- New Zealand crush Ineos Britannia in America's Cup opener
- Djokovic to face Sinner in blockbuster Shanghai Masters final
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- Sri Lanka seeks to match success in W.Indies T20s
- Sinner reaches Shanghai final, will end year number one
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Sabalenka downs Gauff in three sets to reach Wuhan final
- Israel warns south Lebanon residents to 'not return'
- Sinner tames Machac to reach Shanghai Masters final
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- Hezbollah fires at Israel as wars rage on Yom Kippur
- Analysts warn more detail needed on new China economic measures
- China tees up fresh spending to boost ailing economy
- China says will issue special bonds to boost ailing economy
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Dodgers drop Padres 2-0 to advance in MLB playoffs
- Alexei Navalny wrote he knew he would die in prison in new memoir
- Last-minute legal ruling allows betting on US election
- Despite hurricanes, Floridians refuse to leave 'paradise'
- Israel observes Yom Kippur amid firestorm over Lebanon strikes
- Trump demonizes migrants in dark, misleading speech
- X says 'alert' to manipulation efforts after pro-Russia bots report
- US, European markets rise before Boeing unveils sweeping job cuts
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Comoros shock Tunisia, Salah, Mbeumo strike in AFCON qualifiers
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Germany win in Nations League as 10-man Dutch rescue point
- Undav brace sends Germany to victory against Bosnia
- Israel says fired at 'threat' near UN position in Lebanon
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- Ecuador's last mountain iceman dies at 80
- Milton leaves at least 16 dead, millions without power in Florida
- Senegal set to announce breakaway development agenda: PM
- UN says 2 peacekeepers wounded in south Lebanon explosions
- Injury-hit Australia thrash 'embarrassing' Pakistan at Women's T20 World Cup
- Internal TikTok documents show prioritization of traffic over well-being
- Israel says fired at 'immediate threat' near UN position in Lebanon
- New US coach Pochettino hails Pulisic but worries over workload
- Brazil orders closure of 2,000 betting sites
- UK govt urged to raise pro-democracy tycoon's case with China
- Sculptor Lalanne's animal creations sell for $59 mn
- From Tesla to Trump: Behind Musk's giant leap into politics
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- Supercharged hurricanes trigger 'perfect storm' for disinformation
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Djokovic proves staying power as he progresses to Shanghai semi-finals
- Sheffield Utd boss Wilder 'numb' after Baldock death
UK govt accused of 'cover-up' over Russian-born press baron
The UK government was accused Thursday of a "cover-up" after refusing to release security advice issued about the controversial 2020 appointment of a Russian-born newspaper baron to parliament.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government cited "the need to protect national security" for withholding the advice it received about granting a peerage to Evgeny Lebedev.
Opposition parties have demanded more transparency over the role Johnson played in appointing his friend Lebedev -- whose father was a KGB officer -- to the House of Lords.
MPs earlier this year approved a motion seeking to force ministers to release sensitive documents related to the nomination to the upper house of parliament.
But in response the government released only a handful -- including the blank form Lebedev needed to complete for the peerage -- which shed virtually no light on the security considerations.
Minister Michael Ellis said the limited disclosure "reflects the need to protect national security" and to "maintain integrity" in the honours system.
But the deputy leader of the main opposition Labour party decried the decision.
"This looks like a cover-up and smells like a cover-up because it is a cover-up," Angela Rayner said.
Lebedev's peerage has long proved controversial for Johnson, who since Russia's invasion of Ukraine has vowed to turn the taps off the Russian money that has flooded into Britain in recent years.
The Sunday Times has reported he was warned by Britain's foreign intelligence service MI6 against granting Lebedev the peerage before the November 2020 approval, but pressed ahead anyway.
- 'Normal' -
MI6 had flagged security concerns about the owner of London's Evening Standard newspaper as long as a decade ago, and the then head of MI6 had refused to meet him, it reported.
Johnson's friendship with the Russian-born businessman dates back to his eight years as mayor of London from 2008.
Lebedev, who has British citizenship and also owns the Independent newspaper, denied in March that he was a security risk or "some agent of Russia".
Johnson has come under wider pressure to explain Russian donations to his ruling Conservatives, as London has stepped up sanctions against Russia.
On Thursday, he denied any impropriety after the New York Times reported that one of his party's biggest donors is accused of secretly funnelling large sums to it from a Russian account.
The newspaper said Barclays Bank had raised suspicions about the source of a 2018 donation of $630,225 -- at the time worth £450,000 -- from Ehud Sheleg, a wealthy London art dealer who was the Conservative Party's treasurer from 2018 to 2021.
It cited documents filed by the bank with UK authorities that alleged the money had originated in a Russian account of Sheleg's father-in-law, Sergei Kopytov.
Kopytov was once a senior politician in the previously pro-Kremlin government of Ukraine who now owns businesses in Russian-occupied Crimea and Russia, the report added.
Sheleg denied to the paper that his father-in-law funded the donation.
Meanwhile Johnson insisted all donations "are registered in the normal way".
"To give donations to a political party in this country, you've got to be from the UK," he added.
D.Kaufman--AMWN