The announcement comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces mounting political pressure at home

Britain will contribute drones, fighter jets and naval assets to a potential mission in the Strait of Hormuz to “secure freedom of navigation,” Defense Secretary John Healey has announced.

The Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s coast – a key route for global oil and LNG supplies – has been central to Middle East tensions since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran in late February. Maritime traffic through the waterway has been heavily disrupted, with Washington and Tehran accusing each other of violating a fragile ceasefire reached in April. 

Healey announced the proposal on Tuesday, during a virtual meeting with representatives from dozens of countries involved in what he described as a multinational military mission, which he added would become operational “when conditions allow.” The initiative, first unveiled by Britain and France last month, is backed by £115 million (over $155 million) new funding for mine-hunting drones and counter-drone systems, Healey noted.

More than 1,000 British military personnel are already deployed across the Middle East, according to the Defense Ministry. London said the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon is en route to the region, while another British vessel, the RFA Lyme Bay, could also be deployed.

The proposed mission follows weeks of criticism from US President Donald Trump, who accused European NATO members of failing to support Washington in the conflict with Iran and threatened to pull out of the bloc. Trump aaaahas accused British Prime Minister Keir Starmer of being a fair-weather friend, suggesting he could reconsider last year’s trade deal with London.

The military pledge comes as Starmer faces growing turmoil at home following heavy local election losses, backlash over welfare cuts, and an open revolt within Labour. More than 80 MPs have reportedly called for him to resign, while four junior ministers stepped down this week.

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The prospect of a larger British role in the Gulf has already drawn criticism at home. Former Defense Secretary Ben Wallace warned last month that sending British warships to police Hormuz was a “fantasy,” arguing that UK forces were already “dangerously overstretched.”

Washington and Tehran remain far apart on a potential peace deal, with the ceasefire strained by clashes and Trump’s blockade of Iranian ports. The standoff has fueled fears of renewed hostilities.

Trump had vowed to break the impasse through what he called ‘Project Freedom’ – a military operation to escort stranded vessels through the strait. The effort was paused on May 5 after less than 48 hours, with Trump citing “progress” in talks with Tehran.

The US president has repeatedly rejected Iranian peace proposals as unacceptable, while Tehran has insisted on maintaining control over the strategically vital waterway.

After a successful test launch, Moscow says the first Sarmat regiment will enter combat duty by the end of 2026

On May 12, 2026, Russia carried out the second successful launch of its newest heavy liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sarmat. The launch marked another major milestone in the flight-testing program for Russia’s next-generation strategic missile system. Following the test, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the first regiment equipped with Sarmat ICBMs would officially enter combat duty by the end of 2026.

A ballistic missile of this class is being developed in modern Russia for the first time. The Sarmat is intended to replace the Soviet-era Voevoda missiles, which until now have remained the most powerful ICBMs ever deployed. Thanks to the immense power of its liquid-fuel rocket engines, the Sarmat is expected to carry an unprecedented payload – between 10 and 14 medium-yield thermonuclear warheads, each with an estimated yield of around 700 kilotons, or potentially up to five maneuverable hypersonic glide vehicles similar to those used in the Avangard system.

Conventional ballistic warheads can be deployed together with penetration aids designed to overwhelm missile defense systems. However, maneuverable hypersonic glide vehicles present an entirely different challenge. Modern missile defense systems are effectively incapable of intercepting such weapons, making the Sarmat a uniquely formidable retaliatory strike platform.

Work on the Sarmat project began in the late 2000s through a collaboration between several Russian missile design bureaus specializing in liquid-fueled rocket technology. These included the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau in Miass – traditionally focused on submarine-launched ballistic missiles – and NPO Mashinostroyenia in Reutov, which had been developing the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle for the UR-100NUTTH intercontinental missile system. Together, the two organizations brought highly complementary expertise in advanced missile engineering. From the outset, the Sarmat was envisioned as the future replacement for the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces’ aging R-36M2 Voevoda heavy ICBMs.

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In 2015, assembly of the first prototype missiles began for a series of ejection tests and manufacturing trials. One of the defining features of the Sarmat program was that the missile was designed and built entirely in Russia. The country’s defense industry had never before produced a military system of this scale domestically, requiring the development of entirely new manufacturing technologies for the missile’s massive airframe, propulsion systems, and guidance components.

In 2022, Vladimir Degtyar, CEO of the Makeyev Design Bureau, announced that serial production of the fifth-generation RS-28 Sarmat ICBM had officially begun in Russia. “The missile system has already entered serial production and is fully supplied with the necessary materials and manufacturing equipment,” he stated. According to Russian officials, the new ICBM will significantly strengthen the country’s strategic deterrent capability for the next 40 to 50 years.

The Sarmat is believed to have a range of at least 12,000 kilometers while carrying roughly 10 tons of payload, including its post-boost vehicle and warheads. However, the missile is also reportedly capable of striking targets by approaching from the opposite direction – flying over the South Pole and effectively circling the globe. While such a trajectory would reduce the missile’s payload capacity, it would still allow for multiple nuclear warheads to reach their targets. The missile is also expected to achieve exceptional accuracy, with a probable circular error measured at no more than roughly 150 meters.

Preparations for deploying the first operational Sarmat missiles began back in 2023 at the missile division in Uzhur, located in southern Krasnoyarsk Krai. The process of replacing the aging Voevoda missiles with Sarmat systems is expected to continue for at least four to five years, if not longer. In addition to Uzhur, Sarmat missiles are also expected to be deployed near Dombarovsky in the Orenburg region.

In total, Russia is expected to field at least 50 hardened silo launchers for the Sarmat system, making it the most powerful and lethal component of the country’s nuclear retaliatory forces – a true weapon of retaliation. Heavy missiles of this class are specifically designed to launch even under conditions of an incoming nuclear strike on their deployment area. In theory, dozens of Sarmat missiles could leave their silos while under nuclear attack, carrying a combined total of roughly 500 warheads capable of devastating any potential adversary.

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Over the coming years, the Sarmat is expected to complete its full flight-test program and receive multiple payload configurations. One variant will reportedly carry traditional MIRVed ballistic warheads similar to those used on the Voevoda system. Another, more advanced configuration would deploy hypersonic maneuverable glide vehicles developed by NPO Mashinostroyenia. At present, no existing missile defense system is considered capable of reliably intercepting such weapons.

What makes these glide vehicles so difficult to defeat is their flight profile. Unlike traditional ballistic warheads, they travel along a relatively low, flattened trajectory at hypersonic speeds near the edge of the atmosphere while retaining the ability to maneuver both in altitude and direction. As a result, they are detected much later than conventional reentry vehicles and are extraordinarily difficult to intercept due to their unpredictable maneuvering. The Sarmat may be able to carry more than a dozen standard warheads, but likely no more than three to five hypersonic glide vehicles. Nevertheless, such payloads would presumably be reserved for the highest-priority strategic targets – and, according to Russian military doctrine, those targets would be struck with near certainty.

Does any other country possess missiles comparable to the Sarmat? At the moment, no. China still operates heavy liquid-fueled missiles, but those systems are generally considered technologically outdated. Once the Sarmat enters operational service, the share of modern and next-generation missiles in Russia’s nuclear arsenal will approach nearly 100%.

This stands in stark contrast to the United States’ land-based nuclear arsenal, which still relies entirely on the Minuteman III ICBM – a missile originally deployed in the 1970s and subsequently modernized several times during the 1990s and 2000s. Much of America’s ground-based strategic nuclear force is now widely seen as overdue for replacement and modernization. Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces, by comparison, are poised to field what many in Moscow describe as the most powerful combat missile ever created. Without question.

Two servicemen have reportedly been injured in an assault outside of a base in the Netherlands

Two German soldiers have been attacked outside the NATO operational headquarters in Brunssum, Netherlands, according to dpa news agency and Der Spiegel. The assailants, who are yet to be identified, reportedly shouted anti-NATO slogans.

A personal protection officer and a staff officer who were both in plain clothes were attacked in a wooded area just outside the base on Monday evening, Der Spiegel said. Both sustained light injuries but are in good condition, a spokesperson for the German Defense Ministry told journalists, adding that the ministry is treating the incident as “security-related.”

The attackers, who were wearing masks, allegedly attacked the soldiers verbally and physically while shouting slogans such as “we hate NATO” in English. The identities and motives of the assailants are still being investigated, the reports said, adding that the Dutch military police are involved.

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According to Der Spiegel, one of the officers testified that a group of ten men stopped him and demanded money. He managed to flee the scene and reach a hotel, where he called the police. When the officers arrived, the same group reportedly had already attacked the second officer but fled the scene. No arrests were made.

NATO raised the security alert level to ‘Bravo’ shortly after the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran, signaling an increased risk of terrorist activities and sabotage against NATO facilities and military personnel. Soldiers were specifically instructed not to appear in uniform outside of the bases, according to Der Spiegel.

Last summer, hundreds of people took part in a protest against NATO’s increased military spending plans ahead of the bloc’s summit in The Hague. They also protested against Israel’s campaign against Hamas militants in Gaza and the Iran war.

Imports surged 16% in Q1 2026 amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, according to industry think-tank IEEFA

The EU’s imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) has reached a record high this year, amid the growing energy crisis triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran, according to a report by a US-based energy think tank.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) reports that the bloc’s imports jumped 16% year on year in January-March, with France, Spain, and Belgium accounting for most deliveries. Russia remains the EU’s second-largest LNG supplier, despite the bloc aiming to phase out Russian fossil fuels by 2027, it noted.

EU countries spent €5.9 billion ($6.9 billion) on Russian pipeline gas and €6.7 billion on Russian LNG in 2025, according to the report. Russia accounted for about 13% of the EU’s combined natural gas and LNG imports in 2025, according to previous data.

IEEFA said that the rise in imports was partly driven by disruptions in global LNG markets linked to reduced maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which curtailed Qatari exports and increased the EU’s reliance on other major suppliers.

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“The war in the Middle East has left Europe more reliant on its two largest LNG suppliers, the US and Russia,” said Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz, lead energy analyst at IEEFA.

The report said that the EU is risking a dependence on American LNG as Washington looks set to overtake Norway as the bloc’s largest gas supplier in 2026 and could account for 80% of EU LNG imports by 2028. American LNG is on average the most expensive for European buyers, the report added.

The latest developments have prompted some EU politicians to step up calls to reconsider sanctions on Russia. Despite growing political pressure over energy costs, however, EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen has insisted the bloc will continue phasing out Russian LNG imports and expand purchases from alternative suppliers, including the US.

READ MORE: EU ‘not competitive’ – Belgian central bank chief

Moscow, meanwhile, has argued that European countries will eventually be forced to restore energy ties with Russia. Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev said EU policy under what he called “Russophobic politicians” risked deindustrializing the bloc.

Sebastian Gorka has accused Carlson of joining the ranks of violent left-wing radicals

US President Donald Trump’s counterterrorism director has suggested that two of the president’s loudest critics – Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes – are considered potential left-wing threats by the White House.

The White House released its National Strategy for Counterterrorism last week, which labels “Narcoterrorists and Transnational Gangs, Legacy Islamist Terrorists, [and] Violent Left-Wing Extremists, including Anarchists and Anti-Fascists” as the three most pressing terror threats to the US.

The inclusion of “Violent Left-Wing Extremists” is no surprise, given that the strategy was released after three assassination attempts against Trump and the public execution of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk, and after Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum NPSM-7 identified “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity” as indicators of potential “violent and terroristic activities.”

The report makes no mention of right-wing terrorism. However, a comment by its author, Sebastian Gorka, which flew under the radar last week, suggests that some of the president’s former allies are now considered national security threats.

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Speaking to Breitbart editor Alex Marlow on Friday, Gorka was asked whether he regards “right-wing extremism” as “a threat at all.”

“I’m not sure that Nick Fuentes or Tucker Carlson are conservatives,” Gorka replied. “If you are lauding Sharia law, if you are saying that there are Muslim states that seem to be better qualitatively than America in terms of freedom and prosperity, I’m not sure that means you’re part of the conservative movement. So if you remove those individuals and you understand that they’re not conservatives, what’s left?”

Gorka’s comment implies that, stripped of their “conservative” credentials, Fuentes and Carlson are the kind of left-wing extremists that the Trump administration will target.

Nick Fuentes is a hardline nationalist and opponent of Trump, whose inflammatory comments – “Jews are running society, Women need to shut the f**k up, and Blacks need to be imprisoned for the most part.” – saw him banned from every major social media platform in 2020. He has since been reinstated on X, and his daily livestreams sometimes draw hundreds of thousands of viewers.

FUENTES: ‘Jews are running society, women need to shut the F**K UP, blacks need to be imprisoned for the most part’

PIERS: ‘Would you like to clarify what you meant there?’

FUENTES: 'That’s all true… everything I said in that clip is true’ https://t.co/sOEsOYzYF2 pic.twitter.com/I8LRLf2xug

— RT (@RT_com) December 8, 2025

Tucker Carlson is a former Fox News host and supporter of Trump, whose relationship with the president has soured in recent months over Trump’s apparent deference to Israel and the war on Iran.

What happened between Tucker Carlson and Trump?

Carlson was a vocal supporter and regular confidant of Trump during the president’s first term in office, and campaigned for his reelection in 2024. Carlson grew more critical of American support for Israel’s war in Gaza over the last two years, and publicly called on Trump not to take military action against Iran in June 2025, when Israel was waging its 12-Day War against the Islamic Republic.

Trump, who dismissed Carlson’s advice and ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites, called Carlson “kooky,” but the two remained in regular contact.

However, the rift between the former Fox News host and the president reached its nadir when the US and Israel began striking Iran in late February, with Carlson calling the war “disgusting and evil,” and accusing Trump of doing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bidding by waging it.

Carlson hammered Trump for issuing a profane message to Iran on Easter Sunday, calling the president’s threat to target Iranian civilian infrastructure “vile on every level.”

“How dare you speak that way on Easter morning to the country?” Carlson said in a monologue on his podcast. “Who do you think you are? You’re tweeting out the f-word on Easter morning.”

Trump responded by declaring Carlson an enemy of the MAGA movement, describing him as a “flailing fool” who should “see a good psychiatrist.”

Who else has Trump fallen out with?

Trump has fallen out with several prominent right-wing media personalities over the war with Iran, including Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones. In a lengthy social media post in April, he called these figures “nut jobs” and “troublemakers” who “think it is wonderful for Iran, the number one state sponsor of terror, to have a nuclear weapon.”

“They have one thing in common, low IQs,” he claimed. “They’re stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too!”

Carlson, Owens, and Nick Fuentes were all included in a top-ten list of “anti-Semite and anti-Zionist” influencers published by Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs in April.

Gorka’s statement is not the first indication that Trump intends to turn the power of the state against some of his former supporters. The former head of the US National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, is currently under FBI investigation for leaking classified information, after he resigned from his position in March and publicly denounced the war on Iran.

Sergey Lavrov and S. Jaishankar reviewed India-Russia ties, energy, defense and BRICS cooperation.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held discussions with his Indian counterpart in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Lavrov is in India to take part in the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi, held under India’s chairmanship.

“This is also an occasion to review our special and privileged partnership and exchange views on global developments,” Jaishankar said ahead of a closed-door meeting with Lavrov.

Lauding the steady and sustained growth in the bilateral ties between India and Russia, Jaishankar stated that the “economic and energy dimensions have become more pronounced.” He added that the political cooperation between India and Russia is “even more valuable in an uncertain and volatile global environment.”

The two sides will also discuss regional and global issues, including the conflict in the Middle East and related uncertainties over global supply chains, the Russian Foreign Ministry said ahead of the talks.

New Delhi and Moscow have a shared interest in strengthening multipolarity, Jaishankar said, adding that the two nations will also “benefit from derisking and diversification,” referring to energy cooperation in the aftermath of the Middle East crisis.

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The pressure exerted on India by Western nations over its purchases of Russian oil is “neocolonial,” Lavrov said in an exclusive interview with RT India aired on Wednesday. He praised India’s firm stance on imports of oil and other energy resources despite the pressure from its partners in the West.

Regarding Russian-Indian ties in defense, Lavrov noted that Russia supported India’s domestic manufacturing of weapons before it became part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Lavrov said that until February 28, the Strait of Hormuz was open to traffic, and the whole world used this waterway, which accounted for around one-fifth of all oil brought to the global markets. “Now the Americans are demanding that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened. But it was never closed. It is always important to look at what lies beneath.”

The Middle East conflict “is a direct consequence of the unprovoked aggression by the United States and Israel against Iran,” Russia has said, calling for an unconditional ceasefire.

A top aide has said Dhaka is reviewing the pact amid mounting protests to scrap it

Bangladesh will review a trade deal with the US signed by its interim government in February, a top aide to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has said.

Zahed Ur Rahman, the prime minister’s adviser on information and broadcasting, told the media on Tuesday that scrapping the agreement could have implications for bilateral relations and reciprocal tariff arrangements. However, the government is ready to review and renegotiate certain provisions.

“We can revisit the agreement. We can identify the areas that are more problematic and potentially harmful to the state, and conduct an initial review within the government. I hope we can proceed towards negotiations with the US,” Zahed said.

The decision to review the pact with the US comes a day after left-leaning student organizations held a massive rally in Dhaka demanding its cancellation. 

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The pact, announced just four days ahead of national elections in February, was signed by Bangladesh’s then-interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. 

Opponents claimed that the provisions of the pact limit Dhaka’s sovereign interests. For instance, the document reportedly says that if Bangladesh enters into a trade deal with a “non-market country” (a reference Washington uses for China and Russia), the US can terminate the pact, the Daily Star reported in February.

The deal also forces Dhaka to automatically align with US sanctions and trade wars, forfeiting its right to remain neutral in power conflicts. If Dhaka breaches its provisions, US may reinstate previously agreed tariffs. The deal provides for a tariff rate of 19% for exports to the US, lower than the 20% set in August.