North Korea has vowed to accelerate its nuclear weapons programme after condemning joint US-South Korean military exercises held last month as preparations for nuclear war. Pyongyang said strengthening its nuclear deterrent was an “immutable” national defence policy in response to military activity by Washington and its regional allies. In a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday, Kim Jong-sik, first vice department director of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea’s Central Committee, accused the two countries of rehearsing a nuclear attack against North Korea. Kim described the Iron Mace exercise, held in Seoul from September…

Millions of Ukrainians received false warnings of an imminent Russian nuclear attack after a suspected cyberattack compromised an app used to alert civilians to incoming air strikes. Four messages appeared on the Air Alert app at 10.48pm local time on Sunday, including warnings of radioactive fallout, a chemical attack and street fighting. One claimed that a Russian Oreshnik missile was overhead and that a nationwide nuclear alert had been activated. Ukraine’s air force warned about ten minutes later that the app appeared to have been subjected to Russian interference and told the public there was no radiation threat. “The Air…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to discuss territorial issues directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an effort to end the war, Ukraine’s foreign minister has said. Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv had proposed a meeting between the two leaders to address the most difficult questions surrounding a potential peace agreement. Speaking to Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, Sybiha said the proposal had been conveyed to Putin during a telephone conversation with Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on October 27. The call, which lasted approximately 90 minutes, had been coordinated with Ukraine and was intended…

North Korean hackers have been blamed for stealing more than $6.3 billion (£4.7 billion) from cryptocurrency exchange Binance in what investigators describe as the largest digital asset theft in history. Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, an elite North Korean hacking unit, and said most of the funds were transferred within approximately 20 minutes on Thursday evening. The theft surpasses the $1.5 billion stolen from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit in February 2025, an attack which the FBI attributed to North Korea. The incident has renewed concerns over Pyongyang’s use of state-sponsored cybercrime to finance its nuclear weapons…

Russia has built a new ring of air defence towers around President Vladimir Putin’s residence in Valdai as it seeks to protect the estate from Ukrainian drone attacks. Satellite imagery has identified 16 additional towers, bringing the reported number of air defence positions around the presidential estate in north-western Russia to more than 50. The new installations are concentrated south of the residence, within a 50-kilometre radius, and appear to form an outer defensive perimeter facing Ukraine. Investigators believe the elevated platforms could accommodate Pantsir or Tor surface-to-air missile systems, although their precise military purpose has not been independently confirmed.…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russia is preparing new ballistic missile strikes against Ukraine, citing intelligence reports of an imminent threat. The warning came as Kyiv renewed calls for Western allies to provide additional air defence weapons, particularly interceptor missiles for US-made Patriot systems. Speaking in his nightly address on Thursday, Zelensky said: “We now have intel about the Russians preparing new ballistic missile attacks. We need the capabilities to shoot down all this Russian evil. We are awaiting the relevant decisions.” The Ukrainian president said countering Russian ballistic missiles had been the main subject of a meeting…

By Ben Farmer Mali and its Russian allies have killed and wounded scores of civilians in recent months as they attempt to beat back jihadist insurgents, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said. The West African nation’s military junta and Africa Corps, a Russian Defence Ministry-controlled paramilitary force, have stepped up drone strikes in response to attacks by Islamist and separatist fighters. The New York-based human rights organisation said it had found evidence of deadly indiscriminate air strikes, soldiers shooting civilians during patrols and torture. Another conflict monitor, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), reported that between April…

The Defense Intelligence Agency’s 2026 space threat assessment records what no previous edition did: space is now an active combat theatre. By André Pienaar There is a sentence in the Iran section of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA) new assessment, Challenges to Security in Space 2026, that should be read by the governments of each of our allies. With the onset of Operation Epic Fury, it records, “the U.S. and Iran took offensive actions against each others’ space capabilities to degrade and disrupt military actions on both sides.” This is a critical development in warfare. When the DIA first published…

Saudi Arabia has reportedly offered Yemen’s Houthis $1 billion to stop attacks on the kingdom as part of a proposed ceasefire mediated by Iran. The reported offer follows a visit to Tehran by Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman for talks with Iranian officials. According to Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, citing diplomatic sources in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia proposed transferring $1 billion to the Houthis through Iran in exchange for an end to attacks on Saudi territory. One source claimed that Prince Khalid had brought the money to Tehran aboard a Hercules military transport aircraft. However, a Saudi official…

Two British men have been charged with national security offences following an investigation into suspected Iranian intelligence activity near RAF Fairford. Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim and Nouman Essghir, both 24 and from London, were charged under the National Security Act 2023 following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing. Abdulkarim is accused of assisting a foreign intelligence service, which police believe to be Iran, while Essghir faces a separate charge relating to activity near a prohibited site. Both men were due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, October 27, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor,…

Iran has drawn up plans to attack undersea communications cables in the Gulf if the United States and Israel launch renewed military strikes, according to senior Iranian security officials. Two officials told Reuters that Tehran was preparing to target the cables, potentially disrupting internet connections and other communications across the region. One official said Iran would also seek to prevent damaged cables from being repaired, prolonging disruption to telecommunications networks. “If Iran is attacked, there will be no more red lines… from undersea cables to military bases, including covert ones,” the official said. The plans come amid fears of renewed…

By Ben Farmer Algeria has approved sending troops to protect its energy investments in neighbouring Niger, marking the country’s first foreign military deployment in more than 50 years. The North African state’s parliament agreed to send army units to northern Niger, where Algeria’s state-owned energy company, Sonatrach, has signed several oil exploration and drilling agreements. The resolution allows Algeria’s first overseas troop deployment since the country sent forces to support Egypt in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Niger and neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso have for years been plagued by a powerful Islamist insurgency, with the Sahel region now considered…