| | Explosions were seen around Erbil, where drones hit a base used by UK and US forces |  | Sophia Yan Senior Foreign Correspondent | I was a mile away from the explosions. Ahmad was even closer, seeing and hearing the sound of the drone swarm as it slammed into the joint UK-US airbase in Erbil, northern Iraq, from his apartment window.
“I heard big explosions eight or nine times,” he told me. “There were drones, and then I saw a huge black smoke cloud rising over the base and on streets nearby. From what I saw, there was some fire; it was not normal.”
The loud bangs that Ahmad heard began at around 11.45pm (8.45pm GMT) on Wednesday night, and lasted for nearly three hours as British and American troops came under attack in the Kurdish capital. British air defences destroyed two drones, though other munitions got through and struck the base.
Despite Erbil being subjected to intense bombardment, Ahmad was right that this was indeed not a normal strike.
The Shaheds didn’t come from the sky like they have across the Gulf this past two weeks. Instead, they flew low, barely above sea level, just below the radar, less than 50m above the ground.
It is a tactic Iran has learned from another foe, Britain believes. As John Healey, the Defence Secretary, put it: Vladimir Putin’s “hidden hand” is behind these Iranian drone strikes.
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Continue reading ➤ | | A damaged tanker carrying Iraqi fuel oil | The United States has temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil already at sea as crude prices surge amid the Iran war.
The treasury department issued the exemptions last night, with the measure set to remain in place until April 11.
The decision is expected to add hundreds of millions of barrels of crude to global markets, easing prices that have hovered near $100 a barrel as a result of the conflict.
In a post on Truth Social overnight, Donald Trump claimed the US is “totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran” as the war in the Middle East continues.
A US military plane crashed in western Iraq yesterday, with a rescue mission under way to locate the crew of six and recover the KC-135 tanker. | A KC-135 Stratotanker refuels a F/A-18F Super Hornet | Elsewhere, a French soldier has been killed in a drone attack in Iraq, Emmanuel Macron, the French president confirmed.
Follow the latest updates here ➤
Go deeper with our full coverage of the Iran war:
• US military plane crashes in Iraq ➤
• The battle tactics that show Trump has smashed Iran’s defences ➤
• The miscalculation keeping Trump at war with Iran ➤
• Plus, sign up to our new-look business newsletter here ➤ | | A written statement by Mojtaba Khamenei was broadcast on Iranian state TV | | Iran has a new supreme leader. There’s just one problem: no one knows whether he’s alive. Mojtaba Khamenei was appointed a week after his father died in a US air strike that killed most of his immediate family. He has released one statement since. It was read by a TV announcer and he still hasn’t been seen. His own military commanders say they haven’t received a single order from him.
So who is actually running Iran’s war effort right now? Spoiler: it’s not the man with the title.
Iran is fighting a war, closing the Strait of Hormuz, and striking US military bases – all without a functioning commander-in-chief. Akhtar Makoii digs into how Mojtaba spent two decades quietly building power from the shadows, and why the IRGC might not need him to show up at all.
Continue reading ➤ | | | Sherelle Jacobs The Reform leader is misunderstood. His hatred of confrontation is the greatest impediment to achieving his vaulting ambitions Continue reading ➤ Judith Woods The glaring typos in the Mandelson files show how far Whitehall’s standards have fallen Continue reading ➤ David Frost Labour knows national cohesion is collapsing, but it’s chosen cowardice Continue reading ➤ | | To make sure you don’t miss our newsletters when they land in your inbox, click here. | | Zara Tindall was in attendance for day three of the Cheltenham Festival | | Michael Wolff says it would ‘be bliss’ if he could go a day without thinking about Donald Trump | | Michael Wolff has been Donald Trump’s chronicler-in-chief for more than a decade, writes Ed Cumming, Senior Features Writer. I first met him in New York last spring, around the publication of the fourth of his explosive books about the Trump presidencies, but a year is a long time in Trumpland. Since that interview, Wolff has sued the First Lady, been mentioned in the Epstein Files and been criticised for his closeness to his subjects. When I caught up with him earlier this week, he had much to say on Epstein, the lawsuit, and the likely outcomes in Iran. Continue reading ➤ | |  | | A new study has revealed that “hasslers” (people in your life who cause stress) can add nine months to your biological age, with your closest kin causing the most damage and, interestingly, spouses causing the least. From overbearing parents to demanding friends, here’s how to minimise the impact, according to a sociology professor. For subscribers only ➤ | | | As AI continues to evolve, few workplaces will remain untouched by the technology. For some workers, this means their roles being replaced. For others, AI could become a powerful ally, making them more efficient so they can focus on the human skills machines can’t replace. Here, Telegraph Money identifies the most, and least, future-proof careers. Continue reading ➤ | | | | | Dr Aseem Malhotra: ‘You do not rebuild trust by shutting down debate’ | | Writing exclusively for The Telegraph, consultant cardiologist Aseem Malhotra describes how the medical establishment has moved against him after he suggested possible links between the Covid mRNA vaccine and serious disease. He has been suspended by the Royal College of Physicians and now fears he may be struck off by the General Medical Council. The charge? Undermining trust in vaccination. However, says Dr Malhotra, everything he has said has been grounded in peer-reviewed evidence; it is the silence surrounding the dangers that is damaging trust. Continue reading ➤ | | | | | The woodland was ‘horrifically’ damaged during timber harvesting | | Standing amid a barren woodland of hacked tree stumps, log piles and warning signs, a runner asked two officials: “What has gone wrong here?” Forestry England has launched an investigation after a pocket of woodland in the New Forest – renowned for its bluebells – was turned into a “battlefield” by truck tyres and tree felling in the exceptionally wet start to the year. Continue reading ➤ | | | Dr Nighat Arif is a GP in Buckinghamshire, an author and a medical broadcaster | Dr Nighat Arif knows just how stressful patients feel trying to get an appointment with their doctor. Then, after days or weeks of waiting, they only have 10 minutes to get what they need from their GP. Here she shares her six tips to optimise your appointment, from the best way to track your symptoms to when to use AI.
Continue reading ➤
Here is another helpful article for you this morning:
| | Brenda Blethyn plays the older Emma Harte as a character straight out of Dynasty | TV A Woman of Substance, Channel 4 ★★★★☆ One of the funniest facts about Channel 4 is that, for all its desire to be subversive and daring, its highest-rated show of all time is the 1985 period drama A Woman of Substance. Forty years on, they’ve remade it starring Brenda Blethyn. Instead of doing it with postmodern irony, they’ve turned out a loving homage to Barbara Taylor Bradford and her rags-to-riches tale, albeit with a raging libido.
Read Anita Singh’s review ➤ Film How to Make a Killing ★★☆☆☆ How should one go about updating Kind Hearts and Coronets, the jewel of Ealing Studios’ post-war output and one of the greatest comedies ever made? The answer is that one really shouldn’t. In this contemporary second take on the 1907 Roy Horniman novel, Glen Powell plays a disinherited young aristo who serial-kills his way back up the line of succession. It’s exactly as unnecessary and uninspiring as you might fear.
Read Robbie Collin’s review ➤ Books Archbishop Sarah Mullally, by Andrew Atherstone ★★★☆☆ Can this trailblazer save the Church of England? Andrew Atherstone has written a helpful account of the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, framing Sarah Mullally as the ordinary rendered extraordinary. She has tough tasks ahead. Mullally has always demonstrated an aversion to risk – and reconciliation between the Church’s warring evangelical, Catholic traditionalist and liberal-progressive factions may prove impossible. She must deal with the continuing issues of sexual abuse and safeguarding, as well as the lingering rows over same-sex relationships.
Read Catherine Pepinster’s review ➤
Plus, sign up to our Culture newsletter here ➤ | A Tale of Small Cities Every weekday, Orlando Bird, our loyal reader correspondent, shares an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Orlando writes...
Having ranked Britain’s largest urban centres, incurring the wrath of both Southampton and Watford in the process, The Telegraph’s Chris Moss has now turned his attention to the smallest cities in the country. As ever, it’s fair to say that his assessments haven’t been met with unanimous agreement, though I had to concede that Truro, for which I have a soft spot, and which seemed such a heady metropolis when I was growing up in Cornwall, probably got the score it deserved, languishing at the bottom of the table with 4/10.
The top spot proved more controversial. “I’m afraid I am baffled by the choice of Canterbury,” wrote Neil Owen. “I have lived near this city for many years now and have been saddened to see its not-so-slow decline. The high street is a shadow of its former self, with several large department stores now gone, while small, privately run shops have also suffered. It’s trying to improve, but the council doesn’t seem to know how to regenerate it.”
I enjoyed Canterbury when I went there almost a decade ago, but for me the runner-up, Bath, would have been a worthier winner. Lorraine Shelley wasn’t sure it even deserved that accolade, however: “When I visited a couple of years ago, I was disappointed. It looked a bit neglected to me.”
Mike Price was pleased to see Lincoln recognised: “I went for a day, not expecting much. How wrong I was. It is a fantastic place, and a photographer’s dream. Lovely cathedral, fascinating little independent shops, a great waterfront and lovely restaurants.” He also put in a word for Worcester, “which is always nice to walk around. I went to The King’s School there, so have fond memories. Rik Mayall in my class produced a few laughs”.
Al Davidson, meanwhile, felt Dunfermline merited a more favourable write-up, as “the ancient capital of Scotland and birthplace of Charles I”. Also in the credit column: “The abbey and palace burnt by Edward I are magnificent. The body of Robert the Bruce is buried in the abbey. And Jock Stein was the manager of the Scottish cup-winning team, with Alex Ferguson as centre forward.” How did your favourite small cities fare? Send your responses here, and the best of the bunch will feature in a future edition of From the Editor PM, for which you can sign up here.
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Yesterday’s Panagram was EMOLLIENT. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today’s puzzle. | | Please let me know what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback here.
Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow.
Chris Evans, Editor | |
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