Defence Editor, The Times. Author of The Gardener of Lashkar Gah. Forever trying to learn Arabic.
London
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The Gardener of Lashkar Gah is today's @guardianculture Book of the day. Thank you @JohnSimpsonNews for this wonderful review. "Beautifully researched and deeply moving, her account brought me to tears more than once". theguardian.com/books/2023/a…
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Larisa Brown retweeted
War imminent?
"Senior British officers believe the rhetoric is playing into Russia’s hands and say there is no new intelligence to suggest a Russian attack is coming"
thetimes.com/world/russia-uk…
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Larisa Brown retweeted
Trump's effusive praise for Xi Jinping was not (and never is, or has been reciprocated. Trump praises the Chinese leader's character; Xi thanks for a comfortable bedroom 2/4
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TIME's new cover: Admiral Samuel Paparo is preparing for a war he hopes never to fight. His mission: prevent conflict with China.
“If I do my job right, history will never know my name,” he tells TIME in an exclusive interview time.com/article/2026/09/24/…
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Larisa Brown retweeted
🚨 Zelensky says Trump has agreed to grant Ukraine licenses to produce Patriot missiles:
President Trump and I had a meeting where we discussed general matters. After that, our negotiating teams held a separate, long meeting. The agreement is as follows: we will brief the European side and discuss these details with them; the Americans will speak with the Russians; and in ten days, we will come back with views and results in some shape or form.
As for a trilateral Ukraine-U.S.-Russia meeting, the American side proposed preparing it and meeting at the technical level. We are waiting for the United States to propose a date. The United States proposed the United Arab Emirates as the venue for such a meeting.
There are concrete agreements regarding Patriot licenses. At our meeting, President Trump stressed that he had made his final decision: Ukraine will receive licenses to produce Patriot missiles.
From answers to journalists’ questions. (1/3)
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Larisa Brown retweeted
I'd agree with this. Said so when an MP.
SF should be happy to be scrutinised, along with 6 and 5, but clearly not publicly. Right now they fall under neither the Defence Ctte nor the ISC.
Exclusive: British special forces should face the same scrutiny as spy agencies, according to Lord Beamish, chair of the influential intelligence and security committee.
The work of MI6 and MI5 falls under his remit but not SAS or SBS.
thetimes.com/uk/defence/arti…
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Exclusive: British special forces should face the same scrutiny as spy agencies, according to Lord Beamish, chair of the influential intelligence and security committee.
The work of MI6 and MI5 falls under his remit but not SAS or SBS.
thetimes.com/uk/defence/arti…
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Threat from Russia latest:
CEOs from sensitive defence and CNI sectors will receive closed-door government briefings on the threat posed by Russia, according to the cabinet office.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis and Armed Forces Minister Louise Sandher-Jones will chair them.
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Latest on Afghan inquiry:
An "exceptional" open hearing has been held today after it emerged this week that the Ministry of Defence has found 97 million new documents, some of which could be relevant to the inquiry, raising concern it could be delayed further.
The inquiry's chair Haddon-Cave sought reassurances from the MoD that “any material of real relevance is quickly identified and disclosed” and that it would not happen again.
Haddon-Cave said "it would not be fair to all those awaiting answers", including veterans, serving members of the military, their families, and the public if the inquiry was to be held up further because of Ministry of Defence failures.
He said of the inquiry: "This is not about split second decisions taken in the heat of combat, this is not about the fog of war. This is about whether there was a practice of unlawful killings by British special forces in Afghanistan.
"It will be recalled that the allegations of unlawful killings originated from within special forces themselves."
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Larisa Brown retweeted
NEWS: General Nick Perry’s appointment marks the first time a British officer has assumed command of the headquarters.
More below ⬇️
General Nick Perry DSO MBE 🇬🇧 assumes Command of Joint Force Command Norfolk.
Addressing the Command, Gen. Perry set out a clear focus for JFC Norfolk and NATO’s mission across the North Atlantic:
“The North Atlantic is once again a theatre of strategic competition. The assumptions many of us enjoyed for decades can no longer be taken for granted. That is why:
🔹Deterrence matters.
🔹Readiness matters.
🔹Warfighting matters.
And that is why this Command exists.
Our task is simple to describe, but demanding to deliver: to ensure NATO can deter aggression, defend the Alliance and, if deterrence fails, prevail in conflict alongside our Allies and partners.”
🔗jfcnorfolk.nato.int/activity…
@NATO | @SecGenNATO | @SHAPE_NATO | @NATOJFCBS | @JFC_Naples | @NATO_MARCOM | @NATO_AIRCOM | @LANDCMD | @DefenceHQ | @DefenceOps | @UKNATO | @UKCDS_MOD | @GenGJenkinsRM | @CSOC_MOD | @UKinUSA
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Larisa Brown retweeted
Spent much of today with Special Forces. Of all the people and capabilities I’ve met in the past couple of months, I wish I could show the public the full extent of who they are and what they do. It has made me (even more) proud to be British and of our capabilities as a country - despite the challenges.
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EXCLUSIVE: Special forces soldiers believe they are “untouchable” and not all of them are the heroes they think they are, according to a former female civil servant who worked alongside them.
Monica Grenfell, who was employed at the Special Air Service (SAS) headquarters in Credenhill, near Hereford, for three years, said some of the elite troops were “feral” and it was “the nasty characters who really ruled the roost”.
She has given evidence under oath to the Afghan Inquiry and has now been interviewed by @thetimes
thetimes.com/article/5706a8a…
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During a security briefing, Grenfell claimed that an officer joked about the deaths of three SAS reservists in the Brecon Beacons, saying that “dying on selection is nature’s way of saying you have failed”, to which others laughed
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Grenfell described how she was told that soldiers dropped detainees in Afghanistan from forklift trucks “for fun”. She said she asked someone what they did in their spare time in the country and they said they got forklift trucks and “drove really fast then slammed on the brakes so they fell from a height”.
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Absolutely loved the first few episodes. Well done @haynesdeborah
Watch the final episode of Sky's "The Wargame" tonight.
The most disturbing part is the British cabinet members determined to prioritise international law over national survival. It's a parable for so many of the country's self-inflicted injuries.
sky.com/watch/the-wargame
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Send in the cavalry: @thetimes goes inside the until bringing horses back to battle. Brilliant read by @willpavia and photographs by @PohleRichard thetimes.com/article/bb09403…
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Has space become the final frontier for war? Listen to The Story podcast here podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcas…
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🚀Britain has already used a ground-based jammer to paralyse enemy satellites thetimes.com/uk/defence/arti…
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What an extraordinary video thetimes.com/uk/defence/arti…
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