Uk

UK Bans New Huawei 5G Equipment from 2021, Full Ban from 5G by 2027

Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden has confirmed the ban on the addition of new equipment from Huawei to UK 5G networks, and all Huawei components must be removed from Britain’s 5G by 2027. The move came after Five Eyes allies warned of the security risks of using the “effectively state-owned” Chinese tech firm. Mr Dowden made the announcement in the House of Commons on Tuesday, weeks after the U.S. imposed sanctions on Huawei, barring the sale of American components to the Chinese company over security concerns. It represents a significant reversal by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who agreed in January on a contract for Huawei to build 35 per cent of Britain’s 5G network. “This has not been an easy decision, but it is the right one for the UK telecoms networks, for our national security and our economy, both now and indeed in the long run,” the British digital secretary said, according to the BBC. The decision follows a ruling from the National Security Council that Huawei should not be used in any part of Britain’s 5G. The new restrictions also apply to Huawei’s broadband components. The judgment officially came as a result of a review conducted by the National Cyber Security Centre, a part of the signals intelligence services GCHQ, which ruled last week that the security of Huawei would be compromised if using any other components than the now-banned American ones. As the U.S. sanctions only affect future equipment, the government will not call for the removal of Huawei from 2G, 3G, or 4G. While a major step, others have warned that the government’s decision does not go far enough and that the Chinese equipment should be removed sooner and in its entirety. Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said on Tuesday: “This is a partial victory. ‘No’ to Huawei is great, but we cannot wait until 2027 for removal of the kit.” The Guardian reported on Monday that 60 Conservative MPs could rebel against the government over the long delay in the removal of Huawei, calling instead for the end of purchasing all Huawei equipment in the next 12 months — not just 5G — and removing it from all systems by 2026. However, BT has said that it could take as long as ten years to completely remove Huawei from Britain’s telecommunications infrastructure. The news comes as the chairman of Huawei UK has reportedly stepped down, according to claims by Sky News. Former BP boss Lord Browne of Madingley had told Reuters last week that there was “no diplomacy here” in the government’s dealings with Huawei. “The UK has had a very long relationship with China, and I hope it’s not one that they simply throw away,” Lord Browne complained. The UK stepping back from Huawei, however, represents a positive step towards redressing relationships with other democratic nations, particularly Five Eyes partner the United States, which have expressed concern of communist China becoming too close to the United Kingdom. Britain is said to be exploring an international partnership comprised of a combination of the Five Eyes, the G7, and India and South Korea to construct an alternative to Huawei. U.S. sources speaking to the Financial Times on Monday said that the UK’s hitherto reluctance to come to a firm decision on Huawei was holding up plans for the proposed Five Eyes-Plus or ‘D10’ union of ten democratic nations.

We agree with Nigel Farage, that while this is most definitely a step in the right direction, it doesn’t go nearly far, or fast, enough.  Huawei is entirely owned and controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and their Army.  And, it is a vehicle through which they spy on the U.S., UK, and our other allies in order to advance their agenda of global conquest, which of course is a threat to the U.S., the UK and other western deomcracies.  The Brits historically are notorious for being suckers.  Hello..Neville Chamberlain?  To be clear, even a great guy like PM Boris Johnson wouldn’t have done this without some behind the scenes pressure from President Trump.  Regardless, we’re glad they made this decision and hope they implement it quicker and more broadly.  This the kind of pressure ALL of the so-called “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing partners (i.e. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK, and the United States) need to be exerting on China now more than ever.

Rare footage of Queen Elizabeth as a little girl released in honor of her 94th birthday

Queen Elizabeth II turned 94 on Tuesday, and despite the coronavirus pandemic scrubbing her annual celebrations, those closest to Her Majesty began their day by sending her a ton of love. Prince William and Kate Middleton were some of the first members of the British royal family to acknowledge the reigning monarch’s big day. “Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a very happy 94th birthday today!” the couple captioned a photo of the pair on a stroll with the queen on Instagram. About an hour later, the queen’s supporters were treated to a clip compiled of home videos of Her Majesty throughout her formative years. The one-minute video was posted to the royal family’s official Instagram account and features the queen as a young toddler playing with her late sister, Princess Margaret. Her love of animals is also on display as the rare footage shows adorable clips of her cuddling with puppies and birds. “Happy Birthday, Your Majesty! Thank you for your messages today, on The Queen’s 94th birthday. In this private footage from the @royalcollectiontrust, we see The Queen (then Princess Elizabeth) playing with her family, including her younger sister Princess Margaret,” the account captioned the video. “Head of the Commonwealth, Head of the Armed Forces, Head of State in 16 countries and the longest reigning Monarch in British History. Wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Happy birthday, Your Majesty!” the post continues. “To those of you also celebrating your birthdays today at home, with or without your loved ones – we send you many happy returns.” Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter Princess Eugenie also acknowledged the reigning monarch’s celebratory day. “May today bring joy in a time when families can’t be together celebrating with one another. All my love,” Eugenie wrote. The Clarence House, the office for the queen’s eldest son, Prince Charles, also paid tribute to the queen’s 94th birthday with a slideshow of photographs showing the mother-son duo over the years. As of Tuesday afternoon, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry had yet to publicly share their birthday wishes for the queen. Although it’s possible the couple will not make a statement following the shuttering of their Sussex Royal Instagram account. The queen’s birthday comes at a somber time in history due to the coronavirus pandemic, which shuttered the queen’s annual birthday gun salute, as well as her birthday parade, also known as the Troop of Colour, that was cancelled. Last month, Buckingham Palace confirmed in a statement that the queen departed for Windsor Castle ahead of the Easter holiday due to the COVID-19 crisis. It is likely she is still staying there with her husband, Prince Philip.

We wish the Queen a very Happy 94th Birthday!!  To see the pic of her with William and Kate, click on the text above.  To see the video of her as a child mentioned above, here is the link:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heL6Ef70fdo                🙂

Queen Elizabeth: ‘Easter Isn’t Cancelled’, Take ‘New Hope’ from ‘Risen Christ’

Queen Elizabeth II has delivered what is believed to be the first-ever Easter message of her 68-year reign, offering a message of hope to people confined to their homes throughout the holiday by the coronavirus pandemic. The 93-year-old monarch — who also serves as Supreme Governor of the Church of England — recorded this message in the drawing room of Windsor Castle, where she is herself in self-isolation as a result of the pandemic. The Queen recalled how “many Christians would normally light candles together” on Holy Saturday, the sombre day preceding Easter Sunday when Christ lay in his tomb — and, according to Christian teaching, descended into Hades and preached to the dead. “This year, Easter will be different for many of us, but by keeping apart we keep others safe,” the Queen said. “But Easter isn’t cancelled; indeed, we need Easter as much as ever. The discovery of the risen Christ on the first Easter Day gave his followers new hope and fresh purpose, and we can all take heart from this,” she added. “We know that coronavirus will not overcome us.” The Queen’s Easter message can be viewed or read in full by clicking here:

Happy Easter!    🙂

Trump Admin. to Extract Military, Intelligence Assets from U.K. over Britain’s Huawei Deal

The Trump Administration’s National Security Council launched a review this week of what military and intelligence assets will be withdrawn from Great Britain if the U.K. goes ahead with its 5G deal with Chinese telecom giant Huawei. U.S. officials told Bloomberg’s Eli Lake that the assessment is being conducted in response to Huawei “putting smart antennas and computers run by the Chinese Communist Party all over our closest ally.” In January, Boris Johnson’s government announced that the U.K. would allow Huawei — which is charged in the U.S. with racketeering, fraud, and intellectual property theft — to help build the country’s 5G network, despite intense diplomatic pressure from the Trump administration to resist the Chinese. President Trump reportedly “tore into” Johnson in a phone call over the deal, as the U.S. has warned allies in the past that there would be consequences for dealing with Huawei, but has struggled to come up with 5G alternatives to the Chinese giant. “If a country adopts this [Huawei technology] and puts it in some of their critical information systems, we won’t be able to share information with them, we won’t be able to work alongside them,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last February. “In some cases there’s risk — we won’t even be able to co-locate American resources, an American embassy, an American military outpost.” Britain has insisted that Huawei will not have access to sensitive intelligence and the core network “control plane,” but U.S. officials are still worried that proximity risks posed to U.S. assets in the U.K, and are looking at potentially halting deals over military and intelligence equipment over the move. In the wake of Johnson’s announcement, a group of parliamentarians from his own party have voiced their opposition to the Huawei deal and may scuttle it entirely, according to Financial Times.

We like PM Boris Johnson.  But, President Trump was right to tear into him over this.  Huawei is entirely controlled by the Chinese government, and uses their technologies to spy on the U.S. and our allies.  We’ve proven that to the UK and others on several occasions.  So, if they want to sell their soul for 5G, then we need to not allow our intelligence assets to be compromised, and step back from coordinating our efforts with our British friends.  That’s only smart.  Hopefully those parliamentarians will scuttle the Huawei deal.

UK scrambles jets as Russian planes and ships spotted

British fighter jets were scrambled on Wednesday in response to the sighting of two Russian military aircraft near UK airspace, hours after three Russian ships were monitored as they entered the English Channel. “Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon fighter aircraft were launched today after Russian aircraft were identified flying close to UK airspace,” said a Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesman. The planes were launched from the Lossiemouth military airbase in northern Scotland. Britain’s Royal Navy earlier kept track of three Russian ships, including a destroyer, after they entered the English Channel, according to the defence ministry. It is the latest in a string of similar incidents and comes at a time of tense relations between London and Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine and the inquiry into the death of Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko.

Seems as if Russia is continuing to test the boundaries, and patience, of our NATO allies. Not good! If one of these Russian jets should actually enter UK airspace, then the UK should blow it/them out of the sky. It is time to stop this dance, and put our foot down with respect to Moscow’s global bullying. Japan should absolutely do the same thing, and we should stand WITH them if they take that sort of action. In the meantime, here at The Daily Buzz, we’ve been calling on the Obama Administration to take some very specific proactive military steps to thwart Russia’s aggression. We’ve outlined these measures on many occasions over the last 10+ months. They include, but are not limited to: 1) Rebuiding the missile defense shield in Poland that Obama so foolishly had dismantled in order to appease Vlad. And, look how good that worked for us. Rebuilding that would send a message to Poland that we stand with them. Currently they feel a little abandoned. It’s time repair that relationship. That would also send a clear message to Vlad, and his fellow thugs, that we stand WITH Poland. 2) Parking an entire U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group (CSG), not just some random destroyer, in the Baltic. Parking a major U.S. military power projection platform in mother Russia’s backyard like that would send a crystal clear message to Moscow; that we can protect our eastern European allies in the region and can react VERY quickly to ANY military threat in that region. Those are just a couple of the many military proactive measures we’ve been advocating here at The Daily Buzz for almost year. It’s time for the Obama Administration to step things up. Russia, so far, hasn’t been impressed.

Scotland referendum: Scots reject independence in historic vote

Scotland voters decided to remain part of the United Kingdom on Friday, rejecting independence in a historic referendum.

This was the expected outcome.. Its the smart move for both Scotland, the UK, NATO, and our relationship with the UK. Its a also a huge bullet dodge for PM David Cameron. Anyway, seems like the majority of Scots, especially older/wiser ones, pulled back and decided that they were stronger as part of the UK (which they’ve been for over 3 centuries; longer than our country has even existed!), than as a separate nation.