Billions of pounds will be spent on new fighter jets, ships, munitions, drones and high-tech weaponry for special forces troops, according to the blueprint for armed forces funding.The long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP), initially meant to be released last September, is a ten-year plan but lacks funding for six years of it.Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, has handed an extra £15 billion to the military over the next four years, taking the total Ministry of Defence budget to £298 billion between now and 2029/2030. Money is being taken from other departments to pay for it.Defence spending will increase to…

Russian fuel shortages are becoming increasingly visible across parts of the country after months of Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries and energy infrastructure, disrupting supplies and prompting emergency measures by the Kremlin.Long queues have been reported at filling stations in parts of southern Russia, Crimea and Siberia, while regional authorities have introduced restrictions on fuel sales in some areas.Repeated strikes on refining facilities have reduced production capacity and placed growing pressure on domestic fuel supplies.President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the impact of the attacks during a government meeting on fuel supplies.He told officials, “You are well aware that problems for…

The British Prime Minister has condemned as “reckless and deeply concerning” the firing of warning shots by a Russian warship near a British yacht in the English Channel, as Moscow insisted its crew had acted only to prevent a collision. Sir Keir Starmer said the incident, involving the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich and the British-flagged yacht Bright Future, “shouldn’t have happened” and warned that it came against a backdrop of escalating Russian aggression towards Britain and its allies. Speaking from the G7 summit in France, Starmer said: “It is reckless, and the couple on the yacht must be terrified. I…

The United States and Iran have announced a framework agreement aimed at ending the war. The memorandum of understanding, expected to be signed in Switzerland later this week, includes plans to halt military operations, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin talks on regional security and Iran’s nuclear programme. Countries across the Middle East and Western allies welcomed the agreement and urged both sides to follow through on commitments. The UAE has called for “an immediate and comprehensive cessation of hostilities in the region” and stressed the importance of protecting shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz. Abu Dhabi praised…

The United States has launched a series of military strikes against Iranian targets after President Donald Trump accused Tehran of shooting down a US Army Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz. The move has rapidly escalated tensions across the Middle East casting fresh doubt over fragile peace negotiations. The latest crisis erupted after an AH-64 Apache helicopter was brought down during a patrol mission near the strategically vital shipping route.  Both crew members survived and were rescued and US officials blamed Iran for the attack. “The United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack,” President Trump said, adding…

Britain, France and Germany pledged to increase support for Ukraine after talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London. The meeting came as Kyiv reported its strongest run of territorial gains in more than two years. Separately, the European Union released nearly €2.8 billion in new financing for Ukraine under its Ukraine Facility programme. Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at Downing Street for talks on air defence, long-range weapons, security guarantees and any future ceasefire with Russia. The four leaders reiterated their “unwavering support” for Ukraine and discussed “next steps in…

Governments across Europe and North America are accelerating efforts to reduce their dependence on China for critical minerals amid growing concern that Beijing’s dominance of global supply chains could leave key industries exposed to disruption.The European Commission is considering legislation that would require companies operating in strategically important sectors to diversify their supply chains and reduce reliance on single suppliers, particularly China. The proposal would require businesses to source critical inputs from at least three suppliers, according to Maroš Šefčovič, the European trade commissioner.Speaking at a conference in Brussels last week, Šefčovič said the measures formed part of a broader…

IronNet, once a darling of the cybersecurity sector, collapsed as a public company in 2023 following its listing on the New York Stock Exchange through a SPAC transaction in August 2021. Given the company’s high profile and widely respected founder, General Keith Alexander, the former Director of the US National Security Agency (NSA), alongside a board that included figures such as Ted Schlein, a partner at Kleiner Perkins who led the firm’s cybersecurity investments, and Don Dixon, founder of one of the world’s largest cybersecurity funds, news of the company’s difficulties prompted some critics to portray IronNet as an example…

The FBI is deploying an anti-drone task force to protect World Cup fans amid fears terrorists could be planning a spectacular attack on US soil. Security chiefs fear extremists may target stadiums packed with thousands of fans with swarms of suicide drones capable of causing mass casualties live on global television. FBI agents and police officers are being trained to detect and disable drones similar to those causing devastation in Ukraine. The FIFA World Cup starts in less than four weeks, with millions of visitors expected to travel across 11 US cities. The tournament is also being played in Mexico…

Why we built Collective Defence to protect the innocent civilians the new wars are designed to kill. By Andre Pienaar A few hundred dollars. That is roughly the cost of the first-person-view drone now used to hunt human beings street by street. A Shahed loitering munition costs a little more, but not much, and it can fly hundreds of kilometres before destroying a substation, a hospital, or a block of flats where families are asleep. This is the central, brutal fact of contemporary conflict: the price of taking a life has collapsed, while the cost of protecting one has not.…

Britain must prioritise defence spending over welfare or risk leaving the country dangerously exposed to Russia and other hostile states, a former defence chief has warned. General Sir Richard, one of the authors of last year’s Strategic Defence Review, said the government had spent a year struggling to fund its own defence promises and now faced a stark choice between cutting other areas of public spending. The retired four-star general suggested more money should be spent on defence and less on welfare. He said: “We spend five times as much on ourselves in welfare as we do on defence. “We…

Yuriko Backes did not take a conventional route into defence. Born in Kobe, Japan, and raised between Japan and Germany before studying in London and Bruges, Luxembourg’s first female Defence Minister built her career across diplomacy, European affairs and finance long before moving into defence in 2023, as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine forces European governments to rethink deterrence, resilience and military preparedness. Growing up between cultures, Backes says, continues to shape how she approaches diplomacy and security. “Attending international schools throughout my school years and growing up in Japan has given me a unique perspective on different cultures and…