UK Column News — 18th March 2026

Mike Robinson, Charles Malet and Vanessa Beeley with today's UK Column News. 

00:34 Defensive Posture: War narrative update

Roads closed and screens put up around RAF Fairford - BBC News

B-1 Lancer bomber flies back into RAF Fairford

USAF: 501st Combat Support Wing

The White House on X: UNDEFEATED

MOD Update on Defensive Ops

FCDO: UK sanctions commanders responsible for Sudan atrocities and pledges additional humanitarian support as Cooper says atrocities must not go unpunished

FCDO: Foreign Secretary touches down in the Gulf to demonstrate support for regional allies facing Iranian aggression

CAAT: Genocide in Sudan, the Role of the UAE, and the Complicity of the West

Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in Sudan (Sudan v. United Arab Emirates)

MOD: Armed forces to launch ‘Gap Year’ scheme for young people to bolster skills and leadership (December 2025)

DSTL: Open source innovation driving defence advantage

DSTL: Five Eyes science and technology

13:30 Trump Iran: Press conference comments analysed

FULL Q&A: Trump Warns on Iran War, NATO Criticism & Cuba Action Ahead — Urgent Remarks | AC15

The United States, Iran, and $1.7 billion: Sorting out the details | Brookings

21:00 Technology: UK to be fastest G7 nation to adopt AI kill chain

UK will win AI race as Chancellor sets out economic ‘big choices’ - GOV.UK

Palantir_Response_to_UN_SRHRP_Letter_-_22_May_2025.pdf

AIPCon 9 March 2026 | Livestream

26:50 Weapons: AI used to dictate targets

Anthropic Redacted Risk Report Feb 2026

28:44 Check out UKC’s website and support our work

Homepage | UKColumn

Support the UK Column

29:55 Assisted Dying: The bill fails in Scotland

Lord Falconer, BBC Radio 4 - Today, 17/03/2026

34:08 Lebanon: Bombing intensifies

Israel's extensive destruction of Southern Lebanon - Amnesty International

Israel prepares a ground invasion in Lebanon as Hezbollah formally joins the war | ACLED

Marwa Osman Telegram Channel https://t.me/Marwa_OsmanLB

Craig Mokhiber on X https://x.com/CraigMokhiber/status/2033958166602604629

Resolution 2817 (2026) - Condemnation of Iran's attacks against regional neighbours | UNSCR

41:02 Food: Unappealing new diets on the way

Food Standards Agency: Future foods that could transform UK plates by 2035

BBC: Sheep are disappearing from our hills - and our dinner plates

AHDB: Halal demand across Europe

48:15 Media: Local news will be funded by the state

Future of news is local, says Culture Secretary, as she launches the first action plan to back local news in a generation - GOV.UK

50:30 Rwanda: Was never going to work

Rwanda in Arbitration Proceedings Against the United Kingdom on Cancelled Migration Partnership (Press Release)

Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in Sudan (Sudan v. United Arab Emirates)

52:35 Security Council: UN second resolution ‘bows to US empire’

Resolution 2817 (2026) - Condemnation of Iran's attacks against regional neighbours | UNSCR

Craig Mokhiber on the UNSCR https://x.com/CraigMokhiber/status/2031827087062155623

Russia boosts budget reserve fund amid falling oil revenues, ETEnergyworld

Putin Holds Talks With Leaders Of Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia & The United Arab Emirates - RUSSIA'S PIVOT TO ASIA

Putin's Aide Arrives in US for Talks With Trump Administration on Economic Cooperation

Russia, US have similar interests in stabilizing energy markets now — Kremlin - Russian Politics & Diplomacy - TASS

Russia is earning an additional approximately 150 million dollars per day due to rising oil prices - Pravda EN

58:55 And finally: Robots’ Rebellion. Tech goes mad in public