Freedom scientific

Philip Whiteside, news reporter Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a British-Iranian woman who has been in jail in Iran for five years. The Iranian regime claims she was working against the state when she was arrested on a visit to the country to see her parents with her daughter. Here is a timeline of events that have left a family split apart and resulted in diplomacy at the highest level. October 2010 Joins Thomson Reuters Foundation Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe joins the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a charity that says it promotes "socio-economic progress" and the rule of law through a series of training programmes. Advertisement Before the move, she worked for BBC Media Action for around 18 months, the corporation's international development charity which uses "the power of media and communication to help reduce poverty and support people in understanding their rights". June 2014 Birth of her daughter Gabriella, the only daughter of Mrs … [Read more...] about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: The five-year fight for freedom

Boris Johnson is getting a £9million White House-style 'situation room' to command terror emergencies and military operations. The state-of-the-art bunker in the basement of the Cabinet Office will have huge display screens allowing the PM to track events in real time. It will be known as the Situation Centre, or SitCen, and should be up and running this summer - with claims it will reduce the time taken to brief ministers from 'weeks to minutes'. The plan is a centrepiece of the huge defence, security and foreign policy review due to be unveiled by Mr Johnson on March 16. The project has been highlighted after it emerged that £2.6million has been spent on an overhaul of No9 Downing Street to stage US-esque televised press briefings. Meanwhile, a major row is raging over claims Mr Johnson's official flat above No11 is having an upgrade overseen by his fiancee Carrie Symonds, with the cost feared to be around £200,000. No10 sources told the Sunday Times coronavirus had … [Read more...] about Boris Johnson will get £9m White House-style ‘situation centre’ to command terror emergencies and military operations

The UK should prepare for a "difficult autumn" due to the threat of new coronavirus variants emerging and a potential surge in other respiratory viruses, a senior health official has warned. Dr Susan Hopkins, Public Health England's strategic response director for COVID-19 , said the population may have less immunity to respiratory viruses such as flu due to the coronavirus pandemic. She told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that it was "highly unlikely" that a new COVID variant would derail the plan to start easing England's lockdown "for the next three to five weeks". Live COVID-19 updates from the UK and around the world But Dr Hopkins added: "We'll need to monitor carefully as new strains come into the country from around the world. Advertisement "We'll need to be very ready for an autumn that could be challenging as these variants are there. "We're working very closely with vaccine manufacturers to see what they could do to develop … [Read more...] about COVID-19: UK should prepare now for ‘difficult autumn’ and ‘hard winter’, warns Public Health England official

The husband of detained British woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe said he was in limbo after hopes that she would be home from Iran in time for Christmas were dashed. Richard Ratcliffe spent his second festive period apart from his wife and three-year-old daughter Gabriella - but said the situation now was "a lot more positive" than last year. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is British-Iranian, was arrested in Tehran in 2016 and is serving a five-year sentence over allegations - which she denies - of planning to topple Iran's government. Hopes for progress have been raised after a visit to the country earlier in December by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson - who had previously come under political pressure after a gaffe about the case. Last week it emerged she had been marked as "eligible for early release" on the Iranian judiciary's database. Advertisement Mr Ratcliffe said he had hoped his wife would be home in time for Christmas Day or Boxing Day but that … [Read more...] about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband ‘in limbo’ after Christmas hopes dashed

The Iranian government-funded news channel Press TV has been taken off-air in the UK after its licence was revoked by the communications watchdog. In a statement, Ofcom said the English language channel had breached broadcast rules as editorial control rested in Tehran, but the licence was held by its London office. It said Press TV - which includes former MP George Galloway and Tony Blair's sister-in-law Lauren Booth among its presenters - had been given 35 days to have its operations in Tehran licenced but had not done so. The channel had also "indicated it is unwilling and unable" to pay a fine of £100,000 imposed in December for showing an interview "obtained under duress" with an imprisoned journalist for a US magazine, Ofcom said. After the decision, Mr Galloway tweeted: "Champions of liberty the British govt have now taken Press TV off Sky." Advertisement A phone-in programme presented by Mr Galloway had previously fallen foul of Ofcom, which … [Read more...] about Iranian News Channel Press TV Loses Licence