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Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy drums up defence agreements with Gulf states on countering missiles and drones | Ukraine

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  • Qatar and Ukraine signed a defence agreement on Saturday that included cooperation on countering threats from missiles and drones, the Gulf state’s government said, as Iran presses an aerial campaign against its neighbours. Earlier on Saturday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy – during a previously unannounced flurry of visits to Gulf nations – said his country and the United Arab Emirates had agreed to cooperate on defence, after Iran targeted countries in the area in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes. Ukraine also signed an air defence agreement with Saudi Arabia during Zelenskyy’s visit to the kingdom earlier this week.

  • “We are talking about a 10-year cooperation. We have already signed a relevant agreement with Saudi Arabia, we have just signed a similar agreement with Qatar, also for 10 years, we will sign one with the Emirates,” Zelenskyy told reporters at a briefing.

  • Ukraine has quickly grown into one of the world’s leading producers of cutting-edge, battle-tested drone interceptors that are cheap and effective. They are playing a key part in its defence against Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began on 24 February 2022.

  • In return for its aid to Gulf countries, Ukraine is seeking more high-end air-defence missiles that they possess and that Kyiv needs to counter Russia’s attacks. Last week Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was looking into whether it could play a role in restoring security in the strait of Hormuz.

  • Ukraine wants to build long-term ties with Middle Eastern countries, Zelenskyy said, including joint production, cooperation in the energy sector, investment and sharing battlefield experience. He spoke with journalists via Zoom during an official visit in Qatar, the latest in his tour in the region. “Simple sales do not interest us,” Zelenskyy said. “We want systemic relationships, where exporters earn revenue and Ukraine receives sufficient funds to invest in domestic production.”

  • Zelenskyy has sought to craft an opportunity from the war, which otherwise benefits Russia through higher oil prices and possible slowdowns in western arms supplies to Kyiv. Almost immediately, he started offering US allies in the region deals to get their hands on Ukrainian drone interceptors and has dispatched more than 200 military experts. “Surely no one else can help in this way today, with expertise,” he told reporters. “No one else possesses such experience.”

  • Russian air attacks across Ukraine early Saturday killed at least four people and damaged critical infrastructure, including a port and a maternity hospital, authorities said, as Russia pressed on with its war against Ukraine. Moscow has been firing drones at Ukraine in nightly barrages during its four-year invasion, with Kyiv accusing it of attacking residential areas and targeting civilians.

  • Iran claims it struck Ukraine-related drone warehouse in Dubai. Iran’s military joint command made the claim in a statement run by state media, without offering evidence. The Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters said more than 20 Ukrainians were in the warehouse in the United Arab Emirates and their fate was unknown. In a news briefing, Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi, however, called the Iranian allegations a “lie,” according to Ukraine’s public broadcaster.

  • Ukraine’s military struck a major Russian oil refinery in Yaroslavl, north-east of Moscow, in an overnight attack, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday. It said in a statement that the attack caused a fire at the site of the refinery, which is critical for the Russian army’s logistics.



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    Seven years since Emiliano Sala's death, what has changed for the 'wild west' of football transfers?

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    The Argentine striker’s 2019 death in a plane crash shone a light on the opaque world of transfers and player welfare.



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    Rachel Reeves to tell G7 accelerating shift to clean energy is best defence against energy price shocks | Renewable energy

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    Rachel Reeves will warn G7 nations they must move faster on clean energy to insulate economies against global price shocks from oil and gas as she and the energy secretary Ed Miliband meet G7 finance and energy ministers on Monday.

    Keir Starmer will also gather major energy industry and insurance figures to thrash out what emergency measures might be needed to contain the continuing crisis from the blockade of the strait of Hormuz.

    But in an explicit rebuke of the Conservatives and Reform, who have urged her to end the ban on new oil and gas licenses, Reeves will tell her fellow ministers that long-term energy security from renewables and nuclear is the only way to prevent future crises.

    “As we move faster on renewables and nuclear, our partners in the G7 must do the same – because staying stuck on the rollercoaster of global oil and gas prices will help nobody,” Reeves told the Guardian ahead of the meeting.

    “That transition is strongest when countries act together. By working across the G7 we can accelerate investment and build momentum. Energy bills are coming down for families this week thanks to the actions of this Labour government – action that was opposed by the Tories and Reform.”

    Treasury sources said Reeves would speak about accelerating investment in renewables and nuclear to transition away from gas power, as well as the UK’s intention to implement the Fingleton review this year to speed up the delivery of new nuclear.

    They said Reeves would argue that the G7 nations should not “shift pressure on to partners or weaken collective resilience” – a veiled warning about easing sanctions on Russian energy or on new trade barriers.

    Reeves said she rejected calls from the Conservatives to issue new oil and gas licences in the North Sea because they would not insulate the UK from further energy shocks or bring down UK consumers’ bills.

    “Kemi Badenoch has admitted the central foundation of her energy plan won’t bring bills down. The only lasting route to lower bills is clean, homegrown power that cuts our exposure to the volatility of global gas markets,” she said. “While the Tories and Reform chase headlines, this Labour government will remain focused on easing the cost of living for families across Britain.”

    Starmer will convene senior leaders from Shell, BP, Centrica and Equinor in No 10 on Monday, as well as insurance giants Lloyd’s of London and shipping firms Maersk and CMA and banks including HSBC and Goldman Sachs.

    No 10 said it was intended to be a constructive meeting about the perilous state of the strait. It is likely to inform short and long-term contingency planning amid threats from Iran that it intends to assert sovereignty over the strait of Hormuz, including potentially charging vessels for access once the chokepoint is eventually reopened.

    Badenoch will ramp up calls for the government to do more to tackle a hit to energy bills, including removing VAT from bills alongside more drilling in the North Sea. She will visit Aberdeen and an oil rig in the North Sea. She will demand the scrapping of GB Energy, heat pump subsidies and abolishing the renewable obligation subsidies currently being funded through general taxation.

    “By drilling in the North Sea and scrapping Ed Miliband’s crazy green taxes, our Cheap Power Plan would reduce bills by £200 for everyone,” she will say. “Only the Conservatives have the plans and the team to deliver cheap energy, a stronger economy and a stronger country.”

    Badenoch conceded on the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg programme on Monday that drilling further would not reduce British consumers’ energy bills. “The drilling isn’t going to go directly on to people’s bills, no,” she said. “But if we can make sure that we stop importing from Norway – 40% of our imports are coming from Norway, who are drilling in the same basin. Why are we importing gas that is being drilled in that basin, but we won’t drill our own? This is a wider thing. It goes beyond bills.”



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    Igor Tudor leaves Tottenham after just seven games in charge

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    Tudor was a left-field gamble that went wrong from the start.

    His unique selling point, in an appointment that smacked of panic from Tottenham’s hierarchy, was that he had a chequered coaching career but a record of having the sort of instant impact the club required.

    This never materialised. He became the first man in charge of Spurs to lose his first four matches, starting with that heavy 4-1 home defeat by Arsenal.

    Tudor’s brusque, plain speaking style got no more out of the Spurs squad than Frank’s more empathetic approach. It never made any connection with the Spurs players, while a welter of tactical shifts hinted that he was struggling to work out how to get the best out of the shambles he had inherited.

    The low point came in the Champions League last 16 first leg at Atletico Madrid where he gambled on selecting Antonin Kinsky in goal ahead of first-choice Guglielmo Vicario, only to remove the young Czech after just 17 minutes following two catastrophic errors that left Spurs 3-0 down in an eventual 5-2 defeat.

    Tudor was also criticised for the manner in which he ignored Kinsky when he went off, comfort being left to his colleagues on the pitch, as well as Conor Gallagher and Dominic Solanke, who followed him down the tunnel to console him.

    Improvement could be detected in the deserved draw at Liverpool before an honourable win in the Champions League exit to Atletico – but normal dismal service was resumed in last Sunday’s highly-damaging 3-0 home defeat by fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest.

    In Tudor’s defence, he took over a shell-shocked and struggling squad decimated by injuries and stripped of confidence. There is no guarantee anyone else would have done markedly better.

    In this emergency situation, Spurs had to act, but the whole episode reflects more badly on those at the top of the club than it does on Tudor.



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