Spy Master | United Kingdom

Ken McCallum, the relatable Scot fighting to maintain public trust in Britain's MI5

Steering the British domestic intelligence service through turbulent times, Ken McCallum finds himself regularly in front of cameras to explain mistakes made by the MI5. Praised for his competence and steadfast commitment, the career spy is said to have ministerial backing. So what might be going wrong at the agency?

France's DGA defence procurement agency wants several dozen long-endurance surface drones to extend intelligence-gathering operations around French Navy warships. The high turnover threshold required excludes the start-ups that drive the sector.

Spotlight | Azerbaijan

Baku's 'UN of spies' takes off

Published on 25/09/26 at 09:40 GMT: The Baku Security Forum, whose 4th edition was held in the Azerbaijani capital this week, is turning into a key event for master spies across the globe. The summit has become a rare space for these spy chiefs, many of them political foes, to meet one another under the guise of a common fight against terrorism.

The US defence department is looking for a new contractor to run the US base on Diego Garcia. That search is taking place against a backdrop of major strategic upheaval: Washington has signalled its desire to take the island off the hands of its long-standing governor, the United Kingdom.

Spotlight | Saudi Arabia, Yemen

Riyadh pulls out all the stops to counter Houthi offensive

Saudi Arabia has requested help from its allies, including London, Paris and Washington, to tackle the crisis in Yemen. It is once again recruiting foreign militiamen and delivering arms to Yemen’s internationally recognised government in an attempt to deal with the emergency on the ground.

Spotlight | European Union, Yemen

Behind the scenes of EU negotiations to secure Bab el-Mandeb Strait

Since Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis tightened their grip on the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait by seizing further Red Sea islands, the European Union and its member states have been scrambling to agree on a suitable response.

Lawmakers hope to boost the appeal of careers in cybersecurity by building stronger ties between the Department of Defense cyber operations units and NSA-accredited higher education institutions.

The terms for renewing France's SURMAR maritime surveillance from space project are currently being negotiated. At the heart of these talks, set to last until the end of the year, are much wider concerns over sovereignty.

Spotlight | UAE

EDGE, Calidus, Generation 5: inside Abu Dhabi's defence industry overhaul

UAE entities are coming under increasing pressure to deliver results as the country seeks to build a sovereign defence sector. A newly established body is set to take over from a number of long-standing players.

Officials of the fighter jet joint venture between London, Rome and Tokyo are said to have specifically named the United States in warnings to staff about the dangers of travelling with professional laptops and phones.

United States, Iran

US agencies target crypto exchanges for intel gathering

Investigators have issued notices to leading crypto platforms instructing them to continue servicing accounts suspected of being part of Iranian sanctions-busting operations.

An Afghan former domestic intelligence officer, who has been in hiding from the Taliban since 2021 and is subject to a fatwa, has had his visa request rejected by the French interior ministry. A French court had earlier ruled in favour of issuing him a long-stay visa, which would open the door to seeking asylum.

China

Beijing takes control of provinces' foreign policing in wake of 'secret police stations' scandal

The secret "police stations” opened by China in Europe were operated by Chinese provincial units and acted without central guidance. Following recent scandals linked to these stations, the Chinese Communist Party has taken steps to bring its apparatus into line through its own channels and is trialling a new model for maintaining contact with overseas Chinese communities.

Spotlight | China, United States

The trouble with assessing US financial intelligence during the time of Trump

At the same time as the US's financial intelligence system is being drastically shorn of powers by its president, the Financial Action Task Force is due to meet in Paris to present its evaluation of that very organisation. Fearful of retaliation, member countries are torn between being diplomatic and critical.

Russia, Ukraine, Belarus

SBU identifies Belarus as hub for FSB’s clandestine networks into Europe

Kyiv’s counter-intelligence services are tracing the networks used by the FSB’s Fifth Directorate to organise acts of sabotage and assassinations in Ukraine and the European Union. Its investigators are, in particular, following a route through Belarus to Poland.

Signaling a diplomatic thaw between the European Parliament and China, Chinese diplomats have been seeking out its representatives in Strasbourg, going as far as offering some all-expenses-paid trips to Beijing. Meanwhile, France has stepped up its counter intelligence efforts in the city.

Spotlight | Saudi Arabia, Oman

Renewed optimism for Saudi-Oman pipeline checked by doubts over western financing

Secret talks for a new Saudi-Oman infrastructure project were exposed during a TotalEnergies investor presentation last week. Mooted many times previously, but now acquiring more urgency, the scheme is said to be facing financing challenges centring on Riyadh's intransigence over repayment guarantees.

A partner of a company which carried out OSINT investigations for Louis Vuitton, has teamed up with a former global head of security for the French luxury brand to carry out similar research. Intelligence Online has details on the steps leading up to this collaboration.

France

French military intelligence eager to provide more intel to the armed forces in the field

The French military intelligence directorate has focused heavily on ‘top-down’ intelligence in recent years, aiming to provide information to its supervisory authorities. It now wants to provide more intelligence to the French forces directly, which may have felt neglected by the service.

Spotlight | China, India, Pakistan

Islamabad bolsters Beijing in Karakoram to open up Iran route

With Pakistan’s backing, the CCP wants to turn the disputed Shaksgam Valley into a route for delivering weapons to Central Asia and Iran. A recent meeting to this end of the previously dormant China-Pakistan Boundary Commission is viewed as a provocation by New Delhi, which appears powerless to act.

The creation of a dedicated cyber threat assessment centre has long been called for by the Pentagon’s partners and Congress.

A Pakistani subcontractor for Saudi state-owned defence firm SAMI has just been placed on the US sanctions list. The US Treasury believes this company had supplied arms to Iran.