"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." --  Greek proverb

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Kazakhstan is the United Kingdom’s primary trading partner in Central Asia, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the UK James Cleverly said during his meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana as part of his first visit to the nation on March 18.

Bankers at the London branch of Silicon Valley Bank reportedly received tens of millions of dollars in bonuses just days after the Bank of England orchestrated a rescue package that led to Europe's largest lender, HSBC, buying the failed bank's subsidary for just £1Sky News reports.

The British government has commissioned Rolls-Royce to develop a nuclear reactor that could one day power a lunar base as part of a US-led mission to house humans on the moon. However the project has thus far been plagued by delays and cost overruns.

The UK Space Agency announced on Friday that it has awarded £2.9 million ($3.5 million) to Rolls-Royce to build a prototype. The British engineering firm, which is owned by German firm BMW, plans on having a working reactor ready by 2029.

Bankers at the London branch of Silicon Valley Bank reportedly received tens of millions of dollars in bonuses just days after the Bank of England orchestrated a rescue package that led to Europe's largest lender, HSBC, buying the failed bank's subsidary for just £1Sky News reports.

 

Beijing accused the AUKUS alliance (US, UK, and Australia) of embarking on a “path of error and danger” when responding to the announcement that Australia will be supplied with nuclear-powered submarines. The multibillion-dollar deal, seen as a step to counter China’s rise in the Indo-Pacific region, was announced during a trilateral meeting between US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in San Diego on March 13.

It is almost surreal to contemplate the changes that took place over the past 12 months. One year ago this week, Sir Tony Blair published an article on the pages of his very important Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

Some senior officers knew about HMS Prince of Wales’ faulty propeller before she set off on her landmark voyage last year but kept quiet.

The warship then broke down just after she left Portsmouth Harbour. The Ministry of Defence, rather than the manufacturers, will be picking up the estimated £20million recovery and repair costs.

The hugely embarrassing debacle is now the subject of a Ministry of Defence inquiry. Investigators want to establish who knew what, and when, and who failed to highlight the risks.

Around 50,000 people took part in a national demonstration of striking workers in London on Wednesday.

School, university, and London Underground workers, plus junior doctors, assembled in Hyde Park before marching to Trafalgar Square. Government workers staged their own demonstration, gathering at Embankment before joining the main rally.

More protests were held in the UK’s other main cities, with well-attended picket lines mounted across the country.