Alex Blair

Alex Blair

Journalist and communicator trying to capture the stories that matter. 

Hard-hitting, multimodal work on human rights, geopolitics, immigration, conflict, and Latinoamérica.

Featured in the New Internationalist, Garden Court North Chambers, Army Technology, Verdict, Sportcal, The Borgen Project, MINE and more. 

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Army Technology •

Airstrikes around Caracas as US “captures” Venezuelan President Maduro

Explosions rang out across the Venezuelan capital of Caracas in the early hours of 3 Janauary as the US Air Force “successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela”, according to President Trump.

Low-flying MH-47 Chinook helicopters flew into Caracas unopposed earlier on Saturday as US military personnel captured and flew President Nicolás Maduro and his wife out of the country in an unprecedented operation.CBS News reported that US officials said President Maduro had...
Garden Court North Chambers •

Metropolitan Police firearms officer lawfully killed Giedrius Vasiljevas, inquest jury finds

An inquest jury has found that Giedrius Vasiljevas was lawfully killed by a Metropolitan Police firearms officer, who fatally shot Giedrius at his home in Dagenham on 23 November 2023.

Giedruius, a 40-year-old Lithuanian man, had a history of alcohol use and mental ill health, for which he had unsuccessfully been trying to get help from his GP and othe...
Garden Court North Chambers •

Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 2 Report finds “inexcusable” mistakes and delayed lockdown led to 23,000 avoidable deaths

The Covid-19 Public Inquiry has published its second report investigating the government decision-making in the UK’s response to the pandemic, which determined that “inexcusable” mistakes and delays in imposing a lockdown led to approximately 23,000 avoidable deaths in the first wave leading up until 1 July 2020.

Baroness Hallett DBE, the Chair of the Inquiry, made 22 key findings about the emergence of...
Garden Court North Chambers •

Court of Appeal grants Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori a judicial review

On 17 October, the Court of Appeal confirmed that Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori could pursue a judicial review against the organisation’s proscription by the Home Office.

Three judges, including the Lady Chief Justice, Sue Carr, upheld Mr Justice Chamberlain’s decision to grant the judicial review in July. In September, the Home Office appealed on the...
Garden Court North Chambers •

Three years after his inquest, Awaab's Law comes into force

After years of campaigning, Awaab’s Law has today (27 October 2025) been passed into law.

It honours the legacy of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who tragically died in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, in 2020 due to “prolonged exposure” to mould in his home, a coroner concluded. Awaab’s family and NHS staff repeatedly reported the issue to the social housing provider, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, but the problem remained unresolved.

Garde...
Garden Court North Chambers •

Georgia Barter’s inquest concludes in finding of unlawful killing resulting from domestic abuse

Georgia Barter died at Kings College Hospital on 26 April 2020, after being violently assaulted by her partner on or around 5 April 2020 and taking a fatal overdose. She had been subjected to around a decade of domestic abuse by her partner.

The inquest into Georgia’s death found that she was unlawfully killed and died as a result of domestic abuse. This...
Army Technology •

China’s Trump card: rare earths as geopolitical bargaining chips

When camouflage-clad, rifle-carrying rebels from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) led an offensive to seize the northern town of Pangwa near the Myanmar-China border last October, few recognised the international implications.

It marked the latest escalation in a seven-decade-long civil conflict between Myanmar’s brutal military regime and hundreds of armed groups like the KIA, rooted in the resource-rich provinces spanning China, Thailand, India and Myanmar.More significantly, the KIA’s of...
DSEI 2025 •

Norwegian Navy Chief calls on NATO and private sector to protect critical undersea infrastructure

RADM Berdal’s calls come amid a growing number of sabotage attacks on CUI in the Baltics.

As sabotage of critical undersea infrastructure (CUI) continues to rise, Norway’s local authorities, NATO partners and private sector companies must collaborate to maximise its protection, Rear Admiral (RADM) Oliver Berdal, Chief of the Royal Norwegian Navy, told DSEI on 3 March.

“One of the most important things when it comes to protecting our critical underwater infrastructure is working very closely...
DSEI 2025 •

The end nears for Germany’s ‘special defence fund’. New Chancellor, new investment?

Radical defence investment and SME integration has topped the political agenda in Germany since Friedrich Merz won the 23 February elections.
 
As Germans across the country return from voting for their new Chancellor on 23 February, a ‘day after’ plan for the looming end of the government’s special defence fund remains front and centre for the German – and European – defence industry.
Previous German Chancellor Olaf Scholz earmarked EUR100 billion for this ‘special fund’, or ‘Sondervermögen’...
DSEI 2025 •

Exercise Steadfast Dart marks first deployment of NATO’s new Allied Reaction Force

UK soldiers taking part in NATO’s Exercise Steadfast Dart 25 say they are ready to deploy to Ukraine.

The first large-scale deployment of NATO’s Allied Reaction Force (ARF) is drawing to a close in below-freezing conditions at a training base in Smardan, Romania, 16 miles from the Ukrainian border.

Exercise Steadfast Dart 25, which ran from 10 to 21 February, saw more than 10,000 troops from nine European nations conduct joint drills across Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania. US forces were not...
DSEI 2025 •

EU injects EUR192 million into next-gen ground combat proposals

Ground combat capabilities are the top priority in the EDF’s latest call for military proposals.

The European Commission announced a fresh investment of EUR1.065 billion into projects for “tomorrow’s defence capabilities” on 30 January.

Under the European Defence Fund (EDF), the investment will support nine competitive calls for proposals across 31 topics, from rotorcraft propulsion systems to space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).
DSEI 2025 •

German officials rebuff Trump dig at insufficient NATO spending

Next month’s German elections will dictate the priority and investment towards defence spending over the coming year.

German government officials have rebuked US President-elect Donald Trump’s demands to spend more on defence spending, as attention homes in on Germany’s quickly shrinking EUR100 billion ‘Sondervermögen’ (‘special fund’) for defence spending.

Trump singled out Germany during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on 7 January, claiming that “Europe is in [NATO] for a tiny f...
DSEI 2025 •

Rolls-Royce awarded its largest-ever UK MoD contract

SMEs are poised for involvement in Rolls-Royce’s GBP9bn contract to deliver Dreadnought-class SSBNs for the Royal Navy.

Rolls-Royce Submarines’ largest-ever Ministry of Defence (MoD) contract has caused a ripple across the UK naval sector.

The eight-year ‘Unity’ contract, worth approximately GBP9 billion, will see Rolls-Royce maintain the Royal Navy’s submarine fleet and build four new Dreadnought-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs).
DSEI 2025 •

UK military unveils first “fully British-made” Boxer vehicle

The first of 623 Boxer armoured fighting vehicles has been unveiled in the UK, part of a long-awaited GBP2.8 billion programme.

The first “fully British-made” Boxer vehicle has been unveiled on 21 January at the International Armoured Vehicle Conference in Farnborough, according to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD).

This eight-by-eight, all-terrain armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is the first of 623 Boxers due to be delivered over the next few years. It marks the initial delivery stage of a GBP...
DSEI 2025 •

Lithuania pledges 5-6% of GDP for defence in NATO first

Lithuania will seek European funding to surpass Poland as NATO’s highest defence spender by percentage of GDP.

Lithuania has pledged to allocate between 5% and 6% of GDP for defence spending from 2026 until 2030, pointing to the threat of Russian military aggression as the full-scale conflict with Ukraine nears the three-year mark.

The State Defence Council (VGT), made up of Lithuania’s top political and military brass, announced the hike in funding after a meeting on 17 January. Newly inaugur...
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