Albanian security forces have severely repressed the demonstrations shaking the country since summer. Through continued cooperation and funding, US and European partners are keeping up support for Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Following a period of instability in the early months of the current Trump administration, the US National Security Agency is on a hiring spree and plans to set up five new mission centres in hopes of boosting its ability to adapt to new challenges.
Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community.
As the powerful Arakan Army has done with its affiliate groups, the Karenni State resistance wants to create a united army by April. In southern Shan State, it has already brought together myriad local forces under a single command, Alpha. A necessity after a year of setbacks from Russian drones.
Former Ukrainian legionnaires are moving into the military training business, as our investigation into such groups forming in the UAE, Libya and the Sahel shows. The Ukrainian president has tried to distance himself from such allegations, despite apparent links between some of these entities and Ukraine's military intelligence.
The United Nations Panel of Experts on Yemen is set to publish its annual report, which will focus on infringements of the arms embargo. Despite mounting evidence regarding goods originating from China, Beijing is working behind the scenes within the organisation to avoid being singled out.
Russian-born businessman Konstantin Sokolov has faced scrutiny in the US for his opaque business history and large Republican donations. Sokolov also has ties to a Swiss lawyer who allegedly worked for Russian businessmen previously subject to EU sanctions.
Moscow’s support for Naypyidaw in the drone war is escalating. In Shan State and the Bago Region, Russians are on the front lines, conducting training missions and occasionally providing operational support. The Myanmar military has adopted low-cost suicide drones similar to those Russia has tested in Ukraine.
The Dubai ruler's decision to remove his favoured confidant Mohammed Al Shaibani from all public positions was motivated by a desire to create space for his sons to take over affairs of court, sources close to the situation say.
Two heavyweights of the French defence giant's international development department are shortly set to retire. Their departure poses a key challenge for Thales, which will have to find ways of maintaining its international networks that generate the bulk of the company's turnover.
Appointments, financial results, new contracts: every Wednesday, we report on events both big and small that matter in the global corporate intelligence community.
Marine Le Pen’s inner circle and the far-right Horaces think-tank are keen to attract prominent intelligence and security figures to their side and bolster the candidate’s image in the run up to the 2027 French presidential election.
Armed guards from the European delegation in Damascus were recently briefly detained by the Syrian authorities. Their arrest comes at a time when the government is attempting to impose its own service provider on the local market.
The intelligence firm Redpoint Advisors recently launched an AI tool designed to forecast potential instability in a country. Now it hopes to establish itself as part of the toolkit used by US federal agencies and major corporations.
General Pyun Moo-sam has taken charge of the Defense Counterintelligence Agency, which replaces the command implicated in the 2024 martial law crisis. Having survived a purge of South Korea's military, this outsider to the Military Academy must now implement the clean break sought by Lee Jae-myung’s government.
Pakistan is stepping up its efforts to keep China engaged in Afghanistan, and has even suggested establishing a dialogue with the anti-Taliban Afghan Freedom Front. Intelligence Online can confirm that the Guoanbu has agreed to this but has not opened an official communication channel with the AFF. In parallel, Beijing is seeking a more effective strategy in the region.
A leading DGSE figure, who helped set up the Operations Directorate and its clandestine unit, was laid to rest in Brittany last week. His death comes shortly after that of another senior DGSE figure who managed the agency’s most closely guarded financial secrets: its clandestine assets.
The fall of an UAE super-app (1/2) – Launched as the Emirates' answer to WhatsApp and once boasting more than half a million monthly users, Tawasal SuperApp went offline in October, after months of financial problems and allegations of intellectual property theft. With shareholders in a legal dispute, police searched the group's offices on 5 November, sources say.
While troops officially left the country on 30 September, the US Department of War is working to extend its advisory programme with Iraq's defence ministry.
Published on 06/11/26 at 11:00 GMT: As the constitutional crisis in Poland deepens, President Karol Nawrocki's inner circle is holding discreet talks with senior military and intelligence officials to gauge their position, should matters come to a head with the government.
With relations warming between Naypyidaw and Washington, and after a junta warplane attacked a Chinese vehicle, Beijing abruptly opened its border along areas controlled by the Kachin Independence Army and two groups belonging to the Brotherhood Alliance in Shan State.
Published on 06/11/26 at 09:00 GMT: French President Emmanuel Macron will host a gathering of European practitioners and researchers specialising in AI on 9 November, as part of the 'Global Tech Thinkers' intiative. The latter forms part of a broader project led by the French foreign ministry, with the involvement of intelligence services.
In this first episode, Intelligence Online looks at the challenges facing the Republican spymaster after the midterms. His track record at Langley and on Iran, as well as the issue of politicisation, are just some of the topics on which the astute CIA director will be grilled.
The fall of an UAE super-app (2/2) – Intelligence Online reported yesterday on the management conflicts that led to the downfall of communications app Tawasal, the UAE's once-vaunted answer to WhatsApp. But in addition to differences over the direction of the group, deep divisions existed over demands made by the UAE government, aimed at launching a spying tool that would track Emiratis and their contacts abroad.
A flurry of job ads for drone specialists in the Gulf has recently appeared on the Signal networks of Ukrainian drone warfare veterans. A team which draws on US, French and Ukrainian operators is being put together with a potential deployment to Yemen to counter the Houthis in mind.
The French interior ministry in the middle of last year looked into a project with top security and defence officials to improve the monitoring of social media in France, which could have helped better predict the scale of demonstrations on 17 October.
Despite the junta’s successes on the diplomatic front this year, the resistance has managed to maintain high-level contacts in France and in several Western democracies. Their goal is to secure greater support, beyond mere humanitarian aid.
An increase in suspicious overflights of sensitive sites has prompted Spain to strengthen its detection capabilities. Several contracts awarded to TRC Informática reveal that Madrid is stepping up its investments in electronic warfare.
In this episode, Intelligence Online looks at how the CIA's approach has become more aggressive in human intelligence and covert action. Latin America is once more centre stage, although the spymaster is still showing a degree of restraint. Analysts, meanwhile, have taken note of the reversed priorities.
The Franco-US investor and chairman of oil and banking group NetOil, has crafted plans for two pipelines, one from Central Asia and one from West Africa, to increase the flow of gas to southern Europe.
Ahead of the APEC leaders' summit in China on 18 and 19 November, Xi Jinping has secured two major commitments from Vladimir Putin: full access to a new route to the Pacific via the Amur River, bypassing Taiwan and North Korea, and a border crossing open all year round in the heart of the Russian Far East.
Roman Gofman, who took over the reins of Israel's foreign intelligence service in June, is pressing on with internal reshuffles as the country struggles to form a new government following the 27 October election. The spymaster's ultimate goal is to make a clean break from Mossad's failure in Iran through a change of doctrine.
The French government said on 9 November that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was behind the October cyber-attacks against French supermarket refrigerators. Paris also claimed that an operation was carried out by the Iranian regime during the 2024 Olympic Games in the French capital.
The pick of a consortium formed by Swedish company Vesper to operate the European Union's EUCAP security contract in Somalia has triggered appeals. The size of the budget allocated to the mission is in particular raising eyebrows.
The first state visit by a French president to Cambodia since 1993 provides an opportunity to make progress on a number of issues, although coordinating the bilateral agenda with that of a Francophonie summit has not been without its challenges.
In this latest episode, Intelligence Online reveals the extent of cooperation between the CIA and its partners in Kyiv. A task force to support Ukrainian special forces, assistance with strikes deep inside Russia, and access to cutting-edge technology all point to an unprecedented level of involvement.
Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens to meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online visits a pub in Aqaba, at the southern tip of Jordan, where sailors passing through the Red Sea and CIA contractors alike go to cure their landsickness.
The two main French services tasked with keeping tabs on the recent protests are using products from a domestic firm to monitor social media. While the company has made progress in monitoring Chinese platform TikTok, its limitations were exposed during the events of 17 October.
The Republic of Palau is expected to host a US-backed training centre as the US State Department is strengthening intelligence sharing among its regional allies to address both counternarcotics and Chinese influence.
SHISH, Albania's intelligence agency, is to be led by a consultant who was once paid by… the Italian purse. This is a significant asset for Italy as it seeks to extend its agreement with Tirana on the taking in of migrants.
The French president’s state visit to Cambodia from 14 to 16 November threatens to be disrupted by new diplomatic commitments relating to a crisis currently unfolding at the International Organisation of La Francophonie.
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