Top story: Johnson ‘plans more military help for Kyiv’
Morning everyone. I’m Martin Farrer and these are today’s top stories.
A diplomatic offensive by western governments to avert a Russian invasion of Ukraine was stepped up again this morning as Downing Street said Boris Johnson would travel to Europe later in the week for talks with allies, and German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was due to land in Kyiv to meet the Ukrainian president. No 10 said the prime minister would be working to bring Russia “back from the brink” and was also said to be working with allies to provide further defensive and economic support to Kyiv. The immediate diplomatic focus was on Scholz, who is expected to discuss with Volodymyr Zelenskiy how Germany could help stabilise Ukraine’s economy after fears of an imminent war took a toll on its currency. Scholz said on the eve of his departure that any Russia attack would lead to “tough sanctions that we have carefully prepared and which we can immediately put into force”. He will fly to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin tomorrow. Stock markets fell in Asia overnight amid jitters about Ukraine, while oil soared to a seven-year high of $95.46 a barrel.
Dozens of western diplomats in Kyiv were preparing to leave the city last night as many countries issued a clear warning to all citizens still inside Ukraine to get out before any Russian invasion. Governments of 39 countries have warned against travel to Ukraine. US security officials believe a Russian invasion is “imminent”, while UK intelligence services believe their Russian counterparts at the FSB have been tasked with trying to engineer coups in Ukraine’s major cities to coincide with an invasion. The front pages of the UK papers struck an ominous tone on Monday morning.
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Health inequality – Widespread racial inequality is embedded in healthcare in England and radical action is needed urgently to fix the problem, according to a damning study which found that the problem was harming the health of millions of patients. Racism, racial discrimination, barriers to accessing healthcare and woeful ethnicity data collection have “negatively impacted” the health of black, Asian and minority ethnic people in England for years, according to the review, commissioned by the NHS Race and Health Observatory. The 166-page report, seen by the Guardian, is due to be published in full this week and should be the cue for long-awaited action.
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Refugee cost – A coalition of hundreds of pro-refugee organisations has estimated the huge costs of five Home Office policies to block refugees, which are due to become law in a matter of months. Taxpayers could face an extra £2.7bn a year in costs to fund the schemes, the campaign coalition Together With Refugees claims in a report today. The Home Office dismissed the calculations as “pure speculation”, but the SNP MP Stuart McDonald said the research “shows in stark terms what many MPs have long feared about the huge cost to the taxpayer”.
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Letting go – Nearly 230,000 new rental properties are needed in the UK to avoid a shortfall if the current growth in demand continues. The consultancy Capital Economics reckons demand for 1.8m new households over the next decade will keep pressure on the rental market. Private rents in Britain rose at their fastest rate on record in January and average advertised rent outside London was 9.9% higher than a year ago.
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Covid ‘onslaught’ – Hong Kong is being “overwhelmed” by the latest wave of Covid-19, the city’s leader Carrie Lam said today, as she called in more help from the Chinese government to deal with the crisis. Daily infections have multiplied by a factor of 13 over the past two weeks to more than 1,300 on Sunday, with authorities scrambling to control the deepening outbreak. Lam’s “dynamic zero” Covid strategy has led to growing resentment and possible food shortages. Click here to catch up with all the Covid developments, including rocketing cases in New Zealand.
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Ivan Reitman, the influential film-maker and producer behind beloved comedies including Ghostbusters, Animal House and Twins, has died at the age of 75. Reitman died peacefully in his sleep on Saturday night at his home in California. Film-makers and comedians lined up to pay tribute with the director of the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, Paul Feig, writing: “All of us in comedy owe him so very much.” Comedian Kumail Nanjiani tweeted: “A legend. The number of great movies he made is absurd.”
Today in Focus podcast
You don’t need a partner to have a happy and fulfilling life – so why does society still apply the pressure to couple up? Emma John, author of Self Contained: Scenes from a Single Life, reflects on her life as an unmarried woman in her 40s.
Lunchtime read: Johnny Knoxville – ‘I’m still here!’
Johnny Knoxville, star of the anarchic Jackass franchise, is heading for the big screen again with his new film Jackass Forever. Knoxville, AKA Philip John Clapp Jr, explains being inspired by his hard-drinking father, his years in therapy and suffering brain damage when a stunt for the new film went badly wrong.
Sport
Six years after the team returned to California – after a 20-year sojourn in St Louis – the LA Rams were crowned Super Bowl champions for the second time in their history with a 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Eddie Jones believes there is no limit to Marcus Smith’s potential after the England fly-half inspired his side to a comfortable 33-0 Six Nations victory against Italy in Rome. The alpine slalom skier Dave Ryding insists that Britain’s blank medal tally so far at these Winter Olympics has only made him more determined to ride to the rescue by winning gold this week. Kamila Valieva is so talented she does not need to take drugs, her choreographer has insisted, as the brilliant 15-year-old Russian skater waits to see whether she will be sent home from the Beijing Games.
David Moyes insisted Kurt Zouma pulled out of West Ham United’s 2-2 draw with Leicester City less than half an hour before kick-off with sickness rather than stress. Pep Guardiola has said he wants Raheem Sterling to sign a new contract at Manchester City but claims any decision over the forward’s future will ultimately be taken by the club. Caroline Weir maintained her record of scoring in every home Manchester derby with a stunning late chip from distance to earn Manchester City a 1-0 win and a crucial three points in the race for the Champions League. And, think you know your Valentine’s Day football trivia? From on-pitch proposals to managerial feuds, passions boil over in our themed quiz.
Business
UK ministers and the Scottish government have reached a deal over proposed freeports in Scotland, after months of disagreement. A bidding process for the two locations will run from this spring until summer. Europe’s biggest banks, led by HSBC, Barclays and BNP Paribas, have provided £24bn to oil and gas companies that are expanding production less than a year since pledging to target net zero carbon emissions, new data shows. The pound is on $1.356 and €1.193, and the FTSE100 looks like slipping 0.6% or so amid concern about Ukraine.
The papers
The Telegraph’s splash is “PM urges Russia to step back from brink”, and the story takes precedence on several front pages. “Boris urges Putin to step ‘back from brink’”, reports the Express, “Frantic 48 hours to save Europe from war”, says the Mail, while the Times has “Leaders in final push to avert Ukraine invasion”. The Mirror has a blunter “Countdown to war”, the i says “Tensions rise in Ukraine as West steps up efforts to stop invasion”, and the FT reports “Scholz plans fresh Ukraine talks as west steps up evacuations”.
The Guardian has the Ukraine story on its front page but leads with “Damning race report reveals vast inequalities across health service”. The Scotsman’s splash is “Yousaf: Scotland should not be forced into Covid easing”.
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