The United States is seeking to restart direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine after Donald Trump’s envoys held separate meetings with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. Steve Witkoff, the US president’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, said they believed a fresh three-way meeting between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv could be arranged soon after a weekend of shuttle diplomacy between the two capitals. The pair travelled to Kyiv after holding more than three hours of talks with Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday, part of a renewed American attempt to end a war now in its fifth year.…

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has won a landslide victory in Saxony-Anhalt, bringing the party within reach of governing a German state and raising concerns over what its growing influence could mean for Germany’s policy towards Russia and Ukraine. The AfD won 43.8 per cent of the vote and secured 39 seats in the 83-member state parliament. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) finished second on 17.2 per cent. The AfD fell three seats short of an absolute majority. Mainstream German parties have maintained a political “firewall” against entering coalitions with the party. The result has prompted concern among…

Tensions over the Falkland Islands have escalated after Argentine President Javier Milei announced tougher measures against companies involved in oil development around the territory, as Donald Trump raised the prospect of Washington reconsidering its position on the sovereignty dispute. Milei used a televised national address to renew Argentina’s claim to the British Overseas Territory, known in Argentina as the Malvinas, and announced plans to strengthen his country’s military presence in the South Atlantic. Milei said: “Our role and relevance as a country in the world has changed dramatically. The Falklands are our future – we need to recover these islands,…

By André Pienaar This week, two of the most consequential names in offensive cybersecurity — NetSPI and Synack — announced a merger to form what will be the industry’s leading offensive security platform, backed by KKR, C5 Capital and other investors. As a growth investor, C5 has supported Synack’s growth since 2020. This merger is not simply a consolidation story. This deal indicates where effective cyber defence is heading in the age of AI. The question is: as AI systems become capable of finding and exploiting vulnerabilities on their own, does the human hacker still matter? Some vendors have bet…

Iranian hackers have threatened attacks against US energy, water and telecommunications systems as tensions between Washington and Tehran escalate following renewed fighting around the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian hacking group APT IRAN has warned that American critical infrastructure could soon face attacks, following a series of reported attempts to penetrate US infrastructure networks. The group said on Telegram on Sunday: “Soon the United States will witness unexpected and critical events in the energy, water and telecommunications industries.” The FBI said last month that it was investigating cyberattacks targeting municipal water systems in at least seven states. More than 30…

The EU and NATO have vowed to increase pressure on Russia after Germany accused Moscow of carrying out an explosive drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport, prompting threats of retaliation from the Kremlin and former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. European leaders rallied behind Berlin after German intelligence concluded that Russia was responsible for the attempted attack on August 04, when a drone carrying explosives was discovered near a Ukrainian cargo aircraft. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the incident as a serious escalation and pledged to keep Europe united in its response. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Germany…

By Andre Pienaar Russia has almost certainly run a coordinated drone campaign over Europe since August 2024, using shadow-fleet tankers and other Russian-linked ships as floating launch and recovery platforms, according to a new report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). The study, Russia’s UAV Campaign Over Europe, assesses it as “highly likely” that the Kremlin directed the campaign and “likely” that vessels loitering in the North Sea, Baltic and Atlantic served as its operational base. It compiles 144 incidents in which uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) were flown over a dozen NATO states and Ireland, forcing the closure…

By Ben Farmer Russian mercenaries have helped put down an attempted coup in Niger, underlining the Kremlin’s role as a security guarantor for a string of West African military juntas. Troops from Russia’s Africa Corps played a major role in ending an hours-long uprising by mutinous young officers who attacked a military base and the presidential palace in the capital. Niamey was jolted by hours of gunfire and explosions in the early hours of 29 August, until members of the Kremlin-controlled mercenary unit helped the loyalist presidential guard regain control. A statement from Moscow said the attacks were repelled “with…

Britain could become the first major Western power to radically reshape its armed forces for a new era of warfare and lead the transformation of NATO, one of America’s most celebrated generals has said. General David Petraeus, the former commander of coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and ex-director of the CIA, said the war in Ukraine had fundamentally changed the way conflicts were fought and warned that Western militaries must adapt urgently. He said Britain was “uniquely positioned” to lead that revolution after showing “strategic clarity” over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But Petraeus warned that simply buying more advanced…

Hugh Paine examines how the battle over the Chagos Islands has evolved from an obscure sovereignty dispute into a geopolitical crisis threatening Britain’s relationship with the United States. Chagos: What’s the deal? Two years ago, the vast majority of British people would never have heard of the Chagos Islands, and even fewer would have been able to locate them on a map. But today, this small archipelago of 60 islands in the Indian Ocean has become something of an international crisis and could seriously threaten future US-UK relations. What has evolved from a minor dispute into an international crisis is…

By Andre Pienaar President Trump put the National Space Council back in business. Chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance and armed this month with a sweeping new National Space Transportation Policy — the first rewrite of that doctrine in thirteen years — the Council’s return restores the one thing American space power has historically lacked in its fallow periods: a single point of strategic coordination at the apex of government. And on Friday came the companion announcement by President Trump: a United States Space Academy, a new service academy for the space age. In his second term, President Trump is…

Britain and Ukraine have signed a new artificial intelligence partnership that will give UK researchers and technology companies access to Ukrainian battlefield data to develop new defence capabilities. The agreement was signed in Kyiv by Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Under the partnership, the UK is set to become the first international partner to gain access to Ukraine’s Avengers AI Labs platform. Avengers AI Labs collects battlefield data from thousands of daylight cameras and infrared sensors operating across Ukraine. The system captures millions of objects, including tanks, artillery, air defence systems, infantry and aerial targets. These…