Russia

Express
Since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, there have been multiple accusations of atrocities committed by his soldiers – and today’s sickening report provides horrifying new evidence.
War crimes including the rape and torture of children have been committed in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine since the start of Vladimir Putin’s war, the head of a United Nations-mandated investigation body said on Friday. Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russian soldiers of a litany of rights abuses since the February 24 invasion, although Moscow dismisses the allegations as a smear campaign.
Erik Mose, who heads the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva: “Based on the evidence gathered by the Commission, it has concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine.”
He did not specify who was to blame – but the commission has focused on areas previously occupied by Russian forces including Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy.
Commission investigators, which was created by the UNHRC in March, visited 27 places and interviewed more than 150 victims and witnesses.
They uncovered evidence of a large number of executions including bodies with tied hands, slit throats and gunshot wounds to the head, Mose said.

Independent
Vladimir Putin’s dramatic new threat to deploy nuclear weapons must be taken seriously, the European Union’s foreign policy chief has warned.
The world is at a “dangerous moment”, with the Russian president having been “pushed into a corner” as a result of his failing war in Ukraine, Josep Borrell said.
Following a huge counterattack in Ukraine’s northeast, which saw the fleeing Russian army leaving thousands of kilometres of hard-won gains, Mr Putin took the drastic step of announcing a partial mobilisation of civilians in his first address to the nation since  launching his invasion seven months ago.
Sparking fears of a descent into apocalyptic nuclear war, the Russian leader accused the West of “nuclear blackmail” and said Moscow was ready to use “all the means at our disposal”, adding: “I’m not bluffing.”
Speaking to the BBC as a week of intense discussion of the war at the United Nations general assembly in New York came to a close, the EU’s foreign policy chief warned on Saturday: “When people say it is not a bluff, you have to take them seriously.”

Sun
RUSSIANS who plan on returning to the Kremlin state to fight for the Butcher of Mariupol have been warned not to come back to the EU.
“There is no return for those who go,” vowed Eerik-Niiles Kross, an Estonian politician, and former chief of intelligence as he told of how  “crimes against peace is a criminal offence under Estonian law.”
He said Estonian residents who chose to fight for the Kremlin will be immediately “banned” but if Russians living in Estonia decide to resist Putin’s draft they will have “all legal protection and will not let Russia to force anyone.”
Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland, have also decided to ban Russian tourists while the EU halted all flights from Russia to member nations.
Huge queues are reported in the south Russian boarder, and some have even ditched their cars as the flee Putin’s draft, which is thought to drag around 300,000 Russians into Putin’s evil invasion of Ukraine.

ITV News
Russia has insisted it had “no choice” but to take military action in Ukraine, in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly.
The power defended its actions in Ukraine, following days of denunciation at the high profile diplomatic gathering.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sought to shift focus away from Moscow’s actions.
In a speech claiming that the US and its allies— not Russia, as the West maintains— are aggressively undermining the international system that the UN represents.
Invoking history ranging from the US war in Iraq in the early 2000s to the 20th-century Cold War, Lavrov portrayed the US as a bully.
He told delegates the US tries to afford itself “the sacred right to act with impunity wherever and wherever they want” and can’t accept a world where others also advance their national interests.

Tax

Mail
Liz Truss is planning even more tax cuts as the new PM says she is ‘unapologetic’ after her Chancellor’s mini-Budget sparked panic among markets and her critics.
Reforms to income tax, pension pots, and child benefits are reportedly being drawn up Treasury officials as the PM makes a bid to unleash a ‘decade of dynamism’.
She defended Friday’s Budget against criticism of tax cuts for higher earners, declaring in The Mail on Sunday that she was in pursuit of a ‘low-tax nation rich in opportunity’, despite the nervous reaction that also came from some of her own backbenchers.
In his striking announcement to the Commons, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng scrapped the top 45p rate of tax and cut 1p from the basic rate in the biggest package of tax cuts by a British Government for half a century.
And 2023’s full Budget could see 1.6million savers benefit from a review of the lifetime and annual pension saving allowances, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

ITV News
Prime Minister Liz Truss has vowed to “usher in a decade of dynamism” as she hints of more tax cuts to come.
It comes as Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng said the new administration’s tax cuts were just the “first step towards igniting growth” as the pair were forced to defend their controversial measures.
Using more than £70 billion of increased borrowing, Mr Kwarteng announced the biggest programme of tax cuts for 50 years, including abolishing the top rate of income tax for the highest earners.
The £45 billion tax-slashing package was met with alarm by leading economists, some Conservative MPs and financial markets – with the pound tumbling to fresh 37-year lows.
Economists predict sterling could plunge to parity with the US dollar by the end of the year.
Analysis of the mini-budget by the Resolution Foundation said “only the very richest households in Britain” will see their incomes grow as a result of the government’s programme of tax cuts.
The wealthiest 5% will see their incomes grow by 2% next year (2023/24), while the other 95% of the population will get poorer as the cost of living crisis continues, according to the think tank’s number-crunching.

Evening Standard
Prime Minister Liz Truss has vowed to “usher in a decade of dynamism” while Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng said their tax cuts were just the “first step towards igniting growth” as the pair were forced to defend the controversial measures.
Using more than £70 billion of increased borrowing, Mr Kwarteng announced the biggest programme of tax cuts for 50 years, including abolishing the top rate of income tax for the highest earners.
The £45 billion tax-slashing package was met with alarm by leading economists, some Conservative MPs and financial markets – with the pound tumbling to fresh 37-year lows.
Economists predict sterling could plunge to parity with the US dollar by the end of the year due to the raft of new measures.

Migrants

Mail
Liz Truss is planning to increase migrant numbers to Britain by loosening immigration rules as part of her mission to boost economic growth.
The Prime Minister is facing resistance from her cabinet colleagues to a move that would see labour shortages plugged by allowing businesses to recruit more overseas workers.
Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, Kemi Badenoch, the Trade Secretary, and Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Business Secretary, are hesitant to give their backing, the Sunday Times reported.
It is understood that Nadhim Zahawi, the Cabinet Office minister, who chaired a meeting on the proposals, is also in favour along with Ranil Jayawardena, the Environment Secretary, and Kwasi Kwarteng, the Chancellor.
Businesses have been frustrated that the visa system for skilled work has not been responsive enough to shortages they have experienced and Ms Truss has faced industry demands for more migrant workers.
Ms Truss has insisted she is ‘unapologetic’ in ‘focusing relentlessly on economic growth’, even if that means implementing unpopular policies.

Sun
MANY thousands more immigrants will be let into Britain under Liz Truss’ dash for growth plans.
The PM and Home Office are planning to massively liberalise routes to allow foreign workers to move to the UK.
They are expected to extend the number of jobs on the list of shortage occupations – making it easier for foreigners in these roles to come here.
The seasonal workers scheme which lets fruit pickers come to Britain is expected to be expanded.
The current cap of 40,000 is expected to be lifted and the six month time limit extended.
Businesses across Britain have been struggling with a massive labour shortage since Covid.
Pubs and restaurants have slashed hours and even closed down because they have not been able to recruit.
UK Hospitality say record staff shortages are costing the industry £21billion in lost business and £5bn in lost tax.

Times
Liz Truss is facing her first cabinet row as she prepares to increase immigration to boost economic growth.
The prime minister is pushing for wide-ranging reform of Britain’s visa system to tackle acute labour shortages and attract the best talent from across the world.
In the coming weeks she intends to raise the cap on seasonal agricultural workers and make changes to the shortage occupations list, which will allow key sectors to recruit more overseas staff.
Truss has told colleagues that she is keen to recruit overseas broadband engineers to support the government’s pledge to make full-fibre broadband available to 85 per cent of UK homes by 2025.

Guardian
Plans to recruit nurses from Nepal to help plug shortages in the NHS will expose workers to an “unacceptable risk” of exploitation and should be halted until safeguards are in place, labour experts have warned.
The UK has been accused of pressing ahead with a hiring spree despite concerns about abusive practices by Nepali recruitment agencies, which are notorious for charging illegal fees that leave workers saddled with debt.
The government-to-government deal, signed last month despite Nepal’s status on the World Health Organization’s recruitment “red list”, will begin with an initial pilot involving about 100 recruits but could see thousands of nurses and other healthcare workers move to the UK from Nepal over the next few years.
The Department of Health has hailed the scheme as an “ethical” initiative that will allow for “managed” recruitment to plug UK shortages. A memorandum of understanding says workers should not be charged fees and that recruitment will be overseen by a Nepali government-run “implementation unit”.

Education

Telegraph
The Government is “seriously” looking at the expansion of grammar schools, the Education Secretary has said.
Kit Malthouse, who took over as Education Secretary this month, reaffirmed Liz Truss’s leadership campaign commitment to explore lifting a 24-year ban on establishing new selective schools.
“The PM made it clear during [the] leadership contest that she wanted to see work on grammar schools, fundamentally because there is a desire from parents in some parts of the country to have them,” he told The Yorkshire Post.
“We’re about parental choice, everyone needs to be able to make a choice for their kids.
“So we’re looking at that policy seriously and looking at areas that have it or indeed grammar schools that want to expand is something she has asked us to do.

Fracking

Express
Under the 1934 Petroleum Production Act, all oil and gas deposits are owned by the King in his official capacity as “the Crown” which means people cannot financially benefit from shale gas deposits from their property.
A former energy minister has told Liz Truss that if she wants people to accept fracking in their communities then she needs to change the law to give them a share of the profits. Tory grandee Sir Michael Fallon told Express.co.uk that he “tried for a year to get fracking to work” but warned that property rights had made it “impossible”.
Sir Michael, who is also a former Defence Secretary, spoke to Express.co.uk ahead of new Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg confirming that the Government plans to issue 100 licences for shale gas extraction.
During his statement in the Commons he was besieged by both Tory backbenchers and opposition MPs over demands over whether he would stick with the principle of local consent which has been a major stumbling block for fracking.

Independent
Liz Truss’s claims gas from fracking could flow in six months has been called into doubt – with one company estimating it could take as long as 18 months.
The government lifted the ban on fracking on Thursday, despite warnings from climate campaigners and geologists.
Ms Truss is hoping the move will help make the UK more self-sufficient for energy, but campaigners have warned it would do little to alleviate the huge bills Britons currently face.
And the fracking industry has said the planning and environmental permit process would need to be sped up and earthquake limits relaxed for their investment to make sense.
Firms need both environmental and planning permits to start fracking, as well licences, Health and Safety Executive scrutiny and consent from the Business Department, according to the UK Onshore Oil and Gas (UKOOG) industry body.
The UKOOG said the planning and environmental permits took the most time, with previous applications taking in excess of 50 weeks – not including appeals.

Solar power

Mail
An £18billion plan to harness solar and wind power in the Sahara and use it to supply electricity to Britain could dramatically slash household bills, it was claimed last night.
Whitehall officials are poring over an extraordinary plan to install almost 12 million solar panels and 530 wind turbines across a vast expanse of desert in Morocco and then transfer the power they generate to the UK via the world’s longest undersea electricity cable.
The Xlinks project, which is chaired by former Tesco boss Sir Dave Lewis, claims it could power more than seven million homes by 2030, supplying an astonishing eight per cent of Britain’s energy needs.
A study by energy company Octopus, which has invested in the scheme, shows that the project would result in a sizable cut in household bills. It is believed the project would deliver electricity at about half the rate of that produced by nuclear power plants.
Xlinks has been granted permission to build a huge solar panel and adjacent wind farm across a 370- square-mile expanse of terrain in Morocco’s Guelmim-Oued Noun region.

Strikes

Express
Strikes at two of Britain’s biggest ports could prevent some stores from restocking popular goods in the run-up to Christmas, experts have warned.
Dockers at Felixstowe are set to walk out for eight days from Tuesday in an ongoing pay row. More than 1,900 workers at the Suffolk port went on strike last month, also for eight days, after calling for a 10 percent pay rise.
It follows action by more than 550 dockers at the Port of Liverpool, who began a two-week strike last Tuesday. Both walkouts come amid soaring inflation, with fears they could lead to gaps on shelves.
This will hit retailers already struggling with cash-flow problems as a result of soaring costs and low consumer confidence. And in another blow, rail workers are expected to strike again on October 1, 5 and 8, which may impact customers visiting shops.
As Felixstowe handles 48 per cent of the UK’s imported goods the disruption could mean less choice in electronic items or toys.
Wines may also be harder to find, as nearly five million litres a week go through the port. Wholesaler Mark Lansley, of Broadland Drinks, in Norfolk, said his company has brought in bulk orders earlier than normal to meet demand at Christmas

Mirror
Trade unions are joining forces to legally challenge Liz Truss’s “hostile” crackdown on workers’ rights.
Eleven unions are preparing court action over moves to restrict the freedom to strike, in a move signalling a bruising winter of conflict between workers and the new PM.
Unions say new laws which allow bosses to bring in agency workers to ­replace striking staff are illegal in UK and ­international law.
The TUC, co-ordinating the fight, vows to “throw the kitchen sink” at the PM’s pledge to restrict industrial action and roll back protections on working hours, sick pay and workplace safety.
General secretary Frances O’Grady has warned Ms Truss not to become the “P&O PM”, a reference to the sacking of 800 ferry workers and their replacement with agency staff earlier this year.
Unions backing the action include the transport workers’ RMT, general union GMB, train drivers’ Aslef, civil servants’ unions FDA and PCS and teachers’ National Education Union.
Health union Unison and headteachers’ union NASUWT are considering separate legal actions against what they say is “anti-worker” proposed legislation.

Nostradamus

Mail
Book sales about the astrologer Nostradamus have soared since the Queen died, as people have suggested the French prophet predicted her death more than 450 years ago.
Nostradamus has previously been hailed for predicting the Great Fire of London, Hitler’s rise to power and the wars that hit Europe.
Since the Queen’s death on September 8, book sales of Mario Reading’s Nostradamus: The Complete Prophecies for the Future have risen dramatically.
In the week prior to Her Majesty’s death, the book sold just five copies but by the week ending September 17 almost 8,000 copies had been sold pushing it to the top of the paperback charts, The Sunday Times reported.
Within the book, that was first published in 2006, Reading interprets one quatrain as ‘Queen Elizabeth II will die, circa 22, at the age of around 96’.
The increased popularity is thought to have grown since the extracts went viral on social media.
Prior to the Queen’s death, there were suggestions that Nostradamus had even predicted the war in Ukraine, with vague suggestions that France might even face a threat from the east.

Times
The Queen’s death caught many by surprise but not, it seems, the French astrologer Nostradamus, who died more than 450 years ago.
A book of interpretations of his supposed prophecies has shot to the top of the Sunday Times bestsellers list for apparently predicting the monarch’s demise.
Nostradamus: The Complete Prophecies for the Future, by Mario Reading, has topped the general paperbacks chart after selling almost 8,000 copies in the week ending on September 17. It sold just five copies the week before the Queen’s death. In the book, published in 2006, Reading “interprets” the writings of the seer.
Nostradamus’s most famous book, Les Prophéties, consists of 942 poetic quatrains that allegedly predict events.

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