Full story with @yeomans.bsky.social here 👇

This commander of a Multiple Launch Rocket System said no wildlife was harmed in NATO’s Arctic artillery exercise this week

Other army chiefs told me “accidents still happen” despite vigorous checks, as they sometimes find dead reindeer next to bomb craters

Interesting take from a Times reader…

As for assault rifles, Finnish commander Olli Taskinen told Nato troops to keep their firearms “frozen all the time”

“If you take this inside, all the snow and ice melts and gets in the gun, then you go outside again and it freezes completely. Leave it outside your tent.”

www.thetimes.com/article/e61b...

The demos are designed to test troops in harsh winter terrains after Finlands accession to NATO doubled the alliance’s border with Russia

We were also shown similar “deep strikes” from Finnish forces using K9 self-propelled guns

(One of the blasts made me drop my phone…)

Keen to connect, chat about story ideas and continue scribbling for The Times, so do get in touch!

My DMs are open or you can email any tips to charlie.parker@the-times.co.uk

And lastly, how Tony Hudgell, 9, who lost both his legs after suffering horrific abuse at the hands of his birth parents, turned his torture into triumph by raising £2 million for charity and becoming the youngest honours recipient on record
www.thetimes.com/uk/article/m...

Another highlight was hearing historian Tom Holland describe how Aethelflaed, the "forgotten founding mother of England” and daughter of Alfred the Great, fought off Viking hordes and helped to build Britain in the Dark Ages

www.thetimes.com/uk/history/a...

One of my favourite deep dives was into the problems plaguing Britain's largest warship, HMS Prince of Wales
www.thetimes.com/article/why-...

At Glastonbury, @willhumphries.bsky.social and I discovered gatecrashers digging Great Escape-style tunnels and using grappling hooks to break into the festival

www.thetimes.com/article/glas...

This investigation into the Islamic Centre of England, a charity run by Iran's supreme leader, found speakers calling for “academic jihad” in schools, the eradication of western “empires” and preaching death as a “compassionate” sentence for gay people
www.thetimes.com/article/acad...

After the October 7 attack: How Twitter/X and other social media sites hosted an "unprecedented" information war of fake news

www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

And our exposé of the leaders behind the now proscribed Hizb ut-Tahrir group hijacking London protests
www.thetimes.com/article/who-...

@larisabrown.bsky.social and I later confirmed that a British-made Starstreak missile shot down a Russian helicopter in the weapon’s first recorded use on the Ukrainian battlefield

www.thetimes.com/article/uk-m...

A fortnight after Russia's invasion, I spoke to an elite Ukrainian drone unit about how they destroyed dozens of “priority targets” by attacking Kremlin forces as they sleep

www.thetimes.com/article/spec...

At the Euros this summer: Meet the East German football fans rooting for England
www.thetimes.com/uk/society/a...

And the British pub owner who rebuilt his boozer brick-by-brick near Dortmund
www.thetimes.com/uk/society/a...

Outside Brixton prison, violent criminals gave interviews as they were freed under the government's early release scheme

Inmates, including one jailed for "punching people in the head", told me they were "certainly not" rehabilitated and would likely reoffend

www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/art...