The Shanghai Party School recently sent a delegation to France and Spain, opening a new chapter in the Chinese Communist Party's parallel diplomacy. The aim is to strengthen the international skills of party cadres and forge links with European institutions that train senior civil servants.
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Back-door diplomacy The former Paris Police Prefect and once head of the DGSI intelligence service Laurent Nuñez, now France's freshly appointed interior minister, has picked a loyal aide and his former chief of staff at the police headquarters to take on the same strategic role at his new ministry.
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Agencies A representative of an NGO identified as a front for the Russian government has just visited the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe conference currently running in Warsaw.
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The owner of security technology developer HSS Development Group, Ben Jamil, has discreetly sold spyware to the government of Kurdistan and other countries, while facing a series of legal woes.
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Cybersecurity As a result of being increasingly mobilised to support US border enforcement agencies, the DEA has fewer resources available to fight narcotics trafficking. As such, the anti-drug agency is now looking to expand its workforce.
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Defence The visit in early October of Bangladesh's top air force officer, Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan, to Ankara, put an official stamp on ongoing negotiations. But in Dhaka, budgetary details have yet to be ironed out.
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Corporate Intel 
