Ukrainian ex-politician shot dead outside elite school in Madrid
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a former Ukrainian politician on Wednesday (May 21) outside a school in a wealthy suburb of Madrid, Spain's Interior Ministry said. Kristy Kilburn reports.
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Telegraph
9 minutes ago
- Telegraph
MoD plots £1.5bn radar upgrade as wind farms threaten to conceal attacks
Military chiefs are planning a £1.5bn upgrade of Britain's radar defences amid fears that the growing number of wind farms risks leaving the country blind to attacks. Under the Ministry of Defence's 'Njord' programme, named after the Norse god of sea and wind, seven air defence radar stations around the country will be replaced or improved to ensure they are not confused by interference from turbines. There are already 3,352 operational or under-construction wind turbines in UK waters, according to the Crown Estate, with another 1,000 at least set to be deployed by 2030 to meet the Government's net zero targets. Without measures to tackle the problem, military chiefs fear the interference will impede the ability of the Royal Air Force to detect enemy missiles and aircraft. Each radar station upgrade will be worth up to £210m and the Ministry of Defence opened the bidding process earlier this year, with several unnamed defence companies in the running. An industry source said: 'They are concerned that, without mitigation, you are going to see a deterioration of radar coverage if you build all the wind farms envisaged under the 2030 targets. 'That would potentially reduce the time you have to respond to threats, as well as the probability of detecting them, and so would leave the country more vulnerable to attacks.' 'A unique and detrimental impact' The interference problem occurs when turbine blades reflect the electromagnetic pulses pinged out by radar stations, generating unhelpful background noise for the system operators. Each blade on a turbine can generate a false return, creating the potential for massive disruption from some sites.
Daily Mail
11 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Starmer faces demands for cast-iron vow to spend 3% of GDP on defence as he unveils plan to make Britain 'war-ready'
Keir Starmer is facing demands for a cast-iron commitment to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence today as he unveils a push to get Britain 'war-ready'. The PM is heralding a strategic review of the UK's military, promising investment in new submarines, munitions and personnel. He has warned that the mounting threat from Russia and allies such as Iran and North Korea means the country must ramp up preparations. Sir Keir argued this morning that being poised for conflict is the best way of avoiding it. But the blueprint is predicated on spending reaching 3 per cent in the next decade - with ministers sowing confusion over whether that will definitely happen. Yesterday Defence Secretary John Healey rowed back on a statement that the increase 'will' happen, stressing that it is an 'ambition'. The Treasury appears to be panicking over how to balance the books as the economy stalls. External authors of the report - expected to be accepted in full by Sir Keir - have suggested that reaching 3 per cent is 'vital' to its success. Key elements of the proposals include: Up to 12 new nuclear-powered attack submarines will be built; A £1.5billion push to set up at least six munitions factories, supporting the procurement of up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons British fighter jets could soon carry nuclear weapons for the first time; Increasing the number of people in the armed forces, but not until the next Parliament; More than £1.5billion in extra funding will go to military homes in response to the review. Writing in The Telegraph, Labour former minister Lord Robertson, Russian expert Fiona Hill and General Sir Richard Barrons said the 'Government's important decision to raise Defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027-28 and, vitally, to 3 per cent in the next Parliament made an enormous difference'. They added: 'The decision established the affordability of our recommendations across a 10-year programme.' Sir Keir will launch the Government's Strategic Defence Review in Scotland, following many months of work and lobbying by military chiefs. But a Nato summit later this month is expected to push for members to hit 3.5 per cent by 2032, while US President Donald Trump has already called for a jump to 5 per cent within the alliance. Mr Healey told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show: 'We have a historic commitment to increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent in two years' time. We haven't hit that level since Labour was last in power in 2010. And an ambition to meet 3 per cent in the next Parliament.' Challenged that it was an 'just an ambition' rather than a 'guarantee', Mr Healey talked about being able to 'deliver the vision' of today's review. Defence minister Luke Pollard again refused to confirm the commitment this morning, telling Times Radio: 'Well, we've set out that we are spending 2.5 per cent by April 2027, with the ambition to spend 3 per cent in the next parliament, when economic conditions allow.' He added: 'Well I've got no doubt that we will get to 3 per cent in the next parliament, as I've said a number of times.' Mr Pollard said the strategic defence review was the 'biggest transformation of our armed forces in 100 years'. He said: 'It seeks to learn the lessons from the war in Ukraine, refresh our capabilities, invest in our people, and underscore that increased defence spending up to 2.5 per cent of our GDP by April 2027 is an engine for growth.' The Ministry of Defence has already announced plans to build up to 12 new nuclear-powered attack submarines to boost the Royal Navy's commitment to the Aukus Pacific defence partnership with Australia and the United States, while investing £15billion in warheads. But the first of these UK-built submarines is not expected to enter service before the late 2030s. It will also be for future Parliaments to honour the spending commitment. The Conservatives have seized on on Labour's muddle on defence, accusing Mr Healey of weakening UK security. Tory defence spokesman James Cartlidge told the Mail: 'These promises on submarines are a fantasy fleet without real money to back them up. 'The fact is, John Healey has been forced into a humiliating climb down by the Treasury after confirming, as recently as Thursday, that defence spending would definitely rise to 3 per cent. 'But by Sunday he was backtracking completely. John Healey has been badly let down by the Chancellor – so now he knows how the rest of us feel.'
The Guardian
12 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine delegation arrives in Istanbul for talks with Russian officials following drone attack in Siberia – Russia-Ukraine war live
Update: Date: 2025-06-02T07:14:41.000Z Title: Ukraine delegation arrives in Istanbul for talks with Russian officials Content: A Ukrainian delegation has arrived in Istanbul for talks with Russian officials with a meeting planned for Monday afternoon, the spokesperson for Ukraine's foreign ministry said. The two sides are set to hold their second round of direct peace talks since 2022, but are still far apart on how to end the war amid an increase in fighting. After days of uncertainty over whether Ukraine would even attend, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said defence minister Rustem Umerov would meet Russian officials. The first round of the talks more than a week ago yielded the biggest prisoner exchange of the war – but no sense of any consensus on how to halt the fighting. The two sides will in Turkey present their respective documents outlining their ideas for peace terms, according to US envoy Keith Kellogg, though it is clear that after three years of Russia's full-scale assault on Ukraine, Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart. Russia's lead negotiator, presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, was quoted by Tass news agency as saying the Russian side had received a memorandum from Ukraine on a settlement. Zelenskyy had complained for days that Russia had failed to provide a memorandum with its proposals. In other news: Ukraine said on Sunday it had destroyed Russian bombers worth billions of dollars as far away as Siberia, in its longest-range assault of the war. In a spectacular claim, Ukraine said it had damaged $7bn worth of Russian aircraft parked at four airbases thousands of kilometres (miles) away, with unverified video footage showing aircraft engulfed in flames and black smoke. A source in the Ukrainian security services (SBU) said the strikes hit 41 planes that were used to 'bomb Ukrainian villages'. Several Russian and Ukrainian media outlets reported that Ukraine had carried out the operation by launching drones from lorries parked near military airfields deep inside Russia. Ukrainian officials told the media that the operation – codename 'Spiderweb' – had been in preparation for more than 18 months. Zelenskyy praised the attacks as a 'brilliant operation' that was 'aimed exclusively at military targets' and caused 'truly significant losses' for Russia. Those who assisted in the operation had been withdrawn from Russia on the eve of the attacks and were safe, he said. Russia has said several 'participants' have been arrested. Russian investigators on Sunday said they believed 'explosions' had caused two bridges in the border regions of Kursk and Bryansk to collapse overnight, derailing trains, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens. The incidents were being treated as terrorism. In Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, a road bridge collapsed onto a railway line late on Saturday, derailing a passenger train heading to Moscow and killing at least seven people. A rail bridge in neighbouring Kursk also collapsed overnight, derailing a freight train and injuring the driver, officials said. Kursk also borders Ukraine. Separately, a railway track on the Unecha-Zhecha section in Russia's Bryansk region was damaged without casualties, the national operator, Russian Railways, said. The commander of Ukraine's land forces, one of the most senior positions in the country's military, announced on Sunday that he was tendering his resignation, saying he felt 'responsibility' for the deaths of at least 12 soldiers killed in a Russian strike on a training ground earlier that day. Maj Gen Mykhailo Drapatyi has been in charge of Ukraine's vast wartime land army since November last year. 'This is a conscious step dictated by my personal sense of responsibility for the tragedy at the 239th training ground, which resulted in the deaths of our soldiers,' Drapatyi wrote on Facebook. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his nightly video address, said he would summon senior commanders, including top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, to consider the circumstances of the strike. 'This is not the first strike of its kind when Ukraine has lost personnel. I have called a meeting … to deal with this,' he said. 'We need all our fighting men at the front to defend Ukraine.' Russia's military issued a statement saying its forces had launched a missile on a Ukrainian military 'tent camp' in central Dniepropetrovsk region.
