Pakistan ‘is upgrading nukes with help of China', US defence report warns
Pakistan is upgrading its nuclear arsenal with Chinese support and sees India as an 'existential threat', a US report has said.
In its worldwide threat assessment report for 2025, the US Defence Intelligence Agency predicted that nuclear modernisation would be a top priority for Pakistan's military during the next year.
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The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Raging China slams Britain after Royal Navy warship sails through Taiwan Strait in defiant message to Xi
CHINA has slammed the UK after a Royal Navy warship cruised through the Taiwan Strait in a defiant message to Xi Jinping. Beijing blasted HMS Spey's patrol through the passage, branding it a disruptive act of "intentional provocation" that "undermines peace and stability". 5 HMS Spey, pictured in 2021, cruised through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday Credit: Alamy 5 The UK warship transit was a defiant message to Chinese President Xi Jinping Credit: Alamy 5 The British Royal Navy said the route was part of a long-planned deployment and in accordance with international law. The bold patrol was the first by a A Chinese navy spokesperson hit back at HMS Spey's route, and blasted the UK for "publicly hyping up" the journey. They added the UK's claims were "a distortion of legal principles and an attempt to mislead the public". READ MORE WORLD NEWS And in a Meanwhile, Taiwan praised the patrol as an act that safeguarded the freedom of navigation in the highly disputed strait. US warships regularly conduct freedom of navigation exercises in the strait. But the last time a British naval vessel made a journey like this was in 2021 when HMS Richmond was deployed from Japan to Vietnam. Most read in The Sun China, much like this time round, condemned the transit and sent troops to monitor the ship. HMS Spey is one of two British warships permanently on patrol in the Indo-Pacific region. China floods sea bases with nuke bombers, terrifying satellite pics show - as US warns Xi could SEIZE Taiwanese islands China slammed the route as a means of aggression amid the ongoing simmering tension between Taipei and Beijing . Taiwan insists it is an independent nation after splitting from mainland China amid civil war in 1949. But The island, which is roughly 100 miles from the coast of south-east China, sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders. Beijing has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan and held multiple large-scale exercises around the island, often described as preparations for a blockade or invasion. China also claims almost the entire disputed waterway in the South China Sea - through which more than 60 per cent of global maritime trade passes. This is despite an international ruling that Beijing's assertion has no merit. In April, Xi Jinping launched a 5 Taiwan Coast Guard Special Task Unit carrying on preparation drills, pictured on June 8 Credit: Getty 5 The Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong was seen near to Taiwan during military drills in April Credit: EPA Beijing described their concerning movements, which included 19 warships and 50 aircraft, as a "stern warning" and a "powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence". And in May, satellite pictures showed that China had deployed its most dangerous nuke bombers to a tiny but vital island sea base. Aerial photos showed two hulking H-6 bombers on an airfield on Woody Island in the South China Sea, taken on May 19. Taiwan's economy is another factor in China's desperation to reclaim the land. If China takes the island, it could be freer to project power in the western Pacific and rival the US, thanks to much of the world's electronics being made in Taiwan. This would allow Beijing to have control over an industry that drives the global economy. China insists that its intentions are peaceful, but President In this years New Year's address, President Xi even said that the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. He has previously called the independence of Taiwan a futile effort and that annexation by Beijing is a "historical inevitability". It comes as a UK carrier strike group arrives in the Indo-Pacific region as part of Operation Highmast which is set to last several months. Keir Starmer said it was aimed at "sending a clear message of strength to our adversaries, and a message of unity and purpose to our allies". Total blockade, air blitz & island grab… Three ways China could seize Taiwan By Sayan Bose, Foreign News Reporter WITH an overwhelming military force, advanced warfare techniques and a fragmenting West, Xi Jinping will likely feel more confident than ever to seize Taiwan, experts warn. And if China does decide to attack, it's feared it will go in with "full force" using three major military strategies that would wreak havoc on the island. Defence experts say it's the with the Chinese mainland - and it could launch an attack as soon as 2027. Professor Ashok Swain, a peace and security expert at Uppsala University in Sweden , says that China could look to attack Taiwan with full force. He said: "The global politics has changed dramatically in the last couple of months... the way Ukraine is being handled by the United States gives a certain comfort level to Xi. "It is the perfect moment for China to attack Taiwan if it plans to do so." Swain suggests they could invade through a devastating air blitz to disable Taiwan's defences as naval forces also encircle the island. This coordinated approach would aim to prevent Taiwan's forces from mounting an effective response and limit the time available for Western intervention, the expert argues. China could also seize all or some of the islands surrounding Taiwan's mainland to gauge a reaction from the West. Any response short of military support would embolden Xi to go further - like Putin annexing Crimea in 2014. The third attack route could be a total blockade. Military experts say China will start with an ever-tightening squeeze on Taiwan using naval blockades around the island - something very similar to the war drills Beijing has been conducting for years. An effective sea and air blockade would halt valuable exports and cut off help from the US and Japan. The island could be crippled financially, economically and operationally if Beijing extended military exercises for a longer period.
The Journal
5 days ago
- The Journal
'Evacuate Tehran': Trump issues warning as he leaves G7 early amid further Israel-Iran strikes
LAST UPDATE | 2 hrs ago ISRAEL AND IRAN exchanged missile fire again overnight, as US President Donald Trump warned Tehran residents to 'immediately evacuate' and left a G7 summit early. The Israeli military said it targeted multiple missile and UAV sites in western Iran, including surface-to-surface missile infrastructure, surface-to-air launchers and drone storage facilities, in a statement accompanied by black-and-white footage showing missile launchers exploding. It also said it killed Iran's top military commander, Ali Shadmani, in an overnight strike, calling him the closest figure to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Despite growing calls for the longtime foes to end hostilities, neither Israel nor Iran show any signs of cutting short the strikes that kicked off Friday, when Israel launched an unprecedented series of aerial raids targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities. After a new wave of Israeli strikes on Iran's capital, including an attack on a state TV building which Iran said killed three people, both countries activated their missile defence systems overnight. The Chinese embassy in Tel Aviv warned its citizens to leave the country immediately, as the United States said it was deploying 'additional capabilities' to the Middle East, according to Defence secretary Pete Hegseth. The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz departed Southeast Asia on Monday after cancelling plans to dock in Vietnam, amid reports it was headed to the Middle East to boost the US presence there. But a White House spokesman stressed that US forces in the Middle East remained in a defensive posture, despite the flurry of activity. Trump has repeatedly declined to say if the US would participate in Israeli military action, although he says it was not involved in the initial strikes. Advertisement After calling on the two sides to make a deal, the US leader issued an extraordinary warning on his Truth Social platform. 'Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!' Trump wrote without offering further details, before cutting short his attendance at the G7 in Canada to head back to the White House. After leaving the G7 early to focus on the conflict in the Middle East, Trump said his early departure had 'nothing to do' with working on ceasefire between Israel and Iran, adding French President Emmanuel Macron, was 'wrong' in how he described the exit. 'He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong. Stay Tuned!' 'One after the other' After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel launched a surprise aerial campaign against Iran last week, with the stated aim of preventing Tehran from acquiring atomic weapons – an ambition it denies. Iran has launched several waves of missiles in retaliation for Israel's attacks, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards saying Monday that the attacks would continue 'without interruption until dawn'. The sudden flare-up has sparked fears of a wider conflict, with Trump urging Iran back to the negotiating table after Israel's attacks derailed ongoing nuclear talks. Heavy smoke billows from a site hit by an Iranian missile on Herzliya. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said a missile strike lightly damaged a building used by the American embassy in Tel Aviv, while the US State Department warned citizens not to travel to Israel due to security concerns. At least 24 people have been killed in Israel so far and hundreds wounded, according to the prime minister's office. Israel's strikes have killed at least 224 people, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians, according to Iranian authorities. Benjamin Netanyahu told a press conference on Monday evening that Israel was eliminating Iran's security leadership 'one after the other'. Read Next Related Reads Netanyahu says killing of Iran leader will 'not escalate the conflict, it's going to end the conflict' How Israel's attack on Iran quickly changed the tune of recently critical allies in Europe Netanyahu tells Fox News Israel 'got' Iran's chief intelligence officer as conflict ramps up 'We are changing the face of the Middle East, and that can lead to radical changes inside Iran itself,' he said. 'Stop' civilian strikes International calls for calm have mounted. At the G7 summit in the Canadian Rockies, leaders including Trump called for 'de-escalation' while stressing Israel had the right to defend itself. 'We urge that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza', G7 leaders said in a joint statement that also affirmed 'Iran can never have a nuclear weapon'. China called on Israel and Iran to both 'immediately take measures to cool down the tensions' and avoid plunging the region into deeper turmoil. The US and Iran had engaged in several rounds of indirect talks on Tehran's nuclear programme in recent weeks, but Iran said after the start of Israel's campaign that it would not negotiate while under attack. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that 'absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue'. 'It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu. That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy,' he wrote on X. A senior US official told AFP Trump had intervened to prevent Israel from carrying out an assassination of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But Netanyahu did not rule out the possibility when asked about the reports during an interview with ABC News. 'It's not going to escalate the conflict, it's going to end the conflict,' he said. With reporting from © AFP 2025 Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
RTÉ News
6 days ago
- RTÉ News
Oil slips as Israel-Iran strikes spare key energy infrastructure
Oil prices edged down today, paring back Friday's 7% surge, as renewed military strikes by Israel and Iran over the weekend left oil production and export facilities unaffected. Brent futures were down 93 cents, or around 1.3%, to $73.30 a barrel this afternoon, while US WTI futures were off 99 cents or nearly 1.4%, to $71.99. Both benchmarks jumped more than $4 a barrel in Asian trading before giving back gains. They settled 7% higher on Friday, having surged more than 13% during the session to their highest levels since January. "It all boils down to how the conflict escalates around energy flows," said Harry Tchilinguirian, group head of research at Onyx Capital Group. "So far, production capacity and export capacity have been spared and there hasn't been any effort on the part of Iran to impair flows through the Strait of Hormuz." Iranian missiles struck Israel's Tel Aviv and the port city of Haifa today, destroying homes and fuelling concerns among world leaders at this week's G7 meeting that the conflict could widen. An exchange of strikes between Israel and Iran on Sunday resulted in civilian casualties, with both militaries urging civilians on the opposing side to take precautions against further attacks. Some gas infrastructure has been hit. Iran partially suspended gas production at its South Pars field after an attack by Israel on Saturday. The gas it produces is consumed domestically. Last week, Israel shut down its offshore Leviathan gas field preemptively. A key question is whether the conflict will lead to disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption, or some 18 to 19 million barrels per day of oil, condensate and fuel, passes through the strait. While markets are watching for potential disruption to Iranian oil production due to Israel's strikes on energy facilities, heightened fears over a Strait of Hormuz blockade could sharply lift prices, said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities. Iran, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, currently produces around 3.3 million bpd and exports more than 2 million bpd of oil and fuel. The spare capacity of OPEC+ oil producers to pump more to offset any disruption is roughly equivalent to Iran's output, according to analysts and OPEC watchers. "If Iranian crude exports are disrupted, Chinese refiners, the sole buyers of Iranian barrels, would need to seek alternative grades from other Middle Eastern countries and Russian crudes," Richard Joswick, head of near-term oil analysis at S&P Global Commodity Insights, said in a note. "This could also boost freight rates and tanker insurance premiums, narrow the Brent-Dubai spread, and hurt refinery margins, particularly in Asia," Joswick added. China's crude oil throughput declined by 1.8% in May from a year earlier to the lowest level since August, official data showed today, as maintenance at both state-owned and independent refineries curbed operations. US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he hoped Israel and Iran could broker a ceasefire, but added that sometimes countries had to fight it out first. Trump said the US would continue to support Israel but declined to say if he had asked the U.S. ally to pause its strikes on Iran. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he hoped a meeting of the Group of Seven leaders convening in Canada would reach an agreement to help resolve the conflict and keep it from escalating. Meanwhile, Iran has told mediators Qatar and Oman that it is not open to negotiating a ceasefire while under Israeli attack, an official briefed on the communications told Reuters on Sunday.
