Month: February 2022

The decision affects tournaments including the Champions League, and the World Cup Russia have been suspended from all UEFA and FIFA competitions, including the World Cup play-offs, the governing bodies have announced. Continental bosses UEFA and global governors FIFA have made the joint decision on a temporary expulsion for Russia from all club and national fixtures. Both UEFA and FIFA have removed Russia from all fixtures until “football can again […]

Liz Truss says all Russian banks would be hit with a full asset freeze within days Britain has announced new sanctions against Russian banks to heap pressure on Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine, as Downing Street eyed the possibility that economic pressure could bring down the Russian president’s regime. Boris Johnson said Mr Putin had made a “colossal mistake” in invading Ukraine, and praised the country for its […]

A Ukrainian MP in Kyiv has called on western powers like the UK to do more to help following Russia’s invasion, warning “this is not about diplomacy any more… we are at war”. Inna Sovsun, deputy leader of the Holos Party, said even stricter economic sanctions should be imposed on Russia and that Ukrainians require thousands more weapons, while a no-fly zone needs to be set up over the country […]

The Bank of England is considering ditching an affordability rule for mortgage lending and wants to know what impact this could have on the market. Two recommendations were introduced in 2014 to help guard against a material increase in household indebtedness that could potentially make an economic downturn worse. These were a loan-to-income limit and the affordability test, which specifies a “stress interest rate” for lenders to consider when assessing […]

The Scottish Football Association has joined its English and Welsh counterparts in refusing to face Russia at any level until further notice. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has prompted a number of European associations to say they would refuse to play against them, including the Polish, Swedish and Czech federations, who are part of a four-team World Cup play-off draw with Russia. Scotland are due to face Ukraine in a […]

Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s nuclear deterrent on high alert after “absolutely unacceptable” remarks by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, the Kremlin has claimed. The Russian president said he had placed Moscow’s nuclear forces on a “special regime of combat duty” in response to “aggressive statements” from members of the Nato defence alliance. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov went further on Monday to blame the escalation during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on Ms […]