Like the sun rising and setting, the Boris Johnson rumour mill is turning again. He’s that dependable, a seemingly never-ending source of gossip and intrigue.
This time, the drums are beating about his new company, Better Earth Limited. Incorporated at Companies House in London, Better Earth names the former prime minister as a director, along with Amir Adnani, president and CEO of Uranium Energy Corp. The latter is a US mining and exploration company promoted by Steve Bannon, former adviser to Donald Trump.
Adnani has gone onshore with Boris, possibly because even the ex-PM would baulk at heading an offshore company registered in a secretive tax haven. That is Mr Adnani’s usual route, with a network of businesses listed under his name in the British Virgin Islands. Mr Johnson is credited as a director and co-chairman. As if that was not enough, to send tongues wagging even more furiously, Charlotte Owen is cited as Better Earth’s vice-president.
She is the junior political adviser elevated by Johnson in his resignation honours to the House of Lords at the age of just 30. Quite what he saw in Baroness Owen that caused her to be anointed, while other more senior, longer-serving male and female staff were overlooked completely or did not receive the same high accolade, was the subject of enormous controversy and speculation.
Speaks frequently without saying much
Since becoming Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge in Cheshire, her hometown – a title she will hold for life – she has spoken fairly frequently in the Lords without saying very much at all. Mostly she has talked about technology issues. She mentioned climate change only once, in her maiden speech, in which she also thanked Johnson for “putting a great deal of trust in me”.
Roles in environment and climate do not figure on Baroness Owen’s CV. Now, though, Charlotte and her ex-boss are firmly back in the headlines and she has a senior role in his company that appears to be centred on the warming planet.
After a lull, we’re back on characteristic Johnsonian ground. He reassured the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), which oversees ex-ministerial appointments, that he “did not meet with, nor did you make any decisions specific to Better Earth during your time in office”.
Links to Adnani
Since then it’s been discovered that Mr Johnson met Scott Melbye, the executive vice president of Uranium Energy Corp, Adnani’s company, in the House of Commons in May 2022 when he was still prime minister. Mr Adnani posted on social media that Mr Johnson and Mr Melbye spoke about “nuclear power and uranium”. The meeting was not recorded in the prime minister’s official diary.
Some clue as to the nature of the discussion might be provided by the fact that days before leaving office, Mr Johnson signed off an extra £700m investment in the new Sizewell C nuclear power station, saying the UK needed to “Go Nuclear, go large!”.
Critics, such as Caroline Lucas, the then Green MP and former party leader, were quick to pounce, denouncing the Sizewell C expansion as “massively costly, achingly slow and carries huge unnecessary risks”.
Uranium is the base of the enriched uranium required to fuel nuclear reactors. Sizewell’s growth would be welcome to uranium suppliers.
Sure enough, Mr Adnani from Uranium Energy Corp, hailed the announcement. He seems to have had advance notice of it, posting on Twitter before it was made: “Boris Johnson plans to sign off on new £30bn nuclear plant in his final week in power! #uranium.”
Mr Adnani is close to Mr Bannon, and has appeared twice on his War Room podcast. He told Mr Trump’s ex-confidante his aim was to obtain “full spectrum energy dominance”.
Better Earth's team
So, what is Better Earth? Its office is in a serviced building in Sevenoaks in Kent, and it portrays itself as an “energy transition company”. The firm’s work-in-progress website says it will “work directly with national governments and regions that are seeking both inward and/or to reduce their emissions ahead of 2030”.
Better Earth counts two other Conservative lights on its senior team: Chris Skidmore, the minister who resigned over Rishi Sunak’s oil and gas plan; and Nigel Adams, a close ally of Mr Johnson and a former minister without portfolio. Mr Adams is registered as the company’s CEO.
According to Companies House, Better Earth has a single share, which is owned by Emissions Reduction Corp in Carson City, Nevada. That entity was previously called Carbon Royalty Corporation, registered in Delaware – home to many US companies that wish to remain opaque – and counted Mr Adnani and Nicole Shanahan as directors.
Ms Shanahan was Robert F Kennedy Jr’s running mate in the current presidential race until he dropped out and endorsed Mr Trump.
Political embers
Other former PMs might think twice before heading down such a path. Not Mr Johnson. It’s not as if he needs the money: since leaving office, he has been earning a small fortune on the speakers’ circuit, mainly in the US and Asia, where he is feted.
He has joined the TV channel GB News as a commentator and programme maker, covering the US presidential election and next UK general election. That, together with his column for the Mail, nets him a sizeable sum from media work.
Then there is his memoir, Unleashed, which is due to be published next month. It has earned him a reported £500,000 advance and is bound to be a bestseller that will earn him £4m according to some estimates. He can already claim to be the bestselling prime minister-turned-author of the century, with his 10 previous books having sold 600,000 copies.
His 11th book was due to be a much-delayed account of William Shakespeare’s life, for which he received an advance of £80,000 in 2015. No publication date has appeared for the Shakespeare volume, which will be superseded by Unleashed.
Mr Johnson lived briefly in Camberwell, South London, in a town house he bought in July 2019 with his then-girlfriend and now wife, Carrie Symonds. Today, home for Mr and Mrs Johnson and their three young children is Brightwell Manor, a £3.8m moated mansion in the Oxfordshire countryside.
He is said to be enjoying, for just about the first time in his life, having serious money without the constraints of public office. That may be the reason for Better Earth and his association with Mr Adnani: that he would like more.
The irony is that while speculation persists about his life and business activities, Mr Johnson is missed by his fellow Tories. The terrible election defeat, followed by a lacklustre leadership contest, have only served to reinforce his popularity among some Tory activists. As with many Republicans and Mr Trump, they disregard his peccadilloes, preferring to focus on his ability to galvanise and lead the party to election victory.
While his critics fume and investigate, Mr Johnson continues on his own sweet way. That too has a familiar ring.
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Leading all-time NBA scorers
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
Karl Malone 36,928
Kobe Bryant 33,643
Michael Jordan 32,292
LeBron James 31,425
Wilt Chamberlain 31,419
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
Dubai World Cup prize money
Group 1 (Purebred Arabian) 2000m Dubai Kahayla Classic - $750,000
Group 2 1,600m(Dirt) Godolphin Mile - $750,000
Group 2 3,200m (Turf) Dubai Gold Cup – $750,000
Group 1 1,200m (Turf) Al Quoz Sprint – $1,000,000
Group 2 1,900m(Dirt) UAE Derby – $750,000
Group 1 1,200m (Dirt) Dubai Golden Shaheen – $1,500,000
Group 1 1,800m (Turf) Dubai Turf – $4,000,000
Group 1 2,410m (Turf) Dubai Sheema Classic – $5,000,000
Group 1 2,000m (Dirt) Dubai World Cup– $12,000,000
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre supercharged V6
Power: 416hp at 7,000rpm
Torque: 410Nm at 3,500rpm
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Fuel consumption: 10.2 l/100km
Price: Dh375,000
On sale: now
Mica
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Visit Abu Dhabi culinary team's top Emirati restaurants in Abu Dhabi
Yadoo’s House Restaurant & Cafe
For the karak and Yoodo's house platter with includes eggs, balaleet, khamir and chebab bread.
Golden Dallah
For the cappuccino, luqaimat and aseeda.
Al Mrzab Restaurant
For the shrimp murabian and Kuwaiti options including Kuwaiti machboos with kebab and spicy sauce.
Al Derwaza
For the fish hubul, regag bread, biryani and special seafood soup.
SQUADS
Bangladesh (from): Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain, Abu Jayed
Afghanistan (from): Rashid Khan (capt), Ihsanullah Janat, Javid Ahmadi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Qais Ahmad, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Afsar Zazai, Shapoor Zadran
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Company%20profile
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MATCH INFO
Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm
Sunday
Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
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Cricket World Cup League 2 Fixtures
Saturday March 5, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy (all matches start at 9.30am)
Sunday March 6, Oman v Namibia, ICC Academy
Tuesday March 8, UAE v Namibia, ICC Academy
Wednesday March 9, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy
Friday March 11, Oman v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Saturday March 12, UAE v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, CP Rizwan, Vriitya Aravind, Asif Khan, Basil Hameed, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Karthik Meiyappan, Akif Raja, Rahul Bhatia
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
TUESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 2pm:
Elina Svitolina (UKR) [3] v Jennifer Brady (USA)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) v Belinda Bencic (SUI [4]
Not before 7pm:
Sofia Kenin (USA) [5] v Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) v Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) [7]
Court One
Starting at midday:
Karolina Muchova (CZE) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) v Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)
Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) v Dayana Yastermska (UKR)
Petra Martic (CRO) [8] v Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v Anett Kontaveit (EST)