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Joint Press Release of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Digital Governance (25.01.2024)The multilingual “Digital Assistant” “mAigov” was presented on Thursday afternoon (25/01/2024) by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, George Gerapetritis, and Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, at the "Yiannos Kranidiotis" amphitheater of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The platform enables citizens to interact with the Greek State in 25 languages.These dialogues can now be conducted in the 24 official languages of the European Union (Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish) as well as in Albanian.
Post Office told robbed postmasters to pay back money taken in raidsMore than a dozen sub-postmasters and postmistresses who were victims of armed robberies were told to pay back the stolen money, the BBC has heard.One said the Post Office wanted him to pay back £2,000 that robbers had stolen, after it spent five years refusing to upgrade his security.BBC Newsnight knows of 15 others who experienced similar treatment, nine of whom have spoken directly about it.Jonathan Brenton took on the Post Office branch in Charing, Kent, in 2011.In January 2012, armed robbers gained entry to his shop after they charged through a security door. After the incident, Mr Brenton wrote to the then-chief executive of the Post Office, Paula Vennells, detailing the "horrific" armed robbery.He detailed how he and his partner had knives held to their throats."We were petrified... you have a second to react. You're meant to be in a secure area. These people had got in there within seconds. And it wasn't about protecting the money, it was just trying to protect our lives."He told BBC Newsnight the perpetrators took about £2,000.The Post Office wrote to him the following month to tell him he was liable for £1,705.31 of the stolen money and that he would need to pay it back."The tone of that letter was appalling," Mr Brenton says. "There was no concern about us at all. All they wanted was to get as much money off us as possible."
Fruit and veg prices predicted to rise in UK when new post-Brexit controls biteThe price of many fruits and vegetables on sale in the UK is predicted to rise again when new post-Brexit import controls are introduced later this year.The government is due to start bringing in new paperwork requirements for EU businesses sending animal and plant products to the UK from next week, with physical inspections beginning in April.Border checks have been postponed five times since the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into force in January 2021, due to concerns they would push up prices and fuel inflation.Food importers and Dutch flower growers have already warned the burden of the extra administration will impact the price, choice, availability and shelf-life of goods on sale in the UK.
‘It’s a war crime’: ITV News' Gaza clip sparks outrage from charities, US officials and WestminsterThe "shocking video" of a man part of a group waving a white flag being shot dead in Gaza, released by ITV News, has sparked accusations of a "war crime".On Tuesday, footage filmed by Mohammed Abu Safia, a cameraman working for ITV News, showed a group of men in Gaza, holding a white flag, who wanted to rescue their family after being forced to evacuate their homes.Minutes later, one of the men - Ramzi Abu Sahloul - was fatally shot in the chest.Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, described the incident as "a televised war crime".She added: "What kind of justification can be found for the killing of someone waving a white flag? From that distance? What kind of danger were those people posing? They were just talking to some journalist."
France blocks plan to scrap 90-day visa rule for British expatsBlow for second home owners as amendment to immigration bill deemed unconstitutionalA French court has blocked efforts to allow British expats to stay in the country for longer than 90 days without a visa.France’s Constitutional Council rejected on Thursday an amendment to the immigration bill that would allow long-stay visas to be automatically issued to British nationals who own a second home in France because it deemed it unconstitutional.The amendment would have allowed British homeowners in France to spend as much time as they wish in the country after Brexit.But the amendment’s defeat means all British nationals – including those with a home in France – are only be able to stay 90 days out of every 180 in the country without a visa. If they want to stay longer, they will have to apply for a temporary long-stay visa of up to six months.
Post Office plan to sack Horizon IT reviewer kept secret, documents revealDocuments showing Post Office top bosses secretly decided in April 2014 to sack forensic accountants who had found bugs in their IT system have been obtained by the BBC.A Post Office board sub-committee, codenamed "Project Sparrow", took the decision with the full knowledge of the government.Former sub-postmaster Alan Bates said it was further proof of a "total cover-up".The Post Office declined to comment.The independent forensic accountants Second Sight played a key role in exposing the scandal, finding flaws in the Horizon computer system which generated false evidence of cash shortfalls at sub-post offices, leading to wrongful prosecutions of sub-postmasters.Post Office bosses kept insisting their systems were robust.But they made a concession following pressure from MPs, offering to set up a mediation scheme to deal with what they said was a small number of cases.The documents reveal the Post Office planned to pay a total of only £1m in "token payments", or compensation, to sub-postmasters as it suppressed evidence of computer bugs in 2014. But it was a vast underestimation of the eventual cost of the scandal, which is now expected to be more than £1bn.
BT customers unknowingly charged for Xbox Game PassSome BT customers are being signed up to, and charged for, Xbox Game Pass without their knowledge or consent.An extra £10 per month was added to their internet bill, despite them not requesting the gaming subscription.Customers have been complaining about the issue on BT's online forums for several months. Those the BBC spoke to had their money refunded but described their experiences as worrying.BT apologised and advised customers to be on the lookout for similar problems.
Coronation Street bosses ‘sorry’ after Ken Barlow actor Bill Roache ‘files for bankruptcy’Coronation Street bosses have said that they are “really sorry” to hear that cast member Bill Roache has “filed for bankruptcy”.It is understood Roache, 91, who has played Ken Barlow in the ITV soap since it began in 1960, had a petition against him by HMRC.A spokesperson for the series told The Independent: “We’re really sorry to hear of Bill’s financial situation. Bill has an ongoing contract with Coronation Street and remains a much-loved member of the cast.”Roache reportedly earns more than £250,000 per year from his role in the ITV soap, which would make him one of the highest-paid cast members.Roache has appeared in the ITV soap since it was first broadcast on 9 December 1960, and has said he wants to keep playing his character Ken until he is 100.
Michelle Mone has £75m of assets frozen as NCA investigates fraud The disgraced Conservative peer Michelle Mone and her husband have reportedly had about £75m of assets frozen or restrained by a court order.The pair face an investigation by the National Crime Agency into alleged medical equipment fraud. The Financial Times reported that the frozen assets included a six-bedroom central London townhouse, a country estate on the Isle of Man, and 15 accounts with Coutts, C Hoare & Co and Goldman Sachs International.The NCA is investigating allegations of fraud and bribery surrounding the company. Mone and Barrowman both deny the allegations.Mone admitted last month she had lied to the media by denying her links to PPE Medpro, which made millions of pounds from a deal to supply PPE via the “VIP lane” after she referred it to ministers in May 2020.On Thursday, the former Scotland secretary David Mundell said the former prime minister David Cameron, now foreign secretary, breached “proper process” when he appointed Mone to the House of Lords in 2015.Mundell, the Conservative MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, said Cameron appointed Mone without No 10 consulting the government’s Scotland Office, which is standard practice before awarding peerages to Scots.
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Topic: 26/01/24 (Read 782 times)
