May under pressure on rights of EU citizens in UK

Theresa May will today come under pressure to guarantee the rights of over 800,000 Poles living in the UK.

The Prime Minister will meet with her Polish counterpart Beata Szydlo in Downing Street to discuss Brexit and defence as she prepares to trigger formal negotiations to leave the European Union at the end of March next year.

Mrs May, speaking ahead of the summit, said she was determined to ensure that Brexit "will not weaken our relationship" as she spoke of a "new chapter" in UK-Polish relations.

"Today's meeting puts beyond doubt the common ground we share, the importance we attach to our bilateral relationship and the benefits it brings.

"We share a clear commitment to take our cooperation to the next level and to firmly establish the UK and Poland as resolute and strategic allies in Europe."

However, the Prime Minister is not expected to offer any guarantees on the rights of Polish citizens currently living in the UK - although government sources told Sky News she is hopeful of securing a deal covering reciprocal rights as part of Brexit negotiations.

Mrs May has refused to guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK in the wake of the Brexit vote, insisting that the Government must not "reveal its hand" ahead of Brexit negotiations, which will begin when she triggers Article 50 before the end of March.

The UK-Poland summit will bring together the prime ministers of the respective countries as well as senior cabinet ministers, including defence and foreign secretaries.

The Government will also launch a new civil society forum that will meet annually to "deepen ties" between the two nations.

Meanwhile, Michel Barnier, the European Union's Brexit negotiator, is also digging in his heels over any quick deal, insisting last week there would be "no negotiation without notification", adding: "My work is now focused on the EU27 (the remaining EU member states)."

The issue is creating growing tensions in the EU member states and in the UK as millions of UK-based EU citizens and Britons in the EU fret about their status.

There are an estimated 3.3 million EU nationals living in the UK while about 1.2 million British citizens live in the EU.

This weekend, 80 MPs wrote to Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, urging him to get on with striking a deal on reciprocal rights as tensions grow between the UK and Brussels.

"We are extremely concerned that members of the Commission - particularly Commissioner Barnier - seem worryingly indifferent to securing reciprocal rights for our and your resident citizens," the MPs said as they accused the EU's chief negotiator of preventing discussions on the matter between member states.

"People are not bargaining chips. Human beings are not to be traded 'tit for tat' in a political playground.

"People must come before institutions and adherence to process, European or otherwise.

"No European's expatriate's livelihood and family should be held hostage in this way, whether from the UK or the EU27."

Michael Tomlinson, the author of the letter, MP for mid-Dorset and mid-Poole and the vice chairman of the European Research Group, told Sky News that he would like Mr Tusk to formally put the issue on the agenda at the next European Council meeting in mid-December.

Fidel Castro: Dodging exploding seashells, poison pens and ex-lovers

The exploding cigar plot to assassinate Fidel Castro is well known - but what about the other reported 637 plots against his life?

The outlandish projects included exploding seashells, a poisoned diving suit and poison pills hidden in face cream, according to a former bodyguard who wrote a book on the subject and a TV documentary.

The CIA and US-based Cuban exiles spent nearly half a century conspiring to do away with a leader whose country had the same effect on the US as "the full moon has on werewolves", according to former US Havana diplomat Wayne Smith.

The Cuban leader himself once remarked: "If surviving assassination attempts were an Olympic event, I would win the gold medal."

A hero and a tyrant - obituary

A revolutionary at home and abroad

However most of the ideas were never put into practice, former bodyguard Fabian Escalante said. 

Documents released during the administration of President Bill Clinton showed that the CIA at one point began researching Caribbean molluscs.

The plan was to pack a particularly spectacular one full of explosives to attract Castro, a keen diver, and to detonate it when he picked it up.

Another scuba-related idea was to create a diving suit infected with fungus that would cause a debilitating disease. Both plans were dropped.

Decades earlier in 1975, the US Senate Church Commission revealed details of at least eight plots on Castro's life, using devices which, the commission report said, "strain the imagination".

One plot using underworld figures twice progressed to the point of sending poison pills to Cuba and dispatching teams to "do the deed", it said.

At almost the exact moment that President Kennedy - who had authorised the failed Bay of Pigs invasion to overthrow Castro in 1961 - was assassinated, a CIA operative was apparently handing a poison pen equipped with a very fine needle to a Cuban agent.

The agent however was disappointed and asked for something "more sophisticated", the report said.

One of Castro's former lovers, Marita Lorenz, was also recruited. She was given poison pills to put in Castro's drink.

But Castro found out about the attempt and is said to have handed her his gun to use instead.

"You can't kill me. Nobody can kill me," he said, Ms Lorenz told the New York Daily News. "And he kind of smiled and chewed on his cigar. I felt deflated. He was so sure of me. He just grabbed me. We made love."

The most recent known attempt on Castro's life was in 2000, when a plan was hatched to put a large quantity of explosives under a podium he was due to speak on in Panama. The plot was foiled by Castro's security team.

Four men, including veteran Cuban exile and CIA agent Luis Posada, were jailed but later pardoned.

There were also plots to make Castro, also known as "The Beard", an object of ridicule rather than kill him.

One was to sprinkle thallium salt on Castro's shoes during as overseas trip in the hope that his famous beard would fall out. But it was foiled when Castro cancelled the visit.

Another involved spraying an aerosol of LSD close to him as he was about to make a TV broadcast in the hope that he would become hysterical on air.

Castro took myriad precautions to evade would-be assassins. But in 1979 as he flew to New York to address the UN he could not resist a bit of grandstanding.

Asked by journalists on the plane whether he wore a bulletproof vest, he pulled open his shirt and exposed his chest. 

"I have a moral vest," he said.

Fashion designer's son burns £5m of punk memorabilia in protest

The son of Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood has set fire to millions of pounds worth of punk memorabilia, saying punk "has become another marketing tool".

Joe Corre torched a chest containing clothes, posters and other items belonging to him on a boat on the River Thames in London's Chelsea.

There were also effigies of politicians including former prime minister David Cameron and current PM Theresa May loaded with fireworks.

Dame Vivienne was among those gathered on the bank to watch as the memorabilia - said to be worth £5m - burnt and fireworks rose into the sky.

A fire service boat helped to extinguish the flames.

Corre, who founded lingerie company Agent Provocateur, told the crowd: "Punk was never, never meant to be nostalgic - and you can't learn how to be one at a Museum of London workshop. 

"Punk has become another marketing tool to sell you something you don't need. 

"The illusion of an alternative choice. Conformity in another uniform."

He had previously said he was angered by Punk London - a year of events looking back at 40 years of punk heritage.

The plans include talks, films and gigs, supported by partners including the Mayor of London, British Library and the British Film Institute.

Corre had said he wanted to highlight "the hypocrisy at the core of this hijacking of 40 years of Anarchy in the UK". 

He also warned of the dangers of climate change, with a banner on the boat reading: "Extinction! Your future".

Dame Vivienne called for more people to adopt green energy, saying: "This is the first step towards a free world. 

"It's the most important thing you could ever do in your life."

One of the Sex Pistols, bassist Glen Matlock, told Sky News he was unimpressed with Joe Corre's protest.

"I want to paraphrase Monty Python," he said, "in that he's not a saviour he's a naughty boy, and I think Joe is not the anti-Christ, I think he's a nincompoop." 

Ed Miliband goads Theresa May over 'his' executive pay crackdown

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband has goaded Theresa May's Government over its plans to curb excessive corporate pay.

Forcing firms to reveal the pay gap between CEOs and average workers and measures to give workers a say on the earnings of bosses are among initiatives set to be unveiled by ministers.

The Prime Minister promised to tackle corporate greed when she came into power in July and a green paper which will be published on Tuesday includes proposals to:

:: Force companies to publish pay ratios that show the difference in earnings between the chief executive and an average employee

:: Improve the effectiveness of pay committees and the extent to which they must consult shareholders and the wider company on pay

:: Introduce binding votes on executive pay packages

As part of proposals to reform remuneration committees, the Government is also considering whether employees' representatives should be given an advisory role.

Mr Miliband responded to the proposals by appearing to make an ironic statement on Twitter about the policy, which some have pointed out has similarities to one he had put forward in 2012.

He tweeted: "More Marxist anti-business ideas. These Tories...." with a link to an article in the Sunday Telegraph about the Government's plans.

Mr Miliband was accused of creating an "anti-business culture" by then-chancellor George Osborne after Labour said it would force a vote on bonuses due to be paid to bosses at state-owned and part-nationalised firms, including RBS and Network Rail.

The opposition's ex-leader told an audience at Sheffield University at the time: "Tackling excessive executive pay and bonuses is not an end in itself but a necessary first step towards a bigger change in our economy in which people get fair rewards for their contribution at every level of society."

Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green told Sky News that the Government proposals were "slightly different" from Mr Miliband's.

It is the second former Labour policy which the Government has been accused of copying, after Philip Hammond unveiled plans in the Autumn Statement to crack down on letting agency fees - something Labour proposed in 2015.

Government officials believe employees' representatives could explain to remuneration committees the impact on the wider workforce of high levels of remuneration for top executives.

Pay for the CEOs of FTSE 100 companies increased from an average of £1m in 1998 to £4.3m in 2015, far outstripping the growth in average pay.

A No 10 source said: "The UK has led the world in corporate governance, but our strong reputation can only be maintained if government and business regularly reviews and upgrades our governance.

"Good governance helps companies take better decisions, for their own long-term benefit and the economy overall - ensuring public trust in British business and making sure the UK is the best place in the world to do business."

It comes as a report backed by Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane cautioned against binding votes of remuneration for chief executives and public pay ratio figures. 

The report acknowledged that reform is necessary, but insisted: "Good CEOs remain good value".

During her first speech to a CBI conference last week, Mrs May appeared to water down plans to put workers on company boards.

Despite making the pledge during her campaign to become prime minister, Mrs May insisted the measure would not be about forcing companies to put workers on boards but about firms finding a "model that works for everyone."

Fidel Castro: Cuba president as a world icon

He is instantly recognisable both from his appearance - the beard and the military fatigues - and from his first name alone: Fidel.

The name is expressed with affection by some, with hostility by others, but it calls up history for everyone.

The story of his life is very much the story of our times: revolutionary movements, the Cold War, East v West, North v South, communism v capitalism - except that most of the world has passed him by.

Fidel Castro has remained the same, a symbol of revolution, a communist who has survived the fall of communism.

Before surgery took him out of public view in July 2006, he inspired his followers with slogans and five-hour speeches.

Fidel's views continued to be made public though in the form of editorials and occasional TV appearances.

'Yankee imperialists'

Fidel maintained his rule with an iron grip, sending opponents to prison for years.

Throughout his leadership, he railed against the US, its economic and trade embargo and against the evils of free markets

Fidel has been praised for standing up for the oppressed of Latin America, for opposing the Yankee imperialist, for making Cuba into a more equal society than many, for developing Cuba's health service and sending doctors abroad to help others.

And it wasn't only doctors he sent abroad. He despatched troops to Angola and Ethiopia in support of fellow revolutionaries. His hand was seen in many a revolutionary movement in his own continent.

But he has also been condemned for intolerance, for keeping his people poor and for refusing to see the benefits of economic liberalisation that even the communists of China have embraced.

Fidel Castro stopped his people from leaving the island, leading them to risk their lives in rickety boats to try to get out.

At one stage in the early years of the Reagan administration he was accused of trying to take over Central America for the Soviet Union by revolution.

Washington at that time saw a path that led from the guerrillas of El Salvador through Nicaragua to Cuba and right up to the door of the Kremlin.

Cuban assistance to the small and then revolutionary island of Grenada in the Caribbean prompted a full-scale US invasion.

Giant figure

Throughout his rule, President Castro remained in almost permanent confrontation with the United States - and it with him. 

The American embargo on Cuba has been used by both sides - as a policy by the US to isolate Cuba and as an excuse by Fidel Castro for the island's poverty.

US President Barack Obama and Castro's successor as president, younger brother Raul, announced a thawing in relations in 2015 but the embargo remains in place.

When Mr Obama visited earlier this year - the first by a US leader in more than half a century - Castro remained defiant, saying Cuba did not need any gifts from the "empire" in a damning letter.

He cut a giant figure on the world stage during the 47 years he controlled Cuba - at one point bringing the US and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war.

It was the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 that propelled him into worldwide prominence.

Before that he had been just a glamorous revolutionary leader. He had overthrown the dictator Batista in a classic guerrilla war and had fought off an American-led invasion by Cuban exiles on the Bay of Pigs in 1961.

But when Nikita Khrushchev decided, with Fidel Castro's agreement, to station nuclear missiles in Cuba itself, the island leader turned from being a thorn in the side of the Americans into being a mortal threat.

It was only the skilled diplomacy of Jack Kennedy (and of Khrushchev in the end) that saved the day, and Fidel's own island from destruction.

The then-US defence Secretary Robert McNamara met President Castro in 1992. He said the Cuban leader told him there were 162 nuclear missiles in Cuba at the time of the crisis.

He asked Castro if he had recommended they be used. The answer was:

"Yes, I did."

"And what would have happened to Cuba?" Mr McNamara asked him.

"It would have been destroyed."

Fidel Castro was not part of the diplomacy that ended the missile crisis.

But he came out of the crisis remarkably strengthened. Kennedy promised that the US would not invade Cuba, a promise that has held.

The CIA made efforts to get rid of him with bizarre plots involving the Mafia and poison. They came to nothing. President Castro's people took immense precautions to protect him from potential harm from food and drink, as diplomats who invite him to their receptions in Havana found out.

He survived harm from his enemies.

And whatever happens to Cuba after him, the name of Fidel will survive in history.

Turkish leader threatens to open migrant floodgate to Europe

BRUSSELS – Turkey threatened Friday to open the migrant floodgates if the European Union halts its membership talks, as criticism grows of Ankara's heavy-handed response to a failed military coup.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's warning — the latest in a series of heated speeches about Europe from top Turkish officials — came a day after EU lawmakers called for a freeze on the talks over the post-coup arrests, dismissals and jailing of tens of thousands of people.

Erdogan's claims that his country has been "betrayed" are a sign of how Turkey's pride has been wounded by the lack of international solidarity Ankara feels has been shown since its political foundations were rocked by the July coup attempt.

"We are the ones who feed 3-3.5 million refugees in this country. You have betrayed your promises," Erdogan said. "If you go any further, those border gates will be opened," he added.

The European Parliament vote Thursday was a response to Ankara's widespread crackdown on potential political enemies.

Tens of thousands have been detained, and around 120,000 people dismissed or suspended from their jobs over suspected links to the Muslim cleric living in the United States whom Erdogan blames for the coup attempt.

Authorities have also shut down more than 170 media outlets, detained more than 140 journalists and sacked elected Kurdish mayors, replacing them with government-appointed trustees.

NATO has acknowledged that some Turkish personnel at the military alliance have even applied for asylum.

More worrying for the anti-death penalty EU would be if Turkey makes good on a threat to reintroduce capital punishment, which would derail the country's bid to join the bloc entirely.

But apart from symbolizing Europe's concern, Thursday's vote has no practical effect on Turkey's EU accession. Any suspension in talks can only be made by the 28 EU states, not lawmakers.

Beyond that, member states have little incentive to pour oil on the fire when they desperately need Ankara to manage their refugee crisis. The membership negotiations, which have crawled along at snail's pace for more than a decade, are unlikely to be completed any time soon.

Unable to agree on the best way to manage more than a million migrants who entered Europe last year, mostly through Turkey, EU nations decided to outsource their refugee crisis.

They offered Turkey visa-free travel for its citizens and fast-track membership talks if Ankara stemmed the flow of migrants leaving for Greece and took back thousands who had already crossed into Europe.

The deal also calls for the EU to devote up to $6.4 billion in aid for Syrian refugees living in Turkey.

During Friday's speech, Erdogan said not enough money was coming through.

"We have been given $550 million by the United Nations. The European Union promised, but the money it has sent so far is around $700 million. But what have we spent? Up to now we have spent $15 billion," he said.

In Brussels, EU officials confirmed Friday that 677 million euros have been delivered and a total of 1.2 billion euros signed into contracts with Turkey. A further billion euros has also been officially "allocated."

More time sensitive is Turkey's quest for visa-waiver status, which would allow Turks to stay for up to 90 days in Europe without a visa. Ankara wants the travel benefit this year, but EU officials said it has still not met seven outstanding criteria.

Most problematic among them is changing the definition of what constitutes a "terrorist act" in Turkey, a condition the Europeans say is required to stop Turkish authorities from rounding up reporters and Erdogan's political opponents.

With bomb attacks a regular occurrence of late in Turkey, the government is reluctant to modify its anti-terror law.

A new progress report is due next month, but at the current speed Turkey is unlikely to meet the conditions this year.

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka dismissed Erdogan's comments on Friday as "blackmail" and said Ankara shares responsibility for ensuring its EU membership bid stays on track.

"I reject attempts by Turkey to politically blackmail us and any threat to incite another immigration wave," Sobotka said. "The EU-Turkey deal is built on clear requirements both sides have to meet. Europe is doing its part, and therefore there is no reason for the current threats from Turkey."

In Germany, whose government would prefer a "privileged partnership" with Turkey as an alternative to full EU membership, spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said the EU-Turkey migrant deal is a success and "continuing the agreement is in the interest of all those involved."

"Threats from either side don't help," she said. "Where there are problems, we need to talk about them."

Russia in spat with Ukraine over Crimea missile test

Moscow has protested against plans by Ukraine to carry out missile tests near Crimea, raising the diplomatic temperature between the two countries.

Russia's aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, said Ukraine had notified it of tests to be carried out in "Russia's sovereign air space" on 1 and 2 December in the Simferopol area. 

The Russian defence ministry said it had presented the Ukrainian military attache with a note of protest in response. 

It said the airspace involved, over Crimea's west coast, "violates territorial seas of the Russian Federation".

But in a statement on his official website, Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council Secretary, Oleksandr Turchynov, said his country was following protocol. 

"Ukraine carries out the missile tests within the framework of all the international obligations and treaties," he said. 

"That's why we ask Russia not to hinder the tests by its hysterics and provocations."

Image Caption:Ukraine's Olexandr Turchynov has dismissed Russia's 'provocations'

Mr Turchynov also said that Ukraine was free to conduct military tests anywhere in its airspace, including Crimea.

He added that Ukraine was not planning to carry out the training launches over the Kerch Strait, which separates Russia and Crimea. 

The spat raises the diplomatic temperature between the two after Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014 following a referendum. 

Western nations responded by imposing sanctions against leading Russian companies such as limiting access to debt markets. 

The planned missile tests by Ukraine come as Russia builds up its military presence in Crimea.