UK Column News - 25th August 2023

Brian Gerrish, Mike Robinson and Vanessa Beeley with today’s UK Column News.

 

Greek Wildfires And The Importance Of Alexandroupolis

00:23 Copernicus EU: Rapid Mapping Activation Viewer—Wildfire in East Macedonia, Greece

Greek City Times: Sixteen mega-fires burned over 4.2 million hectares in 21 years in Greece—See map

The Economist: A sleepy Greek port has become vital to the war in Ukraine

Parallaxi: Copernicus for Alexandroupolis: The largest burned area on European soil

eKathimerini: Greece, Bulgaria sign memoranda that ‘change the energy map of south-eastern Europe’

Keep Talking Greece: Mitsotakis-Zelensky meeting: Greece reiterates support for Ukraine

 

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Second Plane Landed Safely

06:59 Mirror: Mystery over second Wagner plane seen zig-zagging and landing after Russia plane crash

Wikipedia: Embraer Legacy 600: Accidents and incidents

Al Jazeera: Russia-Ukraine updates: Prigozhin talented man who made ‘mistakes’—Putin

NBC News: Videos and flight radar show plane crash believed to have killed Prigozhin (video)

RIA Novosti: Gen. Afzalov appointed Acting Commander-in-Chief of [Russian] Air Force—source

Pravda: Russians found replacement for Surovikin, former Aerospace Forces commander

 

With No Cash, Could You Trust Your Bank? 

12:06 Dutch Government: Cash payments above €3000 to be outlawed in Netherlands

Cash Essentials: Spain continues to impose a limit on cash payments exceeding €1,000

Central Banking (2022): Italians may use cash for payments of up to €2,000, but this ceiling had been set to fall to €1,000 from January 1st

UK Column interview: Forex and Banking Fraud—Brian Gerrish speaks to financial whistleblower Trevor Kitchen

UK Column interview: Understanding the dangers of the European Arrest Warrant—Trevor Kitchen

ABC News: Regulator's review of over 30 Swiss banks finds shortcomings in money-laundering controls

Financial Conduct Authority: 2021 fines | 2022 fines

The Royal Mint: What is the Gold Fix?

The London Bullion Market Association: About LBMA Daily Auction Prices (video)

World Gold Council: The Authority on Gold

Reuters (2022): FX swap debt a $80 trillion 'blind spot', BIS says

Practical Law: Banking Regulation in the United Kingdom: Overview

Bank for International Settlements: About the BIS Innovation Hub

Rally for Peace and Freedom: Glasgow Green Commonwealth Monument, 1 pm, Saturday 26 August 23

 

Lithium Batteries In The Home

28:30 IoT [Internet of Things] Tech News: Advanced lithium battery for the global smart meters industry

 

Syria: Anti-Assad Sentiments And Ethno-Religious Separatism Again Stirred—Now In Sweida and Dara'a Districts In South

29:06 Mint Press News: The ISIS Massacre in Sweida: A Story of Torment and Resilience for an Uninterested World

Abu Ali Express (Israeli media): Syria: Negotiations between Assad and the Druze in southern Syria have failed; Demonstrations expected tomorrow

Megaphone News (Twitter): The Syrian city of Sweida witnessed [what are claimed to be] the largest anti-Assad protests since strikes and demonstrations began four days ago

AP News: Residents in southern Syria raid ruling party offices, block road as protests over economy intensify

GOV.UK: The Syrian regime and its allies continue to profit whilst the Syrian people and the region suffer the consequences: UK statement at the [UN] Security Council

Madaniya: Madaniya is a Western-funded initiative

 

Can the BRICS Bank replace the IMF?

46:52 The New Development Bank (NDB) is a multilateral development bank established by Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa (BRICS) 

BRICS 2023: Homepage

CGTN Africa (YouTube): New Development Bank (BRICS) bolsters development in emerging economies

The Telegraph: BRICS is now a motley crew of failing states

Atlantic Council: The United States and its allies must be ready to deter a two-front war and nuclear attacks in East Asia

The Hankyoreh: Korean intellectuals say Camp David outcomes will push inter-Korean tensions to extremes

 

AccuRx Data Collection—Viewer's E-mail

55:55 Thank you to Gary for this e-mail (one of several received about Wednesday's coverage of AccuRx—several others pointed out that the abbreviation 'Rx' means 'prescription' or 'treatment'):

Accurx is collecting structured QOF data. It sends a patient a text which contains a survey link. As soon as a patient responds to the survey, the practice gets notification. One doctor confided:
‘I have used it for the last 2 weeks by sending out 50+ texts. I can see it has clawed in approximately £2,000 of QOF monies.’
In case you are not aware, QOF is quality of outcomes framework money. It's a sort of bonus for hitting targets. Each QOF point is worth £194.83. Total points = 567. Blimey, that's £110,468.61. That not a bad little bonus, is it.”

CPRD: Clinical Practice Research Datalink