By Sean Rayment US officials will hold talks with Iran on its nuclear programme next week amid conflicting reports over the damage it sustained during a bombing campaign. The White House and the CIA have both pushed back against suggestions that the US and Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites did less damage than initially thought, based on claims from a leaked US intelligence report. Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague, Trump insisted that the programme had been fully destroyed, despite doubts cast by the document. “We’re going to talk to them next week, with…

By Sean Rayment Sensitive information belonging to Swiss politicians has surfaced on the darknet, according to the newspaper Tages-Anzeiger. An investigation by Swiss technology company Proton and US firm Constella Intelligence, a leading cybersecurity company, reveals that around 16 per cent of members of the Federal Council, National Council, and Council of States are affected. A total of 44 email accounts and 78 passwords were discovered. According to Proton, many politicians had used their official email addresses to register on platforms such as LinkedIn, Dropbox, or Adobe—services that were later hacked. Embarrassingly, three politicians reportedly used their parliamentary email addresses to…

By Sean Rayment Britain must “actively prepare” for a “direct” attack on the country in a “wartime scenario”, a government review of threats to the nation’s security has concluded. In a stark assessment, the national security review stated that “for the first time in many years” the likelihood of a state attack on British soil was growing. It added that Britain’s adversaries were already “laying the foundations for future conflict” by positioning themselves to “cause major disruption to our energy and/or supply chains” to “deter us from standing up to their aggression”. In particular, the report highlighted threats to Britain’s…

By Tali Feinberg Just two days before Israel’s pre-emptive strike on Iran, a United States (US) congresswoman, Senator Elise Stefanik, wrote a letter claiming that “South Africa’s increasing alignment with Iran, an avowed sponsor of terrorism and antisemitism, poses profound ethical and geopolitical questions.” In her letter to Robin Vince, the chief executive of the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, known as BNY, she said, “The country’s diplomatic, ideological, and financial ties to Iran exacerbate these concerns.” Soon after the strike, the South African government condemned Israel’s attack on Iran. Michael Walsh, visiting scholar at the Center for Middle…

By Isabella Egerton United States President Donald Trump is considering direct military action against the Islamic Republic of Iran as Israeli forces continue airstrikes on Tehran’s nuclear and missile infrastructure. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that any US intervention would cause “irreparable damage” and insisted the Iranian nation will not surrender. President Trump has not ruled out airstrikes to destroy Tehran’s nuclear programme if Iran’s leadership refuses to comply with his demands. So far, the United States has provided defensive support to Israel but has not authorised strikes on Iranian targets. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reported that…

By Adam Treger Energy is a national security domain of increasingly critical importance. Every facet of our modern defence and economic capabilities relies on a stable, abundant, and secure energy supply. Our future is inextricably linked to AI, which is unprecedented in its energy demand. The Russia–Ukraine conflict saw Russia cut its supply of oil and gas to Western Europe while simultaneously targeting key Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, the West is falling behind China in energy generation: between now and 2040, US generation capacity is projected to grow from 1 to 2 TW, while China’s will increase from 3 to 6…

By Isabella Egerton A career spy will be the first woman to lead Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6. Blaise Metreweli has been appointed as ‘C’ — the codename for the head of the organisation — by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who announced that she will take over from Sir Richard Moore this autumn. Her appointment marks a historic milestone for an agency traditionally led by men, coming at a critical time when the UK faces an “unprecedented” level of national security threats. These include foreign spy vessels operating near British waters and increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks targeting…

By Isabella Egerton United States President Donald Trump has signed three executive orders designed to accelerate domestic drone innovation, enhance airspace security, and expand commercial drone operations. The orders seek to ease regulatory barriers, authorise beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone flights, and strengthen defences against criminal, terrorist, and foreign misuse of drones within United States airspace. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios said: “Decades of regulatory gridlock have grounded advancements in drones, flying cars, and supersonic flight in the US. With today’s executive orders, the Trump Administration is giving America’s innovators greater ability…

By Sean Rayment Israel has launched a large-scale attack against Iran, assassinating the head of the Islamic regime’s armed forces in what it described as a “pre-emptive strike” on Tehran’s nuclear programme. General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s chief of the military staff, was killed along with several top commanders and nuclear scientists as Israel launched waves of attacks, including a strike on Natanz, Tehran’s uranium enrichment facility. Israel stated that more than 200 combat jets were deployed in the operation, and 100 targets were struck. The attacks came amid growing concerns in Israel that Iran was just weeks away from developing…

By Sean Rayment The UK has agreed to take a £17.8 billion stake in the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in a move that the government claims will reduce carbon emissions and even make money for the taxpayer. Ministers also said that the project could create up to 3,000 jobs and power the equivalent of three million homes. The war in Ukraine has brought renewed focus on the UK’s energy security and Britain’s and Europe’s hitherto reliance on Russian oil and gas. Ministers also set out proposals to kick-start a generation of small modular reactors (SMRs) that supporters claim can…

China has claimed to have developed a new nuclear weapon 200 times more powerful than the bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The DF-5B missile is said to have a range of 7,500 miles, meaning it is capable of reaching Europe and the United States from launch sites in China. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV recently shared details of the upgraded intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), with information previously having been closely guarded. The Chinese-made DF-5B ICBM represents significant progress in the country’s missile technology from the earlier DF-5 model developed during the Cold War, according to Global Defence News. The weapon’s Multiple…

By Sean Rayment China is attempting to become the global leader in artificial intelligence by building hundreds of highly specialised data centres, experts have warned. A new report titled China’s AI Infrastructure Surge, by the Special Competitive Studies Project and the intelligence firm Strider Technologies, has revealed a Chinese state-led plan to create more than 250 AI data centres across the country. The data centres will be equipped with high-performance processors with immense power capacity, capable of handling the heavy computing loads required to support economic, military and space projects. “The People’s Republic of China is executing a state-directed campaign to…