GETTY IMAGES - Aircraft near Boryspil International airport near Kiev, Ukraine

Ukraine has closed its airspace to civilian flights after Russia began military action in the country

SitindaonNews.Com |   Ukraine cited a high risk to flight safety due to the use of weapons and military equipment.

Moldova also said it was closing its airspace and Belarus shut part of its airspace.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency warned of safety risks in flying in airspace near to Ukraine's borders, including in Russia.

"There is a risk of both intentional targeting and misidentification of civil aircraft," the regulator said.

"The presence and possible use of a wide range of ground and airborne warfare systems poses a high risk for civil flights operating at all altitudes and flight levels."

Aircraft flying to or from UK airports have been ordered to avoid Ukraine's airspace by the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

British citizens were advised to leave the country on Tuesday.

Mr Shapps tweeted: "I've instructed UK—CAA (the Civil Aviation Authority) to ensure airlines avoid Ukraine airspace to keep passengers and crew safe.

"We continue to stand with the people of Ukraine and work with our international partners to respond to this act of aggression."

Wizz Air and Ryanair, who were still flying to the Ukraine from the UK, said they had suspended flights.

In 2014, a missile brought down passenger plane MH17 in Ukraine airspace, killing all 298 people on board. It was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

It came amid heavy fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass region, who had just declared independence.

International investigators tracked the missile that was used to Russia, which has denied any involvement.

Sources: bbc.com

Police said the man had approached seven women in the capital

Police are searching for a bald man who has exposed himself to women while wearing roller skates.

The man has approached seven women, most of whom were walking alone, in London before exposing himself or touching himself inappropriately, the Met Police said.

The most recent incident took place on Regent's Canal, north-west London, at about 22:00 GMT on 26 January.

Police have now released an e-fit of the man, who is described as 6ft tall.

The Met said he had only once approached a woman who was not on her own.

The other six indecent exposures took place at the following times:

19:45 GMT on Friday 14 January in a tunnel in Goods Way, N1

21:30 GMT on Thursday 13 January in Wapping Woods, E1

00:20 GMT on Friday 7 January in Park Lane, W1

05:20 GMT on Tuesday 4 January in Praed Street, W2

02:30 GMT on Thursday 2 December 2021 in Charlton Street, NW1

01:00 GMT on Saturday 4 December 2021 in Grove End Road, NW8

Sources: bbc.com

President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin (Getty Images)

The summit can only be held if Russia does not invade Ukraine

President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to "the principle" to meet for a summit discussing "security and strategic stability in Europe," but will only take place if Russia does not invade Ukraine.

The summit will be discussed by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during their meeting on Thursday

The potential summit was announced by French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, and a press release states that the summit "can only be held at the condition that Russia does not invade Ukraine."

The announcement comes just hours after Fox News confirmed that Russian commanders have been given orders to carry out an invasion of Ukraine.

Biden spoke with Macron on Sunday afternoon.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that while President Biden and Putin have accepted the meeting "in principle," Russia continues to indicate they are making preparations for "a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon.

"President Biden accepted in principle a meeting with President Putin following that engagement, again, if an invasion hasn’t happened. We are always ready for diplomacy. We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war. And currently, Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon," Psaki said.

She added that President Biden is committed to pursuing diplomacy "until the moment an invasion begins."

"As the President has repeatedly made clear, we are committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion begins. Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Lavrov are scheduled to meet later this week in Europe, provided Russia does not proceed with military action," Psaki said.

Commanders on the ground have made plans for how they would maneuver in their sectors of the battlefield.

According to the Ukrainian military, violence continues to escalate in eastern Ukraine as it reports 53 shellings by Russian-backed forces from occupied Donbas on Ukraine occurred today.

Sources: foxnews.com

Prince Andrew was given the Duke of York title when he married in the 1980s

Councillors in York have said they are taking steps to remove the Duke of York's Freedom of the City honour.

The Lib Dems, the largest group on City of York Council, said a motion to begin the process would be submitted at the next full council meeting in March.

Prince Andrew was given the Honorary Freedom of the City of York in 1987.

The motion will also call for him to relinquish his title as Duke of York in the wake of the settlement of his legal battle with Virginia Giuffre.

On Tuesday, the prince, 61, agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to Ms Giuffre as part of an out-of-court settlement.

In the case against him in the US, Ms Giuffre had been suing the Duke of York, claiming he sexually assaulted her on three occasions when she was 17 - which he repeatedly denied.

A statement from their lawyers on Tuesday said the duke would pay an undisclosed sum to Ms Giuffre and make a "substantial donation" to her charity in support of victims' rights.

More stories from across Yorkshire

The Lib Dem group on City of York Council said it was "exploring arrangements" to remove the honorary freedom of York bestowed upon him.

A motion to take the honour away would be put forward at the next full council meeting on 24 March, they added.

Liberal Democrat councillor Darryl Smalley, City of York Council's executive member for culture, leisure and communities, said: "We are seeking to end Prince Andrew's links with our great city."

Mr Smalley said York's connection with the crown and monarchy was an "important part" of the city's legacy and history.

"However, as a council and city, we stand with victims of sexual abuse and are doing all we can to end violence against woman and girls locally," he said.

"As such, it is inappropriate that Prince Andrew retains his ambassadorial title that is intrinsically linked to our city."

The Freedom of the City of York was bestowed upon the prince in 1987

Rachael Maskell, Labour MP for York Central, has previously also said the prince should give up his title as Duke of York.

A peerage, like the rank of duke, can only be removed by an act of parliament, which last happened in 1917.

Mr Smalley said: "We will be reaching out to MPs to raise our concerns and discuss any possible ways of ending Prince Andrew's connection to York."

The prince relinquished his honorary military roles and his HRH style in January following the sexual assault claims.

Sources: bbc.com/news

That royal disaster zone has been averted by an out-of-court settlement.

But it comes with high costs to Prince Andrew, both financial and reputational, and it will be a long road back before there is any chance of clearing his name in terms of public opinion.

He won't get back any of the royal patronages, military links or the HRH title that were taken away from him.

And the many questions raised by his BBC Newsnight interview - about his connections with Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein and details such as his inability to sweat - will be left unanswered.

If not a smoking gun, there is still the unexplained smoke from a Woking pizza oven.

The implication of this deal means he is potentially paying millions of dollars to someone he still contends he has no memory of ever meeting.

The deal says that Prince Andrew "regrets his association with Epstein", but that picture of the prince with the sex offender will continue to haunt him.

Long shadows

That even more famous picture of Ms Giuffre, Prince Andrew and Maxwell, taken in London almost 21 years ago, will always be there when his name is mentioned, frozen in digital aspic.

Long shadows have been cast which will be hard to shift.

Legal experts had been predicting that a settlement was the most likely outcome from this civil court case, in which Ms Giuffre had brought sexual assault claims against Prince Andrew.

"It was the best of the bad options available to him," said Gideon Benaim, a partner at law firm Simkins, who specialises in protecting high-profile reputations.

"If it had continued it would have inevitably damaged him even further," said Mr Benaim.

Anna Rothwell at law firm Corker Binning said Prince Andrew's Newsnight interview on its own "would have given Ms Giuffre's lawyers a wealth of material to use in cross examination".

Paying the price

But where does it leave Prince Andrew now?

A few weeks ago his legal team was full of fighting talk about being ready to battle it out in court and wanting to knock down Ms Giuffre's allegations.

Now the tone has changed completely to recognising that Ms Giuffre has "suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks".

But Mr Benaim says the deal avoids any admission of guilt and any personal wrongdoing and stops a case which threatened an endless supply of negative headlines.

"Reputationally he had to get rid of this - almost regardless of the cost," said the lawyer.

Prince Andrew can maintain his innocence, with nothing proven against him, and he could argue that he was paying a price to protect his family from any further damaging coverage.

The number of zeroes in that payment remains confidential, but it's likely to look like a long row of those emojis of popping eyes.

'Public or private purse'

There is also some ambiguity about whether it is one or two payments being made.

"The parties will file a stipulated dismissal upon Ms Giuffre's receipt of the settlement (the sum of which is not being disclosed).

"Prince Andrew intends to make a substantial donation to Ms Giuffre's charity in support of victims' rights," says the joint statement accompanying the deal.

Whether that means separate payments to Ms Giuffre and the charity has not been clarified by Prince Andrew's representatives.

Who is paying for the pay-out could be another issue.

Kate Macnab, a lawyer at Reeds Solicitors, says: "It is likely there will be some demands to know where the payment is coming from - public or private purse?"

In terms of what comes next, the settlement contains a line suggesting how he might try to begin restoring his reputation.

"He pledges to demonstrate his regret for his association with Epstein by supporting the fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims."

Although at the moment he might be at risk of losing more links with organisations, than making new ones - particularly anything connected to sex trafficking.

There will still be constitutional roles. Prince Andrew remains a counsellor of state, unless legislation is passed to change that, which means he is one of four senior royals who could act in place of the Queen if illness meant she was unable to carry out official duties.

From the wider Royal Family there might be relief that the case is over, rather than facing a Platinum Jubilee year clouded by allegations and more revelations.

But for Prince Andrew it's hard to see any way back to public life.

Will he be able to take part in jubilee events or official royal family occasions?

Even with no admission of guilt, or any concessions to the claims against him, his future relationship with the public, and any appearances at royal events, will be awkward to say the least.   bbc.com

Move suggests Putin could extend crisis for weeks as Johnson and Biden agree ‘crucial window for diplomacy’ still exists

SitindaonNews.Com | Russia is sending thousands more troops to its border with Ukraine in a sign that Vladimir Putin could extend the crisis for weeks, as Boris Johnson warned the situation had become “very, very dangerous”.

British officials estimate that a further 14 Russian battalions are heading towards Ukraine, each numbering about 800 troops, on top of the 100 battalions massed on the borders – a force already believed capable of launching an invasion.

Ministers are of the view that the Russian president has not yet decided to attack Ukraine and may never do so. But the continued buildup of forces in excess of 150,000 prompted Johnson to cut short a trip to Cumbria to chair a Cobra emergency meeting on Tuesday

On Monday night, the prime minister spoke with Joe Biden and concluded, according to Downing Street, that there “remained a crucial window for diplomacy and for Russia to step back from its threats towards Ukraine”. Britain said the two emphasised the importance of unity and, while neither the UK nor the US will send troops to defend Ukraine, they insisted that any further Russian incursion “would result in a protracted crisis for Russia”.

Earlier, Johnson said: “This is a very, very dangerous, difficult situation. We are on the edge of a precipice, but there is still time for President Putin to step back.”

He said it was important for western allies to remain united in the face of Russian pressure. Ukraine’s future membership of Nato could not be “bargained away” as part of western leaders’ efforts, he added.

Britain believes Russia has committed about 60% of its ground forces to the buildup and doubled its available air power in the region, but thinks Putin could extend the crisis for weeks or even longer.

Although Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, has said “there could be a Russian invasion almost immediately”, on Monday she told MPs in a private conference call that Putin could keep up the military pressure on Ukraine for months, according to some of those who listened in.

Parliament could be recalled if Russia invades Ukraine this week, No 10 indicated. Asked whether this was a possibility, Johnson’s official spokesperson said: “In that situation, you would expect that the prime minister would want parliament to be updated and for it to have its say.”

Russia has always denied that it intends to invade. Its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, told Putin in a carefully staged public meeting on Monday that while negotiations between Russia and the west could not “go on indefinitely … I would suggest to continue and expand them at this stage”.

Olaf Scholz, Germany’s chancellor, is due to visit Moscow on Tuesday, although no breakthrough is expected given Russia’s demands: that Ukraine never be allowed to join Nato and that the west withdraw troops from eastern Europe.

Last week the US told allies that an invasion could come as soon as Wednesday, but the continued Russian buildup suggests the Kremlin did not believe it had assembled all the forces it could to threaten its smaller neighbour.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said his country would not be intimidated by Russia and that Wednesday should be “a day of unity”. “We want peace and we want to resolve all issues exclusively through negotiations,” he said, but added that the Ukrainian army was “many times stronger than eight years ago” and that Ukraine wanted freedom and was ready to fight for it should Russia invade.

Nevertheless, the warnings prompted the UK to advise all British citizens in Ukraine to leave now, while commercial means were still available. It is estimated there are about 1,300 Britons in Ukraine, although 200 have said they do not want to leave.

On Monday, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said the last few US diplomats in the Kyiv embassy would move west to Lviv “due to the dramatic acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces”.

On Saturday, a senior state department official had told reporters that a handful of US diplomats would stay in the capital “to be able to continue working closely with the Ukrainian government, and to be able to ensure we’ve got the best possible information for our senior leaders and the president about what’s happening broadly in society”. The change of mind two days later suggests US security assessments have darkened still further.

The UK ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, had said she would remain in Kyiv with a core team of diplomats. Downing Street said British nationals should not expect a “military airlift” from Ukraine, and that they should leave via commercial means and there were still flights available.

Defence sources said the plan for any Russian invasion would involve “a sudden thrust” aimed at encircling Kyiv, but that it would be accompanied by “multiple axes of attack” aimed at cutting off Ukrainian forces in the east of the country. Russia would seek to install a puppet government, they added

But Britain believes Putin is at risk of underestimating the level of Ukrainian popular resistance to any invasion and attempt at regime change. The UK view is that there is likely to be “a reasonably well-organised insurgency” and that Russia could become bogged down in a conflict that could claim tens of thousands of lives.

The US, UK and EU have been working jointly on a package of economic sanctions that would target Russia in the event of an attack, and Truss indicated to MPs in the briefing that they would probably be implemented in waves.

Oligarchs close to Putin would be the first to be targeted, she said, telling MPs the UK was “ready to press send” with list of names if an invasion began. But an economic crime bill planned for the next session of parliament, called for by Labour and the Liberal Democrats, would not be brought forward in an emergency.

Layla Moran, the Lib Dems’ foreign affairs spokesperson, said: “The concern with the policy on sanctions is that it is too little, too late. We have known about Russian hostile activities and interference in our democracy for some time.”

Sources: theguardian