Following a week of increasing pressure on him for his handling of the case of jailed mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the problems are piling up for the embattled British foreign secretary Boris Johnson, who appears to not be able to spend a day out of the headlines.
The latest crop of stories that feature in Saturday’s newspapers included briefings to The Times by his allies that it was actually an incorrect Foreign Office briefing that had led to his claim that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was teaching journalism in Iran, which has been taken at face value by some in the Tehran regime and has led to the possibility she will serve an additional five years in prison.
That story brought a strong rebuke from the civil servants’ union, the First Division Association, whose general secretary Dave Penman said: “It’s difficult to imagine such a mistake being made by an FCO official, but even if it were –the buck stops with the foreign secretary. It’s his responsibility to correct any mistakes not vaguely pointing the finger and looking for someone to blame.”
Mr Johnson was also lambasted on the front page of the Daily Mirror for appearing to voice his support for bull-fighting at an Anglo-Spanish event during the week.
However an altogether more troubling story is emerging that the foreign secretary may have lied about a meeting he had with Joseph Mifsud, the Maltese academic suspected by the FBI of being a link between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
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Read more:
Iranian state TV seizes on Johnson’s comments about jailed mother as ‘proof’ of British plot
UK foreign secretary shrugs off resignation call after Iran blunder
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A Foreign Office source told The Observer newspaper last week: “The foreign secretary has not knowingly met this person, planned to meet this person, or indeed ever heard of this person before.”
The Observer said it had seen an email in which Mifsud said he would be “meeting Boris Johnson for dinner re Brexit” on October 19, when Mr Johnson was addressing a fundraising dinner in the constituency of Alok Sharma, a former foreign office minister and the MP for Reading West.
But on Saturday a photograph that appears to show Mr Johnson meeting with Mr Mifsud emerged on Twitter, putting pressure on the foreign secretary to perhaps revisit the previous denials made in his name.
It seems likely that the newspaper, which is published on Sundays, will follow up on their story this week.
Members of his own party have openly called on him to go – perpetual Tory rebel Anna Soubry went on a Friday night satirical TV show and said Mr Johnson should have gone “weeks ago”.
But it is the plight of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was reported by The Times as having been “hooded and interrogated” during her jail ordeal and “harbouring suicidal thoughts”, which will most likely decide his fate.
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
The%20specs
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The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
Scorecard
Scotland 220
K Coetzer 95, J Siddique 3-49, R Mustafa 3-35
UAE 224-3 in 43,5 overs
C Suri 67, B Hameed 63 not out
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
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MIDWAY
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Cast: Ed Skrein, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart, Luke Evans, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Darren Criss
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
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Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
