By Sean Rayment High-level talks over the future of Greenland will take place between the US and Denmark at the White House this week. The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland will meet US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday, the Danish foreign minister said, amid President Donald Trump’s push to take control of the Arctic island. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt requested a meeting with Rubio after Mr Trump recently intensified threats to take over Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. “US Vice…

By Staff Writer When protests erupt in Iran, the regime’s response is predictable: batons, bullets, mass arrests, and bandwidth cuts. Since 08 January, the Supreme Leader has implemented a near-complete internet blackout across the country. According to real-time network monitoring data from Cloudflare, internet traffic in Iran has collapsed to levels indicating an almost total shutdown of connectivity. Cloudflare Radar shows Iranian internet traffic dropping precipitously starting on 08 January 2025, with connectivity falling to approximately 10 to 15 per cent of normal levels. This represents one of the most severe nationwide internet disruptions Iran has implemented since the November…

By Sean Rayment Iran has insisted that communication channels with Washington remain open even as President Trump considers his response to a deadly crackdown on protests that have become the gravest challenge to clerical rule since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Mr Trump said on Sunday that the United States might meet Iranian officials and that he was in contact with opposition figures, while simultaneously increasing pressure on Tehran, including warnings of possible military action over the killing of demonstrators. According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 544 people have been killed since protests erupted on…

By Staff Writer South Africa risks further angering Donald Trump as it this week hosts naval exercises with Russia, China and Iran. Warships from fellow members of the BRICS bloc have arrived off Cape Town for a week of maritime drills called Will for Peace 2026. South Africa’s military has said the exercises will focus on cooperation and securing maritime trade routes, but has given little detail about what this will involve. The event, which features several of Washington’s main global rivals or adversaries, risks further straining ties after a year in which Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised Pretoria. It also…

By Staff Writer Nationwide protests and strikes spread across Iran this week, leaving at least 36 people dead and more than 2,000 arrested, as opposition groups and exiled figures urged demonstrators to sustain pressure on the Islamic Republic’s leadership. The latest unrest was triggered by a general strike called by Kurdish political parties, prompting shop closures across Kurdish-majority regions and demonstrations in dozens of cities, including Isfahan, Kerman, Lahijan and Hamadan. According to the Critical Threats Project (CTP) and the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), 89 protests have been recorded across 21 provinces since 6 January, including 19…

By Sean Rayment President Donald Trump renewed his threat of US intervention in Iran as protests over the country’s failing economy have continued. Videos published online showed demonstrations in Tehran, as well as in Fars, Ilam, North Khorasan and Semnan provinces. Human rights activists said protests had taken place in 26 of the country’s 31 provinces since last week, and that at least 19 protesters and one member of the security forces had been killed. Trump has again warned that Iranian authorities would be “hit very hard” if more protesters died. “We’re watching it very closely. If they start killing…

President Trump leads new U.S.–Nigeria counterterrorism allianceAn op-ed on lawful partnership, civilian protection, and dismantling narco-terror revenue, by Andre Pienaar. Maps Map 1. Nigeria and Sokoto State (northwest operational area). Map 2. The Sahel belt across Africa (regional operating environment). Source: Munion, “Map of the Sahel,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. On December 25, 2025, US Africa Command announced that, at the direction of the President of the United States and in coordination with Nigerian authorities, US forces conducted strikes against ISIS camps in Sokoto State, with an initial assessment that multiple ISIS operatives were killed. Counter-terrorism works best when…

US defence chiefs believe China is expanding and modernising its weapons stockpile faster than any other nuclear-armed power, a draft Pentagon report highlighting Beijing’s growing military ambitions has revealed.China has loaded more than 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles across its latest three silo fields and has no desire for arms control talks, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a Chicago-based non-profit.Beijing has described reports of a military buildup as efforts to “smear and defame China and deliberately mislead the international community.”Last month, US President Donald Trump said that he may be working on a plan to denuclearise with China…

By André Pienaar The US State Department’s December 2025 condemnation of the doxing and harassment of American officials by the South African government marks a rare and deeply troubling escalation in diplomatic relations between Washington and Pretoria. Governments may disagree. They may protest policy. They may even pursue litigation or sanctions. What they may not do, without crossing a national security red line, is weaponise personal data against foreign officials. That is precisely what the United States now alleges South Africa has done. According to the State Department, South African government actors publicly disseminated sensitive personal information belonging to US…

By Ben Farmer America is close to sealing a security pact with Nigeria after US President Donald Trump threatened to send in troops “guns a-blazing” to stop the persecution of Christians. A delegation of US congressmen who toured the country say Washington is nearing an agreement, which is expected to include intelligence sharing and training for Nigeria’s forces. Mr Trump in November threatened military action after saying Christianity faced an “existential threat” from attacks by Muslim militants in the West African nation. “They’re killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers,” he said at the time.“We’re not going…

By Staff Writer Vladimir Putin has dismissed European leaders as “little pigs”, as Russia hardened its public stance on a US-backed peace framework that would offer Ukraine Nato-style security guarantees but stop short of full alliance membership. Russian officials said they would not return territory occupied in Ukraine or accept the presence of foreign peacekeepers, following the presentation of a revised 20-point framework discussed during talks involving Ukraine, the United States and European governments. Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said Moscow viewed the proposals with “extreme seriousness”, but added that Russia would not agree to terms that, in his…

By Staff Writer Blaise Metreweli, Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service’s first speech on how MI6 is keeping the UK safe in a world where the rules of conflict are being rewritten. In her first speech Ms Metreweli,  the head of MI6 also known as C, describes the threats facing the UK now and in the future. The full transcript of her speech is below: Welcome inside MI6. This iconic building, familiar to movie fans everywhere, is the home of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency. But whilst hundreds of my team pass through the entry pods each day, the truth is…