Hello, im rajini vaidyanathan. We start here in the uk. Defence secretary grant shapps said it would be irresponsible to carry on Pumping Money into the h52 high speed rail line if costs had spiralled and there was a perfectly legitimate question about its sequencing. Mr shapps, the uks former transport secretary, told the bbc s Victoria Derbyshire that costs had increased significantly, citing inflation as having been part of that. He stressed that hs2 was not the be all and end all for northern transport projects. On hsz, we do have to respond to the budgets on hsz, we do have to respond to the budgets that have been hit not only by coronavirus but by the war in ukraine by coronavirus but by the war in Ukraine I By Coronavirus but by the war in ukraine. Ithink by coronavirus but by the war in ukraine. I think any responsible government looks at that and says, does this government looks at that and says, does this still stuck up for what the country requires in terms of where the coun
Armenians in nagorno karabakh, four days after azerbaijan took control over the long disputed territory. The state Department Says mr blinken made the remarks in a conversation with armenias Prime Minister held in the past few hours. The region is internationally recognised as part of azerbaijan but its population is mostly Ethnic Armenians, who ruled it as a Breakaway Republic for three decades. Earlier this week, an Azerbaijani Military operation routed the Ethnic Armenian separatists, and azerbaijan has begun taking full control of the region. Now Tens Of Thousands of armenians have sought refuge in the main city, stepanakert many of them gathering at the airport. They are coping with dwindling food, medicine and fuel supplies. The red cross has managed to deliver 70 tons of aid for the First Time Since hostilities ended. The organisations spokesperson, jason straziuso, said the shipments contained basic staples like wheat. Its an indication of how dire the situation is not enough f
Hello, im rajini vaidyanathan. Its been described as the new High Speed Railway that will form the backbone of britains transport network. But there are now questions over the future of the h52 project which had planned to connect london, the midlands and the north of england. The uk government says it would be crazy not to review the project given soaring costs due to the war in ukraine and a rise in inflation. Defence secretary, and former transport minister grant shapps told the bbc the government would need to make serious decisions on how affordable it is. The hs2 project was originally due to link london with manchester and leeds, via birmingham. There is speculation that the link between birmingham and manchester may be under threat as costs have increased significantly. The line to leeds has already been scrapped. With more, heres our political correspondent, jessica parker. Hsz hs2 is this enormous rail project, and they actually already scrapped a bit of the leg of the line t
Hello. A warm welcome. The fate of Ethnic Armenians in disputed Nagorno Karabakh is hanging in the balance, as their leaders say most will likely leave their historic homeland now controlled by azerbaijan. The region is internationally recognised as part of azerbaijan, but large parts of it have been controlled by Ethnic Armenians for three decades. Tens of thousands of armenians have sought refuge in the main city, stepanakert, many of them gathering at the airport. Some aid has reached the enclave, but food, medicine and fuel are all in short supply. In new york, azerbaijans Foreign Minister told the Un General Assembly that baku was determined to reintegrate Karabakh Armenians as equal citizens. But his armenian counterpart demanded the un establish a mission in the region to prevent further killings of Ethnic Armenians. The bbc s olga ivshina is one of the first journalists to have reached the region since this weeks hostilities began. She sent us this report. This is the first tim
Other allies are directly at war with moscow. Lavrov also blamed the collapse of the black sea grain deal on ukraine. He further criticized kyiv s peace plan as not feasible or realistic. Heres mr lavrov addressing the Un General Assembly on saturday. Translation the collective west has a calling card and iti has long been to reject the principle of equality and their Total Inability to reach agreement. Being used to looking down at the rest of the world, americans and europeans make all sorts of promises and they take on commitments inter alia, written ones and legally binding ones, and then, theyjust dont fulfil them. As President Putin pointed out, the west is one that is truly an empire of lies. Russia, like many countries, knows about this firsthand. The bbc spoke to phillips obrien, professor of strategic studies at st andrews university. He said a lot was missing from mr lavrov s address. It was a speech that you would say really comes from a Point Of View of weakness on ukraine