The Latest Breaking News from Cold War

Cuba has survived 66 years of US-led embargoes. Will Trump’s blockade break it now?

After toppling Venezuela’s leader earlier this year, the Trump administration has turned its sights on Cuba. The near-total blockade of the island is now posing the greatest challenge to the government since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

The Conversation · Feb 24

This Week in History: From a ‘bizarre’ spy swap to wartime secrets

Explore how major events were captured on The Independent’s front pages

The Independent UK · Feb 22

The first world leader to activate the ‘nuclear briefcase’: How a Norwegian research rocket nearly triggered nuclear war

A routine scientific rocket launch from Norway in January 1995 triggered one of the most serious nuclear alerts of the post Cold War era, as reported by the BBC. For several tense minutes, Russian military systems identified the object as a possible incoming missile. The alert reached the highest level…

The Times of India · Feb 19

France launches Orion 26, its biggest military drill since the Cold War

Orion 26 mobilises 12,500 troops, 25 ships and 140 aircraft as France and 24 allies rehearse high‑intensity warfare in Europe amid growing Russian threats.

Euronews · Feb 9

'If India jumped Pakistan...': Unsealed Watergate files reveals Richard Nixon asked China to interfere in Bangladesh Liberation War

In his grand jury testimony, Nixon described a secret assurance given to Beijing during the war. His full statement reads: “The Russians were supporting India. … Nobody was supporting Pakistan because there was an embargo on the shipment of arms. … But we were giving moral support to them, and…

The Times of India · Feb 9

Why the end of the New START treaty doesn’t necessarily mean another nuclear arms race

Experts say smaller guardrails around arms control are still in place

The Independent UK · Feb 6

Welcome to new cold war as world descends on Italy amid global political chaos

Organisers are hoping for a celebration of winter sport at Milano Cortina 2026 but tensions will not be far from the surface

The Guardian - UK · Feb 4

Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh are unlikely allies in first look at "genre-bending, action packed buddy comedy" from Dungeons and Dragons directors

Mayday has a first look and release date

Total Film · Feb 4

US government declassifies Cold War-era 'JUMPSEAT' spy satellites

The National Reconnaissance Office just revealed the existence of its "JUMPSEAT" line of spy satellites, eight of which launched to Earth orbit between 1971 and 1987.

Space · Jan 29

The cold war maps that can help us rethink today’s Arctic conflict

The late 1940s and early 1950s were a golden age for polar mapmaking in the US. Major magazines such as Time, Life and Fortune commissioned a generation of famous cartographers – who had come of age in the second world war – to explain the new geopolitics to a mass…

The Conversation · Jan 27