Latest news with #MichaelEllis
Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Times
Lord Hermer ‘gives himself veto' over government policy
Civil servants have been ordered to 'snitch' on ministers if they suspect them of potentially breaching international law, leading the Tories to accuse the attorney-general of handing himself an 'effective veto' over government policy. Lord Hermer is reported to have comprehensively amended guidance to Whitehall lawyers and civil servants that had been drafted by one of his Conservative predecessors, Suella Braverman. The guidance, which governs how government lawyers relate to ministers, has been tweaked to include a 'snitch clause', according to The Daily Telegraph. Hermer is said to have told civil servants to inform him if ministers might be about to break the law. It was also claimed that the attorney-general inserted 23 references to international law into the guidance and watered down Braverman's instructions that were designed to prevent government lawyers from becoming a 'block' to ministerial policy. Sir Michael Ellis, another former Conservative attorney-general, said that the changes to the document amounted to 'empire building' by Hermer, who had 'effectively given himself a veto over all government business'. Last year Hermer, who is the government's top lawyer and a friend of the prime minister, said in a speech that ministers must protect the rule of law from an 'age of populism'. Despite attending cabinet, Hermer is technically an independent legal adviser to the government. A spokesman for Hermer told The Daily Telegraph that 'government lawyers advise ministers, but it is always ministers that make decisions on policy, as has been the case under successive governments'.
The Sun
25-06-2025
- General
- The Sun
I won £5.3k on free online postcode lottery – it only takes two minutes to check
WHEN retiree Michael Ellis signed up to an online postcode lottery in January 2016, he couldn't have imagined he'd find himself celebrating a win of more than £5,000. The 61-year-old, who formerly worked in local government, lives in Charing, Kent, with his wife, Michelle, 64, and their dog, Jack. 1 Michael told The Sun: 'I signed up to PickMyPostcode just under a decade ago after seeing it recommended by Martin Lewis on "But I never actually expected to win big.' For years, Michael visited the lottery website religiously – to see if his postcode had been "drawn". 'Finally, after checking every single day – and building my bonus through surveys – my postcode was picked on what is known as the 'Stackpot' draw. "This meant I bagged an unbelievable £5,331.61, completely for free.' PickMyPostcode is a free online alternative to traditional lotteries. This draw is funded by adverts, in the same way as a newspaper or TV channel is. To date, the lottery has given away more than £3million to lucky winning members, including an extra pot of money known as a "bonus". This is an additional pot of money which members grow themselves by visiting the website daily, completing surveys, and taking up extra offers. When Michael found out that he'd won, he was filled with a mix of emotions. 'At first there was disbelief that my postcode had actually come up on the 'Stackpot' draw,' he said. 'This was followed by lots of whooping and punching the air. My wife was left wondering what on earth had happened.' According to the lucky prize-winner, he has, over the years, invested quite a bit of time and effort into PickMyPostcode to build his sizeable bonus. 'I've lost count of the number of surveys I've completed,' he said. 'I also got quite competitive with myself on the leaderboard. "It started as a bit of fun in my spare time, but as my bonus grew, I was challenging myself to climb the leaderboard.' Michael already has big plans in terms of what he's going to do with his winnings. He said: 'Michelle and I have not had a proper holiday for quite a few years, and Michelle has a yearning to go to Italy. "So that is where we'll spend some of the money – along with sharing some with family, friends and favourite charities.' The main cause he plans to donate to is the Polycystic Kidney Disease Charity. 'This is a condition I suffer from,' said Michael. 'I already support the RNLI, SmileTrain, Action Aid and Dogs Trust, so will continue to support these charities, too.' The retiree's advice to other members of online lotteries is to remain patient. 'I always hoped to win, but never expected to,' said Michael. 'My words to all the 'nay-sayers' who believe that PickMyPostcode is a scam, are that 'you have to be in it to win it.' "What's more, this lottery is completely free. All it takes is just a few minutes of your time to check the various draws on the site.' PickMyPostcode offers multiple opportunities for your postcode to be picked every single day. In Kent alone, the lottery has 14,009 active members. And, since 2011, residents from that county have won a total of £98,965.09. Across the whole of the UK, PickMyPostcode has more than three million members – and more than 37,000 winners. Thanks to the "roll-over" system and the member's "bonus building", the largest individual win on the site to date is £8,660.21. However, the majority of prizes come from smaller, everyday wins which can often be around £200. At the same time, via the site's "Double and Donate" scheme, members can opt to send their winnings directly to a charity of their choice, and PickMyPostcode will double the amount the cause receives. What you need to know about the online postcode lottery PICKMYPOSTCODE is a competition that has been running daily since 2011. Anyone over 18, who lives in the UK – or on any islands that uses the British postcode system – can join the site. All you need is a registered postcode and an email. There are several draws each day, and all are completely free. With certain ones, you can bag between £5 and £100, while the main jackpot, picked at random at noon every day, is £200. You need to check online before midday the next day to claim your prize. If the prize money isn't claimed that day, it will roll over. This applies to four draws on the site – the 'main,' the 'survey,' the 'video' and the 'bonus' draw. So if, for example, the £200 'main draw' prize isn't claimed today, tomorrow's prize amount will be £400 instead – and so on until it is claimed. Should multiple winners with the same postcode make a claim the prize pot is split. You get 3p added to your bonus daily for checking the main, survey and bonus draw. In addition, you can add to your bonus by doing surveys and taking up certain offers on site. Just note that you'll only actually get that bonus if you're lucky enough to win. The site also runs Win A Dinner, a free food lottery. All you need for that one is an email. Every day at 4pm, winners are chosen to get £25 gift cards for restaurants and other food service locations of their choice. PickMyPostcode is completely funded by advertising so you'll never be asked to spend a penny. All members need to do is come back and check the draws daily to see if they have won. To date, more than £3million has been won. If your postcode comes up trumps, you will see a large 'collect' button. You need to press that so your winnings can be paid into a PayPay account. Alternatively, you can opt for a gift card. While there are other postcode lotteries, most involve you having to pay. One of the main ones is the People's Postcode Lottery – which pays out bigger amounts. But in order to play, you have to pay. How do I know my details are safe? PickMyPostcode will never ask members to provide any bank details or personal information. May McWhirter fromPickMyPostcode, said: 'We just give prizes, pure and simple.' Winners are paid via PayPal using their email address. This means you don't even need to hand over your name to be entered. You only have to give your postcode and email. May added: 'Michael's win proves that checking PickMyPostcode every day is worth it. "It only takes seconds but could make a huge difference.' On Martin Lewis describes PickMyPostcode as 'a fun competition,' adding that it sounds 'too good to be true, but it's legit.' Other ways to win As we reported previously, it's also possible to win big on another postcode-related draw, the Postcode Lottery. We recently revealed the luckiest town with the most Postcode Lottery winners. Earlier this month, we also reported on the locations of unclaimed National Lottery and UK EuroMillions tickets. Elsewhere, we offer tips on how to find your most profitable numbers when trying to win the EuroMillions jackpot. Whichever site or lottery you choose, remember to always gamble responsibly – and keep spending within limits. If you need help, you can get support at
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
KBRA Credit Profile Releases CREFC June Conference 2025: Day 3 Recap
NEW YORK, June 12, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KBRA Credit Profile (KCP), a division of KBRA Analytics, releases its Day 3 recap of the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council (CREFC) June Conference 2025. Key Takeaways Labor cost inflation remains a major development obstacle, particularly as stricter immigration enforcement contributes to staffing shortages and project delays. Rising operating expenses are prompting CRE owners to defer nonessential capital improvements, especially in multifamily, to protect cash flow. Tariffs remain a wildcard for CRE, with panelists expressing mixed views on their potential impact and stressing the importance of trade policy stability for market confidence. Although new hotel development can cost up to 40% more than acquiring existing assets, newer properties often outperform due to sponsor experience and market expertise. Upscale and luxury hotels are outperforming limited-service segments, supported by affluent consumer demand and fewer deferred maintenance issues. Office lending is showing signs of life, led by commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), with office potentially growing to 25% of conduit issuance. Recapitalizations remain a key theme for aging office stock, with family offices and sovereign wealth funds stepping in as private equity holds back. Click here to view the report. Recent Publications CREFC June Conference 2025: Day 1 Recap CREFC June Conference 2025: Day 2 Recap About KBRA KBRA, one of the major credit rating agencies, is registered in the U.S., EU, and the UK. KBRA is recognized as a Qualified Rating Agency in Taiwan, and is also a Designated Rating Organization for structured finance ratings in Canada. As a full-service credit rating agency, investors can use KBRA ratings for regulatory capital purposes in multiple jurisdictions. Doc ID: 1009905 View source version on Contacts Daniel Greathouse, Senior Analyst, KCP+1 Michael Ellis, Associate Director, KCP+1 Brian Quintrell, Director, KCP+1 Media Contact Adam Tempkin, Senior Director of Communications+1 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Russia Today
29-05-2025
- General
- Russia Today
CIA running out of international informants and spies
The CIA is grappling with difficulties in recruiting foreign informants and 'needs more spies,' The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing current and former intelligence officials. Chief among the problems the sources listed is the global proliferation of public surveillance systems and advances in facial recognition, which make it harder for operatives to avoid detection. CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis acknowledged the issue in a recent public interview, saying that although 'some of the tools and techniques from the 1960s or '70s might still work today, a lot of them need to be updated and refreshed.' Other officials pointed to past setbacks, according to the WaPo, including the agency's aggressive recruitment of Chinese officials in the early 2000s. Beijing's security forces later dismantled that network, reportedly imprisoning and executing up to two dozen CIA assets. The COVID-19 pandemic also hindered operations, the report said, by disrupting face-to-face meetings with informants due to lockdowns and travel restrictions. US President Donald Trump's current plan to close 10 embassies and 17 consulates as part of budget cuts threatens to further reduce the CIA's footprint globally. In an effort to attract defectors, the CIA has produced what the reports described as 'Hollywood-quality' videos targeting Russian and Chinese audiences, which have been distributed via social media. While officials told the Post that some Russians have responded, they declined to provide specifics. The ads sparked incredulity in both countries and parodies that reversed the agency's message by highlighting American problems. Chinese netizens are having fun with the CIA's recruitment ad for Chinese spies!They've turned it around and made it even more convincing than the original! 🤣 Domestically, the CIA's recruitment of new agents has declined by double-digit percentages since 2019, a former official told the Post. The newspaper noted that a recent directive from the White House that led to the circulation of an unclassified list of new hires — including first names and initials — could impact morale and security. In 2021, the agency was ridiculed for a recruitment video featuring a 'cisgender Millennial who has been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder.' Ellis said the current leadership is focused on building 'the ultimate meritocracy at the CIA.'
Express Tribune
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
CIA sounds alarm over China's tech rise
US paranoia with China undermines global stability as America seeks to maintain unipolar world The drums of a technological Cold War are growing deafening, with the CIA leading the chorus of alarm over China's 'existential threat' to American supremacy – even as experts warn that Washington's containment gambit is stirring the pot in Asia, and Pakistan's recent strikingly successful deployment of Chinese arms fuels long-simmering anxieties about Beijing's rising prowess. In an interview with Axios, CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis laid the cards bare. Unlike the Soviet Union, China's challenge to the United States unfolds primarily along economic, technological and ideological lines, precisely the domains where America once claimed undisputed hegemony. Artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, semiconductors and energy storage, these, he said, are the battlegrounds of the 21st century. However, experts warn that his worry, however, says more about American vulnerability than Chinese aggression. A European source— a long-time interlocutor between Brussels and Beijing—told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity that the so-called 'China threat' was, in essence, the fear that Chinese innovation and standards could undermine American might. The source characterised remarks by Ellis and other US officials as provocative and dangerous, reflecting Washington's growing anxiety over China's technological ascent. He noted that the unease surrounding not just China's technological rise but also its growing military prowess has been building for years. That, he added, was also 'proved' by Pakistan's military after it effectively validated those concerns by deploying Chinese J-10C fighter jets and PL-15 missiles in the May War with India, marking the first real-time combat use of cutting-edge Chinese hardware. For Western observers, it was a stark wake-up call. The source said even as the CIA expands its 'elite workforce' of engineers and scientists, Donald Trump has gutted the National Security Council's China team, reportedly firing or sidelining nearly all of its members, save Ivan Kanapathy. However, experts say the descent into anti-China hysteria is not new. Trump's pick for CIA Director had already declared in January that the agency must become more 'aggressive' in its covert actions and human intelligence. The man who would soon direct the CIA said plainly: 'We will conduct covert actions at the direction of the president, going places no one else can go and doing things no one else can do.' The ambition came into sharp relief on May 1, when the CIA posted two Mandarin-language recruitment videos on social media, offering disillusioned Chinese government employees an 'exit plan'. Beijing responded swiftly. 'A naked political provocation,' the Ministry of Foreign Affairs retorted. Meanwhile, even as Washington accuses China of cyber-espionage and intellectual theft, it openly solicits espionage within Chinese institutions. Ironically, while the US tries to spy on China, it remains terrified that others are spying on it. Beijing, for its part, appears to be shoring up its internal defences. China's Ministry of State Security recently warned former state employees with access to sensitive information against leaking secrets, citing a case in which an ex-employee, lured by a foreign agency, was sentenced for espionage. 'Containment strategy' Einar Tangen, Senior Fellow of the Taihe Institute and Chair of Asia Narratives Substack, told The Express Tribune, the US frames China as a security threat due to its military, technological, and economic rise. 'This rhetoric, fuelled by competition in trade and technology, is used to support a containment strategy.' "The US exaggerates China's rise to justify containment rather than reflect on its own mistakes,' he pointed out. "Calling China a 'threat' is 'red meat' for US politicians." Tangen noted that America believed stirring up problems in and around China would aid America, but it only destabilises and adds to the uncertainty that is hurting the world. "Competition shouldn't overshadow the need for global cooperation,' he stressed. China's growth in tech and manufacturing increases yuan usage in global trade, potentially reducing the dollar's dominance. 'China's innovation serves global demand, it is not aimed at undermining the USD, that is being done by Washington through ham-handed bully tactics. China's digital advances are boosting global growth. It's what America should be doing rather than trying to resurrect its hegemony." "The dollar weakened due to US economic choices, and it's time for America to review those choices and start competing rather than complaining,' he added. Interference in Asia via alliances Regarding the Pakistan-India conflict, Wang Yiwei, a professor at the School of International Relations at Renmin University of China, pointed the finger at the United States, drawing a line from US Vice President JD Vance's visit to India to the deadly Pahalgam attack and subsequent Indian aggression against Pakistan. 'Everyone knows the US needs India to stir trouble near China's borders, particularly involving China and Pakistan as part of its strategy to balance policies, influence and peace in South Asia,' he said. He added that the American strategy appears to be losing steam in the region. Weighing in on regional tensions and US involvement, Einar Tangen said India was balancing security concerns about China with its economic ties. While US interference has created friction, it hasn't permanently damaged relations. He clarified that India's independence isn't a threat to China, but it is to the U.S, which frames the world in terms of 'you're either with us or against us'. "China and India as neighbours must prioritise dialogue to create stability." "Western interference worsens regional tensions." He warned Western military alliances were disrupting Asia, with only a perceived, not a real, benefit to Washington. 'A lesson that should have been learned from America's policies and actions in South America, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia." The scholar further cautioned that India's partnerships with the US risked increasing regional tensions, shifting the power balance, and sparking proxy conflicts. "India-US military ties will only escalate regional instability." "Balanced relations, not alliances, ensure peace,' he emphasised. He stressed that China and India should focus on trade, not conflict. "QUAD and AUKUS provoke tensions instead of cooperation." Key differences However, to portray the unfolding rivalry merely as a security standoff would be to miss the deeper currents. As economist and Marxist thinker David Harvey has argued, US capitalism thrives on the chaos of the market, whereas China's strength lies in state-led investment and long-term planning. It is precisely this divergence that makes the contest so asymmetrical. According to Professor Wang, the United States has always been a political system dominated by private capital. The so-called "China threat" is essentially a threat posed by China to America's dominance in high technology and in setting global standards. 'It [US] has effectively colonised its allies and digital systems like Swiss online infrastructure, creating what can be called digital colonies. While claiming to provide global public goods, the US has simultaneously hijacked the international currency order.' Scholars argue that America's current dilemma is largely self-inflicted. Through decades of deindustrialisation, market fundamentalism and Wall Street-first policies, the US hollowed out its own manufacturing core. China, by contrast, pursued a sui generis path: merging Marxist-Leninist party control with market dynamics and rigorous industrial policy. The result is what some call 'techno-industrial sovereignty', a model that Washington cannot replicate without abandoning its ideological dogmas. 'The US prioritises private capital and a market-driven economy, while China focuses on state-led development and long-term planning. The US maintains a strong dollar to finance debt and benefit Wall Street, making manufacturing less competitive,' Tangen explained. The US, he noted, chased short-term profits, while China invested in long-term benefits. 'China continues to focus on the high-margin digital economy, while the US focuses on low-margin capital-intensive reindustrialisation.' "America's strong dollar was an own goal that eviscerated its manufacturing competitiveness so Washington could borrow cheaply and Wall Street could grow exponentially." "China's planning fuels economic and tech growth. Trump's does the opposite,' the scholar pointed out, adding that Trump's tariff plan was also flawed as it taxed consumers and, if successful, would reduce tariff collections. Observers have long noted that while America's elite chased short-term profits, China treated AI, green energy, and quantum computing as national priorities, funding them accordingly. If the last Cold War was about nukes and proxies, the new one is about who sets the rules for 5G, EVs, and digital currencies. Right now, Beijing is taking the lead. The moment calls for nuance over paranoia.
