We're joined by special guest Cipher Brief Expert and former Senior Member of the British Foreign Service Nick Fishwick in this episode.  We talk with Nick to get his take on the crisis with Russia and Ukraine and what is likely to unfold. 

In this episode: Declassified SIGAR report warned in Jan '21 of Afghan Air Force collapse; Blinken set to travel to Ukraine this week; Russian embassy evacuations in Ukraine; Moscow says no more talks until West responds to security demands; Texas hostage taker known to British MI5; Chinese fishermen find underwater devices and North Korea fires tactical guided missiles.

In today’s episode: Moscow reacts to US intelligence assessment while Ukraine says Russia responsible for cyber-attack; North Korea fires more missiles; New think tank report details 2022 risks facing Beijing; Russia-China-Iran cooperation on the rise while Houthi's claim attack in Abu Dhabi.  

In this episode: US Senators are seeking action on rare earth minerals; North Korea is launching more ballistic missiles; US and Western officials are raising the alarm on conflict with Russia while Sweden increases military patrols in the Baltic Sea; Ukraine suffers major cyber attack; Russia redeploys more military assets towards Ukraine and rockets target the US embassy in Baghdad.  

Today's top story is the continuing negotiations over the Ukraine crisis where Russia now says that the talks have reached a 'dead end' and Moscow sees little point in continuing this week's planned dialogue.  This comes as US Democratic Senators propose new sanctions that would target Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Biden administration targets North Korea with fresh sanctions one day after its latest missile test.  A lot more in this episode.  

Today's top story- North Korea test fires missile that Japan says was a hypersonic, prompting Tokyo to say all options are on the table for bolstering Japan's defenses; Widespread pessimism among US and Europe over Ukraine talks with Russia; Leaders from Middle East on a rare visit to China to discuss bi-lateral energy trade deal and a car bomb kills 8 in Mogadishu.  

No progress reported from US-Russia dialogue on Ukraine with Russian officials saying a 'great disparity' exists; CISA Director Jen Easterly warns of more Log4j issues and says the exploit is 'pretty trivial' for hackers to use; a Taiwanese F-16V crashes on an exercise prompting a massive search mission for pilot.  A lot more in today's episode.