The new military squadron to protect UK satellites

The UK is launching a new military unit tasked with defending satellites, protecting vital services on Earth and potentially supporting offensive operations.

The new No III Space Effects Squadron will protect satellites used to detect incoming missile threats, maintain communications and help navigate ships, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

• The unit will bring together specialists from across the Armed Forces to respond to hostile activity in space and safeguard satellites that are relied on for everyday services.

How will it combat adversaries?

The MoD said the new unit would combat threats in space using advanced technology, including electronic warfare, “to disrupt, degrade and deny hostile actions”.

It is intended to support offensive and defensive space operations and will grow over time as new capabilities enter service.

The context

The scheme is announced as other nations continue to build up their military capabilities in space.

• The UK Space Command warned last year that Russia was attempting to jam UK military satellites regularly.
• Earlier this month, the US said that it had deployed weapons in space for the first time.
• Responding to the US announcement, the Chinese foreign ministry said Washington was “preparing for war in outer space”, and cautioned against turning space “into a battlefield, as well as an arms race there”.

Watch more from The i Paper

How middle-aged men are turning to weight-loss drugs

Slimming jabs have so far been used by overwhelmingly more women than men. However, according to sales figures from online pharmacy Phlo Clinic, men are now using the drugs in growing numbers as they are available in tablet form.

The stats behind the change

• Before the Wegovy pills were introduced, 23 per cent of customers were men. Now. it is 34 per cent.
• The average age of men previously buying the injection was 51. Now, due to the pills, it’s 56.
• A study of over 5,000 people by University College London in 2025 found that over twice as many women were using weight-loss jabs compared to men.
• The same study also found that middle-aged people were most likely to use the jabs.

Phlo chief pharmacist Alistair Murray said: “There’s persistent stigma around men asking for help with their health, and an injection can feel like one more reason to put it off. A tablet is a lot easier, it fits into daily life, and so it doesn’t feel like such a leap.”

• Dr Ehtasham Ahmad, a diabetes and obesity specialist at the University Hospitals of Leicester, also pointed out that women have traditionally faced more societal pressure to stay slim.

The drugs that could slow Alzheimer’s – and when they could come to NHS

Two Alzheimer’s drugs with new mechanisms could be used in the NHS within the next five years, experts said at a conference last week.

A piece of Old Trafford could be yours… for £125

Manchester United have re-laid their playing surface for the first time in 14 years, and are now selling commemorative pieces of the turf to fans for £125.

What buyers actually get

Club members and season ticket holders get “exclusive early access” to the product – a 7cm by 7cm acrylic cube of turf.

The sections of pitch are encased in a black box with a picture of the stadium.

United previously offered supporters the chance to buy pieces of the pitch when it was dug up before the 2012-2013 season. The club said that initiative was popular.

• This comes three months after United announced they had acquired the majority of the land for a new 100,000 seat stadium 350 metres away from Old Trafford.

Man Utd’s ‘mannequins’ are an insult to paying fans

The Red Devils just crossed an unforgivable line from which they may never fully recover.

Watch more from The i Paper

Two pilots injured in RAF jet crash in Wales

A Royal Air Force jet has crashed in Wales in the Pencarnisiog area of Anglesey shortly after taking off this afternoon.

Everything we know

The force said helicopters from the Coastguard and the Wales Air Ambulance were deployed to the scene and the pilots, who ejected from the jet, are being treated for minor injuries.

“We watched it climb, then as it was parallel with us it started to pitch up violently twice… then both pilots ejected, and the Hawk crashed about a mile away,” a witness told North Wales Live.

The RAF has launched an investigation into the crash.

• An RAF spokesperson said: “An incident involving an RAF T2 Hawk aircraft, flying out of RAF Valley, occurred near Anglesey. An investigation is underway and we will not comment further at this time.”

Over 450,000 people projected to die from super El Niño

This year’s El Niño is estimated to cause 451,000 deaths due to the additional heat it will bring over the next six months, climate scientists have predicted.

What is El Niño?

El Niño is part of a natural cycle, called the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, and forms when warmer waters spread across the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. Brazil, India, Nigeria and Indonesia are some of the countries expected to worst affected.

The World Meteorological Organisation said there was an “exceptionally high likelihood of nearly 100 per cent” that this El Niño will last until February 2027.

Experts say what it means for the UK

Professor Ilan Kelman of UCL’s department of risk and disaster reduction said that El Niño could bring wetter and milder weather to the UK through the autumn and winter.

“There’s nothing definite, but in general we would expect a milder, wetter, and stormier autumn, a colder winter, and then a possibility of a hotter summer next year,” he added.

• The more severe impact of El Niño on other countries could also have a knock-on effect on the economy and daily life in the UK.
• Kelman said that the weather event could lead to more plane turbulence, flooding and impacts to electronic supply chains and imported food.
• Rice, sugar or coffee imports could be affected by potential flooding in South America.
• The shift of rainfall brought on by El Niño can also cause severe droughts in South East Asia and Australia.

Watch more from The i Paper

The pinch points of the UK’s Chagos Islands deal

Defence secretary Wes Streeting has confirmed the UK is reviewing its deal to hand over the Chagos islands, home to the critical Diego Garcia base, to Mauritius after Donald Trump called it “terrible” at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

UK wants US support

We have to [review the deal] because the United States doesn’t support it […] We have to do more work with our American allies, with President Trump and his administration, to get the deal to a place where he can support it.

UK Defence secretary Wes Streeting

The original deal

Mauritius argues it was illegally forced to give away the islands in 1965 to gain independence.

A deal was agreed in 2025 where the UK would cede sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius.

It would then pay an average of £101m per year to lease back a joint US-UK military base there.

Opposition from Trump caused Starmer to pause the deal indefinitely in April.

• Trump had been a frequent critic, branding the deal as “a blight on our great ally” and an “act of total weakness”.

High costs

Starmer agreed to lease back the Diego Garcia base for 99 years, with official figures giving the total cost as £3.4bn.

However, opponents said the real cost could come to £35bn when adjusted for inflation.

With sovereignty lying with Mauritius once the deal was done, critics argued that the country could impose restrictions on the joint UK-US military base.

• There were also worries that the move could embolden China to establish a presence in the archipelago.

AI offers poor financial advice ‘majority of the time’ – what to know

Major AI chatbots provide inaccurate financial advice in 57 percent of cases, new research has found.

This rose to 88 per cent when they were asked harder questions.

Tech research firm Saturn used a paraplanner to run 121 money-related questions through 18 chatbots. One of the answers would have cost them £17,500.

• Amal Jolly, Saturn’s chief executive, said: “The low quality of financial advice from mainstream AI models risks leading to widespread consumer harm.”

Why customers get less protection with AI advice

Human financial advisers must charge for their services, making it a regulated product that has to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. If they provided misleading advice, customers could get compensation.

There are no such protections for those who get information from a chatbot.

Why HRT patches are safer than pills

Oral hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) causes a slightly higher rate of blood clots – but there was no such risk from therapies applied to the skin.

Why women use HRT

HRT is used by women going through menopause or for several years afterwards to stop hot flushes and reduce osteoporosis – where bones become weaker.

The new research

Previous studies found HRT may cause a slightly higher rate of blood clots, heart attacks and breast cancer.

• A Danish study found women had a 60 per cent higher risk of blood clots from oral HRT, and a 20 to 30 per cent higher risk of strokes or heart attacks.
• But the total risk of blood clots was still very low, about one extra blood clot per thousand women per year.
• There was no blood clot risk seen with patches, gels or spray forms of HRT.
• But there was a higher rate of heart attacks with skin-based HRT if it is “cyclic”, alternating between oestrogen and oestrogen and progestogen.

Oral HRT is transported by blood vessels connecting the gut to the liver. There, it seems to increase levels of certain liver proteins involved in blood clotting.

When HRT is applied through patches or gels, the hormones are absorbed straight into the blood and don’t reach the liver at such high levels.

The NHS says the benefits of HRT usually outweigh the downsides, and that the risks of serious side effects are very low.

HRT is especially helping for combatting osteoporosis in women experiencing early menopause, before the age 45.