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The head of MI6 has warned that the Islamic State group is reorganising for more attacks despite its military defeat in Syria.

Alex Younger, the UK’s intelligence chief, also told of his concern about jihadists returning to Europe with “dangerous” skills and connections. They should expect to be investigated and possibly prosecuted, he said.

His comments come after Shamima Begum, a teenager who ran away to join IS, said she wants to return to the UK. Ms Begum, now aged 19 and pregnant with her third child, said she had no regrets about travelling to Syria in 2015 but wanted to have her baby in Britain.

Mr Younger told the Munich Security Conference that so far the return of IS militants had proved a “completely manageable problem”, but he warned that it was complex and unpredictable.

“We are very concerned about this because all experience tells us that once someone has put themselves in that sort of position they are likely to have acquired the skills and connections that make them potentially very dangerous,” he said.

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A British woman who ran away to Syria as a schoolgirl to join the Islamic State group has been told she could face prosecution if she returns home.

Speaking from a Syrian refugee camp, Shamima Begum, now 19, told the Times newspaper she had no regrets but wanted to come back to the UK as she was nine months pregnant.

In Syria, she married an IS fighter and had two children, who have both died. Security minister Ben Wallace said she would be investigated if she came back.

In her interview, Ms Begum showed little remorse for her involvement with the terror group, saying she was not fazed by seeing “beheaded heads” in bins.

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Australian PM Scott Morrison says he will re-open a controversial detention centre on Christmas Island, after a historic defeat in parliament.

On Tuesday, non-government MPs secured enough votes to pass a bill making it easier for sick refugees held offshore to be treated in the country.

Mr Morrison said the law would weaken the nation’s tough border policies and embolden human traffickers. Opponents accused him of spreading fear before an impending election.

Since 2013, Australia has sent asylum seekers arriving by boat to detention centres on Manus Island (Papua New Guinea) and Nauru. It previously also sent detainees to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean which is about 2,600km (1,600 miles) from the mainland and 300km south of Indonesia.

The UN has criticised Australia’s detention policies as “inhumane”, but the nation insists they prevent human trafficking and save lives at sea.

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Germany says it has arrested two former Syrian intelligence officers alleged to have been involved in torturing critics of President Bashar al-Assad.

Both men seem to have sought asylum in Germany after leaving Syria a few years before the migrant influx in 2015.

One them, Anwar R, is suspected of committing crimes against humanity. He was allegedly in charge of a General Security Directorate (GSD) prison where at least 2,000 people were tortured between April 2011 and September 2012.

The other man, Eyad A, is suspected of aiding and abetting a crime against humanity at the same prison.

A third man – also believed to have been a GSD employee – was arrested in France on Tuesday as part of a joint investigation, according to Germany.

The Syrian government has denied killing or mistreating detainees.

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“Swarm squadrons” of drones are to be deployed by British armed forces to overwhelm enemy air defences, the defence secretary has said.

Gavin Williamson said the specially-adapted drones could be in operation by the end of 2019. He also warned in a speech that the UK needs a bolder and stronger armed forces prepared to use “hard power”.

Labour has said the military’s role on the international stage had been “completely undermined” by Tory cuts.

Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute, Mr Williamson said Britain must stand up to those who “flout international law”.

There was an extra £1.8bn for defence in the last budget and Mr Williamson said Brexit had brought the UK its “greatest opportunity” to strengthen its global presence. He said the military’s cyber capabilities will be reinforced to defend and launch attacks.

The squadrons of “network enabled” drones would cost around £7m, he added.

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