Breaking news: U.S. forces launched a new round of military strikes on Iran in response to attacks on American warships, officials said. No American vessels were hit, and U.S. forces responded by striking Iranian military facilities, officials said.

YouGov find just 30% of people think we were right to leave the EU. The lowest number yet. Just 10% of 18-24 year olds think it was the right decision.

ELN Senior Associate Fellow @ziyameral.bsky.social has written for @theipaper.com on the perilous situation the world finds itself in, and Britain's lack of readiness to respond to the potential outbreak of World War 3. Check it out below ⤵️ inews.co.uk/opinion/worl...

I was just disinvited from the Air War College where I’d been asked to lecture on my book, which is a history of U.S. civil-military relations.

Great to see ELN Senior Associate Fellow @ziyameral.bsky.social speak to @thetimes.com and @lizcookman.bsky.social on Turkey's approach to the Iran war, check it out below ⤵️ www.thetimes.com/world/middle...

After a suspected Russian strike on its Kyiv HQ, a Ukrainian drone firm opened its first UK factory Its Shark-M can loiter for 7 hours, strike 110 miles away and use AI trained on battlefield footage 🤔How did Ukraine's drones become so effective?

Taoiseach Micheál Martin speaking at Trinity College, Cambridge, to mark the announcement of Professor Alvin Jackson as the first holder of the Childers Professorship in Modern Irish History, a new university chair endowed by a donation from the government of Ireland.

London’s “worst mass eviction in recent history” is underway; hundreds of households across London told to get out of their homes this week by the same landlord, ahead of the renters rights act. The landlord? Billionaire Asif Aziz’s Criterion Capital. www.londoncentric.media/p/asif-aziz-...

"Instead of acting united, EU countries are racing to produce new weaponry on their own terms. The result is a divided military landscape that creates neither credible deterrence nor strategic coherence." @euractiv.com www.euractiv.com/opinion/euro...

Dan wasn't even born before decimalisation (nor was he anywhere near the UK when he was born) but still he yearns for Britain's pre-decimal times 55 years later.

Is US, a NATO ally, turning away from the West?

Canada aiming to seriously increase defence spending and shift away from US manufacturers. Very promising for NATO in the High North.

Imagine being so "patriotic" that you protest the Royal National Lifeboat Institute for saving lives. Racist morons fuelled by hate.

“I am too scared to drive my 5-year-old daughter to school in my husband’s car. I’m terrified ICE will detain me and our daughter will end up alone,” she said. “This is just as scary as the war in Ukraine, except now we don’t have Dmytro with us..." www.thedailybeast.com/laughing-ice...

Nine and ten year olds, fleeing in fear. www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/f...

47% of Europeans want X banned across the EU, so the flipping Scandiwegians are doing something about it, with proper Viking energy. W is now accepting registration ahead of it's launch. wsocial.eu

Good response to Jim Ratcliffe's appalling comment on immigration. @jakerichardsmp.bsky.social: "Jim Ratcliffe has moved to Monaco to save £4 billion worth of tax in this country, one might question whether he is the patriot that we need to comment on this issue."

Noooo.. hype over chatbots?? difficult to believe

"While his father Steve Witkoff acts as President Trump’s all-purpose special envoy, 32-year-old Zach Witkoff now heads up World Liberty, which has doled out at least $1.4 billion to both families" extraordinary reporting from @wsj.com www.wsj.com/finance/curr...

Three women in Istanbul late 1800s.. an Armenian, a Greek and a Jew.. Can you tell who is who?

Trump’s Board of Peace logo is basically the UN logo, except dipped in gold and edited so the world only includes America.

Some time after this photo was taken, someone said something like 'this should have been the end of it all'.

The simple fact is that if Joe Biden had delivered a speech at Davos as rambling and as disjointed as what we saw Trump deliver there would have been uproar in the US and calls to remove him from office. Instead news organisations feel compelled to explain away what we saw and imply a strategy.

There should be a strict rule in the Chagos Islands debate that if you can’t point to them on a map, you shouldn’t be allowed to express an opinion about them.

An Élysée spokesperson said on Sunday that President Emmanuel Macron will ask the EU to activate its Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) – dubbed the bloc’s trade “bazooka” – if new US tariffs materialise.

Reminder of the spectacularly poor judgement of these people

Brexit failed, and Farage was one of its key architects. "In a sane world, Farage would not be able to show his face in parliament or in a TV studio without being reminded of two things. His adult life was devoted to a cause that his compatriots now regard as a mistake." https://on.ft.com/4pEaXpC

If a shop was selling the material Grok has been producing, it would be prosecuted. So the question is whether X is subject to the same laws as everyone else, or whether it can intimidate govts into exempting it. Equality before the law is not "fascism". It's one of our best defences against it.

Joint statement by 4 former officials in Democratic and Republican Administrations—including four NATO Ambassadors, 3 Assistant Secretaries of State for Europe, and 3 NSC Senior Directors. Excellent opening in particular.

A happy new year from me and George, who is never impressed..

Kyiv did not sleep once again last night. On the last weekend of the year, the capital should have smelled of mulled wine, cinnamon, chocolate and joy. Instead, our city was filled with smoke, gunpowder, explosions, screams, and curses. The Russian attack lasted twelve hours.

Have yourself a wonderful Turkish boxing day with simit and Iznik christmas tree decorations 😍

It's an unusual form of isolationism...

Merry Christmas to all who mark it today ❤️🙏

The US has sanctioned European researchers and policymakers studying misinformation, framing independent inquiry as a free speech violation. The Trump admin's refusal to allow regulation of platforms is US tech policy by other means—now being enforced through sanctions. Scholars must pay attention.

Who says British public is not ready for war? We are shopping and planning insane amount with great energy just for shops being closed for two days..

Definitive proof that in Sadiq Khan's London, Christmas has been cancelled altogether www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Just did a Substack Live with Ukrainian General Volodomyr Havrylov. He gave a fascinating overview of the changes in the war. For instance, now Ukraine is close to inflicting 50% of the casualties on the Russians using only 10% of the Ukr military. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

"Belgian politicians and senior finance executives have been subject to a campaign of intimidation orchestrated by Russian intelligence aimed at persuading the country to block the use of €185bn assets for Ukraine, according to European intelligence agencies." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Horrendous news from Australia.. Prayers with all the victims and their families.. And may we all learn to be as brave as this man when the time calls for it.. Worst of humanity meet the best!!

Much of the current debate surrounding immigration continues to be based on misinformation. As our trustee, @nandosigona.bsky.social and Laurence Lessard-Phillips show in this new report, people significantly overestimate the number of irregular migrants in the UK. i-claim.eu/project/publ...

Nothing says "smash the political establishment" quite like begging the Prime Minister to put your mates in the unelected House of Lords.

🎙️In the latest Global Security Briefing episode, Dr Burcu Ozcelik and Nicholas Hopton join host Neil Melvin to discuss key insights from the Doha Forum and the shifting Middle East security landscape. Listen here: https://bit.ly/4rQaTW6

"In most cases, the drone operators cannot be identified. Authorities, however, increasingly suspect that there could be potential foreign involvement by hostile powers in some cases, though inexperienced hobbyists are often to blame." DW p.dw.com/p/54tpw

Is US, a NATO ally, turning away from the West?

Highly recommend analysis

The commander of the German Army, Christian Freuding, said in an interview with The Atlantic that the Pentagon has cut off communication with the German Defense Ministry, including coordination of military aid to Ukraine. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷

I'm not a big fan of the Munich analogy, but this is real Munich stuff -- probably worse. www.ft.com/content/f411...