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American air defense capabilities are stretched thinly around the globe, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has claimed

The US has no Patriot missile systems to spare for Ukraine, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has told MSNBC.

The official was responding to reported comments by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Addressing a virtual meeting of the so-called Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Friday, Zelensky demanded “at least seven” Patriot batteries from his Western backers. Kiev’s main sponsor, however, has indicated that it has none to spare.

“The US Patriot systems right now are being deployed around the world, including in the Middle East, to protect US troops,” Sullivan said.

“If we can unlock further American Patriot batteries we would send them. But we are doing a lot of the supplying of the actual missiles that go into those batteries that get fired,” the official insisted.

The US is not willing to risk undermining its own security, but it is working around the clock to pressure the EU, NATO, and other partners to share their air defense capabilities with Ukraine, Sullivan added.

The Pentagon has pledged additional Patriot munitions as part of a “historic” $6 billion assistance package announced on Friday. However, the interceptors could take months or even years to arrive, as the batch will not come from existing Pentagon stockpiles. Instead, the announcement “represents the beginning of a contracting process” with the US defense industry.

Manufactured by US arms giant Raytheon, a single MIM-104 Patriot battery costs over $1 billion. It consists of multiple truck-mounted units, including power, radar, antenna, engagement control and other support vehicles, as well as up to eight launchers with interceptor missiles.

The US has produced over 1,100 Patriot launchers over the years. It is estimated to have hundreds in active service and in storage, but has only sent a single battery to Ukraine. Germany has donated two more full batteries, while the Netherlands has shared two individual launchers.

“In the meantime, what we’re going to do is work with European partners and partners in other parts of the world to get them to provide additional air defense capability to Ukraine,” Sullivan added.

In addition to Germany and the Netherlands, other European nations that operate Patriot systems include Poland, Spain, Greece, and Romania. While Berlin recently promised to supply yet another Patriot battery to Ukraine, Warsaw said earlier this week that it has no air defense systems to spare. 

Spain has stated it can only provide a “small number” of Patriot interceptor missiles from its stocks, but not the actual systems. Greece has also resisted outside pressure, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has insisted no action will be taken “that could even remotely endanger our nation’s deterrent capabilities or air defense.”

American air defense capabilities are stretched thinly around the globe, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has claimed

The US has no Patriot missile systems to spare for Ukraine, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has told MSNBC.

The official was responding to reported comments by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Addressing a virtual meeting of the so-called Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Friday, Zelensky demanded “at least seven” Patriot batteries from his Western backers. Kiev’s main sponsor, however, has indicated that it has none to spare.

“The US Patriot systems right now are being deployed around the world, including in the Middle East, to protect US troops,” Sullivan said.

“If we can unlock further American Patriot batteries we would send them. But we are doing a lot of the supplying of the actual missiles that go into those batteries that get fired,” the official insisted.

The US is not willing to risk undermining its own security, but it is working around the clock to pressure the EU, NATO, and other partners to share their air defense capabilities with Ukraine, Sullivan added.

The Pentagon has pledged additional Patriot munitions as part of a “historic” $6 billion assistance package announced on Friday. However, the interceptors could take months or even years to arrive, as the batch will not come from existing Pentagon stockpiles. Instead, the announcement “represents the beginning of a contracting process” with the US defense industry.

Manufactured by US arms giant Raytheon, a single MIM-104 Patriot battery costs over $1 billion. It consists of multiple truck-mounted units, including power, radar, antenna, engagement control and other support vehicles, as well as up to eight launchers with interceptor missiles.

The US has produced over 1,100 Patriot launchers over the years. It is estimated to have hundreds in active service and in storage, but has only sent a single battery to Ukraine. Germany has donated two more full batteries, while the Netherlands has shared two individual launchers.

“In the meantime, what we’re going to do is work with European partners and partners in other parts of the world to get them to provide additional air defense capability to Ukraine,” Sullivan added.

In addition to Germany and the Netherlands, other European nations that operate Patriot systems include Poland, Spain, Greece, and Romania. While Berlin recently promised to supply yet another Patriot battery to Ukraine, Warsaw said earlier this week that it has no air defense systems to spare. 

Spain has stated it can only provide a “small number” of Patriot interceptor missiles from its stocks, but not the actual systems. Greece has also resisted outside pressure, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has insisted no action will be taken “that could even remotely endanger our nation’s deterrent capabilities or air defense.”

American air defense capabilities are stretched thinly around the globe, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has claimed

The US has no Patriot missile systems to spare for Ukraine, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has told MSNBC.

The official was responding to reported comments by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Addressing a virtual meeting of the so-called Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Friday, Zelensky demanded “at least seven” Patriot batteries from his Western backers. Kiev’s main sponsor, however, has indicated that it has none to spare.

“The US Patriot systems right now are being deployed around the world, including in the Middle East, to protect US troops,” Sullivan said.

“If we can unlock further American Patriot batteries we would send them. But we are doing a lot of the supplying of the actual missiles that go into those batteries that get fired,” the official insisted.

The US is not willing to risk undermining its own security, but it is working around the clock to pressure the EU, NATO, and other partners to share their air defense capabilities with Ukraine, Sullivan added.

The Pentagon has pledged additional Patriot munitions as part of a “historic” $6 billion assistance package announced on Friday. However, the interceptors could take months or even years to arrive, as the batch will not come from existing Pentagon stockpiles. Instead, the announcement “represents the beginning of a contracting process” with the US defense industry.

Manufactured by US arms giant Raytheon, a single MIM-104 Patriot battery costs over $1 billion. It consists of multiple truck-mounted units, including power, radar, antenna, engagement control and other support vehicles, as well as up to eight launchers with interceptor missiles.

The US has produced over 1,100 Patriot launchers over the years. It is estimated to have hundreds in active service and in storage, but has only sent a single battery to Ukraine. Germany has donated two more full batteries, while the Netherlands has shared two individual launchers.

“In the meantime, what we’re going to do is work with European partners and partners in other parts of the world to get them to provide additional air defense capability to Ukraine,” Sullivan added.

In addition to Germany and the Netherlands, other European nations that operate Patriot systems include Poland, Spain, Greece, and Romania. While Berlin recently promised to supply yet another Patriot battery to Ukraine, Warsaw said earlier this week that it has no air defense systems to spare. 

Spain has stated it can only provide a “small number” of Patriot interceptor missiles from its stocks, but not the actual systems. Greece has also resisted outside pressure, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has insisted no action will be taken “that could even remotely endanger our nation’s deterrent capabilities or air defense.”

The plan to target menthol flavored products had divided the African-American community, the Democrats’ traditional base

The White House has indefinitely postponed plans to ban menthol cigarettes, after polls showed a drastic drop in African-American support for President Joe Biden ahead of the November election, according to the Wall Street Journal.

About 81% of black smokers used menthols as of 2020, the year when Biden got 91% of the black vote. Recent polls showed only 68% of African Americans planning to support the Democrat this time around, however.

“It’s clear that there are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement on Friday, noting the feedback the proposed ban received from civil rights and criminal justice reform groups.

The ban was first proposed in April 2021, as part of Biden’s “Cancer Moonshot” initiative. The White House argued that outlawing menthol cigarettes would help “people of color” improve health outcomes. Menthols account for more than 30% of all cigarettes sold in the US each year, and are the most popular among black and Hispanic smokers. 

The plan ended up sharply dividing the Democratic voter base, however. Biden’s former domestic policy adviser Susan Rice has argued that delaying the ban “puts more Black lives at risk,” while the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) endorsed the ban on flavored tobacco products as a “social justice issue.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) countered that the ban would create a black market for menthols and drive up negative interactions between police and African Americans, all of which would “disproportionately impact people of color, as well as prioritize criminalization over public health and harm reduction.”

Altria Group and Reynolds American, the two largest US cigarette makers, also lobbied against the ban. 

Canada effectively banned menthols by 2018 and the EU did the same in 2020. A study from the University of Waterloo in Canada, based on those bans, projected that the White House proposal would cause 1.3 million smokers to quit within two years, including some 380,000 African Americans.

“The science is clear that there will be a massive health benefit from removing menthol cigarettes,” said Mitch Zeller, former director of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products. Zeller suggested that political considerations were behind the Biden administration’s decision.

According to the FDA, it is “likely that menthol cigarettes pose a public health risk above that seen with non-menthol cigarettes.”

“This is a commonsense plan which could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives,” said Congresswoman Robin Kelly, an Illinois Democrat who chairs the Health Braintrust of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Menthols are currently banned in two US states, California and Massachusetts, and over 100 municipalities across the country.

The plan to target menthol flavored products had divided the African-American community, the Democrats’ traditional base

The White House has indefinitely postponed plans to ban menthol cigarettes, after polls showed a drastic drop in African-American support for President Joe Biden ahead of the November election, according to the Wall Street Journal.

About 81% of black smokers used menthols as of 2020, the year when Biden got 91% of the black vote. Recent polls showed only 68% of African Americans planning to support the Democrat this time around, however.

“It’s clear that there are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement on Friday, noting the feedback the proposed ban received from civil rights and criminal justice reform groups.

The ban was first proposed in April 2021, as part of Biden’s “Cancer Moonshot” initiative. The White House argued that outlawing menthol cigarettes would help “people of color” improve health outcomes. Menthols account for more than 30% of all cigarettes sold in the US each year, and are the most popular among black and Hispanic smokers. 

The plan ended up sharply dividing the Democratic voter base, however. Biden’s former domestic policy adviser Susan Rice has argued that delaying the ban “puts more Black lives at risk,” while the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) endorsed the ban on flavored tobacco products as a “social justice issue.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) countered that the ban would create a black market for menthols and drive up negative interactions between police and African Americans, all of which would “disproportionately impact people of color, as well as prioritize criminalization over public health and harm reduction.”

Altria Group and Reynolds American, the two largest US cigarette makers, also lobbied against the ban. 

Canada effectively banned menthols by 2018 and the EU did the same in 2020. A study from the University of Waterloo in Canada, based on those bans, projected that the White House proposal would cause 1.3 million smokers to quit within two years, including some 380,000 African Americans.

“The science is clear that there will be a massive health benefit from removing menthol cigarettes,” said Mitch Zeller, former director of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products. Zeller suggested that political considerations were behind the Biden administration’s decision.

According to the FDA, it is “likely that menthol cigarettes pose a public health risk above that seen with non-menthol cigarettes.”

“This is a commonsense plan which could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives,” said Congresswoman Robin Kelly, an Illinois Democrat who chairs the Health Braintrust of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Menthols are currently banned in two US states, California and Massachusetts, and over 100 municipalities across the country.

Charges in London warehouse fire are the first under the new National Security Act

British authorities have pressed charges for the first time under the National Security Act introduced last year, accusing a Leicestershire man of organizing two arson attacks on behalf of Russian intelligence, UK media revealed on Friday.

Judge Daniel Sternberg of the Westminster Magistrates Court has also lifted reporting restrictions imposed on April 20, allowing news outlets to identify the suspects and the charges against them.

The government claims 20-year-old Dylan Earl of Elmesthorpe acted as a “conduit” for Russian intelligence and recruited men to set fire to two warehouses in east London last month.

“He was recruited online by those acting on behalf of Russia and the terrorist organization the Wagner Group to recruit others and engage in malign activity,” Prosecutor David Cawthorne told reporters. “The arson which caused a significant fire in a commercial premises was intended to send out the message that if you assist Ukraine there will be punishment to follow.”

London designated the Wagner Group as a terrorist organization last September – a month after the outfit’s head, Russian businessman Evgeny Prigozhin, perished in a plane crash. Any evidence of Earl’s connection to Wagner or Russia has yet to be presented.

Two units of an industrial park in Leyton were damaged by fire on March 21. It took eight fire engines and 60 firefighters to put out the blaze, according to the media. Prosecutors said the fire was set deliberately, using gasoline as an accelerant.

While the charging documents did not specify who owned the warehouses that burned up, company records identified them as Oddisey and Meest UK, parcel delivery services owned by British-Ukrainian businessman Mikhail Prikhodko and his wife Jelena Boikova.

“This is a highly significant moment and investigation for us,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism command, noting that it was “the first time that we have arrested, and now charged anyone using the powers and legislation brought in under the National Security Act.”

In addition to Dylan Earl, the NSA was invoked against Jake Reeves, 22, of Croydon, for allegedly “agreeing to accept a material benefit from a foreign intelligence service.” 

Reeves was also charged with aggravated arson, along with Paul English, 60, of Roehampton and Nii Kojo Mensah, 21, of Thornton Heath.

The fifth defendant in the case was identified as 22-year-old Dmitrijus Paulauska, a friend of Reeves from Croydon, who was charged with having information about terrorist acts but not reporting it to the authorities. 

All five men are scheduled to appear for a hearing at the Old Bailey on May 10. They have not yet entered any pleas in the case. According to Murphy, the investigation “remains ongoing.”

Charges in London warehouse fire are the first under the new National Security Act

British authorities have pressed charges for the first time under the National Security Act introduced last year, accusing a Leicestershire man of organizing two arson attacks on behalf of Russian intelligence, UK media revealed on Friday.

Judge Daniel Sternberg of the Westminster Magistrates Court has also lifted reporting restrictions imposed on April 20, allowing news outlets to identify the suspects and the charges against them.

The government claims 20-year-old Dylan Earl of Elmesthorpe acted as a “conduit” for Russian intelligence and recruited men to set fire to two warehouses in east London last month.

“He was recruited online by those acting on behalf of Russia and the terrorist organization the Wagner Group to recruit others and engage in malign activity,” Prosecutor David Cawthorne told reporters. “The arson which caused a significant fire in a commercial premises was intended to send out the message that if you assist Ukraine there will be punishment to follow.”

London designated the Wagner Group as a terrorist organization last September – a month after the outfit’s head, Russian businessman Evgeny Prigozhin, perished in a plane crash. Any evidence of Earl’s connection to Wagner or Russia has yet to be presented.

Two units of an industrial park in Leyton were damaged by fire on March 21. It took eight fire engines and 60 firefighters to put out the blaze, according to the media. Prosecutors said the fire was set deliberately, using gasoline as an accelerant.

While the charging documents did not specify who owned the warehouses that burned up, company records identified them as Oddisey and Meest UK, parcel delivery services owned by British-Ukrainian businessman Mikhail Prikhodko and his wife Jelena Boikova.

“This is a highly significant moment and investigation for us,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism command, noting that it was “the first time that we have arrested, and now charged anyone using the powers and legislation brought in under the National Security Act.”

In addition to Dylan Earl, the NSA was invoked against Jake Reeves, 22, of Croydon, for allegedly “agreeing to accept a material benefit from a foreign intelligence service.” 

Reeves was also charged with aggravated arson, along with Paul English, 60, of Roehampton and Nii Kojo Mensah, 21, of Thornton Heath.

The fifth defendant in the case was identified as 22-year-old Dmitrijus Paulauska, a friend of Reeves from Croydon, who was charged with having information about terrorist acts but not reporting it to the authorities. 

All five men are scheduled to appear for a hearing at the Old Bailey on May 10. They have not yet entered any pleas in the case. According to Murphy, the investigation “remains ongoing.”

The online influencer’s court date in Romania has not yet been set

A Bucharest court has moved to try Andrew Tate, the Anglo-American social media influencer, who has been charged with rape, human trafficking, and running a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

Tate, 37, and his brother Tristan were arrested in December 2022. Both men were indicted last June, along with two Romanian women alleged to have been their accomplices. The accused have denied all charges and challenged the indictment.

However on Friday, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled it would allow the case to go forward, without setting a trial date. L

awyers for the Tate brothers have criticized the decsion to go to trial.

“The ruling issued by the preliminary chamber judge lacks legal basis and reasoning,” said Eugen Vidineac, “We have filed a strong appeal as we believe the ruling to be unlawful.”

Another attorney, Ioan Gliga, told AP that the arguments challenging the criminal investigation and the indictments “did not receive the necessary attention in the preliminary hearing,” but that the Tates’ defense was confident that the appeals court will rule in their favor.

READ MORE: Andrew Tate and brother arrested in Romania

The brothers were jailed for three months before being moved to house arrest. Since then, the courts have allowed them to move around Romania but denied their petition to travel within the EU.

Last month, Romania agreed to extradite the Tates to the UK over allegations of “sexual aggression” dating back to 2012-2015, but only after the domestic legal proceedings have concluded.

The online influencer’s court date in Romania has not yet been set

A Bucharest court has moved to try Andrew Tate, the Anglo-American social media influencer, who has been charged with rape, human trafficking, and running a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

Tate, 37, and his brother Tristan were arrested in December 2022. Both men were indicted last June, along with two Romanian women alleged to have been their accomplices. The accused have denied all charges and challenged the indictment.

However on Friday, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled it would allow the case to go forward, without setting a trial date. L

awyers for the Tate brothers have criticized the decsion to go to trial.

“The ruling issued by the preliminary chamber judge lacks legal basis and reasoning,” said Eugen Vidineac, “We have filed a strong appeal as we believe the ruling to be unlawful.”

Another attorney, Ioan Gliga, told AP that the arguments challenging the criminal investigation and the indictments “did not receive the necessary attention in the preliminary hearing,” but that the Tates’ defense was confident that the appeals court will rule in their favor.

READ MORE: Andrew Tate and brother arrested in Romania

The brothers were jailed for three months before being moved to house arrest. Since then, the courts have allowed them to move around Romania but denied their petition to travel within the EU.

Last month, Romania agreed to extradite the Tates to the UK over allegations of “sexual aggression” dating back to 2012-2015, but only after the domestic legal proceedings have concluded.

The online influencer’s court date in Romania has not yet been set

A Bucharest court has moved to try Andrew Tate, the Anglo-American social media influencer, who has been charged with rape, human trafficking, and running a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

Tate, 37, and his brother Tristan were arrested in December 2022. Both men were indicted last June, along with two Romanian women alleged to have been their accomplices. The accused have denied all charges and challenged the indictment.

However on Friday, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled it would allow the case to go forward, without setting a trial date. L

awyers for the Tate brothers have criticized the decsion to go to trial.

“The ruling issued by the preliminary chamber judge lacks legal basis and reasoning,” said Eugen Vidineac, “We have filed a strong appeal as we believe the ruling to be unlawful.”

Another attorney, Ioan Gliga, told AP that the arguments challenging the criminal investigation and the indictments “did not receive the necessary attention in the preliminary hearing,” but that the Tates’ defense was confident that the appeals court will rule in their favor.

READ MORE: Andrew Tate and brother arrested in Romania

The brothers were jailed for three months before being moved to house arrest. Since then, the courts have allowed them to move around Romania but denied their petition to travel within the EU.

Last month, Romania agreed to extradite the Tates to the UK over allegations of “sexual aggression” dating back to 2012-2015, but only after the domestic legal proceedings have concluded.

Interceptor missiles will reportedly be sent, as there are no launchers to spare

Madrid will send Kiev missiles for the Patriot air defense system, due to intense pressure from the EU and NATO, the daily El Pais has reported, citing government sources.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has demanded six US-made launchers from NATO, one of them being a Spanish system currently deployed to the Turkish-Syrian border, according to the outlet. Madrid has refused, but will instead transfer “a small number” of missiles to Kiev instead.

Spain operates only three Patriot batteries, purchased in used condition from Germany between 2004 and 2014. One of them has been deployed near the Turkish city of Adana since 2013, while the other two are in Valencia. One of those is actually being used to train Ukrainian soldiers in operating the system, El Pais said.

The newspaper’s sources did not say how many missiles Spain intended to send, only that Madrid keeps a “war reserve” of about fifty and that they are very expensive, costing about a million euros apiece. Spain is also planning to refurbish ten more Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks and send them to Ukraine, in addition to the ten delivered last year.

The Spanish Defense Ministry wants to buy four of the newest Patriot models, the PAC-3. Last October, the US greenlit the potential sale, valued at €2.6 billion ($2.78 billion), but the government in Madrid has not yet approved the contract. Under the best circumstances, the new batteries would not be available until 2028 at the earliest.

Supplying other air defense systems to Ukraine is “problematic,” according to the outlet, because Spain has none to spare. Madrid only has four NASAMS batteries, with one permanently stationed in Latvia and another on rotation in Estonia. Ammunition for the 12 Hawk launchers provided to Ukraine has long run out, as it is not being manufactured anymore. The Spanish government has already agreed to prioritize deliveries of domestically produced ammunition to Kiev, over replenishing the “almost empty” army arsenals, said El Pais.

Germany has just announced it would send another Patriot battery – the third so far – to Ukraine, while the Netherlands said it would be willing to fund the purchase of interceptors from third countries. Greece has been under pressure to send some of its Patriot launchers as well, though Athens has not yet given in.

Pressure on the European members of the US-led bloc has lessened somewhat after the US Congress passed the $61 billion bill to fund Ukraine, according to the Spanish daily.

Russia has repeatedly said that new deliveries of weapons to Ukraine won’t change the battlefield dynamic and will only result in more needless Ukrainian deaths. 

Interceptor missiles will reportedly be sent, as there are no launchers to spare

Madrid will send Kiev missiles for the Patriot air defense system, due to intense pressure from the EU and NATO, the daily El Pais has reported, citing government sources.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has demanded six US-made launchers from NATO, one of them being a Spanish system currently deployed to the Turkish-Syrian border, according to the outlet. Madrid has refused, but will instead transfer “a small number” of missiles to Kiev instead.

Spain operates only three Patriot batteries, purchased in used condition from Germany between 2004 and 2014. One of them has been deployed near the Turkish city of Adana since 2013, while the other two are in Valencia. One of those is actually being used to train Ukrainian soldiers in operating the system, El Pais said.

The newspaper’s sources did not say how many missiles Spain intended to send, only that Madrid keeps a “war reserve” of about fifty and that they are very expensive, costing about a million euros apiece. Spain is also planning to refurbish ten more Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks and send them to Ukraine, in addition to the ten delivered last year.

The Spanish Defense Ministry wants to buy four of the newest Patriot models, the PAC-3. Last October, the US greenlit the potential sale, valued at €2.6 billion ($2.78 billion), but the government in Madrid has not yet approved the contract. Under the best circumstances, the new batteries would not be available until 2028 at the earliest.

Supplying other air defense systems to Ukraine is “problematic,” according to the outlet, because Spain has none to spare. Madrid only has four NASAMS batteries, with one permanently stationed in Latvia and another on rotation in Estonia. Ammunition for the 12 Hawk launchers provided to Ukraine has long run out, as it is not being manufactured anymore. The Spanish government has already agreed to prioritize deliveries of domestically produced ammunition to Kiev, over replenishing the “almost empty” army arsenals, said El Pais.

Germany has just announced it would send another Patriot battery – the third so far – to Ukraine, while the Netherlands said it would be willing to fund the purchase of interceptors from third countries. Greece has been under pressure to send some of its Patriot launchers as well, though Athens has not yet given in.

Pressure on the European members of the US-led bloc has lessened somewhat after the US Congress passed the $61 billion bill to fund Ukraine, according to the Spanish daily.

Russia has repeatedly said that new deliveries of weapons to Ukraine won’t change the battlefield dynamic and will only result in more needless Ukrainian deaths. 

London’s espionage chief claims foreign states have been targeting UK universities

Academics and researchers at British universities will be vetted by the nation’s security services as part of government plans to crack down on alleged Chinese espionage, according to The Times.

The measures were reportedly announced following a meeting on Thursday between MI5 Director General Ken McCallum and the vice-chancellors of two dozen leading universities, including Oxford and Cambridge.

McCallum reportedly warned that hostile states are actively targeting universities to steal technology that can “deliver their authoritarian, military and commercial priorities.”

According to the M15 chief, a secret review into the vulnerabilities of the UK’s higher education sector has shown that countries like China are deploying both “overt and covert mechanisms” to “acquire intellectual property and steal advantage.”

Consultations are underway on a new system of government vetting that would see academics who have access to sensitive research face background checks by security services, according to the report.

The government will also be looking at new funding for higher education institutions to increase security around sensitive sites. Universities could also reportedly be required to consult with the security services when entering into funding partnerships and collaborations with foreign institutions.

Alicia Kearns, chairwoman of the foreign affairs select committee, said in a post on X that academia has for “too long” pretended it has “no role to play in our national security” and could operate “free from geo-strategic realities.”

“Significant evidence indicates a systematic attempt by the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate British academia and exfiltrate critical research, capabilities and technologies,” she said.

Beijing has repeatedly denied any espionage-related accusations, branding them as “malicious smears.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said this week during a news briefing: “We would like to reiterate that the claim that China could be stealing UK intelligence is a groundless accusation and malicious smear, and we firmly oppose that accusation. Such malicious manipulation aimed at China should stop.”

MI5 had previously identified more than 50 Chinese college students enrolled at UK universities which it said were linked to the People’s Liberation Army, who have left the country in recent years as a result of a crackdown on what the spy agency described as the theft of defense-related technology and other sensitive research materials.

London’s espionage chief claims foreign states have been targeting UK universities

Academics and researchers at British universities will be vetted by the nation’s security services as part of government plans to crack down on alleged Chinese espionage, according to The Times.

The measures were reportedly announced following a meeting on Thursday between MI5 Director General Ken McCallum and the vice-chancellors of two dozen leading universities, including Oxford and Cambridge.

McCallum reportedly warned that hostile states are actively targeting universities to steal technology that can “deliver their authoritarian, military and commercial priorities.”

According to the M15 chief, a secret review into the vulnerabilities of the UK’s higher education sector has shown that countries like China are deploying both “overt and covert mechanisms” to “acquire intellectual property and steal advantage.”

Consultations are underway on a new system of government vetting that would see academics who have access to sensitive research face background checks by security services, according to the report.

The government will also be looking at new funding for higher education institutions to increase security around sensitive sites. Universities could also reportedly be required to consult with the security services when entering into funding partnerships and collaborations with foreign institutions.

Alicia Kearns, chairwoman of the foreign affairs select committee, said in a post on X that academia has for “too long” pretended it has “no role to play in our national security” and could operate “free from geo-strategic realities.”

“Significant evidence indicates a systematic attempt by the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate British academia and exfiltrate critical research, capabilities and technologies,” she said.

Beijing has repeatedly denied any espionage-related accusations, branding them as “malicious smears.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said this week during a news briefing: “We would like to reiterate that the claim that China could be stealing UK intelligence is a groundless accusation and malicious smear, and we firmly oppose that accusation. Such malicious manipulation aimed at China should stop.”

MI5 had previously identified more than 50 Chinese college students enrolled at UK universities which it said were linked to the People’s Liberation Army, who have left the country in recent years as a result of a crackdown on what the spy agency described as the theft of defense-related technology and other sensitive research materials.

The French president has given a speech to highlight the EU’s achievements – but there’s little to celebrate

“We must be clear about the fact that our Europe today is mortal,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a speech this week. “She can die, and it depends only on our choices. But these choices are to be made now.”

What Macron portrays as an urgent need to resuscitate the EU comes after he himself has spent nearly seven years in power, having even been president of the Council of the European Union in 2022. He’s been credited for the nomination and confirmation of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, described by Forbes last year as the world’s most powerful woman. Or, as some might say, an unelected, omnipotent bureaucrat whose supranational authoritarianism supersedes the democratic process of member states. Or, as others might now say after Macron’s address, the Nurse Ratched at the EU’s deathbed.

Macron’s interminable speech should have been one big mea culpa on behalf of the EU’s establishment class. Tell us how you screwed up. At least then we’d know that there was hope for an actual course correction rather than just more of the same.

Instead, Macron argued that the EU hasn’t ever been a vassal of Washington. Saying that you’re not a vassal is exactly like having to tell people you’re not a prostitute. It’s not something that one has to go around saying if the optics aren’t already glaring. Queen Ursula is basically America’s viceroy in Europe at this point, and Macron himself can’t seem to manage to carve out any positions independent of the US that last longer than the time it takes for Uncle Sam to reach over and administer a transatlantic spanking.

Macron’s speech was a fascinating blend of delusion and insecurity. He chose Paris’ Sorbonne University as the venue. The theme? “Stocktake of European action.” Sure, tell us what’s really going on as though you had a clue – and an actual strategy and vision that wasn’t subjected to the constant whims and trends of the moment or any given election cycle.

Macron gave a similar speech at the Sorbonne in September 2017. Why there? Because as Macron said last time, “living collectively was the ideal of Robert de Sorbon” – the theologian who founded the university. It just so happens that circling the drain collectively is what the EU is really all about right now, thanks to the special brand of iron-fisted incompetence of those in charge. There’s a European Parliament election coming up, and the populists are surging in the polls right now.

The first step to recovery is admitting that there’s a problem. Macron, however, apparently feels compelled to do the opposite of that, and talk about all of the EU’s failures as though they’re successes. Like counterterrorism, for instance. France has made such great progress on that front that the country is now back on the highest alert just days before it's slated to host the Paris Olympics, including an open air Opening Ceremony along the Seine. It barely seems to have ever been downgraded from high alert; the initially white terror warning signs have been turning yellow from years of light exposure in the windows of buildings where they’re now permanent fixtures. Macron, however, highlighted the role of a new bureaucratic entity called the ECOFIN Council. Because nothing deters terrorists more than meetings.

In addressing Africa, Macron underscored the importance of another meeting: the “European Union - Africa Summit” held two years ago. The sparse content in the Africa section of Macron’s talk could be explained by minor details like French troops being drop-kicked back across the Mediterranean by African countries after French stability missions resulted in coups (which are kind of the opposite of stability).

Clearly not deterred by any inconvenient discrepancies between reality and projected fantasy, Macron’s speech also celebrated addressing the migration challenge, which the EU has basically paid to outsource to countries like Turkey, Tunisia, Mauritania and Egypt. The last I checked, none of these countries were actually in Europe. But the EU has outsourced almost everything else by this point, so they may as well.

Macron talked about the EU leading the ecological and environmental transition. To what, exactly? Poverty, probably. Just ask the farmers straitjacketed by Brussels' climate change diktats, their farmland being spied on by satellites to ensure compliance, how great that is. He brought up the EU’s energy sovereignty and reindustrialization. Not so fast; Germany in particular is still busy going in the opposite direction and de-industrializing. So it might be a while before the EU’s economic engine comes out on the flip side.

The EU has become more dependent on pricier American liquefied natural gas, which sounds like the opposite of sovereignty. France’s own LNG imports from the country the EU implies an explicit need to be sovereign from — Russia — are now up 75% in the first few months of this year, compared to a year ago. France was Russia’s top customer for LNG in Europe last February, according to a Politico report. For all the noise it makes, it’s not like the EU has stopped importing gas from Russia. They just replaced their Russian pipeline gas imports with Russian LNG – a billion dollars worth of Russian arctic liquified natural gas into the EU every month, to be exact. In 2023, the bloc was actually still importing 15% of its pipeline gas from Russia, according to Reuters. While that’s down from 45% before the conflict in Ukraine, it still might come as a shock to people who were actually listening to Brussels brag about how they were sticking it to Putin by depriving him of energy revenues, that they were still importing any pipeline gas at all. The NGO Global Witness reported last year that the EU really just pivoted to importing Russian liquefied natural gas, instead of pipeline gas, with Russian LNG imports into the EU jumping 40% since the onset of the conflict — even more than in each of the previous two years. 

Speaking of Ukraine, Macron said that “the sina qua non condition for our security is that Russia does not win the war of aggression it is waging against Ukraine. This is essential.” What’s more essential is that Macron should spell out what Ukraine “winning” actually means. It would seem that Ukraine not continuing to senselessly grind down its demographics should be seen as a win, given the non-zero chance of a battlefield game-changer that risks igniting a Third World War. Macron, however, clearly has other ideas, what with all his cosplaying as Napoleon Bonaparte and fantasizing about smoking Russians by openly talking about sending French troops to Ukraine.

Not that Ukraine is actually in the EU, but Macron now explains that the EU has “started to rethink our geography within the boundaries of our neighborhood.” Imagine the EU’s reaction to Russia uttering those same words.

In the end, however, this is just another speech, calibrated for maximum impact ahead of the upcoming June EU parliamentary elections. Like much of what EU leaders such as Macron are peddling nowadays, firehosing reality and diluting it with ideological rhetoric might tug on a few hearts, but won’t win over any brain that isn’t totally shot full of holes like a block of Comté.

A network of nonprofits has reportedly paid student groups organizing tent cities in colleges, according to the New York Post

Several student groups that have organized protest “camps” at major US universities have received money from activist billionaire George Soros, the New York Post reported on Friday.

Protests that began earlier this month at Columbia University in New York City have since spread to 40 universities and colleges in the US and Canada, including Harvard, Yale and UC Berkeley. The Columbia protest was organized by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Within Our Lifetime.

All three have received funding from Soros’s Open Society Foundations through a network of nonprofits, the Post claimed, citing its own research. Other major donors to the student groups were identified as the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and former Wall Street banker Felice Gelman.

None of the groups responded to the Post’s requests for comment.

The outlet also named three “fellows” of the Soros-funded US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), paid several thousand dollars to organize campaigns on campus. Two of them are former interns for congressional Democrats.

Activists have demanded that universities “divest” from companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft, as well as Lockheed Martin, that have contracts with the Israeli government. They also want the US government to stop giving any more money to Israel, citing its “genocide” of the Palestinians in Gaza.

Leader of the pro-Israel group Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, blamed the protests on “campus proxies” of Iran in an interview with MSNBC this week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that “anti-Semitic mobs have taken over leading universities” in the US and were calling for “the annihilation of Israel.” He compared the protesters to German Nazis in the 1930s and said their actions had to be “condemned and condemned unequivocally.” 

Israel sent troops into Gaza after a series of deadly raids by Hamas on October 7 last year, killing an estimated 1,200 Israelis. Netanyahu has vowed to completely destroy the Gaza-based Palestinian group. So far, over 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military operation and another 80,000 wounded. Much of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed as well.

A network of nonprofits has reportedly paid student groups organizing tent cities in colleges, according to the New York Post

Several student groups that have organized protest “camps” at major US universities have received money from activist billionaire George Soros, the New York Post reported on Friday.

Protests that began earlier this month at Columbia University in New York City have since spread to 40 universities and colleges in the US and Canada, including Harvard, Yale and UC Berkeley. The Columbia protest was organized by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Within Our Lifetime.

All three have received funding from Soros’s Open Society Foundations through a network of nonprofits, the Post claimed, citing its own research. Other major donors to the student groups were identified as the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and former Wall Street banker Felice Gelman.

None of the groups responded to the Post’s requests for comment.

The outlet also named three “fellows” of the Soros-funded US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), paid several thousand dollars to organize campaigns on campus. Two of them are former interns for congressional Democrats.

Activists have demanded that universities “divest” from companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft, as well as Lockheed Martin, that have contracts with the Israeli government. They also want the US government to stop giving any more money to Israel, citing its “genocide” of the Palestinians in Gaza.

Leader of the pro-Israel group Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, blamed the protests on “campus proxies” of Iran in an interview with MSNBC this week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that “anti-Semitic mobs have taken over leading universities” in the US and were calling for “the annihilation of Israel.” He compared the protesters to German Nazis in the 1930s and said their actions had to be “condemned and condemned unequivocally.” 

Israel sent troops into Gaza after a series of deadly raids by Hamas on October 7 last year, killing an estimated 1,200 Israelis. Netanyahu has vowed to completely destroy the Gaza-based Palestinian group. So far, over 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military operation and another 80,000 wounded. Much of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed as well.

A network of nonprofits has reportedly paid student groups organizing tent cities in colleges, according to the New York Post

Several student groups that have organized protest “camps” at major US universities have received money from activist billionaire George Soros, the New York Post reported on Friday.

Protests that began earlier this month at Columbia University in New York City have since spread to 40 universities and colleges in the US and Canada, including Harvard, Yale and UC Berkeley. The Columbia protest was organized by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Within Our Lifetime.

All three have received funding from Soros’s Open Society Foundations through a network of nonprofits, the Post claimed, citing its own research. Other major donors to the student groups were identified as the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and former Wall Street banker Felice Gelman.

None of the groups responded to the Post’s requests for comment.

The outlet also named three “fellows” of the Soros-funded US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), paid several thousand dollars to organize campaigns on campus. Two of them are former interns for congressional Democrats.

Activists have demanded that universities “divest” from companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft, as well as Lockheed Martin, that have contracts with the Israeli government. They also want the US government to stop giving any more money to Israel, citing its “genocide” of the Palestinians in Gaza.

Leader of the pro-Israel group Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, blamed the protests on “campus proxies” of Iran in an interview with MSNBC this week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that “anti-Semitic mobs have taken over leading universities” in the US and were calling for “the annihilation of Israel.” He compared the protesters to German Nazis in the 1930s and said their actions had to be “condemned and condemned unequivocally.” 

Israel sent troops into Gaza after a series of deadly raids by Hamas on October 7 last year, killing an estimated 1,200 Israelis. Netanyahu has vowed to completely destroy the Gaza-based Palestinian group. So far, over 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military operation and another 80,000 wounded. Much of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed as well.