Iran nuclear capability set back ‘years' fresh US intel claims
Donald Trump 's administration released new intelligence claiming Iran 's nuclear program has been set back 'years' due to recent strikes.
This new information contradicts an earlier, widely reported, leaked assessment that suggested military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities only set the program back by mere months.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe has now claimed that credible intelligence indicates Iran's nuclear program was severely damaged, requiring years to rebuild key facilities.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also asserted the destruction of Iran's nuclear facilities, criticizing 'propaganda media' for selectively leaking classified information.
Following the leak of the initial assessment, the Trump administration reportedly plans to limit the sharing of classified intelligence with Congress.
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Metro
34 minutes ago
- Metro
I've lived in fear of nuclear war all my life - this is how I'm prepping
The world has gone to bed each night lately wondering whether World War Three will break out by the time we wake up. The fighting over Iran's nuclear ambitions made people feel awfully unsafe, particularly with all the bloodcurdling rhetoric from leaders in Israel, Iran, and the US. Then when President Donald Trump announced strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, global fears escalated. I know that worry well because I first felt it as a child. I've been living under a (mushroom) cloud ever since. Now, after a lifetime of prepping, I'm doing so again – but this time I'm not putting aside bottles of water, wind up radios and loo roll. I'm mentally prepping – for the fact I might die. And after 40 years of living in fear, I finally feel a sense of peace. As an 11-year-old in 1984, I settled down one September evening to watch a BBC film called Threads about a nuclear attack on Sheffield. I can't remember what I was expecting to see but I'll never forget it: 112 minutes of the most graphic, grim, and horrifying television imaginable. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In the agonisingly tense first half of the film, it shows the build-up to nuclear war in the background of the lives of ordinary families. Then the bombs drop and the film shows the mushroom clouds, the firestorm, and what these monstrous demons do to Sheffield, its people, and its pets. Threads then follows the bleak horror of the nuclear winter and beyond, showing the brutality of what's left of life over more than a decade after the attack. Watching this film was quite an experience for a boy of 11. It blew my mind with all the grace and clemency of a nuclear bomb. I went to bed terrified that night and the boy who emerged the next morning was changed forever. That next day, I tried to unscrew the living room door to build a nuclear shelter in our cellar. I then marched to the library to try and find information about gas masks, bunkers, and any medicine that might help with radiation sickness. In the days after, I remembered that we had friends who lived in an isolated house in Cornwall and I asked my parents to ask them whether we could go and stay there when it looked like the bomb might drop. When we were moving house and it came down to a choice between two options, I begged my parents to put every other factor aside and choose the one that had a bunker in its back garden. We didn't move to that house, but for a lot of my teenage years I had that bunker mentality in mind. I was mistrustful, angry and terrified. Wherever I was, I looked out for places to duck and cover. I'd become a nuclear paranoiac overnight and the metaphorical mushroom cloud that Threads cast over my life would hang in the sky for decades. Are you scared of nuclear war? No, I've made peace like Chas I have a secret bunker so I'll be fine Ever since, I've been convinced that the outbreak of nuclear war was nigh. I even joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and marched for the cause. And if I heard about any global tensions on the news, I'd remember how Threads showed the characters ignoring reports about growing global tensions at first. 'You won't catch me looking the other way,' I'd think. The nuclear war in Threads broke out because of international tensions over a conflict in Iran. So if you'd asked me as a kid how I would feel if there was a real-life flare-up over a nuclear arms programme in Iran in 2025, I'd have said two things. One, I can't believe the world hasn't nuked itself to pieces by 2025, and two, this is where World War Three is about to start. But actually, over the past few weeks I've probably been less worried than a lot of people. Having spent so much of my life fretting about nuclear war, I've ended up finding a sense of peace. I've already done all my trembling about the bomb and I've concluded that if there were a nuclear war, the best outcome for me would also be the most likely one: Instant death. Having come to terms with how dramatically Threads changed my life, I've also resolved to try and not be swayed again by propaganda. So when the Government warned this week that Britain needs to prepare for the possibility of being attacked on its own soil, and when Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary general, warned recently that without a major increase in defence spending, British people 'better learn to speak Russian', I declined the invitation to return to the dread of my teenage years. I've concluded that if there were a nuclear war, the best outcome for me would also be the most likely one: Instant death. I now know that worrying gets me nowhere. I've accepted that this may end in my death and so freaking about what could happen next is pointless. You won't catch me prepping. I won't be taking doors off their hinges for shelter. I won't fantasise about that bunker. More Trending I've lived with this fear for too long. I feel compassion for people who are still worried about the bomb, but I want them to take it from me: After over 40 years of nuclear war anxiety, fretting about it won't make it go away – and neither will marching about it. We can't uninvent nuclear weapons, we have to purge mankind of the consciousness that made us want them in the first place, and that's a deeper, longer battle that can only be fought in each of our hearts. For now, we have to find a way to live with the threat they pose to us – and seek the peace that comes with accepting that they may destroy us. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Get in touch by emailing Share your views in the comments below. 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Reuters
36 minutes ago
- Reuters
Israel says Iran's Supreme Leader avoided assassination by going underground
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The Independent
36 minutes ago
- The Independent
Nato was a victory for Starmer on the global stage, but now he's at war with his own MPs
Sir Keir Starmer seemed chipper as he boarded the plane home from the Nato summit on Wednesday evening. He cheerily thanked hacks in the travelling press delegation for what he said had been a great two-day trip to The Hague. And looking at Nato alone, it had been a success. Across the board, allies signed up to a historic increase in defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP. After briefly wavering on his commitment to Article 5, even Donald Trump fell in line. And following a public love-in with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte – who unnervingly, dubbed him the 'daddy' between the two warring nations of Iran and Israel – the US president conceded that the alliance was no longer a 'rip off', saying he is with is his European friends 'all the way'. Meanwhile, Starmer was able to pitch Britain as a leader on the world stage by cosying up to Mr Trump and purchasing 12 new F-35A fighter jets, massively ramping up Britain's nuclear capabilities. But what was left unsaid when the PM briefly greeted the media sharing the plane with him was that he was flying back into the most significant rebellion of his premiership – a revolt which threatens to shake the foundations of the historic majority he won just 11 months ago. Speaking at a press conference about Britain's contribution to defence spending at the Nato summit just hours earlier, the prime minister was forced to deny suggestions that he might be forced out of office before the next election. 'Many people predicted before the election that we 'couldn't read the room' we 'hadn't got the politics right' we 'wouldn't win an election after 2019' because we lost so badly. "We got a landslide victory. So I'm comfortable with reading the room and delivering the change the country needs', Sir Keir insisted. But at home, his MPs are much less convinced. More than 120 Labour MPs have signed an amendment which would kill off the government's flagship £5bn welfare reforms entirely. And there is a growing feeling that the prime minister has failed to listen to them, after he used part of his Nato presser to dismiss the rebellion as 'noises off'. 'No 10 sees MPs as irritants and fodder', one Labour MP with her name on the amendment said. 'We're all working hard and this is how they treat us. It goes back to the point about how arrogant and out of touch they are.' The prime minister's comments at the Nato press conference displayed a real lack of empathy for his own MPs, and ironically, a distinct failure to read the room. It would be hard to argue the prime minister is a wholly unempathetic person. An in-depth profile of the prime minister in the New Statesman published earlier this month showed how deeply he feels the weight of sacrifices made by individuals putting their lives on the line to serve their country. But in his first year in office, it has become increasingly clear that the prime minister is much more comfortable navigating foreign diplomacy than he is with dealing with angry backbenchers. It is in this area that Sir Keir seems entirely unable to empathise. He is known for being pragmatic rather than ideological, and appears to be bored by political manoeuvring. At times, this can provide a refreshing break from the Westminster bubble. But, taken too far, it can be the opposite. Starmer seems to have lost sight of the fact that in some scenarios, political manoeuvring is more than just self-serving posturing. Sometimes, it's a fight for hundreds of thousands of disabled people who are scared of losing vital financial support. The prime minister is now frantically meeting with leading MPs involved in the amendment to try to secure their backing by offering concessions. But the fact that it was allowed to get this far in the first place has angered those who would naturally be inclined to back the prime minister. Many are now threatening to dig their heels in until the bill is dead in the water. As Starmer returns from what was a strong showing at Nato, he must now display some of the empathy and political nous that he so effectively shows on the global stage. If he is unable to do so, he may well lose the domestic battle – and it could be catastrophic for his authority.
