By Sean Rayment The EU has agreed to move forward with plans for a drone wall at the heart of its eastern defences as momentum grows for a €140bn loan to Ukraine based on Russian frozen assets. After a meeting with ministers from ten mostly Central and Eastern European member states plus Ukraine, the EU’s defence commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, said a drone wall to protect against incursions from the skies was an immediate priority and a core element of the bloc’s eastern flank defences. With the Russian threat growing through both drone and fighter incursions in recent weeks, Europe is…

By Sean Rayment One of the Royal Marines’ most senior officers has made a direct appeal to elite female athletes to consider a career as a commando. Colonel Innes Catton, the Commandant of the Commando Training Centre, wants women to attempt one of the armed forces’ toughest selection courses, but he has warned that they will probably have to be elite athletes. Women have been allowed to join the Royal Marines and serve in front-line combat units since 2018, but so far no officers or recruits have managed to complete the arduous 32-week commando training course. The Royal Marines training…

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,”…