By James Cowan, CEO of The HALO Trust. Last week, I went back to Helmand. It’s a place I’ve been to before: in 2009 I commanded British forces there, at a time of considerable violence. 64 of my soldiers were killed and several hundred wounded. Nobody knows how many Afghans died in that timeframe, but it will run into the thousands. For most British soldiers the Helmand campaign is the cause of mixed emotions. We went there to defend the Afghan people and not to kill, and yet the killing was prolific. I am proud of the fact that during our time a corner…

By Sean Rayment A leading US tech company is developing AI-driven software to accelerate the construction of nuclear power reactors. Palantir and The Nuclear Company, also US-based, will jointly create the nuclear operating system, which will simplify construction, allowing nuclear plants to be built faster and at lower cost. Palantir said the AI software will help build plants more cheaply, safely, and quickly, with the goal of outpacing China. The US has not built a new nuclear plant in 30 years, but The Nuclear Company, with Palantir’s software, aims to deliver electricity by the 2030s and meet President Donald Trump’s…

By Sean Rayment A religious fatwa has been issued by one of Iran’s most senior Shia clerics, targeting former US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the decree, Trump and anyone else who threatens to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader are “waging war against God” and should be punished by death. Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi said “any person or regime that threatens the leadership and religious authority” is considered a mohareb – one who wages war against God – under Islamic law. The cleric, speaking in Iran, declared that any co-operation with such individuals or regimes by…

By Sean Rayment A plot to assassinate Volodymyr Zelensky at an airport in Poland last year involved a Polish pensioner who had been a Russian sleeper agent for decades, it can be revealed. The foiled assassination is among what is believed to be dozens of attempts on the Ukrainian president’s life since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. In a closed briefing with local media, Ukrainian security services revealed that the retired Polish military officer had been recruited to assassinate Zelensky at Rzeszów Airport in Poland. Polish media reported that the attack was thwarted in April 2024 by Poland’s internal…

By Staff Writer In November 2024, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) exposed an Iranian plot to assassinate former President Donald Trump — a scheme ordered by Iran’s notorious Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as revenge for the killing of their commander, General Qassem Soleimani, on 03 January 2020 during a visit to Baghdad. Previously, Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei and IRGC commanders had repeatedly promised that “those who ordered and carried out” Soleimani’s killing — namely President Trump and his top national security officials — “should be punished”. Over the following years, Iranian media and officials issued graphic reminders of…

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…