Jonathan Swift

5 days ago | medium.com | Jonathan Swift

A full-blown war between India and Pakistan would be the first ever between two nuclear-armed nations. Pakistan said it struck multiple Indian military bases in the early hours of Saturday, May 10, after claiming that India had launched missiles against three Pakistani bases, marking a sharp escalation in their already soaring tensions, as the neighbours edge closer to an all-out war.

5 days ago | medium.com | Jonathan Swift

Pakistan’s military says strikes have been launched against Indian military sites as part of “Operation Bunyan Marsoos” after three Pakistani airbases were targeted by India’s “air-to-surface missiles”. Pakistan Civil Aviation says it is closing its airspace from 3:15am local time (22:15 GMT) on Saturday until noon (07:00 GMT) on Sunday following the latest attacks.

5 days ago | medium.com | Jonathan Swift

Trump has approved a $310m sale of F-16 parts and support, and told Russia and Ukraine to sort out their own ceasefire. The Donald Trump administration last week approved its first sale of weapons to Ukraine after signing a memorandum of intent to exploit Ukrainian mineral wealth, suggesting that US foreign and defence policy under its current president will be driven by economic policy.

5 days ago | medium.com | Jonathan Swift

Hungary, whose government maintains support of Russian narratives about war in Ukraine, is accused of seeking defence data. Ukraine and Hungary are expelling two diplomats each after both sides accused the other of engaging in espionage. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, writing on X on Friday, announced the action after Kyiv’s SBU security agency said it had uncovered a spy network run by the Hungarian state to obtain intelligence about its defence.

5 days ago | medium.com | Jonathan Swift

From chasing rats as a child to the KGB, how 72-year-old Putin came to power — and what drives him now. When Russian President Vladimir Putin was growing up in a dilapidated apartment block in Leningrad, now St Petersburg, he and his friends would chase rats through the corridors with sticks. One day, a huge rat he’d cornered suddenly turned on the young Vladimir and chased him back to his quarters.