China poses ‘genuine and increasing cyber risk’ to UK, warns GCHQ head.

Anne Keast-Butler's remarks follow slew of alleged China-related espionage activity in UK, including a suspected cyber attack that targeted records of military personnel.

ft.com/content/222497…

“There is a clear perception that they want someone who has the ability to professionally run a war economy for a very long time” said one senior western official

Vladimir Putin gears up Russia’s war machine for long haul

ft.com/content/eade30… w max seddon & Polina Ivanova

Russian forces have occupied another three villages in Ukraine’s north-eastern Kharkiv region, as they press forward with a new offensive intended to stretch Ukrainian defences elsewhere on the frontline, Isobel Koshiw reports:

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Three men in UK court accused of assisting Hong Kong intelligence service
ft.com/content/a1b7ad… via @ft

Russia's new defence minister...and Prigozhin's posthumous revenge against Shoigu

Before Russia invaded Ukraine, its airlines got spare parts from Boeing and Airbus.

Now, they're buying from people like Timur Badr, a 39-year-old gym enthusiast with an outstanding arrest warrant. And the planes are still flying.

New FT investigation:
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been a watershed moment for Europe’s defence industry -- and its relationship with the UK.

The challenge now is to avoid 'mutually assured disruption'

ft.com/content/836bc0… via Sylvia Pfeifer

The British government said it was expelling Russia’s defence attaché for spying, removing diplomatic status from properties in the UK that it believes Moscow has used to gather intelligence, and limiting the length of visas granted to Russian diplomats.

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Just your average home made drug cartel tank driving along a road in the state of Tamaulipas, which is right across from Texas.

'Should the authorities attempt to halt militarisation, a hard landing could add pressure to the government...
...Rather than serving as a constraint, Russia’s economy might become an additional incentive to prolong its war in Ukraine.'

ft.com/content/3fd6b6… via @ft

Russia has begun to more actively prepare covert bombings, arson attacks and damage to infrastructure on European soil, directly and via proxies, according to assessments from three different European countries. ft.com/content/c88509… via [email protected] Richard Milne

A very sobering Oliver Carroll interview with Ukraine’s deputy mil intel chief. He says Chasiv Yar will fall eventually, that Ukraine is far from stabilising the front and that Russia is “generating a division of reserves” & wants to strike at Sumy/Kharkiv. economist.com/europe/2024/05…

New: How Ukraine broke Russia’s grip in the Black Sea.

Drone attacks have pushed Moscow’s warships to newly protected bases in the east and enabled trade from key ports to return to pre-war levels.

W/Sam Learner Dan Clark Irene de la Torre Arenas Ian Bott

ft.com/black-sea

Cuban authorities sentence young mother to 15 years in prison for live streaming 2022 protest on Facebook. #Cuba
miamiherald.com/news/nation-wo…

UK to investors: “investing in good, high-quality, well-run defence companies is compatible with ESG considerations”.

Because: 70% of European ESG equity funds had no exposure to defence vs 75 per cent in Jan 2022

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Bizarre strategy from the Chinese Embassy in the UK.

economist.com/europe/2024/04…

‘Death has become normal’: war closes in on Darfur’s besieged capital
ft.com/content/c64d91… via @ft