By Sean Rayment Russia is losing more troops than the country’s armed forces can recruit for the first time since the Kremlin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. The Russian army has been sustaining almost 40,000 casualties a month since November, while recruiting up to 35,000 troops to sustain the invasion, Western officials said. Ukraine’s intense counter-attacks have pushed Russia’s casualties to more than 1.25 million since the war began four years ago. The figure is also higher than the total sustained by the United States during the Second World War. Al Carns, the UK’s Armed Forces minister, said Russia’s effort…

By Andre Pienaar Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the shadowy former police officer who built the Jalisco New Generation Cartel into one of the most violent and far-reaching criminal enterprises in history, is dead. The Mexican Army confirmed on Sunday that “El Mencho” was fatally wounded during a special forces operation in the mountain town of Tapalpa, Jalisco, and died while being airlifted to Mexico City. The operation, supported by US intelligence channelled through the newly established Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, represents the most consequential blow against Mexican organised crime since the arrest of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán a decade ago.…

Iran and the US will hold a third round of nuclear talks on Thursday in Geneva, in a bid to avoid a military conflict between the two adversaries.The US has spent several weeks building up its military forces in the Middle East, with President Donald Trump warning on Thursday that “really bad things will happen” if no deal is reached to solve a longstanding dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme.Detail of the latest round of talks were revealed Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who announced that Iran was will to continue talking to avoid war.“Pleased to confirm US-Iran negotiations are now…

The Miami summit presents an historic opportunity to turn the fight against illicit wildlife trafficking into a pillar of economic security — but only if the G20 holds its own members to account. By Dr Dion George When President Trump announced that South Africa would not be invited to the 2026 G20 summit in Miami, a chorus of outrage followed. Multilateralists called it a breach of norms. African Union diplomats protested. Editorial pages warned of precedent-setting exclusions. But those who understand what has been happening inside South Africa’s governing structures and what those structures have allowed to happen to the…

By Sean Rayment Russian soldiers are using “invisibility cloaks” to hide from heat-seeking Ukrainian drones capable of locking on to individual thermal signatures. The cloaks are designed to prevent troops from being attacked by drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras and high explosives. The cameras allow drone operators to target Russian soldiers in all weather conditions, both by day and by night, because they can identify heat emitted by the body. To help protect themselves from attack, Russian troops have begun wearing £60 cloaks and ponchos often used by hunters to stay warm in winter or bad weather. The thermal…

By Sean Rayment Britain will send a Carrier Strike Group back to sea in 2026 in a major show of force across the Euro-Atlantic and High North, reinforcing NATO’s deterrence at a time of rising Russian threats in the region. Known as ‘Operation Firecrest’ and led by HMS Prince of Wales, the largest warship in the Royal Navy, the UK will deploy the strike group across the North Atlantic and Arctic. It will include world-class Royal Navy warships and RAF fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets to bolster defence and security. The move comes as Russia’s military activity in the North Atlantic…

By Andre Pienaar Landmark study finds next-generation nuclear could deliver up to 30 per cent of electricity and cut system costs by nearly a third across eight emerging economies — but the geopolitical race to supply these reactors is already underway. A major new report commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation has set out the most comprehensive evidence to date that nuclear energy — including small modular reactors (SMRs) — could fundamentally reshape the energy futures of the world’s fastest-growing economies. For national security strategists in Washington, London and allied capitals, its findings carry implications that extend well beyond the energy…

By Andre Pienaar The designation of individuals tied to Boko Haram, ISIL, and cyber-enabled fraud reveals the expanding reach of OFAC enforcement into West African terror networks and the Gulf financing corridors that sustain them. The United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned eight Nigerian nationals for alleged ties to Boko Haram, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and cybercrime operations, in a move that underscores Washington’s intensifying focus on the intersection of terrorism financing, digital fraud, and geopolitical leverage in West Africa. The designations, contained in a 3,000-page update to the Specially Designated…

By Staff Writer Two leading cybersecurity firms have joined forces to launch Collective Defence, a new platform to protect critical infrastructure. The new cybersecurity and national security company, called Collective Defence, has launched following the merger of ITC Secure and IronNet. The move follows growing global cyber threats from both state and non-state actors, criminal groups and individuals. Collective Defence will bring together advanced cybersecurity and AI capabilities to defend critical infrastructure against state-sponsored and hybrid threats, according to Arno Robbertse, the company’s CEO. Headquartered in Luxembourg, the company operates across the United States, United Kingdom and Singapore. Robbertse told…

By Staff Writer A new report reveals how Chinese surveillance technology, delegated censorship, and bandwidth discounts have made mobile operators central to Tehran’s infrastructure of oppression. When the British not for profit organisation ARTICLE 19 published “Tightening the Net: China’s Infrastructure of Oppression in Iran” this month, it confirmed what many in the security community have long suspected: Chinese technology firms have been the foundational architects of Iran’s digital repression apparatus. The report is the first comprehensive open source analysis of the China Iran nexus. It arrives as Iran endures its most severe information blackout since the Islamic Revolution to…

By Sean Rayment British soldiers are to be issued with new AI-capable radios, headsets and tablets featuring futuristic sensor data, the Ministry of Defence has announced. The contract, worth up to £86 million, has been awarded to UK-based company BlackTree Technologies. The radios, headsets and tablets will rapidly reduce the time it takes for soldiers to receive reconnaissance and intelligence data, boosting lethality and reducing friendly-fire incidents, according to the government. Known as the Dismounted Data System (DDS), the AI-capable equipment includes radios, headsets, display tablets, cables, batteries, pouches and antennas. The new equipment will provide precise information on surroundings…

By Andre Pienaar For the first time, cyberattacks rank as the most serious security risk across the G7. Russia is blending cyber and kinetic operations against European energy grids. The Munich Security Report 2026 maps a threat landscape in which the line between cybersecurity and energy security has effectively ceased to exist. The prominence that this year’s annual Munich Security Report gives to cybersecurity and energy security in its analysis is striking. According to the Munich Security Index 2026, the polling instrument embedded within the Munich Security Conference’s flagship annual report, cyberattacks by nation state adversaries are now ranked as…