By Isabella Egerton Yuriko Backes did not take a conventional route into defence. Born in Kobe, Japan, and raised between Japan and Germany before studying in London and Bruges, Luxembourg’s first female Defence Minister built her career across diplomacy, European affairs and finance long before moving into defence in 2023, as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine forces European governments to rethink deterrence, resilience and military preparedness. Growing up between cultures, Backes says, continues to shape how she approaches diplomacy and security. “Attending international schools throughout my school years and growing up in Japan has given me a unique perspective on…

By Ben Farmer West Africa has become the global epicentre of Islamist jihadism, with fighters linked to the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda now strong enough to threaten local states, a new analysis warns. The expansion has been made possible by increasingly sophisticated weapons and tactics, including the use of drones for attacks, reconnaissance and propaganda, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (Acled). Some 86 per cent of all Islamic State activity in early 2026 took place in Africa, as the continent became the group’s main focus, according to Acled, which monitors war and political violence. Taken…

Iran and North Korea are using artificial intelligence to avoid sanctions allowing hostile states to run complex financing schemes with little human involvement, according to a new report by the Royal United Services Institute. The report called, Algorithms of Evasion: The Rise of AI-Enabled Proliferation Financing, says countries under sanction could use AI to help move money through shell companies, fake documents, cryptocurrency transfers and hidden third-country intermediaries, making it harder for banks and governments to detect illicit payments. The report warns that AI could “radically increase the scale” of proliferation financing and sanctions evasion, threatening to overwhelm existing detection…

Western governments and NATO allies remain dangerously exposed because cyber security, counter-drone operations and missile defence are still being treated separately, despite modern warfare increasingly merging all three domains, a new report has warned. The report, entitled Converging Defences, argues that the war in Ukraine and the ongoing war between Iran, Israel and the United States have exposed how cyber-attacks, drones and missile strikes are being used together to overwhelm both military and civilian infrastructure. Published by the defence and security company Collective Defence, the report states: “The electromagnetic spectrum is now a battlefield. Jamming a Starlink terminal, spoofing a drone’s GPS…

By Ben Farmer The escalating Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could last for months, health officials have warned, with a vaccine still some way off. Scientists say a rare strain of the deadly haemorrhagic fever had been spreading undetected for weeks before a growing outbreak was finally confirmed on 15 May. The delay is thought to have allowed extensive spread and, only a week later, the outbreak had already become the third largest on record, with 177 suspected deaths out of 750 suspected cases, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Those figures are thought…

US and Iranian officials are continuing indirect negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme and regional security after a ceasefire halted weeks of military exchanges between the two countries earlier this year. The White House has increased pressure on Tehran by imposing fresh sanctions on Iranian financial networks and oil shipments, while President Trump warned that military action remained possible if talks failed. The US Treasury announced measures targeting Amin Exchange, an Iranian currency network, and 19 vessels accused of helping Iran bypass existing sanctions. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration intended to dismantle Iran’s “shadow banking system and shadow fleet”.…

The British government is expected to announce its major defence spending plan, which will cover equipment purchases for the next decade.The long-awaited defence investment plan (DIP) is expected to contain an £18 billion increase in spending as Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks a legacy for his beleaguered premiership.Defence experts have claimed the DIP is unlikely to contain the radical defence spending to purchase the modern equipment – such as drone swarms and missile interceptors – that Britain’s armed forces desperately need.“Our capability basket at the moment is pretty threadbare,” defence specialist Francis Tusa claimed. “To start with, there is no…

A terrorist organisation responsible for a series of arson attacks targeting the Jewish community in Britain and across Europe has been officially identified as a proxy of the Iranian state. US Department of Justice (DoJ) documents reveal how Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (Hayi), believed to be behind nearly 20 attacks across Europe in less than three months, was allegedly operated by a senior Iranian operative. US justice officials said Hayi was directly linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hezbollah and Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia operating in Iraq. Hayi has been linked to around half a dozen arson…

The torching of a Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 billboard in Chinhoyi has added a volatile new dimension to Zimbabwe’s deepening constitutional dispute, signalling that public opposition to the proposed changes is no longer confined to legal experts, opposition parties, civil society groups or internal ZANU-PF factions. The destruction of the billboard, reportedly followed by a swift and heavy-handed security response against informal vendors in the area, has sharpened concerns that any attempt to rush the amendment through Parliament could inflame public anger and turn a constitutional dispute into a wider domestic and regional stability crisis. CAB3 has become the…

By Andre Pienaar The Kingdom of Bahrain announced on 09 May 2026 the dismantling of an Iranian-directed network of 41 operatives inside the country, with a further 11 handlers identified in Iran serving as the conduit between the cell and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Interior Ministry’s statement the following day, 10 May, was striking for its specificity: the network was rooted in the residue of the dissolved Islamic Scholars Council (ISC) and its followers, and was charged with forming a terrorist group, financing terrorism, spying for Iran, contacting terrorist organisations in Iraq and Lebanon, and receiving military…

Earlier this month, on 03 May, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa made a private visit to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Precabe Farm in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe, sharpening regional attention on the country’s deepening constitutional dispute amid concerns that proposed changes to Zimbabwe’s founding rules could trigger instability well beyond Harare. While both governments have since publicly framed the meeting as a routine bilateral engagement, its timing has made that explanation difficult to sustain. Zimbabwe’s Parliament is expected to consider Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 before the end of May, a measure that would extend presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven…

The British government has sanctioned nine people and three organisations accused of hostile activities for Iran. The Foreign Office issued travel bans, asset freezes and director disqualification orders to nine people and three entities linked to “Iranian backed hostile activity”.The move comes just days before the UK is expected to introduce new anti terror laws to ban state threats such as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in the next parliamentary session.National Security News (NSN) understands that the new powers will be included in the government’s plans for legislation, which will be set out in the King’s Speech on 13…