Donald Trump has reportedly called on Russian president Vladimir Putin to tell all about what he knows of American President Joe Biden's family dealings in Russia. The former US president has made unfounded claims about his rival's family and then sought help from the Russian chief.
The move was reported by CNN where it labelled the request "brazen". And it criticised his "willingness to solicit and embrace domestic political help from foreign powers - even from Putin" who is behind the current war in Ukraine.
In an interview with JustTheNews Trump made an unproven claim about about Joe Biden's son Hunter. He then asked Putin to release any information he had on it.
Hunter Biden was paid for consulting work he did in foreign countries, including Ukraine and China, while his father was vice president. There is an ongoing criminal investigation into this.
But no evidence has emerged to support Trump's claims that the Bidens engaged in corruption or influenced US policy for personal gain, and the President hasn't been implicated in the probe. Hunter Biden has denied wrongdoing and says he'll be cleared when the criminal probe is over.
Bravery Award
Meanwhile the Ukrainian soldier who told the Russian warship to "go f*** youself" has been given a bravery award, says Sky News. Roman Hrybov was one of a troop of Ukrainian soldiers defending Snake Island in the Black Sea during a multipronged Russian attack on the first day of the incursion.
He became a star when he stood up to the invading forces. He was initially thought to have been killed but was later found to be alive and was freed from captivity.
In a clip of the incident a voice is heard saying: "This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and unnecessary victims. Otherwise you will be bombed."
Then came the reply from Snake Island: "Russian warship, go f*** yourself." It was later found the 13 men defending the tiny island had been captured but were alive. They were later released.
A tweet from Defence of Ukraine showed him being presented with a medal. It said: "Roman Hrybov, the author of the famous “Russian Warship, Go F*** Yourself” phrase, returned from Russian captivity to his native Cherkasy region. Glory to the Hero!"
Concert
The star-studded Ukraine concert held in Birmingham on Tuesday has now raised more than £13.4m. The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) announced that its Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal has now raised a total of £260 million following the two-hour Concert for Ukraine in Birmingham.
The broadcast saw a surge in donations to the DEC’s Ukraine appeal as an average of three million people tuned in, peaking at 3.6 million. Profits from ticket sales and an estimated £3 million in advertising revenue from ITV will also be donated, with the concert raising more than £13.4 million in total. The overall total of £260 million also includes £25 million matched by the UK Government at the start of the appeal.
The evening at the Resorts World Arena featured a star-studded line-up that also included Paloma Faith, Anne-Marie and Gregory Porter – and was punctuated by short video pieces documenting the lives of displaced Ukrainians both inside and outside the country.
Sheeran took to the stage solo for a two-song set of his hits Perfect and Bad Habits. Between the tracks, he told the audience: “Thank you so much for coming. It’s such an important cause and I am so honoured to be here.”
No backsliding
Boris Johnson has insisted the UK is right to “double down” on military aid to Ukraine, as he warned against “backsliding” on sanctions against Russia. The Prime Minister told MPs removing sanctions from Russia “simply because there is a ceasefire” would be “inconceivable”.
Britain has already sent more than 4,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine. These include next-generation light anti-tank weapons systems (Nlaws) and Javelin missiles.
It is also supplying and training Ukrainian troops in the use of Starstreak high-velocity anti-air missiles as well as providing body armour, helmets and combat boots. Mr Johnson has repeatedly insisted the UK will provide further defensive support to Ukraine, including a new package of 6,000 more missiles.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Conservative former defence minister Johnny Mercer said the UK needed to remain consistent. He said: “Whilst others may now begin to tire, now is actually the time to double down on the aid that we give to Ukraine, that actually we might end up breaking a pretty poor Russian army and bring peace to that part of the world whilst consigning the likes of Vladimir Putin to the dustbin of history where he belongs.”
Mr Johnson said: “I think that is absolutely right.” He then added: “Yes it is right that we should double down on military defensive support in the way that we are.”
He asked if anyone can imagine Labour doing the same, telling MPs: “We will go on with that, but what we will also do… is make sure that there is no backsliding on sanctions by any of our friends and partners around the world. In fact we need now to ratchet up the economic pressure on Vladimir Putin, and it is certainly inconceivable that any sanctions could be taken off simply because there is a ceasefire. That would be absolutely unthinkable in my view.”
'Not got everything right with refugee scheme'
The process for resettling Ukrainian refugees in the UK has not been “as seamless as it should have been”, the minister in charge has admitted. Lord Harrington, who was made a peer and appointed minister for refugees by the Prime Minister following criticism of the UK’s Ukrainian refugee response, said the visa application process for those fleeing the war in eastern Europe was taking too long.
But the Conservative peer told MPs that staff were working evening and weekends in a bid to speed up the process. A little under 60,000 applications have been received for both the Ukraine Family Scheme, where refugees can apply to be reunited with relatives already living in the UK, and the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme, which allows individuals and other groups to offer accommodation to those wanting to travel to Britain.
The Home Office confirmed on Wednesday that, as of March 29, the total number of visas issued was 25,500 – including 2,700 under the sponsorship scheme and 22,800 under the family scheme. Speaking to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, Lord Harrington said: “If I’m positive, I can say we’ve got 30,000 completed forms thereabouts.
“But we have not got everything right. It is not as seamless as it should be.” He added: “We (the Home Office) are not trying to slow things up. The last time we looked, there were more than 300 staff and if we include both schemes, about 500 staff.
“We’ve started evening working, we’ve started weekend working. This is like an emergency operation.
“It is not that, ‘Oh they will just have to wait. It is people there who are desperate to come over, they’ve got through the system and we’ve got to get them here as quickly as possible.”
Asked how many people had arrived as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, the former Watford MP said it was “too early to publish that data” but vowed to write to the committee by early next week with the figures. He said he hoped civil servants would be able to process 15,000 applications per week via both schemes within the next three weeks.
Lord Harrington – who was previously involved in the Syrian resettlement scheme – said there was a need for security checks to ensure Ukrainians applying “are who they say they are”. But he said that questions such as “are you a war criminal?” had been removed from the standard form that had been used.
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