In Gaza, Sudan and other crisis areas: 'international order is already broken' - UN aid chief YouTube video by Chatham House

Good to ask @tomfletcherun.bsky.social today at @chathamhouse.org if international diplomacy is broken - and get his answer - broken for who? www.youtube.com/shorts/1sD3X...

Our evaluation of Claude Mythos Preview’s cyber capabilities | AISI Work We conducted cyber evaluations of Anthropic’s Claude Mythos Preview and found continued improvement in capture-the-flag (CTF) challenges and significant improvement on multi-step cyber-attack simulati...

This paper represents a small but deeply impressive and genuinely important achievement by the much maligned British state in what is probably the most important global issue of our era.

Hear me out ( 🧵) 1/

www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/our-eva...

The Strategic Defence Review, which Robertson spearheaded, came out in September 2025, as I was writing the last chapter of my book, which is focused on foreign policy and strategy. I read that entire document and interviewed a number of experts about it. A few thoughts. 🧵

Starmer accused of ‘corrosive complacency’ on UK defence by former Nato chief Lord George Robertson, author of British military review, says premier is not willing to make the necessary investment

Britain’s leaders have shown a “corrosive complacency” towards defence, putting the country “in peril” while it is “under attack”, a key government adviser has warned, in a stinging rebuke of Sir Keir Starmer’s military policy.

via @lucyfisher.ft.com

www.ft.com/content/88b1...

UK government has put out a call for input relating to its own future anti coercion instrument

Doc "sets out the rationale for why the UK government is considering new powers to protect the UK from adverse economic pressure and how these might work"

www.gov.uk/governmen...

Greggs, selling matcha

Will everyone please accordingly update their class takes, which will take effect from 5pm today

Live updates: Trump threatens ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’ ahead of his Iran deadline | CNN Trump’s warning comes ahead of his 8 p.m. ET deadline for Iran to make a deal, as the US also struck military targets on Iran’s strategic Kharg Island. Follow live news updates.

CNN reporting a "regional source" saying there may be some kind of ceasefire deal tonight.

edition.cnn.com/2026/04/07/w...

Good call yesterday with Keir Starmer.

We discussed the situation in the Middle East and the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s actions are putting global economic stability at risk.

We will work with our partners to ensure freedom of navigation can resume as soon as possible.

UK government on verge of full nationalisation of British Steel Talks with Chinese owner Jingye continue while losses mount

FT exclusive:

The UK government is on the verge of fully nationalising British Steel, almost a year on from using emergency legislation to take control of the business

www.ft.com/content/f885...

Death row lawyer Bryan Stevenson: ‘Hope is our superpower’ The attorney and activist on overturning capital convictions — and his fears that civil rights gains are being dismantled

Start your day with a very moving lunch with the FT, sensitively told by @edwardluce.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/4c17...

Really pleased to have this piece from our UK in the World and Middle East and North Africa Associate Fellow @cjophillips.bsky.social on the tightrope Starmer is trying to walk on Iran, and what it means for the UK's relationship to American power:

Keir Starmer confirms suspension of crypto-donations to political parties.

“I can tell the house, we will act decisively to protect our democracy – that will include a moratorium on all political donations made through cryptocurrencies.”

UK pumps extra funding into BBC World Service as conflicts escalate Britain said on Thursday it would increase funding for the BBC World Service over the next three years, citing the growing need ​to provide international audiences with impartial news at a time of ‌conflict and media blackouts around the world.

UK pumps extra funding into BBC World Service as conflicts escalate reut.rs/3PuRxHs

UK and Ireland pledge joint exercises to protect cables from Russian spy ships Update to defence and security pact will see countries ‘tackle hostile threats and crack down on the shadow fleet’

Good news.

How Donald Trump’s Iran War Is Destabilizing the Gulf Despite their animosity toward Iran, America’s allies in the Middle East are worried that the region is headed for wider conflict.

"I think the worst-case scenario for the Gulf states is playing out. They’re seeing a US-Israeli operation being executed with no day-after planning."

Read Sanam Vakil's interview with @ichotiner.bsky.social for @newyorker.com on the impact of the US-Israel war with Iran on the Gulf states.

Opposition to the United States' military action against Iran has risen by 10pts among Britons over the last week

Support: 25% (-3 from 2 March)
Oppose: 59% (+10)

yougov.com/en-gb/daily-...

Making it up as they go along Where does the war in Iran go from here?

Latest assessment on US/Israeli attack on Iran. The administration continues to give the impression that it is making it up as it goes along. The choices for the Iranian regime remain dire but it continues to show defiance and cause international economic turmoil. open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/m...?

Summary of the UK Government legal position: The legality of defensive action in respect of Iranian regional attacks Summary of the UK Government legal position: The legality of defensive action in respect of Iranian regional attacks

Legal advice re use of UK bases for attacks on Iranian missile bases now published www.gov.uk/government/n...

Looks like Iran has decided on three types of targets: US military bases in the region (Bahrain & others), oil infrastructure (eastern Saudi Arabia) and, perhaps most escalatory of all, densely populated urban areas to maximise economic and political impact (Dubai).

Neutral Ireland seeks closer ties with Nato over maritime security New Dublin strategy against backdrop of heightened Russia concerns could involve request for UK and French naval assistance

Good to see that there is *finally* some movement on this!

“Neutral Ireland is seeking closer co-operation with the UK and other Nato countries to defend its vast maritime area as Russia intensifies its surveillance of vulnerable undersea cables that criss-cross Irish waters.”

Snap judgement on Trump Supreme Court verdict - UK largely unaffected, may get lower tariffs now, but hadn't committed much to get them. EU, never ratified Trump deal anyway, now don't until the next step. China, still tariffs.

More affected - those who did full deals e.g. Indonesia, Vietnam

Carney constructs a mega anti-Trump trade alliance The Canadian prime minister is spearheading discussions between the EU and a major Indo-Pacific trade bloc after calling on middle powers to join forces.

SCOOP: Carney constructs a mega anti-Trump trade alliance

www.politico.eu/article/eu-a...

The Guardian view on the BBC World Service: this is London calling | Editorial Editorial: With just seven weeks before its funding runs out, the UK’s greatest cultural asset and most trusted international news organisation must be supported

And another bites the dust?

The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Starmer rightly warning against the ‘warm bath of complacency’ just because Rubio made a slightly more conciliatory speech than Vance last yr. Also Starmer really has thing about disliking warm baths

‘A generational shift in defence-industrial cooperation’ including looking closer at economic alignment

Starmer says Carrier strike group being deployed to North Atlantic; nuclear cooperation with France being enhanced; more to be done with the EU on defence

Starmer also pointedly emphasising Greenland’s sovereignty and hymning British troops who died in Afghanistan here

US military aid to Ukraine dropped 99% in 2025, report finds European countries stepped in to fill the gap, increasing military aid to Ukraine by 67% and non-military support by 59% in 2025, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

⚡️US military aid to Ukraine dropped 99% in 2025, report finds.

European countries stepped in to fill the gap, increasing military aid to Ukraine by 67% and non-military support by 59% in 2025, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

It was great to chat to @philtinline.bsky.social for the writing of this excellent report, which gets to grips with why it is so hard for the state to actually do stuff, and features a cameo from my old team, the Open Innovation Team. Many insights in here apply to foreign policy too:

There is such huge opportunity cost to each Trump tantrum. So many people with critical jobs have lost another week when they could have been doing something useful.