Iran-backed rebels capture Mocha as missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia raise prospect of Pakistan and Turkey being drawn into widening conflict. Iran-backed Houthi forces have seized the strategic Yemeni port of Mocha as fighting with Saudi Arabia intensifies, strengthening the group’s position near the Bab al-Mandeb strait and one of the world’s most important shipping routes. Yemeni military sources said on Thursday that Houthi forces had taken control of the Red Sea port city following a major offensive across Hodeidah and Taiz provinces. Pro-government forces withdrew south towards Dhubab, about 46km from Mocha, following several days of fighting.…

Britain will spend more than £3 billion strengthening its military capabilities in space amid growing concern that Russia and China could target Western satellites in a future conflict. The government is investing in technology designed to detect hostile activity in orbit and protect satellites that provide British forces with communications, intelligence and navigation. Under a new UK Space Strategy, £880 million will be spent on space control and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, while £2.8 billion will strengthen satellite communications, including the military’s SKYNET network. The investment reflects growing concern within NATO over the vulnerability of satellites on which modern…

New evidence surrounding alleged Saudi links to the September 11 hijackers has intensified calls for the US government to release further classified material as families prepare to mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks. Previously unseen video footage, court documents and evidence seized by British counter-terrorism officers have raised fresh questions about Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi national who assisted two of the hijackers after they arrived in California. Bayoumi is a central figure in a $1 trillion (£733 billion) civil lawsuit brought by families of 9/11 victims against Saudi Arabia, which alleges the kingdom provided support to the men responsible…

The United States has destroyed Iranian oil tankers after missile attacks on American warships, as fighting between Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia threatened to widen the Middle East war. American forces said they destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers on Tuesday after Tehran targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice in two days. The strikes followed attacks over the weekend on three Iranian tankers after Iran fired ballistic missiles at an American aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer. None of the US warships was damaged and no American personnel were injured, but the attacks mark a significant escalation…

A response to the Financial Times By André Pienaar The Financial Times has published a careful and well-sourced case against Golden Dome, President Trump’s comprehensive space-based air defence system designed to protect the US homeland. In making its case against the feasibility and merits of Golden Dome, the FT marshals the standard objections: the engineering is formidable, the price is understated and the politics will not hold. Although these are serious points for consideration, the FT’s analysis is focused on the wrong question. The implicit test the article applies is the one inherited from President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)…

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…

By Andre Pienaar Tory Bruno’s appointment as Honorary Chair of World Space Week 2027 recognises a leadership career spent defending America and the free world. When the World Space Week Association announced this week that Tory Bruno would serve as Honorary Chair of its 2027 celebration, it chose the theme “To the Moon.” It also chose a man who has spent four decades proving that the romance of spaceflight and the hard discipline of national security are the same job. Bruno is now President of National Security at Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’s space company, where he leads a group formed…

The number of UK jobs supported by defence spending in weapons and ammunition manufacturing rose by 51 per cent in 2024/25, according to new Ministry of Defence figures. The increase came as the number of UK industry jobs supported by Ministry of Defence expenditure rose by 26,000 over the financial year. The North West recorded nearly 4,000 additional direct jobs, while the South East gained more than 3,000. The latest MOD employment estimates show that UK defence supports 462,000 roles across the Armed Forces, industry and the Civil Service. Jobs linked to the manufacture of weapons, ammunition and military fighting…

A blacklisted Chinese technology company has claimed it has developed a “cyber nuclear weapon” capable of finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities. The disclosure has raised fresh concerns over China’s expanding offensive cyber capabilities. Qihoo 360 says it has built an artificial intelligence system approaching the capabilities of Anthropic’s Claude Mythos, the powerful US model that has alarmed Western governments because of its ability to uncover previously unknown flaws in computer systems. The claims come amid warnings from Britain and its allies that China is already using state-linked hackers and commercial technology companies to penetrate foreign governments, telecommunications networks and critical…

The State Department has designated two Iran-based entities accused of collecting intelligence used to target US forces and partner militaries across the Middle East, in the opening move of a sweeping new economic campaign against Tehran. The two entities were sanctioned alongside seven members of Iran’s defence leadership whom Washington accuses of procuring weapons and directing attacks on US service personnel and regional partners. The action was announced on Monday as part of “Operation Economic Outcast”, a whole-of-government pressure campaign launched at President Trump’s direction. The two entities are the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber Electronic Command (IRGC-CEC), the Guards’…

Russia has threatened to attack British factories after the UK gave Ukraine the blueprints to build its own Storm Shadow missiles. Andrei Fedorov, a powerful adviser to Vladimir Putin, said Moscow would not “100 per cent exclude” the possibility of “semi-military action” against manufacturers supplying drone and missile components to Kyiv. Intelligence officials believe that Russia has already launched a fresh wave of covert attacks against European armaments factories. Mr Fedorov’s intervention on Monday escalated the war of words between London and Moscow over British support for Ukraine. Earlier that day, the Kremlin had accused Andy Burnham of “adding fuel…

The Moscow–Pyongyang mutual defense pact has fused two threats into one axis that now threatens Japan. By André Pienaar I have just returned from Tokyo, where Japanese colleagues have experienced more heat than the unusually hot summer weather. Threats from Russia and North Korea, backed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), converged dangerously for Japan during the month of August. Little of this aggression has been reported or discussed in the Western media. On the fifth of August, Kim Yo Jong threatened “additional military options” over Tokyo’s test-firing of a Tomahawk cruise missile. The next day — the anniversary…

Hackers linked to Iran have been blamed for a cyberattack that forced a small British power facility to shut down for four days, raising concerns over the vulnerability of the UK’s energy infrastructure. The attack took place in July and targeted a small gas-fired “peaker” plant, according to reports. The owner and location of the facility have not been disclosed. The plant had a capacity of about 15 megawatts and was connected to a local electricity distribution network. It was not considered critical to the national grid. The UK has around 300 similar peaker plants, with a combined capacity of…