Military news

• 'Our sons were heroes' say families of British men killed fighting Isis

  20-08-2017 18:31 via theguardian.com
  Thinktank report angers families by saying British volunteers with Kurdish forces should be treated as potential terroristsThe families of two British men killed fighting Islamic State in Syria have condemned a report urging the government to treat those who join Kurdish forces in the region as potential terrorists, insisting their sons should be remembered as heroes.The report by the Henry Jackson Society suggests that British volunteers who travel to Syria to join the Kurdish People’s Pr
  
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• Boris Johnson turned away from polling station after forgetting to bring photo ID

  02-05-2024 21:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Former PM made the requirement to bring photo ID a stipulation of the Elections Act in 2022Boris Johnson was turned away from his local polling station when trying to cast his vote in Thursday’s elections after forgetting to bring the required photo identity.The former prime minister was initially told by polling station staff he would not be allowed to vote in the police and crime commissioner election in South Oxfordshire without proving his identity. Continue reading...
  
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• Hearings into alleged war crimes by SAS in Afghanistan delayed into 2025

  02-05-2024 19:08 via theguardian.com
  
  Even with extra legal assistance, hearings into suspicious killings of 80 Afghans would be delayed until March 2025Detailed hearings into alleged war crimes committed by SAS soldiers in Afghanistan at a public inquiry are likely to be delayed into 2025, prompting a row between investigators and the Ministry of Defence.A letter, made public on Thursday, from a solicitor to the public inquiry addressed to the MoD complained of unacceptable delays in supplying evidence. The ministry responded by sa
  
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• The right to acquit based on conscience is rooted in Quaker pacifism | Letter

  02-05-2024 19:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Antony Barlow on how his grandfather helped introduce a ‘conscience clause’ against compulsory military service in 1916The report of Trudi Warner’s trial (Judge throws out case against climate activist who held sign on jurors’ rights, 22 April) being thrown out on the basis of jurors having the right to acquit a defendant based on their conscience, relates directly back to the so-called conscience clause introduced by a number of Quakers, including my grandfather, John He
  
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• Kremlin rejects US claims Russia used ‘chemical weapon’ in Ukraine

  02-05-2024 17:23 via defencetalk.com
  
  DefenceTalkThe Kremlin on Thursday rejected allegations by the United States that Russian forces had used a “chemical weapon” in Ukraine and blasted new sanctions targeting Moscow’s key trading partners. The US State Department said Wednesday that Russia used “the chemical weapon chloropicrin” against Ukrainian forces. “As always, such accusations sound completely baseless and unsubstantiated,” Kremlin […]https://www.defencetalk.com/kremlin-reject
  
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• China’s new aircraft carrier conducts first sea trials: state media

  02-05-2024 17:20 via defencetalk.com
  
  DefenceTalkChina’s Fujian aircraft carrier took to the water for maiden sea trials on Wednesday, state media said, a key next step in a vast naval build-up by Beijing as it carves out a more assertive role for itself in the Pacific and beyond. The Fujian is China’s third aircraft carrier after the Liaoning and the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/chinas-new-aircraft-carrier-conducts-first-sea-trials-state-media-80244/
  
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• Manta Ray UUV moves closer to operational readiness after successful tests

  02-05-2024 17:16 via defencetalk.com
  DefenceTalkIn February and March 2024, the Manta Ray uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) prototype, developed by Northrop Grumman, underwent comprehensive in-water testing off Southern California’s coast. The tests assessed the UUV’s hydrodynamic performance, including submerged operations employing its various propulsion and steering modes such as buoyancy, propellers, and control surfaces. “Our successful, full-scale Manta Ray testing […]https://www.defencetalk.com/manta
  
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• Minister ‘sorry’ as veterans find ID cards not valid for English elections

  02-05-2024 15:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Johnny Mercer says he will ‘do all I can’ to change rules after veteran turned away from polling stationThe veterans minister has apologised to former military personnel who have been prevented from using their veterans ID in order to vote in the local elections in England on Thursday.Downing Street said it would “look into” changing the controversial new rules, which require photo ID in order to vote, to allow veterans’ ID cards on to the list of valid identificati
  
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• Minister ‘sorry’ as veterans find ID card not valid for English elections

  02-05-2024 15:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Johnny Mercer says he will ‘do all I can’ to change rules after veteran turned away from polling stationThe veterans minister has apologised to former military personnel who have been prevented from using their veterans ID in order to vote in the local elections in England on Thursday.Downing Street said it would “look into” changing the controversial new rules, which require photo ID in order to vote, to allow veterans’ ID cards on to the list of valid identificati
  
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• In 1945, I shared Labour’s goal of world peace. Now, aged 95, I’m closer to despair | Letter

  30-04-2024 18:26 via theguardian.com
  
  Frank Jackson is dispirited to see Britain raising military spending and the main parties banging war drums In 1945, when I made my first contribution to the election of a Labour government, the party manifesto Let Us Face the Future looked forward to a “world of progress and peace”. The UN was founded, in the words of its charter, “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”. And the UK, as a member of the UN security council, was tasked with the implementati
  
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• Military horses injured galloping across London making progress, army says

  29-04-2024 23:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Quaker and Vida, who were among the animals who got loose, were hurt when they collided with vehicles but have now had surgeryThe two military horses who sustained injuries after colliding with vehicles in London are making progress after surgery, the British army has said.Quaker, a Cavalry black, and a grey horse called Vida were seen galloping through the streets of the capital after being frightened by builders moving rubble last Wednesday. The pair bolted while they were on an extended exerc
  
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• Two army veterans will not be prosecuted over 1971 Troubles deaths

  29-04-2024 21:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Prosecutors say there is not enough evidence to convict the former soldiers for the shooting of a girl, 14, and a man, 41, in DerryTwo British army veterans will not be prosecuted in relation to the deaths of a schoolgirl and unarmed civilian in two separate shooting incidents that took place in Northern Ireland over 50 years ago.Prosecutors said that in both cases – the deaths of Annette McGavigan, 14, and William McGreanery, 41, in Derry in 1971 – the available evidence was insuffi
  
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• Northern Ireland legacy act will harm Britain’s reputation, rights panel warns

  29-04-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Report concludes state sheltered soldiers from prosecution for Troubles-era crimes, as amnesty legislation comes into forceBritain’s reputation will be severely damaged by the Northern Ireland “legacy” act, an international panel of human rights experts has warned while calling for the government to scrap moves to grant conditional amnesties for Troubles-era crimes.The warning is being made as the legislation comes into force on Wednesday, offering soldiers and paramilitaries a
  
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• Keir Starmer needs to have a frank conversation with voters about the price of security | Andrew Rawnsley

  28-04-2024 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  If defence spending has to rise, hard choices will have to be madeI’m not certain who minted the phrase, but it is an excellent one to describe the decade or so that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent implosion of the Soviet Union. The affluent liberal democracies were treated to “a holiday from history”.The west started turning its Cold War swords into ploughshares once its principal ideological and military adversary had departed the scene. The collapse o
  
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• Lancashire town locked down ‘after grenade donated to heritage centre’

  27-04-2024 22:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Emergency services corden off large area of Darwen while army bomb disposal unit removes and destroys grenadeA town centre in Lancashire was placed in lockdown on Saturday, with British army bomb disposal experts forced to remove and destroy a grenade.It is understood that a member of the public had donated items to a heritage centre in Darwen which included the grenade. Continue reading...
  
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• UK weighing sending troops into Gaza to distribute aid

  27-04-2024 20:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Risk-filled mission to escort aid from US-built floating pier into combat zone under consideration in defence ministryBritain’s defence ministry is considering sending troops into Gaza to escort trucks of aid being driven off a giant floating pier built by the US military, a UK defence source has said.The pier is due to be completed next month in the eastern Mediterranean, and then it will be pushed towards the Gaza shore. But the US president, Joe Biden, has pledged that American forces m
  
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• Did five frightened horses bolting through London really mean the end was neigh? | Michael Hogan

  27-04-2024 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  It says a lot about our turbulent times that we’ve started seeking omens in random eventsWoah there, cried the nation. Easy, boy. This week’s most arresting visuals came on Wednesday morning when runaway horses brought central London to a standstill. Five working animals from the Household Cavalry, based at Hyde Park barracks, were on exercise when they were spooked by noises from a building site and dramatically broke loose.The equine escapees caused chaos bolting through the capita
  
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• British army unsure if injured runaway horses will return to duties

  27-04-2024 14:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Vida and Quaker from the Household Cavalry are recovering from surgery after four horses broke loose in LondonThe army has said it is too early to know for sure if two military horses that suffered serious injuries after running loose through London will return to duties.Seven horses and six soldiers from the Household Cavalry were on an extended exercise in Belgravia on Wednesday when the horses were spooked by builders moving rubble. Continue reading...
  
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• Fresh inquest recommended into 1971 McGurk’s bar bombing in Belfast

  26-04-2024 16:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Attorney general decides atrocity that killed 15 people merits further scrutiny amid new evidenceNorthern Ireland’s attorney general has recommended a new inquest into a bombing by loyalist paramilitaries that killed 15 people, including two children, in Belfast in 1971.Brenda King decided the massacre at the Catholic-owned McGurk’s bar, in north Belfast, merited fresh scrutiny amid new evidence about the location of army observation posts near the atrocity. Continue reading...
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn’s call for ‘peace’ plays into the hands of anti-western dictators | Letter

  25-04-2024 19:31 via theguardian.com
  
  To support arms for Ukraine and defending Red Sea shipping is part of Labour’s anti-fascist tradition, writes Paul MasonTwo years ago in Madrid, I watched Jeremy Corbyn launch a pan-European campaign to end arms supplies to Ukraine. As he did so, a friend in the Ukrainian army sent me a photo of the machine gun that he’d been issued with: it was made in 1944. If the west had not poured billions of pounds worth of arms and ammunition into Ukraine, its people would have been massacred
  
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• Croatia gets French fighter jets in major arms purchase

  25-04-2024 18:55 via defencetalk.com
  
  DefenceTalkCroatia took delivery Thursday of six Rafale fighter jets it has bought from France in the country’s biggest arms purchase since its 1991 war of independence. The used warplanes — the first part of a 12-jet deal — touched down in the capital Zagreb, heralding a major overall of Croatia’s air force, which is replacing […]https://www.defencetalk.com/croatia-gets-french-fighter-jets-in-major-arms-purchase-80236/
  
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• China warns US military support for Taiwan increases ‘risk of conflict’

  25-04-2024 17:17 via defencetalk.com
  
  DefenceTalkChina warned on Wednesday that US military support for Taiwan only increased the “risk of conflict” along the strait, after the US Congress allocated $8 billion in military support for the island. “I’d like to emphasize that the United States and Taiwan strengthening military ties will not bring about security for Taiwan,” foreign ministry spokesman […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-warns-us-military-support-for-taiwan-increases-risk-of-conflict
  
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• UK’s first ever memorial to LGBT armed forces personnel to be built

  25-04-2024 10:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Fighting with Pride charity will lead work for memorial at National Memorial Arboretum in StaffordshireThe UK’s first memorial commemorating the “lost legion” of LGBT people who have served in the armed forces is to be built at the National Memorial Arboretum.The memorial will be built after a charity spearheading efforts to get justice for veterans affected by the pre-2000 ban on LGBT people serving in the UK armed forces was awarded a £350,000 grant. Continue reading...
  
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• Runaway horses in ‘serious condition’ after bolting through central London

  25-04-2024 09:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Animals ran through rush-hour streets, colliding with vehicles and leaving four people in hospitalTwo of the military horses that broke loose during a morning exercise and bolted through central London on Wednesday are in “serious condition”, a minister has said.The runaway horses, including one white horse drenched in blood, ran through the rush-hour streets of the capital, colliding with vehicles and resulting in four people being taken to hospital. Continue reading...
  
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• Sarah Akinterinwa on Rishi Sunak’s pledge to increase defence spending – cartoon

  24-04-2024 18:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Continue reading...
  
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• Four taken to hospital after military horses break loose in central London

  24-04-2024 14:34 via theguardian.com
  
  Witnesses describe ‘total mayhem’ as horses run through centre of UK capital during rush hourFour people have been taken to hospital after several military horses broke loose during a morning exercise and bolted through central London, colliding with vehicles.Astonished witnesses described “total mayhem” as the runaway horses, including one white horse drenched in blood, ran through the rush-hour streets. Continue reading...
  
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• Military horses running loose in central London caught by police

  24-04-2024 12:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Pictures and videos of riderless horses in centre of English capital shared on social mediaMilitary horses have bolted through central London after a number of the animals got loose.Army personnel and horses have been hurt and vehicles damaged when chaos broke out on Wednesday morning. Reports indicated that up to five people have been injured. Continue reading...
  
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• All Nato nations should match UK’s defence spending target, says Shapps

  24-04-2024 11:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Defence secretary says PM will make case for spending boost at Nato’s 75th anniversary summit later this yearUK politics – latest updatesAll Nato countries should boost their defence spending to 2.5% of their GDP to meet the demands of a “more dangerous world”, the UK’s defence secretary has said.Grant Shapps said the prime minister would make the case at Nato’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington DC this summer, after accepting that while the UK was the big
  
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• Rishi Sunak says increased military budget puts UK spending on 'war footing' – video

  23-04-2024 17:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Rishi Sunak has announced that UK defence spending would be boosted to 2.5% of GDP by 2030. 'Over the next six years, we’ll invest an additional £75bn in our defence. And it will be fully funded with no increase in borrowing or debt,' he said on a visit to Poland, adding that UK spending would be put on a 'war footing'UK to boost defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, Sunak saysUK politics – latest updates Continue reading...
  
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• UK to boost defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, Sunak says

  23-04-2024 15:47 via theguardian.com
  
  PM announces plan to increase spending to £87bn a year by 2030 on visit to PolandUK politics – latest updatesBritain will boost its defence spending to 2.5% of national output by the end of the decade, Rishi Sunak has announced on a visit to Poland, as he warned the UK had to be equipped to meet the challenges of an increasingly dangerous world.The prime minister’s plan, under which the UK would steadily increase defence spending to £87bn a year by 2030, comes after month
  
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