the number of attacks" claimed the year before.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-03-14/iraqi-pm-says-islamic-state-leader-for-iraq-and-syria-killed

Canada resumes imports from biggest US pork plant run by Smithfield Foods

 Canada has resumed imports from the biggest U.S. pork-processing plant, a Smithfield Foods facility in Tar Heel, North Carolina, after suspending shipments for about a week, the company said on Friday.

The halt temporarily limited a market for American pork products at a time when U.S. farmers fear that agricultural exports will suffer from tit-for-tat tariff disputes with major buyers including Mexico, Canada and China.

Smithfield CEO Shane Smith said this week that the facility's suspension centered around a problem with offal products at the border and was unrelated to tariffs. Shares rose slightly on Friday.

"Canada temporarily suspended imports from this facility following an issue with a limited number of certain offal shipments," company spokesperson Jim Monroe said.

The suspension lasted from March 6 to March 12, and pork items produced by the facility after March 12 are eligible for export to Canada again, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture website.

Canada was the fifth-largest export market for U.S. pork last year, with shipments valued at about $850 million, USDA data show.

U.S. pork producers continue to face uncertainty over the impact of trade disputes on demand.

U.S. pork export sales of 20,262 metric tons in the week ended on March 6 were the lowest for the year so far and down 52% from the previous week, USDA said on Thursday.

On Sunday, hundreds of U.S. meat plants granted access to China, the world's biggest pork consumer, in a 2020 trade deal with President Donald Trump are set to lose export eligibility.

"The hog market has been getting blasted over tariff fears and disruption to U.S. pork exports," said Dan Norcini, an independent livestock trader.

"Any sort of news that is friendly towards U.S. pork exports, even if it is offal, helps to take some of the negative sentiment off."

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/canada-lifts-suspension-imports-biggest-140706549.html

After Trump appeal, Putin says he will spare Ukrainians in Kursk if they surrender

 Russia will spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers in its western Kursk region if Kyiv tells them to surrender, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday after President Donald Trump urged him to avoid a "horrible massacre" there.

Ukraine denied its men were encircled, describing that as a Russian fabrication, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the situation "very difficult."

Trump, in a social media post, said he had asked the Russian president to spare the lives of thousands of Ukrainians who he said were "completely surrounded" and vulnerable.

"I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared. This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II," he said.

Putin, addressing his Security Council, said he had read Trump's appeal. While accusing Ukrainian troops of carrying out crimes against civilians that he said amounted to "terrorism" — something Kyiv denies — Putin said he understood the call by Trump to take humanitarian considerations into account.

"In this regard, I would like to emphasize that if (the Ukrainian troops) lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and decent treatment in accordance with international law and the laws of the Russian Federation," Putin said.

"To effectively implement the appeal of the U.S. president, a corresponding order from the military-political leadership of Ukraine is needed for its military units to lay down their arms and surrender."

The deputy chairman of Russia's security council, former President Dmitry Medvedev, posted on social media that the flipside for Kyiv was that "if they refuse to lay down their arms, they will all be methodically and mercilessly destroyed."

https://azdailysun.com/after-trump-appeal-putin-says-he-will-spare-ukrainians-in-kursk-if-they-surrender/article_c31c6d52-1348-523a-b19c-fb28d4a65c14.html