Career spy Blaise Metreweli will become the first woman to head MI6 in a “historic appointment”, the prime minister has announced.

She will take over from Sir Richard Moore as the 18th Chief, also known as “C”, when he steps down in the autumn.

“The historic appointment of Blaise Metreweli comes at a time when the work of our intelligence services has never been more vital,” Sir Keir Starmer said in a statement released on Sunday night.

“The United Kingdom is facing threats on an unprecedented scale – be it aggressors who send their spy ships to our waters or hackers whose sophisticated cyber plots seek to disrupt our public services.”

Of the other main spy agencies, GCHQ is also under female command for the first time.

Anne Keast-Butler took on the role in 2023, while MI5 has previously twice been led by a woman.

Until now, a female spy chief had only headed MI6 – also known as the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) – in the James Bond movies.

Dame Judi Dench held the fictional role – called “M” in the films instead of “C” – between 1995 and 2015.

Ms Metreweli currently serves as “Q”, one of four director generals inside MI6.

The position – also made famous by the James Bond films, with the fictional “Q” producing an array of spy gadgets – means she is responsible for technology and innovation.

Ms Metreweli, a Cambridge graduate, joined MI6 in 1999.

Unlike the outgoing chief, who spent some of his service as a regular diplomat in the foreign office, including as ambassador to Turkey, she has spent her entire career as an intelligence officer.

Much of that time was dedicated to operational roles in the Middle East and Europe.

Ms Metreweli, who is highly regarded by colleagues, also worked as a director at MI5.

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In a statement, she said she was “proud and honoured to be asked to lead my service”.

“MI6 plays a vital role – with MI5 and GCHQ – in keeping the British people safe and promoting UK interests overseas,” she said.

“I look forward to continuing that work alongside the brave officers and agents of MI6 and our many international partners.”

Sir Richard said: “Blaise is a highly accomplished intelligence officer and leader, and one of our foremost thinkers on technology. I am excited to welcome her as the first female head of MI6.”

The cost of rural crime in Wales is at its highest in more than a decade, a new report has revealed.

Last year, rural crime cost an estimated £2.8m in Wales, according to insurance provider NFU Mutual.

That’s an 18% increase on the previous year, with Wales the only UK nation to have seen a rise.

For farmers like Caryl Davies, that makes their work harder.

The 21-year-old farms on a beef and sheep farm in Pembrokeshire.

She told Sky News that having the quad bike stolen from her family farm last August had made them feel “really unsafe at home”.

The fact it happened in such a rural area was a “really big shock” for Ms Davies and her family.

“We’d rely on the bike day in day out, to look after our cows and sheep, and it’s had a really negative impact on us,” she said.

The cost of replacing a bike exactly like theirs would be “close to £10,000”.

“They’re a really expensive piece of kit, but you can’t be without them, especially in these rural areas where we’ve got the mountain and maybe places that aren’t very accessible,” she added.

“The bike is totally crucial for our day-to-day running of the farm.”

The incident was caught on camera in the calving shed, but the Davies family have since invested in an enhanced CCTV system. That comes at an additional cost.

“For some farmers, this is spare money that we haven’t really got,” Ms Davies added.

“Farming is hard enough as it is, without people stealing your things and having to spend this extra money on making your home farm safe.”

The total cost of rural crime across the UK has fallen since 2023 – down from £52.8m to £44.1m.

Quad bike and All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) remained the top target for thieves during the past year, NFU Mutual’s figures show.

James Bourne farms in Pontypool, Torfaen, and claims to have had over 200 sheep stolen from common land adjoining his farm over a four-year period.

The 32-year-old told Sky News that losing sheep from his herd was a “big hit” on his business as well as the young family he is trying to support.

“The way agriculture is at the moment anyway, we’re struggling to make ends meet, and any profit that is in it is obviously being taken from me,” he said.

“So I really need to try and find out and get to the bottom of where they’re going because obviously it’s an ongoing issue.”

Andrew Chalk, from NFU Mutual, told Sky News that while there had been a “significant drop” across the UK, there were “worrying signs”.

“In Wales, especially, rural crime’s gone up which just shows that organised criminals are looking for ways to target the countryside again and again,” he said.

“What we’ve found increasingly is that organised criminals are targeting certain areas of the countryside, so they’re hitting multiple farms in one night.

“They’re raiding them, they’re moving away to another area and then hitting multiple farms there. So it is hugely concerning.”

Mr Chalk said NFU Mutual had also heard reports of criminals using drones and other equipment to “look at the lay of the land”.

“What it does show is that organised criminals are always going to find new ways to target rural crime and that’s why we need to be on top of it and to work together to actually disrupt them,” he added.

Police forces in Wales say they are aware of the “significant impact” that rural crimes have on those affected.

A Dyfed-Powys Police spokesperson said the force had acquired new technology to help combat rural crime, including “advanced DNA asset-marking kits” and hopes to “empower farmers with effective tools and advice”.

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The spokesperson acknowledged the difficulty of patrolling the entire police force area, “given the huge area” it has to cover, and thanked rural communities for their “continuing vigilance and for reporting any suspicious activity”.

Temporary Chief Superintendent Jason White, from Gwent Police, said the force would be “increasing resources” within the rural crime team throughout this financial year and urged anyone in a rural area who believes they have been a victim of crime to get in touch.

A combination of targeted drugs, offering a chemotherapy-free approach to leukaemia, have been hailed a “milestone” in cancer care by scientists following a groundbreaking UK trial.

Potentially offering better outcomes for some patients as well as being more tolerable, it could reshape the way chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) – the most common form of leukaemia in adults – is treated.

The Flair trial took place at 96 cancer centres across the UK.

Researchers from Leeds wanted to assess whether two targeted cancer drugs could perform better than standard chemotherapy among patients with CLL.

Some 786 people with previously untreated CLL were randomly assigned to receive standard chemotherapy; a single targeted drug, ibrutinib, or two targeted drugs taken together, ibrutinib and venetoclax, with treatment guided by personalised blood tests.

Ibrutinib is a type of drug known as a cancer growth blocker. It works by stopping signals that cancer cells use to divide and grow.

Venetoclax blocks the functions of a protein found in CLL cells.

Researchers found that after five years, 94% of patients who received ibrutinib plus venetoclax were alive with no disease progression.

That compared with 79% for those on ibrutinib alone and 58% for those on standard chemotherapy, according to the study, which has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented to the European Haematology Association congress in Milan, Italy.

Meanwhile 66% of patients on the new combination had no detectable cancer in their bone marrow after two years, compared with none of the people who received ibrutinib alone and 48% on chemotherapy.

Experts said that the new treatment regime was also tolerated better than traditional treatments.

‘An era of truly personalised medicine’

Dr Talha Munir, consultant haematologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, who led the study said: “Flair trial is a milestone.

“We have shown that a chemotherapy-free approach can be not only more effective but also more tolerable for patients.

“By tailoring individualised treatment based on how well the cancer responds, we’re moving into an era of truly personalised medicine.”

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Catherine Whitfield, 63, from Farnley, West Yorkshire, was diagnosed with CLL in 2018 after she noticed symptoms including bleeding gums, constant illness and neck pain.

She signed up to the trial, which was coordinated by the Leeds Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Leeds and sponsored by the University of Leeds.

She said: “After three years of treatment, I am still MRD negative – that means no cancer cells.

“I lost my husband to cancer. I have seen how hard it could be.

“My first thought after my diagnosis was, I will never see my grandchildren being born and growing up.

“Now I have two grandchildren, Drew and Alaia, and they are a delight and highlight the joys of a healthy life.”

‘Kinder, more targeted treatment’

Ms Whitfield added: “The way this trial was explained, it just made sense.

“Also, the thought of chemotherapy was scary to me. The trial felt right. And it was.”

Dr Iain Foulkes, executive director of research and innovation at Cancer Research UK, which funded the trial along with AbbVie, and Johnson and Johnson, said: “The results of the Flair trial show that we can provide kinder, more targeted treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, which gives people with CLL more precious time with their loved ones.

“We’re hopeful that the results of the Flair trial will power new treatment options for leukaemia and other blood cancers, thanks to the efforts of researchers in Leeds and across the UK working together on this trial.”

CLL is the most common form of leukaemia in adults, affecting the blood and bone marrow.

While it cannot usually be cured, it can be managed with treatment.

There are around 4,000 new CLL cases in the UK every year.