By Ben Farmer An army commander has been sworn in as Madagascar’s new president after weeks of “Gen Z” youth protests ended in a military takeover. Colonel Michael Randrianirina formally took charge of the Indian Ocean nation only four days after his predecessor, President Andry Rajoelina, fled the country on a French military plane. The rapid power grab has been condemned by the African Union and the United Nations and is the latest in a string of coups to befall former French colonies in Africa in recent years. Colonel Randrianirina has pledged to uphold the constitutional order and abide by…

By Sean Rayment Britain is at risk from a “catastrophic” attack on its undersea cables that could trigger a complete civil collapse, a former defence chief has warned. The scale of the threat facing the UK emerged during an investigation by Parliament’s Joint Committee on National Security. Committee members were shocked to discover just how vulnerable the cables remain after a nine-month inquiry, according to one former defence chief. The cables carry 95 per cent of Britain’s global data traffic and form the backbone of the digital economy. However, MPs and peers were so concerned about alerting Russia to the…

By Sean Rayment Hundreds of young people gathered in St Petersburg to sing an outlawed song calling for Vladimir Putin to be overthrown. In a rare moment of public dissent, the crowd joined street musicians in a central square on Tuesday night to shout anti-war lyrics that have been branded “extremist” under new Russian censorship laws. “Where have you been for eight years, you f—— monsters? I want to watch ballet, let the swans dance,” the crowd chanted in Russian in the busy thoroughfare. “Let your grandpa tremble with excitement for Swan Lake.” The song, titled Co-operative Swan Lake by Noize MC, a…

By Staff Writer Israel and Hamas have agreed to a major deal that could see the release of all remaining hostages held in Gaza within days, alongside a large-scale prisoner exchange and a temporary ceasefire. The framework, based on US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the Gaza war, was finalised during talks in Sharm el-Sheikh and represents the most significant diplomatic breakthrough since the war began. According to senior Israeli and Palestinian officials, the agreement includes the release of roughly 20 living hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including around 250 serving life sentences. The handover…

By Sean Rayment Islamist-inspired terrorist attacks in the UK could increase in the coming months, intelligence chiefs have warned the government. Britain’s intelligence services believe the two-year anniversary of the Hamas attack in Israel could lead to a series of attacks similar to the Manchester Synagogue stabbing last week in which an Islamist-inspired terrorist was shot dead. Human intelligence personnel at MI5 and GCHQ believe it can take between 18 months and two years for individuals to become radicalised, which is often kick-started by a significant event such as the 9/11 attacks, the Iraq War and more recently the Hamas…

By Andre Pienaar The attackThe Syrian Popular Resistance (SPR) announced that it and “allied forces” had targeted US positions south of Hasakah City with unspecified weapons. Syrian social media channels circulated videos showing air defence systems activating over al Shaddadi Base in Hasakah Province, suggesting US troops engaged in defensive fire. The United States has not confirmed the incident. Analysts caution that neither the SPR’s claim nor the footage can yet be independently verified. Militia’s evolutionFormed in December 2024, immediately after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, the SPR emerged to oppose the Syrian transitional government. Until now, its operations had…

By Andre Pienaar When the United States announced its new reciprocal tariff framework earlier this year, critics rushed to focus on the headline numbers: 30 per cent tariffs on South Africa, 40 per cent on Mauritius, 47 per cent on Madagascar, even 50 per cent on Lesotho. Yet beneath the noise lies a far more consequential fact: the majority of African nations have been anchored at the minimum tariff rate of 10 per cent. This is not a bureaucratic accident. It is a deliberate policy choice by Washington that reflects both pragmatism and partnership. By granting more than thirty African…

By Andre Pienaar US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth confirmed on that American forces carried out a fourth successful strike against a drug-smuggling vessel in international waters off Venezuela.The strike launched on 3rd October killed four suspected traffickers and destroyed a craft believed to be carrying narcotics destined for US markets.This operation forms part of a new maritime interdiction campaign spearheaded by the Department of Defense (DoD) and US Southern Command, aimed at breaking the logistical backbone of transnational drug cartels.“Cartels must know that their operations will be hunted down and destroyed wherever they sail,” Secretary Hegseth stated. Trump Administration’s…

By Ben Farmer, A catastrophic spill of more than a million tons of acid waste at a copper mine in Zambia has become a geopolitical flashpoint as China and America jockey for minerals and economic influence. A torrent of mining waste cascaded across farmland and into the river system when a storage dam, at Sino-Metals Leach Zambia’s facility near Kitwe partially burst in February. As the waste from known as tailings flooded from the Chinese state-owned mine into the Mwambashi and Kafue rivers, the acidity killed large quantities of fish and ruined crops. The mine and government have since been…

By Sean Rayment Russia has been targeting and attempting to jam British military satellites, according to the head of the UK Space Command.Maj Gen Paul Tedman has for the first time set out the level of interference from Moscow against the UK’s space-based assets.He said Russia had also been trying to jam the UK’s military satellites with ground-based systems every week.Last month Germany’s Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, said Russia had been shadowing satellites used by their military.Gen Tedman gave details of how Russia was doing the same to the UK. “They’re interested in what we’re doing and flying relatively close,”…

By Sean Rayment British intelligence services are investigating links between a terrorist who murdered two people outside a synagogue in Manchester and Iran. MI5 is trying to establish whether Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent, was acting alone or as part of a covert terror cell. The disclosure comes as police confirmed that one of the two people killed was shot dead by officers. Intelligence sources told National Security News that both the police and the security service are investigating whether Al-Shamie became self-radicalised or was inspired either by Iranian proxies or by individuals linked to Hezbollah. One source…

By Sean Rayment Russia is sending battalions of troops into battle infected with highly contagious diseases including HIV and hepatitis, Ukrainian military experts have said. Soldiers in these units wear armbands marking them out as sick and have been spotted on the frontlines around Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in eastern Ukraine that has been the focus of a prolonged and bloody assault by the Kremlin, they told The Telegraph. “There is currently information that these units are participating in fighting in what is currently the hottest spot, Pokrovsk,” said Dmytro Zhmailo, executive director of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre…

By Sean Rayment The UK has imposed sanctions on 71 Iranian individuals and organisations linked to Tehran’s nuclear programme amid concerns that it is developing nuclear weapons. The move follows a decision in August by the UK, France and Germany to revive sweeping UN-backed sanctions on Iran after efforts to restart diplomatic talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme stalled. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the sanctions package targeting Iranian financial institutions and energy companies “sends a clear message” to Tehran that Britain “will continue to take every step necessary to prevent Iran ever developing a nuclear weapon”. Iran has said its…

By Sean Rayment British-made unmanned air vehicles will be deployed to create a “drone wall” to protect Nato from Russian aggression, the UK government has revealed. The new low-cost unmanned craft, developed in collaboration with Ukraine, are part of a strategy to deter Russian jets and drones from attempting to penetrate the alliance’s eastern flank. European ministers are concerned about a spate of Russian incursions into Polish and Estonian airspace, which prompted Britain to deploy RAF Typhoons over Poland in a show of force to Moscow. A suspected Russian “hybrid” incursion of drones this week took place in Denmark and…

By Adam Treger The United Kingdom’s Royal Navy, once the world’s pre-eminent seafaring force and largely responsible for the country’s historic prosperity, today boasts more admirals than warships ready for deployment. While this is symbolic of the country’s wider decline in hard power, the UK can take solace in the knowledge that its soft power continues to endure and even flourish thanks to Shakespeare, Harry Potter, the Beatles, and the Royal Family. British football and the Premier League, perhaps the country’s biggest export, have attracted billions in foreign direct investment. Another key tenet of the UK’s soft power is its…

By Sean Rayment A former head of MI5 has said it may be right to say that the UK is at war with Russia, citing cyberattacks, sabotage and covert operations on British soil. Baroness Manningham-Buller, who led the Security Service between 2002 and 2007, told the Lord Speaker’s Corner podcast that she agreed with foreign policy expert Fiona Hill’s warning that Moscow is waging a new kind of conflict against Britain and the West. “Fiona Hill may be right in saying we’re already at war with Russia,” Manningham-Buller said. “It’s a different sort of war, but the hostility, the cyberattacks, the…

By Ben Farmer Mali’s Russian-backed military junta has been tipped into crisis by a militant blockade of fuel supplies, highlighting its weak authority in the West African nation. Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) has, over the past fortnight, torched scores of tankers as it attempts to lay economic siege to parts of southern and western Mali. The attempted stranglehold marks an escalation of the militants’ long campaign and comes as extensive Kremlin military backing has done little to halt the insurgency. Mali, along with neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, has in recent years fallen to a military coup and pivoted…

By Isabella Egerton Russia has launched an extensive information campaign to disguise its economic vulnerabilities, following US President Donald Trump’s description of the country as a “paper tiger” and his suggestion that Ukraine could reclaim occupied territory with Western backing. A report released by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said the Kremlin’s messaging has coalesced around three themes: restating its original war aims as necessary for Russian security, portraying Russian victory as inevitable, and highlighting the supposed benefits of renewed US–Russia economic ties. ISW assessed that Moscow is also dangling trade incentives to coax Washington toward normalising ties…

By Isabella Egerton Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have taken their defence partnership, which spans over fifty years, to a new level. Last week in Riyadh, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman signed a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement. According to Islamabad’s official statement, the accord “demonstrates the shared commitment of both nations to bolster security in the region. It is intended to expand areas of defence cooperation between the two countries and to strengthen their joint deterrence against any aggression.” The agreement further states that “an attack on either country will be regarded as an attack…

By Sean Rayment US President Donald Trump said Russian planes intruding into Nato airspace should be shot down, in a marked hardening of tone towards Moscow amid frustration over his stalled attempt to end the Ukraine war. In remarks after a fiery speech to the United Nations in which he ridiculed Russia’s failure to defeat Ukraine, Trump said that direct US involvement in attacking Russian incursions would “depend on the circumstances.” Before his meeting with President Zelensky, Trump was asked by a reporter: “Mr President, do you think that they should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace?”Trump replied: “Yes,…

By Sean Rayment Thousands of Cuban mercenaries are being recruited to fight for the Russian army in Ukraine, Kyiv’s military intelligence agency has revealed. Andriy Yusov, an official within Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence, said that at least 20,000 Cuban citizens had travelled to Russia to join the war against Ukraine. The agency said it had uncovered evidence of both men and women signing contracts with the Russian military, adding that Cuba is “at the very top” of the list of countries supplying foreign mercenaries to Russia. The use of Cuban fighters follows reports that Russia has also recruited troops…

By Staff Writer South Africa is facing a wave of escalating cyber threats that mirror global trends but expose uniquely local vulnerabilities. From record-breaking distributed denial of service (DDoS) campaigns to surging ransomware and banking trojan infections, the country’s digital infrastructure and economy are increasingly at risk. Yet law enforcement and regulatory capacity remain dangerously out of step with the scale of the challenge. A global storm hitting local shores According to security researchers at Netscout Systems, over eight million DDoS attacks were recorded globally in the first half of 2025. The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region bore…

By Sean Rayment MI5 will issue guidance to MPs for the first time to help protect them against espionage and foreign interference. The disclosure comes just days after charges were dropped against a Westminster researcher accused of spying for China. The security service will advise all parliamentarians and political staff — described as “high-risk individuals” — about the growing threat they face from hostile states and will suggest various safeguarding measures. The guidance is expected to warn MPs and peers to be cautious about the motives of the people they hire and meet, and to think carefully before making connections…

By André Pienaar The United States and the United Kingdom have always shared a special bond—one forged in history, tested by war, and renewed through shared democratic values. Unlike their authoritarian adversaries, Western democracies build their security on long-term, enduring alliances. The late 6th Duke of Westminster once remarked that every generation faces the challenge of renewing the commitment and strength of those alliances which matter most for national security. Last week, that bond was not only reaffirmed but given fresh vitality during President Donald Trump’s historic second state visit to the United Kingdom. At the heart of this diplomatic…